Soul vs Spirit
...or maybe the title should be Unity of the Faith/Loss of Doctrine.
During a recent meeting of the minds, a pastor defended their doctrinal position to me by saying, "A pre-tribulation doctrine will destroy one's faith when they are not raptured before the Tribulation. Then they are no longer saved, and at such a critical time!"
Well, that got me to thinkin' - all of the scripture about attaining unto the unity of one faith...hmmm. how doe we determine who is right? Or could it be that faith is a separate issue from doctrine? Perhaps this concept is not new to you, but at the time it was not that well defined to me.
Remembering the first time that I was confronted by the fact that this really awesome, mature Christian whom I'd met was not of the same doctrinal persuasion as myself - I just could not wrap my mind around that at all! Cartainly, we agreed about the basics, like the Trinity, salvation by faith, miraculous birth, resurrection of Jesus, etc. but there were many issues upon which we did not agree at all. Was it my job to set her straight? After all, our anointed pastor had taught me the real truth, and our denomination had something special that no one else had (and the implication was that they would never have it). Since I come from a long line of lawyers, I carefully prepared my apologetic case in my mind, but was never permitted the chance to successfully argue it.
That was God's point - argument is not from the Spirit. It merely saits a soulish need to take charge of an anomoly and correct it. It creates division and unhealthy competition. Next question - so what is it that Jesus means when He prays for the church to all be one? When you put three theologians in a room, they will come out with four opinions, so the answer must lie in being one as Jesus is One with the Father. The Word was sent to sanctify us, but the SPIRIT was sent by Jesus to teach us all things that unify us. Bottom line, it's a spiritual act to be in unity and it pretty much has to bypass our (or is it just my?) finite, logical teach-me-by-the-text brains.
Jesus taught that those who seek to save their lives will lose them and vice versa (KJV). Another translation of the word "life" in this passage is "soul". It appears to me that chapter 16 in Matthew could be a revelation on following the Spirit. After all, he told Peter that his recognition of Jesus as Messiah was spiritually discerned. He commended a non-learned man on his understanding of Who He is, pointing out that it was spiritually learned, just like he commended Mary for crashing the all-male gathering to sit at His feet while her sister was slaving away in her many preparations. But that's another whole blog topic...
Can you feel the wind on this?
During a recent meeting of the minds, a pastor defended their doctrinal position to me by saying, "A pre-tribulation doctrine will destroy one's faith when they are not raptured before the Tribulation. Then they are no longer saved, and at such a critical time!"
Well, that got me to thinkin' - all of the scripture about attaining unto the unity of one faith...hmmm. how doe we determine who is right? Or could it be that faith is a separate issue from doctrine? Perhaps this concept is not new to you, but at the time it was not that well defined to me.
Remembering the first time that I was confronted by the fact that this really awesome, mature Christian whom I'd met was not of the same doctrinal persuasion as myself - I just could not wrap my mind around that at all! Cartainly, we agreed about the basics, like the Trinity, salvation by faith, miraculous birth, resurrection of Jesus, etc. but there were many issues upon which we did not agree at all. Was it my job to set her straight? After all, our anointed pastor had taught me the real truth, and our denomination had something special that no one else had (and the implication was that they would never have it). Since I come from a long line of lawyers, I carefully prepared my apologetic case in my mind, but was never permitted the chance to successfully argue it.
That was God's point - argument is not from the Spirit. It merely saits a soulish need to take charge of an anomoly and correct it. It creates division and unhealthy competition. Next question - so what is it that Jesus means when He prays for the church to all be one? When you put three theologians in a room, they will come out with four opinions, so the answer must lie in being one as Jesus is One with the Father. The Word was sent to sanctify us, but the SPIRIT was sent by Jesus to teach us all things that unify us. Bottom line, it's a spiritual act to be in unity and it pretty much has to bypass our (or is it just my?) finite, logical teach-me-by-the-text brains.
Jesus taught that those who seek to save their lives will lose them and vice versa (KJV). Another translation of the word "life" in this passage is "soul". It appears to me that chapter 16 in Matthew could be a revelation on following the Spirit. After all, he told Peter that his recognition of Jesus as Messiah was spiritually discerned. He commended a non-learned man on his understanding of Who He is, pointing out that it was spiritually learned, just like he commended Mary for crashing the all-male gathering to sit at His feet while her sister was slaving away in her many preparations. But that's another whole blog topic...
Can you feel the wind on this?
posted by Fencemender | 10:52 AM
2 Comments:
I've been reading "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind", and he makes the point that Bible commentators like Scofield and Ryrie, who say "this means this" are largely to blame for the concept many Christians have, that their pastor's (or Bible version's) way of looking at things is the only way. Teaching ministries should use terms like "Perhaps this means" or "Some interpret this" way more often than the dogmatic form. It's tempting to be dogmatic, but it's ultimately destructive, unless the Bible is unambiguous. Face it, the Bible is clear that the second coming will happen, but not on its timing. For us to declare sides, as if we are as certain of that as we are of our salvation in Christ is damaging to our witness to the whole world, and harmful to the growth and learning of the Body, as much as to its unity.
Elaine
One more thought:
If one's faith is based on the doctrinal positions one holds, it will most certainly be found wanting in the end. Our faith must be in Jesus Christ, the living Savior and Lord of all. I think many will be surprised to find that their church, doctrine, books, study, ministries, etc. were not enough to secure a place at Christ's side. You have to know Him. That's it.
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