So let’s apply the “Sheep Pen” model to a couple of more so-called inviolable church doctrines.
Here’s our sheep pen posts for the so-called eternal security doctrine:
SHEEP PEN CORNER 1:
“Whoever trusts in the son has eternal life.
But whoever disobeys the son
will not see that life but remains
subject to God’s wrath.”
-John 3:36
SHEEP PEN CORNER 2:
“he delivered us.
It was not on the ground of any
righteous deeds we had done,
but on the ground of his own mercy.
He did it by means of the mikveh
of rebirth and the renewal brought
about by the Ruach HaKodesh,”
-Titus 3:5
SHEEP PEN CORNER 3:
“and I give them eternal life.
They will absolutely never be
destroyed, and no one will
snatch them from my hands.”
-John 10:28
SHEEP PEN CORNER 4:
“So take a good look at God’s
kindness and his severity:
on the one hand, severity
toward those who fell off;
but, on the other hand,
God’s kindness toward you-
provided you maintain
yourself in that kindness!
Otherwise, you too
will be cut off!”
-Romans 11:22
So again each of these passages communicate to us different aspects of our salvation.
Some verses say if we trust in the son we can be assured of eternal life and we’ll never be snatched out of God’s hands…
Yet on the other hand, it says we’ll be subject to His wrath if we disobey him.
Another verse says our salvation is 100% God’s grace and has nothing to do with our own merits.
Yet we’re also told we’ll be cut off (KARET) if we don’t maintain ourselves in God’s kindness implying good works are necessary.
So again, these are quite a broad range of verses commenting on the same issue and showing us just how multi-faceted this topic is.
Fortunately, the “Sheep Pen” model enables us to accept the truth of all these aspects simultaneously.
This is something the orthodoxy/heresy model cannot do.
Modern Systematic Theology forces us to choose one aspect of a doctrine that is most true and then relegates all the other aspects to inferiority.
Let’s apply the “Sheep Pen” model to passages concerning Sabbath observance.
SHEEP PEN CORNER 1:
“So there remains a
Shabbat-keeping
for God’s people..”
-Hebrews 4:9
SHEEP PEN CORNER 2:
“Then they went home and
prepared spices and perfumes.
But they rested on the Sabbath
in obedience to the commandment.
-Luke 23:56
SHEEP PEN CORNER 3:
“So don’t let anyone pass judgment
on you in connection
with eating and drinking,
or in regard to a Jewish festival
or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat..”
-Colossians 2:16
SHEEP PEN CORNER 4:
“On Motza’ei-Shabbat, when we
were gathered to break bread,
Sha’ul addressed them.
Since he was going
to leave the next day,
he kept talking until midnight.”
-Acts 20:7
Again, notice I’m taking all verses from the New Testament.
And for those who don’t know, Motza’ei-Shabbat means the day AFTER the Sabbath, in other words Sunday.
Alrighty, so here again we’re given different but equally valid perspectives all on the same topic.
First, we see that Sabbath keeping was still in effect after the crucifixion of Yeshua.
And notice the women believers rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
On the other hand, how one goes about observing Shabbat (not whether you should observe it or not) shouldn’t be judged by another.
Finally, we’re shown in that verse from the Book of Acts that the Sabbath day (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) is not the only acceptable day of meeting for believers since Paul was chillin’ with other believers on the 1st day of the week (Sunday).
Okay, so let’s transition over to the takeaway…
Well, actually it’s not really a takeaway more like an important point I’ve gotta share.
I want you to understand that each of the verses in each of the corner posts of the sheep pen COMPLEMENT but never CONTRADICT each other.
Ya understand what I’m saying.
While there may be paradox, there can never be an outright contradiction.
For example, if we have a Scripture that says God is NOT a man…
And then we come across a Scripture that says God became a man…
We can’t accept that BOTH are true at the same time…
We must search for another interpretation that reconciles both viewpoints.
Ya feel me homies?
A Big Mac can’t be a Hummus sandwich at the same time in the same sense…
I think you know where I’m leading with this.
That’s right homies.
The next time we meet we’re gonna apply the “Sheep Pen” method to the mother of all inviolable Christian doctrines:
The so-called deity of Christ.
This is gonna be fun…
See ya all next time.
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