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* It's good to suffer loss, for it draws me to the Cross where God's loss is more than what anyone ever lost. * We cannot hear what the stories of the Bible are saying until we hear them as stories about ourselves. * Let go of control. * Trust God. Thank God. Think about God. Talk to God. Talk about God.

Monday, August 15, 2011

3 "Different" Terms in the NT Describing Salvation

Godshands
Interesting, the New Testament (NT) presents salvation by using quite different terms/words. The theme/key phrase of:

  • The synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke is "the kingdom of God/heaven."
  • John's gospel is "eternal life" (with infrequent use of the phrase "the kingdom of God).
  • Paul's 13 epistles is "grace" or "the gospel," both of which emphasizes "justification by faith" (while very infrequently using the above 2 phrases in the gospels).
What might be the significance of this?
  • If we focus on the synoptic gospels and "the kingdom of God" we tend to be activist Christians (focusing on discipleship and/or mercy ministry). 
  • If we focus on John's gospel and "eternal life" we focus on having a "real" and authentic life as Christians.
  • If we focus on Paul's epistles and "grace" we incline toward theology and sound biblical doctrine.
This might be an oversimplification. Nonetheless, how might we apply this? Over-studying or over-emphasizing one area might skew/bias our Christian expression, while the Bible contains "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). These 3 expressions of salvation seems to be in keeping with Jesus' words in the great command (Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30) where Christians are to:
  • love God with all our strength by advancing "the kingdom of God."
  • love God with all our heart with deep intimacy and authenticity.
  • love God with all our mind with deep thought, reflection, depth and understanding.

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