Westmont College Chapel (Sept. 12, 2011)
Spiritual Formation and Theology
How to Save Your Life
how do we get good people?
so many people intent on blowing others up
come from human heart
malice and anger dominate human relationships
Our government oozes with contempt and anger at one another, so that the business of government that affects each one of us deeply often doesn't get done.
would you like to save your body and mind in addition to your soul?
if you got into heaven, do you think you'd like it?
if you don't like worship, you don't want to go to heaven.
if you do like it, you'll spend a lot of time on it here and it will affect the kind of person you become
spiritual formation is the process of shaping the person so they love God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind and their neighbor as themselves
love God with your assignments
Rom 5.8ff: God demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
keep reading
'much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall now be saved from wrath through him.'
[I think Dallas might be wrong about whose wrath here]
'for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life.'
salvation is being caught up in the life that Jesus is now living on earth
He lives in us
the basic idea of salvation in the Bible is deliverance, and not just from guilt
Eph 5.8-9: you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, for the fruit of light consists in all goodness and truth
15-16: therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming your time because the days are evil
translation issue: not just 'making the most'. redeeming concerns something that has already been lost
normal time has to be redeemed or it will be lost
our challenge is to be active bringing everything that fills our time back into God's time
religion can be good, but it's never life
how do you redeem your time? by making sure your gentle but persistent focus is on all goodness, all righteousness, all truth
start by being thankful.
'Thank you for this exam.'
being thankful is right up front in working with God
--is he in charge or not? is he working everything for good or not? there is no other time to live. this is the only time we have. the is the only time when God is going to bless me.
this is going to take some effort. God will help you.
i'm going to look for Your hand to bring to light the righteousness, good and truth that is in this situation
[don't forget: salvation is here. it's never there. 'now is the day of salvation']
Paul: in everything give thanks. 'whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, any virtue, anything to praise--keep your mind on these things'
that's where God is. that is keeping our minds on God
we have a version of salvation that isn't concerned with spiritual formation
want to be characterized by love? find something and start loving it.
you fill your life with God by constantly submitting where you are to love, joy, etc.
the world is set up, in a way, to waste your time.
the main way is by convincing you that what you're doing is not of value
then you wind up having to be distracted
distraction is one of the main enemies of the human soul. you begin to invest your time in things that don't matter.
you live your life of spiritual formation and growth by experimenting with God on the things that you're going to have to live through anyway
the outcome is the fruit of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
there are many passages you just have to memorize. so they'll be right there, present in your mind and heart. then the Word of God is at work in your body. it is a substance and a power that will work on its own if you take it in.
the fruit of the Spirit
a lot of people get addicted to the feeling of joy, but joy is a condition that has some feeling, but it can be there without the feeling. if you go for just the feeling, you'll fall into addiction.
many people love love
if you have learned to live in the fruit of the Spirit by the presence of God in your life by taking the events of life and turning them over to God, you're going to find that patience is a walk in the park
what is the saved life? a life devoted to beauty, truth and goodness in the power of the risen and living Christ who is with you in all you do
beauty, truth and goodness are where God dwells with us concretely in our lives
beauty is goodness made present to the senses
truth is a reflection of reality including beauty and goodness. it enables us to seek and find what is good. that's why Jesus said 'if you live in me and are my disciples, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.'
goodness is all that nourishes you and strengthens you in life in a proper order
if your salvation does not include living with God in beauty, truth and goodness, it's going to be a very dry haul
so much of our difficulty today for Xians in this world and the world without vital Xianity comes from having a X with no association with beauty, truth and goodness
a X w/o beauty, truth and goodness is a testimony against the glory and grandeur of God
you have to go to the cross, but you don't live there. you live in resurrection. the cross is necessary, but you live in resurrection life with Jesus. the cross is there to cut off all of the things that would keep us from the life of beauty, truth and goodness. beauty, truth and goodness without Christ is a wretched, failing human substitute for the life we are meant to have.
[i.e., striving after them, because they can't exist in their fullness for our good outside of Christ
they go sour and become harmful]
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