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Hello everyone!
Well, winter is cruising along here, and we are expecting another storm this weekend. The snow is piling up, and that's a great thing! Keep praying for the work God is doing here at Trinity- there's much going on, and the encouragement you give means more than you know.
Well, it took 8 weeks, lots of coffee (in me), and some really amazing small group discussions, but we made it through Romans 9-11! Whew! That was quite a journey. If you missed part (or all) of it, I encourage you to think about working your way through these messages and scripture. Chapters 9-11 are a 'logical section' unique not only to Romans, but all of the New Testament. Here Paul deals with some of the thorniest of theological questions, the significance of Israel, and ends with one of the New Testaments greatest confessions of God's Sovereignty. I am relieved to complete this portion of our study, but greatly enriched as well.
SO, where from here? This Sunday I'm taking a one week hiatus from Romans, and will bring a stand alone message calling us- as everyday believers- to a deeper engagement with Scripture. We will explore some of the essential perspectives, questions, and skills we need to bring when studying the Bible, as we move from just being readers or students of scripture, to lovers of God's Word. As a framework, I'm going to address the New Testament idea of God's forgiveness. It's hard to think of a more basic and essential component of the Gospel, and yet, some of the most commonly referenced passages dealing with 'forgiveness', if taken by themselves, devoid of any context, seem to say very different things about how one receives God's forgiveness. For example. consider the following:
From Matthew 6:12, 14-15 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors... For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
From 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
From Colossians 2:13-14 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Finally, from Romans 10:9-10 ...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Read these verses carefully. Do you see where I'm going? In Matthew 6 (from the 'Lord's Prayer'), Jesus seems to clearly say that God's forgiveness is contingent on our forgiveness of others. But is this works? If I die with an attitude of unforgiveness toward a person, am I lost? Or, take 1 John 1:9. On its own, this seems to make forgiveness contingent on our full, complete, and up to date confession of our sins. This has given rise to the destructive idea of incremental forgiveness, and all sorts of religious practices, including the prayer I was taught growing up- "Father, forgive me for my sins of commission, my sins of omission, and my sins I'm not aware of." What? Anyone been there with me? Then we have Paul in Colossians 2, where there is no mention at all of confession of sin or forgiveness toward others, and our forgiveness is described as 'all', meaning comprehensive and complete, as a very state of being (also see Hebrews 10:11-14). Finally, we turn to Romans 10 (one of the New Testaments most concise statements of receiving salvation), where the only confession mentioned is confession of our faith in the Lordship of Christ, not confession of our sin.
Whaddup!?
The point we will explore Sunday is that believing God's Word entails more than just reading what one verse says 'to me', as if it were written in my generation in my native language (see my First Tracks from two weeks ago). The above passages contain powerful truths about the miracle of God's forgiveness and our Salvation, but they all must be considered within several important contexts, contexts that in my experience are rarely taught, and apart from which ensues great confusion. My point is not to try and guilt you all into being academic students of Bible- far from it. Rather, my desire is to call (and equip) us into a deeper love of what we rightly call God's Word- and how this love will lead us (dare I say it) into a greater level of thought and effort as we engage the gift of scripture.
It's a journey worth taking! Love you all, hope to see you Sunday if you are in town.
Growing with you,
Pastor Ethan
P.S! I ended my message Sunday with an unnamed reference to my favorite musician, and how the great joy I receive from his music reminded me of our desire to see those we love experience the great joy of knowing Christ. In any case, after the service several of you asked who I was talking about- a dangerous question to ask me! So, if you are at all interested, here are a few examples of the greatest Christian musician/lyricist/genius rock composer you've never heard of (I can hear my friends groaning). So crank up the volume, and block a big chunk of time! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you (via YouTube), Mr. Neal Morse and the Neal Morse band.
- Short(ish): "So far Gone." From "Similitude of a Dream", Neal's double CD Rock Opera based on "A Pilgrims Progress". Running time, 5 minutes 29 seconds. This is probably Neal's shortest song on YouTube.
- Longest: "Alive Again." Massive epic from Neal's album "The Grand Experiment". I saw this in concert. If you have any appreciation at all for sheer rock multi-instrumental musicianship, this is well worth your time. Video quality is a bit low, but sound is good. Make time for the whole thing, because it clocks in at 35 minutes, 58 seconds (there's a miss-edit that repeats a few minutes, but that's just more joy!) Prog on.
I'm seeing Neal in concert this Saturday night, back-stage pass and all. If I don't make it back Sunday it's because I sneaked onto the tour bus.
Love ya.
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