NowTHINK!AboutIt

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Christian Condition VS Christian Living

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Christians can be bad. Unbelievers can be good.

Being Christian-Like
Is Not The Same
As Being Christian

This post answers the question, “Why are Christians sometimes more sinful than non-Christians?”

And the answer is found in understanding the difference between Christian Condition (salvation) and Christian Living (character). Or to put it more simply, salvation VS character.

I say “VS” because these two ideas don’t blend. And this really is the crux of the issue.

The right “condition” – salvation – should, in theory, produce better “character” but that doesn’t always happen, at least not so we can tell it, and it never works in reverse. Good character never produces salvation. They are two entirely separate issues. Both can and do happen apart from the other.

Nicodemus developed good character as an adult long before and apart from his salvation. Fortunately, he did eventually get saved but his salvation was not an outcome of his character and, sadly, there are many “good” people who don’t get saved. Nicodemus had many associates who missed their opportunity.

Christians often justify marrying unbelievers because they are “very good.” It is the “good” part that makes them attractive in spite of being lost. In some cases these good people eventually become Christian and in some they don’t but being “good” had no bearing on the outcome either way. Good character makes them easy to marry and live with. It does nothing to change their “condition.”

The reverse is also true. It is possible to become a believer and never catch up entirely on the character scale. David with his polygamy and adultery is a good example.

This is an important discussion because you often find non-Christians – in some cases atheists – living on a higher moral plane than Christians. You also find varying degrees of integrity among believers. Some have great qualities and others need a lot of growth.

But, the truth is…

“Christian” is not synonymous with “good” any more than “unbeliever” is synonymous with “bad.”

And the Bible has many examples of people who were good before they became believers. [Read more…] about Christian Condition VS Christian Living

“Tongues” Is A Sign, Part 6

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Lesson 6: Comparing Different Gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14)

The New Testament teaches that every Christian is given spiritual gifts and these gifts determine the shape of our service to God.

1 Peter 4:10 says three things:

  • Every person has received a gift.
  • The gift is best used in ministering to the community – “one another.”
  • Doing so makes the best use of the grace God extends to us.

That is easy to understand. The problem is there are two types of gifts.

  • Some are “supernatural” and some are “natural.”
  • Some are sensationally demonstrated and some are expressed through practical skills.
  • Some display the power of God alone and some display God’s power working through the abilities of His people.
  • Some gifts are very exciting and appealing while others are more mundane.

But all of them are “spiritual.”

Paul mentions both kinds in 1 Corinthians 12. In fact, he makes a very clear statement of his subject, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant,” (v. 1).

Before we go further let’s define our terms more specifically. What is a spiritual gift? What qualifies to be called a spiritual gift? There are several facts to consider. [Read more…] about “Tongues” Is A Sign, Part 6

“Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 5

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Lesson 5: Comparing The Principle To The Experience – Acts 18:24-19:7

It is very possible for a person to know they are wrong but not understand why or what to do about it. The Bible implies this psychological dilemma when it refers to non-Christians as “lost.”

Like getting sand in your eye – Jesus talked about a beam – you only have a vague sense of where you are and where you’re going.

The same thing is true when it comes to religious truth. A person can know that one thing is wrong without knowing what is right. This can be particularly frustrating if the tradition you follow has been historically true to God.

This was the case with the Jews in Jesus day. They knew that God had led them in the past but they also knew that God had done very little with them for several hundred years (approximately 400). They had been used to a regular diet of prophets, priests and miracles. Silence for so many years was a threatening state of affairs. They looked for and needed a fresh manifestation of God which Jesus was but unfortunately, when He came they were looking in the wrong direction.

There’s no excuse for that. The Scriptures are full of references giving details of his coming and even suggesting the timing but all of this information only got in the way of their religious agenda. Jesus was more of an inconvenience than an answer.

Israel had become obsessed with following a set of rules as if the rules were God. They were really just doing their own thing, changing and adding laws as they pleased. Once one set of rules became “easy” they stiffened things up by expanding the regulations. That was their way of feeling a sense of commitment.

That, of course, describes the nature of all religion. “Rules” make us feel “in.” The more aligned with the rules one is the more “in” they think they are.

This was why John Baptist’s message had such an impact. The Jewish leadership had become oppressive and the Jewish masses knew something was wrong but no one knew how to address the problem or had the courage to speak up.

To the greater populace John was fresh. To the religious establishment he was a challenge to the status quo. [Read more…] about “Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 5

“Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 4

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Lesson 4: Comparing The Principle To The Experience (Acts 9:32-11:18)

Speaking in Tongues was a miracle so to talk about tongues is to talk about the miraculous.

That partly explains why people are so bewitched by this experience. It is natural for humans to be fascinated by miracles of any kind even when they happen to others. The prospect of “experiencing” one personally multiplies the fascination. And although tongues are usually represented as something everyone can experience the Bible says exactly the opposite.

Paul rhetorically made this point when he asked, “Do all speak in tongues,” (1 Corinthians 12:30). The answer is obvious.

Tongues is defined as the ability to speak in an unknown language miraculously. That is, the person who spoke in tongues was enabled by God, miraculously, to speak a language they did not already know in the hearing of people who did. Tongues was a three-way miracle.

God miraculously enabled person A to speak in tongues in the hearing of person B. Person B was the focus not A and in every case God wasn’t revealing a truth, He was emphasizing one that had already been revealed.

Another point that is rarely made is the fact that the use of tongues was more for the person hearing than for the person speaking.

It was a miracle used to convince the hearer to accept a truth he or she had already heard but had difficulty processing. In the case of tongues, Hebrew believers were being convinced to accept the fact that God is no respecter of persons. Anyone, including Gentiles could be saved. Tongues was the mechanism used to emphasize this point.

Tongues were spoken several times in the New Testament and, according to Paul, served this very specific and short lived purpose. Once the purpose was served, tongues were no longer needed.

That is really true of all miracles. God doesn’t pass them out like Halloween sweets and they have little to do with alleviating pain or rewarding faith. They are intended to serve God’s purposes not satisfy our need to feel special.

They don’t happen just because you “want” one and it is misleading to suggest faith is the determinant factor. They serve specific purposes, they may make a point but they are always strictly under God’s control.

Of all the miracles in the Bible tongues illustrates this truth best.

  • No one ever expected to speak in tongues.
  • No one even knew they were possible.
  • No one ever prayed for this experience.
  • And after they happened no one talked about them.

The meaning was obvious to the first generation of believers, most of whom were Jewish. Tongues wasn’t an issue until years after the fact.

They happened only when God allowed and they made the same strong statement every time… [Read more…] about “Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 4

“Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 3

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Lesson 3: Comparing The Principle To The Experience – Acts 8

So far in this series we have done two things: established a basic principle for understanding tongues and then used that principle to analyze the first historical event when tongues were spoken.

  • The principle is: tongues are for a sign to unbelievers not believers.
  • Tongues were first spoken miraculously in Acts 2:1-13.

In Acts 2 the unbelievers were the Jews who refused to believe the Old Testament prophecies pointing to Christ. They were believers in one sense and unbelievers in another. The Bible was revered (making them believers) but they stopped short at accepting Christ (making them unbelievers). Along with the Old Testament prophecies attesting to Christ, they also rejected the avalanche of evidence from Christ’s ministry, all of which shouted His Messiah credentials.

Because the term “unbeliever” is also associated with any person who is not a Christian, Acts 2 wasn’t as clear an example as other events when tongues were spoken. Those who heard tongues in that passage became believers not only in Christ but also in a ministry transition.

Other examples bring more clarity to the discussion.

With these thoughts in mind we proceed to the next occasion on which tongues were spoken in judgment against unbelief, Acts 8:1-25. [Read more…] about “Tongues” Are A Sign, Part 3