Meant to post this up earlier, but work keeps happening =)

Eph 2:1-10 was the subject in ODB a couple of days back, familiar passage. Verse 4-5 says:-
...God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. (Emphasis mine)

And its clear, God's grace came precisely when we did not deserve it, when we were, and are, still sinners and undeserving. Yet verse 10 concludes with:-
...For we are ... created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance.. (Emphasis mine)

Grace is not and cannot be separate from our righteousness. Grace is not prompted by or dependent on our righteousness, but it cannot also be an excuse to persist in unrighteousness.

A nice article I came across.

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A couple of months ago, someone in church asked me, “How long have you been a Christian?”

I hadn’t actually thought about it much up till that point, but then I realised: it’ll be exactly 10 years come September. Hard to believe it’s been that long; I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and yet I have so much further to go.

That conversation came back to me tonight, and I started to ask myself: if you had to sum up the Christian life, what would you have to say about it? Can it actually be summed up?

When I was much younger in my walk, I would’ve said of course, and I would’ve been able to do it within a few sentences. Today, I’d take a lot longer to think about that question, and then I still wouldn’t be sure that I could answer it adequately.

What do I have to say about the Christian life? So many things. On the one hand, this much is true: all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and require an atoning sacrifice so that they will not remain under the condemnation of the wrath of God. But on the other hand, that’s only the beginning.

The point of the Christian life is not to get a free pass into heaven. It is to discover a life path completely different to what you would’ve otherwise embarked on, and to grow in the knowledge of the Creator of the universe. It is to understand, from the deepest parts of yourself, the meaning of repentance and forgiveness, and the value of what Jesus did for humanity. It’s to allow Someone infinitely wiser and greater and more loving than yourself to become your Friend, Counsellor, Lord and Father, and to let that relationship change you. And once we get reasonably straightened out by the experiences, lessons and responsibilities that accompany that relationship, we have to engage with the problems around us, the problems of humanity that are rooted at individual, familial, cultural and national levels. Not doing so is not an option. 

But at the same time, it isn’t done just any old way. Being a Christian entails having the ability to exercise dual vision; our perception of reality should be informed by both the spiritual and the natural, as evidenced even by how the Bible was written: alongside the historical books of Judges, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and so forth, there are also the prophetic books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Haggai etc. And it’s only by reading these different types of books in conjunction with one another, that students of Scripture can actually learn how to develop a godly, prophetic vision of current events, which the Holy Spirit can then use to illuminate our understanding.

But that’s a whole topic in itself. Like I said, there’re so many things I could talk about.

… For this post, I think I’ll pick just one thing to focus on, and that is the unfortunate fact that many people tend to utilise only one of the two modes of vision I mentioned. The following paragraphs will be very broadly generalised, but I’ll just put down, for the record, what I’ve tended to observe in the time I’ve been a believer, so you know what I’m trying to say.

People who adopt a more spiritual view of things tend to make Christianity a self-centred religion, in the sense they become so focused on everything that has to do with heaven, they stop seeing that life on earth has any real bearing on their faith. Some of them even think they should retreat, keep to themselves, and just wait for the day of the Lord to come. They trick themselves into believing that engagement, ultimately, doesn’t matter because the world is perishing anyway, and they need to keep themselves spotless (even though engaging and remaining spotless are actually distinctly different things). They spurn and disdain what other people see as important and meaningful to work toward, like social justice, political transformation and ethical awareness, just because such matters can be placed under the umbrella of the common and mundane. They forget that we, at present, are beings of flesh and blood who must live in the world and seek to be responsible residents, even if we can’t fundamentally claim any kind of native citizenship.

On the other hand, those who pick the natural view tend to make Christianity so world-centred that they neglect the fact they should, ultimately, be pointing others toward God. They get so caught up with the issues of the day that they stop looking after the fire of their faith, and despair that God isn’t moving at the speed or in the direction they might prefer. They become vulnerable to the idea that as long as they are working toward a noble goal, God will necessarily endorse their methods. They become so eager to make partnerships work, they allow themselves to become moulded by, or even willingly kowtow to, the deceptive language and conceptual fudging of ecumenical proliferations. They let themselves get leavened by the values and philosophies of non-believers, sometimes without even realising it, and think they’re just becoming more progressive. They forget that their battle, ultimately, is not to save the world, but to draw the hearts and minds of the lost to the one true God, without Whom we can’t have a renewed world.

Of course, there’re lots of stances and attitudes that vary between these poles, but what I’m trying to say is, I believe there’s a balance of approaches that needs to be achieved, if Christians are to be truly effective while remaining faithful to God. … Simply put, I am not against watching and waiting. I am against watching and waiting that will bear no fruit. And I am not against activism. I am against activism that lacks the arbitration of God’s perspective.

So what’s it all about, really?

… Personally, I think it’s about submitting our fears and anxieties to God, so we can grow the courage and willingness we need to speak for what is right and true and just. And I also think it’s about submitting our morality and beliefs to Him, so we can learn the difference between what humanity in general thinks is good, what we think is good, and what God thinks is good. When you can get those things balanced out and have them in working order, the result, in my opinion, will be a holy and prophetic people that can understand when to speak and when to be silent, and when to participate and when to shake the dust from their feet.

We need that today, in an age of paranoia and corruption and compromise and disillusionment. We need a people that will not fear, or be bribed, or allow dissuasion, or become embittered and intimidated. We need believers who will actually know, intimately, the words and character of God, who can have a clear idea of what His plans and desires are. We need Christians who will want what He wants, and will work with Him to achieve it, using His methods and in obedience to His timing. We need disciples who, from the bottom of their hearts, desire to help restore His reputation, which some people have soiled and profaned, who will elevate that as above every other agenda, and who will let that be their guide as to how we should conduct ourselves and judge a matter.

In a nutshell… I’m not sure I can put it more basically than that. 

And yes, I realise how enormous it all sounds. Will it be easy to achieve? Of course not. But is it worth aiming for? Definitely.

So after almost 10 years, I guess that’s what I have to say about what I’ve learned in the Christian faith. And now that I think of it, it might be interesting, if I’m still blogging in 10 years’ time, to see what I’ll write then about the same question. Hmm. Talk about looking forward… :p

But yeah… thus far I have walked, and the journey continues.

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I find myself leaning towards the second viewpoint. Need reminding once in a while.

http://swinnmelody.blogspot.com/2009/10/20-years.html

The two girls are the same age as my bro and I, their parents were among the members of the church my parents led back in the day, in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.

Reminds me just how good God is, seeing all these uncles and aunties from way back. All the younger generation were praying for one of them (his birthday celebration), and I think we've all been pretty well brought up. Thank God for our parents.