soteriology – Snapshots

Make Friends

The parable of the Unjust Steward is challenging, putting it mildly. When Christ says, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Lk 16:9), is He saying befriend the wealthy so when we fall on hard times they’ll be there to rescue us?

The mammon of unrighteousness would be material things this unrighteous world values, tools for good and evil. They aren’t ours (Ps 24:1), so we’re all stewards, and like the steward in the parable (Lk 16:1-2) we’ll all be accused of mismanagement (Jn 5:45) and held accountable. (Ro 14:11-12)

So, we all find ourselves in a similar crisis: we’re flawed in fundamental ways, our record shows this and judgment is coming; we should prepare to make the best of it using every means at our disposal. Pass or fail, the consequences will be eternal. (Ro 2:6-11) In this predicament, Christ is telling us, “make friends.” In other words, live such that when Judgment Day comes those testifying in the heavenly court will be on our side, welcoming us into Paradise.

Consider that everyone who has ever lived will be present at this final Day of Judgment, and those we’ve impacted through our lives will be testifying about us (Ja 5:4), agreeing with God in how they view us, being for or against us. (Mt 12:41-42) Our own works will also bear witness (Ja 5:3), our every act testifying in heavenly court. (Mt 12:36) There will be no deception or partiality; if we’ve walked in holiness before God even the wicked will be forced to agree. (1Pe 2:12)

So, the kinds of friends we should be thinking about here aren’t those who’d pay our bills when we’re unemployed, but those who’ll be receiving us into everlasting habitations, standing between us and our eternal home, inviting us in or barring our way. We must keep short accounts (Mt 5:25-26) and manage our affairs with an eternal perspective. (Col 4:5) As the unjust steward wisely navigated his crisis to secure his earthly comfort for a season (Lk 16:8), Christ is calling us to holy intensity (Mt 5:29-30), striving to secure our eternal welfare. (2Pe 1:10-11)

As we steward earthly resources we’re laying an eternal foundation (1Ti 6:17-19), so let’s make it solid, grounded firmly in the Rock of our salvation (Ps 95:1), to withstand the blasts of God’s penetrating inspection. (Mt 7:24-25)

This isn’t salvation by works; we’re saved by faith (Ep 2:8-9), but our works do reveal our faith. (Ja 2:18) We show what we believe by what we do, so when our actions don’t align with faith in Christ it’s a faith issue (Lk 6:46), a peril of sobering consequences. (Ro 8:13)

To find healing we examine ourselves (2Co 13:5), confess our faults to those who are praying for us (Ja 5:16), and root out the lies which bind us. (Jn 8:32) Living this way doesn’t produce salvation – it’s the life salvation produces. (Ep 2:10)

articles ♦ blog

By Grace

audio

I believe we’re prone to fall into one of two basic soteriological errors: [1] “If I behave then I’ll be saved.” [2] “It doesn’t matter how I live since I’m forgiven.” Those who’ve grasped God’s eternal salvation don’t think either way.

The key is in what God means when He says, “By grace you are saved.” (Ep 2:8) If we’re confusing grace with mercy, leniency, getting off easy, we miss His intent. Grace and mercy aren’t the same; they’re quite different.

We start out presuming salvation’s up to us, not God, and that’s where we go wrong. From that wrong place someone lies to us about what we need to do to finally end up in Heaven. Maybe some ritual called “accepting Christ,” and/or a certain behavior pattern that’ll be good enough for God. But it’s all wrong, because we’re starting at the wrong place.

Salvation isn’t up to us; it’s entirely in God’s hands. We’re born dead in sin (Co 2:13), enemies of God (Co 1:21), alienated from His life. (Ep 4:18) A dead man can’t do anything to raise himself; he can’t even want it. We need supernatural power; a miracle.

That’s where grace comes in: grace is “divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.” (Strong) It’s God’s power intervening in our deadness (Ep 2:5), divine life energizing human life (1Co 15:10), enabling us to believe (Jn 6:29) and conforming us to the image of Christ. (Ro 8:29)

The very desire to seek after God actually comes from God (Php 2:13); finding this within should encourage us to pursue Him until we find Him (He 11:6), relentlessly asking Him to quicken us … until He actually does. We can’t afford to settle for anything less. (Mk_8:36)

Grace is God choosing us (Ep 1:4), enabling us to seek Him and find Him (1Co 1:30), to obey Him, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to have faith (Ep 2:8), to know that His promises are true, that He’s faithful.

And when we have grace we won’t be looking for permission to sin; we’ll be walking after God and pursuing holiness, knowing He will set us free from the power if sin. (He 12:14)

We can have a relationship with God where: [1] He’ll never impute sin to us, crediting us with a perfect righteousness for Christ’s sake that’s independent of how we live (Ro 4:6-8), and [2] where He’s conforming us into His image (2Co 3:18), to live according to His Way. How we live is evidence of His sanctifying work (Php 1:6), so it does matter; yet the saved don’t worry about losing salvation because it’s His work, not ours. (Ep 2:10)

articles ♦ blog

Desperately Wicked

People are bad, really bad, intensely evil (Job 15:16), desperately wicked; God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Je 17:9)

Total Depravity, a basic Christian doctrine, is simply stated: Every choice we make is tainted with sin. In our natural state we consistently seek our own way (Is 53:6); we often do so with relentless, unyielding intensity (Ro 3:14-15); we cannot do anything perfectly. (Je 13:23)

This is not because we don’t have the moral capacity to choose good; we are all made in the image of God and are equipped with a moral compass to discern between evil and good. We make less than perfect choices because over time we have built into ourselves a mindset and world view which is in varying degrees contrary to God’s ways. (Ro 8:7-8) It’s irrational at best, this mystery of iniquity within us, but it’s very, very real. (Is 64:6)

Our depravity is total in scope (Is 64:6), encompassing all of our actions and motives (Ro 7:18), but the degree and depth of our depravity may vary from one person to the next, between one choice and the next, and our moral inclinations and tendencies may change over time as we make better or worse choices. (2Ti 3:13, (1Th 4:1)

We all experience total depravity in our moral imperfections, in our unwillingness to submit to God completely, to love Him with our whole heart and our neighbors as ourselves. (Ro 7:21-24) Even so, we have no idea how bad we really are, because we have very limited understanding of what perfect righteousness and holiness look like. Yet as we begin to encounter God Himself (Job 15:15-16), we begin to see ourselves more clearly, as we really are. (Is 6:5)

We’ll never experience the full degree and depth of wickedness, as in Satan himself, either in ourselves or others; God limits or controls our wickedness, holding us back (2Th 2:7), restraining us according to His sovereign purposes. (De 18:14) This is God’s irresistible grace, enabling us to make better choices than we otherwise would (He 12:28), with better motives (15), moving in us to be less wicked, more righteous. (Php 2:12) It’s a gift, something He does in us. (Ep 3:7) One Day He’ll step back and turn the wicked over more fully to their evil ways (Re 6:4), and we’ll see again how wicked mankind can be. (Ge 6:5)

Our depravity humbles us, dismissing all hope of meriting God’s favor as a lie, and exalting anyone to a position of spiritual authority over others as harmful. (Mt 23:8) It’s the key to soteriology, how God’s unconditional election and limited atonement align with His genuine, universal offer of eternal salvation. (He 5:9)

Depravity explains how God can be in absolute, total control over all things, yet how Man still has free will. It even moves Hell itself into glorious context, as awesome, unarguably appropriate and just. All these truths appear hopelessly irreconcilable until we understand Total Depravity. There’s comfort, peace and joy in seeing it all from God’s perspective. (2Co 13:11)

Yes, it seems the world’s “going to Hell in a handbasket,” it sure does, but it shouldn’t surprise or alarm us. God has a glorious purpose in all He allows. Let’s pray for and be concerned for others, and for our world, while exulting in God, being anxious for nothing. (Php 4:6-7) He knows what He’s doing.

articles ♦ blog