In our cynical culture, doubting everything has become a default mode. For Christians who believe that being made right with God happens through trusting Jesus, these doubts can precipitate an existential crisis. Some Christians feel guilty for having doubts, but faith doesn’t negate the existence of doubts. In fact, the rhythm of trust and doubt is a regular part of any relationship, trust being the foundation of any good relationship, and doubts being the fuel for going back to the relationship to build up the trust in new and fresh ways. The same pattern holds for a human being’s relationship with God as well. No one - even the most devout religious person - completely believes in Jesus. Our prayer will always be, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” And just as in the case with any human relationship, these doubts in God should drive us back to God’s presence in his word and sacraments to learn in new and fresh ways all different kinds of levels of trust in him.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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We humans feel like we have the ability to make any choice, but the reality is that we can only make any choice we want to. In other words, humans are bound to their own wills - it’s not possible to choose to do something you ultimately do not want to do. Every choice to do something you don’t want to do is made because there is something you ultimately want more. We choose to go to the dentist–something we don’t want to do–because our desire to avoid the long-term pain of dental decay is greater than our desire to avoid the short-term pain of dental pain. A better way to talk about the way we make choices is to say we have freedom of agency: we can choose to do anything within the realm of our desires. For example, I am free to choose between wearing the green socks or the yellow socks, but I am not free to cut my feet off–it simply isn’t within the realm of my desires to do so.

The Bible insists that this is also true when it comes to one’s relationship with God. Our fallen human hearts do not desire God, or at least we do not desire God as he really is. And so we choose to reject him because it is our will to reject him, and we do not choose to accept him because our wills are opposed to him–and it is impossible to do something ultimately against your will. And so, if we are going to accept God, he must change our will so that we desire him. This work of the Holy Spirit, called prevenient grace, happens when God mercifully and lovingly draws us to himself, and changes our heart from the inside out so that we believe in him and long for a relationship with him.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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Different branches of the American church have different ideas about miracles - the more rationalistic branches of Christianity don’t place a high value on miracles, while more charismatic churches consider miracles to be a vital part of their Christian life. But all Christians believe that miracles are a part of scripture, and scripturally speaking, miracles happen all the time, as long as we understand that the line between “natural” and “supernatural” is a modern invention. Every part of creation is God’s, and he is intimately and sovereignly involved in every one of those parts. In other words, what we often think of as “natural” events are really miraculous, just so ordinary that we don’t notice their supernatural character.

In the Bible, miracles are a demonstration of God’s power. Jesus’ miracles are a demonstration that God’s power is upon him, and they lend credence to his prophetic claims. They do not prove he is God, anymore than Elijah’s miracles prove that he is God, but they are signs that God is at work in Jesus’ ministry, and his personal claims to be the one through whom the creator God is rescuing his world.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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The great redemptive event of the Bible is the exodus from Israel out of Egypt. God’s plan and actions to rescue his people from slavery form the foundational backdrop for how we understand his heart. But then why do so many texts in scripture seem to accept slavery as a permissible fact? We can find the main answer to this question in the difference between how contemporary people try to solve problems and how God actually solves problems.

Unlike modern politicians or social media users, the Bible hardly ever tries to solve problems through statements or public posturing. Instead, the biblical writers believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ–the good news that in the Messiah God has acted to rescue his creatures and creation from slavery to sin, death, and the Enemy–actually changes broken hearts to redeemed hearts, from the inside out. So the Bible radically opposes slavery, but in a way that actually historically ended slavery: by calling people to the love of Jesus, a love which worked in their hearts to begin treating others–even slaves–as valuable people made in God’s image.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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The Gospel is the proclamation that God has triumphed over sin and death through the work of Jesus. Every Christian sermon has to proclaim this Gospel by announcing the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since the whole text of Holy Scripture centers on Jesus’ death and resurrection, every sermon has to explain, illustrate, and apply the sermon text.

The job of the sermon is not merely to explain and instruct in good theology, but to explain and apply the text itself. And while the question of whether or not the sermon should apply the text by telling people what to do is sometimes controversial in churches that believe in salvation by grace through faith alone, applying the text not by giving rules but by applying the Gospel is mandatory.

In other words, the Gospel is not just news that sins are forgiven, it’s also the good news that Jesus is Lord of the universe, and now we are free–by the power of Jesus–to be the humans he has redeemed us to be.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is still active in the life of Christ’s church. But what does this mean, and how does this look?

For some, the Holy Spirit speaks directly in a miraculous way; for others the Holy Spirit guides by opening doors. How do we know that what we’re hearing or being led to do is coming from the Holy Spirit? By judging the message or compulsion on the basis of God’s Word. So it’s not just the big events that are the Holy Spirit speaking; even the small messages–like being moved to read God’s Word, to pray, to love someone else at personal expense–are clearly coming from outside fallen human nature.

It’s important to remember that the Bible–God’s Word–is primary. What God says in holy scripture is binding on all people everywhere for all time. This is different from a personal prompting of the Holy Spirit, which is not universally applicable to all people at all times. So, as Paul says, the spirits must be tested to see if they are in line with God’s Word.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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Scripture–in some ways–is a reflection of God’s mind, which means that understanding Scripture can never be completely mastered. Like a big city, there is something new and unexplored around every corner for the reader. In other words, reading the Bible is a great adventure of exploration and discovery.

The main foundation of solid biblical interpretation is to read it as the Word of God. Humanity sits under God, so his Word must sit in authority over us. This means that the meaning of the text must come from the text, not imposed upon it from outside. The temptation of all Christian denominations is to map their theology on to the text of Scripture, using the Bible as a series of proofs for their own correctness. But this is turning our theology or thoughts in “sacred scripture”, not allowing the real sacred Scripture to speak for God.

One key to checking our own theological and cultural biases in the attempt to allow God’s Word to speak for itself is to read it in community. Hearing what people from different backgrounds hear when they read Scripture helps us read and hear Scripture from outside our own echo chamber.

Practically speaking, correct biblical interpretation depends on reading the Bible not as isolated sayings, verses, or stories, but as one complete story, and we cannot understand any story–especially the story of Scripture!–outside of the whole story. And the importance of understanding the historical background of the text is also vital to correctly interpreting it. This takes work–digging into the cultural and historical backgrounds of the text means learning from scholars who study the backgrounds of the Bible. But this will keep us from making the Bible mean something it doesn’t, turning it into a decontextualized inspirational message to me.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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For Christianity, marriage is much more than a convenient way to order society and build and protect families. Marriage is at its heart a reflection of two deeper theological realities: first, it reflects the eternal relationship that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have. In other words, God has given his human creatures the gift of marriage so they can look like the Trinity, bearing God’s image in the husband-wife relationship. And second, marriage reflects the love Jesus has for his church.

Because of this, marriage takes on a significance that far exceeds its romantic possibilities, or its economic or social utility. God wants us to remain faithful to our spouses because he is a faithful God.

There are times when the Bible permits divorce–in cases of adultery, abandonment, and (many in the church agree) physical abuse. But outside of these cases, God expects husbands and wives to practice love and faithfulness for each other.

Hosts: Aaron Mueller and Chuck Rathert

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