Lovely writing, and I'm sure you're aware of your mistake in inadvertently substituting "centuries" for ''millennia."
However, I must object to your misstatement of the Gospel message. Your "three ways" are indeed valid as markers of our growth in Christ, our sanctification. But we are not saved by becoming enough like Christ to please Him, and thereby be considered worthy of His Kingdom. The simple fact is that we cannot, not as we are by fallen nature.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ alone. ( Ephesians 2: 8,9 ) The koine Greek word used where "believe" appears in the English text of The New Testament is "pistis" and variants, and the word has about it the sense of trust, reliance, allegiance.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that anyone who tried to follow your three part program would in so doing be giving evidence that he has believed in Jesus Christ, because such a program could never appeal to the corrupted person who has not been redeemed.
But the most important point is that it is faith in Jesus Christ which gives us this new life, not any desire to be more Cbristlike. And yes, when such life has taken root, it is normal that it begin to grow, and over the course of a lifetime, the new creature in Christ will be prodded by The Holy Spirit to become more and more like Christ.
Programs and admonitions come and go, and yours are valid. But they do elide the most important thing of all, which is belief in The Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you Bobby for your words, and I'll review the text next week in light of them. I do apologize if this critical point you brought up is missing, or unclear, in this text.
Yes, I do believe, along with you, that salvation is by grace, and begins as a pure gift from God. When I speak of Jesus Christ reversing the curse of Adam's sin and re-opening the door to paradise - this to me is everything about being saved by Christ and has nothing to do with any personal attempt to 'please God' My intention here on this substack is to write here primarily for those who have already believed, and are seeking to grow in the depth of their relationship with Christ. That orientation may lead me to under-emphasize the initial movement of salvation by grace and over-emphasize the ongoing labor of discipleship.
I appreciate that many Protestants have preferred to use two terms, 'justification' for what you are describing as salvation, and 'sanctification' for the effort to grow (and, I might add, primarily to 'be grown' by Christ) that follows. My sense of the early church is that both parts of the process were sometimes referred to as 'salvation', so some clarification/specificity may be warranted.
It was a beautifully written article, wonderful in its imaginativeness and expressiveness. I'm pretty sure it kindled in me a sense of what Heaven - the entire Universe - must have been like before the angelic rebellion. My concern - and we Protestants have plenty of people in our churches who have a works psychology of salvation - was simply to make clear how salvation is obtained.
It remains a mystery, does it not? how Lucifer took it into his head to become a rebel. How did corruption become even an idea for an incorrupt being? I know theologians have driven themselves close to straitjacket conditions in their perplexity about it.
FYI, based on your first comment (and again, thank you for it- iron sharpens iron....), I've added a paragraph about grace and surrender to the original post. I hope it clarifies - let me know if you think so!
Yes, the rebellion in heaven is quite a mystery. I don't begin to understand it. What I've been intrigued by (and why I included it in this post) is how pondering this ancient story has helped me to understand evil in a way that helps me to recognize and 'de-personalize' the source of evil from humans to a realm beyond. I find it helps me to both recognize evil as real, and keep from demonizing any human being - even in sin, we're all caught up in something that is much bigger and older than our personal failings....
Yes, I've just had a chance to reread it. It's much better. Jesus is the Door, He is the Way; the world is divided between those who believe that and those who do not. And that's the primary thing we have to make clear.
I'm Protestant, and for decades, Protestantism was plagued by "Lordship salvation" insistence, which, thank God, seems to have receded in recent years. Jesus is Lord, but asking the unsaved to surrender to His Lordship has an unmistakable quality of works - derived redemption to it. Over and over again in the New Testament, the emphasis is on faith in Jesus Christ. The new believer may in his still domineering skulkiness think that he can continue to live life to suit himself and have Jesus, too, but the Holy Spirit will quickly disabuse him of this! And thank God for it, because I certainly can't make myself holy.
Again, it's wonderful writing. Yours is quite a long article, and I confess I may have misread the part I'll be alluding to here: I'm quite convinced many people know that what they want to do, or are doing, or have done, is or was evil, and are not only unbothered by it, but find an even deeper satisfaction in its forbiddenness.
Thanks again for these observations! The nature of evil is another mystery - and I don't pretend to fully understand it. I respect your sense - we each have a perspective that is guided by our experiences and understanding. I'll add a few observations of my own here.
I inevitably experience something of the spirits of confusion and deception that go along with people's experience of evil within themselves. In some ministry contexts I've had conversations with folks who have committed heinous sins - murder, rape, and child sex abuse. The terrifying thing to me is how, in their personal narratives, in the lead up and moment of action, there was always a level of blindness and self-justification. That is, an inability to see the true evil for what it was. Those who later repented of the action could see the evil in retrospect, those who hadn't yet were still convinced of their own righteousness. They might recognize it as evil in an absolute, external sense, but still are blinded of the implications of this and view the act as a greater 'good' for themselves in the moment.
I guess I find the frequent 'feedback loop' between evil action and self-deception even more troubling than the idea of free, self-aware people people choosing to do evil over good. It's part of where I see the influence of the demonic in enhancing our proclivity to sin. We make a bad choice, then energies/spirits that support further harm seem to come sweeping in to further cloud our judgement. I believe we each have personal responsibility for our free will. Yet the element of deception and self-justification seems to be right there in the mix, from the fall of Lucifer, and the fall of Adam and Eve (they both blame someone else and don't take responsibility), through to the dark things being done by us humans in 2024.
Again, a mystery to ponder, probably impossible to 'nail down'....
Mark, your recent posts have been really clear and uplifting. My family have no church currently and we have read them together on Sunday mornings. We took one of your ideas and did the morning plunge in Pleasant Bay for Easter. Interestingly, out of my 5 kids only the two older ones had an interest in participating, because they had experience a longing for forgiveness and redemption where the younger ones have not yet. It made me think about all the fights in church history over how and at what age baptism ought to be practiced. They self-selected for baptism based on their felt need for embracing death and new life in Christ.
Our family are on the cusp of moving to a homestead property where we are hoping to ramp up that dance between time and eternity that you so beautifully describe. You and Lisa are such an inspiration, especially in this unique blending of the monastic and the family life which is something I have pondered since childhood.
I'm so happy to hear the posts have been a blessing to your family. I'm glad to hear about the Easter plunge, too! That age-related self-selection makes sense to me. Whether it's a first baptism or a recommitment to the baptismal promise done later in life, it takes some living of life to feel the impacts of the fall and suffering, etc within our own being. I'm mindful of that in our life with our kids, who are nearing 2 and 4. They're too young for this aspect of the faith just yet. My hope is we can share the sense of God's love and tenderness that supports their innocence now, and when there's the experience of the need for forgiveness and redemption later, the tradition will be there to give them a way to express that as well.
Many blessings to you and your family as you continue to work towards your homestead! If we can support you in this process more directly/personally, either now or as you 'land', please reach out at mark@metanoiavt.com
Such a beautiful synthesis of the most essential aspects of Christian faith. I love how you speak from the point of view of a practitioner, not a scholar.
This resonates with our Gaudiya-vaisnav (Hare Krishna in common parlance) principles on many levels. We hold sharanagati, surrender to God, to be the doorway to bhakti - bhakti means establishing a personal relationship with God through loving service, mediated by Sri Guru, an avatar of God’s mercy. That is why Swami Prabhupad, the saint who brought our line of bhakti-yoga to the West, said that any so-called spiritual person who doesn’t accept the teachings of Christ isn’t really spiritual at all.
Lovely writing, and I'm sure you're aware of your mistake in inadvertently substituting "centuries" for ''millennia."
However, I must object to your misstatement of the Gospel message. Your "three ways" are indeed valid as markers of our growth in Christ, our sanctification. But we are not saved by becoming enough like Christ to please Him, and thereby be considered worthy of His Kingdom. The simple fact is that we cannot, not as we are by fallen nature.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ alone. ( Ephesians 2: 8,9 ) The koine Greek word used where "believe" appears in the English text of The New Testament is "pistis" and variants, and the word has about it the sense of trust, reliance, allegiance.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that anyone who tried to follow your three part program would in so doing be giving evidence that he has believed in Jesus Christ, because such a program could never appeal to the corrupted person who has not been redeemed.
But the most important point is that it is faith in Jesus Christ which gives us this new life, not any desire to be more Cbristlike. And yes, when such life has taken root, it is normal that it begin to grow, and over the course of a lifetime, the new creature in Christ will be prodded by The Holy Spirit to become more and more like Christ.
Programs and admonitions come and go, and yours are valid. But they do elide the most important thing of all, which is belief in The Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you Bobby for your words, and I'll review the text next week in light of them. I do apologize if this critical point you brought up is missing, or unclear, in this text.
Yes, I do believe, along with you, that salvation is by grace, and begins as a pure gift from God. When I speak of Jesus Christ reversing the curse of Adam's sin and re-opening the door to paradise - this to me is everything about being saved by Christ and has nothing to do with any personal attempt to 'please God' My intention here on this substack is to write here primarily for those who have already believed, and are seeking to grow in the depth of their relationship with Christ. That orientation may lead me to under-emphasize the initial movement of salvation by grace and over-emphasize the ongoing labor of discipleship.
I appreciate that many Protestants have preferred to use two terms, 'justification' for what you are describing as salvation, and 'sanctification' for the effort to grow (and, I might add, primarily to 'be grown' by Christ) that follows. My sense of the early church is that both parts of the process were sometimes referred to as 'salvation', so some clarification/specificity may be warranted.
It was a beautifully written article, wonderful in its imaginativeness and expressiveness. I'm pretty sure it kindled in me a sense of what Heaven - the entire Universe - must have been like before the angelic rebellion. My concern - and we Protestants have plenty of people in our churches who have a works psychology of salvation - was simply to make clear how salvation is obtained.
It remains a mystery, does it not? how Lucifer took it into his head to become a rebel. How did corruption become even an idea for an incorrupt being? I know theologians have driven themselves close to straitjacket conditions in their perplexity about it.
Thank you!
FYI, based on your first comment (and again, thank you for it- iron sharpens iron....), I've added a paragraph about grace and surrender to the original post. I hope it clarifies - let me know if you think so!
Yes, the rebellion in heaven is quite a mystery. I don't begin to understand it. What I've been intrigued by (and why I included it in this post) is how pondering this ancient story has helped me to understand evil in a way that helps me to recognize and 'de-personalize' the source of evil from humans to a realm beyond. I find it helps me to both recognize evil as real, and keep from demonizing any human being - even in sin, we're all caught up in something that is much bigger and older than our personal failings....
Yes, I've just had a chance to reread it. It's much better. Jesus is the Door, He is the Way; the world is divided between those who believe that and those who do not. And that's the primary thing we have to make clear.
I'm Protestant, and for decades, Protestantism was plagued by "Lordship salvation" insistence, which, thank God, seems to have receded in recent years. Jesus is Lord, but asking the unsaved to surrender to His Lordship has an unmistakable quality of works - derived redemption to it. Over and over again in the New Testament, the emphasis is on faith in Jesus Christ. The new believer may in his still domineering skulkiness think that he can continue to live life to suit himself and have Jesus, too, but the Holy Spirit will quickly disabuse him of this! And thank God for it, because I certainly can't make myself holy.
Again, it's wonderful writing. Yours is quite a long article, and I confess I may have misread the part I'll be alluding to here: I'm quite convinced many people know that what they want to do, or are doing, or have done, is or was evil, and are not only unbothered by it, but find an even deeper satisfaction in its forbiddenness.
Thanks again for these observations! The nature of evil is another mystery - and I don't pretend to fully understand it. I respect your sense - we each have a perspective that is guided by our experiences and understanding. I'll add a few observations of my own here.
I inevitably experience something of the spirits of confusion and deception that go along with people's experience of evil within themselves. In some ministry contexts I've had conversations with folks who have committed heinous sins - murder, rape, and child sex abuse. The terrifying thing to me is how, in their personal narratives, in the lead up and moment of action, there was always a level of blindness and self-justification. That is, an inability to see the true evil for what it was. Those who later repented of the action could see the evil in retrospect, those who hadn't yet were still convinced of their own righteousness. They might recognize it as evil in an absolute, external sense, but still are blinded of the implications of this and view the act as a greater 'good' for themselves in the moment.
I guess I find the frequent 'feedback loop' between evil action and self-deception even more troubling than the idea of free, self-aware people people choosing to do evil over good. It's part of where I see the influence of the demonic in enhancing our proclivity to sin. We make a bad choice, then energies/spirits that support further harm seem to come sweeping in to further cloud our judgement. I believe we each have personal responsibility for our free will. Yet the element of deception and self-justification seems to be right there in the mix, from the fall of Lucifer, and the fall of Adam and Eve (they both blame someone else and don't take responsibility), through to the dark things being done by us humans in 2024.
Again, a mystery to ponder, probably impossible to 'nail down'....
Hope you're having a blessed Easter week!
Mark, your recent posts have been really clear and uplifting. My family have no church currently and we have read them together on Sunday mornings. We took one of your ideas and did the morning plunge in Pleasant Bay for Easter. Interestingly, out of my 5 kids only the two older ones had an interest in participating, because they had experience a longing for forgiveness and redemption where the younger ones have not yet. It made me think about all the fights in church history over how and at what age baptism ought to be practiced. They self-selected for baptism based on their felt need for embracing death and new life in Christ.
Our family are on the cusp of moving to a homestead property where we are hoping to ramp up that dance between time and eternity that you so beautifully describe. You and Lisa are such an inspiration, especially in this unique blending of the monastic and the family life which is something I have pondered since childhood.
Clara
Hi Clara,
I'm so happy to hear the posts have been a blessing to your family. I'm glad to hear about the Easter plunge, too! That age-related self-selection makes sense to me. Whether it's a first baptism or a recommitment to the baptismal promise done later in life, it takes some living of life to feel the impacts of the fall and suffering, etc within our own being. I'm mindful of that in our life with our kids, who are nearing 2 and 4. They're too young for this aspect of the faith just yet. My hope is we can share the sense of God's love and tenderness that supports their innocence now, and when there's the experience of the need for forgiveness and redemption later, the tradition will be there to give them a way to express that as well.
Many blessings to you and your family as you continue to work towards your homestead! If we can support you in this process more directly/personally, either now or as you 'land', please reach out at mark@metanoiavt.com
Thank You!
Such a beautiful synthesis of the most essential aspects of Christian faith. I love how you speak from the point of view of a practitioner, not a scholar.
This resonates with our Gaudiya-vaisnav (Hare Krishna in common parlance) principles on many levels. We hold sharanagati, surrender to God, to be the doorway to bhakti - bhakti means establishing a personal relationship with God through loving service, mediated by Sri Guru, an avatar of God’s mercy. That is why Swami Prabhupad, the saint who brought our line of bhakti-yoga to the West, said that any so-called spiritual person who doesn’t accept the teachings of Christ isn’t really spiritual at all.
Happy Easter Sunday!
Thank you Nanda for the wishes, and for your reflection! It's clarifying to hear of a parallel set of insights from another tradition.