The Bible teaches us that the sword of the Word of God has two edges (Revelation 1:16; Psalm 149:6; Hebrews 4:12). I want to be faithful to preach both of them, and I named this blog accordingly—Two Edges of the Sword. The first edge is the LAW OF GOD, that tells us how we must do the job God has given us to do—rule over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). The second edge is the GRACE OF GOD, that tells us what Jesus did because…
When Jesus captures our hearts as Christian believers, we embark on a life-long journey to learn to “walk by faith.” When we are doing so, the Holy Spirit is expressing Jesus through us, wherever we go, whatever we do, and with whomever we meet. Jesus has even told us that the very works that HE did while He was here on the earth as a man, we “will do also; and greater works than these he will do (the one whose heart Jesus has…
As we have discussed the limitless, unconditional grace of God, the question of how I can experience that grace on a daily basis naturally arises. How does having my sins—past, present, and future—FORGIVEN and even FORGOTTEN by God (Jeremiah 31:33, 34) actually change the way I live? I ONLY understand this fact because I believe God has chosen to personally open the eyes of my heart as He experientially speaks to me. I have not necessarily learned correct doctrine, read the Bible in the…
For the past few weeks we have been investigating the full-on, unlimited grace of God, which alone can fill the sails of our own, personal, Ship of the Kingdom. Today, I want to look at what appears to be the furthest thing from an armada of these ships attacking the Gates of Hell, as we were created to do. After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed a message to the defeated Jews that included this surprisingly appropriate word for…
In the last couple of blog postings I have related my reluctant, five-year, theological journey to becoming an Evangelical Universalist (EU), i.e., ultimately all God’s creatures will be saved and in Heaven with Him! For those interested in investigating this idea further, I have recommended three books for further study: 1.) My 63-page book, free as a PDF copy – Limitless Grace – A New Look at Hell (1).pdf 2.) Hope Beyond Hell, by Gerry Beauchamin – My original introduction to EU. Very thorough and…
As a practical, house-bound shut-in, I am limited to this blog and the phone calls and e-mails I receive in response, both in agreement and disagreement. That’s not a substitute for church, but it’s the best I can do. I deeply appreciate your participation with me. In last week’s blog posting, I related my fitful, reluctant 5-year journey to become an Evangelical Universalist (EU). Yes, I now believe that Hell is TEMPORARY, REDEMPTIVE DISCIPLINE, rather than PERMANENT, PUNITIVE PUNISHMENT! All of God’s wrath and…
Last week’s concluding Scripture in this blog posting was Ephesians 2:8, 9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that (faith is) not of yourselves (not anything you have of your own), it (that faith) is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. I interpreted these two verses to be telling us that we can neither muster enough careful obedience, nor scholarly reason, nor even the simple faith to believe the gospel! We cannot even “make a…
Last week we concluded our posting by proposing what I believe to constitute what “walking by faith,” or “walking in the Spirit,” ( i.e., “Jesus living through me – Galatians 2:20) actually looks like: 1.) We are walking by faith like “little children“ (Matthew 18:2-5), only knowing and believing what our Heavenly Daddy has told us, experientially, in our hearts (ginosko knowledge), rather than simply intellectually, in our heads (eido knowledge). 2.) As “little children,” we “walk in the light” with our brothers and…
Martin Luther taught that there are only two foundational messages God is teaching us in the Bible: HUS LAW AND HUS CRACE. They form the two edges of the Sword of the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 1:16). In God’s plan for mankind, they are both absolutely crucial, both supplying a message the church must believe, embrace, stand firm upon, and then proclaim. The sword of the word of God always has these two edges. As we have been investigating the Ship of the…
Surprisingly, this problem seems to have afflicted the Reformed branch of the Christian faith—those that are the most eager to build the Ship of the Kingdom we have been discussing. We can meticulously build it, carefully, according to the Bible, as we have done in these postings, yet nothing really happens. No wind in the sails! That’s because we are all born unconsciously addicted to obedience to the law as our way to live. It may be the law of the Bible, Sharia law…