There is a very good discussion going on over at Feast Upon the Word. Robert C started it with his post on grace and works in Ephesians. The discussion is quite long (up to 72 comments as of this posting) but worth reading. It's helped me clarify my thinking on many topics and think about new things as well.
Among other helpful thoughts, the discussion got me thinking about works. What are they good for, anyway? Let's just suppose that we believe Luke 17:10 and Mosiah 2:21: Even if we serve God with all diligence (i.e. obedience) we would still be unprofitable servants.
What does unprofitable mean? Well, in the context, it means that the servant has not gained anything to his credit. What does that mean?
Imagine a man living in Jesus' day, looking for a way to make a living, so he decides to sell himself into slavery, becoming a bondservant (sort of like an indentured servant). He gets a place to live, food, and protection, and the master gets someone who will do everything the master tells him to do. That's the deal. So if the servant does everything he is told, that is not counted towards him as some kind of bonus, as though he went above and beyond. Thus, he cannot one day say to the master, "I worked really hard so now you owe me something," because those were the terms of the contract. The word "unprofitable" applies to the servant, not to the master; i.e. the master may very well have profited from the servant's labor, but he doesn't owe the servant anything.
So, how do we profit from works if they are in fact "unprofitable"? I think the discussion I linked to holds the answer....
19 August 2007
Grace and More
05 August 2007
"Bitter" + "Cup"
I've been thinking about the words “bitter cup.” (A more detailed version of this post is available here.)
How is the word “cup” used in the scriptures? A search of the KJV for the word yielded 57 references, which I divided into eight categories:
1) ACTUAL CUP – though additional symbolism is (at least sometimes) implied
2) SACRAMENTAL CUP3) CUP OF FURY/TREMBLING/JUDGMENT
4) CUP OF THE ATONEMENT/MARTYRDOM/DISCIPLESHIP5) CUP OF REWARD OR INHERITANCE
6) CUP OF SALVATION7) CUP OF CONSOLATION
8 ) CUP OF ABOMINATIONS/INIQUITYSYNTHESIS
What, if anything, do all of these verses have to with each other? First: that our discipleship is sometimes bitter in the same way (though to a lesser degree) as the Lord’s atonement. Bringing in the verses from Group 2, we see another important point: the sacramental cup is inseparably connected to that bitter cup Jesus hoped to avoid. Nevertheless, trembling, he took the cup and drank it completely. There’s something to be said about quantity and quality here: Groups 3 and 8 talk about God’s wrath and our iniquity reaching a maximum—that’s the “quantity” part. But Group 3 also refers to “the dregs,” which forces us to consider the quality of Christ’s suffering and the full meaning of his words on the cross, “It is finished.”
Lastly, the connection between Jesus’ bitter cup and our sacramental cup is both beautiful and overwhelming. That cup, which for Jesus was the bitterest, made possible the sacramental cup, which for us is the sweetest.