Seeking Balance in Truth

Sunday, May 07, 2006

I had this thought less than 90 seconds ago, so please bear with and forgive me as I want to get it in writing and hear any responses to it as I work through it:

My problem with the Gospel as presented by many evangelicals and extremists is that it starts with the sin of man instead of the love of God. God's love was first, then we sinned, so He showed the depth of His love by sending Jesus to pay the penalty for sin. A conversation/outreach must begin with God's love and move into man's sin (not excluding it) and the penalty as such, not vice versa.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'm not sure that I completely agree bro. I'm sure one of the evangelicals and/or extremesists you're talking about is Ray Comfort. How do you feel about that, namely the questioning whether a person can know and acknowledge grace and love without knowing what they did wrong, or how they have sinned and separated themselves from God? Sprugeon has a quote that fits here, "They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy Law". I guess I see it more as showing someone how they need that love and grace, how they are doomed without it, and how there is no hope whatsoever if they don't accept it, and then giving them the chance to accept God's perfect love. Aight, thats enough for me, note the time, nearly 2 o'clock. Have a great day. Tell the girls I say hi!; 1:54 AM
JPN said...: I have no idea who Ray Comfort is, I've heard the name but know nothing about his message.

You seem to want to contrast the love of God and the sin of man, and we can't do that. As I wrote, we don't excluse man's sin in the Gospel, why else would we need Jesus. What I'm saying is that everything must start with God. He created us, He loves us, He desires relationship with us. However, there seems to be something wrong with that picture. As Chuck Colson once wrote, we must ask three questions, "How did we get here, what happened, and how do we fix it." You can't start with the second question...

A Scripture I'm reflecting on here is obviously John 3:16, God loved, so He sent, not the other way around.; 8:24 AM
Adam Nate said...: Yeah J, I would have to disagree as well. You’ll have to count me as a dissenter and an extremist, although I prefer narrow-minded dogmatic fundamentalist :-)

You can start with God and His love and tell 100 people that God loves them and I’ll bet you around 95 will immediately respond that they already know that. Ask those same 100 if they would consider themselves a good person, and around the same 95 would respond that they indeed are pretty good people who have lived pretty good lives.

You can tell people God loves them all day long. The problem is that people have a completely flawed view of Biblical love and a completely flawed concept of the true God’s love, His justice, and His holiness. The god the majority of people believe in and pray to is a god created in their own image. Their god is a god who loves them, wouldn’t send anyone to hell, and would never think to punish them for their sin (if they even believe in sin). So telling them about God’s love is the wrong place to start for almost everyone – save the humble few who at the reaping stage.

What at least 95 (again I’m probably being generous) of a 100 people need to be brought to is an understanding of their Creator’s righteousness, holiness, and justice. To do this we simply have to follow the New Testament model. We must use God’s law “lawfully” – as a schoolmaster to bring people to Christ. The law will show sinners who are on their way to hell the righteous standard of God. Once a person sees and understands the perfect and absolute standard by which they will be judged on the Day, they will then begin to fear God (this is a good thing, by the way).

Once they have “trembled before the holy law” (great quote Patrick) then and only then are they ready for grace. Law to the proud, grace to the humble. But I think the more we question people, the more we will see that even those we think are humble are actually quite prideful and hanging on to their disgusting self-righteous rags as a means to salvation.

Now, what about God’s love. Well, you can tell people all day long that God loves them. You can tell some stories and may even make quite a few of them cry. You could even throw in some modern “Christian” psychobabble about how father’s not loving their children correctly is why people don’t come to Christ.

But I’ll stick with God’s Word where it seems to me that God’s love is almost constantly revealed only in direct connection to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for man’s sin. The cross and only the cross is the heart – the clear demonstration – of God’s love for the world. You won’t be able to accurately tell someone of God’s love without the cross. And how can you inform someone about the meaning and need of the cross without first explaining a person’s transgression of the law? On that note, how can we refer to sin without the law – for even Paul says he didn’t know sin except by the law?

I feel you JP on wanting people to understand God’s love. But there is a Biblical way to express this. And that begins by taking people on a trip to Sinai and showing them how great their sin is as well as the wages of their sin. If and when they are humbled, we can then reveal to them how their Creator demonstrated His love for them – by dying for their sins and paying the penalty for their death sentence that they could never pay. Until they are humbled before the law, we have no right to share the Gospel with them. The Savior warned us not to “give what is holy to dogs, nor cast our pearls before swine.”

That’s all for now. Peace!

“If I had my way, I would declare a moratorium on public preaching of ‘the plan of salvation’ in America for one to two years. Then I would call on everyone who has use of the airwaves and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, and the law of God, until sinners would cry out, ‘What must we do to be saved?’ Then I would take them off in a corner and whisper the Gospel to them. Don’t use John 3:16. Such drastic action is needed because we have Gospel-hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding of why they need to be saved.” – Paris Reidhead

PS – Lest anyone be confused, I am NOT talking about hell-fire and brimstone preaching and teaching. Since Patrick brought up Ray and his insights, allow me to throw in a quote from the great evangelist:

“Preaching the reality of hell, without using the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, can do a great deal of damage to the cause of the Gospel. A sinner cannot conceive of the thought that God would send anyone to hell, as long as he is deceived into thinking that God’s standard of righteousness is the same as his. Paul ‘reasoned’ with Felix regarding righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come (Acts 24:25). This is the righteousness that is of the law and judgment by the law. Felix ‘trembled’ because he suddenly understood that his intemperance made him a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God. The reality of hell suddenly became reasonable to him when the law was used to bring the knowledge of sin.

Imagine if the police burst into your home, arrested you, and shouted, ‘You are going away for a long time!’ Such conduct would probably leave you bewildered and angry. What they have done seems unreasonable. However, imagine if the law burst into your home and instead told you specifically why you were in trouble: ‘We have discovered 10,000 marijuana plants growing in your back yard. You are going away for a long time!’ At least then you would understand why you are in trouble. Knowledge of the law you have transgressed furnished you with that understanding. It makes judgment reasonable.

Hell-fire preaching without use of the law to show the sinner why God is angry with him [and why he is actually an “enemy of God”] will more than likely leave him bewildered and angry - for what he considers unreasonable punishment.”

Again, we need to use the law, but we need to use it lawfully.; 3:08 PM
JPN said...: Thost 95 may say that they know God loves them, but not in the biblical "nothing can separate us from the love of God" type or the "all I have is yours type." All they know is the controlling "do as I say or I'm kicking you out" angry father type of love.

I will never understand why saying God loves you cheapens the Gospel? That idea just escapes me.

I thought I reiterated twice that by taking this stance does not exclude the Judgment of Justice of God nor His wrath for the heathen. Maybe that RHS education didn't do me so well and I can't read as well as I thought.

If everything in the Bible, the entire message of God, doesn't
begin with His love and desire for relationship with us, then I've got to get a new Bible, the one I read must not be the right one.; 5:06 PM
James said...: I'm not sure there is an absolute correct answer, but I will offer a few things that I believe that God has revealed to me in the last couple of years. I believe we have to be cautious regardless of the method (for lack of a better word) we take when discussing the gospel. First, those 95, who believe they are good and probably believe in a god, probably think of the Biblical God as a fiery, ticked off god who wants to bring wrath to his people because they aren't following his rules. People are always blaming God when things go wrong. Why would he allow this, why wouldn't he stop that... I think most people, including a lot of Christians, don't believe in Satan and a real place called Hell. This is getting into our church's leading to relativism and humanism. Anyway, I think God is a love-sick father who is running to us, but we must acknowledge our sin and turn (from the world) and run to Him. I don't believe that God sends anyone to hell. We choose to go there, by not choosing to accept Him into our hearts.

The problem with starting with God's love, is that we often present that, then hit the road leaving the person feeling that there life has changed and that everything will be honky-dory. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The day after you are saved, you're still you. Yes, your heart has transformed, but the world is still there and the same temptations are there, but now you've got the Holy Spirit causing you to second guess some of your decisions. Plus, Satan didn't need to worry about you before you were a believer, but now that you're in the Kingdom he's going to start shooting all sorts of arrows at you to make you think that it didn't happen, you aren't good enough, and you'll never change. I guess what I'm saying is that we need to make sure we give them the whole story. That's why I think we need strong bible based churches, life groups, communities, etc. to support each other through this journey.

Ok, not sure if anything made sense or went with the discussion, but I just wanted to jump in on the family feud. RHS FOOTBALL RULES!!; 5:58 PM
JPN said...: Great balance my friend! I like what you had to say.

RHS FB did rule back in the day, but now I think a good Dodgeland JV team would toss them around.; 6:23 PM
Adam Nate said...: Hey James! Welcome to the war zone where the debate is fun, sarcastic, loving, and best of all – relevant and important.

Yeah JP, I would agree you need a new Bible. You probably have the right one but either some eisegesis is happening or it’s too old and worn out. The good news is I can help on both fronts.

Concerning the latter, I have entirely too many Bibles and it’s making a mish mash of my pad.

Relating to the latter, I say come and let us reason together. First, I hope most people don’t believe that “nothing can separate them from the love of God,” because it is not true. There IS something that can and does separate them from the love of God. It is the something that makes God’s wrath abide on them currently, which makes them an enemy of God now, and which will lead to their being tossed in the lake of fire come Judgment Day. What is that something? Sin obviously. Transgression of God’s holy and just and eternal law. “But your inequities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Here I like to address what James brought up. Though it is unpopular to point out today, Jehovah IS a “fiery, ticked off God.” Jehovah is a wrathful God who is too be feared. You may say, “Well, that’s the Old Testament.” Oh contraire! God is just as wrath-filled in the New Testament as He is in the Old. Did he not kill a husband and wife in the Book of Acts because they told one lie? Didn’t Jesus warn that He was to be feared because He has the power to cast the body and soul into hell? Didn’t Paul say that he persuaded men to come to the Savior because he understood the “terror of the Lord”? Let’s simply open up to the end of the story and read the terrible judgments of Revelation.

And what about perhaps the most dreadful presentation of God’s wrath – the cross of Jesus Christ? Recall that God’s fury on sin was poured out on Jesus in an unspeakably horrible way. Yes, God is love, But let us not forget that God is a consuming fire of holiness who is perfectly just. Now, God doesn’t “want” to punish people. He is not willing that any should perish. But because of His perfect justice He will punish them eternally for breaking His law.

Now unfortunately JP you didn’t fully quote Romans 8:39, leading to a false conclusion. It says that nothing is “able to separate us from the love of God WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD” (emphasis mine). Most are not in Christ Jesus. Very few know Him as their Lord. Most are in the world. They love the things of the world. Contrary to your psychobabble interpretation of most people’s image of God, most believe in and accept the image of God portrayed by the world given its appeal to the sinful and fallen mind. Most believe in a loving, kind fatherly-figure, with no sense of justice or truth. This obviously appeals to those who are enjoying sin for a season.

Another thing, I don’t know that telling someone God loves them “cheapens” the Gospel message. Jesus dying as a sacrifice for sin and rising from the dead according to the promises of God is obviously the demonstration of God’s love. But there are at least three reasons why when preaching the Gospel I don’t initially tell people God loves them. One, because they already know it – albeit faultily. Two, I can’t find a Biblical precedence for it. And three, it completely messes up what I see as the Biblical sequence. How could I possibly tell a dog or swine about God’s great love - the holiest of pearls? No, they must first be humbled before the schoolmaster and tutor – God’s law.

Just to tie up some loose ends here, I agree James that “most people, including a lot of Christians, don’t believe in Satan and a real place called Hell [which leads me to question whether they are a true convert]” and that the church is falling in love with “relativism and humanism.” Much of the so-called “emergent church” is living proof of this. And I would echo your call for “strong bible based churches, life groups, communities, etc. to support each other through this journey.” But first we must help people to start the journey that begins at conversion.

I do have to disagree with your statement that God doesn’t send people to hell. We break His law and, yes, neglect the provisions He has made for us to go to heaven. But the Bible paints a much different picture of Judgment Day that many people are uncomfortable with. That is why erroneous saying like “Hell is locked from the inside” are popular today. But when we search the Scriptures we see that God will send people to hell, they will not want to go and will beg to be let out, and that the heavenly chorus will praise God for sending people to hell. That’s right – God will be glorified for all eternity because He sent people to hell.

Thanks for this guys. Very important that iron sharpens iron. Shalom is Yeshua (working on my Yiddish :-) )

Adam

PS - The reason for RHS's dismal football program is the lack of any Nate's in the program (aside from my 1-8 senior year that is).; 7:22 PM
JPN said...: Can you share some stories of people's reactions to this message when you were on the Av the other night. I'd love to hear how they responded.; 7:31 PM
Adam Nate said...: I really don't have that many stories from that one night. We had a late start and me and some guys preached to only about four people who were interested. This is not to say that they were saved. They weren't. But that's not my job. My job and the groups job was to deliver the mail, sow seeds, and that was done in my mind. If by God's grace we are able to reap, then praise Him!

Now, I can say I have had people come back from past "adventures" to me and thank me for not watering down the Gospel message and I can put you in contact with them if you would like.

But then again I could probably also put you in contact with those who would likley tell you that I am an asshole, narrow-minded, rude and intolerant.

But my concern is what God thinks. All I want to be able to say is that I am innocent of the blood of those who have come in contact with me. I can't say that now but I am trying to rectify that. Lord give me courage and strength!!!

One more thing I can tell you is that nearly everyone I have talked to in about the last year (a) thinks they are a good person, (b) eventually agree that they have broken the Ten Commandments, (c) eventually acknowledge that they would be found guilty on Judgement Day, and (d) believe they are going to Heaven. There are many things I can deduce from this. At least that people have a warped concept of God. And I also deduce that people believe that God loves them and therefore won't punish them and also that they have heard of God's grace - apart from the law - and are therefore using the grace of God as a license to sin. There is very little fear of God which, again, is not a good thing.

Cheers sir! I'm sure there are more stories to come, especially when I start to do actual open-air preaching.

AJ; 8:18 PM
James said...: Adam, how many words do you type a minute?? It would take me a week of research to write what you probably wrote in 5 minutes. God has given you gift, keep it up.

I heard in a sermon one time, that about the time that anasthesia became common for surgeries was about the time people stopped believing in hell. There was no more "fear." Don't know if there is any legitimacy to that, but interesting to think about.

JP, have you mentioned the Boston trip to your brothers?? Me and three Nate's in the car for 30 hours...that would be amazing.; 9:04 PM
JPN said...: Count me out of that trip.; 9:07 PM
Adam Nate said...: Thanks for the invite James! Hopefully me and JP can wander down to Madcity soon. I would love to hang out again.

C'mon JP - that trip to the Beantown would fun. I promise to speak only when spoken too :-)

BTW, have you guys ever watched any Christopher Guest movies? I rented three this weeekend and they are hilarious!

Peace.; 9:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Love is the end of the law. Love is the end result of a whole list of other traits (2 Peter 1).

The problem is we know love is the ultimate goal and we want to jump to the end and put it first.

The most important question is "What is your definition of love?"

Jay Bakker explained that 1 Cor. 13 lists the "effects" of love, not the definition of love.

What is your definition of love?; 9:46 PM
Adam Nate said...: Good points John. Although it would probably be more accurate to say that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4) or that “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). The former verse is the one I have long cherished. It’s so exciting to know that when I trusted and received the Lord Jesus as my Savior the law had no more to say to me. Messiah was my Substitute, and through His sacrificial death I have died to the law. Now I – we – are through with the law as well as through with all futile and vain attempts to gain righteousness through it. Praise God!

Concerning love, we do need a definition. Always a key component. Obviously God is love. And it seems that the most fundamental definition of love from a Biblical standpoint entails knowing our Creator and obeying His commandments. Biblically defined love, therefore, would be obedience to God and His Word. Or would you, following your outlook on 1 Corinthians 13, see this as the effects of love? If so, then what is your definition of love?

Cheers!; 5:49 PM
JPN said...: Thanks for checking in John,

I know Jay said 1 Cor is the effects of love, and I can see that, but I also think it is the definition of love. It is what love is, both at the core and at the effect.; 8:22 PM
Anonymous said...: This is mostly in response to Adam, but all opinions are welcome and appreciated.
In an above post, you stated…"But there are at least three reasons why when preaching the Gospel I don’t initially tell people God loves them....Two, I can’t find a Biblical precedence for it."
I must say, this struck me as odd at first glance. After reading through it again, and then doing further reading in scripture to see what it says, I’m astounded to see this might actually be true! But, the skeptic in me is begging the question, if God doesn't love sinners until they are "in Christ" as you and Romans 8:39 have stated, then why would God tell us to love each other as He has loved us, as it states in 1 John 4:7, and John 13:34 among other places. Aight, that is all for now, have a good one fellas.; 1:49 AM
JPN said...: So what you two are saying is that God doesn't love us until we come into relationship with Him? WOW! That is one of the most absurd comments I have ever heard.

Yes, Adam is right that nothing separates us from the love of God that is "in Christ," but that doesn't mean God doesn't love us before we come to Him. If that were true, why would He wish that none should perish, why would He send Jesus to die for us? If He doesn't love us, why didn't He just scrap this whole thing and start over? WOW!; 7:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Adam,

Love is the giving of a value and not expecting anything in return.

Check 1 Cor. 13, all of the 16 effects result from this action.

Love is not a feeling. We are supposed to love even when we don't FEEL like it.

God definitely loves us first because He has given us everything we have and He doesn't expect us to pay Him back because He knows we can't.

However, love is the result of understanding a lot of other important concepts: justice, uniqueness, morality, profitability...notice the goal of 1 Cor 13 is "profitability".

Notice also that justice says we will get a value in return...either from the person we are loving or from God. That is why Jesus said to love your enemies...so that God can reward you through justice.

When you see this definition of love, it becomes apparent people should love instead of wanting to be loved.

My favorite question regarding this topic is to ask, "What do you mean when you say, 'I love you'?"

If it is to tell someone you FEEL a certain way, then this is not love from 1 Cor 13. If it is to tell someone that you have given them a value, then you are getting a value back by bringing it up and this ISN'T love.

What do YOU mean when you say, "I love you"?; 8:27 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey don't kill the messenger, I'm merely reacting to what Adam had stated, as you could tell from my quoted passage. I said that "I’m astounded to see this might actually be true". Now to back that up, here are some of the verses I looked at.

Romans 5:5 "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Maybe I'm reading this wrong, and please correct me if I am, but this seems to say that God's love is poured out into us when we receive the Holy Spirit.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Listen guys, I’m not trying to say God doesn’t love those who are not Christians, but I’m merely entertaining the thought. Don’t be so quick to throw these ideas out the window. There may be many verses out there that say God loves the sinners, after all, he had dinner with many of them. Then instead of just saying something like “That’s Absurd”, bring scripture to the table. I listed two verses where it appears that Adam’s conclusion may be backed up, now it is your task to prove it wrong.; 1:58 PM
Anonymous said...: 1 John 4:19

God first loved us...

God loves everyone regardless of whether they love Him back or not. Justice takes care of that aspect.

Romans 5:5 just shows one way God gives us a value...through the Holy Spirit

John 14:21 shows we WILL BE loved in return for keeping the commandments and loving Jesus.

Jesus is moral. When you love him (give him a value) he loves you back (gives you a value back).; 2:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Go back to 1 Cor 13.

At the end it talks about faith, hope and love. The Bible says faith and hope will come to an end. However, love will never end.

God first loved us. Then we can love Him back. When we do this, He will love us back. The above verses show some of these later transactions.

The beautiful thing is that both parties can profit BECAUSE of uniqueness. If we all valued everything the same, then this exchange would always result in one party being owed and the other party owing.

The Bible says the body will edify (profit) itself up in love. this is possible if people are moral, unique, etc.

The key is getting non-contradictory definitions for the terms you use.; 2:25 PM
Anonymous said...: John, I'm not sure that I follow what you're saying. First you said that God loves us not matter what, whether we love Him or not. Then you stated that Jesus is moral and loves us if we love him, or gives us value if we give him value? These two ideas seem to contradict each other. Were you trying to say that Jesus gives us more value if we give him value, or that he loves us more when we love him?; 3:21 PM
JPN said...: Well, this post has caused me unbelievable stress and anxiety, I am almost ready to close down this blog so I don't have to look at it anymore. Anyway...

I had typed a few thoughts of clarification but to save my sanity, I chose not to post them after all.

In the words of Adam. Cheers!; 3:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Patrick,

God gives all of us a value before we ever give Him anything. So, like the Bible says, God loves us first.

When we love God, God will continue to love us back. These other verses saying "he who loves Me will be loved by My Father" are showing the continuation of love...because love will go on forever.

Knowledge will end.
Time will end.
Faith will end.
Hope will end.

Love never ends because it is the key to profitability (according to 1 Cor 13) and therefore can be sustained forever.

Like I wrote at first, we are jumping to the end of a complex discussion. A lot of other concepts need to be covered to completely understand love. (2 Peter 1)Perhaps one of the reasons love is so important is it causes us to have to learn a lot of other things and mature in other areas in order to fully comprehend it.

PS
Jason, relax. If you don't want discussion, then only post fully formed thoughts. I thought it was brilliant to post something that was "top of mind"...its the sign of a good Bible study leader :-); 4:00 PM
JPN said...: Thanks John,

I think you post good, thoughtful points and we can ponder and grow from that. I've appreciated your input. It's nice to know that one can post something and feel safe rather than attacked. I wish it were always like that; 4:11 PM
Adam Nate said...: Well…Good afternoon fellas!!!

It was a relatively short post JP, and look at what you have produced! Wait until you start writing books. You’ll cause a greater stir than Brian McLaren!

First let me echo what John said. Relax JP. Relax. Discussion, thought experiments, cross-examination, etc., are good and profitable things for believers. Please don’t go and develop a persecution complex on me. You are way to mature a believer for that. No one is attacking you. I reread all the posts SEVERAL times and didn’t find an instance that I could even come close to describing as an “attack.”

Another thing that John said that I thought was key was the complexity of love. It’s not a feeling, as so many both within the Bride and without think it to be. This is why the discussion is important and I am thankful it was brought up. Again, iron sharpening iron.

One more thing John before I move on to my “bros.” After reading through your website I don’t see how “modeletics” differs in its aim from a systematic theology. Please explain the difference (if there is one) when time allows. My e-mail address is codjer@hotmail.com if you would rather not post a lengthy piece here.

Patrick, I think you may have misinterpreted what I said. What I didn’t say was that God only loves those who are saved from His wrath. I was keying in on evangelism. I merely said that when preaching the Gospel I don’t approach people and begin (the word I used was “initially”) by discussing God’s love because for one reason, again, I find no Biblical precedent for it. When approaching the woman at the well, Jesus didn’t tell the adulterous Samaritan that God loves her and has a wonderful plan for her life. When people approached Jesus and asked Him what they must do to be saved, He didn’t start off talking about how much God loved them. Rather, He talked about God’s law. When Paul preached to Felix, he didn’t begin by addressing God’s great love for him. He preached righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come. There are more examples but I think you gentlemen smell what I’m cookin. Suffice it is to say that the issue, from my perspective, wasn’t whether or not God loved people or not. The issue was God’s love and its “place in the chain” when preaching the Gospel.

JP, I would agree that what I said was absurd – if and only if I stated what you said I did. But it seems the issues, as I said above, got muddled. As I look back at what was written by all, I can’t find a way to come to the deduction you did. I am in FULL agreement with you that God’s Word without a doubt teaches that God loves every person and desires for all to be saved from His coming wrath. Where did I say that God only loves those who are saved? Certainly it was said that most people are and will for all eternity be separated from God due to their wicked works. And that those who are in Christ Jesus can never be separated from God. We have positionally been placed in Christ and nothing can change that. So I guess I’m the one who is confused at how you came to the conclusion you did.

That’s all for now my brothers in Him who alone IS love. I LOVE you guys. Maranatha!; 5:04 PM
Anonymous said...: Adam,

Modeletics(tm) is comprised of four principles: non-contradiction, growth, contrastive thinking, and causality.

If these four undeniable principles are used, it can instantly identify the flaw in any belief system. It looks like a magic trick from the outside, but once you master these four principles, it is simple.

Systematic theology is a discipline, but the principles are contradictory and comparative.

In order to understand this more fully, I'l be willing to send the first book to you as an e-book and let you see for yourself.

Allow me one more point about being separated from God's love...

Comparative thinking looks for points of similarity and considers them truth. Actually truth is proven contrastively. All we know for sure is what ISN'T true. Paul wrote in this contrastive fashion. This makes his writings so powerful and so hard to understand because we naturally think comparatively.

Paul would identify all the possible answers and prove his point by proving every possible answer but one was wrong. Look at how 2 Thess is written. He proves his point by showing the opposite isn't true.

Jesus had this perspective when he said treat all those who are not against us as if they were for us...so you don't invoke justice by pulling up the wheat with the tares.

In the separate from God's love verse, we know people will be separated from God's love if they end up apart from Him. So someone must be responsible for being separated from God's love. Who is it?

Who DIDN'T Paul mention in the list that can separate US from God's love?

US

The only thing that can separate you from God's love is you (your free will).

PS
The solution to world peace is contrastive thinking! IF every person would focus on their own beliefs and try to prove them wrong, we wouldn't have another conflict. Every conflict begins with someone trying to show someone else what is wrong with their beliefs.

That's right, the solution to world peace, free of charge.; 7:00 AM

Seeking Balance in Truth

Sunday, May 07, 2006

27 comments:

Must Read List

Blog Archive

Contributors