The Balance of Living a Life of Love and Grace in the Church, and Recognizing God's Framework for Conflict

This will be a several part post because I have so much to say on the subject.

Part 1
Several years ago I spoke with a Pastor who shared with me his vision for the Church. He is a Reformed Minister, but had come from some other Evangelical denomination previously. He had a vision of meshing together good theology, with good Christian living, and good Christian living for the right reasons. He pointed out a passage in 1 Peter
22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

This was the beginning of my journey through scripture about what it means to love one another earnestly, to have a sincere brotherly love, that this is part of what it means to live in obedience to the truth, and all of this because we have been born again in Christ.

Here is where right theology meshes itself together with that deep love we are to have for one another. Notice at the end of the passage it says that it is through the living and abiding Word of God, as that is where our right theology comes.

Now this is not easy. In fact especially in the Church. So we are supposed to love one another earnestly? Is there not even a clause so that I don't have to really show love to those people that are mean to me, or maybe just not real lovable? Nope.

How does this look? There are so many verses that I could share, but the following really hit me today Titus 3
to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
I think this is a start.

Thinking of Christ's love toward us is also helpful. He loves us when we are difficult, He loves us when we are not particularly lovable, and He even loves us when we sin. If Christ is to be our example, should we not truly look to Him for how we ought to live. Are we not being molded to be like Him?

I feel I must place a disclaimer here so that I am not misunderstood. In no way do I want to pound Law over your head to the point you think any of this is about you. For it is all about Christ and His Grace. God's favor on us rests solely in Christ, and has nothing to do with our good works. God is working in us and through us to mold us, and the only striving that we do is out of Gratitude for what Christ has done for us in His finished work on the cross. I am just currently annoyed with not only others, but also with myself at the lack of love we have for one another. I know we all sin, and will continue to, but I think it is wrong when people justify continuing in sin.

I will continue on with this topic later.

Sola Gratia

Extremism for the Sake of the Truth, or Something Else?

No Halloween. No Christmas tree. Home Schooling only. No Television. No birth control. The list goes on and on. These are all things that I have held to at one time or another. I am not even going to tell you here if I still hold to any of these. It really does not matter.

It is so easy when you are surrounded by other extremists to fall into the same. At what point does it become legalism? Are these things and others really a matter of sin? Or are they just decisions that some people have made for their own families?

It is worth thinking about. The problem that I have been running into is the self righteousness of some when they tend toward extremism. The judgmental attitude that they have on other Christians when they don't buy into the same views. Should we not have love and grace towards one another? Is that not even more important than whether you let your children watch a certain show?

Something to consider.

A Right Understanding of the Gospel

In the past years, I have thought a lot about one of the White Horse Inn radio shows on the gospel. They sent one of their producers to the Christian Book Distributors Conference to ask some questions. One of the questions was, "What is the Gospel?" If I remember correctly, only one person used the name of Jesus in their answer. A lot of people do not have a correct understanding of the Gospel.

In many churches, outreach brings in many. They may hear, "Come to Jesus, your marriage will be better, your depression may leave, on and on and on." Is this the gospel.? No.

A right understanding of the gospel includes an understanding of our sinful state, the fact that our only hope for salvation is through faith in Christ's finished work on the cross, the fact that our sins are forgiven, we are justified, and clothed in His Righteousness. Our good works contribute nothing to our salvation. And yet God works in us as Philippians 2:13 states for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Therefore it is about Gods work, not ours.

With a wrong understanding of the gospel, so many feel the pressure to live up to some Christian expectation of how they ought to live. And as they continue to struggle, they feel helpless. That is when we ought to remember well that our only hope for salvation is in Christ. I will have to write more about this later. Please know I am not promoting an antinomian theology!

Heidelberg Catechism says it well.

Lord's Day 1 (Q & A 1 2)

Lord's Day 1

Q & A 1

Q. What is your only comfort
in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own,^1
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—^2
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.^3

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,^4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.^5
He also watches over me in such a way^6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:^7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.^8

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life^9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.^10

^1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
^2 Rom. 14:7-9
^3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
^4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
^5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
^6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
^7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
^8 Rom. 8:28
^9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
^10 Rom. 8:1-17

Q & A 2

Q. What must you know
to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A. Three things:
first, how great my sin and misery are;^1
second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;^2
third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.^3

^1 Rom. 3:9-10; 1 John 1:10
^2 John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43
^3 Matt. 5:16; Rom. 6:13; Eph. 5:8-10; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:9-10

Thanks for reading, Coleen