More than mystical

Where faith starts

John 3:16 HCSB

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

This verse is the cornerstone of the Christian Faith. It tells the truth of the gospel, the desire that God has had from the beginning, and what it takes to have the life that you and I were designed for. The realization, and actualization of the need for someone to do what it is impossible for humans. Once we have made that realization more than just head knowledge the Mystical part of faith happens.

We need to define a few things before we move forward.

Mystical: of or relating to supernatural agencies, affairs, occurrences, etc.

Corporeal: of the nature of the physical body; bodily. material; tangible:

Keeping those two definitions in mind is going to be important as we move forward into what Paul is telling Titus and us.

The Christian world today is, many times divided into two Tribes, even if they don’t want to admit it. There is the tribe that leans very heavily on this verse:

Ephesians 2:8 HCSB

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—

This tribe, whenever you bring up the importance of doing good, of the importance of verses like this,

Micah 6:8 HCSB

Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Or this..

John 14:12 HCSB

“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

are very content to say yes…but it’s about grace and faith…it’s all about Jesus and what he does for me. Paul warns us about being involved in works and he was an apostle.

The sad thing is what Paul says to the Ephesians in that verse has become an excuse for lazy Christianity and ignores more of what Paul says not just in Ephesians but elsewhere.

Then there is the other tribe. This tribe tends to view works as not just the beginning point but the foundation of salvation. There,many times, is a cursory acknowledgment of “coming to Jesus” but it is more about what a person does. This tribe leans heavily on Old Testament Law as the definition of what it means to be a Christ Follower. They tend to be list Christians, more concerned about what they do and don’t do than about the one that they claim to serve. These are the christians that look at what a person wears, at the songs that are sung, at the sins they have decided are the worst, even if they are not even mentioned in scripture as proof that you are or are not a Christian. Additionally many people in this camp push far into the social aspects of the Gospel and at times leave the gospel part out.

What’s a Christ follower to do?

Lets dig into part of Paul’s letter to Titus.

Titus 3:1–3 HCSB

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

Paul starts off by telling the Christ Followers to submit to rulers and authorities to be obedient. Pausing here for a moment it’s important to realize the context and what is actually being said. There is a bit more that needs to be understood about rulers and authorities. When we read this, digging into the Greek we find the words are abstract nouns making these two words not about individual rulers, but to follow and respect the laws of the land or the civic government. Going ab it further we learn that it’s talking about practical obedience something that the Cretans who are being written too had a hard time with. Still its important to note that while the context implies obedience to government demands it does not mean blind obedience. If that obedience contradicts explicit Christian Duties then that has to be taken into account. Still that’s just part of it… in addition to submission to the laws of the land we have to be ready for every good work. we are not to slander people we should avoid fiting and we should be king and gentle to all people. That last one is hard but it’s what God calls us to. Paul doubles down here by reminding them why we should be kind and gentle to all people… because before Christ we were just as lost as they were, no amount of yelling and condemning and trying to convict someone with OUR words is going to help. We speak, we love, we tell the truth we share Christs sacrifice his grace and mercy…but we leave the conviction to the Holy Spirit who can and will do a much better job than we ever can or will.

The Mystical Side is a Must

Don’t get me wrong. There is an entirely spiritual element to our salvation. Look what Paul says next.

Titus 3:4–7 HCSB

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

Notice Paul is clear The spiritual Aspect of Salvation in the form of Jesus dying on the cross raising from the dead and forgiving sins and the power of the Holy Spirit active in our lives through grace..all of that means that there is a spiritual aspect of salvation that is the foundation…but if you don’t build on a foundation all you have is concrete and eventually weeds.

But wait there’s more!

Titus 3:8 HCSB

This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

Guess what, WORKS MATTER! Let me say that again WORKS MATTER!

Do works save us? No not at all. No matter how hard we try we will never be good enough. No matter how commited we are, it won’t work, in case you are unsure of this just look at the first 46 books of the Bible. The law was there, the way to God through works is there. Following every commandment perfectly, never messing up, never missing a sacrifice, never wearing the wrong kind of clothes together. You get the picture and so do I. The whole free will thing is an amazing scary worrisome thing to be honest because free will means that no matter how much truth I see , hear, and read, I can choose to ignore that and go my own way. We know that there is a mystical side to our faith. We just got done talking about it, but mystical is hard, trusting something that you can’t see can’t touch and can’t quantify is difficult and so our answer is to acknowledge God but to keep in the back of our minds that the whole thing is what I do. But works matter not for what they do for us, but what they do for others.

Here’s the thing the good stuff we do, the works we do should flow out of our relationship with Jesus, and if they do they will be a huge benefit to everyone you come in contact with, if they are a follower of Christ or not.

Far from not being important the works we do BECAUSE OF our faith are the proof we are being salt and light in a world that needs us to be. If all I rely on is the mystic parts of Christianity then there really isn’t much flavoring or lighting up that I’m doing. I’m just hoarding my relationship with God for myself. Which is not what we are called to do at all

Worry bout yourself!

Titus 3:9–11 HCSB

But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.

Some things do not matter in the grand scheme of things. I’ve talked about the non-negotiable s of being a Christ Follower before, however it’s always good to have a refresher.

Eternity matters, the way to eternity is the recognition that I need Jesus to take care of the sin issue in my life because no matter how much I try I never can. That means coming to him repenting and moving forward in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Speaking of We NEED the Holy Spirit active in our lives. That’s how we move and grow in our faith along with studying God’s Word, Talking to Him regularly letting the Holy Spirit do the work that only can be done by the Holy Spirit.

Be together worship together, learn together, and server together. Now we know what matters but what about the stuff that doens’t.

IF we would worry more about ourselves, and our relationship with God and less about other people and their realtionship status we would be closer to God than we coudl ever imagine and the Church both locally and the church in the world would be much better off. It’s okay to talk about things, We are not always going to agree on everyithng and that’s okay but sometimes we do things just to push buttons. (expound) We argue bout stupid and yes I said stupid things and ingnore the things that really matter. What is intersting to me, what we need to look at though is what it says about people that just like to argue and pick fights for the sake of doing so. We are to rject them after the first and second time we go to them in love and care and say hey look you’re going down a road that just isn’t right and the reason is because the person is perverted and sins, codemening themselves because of their divisiviness....That’s why scripture says…

Philippians 2:12 HCSB

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Expound

This Week’s Challenge

Find a way to be salt and light in your immediate neighborhood.