Piecemeal Theology

Despite Paul's plea for Christian unity in 1 Corinthians 1:10, the universal church (worldwide body of all Christians) has been divided beyond belief. There are many theological areas on which these denominations differ, and maybe I'll write about some of those at a later date, but there is one area of disagreement that must be discussed first and foremost. You see, among the many differences in denominations, some of them are no more than personal preferences rather than Biblical teachings, but God's plan for salvation is the most important and applicable subject in the entire Bible. Since this is such an important part of Scripture, we would like to think it's the one subject all believers can agree on. Unfortunately, our 21st Century piecemeal approach to studying and understanding Scripture has divided the church even on this most important subject.

Our modern-day culture tells us that we should do whatever it is that makes us happy. In the context of studying God's Word, that means we should take a piecemeal approach by picking apart verses and passages until we create answers that make us comfortable and happy. This couldn't be further from the way God intended us to study Scripture! Not only does this approach cause even more division, but instead of actually learning about God and His teachings, we separate ourselves further from the truth. God's inspired teachings, which have been preserved at great cost throughout history, were given to us as a package. This package was not meant to be taken apart and to have us use only the pieces we like the best. To better illustrate this point, let's look at how detrimental this approach is when applying it to understanding God's teaching on salvation.

I'm going to do my best to accurately represent two different interpretations of the Bible's teachings on salvation. Although there may be variations to these, or even more than two major interpretations, I'm going to focus on the two that I see as the main ones. There are some (I would say most0 believers who interpret the Bible in a way that teaches salvation is given to anyone who simply believes in God and "accepts" Him into their heart. (Romans 10:9) The other interpretation of Scripture teaches that a person must submit to God in an obedient faith and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. (Acts 2:38, 8:26-40)

It is true that Romans 10:9 says anyone who believes in God and confesses that belief with their lips will be saved. However, is that the only verse in the whole Bible that discusses salvation? Absolutely not. In Acts 2, we read about Peter and the other Apostles preaching to a crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The crowd consisted of many of the people who did not believe Jesus was who He said He was and put him to death. After hearing what Peter and the other Apostles said, the people in the crowd finally believed the things Jesus said and realized what they had done. They were sorrowful for what they had done, and they asked Peter what to do to obtain salvation (forgiveness for their sins). "Peter replied, repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

It is clear that the people in the crowd did in fact believe in God and Jesus as the Son of God simply by their sorrow and desire to be forgiven. If belief alone was how one obtained salvation, why did Peter tell them to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins? You see, if we take a piecemeal approach to understanding God's plan for salvation, we could easily be led to a false teaching. However, if we take ALL of God's teachings about salvation and combine them to get the entire package, we see a much different picture. When we do this, we see that a person is saved when they 1) believe 2) repent 3) confess their belief 4) obey God's command to be baptized. Although belief and an oral confession of that belief is part of how a person enters a saved state, by itself it is only a part of the whole equation.

I usually like to write articles that challenge or encourage us in our daily walk with God, but sometimes we need to get back to the basics and get a firm understanding of the fundamental principles of Christianity. There are many, many people in the world today who are teaching piecemeal theology. I urge you, I plead with you, I beg you to read God's Word for yourself. Never should you trust what someone says about the Bible simply because they say they know what they're talking about. God used simple people to write His teachings in a simple language so that all of us could easily understand them. The only thing we have to do is read the entire package.

The Holes in the Post

Do you ever think back to when you were a child, to a time when you first learned a very valuable lesson about life? We all learned many lessons while we were growing up, but we'll always have memories of those lessons that had a huge impact on our life. Something I struggled with while I was growing up was keeping control of my mouth, mostly because I simply didn't understand how big of an impact my words had on other people. My mom shared with me an illustration to help me understand just that, and it actually has some new meaning for me today. She told me a story of a young boy who was helping someone paint a fence. Each time the boy would get angry, he would go back to a part that was nicely painted and hammer nails into the wood. After the boy realized what he had done was wrong, he pulled out the nails. When he did this several times, he realized that even though he tried to correct what he did wrong, there were still visible holes in the new paint where his nails had been.

I was able to eventually learn the lesson that words have a lasting effect on people's hearts, but that was only part of the lesson. Most often, when we think about someone being hurt, we think about physical bodily injury. In reality, some of the greatest pain we could ever experience can be the result of mere words. Aside from hurtful words, I don't know many things that can affect us just as severely thirty years from now as they did today.

Although my first lesson with this did not come from the Bible, it is a subject that many New Testament writers devoted a great deal of time to. We all know how hurtful words can be, but something we may not understand completely is how much effort we must put into controlling our mouth. We may not think of our tongue as a very powerful weapon, but James 3:3-18 shows us just how dangerous it can be. Psalm 140:3 says, "They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips."

I have in no way mastered the skill of keeping every possibly hurtful thought to myself instead of sharing it, but what I find throughout Scripture are more reasons for me to try even harder. It doesn't matter if we struggle with casual gossip or malicious slander, it can all hurt the same and the pain can be long lasting. Paul had a solution to this problem that he shared with the people at Ephesus. In Ephesians 4:29, he instructs them to use their mouths only for the building up of others. I know this is a foreign idea and almost anti-culture to the people who love to share all of their opinions with others, but maybe anti-culture is exactly what we need.

It's no secret that Christian living is something we need help with from other people around us, and this particular subject is no exception. I'm always grateful when I find myself in company that doesn't let me gossip or slander someone without kindly and lovingly helping me notice what I did. It's amazing the difference I see in my actions simply because of what someone else had the courage to point out.

Hidden Cost or Hidden Treasure?

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world , but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 (NIV)

From the time that I became a Christian and started studying God's Word I have wrestled with my understanding of Romans 12 and the implications it has for my life, especially the second verse. Christians are faced with many difficult tasks, but one of the most difficult is taking teachings given to people of a 1st Century Eastern culture and attempting to reconcile them with the 21st Century Western culture we live in today. Most of the time, when we go through this process, we unknowingly and unintentionally dismiss core Biblical teachings when they contradict or oppose the culture we live in. In fact, we allow our culture and society's standards to influence our interpretation of Scripture more than we may realize.

I don't think it's an understatement to say that our society has turned just about as far as it can away from God's intended design for life. As Christians, we are privileged to be able to live a different life; one of peace and true happiness that comes only from Christ. We are privileged, but it doesn't stop there. We have a duty, a responsibility, to live a life that shows who we belong to; the world or God. We just cannot sit by any longer and allow our culture to impact the way we live as Christians.

I don't enjoy being different just for the sake of being different, because I don't like the unnecessary attention. However, sometimes you just have to take a stand for the things that matter most. At the end of many days I often think about what other people saw in me that day. I wonder if I blended in or if there was at least one person who stopped for a moment to think about what's different in me. There's nothing especially great about me and that's not where I'm going, but in each and every Christian lives the very Spirit of God.

Sure, you could say there are some "hidden costs" involved in living a Christian life the way God intended, but they pale in comparison to the indescribable treasures we find when we disregard the worldly things and fully submit to God's desires for us. I'll ask you to reflect on that same question I often think about. Through the way you live your life, would anyone who came into contact with you today have been able to tell you are a Christian?