Brilliant and true. This post reminds me that as a Christian, I have been 'purchased for a price'. I am owned. By Christ. And it's all for Him, not about me. The world tells us we don't have enough 'self-esteem'. The Bible tells us we have too much. We are self-centred, corrupted and sinful and without Him, we perish.
I consider “self-realization” part of the “self-help gospel.”
The self-help gospel in the church asserts that the grace of God is only needed for—perhaps even only sufficient for—our justification through the blood of Christ.
No, we need God’s power and direction for sanctification, for maturity, as well. “Grow in grace.” 2 Peter 2:3
Regarding self-realization, what happened to “thy” kingdom come, “thy” will be done?
We’ve exchanged surrender for vain flattery. This is the desire of the old man, the carnal man.
Much of the study of the human mind today is done to develop the natural man, and when compared with Scripture, frequently contradicts what is in the best interest of the spiritual man.
We need God-confidence, i.e. faith, rather than confidence in man, or self-confidence.
I really loved how well you described the fact that we do not own ourselves or control our destiny God does and the reality of our sins and need for Jesus Christ great job.
I’d highly recommend Josef Ratzinger’s book An Intruduction to Christianity and his trilogy on Jesus of Nazareth. Romano Guardini’s books The Lord and The End of the Modern world are excellent as well. All were originally written in German but I have English translations of them on my bookshelves. I don’t know enough academic German to read the German originals, but I am sure you do 🙂
Sounds great! What are they about? And yeah, I could read those the other question is if I understand their content haha. German Academic language can sometimes be really tiring...
You’re awesome, Matthew. I’m grateful God led me to your Substack and that it got through in spite of the nasty algorithms Substack uses to sort stuff. I appreciate having you as a friend and as a spiritual brother in Christ 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, I’m grateful the Substack algorithm is pushing it for some days, I don’t know when this might stop… But thanks for your support and comments
And here is the German original of Ratzinger’s first encyclical, Deus caritas est (Gott ist liebe), as Pope Benedict XVI, my favorite papal encyclical of all time! Ratzinger I look to as my spiritual grandfather. I was so sad when he died in 2022!
The more I read of your writing, the more I realize that you would make a great pastor. You are very knowledgeable of Scripture and are good at connecting it with a variety of other topics that we face on a day-to-day basis. It's something that you are enthusiastic about and you clearly show that you love and care for other people. I hope that more people come to read your Substack, and I am so glad that I ran across it. Whatever you do "Soli Deo Gloria" (to God alone be the glory).
Thanks James, I'm studying theology so that I can hopefully be a pastor one day. In the meantime, I write a few articles here. I'm very pleased that you like them and I pray that the Substack continues to grow.
Nicely stated, thank you and God bless you. Let’s talk about how we could join forces in apologetics. Have a look at my content, all free to subscribers. I think our styles complement each other.
" ... let him deny himself ..." in Matthew, probably written down about 80 - 90 AD, though almost certainly reflecting a much older kerygmatic tradition of the Jerusalem (Jewish) church. The thing that intrigues me is what the author (or originators) actually meant by these words. Is this "the great ditch of time" I've previously heard about?
Brilliant and true. This post reminds me that as a Christian, I have been 'purchased for a price'. I am owned. By Christ. And it's all for Him, not about me. The world tells us we don't have enough 'self-esteem'. The Bible tells us we have too much. We are self-centred, corrupted and sinful and without Him, we perish.
Well summarized
Indeed. I agree with both of you. Ty for your insightful posts gents.
I agree.
I consider “self-realization” part of the “self-help gospel.”
The self-help gospel in the church asserts that the grace of God is only needed for—perhaps even only sufficient for—our justification through the blood of Christ.
No, we need God’s power and direction for sanctification, for maturity, as well. “Grow in grace.” 2 Peter 2:3
Regarding self-realization, what happened to “thy” kingdom come, “thy” will be done?
We’ve exchanged surrender for vain flattery. This is the desire of the old man, the carnal man.
Much of the study of the human mind today is done to develop the natural man, and when compared with Scripture, frequently contradicts what is in the best interest of the spiritual man.
We need God-confidence, i.e. faith, rather than confidence in man, or self-confidence.
Thank you for writing.
Thanks for reading 🙏🏻 I appreciate your thoughts
Thank you for writing this accurate description of humanity and the need for salvation through Jesus
I really loved how well you described the fact that we do not own ourselves or control our destiny God does and the reality of our sins and need for Jesus Christ great job.
Thanks :)
You are very welcome:))
I’d highly recommend Josef Ratzinger’s book An Intruduction to Christianity and his trilogy on Jesus of Nazareth. Romano Guardini’s books The Lord and The End of the Modern world are excellent as well. All were originally written in German but I have English translations of them on my bookshelves. I don’t know enough academic German to read the German originals, but I am sure you do 🙂
Sounds great! What are they about? And yeah, I could read those the other question is if I understand their content haha. German Academic language can sometimes be really tiring...
You’re awesome, Matthew. I’m grateful God led me to your Substack and that it got through in spite of the nasty algorithms Substack uses to sort stuff. I appreciate having you as a friend and as a spiritual brother in Christ 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, I’m grateful the Substack algorithm is pushing it for some days, I don’t know when this might stop… But thanks for your support and comments
You bet, and you’re in my prayers 🙂
And here is the German original of Ratzinger’s first encyclical, Deus caritas est (Gott ist liebe), as Pope Benedict XVI, my favorite papal encyclical of all time! Ratzinger I look to as my spiritual grandfather. I was so sad when he died in 2022!
https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/de/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html#:~:text=1.&text=Gott%20ist%20die%20Liebe%2C%20und,1%20Joh%204%2C%2016).
And here is a bit about Guardini’s book The Lord. I couldn’t find a synopsis of The End of the Modern World, unfortunately:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_(book)
And here is a bit about Ratzinger’s Jesus of Nazareth Trilogy:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_of_Nazareth:_From_the_Baptism_in_the_Jordan_to_the_Transfiguration
Here is a summary of Introduction to Christianity from Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Christianity
The more I read of your writing, the more I realize that you would make a great pastor. You are very knowledgeable of Scripture and are good at connecting it with a variety of other topics that we face on a day-to-day basis. It's something that you are enthusiastic about and you clearly show that you love and care for other people. I hope that more people come to read your Substack, and I am so glad that I ran across it. Whatever you do "Soli Deo Gloria" (to God alone be the glory).
Thanks James, I'm studying theology so that I can hopefully be a pastor one day. In the meantime, I write a few articles here. I'm very pleased that you like them and I pray that the Substack continues to grow.
Amen!!!!!
Beautiful! Vielen danken, meinem Bruder in Geiste! 🙂
Very well expressed.
Thank you 🙏🏻
Nicely stated, thank you and God bless you. Let’s talk about how we could join forces in apologetics. Have a look at my content, all free to subscribers. I think our styles complement each other.
Go ahead.
" ... let him deny himself ..." in Matthew, probably written down about 80 - 90 AD, though almost certainly reflecting a much older kerygmatic tradition of the Jerusalem (Jewish) church. The thing that intrigues me is what the author (or originators) actually meant by these words. Is this "the great ditch of time" I've previously heard about?
Do you want to know why the apostles started writing the gospels and letters so “late”? (Which isn’t very late actually)