I don't want to make this too hard, but it is impossible. For the past several months I have been re-examining the things I believe so I can be more effective in defending them. In the past, people would agree that they were doing wrong, but they would decide not to change. Now, however, people have their own unique take on the gospel which allows them to believe almost anything and see it as putting them on the road to right living. I have never enjoyed debating spiritual matters and I don't like the "The Bible says it, I believe it, That settles it" defense of the gospel.
The gospel message is so simple that anyone can accept it, and so complex that world reknowned scholars cannot agree on many points. It can't be accepted without faith, and someone without faith thinks that the "accept by faith" argument is lame and without basis. As it says in 1 Cor. 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
Jesus' disciples were not scholars, but ordinary men. Scholars came later. But although they were ordinary men, they weren't goobers. When they received the Holy Spirit, they spoke with authority and layed down their lives for the cause of Christ. Many people were saved.Many churches were planted around the known world. Now I've touched a place that would take me pages to work out and I've run out of space. Another day.
3 comments:
You know . . . that really hits what I am feeling right on the head. Thank you. :)
I wonder if we're not supposed to come to enjoy, in some sense, the "too-hard-ness" of it all. God, if he is anything, is unimaginably good, and if we are going to try to think about him - and I believe that is one of the gifts he gives us - then we should expect it to, well, overwhelm us. We can't master this Gospel; it master us.
That is not to say, of course, that we can't be wrong about anything. There are stupid questions. And not everyone can do this kind of work that you're doing. But be encouraged; it is worth the time and effort, not only for you personally but for us, your friends, your family.
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