Faithful Resistance: Authority, Just War, and Healing
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"Friends, look, God has commanded his people, the Disciples of Jesus Christ, to submit to authorities in many different areas or spheres, and these would include a general submission to one another in the congregation. Christians are, in general, to submit to one another. That's what Ephesians chapter 5:21 says. There's submission in the church with congregants commanded to submit to church leaders. There's submission in the workplace with slaves commanded to submit to masters with the modern analogy of employees being commanded to submit to their employers." [00:04:21]
"Submission isn't just complying or submitting when you happen to agree, friends. That's important and often neglected. I would say submission isn't even really tested until there's an area of disagreement, and you say, look, you would do it this way, I would do it that way, but God's called me to submit to your authority, so I'm going to submit to what you want to do, and I'll do it." [00:06:21]
"Submission in these human spheres—congregation, community, home, workplace—is never given as an absolute command. That is, if any of these areas of authority command us to do something that goes against God's command, then we obey God first. Now, I'm kind of startled by the fact that there have been some within the Christian family who have taught differently." [00:06:56]
"Friends, God commands us to obey and to submit to human authority on many levels, but those commands are never absolute. Obedience to God comes first. So we could say that there is a tension here. It is possible to sin by not submitting when we should and really just submitting when we happen to agree—that's not submission at all." [00:08:12]
"Now, this means that there can be an appropriate place for a believer to resist or to support the resistance of ungodly and unjust rulers. Now, however, when that's done, it should be informed, I believe, by something that the church has traditionally called Just War Theory. Now, Just War Theory isn't something that is exclusively Christian." [00:08:48]
"Justification is God's declaration of a believer's righteousness, while sanctification is the process of living out that righteousness. This distinction highlights the transformative journey of faith, where believers grow into the righteousness declared over them. It's a positive declaration of righteousness. It would be like this: if the judge said, and I know this is kind of dumb, but let me go along with this anyway." [00:16:50]
"Righteousness or justification begins as the declaration of God, and then sanctification is the outworking of the reality of that in the life of the believer. There is a sense in which all Christian growth, all Christian sanctification, is the process of simply being what we are or who we are before God." [00:17:10]
"Look, Charles, I understand, but I don't understand. There's a mixture of both why some people, and it seems like maybe the voices are a little bit louder today, why some people like to say there's no Rapture in the Bible. Look, it's right there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4:17 and 18. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [00:18:56]
"The Rapture is just the Latin translation of that Greek word 'harpazo,' to be caught up. And so this catching up, this catching away described in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 17, and on into verse 18, that's the Rapture. It's clear as day in the scriptures. Now, I suspect that what most people mean when they say that is the Rapture as you have been taught it." [00:19:24]
"For those who have suffered abuse, it's vital to understand that the sin committed against them is not their own. God's love and healing are available, and seeking counseling can be a valuable step in the journey toward restoration. One of the most important things to communicate to them is the sin that was committed against them was not their sin." [00:38:37]
"To let them know that there is a power in the Lord to restore and to rebuild. Oftentimes, we get a little bit frustrated because we think it should happen quicker. I understand that, but we can't ignore the beautiful, the powerful way that God rebuilds and restores. He does this great, wonderful work in our lives." [00:39:12]
"She needs to be able to give it time, time trusting in the work and in the grace of God, but especially to be free from the unjustified and crippling guilt that so many often feel in those circumstances. So what this dear young woman needs to do, perhaps she should get some serious counseling about it." [00:39:37]
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"Submission isn't just complying or submitting when you happen to agree, friends. That's important and often neglected. I would say submission isn't even really tested until there's an area of disagreement, and you say, look, you would do it this way, I would do it that way, but God's called me to submit to your authority, so I'm going to submit to what you want to do, and I'll do it." [00:06:21]
"Submission in these human spheres—congregation, community, home, workplace—is never given as an absolute command. That is, if any of these areas of authority command us to do something that goes against God's command, then we obey God first. Now, I'm kind of startled by the fact that there have been some within the Christian family who have taught differently." [00:06:56]
"Friends, God commands us to obey and to submit to human authority on many levels, but those commands are never absolute. Obedience to God comes first. So we could say that there is a tension here. It is possible to sin by not submitting when we should and really just submitting when we happen to agree—that's not submission at all." [00:08:12]
"Now, this means that there can be an appropriate place for a believer to resist or to support the resistance of ungodly and unjust rulers. Now, however, when that's done, it should be informed, I believe, by something that the church has traditionally called Just War Theory. Now, Just War Theory isn't something that is exclusively Christian." [00:08:48]
"Justification is God's declaration of a believer's righteousness, while sanctification is the process of living out that righteousness. This distinction highlights the transformative journey of faith, where believers grow into the righteousness declared over them. It's a positive declaration of righteousness. It would be like this: if the judge said, and I know this is kind of dumb, but let me go along with this anyway." [00:16:50]
"Righteousness or justification begins as the declaration of God, and then sanctification is the outworking of the reality of that in the life of the believer. There is a sense in which all Christian growth, all Christian sanctification, is the process of simply being what we are or who we are before God." [00:17:10]
"Look, Charles, I understand, but I don't understand. There's a mixture of both why some people, and it seems like maybe the voices are a little bit louder today, why some people like to say there's no Rapture in the Bible. Look, it's right there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4:17 and 18. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [00:18:56]
"The Rapture is just the Latin translation of that Greek word 'harpazo,' to be caught up. And so this catching up, this catching away described in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 17, and on into verse 18, that's the Rapture. It's clear as day in the scriptures. Now, I suspect that what most people mean when they say that is the Rapture as you have been taught it." [00:19:24]
"For those who have suffered abuse, it's vital to understand that the sin committed against them is not their own. God's love and healing are available, and seeking counseling can be a valuable step in the journey toward restoration. One of the most important things to communicate to them is the sin that was committed against them was not their sin." [00:38:37]
"To let them know that there is a power in the Lord to restore and to rebuild. Oftentimes, we get a little bit frustrated because we think it should happen quicker. I understand that, but we can't ignore the beautiful, the powerful way that God rebuilds and restores. He does this great, wonderful work in our lives." [00:39:12]
"She needs to be able to give it time, time trusting in the work and in the grace of God, but especially to be free from the unjustified and crippling guilt that so many often feel in those circumstances. So what this dear young woman needs to do, perhaps she should get some serious counseling about it." [00:39:37]
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