Selfishness is the Opposite of Christlikeness.
It's a very good conclusion of the first part of Romans 8 saying that all things works towards one ultimate goal, namely, to conform us to the likeness of Christ.
To think about it, it's quite scary. Did you ever read about Jesus smile or laugh in the NT? All we have is He wept, was sad, angry, grieved, you name it. Perhaps He smiled when Peter walked on the water? I don't know. But as Isaiah described, He is a man of sorrow. Am I going to be like that?
Of course, Paul is not encouraging us to frown always. Then what is conforming to Christ about? About what we should do? Serve in the church? Love others? Not sinning? Paul asked the question, "What, then, shall we say in response to this?" He continued, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I guess there is one very boring terminology that we always talk about, it is our relationship with God. I mean it is the answer of how we are conformed to Christ. We heard it many times that Jesus has the perfect relationship with God. Think about He is being sent to the cross by God. It is just like someone tell his wife/husband to be stripped, walk on the street then chop off the arms. It is totally "foolish" to do. However, Jesus' relationship with God brings obedience to Him that can bring our salvation, in order to restore our relationship with Him, which requires the same commitment.
To confirm with Christ, are we aiming for the same faithfulness to God? Do we want the blessing or the One who bless? Will we still follow God if He does not bless us? Is that what the image of Christ about? We cannot supply any needs God wants, because God doesn't not need anything, but He sacrifise for us.
Mathematic Theology
Decided to start writing along my studies in BSF on the book of Romans. To start with, let me indulge in my pride of being a mathematician.
Theorem 1: Doctrine of Condition for Salvation
Believing Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is the necessary and sufficient condition for our salvation.
A sufficient condition means it is enough to cause something to happen. For example, if you are thirsty, a sufficient condition to quench your thirst is to drink enough water. Meaning, whenever you do that, the effect for that condition will happen. Believing in Jesus's death and resurrection is enough for us to reconcile to God. Nothing additional is needed (but that doesn't mean we won't do those "additional things".)
A necessary condition means if the effect happens, the condition or the reason must be there. For example, in the future, maybe there will be a device attached to our body to inject water into our body directly without drinking it. So, drinking water will not be a necessary condition for quenching thirst anymore. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Actually, there is another way, namely, being righteous ourselves. However, this is not achievable at all because we all inevitably sinned.
To summarize, this is the basic of faith. To believe in Jesus's deity, love, faithfulness, and work for us. Nothing from ourselves but only by His grace and mercy. Although, this only requires us to believe in our hearts, it does not stop there.
If we really really "believe in our hearts", it means it will have some changes in our attitudes and actions. Anyone who believe in exercising will keep us healthy will go for sports. Those who claim this belief but stay home all day being crouch potatoes are not true believers. This is a tough topic on differentiating how deep we believe. This is a boolean question (meaning either yes or no), but a matter of degree. Meaning how much is it. Do we bet our lives on it? Or our belief is just enough to make us to go to church every Sunday. Maybe we will talk about it next time.
Categories:
BSF,
Christian
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