The plant at in Jonah 4 is quite interesting. It is often forgotten in this story but it is very significant. As I read the story and see the emphasis on God’s grace being available for all I notice that Jonah claims to believe this and yet he does not. He believes God’s grace is available to the Ninevites and yet refuses to receive it for himself.
Twice in the narrative he asks to be killed. He believes that if he becomes a martyr; once before the trial and once after. God is testing Jonah. In chapter one God gives Jonah the grace to be his spokesperson to the people of Nineveh. Jonah refuses grace and runs away. The storm, the whale and Jonah’s final agreement to deliver the prophecy are all parts of God’s testing of Jonah’s character. Jonah has seen God’s grace to worship Him bestowed on sailors, God’s same grace to minister bestowed on Jonah once again and ultimately God’s grace of salvation bestowed on 120,000+ Ninevites.
After Jonah’s exposure to all of this outpouring of his grace; at the end of this trial, God once again tests Jonah’s character. This is the purpose of the bean plant. The bean plant is God’s provision, his blessing, his logos. The test is to gauge Jonah’s response. Will he see the bean as a blessing or as a curse?
II Corinthians 2:15-17 says this…
We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
It is this same concept of Christ’s embodiment bringing out the deepest parts of a person’s character which we see in the bean plant and Jonah’s response does not bode well for him. Rather than smelling the life which has been given him through grace he smells only death and for the second time seeks that death for himself.
Just like Jonah the Israelites had seen gentiles redeemed by grace through faith and yet they would not receive. The bean plant is God’s logos. It is a foreshadowing of the Christ to come.
April 3, 2009
April 1, 2009
Why I Do Not Believe Jesus Paid the Price for My Sin (part 2): Hiatus
Seeing as I have promised yesterday to conclude my thoughts on atonement I realize that some of you may be reading this expecting to find one thing. You will soon realize that what lies here not what you've expected.
I must confess that I let my tongue get ahead of me. Initially my thoughts are that I am too distracted by thoughts to focus enough to finish. However I do not believe that a person is ever in a situation where compromising their character is inevitable. When temptation presents itself there is always a way out. I do not have to break my word to conclude my thoughts. What I can break is my own selfimposed standards of how that information needs to be presented.
I am afraid that I overcomplicate things and make them wordy and unclear. The same is true for yesterday's post. I can no longer withstand the expectations I have laid upon myself and i need the time to break free of those. I will be entering a period of blog silence in order to re-evaluate where I stand. I do not know how long I will be away. It may be a week. It may be longer.
Before I go, in order to be true to my word I will summarize Why I Do Not Beliee Jesus Paid The Price For My Sin.
For starters the title was a gimmick to get people's attention before presenting the gospel. In actuality it is true but the truth behind it is that what Christ paid is not a price but a ransom/wage.
If you remember yesterday's post Satan approaches as both subordinate and dominant both of these are false. In his subordinate approach he comes underneath us offering power and than usurps that view by demanding payment for his services. As an unpaid employee would hassle a boss Satan hassles us for payment of wages we are not able to provide. Jesus pays that wage in order that sin as represented through Satan would have its fill and no longer seek compensation for its provision.
In sin's dominant approach it seeks to force us into submission through fear and oppression. This dominant front is actually an overcompensation for its lack of integrity. You might say sin has a Napolean complex. The percieved position of authority is false and so the demand of payment for our release is unjust. It is a ransom not a price.
The reason why I do not use price is that price puts sin and Christ as equals as if Satan has rightful ownership of us and Christ bought us from Satan in a legitimate exchange. I do not believe this to be true. Yet since the first posting I have come up with an understanding of price which I do accept.
Once again http://www.dictionary.com/ defines price as the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, esp. in cases involving sacrifice of integrity: They claimed that every politician has a price. The key in this approach is the second half of this definition, "...in cases involving sacrifice of integrity". After meditating on this I do believe Jesus paid a price. The price he paid was to sin but it was not to obtain ownership of my heart or soul or any other such part of me. The price he paid was what it took to reveal sins lack of integrity. Just as a crooked politician is crooked only when his price is met so it is with sin. Sin appears to have integrity but only until the price at which it cracks is met. That price is death. When sin smells death it gets over excited, looses focus and stumbles. The problem is that this is typically not seen until after death which is why the ressurection is critical. It is only those who have died who can reveal to us the structural failings of sin. This is what Christ has done. He paid the price which reveals sins weaknesses exploiting them so that we may know where to the opportunity to escape from sin's oppression lies.
I don't know if this is clear or makes any sense at all. It may. However my brain is not functioning as I would hope right now and so I will take the hiatus I mentioned earlier. In the mean time I hope you enjoy the remnant I've left behind.
I must confess that I let my tongue get ahead of me. Initially my thoughts are that I am too distracted by thoughts to focus enough to finish. However I do not believe that a person is ever in a situation where compromising their character is inevitable. When temptation presents itself there is always a way out. I do not have to break my word to conclude my thoughts. What I can break is my own selfimposed standards of how that information needs to be presented.
I am afraid that I overcomplicate things and make them wordy and unclear. The same is true for yesterday's post. I can no longer withstand the expectations I have laid upon myself and i need the time to break free of those. I will be entering a period of blog silence in order to re-evaluate where I stand. I do not know how long I will be away. It may be a week. It may be longer.
Before I go, in order to be true to my word I will summarize Why I Do Not Beliee Jesus Paid The Price For My Sin.
For starters the title was a gimmick to get people's attention before presenting the gospel. In actuality it is true but the truth behind it is that what Christ paid is not a price but a ransom/wage.
If you remember yesterday's post Satan approaches as both subordinate and dominant both of these are false. In his subordinate approach he comes underneath us offering power and than usurps that view by demanding payment for his services. As an unpaid employee would hassle a boss Satan hassles us for payment of wages we are not able to provide. Jesus pays that wage in order that sin as represented through Satan would have its fill and no longer seek compensation for its provision.
In sin's dominant approach it seeks to force us into submission through fear and oppression. This dominant front is actually an overcompensation for its lack of integrity. You might say sin has a Napolean complex. The percieved position of authority is false and so the demand of payment for our release is unjust. It is a ransom not a price.
The reason why I do not use price is that price puts sin and Christ as equals as if Satan has rightful ownership of us and Christ bought us from Satan in a legitimate exchange. I do not believe this to be true. Yet since the first posting I have come up with an understanding of price which I do accept.
Once again http://www.dictionary.com/ defines price as the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, esp. in cases involving sacrifice of integrity: They claimed that every politician has a price. The key in this approach is the second half of this definition, "...in cases involving sacrifice of integrity". After meditating on this I do believe Jesus paid a price. The price he paid was to sin but it was not to obtain ownership of my heart or soul or any other such part of me. The price he paid was what it took to reveal sins lack of integrity. Just as a crooked politician is crooked only when his price is met so it is with sin. Sin appears to have integrity but only until the price at which it cracks is met. That price is death. When sin smells death it gets over excited, looses focus and stumbles. The problem is that this is typically not seen until after death which is why the ressurection is critical. It is only those who have died who can reveal to us the structural failings of sin. This is what Christ has done. He paid the price which reveals sins weaknesses exploiting them so that we may know where to the opportunity to escape from sin's oppression lies.
I don't know if this is clear or makes any sense at all. It may. However my brain is not functioning as I would hope right now and so I will take the hiatus I mentioned earlier. In the mean time I hope you enjoy the remnant I've left behind.
March 31, 2009
Why I Do Not Believe Jesus Paid the Price for My Sins (part 1)
It is common practice in today’s Christian culture for believers to say that Jesus paid the price for our sins. I am here today to confess to the world that I do not believe this to be true. Here is why…
http://www.dictionary.com/ defines price this way. “the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, esp. in cases involving sacrifice of integrity: They claimed that every politician has a price. This definition of price implies a transaction which Christ takes part in; an exchange. But what is exchanged and with whom?
The exchange we focus on here is a result of sin and it is natural for us to assume that Christ makes an exchange with Satan but this may not be most accurate. This understanding elevates Satan to a position above sin. This would mean he created sin, rules over and is not under its effects. No longer under the effects of sin and having bara creative ability (the ability to create from nothing) he would be an equal counterpart to Christ. Seeing that Christ created Satan this is not the case.
Proper understanding would be to place Satan under sin and therefore subject to it and Christ in a position over both Satan and sin as the sole being that is not subject to its effects. In truth sin is subject to God. Whatever God chooses to define as his sin must relinquish to Him. Does this mean that Christ created sin? No. Christ defines himself. Sin is simply a byproduct of that definition. If you were to create a list defining the foods you ate yesterday one could look at it and create a second list of foods you did not eat. You did not create the second list but by process of elimination that which you created can be used to determined that which you did not. Similarly, sin is the natural byproduct of God's defining that which is Him.
Seeing only sin's power, Satan tries to use this byproduct of God’s defining himself in an attempt to become God. Satan, unlike God, is subject to sin's effects when underneath it. Since then sin has gotten the best of Satan and remains at his heels. Bing-bang-boom; we have the fall, man follows Satan, sin enters into the world and history is changed forever.
At this point all humanity is under Adam as his offspring, Adam is under Satan and Satan is under sin. Creation has come under the banner of sin taking a position of subordination, subjection and slavery to it. Being under its charge we have relinquished our authority to its leadership. If sin is our leader we follow wherever it leads and sin leads to death.
Sin does not approach as overpower alone. It also comes offering itself as a subordinate. In this approach sin promises power; power which we can use to achieve our goals. Sin presents itself as a subordinate placing its power at our disposal. It is not until after that power is tapped into that it demands compensation. The wage due sin for use of its power is death.
From above sin has usurped our authority and is leading us to death. From below sin has provided a service for which it now demands payment. Surrounded both above and below there is no escaping sin.
TO BE CONTINUED >>>
Thank you for reading part 1 of Why I Do Not Believe Jesus Paid The Price For My Sins. Check back tomorrow for part too.
----------------------------
Don't forget to give a thumbs up or down and to vote up top for you favorite posts. As always your comments are appreciated. Your response and input are what motivates me to keep posting.
http://www.dictionary.com/ defines price this way. “the sum of money, or other consideration, for which a person's support, consent, etc., may be obtained, esp. in cases involving sacrifice of integrity: They claimed that every politician has a price. This definition of price implies a transaction which Christ takes part in; an exchange. But what is exchanged and with whom?
The exchange we focus on here is a result of sin and it is natural for us to assume that Christ makes an exchange with Satan but this may not be most accurate. This understanding elevates Satan to a position above sin. This would mean he created sin, rules over and is not under its effects. No longer under the effects of sin and having bara creative ability (the ability to create from nothing) he would be an equal counterpart to Christ. Seeing that Christ created Satan this is not the case.
Proper understanding would be to place Satan under sin and therefore subject to it and Christ in a position over both Satan and sin as the sole being that is not subject to its effects. In truth sin is subject to God. Whatever God chooses to define as his sin must relinquish to Him. Does this mean that Christ created sin? No. Christ defines himself. Sin is simply a byproduct of that definition. If you were to create a list defining the foods you ate yesterday one could look at it and create a second list of foods you did not eat. You did not create the second list but by process of elimination that which you created can be used to determined that which you did not. Similarly, sin is the natural byproduct of God's defining that which is Him.
Seeing only sin's power, Satan tries to use this byproduct of God’s defining himself in an attempt to become God. Satan, unlike God, is subject to sin's effects when underneath it. Since then sin has gotten the best of Satan and remains at his heels. Bing-bang-boom; we have the fall, man follows Satan, sin enters into the world and history is changed forever.
At this point all humanity is under Adam as his offspring, Adam is under Satan and Satan is under sin. Creation has come under the banner of sin taking a position of subordination, subjection and slavery to it. Being under its charge we have relinquished our authority to its leadership. If sin is our leader we follow wherever it leads and sin leads to death.
Sin does not approach as overpower alone. It also comes offering itself as a subordinate. In this approach sin promises power; power which we can use to achieve our goals. Sin presents itself as a subordinate placing its power at our disposal. It is not until after that power is tapped into that it demands compensation. The wage due sin for use of its power is death.
From above sin has usurped our authority and is leading us to death. From below sin has provided a service for which it now demands payment. Surrounded both above and below there is no escaping sin.
TO BE CONTINUED >>>
Thank you for reading part 1 of Why I Do Not Believe Jesus Paid The Price For My Sins. Check back tomorrow for part too.
----------------------------
Don't forget to give a thumbs up or down and to vote up top for you favorite posts. As always your comments are appreciated. Your response and input are what motivates me to keep posting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
