The Importance Of The Holy And Biblical Dogmas - Essay Example

The Importance Of The Holy And Biblical Dogmas Collossians 3:5-16 persuade believers to act like Jesus Christ and do not follow the example of the world, if it does not meet holy and Biblical dogmas. Paul states that the terrible unnaturalness of human sin stands out with startling clarity. Man does not live as he should. The trouble is not that he is finite and dependent, and so limited in life and abilities. This is true, and it continues to be true even of the Christian at every stage of his life on this earth. It is not the real problem. Finite, dependent man can have a good and happy life. But such good life exists only where man obeys God's will. Man is so made that he is not himself, he cannot find happiness, unless he accepts God as his Lord and lives in obedience to the divine will. But, as Paul, man has not yielded this acceptance and obedience. A mortal man is a sinner. His need roots in this fact. And this need is universal. This is not merely the fault of a few, nor is it the defect only of those outside the reach of the Law. Paul states: “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (Collossians 3:8). Paul is often accused of blaming the entire problem of sin on a mortal man. He builds upon his own observation that human sin, and he confirms that picture by the repeated testimony of Scripture. It is true that Paul gave a place to original sin and its effects. This appears in two passages which contrast the damaging effects of sin with the redemptive and renewing results of the work of Christ, who thus begins a new humanity. Paul emphasizes the present need, which he plainly sees in the life around him. Moreover, he sees this sin not merely in individual wicked acts, but in the permeation of man's whole life and outlook. The attitudes, desires, strivings, and thoughts of men are corrupted by his evil choices. The whole man is degraded by sin; the whole man needs redemption; the remedy must reach the roots and every branch of human life. “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave” (Collossians 3:11). It is important to recognize that in these lines Paul does teach this universal sinfulness and need of men. This is not an original invention of Paul. From the beginning the Christian message was an answer to man's spiritual and moral failure. They must forgive others; the people they meet will be sinful; the disciples must forgive them all. And they themselves must ask for forgiveness; the taint of sin leaves its mark even on them; they need God's grace continually. As if to vindicate this view, the disciples repeatedly showed lack of understanding and failed to live in the spirit of Jesus. They did need forgiveness; their behavior in the gospel story confirms the teaching of Jesus (Klein 2005, 32). All available evidence indicates that the church was convinced from the first that sin was the problem which all men had to face; that men could not meet that problem; and that Christ's work provided, as a gift of God, a redemption men could not win for themselves. Paul did not invent the idea of universal sinfulness; he continued with emphasis the attitude of Jesus and the common conviction of the earliest church. This sin may be viewed in various ways. Basically it is disobedience to God, who as man's Creator and Lord rightly claims man's worship and loyal obedience. The remedy calls for more than outward forgiveness or release from penalty; it calls for cleansing of the mind and heart; it calls for renewal and redirection of the will. Thus sin brings guilt, since man is responsible for his wrong actions, but it brings an inward damage that is even more ominous. To Paul especially sin is an evil power, an almost personal tyrant, which seizes the life of the wrongdoer and enslaves it to evil desires and purposes (Duvall 2006, 87). In my life, I try to isolate from evil and greedy people. It is part of the strength and truth of the Christian message that it takes seriously the fact and corrupting results of sin. I suppose that man cannot choose wrong and remain unharmed by his choice. Sin is not merely a personal failure with harmful social effects; it is also and centrally a wrong against God the Lord. It is rejection of God's claim and rebellion against the divine will. This is the climax of man's dilemma. Man sins; he is in the wrong before God; he loses the ability to right his life and he cannot make good what he has done. Above all, he has no right to expect help from God, whom he has rejected and wronged (Klein 2005, 44). Following Paul’s message, I try to manage my life and actions in accordance with this principle of existence. Men's hope lies outside himself, and no other man can help him meet the central problem. Only God can act effectively to meet it. Paul seizes upon this word to express the paradoxical fact that God in Christ has acquitted the guilty sinner, who deserved condemnation and punishment. Man stands before the tribunal of God. He is guilty, and cannot conceal that fact from God. He has no right to demand or expect anything but the condemnation he knows he deserves. This startling way of putting the fact of God's grace was Paul's emphasis, but he did not originate the idea. The original disciples found that Jesus treated them far better than their dullness and their fumbling lives deserved. Jesus let them see, in the parable which told of the Prodigal Son, that forgiveness is not earned but freely given Jesus was concerned to bring men back into a living fellowship with God which would include loyalty to God's will. Similarly, when Paul speaks of redemption in terms of personal relations, saying that God reconciled us to himself through Christ, he is expressing in a vital way the depths of the privilege of forgiveness. The meaning of this reconciliation Paul also expresses by the illustration of adoption. To much modern thought we are all sons of God, regardless of how we live. There is truth in this. God is our Maker, and we belong to him no matter how wayward our life may be. But the New Testament rarely suggests that God is the Father of all men. Sonship is not a natural right on which the sinner can insist; it is a gift which only God in his grace can give to undeserving man. Bibliography The Bible. 2009. retrieved 16 April 2009 from www.bible.com Duvall, S. Grasping God's Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible Zondervan; 2 edition, 2006. Klein, W.W. Blomberg, C. L. Hubbard, R. L. Introduction To Biblical Interpretation. Word Publishing, 2005. Read More