easy-believism
Posted by Nathan on Aug 20th, 20082008Aug 20One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”
But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”
If this isn’t easy believism, I don’t know what is.
Wow Nathan, great exegesis!
1st problem: The Message is the worst translation ever…well not as bad as the Klingon Translation, but you get the point.
Jesus can look at the heart. He saw the thief, stating that he was guilty of being a lawbreaker (confession) Recognizing Christ as one who was not a lawbreaker, and placing faith in him (Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom). Jesus saw the heart, and saw saving faith. We cannot see the heart, but we can see the fruit that one’s life bears.
The problem with easy believism is that it does not involve all three parts of true faith required for salvation- mental, emotional, and volitional. Without the three in conjunction, you have an incomplete faith. Knowing about Jesus is not enough, for even the demons believe and tremble. Being emotional over sin is not enough, it must be sorrow that leads to repentance. And, if your will is not killed off and submitted to His, you are not living the life of a Christian, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, it is clear that you have not been changed by the power of God, and therefore you have an incomplete easy-believism faith.
