Question from Week 9 (August 20, 2012) Ephesians series

Questions from Week 9 (August 20, 2012) Ephesians series

Here is the verse these questions were pertaining to:

Ephesians 2:8-10

Questions:

1) "Catholicism believes that praying to the saints will be just as affective as praying to Jesus. I've heard testimonies, from Catholics, of people being healed by praying to the "virgin Mary." I would consider this to be an idol to many Catholics, but in the result to their prayer the person gets healed. Would this be because God felt their heart and not their prayer? And demonstrated his mercy and grace?"

A: Let me first start by saying that I believe your definition of Catholic prayer to the saints is not quite in line with Catholic doctrine. Although this is not the place to describe the history and background behind the Catholic doctrine of the "communion of the saints," I would like to clarify some of the misconceptions / misinterpretations you seem to have of prayer in Catholicism. First, there is a difference between prayer and veneration--an important distinction. Veneration--described here as worship and honor deserved of God alone--is only given to God and not to saints. When Catholics pray for / with saints they are not offering up to them praise and honor due to God. They are showing respect to particular saints. Catholics should expect, when they enter into a prayer for / with the saints, God to effectively work through them (the saints) as He does similarly through us. I would first ask you this question: Aren't the "saints" still saints as we are saints? Are they not still alive (and even more alive it seems than we are) and not dead? Don't you believe, as the Apostle Paul does in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be "away from the (earthly) body" is to be "at home with the Lord" (i.e. not dead)? So whether we live or die, are we not the Lord's (Romans 14:8)? Is God not both the Lord of the "living" and the "dead" (Romans 14:9)? The saints are not "dead" any more than I am dead, and they are "alive" just as I am "alive," in Christ. They are presently with King Jesus awaiting the final consummation of Heaven and Earth (Romans 8), when God sets all things right. I believe, as James does, "that the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)" Regardless if this prayer comes from one who is alive, on earth, or one who is "asleep" (earthly death), is it not from one who still exists? And, are they not empowered by the same God that you and I worship? When we pray then, with or for the saints, is not the same power at work? OF COURSE, IT IS THE SAME GOD WITH THE SAME POWER! God does the healing, not man--alive or dead. God is the gracious giver of life and miracles, not humanity. Regardless of someone inadvertently "praying" TO a saint, it is God working the miracle. Just as you are empowered (I use this with the present tense--"They still are empowered") with the Spirit of God, so are the saints. Perhaps those you have encountered have misguided their faith and trust into a saint and not Jesus, which is a sad fault, but it is certainly not a Catholic doctrine; to pray to saints as though they are God the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit is NOT Catholic dogma.  Praying for / with the saints is exactly the same as praying with those who are presently "alive" on earth; so be careful that you do not call this aspect of prayer "idol" worship, or label "Catholicism" with your experience of others,  because it is clearly not. On the other hand, anyone who has put their trust and worship into anyone other than Jesus IS worshiping idols (and this can be true of anybody, not just Catholics).

2) "What about the fear of God? About having a respect for Him? Shouldn't there be a balance?"

Quickly I would like to define the "fear of God" as stressed in the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures. When you hear the term "fear" your mind should immediately be turned from the idea of wrath or hate. "Fear" should be understood in terms of the power and strength of God--the GODNESS of GOD--and His graciousness. The fear of God is the emotional reaction and understanding of a God so powerful. It causes a combination of both respect and love--not terror and anger. The fear of God draws people near, not further away. It makes them tremble in the awesomeness of God, not because they are afraid that he's going to throw a lighting bolt, because they know the power of His great love.

Respect is a natural response to the amazing attributes of God. Understanding that God is fully gracious and not filled with hate, is paramount to the fear of God being instilled in somebody.

Here is the balance: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." (1 John 4:18)


3) "(1) According to God's word, is there ever a time when he can be disappointed with us? (2) Does God have judgement?"

First, these are two sets of different questions and will answer them as such. Also, I'm going to assume that the question is in regards to those who follow Jesus. Okay, question 1. The answer is NO! Read this, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)." Our sin was dealt with once and for all at the cross. Our new reality is that we are brand new creations, created in Christ Jesus for good works (2 Corinthians 5:18 & Ephesians 2:10). When we mess up, we are not acting in accordance with who we have been created to be in Christ--when we sin (because this will happen) God's view of us, never changes...he sees us as the righteousness of God! This is what grace is all about. We should not, by any means, exploit that grace and sin because we know we will be forgiven. God has given us grace so that we can live empowered lives to stay away from evil and sin and do good to others in this world. When we think God is disappointed, we are in actuality telling God that His sacrifice of Jesus was insufficient to cover "all" of our sins. You are forgiven and God is happy with you, now live a life that reflects that truth.

Question 2)
There is judgement. Again, I believe we are talking about Christians here (That's how I'm reading the questions). Christians will be judged! The question is, what are we going to be judged according to? In terms of salvation, we will stand before God as either condemned or righteous. And because we ARE "the righteous of God," when we stand before the Father in judgement he will look upon us and see righteousness--he will stare at us and see his perfect son, Jesus. Our life is exchanged for Jesus' life. We are judged to be righteous because Jesus is righteous.

*Great questions, I hope these answers give some clarity to these questions.

-Pastor Mark

Questions from Week 8 (August 13, 2012) Ephesians Series

Questions from Monday August 13, 2012: (Week 8 of Ephesians series)

*Answers will be based off the particular sermon that was preached that night.

Ephesians 2:1-7 (Scripture used this week)

"¹ You were dead in your transgressions and sins ² in which you once walked under the influence of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is powerfully working in the sons of disobedience.³ Among whom we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires (will) of our flesh and of our minds, and we were by nature children of wrath as everyone else. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with King Jesus - By grace you have been saved! – ⁶ and he raised us up together with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that he could demonstrate the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in King Jesus throughout the coming ages.”

Question 1:

“Every single time you sin, are you disconnected from God? You become dead? How do you come back into communion with God again?”

            In our study of week 8, Ephesians 2:1, it begins with, “You were dead in your transgression and sins.” Ephesians 2:1-7 directly speaks to Christians and consistently uses the past tense—this is on purpose. As Christians, we are “made alive together with Christ.” Sin and Satan no longer regulate or hold control over our lives. As Christians, we will mess up and sin on a regular basis, but this does NOT deem us “dead.” What God has made alive nobody can kill.

            Often times, sin can bring a dividing wall between God and ourselves—we feel shame, guilt, or fear. Sin does not void God’s love for us, but it can cause us (humanity) to put up a wall with God. In order to tear that wall down we should repent of our sin. I liken it to my relationship with my wife: if I do not take out my baby’s diapers, which is a responsibility I have promised to fulfill, then it puts a kink in my relationship with my wife—I have dishonored her by not following through on the promises I have made to her. In this case, I may have hurt my wife and not lived up to my promises, but it does not VOID my marriage. I will need to apologize and repent for hurting my wife and let the healing process begin. It works the same way with God. Sin does not discredit you from being a son or daughter of God, but it can sometimes disrupt the intimacy between you and God. Know that God is always ready to restore and redeem. He is not a God of shame, guilt or fear (those are the voice of the enemy, do not listen to it).

Question 2:

“If you are already a Christian and you sin, are you still dead?” 

No. Refer to question 1.