Questions on Christianity

I heard a sermon recently on the following passage in Revelation.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  (Revelation 20:11-13 ESV)

Twice this passage mentions we will be judged after we die based upon what we “had done”.  Nothing is said about our beliefs.  Yet the sermon mentioned nothing about the  importance of our actions in spite of the fact that that Jesus, when he was on earth, said the same.

In Matthew 16:27, Jesus says that when he comes back to earth, he will reward “each person according to what he has done”.  Perhaps the best-known passage is Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus talks about the nations gathered before him for judgment.  And how will we be judged?  It is whether we gave the hungry food to eat, the thirsty something to drink, those needing a place to stay a room in our houses, clothing to those who needed it, and visited the sick and incarcerated.  In giving these examples, Jesus is very specific about what God requires of us and what determines whether we spend eternity with him or receive eternal punishment.

So why do we not teach and preach as Jesus did?

A great deal of emphasis of our Christian faith is to have the correct doctrine and we should.  However, as we have repeatedly stated in this blog, salvation is more than just a belief system, it is action.  In chapter 16 of my book, The Renovation of Our Soul, we quote several Christian leaders throughout the centuries since the time of Christ who express similar ideas.

In the last blog, we introduced Fénelon, an archbishop in France in the 17^th century, and he expresses the same idea.

“Oh, how we deceive ourselves when we suppose that we are growing in grace because our vain curiosity is being gratified by the enlightenment of our intellect.” [1]

“Our great aim should be . . .to devote ourselves to living.  Let’s learn to talk less and do more without caring whether anyone sees us or not.” [2]

“You already have more knowledge than you can use.  You would do better to put into practice what you already know.” [3]

So let us follow Fénelon’s advice and practice what we claim to believe.

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[1]   Fénelon.  Let Go.  New Kensington, PA:  Whitaker House, 1973, p. 23.

[2]   Fénelon.  pp. 22-23.

[2]   Fénelon.  p. 23.

A friend of mine gave me the book, Let Go by Fénelon.  My initial reaction was that I really did not want to read it but when I saw it was written by an archbishop in France in the 17^th century, my interest level changed.

My hesitation to read this book was because I have heard the expression “Let go and let God” used as an excuse for Christians to evade their responsibility.  While the Bible does teach God is sovereign and controls all events on our world, it also teaches we have free will and can change our world through the actions we take.

We Christians seem to have a problem with seemingly conflicting ideas in the Bible.  We go to one extreme or the other while not doing the hard work of reconciling what the Bible teaches.

We addressed one such Biblical conflict in my first book, The Renovation of Our Soul.  There we examined the several different ways the Bible said we could be saved.  If you don’t want to purchase my book, my blog of March 17, 2011 (yes, this blog is that old) gives several Biblical passages that illustrates this point and will start your research.

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[1]   Fénelon.  Let Go.  New Kensington, PA:  Whitaker House, 1973.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:8 ESV)

Bruce Wilkinson states in his book that he once interpreted, as many of us have, the above passage in John as saying we must evangelize, convert others to Christianity, if we are to please God.  However, Wilkinson has determined the Bible uses the terms “fruit” and “good works” interchangeably.  While evangelism is part of our good works it is only a part. [1]

The Bible states the type of fruit we bear indicates the type of person we are, what we are like in our soul.  A healthy vine produces good fruit and a diseased vine produces bad fruit (Matthew 17:7).  And then there is that verse from Galatians which clearly states that the fruit of the Spirit is:

. . .love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)

As we have consistently stated in this blog, salvation of more than a belief system.  It is God working with us to change our soul so he produces the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives.  Our evangelism is simply telling others, as we travel about the world, what God has done for us (Matthew 28:19).

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[1]   Bruce Wilkinson.  Secrets of the Vine.  Colorado Springs, CO:  Multnomah Books, 2001, pp. 20-21.