Who is Jesus?
The Restoration Movement has traditionally steered clear of the Trinity:
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TheTrinity in most churches is defined as the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit, three in one, of one substance. Don't ask me to explain it:
the clover leaf is one leaf, yet is three leaves at the same time; the egg
is made up of the yoke, the white and the shell.
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Churches of Christ have traditionally stated that the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are three separate persons, co-equal and united in plan and
purpose and love. "Let us make man in our image", "One God, one Lord, one
Spirit..." (Eph. 4).
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Churches of Christ have traditionally emphasized the deity of Christ and
downplayed the humanity of Christ. So they confess that Jesus was tempted
in all points as we are, yet they also teach it was impossible for him to
sin. They teach that he suffered on the cross exactly as all humans would,
but that he retained a full memory of eternity with the Father in heaven.
So they believe Jesus did not have faith, he had infinite
knowledge.
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This
tends to make Jesus one-dimensional and a little boring. He becomes a
superman able to leap tall buildings, but it is no big deal for him to do
it. He is not someone we can relate to. Is this the Jesus we read of in
the gospels? Can we truly say He "became flesh and dwelt among
us," if He had such an advantage? The whole point of Jesus coming to
earth was to come alongside us and be one of us.
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In
the gospels Jesus is depicted as:
a. Emotional: anger, sorrow, stress.
b. Needing to fast alone for forty days to make a decision.
c. Needing to pray by himself all night long.
d. Needing companionship from the apostles and from Mary, Martha
and Lazarus.
e. Asking for encouragement from the apostles, especially Peter,
James and John.
f. Under great stress: He sweated blood.
g. Sometimes discouraged: "Do you want to leave, too?"
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I
believe Jesus emptied himself (Phil. 2), and took on the complete
role of a human being. He had to learn about God and who he was
from his mother. He had to walk by faith not by sight. I believe
the first time Jesus heard the Father's voice while he was on earth was at
his baptism: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
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This
makes Jesus a compellingly fascinating person. How did He develop so much
trust in the Father? How did He develop such a simple, powerful view of
God as a Father? How did He develop so much faith that He could lay hands
on people and heal them?
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Hardline Churches of Christ also deny that Jesus traded places with
us by dying for us on the cross. They believe he paid for our sins, but
they deny that He gives us His righteousness. They believe we are forgiven
by Christ's sacrifice, but it is up to us to come up with our own
righteousness by obeying the commandments (especially the commandments
about the work, worship and organization of the local congregation). They
also deny that our belief in Jesus' sacrifice for our sins can be reckoned
to us as righteousness, as Abraham's belief in the promise of God was
reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:4; Romans 4).
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I
believe that Jesus not only forgave us of our sins, but also traded
places with us in many ways:
a. Jesus died in our place for our sins.
b. Jesus gives us his righteousness so that when God looks at us He sees
us as perfect like Jesus.
c. Just as God covered Adam and Eve's shame by covering their
nakedness with animal skins, Jesus died naked taking upon Himself our
shame and giving us his glory (II Thes. 3:14). We share Jesus'
crown of glory.
d. Jesus gives us all His rights of sonship. We are adopted into
the family of God as sons, as a gift.
e. As we grow in Christ we are to grow up to all His fullness (Eph.
4). We are to do His work with His power.
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No-one can look at that list and come away anything but awed at the
empowerment God gives us. And this is the point of God's relationship
with us. God wants us to succeed as His children. Our relationship with
Him is perfect, as a free gift. This is the power to conquer sins, conquer
discouragement, and the power to love each other.
Next Page
A list of what I
believe are unbiblical doctrines in the more conservative Churches of
Christ.
Inspiration of the Bible |
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