The Jesus Driven Life

The biggest questions of all time certainly have to be, “Why am I here” or “What is my purpose in life?” On the surface, they do not seem like such bad questions, after all, the Bible does tell us that God has a plan for everyone's life (e.g. Jeremiah 29:11). But what is our purpose? Through this topic I am going to uncover what, or rather, who is meant to be driving our lives.

An Old Fashioned Doctrine

Would Jesus Oppose the Death Penalty?

One of the most contentious issues facing us today is that of the death penalty. There are many theologians that fight their point vehemently on both sides of the argument. I remember while in Bible College there were people on both sides of the fence and no resolution was ever reached. For many years I sat on the fence with the whole issue, but having worked through the whole issue of the law and its application today, I have come to a final decision. So in this final instalment of the role of the law, we are going to look at the issue and hopefully end off with a proper position on the subject. Some of you may be surprised with the outcome.

The Law As the Schoolmaster

Dispensationalists who teach that Old Testament law has been completely cancelled out by Christ, quote Galatians 3:23-25 as proof for their claim: "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (The last phrase in the New King James Version translates as "we are no longer under a tutor.")
In order to fully understand this passage we need to answer two questions.

1. What does Paul mean by the term "law"? and
2. What does he mean when he says "we are no longer under a tutor"?

Sanctification and the Law

Before we go any further in discussing the role of the Law, let us proceed to look at the issue of sanctification. “Why?” you may ask. Quite simply, because the issues of justification and sanctification cannot be separated from each other and need to be fully understood together. But before I can explain the connection properly, we first need to look at what the word sanctification means.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sanctification as “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” In justification, once the sinner believes in Jesus, he/she is declared righteous before God purely on Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. The guilt of sin is removed and the sinner is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. At this point, the the lifelong process of sanctification immediately begins. This process is described by the theologian, Louis Berkhof as “that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He delivers the justified sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.”

Justification and the Law

Dispensational "scholars" use a number of Paul's passages to argue that Jesus cancelled the Old Testament laws and that law is no longer needed. Let us briefly look at a couple of these passages:

EPHESIANS

One passage used is Ephesians 2:8-10 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Let us begin by looking at the word translated as "saved" (Gk. sozo). This word is best understood when we remove all religious connotations and look at its root meaning: that is to be "rescued". To save someone simply means to rescue them from a situation that put them into danger, or would have resulted in something fatal happening to them, like a lifesaver rescuing someone from drowning in the sea. So, in the spiritual context, it means that we have been "rescued" from our previous condition that has fatal consequences.

The Role of the Law

The modern century church seems to have neglected, and at times perverted, the Biblical teachings of God's law. The reasons for this are varied, but one of the biggest is due to the teachings of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism teaches that all Old Testament law (this includes religious, social and civil) have been put aside by Christ and his teachings concerning law. Their motto comes from Paul's teaching that “we are not under law, but under grace.”

True vs False Conversion

There are so many people in the church today that believe that the Truth of God's Word is not enough to bring people into repentance. Some believe that we have to exhibit some kind of miraculous signs and wonders in order to convince the unbelievers of the Truth in the Word. Others try to dress it up in a way that makes it culturally relevant or “seeker sensitive”. Many believe that without some or other gimmick, the message of the Gospel will not reach its target. The church is desperately trying to find new ways of offering what the non-believers say they are looking for in the church. Every conventional form of worship is at risk of being put aside for more “relevant” forms in order to cater for the worlds appetites. Things that challenge or make people uncomfortable is not permitted. And it seems to be working. Or is it?

Welcome

The question of Pontius Pilate to Jesus, “What is truth?”, is still doing its rounds today. In fact, now more than ever, the issue of truth has been mishandled more than in any other generation. For us as Christians, the truth is what is proclaimed in the Bible. Everyone who is a Christian needs to know and understand the truth that it contains, as it effects the way each of us lives our lives. From the way we interact with family and friends, to the way we operate at work. The way we worship, and more especially what comes out of our mouths as we teach and tell others of Christ.
It is my hope that through this blog, we will together learn to know the Truth and to apply it into our daily lives.

Purpose: The purpose of this blog is to discuss the many issues that are affecting the church today that is causing it to hide the truth. There are both internal and external forces at work here. Things that to some seem to be nothing to worry about, but are in actual fact damaging the witness of the church. Here we will deal with issues like the professional church, politics in church, true discipleship, does God still speak to us today, etc
Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
Gw