It is as Augustine says in his “City of God” that the only cause for the perishing of Rome was that she chose to have guardians that could also perish. Is this not the same for Jerusalem in the days of our Lord? She chose not the Lord to save her, and thus because she trusted in herself and her righteousness – she likewise perished (AD 70). In the same way, what is our country entrusting herself to? Do we not see the influence of pagan idolatry raising once again its ugly head? God has been banished like a naughty schoolboy, but He shall take His vengeance because He is a consuming fire. Great nations perish unless their people (like ancient Nineveh) repent. May we learn this lesson well as Augustine understood it.
The Falsity of Logical Paradox
Let’s just face the issue head on. A logical paradox is logically fallacious. Just listen to the sound of it. It sort of makes you seem important, but in reality it belongs to those pagan mystery religions where you make of it whatever you want it to be. To put it plainly – if God has revealed it – then it can be understood & it must be understood. God is truth & all truth is from him. We are to be sanctified by the truth. Truth is no paradox. Logic can be grasped and comprehended because it derives from God himself. If logic is untrue – then it is not logic. Simple when you think about it. Away with logical paradoxes. Work harder to understand. Apply yourself. Truth is to be understood. The Word is a lamp & a light – walk in it
God Keeps Covenant
All of God’s covenants are eschatological. This means that every covenant that God has made carries within it an eschatological dimension & implications. From the Covenant of Works (or Life) in the Garden with Adam before his fall through to the final all-encompassing New Covenant of which Jesus is the Mediator through his offices of Prophet, Priest & King – all are connected to the future or impact the future. More to come on this.
All or Nothing!
When Jesus calls us to follow him nothing is permitted to come between Jesus & the disciple. Jesus has the last word.
True Disciples
“Is the price that we are paying today with the collapse of the organized churches anything else but an inevitable consequence of grace acquired too cheaply?
We gave away preaching & sacraments cheaply; we performed baptisms & confirmations; we absolved an entire people unquestioned & unconditionally; out of human love we handed over what was holy to the scornful & unbelievers.
We poured out rivers of grace without end but the call to rigorously follow Christ was seldom heard.”
These are the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – how prescient of him! We have sold ourselves down the river as evangelicals by dispensing a grace that we have cheapened. We are reaping the harvest. Countless souls shall be lost but we persuaded them that we were right. It is time to return to the cost of being a true disciple.