glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved It is 1:13 PM Sunday afternoon. I will quote some more from Ben Witherington III's book "The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament" Volume One "The Individual Witnesses"--- "What is especially noteworthy is that Paul, like Jesus, believes that the behavior of the disciple can indeed affect whether he or she will eventually enter, inherit, or obtain the dominion of God. This means that the motivation for ethical behavior is not just gratitude or wishing to please Jesus; it also involves bearing in mind that one must work out one's salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that one will be held accountable for one's behavior at the judgment day by Jesus himself (2 Cor 5:10). There is both an eschatological sanction and an eschatological motivation for behaving in a more Christ-like manner. It can affect the eternal outcome of one's spiritual pilgrimage. One must go through all three tenses of salvation-I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved-in order to enter the dominion. Apostasy, though perhaps only a remote possibility for most followers of Christ, is not out of the question for a believer and must be avoided at all costs. So Paul says of even himself, "Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14). In Philippians 3:12 Paul honestly says that he has not obtained all this or been made complete/perfect. Paul is talking about being a moral athlete and being rigorous in one's spiritual and ethical disciplines in order that one may win the prize. This is not the language of a person who thinks that he has already "arrived" or that the outcome is inevitable or predetermined. Paul's understanding of election varies little from what we can tell of Jesus' view of it: election is a corporate thing in Christ and in his community, and individuals can be part of that family of faith or not depending on whether they have entered it in good faith as a genuine follower of Jesus and are striving to do the will of God thereafter (see Mk 3:31-35; cf. Rom 11-12). The law of Christ is the mandate of this community, and it involves following the pattern of Christ's life, adhering to Christ's teaching (especially the Sermon on the Mount, which Paul alludes to), and living by those portions of the Old Testament mandates that have been reaffirmed in Christ as well as by the apostolic imperatives. Of course, there are differences. Both Paul and Jesus use the family language in a spiritual way, and Jesus specifically says that doing the will of God is what makes someone a brother, sister, or mother to him. Paul also talks about the will of God occasionally (see 1 Thess 4:3) in terms of morality, living a sanctified life. Right standing with God is a gift given at conversion, but righteous behavior is also an expectation and requirement, enabled by the transforming work of the Spirit that begins when one becomes a new creature in Christ, says Paul. Good theology is the basis of good ethics. By this I mean that the work of God in the life of a person becomes the basis of his or her response in faith, involving both true belief and righteous behavior. Did Jesus say anything at odds with this? No, he did not. The Jesus who said that the tax collector in his parable went away justified by throwing himself on the mercy of God for forgiveness of sins is the same Jesus who called the sinful tax collector Zacchaeus to the higher righteousness of making restitution to those whom he had defrauded. Both Jesus and Paul speak of right standing and righteous character and behavior through the grace of God. Both are seen as things involved with the salvation of a person. Indeed, it is Jesus who says, when Zacchaeus repents and behaves better, that salvation has come to that man's house on that day. Righteous behavior is involved in salvation." Ben Witherington III pg. 272,273 music: Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works Volume II" 1:42 p.m. - 2009-11-22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||
|
||||||