And here's the dilemma I'm struggling with ... some structure is needed, otherwise the temptation to simply create one's own religion is powerful. Look around ... particularly the New Age religions ... they're essentially a cafeteria style "faith." It's whatever one wants to believe, cobbled together in whatever way one wants, to form a religion tailored specifically for the individual.
And that's fine ... if God intended it that way. But if the Bible is to be believed -- even at the highest, most over-arching level -- that's not the way God intended it. There are key principles.
This gets back to my "3 x 5 card" exercise -- jot down on an index card the four or five key things about the Christian faith:
- God exists, and is the sovereign creator of all
- He has revealed himself: in nature, in Scripture and in Christ
- Man is sinful by nature and is at odds with the Holy nature of God
- God, in his mercy and grace, has bridged the gap with himself in Christ
- Our response is to believe Him, trust him and serve him
That list is derived entirely from Scripture. So my anchor point really is the truthfulness of Scripture.
I'm a confused person ... can you tell? :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment