Amazing Grace: When Does a Christian Fall Away?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Jay F Guin

From a reader —

Well we are studying your book (Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace) in our Sunday a.m. class. Most are really enjoying it. One is, to say the least, struggling with some of your thoughts on when is a person lost. Make that two people, I am struggling as well. But we are still in the mix, studying it.

The point brought up by this Christian in my class, she says, “I believe a person is lost who is living in sin.” She uses herself as an example and says, “In my life there was a time when I knew the Lord was trying to get me to turn around, but the two times when He did this, I said, “Not now Lord”.”  She said, I know, and I teach, that if I died then, I would have been lost.

Well, my question to her was, what about the prodigal son? Was he lost while away from the Father? Wasn’t he welcomed back, forgiven, and had not lost his standing as a son?

I may have been using the wrong example and maybe I don’t get it. I know I don’t hold to the position that some hold that we are in and out of salvation numberless times during our lifetime. Each time we have to pray, confess to ‘get back in’. Obviously we forget or are not aware of the many things we do that are sin, even things ‘continued in’. When is a person lost? Well, I’m not the Judge for sure.

Grace is wonderful, it is as big as His love. There is at aleast as much grace and forgiveness for those in Christ as for those coming into Christ and having all their past forgiven.

Where am I going wrong?

Continue reading →

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Bad Elders: A Question from a Reader

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I get emails —

Small Church of Christ in the Bible Belt. Not incorporated, and so no bylaws or charter.

The church has two elders, one of them is the preacher. The non-preaching elder fires the preacher and demands his resignation as an elder, and he complies.

The now sole elder appoints his nephew as an elder though this man does not have believing children. A significant number of the church are opposed to these actions. Some of the members have approached a lawyer to see what help can be gained under state law.

What should the membership do to rectify the situation?

Readers, what do you think?

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Election: Romans 9 – 11, Reading Paul, Part 2

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Corporate Christianity

We Americans, as Westerners, believe in what some call radical individualism. In our world, the individual (me) is more important than the nation, the community, or the family. We aren’t surprised at all when our children leave family, hometown, and even country to realize their maximum potential. In the First Century, this would have been rare — and would only be celebrated if done to honor God. No one else was higher than the community.

Therefore, when we read about the early church, we read the epistles as speaking about our “personal relationship” with God. And we do indeed have a personal relationship with God. But it’s more likely that a given passage is actually speaking of our community’s relationship with God. And we just don’t see it.

Thus, when we take communion, we believe God wants us to meditate as individuals, oblivious to the fellow Christians around us. But Paul in fact commands us (1 Cor 11:29) to discern (notice, recognize) the “body of Christ” — not just the bread but the church — the community — which is the body of Christ. We are to commune as a body. Continue reading →

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: When the Rabbi Says “Go”

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Omrit, Herod’s temple to Caesar

The lesson begins at what is probably the northern temple to Caesar built by Herod. Caesar claimed to be a “son of god.” If the site is that temple, then the Damascus Road is likely nearby — the main road to Damascus where Paul was called by Jesus.

“Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?” RVL says “taxes” is a poor translation for “tribute.” Tribute acknowledges the superiority of Caesar.

The Zealots refused, while the Pharisees cited Nehemiah, who said God gave Babylon power to rule Judea. If God gave rule to Roman, then Jews should pay tribute (compare Paul’s similar conclusions in Rom 13).

Jesus asks for a coin. The fact that they had a coin shows that they’d already acquiesced in using Caesar’s money. The inscription says, “A worshiped son of a worshiped god,” referring to Caesar. Jesus says render unto Caesar what’s Caesar’s, and to God what’s God’s. Caesar isn’t God, but it is his money because God gave him authority. (JFG: And the money, being idolatrous, is inappropriate for temple use, but perfectly suitable for payment to an idolatrous government. It’s a joke!) Continue reading →

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The Holy Spirit: What Does It Mean to Have a Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Jay F Guin

spirit-thumb.jpgI get emails —

I’ve been following your blog for some time now and have come to believe that what you are teaching is largely correct.

Now I’m struggling with this idea of having a “relationship” with Jesus. How do I develop a relationship with someone I’ve never met, never had a conversation with, and never can (on this earth anyways)? …

I really appreciate your ministry and the good it does. There are many hundreds of thousands of us “conservatives” out there who need to see the light.

Thanks so much for your time and for any assistance you can offer.

I thought this would be another good question to pass along to the readers for an answer. What do you think?

[The ellipsis in the quote omits the question we took up two days ago.]

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The Holy Spirit: How do I know he indwells me?

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Jay F Guin

spirit-thumb.jpgI recently posted an emailed question from a reader, asking how he could tell that the Spirit indwells him. And there have been many excellent responses from the readers. I don’t think what I’m about to say is in any sense an improvement on what’s already been said. I just want to add a couple of analogies to the mix, and there are too many words to type in that little comment box.

The Dodge Aspen analogy

I used to own a Dodge Aspen, which was the car that drove Chrysler into bankruptcy. I was driving at 55 miles per hour on a heavily trafficked road when the engine just spontaneously cut off! Until that moment, I had always assumed that when I pressed the brakes, it was me pressing the brake pads into the brake drums and stopping the car. And I’d always been sure that when I turned the steering wheel that it was me moving the wheels. But when my engine stopped on a downhill incline at 55, I learned that the engine had been doing about 99% of all that work and I’d only been doing about 1%—because I had to push about 100 times harder to stop and steer the car than I was used to. It was an eye-opening experience! Continue reading →

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Election: Romans 9 – 11, Reading Paul, Part 1

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Before we begin to study the text, we need to pause and reflect on how to read Paul. Paul is not easy. But I’ve learned a lot about Paul here lately, and so let me share what I’ve learned.

The Old Testament quotations

Paul quotes the Old Testament nearly every other verse. When Paul quotes the Old Testament or refers to some Old Testament event, he assumes his readers know exactly what he is talking about. And sometimes we do, and sometimes we don’t.

We, in fact, have a tendency to skip these passages, as we think the Old Testament has been repealed. But this means we’re treating part of what Paul wrote as repealed — which is dumb.

When Paul refers to the Old Testament, we need to actually turn to that passage. Sometimes it’s just for context. Sometimes Paul is actually intending to refer to the entire, for example, prophecy that he’s quoted a part of.

And in Romans 9 -11, Paul is arguing about God’s election — the movement of his hand through history — and the passages he quotes tell part of the story. Continue reading →

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Election: Romans 9 – 11, Introduction

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The Bible teaches election. It’s just all over the Bible. That’s not the question. The question is just what does the Bible mean by election. Is the Calvinistic sense of the word right? Is the Arminian sense right? Or is something else right?

As of this typing, I’ve not quite made up my mind. Rather than me thinking I have the answer and then trying to teach the answer, these posts will be my investigation into the question. I may contradict my earlier writings and wind up agreeing with the Calvinists. Or I may decide it’s too hard to figure out. I don’t know. But I’m going to poke around the scriptures to see if I can figure out just what they say.

And it seems that the natural place to begin is Romans 9 – 11. This contains several central proof texts of Calvinist theology. But these chapters also contain some of the central proof texts for Church of Christ theology. That’s got to be interesting, right?

Now, the purpose of these posts is not to beat on Calvinism. The goal here is to demonstrate a better approach to hermeneutics and to see what we can learn from the scriptures. And it’s to try to do some serious exegesis at this blog. Continue reading →

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Election: Definitions

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Jay F Guin

For some reason, I felt compelled over the last few days to see if I could make sense of Romans 9 – 11. I’m not sure I’ve ever taught those chapters. It’s hard to get to, much less past, Romans 8 in a 13-week series. And in the Churches of Christ, there’s not been much demand for lessons on those famously challenging chapters.

But as I’ve been studying New Perspective theology and narrative hermeneutics, and have gotten more into the prophets, I thought it might be time to take a fresh look. Besides, there’s a fresh movement to old-school, 5-points Calvinism among the Baptists, being led by John Piper, with some bleed over in the Churches of Christ, and Romans 9 – 11 is a central proof text — for both sides. Well, when both sides are claiming the same text, it’s time to wonder if both sides might have gotten it wrong.

I am an avid reader of John Piper. In fact, I have countless books by Calvinists who’ve taught me a lot about the Bible and God. But I’m no Calvinist. On the other hand, I’m not necessarily committed to the antitheses of the five points of Calvinsm.

I’m neither Calvinist nor Arminian. But if I had to pick, I’d have to choose Arminianism. (I’ll define these terms in a bit.) But I don’t have to pick. Continue reading →

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The Holy Spirit: A Question About the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Jay F Guin

spirit-thumb.jpgI get emails —

I’ve been following your blog for some time now and have come to believe that what you are teaching is largely correct. …

Also, this idea of having the indwelling of the Spirit is new to me and I wonder . . . if I can’t tell that I’ve got the indwelling of the Spirit, does that mean I don’t have it? I know I should be developing the fruits of the Spirit but I really have no sense of this happening in me.

I really appreciate your ministry and the good it does. There are many hundreds of thousands of us “conservatives” out there who need to see the light.

Thanks so much for your time and for any assistance you can offer.

I’m regularly impressed by the wisdom of the readers (well, most of them). I thought this would be a good one to pass along to the readers for an answer. What do you think?

[The ellipsis in the quote omits a second question that we’ll take up in a couple of days.]

Posted in Holy Spirit and Providence, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 20 Comments