a How Can I Be Changed?	3Back to Home

4 Navigation --------------- Homepage St. Matthew St. Matthew 2 St. Mark St. Luke St. Luke 2 St. John St. John 2 Acts of Apostles Acts of Apostles 2 --------------- The Letters --- Romans --- 1. Corinthias --- 2. Corinthias --- Galatians --- Ephesians --- Philippians --- Colossians --- 1. Thessalonians --- 2. Thessalonians --- 1. Timothy --- 2. Timothy --- Titus --- Philemon --- Hebrews --- James --- 1. Peter --- 2. Peter --- 1. John --- 2. John --- 3. John --- Jude --------------- The Apocalypse

. . . The Bible says that God has decided to help us. It says that where we are powerless to save ourselves, God saves us. It says that when we cannot set ourselves right, God sets us right. Budding Angel or Hopeless Sinner? Let us review our situation. On the one hand the Bible claims that man is made in the image of God, for fellowship with him. We have great possibilities. This is the "optimistic" side of the picture. On the other hand, the Bible claims that we have spoiled these possibilities. We have defaced the image of God. We are sinners. This is the "pessimistic" side of the picture. Many people grab ahold of one of these affirmations and act as if it were the whole truth. Thus you will hear some people talk about man in a way that would make you think we are already sprouting wings. And you will hear others talk so exclusively about sin that you will think Christianity consists of reminding us (rather gleefully) that we are bad as we can be, period. It is important, therefore, to remember that the Bible recognizes both the optimistic and the pessimistic side. Neither one stands by itself. Both are needed. But even that is not the whole story. That would be saying, "We have tremendous possibilities, but we have lost them, and cannot recover them." And that would leave the last word on the side of pessimism. We need to remember that the last word, from the Biblical perspective, is not a bleak pessimism any more than it is a naïve optimism. The Bible indeed affirms "the sinfulness of sin," but not as the end of the story. For if the Bible seems to be pessimistic about man, it is never pessimistic about God, and what God can do with man, and make of man. just as a doctor needs to know what the illness is before he attempts a cure, and just as the kind of cure will be determined by the nature of the illness, so it has been important for us to see the nature of our human "illness" in order that we could understand the radical "cure" which Biblical faith says is possible. God conquers death God gives us the power to conquer The Only Real "Answer" A Question You Can't Avoid Some Current Answers -- a Dime a Dozen The First Part of the Biblical Answer What Is the "Image of God"? Some Consequences The Second Part of the Biblical Answer What Sin Is Supplying Some Documentation What Sin Is Not Getting Straightened Out How Can I Be Changed? The Third Part of the Biblical Answer The First Step After the First Step The Heart of the Matter Not Once and for All Some Hints for Growing -- Tried and Tested A Final Warning Why Isn't "Individual Religion" Enough? The Case Against the Church -a Bagful of Objections When Did the Church Get Started? Just What Is a "Covenant"? The "New Covenant" Becomes a Possibility Those Words of Jesus to Peter Those "Upsetters of the World" A Rebuttal of the Case Against the Church Why the Church? Last Judgment? Second Coming? What Do They Mean? The Inescapability of Eschatology The Point of Biblical Eschatology: History Is Going Somewhere The Dangers of Literalism Exploring New Testament Eschatology The Kingdom of God A Few Bits of Help The Gift of God Schatology and "What I Do Today" What Happens When I Die? Sheol -- Where God Is Not Present The Community of the Resurrection Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact A "Spiritual Body" The Facts of the Case I Try to Live a Good Life. Why Isn't That Enough? The "Micah" Variation The "Worship and Action" Variation The "Therefore" Variation The Biblical faith that God is the Creator