The power of predestination

Getup Get God (Photo credit: prettywar-stl)

Christians tend to enjoy having discussions about theological issues; one of the most famous age-old questions is to ask how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. We’re happy to acknowledge that the answer doesn’t really matter in terms of the way we live our lives, but to discuss it is stimulating and provides an entry into the study of God.

One such topic for debate is predestination. Put simply, do humans choose to become Christians (each person’s eternal future is in their hands), or does God choose individuals to save (and, therefore, choose individuals to torment for eternity)?

If you’re a Christian it doesn’t really matter which of these camps you side with, because you’re in God’s camp either way. But if we’re going with the pro-predestination side, this verse is probably one of the most comforting in all of Scripture:

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (Romans 8:33)

If it’s God who justifies, thennothingcan prevent us from receiving the eternal joy of salvation. And that’s cause for joy right now!

If all have sinned then all are justified

Image via Wikipedia

I have a confession to make: I’m guilty of quoting the Bible out of context to make a point. In my defence it was unintentional, but since realising this I’ve noticed that we Christians seem to do it just a little too often. Have a look at these commonly quoted Bible verses that don’t actually say what we seem to say they do:

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

I’ve quoted this, and heard it quoted often, to say that…’all have sinned’. Nobody’s perfect. But to take this verse to prove that the Bible says that everyone’s sinned isn’t logical, because the sentence continues:

[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Logically speaking, if you’re going to use verse 23 to ‘prove’ that everyone’s a sinner, you must accept that all are justified – and that’s not the case because those that are said here to be justified are justified through faith in Christ Jesus. So the ‘all’ means ‘all Christians’. Can we please stop using Romans 3:23 to say that everyone needs to become a Christian?

Matthew 18:20

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

I’ve heard this one quoted in probably every other prayer meeting I’ve been to: ‘O Lord, you said that when two or more gather in your name you are there, and we are gathered in your name so you are here with us…’

But that’s not what the passage is saying! Have a read of Matthew 18:15-20 and you’ll quickly spot that it’s talking about church discipline! Jesus is saying that if someone has sinned against you and won’t repent when you approach them or when independent witnesses validate your claim, you should bring them before the church because the collective witness of Jesus’ body, the church, reflects Jesus’ own view.

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Perhaps this is my favourite. This is always used as the call for conversion: ‘Unbelievers, Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, will you open the door and let him in?’

But again, look at the context! This statement is part of a rebuke to a church who were being ‘lukewarm’ – they were claiming to be Christians but living as if they were atheists. Jesus’ knock isn’t a gentle ‘let me in for intimacy’, it’s a sarcastic ‘Helloooo! I’m right here, you say you believe in me, but you’re acting like an unbeliever!’

Conclusion

Right. Let’s be clear here – I actually believe that all have sinned. I believe that Jesus is present when we gather by his Spirit. I believe that Jesus is calling unbelievers to faith and repentance. But how about we treat the Bible the way it should be treated? Instead of taking soundbites from it, how about we read it, study it, and apply its lessons.

Whole-body worship

At my church we believe in ‘whole-body’ worship. That means that every member of the church body (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12) is equally involved in corporate worship. There’s not one leader and many followers, there’s one facilitator enabling every individual to engage.

But worship is way bigger than we perceive it. I follow The Resurgence, who recently posted about the importance of the human body in worship. We worship with our body through daily living, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, but when we join in corporate worship it’s important we worship with our whole body too:

Scripture, however, presents an active, physical involvement in worship: the raising of hands, indicative of both blessing God (Psa. 134:1) and pleading for his help and mercy (Psa. 28:1-2; 88:8-10); kneeling, bowing, and falling down, exhibiting humility and abject shame before the Lord (Rev. 4:9-11; 5:8-14; Ezra 9:5-6; 2 Chron. 6:12-14; Psa. 35:13-14; Neh. 8:5-6); dancing or leaping, manifesting intense joy (Psa. 149:3-4; Ex. 15:20-21; 2 Sam. 6:14-17); and clapping and shouting praise to God (Psa. 47:1-2; 66:1). Certainly, many cultural—including generational, ethnic, geographical, socio-economic, and denominational—realities must be considered in this discussion, but embodied human beings qualified to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24) are to engage in this activity with the entirety of their being—and that includes their body.