Lines In The Sand--Necessary Barriers and Where to Draw Them Part II

As I said in my post yesterday, we all have places in our lives where we might draw a “line in the sand” so to speak. The problem comes, sometimes, in identifying where those lines need to be drawn. Regarding theological matters, we need to be able to articulate those with whom we could cooperate with as Christians or at least affirm them as fellow believers and those who we would regard as being so out of bounds theologically that we could not affirm them as fellow believers. For me, that decision comes down to three simple questions, or more particularly, how they answer those questions. In order to affirm someone as a fellow believer, I would want them to answer “Who is God?”, “Who is Jesus?”,and “What is the Gospel?”


Who is Jesus?

The next point I would examine is this—who does this person say Jesus is? Again, space is limited so I will hit the high pints of what I consider paramount issues regarding Christology. A person would have to affirm that Christ is the 2nd person of the Trinity, and that He is just as much God as the 1st or 3rd persons of the Trinity are. In other words, He has always existed as God. However, when He came to earth, He became the Incarnate God—the God-man. They would have to affirm His virgin birth. They would also have to affirm His literal, physical resurrection. They would have to acknowledge the miracles He performed as well. They would have to affirm that His death on the cross paid the price for sins and it is only by a person consciously trusting in Him and repenting of those sins that they can be saved. I would also consider it foundational that they acknowledge His ascension to the right hand of God the Father in heaven. In short, they would have to acknowledge Him as being Who He said He was, doing what He said He did, and going where He said He was going.

Tomorrow, I will examine my answer to the last, and possibly most important, question--What is the gospel?