Question and Answer on Works

As I was reading John 5, Jesus talks about being the ultimate Judge.  He says, "a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."

To me, that sounded an awful lot like judgement is based on works, which doesn't jive with other Scripture indicating faith as the basis of salvation.  Why did Jesus state it this way?

Then, I think my question was answered in Luke 6: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. ... The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart."

Faith will produce works.  

This also raises the issue of works of nonbelievers seeming "good," but ultimately not being altruistic.  I'll leave that for another day.

Jesus & Centurion

I am struck at Jesus' response to the centurion. The centurion shows some considerable faith, and Jesus acknowledges this. The next part, thought, seems a touch out of place:

I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then Jesus heals the man's servant.

Does that seem out of place to anyone else? Any thoughts on the "sons of the kingdom?" Another one of my bible's translates it "subjects of the kingdom." I feel like the cliche response would be to ascribe this noun to the uber-law-abiding Jewish leaders?

Also, this isn't in Luke.

I like Matthew's emphasis on the universal message of Christ.

Job Thoughts

1. Job 7:20: If I have sinned - what have I (Job) done to you (God), O watcher of men? - Is this rhetorical? Is Job really saying that sin has no consequence to God?
   
2. Who are we supposed to listen to in Job? When Bildad says "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with gladness," is that an indirect promise from God, or is it simply a man's opinion?
3. I was talking with Evan last night about Job, and he mentioned 2:13, where Job's friends come and sit with him for 7 days and nights without saying a word. Evan said this is an incredible example of friendship... don't know how I missed that on my first read-through. (Then I read in ch. 16 "what miserable comforters are you all!")
   
4. Is anyone else a bit uncomfortable reading some of things Job says to God?
5. How cool is this to read?
   Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high
   My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God
   and he contends with God on behalf of man as a man pleads for his friend
   
6. Job as a Greek tragedy -- any takers?

Rambling OT Thoughts

Being a history lover, it can be tough for me to distance myself from wanting to fit everything in Genesis into a historical timeline. I just had some thoughts that I'd love to hear input from you on if anyone has time... I know these are rambling and maybe even unanswerable. Still, I'd very much enjoy hearing your collective thoughts.

1. How come the OT seems to skip in huge leaps? We go from Noah, with no one left on the Earth, to Babel, where it seems we have a million people together building a tower. Then, we flash to Abram, and it seems as though we are in some part of the zenith of Egypt while a big city has been built in Sodom.
   
2. Local flood vs. global flood? Does it matter?
3. Was Noah's time the absolute peak of sin? How did everything devolve so quickly? Were they necessarily more wicked than modern day people? Were they given an opportunity to repent? Is that what the time period around the building of the ark was?
4. How did the author of Genesis know the lifespan of everyone?
5. What were the logistics of being a person of faith in the early OT? Did it involve simply "being" righteous? Is that salvation through works? (What have I opened here...)

I don't know. I used to be a super-militant 6,000 year old Earth creationist in high school and have since mellowed out a ton. As a reader, the transition seems so blurry between this (completely factual) myth and quite precise genealogies.