Here's the position I take. From God's perspective, the universe was created to demonstrate His glory. Thus, anything that is not done for God's glory, no matter how "nice" it is, is not, by God's definition, good. And I've been challenged to give biblical reasons for such a position. So, here it is.
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).These are comprehensive statements. First, "Do all to the glory of God. Thus, anything not done to the glory of God is a violation. The second is just as complete. If someone is outside the faith, nothing they do is "from faith" and is, therefore, by definition "sin". If you can find an exception in there, let me know.
Whatever is not from faith is sin (Rom 14:23).
But Scripture doesn't stop there. We know "For all have sinned", but we miss what the problem is. We "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). That's the "sin", the shortfall. It's not failing "goodness". It's a failure to achieve the glory of God.
Isaiah is equally clear. The best we can do is filth.
All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isa 64:6).That's it. That's the best. Our righteous deeds are filthy rags.
"Stan, you're being too hard on Man. They're bad, sure, but not that bad." I know you'd like to say so. I know I would, too. But God disagrees. The only "good" we can do is glorify God, and no amount of human good rises above the level of filthy, as good as we'd like to think it is. That is "Total Depravity" -- the basic problem for which the "Good News" is needed. At least, that's what the Bible says.
4 comments:
Regarding the statements made in this post, I see nothing with which I would disagree. But I have two questions for you:
First, has someone actually "cried out" "Hyperbole!" in a discussion on this subject, or merely stated that opinion? :)
Secondly, and more seriously, how do you or would you resolve the issue of doing all things, or anything for God's glory? We do so much in any given day, even if we burned a few extra hours sleeping in. Heck, even sleeping is "doing" on some level. Of course, everything that is done must align with Biblical teaching regarding righteous behavior, where a moral concern is obvious. But is a conscious proclamation required? Must one constantly be devoting every move to the glory of God? Perhaps there's some way to cover those times when we aren't thinking in terms of God and His glory at all, as is likely for everyone at some time or another.
I'm just being a little less than totally serious, but just imagine...
Oh. I WAS totally serious in my first statement.
Yes, the claim that Paul was speaking in hyperbole has been made ... multiple times.
Is it possible to do all you do to the glory of God? Well, first, as humans we'll fail. Since we cannot arrive at perfection in this life, I'd say, "No." Is it theoretically possible to do all for the glory of God? Since it's commanded, I'd have to say, "Yes."
"For the glory of God" is a matter, primarily, of "What is my motivation?" You mentioned sleeping. How can I sleep to the glory of God? Well, if I regard working for the glory of God as a good thing, then doing the things necessary to do that would be a good thing. Eating, sleeping, supporting my family, these "mundane" things are necessary to work for the glory of God. So these would be for the glory of God. The idea, then, is that I would recognize them as such, because the normal position is "Everyday life is mine, but there are things I can do -- here and there -- that are for God." That's how most of us think. That, itself, is problematic, since every breath is a gift from God.
And Stan's statement that people "cried out, Hyperbole!" is in fact hyperbole.
Well, they typed it really loud. No, kidding. But since they strongly and repeatedly made the claim, it was as if it was "cried out".
Post a Comment