Rescuing Scripture, Theology, & Church from the Shackles of Religion
If I say “salvation is from the Lord,” what do you think of?
If you are like most Christians, you think of how God forgives your sins so you can receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die.
Well, the phrase “salvation is from the Lord” is found in Jonah 2:9, which are looking at in this podcast episode, and we will see that it means something quite different from what many Christians think it means.
What is evangelism? What needs to be said in evangelism? Who do you say it to? How long does evangelism take? What Scriptures should you use? How do you know when someone has been evangelized?
Since there is so much confusion around evangelism, maybe we should start talking about gospelism instead.
Many Christians say that if you are truly a Christian, you will have the good works to prove it. I argued in last week’s post that this is not true.
Let me provide three more reasons that good works do not prove that we are a Christian (and that the lack of good works do not prove that we are NOT a Christian).
I am convinced that you must read the Bible with a half smile on your lips and a glint of humor in your eyes if you are going to properly understand some texts. Mark Roncace shows this in his book, Holy Hilarity.
Do you think that theology can be an idol?
That is, do you think that we sometimes allow our study of God, or even what we think we know about God, to get in the way of actually worshiping and obeying God? In other words, do you think we Christians ever make our theology of God more important than God Himself?
Is it possible for our theology to become idolatry?
That is what we discuss in my podcast on Jonah 2:7-8.
Lots of people wonder about the role of good works in the life of the believer. While I agree that good works are important, I do not believe that good works are the necessary result of faith, nor do I believe that good works are necessary to gain entrance into heaven.
What is your view and why?
