But what does the Bible say?
Many times we read or study the Bible through a lens that was crafted by sermons we have heard, books we have read, or perhaps social media posts we have seen. Many Christians today believe that correctly understanding the scripture is only possible for experts and people with a PhD in Bible. And so we abdicate our responsibility as Christians to know scripture for ourselves in favor of the “experts.” But God’s word is intended for all of us. Is it helpful to study ancient languages, cultures, and history? Yes, those things are helpful, but simply because we have not had the opportunity to become Bible scholars are we disqualified from understanding the Bible? Absolutely not, the Bible is for everyone.
There are some famous lines not actually in the Bible such as, “God helps those who help themselves.” But what about things we hear constantly from pulpits pretty much every Sunday such as, “No on is perfect, we are just sinners going to heaven.” Does the Bible actually say that? Of is that simply what we want it to say? Jesus was a perfect. Hebrews 4:15 tells us He was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. But of course, that was Jesus. What about Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Some “scholars” have said that word does not actually mean perfect, it means mature. So, let us read it that way, “Be mature as your Father in heaven is mature.” Does that make any sense? God is unchangeable, that is a basic point of theology that all Christians agree upon, so how could He “mature?” What if we simply leave that word out of the sentence, “Be as your Father in heaven is.” However much less than perfect that turns out to be, then good. But if God is in fact “perfect” then God has placed the bar pretty high.
If we reduce this discussion to the issue of how can we go to heaven, we introduce a whole line of thinking that is not in the relevant scriptures conerning this issue. They are not saying, “In order to go to heaven you must…” They are saying, “God’s will for His children is that they should be like Him.” Not only that, but He gives us His transforming power to get us there. 2 Corinthians 3:18 reads in the NASV, “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” So, not an approximation of Jesus, or a better person than the unsaved neighbor who lives down the street, the same image. So again, the scholars want to help us and so they will say, but that happens in heaven. The problem is that 2 Cor. 3:18 does not say that, it is actually present tense, it is happening now. Oh, but we don’t need to become like Jesus, God sees us as if we were already like Jesus. And we have heard the preacher say, “When God looks at you He does not see you, He sees Jesus.” But then we read Hebrews 4:13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer,” (NASV). or again in Hebrews 12 that tells us we are being disciplined by God as His children (12:4-11). If when God looks at us He only sees Jesus, what is He disciplining us for?
So God’s desire for His children is very high but since we cannot reach that goal by our own efforts, we simply lower the bar. That is because we do not want to change. We love doing what we want, the way we want, when we want. And we don’t really want God interfering. So we theologize our way around the scripture until we feel better about ourselves. But what if God’s grace is not only for salvation, but the power of transformation as well? What if we are sanctified in the same way we are saved, by the power of God and not by our own effort? What if we are not only saved by grace but transformed into Christ’s image by grace? All my excuses go out the window because it is not about me any more, it is all about Him. And even worse yet, what if He is doing all that right now, on this side of heaven?
So, what does the scripture actually say? It is important that we go to the source and find out.
