Faith: A Great Heritage

     Genesis 22:18

  "...all nations on earth will be blessed..."

       Scary and disturbing pictures come to mind when we try and imagine a world without Christianity. But ignorant people do not see the great heritage that Christianity has brought to the world. They see Christianity as a leftover, a memory from past time, an old culture rich with history but no longer needed today, and because people take for granted and sometimes reject the great heritage Christianity has contributed, a scary downward fall is happening in our society. 
      This week, I learn about the roots of the denominations and organizations familiar to me and have made a significant impact in my Christian life. I learn about people who were instrumental in the formation and propagation of what I now hold, practice and defend. These people risked a lot just to spread the faith to distant places and to bridge the gap of our remote hearts towards the loving heart of God. Christianity brought the answers to man's questions of identity, origin, purpose, direction and best of all, salvation. 
       This lesson challenged me to be proud of my Christian heritage and to become more faithful and more passionate in serving its God-given cause. This great heritage encourages me to hand it over, firm and steadfast to the next generation.           

Faith: A Personal Conversion Experience

       
Psalm 57:8

"Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn."

        Pious people have a radical way that characterizes their religious lives. They see religion as more of an affair of the heart and of life, not merely of the intellect. Pietism, a movement that attempted to focus on individual holiness and a consistent Christian life, greatly influenced a lot of
evangelical movements today.  They were first started by people who were frustrated with the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the larger church.     
         The philosophy and practice they held focuses on the true conversion of leaders and laymen for the true transformation of the church and the community it is ministering to. They believed that every believer and every church must submit to the authority of God's Word, and any practice or teaching that is in contradiction to God's clear command must be surrendered. There was also strong encouragement for personal study of the Bible, involvement of the laymen in the affairs of the church, and instead of bitter attacks towards unbelievers, they prefer sympathetic and kind treatment as a way of winning them. 
         These reforms focuses on implanting true Christianity in the hearts and minds of the people, and following what the Scriptures pointed out that transformation starts with the inner man. Therefore, my Christian walk should not only characterize mere intellect, but the truth of my convictions must transform my inner life and awaken my soul.

Faith: Purity of the Gospel

Philippians 4:8            

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

        When people focus too much on the trivial that are only the trappings and decorations of life, they miss the meat and substance that really matters in this world and the next world to come. The same principle applies to our lives as Christians. When we are too consumed with ceremonies, differing convictions that are not even central, and the promotion of wealth and fame in the church, we miss a big lot on the essentials of the Gospel.

            The Puritans were a group of people finally fed up with the 

trimmings, accessories and complications of established religion and were seeking for an approach that fixates on the pureness of Christianity. They wanted to devote themselves to the bare necessities of Christian life and strip all frills and garnishes that only weigh down their spiritual walk with God. They set out to find a fresh land and start a new beginning.

            From them, I learn that I can always go back to the purity of my faith. When religion weighs me down, there is always the option to remove all human effort and go back to a simple dedication and obedience to God and His word.

Faith: Inseparable from Works

James 2:17

"Faith by itself, without works, is dead."

        Faith and good works, as conceived by the Word of God, is inseparable. We are saved by faith alone, but it is works that prove the genuineness of our faith. 
         This week, I learned 
about the Moravians and their dedication to the faith. They set an exemplary life of prayer and a remarkable life of obedience to Christ’s Great Commission. They proved their faith genuine by their lifestyle and works.

Their faithfulness 
towards the faith they believed in caused big ripples that shaped and transformed history. It was their notable reliance and confidence on God that disturbed John Wesley and brought him to his Great Awakening. It was their astonishing mission work that prompted William Carey to obey God’s call to missions and became the Father of Modern Missions. Even in modern days, it was their astonishing prayer life that challenged missionaries in Korea to pray for a revival that resulted in the greatest and fastest revival to happen in Asia.    

All of these made possible because a group of faithful  believers practiced what they preached and walked what they talked. This implies that a genuine, active faith is powerful. It does not stay at the corner to wait for things to happen; rather it goes out and reaches every corner of the world through prayer and missions and make things happen. So to prove that my faith is genuine, I must go beyond talking and start walking.    

Faith: Foundation, Not Innovation

         
2 Timothy 3:16

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,..."

        It is sad to note that when 
people do not regard the Scriptures as having the final and ultimate authority over life and practice, naturally, if some biblical principles do not fit their preferred lifestyles they would modify the Scriptures. This is exactly what prompted the Roman Catholic Church to bend the Bible to fit their needs instead of adjusting their lives to what the Bible says. Because the Word of God is not foundational in their lives, innovation comes easy.

            Roman Catholic Doctrines like transubstantiation, infant
 baptism and existence of purgatory are the results of putting tradition over the Bible. Even if the Bible is clear in contradicting the doctrine or practice they still insist on being on the right, until they reached the point of declaring the pope as infallible. They would rather say that the Bible is inerrant and inconsistent than admit that their church leaders are humans and are bound to err.

            So, it all comes down to how a person views the Scriptures. 
If I put God’s word in equal or lower authority with tradition and opinion, it has no power to transform me and my pride. If I regard its principles as something that I can easily modify, then it has no power to change me and my ways. So the first crucial thing to do when handling God’s word is seeing it as the ultimate authority in my life and making sure that I structure my life according to its pattern and not the other way around. 

Faith: Affecting Head, Heart, Hand

              
Psalm 103:5

"He who satisfies your desires with

 good things..."

           Any true experience of God 
is rooted in a human experience. It varies from person to person but there are some things in common: it pierces the heart, changes perspectives, calls for a response and creates a remarkable effect in other peoples’ lives. This is how powerful Christianity is. It affects the totality of a person. God is after those who are wholly committed to Him.

            During the Reformation 
period, people who were tired of the hypocrisy of the popes, the insensibility of church ceremonies, and the unscriptural doctrines of the clergy, finally stood up. They wanted a true experience of God. So strong was their hunger for the truth that they were willing to risk their lives. When every human effort fails to satisfy, there’s only one place man is supposed to land on, and that’s the grace of God. It is only in an atmosphere of grace that genuine faith can truly thrive.

             Doctrines cannot answer all the questions of the 
head; ceremonies cannot gratify the longings of the heart; 
and good works cannot satisfy the itching of the hand. So I 

will not rest my whole faith in those things. My human soul knows there is something more, Someone more than these superficial things. The only object of faith that can affect head, heart and hand in such a profound, satisfying way is God.          

Faith: Worthy of Defense

1 Peter 3:15

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,"

         Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said that defending the Bible is like defending a lion, you just need to release the lion and it will defend itself.The Bible talks about defending what we believe in, but it is also clear that Christians should do it in a gentle and respectful way.

            This week, I learned about

 the Crusades. At first glance, the aims of the Crusaders seem to look good. There’s no wrong in regaining the Holy Land back to Christianity’s rule. There’s nothing evil with giving the church awareness of its roots and origins. But the end does not justify the means. No matter how noble the aims are, if done in an inhumane manner, it is never acceptable before God’s eyes. What was supposed to be an act for God turned out to be known today as the greatest crime done in the name of Christianity. The great amount of blood spilled during that period left a dark stain to Christianity’s image.

            There’s no question that our faith is worthy of defense,

 but there’s no need for more spilling of blood. Christ’s death and sacrifice was enough to pay all offenses against God’s holiness and law. In my personal life, this means love is the most effective weapon God provided to counterattack other people’s assaults. Human force or brutality should never be considered, because the Bible assured us Christians, that in God, we are more than conquerors. 

Faith: A Commitment to the Essentials

1 Corinthians 15:4

     "...that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,"

         What are the things about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible and the Church do I really believe in? Living in a modern church age, it is easy to take for granted the basics of the faith I believe because of church program demands and church structure needs. I get so caught up with the trivial things and sometimes fail to reassess what really matters in my Christian life. 
       This weeks lesson of Councils and Creeds in the early years of the church, taught me the importance of going back to basics and strengthening my commitment to the essentials. I learn that it is vital to go back to the roots of my belief and examine where I came from. One way of going back is to consider the creeds that were developed in the early years of church history. These creeds were written for very specific purposes. One of them is to refute heresies, another is to clear and reaffirm central doctrines like the divinity and humanity of Christ. Because the creeds provide affirmation for what Christians held in common, it is important to study them, take them to heart and teach them. 
        But in considering these creeds, I also have to be careful in comparing them with the Scriptures. The creeds only summarize biblical truths, and were written by imperfect men in an environment that may be not as holy as we want it to be, and so the Scriptures still have the final say to every belief and convictions I have.