One of our practices at Skillman is reading selected books as a congregation. Currently we are finishing The Body Broken by Jack Reese, Dean of the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University.
In the first chapter I was struck by the description of Certainty. "I often had a difficult time understanding why others who read the Bible couldn't see what we saw. Were they just blind?...The only other explanation I could imagine was that they were just rebellious..." (p22)
I grew up with the understanding that correctly interpreting/understanding scripture was the prerequisite to obedience, and that if I was sufficiently obedient then somehow God's grace might extend to me. Since my salvation was dependent upon getting it right, I needed certainty to assure me.
At some point I grew to understand that "Salvation Belongs to Our God", and that my certainty is in God's grace - not in my understanding or effort.
One of the by-products of the certainty I grew up with was an arrogant pride in being right and a condescending disregard of the thoughts and ideas of those who reached different conclusions. I continuously struggle with my own attitude, but am gradually learning to extend the grace to others that has been so freely extended to me.
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