To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost that uses, almost exclusively, the Heidelberg Catechism and its author, Zacharias Ursinus, to talk about why we should be sanctified and do good works. This appeared in the Heidelblog.
The above is a sign that, like the Pharisees referred to in Mark 7, our traditions are replacing God's Word. For it is easy to note that the above article uses a confession to primarily inform us of what we need to know about sanctification and doing good works. And that the motivation has been reduced to just that of being thankful. But is there other reasons that should draw us to sanctification and doing good than gratefulness?
Here we should note I Cor 13:13 here:
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
We should note the word, and concept of, 'love' here because it only occurs once in the above article. It does not occur in the above article when discussing sanctification and doing good to others. And that despite the fact that being sanctified involves bearing the fruit of the spirit and love is the first fruit mentioned, it is mentioned only when discussing the law. And yet, Paul places love above faith and hope.
I understand why we should be sanctified and do good works because of thankfulness. After all, we are doing good acts without even thinking that we can use them to win God's favor. Thus, being thankful is very important. Everything we have is because of God's great mercy, in forgiving our sins and sparing us from His wrath, and grace, seen in how every blessing from Him is unmerited. The problem here isn't that being thankful is involved with why we submit to sanctification, the problem is that our response to God in how we treat Him and others is reduced to thankfulness.
With being told that we are new creatures in Christ, one would think that with love being placed higher than faith and hope, as stated in I Cor 13, and with love being the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians, that another motivation we have for being sanctified and doing good to others is because we, in the midst of being changed, now have a love for God and for our neighbor, regardless of who imperfect that love is, which we did not have before. Thus, love becomes a motivation for why we do what we do.
We should note that while being thankful does speak to others, too much emphasis on being thankful does not necessarily challenge us to be less self-absorbed, love does. And in becoming less centered on ourselves and more concerned with God and with others, we naturally do more good works than if we are spiritually self-absorbed.
Now the absence of the idea that love becomes a reason for being sanctified could be because unlike guilt, grace, and gratitude, the word 'love' does not begin with the letter 'g.' In reality, the absence of that word despite its importance in the New Testament is because we have gone too much to a confession of faith, a tradition if you will, to learn about this essential part of our new lives rather than going first and foremost to the Scriptures.
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To Chuck Chalberg and his article on C.K. Chesterton’s view of science and its experts. Chesterton felt that many earthly decisions should be decided on by some kind of ‘jury system’ rather than by scientific experts. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative website.
If you have successfully made it out of cancer surgery, one has more respect for science than Chesterton showed. It isn't that scientists don't have a lane to stay in, it is whether we will stay in our lane when we lack the proper respect for science. And his jury system analogy simply shows cutting off science in its lane in too many instances. But I sense a turf battle in Chesterton's reaction to science.
From climate change to coronavirus, there are some conservatives who have no respect for science and thus have not stayed in their own lane. Thus they automatically speak as fools. It isn't that what scientists say is infallible. It is that if you are going to contradict them, then you better know what you are talking about. Going back to my cancer treatment, there was some medical advice regarding post surgery diet that did not work. But I didn't leave it up to a jury as to what to do. Rather, I simply went to another scientific lane to change my diet for the better.
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