Grace Ring Weblog

Our society has a problem. The divorce rate in our modern world is very high, even among Christians. We can cite many reasons for this, but one of the concessions divorced people have to make is that they didn’t marry the right person. Period. So we ask, did the problems that led to divorce occur during the marriage or were there warning signs present even before marriage? Though we could put some in the former, we could make the case that a lot of our issues start from a non-biblical perspective on dating. So what is wrong with our modern dating practices?

First and foremost, we must remember that when Christ had bought us with His immense sacrifice, we are to no longer act as the world acts. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:2). Now as Christians, most of us know that sex is reserved for marriage. But the issues run deeper than that. It’s not as if a Christian man and woman who date can date as the world dates, but just without intercourse. How we look upon each other must also be different from how the world views relationships.

In our modern  society, we use dating as the process that leads to marriage. In other societies, including those in the Bible, marriages were pre-arranged between the families of the bride and groom. Some of today’s Christians don’t even believe in dating at all but only in courtship, where a marriage leading relationship should only occur when the parents (if they are believers) of the potential husband and wife have blessed the relationship and romance is only to occur after a commitment to marriage has been made (i.e., after a formal courtship has been arranged). While a case can be made for courtship, it isn’t the only proper path to marriage, but there are some elements of the courtship process that are very valid and biblical.

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One of the more perplexing aspects of our Christian walk with the Lord in light of Reformed theology is the practice of prayer. Our conception of God’s sovereignty and omnipotence based on the knowledge of the truths found in the Bible may lead us to ask questions such as “why do we need to pray at all” and “what effect does our prayer have upon the Lord?” These are legitimate and important questions to consider as prayer is a very visible and practical manifestation of our life as a believer. An incorrect expectation and understanding of prayer can lead to a prayer life filled with ungodly attitudes and a sinful heart.

We start our consideration of prayer with a definition. What is it? Prayer is one aspect of our communication with God. The Lord speaks to us in several ways, including revelation through the natural world (Psalm 19:1, Romans 1), revelation through the Bible (II Tim 3:16-17), revelation through the sovereign actions of the Lord’s will (Rom 8:28), revelation through chastisement (Heb 12), and during the time that the Bible was being forged, communication directly with His prophets through actual speech, miracles, and dreams. Likewise, we speak to the Lord in several ways. During the time of the Bible’s formation, just as the Lord spoke directly to His prophets, they in turn dialoged with Him. In our time, we communicate with God through worship, through singing (Col 3:16), and through actions such as partaking of the Lord’s supper (I Cor 11). But our most direct line of communication with God is prayer. It is our monologue with the Lord. It is a time for us to bear our soul before Him and to focus on the Lord. Him and us. Us and Him. That is prayer. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a prevailing statement often heard by Christians that so long as one loves Christ and has put their faith in Him, one’s theology is not so important. While it’s true that an uncompromising love for Christ is crucial, it’s also true that a proper theological and doctrinal understanding of Christ and God is equally important. Theology is not simply an academic issue, but is the very essence of our Christianity. We should explore why this is so.

Let’s take a man who claims to love the Lord Jesus Christ yet really doesn’t know very much about the Bible. Let’s say he is wrong about Christ’s role in salvation, he is wrong about his role as a Christian, he is wrong about God’s sovereignty and omnipotence and he is wrong about a number of different Biblical matters. Yet he claims to be a Christian. He claims to love Christ and God. Is his love valid? Perhaps in his mind, he would say yes. But more importantly, how would God view his love?

Let’s put this in a human perspective. If someone claims to love you, and when pressed about the issue, turns out to know next to nothing about you, what would be your reaction? If they don’t know what you consider important, don’t know what you like and dislike, don’t even know the color of your eyes, would you not wonder if they really loved you? Wouldn’t someone who claims to love you want to get to intimately know you? Similarly, we can ask, if we love God, yet we are not willing to search out who He is, how much do we really love Him? Do we say we love Him for our own satisfaction, that is, we say we love Him so that He can love us? Read the rest of this entry »