Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

IMO, the CofC predicates its view of God on an "in order to receive" concept. There are two conceivable world views of the gospel, one being the "in order to receive" concept of the CofC. The other world view of the gospel is the "because of" concept. Both concepts translate into behavior. I'd like to distinguish the two below:

1) "In order to receive": This concept pervades, fuels, and motivates CofC behavior by seeing the gospel as a tit for a tat proposition, that is, if one does something, God will reward or compensate him or her for what he or she has therefore earned for him or herself or punish him or her for what he or she hasn't "earned" so well. Especially important here is the reward one gains from engaging oneself in a water baptism (i.e., the coup de grace of salvation). But it also speaks to just about all other behaviors wrought in the CofC dogma. It relates more to a carrot and stick approach with the ultimate stick (always present in the background) being hell and the ultimate carrot being heaven. In short it represents bondage. It is a product of legalism.

2) "Because of": This concept relates to behavior which occurs as a result of a changed heart (new birth, new life, etc.), that is, it is behavior which one does because he or she is now empowered to do so and wants to do so (a result of the saving and regenerational power of the gospel). It eliminates the "earning anxiety" present in the "in order to receive" concept because it is based on a recognition that someone else has already done the "earning" on one's behalf. In short, it represents a freeing, a freedom of life, a freeing of guilt. The NT describes it also as entering God's rest and also as having received eternal life now, both made possible only by a gracious move of God alone.

Yes, we love because God first loved us. We are empowered to love others because we experience God's father-love in our own lives. For the Christian, God's father-love has been made known in Jesus' life and work.

Agreed on the word views and see them more like a continuum of motivations or thinking.

Proverbs starts off with "fear" being the reason and motivator. And I think the lowest level motivator is to fear Hell and wish to avoid Hell. But higher level motivations and more mature levels deal with wanting to be in Heaven. And then wanting to please Jesus. And then wanting to be like God. So the reason a person stops or avoids some sin is maybe at first because they want to avoid Hell but eventually it should grow into a motivation of the person wanting to be like God. Either way the sin is being avoided, but the higher motivation is out of love and wanting to be like God.

They are both valid but remaining babies and continuing in the milk about repentance and baptism is not leading to growth.

That's a good point, KLP.

I'm not in the mental health field, but I have read some about Psychology. And from that perspective "tit for tat" reflects an earlier stage of moral development. And it's an unavoidable stage, but the ideal is to move on and not get stuck in that stage. One could argue that those who experience God in a "tit for tat" way are still experiencing God, albeit in a way that does not empower them to love others outside their circle. The man who fears is not made perfect in love.

very true.

teresa wrote:That's a good point, KLP.

I'm not in the mental health field, but I have read some about Psychology. And from that perspective "tit for tat" reflects an earlier stage of moral development. And it's an unavoidable stage, but the ideal is to move on and not get stuck in that stage. One could argue that those who experience God in a "tit for tat" way are still experiencing God, albeit in a way that does not empower them to love others outside their circle. The man who fears is not made perfect in love.

Agree, but "tit for tat" is where the conservative forms of Christianity seem to be stuck and it seems they are incapable of moving on.