Decision Theology and How I Never Asked Jesus Into My Heart.

This is one of those issues I used to think about, went back and forth on, and then got bored of, and honestly haven't thought about a whole lot since. But I really do love God and his only begotten Son, and I know he is Lord and he lives in me; and this has always been a "given." Yes, I can't even remember a moment in time when I made this incredible decision for God; neither can I remember a time when I haven't loved God. My parents had me baptized into the Triune Name when I was less than a month old, and I still live in that baptism to this day. It has daily significance in my faith toward God, repenting, dying and rising all throughout the rest of my life. And I'm thankful for this gift, just as I am thankful for the Christian discipline they gave me.

I know a lot of Christians will think I was robbed of my "choice" to be baptized and follow God, and yet, I do not feel violated against my will, or that my baptism isn't efficacious or invalid. I know people will think that my faith isn't genuine because it was given to me as a gift, and I didn't have a chance to really please God and make it my own, as if I needed to add more credentials. But still, I do feel as if it is my own, even if I don't remember any change in my life. But as a side note, I don't see Baptists playing the coercion card when their fellow members bring their kids to church to hear the word. If their little ones don't want to go to church are they going to stop disciplining them in the Lord? Or aren't they unwittingly forcing their faith on their kids because they aren't old enough to make a choice? Are they going to stop bringing kids to church and let them starve? I hope not, even if it does make for a boring testimony.

I know a lot of Calvinists and Lutherans scoff at decision theology because of doctrines like predestination and total depravity. That isn't my battle. My beef with American Evangelicalism and decision theology isn't that they make a decision. It's that they don't know how to be given to. They don't see salvation as something to be passively received in faith; but rather they see faith as an active force which in itself pleases God - not because of what they receive in faith, namely Christ and all his benefits, but because of what they do by their own will. Its as if we are saved just by one work. You can't just accept Jesus as your Lord, but you have to really make Jesus your Lord, just hoist him up and then pat yourself on the back.

However, the Gospel isn't: "Make Jesus your Lord." But rather "Jesus is Lord." If we were to equate decision theology in a different context, it would be as if the black slaves had said, "I made the state set me free" after they were emancipated. But they were already declared to be free. Their freedom was something they received and it was this news that brought the freedom. Likewise, the Gospel is an accomplished fact. God has reconciled the world to himself. Even while we were still sinners and enemies Christ died for us. This is good news. In decision theology the Gospel is merely propositional, in Lutheran theology it is proclamation. And if it is proclamation it just needs to be received in faith. Faith is passive. It doesn't mean it is not our own, or that our will was overridden, but rather it means that we didn't have to do anything for it. Faith is a gift even as the word is a gift. After all, how can you have trust without the promise? But like all good gifts even faith can be rejected. The reason scripture says to have faith, is because everything has been done by the Son. Faith pleases God and justifies us not because it is something we do (although that is part of us) but because in faith itself, Christ is present with all his gifts, and he comes to us through our hearing.

As an aside, if I hear some gut wrenching story that were true, about a man wrongfully accused of murder, and then is exonerated by the court because he was framed, I would have these strong feelings and convictions of justice. I would hardly call it fickle emotions or even a decision or choice. There seems to be something deeper than both options. And yet it is still something in me that is a type of synergy. In the same way "Jesus is Lord" has the same weight to it. My faith is a strong conviction that is stirred by the Holy Spirit in a way that doesn't coerce me. But it was still brought about by God's work and proclamation, as his words are spirit and life.

When it comes to convictions of God, I don't see faith as something ruled out from children or even infants. Because I think faith is a trust and dependency on Christ. Christ said, let the children come to me. To these belong the kingdom. I think that is also how I came to Jesus. My parents brought me to Jesus and God worked in me. And I can say with scripture: "You made me trust you at my mother's breasts, on you I was cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God." Psalm 22.

God makes us trust him. This is also a gift.

I think that is why Christ said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" because children know how to be given to. That's all they have is total dependency. I think they have even greater faith than adults. In Lutheran churches we like to joke, "all baptisms here are infant baptisms, and if someone is an adult we teach them back into infancy before they are baptized"

And baptism itself is a gift because it is a promise of the Spirit that gives us a good conscience in Christ's death and resurrection, offers us the forgiveness of sins and we are sealed with God's name. But I can see where this goes against the grain of American Evangelicalism. If baptism is another law God requires of our obedience, and doesn't do anything, not a gift of the Gospel, and certainly not something that benefits you the rest of your life, I can see why it is postponed in many churches.

But at any rate, I don't feel imposed into my heavenly family any more than I felt imposed to live with my earthly family. Even if it seems like I was born into baptism, isn't it almost the same way with all churches where children are born into discipleship? Unless parents these days have stopped teaching their children... and isn't that how we make disciples, baptizing and teaching? Don't children receive these as gifts, or just one and not the other?

But I do feel blessed to have received such a gift of baptism, that I was considered a full member of the community, baptized and washed into the same church as everyone else. I was taught that Jesus is my Lord. And I believed it. I wasn't presented with a propositional Gospel where I needed to ask Jesus into my heart or else I was going to hell. And I never struggled about saying the right prayer or if I really meant it. Rather, the gospel was proclaimed as an accomplished fact for me, and that God really meant it, and I never doubted it. As a disciple I do not follow Jesus merely through the law, but into his death and resurrection.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" It seems to me that grace creates faith, faith doesn't make grace. Perhaps, the way not to frame it is by faith through grace.

Infused Herbal Tea, Christian Mission, and Everything Else.

I bought a new box of tea at the grocery store today. Had some lunch. After following the instructions on the box of tea, I read step 5: Contemplate your favourite eternal mysteries. So I did.

I started thinking about the mission of the church and how it seems so individualized these days, and how it hardly has any regard to community and the whole body of Christ. But if we stop and think, you cannot talk about the living body of Christ without saying something about the Church, and you cannot think of the Church without Christ. How is it that people think they can live as a Christian without the Church? The body can still live without the finger, but can the finger live without the body? If you claim to be a member of the invisible Church, you'd be right that the Church has invisible qualities, but it also has visible manifestations too. I think this attitude turns out to be more prideful, and more dangerous, as a super-spiritual gnosticism. And to me, this is one of the mysteries of his kingdom: the height and depth to which Jesus forgives sin, not merely as a mediator between man and God, but also as a mediator between man and man. Jesus forgives my sin so much that he forgives my neighbor's. Therefore, the Church and its mission can exist. That is where mission starts. If I attempt salvation without Christ, it is humanism, an endless toil, lofty goals, and in the end, fruitless. But the power of the gospel produces real effects, here and now, and forever. And that is why the Gospel needs to be central in all Christian conduct. Where some people see peace, love and kindness, as the Gospel, I see it as the cause and effect of the Gospel, but not necessarily the Gospel itself. It isn't about us, but it is about Christ for us, together with him, his gift to us. It all comes through his forgiveness. To be in Christ is to have him in us, to have each other, to be his body. So as the incarnation is a mystical union with God and man, so we also have a mystical union with him and to each other through the Spirit he gave us.

Theology Vectors

So, one of my gripes with theology is that a lot of people rationalize salvation in deductive terms, as if a doctrine can be derived as the result of an equation. Put any two doctrines together and you can produce a third one. The pull with this theology is that you can always have a systematic solution to every "problem". It's attractive for any thinking or conscientious christian. The downside with this approach, God never promises to answer every conundrum we run into, this side of life. His ways are above our ways. Some things are left to mystery.

At the same time, mystery isn't just a cop out to avoid coming to a solid stance on Scripture's teaching. That would be the other side of the ditch. However, true mystery is attractive for a couple reasons. It draws us in, and the further you dive into the mystery the greater the story becomes. And like any mystery movie or story, the more involved you become, the more you understand what is happening. Mysteries don't deal only on subjective clues, but also deals with solid objective facts. But at the same time, the more involved you become, the more, at times, you become confounded by it. But it doesn't leave you completely stranded either way. Once you're in, you're in, but it doesn't leave you where you are.

Assessing Scripture Throughout One's Life Pt 1.

Every once in a while, I think it’s a good thing to test your own beliefs by asking questions, mining the scriptures, and making sure that what you hold to be truth is scriptural, and fitting for God’s people. Nothing is off limits. If you have the truth on your side then you have nothing to fear. Keeping an open mind isn’t about accepting anything and everything, but it is a humble thing to do, if you are willing to grow in your understanding of scripture, or at least come to a fresh understanding of what you already know, and why you believe it. It can also help your discourse with other people, Christians, sects, and maintain respectful engagement over hot button issues. And perhaps, it will help overcome obstacles or road barriers. Certainly, it was through such wrestling with scripture that I came into contact with who God really is, and how he changes me, and continues to change me.

One important thing that I have learned in the growth of my faith is to be patient with myself, with God and with others. It seems whenever someone holds onto a new set of propositions they enter the cage stage and become impatient with everyone else. I imagine them holding their presuppositions like prison bars, and occasionally ringing the cuffs across them to make noise. It’s just creating a stir to get a negative reaction. It makes me wonder if that’s why Jesus told the demons to stop proclaiming him as the Christ, since the people’s expectations still needed to be reformed. And perhaps, there is something to be learned from that. But I find for the most part, people aren’t going to listen right away, and that includes myself.

But it was a fateful night, when one such staunch Calvinist, burst my little Sunday-School-Bible-Stories-Bubble. Predestination? What? I had never even heard of predestination, let alone considered it. Once saved always saved? You’ve got to be kidding me! I soon realized, I hardly read my Bible. Yet at the same time, it completely baffled me how a Christian can come to so many different conclusions than me. And is this really what God is like? I soon realized I hardly, if ever, opened my Bible. But through this experience, I became so tortured by certain scriptures that I came to a place where I started reading the Bible for my own benefit.

From there, it took me four years to really understand what I managed to get myself into. I went from being an Arminian/Lutheran to an Arminian, to being a Lutheran, then to being an Arminian again, to a Calvinist and back to a Lutheran. On that point, I definitely did a lot of “converting.” Sure, I might have flipped and flopped a lot, I was still growing up. But on the positive side, I learned a lot from being on both sides of the spectrum. And I came across a lot of things that I didn’t expect to find in the Bible. I still find that to be true.

One of the things that I learned by going around in circles: the benefits and weakness of both positions. Arminianism makes a solid confession that God wills the salvation of all, and that he is truly love for all humanity. Calvinism, on the other hand, makes a clear confession that God should receive all the glory for our salvation - there is no room for boasting, even in our own choices. And yet on the downside, all the assurance in election is lost in a limited atonement. And Arminianism has a downside too, and leaves the most ultimate choice that there is resting on our own sinful devices - and there have been a lot of crazy things done in the name of growing the church to appeal to the sinful nature, ironically to make converts.

In each instance, I came to both positions through the magisterial use of reason. That is to say, if you find any one of the five points of Calvinism to be true then the rest of the 5 points will be true. Find any one of them to be false, and the rest of the points will be false, and you’ll be an Arminian. It’s that simple really. Or so I thought. But I came back to Lutheranism because I found out that I didn’t have to do this logic chopping with scripture.

Theology doesn’t need to be as intellectually satisfying as much as it needs to be faithful to all of the scriptures. In this way, reason needs to take a ministerial function in theology and serve under scripture; whereas the magisterial use of reason would have itself imposed above scripture, and that I find to be dangerous. I also find it attractive that the Lutheran Confessions foresaw this significant debate, but of both positions upheld some of these unparallel points in polar tension. It is clear that such a position was not in order to compromise or take “the middle” way (like the Anglicans), but rather to affirm what scripture affirms and take the “paradoxical” way.

Upward Over the Mountain

This is a quick, off the cuff, low-fi recording Sharon and I did. Neither did I put much into the graphics.. and just used Google. But Sharon has a great voice, and I just wanted to put something new on youtube :)

Time Goes Bye

So much to explore and write about, so little time. I'm focusing on school right now, biology and physics. However, a new years resolution, is to spend more time in the gospels. Hopefully, I will get through all four gospels three times this year, equaling a rate of one gospel a month. That is more than quite attainable. I hope to explore the uniqueness of each gospel, it's individual purpose, use, key features, different accents and things like that, but ultimately learning things that assist me in being Christ's disciple submitting to his teaching, hearing his word, abiding in his word, that is the goal. Blogging on the other hand, will happen on occasion, but its falling by the way side. I don't want that to happen, but it's inevitable.

Colour?

Yes, here at Losing All, I have a new design for the new year! Being a simple, minimalist, I liked the black and white template design from last year. But really, changing templates is too easy now, and you can upload pictures too, which is pretty cool. What else does the New Year bring? I resolve to have more fun, making fun of Calvinism more often. (It keeps the web statistics up!)

** Colour - the real way to spell. Unfortunately, for the most part, I'm a really picky person, and a really lazy one at that. Therefore, I need to have everything spelled correctly, but I'm also too lazy that I can't change my "checks" to the Canadian. Therefore, I re-spell words I know to be spelled right, solely to get the red squiggly underlines off of my page, I hate them!! I'm afraid much of my spelling has been Americanized. I also hope to recover a truer Canadian identity this year. Or something.

Systematic Theologies

In systematic theology you can prove anything. Each theology keeps snowballing. And when it turns into a cohesive heap, you can explain everything and more. You can even prove that Jesus does not love the whole world, you can justify yourself to sin, to not reach out to your neighbors, to get an annulment and destroy a family, to hate your enemies, to let people wander from the truth, to sit comfortably in your life, and so on. For this reason I think there will be no end to it.

People will do this for a number of reasons. Likely for simplicity, the thirst for knowledge or self-justification. But when you see people do this you can see the tangle work. They are caught in constructions grounded on rational deductions and pet theories which have no clear word fashioned from scripture. This I find to be scary. Anybody will believe anything when you position it in a specific God framework.

But it doesn't stop there. Somehow these constructions carry the same currency as scripture. You must compel others to propagate the system. After all, we're talking God here. And so you need to reinforce your convictions by recruiting others to the team. - But that's a game I refuse to play. A spoken word without God's authority will be held to account.

I don't mind taking systematics to task. I find them intriguing and engaging, but I also find them draining. God without a spoken word is nothing. I was going to write a final post about OSAS and blah blah blah. But I lost my motivation. I will finish it. But I don't like to dwell on it too often. I would rather be more positive.

Yet I do see how people just grow into these things without even knowing it. After all, theologies don't just sit on the shelf, they create communities. Ironically, some communities just let their theology sit on the shelf. As sinners every theology is prone to be caged. No theology or church is "safe." For a while now, I've stopped caring about keeping theology tidy. Theology doesn't sit and systematize itself. Theology is muddy. It gets on your shirt, tracks on your floor, it gets everywhere. Theology must get everywhere.

That is why I named this blog "Losing All." It motivates me in losing my pride. It motivates me in losing my idols and everything to which I cling, my possessions and my life. And ultimately it motivates me to lose my systematic theologies. It's about losing it all in order to gain Christ. And looking at it that way, Christ is all theology. All other things at some point will go.

I certainly haven't arrived, but I look forward to the day.

Mandala.

My girlfriend had a "mandala" at school which ties into her nursing purposes. On one of the slides she had a picture of a cross. She said something to the effect of:

"Faithfulness is first about God's faithfulness to me, not my faithfulness to him. It is because of his faithfulness that I can be faithful to others"

One of the many reasons why she rocks.

Easy

It's easy to doubt. It's especially easy to doubt if you tell it to yourself long enough. It's also easier to believe God when he repeats himself. I'm glad God is always speaking to me in the Bible, Church and friends. It helps me shut up.

Conceding To Your Enemies.

I can get pretty defensive about things, even faith. Perhaps being defensive isn't always the best way. Whenever Jesus was confronted with a trick question he always seemed to find away to pin the question back on the one asking.

The other day a friend said I shouldn't go to church because it's lame. Our natural tendency would be to say "It's actually really cool, we have a hip pastor, a sweet praise team, and God is cool too. You should come." People aren't stupid. Church isn't about having a sweet praise team and a hip pastor.

I always think of things after the fact, but I completely should have conceded he was right. Church is lame because that is who it is for. Our status before God is dead and lame, blind and deaf to him. But it was through love that God sent his only Son into our flesh to reconcile the world to himself - to live and die a perfect death in our place. In fact it was while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

We mocked him, "He can heal others but he can't save himself." But it was for this reason he endured the cross. "By his wounds we are healed." Christ didn't come to be served but to serve. He took on our weak body of humanity in the incarnation, brought it into death and came out alive. This is our hope. In ourselves we have no life and righteousness. He gives us his life and righteousness so we might be raised from the dead. It was in his weakness that he is victorious. It is in Christ we see how bad our sins are. Lame, yes? Yet lame and dead he hung on the cross to save us.

When you realize how lame it actually is, and how Christ identifies with us in this, it becomes so much more than lame. It is life.