Before Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, what happened to believers upon death?
In Luke 16, Jesus tells a story of a rich man and Lazarus. In it, the rich man and Lazarus both die. The rich man goes to Hades (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Sheol”). Across a great chasm, the rich man sees Lazarus by Abraham’s side. This passage indicates Hades is a holding place that contained sinners (in torment) and saints (in comfort). Jesus directly taught that Hades contained a place of comfort for saints.
Let me begin by stating, this writing is an exercise in theology. I am trying to document my understanding of the Bible’s teaching regarding speaking in tongues. My view on this issue may vary dramatically from yours, but my concern is not with invalidating your faith. If you are my brother (or sister) in Christ, that supersedes all. My convictions on this issue do not interfere with my commitment to you as my brother, or my respect for you in your faith. Many, of sincere faith and in honest devotion have come to fundamentally different views on the scope and application of the gift of tongues. I am quite comfortable with this diversity and still call you my beloved brother.
Within modern evangelical American churches, there are two competing philosophies of church organization: the traditional and the seeker-sensitive. The seeker-sensitive approach has gained significant momentum, but it has a difficulty that is often unacknowledged or neglected.
Continue reading The Problem of Unrighteous Believers Within the Seeker-sensitive Church…
John MacArthur says, “Being a slave of Christ may be the best way to define a Christian.”
Part 1:
First, from the outset you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says. As a Christian, it would be a grave mistake to come to Jesus and say, “Let me hear what you have to say, and then I’ll decide whether or not I like it.” If you approach Jesus this way, you will never truly hear what he has to say. You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them.
Then second, you need to commit to obey what you have heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response. In the process of hearing Jesus, you are compelled to take an honest look at your life, your family, and your church and not just ask, “What is he saying?” but also ask, “What shall I do?”
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these eager followers of Jesus in the first century.… What if we were told to hate our families and give up everything we had in order to follow Jesus?
This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.
But we don’t want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away.
Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t have the personal evangelism books we have today that tell us how to draw the net and close the sale. Instead Jesus told him one ting: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
What was he thinking? Jesus had committed the classic blunder of letting the big fish get away. The cost was too hing.
Yet the kind of abandonment Jesus asked of the rich young man is at the core of Jesus’ invitation throughout the Gospels.
Jesus apparently wasn’t interested in marketing himself to the masses. His invitations to potential followers were clearly more costly than the crowds were ready to accept, and he seemed to be okay with that. He focused instead on the few who believed him when he said radical things. And through their radical obedience to him, he turned the course of history in a new direction.
Soon I realized I was on a collision course with an American church culture where success is defined by bigger crowds, bigger budgets, and bigger buildings. I was now confronted with a startling reality: Jesus actually spurned the things that my church culture said were most important.
Here is where we must begin just like Jesus. I will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by men at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it. Seen this way, thought, it becomes a big decision in the ministry. One must decide where he wants his ministry to count — in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of his life in a few chosen men who will carry on his work after he as gone. Really it is a question of which generation we are living for.