Survival Mode and Redefining Salvation (#967)
Today's podcast is a double-feature, at no extra charge. After a medical update, Kyle invites Wayne into a conversation about preserving relationship when you're in survival mode and don't have a lot of energy to give. Then, Wayne invites Kyle back to the justice/righteousness conversation as he and Tobie are considering writing a booklet about what it means to be saved. For many of us the first "gospel" we heard was, "You are a dirty sinner who is going to hell if you don't repent and turn your life over to God." But does that really say it? Looking for a fresh way to describe the Gospel, Wayne suggests, "The purpose of God is to win you into his love so, he can fill you with his Life and set you free from the narcissism of flesh. Then, you'll be able to live in God's justice by treating others the way you want to be treated, and thus become an expression of God's kingdom in a world of chaos." We are looking for simple wording that can unpack the reality of the Gospel, apart from human effort and inside the magnificent love of the Creator.
Podcast Notes:
- The video recording of this podcast.
- The podcast that began our discussion of righteousness and justice.
- Seeing Sin as Trauma
- Read Wayne's newest book, It's Time
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So I started looking into that word “justice” in the Old Testament and was really gob-smacked by Exodus 23:2.
“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.”
Of course it’s not easy to “Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone, Dare to have a purpose firm and Dare to make it known.”
Thanks so much for your conversation today>
The purpose of God is to win you back into his love so, he can re-engage (fill) you with his Life and set you free from the developed narcissism of flesh. Then, you’ll be free (able) to live in God’s justice by treating others the way you want to be treated, and thus become an expression of God’s kingdom in a world of chaos.
The changes above are because I believe we were created in His love and lost our ability to live in it at the time of the fall. So I believe He is winning us back into that love and re-engaging us with the life we were created into.
Thanks, Joyce, for adding to our contemplation of this sentence. I appreciate your point.
My contribution for what its worth ; attempts to abbreviate length and increase clarity.
God desires to win you into His love, filling you with His Life, and setting you free from toxic self-focus. As a result, you become an expression of God in a world of chaos, treating others the way you have been treated by God.
* The word narcissism may be better spelled out for what it is.
* Not sure we can actually be an expression of God’s kingdom. We are in God’s kingdom being an expression of God.
* The new commandment Jesus gave was to love one another as He loves us, which is a different source of love as compared with how I want to be loved.
Loving the direction you are going with all of this.
Thank you for your input to this.
Wayne,
Here’s my best try at the proposed declaration of God’s good news:
Father God’s intent is for you to learn of his unfathomable love for you, so that you may enter into a relationship with him in which he fills you with life; life that sets you free from the narcissism of flesh and frees you to live in the reality of his kingdom of justice, a life that is evidenced by your treating others in the way that you wish to be treated by them in the midst of this chaotic world.
Doug
(Praying for you and yours)
Thank you for your input to this.
Than you for discussion and open thoughts in this episode! I have recently started doing something on my Google Drive account I call “random brain dumping” on different topics. I did one on “My Thoughts on the Kingdom of God” and back on November 8th I did this one called “My Thoughts on the Gospel”. Here is a copy and paste from Novermber 8th, but after hearing today’s episode, I think this “brain dump” will be evolving over time.
What is the Gospel?
Gospel means Good News
Is this good news; “If you die tonight without Jesus you will burn in Hell for all of eternity. Put your faith in him and repent of your sins so you can be saved and not go to Hell?
How about this; “God created the human race because he wanted a relationship with us, but sin damaged that relationship. God stepped out of heaven to walk on the earth as Jesus to restore the damaged relationship. While on earth Jesus taught us how to live, and then he took our sins upon himself, becoming sin on the cross so that the wrath of God against sin could destroy the bondage of sin and heal our relationship with him. God the son, Jesus was the only one who lived a sinless life on earth, so he was the only one who could defeat death and the grave and rise again, so that we could have a promise of eternal life. He loves us and wants a relationship with us.”
Hi John. Thanks for your contribution, too. I love how people are exploring this with us. As Tobie says, truth best comes to light in the context of community.
Hi guys, The past few years i have seen and love the way the message translation of peters letters talks about father inviting us/me into HIS life, my own was forfeit at the cross and now he is my life. This revelation works at overcoming my narcissism. 2nd Peter, chapter one, verses 3 to 11. I love this sentence “We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—-your tickets to participation in THE LIFE OF GOD after you turned your backs on a world corrupted by lust.” All this because of Jesus’s loving invitation.
Thanks for your thoughts, Adrian. We’ll put them in the hopper along with everyone else’s.
Hi,
I love your podcasts. This definition is good I think. I hear Kyle asking about the impact of trauma, etc. I think our “flesh” – the word view we have and the way we behave – is the result of everything that happens to us, and the way we are created. Nature and nurture if you want. So trauma, etc. is part of what shapes our flesh, and is, therefore, part of that which Father has to redeem.