1. If I believed in the resurrection, the American dream would be appalling.

2. If I believed in the resurrection I would support missions wrecklessly.

3. If I believed in the resurrection I wouldn’t be embarrassed about Jesus.

4. If I believed in the resurrection I would forgive as I have been forgiven.

5. If I believed in the resurrection my image would be the least most important thing in my life.

6. If I believed in the resurrection I would not fear persecution.

7. If I believed in the resurrection I would love my neighbor as myself.

8. If I believed in the resurrection death would be welcomed.

9. If I believed in the resurrection I would trust Jesus with my “life”.

10. Finally if I believed in the resurrection I content!

Imputation, Justification, Propitiation, all of those are transactional in their definition. I want to write about something but don’t know how to fully explain it without sounding like a heretic. But I am going to try and let me know what you think okay? Okay!

Because of the protestant reformation, our Gospel has become very transactional very abstract. Actually the Gospel is actually reduced to a list of facts. For the last…. I don’t know 6-7 years I have believed it, fought for it, would argue until I was blue in the face for this position. But, I think I am starting to drift away from that perspective and even more lately as I have been discussing some things in the last few blog post.

So… whats the Gospel? When that question is answered especially from a Reformed perspective. It is narrowed down to a list of facts/beliefs/cognitive recognition. And if you get those right and can articulate it clearly and with passion, my friend you have the Gospel and are justified… However, I think the Gospel is more than that and here is what I mean.

Often times when I read the Gospels I am uncomfortable. Why? Well simply put Jesus’ words are not transactional at all. When you read passages like Matthew 18:21-35, or Matthew 25:31-46 or Matthew 7:1-23, Luke 14:25-33, Mark 8:34 and a host of other texts you can often get a funny feeling in your stomach (at least I do). I then immediately run to the epistles and how I have been taught to interpret justification and salvation by grace through faith and so forth as a balm for the scrapes and bruises I got from the Gospels.

When I wrote my post about MLK and the Reformers the same question came up repeatedly. That is “what is the Gospel then”. I will say this upfront so you really understand it. Any Gospel that does not carry with it the obligation to love your neighbor as yourself (also your brother) is not a Gospel of the scriptures. Let me say that again… any Gospel that lacks the obligation to love is not a real Gospel. Now will I get in trouble for that? Sure. Will someone delete me or write me off? I am sure they will at least for some time; however, I say this with no reservation.

If we look historically, the way we get around loving neighbor as self is by applying a transactional Gospel. This is how we can say men who would participate in the slave trade, the kidnapping of another human being or their children and selling them for profit and those who supported these ventures through insurance, manufacturing boats, capital investment and even purchasing them could have been Christians. The reason is simple, they can articulate the facts with great accuracy and this gives them a pass to violate almost the entire New Testament.

This is how a group of men can set up a state where those who don’t agree with them could have their goods confiscated, imprisoned and even executed. Why? Because it is simple get the facts right and there you have yourself a Gospel. This is how you can have an entire nation absolutely hate another group of people simply because of complexion and features while simultaneously walking in a building to “worship God”. We can make excuses for them because of the facts. We can say they were just a product of their day; however, Jesus says “any man who doesn’t hate his mother or father… isn’t worthy of me” or “any man who does not pick up his cross and die daily…” you see. Jesus talks about the Spirit that brings conviction the writer of Hebrews talks about the New Heart and Paul talks about a Spirit that indwells us that breaks us free from the power of sin (hatred and racism included) in Romans 8, yet somehow getting the facts right holds precedence over these text.

The Gospel isn’t a list of facts the Gospel is a person who we are now in and now lives in us good works seems to be an essential component and the work of love the greatest of these.

What makes it even more odd is the double standard. For some reason we are much tougher on people today than we are on those of the past. Let me be clear about something and I hate to beat this horse. But it isn’t like someone didn’t say “what you are doing to me is wrong and does not bear the fruit of Jesus Christ”. These men heard this numerous of times, even had it explained from scripture (check Frederick Douglas, the Anabaptist, Martin Luther King and even back to the 5th century). These men just ignored these people and did whatever they wanted to do. It is as if they were just oblivious to their acts of hatred. We need to get that clear. These men just ignored the Gospel command to love. Jesus says “a new commandment I give you, that you love one another”.

So whats the Gospel? Depends on who you ask.

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. Paul calls the world darkened by Satan in Ephesians 4:17-24, he tells us to live Godly lives in Titus 2:11-14, in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 he tells us to pursue holiness. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:11-13 we ought to have holy and Godly lives. I can continue but you get the drift. The church is not only called to serve the poor and help the needy it is to be the moral compass of a dark and cold world full of evil and darkness and on its way to destruction.

Today; however, we live in an age where such things have taken a back seat and my friends the Gospel is diluted because of it. Because sin has so permeated our culture, we no longer have the bite we once had. Lets be clear about something. Paul DID NOT preach a Gospel that did not with it carry the weight of the obligation to live Godly. He didn’t. Paul’s Gospel carried with it the obligation to put off fornication, idol worship, idolatry (in other forms), adultery, ungodly sexuality, selfishness, violence, envy, drunkenness (getting high) and other forms of licentiousness.

Paul would have not been okay with a couple who were living together but not married. He would have not been okay with the way Christian women dress in our culture. He would have not been okay with Christians being involved with gossip shows, going to strip clubs, smoking weed, divorcing at will nor sleeping around. You only need to read the epistles for a brief second to see that Paul’s gospel would have eradicated such a philosophy.

With that said, I want to say this very candidly. Any church that would allow  people to participate in such things with no attempt of personal correction may have a Gospel that is not from God. Listen to me very carefully. A church does not have the right to ignore or allow such things. They bear the God given responsibility of holding those in their care responsible to the Gospel they say they have embraced. They hold a God given responsibility to not fellowship with people who flaunt such practices and encourages others to do the same.

I want to be honest, I am very afraid for our churches. Many are just inspirational watering holes promising people eternal life who may not actually have it. Placing a balm on wounds that will only be healed through the power of the Gospel. By ignoring such things these churches are acutally fueling the rapid moral decline of the society it finds itself in. My friends the church has no right to do such things and continually call themselves a church.

Now hear what I am not saying. I am not saying, you close the doors and people can no longer come and hear the good news. But you let them know up front that they can not be members, that their lives don’t line up and that they may be in danger of the hell fire. I am not saying you can’t befriend and even have meaningful relationships with such people, but you best let them know that Christian fellowship isn’t whats going on but that because of Christ you are displaying love for you fellow man.

Think about this question. If we are no longer the moral compass then who will be?

Missions is the heartbeat of God. Please, please don’t let anyone else tell you anything else. God, reconciling the world to Himself though the death and resurrection of His Son is what Christianity is. God is the gospel as John Piper says. God has shared Himself with His creation by faith and this faith can only be achieved through hearing (Romans 10)

If world missions (the great commission) is the heart beat of God, the fundamental question I have asked myself is why is that so many black churches (practically all that I know, accept the ones planted by white churches) lack any vision for global missions. Now I am not talking about going over to Africa once a year and singing some songs and sharing a little food. I mean a dedicated amount of income and maybe even direct support of a missionary or a missionary family. Why is it that the black church focuses so much on pursuing suburbia and having a better life yet has no “programs” dedicated to even encourage or train up missionaries in their own church?

I think I have a few reasons why. And these can no longer be excuses today. The first is what I have written about at least 10 times. That is the black church was birthed out of a response to racism, Jim Crow and slavery. The black church was simply trying to get its footing underneath itself to help stabilize and break the social injustices of hatred, even from those that supposedly named the name of Christ. While these white churches were supporting missionaries, they were simultaneously perpetuating hate against the brothers they see everyday. While they sending people to risk their lives in remote parts of the world, they were also spraying water hoses and sicking dogs on those that they were going to spend eternity with. That dynamic I still can’t understand. It is still tough to get the imagery out of my head but even more difficult to even begin to comprehend the logic or the spiritual ignorance that plagued them.

So the black church had a mission field that they found themselves in everyday. They were fighting social injustice which as far as I can tell is a command in Micah. There was no way they could be outward focus when they were trying to get education, protection, basic welfare and citizenship in a nation that was supposed to be Christian. But I can say for the most part that struggle is over, are there still pockets? Sure there is, but not enough. And today the struggle isn’t about equal rights, it is now about equal economic equality and so forth and though this is important, it is not and should not be the focus point of the the gathered saints.

My second reason is simply this. The Gospel has taken a back seat to economic vibrancy. Yep, I said it. You only need to listen to black gospel music, listen to a typical black sermon, or look at the black best seller list. It is always about having a better life now, being successful, “getting back to Eden” (the worst song a Christian has ever made), or conjuring up some type of magical faith that if you just say something and really mean it you can have economic success. I actually said that wrong. The Gospel is Economic Vibrancy in the black church for the most part. They are synonymous terms.

It is odd that a church would call itself “Missionary” yet have no missionaries. It is sad that when you look at 99.9% of the missionary work going on in parts of African that those who are serving and giving and churches that are establishing clean drinking water and so forth are White. When you look at India, Asia, South America and other parts of the world, guess which churches are supporting the work done there? I just can wrap my  mind around it.

Listen, if you are a pastor of a black church and you find this disturbing or even upsets you then good. We have a responsibility to take the Gospel throughout the world. To permeate the entire globe with the sweetness of a Savior who rose from the dead. It is time out for any excuses. I end with this, I could not “submit” to some pastor(s) who didn’t have a vision for global missions, I would believe he lacks the heartbeat of God.

I have been meditating on grumbling over the last two weeks or so. It really came to head about a week ago and even more Monday. The cleaners lost two of my brand new shirts. Shirts I haven’t even worn yet, but was taking them to get pressed and I was very upset. I didn’t say much or do much but I am sure the woman so the frustration on my face and in my demeanor.

Well I started to complain to my wife and was talking about what I was going to make them do and how important the shirts were to me, just complaining and grumbling away as usual. Then my wife started to talk about the funeral of the 24 year old police woman in Arlington who was killed in the line of duty protecting another young girl during a domestic violence call. The guy left, came back and shot the momma and was trying to shoot the girl but ended up shooting the cop who got in the way and then killed himself. So some parents and siblings and friends and maybe even a boyfriend is mourning the loss of life and I am complaining about two dress shirts that can be easily replaced (as if I needed two new shirts anyway). My closet is full of shirts some I have only worn a couple of times and they will never see their loved ones again.

I wanted to talk about complaining from a Christian perspective though. When you read Exodus, Moses writes:

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron

The Israelites weren’t really grumbling against Moses and Aaron, but against God who had just delivered them out of Egypt after hearing their cries and to fulfill the promise/picture given to Abraham 400 years earlier. We usually look at this text as if we are innocent but in reality we are always complaining and if you believe in the Providence of God, even the smallest detail of your life is molded and shaped by the Living and Active God who doesn’t even allow a sparrow to fall without His direct involvement.

That leads to two sections of scripture  wrote:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Now I am not saying that Israel should have complained, but at least they have a reason to complain. They were in a desert, they had not yet seen the promise and for the most part they had some fairly restricted diets. We however, have the promise, we are in the “promise land”, and have an even greater future grace ahead of us. No matter what our circumstances we will receive the resurrection from the dead, we will walk with God with no sin, we will be able to see Him as He is with an uninterrupted fellowship lasting for the rest of eternity.

Paul who found himself stoned, beat, whipped, hungry, unclothed, cold and in grave danger, turns to us and says “do all things without grumbling or questioning”. He talks about the joy of knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection, he had a thorn that bothered him his entire ministry, he was often slandered, imprisoned and his own family most likely turned on him and yet, we see the joy of Christ and the peace that surpasses all understanding engulfing him.

We have no room to complain this side of the cross. When we do we tell God He doesn’t know what He is doing, or that He is not in control. We take our eyes off of the present grace that we have in Christ and the future grace we will experience. While others will be sentenced to damnation we will have everlasting peace with God. I don’t even want to talk about American Christians we have it better than any other human beings ever. As God has granted us a new year, let us not shake our fist at His providence but with joy and a peace in His future grace humbly receive His will. Anything else is a grave sin.

I have been thinking lately about the state of the Church in America. So often, I see us fixated on “issues”. We are issue driven. Women, Ecclesiology, Ordination, Bible Versions, Denominationalism, Lord’s Supper, Eschatology and on and on and on and on. I am not saying that these things have no value. But there is one conclusion that we should all sit down and agree on. That is the conclusion that there will be no resolution. We will not resolve these issues. I am very much guilty of this; however, I am glad that God put people like Alan Knox, Dave Black, Gabriel, Tyris and the Mercadels in my life. Even though I have still failed to meet two of them in person (hopefully that will change soon), they have been critical in my development as a person (weird I know).

The way they have been most critical, especially Knox, Black and Gabriel is their relentless fixation on “good works”. Ultimately that is what we were saved for. Look at Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesian Church:

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This verse stood off the page for me this morning. Often times arguments surrounding this section of scripture are “is faith a gift” or “what does dead in sin mean” or a host of other ancillary discussion. I think the emphasis is here. Ultimately at the end of the day we were SAVED. How we got there doesn’t seem to be as important as what we are to do once we are there. This is shown throughout the rest of the Pauline epistles. In Timothy, Titus, Thessalonians, Romans, Colossians, Philippians, and even Philemon good works, what we actually do is what Paul seems to focus on.

Now don’t get me wrong, what we believe is important and I do believe Paul spends a great deal of time discussing these things; however, I think they are a path to a destination and that destination is the fruit of our salvation. Paul secures us in grace but only so that we can be free to do good works. Look what he says in Galatians:

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Yes Christ has set us free from the Law, yes we are saved by grace, yes it is by faith; however, these things are not the end, God is now placing the burden of serving (loving, good works) one another and even others (see Galatians 6:10).

Listen, those who don’t know God are not concerned with our position on women in the pulpit, if we meet in a home or in a building, if we use the KJV or the MIV (MacArthur International Version, that was a joke) or the NIV. They want to see our works. They want to see if we will put or feet into swift action. No matter what we say, when we read through the book of Acts and the Epistles they turned the world upside down by their works. Not preaching on milk cartons, not debating atheist, not holding Together 4 the Gospel Conferences (while only some people are invited), not marching on Washington, but by their good works they turned an entire empire upside down. And often times they were hated for it.

I think we ought to consider doing this, but individually and corporately. I leave you with the words of our Master:

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Okay, okay, okay. I know this is one of those sensitive topics, especially in America where people are not only not talked to and corrected about sin but when we employing all types of methodologies just to get people to come in the building vs watching the football game or doing yard work.

So let me first answer the question and then move into the discussion. YES!!!! Yes “church discipline” is biblical. Not the term (just like the Trinity, or Hypostatic Union or Regeneration or…..) but the concept is there. And not only is it biblical, it is the most LOVING thing you can do. But not only that it is one the most DIFFICULT thing a group of believers would have to and because of that we best make sure we are erring on the side of grace because truth be told it is very difficult to grasp.  So our questions should be who, what, when, why and where, top that off with a how. I think there are about four references in scripture dealing with this and I am going to try to build a Systematic case.

Personal

Jesus is talking in parables to the disciples in Matthew 18 and in the midst of  this He begins to talk about how to respond if someone sins against you. In Matthew 18:15-20. Jesus says

“let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”

Jesus begins with “if you brother sins against you”. Now first, lets identify who is protagonist and antagonist. This is a sin perpetrated against an individual. What the sin is Jesus does not identify; however, Jesus says you got to him, then take a couple folks with you and finally bring him before the church. I think there are a few reasons for this. First, don’t tell anyone, you go to them in private, this shows that there is a relationship and most likely the Spirit filled person will repent and seek restoration. Secondly, we have to get some witnesses. I personally this is to validate that this is a sin worthy of being dealt with and not some flim flam wishy washy stuff. But not only this we now have a few people telling the person you were wrong. Finally you take him before the body, this now gives the entire body room to judge and make a decision and to stand in agreement. THE ENTIRE CHURCH MAKES THE DECISION (this is very important). And if he still refuses then he is to be withheld fellowship.

Whats important here is that the person who was sinned against handles the entire process, this is not leadership making a decision, this is very public (the entire process) and there is no remorse or repentance. What is even more importantly is what I believe the next parable tells us.

You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Gross Doctrinal Error

The next issue is gross doctrinal error. The kind that Paul talks about in 1 Timothy 1:20, Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Peter 2:1-20, Jude 1:1-23, 2 John 1:7 and 3 John 1:9-10. These seem to be the types of false teaching that are warned about in scripture. I may have missed one or two but as much as I can remember these seem to be the type of teaching that we not only SHOULD but MUST discipline for if we are to be obedient and protect one another.

Again outside of those listed above, I don’t think we can divide (refuse fellowship) over other issues. I know we attempt to make things Gospel issues. I have heard many of theologians, many that I respect as faithful teachers, say things that are just downright wrong. How God saves is not as important as we make it out to be. Unless of course it deals with what Paul talks about in Galatians 1. Eternal Security, though very important, is not something we can divide over. Women in ministry, is not something we can separate over, I don’t care what the Biblical Manhood and Womanhood says. We must be very careful as Paul says:

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Sometimes we have to refuse fellowship over doctrine.  Doctrine is important. It is not an option but we must be very careful over what and always keep Matthew 18: 15-20 in mind.

To make matters even more complicated is Titus 3:10-11 and 1 Corinthians 3. Both talks about a divisive person. The divisive person is to be refused fellowship. So the guy with the ministry who is always trying to correct, the one that everyone is a false prophet, or false teacher. The guys who follow Rick Warren around publicly chastising him, the guys who have a problem with those who are Republicans or those who are Democrats, the guy who is always critiquing the sermon, always pointing out faults. That guy who is trying to keep the church “pure” may actually be the one who needs to be refused fellowship.

Sin

Morality is something we have to discipline over. This is one of the most difficult ones because there are very little examples in scripture as a matter of fact I can only find one and that is in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 and even this is an extreme case. Dude was bringing his step mother to the same fellowship his dad was probably at and rubbing it in the face of the people. Paul says the pagans think this is horrible and you think you are being Godly!

We are not to live in sin, John says the one who walks in darkness has no fellowship with God. Paul tells Titus about good works, which we were saved for, one seems to be service oriented while the other is personal morality. Paul often rebukes the church for practicing sexual immorality, gossiping, stealing from one another and so forth. Morality is very important because we are to be salt and light to the world. Paul says “you are no longer slaves to sin, to walk therein”. He goes on to say in Romans 8 “the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God” and “can’t please God”. We are not to continue living in unrighteousness, this is unacceptable.

The problem is today the Church is very disobedient. I don’t know why and I don’t want to judge the motives of why, but it is wrong. I would even say a church that is not attempting to obey God in this regards should be exluded from fellowship. A group of leaders and a body who does nothing to deal with things like this should not be considered a church. I know the “judge not” statements will usually be the defense; however, if a Christian is overtaken in sin and his/her response is “don’t judge me” they are most likely not a believer and your response should be that of what Paul commands in 1 Corinthians 5.

We are not to go peek in windows or follow people around like McGruff the crime dog but when people are walking in habitual gross immorality and you have bared with them, extended God’s love to them, taken them before the fellowship and they refuse to repent, then you have to refuse fellowship. This is not an option, as obedience never is.

Muddy Areas

A muddy area is one found in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. A quick summary is that because of bad theology (eschatology) these people said they no longer had to work because Jesus was returning and they could just be idle, going house to house eating people’s bread. Paul had earlier corrected this theology but they continued in their ways. Paul tells the church to “have nothing to do with them” but he adds a unique command after that “dont’ regard him as an enemy but warn him as a brother”. This is a much different tone and approach to that of 1 Corinthians 5.

I don’t know what something like that may look like today. Maybe someone who has some faulty theology that is causing the outside world to look down upon the church and they refuse to be admonished about it. However, like in Jude there seems to be a much warmer response than discipline in view here.

Church discipline is biblical, it is actually what Jesus has in mind in Matthew 18:18. Church discipline is tough, it should be as painful as you sawing your own hand off with a dull butter knife, but none the less, it is something we are commanded to do. We are not to take it lightly, use it to manipulate or control or to lash out. We only see a couple of instances of all Paul’s letters and a lot of those churches were jacked up (much like us). I think the false teaching is most important, then gross UNREPENTANT sin and finally personal sin that will cause future issues in the body because the person is unrepetant. Church Covenants, leader’s theological or personal preferences and disagreement of some doctrinal issues are not reasons we can discipline. Lets remain biblical in this area on both sides of the coin.

Grace is the word that separates Christianity from every other religion. There has been stories of the resurrection (See the story of Osiris) there has been stories about the gods coming down; however, no religion has a God stepping down in human flesh and bearing His own wrath on the behalf of others to reconcile human and God forever.

Christianity is the only purely grace centered religion that I know of. There may be others out there, but as far as I know. No religion offers security today based on the faith of another’s work. My friends this is why I am a Christian. I have studied quite a few religions, even practiced Islam for some time. But they all left a gaping hole, an unclosable chasm, an irreconcilable balance, one that my own effort, if they were good enough, if I measured up, would have to attempt to fix and when the lights went out, I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that I was not good enough to measure up. I had sinned day after day and I felt alone, broken, ashamed but most of all, inadequate to earn my own righteousness.

This caused me to reevaluate the God of my youth. I was raised in church from birth to about 12, the point when I became a hoodlum of sorts and my grandmother let me go my own way. So I knew about church. During summers the little white church on the corner would do VBS and I would listen to the stories. I would hear the preacher talk about Jesus Christ even at age 16 I made, what I thought to be, a dedication to serve Jesus, only to be introduced to salvation by works. I had to speak in tongues and live holy or I would find myself wanting. The constant frustration led me away from Jesus to some type of agnostic to Islam to 5 percenter back to Christianity to evaluation all religions back to agnostic and eventually back to Christianity again.

The only difference the last time was that I was introdcued to grace and because of that I now could properly identify with this Jesus that I had become numb to through the years. Jesus became a living reality because of Grace. Once I knew that He paid it all, that He was my eternal substitute, that He was my sin bearer, that He intercedes for me, that He became my perpetual High Priest, that He shed His blood on the cross so that I never have to worry about measuring up again, I breathed a sigh of relief and have never looked back. Yes I have struggled with what it looks like to live as a Christian and many of the doctrines that are taught today, but never have I took my eyes off of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, God in flesh, the second person in the Trinity, the Lion of Judah, my everything.

Now with that rather long introduction. I want to say something. Today, because of the abuse and the commonality of “Christianity” there is a new push towards works based salvation. It is cloaked in different language but it is evident none the less. What surprises me the most is that it is spewed from the mouths of those who seem to fight so hard for grace.

Today grace is not enough, it is grace plus something. I had been in a discussion where it is grace plus persecution. This is coming from the mouth of those who would call themselves “reformed”. See the reason Christians aren’t persecuted is because they are not Godly and ultimately not Christian. See persecution would flood America if Christians were Godly enough, that is why all the Godly Christians in China and Iraq and India are under persecution because they are “radical”.  So today we have found a new way to introduce works based salvation.

It is ironic because the very people fight so hard to tell people about grace and that you can’t be saved by works, and that if you attempt to add anything to Jesus you are redefining the Gospel, only to be introduced to the same works not too much later. This is preposterous. See here is the truth. THE GOSPEL IS EITHER ALL OF GRACE OR NONE OF GRACE. Let me say it this way, I have to earn grace it is no longer grace, at least not from the biblical definition. We are not under a works motivated covenant. We are under the New Covenant which I would define as a Trilateral covenant between the Godhead and we partake of this covenant by faith. There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to earn God’s favor, to do so would be to undermine the great measures God took to reconcile us to Himself.

Whenever someone attempts to measure your salvation or holiness or standing before God by your works, be very wary of such a person. They are using the carrot and stick approach. You will never measure up. Often times they never measure up. Anxiety is ever before them and now they have found away to cloak their anxiety in theological jargon and dress you in it also. Salvation is by grace. Grace is accompanied by a love for others and Gdo which is a supernatual work but also it is an evolving work. We look at our works to pray for strength to love Jesus more, not to gauge our salvation to do the latter has to be offensive to a God who clothed Himself in humanity to take on your sin. Paul says “if I could attain it by works, Jesus died needlessly”.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he spends 95% of the letter exalting the glorious grace that Jesus has bestowed on His beloved and because we are upset with Joel Olsteen or some other teacher we scratch Paul’s warning of anathema so we can have “true Christians”. Listen you will never measure up, unless you clothe yourself in the finish work of Jesus. You can’t. The mark of salvation is too high, it is unattainable. We must embrace grace with our whole being or find ourselves outside of the Christian religion.

If the preaching of Grace will not cause one to both tremble at the Holiness of God and cling to Him for eternal life nothing else will. If grace doesn’t motivate him to submit himself to his master and others then nothing will. This type of carrot and stick gospel, regardless of what the carrot may be, only gives a man contempt for others and a false sense of security in his own works. He will begin to measure other Christians and become like the Pharisee who beat his chest and said “I am glad I am not like these sinners”. And often time this type of haughtiness goes unchecked, and as I have experienced on facebook , the blogsophere and even face to face interactions it is actually applauded.

I know this post is long but this is such an important issue. As I was reading Galatians Paul says “they came to spy out our liberty in Christ and make us slaves”. This is what this type of teaching does. It makes you slave of someone other than Christ. Flee slavery, Christ grants us a liberty beyond measure. Freedom from sin, freedom for works, freedom from death and freedom from others. This freedom now enslaves us to love, walk in it. Put on Christ and flee legalism you will never get the carrot you will only get tired and wore down or become disillusioned with your own pursuit.

If you have not seen the movie, this will not be a spoiler. This is just a perspective that I would like to share about a movie that has moved me in light of the message of Jesus.

The Book of Eli is about a man name Eli who is traveling to take a very important book somewhere West. Often times he has to kill to protect it. Other times he ignores gross atrocities so that he can continue on his mission. He understands its power because he was around before things went south and he quickly realizes that there are others that will kill for its power.

There are two lines that stood out to me the most. The first was from the antagonist who says “if I read it to them from the book then they will follow it” the other was from the protagonist (Eli) who says “I have been reading the book for so long that I have forgot to do what it says”. And these two is where I want to make my point.

The two together paints a very sad picture of our world and especially that for those who name Christ. Historically we do not have a good rep and rightly so. It is because the Christianity of the bible has been so grossly misconstrued yet so heinously protected that what was a movement by individuals that had been touched by the powerlessness of the cross, has become a multi-billion dollar industry that has all the right language but almost none of the right movement.

Christianity not shortly after its inauguration fell quickly in the hand of those who would use it conquer the world. And the problem is that many of its self-appointed leaders sat around and allowed such a thing to occur. They not only allowed it, they endorsed it and for this Christianity has never been the same. The problem with saying this is that this gross misrepresentation has been the norm for so long that to talk about Christianity in its purest form makes you look like an idiot, a ding bat, or the most often used word a “heretic”.

You see much like the antagonist in the movie, the “book” has been used to do just as much harm as good. We have to look no further than Imperialism, Medieval Kingdom of Heaven theology, the Thirty Year War, Slavery, Manifest Destiny, Jim Crow to name a few.

Eli says “many believe it was the cause of the war”. How sad is that? And I almost do not doubt it. We have had the book so long it has been used to defend so many atrocities that we have forgot the powerlessness of the cross, yet the unequivocal power in such an instrument of death.

But not only that, we see today that we have spent so much time trying to learn what it says, dissect it is every stroke, to defend its reliability that we have forgotten how to actually do what it says. The simple fact is this “love the Lord your God” and “love your neighbor as yourself”. We have no problem loving God but we have a problem loving others. The fact that we in America can bury our heads in the sand while fighter jets drop bombs on buildings that destroy innocent human life but go to church and pray that we “win the war” is beyond me. I can’t comprehend collateral damage. I can’t understand how we remotely can believe that Jesus Christ is for our war and again we use the bible to defend our point. As if God cares more about our children versus Iraqi children.  The fact that we can pray for an end to abortion though as we speak buildings are crumbling on pregnant women is beyond me. The fact that we can have compassion for Haiti and its destruction yet we can applaud the destruction that our tax financed military is causing is beyond me. The fact that we can rest because we have peace and security yet a woman and a man who just so happens to be in the same building that insurgents have occupied , can’t give their children any such security is beyond me.

And so, we pray for America to destroy her adversaries, yet we are a religion of peace (or at least our founder was) become a paradox that I can’t understand. So as I set in my car after watching the movie tears falling from my face, I wondered how much I really believe in action from the very book I carry around and read more than anything else. This post may sound like I am pointing the finger but I am not. I really wondered at that point, do I trust the words I read or have I become so deadened by over exposure, so many sermons, so many books about it, so much time studying it with others that I have actually forgot the most important words in it? “Love you neighbor as yourself”. And frankly I don’t know any more. And that concerns me. I have made so many arguments about things that really make no difference that the simplicity of Christianity is all but slipped from my numb hands.

I would often think that the atheist and those who would label themselves “spiritual” were clueless, yet they posses an insight a clarity that eludes me because I have come so accustomed by it. They ask the right questions. Often times they really don’t hae a problem with Jesus as Ghandi once said. It is funny that he looked more like a Christian than many others I know and even myself.

Here is the Christian faith. Die to yourself for the good of others. This is what Jesus meant by picking up your cross. This did not mean erect aesthetic buildings, this did not mean have bible studies that says how bad others are doing, this did not mean get a selective group that agreed with you, for some reason, Jesus was always caring, loving and serving, even in his rebuke of others it was done out of love, because they had missed the very thing they were so diligently protecting. They missed Jesus.

In the Book of Eli, Eli forgot how to love and care for others because he forgot to obey what the words say. I can identify with Eli, and I hope from this day forward that I won’t forget anymore. That I would regain compassion for those who have been overlooked, that I would give to those who can’t help themselves for whatever reason and that I would not be deadened by this world’s attempt to numb me to those around me. Jesus lived His life so that by His death others may have life, that life to us is a gift to be used to give life to others regardless of what it costs us.

Alan Knox said this to a response:

There are only two options (the way we treat other Christians): 1) I treat someone as a brother or sister, or 2) I treat someone as if they are not a brother or sister. Unfortunately, denominationalism tends to teach a “middle ground” where we accept that someone is a child of God, but we don’t have to treat that person (or group) as a brother or sister.

I have went back and forth with Alan about this very question and it always hinges upon “truth”. So the question is this. Is truth a reason to checkout?

Alan gave me a really good response some time ago. He says there are only a few reasons in scripture that will allow us to separate from other Christians. 1. Gross negligible false doctrine, 2. Gross unrepentant sin, 3. A refusal to work.

Gross negligible false doctrine can ONLY be those things that redefine the Gospel. That would seem to be the rejection of anything in 1 Corinthians 15 and an attempt to bring Christians only some law for their justification/Salvation which would have to be real similar to Galatians 1. Other than that there is NO other doctrinal differences that would cause us to separate.

Gross unrepentant sin would have to look something like 1 Corinthians 5, where a man had begun to have a relationship with his dad’s wife. Even the pagans thought this was wrong. There may be some other things, but again it would have to be gross and unrepentant. But again this has nothing to do with doctrinal, even the nonbelievers felt this was wrong.

The failure to work has something to do with the false teaching of end times events. None of us believe this so it may not even be a problem worth dealing with in this post; however, the guys in Thessalonians felt that Jesus was coming soon and that they need not work anymore, even after Paul wrote them about this they continued to do it and so Paul tells them to separate from them so that they can know to work.

Now lets get reall honest here. We need to quite playing games. I hear “well I don’t have to go to church with them, but I can still love them”. HOGWASH!!! The reason you don’t want to meet with them is because you don’t want to love them and if you did want to love them you would meet with them. Here is a very practical example. How many of us, stopped meeting with a group of Christians and still stay in contact and serve those group of Christians? However, we will call them our brothers and sisters, we just don’t want to meet with them. This is phony bologna and we shouldn’t play pious games like that. Truth be told, we don’t want to be bothered because we disagree and so I am going to go and love a group of Christians who do agree with me.

Food for thought.