SO MY THEOLOGICAL FRIEND...

"To whom much is given, much is expected..."Grace and Peace...

This is so good...I copied/pasted it for future use in our church bulletin...Thanks for posting it.ginnyrose

After long discussions/augments about theology (since that is what my major involves), I have surmised, while it is good to know a thing or two about theology and doctrine in general; theology and or doctrine is not what usually leads people to Jesus to love and serve Jesus.

doctrine is not what usually leads people to Jesus to love and serve Jesus.I'd like to "rephrase"this a bit: We all live by doctrine of some kind - good of bad. Good doctrine is the Mind of Christ - and we are required to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Bad doctrine (in our mind, conscience, and will) will lead us away from Christ. Those who spit hairs may very well be living by bad doctrine - like the Pharisees who strained gnats and swallowed camels. ( ie they swallowed a lot of bad doctrine but missed the finer points of good doctrine) Let us not blame doctrine or theology for leading people astray. It is really the condition of the heart - esp wrong desires, selfishness etc. (see James 1)It is tempting to create our own doctrine (theology) that will keep us in denial about our sinful condition. Diane

Consider yourself fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for when your Faith, succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you can be perfect and complete lacking nothing. For he who lacks Wisdom should pray to God that will give it to him. For God gives graciously and generously to all. And when you pray you must believe and not doudt for he who doudts is like a wave driven and tossed by the wind. A person like that double minded must not think he will receive anything from the Lord.-James 1

Great thread Greg.I Corinthians 2:11(b) says "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."William Law said "Without the present illumination of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God must remain a dead letter to every man, no matter how intelligent or well-educated he may be."Law goes on to say "Therefore to say that because we now have all the writings of Scripture complete we no longer need the miraculous inspiration of the Spirit among men as in former days, is a degree of blindness as great as any that can be charged upon the scribes and Pharisees. No can possibly escape their same errors; for in denying the present inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we have made Scripture the province of the letter-learned scribe."I'm not advocating being a Christian mystic but rather being reliant upon the Holy Spirit to open up the scriptures to my heart. Theology is important but if it's driven primarily out of the intellect rather than the Holy Spirit, it has little value at least in my view.

James 2:14-26 (NRSV)14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.I believe that it is important to include this next scripture whenever quoting the above, so that people understand that we are not saved by works. Or else the above can be misleading. Titus 3:5 (NRSV)he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.Also...Ephesians 2:8 (NRSV)For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—

Good word, bro.

Here's my dear brother Law said "This doctrine does not suppose that we have no need of Divine grace, or that it is in our own power to make ourselves perfect. It only supposes, that through the want of a sincere intention of pleasing God in all our actions we fall into such irregularities of life as by the ordinary means of grace we should have power to avoid; and that we have not that perfection, which our present state of grace makes us capable of, because we do not so much as intend to have it. It only teaches us that the reason why you see no real mortification or self-denial, no eminent charity, no profound humility, no heavenly affection, no true contempt of the world, no Christian meekness, no sincere zeal, no eminent piety in the common lives of Christians, is this, because they do not so much as intend to be exact and exemplary in these virtues."Do we need God's grace? Absolutely, but I must make an earnest attempt (or must intend) to obey God or I won't.

John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."Grace and Peace...