"I can’t shake the fact the final judgment is not a doctrinal exam, but a sifting based upon the way we actually live…especially in response to the needy and marginalized of the world. "
A quote I read on a blog this morning. What do you think?
This statement hit me. I think because it gets at the issue of what belief is. If belief is merely agreement with or professing certain doctrines (e.g., Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?; praying a prayer) then the final judgment would be like a doctrinal exam.
But this statement suggests that belief is measured not by what we profess, but by how we live. Back to that faith with works (James) notion.
So, Jesus is more concerned about how we live than what we profess?
1. The person who says the right things doctrinally, and trusts Jesus enough to actualy do what he says
2. The person who says the right things doctrinally (and was even baptized at Lake Nixon!) but does not trust Jesus enough to actualy do what he says, rather he lives life under his own rule (is this the Christian non-disciple, if there is such a thing?
3. The person who does not say the right things doctrinally (may not be religious), but lives a selfless life of learning to love others (feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, helps downtrodden)
4. The person who does not say the right things doctrinally, but lives a self-centered life, looking out for #1
What happens to these 4 come judgment day?
Well, that may actually be the wrong question. Better questions might be something like:
What would God have to say about these 4 people now?
What do each of these 4 really believe? (using the definition of belief that means trust and reliance upon, not the definition that just means profession alone)
Perhaps thinking in terms of heaven and hell may be missing the point, but nonetheless, would you say that 2 gets to go to heaven and 3 does not? On what basis?
Good! Jesus taught that the heart is the well-spring of action. (where your heart is, that is where your treasure is; the mouth speaks from what is in the heart)
So, # 2 is on very shaky ground. Not just about heaven and hell, but about the type of life he will be living. This person is violating some direct teachings of Jesus. This person's been duped somehow. Perhaps by self-deception (thinks that professing gets him fire insurance). There does not seem to be much difference between #2 and #4, with the exception of passing some "doctrinal exam."
# 3 is an interesting person. Why is this person doing good things? Let's assume it is not for legalistic reasons, since this person as we defined him/her is not likely to be following some dictates of religion. If actions come from the heart, then what is this person's heart like and how did it get that way compared to #2? This person is clearly living like Jesus would want, as is #1.
Of course, you know these are not real people. They are just words on a blog. But you do see people that seem to fit these stereotypes.
There is a theological point here somewhere. #1 and #2 may not be possible without something happening in the heart. What might that be?
Sorry that I did not ask you ahead of time if I could annoymously share some of what you wrote to me on this blog. I hope it was okay. If you would rather me not in the future, just let me know and I will not. I just thought it was such a good statement to share.
What you said was pretty profound and theological!
I am not getting at anything in particular, other than discussion. The link between faith and behavior is an interesting one.
From a psychological standpoint, we know that beliefs do not predict behavior very well and not as well as intentions. Intentions relate to the will. The will resides in the heart. So there is a connection between our hearts and how we live. Jesus taught this pretty clearly.
The connection between faith and behavior presents challenges theologically also. I was raised with the notion that once saved always saved. You were saved when you prayed "the prayer" with a contrite heart. The challenge comes in with what do you do with the person who has prayed the prayer but continues living a self-centered life. You have to do some theological gymnastics, like maybe the person was never saved, or maybe they lost their salvation, or maybe it doesn't matter - they are saved and God's grace is sufficient.
Theology, though, is man's attempt to understand God. We get it wrong sometimes.
For now, I am camping out on Jesus' example and teachings. In doing so, you come up against some theology.
8 comments:
This statement hit me. I think because it gets at the issue of what belief is. If belief is merely agreement with or professing certain doctrines (e.g., Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?; praying a prayer) then the final judgment would be like a doctrinal exam.
But this statement suggests that belief is measured not by what we profess, but by how we live. Back to that faith with works (James) notion.
So, Jesus is more concerned about how we live than what we profess?
So you got 4 different types of people:
1. The person who says the right things doctrinally, and trusts Jesus enough to actualy do what he says
2. The person who says the right things doctrinally (and was even baptized at Lake Nixon!) but does not trust Jesus enough to actualy do what he says, rather he lives life under his own rule (is this the Christian non-disciple, if there is such a thing?
3. The person who does not say the right things doctrinally (may not be religious), but lives a selfless life of learning to love others (feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, helps downtrodden)
4. The person who does not say the right things doctrinally, but lives a self-centered life, looking out for #1
What happens to these 4 come judgment day?
Well, that may actually be the wrong question. Better questions might be something like:
What would God have to say about these 4 people now?
What do each of these 4 really believe? (using the definition of belief that means trust and reliance upon, not the definition that just means profession alone)
Perhaps thinking in terms of heaven and hell may be missing the point, but nonetheless, would you say that 2 gets to go to heaven and 3 does not? On what basis?
Good!
Jesus taught that the heart is the well-spring of action. (where your heart is, that is where your treasure is; the mouth speaks from what is in the heart)
So, # 2 is on very shaky ground. Not just about heaven and hell, but about the type of life he will be living. This person is violating some direct teachings of Jesus. This person's been duped somehow. Perhaps by self-deception (thinks that professing gets him fire insurance). There does not seem to be much difference between #2 and #4, with the exception of passing some "doctrinal exam."
# 3 is an interesting person. Why is this person doing good things? Let's assume it is not for legalistic reasons, since this person as we defined him/her is not likely to be following some dictates of religion. If actions come from the heart, then what is this person's heart like and how did it get that way compared to #2? This person is clearly living like Jesus would want, as is #1.
Of course, you know these are not real people. They are just words on a blog. But you do see people that seem to fit these stereotypes.
There is a theological point here somewhere. #1 and #2 may not be possible without something happening in the heart. What might that be?
opps, on that last question, I meant #1 and #3 (not #2).
Sorry that I did not ask you ahead of time if I could annoymously share some of what you wrote to me on this blog. I hope it was okay. If you would rather me not in the future, just let me know and I will not. I just thought it was such a good statement to share.
What you said was pretty profound and theological!
I am not getting at anything in particular, other than discussion. The link between faith and behavior is an interesting one.
From a psychological standpoint, we know that beliefs do not predict behavior very well and not as well as intentions. Intentions relate to the will. The will resides in the heart. So there is a connection between our hearts and how we live. Jesus taught this pretty clearly.
The connection between faith and behavior presents challenges theologically also. I was raised with the notion that once saved always saved. You were saved when you prayed "the prayer" with a contrite heart. The challenge comes in with what do you do with the person who has prayed the prayer but continues living a self-centered life. You have to do some theological gymnastics, like maybe the person was never saved, or maybe they lost their salvation, or maybe it doesn't matter - they are saved and God's grace is sufficient.
Theology, though, is man's attempt to understand God. We get it wrong sometimes.
For now, I am camping out on Jesus' example and teachings. In doing so, you come up against some theology.
I ran across John 3:21. Interesting verse. How do you think this applies to #3 in particular.
For that matter, what about John 3:19-20? Do you think this applies to #2 in some way?
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