March 31st, 2017
Mark The Perfect Man
"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." - Psalm 37:37 KJV
This passage came up in our coffee time yesterday and it really impacted me.
I have looked at the Hebrew this morning and the KJV does the best job of capturing what I see as the heart of this passage. The only translation change I would make is to stick closer to the original and say 'perfect' instead of 'Perfect man'.
Here is another translation...
"Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace." - Psalm 37:37 ESV
Jesus is 'the blameless' and 'the upright'. We can be circumstantially blameless but none of us have a blameless life. Only Jesus does.
The word translated 'a future' here and 'the end' in the King James is achariyth (Strong's H319) and it speaks of the last chapter of a life, result or conclusion.
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
Because of Jesus we have Shalom (Strong's H7965) as the last chapter of our life. We have become the representation of Christ's blamelessness.
----
March 30th, 2017
A Certain Kind Of Monster
Christian legalists are monsters. Not the Godzilla or King Kong kind. More like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde kind. Grace is kryptonite for monsters.
In that story Dr Jekyll was addicted to something. Like most horror the heart of the story touched on some real but taboo subject. The Legalist isn't shooting up drugs that change their personality. They are addicted to performance but it also changes them into something freakishly strong, ugly and sinister.
The cross slays the monster and a new person is raised with Christ. Grace isn't poisonous to that new man. It is freedom and life.
Performance isn't pretty and it is also very addictive. Steer well clear. It can turn our natural man into a Mr Hyde at very unpredictable moments.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment