Some will say,
"Jesus wants us to preach only grace. Pure grace; not a mixture."
Another will say, "No, Jesus want us to preach commandments". But many
argue, "No, Jesus wants us to preach Him because He is the One who can
save .." So, can we just keep arguing and criticising others who do not
preach like us ? Should we preach pure grace or radical grace? Or preach
like a religious revolutionist?
I will tell them, Why do we preach
only this or that, and criticise others? Why do we preach like a
revolutionist when our revolution is all about rebellious arguments and
philosophies against God's words and commandments? Do you know that
there are too many things we must preach in Christ and we cannot afford
to waste our time preaching against everyone who cannot believe
radically like us? Do we know that Jesus said, Go ye and teach all that
He had commanded us to teach.. ? It means ALL; not partial, radical, or
revolutionary wisdom which may fade according to time:
Mat 28:19-20
KJV Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Did Jesus tell us to preach only love or only faith?
I
do not have time to talk about 'all things whatsoever Jesus have
commanded us to preach or teach', but I just want to say briefly or
summarize that He wants us to preach all things, including:
1. Love, and
2. Works.
One
lawyer had probably tested Jesus and challenged Him that he could love
God more than any men; but Jesus looked at him and said, Do you truly
love thy neighbour? How can you love thy neighbour if you do not love or
do like the Samaritan? Your love for God is still in vain if you would
only love and DO NOT DO like the Samaritan.
How about:
1. faith, and
2. works ?
James had said that faith without works is dead. I believe that James had learnt from Jesus too.
God's words cannot be preached individually and separately
Now,
for those who like to compare and ask, "Yes, we all have love, faith,
and works; but which is the greatest?" I will tell them, Yes, you know
the answer: Love is the greatest. But do you think that Jesus would want
us to preach only love? No. Jesus would always want us to preach love,
faith, and works. He wants us to preach everything because they are all
connected and they are in the loop, cycle, or process of producing and
strengthening each another. It is impossible:
1. to love without faith
2. to have faith without love
3. to work with no love
4, to work with no faith
5. to love with no works, or
6. to have faith without works
Hence,
God's preachers will never dissect it and preach it separately or
individually if they know that the following would be linked and
connected in a loop or:
Cycle: Love -> faith -> works
God's
preachers who truly obey the commandment of Jesus may even expound
further, to preach more things and many things, for example:
Cycle:
God's words -> God's covenant -> God's laws -> God's
commandments -> doctrine -> repentance -> grace -> love
-> faith -> fruits -> miracles -> principles -> works
-> judgement -> hell -> prophecies -> kingdom of God .. ..
I
will ask the hyper grace people, Is that a 'mixture' or a 'mixed truth'
? No, if God's preachers know how to preach the words of God, God's
laws and grace can never be a 'mixture'.
Like the chicken and eggs,
God's laws and grace are both the gifts and creations of God. Like the
'chicken and eggs' problem, the question is not: Are they a mixture? The
question may be: Which comes first - chicken or eggs? God's laws or
grace? or God's grace or repentance?
Before creation, God may 'crack
His head' thinking which should He create first - chicken or eggs; but
after creation, God is not bothered which one comes first. Both are His
creations in a loop now. Similarly, God's laws and grace are both His
gifts in a loop now. Why should we be bothered by the questions: Which
one comes first? Or Which should we preach first? Or Which is more
important? Or Should we put the cart before the horse or after the
horse? I will tell them, No, I am not bothered by the 'chicken and eggs'
problem or the 'cart and horse' problem. I will put the horse and the
cart side by side - what say you?
God's words cannot be reduced or eliminated; it can only be summarized (to include more for us to do and learn)
Some
preachers may ask, "Why do you make it so complicated? Which is the
greatest truth in the words of God?" Jesus will still answer them and
tell them the same thing that he told the lawyer:
Mat 22:33-40 KJV
And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his
doctrine. (34) But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. (35) Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and
saying, (36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is
the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The lawyer might want
to preach the easiest or the simplest truth based on his beautiful
'minimalistic' law; but Jesus simply summarized the Ten Commandments
adequately and amazingly to include all the laws and commandments of
God. He made the lawyer speechless ! I believe the lawyer had learnt his
lesson. He should not reduce God's commandments to something that he
could boast about. However, have we learnt our lesson? I am afraid that
many of us are still thinking and boasting like the lawyer. And we can
only be humbled by the words of Jesus.
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