Doctrinal Thought--Introduction

Doctrinal Thought #1

(Scripture is taken from "The Message" by Eugene Peterson

Scriptural Bases:  "By grace you are saved through faith!"  (Ephesians 2:8)

All the blessings which God has donated to humankind are of his mere grace, gift, and kindness: his free, undeserved goodwill, goodwill altogether unearned, humankind having no claim to the least of the caring deeds (Genesis 32:10. It was free grace that 'formed humankind from the dust of the ground' (Genesis 2:7), and breathed into them a living soul (Genesis 2:7), and stamped on the soul the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and 'put all things under their feet' (Psalm 8:6). The same free-of-charge grace continues to us, at this day, life, and breath, and all things (Acts 17:25).  For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing from God’s hands.  ‘All out works are of Thou doing, O God’ (Isaiah 26:12).  These therefore are so many, many instances of free kindness; and whatever righteousness is found in us, this also is a gift of God.

Prayer:  O Father, I stand in total humility before the vastness of your grace.  Amen.

Ephesians 2:8 7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Genesis 32:10 9-12 And then Jacob prayed, "God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, 'Go back to your parents' homeland and I'll treat you well.' I don't deserve all the love and loyalty you've shown me. When I left here and crossed the Jordan I only had the clothes on my back, and now look at me—two camps! Save me, please, from the violence of my brother, my angry brother! I'm afraid he'll come and attack us all, me, the mothers and the children. You yourself said, 'I will treat you well; I'll make your descendants like the sands of the sea, far too many to count.'"

Genesis 1:27 26-28 God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Psalm 8:6 5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light. You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge, Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.

Acts 17:25 24-29"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

Isaiah 26:12 11-15You hold your hand up high, God, but they don't see it. Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people. Shame them. Light a fire under them. Get the attention of these enemies of yours. God, order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we've done, you've done for us. O God, our God, we've had other masters rule us, but you're the only Master we've ever known. The dead don't talk, ghosts don't walk, Because you've said, "Enough—that's all for you," and wiped them off the books. But the living you make larger than life. The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!

 Doctrinal Thought #2

Scriptural Bases" "By grace you are saved through faith!" (Ephesians 2:8)

Seriously considering everything about everything, especially what humankind has that could placate God in any way that would atone for sin. If there was anything, it would not be humankind's but God. But there is no good in humankind; all is unholy and sinful, therefore in constant, continual need of fresh atonement. ‘Only corrupt fruit grows on corrupt trees’ (Matthew 7:17, 18; 12:33). And the human heart is all together corrupt and abominable, coming short of the glory of God (Romans 3:19), the glorious righteousness at first impressed upon the human soul, after the image of God. Therefore, having nothing, neither righteousness nor works to present to God to plead with, the human mouth is utterly stopped before God (Romans 3:19).

Prayer:  Dear Father, I have nothing for you.  What I do have is yours anyway.  I am before you totally at your mercy and in your grace.  Amen

Matthew 7:17-18 15-20"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

Matthew 12:33 33"If you grow a healthy tree, you'll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you'll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.

Romans 3:23 God Has Set Things Right 21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:19 We're All in the Same Sinking Boat 9-20So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it: There's nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one. Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides. Every word they speak is tinged with poison. They open their mouths and pollute the air. They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, litter the land with heartbreak and ruin, Don't know the first thing about living with others. They never give God the time of day. This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin.

  Doctrinal Thought #3

Scripture Focus: "By grace you are saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8)


If then I find help with God, it is 'grace upon grace' (John 1:16). God keeping holy promises still pours (upon sinners and saints alike) fresh blessings, with the greatest of all blessings being recovery.  What can we say of these blessings but ‘Thanks be to God for the unspeakable gift’ (2 Corinthians 9:15).  And that is it!  It is what it is.  God commends Holy love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died’ (Romans 5:8) to save us.  Grace is the source, faith the condition of salvation.

Prayer:  Dear Father, I am grateful for you favor.  Amen.

John 1:16 16-18We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.

2 Corinthians 9:15 12-15Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they'll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

Romans 5:8 6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.