Some folks have a real problem with the Bible and its teachings. Those problems almost always focus on the Hebrew scriptures and I see three main moral issues. The scriptures give Isreal guidelines that permit and regulate slavery. There are issues with the treatment of women and children. Lastly, the way Israel acted towards its enemies in wartime.
"They said, 'Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.' And Jesus said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment...' " - Mark 10:4-5 ESV
"He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so...' " - Matthew 19:8 ESV
It is clear that Jesus had disagreed with Moses on this issue. He obeyed the law in every point but He stayed at the higher end of the law. He never hurt anyone. He never took a wife. He never owned a slave.
People look for moral perfection in Abraham and his children but they don't find it. God never claimed that the rules given to Israel were going to be 'perfect'. Those rules and instructions were for 'holiness' which means to set them apart from the nations around them.
The ten commandments are moral perfection. But, It seems that God delegated much to Moses who was by the Bible's own account a very imperfect man.
"Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." - Exodus 23:21-22 ESV
I see this command in the same light I see this next one.
"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." - Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV
Are all fathers and mothers perfect? No. Some are just plain terrible people but honor is something we do to honor God. Jesus honored Moses and the law of Moses but he didn't do all that Moses said to do. He never broke the law. Never. Not even in one point but He also didn't do all the things that were permitted by the law.
In order to understand and fully embrace the Hebrew scriptures, we must 'follow the scarlet thread' and see Abraham's descendants and the nation that arose out of those people as a vehicle to bring Messiah into the world. At times they were commanded to do things (by a God who had full authority to issue the command) to protect that bloodline from harm or interruption. This explains to me why God would tell Israel to destroy whole people groups. He knew those groups would infect Israel's biology and culture with outside influences that were destructive.
Jesus birth and death are a turning point for all of humanity. Those who believe in Christ are not ruled by the law of Moses. It was never meant for the world anyway. It was meant for one nation.
You may say, 'Why didn't God correct it?' or 'Why did He let it happen that way?' but we could also ask, 'Why does God let me make mistakes?' and perhaps the answer to those questions is the same answer.
What would we do if a people group had a virus that was going to kill all of mankind if it got out? Perhaps we would do our best to isolate them. What if that was not possible? Would we just let all of humanity die because of sentimentality?
Those who mock the Bible just don't understand it. The Bible is a book about Jesus, not morality. Morality is low ground. Love is what Jesus brings to us. Love transcends culture.
The Hebrew scriptures chronical history and explain how the Saviour came into the world. The Greek (New Testament) scriptures illuminate the new life we have in Christ.
Mocking the Bible is a dangerous business. The only hope we have is found only in those pages.
I love my Bible. Some of the older portions are difficult to read. The cross is difficult to look at. I cringe at His pain but He went there so I could have life. I am so thankful.
--
Showing posts with label Morality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morality. Show all posts
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thursday, February 18, 2016
What Is Our Message?
I am not impressed by nice people talking about how nice we should be to one another. I am equally unimpressed by those who harp on how bad this group is to that group. Yes, These are real issues but they are not THE MESSAGE. They are distracting headlines that bury the real news and make it a foot note so that it is easily overlooked. If we move from a spiritual message to a moral message we lose the power to live because without spiritual quickening we become subject to our own depravity.
The first seventeen verses of Exodus chapter twenty lay out the perfect frame work of morality. We have ten fingers and God gave Israel ten principles that span the scope of morality but then in the verses afterwards things get interesting.
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.' The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was." - Exodus 20:18-21 ESV
Beware when people front-load the treatment of other people as the message. If they talk about the high respect we should have for one another but exclude Jesus and His cross you are hearing a smoking mountain message. If they harp on injustice without Jesus or talk of equality without a cross they are bringing you to a holy mountain that can not sustain life.
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more," - Romans 5:12-13, 20 ESV
"For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." - Romans 7:5 ESV
"Then the disciples came and said to him, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?' He answered, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.' " - Matthew 15:12-14 ESV
Moral teachers are blind guides. They mean well but they just get other people killed and trap others in pits that they can't see themselves.
Depravity can not be educated out of us. Making people aware will only take them so far but it isn't ever going to be far enough. It isn't ignorance that brings people to Hell or creates Hell on Earth. It is that man is fallen and broken beyond repair.
THE MESSAGE brings hope. It is a lone beam of light that can enter a person and make them shine with light. The message is that Jesus died on a cross and rose again. The message is that God has made a free provision for everyone to have a new clean identity because of what Jesus did if we just believe in Him.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." - John 3:14-19 ESV
Spirituality produces a moral climate but morality alone can never produce one drop of spirituality. Without Jesus men only have a smoking mountain to look at and deep within their depraved little hearts they know they should die if they touch that mountain.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." - Isaiah 40:30-31 KJV
Don't be fooled by the moral messages out there. They don't save anyone from Hell.
I am looking at the cross this morning and marveling at an empty tomb. Jesus has washed my sin away. God above smiles on me in love and nothing I do can change that. Oh, That is good news. It makes me want to be kind and no one has to tell me I should. I am so rich that I can share what I have and never have any less no matter how much I give away. Thank You Jesus. You are my headline. May You forever be on the front page of my life and the reason I do anything.
--
The first seventeen verses of Exodus chapter twenty lay out the perfect frame work of morality. We have ten fingers and God gave Israel ten principles that span the scope of morality but then in the verses afterwards things get interesting.
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.' The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was." - Exodus 20:18-21 ESV
Beware when people front-load the treatment of other people as the message. If they talk about the high respect we should have for one another but exclude Jesus and His cross you are hearing a smoking mountain message. If they harp on injustice without Jesus or talk of equality without a cross they are bringing you to a holy mountain that can not sustain life.
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more," - Romans 5:12-13, 20 ESV
"For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." - Romans 7:5 ESV
"Then the disciples came and said to him, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?' He answered, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.' " - Matthew 15:12-14 ESV
Moral teachers are blind guides. They mean well but they just get other people killed and trap others in pits that they can't see themselves.
Depravity can not be educated out of us. Making people aware will only take them so far but it isn't ever going to be far enough. It isn't ignorance that brings people to Hell or creates Hell on Earth. It is that man is fallen and broken beyond repair.
THE MESSAGE brings hope. It is a lone beam of light that can enter a person and make them shine with light. The message is that Jesus died on a cross and rose again. The message is that God has made a free provision for everyone to have a new clean identity because of what Jesus did if we just believe in Him.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." - John 3:14-19 ESV
Spirituality produces a moral climate but morality alone can never produce one drop of spirituality. Without Jesus men only have a smoking mountain to look at and deep within their depraved little hearts they know they should die if they touch that mountain.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." - Isaiah 40:30-31 KJV
Don't be fooled by the moral messages out there. They don't save anyone from Hell.
I am looking at the cross this morning and marveling at an empty tomb. Jesus has washed my sin away. God above smiles on me in love and nothing I do can change that. Oh, That is good news. It makes me want to be kind and no one has to tell me I should. I am so rich that I can share what I have and never have any less no matter how much I give away. Thank You Jesus. You are my headline. May You forever be on the front page of my life and the reason I do anything.
--
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Logical Fallacies - Part 6
I am back looking at my list of logical fallacies and it is very instructive and challenging for me.
A common error is the BLACK OR WHITE one or to put it is more modern terms the RIGHT OR WRONG fallacy. This argument boils everything down to two choices. A good one or a bad one. It has people looking back and making moral decisions they they likely didn't make at the time as they are cross examined about the past.
We can do this to ourselves. Some folks are very prone to this. Why didn't I do this? If I only did that then this other thing wouldn't have happened. One decision is demonized and the other one is glorified.
Sure. There are clear cut decisions we make that follow this pattern. Temptation and pressure of some kind is often involved. It is an error to think that every decision we make is either a good one or a bad one.
"Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 ESV
Sad to say... There are Churches today where the 'law of Moses is read.' There are homes like this. People blame religion but read this next passage carefully.
"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" - Romans 2:14-15 ESV
Fallen men accuse or excuse. Religion has little to do with it. Systems form around this very human tendency. Only a judge has this right. God's mercy has prevailed over His judgement at the cross. He is not accusing or excusing. In His mind that stage of Judgement has passed. He has made a ruling. Those in Christ are in one category and those who are not are in another. End of story.
God gave the law for a purpose and it is holy but it was not given to be tool of conformity only. It was given to reveal the fall of man to those who had become familiar with it's affects.
"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." - Romans 3:19-20 ESV
The law makes a category of things BLACK OR WHITE.
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead." - Romans 7:7-8 ESV
Then we realize that once we know something is wrong will still want to do it. We might even want to do it more than before. It reveals something crucial to us. We are broken and can't fix ourselves. We need a Savior.
Making every decision a good or bad choice is dangerous because it makes manipulation very possible. It awakens our fallen nature that looks for favor to cover it's transgression.
God has a different economy for us to function in.
"The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." - Romans 14:22-23 ESV
This example uses food as the example. The chapter deals with food sacrificed to idols which was a common practice in Rome at the time. Did the fact that certain food had been sacrificed to idols taint it for consumption? Did someones else's actions turn a neutral action into a BLACK OR WHITE decision?
The scripture does not turn to the law to get an answer. No. The shift is made to love and care.
" 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food' - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." - 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 ESV
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV
Some make seeking other people's good a new law but it isn't. We are free. All ten commandment are reiterated in the new testament. The Sabbath went from a day to a continual state of mind but the other nine can be found almost exactly as they were given to Moses.
Still. We are free. We are not under law. Those who believe are under grace. We can just make choices by faith within the framework of The faith. That leaves us a large free space.
"He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me." - Psalm 18:16-19 ESV
The current can drag us in a direction but God rescues us from a 'this way' or 'that way' mentality. Grace places us in freedom. Fear is removed. Liberty is assured.
--
A common error is the BLACK OR WHITE one or to put it is more modern terms the RIGHT OR WRONG fallacy. This argument boils everything down to two choices. A good one or a bad one. It has people looking back and making moral decisions they they likely didn't make at the time as they are cross examined about the past.
We can do this to ourselves. Some folks are very prone to this. Why didn't I do this? If I only did that then this other thing wouldn't have happened. One decision is demonized and the other one is glorified.
Sure. There are clear cut decisions we make that follow this pattern. Temptation and pressure of some kind is often involved. It is an error to think that every decision we make is either a good one or a bad one.
"Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 ESV
Sad to say... There are Churches today where the 'law of Moses is read.' There are homes like this. People blame religion but read this next passage carefully.
"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" - Romans 2:14-15 ESV
Fallen men accuse or excuse. Religion has little to do with it. Systems form around this very human tendency. Only a judge has this right. God's mercy has prevailed over His judgement at the cross. He is not accusing or excusing. In His mind that stage of Judgement has passed. He has made a ruling. Those in Christ are in one category and those who are not are in another. End of story.
God gave the law for a purpose and it is holy but it was not given to be tool of conformity only. It was given to reveal the fall of man to those who had become familiar with it's affects.
"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." - Romans 3:19-20 ESV
The law makes a category of things BLACK OR WHITE.
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead." - Romans 7:7-8 ESV
Then we realize that once we know something is wrong will still want to do it. We might even want to do it more than before. It reveals something crucial to us. We are broken and can't fix ourselves. We need a Savior.
Making every decision a good or bad choice is dangerous because it makes manipulation very possible. It awakens our fallen nature that looks for favor to cover it's transgression.
God has a different economy for us to function in.
"The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." - Romans 14:22-23 ESV
This example uses food as the example. The chapter deals with food sacrificed to idols which was a common practice in Rome at the time. Did the fact that certain food had been sacrificed to idols taint it for consumption? Did someones else's actions turn a neutral action into a BLACK OR WHITE decision?
The scripture does not turn to the law to get an answer. No. The shift is made to love and care.
" 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food' - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." - 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 ESV
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV
Some make seeking other people's good a new law but it isn't. We are free. All ten commandment are reiterated in the new testament. The Sabbath went from a day to a continual state of mind but the other nine can be found almost exactly as they were given to Moses.
Still. We are free. We are not under law. Those who believe are under grace. We can just make choices by faith within the framework of The faith. That leaves us a large free space.
"He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me." - Psalm 18:16-19 ESV
The current can drag us in a direction but God rescues us from a 'this way' or 'that way' mentality. Grace places us in freedom. Fear is removed. Liberty is assured.
--
Monday, September 14, 2015
The Recognition Of The Invisible Participant
"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:3-8 ESV
Saturday my meditation as I went to our outreach meeting was on how the believer senses God as an invisible participant in every event and situation and how the soul winner is a person that not only senses all the participants but wants everyone to be introduced and recognized... both visible and invisible. This person introduces principles and ideas but they never stand by themselves. They are presented in way of introduction. A minister of reconciliation reveals the invisible person and by doing that the visible people are recognized and a way is made to reconcile the visible participants to one another.
Then yesterday I built on this thought by shuffling pecking orders in my mind.
If there are three people (one invisible) then who is first, second and third? Is there an order? If there is a social order are we aware of it or in denial of it?
Are there rotations of order? If the same three people are present does the order change circumstantially?
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," - Philippians 2:1-5 ESV
"And behold, a man came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?'
-
And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.'
-
He said to him, 'Which ones?'
-
And Jesus said, 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " - Matthew 19:16-19 ESV
This post may not be satisfying to some because I'm not going to say this is the order in this situation and that is the order in another situation.
There is a moral order and then there is a spiritual one. The moral order functions by principles and the spiritual one is discerned in God consciousness.
"But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.'
-
And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
-
But God said to Abraham, 'Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.' " - Genesis 21:9-13 ESV
I am sprinkling verses into this post that mean something to me on this subject. Abraham needed to weigh the words of his wife in a different way in that situation. God weighted the scale and those words become heavy. He could not ignore them or discount them without discounting God. God communicated grace to Abraham and gave him promises to confirm that he wasn't being subjective in his thinking.
Grace does that. Grace often reveals a different and unusual order.
Naaman the commander of the Syrian army listened to a servant girl (see 2 Kings 5) and it resulted in him being healed of leprosy.
Shimei walked parallel to David throwing whatever he could find on the found at him while cursing (see 2 Samuel 16) and David let Shimei continue listening for the voice of God in the situation.
I never want the atmosphere of the room to set the pecking order. Many people fall right into an order they do not consciously recognize like cattle. Others resist just because they don't want to conform and that is equally predictable.
I want God to set the order.
Today I want to see God in each situation and be His linen clothed minister functioning in a mercy and grace provision.
--
Saturday my meditation as I went to our outreach meeting was on how the believer senses God as an invisible participant in every event and situation and how the soul winner is a person that not only senses all the participants but wants everyone to be introduced and recognized... both visible and invisible. This person introduces principles and ideas but they never stand by themselves. They are presented in way of introduction. A minister of reconciliation reveals the invisible person and by doing that the visible people are recognized and a way is made to reconcile the visible participants to one another.
Then yesterday I built on this thought by shuffling pecking orders in my mind.
If there are three people (one invisible) then who is first, second and third? Is there an order? If there is a social order are we aware of it or in denial of it?
Are there rotations of order? If the same three people are present does the order change circumstantially?
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," - Philippians 2:1-5 ESV
"And behold, a man came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?'
-
And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.'
-
He said to him, 'Which ones?'
-
And Jesus said, 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " - Matthew 19:16-19 ESV
This post may not be satisfying to some because I'm not going to say this is the order in this situation and that is the order in another situation.
There is a moral order and then there is a spiritual one. The moral order functions by principles and the spiritual one is discerned in God consciousness.
"But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.'
-
And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
-
But God said to Abraham, 'Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.' " - Genesis 21:9-13 ESV
I am sprinkling verses into this post that mean something to me on this subject. Abraham needed to weigh the words of his wife in a different way in that situation. God weighted the scale and those words become heavy. He could not ignore them or discount them without discounting God. God communicated grace to Abraham and gave him promises to confirm that he wasn't being subjective in his thinking.
Grace does that. Grace often reveals a different and unusual order.
Naaman the commander of the Syrian army listened to a servant girl (see 2 Kings 5) and it resulted in him being healed of leprosy.
Shimei walked parallel to David throwing whatever he could find on the found at him while cursing (see 2 Samuel 16) and David let Shimei continue listening for the voice of God in the situation.
I never want the atmosphere of the room to set the pecking order. Many people fall right into an order they do not consciously recognize like cattle. Others resist just because they don't want to conform and that is equally predictable.
I want God to set the order.
Today I want to see God in each situation and be His linen clothed minister functioning in a mercy and grace provision.
--
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Spiritual Profit In A Fallen World
" 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food' - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!" - 1 Corinthians 6:12-15 ESV
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV
Wow.
I marvel at these verses. The legalist cringes and wrestles with them and seeks to make them fit into decent society.
Are we that free? Yes. Yes we are. Jesus has satisfied the legal requirements for righteousness. Our conscience needs to adjust to this. We lean towards morality. The problems with that system are many.
Jesus had no moral failings. We can't even live up to our standards much less God's standards.
If we choose morality all that waits down the road for us is failure. Fallen man must fail in that arena.
Grace is our answer. It is dangerous radical answer. It is also our salvation in every way.
God isn't ever going to wag His finger at us. Never. People pull verses out of the Hebrew scriptures of God doing this to Israel but God did it to demonstrate to us a method that doesn't work. Jesus appears in the world to an Israel that is under Roman rule. Israel should have been a world power but it was a subjugated province. Rules maybe right but they can't transform.
God is holy. He will never endorse sin. He also will never us rules to get us to be righteous. He made us righteous by placing us into His Son. When we believed the cloth of our being was dunked into the righteousness of God and now we are stained that color. No law did that. God did it. We didn't even know it happened until we read it later in the scriptures.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 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 5:20-21 ESV
Life is going to do a fine job of beating us down. Living in a fallen world has many pitfalls. Cancer. Death. Heartache. Disappointments. Crazy things happen all the time because man is stupid and short sighted. God isn't going to hit us with the rules on top of all that.
God gives us grace so that we can have profitable lives in this fallen world. We can choose against our belly and it's desires. We can choose love and compassion. We can live free. We can fail and get back up again. God isn't even going to mention the failure. He will reward us handsomely for our decisions made by faith.
Grace makes us lights or hope in the darkness.
I don't want to settle for less than that.
--
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV
Wow.
I marvel at these verses. The legalist cringes and wrestles with them and seeks to make them fit into decent society.
Are we that free? Yes. Yes we are. Jesus has satisfied the legal requirements for righteousness. Our conscience needs to adjust to this. We lean towards morality. The problems with that system are many.
Jesus had no moral failings. We can't even live up to our standards much less God's standards.
If we choose morality all that waits down the road for us is failure. Fallen man must fail in that arena.
Grace is our answer. It is dangerous radical answer. It is also our salvation in every way.
God isn't ever going to wag His finger at us. Never. People pull verses out of the Hebrew scriptures of God doing this to Israel but God did it to demonstrate to us a method that doesn't work. Jesus appears in the world to an Israel that is under Roman rule. Israel should have been a world power but it was a subjugated province. Rules maybe right but they can't transform.
God is holy. He will never endorse sin. He also will never us rules to get us to be righteous. He made us righteous by placing us into His Son. When we believed the cloth of our being was dunked into the righteousness of God and now we are stained that color. No law did that. God did it. We didn't even know it happened until we read it later in the scriptures.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 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 5:20-21 ESV
Life is going to do a fine job of beating us down. Living in a fallen world has many pitfalls. Cancer. Death. Heartache. Disappointments. Crazy things happen all the time because man is stupid and short sighted. God isn't going to hit us with the rules on top of all that.
God gives us grace so that we can have profitable lives in this fallen world. We can choose against our belly and it's desires. We can choose love and compassion. We can live free. We can fail and get back up again. God isn't even going to mention the failure. He will reward us handsomely for our decisions made by faith.
Grace makes us lights or hope in the darkness.
I don't want to settle for less than that.
--
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Anarchistic Systems
Anarchistic systems can only exist surrounded by ordered society. They are parasitic in nature. Once the host begins to die they die also.
Prophecy states that it will only take three and a half years for Antichrist's work to begin to self destruct.
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." - 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4 KJV
It will implode. God will turn up the heat and what seems like new liberty, unprecedented advancements of science and an evolutionary quantum leap for humanity will be revealed as a sink hole waiting to happen. The bottom will fall out and betrayal and blame will abound. The extermination of religion and religious people in the name of science and reason will degrade into the extermination of one another.
"Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ESV
When lawlessness overwhelms order it's host can no longer sustain it. God allows this to happen. So that the true cancerous nature of a thing can be revealed.
"Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?" - Proverbs 6:27 KJV
Evil feeds on moral structures. Grace provides a structure that is not moral in nature. It has good outcomes that people see through a lens of morality but it is not moral.
Morality alone is a breeding place for evil. Moral structures are the devil's petri dish. Evil is sustained when those structures are sustained. People think the return of morality will defeat evil but they are only feeding the fire. Only spirituality can defeat evil because it provides a hostile environment for the organism to live and reproduce.
Jesus had a three year ministry also but when the heat came he did not collapse. His foundation was solid. His kingdom is an everlasting and unshakable one. He lived in grace, truth, love, mercy, honor and mission. Evil has to twist what He did into a moral framework in order to use it. That has been done in a thousand different ways... but perfect love still casts out fear and unadulterated grace is still the light which dispels darkness.
The grace of God and the cross of Christ produces overcomers. It produces people that don't have to fold under pressure because they don't even see the heat when it comes.
People often choose the road of false temporary peace if it is offered to them. Grace is glorious but not easy. There is apposition and warfare but it is sourced in a system that will survive time. It will not be forgotten nor will anyone who comes in alignment with it's goals be forgotten.
If I am kind today it is because God has conquered me with His love. It may not be the polished politeness that culture instructs us to operate in but I'd rather have a kindness that is solid then live in a structure that could buckle at any moment and is doomed to future failure.
---
Prophecy states that it will only take three and a half years for Antichrist's work to begin to self destruct.
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." - 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4 KJV
It will implode. God will turn up the heat and what seems like new liberty, unprecedented advancements of science and an evolutionary quantum leap for humanity will be revealed as a sink hole waiting to happen. The bottom will fall out and betrayal and blame will abound. The extermination of religion and religious people in the name of science and reason will degrade into the extermination of one another.
"Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ESV
When lawlessness overwhelms order it's host can no longer sustain it. God allows this to happen. So that the true cancerous nature of a thing can be revealed.
"Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?" - Proverbs 6:27 KJV
Evil feeds on moral structures. Grace provides a structure that is not moral in nature. It has good outcomes that people see through a lens of morality but it is not moral.
Morality alone is a breeding place for evil. Moral structures are the devil's petri dish. Evil is sustained when those structures are sustained. People think the return of morality will defeat evil but they are only feeding the fire. Only spirituality can defeat evil because it provides a hostile environment for the organism to live and reproduce.
Jesus had a three year ministry also but when the heat came he did not collapse. His foundation was solid. His kingdom is an everlasting and unshakable one. He lived in grace, truth, love, mercy, honor and mission. Evil has to twist what He did into a moral framework in order to use it. That has been done in a thousand different ways... but perfect love still casts out fear and unadulterated grace is still the light which dispels darkness.
The grace of God and the cross of Christ produces overcomers. It produces people that don't have to fold under pressure because they don't even see the heat when it comes.
People often choose the road of false temporary peace if it is offered to them. Grace is glorious but not easy. There is apposition and warfare but it is sourced in a system that will survive time. It will not be forgotten nor will anyone who comes in alignment with it's goals be forgotten.
If I am kind today it is because God has conquered me with His love. It may not be the polished politeness that culture instructs us to operate in but I'd rather have a kindness that is solid then live in a structure that could buckle at any moment and is doomed to future failure.
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