A.I. When I was child the speculation was all about E.T., meaning extra terrestrials. I guess that is still a thing, however, now the rise of something much more concerning (and real) is at hand. I’m sure everyone is aware of A.I. or artificial intelligence. It is not my intention in this blog to call out that the sky is falling or that A.I. is going to ruin the world. Besides, we sinners are doing a good enough job of that on our own. But I do think we need to consider the ethics and morality surrounding this issue. A.I. is a tool, and as such it can be used rightly or wrongly. I am encouraging all of us as believers to think through the issue so that we are ready for the moral bridges that we will have to cross. How will we utilize this tool for God’s glory and our good? Research or Plagiarism I’m not a scientist, but I would like to run a little experiment to help us think through the issues of using A.I. in the future. Last week, I wrote a blog about the Spring Bride. I was specifically thinking about the church as the bride of Christ and how we should treat the church in light of her being the bride of our King. That essay was 100% my work but I also entered a prompt into chat GPT to see what kind of article it would write about the same subject. This is the prompt I entered: Write a 623 word blog article about The importance of Christians having a high view of the church because the Church is Christ’s bride. I must admit it is a really good article. In fact, it is probably better than anything I could have written, not just grammatically but also substantially. It is so good that it brings up the question of how we are going to know that what we read in the future comes from a person and not A.I.? What is going to keep students, authors, and even pastors from shortcutting their work and study with the use of this kind of technology for profit and advancement? I don’t have the answers to all of these things but I do think that we must prepare to have answers to these questions moving forward. Of course it is plagiarism to copy from the work of A.I. without acknowledgement just like it would be to copy a person’s work. So please read the following article which is Chat GPT’s response to the prompt above and I would love your feedback and perspective on this issue. (One last note: because I gave it a specific number of words it stops mid sentence at the end.) Chat GPT Content The Church is not just a building or an institution; it is a living, breathing organism made up of believers in Jesus Christ. The Bible refers to the Church as the body of Christ, with Christ as the head (Colossians 1:18). This analogy highlights the vital importance of the Church to Christ and to every believer. As Christians, we need to have a high view of the Church because it is Christ's bride. In Ephesians 5:25-27, the apostle Paul writes, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Christ loves the Church and gave himself up for her, not just as an institution but as his beloved bride. Therefore, we must value the Church and its members as highly as Christ does. The Church is not just a gathering of believers, but it is where we find fellowship, accountability, and spiritual growth. We are called to be a part of the Church and to contribute our unique gifts and talents to build it up (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). A high view of the Church also means understanding its significance in God's redemptive plan. The Church is not an afterthought or a backup plan, but it is central to God's purpose for the world. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The Church is not just a human endeavor but is built by Christ himself. Furthermore, the Church is the means by which the Gospel is spread and lives are transformed. In Acts 2, we see the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost, and immediately the Gospel begins to spread as people are added to the Church daily. The Church is where we are equipped to share the Gospel with the world, and it is where we find the support and encouragement we need to live out our faith. A high view of the Church also means recognizing the importance of unity among believers. The Church is made up of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, but we are all united in our faith in Jesus Christ. In John 17:21, Jesus prays, "that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Unity is not just a nice idea but is essential for the Church to function as it should. When we are divided, we lose our effectiveness in reaching the lost and fulfilling God's mission. Unfortunately, the Church has often been criticized and maligned by those both inside and outside of the faith. We have seen scandals, divisions, and abuses of power that have caused many to question the relevance and integrity of the Church. However, this should not cause us to lose sight of the Church's importance or to give up on it. Instead, we must work to address these issues and strive to make the Church the holy and unified body that Christ intended. In conclusion, as Christians, we need to have a high view of the Church because it is Christ's bride. We must value the Church as highly as Christ does, understanding its significance in God's redemptive plan, recognizing the importance of unity among believers, and working to address any issues that may hinder its effectiveness. The Church is not just an institution or a building, but it is
1 Comment
Springtime As we move into mid spring we are just around the corner from the bustling wedding season extending from May to mid autumn. What an exciting time as couples are entering into the beautiful covenant of marriage. While unfortunately many people do not enter marriage with the kind of covenantal commitment that the Scripture calls for, it is still a testimony to the reality of how God has made us, that couples want to enter into this institution. I say this because the Scripture is clear that marriage is about much more than the relationship between these to people, it is about the relationship between God and His people. Covenantal Faithfulness Throughout the Scripture God has spoken in terms that made explicit the relationship He has with His people (Isaiah 62:1-5). God loves His people and even when they had sinned and broken His covenant He would graciously keep extending His steadfast, merciful love to them (Ezekiel 16:59-63). The point is that once God has set His love upon His people, even from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-10), He does not take it back. Rather, He sanctifies and cleanses His bride even at the high cost of His own blood (Ephesians 5:25-27). Watch Your Language However, if this is how God loves His covenant people and His New Covenant people contains all those who trusted in the Savior from Adam to the present time, then we must conclude that this is the kind of amazing and unconditional love that He lavishes on us in the church today. Since this is the case we must understand that when we speak about the church we speak about Christ’s bride. This ought to cause us to choose our words carefully. My point is not that we can never criticize things that are happening in the church or the great Christian sphere of influence. But we must take into account that we do so with reverence of our Lord who is the bridegroom of the church. Certainly the church may exist in frailty but isn’t it true that Christ is her source of strength and power? Again, surely we can find many examples of her foibles and flaws but again isn’t Christ the source of her eternal beauty and perfection? Presently, it may seem as though she is failing and faltering, but isn’t Christ the One who ensures that she will not and cannot ultimately fall away. My point is simply that our view of Christ and His church should not be driven to pessimism and criticism by our assessment of how things are going currently, but rather we must hold to a favorable and enthusiastic optimism based on the promises of God contained in His word. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18) and He promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:16-19). Jesus promised that He would present the church to Himself as a bride without spot or wrinkle or blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Jesus even promised that He would never leave or forsake His church (Hebrews 13:5)! Since Christ is so unconditionally and unequivocally committed to His church, the reality is that we should be also. We should only speak critically of the current state of the church through tear filled eyes and with hopeful devotion to her good and His glory! Dichotomy A dichotomy is the division into two parts or kinds of a given whole. This can be a pair of something or two corresponding halves of a mutual whole. But more often this word is used to refer to two mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or parts. So while the definition can be of a positive or neutral nature it is more often negative and adversarial. The reason that I am pointing out the meaning of this word is because today I want to meditate on the glorious dichotomy of righteousness presented in the New Testament. As believers under the grace of God and in the New Covenant of Christ’s blood, we are at the same time both possessing an insatiable appetite for the righteous things of God, the glorious good news of Christ and the filling presence of the Holy Spirit, yet we are also already possessing all the righteousness of Christ, all the grace of the Father, and all the life of the Spirit currently. So my thesis is that this is not a contradiction under the economy of the Kingdom of Christ, but rather the glorious blessing that we as saints not only enjoy now but will always possess in eternity. Hunger True believers in Jesus Christ are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). The idea of being hungry and thirsty might at first sound like a bad thing, but Jesus is pointing out that the true people of God have desire and passion, not for things that the world lusts after, but the righteousness of God is now our delight. God has told us that we will have the desire of our heart when we delight in Him (Psalm 37:4)! The loss of appetite is a sign of either depression or sickness and as such cannot be the goal of the Christian life. The life of God in us does not produce the type of stoicism or asceticism that is marked by the absence of all desire. This is the false teaching of man made religions, such as Buddhism which argues for the vanquishing of all desires. The eight fold path is really nothing more than a humanistic therapeutic form of behavioral therapy meant to train you not to care about anything. But God doesn’t want us to be passionless zombies but rather passionate and zealous warriors, workers, and worshippers (Titus 2:11-14). Satisfaction However, the appetite that we have as believers does mean that we are satisfied in God. John Piper’s famous motto, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him,” captures this reality well. We as believers always desire for God to be praised, exalted, and glorified. The amazing truth is that this desire is satiated in our satisfaction with the grace, mercy, and love which I have received in Jesus Christ. Remember Matthew 5:6 referenced above. Jesus points out that those with the hunger and thirst for righteousness are also the ones who are satisfied by God’s righteousness. The point is that the more we desire God, the more full of God we will be and the more full of God we are, the more we will want Him! Good Friday Today, the release date of this blog, is April 7th 2023, which is Good Friday this year. This is the Friday when we commemorate the death of Christ. Of course, we do this regularly through the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Wouldn’t it be awful if we only reflected on the death and crucifixion of Jesus once a year? But I digress, my point is that this is the time each year when the whole of Christendom and cultures impacted by the gospel are most attune to the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This week, in this post I would like to focus on the assurance gained for us as believers because Jesus has been raised from the dead. As we look around at the culture collapsing all around us I am convinced that part of the problem is not only a lack of evangelistic zeal by us as Christians, but also the inconsistency of our lives. By inconsistency, I mean that we claim to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that we will therefore also be raised from the dead, but if this is true our lives should be marked by a radical difference from the world. Regeneration Jesus told the rabbi Nicodemus in John 3 that we must all be born again. The theological word for being born again is regeneration. Genesis means beginning and everyone one of us is born naturally in sin and so we need to begin again supernaturally free from sin. But how can we be made alive if we are truly dead in sin? The only way is if another who is sinless and righteous makes atonement for our sin and cancels our debt. This is why Jesus explains to Nicodemus that everyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life. But what is it about Jesus that we must believe? First, we must believe in His divinity! We must believe that Jesus truly is God. For only God can bear the punishment and satisfy the wrath of God against sin. Second, we must believe that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-6). For if Jesus did not truly come as a human, he could not be a genuine substitute for human beings on the cross. But we must also believe that God has raised Christ from the dead. We must trust in the full propitiation of our sin on the cross and the vindication of Jesus as our Savior and mediator through His victorious resurrection from the dead (Romans 10:8-13). In Jesus' resurrection, we are assured that our regeneration is a settled reality. We are truly raised to life spiritually at our conversion because Christ was truly raised to life in His resurrection. Also, like His resurrection the spiritual life that we now have is abundant and everlasting life. Resurrection We also can have assurance that our bodily resurrection is assured by Jesus’ resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul shows that to deny the bodily resurrection of believers one must also deny the resurrection of Jesus. Paul makes the case that the spiritually resurrection body will be different from the natural body we now have, just as Jesus' resurrection body was different from His body before death. But it is still a body! So not only is our Christian hope tied to the fact that we will have a bodily resurrection, but that Jesus also had a bodily resurrection. This is the fundamental and central confession of Biblical Christianity. Relationship Finally, through Jesus' resurrection from the dead we are brought into a relationship of peace with God. Jesus has gained for us reconciliation with God, not only through His death but also through His resurrection life (Romans 5:6-11). And Jesus is now interceding for us with the Father on the basis of His sacrifice and the faith that He has given to us by His grace. We have been brought back into the familial relationship that God intended for us to have as His children and image bearers. Even now we are being conformed into the image of Christ all because Jesus is raised from the dead. So, if you are reading this post and have not trusted in Jesus then let me urge you to turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ who not only died for you but also lives for us as believers. Believers, let us celebrate that in Christ we have full assurance of our regeneration, resurrection, and relationship with God! |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
|