a The Heart of the Matter	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

You are accepted. All you have to do is to accept the fact that you are accepted. You are accepted, just as you are. You need not "prove" yourself, or strive frantically to achieve God's recognition. You are accepted right now. What, then, must you do? Merely accept this fact. Merely begin to live as though this were true. This is another way of describing what the Bible means by "justification by faith." It is what Paul discovered, what Martin Luther rediscovered, what Christians in every age have found to be the transforming fact in their so-far unfulfilled lives. It is the gift of salvation, of new life. Where does all this lead? It leads to transformation: If you are accepted by God just as you are, then you can accept yourself just as you are; and if you can accept yourself just as you are, then you can accept other people just as they are. Relationship is once more a possibility. You are no longer isolated and separated (as you were in Chapter 13). You are now free to love, and that is what you were created for. This time we can sum up the whole matter in one line: We love, because he first loved us ( I John 4: 19). How does this gift which has been given to us resolve our problem of self-centeredness and pride? We discover that this gift is of a kind that cannot possibly feed our pride. We do not deserve it, and yet God gives it to us. There is no possible ground for patting ourselves on the back. Our response can only be one of gratitude, gratitude to God for so great a gift of love. (See further, Chapter 18.) Our "righteousness" is the righteousness of Christ, who has broken down the barrier of our pride by becoming humble himself, in order that he may exalt us. (Remember Paul? "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.") And as long as we remain humble (which is not a fake attitude of thinking we're pretty good because we claim we aren't, but an honest recognition of how we stand in relation to God) -- as long as we remain humble -- God can constantly invade our lives, and continually become more real to us. A Biblical insight, which pops up in various places, can drive this fact home. It goes like this: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" ( James 4: 6; 1 Peter 5: 5; cf. Prov. 3: 34). In our new situation, then, we must take seriously Paul's advice, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord" ( I Cor. 1: 31). What we are we owe to him and to his love, not our own cleverness and goodness. He has worked the revolution in our lives. Let Jeremiah, finally, clinch our understanding of the attitude of the "new person" who has accepted God's gift of new life: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord ( Jer. 9:23, 24). 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