Why is sola scriptura important?

Throughout centuries of church history, there have been four methods of obtaining truth: Scripture, tradition, reason and experience. Clearly, in Jesus' time, experience would have been a big method of obtaining truth. Because the twelve disciples literally walked with the Lord of the universe, they had the benefit of experiencing Jesus teaching through all five senses. However, they still very much relied on the written scriptures that actually vetted that Jesus was who He said He was. After Jesus ascended and as time went on, tradition became a huge source of truth. After all, those closest to Jesus understandably knew quite a bit, and so future disciples would rightly wish to imitate them as much as possible. Unfortunately, with the expansion of the church and introduction of geopolitical power, the sinful flesh distorted truth and instead “tradition” easily became what the current pope decided it would be, even divorced from Scripture. By the time of the reformation in the 1500's, “tradition” devolved into mere traditions of men that deviated largely from the scriptural foundations, which produced a massive split in the church.

Reason is also a source of truth, given by God to help us understand and work through information. Unfortunately, some have underestimated that God's ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and so reasoned things like the resurrection of Christ right out of their theology. As mentioned earlier, experience is another method of obtaining truth, although it looks a bit different than it did in the days of the disciples walking with Jesus. The Holy Spirit now lives in each one of us and we can operate in signs, wonders and miracles (John 14:12), experiencing the joy of the Lord, angelic encounters and a whole host of other supernatural experiences, which can be doorways into the revelation of God. Unfortunately, many have taken these “doorways” without heeding scriptures, thus opening themselves up to following angels more than God. Thankfully, we are still able to utilize tradition, reason and experience, as these are gifts of God useful to bring us deeper into knowledge of Him. However, these forms of revelation must always be subservient to the written Scriptures, the primary means that God has given us to judge truth claims that we obtain through other methods.

Why should Christians break bread together?

Food always seems to bring people together. From small dinners to large BBQ's, who could get upset in filling their belly? In John 6, Jesus feeds at least five thousand men, and then they follow him around. At this point, however, Jesus informs the crowd that he is the living bread of Heaven (John 6:51). In fact, Jesus goes on to mention that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (John 6:53). While many deserted Jesus on this point, the twelve did not (John 6:66-69).

Jesus' statement becomes especially interesting later on, when he does a special meal with the twelve. Mentioned in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:17-20, & 1 Cor 11:23-26, Jesus declares the bread and wine his body and blood, said the wine is his blood in the new covenant, encourages the disciples to do it in remembrance of him and Paul says that through this we proclaim Christ death until he comes again. Simply Jesus discussion in John 6 seems good enough reason to break bread in this special way, for Jesus said “whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Additionally, Jesus did tell the twelve to practice this meal (Matt 26, Mark 14, Luke 22). Surely, in partaking in the bread and wine, Christ own body and blood, we corporately remind ourselves of the forgiveness of sins that Christ has accomplished for us. By Acts 2:42, we also see that the breaking of bread was a core practice, which 1 Corinthians 11 corroborates. Since Christ instituted this in a group setting and Christ saved us, not just individually, but corporately, it only makes sense that we break bead together, proclaiming Christ death until he returns. 

Are we saved, being saved, or yet to be saved completely?

Yes! While much of modern protestant Christianity seems to focus on being saved as a singular event, the scriptures provide a more holistic view. The Greek verb form of being saved is used as a continuous act, indicating that salvation is ongoing. One only needs to look at Paul's letter to the Corinthian or Galatian church to realize that we all have sin that God has to continuously deliver us out of. Don't get me wrong, the moment we place are faith in Jesus, we were declared justified before God in Christ, but that is but the beginning of a glorious journey.

Additionally, in my research on healing in the Bible, I came across the Greek word σῴζω (sōzō). Interestingly enough, this word is translated as both “saved” and “healed.” I had always considered being saved as a spiritual deliverance from sin, but from the Biblical perspective, salvation is redemption of both spirit and body. In fact, many Christians believe that we are composed of body, soul and spirit, all of which needs redemption. I've personally not studied this out, so I can't comment too much, beyond acknowledging that salvation is more than a spiritual act of forgiving sin. The forgiveness of sin actually impacts our physical body, because we are physical and spiritual creatures.

Now, if being saved includes healing, it is clear that our salvation is incomplete, for we all die. Romans 8:23-24 clearly deals with this issue, mentioning that we look forward to the day of our “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Interesting! So, as those who have been saved through faith in Christ, receiving the first-fruits of the Spirit, we are looking forward to the day when Jesus finishes what He has begun, completing the adoption process and bringing permanent healing to our bodies.

What part of the Law of Moses are we under?

This question must first be answered with a question: What do you mean by “under?” In Hebrews 8, the writer contrasts the covenant God made with Moses to the covenant in Christ. With the Law of Moses in view (Heb 3:4), the author calls it old and fading (Heb 8:13)! In Galatians, we see Paul chiding the Galatians for attempting to be justified before God based on works of the law. Contextually, “law” should be understood as Mosaic Law (Gal 3:7). At this point, some may become uneasy and protest, “God calls us to be holy!” True, God does call us to be righteous, but not according to how we would imagine. Paul, in fact, declares that the Law has no life (Galatians 3:21)! At the end of the day, the real issue with the law is that our sinful nature prevents us from fulfilling it (Romans 8:3).

Why the law, then? According to Galatians 3:19, law was given because of transgressions. In other words, the Law was given to curb sin. In fact, Paul goes on to say that the Law holds us captive (vs 23). This Law, though holy (Rom 7:12), is merely a tutor to lead us to Christ (Gal 3:24). The Law, because of our sinful nature, is useful for demonstrating how we are unable to live holy, but it is useless for actually bringing freedom and life. The freedom and life is found through faith in Christ (Gal 3:23-26).

Now, when dealing with this subject more thoroughly in Romans, Paul also warns us not to conclude that sinning is perfectly fine. The fact is, if we are set free from sin, we certainly do not want to return to it, for it only brings death (Romans 3:23). So, our Justification is firmly rooted in faith in Christ. In other words, we are not under the Law of Moses.

In terms of our Sanctification, I believe we have to talk to the Holy Spirit with how to deal with the Law of Moses. After all, faith in Christ fulfills the Law of Moses (Rom 10:4), so we are not obligated to it. Jesus himself declared all food clean (Mark 7:18-19) and the apostolic witness is clear that believers are not bound to festivals, Sabbaths, etc. (Col 3:16). It would be an error to think our righteousness, even just a little, is contingent upon obedience, but it is also error to think that adultery or lying are now acceptable or beneficial. Since the Law is only a shadow of the good things to come (Col 2:7, Heb 10:1) we must ask what is actually behind the Mosaic Law. Jesus clarified this in a number of places (Mark 2:27, Matt 22:38-39). However, it still must be maintained that our righteous standing before God is not dependent on our Sanctification, but that Sanctification is an outworking of Justification.

Idols in my life.

With all the ruckus about the Kansas City Royals this past week, idolatry has been a recent subject of my consideration. From the devoted fans who gathered early-morning to sell blue T-shirts, to the proliferation of blue merchandise in supermarkets and street-corners, I couldn't help but wonder if someone's idol had been in an upswing. Reflecting on Mark Driscoll's 2013 message on idolatry, I was utterly convinced that sports made the top 10 (http://goo.gl/t1ufpV).

However, as all good Pastor's do, Mark touched other examples, leaving no stone left unturned. By the time he flipped to a picture of an Apple logo at minute 8, I knew that was me. While not an Apples fan, technology has been a common friend since childhood. More specifically, I'd have to confess that the internet ranks pretty high on the list of idolatry. Especially through the season of Depression, the internet was my on-stop-shop for drowning out the pain of my life. With the advent of the smart-phone, the availability skyrocketed.

Reflecting now, I still spend far too much time perusing social media, software updates and latest news, even before I do my morning devotions. I often distract myself with news and software updates, so much so that it has overshadowed truths that I could be meditating on from prophetic words, Scripture, etc. It really is a struggle when to draw the line between healthy usage and at what point I am putting internet usage before God. If I'm looking to the internet before my time with God, that seems like a pretty clear indicator, though. Looks like I got a good starting point of what idolatry to kill in myself and bring before my Creator.

"The Gospel"

“The Gospel,” simply put, is that through faith in Christ we receive forgiveness of sin now, and can now experience restoration (physical, spiritual, relational, etc.) that will ultimately find it's fulfillment in the return of Christ. Certainly, the Gospel has much more breadth, but this might be how I currently boil it down.

Coming from a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod background, this is actually a pretty interesting question. In my tradition, we have a very defined, justification-heavy way of identifying ”the Gospel.” While I now realize that we over-emphasize Justification, to the exclusion of Sanctification and Glorification, I think it is absolutely warranted to understand “the Gospel” in terms of Justification. For example, Paul seems to accentuate the good new in Romans, Galatians and Ephesians primarily in terms of Justification. Further more, the context of Jesus preaching the “Gospel” in Mark 1:14-15 is in the context of personal sin, hence “repent.” Therefore, a personal need for vindication makes the most sense.

A helpful paradigm when considering “the Gospel” is “Law and Gospel.” That is to say, distinguishing in the scriptures what is “Law” (our works, what we must do for God) and “Gospel” (grace, what God has done for us). Paul's discussion of grace often seems to divide the word in this manner (Eph 2:8-9, Romans 3). For example, 1 John 4:19 says that we love because God first loved us. The law is that we love God (Matthew 22:37), but the Gospel is that he first loved us. If we do not distinguish these components, we tend to twist these truths and turn good news bad. After all, many people say they preach the Gospel, but if you really listen, most of what they many say tends towards what we must do for God (law) and there isn't really a lot of good news involved. In effect, they are preaching Sanctification (law), as if that is the Gospel. Sadly, this is what keeps people in bondage and what Paul warned against in Galatians (Galatians 3:2). Good works are a response to the Gospel (1 Jn 4:19), but not the gospel itself. That being said, the Bible doesn't neatly dice up “law and gospel,” so that paradigm shouldn't be stretched too far. It's merely helpful for identifying what is good news, rather than chiding people with New Testament warnings and calling that “the Gospel.” In fact, this distinction may have very well helped sidestep the Hyper Grace theology running about charismatic circles today.

Anyways, not only is justification from our sin good news, but that justification from sin paves the way for restoration in our relationships, our body (healing), finances, etc. Therefore, God healing us both now and in the age to come is “the Gospel.” Emphasizing justification from sin apart from how that now effects our body, relationships, emotions, etc. lacks a wholistic sense of what the good news is, which is that God is redeeming all creation.

Noah and the Gospel

When I was younger, I would sometimes be a bit confused concerning the Old Testament. Whether it was God wiping off most of the human population in a flood (Genesis 6:11-21), commanding Israel to kill every man woman and child in a city (1 Samuel 15:1-3), or smiting Uzzah simply from catching the falling Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:5-9), God seemed to be a rather grumpy, hard to please person. I knew God was love (1 John 4:8), that Jesus taught us to "love your enemies" (Matt 5:43-44) and that Jesus' burden was easy (Matthew 11:28-30), but why the personality change? God went from a grumpy old man in the Old Testament to a kind, compassionate father in the New Testament. However, as I have grown in maturity of the Word, I have come to see God's seemingly harsh holiness in the New Testament and His fatherly compassion in the Old. Noah is one example of that compassion.

Living in perhaps the most wicked time in human history. Noah was commanded to build an Ark, to escape the coming judgement of God via flood. Literally, things got so bad that angels were likely having sex with women (Genesis 6:2-4). Now, if we know that God's chosen people, the Israelite's, quickly indulged in sexual sin (Exodus 32:6) and that God had to specifically command them not to make child sacrifices (Leviticus 18:21), one can only imagine to what depths Noah's contemporaries had fallen. Beside that, if God had long ago promised that the seed, the zerah (זָ֫רַע), of Eve would crush Satan (Gen 3:15), God would have to preserve that blood line so that the Messiah could eventually arise. So God, deeply grieved by all the wickedness, responded by the destruction of wicked man that had turned from Him. While, we do read that Noah was a "righteous man, blameless in his generation," (Genesis 6:9), that the same man later got drunk after exiting the Ark (Genesis 9:20-21). Indeed, it was the compassion of God, not the worthiness of Noah, that spared Him, and that is good news for us.

We live in a day and age of exceeding wickedness. The culture is becoming increasingly flagrant with how it opposes God, from the musician Ke$ha claiming she had sex with a demon to Katty Perry performing openly occultic imagery on prime-time television. But there is hope. God preserved the seed of man, through Noah, Abraham, David and then ultimately to Jesus Christ. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, came to live in perfect obedience to the father, die the death we deserve, and was raised from the dead to demonstrate victory over the grave. Whether we stumble like Noah or are among the rebellious, Jesus calls us to believe in Him, and so be spared from the coming judgement that is coming to all mankind.

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" -Ezekiel 18:23