"The importance of this study can not be overestimated if we are to move towards unanimity on those matters of interpretation that still divide us. I speak to those with a high view of Scripture: it is very distressing to contemplate how many differences there are among us as to what Scripture actually says. The great, unifying truths should not of course be minimized; but the fact remains that among those who believe the canonical sixty-six books to be nothing less than the Word of God written there is a disturbing array of mutually incompatible theological opinions."This paragraph makes a point that I'd not really thought about before. In evangelical Christianity we are, rightfully in my opinion, very quick to outline the great Gospel truths that unite all true believers, and to relegate that which divides us, such as the question of when baptism should be administered or the extent of the visible signs of the Holy Spirit, to secondary issues.
Nathan said to David, "You are the man!"You can probably guess from the fact that I'm quoting half a verse that I'm not even claiming this is in context, as any reading of the passage as a whole will show, but it's one of the random things that catches your eye every so often...2 Samuel 12:7a
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"This is a passage that seems to have caused many people considerable problems. On quite a few occasions since beginning work here, I've been asked questions about how we can be sure of our salvation based on this passage. Based on a first casual viewing, Jesus seems to be saying, "Look at all these people doing great things, and even they are turned away from the Kingdom of Heaven". To an extent, this is indeed what Jesus is saying, but the follow on logic says that, "Well, I don't do half as much as that. Surely I can't be as presumptuous as to say I'm saved". Unsurprisingly, this viewpoint is a particular problem from those who have grown up with a Roman Catholic background.Matthew 7:21-23
"If you were to die this minute, and were brought face-to-face with God, and He asks you, "Why should I let you into my heaven?", what would you answer?"Generally speaking, any answer that begins, "You should let me in because I..." is wrong. There is nothing that we can possibly do that merits our entry into heaven, we are completely dependant on God's grace through Jesus' work for our salvation.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."Ephesians 2:8-9
"We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."Even our "good" deeds are like a "polluted garment" (ponder that imagery for a second, it's not pleasant...). How can we ever expect this to be acceptable to God?Isaiah 64:6a
"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."Romans 3:21-26
"Hell is revealed as a place of torment where millions of human beings will be enclosed forever. Statisticians tell us that approximately ninety-five million people die every year. That means that, every second, three human beings enter hell or heaven. Within the next hour, eleven thousand men, woman and children will have gone forever to a place of everlasting joy or a place of everlasting pain. Imagine them dying even now, as you read these words - one, then another, then another. As you draw your next breath, several more are leaving this earth. When a plane crashes and two or three hundred people are suddenly snatched into eternity, everyone talks about it. It is an appalling disaster, headline news. And yet eleven thousand of our fellow human beings, every hour of every day of the year, are reaching their eternal destination. Surely for this reason alone such a doctrine must be an important one."
"Paul writes to counter false teaching in the Colossian church, to bring the believers back to the gospel and to teach them how to live among non-believers."I hope this obtains a high mark, in all seriousness it is a great summary of the form of most of Paul's epistles, the only criticism is it's lack of application to the specific book mentioned in the question. I was very impressed though...
"Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians."So a cup of wine would have been drunk to remember each of God's promises in these verses - he will bring them out from under their burden, he will deliver them from slavery, he will redeem them and finally he will take them to be his people. These cups would have been drunk at various points during the Passover meal - the first before the Grace before the meal, the second during the meal over which the story of the passover would be told, the third during the Grace after the meal and the last was drunk before the singing of a final hymn at the end of the meal.Exodus 6:6-7
"Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.""The next thing that happens in v. 26 is they sign a hymn and then go to the Garden of Gethsemane. The commentators argue that Jesus' specific mentioning of not drinking wine again is of cultural significance, saying that the disciples would have realised that he was referring to fulfilling what the final cup was pointing to - God's taking of his people.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,"
"if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."
"...that to turn to the Book only was so hard and intricate matter, that many times there was more business to find out what should be read, than to read it when it was found out."Cranmer's solution was to cut through confusion by reducing the number of services authorised by the church, and to reducing the various orders to a single book, so that Church of England services could always be conducted solely using a Bible and a the Book of Common Prayer. But lest we concentrate on the means to which it was achieved, let us admire the goal that led to those means - to remove all barriers to the clear proclamation of the gospel.
