Posted on Saturday,

Dallas Willard on the Ruined Soul and How Not to Live

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Recently Dallas Willard went to be with His Lord. I miss him already. Here is just one of the many sobering and insightful passages from his writing (Renovation of the Heart).

Thus no one chooses in the abstract to go to hell or even to be the kind of person who belongs there. But their orientation toward self leads them to become the kind of person for whom away-from-God is the only place for which they are suited. It is a place they would, in the end, choose for themselves, rather than come to humble themselves before God and accept who he is. Whether or not God’s will is infinitely flexible, the human will is not. There are limits beyond which it cannot bend back, cannot turn or repent. One should seriously inquire if to live in a world permeated with God and the knowledge of God is something they themselves truly desire. If not, they can be assured that God will excuse them from his presence. They will find their place in the “outer darkness” of which Jesus spoke. But the fundamental fact about them will not be that they are there, but that they have become people so locked into their own self-worship and denial of God that they cannot want God… We should be very sure that the ruined soul is not one who has missed a few more or less important theological points and will flunk a theological examination at the end of life. Hell is not an “oops!” or a slip. One does not miss heaven by a hair, but by constant effort to avoid and escape God. “Outer darkness” is for one who, everything said, wants it, whose entire orientation has slowly and firmly set itself against God and therefore against how the universe actually is. It is for those who are disastrously in error about their own life and their place before God and man.—Dallas Willard

Learn more about the life, work, ministry, and writings of Dallas Willard

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Posted on Tuesday,

Are You Practicing Jesusanity or Christianity?

Several years ago while living in Dallas, I was on a date with my wife and was walking past a storefront, only to discover Jesus staring back at me—a bobblehead Jesus, that is. I had seen bobbleheads of NFL players and rock stars before, but I didn’t realize that Jesus had reached bobblehead status! Fast-forward a few years to when I was kicking off our Christmas series at our church. Want to know who was helping me preach that morning? Yep, bobblehead Jesus standing on a stool (I am happy to report that I was neither fired nor struck by lightning). To help make the Jesusanity versus Christianity distinction more concrete, I read out loud to our church the ad from the back of the box he was packaged in:

The name Jesus means God saves. The term Christ is a title for anointed of God. For Muslims and some Jews, Jesus was a prophet. Buddhists say he was enlightened. Hindus call him an Avatar (the incarnation of a deity in human form). And Christians hail him as the Son of God. Although he is understood in many different ways, everyone seems to agree that he was an extraordinary man.

Now I would take “extraordinary,” but is that what Jesus was after? Today in our thoroughly pluralistic culture, Jesusanity is what is most often practiced. Jesus is respected as one of the great religious leaders — even the best religious leader of all time — but he does not have unique status. For many people today, both inside and outside the church, Jesus is not unique; he is simply one among many. Respected? Yes. Street cred? Check. But if we take the New Testament documents seriously, Jesus wasn’t aiming for respect. His messianic mission was far larger than that.

In stark contrast to Jesusanity, Darrell Bock summarizes that Christianity “involves the claim that Jesus was anointed by God to represent both God and humanity in the restoration of a broken relationship existing between the Creator and his creation.” Only Jesus the Messiah can address humanity’s deepest need, the forgiveness of our sins so that we can be reconnected with God and enjoy the eternal kind of life we were made for (Mark 2:1–12; 8:27–30; John 17:3). In Christianity, Jesus is worshiped; in Jesusanity, he is simply respected. The difference could not be more important for our world. I dive into more of the implications of this mindset here.

Posted on Wednesday,

What Christians Believe About Jesus in 20 Minutes [Podcast]

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What do Christians believe about Jesus Christ? If you have ever wondered about this or would like a brief overview (20 min) of what the Bible teaches and why these doctrines matter, then this podcast is for you! In plain language we will discuss the deity and humanity of Christ along with implications for the life of the Christian.

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For more on the doctrine of Christ, see the excellent book by systematic theologian (and my former pastor) Erik Thoennes – Life’s Biggest Questions: What the Bible Says about the Things That Matter Most (Crossway 2011). Also, to explore the full breadth of the biblical data concerning the deity of Christ, see Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Kregel 2007). If you would like a resource to help students begin to engage theology, see Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower’s Guide for the Journey.

If you enjoyed this topic / podcast, you would also enjoy our podcast – Why Theology Matters

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Posted on Wednesday,

Does Jesus Know What He Is Talking About?

This is the foundational question every would be disciple must ask. Was Jesus right? Did he know what he was talking about? Dallas Willard reframes the typical way we think about Jesus:

Jesus is Lord can mean little in practice for anyone who hesitates before saying Jesus is smart…he is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived.

Jesus needs to know about life…not just heaven someday. And He does…He has a PHD in all of life. The disciple of Jesus starts by saying Jesus is right, about everything. John Ortberg summarizes this well:

…if I want to fully experience the love of Jesus, I must receive one of his most important gifts he sends me—his teaching. I must invite Jesus to be the personal Teacher of my life. I must trust that he is right—about everything. And that therefore where I disagree with him I must either be wrong or not yet understand what it was he was saying. I must allow Jesus to teach me how to live.

That is a good posture to start and conclude each day.

With all of this in mind, we are now better positioned to thoughtfully consider Jesus’ invitation to be his disciple:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matt. 11:28-30

Everyone learns from somebody. Why not sit at the feet of the one who possess all wisdom and knowledge? (cf. Col. 2:3) I have written more in depth on this question in my latest book.

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Posted on Friday,

How Were People Saved in the Old Testament?

First and foremost, the Bible teaches that salvation is always…

– Offered by the grace of God
– Based on the atoning death of Jesus Christ
– Received by the exercise of faith
– Applied by the work of the Holy Spirit

Until the time of Christ, the object of faith was God (cf. Gen 15:6 “And Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”). Once Jesus Christ had been crucified and raised from the dead, Paul declared:

“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”—Acts 17:30-31

This transition is consistent with the theological truth revealed in the book of Romans:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”—Romans 3:21-26

God has progressively revealed his gracious rescue plan to the nations over several millennia. But the focal point of this plan has always been the person and work of Jesus Christ.

*In case you missed it, you might be interested in the related post – “What about those who have never heard about Jesus?”