Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.

• Job 32:2

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• Matthew 12:33-37

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• Luke 18:10-14

Therefore we conclude that a man is justifiedby faith apart from the deeds of the law.

• Romans 3:28

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

• Romans 4:1-4

“ ‘It is without any doubt, then, significant that today there is a fundamental agreement between Catholic and Protestant theology, precisely in the theology of justification – the point at which Reformation theology took its departure.  Despite all the difficulties, have we not, after these 400 years , come decidedly closer to one another also on the theological level! (Justification. Chapter 33).”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

A note here: The book follows this by a comment from Karl Barth stating something along the lines of … “If it were only true.”  Barth’s point was that the author of Justification might be very close to Reformed theology, but Barth felt the Catholic church was not in agreement with the book.

Hans Küng (1905-1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest.  But most biographical information of him state that he was a Catholic rebel.  But his writings and books are widely read.  Rebel or not, he served on the Second Vatican Council.

There are five “Solas” statements that are foundational in the Reformation theology.  These are, according to the Gospel Coalition website: “sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).”

I end most of my posts with the last one.  But we are justified by faith, not by works.  Barth was pointing out that Küng had written a wonderful book about justification, but did the rank and file of the Catholic church agree with it?

My most popular post came out on 16 June 2020, entitled American Gospel: Christ Alone.  It was a review of the documentary of the same name.  They start the documentary, possibly 50 years after Küng’s book was written, by stating that the Catholics continue to add various things to faith, such as faith plus penance.

The Scriptures are clear.  There is no room for additional oracles, only interpretation of what is written.  Faith is a gift from God and only faith justifies us.  I like what I read, and quoted (but my brain is forgetting who and in what post), that God saved them by illuminating His truth within them.

I have struggled with that over the years that even accepting God could be a work.  Opening the door to let Jesus into our hearts could be a work.  As I look at my moment of coming to faith, it wasn’t that I opened the door.  I simply quit shoving the door closed, preventing Jesus from coming in.

I frankly believe, and have mentioned it before, that everyone will get to Heaven and have the pure, unvarnished Truth in their midst, and we will look at our theology and say, “Well, I got that part wrong, and this other part too.”  It comes back to what one of my former teachers, one who has recently passed away, said, “We are not saved by good theology.  We are saved by Grace, through faith, and even that is a gift from God.”

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.