The Unforgivable Sin

Recently in church someone asked if there is any sin which God won’t forgive. There is one sin which Jesus said will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30). The exact sin and meaning of this has been debated. However not long before this, one of the churches I’m a part of read over this passage and the meaning seemed pretty clear to me. But I think it takes a bit of a shift in how we traditionally think of sin.

While the New Testament is about principles rather that rules, we often still think of sins in terms of rules. We think there is a specific list of sins, and if we do one of the things on the list, we need God to forgive us before we can be saved. We also think this way regarding “the unforgivable sin”. We think that Continue reading →

Brothers And Sisters

I was reading a book recently in which the author was talking about how the early believers called one another “brother” and “sister”. He made the point that they were using these terms for one another because of how close they were to each other. While this seems like a simple concept, I hadn’t specifically thought about it before. I realize that in my own life, I’ve had close friends who I considered to be brothers and sisters. I knew that by using these terms the bible was teaching that we should be close, but I didn’t think about the fact that maybe they actually were that close. Do you have friends which you are this close to? Can you imagine being this close to the people in your church? Do you think we are supposed to be this close?

Making Disciples

“Go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) How should we do this? Well how did Christ do it? Christ lived constantly with a group of men and women for three years. Those men and women were his disciples. Was it effective? I’ll let you be the judge of that. My question is, if this is how Christ made disciples, do we think we’ll make disciples through a couple of hours on Sunday morning, going through a 90 minute per week class for ten weeks, going through a workbook, or listening to sermons? Jesus, Paul and other apostles said “follow me, imitate me, be like me”. If we are making disciples, shouldn’t there be some more mature followers who, while not perfect, could say, “follow my example”? I think we’re getting out of it what we’d expect Continue reading →

Belief vs. Action

What is more important, believing all the right things and having knowledge and understanding about God and the bible, or beginning to live out life following Christ? Yes, a very basic belief is necessary, but often people press the importance of all kinds of additional beliefs. Even if they’re correct, are they more important than action? About the only belief I can think of that you need to get started is a basic belief that Jesus is who he says he is: that he is from God. “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:18). How can you show your faith without actions? I can’t think of anyway you can and I believe that’s James’ point. Jesus didn’t write a catechism. He told a group of men and women Continue reading →

How Important Is Correct Doctrine? (Part 2)

Which is more important, correct doctrine or unity?

You can’t say both because these are at odds with each other. Doctrine is divisive. Nearly 2000 years after Christ, people have yet to agree on a single overall theology or doctrine. There are probably more different doctrinal beliefs in existence now than in the past. (Interestingly there are also an ever increasing number of denominations…)

There is much emphasis placed on unity in the New Testament. Jesus prays, “May [all who believe in me] be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). Paul often talks about us being “one body” (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 10:16-17, 12:12-13, Ephesians 4:25, Colossians Continue reading →

9. How Should Followers Of Jesus Relate To People Of Other Religions?

9. How should followers of Jesus relate to people of other religions?

In our culture today, the popular opinion is that all religions are essentially the same, so it doesn’t really matter what you believe. We should all just get along and not fight because if all religions are the same, what is there to fight about? The reason this is the popular opinion is because of compartmentalization. At some point (during the early twentieth century?) people who were less religious began to push religion out of the public sphere. Religion would be allowed (or tolerated depending on the person) only for personal spiritual pursuit. Religion should have no say or bearing on government, education, business, lifestyle, relationships, etc. As I mentioned Continue reading →

8. Can We Find A Better Way Of Viewing The Future?

8. Can we find a better way of viewing the future?

In order to answer a question about what is better, first I must ask what the alternative is. Or in other words, how do Christians view the future presently? Also, I’ll assume by “future” that we are talking about eschatology which is beliefs about the end of the world and what comes after that. I’m not sure that there is a real unified way of viewing the future among Christians presently (summary of Christian eschatological differences), so it is difficult for me to make a better comparison.

However, there is what has become a pop culture narrative that many hold a certain amount of belief in. It looks something like this: there are places called heaven and hell. When a person dies Continue reading →

3. Is God Violent? (Part 3)

3. Is God violent?

In my previous two posts, I looked at violence in the Old and New Testaments. My conclusion: there is violence in the world and God hasn’t been completely unaffected or uninvolved. However violence is not a core quality of God nor how he prefers to work. God’s plan has always been to have a relationship with people and for people to love each other. In Exodus 19-20 we see that God is intending to have a relationship with all the Israelites. He set up strict rules and displayed his power so that the people would respect him and not do wrong. However the people feared and did not want to be close to God. All along God has had a plan, but people have often not been very cooperative. Therefore God has had to deal with Continue reading →

3. Is God Violent? (Part 2)

3. Is God violent?

In my previous blog I looked at violence in the Old Testament. Now I want to look at violence in the New Testament. Jesus—God incarnate—arrives and begins teaching about God in a seemingly new way. It’s no longer “hate your enemies” but rather “love your enemies”. Is someone mistreating you? Let them do so even more. Is this the same God from the Old Testament? Many were wondering then, and some still wonder today.

An interesting story is recorded in John 8. A woman has been caught in the act of adultery, and is brought before Jesus by some religious leaders. According to the Law, persons who commit adultery must be stoned. They ask Jesus what he would have them do. After a while and some more prodding, Jesus Continue reading →