Monday, March 18, 2024

Fiction and Worldview

Recently, Gavin Ortlund posted the following on X (formerly Twitter):

What work of fiction changed your worldview the most? Mine is Till We Have Faces. I cannot think about redemption the same way after reading it. Two runners up would be Lord of the Rings, for how it conveys glory, and Brothers Karamazov, for how it poses the problem of evil.

Notice the question was not, "What is your favorite work of fiction that you can read over and over again?" The question was asking what work of fiction changed your worldview. There is nothing wrong with reading fiction and this is coming from one who does not read a lot of fiction. Okay, hardly read fiction because by the time they get to the meat of the story, I am already done with it.

A work of fiction can be good entertainment, but they should never mold us or shape us. Granted, there have been authors that infuse their worldview into their writings, and they are not alone. Writers of Comic Books over the years have put in their worldview into the stories they are sharing. You can also see that when you watch TV shows and movies. There is no way to escape it, which is sad to say especially if you want to watch something with the family without any worldly influence. This also includes "Christian" shows such as The Chosen.

Works of fiction should never cause us to think critically or even Biblically. God has already given us a book to shape us: The Bible. We are to let Scripture give us a proper worldview. Justin Peters, in response to Ortlund's post, wrote:

No work of fiction should ever change our worldview. As a Christian, my worldview is shaped by Scripture alone.

Romans 12:2 says, we should "be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect." We renewing our minds based on what God has revealed in the Bible. We see how God relates to this world and why it is in the shape that it is in. 

A good story should be just that, a story. Nothing more. Enjoy reading fiction if that is your thing. Enjoy watching a show if that is your desire although be mindful of what might be shown. Let God's Word shape you. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Romans 8:28 is Not All About You

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

I have not listened to Christian radio in a long time. Most of the music is man-centered and a lot of it is from questionable sources. Recently, I decided to turn on a Christian radio station to see what was playing, and I caught a little devotional from Levi Lesko regarding Romans 8:28. Now I did not hear the entire devotion but caught of the end of it where Lesko read the passage and said these words, "Romans 8:28 is about you."

Insert a facepalm gif.

After he said that, Lesko continued saying that God is working things out for your next step whatever that means. What amazes me is how sometimes we get this passage and assume it's all about us. Sometimes we quote it to someone when he/she is going through a trial and think this is why God allowed this to happen. Truth is we will never know why certain things happen in our lives and expect an answer from God as if He owes us an explanation.

However, Romans 8:28 is not written just about you. Now it is written for you, but it is not all about you. Notice the One who will work all things together for good. It is God. 

What is the good Romans 8:28 mentions? The answer is in the following verses:

Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

The good God is working is you and me is to conform us to the image of Christ. Everything that happens in our lives is God pruning us to be more like Jesus. It is not getting our next step or whatever that means. It is God making us like His Son.

Paul told the Philippian church, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). This good work is, as Romans 8:29 says, being comforted to the image of Christ.

Romans 8:28 is not all about you. Romans 8:28 is about God making you like Jesus. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Steven Lawson Addressing Whether or Not Sin Will Make Us Fall Away

Not too long ago, I shared a video of Steven Lawson teaching if a believer can lose his/her salvation, which was from the series the Doctrines of Grace in John. That video was part one of a two-part teaching titled, "Persevering Grace." This video is part within his series which addresses if our sin will make God angry enough to cast us out.


Monday, March 11, 2024

How is the Word Living?

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

How is the word of God living? Matthew Henry, in his commentary on this passage, wrote:

...it is very lively and active, in all its efforts, in seizing the conscience of the sinner, in cutting him to the heart, and in comforting him and binding up the wounds of the soul. Those know not the word of God who call it a dead letter; it is quick, compared to the light, and nothing quicker than the light; it is not only quick, but quickening; it is a vital light; it is a living word...Saints die, and sinners die; but the word of God lives.

The word is living and powerful that it can convict. Henry continues:

When God sets it home by his Spirit, it convinces powerfully, converts powerfully, and comforts powerfully. It is so powerful as to pull down strong holds...to raise the dead, to make the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. It is powerful to batter down Satan’s kingdom, and to set up the kingdom of Christ upon the ruins thereof. 

The word is living that is can also cut. Henry explains:

It is the two-edged sword that cometh out of the mouth of Christ...It is sharper than any two-edged sword, for it will enter where no other sword can, and make a more critical dissection: it pierces to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, the soul and its habitual prevailing temper; it makes a soul that has been a long time of a proud spirit to be humble, of a perverse spirit to be meek and obedient. Those sinful habits that have become as it were natural to the soul, and rooted deeply in it, and become in a manner one with it, are separated and cut off by this sword. It cuts off ignorance from the understanding, rebellion from the will, and enmity from the mind, which, when carnal, is enmity itself against God. This sword divides between the joints and the marrow, the most secret, close, and intimate parts of the body; this sword can cut off the lusts of the flesh as well as the lusts of the mind, and make men willing to undergo the sharpest operation for the mortifying of sin. 

The word is living that it can also discern. Once more, Henry:

It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, even the most secret and remote thoughts and designs. It will discover to men the variety of their thoughts and purposes, the vileness of them, the bad principles they are actuated by, the sinister and sinful ends they act to. The word will turn the inside of a sinner out, and let him see all that is in his heart. Now such a word as this must needs be a great help to our faith and obedience.

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