Saved by GRACE alone?

I continue to struggle with this concept.

In my last post, I told you that the theology presented at our alternative worship service has been called into question by the "interim" pastor of our church. Some of the church council members have asked us if we are preaching anything other than "saved by grace alone."

I can't find anywhere in the bible where it says that I am saved by grace alone...end of story, nothing further required.

Everything I read says that I'm saved, but I need to believe in Jesus. I've even been exploring the ELCA website and all of the verses that it quotes tell me that I must believe in Jesus.

From the ELCA:

How does righteousness fit into a theology of "grace alone"?
God, by this sacrifice and saving action, takes upon himself (sic) our own human death, thus upholding the promised covenant relationship which is our salvation. In fulfilling the covenant demand to uphold the relationship, God is proved righteous/faithful (Romans 3:26a).

What Must a Person Do to Become a Christian?
Jesus said, " Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25-26)

Who will be saved?
The Christian hope for salvation, whether for the believing few or the unbelieving many, is grounded in the person and meaning of Christ alone, not in the potential of the world’s religions to save, nor in the moral seriousness of humanists and people of good will, not even in the good works of pious Christians and church people. ... There is a universalist thrust in the New Testament, particularly in Paul’s theology. How else can we read passages such as 'for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ' (1 Cor 15:22)?" (See also Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 1:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:28.)

I encourage you to read the entire passages not just the quoted verses and you'll see what I mean.

And I offer this verse:

Romans 10:9-10
For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

A couple of weeks ago, we sang a song call "Sing For Joy." The first verse says:

If we call to Him, He will answer us
If we run to Him, He will run to us
If we lift our hands, He will lift us up
Come now praise His name, All you saints of God.

The "interim" pastor asked, "Does God require of us something before God answers us or runs to us or lifts us up? Does the song encourage the understanding that we believe that God demands from us some form of work first? What happens if we call and it seems God does NOT answer?"

It doesn’t suggest to me that I have to do specific works to gain God’s grace, but rather that I must reach out to God in order to feel his presence in my earthly life. It’s like in Luke 15:11-32, the story of the prodigal son. I can live my life without a relationship with God, not calling to him or running to him or lifting my hands to him and God will let me go about my way. But, once I realize the need for God in my life and turn my life over to him (that's FAITH) and call to him and run to him and lift my hands to him, God will celebrate like the father in the story and welcome me with open arms.

To answer his last question, I'll quote Garth Brooks:

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."

Peace

What do we need to DO to be SAVED?

This question has been weighing heavily on my mind for the last few weeks.

I am part of the worship team for an alternative worship service at Trinity Lutheran Church, an ELCA Lutheran church. This service is a mostly lay-led worship that includes contemporary praise songs, audio and video media and often times hands-on elements to give it an interactive feel.

The question was raised by our Associate In Ministry who is in charge of evangelism. He and our interim pastor have called into question our motives with our service and the "theology" which is presented. We've been told that our music and our message rings of "decision theology" and that we are "leaning towards evangelical or fundamentalist thinking."

I don't get it!

Our service is designed to be an outreach to people who either are uncomfortable with traditional church worship or who have never been to church before and that might be intimidated by a traditional worship style.

The message we teach is simple...you and I are saved because "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16), that we "must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39) and finally that we are to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

That's it...it doesn't get much simpler than that. We are saved so, let's love God, love each other and tell EVERYONE about it!

Do you have to do these things to be saved? No, you've ALL already been saved, that's the GOOD NEWS! But in knowing that you are saved, my prayer is that you would "give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God." (Romans 6:13)

Peace

W.W.J.D.

I've been wearing a bracelet that says "W.W.J.D." for about 3 years now. I first started wearing it as a tribute to my favorite golfer, Payne Stewart. I love to play golf and pattern my game after Payne's. Aggressive, but within my limitations.

Payne Stewart wore his bracelet as a testimony to his faith in Christ. Payne's wife Tracey described him as "a 'Christian in process,' not someone who felt he had arrived spiritually. He
never pretended to have the answers and probably didn't know what some of the questions were. But his faith was genuine, and as he understood the Bible, the issue wasn't about how much faith he had but whether his faith in Christ was real. And everyone close to Payne knew that his faith was real."

That's pretty much how I see myself. I am fairly new in my commitment to my faith. I'm not a new Christian. I was raised in the Catholic church and went to Catholic school from the middle of 1st grade to when I graduated high school. I was a good Catholic boy...I went to church, I got A's in my religion classes, I served as an altar boy all through school, I sang in the choir. But I always had questions and never seemed to get the answers that satisfied me.

After I graduated high school, I stopped being the "good Catholic boy." I didn't go to church anymore and I never read the Bible. I rebelled in a way. I went to college at Cal State, Long Beach, moved into an apartment with a couple guys I worked with and partied my butt off. I was having a GREAT time! I didn't need Jesus.

To make a long story a little shorter (I'll probably go more into the road from then to now at a later date), I've realized over the last 5 years or so of my life that I DO NEED JESUS!

So, to get back to the bracelet (is there a point to this post?). As I said, I first started wearing it as a tribute to Payne. But now, I feel like it is truly a testimony to my faith in Christ. It serves to remind me everytime I look at it, to stop and think "What would Jesus do?"

I've added a couple other bracelets in the last year. I also wear a red plastic (like the Lance Armstrong "Live Strong" bracelets) one that says "Live For Him" (that's how I came up with my blogger name) and one that has 6 colored stripes to represent the gospel story (Black=Sin, Red=Jesus' blood, Blue=Baptism, White=Cleansing, Green=Growth with God, Yellow=Everlasting life). I wear a cross around my neck and I also have my left ear pierced twice and in one of the holes is a small stainless steel cross.

I think some Christians question my motives for wearing the things I do (or for having the Jesus fish on my bike or the sticker on my helmet that I described yesterday). They might think that I wear these things like some sort of badges of honor, to show that I'm better than others because I'm Christian and I am saved.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!!!"

I wear these things for myself and only myself. To remind me of my commitment to Christ. I'm a very visual person and need to have images to keep my focus. Every time I look down at my hands and see my bracelets...I pray. Every time I reach down and hold my cross on my necklace...I pray. Every time I get vain and look in the mirror, I see that cross in my ear...and I pray.

Maybe people who see these things I wear do get the wrong impression. Maybe they do think that I think I'm better than them. Could that be the case?

What I want them to see is that I live my life with passion and that I am unapologetic about my faith and I want them to want that for themselves. I hope that by "advertising" being Christian that people might feel compelled to ask me about my faith. As I said earlier, I'm pretty new in my faith commitment and hope this might be a way to gain opportunities to witness to other people.

Just like Payne Stewart, I don't have all the answers and I probably don't even know most of the questions. I just know that I love Jesus and love what he does in my life so, I wear the "gear." Just like all these Cardinal fans in St. Louis who wear RED on game days, except I wear my "gear" everyday because everyday is game day with Jesus.

Peace