Missing the Mark<\/em>, chp. 3, by Mark Biddle. I began wondering where Biddle might lead us when he titles this chapter \u201cSin: Failure to Embrace Authentic Freedom,\u201d but by the time he was done I thought it was a profound set of reflections on a crucial element of sin. Do you see sin as falling short of the Image of God? Does this mean atonement is about empowerment? Missing the Mark, chp. 3, by Mark Biddle. I began wondering where Biddle might lead us when he titles this chapter \u201cSin: Failure to Embrace Authentic Freedom,\u201d but by the time he was done I thought it was a profound set of reflections on a crucial element of sin. Do you see sin as falling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atonement"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nLet me begin with a personal note: this will be a very busy week for me. Monday has some meetings; I teach Tuesday and then fly to Philadelphia for all-day meetings Wednesday at Biblical Theological Seminary with my friend David Dunbar; then Thursday teaching and then Kris and I fly to Santa Barbara that night where I will be speaking at Montecito Covenant Saturday night and Sunday morning. I should be able to get to this blog for response to comments each day, but it may be in snippets or at the end of each day. But, do carry on this conversation. Later this week I will begin a series on evangelism and the emerging movement.
\nNow, back to Biddle.
\nHere\u2019s the big picture: authentic freedom and humanity (which I might have called personhood) is to be Christ-like, the perfect and true Image of God (what I call the Eikon of God). Biddle has shown that one dimension of sin is pride or hubris or striving to be more than God made us to be. This chapter shows the reverse: sometimes we fail to become what God summons us to be: the Image of God, or Christlikeness<\/em>. And Biddle is accurate and insightful: if we stop with striving to be too much, we fail to see that many fail to be what they are called to be. This is very good. Please buy this book for this chp alone!
\nExegetically, he anchors observations in the Hebrew and Greek for \u201cmissing the mark\u201d and he tends to define this by its goal: Christlikeness. So we \u201cfall short\u201d by failing to become what we are called to be. OT texts include nice long stops in Wisdom literature, 2 Peter and Jude, and the importance of seeing Christlikeness for defining sin.
\nSomething he doesn\u2019t dwell on but should be mentioned because it is everywhere implicit and sometimes explicit is this: if sin is falling short of Christlikeness, then atonement or redemption is empowerment through God\u2019s Spirit to become what we are meant to be<\/em>. If that doesn\u2019t excite you, then, I\u2019m sorry because it overwhelmed me at times.
\n\u201cThe image of God is more a capacity to be realized than an inherent state of being\u201d (66). Bingo! Biddle, you\u2019ve got it. Keep it coming!
\nPastorally, Biddle deals with addictions and the willingness of some to believe the lie of their worthlessness when God \u201cworthies\u201d them (my expression; not a good one, but still it gets to the point). And here\u2019s another insight: \u201cpeople become afraid of freedom and love\u201d (70). They fall into stunted maturation.
\nHe ties in atonement too, though I\u2019d like a little more: \u201cJesus\u2019 life and death not only demonstrate authentic humanity but also, in the mystery of redemption, make it possible for his disciples\u201d (73).
\n\u201cThe ideal, then, would be \u2018right relation,\u2019 the proper balance between being-for-oneself and being-for-others-in-relation\u201d (74).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"