Ann Coulter and Being “Perfected”

October 14, 2007 at 4:18 am | In Ann Coulter, Christ, Christianity, Church of Christ, Conservative, God, Judaism, Liberal, Politics, Racism, Religion, Republican, The Bible, The Gospel, Theology, Word of God, faith | 4 Comments

As a Christian that takes an avid interest in current events and the political scene, it probably wouldn’t be all that surprising for me to write a blog concerning the recent statements that Ann Coulter made on “The Big Idea” with Donnie Deutsch. So I did. I wrote a post on my more political blog concerning my take on that particular situation.

Now, the blogosphere, which isn’t short of any liberal or shall I say, left-leaning blogs, was quick to pounce on her statements, labelling her everything from racist to anti-Semitic. This came as no surprise to me considering that most people of a liberal mindset absolutely abhor Ann Coulter anyway. For them, this was only fuel to the flame.

And frankly, I can’t say I condone every statement she’s made in the past. I think she has crossed the line on more than one occasion. But from watching the video of the interview and reading the transcript, I couldn’t say I saw much that I considered to be remotely defamatory, racist, or even anti-Semitic.

Let’s note a few things about the interview.

First of all, Donnie Deutsch led the discussion to cover what Ann Coulter thought an idealistic society would be. She responded that it would look like the New York City during the Republican National Convention. That shouldn’t come as any shock at all because Ann Coulter is a Republican.

The conversation eventually turned to the concept of an “ideal society” full of Christians. And naturally, I would say that most religious people feel that the world would be better off if the world were full of people that subscribed to their particular religious beliefs.

Let’s make one more thing clear: Ann Coulter was not talking about race, she was talking about religion. Jewish nationality had absolutely nothing to do with this discussion. It was all about Christianity versus Judaism.

Donnie Deutsch clearly thought otherwise however, when he compared Ann Coulter to the head of Iran who wishes to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. To that, Coulter responded, and I quote: “No, we think — we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.”

Now the headlines of mainstream media took that statement and ran with it. Some even misquoted her (actually if you read the transcript, Donnie Deutsch misquotes her too) as saying “Jews need to be perfected,” which is altogether different.

What Ann Coulter was  saying is that as Christians, we want Jews to be perfected. We would love for Jews to become Christians. Is that bad? Certainly nothing about that necessarily implies that Christians should force Jews to become Christians, but rather we simply want them to.

Now let me cut to the spiritual chase on this discussion. What does it mean for someone to be “perfected” in Christianity? That is the heart of the matter.

In Matthew 5:48, Christ says “you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What a daunting task! How is it possible to be as perfect as God Himself?

Hebrews 12:2 speaks of Christ as the “perfecter of our faith.” Christ is the one who can make our faith perfect. But still, how does Christ do that?

Hebrews 10:14 says that by Christ’s offering, he has “perfected for all time those who are being sanctificed.” By Jesus Christ dying on the cross, He is able to “perfect” us.

And these verses only scratch the surface of the concept of perfection in the Bible. Humanity is anything but perfect. Christ is perfect. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. By being that perfect sacrifice, He in turn, makes us perfect.

Do I want to be perfect? Absolutely. Can I be perfect? No, I cannot be perfect on my own. But can I be perfected? Yes and I thank God I can!

And I think that’s what Ann Coulter was trying to get across. The Bible is full of Jews being “perfected.” It talks about it quite a bit actually. Not to mention the fact that Jesus Christ Himself, Peter the apostle, Paul the apostle, and most of the writers of the Bible were Jews themselves!

So do Ann Coulter’s statements in that interview make her racist or anti-Semitic? I hardly think so. If anything, she wants Jews to be saved. And if that’s anti-Semitic, then I’m just as guilty as she is.

Once saved…..always saved?

October 10, 2007 at 7:16 pm | In Bible, Christ, Christianity, Church of Christ, Grace, Religion, The Bible, The Gospel, Theology, Word of God | 4 Comments

There seems to be a large contingent in the realm of Christendom today that holds the Calvinistic belief that once a sinner is saved by the blood of Christ, such an individual cannot possibly lose the salvation they have received. From the outset, that kind of belief is comforting, isn’t it? The notion that no matter what we do, we can still be saved by Christ from our sin once we’ve come into contact with the blood of Christ.

 In fact, such a claim may not be wholly unsubstantiated by scripture. In John 10:27-30, Christ speaks of His flock, how they hear His voice, and how no one will snatch them out of His hand. We would naturally interpret that to mean that as followers of Christ, we hear His voice, His teachings, His word, and no one, not even Satan, can snatch us from His divine grasp. But is it possible that we could be released from that grasp? Or is it even possible that we could find a way to, God forbid, “free” ourselves from that grasp?

In several places, the book of Hebrews admonishes its readers to remain faithful. Hebrews 3:14 tells us that once we are in Christ, we share in Christ, “if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Let’s note a few things about that passage. That word “if” makes that statement conditional. If we do not hold our original confidence firm to the end, then what? I believe it directly implies that we cease to share in Christ.

Hebrews 10:26-27 takes it a step further. It says that “if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” For those who would say that a “knowledge of the truth,” does not imply salvation, let me remind you that the Hebrew writer uses the words “no longer,” which indicates that such an individual once had salvation.

Furthermore, if there no longer remains a sacrifice of sins, that means the individual is no longer covered by the blood of Christ. And if a “fearful expectation of judgment,” and a “fury of fire that will consume the adversaries,” doesn’t sound like eternal punishment to you, I’m not sure what else it would be.

If these passages alone are not convincing, let’s look at Hebrews 6:4-6. The passage states that it is impossible to restore someone again to repentance if they fall away after having been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, having shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness of the word of God. This passage not only describes the possibility of an individual falling away, but it also indicates a state in which a soul cannot be renewed to repentance. The passage also says that such an individual crucifies Christ again. What could be a greater sin than that?

Now, some will say that these passages are merely hypothetical. Surely no one would ever reach the highest heights of salvation only to swan dive into the lowest form of apostasy. Unfortunately, the Scriptures not only indicate that such an occurrence is possible, it has in fact happened. Galatians 5:4 states to those who would seek justification in the law of Moses after coming to Christ, “You are severed from Christ,” and more explicitly, “you have fallen from grace.” Not “you are falling from grace,” not “you’re about to fall from grace,” not even “you will fall from grace.” It says “you have fallen,” meaning that the individual has already fallen from God’s grace.

Isn’t that what this is all about in the first place? Falling from grace? So many who hold the view of “once saved, always saved,” will also be quick to point out that we are saved by grace through faith… and rightly so! There is nothing anyone can do to earn salvation. The only way to salvation is through the grace of God. But the scriptures clearly indicate that the Christian’s access to that grace can be destroyed only by the individual that has that grace.

No one can snatch us away from Christ. No one can separate us from the love of Christ. Saved or lost, Christ loves us. But if we seek release from Christ, unfortunately, we can achieve it.

The way to avoid such a disaster is living a faithful life in Christ. For as the latter part of Revelation 2:10 says, “be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

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