Tag: Reason

Christianity is Supernatural

August 23, 2026 / Chris / 0 Comments

Supernatural isn’t a bad word as it relates to Christianity. There are certainly ways that it can be misapplied and go off the rails; however, the Christian faith rests on the resurrection of the dead, the power of the Holy Spirit, and divine grace imparted to sinful humans. We see humanity trying to make the supernatural natural by reducing God’s work to something we can produce, suppress, explain, manipulate, or engineer.

Supernatural Versus Sensational

The Christian faith rests on the reality of a God who acts supernaturally. He creates from nothing (ex nihilo). He parts seas, sends plagues, delivers nations, and redeems sinners. How absurd for us to think that we can outperform Him with the cheap parlor tricks of sensationalism. While God makes the deaf to hear and dead to live again, we suppose that a musical experience or emotional high in a service will impress the audience, if not God. Like Moses striking the rock, we would do well to learn that God’s way is the way of truth and power. Water did flow, but there were consequences when Moses took God’s work into his own hands. We should trust in the promises of God rather than adopt the approach of P.T. Barnum. Sensationalism cannot create the supernatural.

Supernatural Versus Stoic

We often conflate charismatic practices with the supernatural. In so doing, we think that pushing off in the other direction toward stoicism is a more faithful paradigm. Accordingly, we can philosophically and mentally downplay or even relegate the supernatural aspects of the Christian faith. At times we can merge stoic philosophy with Biblical truth, but doing so leaves out the necessary element of Christ. Paul did say he had learned the secret of contentment, which sounds stoic in nature (Philippians 4:11-12). But that secret rests in supernatural strength in Christ (Philippians 4:13). Emotional control does no more to produce faith than emotional excess. Stoicism cannot suppress or supplant the supernatural.

Supernatural Versus Intellectualism

Salvation, grace, and faith are not abstract, philosophical concepts to which we need to intellectually assent. Theology, doctrine, and orthodoxy are prized possessions; however, God is not a cosmic comptroller whose main aim is to ensure compliance. His revelation of Himself isn’t some kind of divine tax code for which we can all “achieve” conformity if we know enough. No, God is an eternal, Triune being whose steadfast love was poured out through the veins of the Son and then three days later His resurrection secured our own. Like Abraham and Sarah taking things into their own hands in disbelief, we suppose that we can do a better job of managing Christianity rationally. Isaac is a testimony of God’s power, but Ishmael reminds us of the cost when we try to accomplish God’s promises by our own reason. Intellectualism cannot explain away the supernatural or think of a better way than God’s.

Supernatural Versus Mystical

The supernatural nature of our faith does not rest in rituals or artifacts, but in the promises of God. It isn’t our carefully curated words that activate the grace. It is the very words of God that carry with them the weight of glory and deliver what they proclaim. It’s true that we don’t need a mediator to stand between us and God because Christ fulfilled that, but it’s also true that we don’t individually summon grace by our personal practices. Like the prophets of Baal, all our efforts to conjure up the miraculous are just idle idolatry. The one true God has spoken to us in His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). Mysticism cannot manipulate the supernatural.

Supernatural Versus Pragmatic

The truth of God cannot be reduced to a slogan or byline; however, it might sell some t-shirts. T-shirt sales might be enough to increase the missions budget. But that might dip into the podcast line item. The biting sarcasm should be an indictment on all our proclivities to reach for what works versus what is promised. The seeker sensitive, marketing wing of evangelicalism doesn’t have a corner on this market.

We need look no further than our own desire to get things done in our own strength but still in the name of God to see our own emphasis on pragmatism. We reason that if we campaign hard enough, platform enough culture disrupting influencers, and get the right people in the right positions, that we can usher into the kingdom of God on Earth. What we forget is that the right person is already in the right position; God is on His throne. What should send chills down our spine is that with sheer reason, strategy, and human grit we can actually move the ball forward in the name of God, just not in His power. Pragmatism can deliver metrics but cannot replace supernatural fruitfulness.

Supernatural Through Means

God spoke and creation came into existence. In fact, we see in John 1:1-14, Colossians 1:15-20, and Hebrews 1:1-4 and 8-12 that it is Christ who spoke these words of creation. He spoke and the winds and waves obeyed. He has spoken to us definitively through His word and tangibly in Jesus Christ. Irenaeus recognized this in the second century when he pointed to the power of the incarnation in Against Heresies (IV.6.6): “through the Word Himself who had been made visible and palpable, was the Father shown forth.”

He who walked on the water and turned water into wine has said that all who are thirsty should come to Him and drink. He who fed the five thousand with bread has given us His body and blood under bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins in the words of institution. He who was baptized by John the Baptist has commanded us to go to all nations and Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus used the ordinary without hesitation. His promises that connect His grace to what is poured over us, consumed by us, or proclaimed to us should be trusted as the means through which He accomplishes His ends.

The promises of God will always be fulfilled, and His word abides forever. When God said that Baptism forgives sins (Acts 2:38), that the Supper is for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28), and that preaching is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:15-17), you can rest assured that God is at work through the water, bread, wine, or sermons. God is supernaturally working through means.

At times we try to upstage, outmaneuver or outsmart God. Usually, it’s below the surface and we ironically think we’re fulfilling His plan. What He asks from us is faith that not only trusts Him for justification, but also trusts His ways are best to accomplish His plans. Dolly Parton once quipped, “it costs a lot to look this cheap.” We as individuals and the church collective would be wise to consider the true cost of cheap substitutes for the supernatural.

As another musician, Rich Mullins, observed in one of his lesser known songs (Holy Pretenders), “We’re just holy pretenders trying to fill God’s shoes, but we haven’t got the right size feet.” God works through His word. He forgives sins through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Belief comes through hearing the good news of the gospel proclaimed. We can try to perform, suppress, rationalize, manipulate or engineer God’s work, but our hubris blinds us from seeing His sole sufficiency and our own inadequacy to accomplish His will our way. He is Lord over our beliefs, practices, world, and reality. We often say that He works in mysterious ways, but often that means He works His way, supernaturally.

Crossing Our T’s, Forgetting the Cross

November 11, 2025 / Chris

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19)

Mark 1:23–24 and Luke 8:27–28 highlight demons fully understanding Jesus’ divinity and power. Jesus called Peter blessed only to call him Satan shortly thereafter. What changed? Is theologically precise knowledge not the ultimate pursuit of Christians and the focus of the ministry of the church?

In what ways do we carry out church in the name of Jesus while bypassing his death and resurrection? Do we shudder like the demons in understanding, and insightfully answer questions of Jesus’ identity like Peter only to set our minds on the “things” of man (Matthew 16:23)? Have we sidestepped the mission of Jesus in the very name of Jesus? That question should strike a healthy fear of God in the core of our souls as we contemplate it and its implications.

Shuddering belief is vague, disconnected from the atoning work and resurrection of Christ on our behalf. Like Peter, it misses the explicit proclamation of Christ’s death even while recognizing His divinity.

Imagine a church with a textbook understanding of God’s nature and attributes. Their statement of faith or confessions offer a clear articulation of theological orthodoxy. Yet, week in and week out there is no cross talk. The sermon exposits the text, includes historical background, and the practical application is winsomely actionable. But what of salvation? What of Christ crucified? What of the Son of God’s atoning work on the cross for you? This death and resurrection of Christ as the basis of our justification is the glorious, scandalous news that we all too often overlook or undervalue.

Evil as defined by the prophet Jeremiah was twofold: forsaking God, and turning to waterless cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). John 4:13–14 points us to a well that will never run dry. You cannot preach Christ crucified and resurrected for sinners too much. It is inexhaustible good news. It is perpetually needed in the ears of us works-obsessed intellectuals who dot all the I’s on our theological dissertations but cannot seem to understand the profound necessity of the gospel.

This isn’t to say that correct doctrine is unimportant. We must be vigilant in rightly dividing the word of truth. However, our tireless pursuit of theological precision must not supplant resting in the reality of God’s grace secured in Christ.

Shuddering belief fears and understands God but doesn’t trust the work of Christ to make us right with God. My fellow believers in Jesus, let us not cross all our theological T’s only to forget the cross. To do so is to believe and confess the way that the demons do.

Consistent Inconsistency

March 3, 2025 / Chris

There are logical and theological inconsistencies, but there are no biblical inconsistencies. How can salvation simultaneously be entirely of God while being unlimited in the scope of its efficacy? We can answer the question in many ways, but the best way to answer it is biblically.

I was a Calvinist but have now come to embrace Lutheranism joyfully. Having come from a Calvinistic Baptist background and a stint visiting a Presbyterian congregation, I can attest to the neatness of the coherence of their soteriological views. However, what began to bother me was how those views didn’t comport with scripture. My Calvinistic and Reformed brothers and sisters will push back and point out the “inconsistency” of my views. My reply? Biblical consistency trumps logical consistency. We must align with scripture instead of aligning scripture with our logic.

I see the scriptures misapplied in the name of consistency in two ways. First, we absolutize a biblical principle beyond the scope of what scripture itself reveals. Second, we take the average of biblical truths instead of letting them stand on their authority. These represent two opposite sides of the same interpretive fallacy coin. Let’s consider a few soteriological aspects as a way to identify, engage with, and wrestle through these fallacies.

Framework Fidelity

One approach is to take what is often referred to as a proof text and universalize it without considering other texts that bring nuance to the principle or doctrine we are advocating. The doctrine of reprobation within a Calvinistic soteriological framework is an excellent example. The go-to text for this is Romans 9, where we pit Jacob and Esau against each other as soteriological guinea pigs in our theological laboratory. One was predestined for salvation, while the other for damnation. In many Calvinistic understandings, this is the logical extension of the doctrine of unconditional election, whereby God elects to judgment and wrath. While this does make sense, it takes a passage that has a more faithful contextual interpretation and pits it against what other passages reveal about God’s universal desire for salvation. Is God the author of inconsistency or contradiction? No, He is the transcendent God whose judgment, lovingkindness, and sovereignty surpass our finite and frail minds’ ability to grasp how they intersect.

Can salvation be monergistic while also being efficacious for all? Logically, the simple answer is no. However, we must come to the scriptures with humility and let them shape our thinking instead of allowing our thinking to shape the scriptures. My reply is simply that this is what the Bible states. Read for plain meaning, and in context, it is clear that salvation is entirely a gift from God (Romans 3:21-15 and Ephesians 2:8-10). Yet it is also clear that the work of Christ is for all people (1 John 2:2 and 1 Timothy 2:2, 4:10). The goal must be faithfulness to the scriptures, not our framework.

Philosophical Cohesion

Another approach is to find the mean of the texts instead of letting the texts mean what they say. The scriptures aren’t meant for statistical regression. They are a supernatural revelation. Splitting the difference to accommodate our finite capacity to understand is inadequate. A Reformed and Lutheran perspective on perseverance and apostasy demonstrates this well. Is it possible for those who believe to forfeit their salvation? Again, what does scripture say? Will those whom God has elected persevere to glorification (Romans 8:30)? Is it impossible for anyone to snatch us out of the hand of God (John 10:28-29)? Does the Bible teach that those who were enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come can fall away without hope of repentance (Hebrews 6:4-6)?

Two of these fit nicely together, while the third throws a wrench into a theological system’s gears. One theological paradigm argues that the third cannot mean what it says because it cannot logically sync with the other two. So, that approach averages them together and appeals to other interpretive possibilities rather than the plain meaning to make them fit. However, the better way is to let God’s word stand and accept that while we cannot reconcile His persevering, electing, sovereign work with our ability to walk away, our faith in God and His word must stand above our dependence on our fallen capacities to grasp the magnitude of God’s wonder and revelation.

It was difficult to leave the theological camp I had called home. These few soteriological issues were not the only ones that required revisiting and ultimately changing. Still, they were some of the best examples of the underlying Biblical disconnect I felt in the Calvinistic and Reformed camps. That consistent inconsistency led me to the humility of mystery and embracing the beauty of our God, who transcends our understanding while immanently attending to our wisdom.

Simple Faith

September 18, 2024 / Chris

I remember sitting in a coffee shop (I know that’s a major shock) and hearing the group next to me introducing the topic of their meeting. I overheard phrases like, “This will change your life” and “game changer,” so I was naturally curious. In anticipation, I tried to lean in covertly, but the big reveal was that this life-altering practice was the art of couponing. Who doesn’t love a good deal? Still, it was anticlimactic from the opening sales pitch.

My reaction was an internal eye roll. Yet, in retrospect, perhaps I was too harsh on that group. Simple things can be life-changing. God works through the simple means of grace to bring life. Who could imagine that ordinary water, bread, wine, and preached words would have such powerful effects? Yet they do.
For most of my Christian life, theology was a concept to be studied and an abstraction for discussion. Now, it’s more like the daily bread needed for sustenance. I enjoy discussing, studying, and applying scripture and its overarching truths, but what I need is Christ crucified, proclaimed, and delivered to me.

Simplicity is not synonymous with shallowness. I tended to favor debating the philosophical side of theology to embracing the tangible simplicity of God’s gospel spoken and administered. If your theology bristles at indiscriminately proclaiming the forgiveness of sins to everyone on account of Christ, then you’ve elevated reason above scripture. The wisdom of God is the foolishness of the cross. We grow most in spiritual maturity when we become childlike in faith.

While studying is valuable, believing is greater. Faith is better than knowledge. That day in the coffee shop, I was snarky and dismissive of the coupon conversation. However, that conversation could have led to families making ends meet that week. How much greater are the sacraments our Lord has instituted to grant and sustain faith? Lord, forgive me for being too skeptical of simple faith in all its iterations. Help me to seek you in knowledge, faith, and love.