I am here in Virgina at a two month training series with the Southern Baptist Convention and they flew in a Speaker, Chuck Lawless, Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth and President of the Lawless Group, a church consulting firm....amazing speaker. He came to talk to us about Doctrine.
He just layed down the foundations, which is great and the foundations of our faith!! Then he went through a list of all these isms, Universalism, Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism.
In my minds eye I was looking through a purple lense of Inclusivism, the way that Lawless described Inclusivism is that belief is that Jesus is the only way but a personal relationship with Him is not necessary to be saved. Meaning knowing that there is a higher power is not enough (not even enough for the bush people). Then Exclusivism was the belief that Jesus is the only way and a personal relationship is nesseccary. Meaning that you have to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. Now as the days pass this concept has even change for me. I am not saying I am a Calvinist, but I am going to use part of the TULIP concept of Irresistible Grace: That once you taste Him you cannot deny Him. Meaning once you get a glimpse of God you want to change the Lordship from you sitting on the throne of your life and put God on the throne of your life.
I am not questioning my salvation, but I am understanding it a bit more. Now that I have had this new revelation I wonder if most of my church and friends have come to salvation. Cause by the definition of Irresistible Grace once they have tasted God their lives will change, and to be honest I see a ton of complacant "Christians". I also believe that these same "Christians" have on those same purple glasses of Inclusivism. Cause if they had on the blue glasses of Exclusivism they wouldn't be albe to stop telling others about Christ, and many more would be doing foriegn missions.
Some other things that I am thinking through are predestination and God's elect. Also the thought that Christ did die for God's ultimate Glory, and how to translate that to the people of Uganda, but I was reminded that the cross was the best act of LOVE and because of His death we are now able to give Glory to Him because He could look upon us with no sin.