Re: [TruthTalk] Traditional Christian theology

[David Miller]

John wrote: > David,  have you done everything possible today, > for the service of the ministry.  This day, did you > pour yourself out for the afflicted?    Is there any > degree of selfishness or pride in your life.   > You you say that you lived your life exactly as > God in Christ would have to do in every respect.    We continually grow in knowledge and understanding, but this does not mean that we are condemned at sinners just because we have room to grow.  When was the last time you looked at a baby?  Did you say, "what an evil child, so selfish, crying too often, does nothing but eat, sleep, cry, eat, sleep, cry, every two hours!"  Most people look at a baby and say, "oh, how beautiful, how perfect, how innocent."  Why?  It is because they see the potential.  They perceive the lack of motive to hurt others, the innocency of not knowing how evil the world is around them, and they see potential to grow in the right direction.   In like manner, none of us have arrived.  None of us are in the full image of Christ, and none of us alone will reflect the full image of Christ.  Nevertheless, we can reflect that part of him for which he has manifested his grace in us.    Suppose I pass a homeless man on the street and he asks me for a quarter.  So I reach in my pocket and give him a dollar and go on my way.  I'm busy.  I don't want to get involved in his life, but I do kind of care about him, so I give him something that does not mean too much to me.  Suppose you then come across this same man, but instead of just giving him a buck, you take him home with you.  You feed him and give him a shower and some new clothes.  You take him out the next day and help him get a job.  You help him find an apartment and bring him to church with you several times a week.  Which of us loved the man better?  Which of us was less selfish.  You would be the greater lover here.  You would be the least selfish of the two of us.  But does that mean that I sinned because I only gave the guy a buck?  No.  Emphatically NO!  Think about it.   I have sometimes said to people, "my life may not be like Jesus Christ when he was 32 years old and ministering to others without a place to lay his head, but maybe, just maybe, his grace has worked within me so that I am like Jesus Christ when he was 5 years old."  Now the analogy is not perfect, but it makes a perfect point.  The idea of Jesus being perfect is not static one.  The Scriptures teach that he grew in wisdom and stature, and he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.  Just because we might not compare to his life in what we see in Scripture as he ministered, this does not mean that Christ does not live in us and through us.  The way he lives in us and through us might be like that of an earlier time of his life, and that as we mature in Him, we can expect our life to more closely approach that which we read in the Scriptures.  The only caveat is that we will never look exactly like him in every way, but we can look exactly like him in that part which the Spirit has chosen to impart to us as individuals.  We can perfectly represent one aspect of him, even though as a lone individual we do not represent all of him.  It is only the entire local church that can represent all of him, in all of his glory.  This is why relationship and community is very important.   Peace be with you. David Miller.