Foolish Cross

“…unless you distinguish the Gospel from religion and moralism, they assume that you are simply asking them to become better people…” -Tim Keller

In the video above, Tim Keller discusses the importance of distinguishing between the gospel and religion and moralism, especially when sharing with the irreligious and secular.

Knowledge of Sin Through the Law

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:19-28)

Beauty Outside – Death Inside

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

We have been called to make disciples, not Pharisees. How tragic it would be if, in an attempt to share the gospel, I led one to believe that the answer to irreligion is religion or moralism.

If you are a regular visitor to Foolish Cross (I know there are at least 5 of you out there), then you have surely noticed some changes today. Over the weekend, FC was moved from Blogger to Wordpress. Though the transition was successfully made (thanks to some help from BLOGBloke), there is still plenty left to do. I hope to tweak, or completely change, the theme you now see. You may have also noticed that all past comments are absent, as I am experiencing some technical difficulties with the migration of comments. I will be working to solve this issue as well.

I hope to have these items, and others, crossed off my list by next week.  Thanks for your patience.

Recently, I started to read Loving God by Charles Colson.  In the introduction, Colson poses a very important question: Do Christians know how to love God?

…most of us, as professing Christians, do not really know how to love God.  Not only have we not given thought to what the greatest commandment means in our day-to-day existence, we have not obeyed it.  And if this was true for individual believers, what were the ramifications for the church?  Perhaps the reason the church was so ineffective in the world was that it had the same needs I did.

 I look forward to reading his response.

When exactly was Jesus born? Mark Driscoll discusses this question at The Resurgence.  His conclusion? 

In the end, the year and date of Jesus’ birth are apparently not a significant issue because God did not find them valued enough to clarify in Scripture, which simply says it happened “in the fullness of time.

…even a brain tumor. 

Jesus changes everything.

Do you ever question your Christian faith?  Do struggle with doubts?  Are there certain issues or aspects of Christianity that you don’t quite understand? 

Abraham Piper recently posted about an issue that has been giving him some trouble lately:

It seems far-fetched that God invented a system in which a reasonable/rational/sane person can deny “ultimate reality.”

A great deal of discussion has followed this post as over 100 comments have been posted to date.  Abraham drew attention to one comment in particular today via Twitter, however:

Apparently, one 22 Words reader (“john”) wasn’t impressed that “son of one of the greatest preachers of our day” has doubts and struggles. 

An unfortunate comment, no?

It seems that, in some Christian circles, there is pressure to be completely free of doubt, question, or confusion.  At times, we even put this pressure on ourselves, causing these same doubts and questions to become an internal source of guilt and shame.

Why am I doubting this aspect of my faith?   No one else struggles with these questions. Christians shouldn’t have these doubts.  Am I really a Christian?

Don’t Be a Closet Doubter

It takes a great deal of humility to acknowledge your doubts, to pose your questions, to openly struggle with your faith.  I appreciate Abraham Piper’s willingness to so in the public forum of his blog.  One commenter stated:

I commend Abraham for being bold enough to air his questions. He is not concerned with looking like he has it all together, but rather being honest. I’ll take that any day.

Doubts, struggles, and questions are only dangerous if we ignore them, suppress them, or pretend they are not there.  Ultimately, doubt can serve to drive us to prayer, the study of God’s word, and wise and godly counsel.  Most importantly, doubt drives us humbly to the foot of the cross. 

What doubts or questions do you struggle with?  In your opinion, is it acceptable and healthy for Christians to struggle with doubt and questions about their faith?

I have written before about 2 Pillars Church, an Acts 29 church plant coming soon to Lincoln, NE.  Todd Bumgarner recently announced that a vision video has been made for 2 Pillars.  Watch the finished product below.  The video can also be found on YouTube.

2 Pillars Church Vision Video from Todd Bumgarner on Vimeo.