491 years ago today, a certain German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed up 95 Theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Simply stated, we do nothing to make ourselves right with God.  We don’t work towards salvation.  Only God makes us holy.  Only God makes us pure.  Only God who justifies.  Only God who saves us.

Not us but Jesus Christ alone.

Then…

Romans 1:17 (ESV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

By that God-given faith, then we do works based on the changes in our heart by God especially according to:

James 2:14-26 (ESV) What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

It is faith then works.

Not works then faith.

It is not what we do for Him but what He does in us that makes us saved.

Prophetic love often feels painful. It hurts when prophets tell us we have sinned. If prophets let that short term fall in popularity govern their words they are false prophets. And they do not love people, they love themselves. Here is what prophetic love would have looked like in Jerusalem before it was too late.

Lamentations 2:14 (ESV) Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes.

Love longs for the restoration of the fortunes of a sinful people. But not by comforting them in their sins. There is a way toward restoration. It would have looked like this:

They have exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes.

If our sins are exposed and we confess them with faith in Christ, the blood of Jesus cleanses us (1 John 1:9).

The prophetic calling to expose iniquity is not comfortable—for prophet or people. It’s just loving.

Pray that God would raise up prophets in the church who restore the fortunes of God’s people.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Jesus Christ said in:

John 12:27-28 (ESV) “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” …

This is the breaking point of Christ as He goes from earthly ministry of teaching, healing, preaching and counseling to becoming singularly, razor sharp focused on the task at hand. That is, nailing Himself and placing Himself high upon the Cross as the sacrificial, sin-drenched, blood gushing Lamb and taking 100% of the wrath and furious vengeance of the God the Father.

That wrath was meant for us. That was the target upon our heads.  That was sword for our necks.  That was the lightning bolt from the sky that was destined for us. Jesus interceded and said, “No, Father. I will die in her place. I will lay my life down for my bride. Kill Me. Spare her.”

One part of His ministry was done.  It was now time to complete His work.  It was time to bring His kingdom upon the earth. It was time to bring life to His bride.

It was time to save mankind.  It was time to save every single human being from falling further away from God and deeper into the pit of despair and death.

Jesus Christ was the only one who was able to do it by being holy, good, pure and without sin.

Jesus Christ willing to do it by descending from heaven, becoming man, taking on all characteristics of being human and feeling the ungodly weight of a broken creation that is sin upon His back.

Jesus Christ wanted to do it because even before we knew about Him, before there was creation, before time had even existed, He first loved us.

Jesus Christ did do it by His death on the cross, descending into hell and taking the absolute control of hell and death and upon His resurrection, brought the hand of the Father with the hand of mankind together so that we can have a relationship with God once again.

How are you saved by Christ?

You do nothing.  You bring nothing of worth.  You don’t work it off.  You don’t clean yourself up.  You don’t try to make yourself right.  You can’t do anything to get yourself saved.  God is the only one who saves.

All you need to do is to call upon His name:

Acts 2:21 (ESV) And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

This book was supposed to help me understand the Trinity.

Seriously?

If I would take this book to heart, it would only serve to obscure my understanding of the Trinity.

To be honest, I never finished the book.

Why?

I couldn’t get past the imagery of God the Father.

Not the resulting imagery, mind you, but the fact there is an actual image of the Father:

Exodus 20:4 (ESV) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

When I think of God as the Trinity, I think of Him in the standard Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.  But looking at God as One, I think of the Father being the Soul and Mind, Jesus the Body and Spirit being the Spirit.

In other words, I can imagine what Jesus Christ looked like according to the unromantic, very manly, grimy, plain, just a dude imagery according to…

Isaiah 53:2 (ESV) For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

I can even imagine the Spirit of God hovering over the waters like in Genesis 1:2 or as a dove according to Luke 3:22 or John 1:32.

But an image of God the Father?  What does the mind or the soul look like?

Honestly, when I think of the throne room with Jesus at the right hand of the Father, the most I could possibly see is the foot of the Father.

A Follow-up:

I couldn’t stand not finishing the book so I went ahead I knocked out the last 150 pages in one day.

New resulting review?  There are many good things to say about this book primarily if you are someone who doesn’t understand that God is a loving, caring, emotional, grieving and understanding God.

That said, just as much as God is loving and gracious, so too He is sovereign, just and holy.  As much as the author may think he is above theological critique because this book is fiction, he is not.  You write about God, you have to present God for who He is.  While we may never understand who God is, all in all, we do know He is several things according to Scripture:

• Just
• Merciful
• Holy
• True
• Holy
• Divine
• Sovereign
• Lord
• Faithful

You can’t present the loving, gracious God without presenting the sovereign, holy God.  These are not even sides of Him but all of Him.  He is 100% holy, 100% truth, 100% faith, 100% gracious, 100% just, 100% sovereign, etc..

There were also many parts in the story where if they author would have completed the thought, he could have presented the gospel of Jesus Christ.  For example, I love how the author says about Jesus that, (and I heavily paraphrasing) “that everybody is on their own path trying to find me but I go and find them instead.”  I love that imagery as it is God who is wooing us as akin to Song of Solomon.  However, if the author would have simply completed that thought, Jesus could have explained why He is the only way to the Father and that all paths go through Him to get to the Father as Jesus clearly described in:

John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“

In my humblest opinion, it would have been incredibly easy just for Jesus (in the book) to make that point.  But without the presentation of the gospel, Mr. Young comes close to sounding like a Universalist, who abide the heresy that Jesus Christ is not the only way to God the Father.

The other point is that God (in the book) states that there is no chain of command and no head of the Triune.  While Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in a community working equally and together, Jesus states in:

John 5:19 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

Yes they work in one accord but it is clearly by the Father’s will.  Likewise, Jesus submits to the will of the Father above His own:

Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

While Jesus is clearly God and equal with the Father and the Spirit in every way, the Father is still first among equals.  Above all, Jesus gives the greatest example of dying in order to live, in submission in order to be lifted high and humbled in order to be glorified.

Is it as bad as I thought the book to be, theologically speaking.  Not really.  This book can be throughly enjoyed if an immense amount of discernment is given while reading this book.  If you are a believer who doesn’t understand the loving nature of God, then this book is for you.  Otherwise you don’t have to waste your time with it.

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.

That even when my flesh
my heart
my soul
my mind
my friends
my parents
my children
my grandchildren
my wife
my husband
my church
my ministries
my mentors
my partners
my bosses
my shepherds
my leaders
my people
my country
my president

… have and will fail, stumble and fall over and over and over again…

Through it all, You are still the absolute strength, life and love of my heart.

That I suddenly realize, without a shadow of a doubt, that you, my beautiful Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, are all that I need in this life.

Forever.