4.09.2007

One In Christ Has Moved

If you are searching for "One In Christ," the theological discussion blog of Michael Estes, Ross Parker, Ben Hames, Charlie Wallace, and Drew Jones, the site has moved. The new address is www.oneinchrist.wordpress.com.
If you have a link to this blog on your website, we would greatly appreciate it if you would update your links. Thanks, and drop by the new site to join in on the discussion!

2.08.2007

New Blog

Gentlemen,
It is now official. Because yours truly irreparably broke the coding of this blog, the group blog will be on Wordpress. The advantage of Wordpress is that one does not have to have a Wordpress account in order to comment on posts. I will send out invites to join the blog to each of you, and then we can reorganize some of the aesthetics (pages, links, etc.) on the blog to our liking. Thanks!
CAJ

2.02.2007

Blog News

Gentlemen,
I just want to give you an update on the blog situation. Yes, I am the one who broke the blog. I was trying to update Charlie's link information and inadvertently erased a line of code. My bad. To remedy this, Rev. Wallace has been kind enough to offer to create a new blog, and it looks like it will most likely be on Wordpress.
Charlie, I took the liberty to secure a web address (www.oneinchrist.wordpress.com) earlier. If you have not already begun to work on the new group blog, then let me know and I'll sign you up on that one so we can actually have the URL match up with the blog title.
On a personal note, I have created a new blog for myself on Wordpress. I am not sure if I am going to use it yet, as I have grown quite attached to my bowtie and fountain pen look on Blogger. I am including the link to the Wordpress version of Post Tenabras Lux. The only drawback I can see so far is that Wordpress does not have a justified margin feature. That may be a deal breaker. Let me know what you think.

1.30.2007

Do What?

Saints,

I've been reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell as of late. Let me just say that his theology seems to be all over the place. Please read the following quote and comment on the ramifications of it:

"Heaven is full of forgiven people.

Hell is full of forgiven people.

Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for.

Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for."

(Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis, p.146)

Something about this quote doesn't sit right with me. Gentlemen?

1.29.2007

What about Joy?

Gentlemen, I have been reading much the last several weeks on the concept that has come to be known as "Christian Hedonism." I have found many of the arguments in favor of this position very compelling. I did not come to conclusion that I, myself, am a Christian Hedonist by way of John Piper's Desiring God as many others have. My discoveries came through reading various bits of C.S. Lewis. In particular, his book Letters to Malcolm and his address The Weight of Glory (which was turned into a short book of addresses) make the case that we should seek joy in doing the works of God. The works of God (i.e. prayer, attending church services, reading Scripture) should not merely be duty-based works (deontological). They, instead, should be something that we delight in (to use the language of Scripture). I would argue that if we do things out of a sense of obligation, we are doing a disservice to God and are not likely to find any spiritual health in them. This paradigm shift extrapolates out into the physical world as well. We should find much pleasure in the pleasurable things of this world. For further explanation on this point, check my last post (I'm not trying to be self-serving; I just don't want to explain it again). But, I want to know what you guys think.

1.23.2007

U is for Uh-oh!


One thing that all five of us have in common on this blog, besides being brothers in Christ, is that we probably all have an opinion about the TULIP. Some of us accept all five points and others do not. Therefore, I would like to continue the conversation about the holy acronym and its impact on the Christian life. We'll now discuss the "U." (No, I'm not referring to the University of Miami Hurricane football team). The following definitions come from the sinless and without fault, Theopedia.com.

"Unconditional Election is the doctrine which states that God chose those whom he was pleased to bring to a knowledge of himself, not based upon any merit shown by the object of his grace and not based upon foreseen faith (especially a decisional faith). God has elected, based solely upon the counsel of his own will, some for glory and others for damnation (Romans 9:15,21). He has done this act before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4-8).

This doctrine does not rule out, however, man's responsibility to believe in the redeeming work of God the Son (John 3:16-18). Scripture presents a tension between God's sovereignty in salvation, and man's responsibility to believe which it does not try to resolve. Both are true -- to deny man's responsibility is to affirm an unbiblical hyper-Calvinism; to deny God's sovereignty is to affirm an unbiblical Arminianism.

The elect are saved unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). Thus, though good works will never bridge the gulf between man and God that was formed in the Fall, good works are a result of God's saving grace. This is what Peter means when he admonishes the Christian reader to make his "calling" and "election" sure (2 Peter 1:10). Bearing the fruit of good works is an indication that God has sown seeds of grace in fertile soil."

I think one key point in our limited understanding of how God elects people to salvation is this statement: "Scripture presents a tension between God's sovereignty in salvation, and man's responsibility to believe which it does not try to resolve." Indeed, there is a dichotomous relationship between human responsibility and "free will" and the sovereignty of God.

Ephesians 1 clearly states: ""He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved … also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." (Eph. 1:4-5, 11).

However, it is worth noting that we are elected "in" Christ and not "to" Christ.

What is conditional election? According to Theopedia, conditional election, "is the predominant view of Arminianism which concludes that God's choice of individuals for salvation is conditioned upon personal faith. In this view, God looks down through the corridors of time and sees who will believe of their own free will and then elects, chooses, or predestines those individuals for salvation and eternal life. This perspective maintains that predestination is based on God's divine foreknowledge, where foreknowledge is erroneously equated with foresight."

So - my question is this: Is there really a difference between God having foreknowledge and Him having predestined future events? Are these two aspects contradictory? Is it possible for Him to possess both?

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1.17.2007

Interesting Baptism

Not sure what to think about this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31nA6LCMxE