Israel: The Capstone of Justification; Part 3
“And this is by design. Confused people are easy to control.”
It’s nice to know who you are and what you believe. Like most Christians, until recently, I didn’t have a grip on what it really means to be a Christian. I will admit that I functioned on what I was told by others, and even though I was a diligent student of God’s word, I read it through the prism of what I was told.
The result? I really didn’t understand how justification and sanctification works in the Christian life. I didn’t understand covenants. I didn’t understand biblical prophecy. I didn’t understand law. It took a climatic event in my life to send me on a journey of freedom; my desire to know the Bible in a relevant way was destined to clash with the formal church.
And look, don’t give me a load on this issue. Part of our ministry is struggling to find ways to help Christians understand core foundational truths of the Bible. Confusion about covenants, Israel, prophecy, and soteriology abound. Discussions with Christians on basic doctrines are adorned with blank stares. They have no idea what you are even talking about. By design, Christians function on the Cliff Notes of orthodoxy. And this is by design. Confused people are easy to control.
Our Sunday night fellowship was primarily fellowship around fun activities. I was amazed at how much fun people were having as I compiled the booklets for this third lesson to be studied at home. It is the conclusion of our study on justification from the book of Romans, and concludes with the capstone of chapters 9-11: Israel.
With permission, we have recopied John J. Parsons’ excellent work on Remnant Theology and incorporated it into our position here at the Potter’s House. It coincides with what we have seen for ourselves in the book of Romans. It is an excellent summation to our final series on justification.
I just find myself full of joy that we have made our own determination on this apart from the traditions of men. Truth is freeing. Don’t live a life based on some man’s interpretation of the Bible. Live the calling you have from God. You have to determine that calling yourself, only you will stand before the Lord, no one will stand there in your place if you are a Christian.
Not even Christ. He has ALREADY taken our place for justification. He has ALREADY stood in our place before God. “It is finished.” As Christians, we will stand before Him to give an account for the sum and substance of what we have done with the gifts He has given us. And listening to “important” men will be no excuse. You are a workman that need not be ashamed. Don’t stand ashamed before the Savior that died for you. You will be saved, “yet so, by fire.” Make the fire that will burn up the wood, hay, and stubble a small one.
As a pastor, it’s not my job to tell people what to do. I have NO authority over anybody who comes to the Potter’s House. We have been given the authority to tell people what God’s word states. We have been given authority to teach the full council of God. The authority is in God’s word, not the man. We have also been given the authority to baptize. Granted, to the extent that the full counsel of God is properly taught, congregants are more accountable to God. I sometimes wonder if that’s why people want to put themselves under the authority of the traditions of men. In many ways, it is sooooo much easier:
“Hey, we are just a bunch of wicked sinners. Stuff happens. Don’t worry, be happy. Que sera, sera.”
This is a journey, and we have so much more to learn. And as a pastor, being freed from my own opinion is a feeling I can’t even explain. To have the word of God as authority is such an awesome privilege that should be exercised to the fullest. And what a joy to work through these issues with those who only want their convictions to be those of the Lord, and not their own ideas.
Authority Week at PPT
Susan and I looked at each other this morning as this week has totally sunk into our brains. This is the week that our research has culminated into the undeniable conclusion that the American church is saturated with the belief that salvation is in church membership. Being “in Christ” is synonymous with being “in” a church as a member.
This isn’t anything that should have surprised me as I have seen this mentality throughout my Christian life, I just didn’t understand where it came from and frankly, I was in denial to boot. So, I sat there looking at Susan in bewilderment as we were talking about it, which brought the reply, “Dear, didn’t you listen to my presentation on Augustine this year? It came from him.” My reply was, “Well, what are we going to do? Are we going for this?” Her reply:
“No way!”
paul
Ramblings Again…
According to a legend and based on a now lost letter, Countess Chinchon, the wife of the viceroy of Peru, fell ill with malaria. The governor of a neighboring province provided a remedy in the form of a certain tree bark. The countess experienced a seemingly miraculous recovery, and word of the bark’s extraordinary powers quickly spread. The name of the countess henceforth became associated with the bark. Although misspelled, the genus of that tree Cinchona, is in her honor.
The tree is native to the Andes Mountains, and four species have been cultivated in tropical areas and in Africa for hundreds of years. The bark possesses various alkaloids, and the most significant is quinine, used to treat malaria.
Consider the idiom “a bitter pill to swallow.” The bark of the cinchona tree was used to fight malaria, but the quinine in it was extremely bitter. Widely employed in the era before coated medicine, cinchona pellets caused any disagreeable thing to be termed “a bitter pill to swallow.” Now you know the story of that idiomatic expression.
If you had to swallow medicine, although extremely bitter, that would shorten the effects of a deadly disease, you would do it. To choke on it, spit it out, or refuse to swallow it would not allow the medicine to do its work. I remember when I was pregnant with Timothy the doctor prescribed liquid iron supplements. The smell was outrageous, and the taste was abominable. Every morning I would wrap a towel around me, lean over the kitchen sink, pinch my nose, and put the spoonful of ferrous sulfate in my mouth. I had to force myself to swallow it. Even though holding that awful stuff in my mouth was lengthening the experience, I had to will myself to swallow. I would make all manner of alien gagging sounds while downing large glasses of water to get the taste out of my mouth. Needless to say, when pregnant with Ben and Philip, I asked for iron supplements in pill form not the liquid. Those iron pills were huge, and did leave a horrible aftertaste, but were far more tolerable than the liquid. However, whether pills or liquid, I needed to swallow the medicine to get the healthy effect the doctor wanted, and my body needed.
All of us have experienced unpleasant events, disappointments, humiliations that are difficult to endure, or something hard to accept that we can share. We may even label them “bitter pills.” What are our choices? Either endure the event, accept what was hard, change the expectations, get over the humiliation or continue in anger, bitterness, jealousy, and anxiety. The positive choices are biblical, and the negative ones we are commanded to put off, set aside, or cast on the Lord.
Although the Bible does not use the phrase “bitter pill to swallow”, there are words and phrases that are synonymous, such as trials, temptations, or cross to bear. In light of these synonyms what are the choices given to us in God’s Word? Count it all joy when given “bitter pills” to swallow. I Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God is faithful to give us only “bitter pills” that we can bear to swallow. Jesus said to take up your “bitter pills” and follow me.
So, when everyday life prescribes you a bitter pill to swallow, count it all joy. He promises blessings and spiritual wellbeing when you do.
Susan
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