This episode addresses a common misunderstanding of the gospel that is not immediately evident based on the classic diagnostic question often used by evangelists: "if you were to die today and God asked you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?" Many of course reveal a faulty grasp of true righteousness, saying something like "I'm basically a good person." Some actually provide a theologically correct answer, articulating that they are depending solely on the imputed righteousness of Christ. That answer however reveals correct propositional knowledge of the gospel but is not necessarily indicative of COMMITMENT or TRUST in the gospel. When people provide the correct answer to the above diagnostic question, I usually follow up with a question designed to distinguish mere "propositional faith" from true saving faith: "Are you living for Christ?" I've encountered many who concede they're not "living for Christ," after correctly stating the Biblical grounds of righteousness. Sadly confusion over Biblical faith, characterized by repentance and commitment to Christ ("living for Christ") and mere "propositional faith," assent to the truths of the gospel, is widespread among professing Christians. The latter only have the "faith" of demons (James 2:19), and the evangelist should try to correct this common misunderstanding of the gospel by pointing to the Biblical evidence of saving faith where believers "no longer live for the lusts of men, but for the will of God." (1 Peter 4:2)
ALL ‘Good” Works’ Grow out of Worship
This episode spells out the disconnect between believers' conception of good works and those of unbelievers. Worship of God is the indispensable element of all good works, according to the Scriptures. Believers, because of a cleansed conscience (Hebrews 9:14) and a new heart given at regeneration, aim to worship and serve God, and bring forth "good" works as they abide in Christ. (John 15:5) Unbelievers, even if they accept and adhere to Biblical morals, really don't have the worship of God in view. The basis for good works or being a good person is often the low standard of not committing felonies and/or adherence to acceptable moral standards as defined by the culture at large. Since morality and "good works" aren't related to the honor and worship of God, a completely different standard of what constitutes good works predominates among most unbelievers. And, it is typically based on a comparative assessment of oneself in light of others. These differing standards of what constitutes good works help explain the disconnect between believers' and unbelievers' conception of good works. The latter part of the episode suggests a different tactic in reaching unbelievers, focusing on using the "worship" standard of good works, instead of morality, untethered to worship of God.
Forgiveness-focused Salvation Usually Indicates a Worship Disorder
This episode addresses the subtle idolatry of many believers who fail to grasp the purpose of salvation, which should be, according to Hebrews 9:14, service/worship of God. The previous episode noted typical reasons why many say they go to church: "being a better person" and "feeling better about oneself" are some of the anthropocentric responses indicating a worship disorder. Salvation in this skewed perspective is principally about the forgiveness of sins and addressing low self-esteem, making man's needs the purpose of salvation. Hebrews 9:14 however insists that forgiveness of sins is simply the necessary condition of being a better worshipper: "the blood of Jesus cleanses our consciences from dead works [forgiveness] to serve the living God." Biblical salvation always has worship and service to God as the driving motivation behind all religious activity. While it necessarily addresses mankind's sin issues, and by declaring him holy, his esteem issues, salvation always considers the endgame, which is worship and service of the living God. All "good" works flow from sanctified worship. If worship of God is not the ultimate goal of salvation, then believers will naturally make themselves the idol gods they serve, corrupting all so-called "good" works they produce.
Why Go to Church? Your Answer Might Reveal an Idol/Idle God
The last few episodes highlight a central goal of salvation: pure, undefiled worship/service of God. Embrace of this objective, according to Hebrews 6:1 is through "repentance from dead works" and "faith toward God." This episode poses a simple question designed to test if we've truly repented from dead works: "Why do we go to church?" The Biblical answer, according to Hebrews 9:14, is that it enables us to become better worshippers. We correctly seek to be equipped for the work of ministry SO THAT we can serve God better. A common answer among those who have only partly repented from dead works is that they go to church to be better people, possibly indicating that worship and service of God is not really the ultimate objective. Their anthropocentric religious activity is aimed at self-improvement, mostly gaged by feelings and comparative assessments with others. (see the Pharisee and the Publican, Luke 18:9-14). Theocentric worship, not anthropocentric worship decked out with the form of godliness, must be the goal. Consequently, repentance from dead works is a repudiation of EVERYTHING and EVERY WORK that ultimately replaces worship of God with another substitute. And, it is absolutely essential to produce good works acceptable to God.
Good Works and a Clean Conscience
Unbelievers are unable to do good works because all their works are described as "dead." This fact alone severely corrupts true worship. The author of Hebrews made this connection in Heb. 9:14: "how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Since good works are essentially the outflow of sincere worship of God, and pure worship cannot flow from a defiled conscience, it naturally follows that unbelievers with defiled consciences cannot truly worship/serve God and produce good works as a result. This episode stresses that salvation cleanses the conscience of all DEAD and so--called "good" works" based mostly on self-idolatry, for the purpose of undefiled, exclusive worship of the LIVING God.
Are You a True Believer or a Mercenary?
This episode addresses the purely "transactional" understanding of salvation by mercenary Christians. "Transactional" Christians are professing Christians who have made a calculated decision to "follow" Christ, not because His way is better, but because He's the only One who can satisfy their sin-debt. While elements of this perspective are also embraced by genuine believers, true Christians follow Christ because they actually see Christ's way as so much better. They reflect on their false ways by contrast, and repent. Like the Psalmist, they have two encounters with the Law of God: one challenging and convicting, the second delightful and instructive. Mercenary "believers" are likened to the wicked, lazy "servant" in the parable of the talents. That servant also had a transactional understanding of "accepting" Christ. He took care of his sin-debt problem by ostensibly trusting Christ and then went off and buried his talent in the ground. He never fell in love with Christ and never delighted with the Law of God in the inner man. The other 2 servants delighted in the gifts of the Master and invested those gifts to honor Him. A transactional, mercenary view of Christ and the salvation He offers is consequently not salvation at all, for the wicked lazy servants ends up in hell.
Are You a Worshiper of Christ or a Mercenary?
This episode bluntly calls into question the professed "salvation" of some believers, based on a transactional, even mercenary view of Christianity. This superficial acceptance of Christianity acknowledges that Christ paid our sin-debt in full so that we would not have to pay those wages in hell. So a logical response, based on self-preservation, is to "accept" Christ. Well this simplistic mercenary picture of Christianity, where one sides with Christ SINGULARLY to escape consequences, does not correspond to the whole gospel presented in Scripture. While the fear of hell, the ultimate consequence of breaking God's Law, motivates a surface "acceptance" of Christ, genuine repentance and faith in Christ is the response of those who renounce their way in favor of God's Way, Christ Himself. Fear of consequences isn't their only motivation, but a genuine disgust with themselves coupled with devotion to Christ. This is precisely the dynamic present in the Psalm 119 where the psalmist turns to the Lord in faith because he loves God and His Law, though he has in fact suffered severe consequences for breaking God's Law. True believers would follow Christ even if the ultimate destination of heaven or hell wasn't an issue.
You’re Made Worthy to Serve
This episode mostly addresses the hesitancy of many believers to engage in ministry based on a sense of unworthiness. Of course, none of us are "worthy" in and of ourselves, but we have been made worthy through the imputed righteousness of Christ. Yet even when believers have a proper understanding of the basis of righteousness, if they don't engage in ministry, the sense of unworthiness is more pronounced since sin issues are the primary focus. The answer to this skewed perspective is the half-and-half approach where believers do ministry while they address issues of sin. Interestingly, ministry itself often unlocks the grace of God, the grace to do ministry through our weaknesses.
Salvation, More than an Individual Affair
This episode addresses the hesitancy of many in engaging the rest of the body of Christ concerning personal issues with sin. Many refuse to make themselves accountable to others because of a faulty individualistic view of salvation: salvation is mostly about forgiveness of sins but is not about service to the living God. (Heb. 9:14) A natural bi-product of this incomplete understanding of salvation is a failure to see the collective impact of personal sin on the rest of the Body. For if salvation is singularly about the forgiveness of sins, without embracing a ministry dimension, then personal struggles with sin are minimized since the FAILURE to do ministry, working collectively with other, is not really a concern. People isolate and battle sin individually without aid from the rest of the Body because their basic understanding of salvation is flawed. Sanctification and ministry are collective efforts and mirror the holistic Biblical view of salvation.
Self-absorbed “salvation” and the Body of Christ
This episode concludes the 3-part application of the Nehemiah "half-and-half" strategy to the body of Christ. Ideally Christians should be working in ministry as they deal with their sin issues by being accountable to other believers and relying on their aid to build their "sanctification wall." With respect to sin issues, neglect of accountability/assistance of the body of Christ is sometimes based on an incomplete understanding of salvation. We're saved from our sins for service to God, but many see salvation principally in terms of "saved from." This attitude leads many to self-centered Christianity, in which one's own personal salvation is the objective, not the collective building of the kingdom of God. Not surprisingly, this self-absorbed salvation approach leads to maverick Christianity where sin issues are mostly about oneself and God, and sanctification becomes a "private affair," excluding involvement of the body of Christ. The natural consequence of this opportunist salvation perspective is also neglect of ministry. In essence, a faulty understanding of salvation creates few builders. Is it any wonder that in most churches 10% of the congregation does all the work?