OTHER WRITINGS: This truth we must not deny
OTHER WRITINGS: II Corinthians 5:18-20
Bad Religion Lacks Christian Wisdom
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Table of
Contents
APPENDIX has a
poem I wrote called DILIGENCE TO DETAIL.
Thankfully,
our standard of living has increased with the help of a wide variety of
endeavors and livelihoods. One example is the individuals dedicated to the top
rate management of manufacturing and administrative concerns. Thankfully also,
we have individuals dedicated to the top rate management of human spirituality.
For these people help to increase our standard of living in ways people in no
other profession can. Spouses, parents, friends, teachers, community leaders
and religious leaders are some good examples of these dedicated individuals. I
wrote this document to help primarily this area of endeavor.
I
wanted to reflect in writing one specific perspective on this subject. I
believe that this perspective goes from a realistic way of conduct to an idealistic
force of positive change. I believe that this perspective ought to be asserted
but rarely is strongly enough into practical living and therefore it is a
perspective important enough to write about. I've done this, ultimately for the
comfort and edification of us all. This perspective has an emphasis for the
healing and growth of demoralized and devastated victims of bad religion.
I
did not intend to write this document in some satirical or other humorous
style. I do not recall if some entertainer once expressed that performing death
is easy but performing humor is hard. I'd like to also express that
"dying" at humor is easy too! It is a special way to write. I chose
the language and poetry to be basic sermonizing in the belief that eventually
the greatest beneficial impact will be made this way, to any endeavor and to
any style of writing. The style of this document reflects to a degree the way
the perspective first dawned on me.
PROLOGUE
I
have written this material so that as it becomes widely read, reflected and
acted upon, its value to me increases with the extent it has been increased for
everyone else.
People
have always been political creatures. Sometimes it is politically expedient to
have very little public record of one's thoughts and convictions. But people
must not be afraid to achieve openness and understanding with one another. The
best power is thoughts and convictions. And the most powerful society is a
pluralistic one - pluralistic as far as that the reality of a diverse set of
thoughts and convictions tests and discovers what is universally true for human
society.
I
have written in consideration for some level of "political
correctness". However, I don't think this is the best term to describe the
effort I have made. To me, "political correctness" is akin to being
considerate of human feelings and providing dignity to human emotion with
gentle and ever consistent encouragement with the objective to uplift the human
spirit. What I think this term should not mean is that it is automatically
illegal to offend human feelings with human expression. For this would go
against Article 1 in additions to and amendments of the Constitution of the
I
considered how extensively I would write this document to cross over to other
disciplines. I want very much that the many discipline and endeavors (each with
their own unique vocabulary) would show the great principles I've asserted thru
the vocabulary of this theological and religious discipline. However I trust
that this can be continued in some other way at some other time.
This
document represents my first joyous desire to write. I trust that writing will
continue in some other way at some other time.
INTRODUCTION
We
are prone to strong emotional awareness from time to time. We experience
anything from joy to grief, peace to anxiety, satisfaction to hopelessness,
love to hate and all the others. And we experience them combined in a variety
of ways. It is possible to ask why we feel the way we do. Hopefully, I have
provided a sober-minded answer for us.
CHAPTER 1: BY THEIR FRUIT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM
"Watch
out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick
grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize
them."
I
get the title for this chapter from Matthew 7:16 & 20, the New
International Version of the Bible.
What
is the great principle Jesus informs us of in this section of Matthew chapter
7? What does Jesus mean when He mentions the word "fruit?" I assert
that "fruit" means the quality of one's life stemming from the
quality of one's emotional state of being stemming from one's spiritual
condition.
Our
emotions are also wonderful God-given servants to us in that they provide us
with essential information that our intellect cannot. If our intellect acknowledges
this revelation about our emotions then we are well on our way to that level of
well-being with God, which He has designed us to have.
Sober-mindedness
is not a blocking out or suppression of our emotions but recognition of the
information our emotions provide us. Consider the wonderful revelation about
our emotions and lives set forth in Galatians 5:22-23, "The fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control." Consider how these qualities of life are
integrated with our emotions. We are able to feel these things and so recognize
our spiritual condition.
The
fruit of God's Spirit (our well-being with Him) clearly informs us of the
contrary distinction from evil destructive forms of emotion that we all suffer
from. Such emotions include anxiety, guilt, grief, envy and all other temptations.
If
we acknowledge the assertion that the fruit of the Spirit at any time does not
include the bad fruit of destructive emotions then I believe we are arriving at
that level of well-being with God that He has designed us to have. Stated
another way, if we acknowledge that anxiety, guilt, grief, envy and all other
temptations are NOT of God then I believe we are arriving at that level of
well-being with God that He has designed us to have. Stated in yet another way,
if we acknowledge that the emotional conditions of love which are joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control CAN
ONLY BE PRODUCED BY GOD because they are the fruit of God's Holy Spirit
and the emotional conditions of evil such as anxiety, guilt, grief, envy and
all other temptations CANNOT BE PRODUCED BY GOD because they are not of God's
Holy Spirit, then I believe we are arriving at that level of well-being with
God that He has designed us to have! God is sovereign and directs everything,
including evil. But evil is not of God. We must not become confused on this
point because Jesus says, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad
tree cannot bear good fruit." And God's Holy Spirit thru Christ is the
good tree. His sovereign control of evil is simply a tool for the holiness of
His spirit. For the Holy Spirit is most special. Evil is just a contrast to
what is good - contributing to our recognition between the two. In fully
experiencing joy, one can know the lack of it.
A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
James
1:16-18 says, "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through
the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."
Only
God can create the condition of us having the fruit of His spirit. Only God can
do away with the emotions and conditions of evil. We must not be deceived. Every
good and perfect gift is from God and God alone! God is the source of our
emotional well-being and without Him being that source, we have no emotional
well-being. For God has the initiative.
So
what then is the great principle Jesus informs us of in Matthew 7:15-20?
Our
emotions are wonderful God-given servants to us for they provide us with
essential information that our intellect cannot. If our intellect acknowledges
this revelation about our emotions then we are well on our way to that level of
well-being with God which can no longer be harmed by unfortunate teachings
coming from words and deeds (the "yeast" mentioned in Matthew
16:1-12) we all produce as influential leaders from time to time. Because, in
this section of Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is also informing us how we recognize
when others are or are not being good for our personal well-being with God.
The
recognition of the information emotions provide us and how this
is extremely useful in relation to other people in our environment is the very,
very important starting point for this document. I will refer to this point
often.
Consider
again the wonderful revelation about our emotions and lives set forth in
Galatians 5:22-23, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
Consider how these qualities of life are integrated with our emotions. We are
able to feel these things and so recognize when others are or are
not currently influencing our spirits for the good.
People
who teach us things that when put into practice does not bear emotional
well-being for us are false prophets. We recognize false prophets by our
feelings. They are "bad trees" because they "bear bad
fruit". People who teach us things that when put into practice bears
emotional well-being for us are God's true prophets. We recognize God's
prophets by our feelings. They are "good trees" because they
"bear good fruit". I give examples of what I believe to be some true
and false teachings later throughout this document. These can be recognized
to be true or false by the fruit yielded when put into practice.
I
assert that the principle of rational and empirical scientific research is what
Jesus is teaching in Matthew 7:15-20. The hypothesis of whether a particular
teaching is good or bad can be rationally tested in the laboratory of practical
application. The empirical results are our feelings and so a particular
theory of what is good can be recognized as fact or not.
To
recognize when others are or are not being good for our personal
well-being with God, we apply the fruit test to their teachings and also
examine how they are treating us. We are able to recognize with our feelings
when others are treating us correctly or not. Making a determination about
whether we are being treated correctly or not is also a part of the principle
of rational and empirical scientific research.
Unfortunately,
we tend not to believe this about our recognition from feelings. For
instance, we are quick to say that it does not feel good to be rebuked by
another yet rebuke is good for us. This is only an excuse for us to be careless
and cruel to people who will not be improperly treated by us. I shall
concentrate more elaborately on the topic and some concepts about rebuke in
chapter 6 of this document but for now let me assert that we can recognize
the difference when others are building up our good character from when they
are just claiming to.
Once
again I refer back to the starting point of this document. It is the first
thing we need to know. I am both reiterating and enhancing it: With both
mind AND HEART are we able to recognize when others are or are not being good
for our personal well-being with God. With both mind AND HEART are we able to
recognize when we have embraced false doctrines of faith in God. With both mind
AND HEART are we able to recognize when our lives begin to go contrary to God's
good will for our lives.
We
are much greater than intelligent creatures. We as human beings have both
intellect and emotion.
It
is God's good will that we be sober-minded human beings who do not suppress our
emotions. Because sober-mindedness is not a blocking out or suppression of our
emotions but recognition of the information our emotions provide us.
Is
the Bible with the New Testament the authentic word of God about Christianity?
I
assert that the best starting assumption we can have about the Bible when
demoralized and devastated from bad religion is, that with more information, we
are more able to assert what the Bible is.
I
have some good information on what the Bible is in a latter chapter of this
document called A Succinct and Vital Message. A review of that now
reveals that the original manuscripts of the vast majority of literature
written from about 500 BC - 200 AD no longer exists. And even though we do not
have the original manuscripts of the New Testament, there is a greater
abundance of existing copies made closer in time to the originals than there
are for any other works of literature written from about 500 BC - 200 AD. This
archeology of writing shows the New Testament we have now to be a highly
reliable and accurate document of the original writings. So the New Testament
has been well established - this perhaps by God thru His use of the human
conduit.
History
sets forth that the Christian writers as well as their non-Christian
counterparts testified that the believers promised never to falsify their word
or to be untrustworthy, even though they were making some outrageous claims -
such as resurrection from death. And when literary analysis sheds light to the
form by which the New Testament originated and was written down, perhaps it is
shedding light on the way God directed it to be. Perhaps the New Testament is
according to God's sovereign will thru His use of the human conduit.
With
this issue aside for now, let us consider some of what the Bible actually says.
For this will greatly help us ascertain the value of it.
A
passage of scripture which unfortunately has traditionally been twisted by us
to everyone's detriment is II Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must
understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own
interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men
spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." It is
and incorrect premise, basic doctrine and practice that the Bible is not
subject to man's interpretation. We have heard it said before, "The Bible
doesn't need to be interpreted. It needs to be obeyed." The problem with
this is that interpretation is an active human trait and it cannot be separated
from any other aspect about us.
From
this passage about scripture we are told that God inspires the Bible. When
literary analysis sheds light to the form by which the scripture originated and
was written down, it is shedding light on the way God directed it to be and
further showing that the scripture is according to His sovereign will thru His
use of the human conduit. For II Peter 1:20-21 shows that God is the origin of
scripture. It reveals that when the form by which the scripture originated and
was written down involved human interpretation, it was done according to God's
sovereign will.
So
the Bible does not merely contain God's word as autonomously interpreted by the
prophets, but is God's word - so when we read it, it is God speaking to us.
I
am setting forth in this chapter the assertion that the Bible with the New
Testament is God's word about Christianity in the belief that this will serve
to help when demoralized and devastated from bad religion.
Some
of the reasoning to this can be explained with an analogy about a geologist's
search for petroleum. If the geologist incorrectly assumes that a given region
of rock strata has a low likelihood of deposits, it might allow a valuable
deposit to be entirely missed.
In
reaction to being demoralized and devastated from bad religion, we might assume
incorrectly that God does not have sovereign authorship of the Bible thru His
use of His control of the human conduit. But then we might miss something
valuable in the Bible.
I
have come to believe that the Bible with the New Testament is the authentic
word of God about Christianity. But this has happened as much in part to the
effort of carefully considering and examining what the Bible says from what the
Bible is.
Consider
that II Peter 1:20-21 does not teach that scripture is not subject to
man's interpretation. Even though the Bible does not merely contain God's word
as autonomously interpreted by the prophets, but is God's word, the Bible
itself is subject to man's interpretation. And it is God's will and
revelation that it is subject to man's interpretation, not man's will and
revelation. For Mark 4:23-24 says, "If any one has ears to hear, let
him hear. Consider carefully what you hear. With the measure you use, it will
be measured to you - and even more." And Hebrews 2:1 says, "We
must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we
do not drift away."
Jesus
teaches and commands us that we are to consider carefully what we hear (read)
when God speaks. We are to measure our considerations and examinations
(interpretations) in order to recognize if our interpretations are good for us or
not. The measure to use is the felt fruit of the Spirit that our
practiced interpretations bear, which reassures us that they are what God has
willed them to be.
Simply
opening up our concordances and teaching our intellects every verse of
scripture on any particular subject does not give us the reliable measure to
know if they all have been properly interpreted.
The
hypothesis of whether a particular interpretation is good or evil can be
rationally tested in the laboratory of practical application. The empirical
results are our feelings and so a particular theory of what is good can
be recognized as fact or not.
Unfortunately
we claim that the heart deceives us and its emotions are unreliable for
understanding good or evil. We badly twist Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is
deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
This
passage of scripture does not say that the heart deceives above all things. It
also does not ask who can understand what is good or evil by it. The devil is
the one who deceives above all things. The devil's affliction to the heart of a
victim is beyond the victim's own ability to cure but not beyond God's ability
to cure thru the form of other human good stewards. No one can understand the
heart better than God but what emotes from the heart is completely reliable to
be measured by the fruit of the Spirit. For Psalm 49:3b says, "the
utterance from my heart will give understanding."
Once
again I reiterate that we are to measure our considerations and examinations
(interpretations) in order to recognize if our interpretations are good for us
or not. The measure to use is the felt fruit of the Spirit that our
practiced interpretations bear, which reassures us that they are what God has
willed them to be. We discover in Matthew 7:15-20 with Mark 4:23-24 that
God teaches and commands us to do this.
I
believe that God endorses this principle of rational and empirical scientific
research. For with it, we learn about Him and about the universe and about His
will.
Throughout
this document I will show what I believe to be some ways that we can practice
this principle by the interpretation of certain passages of scripture that
produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is different from interpretation, we
have too often unfortunately embraced.
During
our Bible studies, we must apply principle and not let evil happen by believing
evil doctrine from any unfortunate false prophecies. Instead, we must expose
evil doctrines using this principle.
We
should urge one another to never neglect reading the Bible and filling up the
intellect. But we should also urge one another to never neglect the formulation
of practiced interpretation that produces the fruit of the Spirit.
Philippians
3:15b says, "And if on some point you think differently, that too God
will make clear to you." If we find our interpretations differ, we can
be cognizant of each other's feelings in knowing the reasons
about the specific differences.
Those
of us who demoralize and devastate us with bad religion carelessly and
sometimes maliciously mishandle the authority of the Bible. But as seen from
this chapter, we all can assert the authority of the Bible so that everyone may
benefit. Those of us who are demoralized and devastated as well as those of us
who have demoralized and devastated must utilize the Bible carefully.
CHAPTER 3: GOD HAS THE INITIATIVE, AND IT IS ONLY
THRU HIS CONTROL OF THE CONDUIT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS
If
we acknowledge that the emotional conditions of love which are joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control CAN
ONLY BE PRODUCED BY GOD because they are the fruit of God's Holy Spirit
and the emotional conditions of evil such as anxiety, guilt, grief, envy and
all other temptations CANNOT BE PRODUCED BY GOD because they are not of God's
Holy Spirit, then I believe we are arriving at that level of well-being with
God that He has designed us to have! God is sovereign and directs everything,
including evil. But evil is not of God. We must not become confused on this
point because Jesus says, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad
tree cannot bear good fruit." And God's Holy Spirit thru Christ is the
good tree. His sovereign control of evil is simply a tool for the holiness of
His Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is most special. Evil is just a contrast to
what is good - contributing to our recognition between the two. In fully
experiencing joy, one can know the lack of it.
A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
James
1:16-18 says, "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through
the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he
created."
Only
God can create the condition of us having the fruit of His Spirit. Only God can
do away with the emotions and conditions of evil. We must not be deceived. Every
good and perfect gift is from God and God alone! God is the source of our
emotional well-being and without Him being that source, we have no emotional
well-being. For God has the initiative.
BUT
HOW DOES GOD HAVE THE INITIATIVE AS THE SOURCE OF OUR SPIRITUAL/EMOTIONAL
WELL-BEING?!
God
has the initiative as the source of our emotional well-being ONLY thru the form
of other human beings!
This is revealed from Genesis 1:26-28, Matthew 24:45 & 25:14-30 and Luke
12:35-48. For since God rules heaven and earth and since He created and
commanded man to subdue it (bring it under subjection), if we keep His command
to serve well in wise management (good stewardship) then humankind indeed is
the culmination of God's ever present creativity and providence. For God rules
heaven and He rules the earth thru His control of the human conduit. This is
His design.
It
has been suggested to me that God is the source of our well-being thru many
things other than only the human conduit - such as the sun and the rain. But I
assert that even good weather does not benefit when one is mistreated by
others. And in bad or even good weather, there is no well-being when one is
neglected by others. So God is the source only thru His control of the
human conduit.
Now,
everyone every day is primarily dependent on and vulnerable to God thru other
human beings for emotional well-being. The primary responsibility for and
control over our emotional well-being always belongs to God thru other
human beings and never to us. It is the condition our entire lives. Even
in adulthood, we are never primarily responsible for our sense of well-being.
This responsibility still belongs to God thru other human beings. And the
primary responsibility for the emotional well-being of other human beings still
belongs to God thru us. God has the initiative, and it is only thru His
control of the human conduit.
Conventional
thought has the notion that a person is adult when he or she successfully and
autonomously becomes the primary human that God works thru in achieving his or
her own emotional well-being. This is a popular idea. But it is a foolish idea.
What we conventionally think of as a successful and autonomous adult is nothing
more than that the individual is blessed by God, able to live his or her secondary
responsibility to emotional well-being because God, by initiating and
continuing the fulfillment of His primary responsibility thru other human
beings, has already blessed him or her. God, thru other human beings has the
primary responsibility and we have the secondary responsibility towards our
well-being. The secondary responsibility is subordinate and inferior to God's
primary responsibility.
One
of the fruits of God's Spirit is self-control. Look at this. The ability to
autonomously control one's well-being is a blessing from God. It does not
originate from the self. It is help from God. It is not self-help. Without
God's Spirit, there is no self-control. And without the good stewardship of
others, there is no Spirit of God. Yet God has the initiative, and it is only
thru His control of the good stewardship of others. For even I Clement 38:2
says to recognize that one's self-control is a gift from another.
I
assert that we are a world of dependent and vulnerable individuals. This would
be an agonizing truth to hold to if not also for the truth that God, thru the
form of other human beings, meets our dependencies and protects our
vulnerabilities. God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control
of the human conduit.
Unfortunately,
these truths become obscured by apparent contradictions in scripture. Such
passages are Psalm 118:8 which reads, "It is better to take refuge in
the Lord than to trust in man." And Isaiah 2:22 which reads, "Stop
trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?"
and Hebrews 10:38a, which reads, "But my righteous one will live by
faith."
Now
I agree that we must have faith that God, not human beings, is the source of
our spiritual/emotional well-being. But how is God the source?! AND HOW
IS FAITH PRODUCED?!
Romans
10:14, 15 & 17 raises several vital questions and asserts a very profound
answer. In light of this I now raise those same questions and answer about us:
How, then, can we call on the one we have not believed in? And how can we believe
in the one of whom we have not heard? And how can we hear without someone
preaching to us? And how can we preach unless we are sent? As it is quoted from
Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard
thru the word of Christ.
I
assert that "the word of Christ" refers to the goodness of God
thru the form of other human beings. And I assert that God produces faith thru
the human conduit. Faith is a gift of God. It is given as He meets His primary
responsibility for our well-being thru other human beings. Faith is not
an achievement of any individual. Faith, like grace and all other blessings
(even obedience to God), is a gift from the initiative of God. Ephesians 2:8,
Romans 1:5 and John 15:5c reveals this.
All
of us can recall painful personal experiences where we have suffered the
negative feelings of sin aching inside us as the result of being mistreated and
wrongly spoken to. And this coming from someone we were depending on to treat
us in a proper and dignified fashion! And this coming from someone we were
relying on to tell us something positive and attractive about ourselves! Well,
"the word of Christ" - the message - the good news is recognizable
in the actions we treat one another with and in the words we say towards one
another. That is why Jesus promises in Matthew 12:36 that "will men
have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they
have spoken."
This
is also why Jesus instructs us in Matthew 18:1-4 as follows: "At that
time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand
among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and
become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven." A person has to be very humbled to admit that
like a little child, his or her dependencies and vulnerabilities are primarily
out of his or her control.
Jesus
continues to instruct in Matthew 18:5-7, "And whoever welcomes a little
child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a
large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the
sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such
things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!"
We see that Jesus has a most severe statement for people who cause others to
sin and experience its accompanying emotional suffering. It is just like the
cruel and/or careless parent who exasperates the child in training, which
Ephesians 6:4 commands against.
Jesus
continues to instruct in Matthew 18:8-9. He is instructing humbled people who
acknowledge that their dependencies and vulnerabilities are just like a little
child's among big grown men. Jesus instructs, "If your hand or your
foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown
into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it
away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and
be thrown into the fire of hell."
Unfortunately,
we all sin because of the evil thru others. And others sin because of the evil
thru us. Matthew 18:5-7 reveals this. In humility and vulnerability, we are to
choose to be temporarily disabled from the trauma of cutting and gouging the
people out of our lives who are causing sin in our lives because of the evil
thru them. Often there is loneliness and isolation. Yet it will pass away. For
we shall gain (not the earning of but the increasing in) new and great faith,
self-assertiveness and self-confidence as God ministers the words and deeds of
Christ in the form of other human beings - new people - who are ministers both
of Christ Jesus and Christ the church. We would remain disabled if not for
these other people who are ministers of Christ. Thankfully God is faithful thru
the human conduit to His primary responsibility and control for the well-being
of the disabled. God has the initiative and it is only thru His control
of the good stewardship of others.
The
church is the goodness and kindness of God in human form. And it is how God
meets our dependencies and protects our vulnerabilities. When people humbly and
vulnerably acknowledge that their emotional well-being is like a little child's
among big grown men, other individuals in the church become essential for their
emotional well-being because God has connected His invisible heavenly realm to
earth thru human form. Matthew 18 is the chapter I have just begun to share. It
is where Jesus teaches His disciples that to be great in the
Continuing
in Matthew 18:16-20 Jesus says, "But if he will not listen, take one or
two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of
two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the
church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would
a pagan or a tax collector. "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven.”Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about
anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where
two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." In
Matthew chapter 18, Jesus sets forth for humble and vulnerable people the two
extreme points of a continuum; if a person will not cooperate in the forgiving
love of God at the local church, he is a loathsome creature - not to be
associated with and if the local church will not cooperate in the forgiving
love of God with a person, that local church is a loathsome assembly to be cut
off and gouged out by that person. It is of maximum importance that there be
fair terms to joint and collective human ventures otherwise we "tie God's
hands" in His goodness towards us. Yet God has the initiative of all
goodness, and it is only thru His control of the human conduit.
I
John 4:12 says, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,
God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." John
20:23 says, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you
do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Yet God has the
initiative of forgiveness for all, and it is only thru His control of
the human conduit.
We
all know that the world of human beings we live in can be a very unsafe place.
Unfortunately we too often wrongly make deterrence the god of our salvation
from this dangerous world. I have written on the topic and some concepts about
deterrence in chapter 6 of this document but for now I shall state this: Once
we hold fast to the truths asserted about our dependencies/vulnerabilities and
that God, only thru the form of other human beings is the source of our
well-being, then we will eagerly desire to hold other people to treat us with
the very highest standards of goodness. We hold others to high standards of
treatment - by God's will and initiative - with the persistent assertion of our
needs. Read Luke 11:1-13 and 18:1-8a. Once these truths are held fast, others
will want to treat us the way they know they thoroughly need to be
treated and we too will want to treat others the way we know we
thoroughly need to be treated. Then the world will be safer with God's truer
presence. For self-assertiveness is a gift from the initiative of God.
This
is what Luke 11:1-13 and 18:1-8a says, "One day Jesus was praying in a
certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord,
teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them,
"When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom
come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our
daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against
us. And lead us not into temptation.'" Then he said to them, "Suppose
one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend
me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me,
and I have nothing to set before him.' "Then the one inside answers,
'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in
bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get
up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's
boldness and persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he
who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of
you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if
he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in
heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" "Then Jesus told
his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give
up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God
nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him
with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he
refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care
about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets
justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And
the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not
God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?
Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice,
and quickly."
Often,
we pray to the invisible God. It does have important therapeutic value to us.
But it easily becomes a misplaced emphasis to what the full measure of prayer
is. The discourse I've been making from Matthew chapter 18 touches on the
subject of self-assertiveness, which is the broader reality of prayer. To
paraphrase; "If even just two of us agree about anything asked
for, it will be done by our Father in heaven." In additional related
passages to the accounts from Luke 11 & 18 of the Lord's Prayer and
teaching on prayer, Matthew 6:7-8 with 18:18-19 helps reveal that our prayers
do not babble on as though God hears us because of many words. For we know God
is near to us when, as we ask of Him thru others, He answers thru them.
Nehemiah's prayer to God thru the emperor and God's answer to Nehemiah thru
that emperor is a good example of real practical prayer. And I am referring to
the first 2 chapters of the book of Nehemiah.
There
is an analogy about the difference between a heavenly society and a hellish one
which sheds even more proper light on what I am asserting: There is a big pot
of food. Around this are all the people. Instead of hands, everyone has a very
long spoon on each arm. Each individual vainly attempts to feed himself because
it is the conventional belief that it is the individual's function to do so.
And so they are starving. Those who recognize that the individual is
designed to feed the food to others and not to self will be fed when they find
one another.
The
famous twenty-third Psalm verses 1-3 say, "The Lord is my shepherd, I
shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside
quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake." How does God lead us beside the
quiet waters of emotional well-being? Hosea 11:4 says, "I led them with
cords of human kindness, with ties of love."
"With
cords of human kindness I led them,
with ties of love.
Hosea 11:4 is the precedent to know what is
or is not from above."
This
is an excerpt from a poem I wrote. APPENDIX contains the entire poem.
We
are not realizing that only thru the form of other human beings
does God lead us beside the quiet waters of emotional well-being. We are not
repenting of the sin of not realizing how God is the source of
emotional well-being. We sin the sin of the descendants of Ephraim. Ephraim was
not Joseph's first born yet
I
quoted from Galatians 5:22-23 in chapter 1 of this document about the fruit of
the Spirit. Unfortunately, we are quick to say that in reality, human emotional
well-being comes thru the Holy Spirit and not thru human beings. But this is a
falsehood. Emotional well-being comes from the Holy Spirit of God the
Father only thru the form of other human beings. John 14:25-27 asserts
this truth, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But
the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will
teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Jesus asserts that the father sends the Holy Spirit to us in Christ's name.
This sets forth that God imparts the Holy Spirit to us only thru the form of
other human beings because once again, I assert that CHRIST refers to the
goodness of God thru the form of other human beings. Reread Psalm 23:2-3, Hosea
11:4 and Matthew 18:20. For CHRIST'S NAME SAKE God leads us with His kindness only
thru the form of other human beings. Peace, one of the fruits of the Spirit, is
what Jesus Christ gave His disciples and gives to us thru the form of other
humans being His ministers.
All
of us will better know of God's glory when we can more readily recognize
and realize good from evil. I devoted chapter 1 of this document to the
subject of recognition. Here in chapter 3 of this document I have been
asserting a truth I believe our recognition and realization
must acknowledge. I John 4:2 asserts it this way: "This is how you
can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from God." God is the source of our
spiritual/emotional well-being only thru "the flesh" -
thru other human beings, which is by His control. Our recognition and
realization must acknowledge this!
Jesus
says in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me." No one comes to God
except thru other human beings that are being Christ-like.
I
Corinthians 3:11 asserts, "For no one can lay any foundation other than
the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." Psalm 118:22-24
and Philippians 2:5-8 reveals to us that the foundation stone of the message of
the cross is that Christ is God thru the form of other human beings.
Let
us not reject the foundation stone. THIS DAY LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD AS
MINISTERS OF CHRIST FOR ONE ANOTHER!
I
recall an acquaintance of mine that was groping for a reason to why his wife
had left him. He told me that God took his wife away so that he would rely on
God directly and not thru any human being. But I assert that God took his wife
away so they both would rely on God thru the whole church and not only thru
each other. Look at what Jesus says in Luke 20:34-35, "The people of
this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered
worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead
will neither marry nor be given in marriage." Saying this, Jesus helps
to reveal that one relies on God only thru the whole church and never thru just
one other individual. Only in the environment of ever increasing aggregate and
synergistic loving, does any two individuals recognize if and when to
marry - a joy. God's design is that the whole world of human beings be
His church, His body. All of us in the world can come, two or more, together in
Christ's name.
Unfortunately,
marriages are not always in Christ's name. The two become one, but not always
in Christ's name. For the two to become one in Christ's name, the two must be
interdependent also with the rest of the church.
Let
us look some more at the church, Christ's body. In the next chapter of this
document I will write on the topic and some concepts about putting sin to death
with God's grace. In reference to this, Romans 7:4a says, "My brothers,
you died to the law through the body of Christ." And Hebrews 10:10b
says, "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all." Now this chapter asserts that only
thru the human conduit is God the source of well-being. What is the "one
body" mentioned in Ephesians 4:4? In reference to the just quoted
Romans 7:4a and Hebrews 10:10b, Ephesians 2:15-16 reveals that Jesus Christ
abolishes the law in His flesh, reconciling in this one body. And Colossians
1:22 & 24 reveals that in this reconciling by Christ's physical body,
apostle Paul fills in his flesh what is still lacking in regards to Christ's
afflictions for the sake of His body which is the church. And Ephesians 5:31-32
reveals that Christ and the church is one flesh. And Colossians 2:17-19 with I
Corinthians 11:29 reveals that one has lost connection with the Head when
puffed up with idle notions about reality instead of recognizing the
body of the Lord connected to the Head by its supporting ligaments and sinews.
And Ephesians 4:15-16 with Hosea 11:4 reveals that one instead grows into
Christ the Head joined and held together by every supporting ligament of the
whole body; the cords of human kindness; the ties of love.
Therefore
only thru the human conduit is God the source of well-being, of all the
fruit of His Spirit. "For His intent was that now, thru the church, the
manifold wisdom of God should be made known", Ephesians 3:10a.
Jesus
states it this way in John 15:5, 8, 10-12 & 17, "I am the vine; you
are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father's glory, that you
bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. If you obey my commands,
you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and
remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that
your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have
loved you. This is my command: Love each other." Jesus’ point is
that the only way to be in Him, the loving vine, is to obey His command
to love each other.
God,
in His initiative and with His control of the human conduit, shall more and
more bless us all with obedience to His command to love - up to the end of this
age and into the everlasting age to come. For the result will be complete joy.
Matthew
4:19 states, "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and
I will make you fishers of men." God fished the first followers thru
Jesus. God fished more people thru them. And God cannot fish for others thru us
until He has first fished us thru those whom are already disciples.
Hebrews
9:14 reveals that Jesus always had the eternal Spirit offering Himself
unblemished to God so that the Holy Spirit would now offer Himself thru all
cleansed disciples of service. And Luke 9:23 states, "Then he said to
them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me."
It
is the Holy Spirit of God, which makes a disciple unblemished, not the
cross taken up by him or her. And if the redemptive blessings which fish all
humanity, started by God thru Jesus, are to come after Him, then the Holy
Spirit must offer Himself unblemished thru cross bearing disciples of
sacrifice. For God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control
of the conduit of other human beings - it is the work of the church.
Chapters
8 and 9 of this document continue to explain this more elaborately. Also II
Corinthians 5:18-20 states all this in another wonderful way by saying, "All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave
us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he committed to us
the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though
God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf:
Be reconciled to God."
Unfortunately,
there are contrary opinions to what I am asserting in this chapter. We tend to
believe that I am substituting faith in God with faith in man. I am not doing
that! Let us consider two verses in the book of Hebrews and reconsider I John
4:12. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we
hope for and certain of what we do not see." God is unseen to us but
thru other human beings, we are sure and certain that God and His goodness
exist. I John 4:12 says, "No one has ever seen God; but if we
love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."
Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him." We come to God thru the good
stewardship of other human beings. And God exists only thru the good
stewardship of other human beings. And so we can believe that God exists and
earnestly seek Him. For God has the initiative, and it is only thru His
control of the human conduit.
Unfortunately,
we twist this faith from Hebrews 11:6 into a misplaced emphasis to have faith
in an invisible God who is not revealed thru other human beings. We twist and
then have an excuse to be careless and cruel to humble people who are rightly
depending and being vulnerable on God's goodness thru the form of other human
beings.
We
try to take away what was set forth in chapters 1 and 2 of this document about
what Jesus teaches from Matthew 7:15-20 that we recognize when other
people are being good or evil to us by how we feel from their treatment
and from practicing what they teach. We do this by believing the falsehood that
a lack of emotional well-being is an indication that one is failing in his or
her responsibility to have faith in the invisible God. By this falsehood, God
is limited from being revealed to us thru other human beings.
Therefore,
in reality, the lack of emotional well-being is not an indication of any
failure in one's responsibility to have faith in God but the result of our
unfortunate limits to God in meeting His responsibility for our
spiritual/emotional well-being. This relates to what Jesus rebukes us about as
He did concerning the Pharisees in Matthew 23:4 & 13: "They tie up
heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not
willing to lift a finger to move them. Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You
yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."
We
must not chide each other for having a weak faith. For the primary
responsibility of having faith belongs to God and God alone! And faith in
the invisible God comes only thru the visible God! And God fulfills His
responsibility as the visible God thru Christ, which for us are other humans
being ministers of Christ Jesus. Recall what I wrote earlier from Romans 10:14,
15 & 17 on how God produces faith. We must understand that faith is a gift
of God's love (Ephesians 2:8). The hour of weakening faith is the hour of need.
When, in this hour of need, we first feel loved by God thru others, it becomes
the same hour in which we then start loving ourselves again, not a moment
sooner. God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the
conduit of other human beings.
Consider
this from what I assert in one aspect of the worldly self-help philosophy we
have embraced. I call it the bank loan application analogy. The only way to get
the bank to lend money to you is to demonstrate to the bank that you don't need
the money. This is a small part of the very sick notion that love should be
given only to people who merit it based on a visible, outward indication
that they have worth.
All
human beings have worth solely because of being created by God. I believe all
human beings want to be loved with forgiveness even when they do not show that
they do. Remember that Hebrews 11:1 says; "Now faith is being sure
of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Another
good consideration of this passage is that the giving of love reaps
ever-increasing glory and worth in all human beings regardless of whether there
is initial visible indication of worth. Love is merited solely because
it is required! The giving of love is that part of the creative act making
humankind that which causes God's creation to be "very good"!
(Genesis 1:25-26 with 31a)
In
John 13:12-17 Jesus washes His disciples' feet and says to them, "I
have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you
the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater
than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed
if you do them."
No
man is greater in emotional well-being than the example he is treated with! A
person does not rise up to a level of behavior greater than to the level of
treatment given to him by God thru other human beings. Yet God, in His initiative,
thru His control of the human conduit, shall lift everyone to the highest
level.
We
traditionally have twisted this account of Jesus washing His disciples' feet
solely into the issue of: "What have we done for other people
lately?" This misplaced issue is nothing more than our unfortunate effort
to unfairly control others.
Here
in John chapter 13, Jesus sets the real precedent into motion: "This
is what God has done for us thru the form of a human being!" God
initiated His greatest grace thru human form as Jesus Christ for His disciples.
Then He continued this thru them for others and then thru others for us. We
must not hinder this process of God's grace for ourselves with twisted,
misplaced issues. Otherwise it would not be possible for God to continue His
grace and goodness for others thru us nor would it be fair for us to suppose
so. Yet God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the
human conduit.
"I
have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you
the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater
than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed
if you do them."
No
man is greater in emotional well-being than the example he is treated with! A person
does not rise up to a level of behavior greater than to the level of treatment
given to him by God thru other human beings. This truth is more powerful than
our wills and decision-making capabilities. In chapter 7 of this document, I
have written further about what we have unfortunately said about the
individual's so-called "free will". I believe in the blessing of
self-control, for it is of the fruit of the Spirit. It is Christ living
in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in free will, not having been dead
in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I
am thankful in being granted the benefit of this gift of undergoing the process
of being set free from sin, becoming a slave to God and under the control of
righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.) For now I assert that the ideas the world has
for the power of faith, prayer and its broader reality of self-assertiveness,
positive thinking, self-esteem, good behavior and even obedience to God are not
choices to be practiced in order to receive emotional well-being from God but
are choices that are practiced because of receiving emotional well-being
from God thru the form of other human beings. God has the initiative, and it is
only thru His control of the conduit of other human beings.
God
is good! I assert this! "For Christ's love compels us", II
Corinthians 5:14a. This means God's love in human form leaves us no other
choice than to respond in happiness, goodness and kindness. Let us live the
happiness, goodness and kindness of God in our treatment of one another. For
God, thru us and us alone has primary control over the emotional well-being of
other human beings just as God; thru other human beings and other human beings
alone has primary control over our emotional well-being. God has the
initiative, and it is only thru His control of the human conduit.
We
must understand the proper order of God's love for as I Corinthians 14:33a
says, "God is not a God of disorder." I John 4:19 says, "We
love because he first loved us." We also must understand the proper
conduit of God's love: I John 4:12 says, "No one has ever seen God; but
if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
And look once again at what John 20:21-23 says about forgiveness: "Again
Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the
Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not
forgive the, they are not forgiven."
God's
forgiving love to us is only thru other human beings! Forgiveness does
not always exist in this age but by the end of this age, it always will.
I
believe in the blessing of self-control, for it is of the fruit of the
Spirit. It is Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in
free will, not having been dead in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with
Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I am thankful in being granted the benefit of
this gift of undergoing the process of being set free from sin, becoming a
slave to God and under the control of righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.) I wish to
once again assert that the ideas the world has for the power of faith, prayer
and its broader reality of self-assertiveness, positive thinking, good behavior
and even obedience to God are simply our responses in secondary
responsibility to personal well-being. This is because God took the initiative
as Jesus Christ and continues the initiative thru other ministers of Christ in
His primary responsibility to our well-being. Recall what was said earlier
about secondary responsibility being subordinate and inferior to God's primary
responsibility. God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control
of the human conduit.
Unfortunately,
we tend to claim that my assertions rob a person of the pride and joy that
comes from achieving good behavior with one's self. On the contrary, I am
asserting the very way we are able to get this pride and joy. The pride and joy
that one gets from achieving good behavior with one's self comes from the
blessings of God received by the individual thru the form of other human
beings. Remember that self-control is one of the fruits of God's Spirit. And
His Spirit comes thru the conduit of other human beings.
I
am recalling something an acquaintance of mine has told me. He said not to act
from one's feelings but to act correctly and one's feelings will follow. But in
Matthew 23:25, 28 & 26 Jesus says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. In the same way, on the
outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of
hypocrisy and wickedness. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and
dish, and then the outside also will be clean." It is very unfortunate
that we tend to tell each other that the individual has to clean up his act
before goodness will come into him. But Jesus states that the individual's
heart must be clean. Then outward actions and behaviors will be correct. The
individual cannot clean his own heart. God must clean it. And He does this only
thru the conduit of other human beings. Within this cleansing way of the
church, one is more willing to act correctly and have more of one's feelings
follow.
Richard
Adams wrote a novel entitled, Maia. The protagonist has a special friend
named Occula. Near the conclusion of this happy-ending story, Occula has been
updating Maia about awful recent events, which almost cost her life.
Here are some excerpts from the one hundred fifth chapter, "'Go Maia, as
her friend fell silent. Occula's tale had affected her so deeply that she felt
almost as though she herself had been carried into that other world of terror,
and now also needed help to recover diurnal reality and mundane things. She
wanted - she longed desperately - to hear and chat about living people and
their affairs and fortunes. And Occula must need that, too. 'Tell me about
Bekla. Tell me everything that's happened since I left with Zenka and Anda-Nokomis.'"
Occula, in response to Maia's request, displayed her familiar personality. And
I quote, "'Homesick, eh?' To all appearances she had resumed her old self,
her terrible story cast aside like a black cloak from a brightly-coloured robe.
But certainly Maia - who if not she? - could sense that this was partly acting;
nevertheless it was acting which, given the right response, would soon become
reality."
We
might try to act correctly, but unless we receive the right response, our
feelings will not follow. We are at the start of being helped with the
acknowledgment that God took the initiative thru human form as Jesus Christ.
But we can complete being helped only when other human beings continue
God's initiative by being Christ-like towards us. And they shall, for God has
the initiative and it is only thru His control of the good stewardship
of others.
Yes,
I admit that what I am asserting is foolishness from a conventional, worldly
point of view. But I Corinthians 1:25 declares that "the foolishness of
God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's
strength."
Unfortunately,
we take emotional well-being for granted. We tend to boast over good behavior
and good personality. We do this instead of rightly being thankful for the
blessing of mental and emotional health. Our bad attitudes can be seen
everywhere, even on television advertisements for corporate products.
Here
is an example of the kind of "slice of life" television advertisement
some of us might remember: An adolescent boy comes to breakfast for a morning
cup of coffee with his mom and dad. He is in an unusually good mood and is
behaving nicely around his parents. His parents are enthusiastically taking
pride in the adult they are seeing when out from a book slips a picture of the
young man's new girlfriend. Having a new girlfriend is cause for any young man
to be in a good mood and to behave nicely. But instead of being joyous for
their son, the parents reveal disappointment and an end to their enthusiasm.
These
parents of the television ad did not recognize and realize the fact that
the only reason anyone ever feels and behaves nicely is because of the
blessings of God received by the individual thru the form of other human
beings.
It
is different when parents show concern to ascertain whether or not the child recognizes
and realizes the fact that the only reason anyone ever feels and behaves
nicely is because of the blessings of God received by the individual thru the
form of other human beings. But if the parents do not recognize this
fact, then disappointment towards the child demonstrates a bad attitude.
One
acquaintance of mine insists that God does not work His well-being in the
individual only thru the human conduit, that sometimes He works directly in the
individual miraculously.
I
ask myself if there is any greater miracle than the world of human beings?! We
are that which makes God's creation "very good" (Genesis
1:25-26 with 31a).
This
acquaintance of mine cites I Samuel 30:3-6 as an example of how God works
well-being in the individual directly while the human conduit is definitely not
being used by God. "When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found
it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So
David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's
two wives had been captured - Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of
Nabal of
It
is easy to see distress on David thru those around him. For they were bitter in
spirit because of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the
Lord his God because he was remembering his wife Abigail.
I
Samuel chapter 25 reveals that she was an intelligent and beautiful woman who
knew David and his men should have been helped and not treated meanly by her
husband Nabal. She brought to David and his men a lot of much needed food as a
gift.
Look
at what Abigail says in I Samuel 25:23-29a & 31b, "When Abigail saw
David, she quickly got down off her donkey and bowed down before David with her
face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame
be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant
has to say. May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just
like his name - his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your
servant, I did not see the men my master sent. Now since the Lord has kept you,
my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as
surely as the Lord lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend
to harm my master be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has
brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. Please forgive your
servant's offense, for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my
master, because he fights the Lord's battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you
as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the
life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the
Lord your God. And when the Lord has brought my master success, remember your
servant."
The
rest of I Samuel chapter 25 shows that thru Abigail (with her words and deeds
to David and shortly after with her words to Nabal) the Lord gave David success
by striking Nabal with death and giving Abigail and Ahinoam of Jezreel to David
to be his wives along with all that was theirs before becoming David's wives.
Chapter
30 of I Samuel verse 6b reveals that David found strength in the Lord his God.
For just as He provided thru Abigail, David knew that his well-being would be
bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord our God!
So
only thru other human beings is God the source of our well-being.
Jack
Perkins once did an essay on the McNeil/Leaherer News Hour about the residents
of the islands off
This
essay helps to reveal that we must not be foolish by thinking that the
individual is independent from others, or more precisely, does not need others
to be dependent upon God. We must live within the resources of God thru our
interdependent community. This is a universal truth for all of us - the whole
world of human beings.
Here
are some of the lyrics of an outstanding song by Tim Finn called Crescendo.
It helps to express what I am asserting about God's initiative being only
thru His control of the human conduit:
Help
me to reach my own conclusion.
Show me the face of what could be.
Walking beside you I want for nothing.
Under a half-moon we're all in rags and chains.
Only your soothing caress can stop me
making the same mistakes again and again and again.
When you learn how to trust your feelings
then you'll know how to recognize it.
The part of you that needs no healing
is like a swollen river rising.
So choke me with a violent passion.
And drown me in a deep emotion.
You've got to help me build this feeling.
I'm swimming in a stagnant ocean.
Been blinded by smoke and mirrors.
And crippled by a fear of tomorrow.
If you don't help me shake this feeling
then I'll be marking time in Limbo.
Bring me,
bring me.
Bring me to Crescendo. (1) See footnote
Here
is something I wrote while thinking of just how profoundly people (even just
two people) can effect each other. It also helps to express what I am asserting
about God's initiative being only thru His control of the human conduit.
SOMETIMES;
NOT OFTEN, THANKFULLY
I
gasp for belonging.
(not belonging to but belonging with)
I'm exasperated!
I get an overwhelming craving for community to partake in.
What
I'm saying is that I'm active in life, engaged in rewarding interests and
adding to society. Yet all's not well at times. Sometimes all I sense is an
ever swirling downward chasm of terrible self-condemnation and self-devaluation
done to myself by myself. I yearn for uplifting knowledge about myself, but
there is inertia to this spiral once set into motion that I can't stop by
myself. Effects of it linger on for miserable spans of time.
Small
spans now; not often, thankfully. . .
What
I'm saying is that I'm well adjusted in life. I function just fine until I get
the spirit of a captured and tortured self-esteem.
So
please!
Set me free.
Encourage me.
Show
me you're pleased with me when I'm upset with myself. Calm me with calmness.
Help me not to focus in on what I imagine is wrong with me. Give me a break
when I don't. Validate me when I can't. Remind me of whom I really am.
It
won't take long, thankfully.
A
new inertia starts up in me: a heartfelt self-esteemed uplifted perspective and
imagination. So I say encourage me more. I become satisfied once again with
what I'm all about, what I've done and what I'm about to do.
Tell
me just how I'm great.
The
more clearly I see
how lovely I be,
shall my spirit then ring more happily . . .
and sweetly.
Now
encourage me to attend at where it would both ease and please you in the
thoughts of your mind, the feelings of your heart and the sensations of your
body.
May
I know if I have initiated anything towards you that left you wanting more? I'm
asking you to ask of me.
It
comes full circle . . .
thankfully.
Once
again, the hour of weakening faith is the hour of need. When, in this hour of
need, we first feel loved by God thru others, it becomes the same hour in which
we then start loving ourselves again, not a moment sooner. God has the
initiative, and it is only thru His control of the conduit of other
human beings.
Footnote:
1
from Tim Finn on Capital Records, Inc. copyrighted 1989
CHAPTER 4: THE ONLY POWER ABLE TO STOP SIN WITHIN US IS
GOD'S GRACE
"If
anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One. He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness." These are excerpts of
scripture found in I John chapters 1 & 2.
We
need not avoid confessing our sins, for along with this personal recognition
can be the great unburdening recognition that God does not let sin
continue to harm the well-being and abundance of our lives. As a matter of
fact, God destroys sin in our lives with His grace!!!
Romans
6:1-2a is a passage of scripture worth noting at this time; "What shall
we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!"
We might give lip service to the truth that God's grace is the gospel but when
faced with the prospect of having to practice this principle, unfortunately we
often quote this very passage of scripture as if the apostle Paul was scoffing
at the notion that God's grace alone has the power to stop us from sinning.
In
consideration of this passage of scripture, one interpretation could be that
Paul was simply encouraging the anxious cry of one who has become worried and
burdened again because of a weakening faith in the ability of the power of
God's grace to stop sin.
He
writes further in verse 2 of Romans chapter 6, "By no means! We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
There
is extensive scripture for us to know what happens to us when we die to sin.
Based on careful consideration of scripture, I now write about this concept.
Let us judge for ourselves if what I write is good and sound doctrine if, upon
putting it into practice towards one another, we feel the fruit of
the Spirit.
I
wish to establish immediately that dying to sin is equivalent to putting sin
itself to death. Romans 6:6-7 reveals that our old self was crucified with
Christ Jesus so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we
should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed
from sin. Romans 7:2-3 shows us by analogous example the principle that if sin
dies, then we are released (freed) from it. Galatians 5:24 tells us that those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (put to death) the sinful nature. In
Colossians 3:5 & 8 with Galatians 5:19-21 & 24 we are commanded by God
to put the sinful nature to death.
Therefore,
in understanding what our lives are like to be dead to sin we need to focus on
how we put sin to death. This is the principle of a good offense being the best
defense.
Colossians
2:13c-14 with Romans 7:6 reveals that the grace of God went and canceled the
law by forgiving our sins. God canceled it. He took it away, nailing it to the
cross. Romans 7:8b asserts that apart from law, sin is dead. Romans 6:14
says, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law,
but under grace." We put sin to death in our lives by letting God
take the law away from our lives. That is why I John 2:1a says, "My
dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin." That is
also why I John 3:9 says, "No one who is born of God will continue to
sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has
been born of God."
Without
God's grace we would be obligated to be under the law in order to live
abundantly and in well-being with God. Galatians 3:12 and Leviticus 18:4-5 with
Romans 7:10a & 12-13a help reveal this fact. Let us look closely at what
happens when obligated to be under the law.
Galatians
3:10 states, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for
it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the Book of the Law." This curse is fulfilled because of
what Romans 7:9-10 reveals; "Once I was alive apart from law; but when
the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very
commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death."
Romans
7:7-8 shows what this all means in practical terms, "What shall we say,
then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was
except through the law. For I would not have known what it was to covet if the
law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For
apart from law, sin is dead."
Again
this is set forth in Romans 7:11-13, "For sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to
death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and
good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in
order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what
was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful."
Sin
is recognized as sin by the fact that it produces feelings of
death through what is good.
We
all know how we begin to feel the longer we remain unforgiving to each
other. We all recognize ourselves becoming part of this sinful
condition. This sinful condition is evident in that we begin to feel
more and more guilty, anxious and in grief over our transgressions but also in
that we begin to feel more and more tempted to commit the very
transgressions over which we are feeling the guilt, anxiety and grief! We also
feel more and more unforgiving to each other. This terrible spiraling
condition is due to the fact that we obligate ourselves to be under the law and
not under grace.
We
are greatly deceived about this because we do not deal with the fact that no
matter how successful a person is at appearing to be without some particular
sin, it cannot be concluded that he or she is certainly without that sin. I
John 1:8 helps reveal this truth.
In
chapter 3 of this document, I touched on the issue of acting and behaving in
ways different from how one feels like acting and behaving. I shared Jesus’
revelation to first clean the inside of the cup. I am addressing this issue
here again.
A
person deceives himself by claiming that God's power to stop sin is made
available to him by undergoing the suffering of outwardly resisting the inner
temptation of sin.
We suffer through the appearance of putting sin to death but refuse to do that
which is necessary to actually put sin to death. We fail to see sin for what it
is - the lack of being under grace. We also fail to recognize that the
very presence of temptation (what we suffer resistance to) is evidence that sin
is alive and well in our lives. Here is what James 1:13-14 says, "When
tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his
own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."
Temptation
indicates evil desires. Evil desires are sinful desires. Evil desires are
conceived by sin and it gives birth to the outward phase of sin, which can then
start breeding death. Temptation is evidence of sin being alive. Temptation is not
a test to determine if we are without sin or not. Temptation is proof that we
are with sin.
We
are greatly deceive about this because we do not deal with the fact that no
matter how successful a person is at appearing to be without some particular
sin, it cannot be concluded that he is certainly without that sin. I John 1:8
helps reveal this truth. A person can be certain that he is without sin only
from the absence of temptation.
Unfortunately,
we tend to insist that temptation is merely a test to determine if someone will
remain without sin or not. We incorrectly cite the example of Jesus’
temptation.
We
fail to recognize that the very presence of temptation (what we suffer
resistance to) is evidence that sin is alive and well in our lives. Here is
what James 1:13-14 says, "When tempted, no one should say, "God is
tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and
enticed."
Temptation
indicates evil desires. Evil desires are sinful desires. Evil desires are
conceived by sin and it gives birth to the outward phase of sin, which can then
start breeding death. Temptation is evidence of sin being alive. Temptation is not
a test to determine if we are without sin or not. Temptation is proof that we
are with sin.
Hebrews
2:17-18 says, "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in
every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who
are being tempted." Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "Therefore, since we
have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has
been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then
approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and
find grace to help us in our time of need."
Now
James reveals that God cannot be tempted by evil. Only man is tempted by evil.
Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. This gives Him
knowledge how we as mere humans suffer from temptation without actually having
sin living within Him. He is fully divine and fully human yet the divine is
dominant and the human, recessive - much like brown eyes manifests from the
union of brown and blue eye genes.
This
in no way teaches that if we resist temptation, then we are putting sin to
death for temptation to us as mere human beings is indication that we are
already sinning.
Jesus
Christ did not suffer when tempted in order to remain without sin. Jesus
Christ suffered when tempted because He is without sin, in order to provide
us with God's grace. How else could He make atonement for our sins?! It
requires the sinless and unblemished suffering sacrifice to make atonement. I
Peter 1:19b reveals that Christ is the lamb without blemish of defect. Hebrews
9:14 informs us that Jesus always had the eternal Spirit offering Himself
unblemished to God! And this is what has been revealed when He was scrutinized.
We
suffer temptation because we are with sin. This is why we can approach the throne of grace
and mercy in our need to put sin to death, which ends our temptation,
delivering us from evil.
There
are more issues of Jesus’ temptation in chapter 8 of this document under
the topic and some concepts of suffering and sacrificial love. Also, chapter 9
of this document succinctly asserts the truths about this issue.
Some
say that temptation is natural - that it is normal to have temptations. But I
assert that temptation is an unfortunate reality of the human condition.
Sin
has a temptation phase and an outward phase. But it is still sin and when sin
wells up in any one of us - causing temptation to the outward actions and
inactions of that sin, the individual becomes distressed with the feelings
of guilt and anxiety. The distress is due to the anticipated consequences,
which are the acts of punishment justly administered.
I
Corinthians 10:13 reads, "No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it." It is NOT true that God might let us
suffer THE OUTWARD RESISTANCE TO THE INNER TEMPTATION OF SIN up to the point
that we give in to it. What is true is that He never lets us suffer with sin
seizing us (the way it does through the law) and living in us any longer than
we are willing to bear because we now know that temptation is simply evidence
that sin is still living. We feel good knowing that the "out"
is God's grace. His grace is like a blank check.
We
need to have an abortion - to abort and kill that developing sin at the
temptation phase by exposing it to the outside before it is ready to be born as
the outward phase where it would start breeding death.
While
elaborated on in chapter 6 of this document, here is the practical way to claim
God's grace (Do we not feel the fruit of the Spirit when we practice it
towards one another?): If an individual is tempted in some particular sin, recognize
that this indicates sin living in the individual. If this individual is
distressed with the feelings of guilt and anxiety, then over and over
again remind this individual that he or she "is not under law, but
under grace" - that the just administration of punishment against him
or her is replaced with the up-building and uplifting administration of
forgiveness for him or her. Do not let this individual believe that he or she
will be OK as long as he or she does not follow through with the sin. Instead
help this individual believe that as he or she follows through with the sin, he
or she shall be OK by God's forgiveness given thru one another. We are to
assert to the individual that we forgive him or her by taking no actions
against him or her for the wrong he or she does against us. We do this by
sincerely offering (without approving of sin) to allow him or her any sinful
actions against us he or she is tempted with while inviting him or her to also
act in any righteous way he or she desires towards us. We are to let God put
sin to death in the individual and to let God provide the fruit of the
Spirit in the individual by continually taking no action against that
individual and by continually asking the individual for the actions of the
Spirit.
I
assert the words 'we' and 'us' to show that this is a collective practice. Sin
is put to death more readily when more good stewards are doing it together. For
God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the conduit of
human stewardship. Matthew 5:38-39 & 42 shows what our attitude and actions
are to be towards the person feeling the guilty and anxious suffering of
sin's temptation: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and
tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Give to the one who
asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
Unfortunately,
we tend to attempt to deter the outward actions of wickedness rather than to
put sin to death in the individual sinner by the comfort of indulgences
forgiven.
Also,
unfortunately, we will only condemn and isolate a person if he chooses to be in
fellowship with God's grace in this practical way. We claim that this practice
that I have just now outlined changes "the grace of our God into a
license for immorality" (Jude: 4b). But I do not deny Jesus Christ and
He does not promote sin. On the contrary, He promotes forgiveness of sin! Look
at what Galatians 2:17 & 21 says, "If, while we seek to be
justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does
that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! I do not set aside the
grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died
for nothing!"
I
admit that this practice to claim God's grace is foolishness from a worldly
point of view. It appears irresponsible, reckless and foolhardy. It would seem
that this outline only "plays into the hands of the sinful nature".
For, since I assert that to have health and well-being of life one must always
- by God's will - do exactly what one needs wants to do, how can this assertion
be true if what one desires to do is to sin in some particular way? It would
seem that if a person desires to sin, he should be deterred form doing so.
But
all the deterrence in the world will not stop temptation. In chapter 6 of this
document, I will elaborate on the fact that deterrence can at best, only avert
the outward action of the inner temptation of sin. And in fact, even all the
deterrence in the world does not always prevent sinful acts and inactions.
"First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean." (Matthew 23:26b)
We
need to have an abortion - to abort and kill that developing sin at the
temptation phase by exposing it to the outside before it is ready to be born as
the outward phase where it would start breeding death.
For
now I admit that the practice I have outlined is foolishness to the world. I
also admit that what was asserted in chapter 3 of this document - that God has
constrained Himself, to bless solely thru the conduit of other human
beings is foolishness to the world. But the wisdom of God IS foolishness to the
world. I strongly suggest reading I Corinthians chapter 1 through the end of
chapter 3 with this consideration in mind. Here are a few of those verses from I
Corinthians: chapter 1:18-25 says, "For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the
power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise
man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world
through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of
what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to
Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness
of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than
man's strength." Chapter 3:18-20 says, "Do not deceive
yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age,
he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches
the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the
thoughts of the wise are futile."
What
is really going on here is that we do not put the Christian faith into practice
and we can only see this practice to claim God's grace as evil foolishness. The
book of James nobly addresses this. Chapter 1:5-8 says, "If any of you
lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding
fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not
doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the
wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all he does." We must not doubt the
wisdom of God on how we are supposed to put sin to death. Verse 22 says,
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what
it says." Verse 25 says, "But the man who looks intently into
the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting
what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."
We shall be blessed with freedom from sin if we practice God's grace.
Let
us look at the example that James uses. Chapter 2:20-24 states, "You
foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not
our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his
son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working
together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was
fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is
justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
From
Hebrews 11:17-19 it is set forth that God had promised Abraham that thru Isaac
he would be the father of a great nation. Yet Abraham intended to be
irresponsible, reckless and foolhardy. For God commanded him to kill Isaac,
thereby wiping out the object of God's promise. But God's command did not wipe
God out. Nor is God wiped out by His command that we permit Him to allow sin to
live at the outward phase, which would wipe out His promise that sin will die
entirely at both the outward and temptation phases. God in fact followed
through with His promise to Abraham and He follows through with His promise to
us! Sin does die, as He has promised! God is the living god. We receive God's
promise back from its death for He can raise the dead, even His Christ - of
whom it was promised would not be abandoned to the grave nor see decay and
would live forever. (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27, Isaiah 57:15, Psalm 110:4 and
Hebrews 7:24-25)
"Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
(Hebrews 11:1)
While
elaborated on in chapter 6 of this document, here is the practical way to claim
God's grace (Do we not feel the fruit of the Spirit when we practice it
towards one another?): If an individual is tempted in some particular sin, recognize
that this indicates sin living in the individual. If this individual is
distressed with the feelings of guilt and anxiety, then over and over
again remind this individual that he or she "is not under law, but
under grace" - that the just administration of punishment against him
or her is replaced with the up-building and uplifting administration of
forgiveness for him or her. Do not let this individual believe that he or she
will be OK as long as he or she does not follow through with the sin. Instead
help this individual believe that as he or she follows through with the sin, he
or she shall be OK by God's forgiveness given thru one another. We are to
assert to the individual that we forgive him or her by taking no actions
against him or her for the wrong he or she does against us. We do this by
sincerely offering (without approving of sin) to allow him or her any sinful
actions against us he or she is tempted with while inviting him or her to also
act in any righteous way he or she desires towards us. We are to let God put
sin to death in the individual and to let God provide the fruit of the
Spirit in the individual by continually taking no action against that
individual and by continually asking the individual for the actions of the
Spirit.
I
assert the words 'we' and 'us' to show that this is a collective practice. Sin
is put to death more readily when more good stewards are doing it together. For
God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the conduit
of human stewardship. Matthew 5:38-39 & 42 shows what our attitude and
actions are to be towards the person feeling the guilty and anxious
suffering of sin's temptation: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye
for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If
someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Give to the
one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from
you."
Unfortunately,
we tend to attempt to deter the outward actions of wickedness rather than to
put sin to death in the individual sinner by the comfort of indulgences
forgiven.
Gandalf
had great and foolish faith that Sauron would be destroyed. . .
I
am referring to fictional characters by the writer J.R.R. Tolkien. So great was
Sauron's evil power of terror that it was a foolish hope he would be destroyed.
Even at Sauron's end - at the very moment his power was removed by the awful
fire which forged it, he appeared to the defenders as if he was about to win
the war of middle earth with his black menace. Here are some excerpts form The
Field of Cormallen chapter in The Return of the King of The Lord of
the Rings, "'The realm of Sauron is ended!' said Gandalf. 'The
Ring-bearer has fulfilled his Quest.' And as the Captains gazed south to the
Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there
rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the
sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast
threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a
great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush
fell."
The
defeated Sauron seemed terrible to them. But he was impotent!
Gandalf had faith that Sauron would be destroyed and was the first to announce
the fulfillment of that faith.
While
elaborated on in chapter 6 of this document, here is the practical way to claim
God's grace (Do we not feel the fruit of the Spirit when we practice it
towards one another?): If an individual is tempted in some particular sin, recognize
that this indicates sin living in the individual. If this individual is
distressed with the feelings of guilt and anxiety, then over and over
again remind this individual that he or she "is not under law, but
under grace" - that the just administration of punishment against him
or her is replaced with the up-building and uplifting administration of
forgiveness for him or her. Do not let this individual believe that he or she
will be OK as long as he or she does not follow through with the sin. Instead
help this individual believe that as he or she follows through with the sin, he
or she shall be OK by God's forgiveness given thru one another. We are to
assert to the individual that we forgive him or her by taking no actions
against him or her for the wrong he or she does against us. We do this by
sincerely offering (without approving of sin) to allow him or her any sinful
actions against us he or she is tempted with while inviting him or her to also
act in any righteous way he or she desires towards us. We are to let God put
sin to death in the individual and to let God provide the fruit of the
Spirit in the individual by continually taking no action against that
individual and by continually asking the individual for the actions of the
Spirit.
I
assert the words 'we' and 'us' to show that this is a collective practice. Sin
is put to death more readily when more good stewards are doing it together. For
God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the conduit
of human stewardship. Matthew 5:38-39 & 42 shows what our attitude and
actions are to be towards the person feeling the guilty and anxious
suffering of sin's temptation: "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye
for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If
someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Give to the
one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from
you."
Unfortunately,
we tend to attempt to deter the outward actions of wickedness rather than to
put sin to death in the individual sinner by the comfort of indulgences
forgiven.
Let
us have faith and hope. Let us be honest. We are not experiencing the fruit
of the Spirit either while living in sin or while merely appearing to
abstain from sin because both life-styles continue to keep sin alive. We can
have our faith alive and strong again with action. We can put sin to death, by
God's initiative - and this only thru His control of the human conduit.
We
are cheapening God's grace. We are "watering down" what the Bible
teaches about God's grace. Therefore we have corrupted our faith and produce a
corrupted faith in everyone that we influence.
Let
us not continue to do this harm to ourselves, Lord willing - by His initiative
and control!
Here
is an essay I have written. It expresses much of what I have asserted, in this
chapter and in the previous chapters of this document. I want to share it now.
CHEAPENED GRACE
I remember what was taught in
class one Sunday morning. The topic was a verse in a song by Billy Joel, which
says, "I love you just the way you are." The class was taught that
God loved them but wanted them to change.
Oh! Stop! Listen to that song
again. It says, "Don't go changing, to try to please me."
I hear dear God singing the same
thing to me. It lets me know that He is already perfectly pleased. He loves and
appreciates the real me.
With this in mind, I want to
share something very wonderful. I know that I sin. I let myself sin outwardly
and I'm still OK - period!
I'm not as afraid as I used to
be. I more easily renounce and repent of that uneasy uncertain feeling that
somehow I'm not OK to just sin; I do just sin, and let it go at that. Oh! I've wished
. . . wished that I stood above indictment. Good thing I stand free from it!
You know why? The evil one's indictment carries no weight.
I am thankful for those who have
ministered to me. They have helped me to relax and always be myself. I stop trying to do something
about my sinning yet even though I give in to the outward phase of sin, I don't
keep on sinning. I cease from the sins not because I'm feeling guilty (as some
would expect) but because sin has no permanent place in me. Sin cannot make a
home in me . . . no need to fight it as if it can. Therefore I find that I no
longer feel any guilt or pressure to perform for God, I perform like God! It
happens naturally, at my very own prerogative. It is God's encouraging promise
coming true: "If you love me, you will keep my commands. Don't worry; my
commands will be kept by you. Please, do not worry."
I hear the evil one say,
"This writing advocates 'Cheap Grace' and 'Deliberate Disobedience'".
. ."It insults the Spirit of grace and waters down scripture."
I say, "What deception
against humankind you make, evil one!"
True insult to grace is when we
deliberately attempt not to sin because we are anxiously avoiding having to be
confident in God, as if He could not ever always accept us the way we
are. No one has ever seen God, yet we're expecting the worst of Him.
Couldn't this be due to the ways we've mistreated each other? Deliberate
disobedience is only incidental to being really human in this life. It simply
comes to pass from time to time. Let us not cruelly dwell on the kinds of sins
committed or how often (particularly in comparison to others). Just as we all
are individuals, so are the manifestations of sin when they come to each of us.
Why are we not more kind in our attitudes and actions? Let the Lamb of
God handle any disobedience. That's His department. Don't trample over Him in a
panic to "get right with God". Don't cheapen something this precious
and holy.
I've been honest with myself. I
see that what I am renouncing is evil. Who God is and what I'm made of is far
more powerful and beautiful than I've ever imagined before. I am greatly and
wonderfully made. I am the right stuff.
I know now what was really being
taught and watered down.
CHAPTER 5: REPENTANCE AND UNFORGIVABLE SIN
Now
I shall concentrate more elaborately on the topics and some concepts about
repentance and unforgivable sin.
God's
grace is like a blank check given to us. The understandable wonder of
this is that once we do something about it and try it out, we will never abuse
it the way our anxious, guilty and accusatory attitudes tell us otherwise!
Unfortunately,
we hear ourselves say, "God does not give us a blank check. He commands
instead that we must repent." I assert that the very essence of
repentance is accepting God's grace. So I say yes, we must repent from the
evil attitudes about God's grace. We must repent by trying out God's blank
check.
Unfortunately
we claim that any transgression that we become aware of, yet is continued in,
is unforgivable sin. We incorrectly cite Hebrews 10:26, "If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left."
I
shall refer to Hebrews 10:26 several more times in this chapter. But
essentially, this passage of scripture addresses the issue that deliberate sin
is to deliberately keep on denying God's grace - His living presence in our
lives thru others. And while we are not repenting of this, God cannot apply His
forgiveness. God cannot reach us with His forgiveness until we accept His
forgiveness. Yet God shall cause us all to accept His forgiveness. For God has
the initiative, and it is only thru His control of the human conduit.
In
the next chapter of this document, I will elaborate on recognizing the
need for forgiveness. But for now, I assert that everyone will accept God's
offering of forgiveness when the need is recognized! And by the end of
this age, by God's initiative and thru His control of the human conduit of good
stewardship, all shall recognize the need for forgiveness and recognize
that God is always offering it. Forgiveness is a blank check. This is
what God's grace is.
In
Matthew 6:12, Jesus teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven to forgive our
debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Then in verses 14-15 He states,
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father
will not forgive your sins." The issue is not about God being willing
to forgive us unless we forgive one another. The issue is that God forgives us
as we live the goodness of God (forgiveness) towards one another. For the grace
of God comes only thru the form of other human beings. God has connected
His invisible heavenly realm to earth thru human form! Look at what John
20:21-23 says about forgiveness: "Again Jesus said, "Peace be with
you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he
breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone
his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Yet God has forgiveness for all. It is His initiative and it is only
thru His control of the human conduit.
If
we do not exercise good stewardship of God's grace, then there is no grace of
God and we will not be putting sin to death in each others' lives, as I set
forth in chapters 3 and 4 of this document. Yet God has the initiative and
control of forgiveness for all, and it is only thru the human conduit.
When
other human beings accept the good stewardship of God's primary responsibility
for our emotional well-being and when we accept the good stewardship of God's
primary responsibility for the emotional well-being of other human beings, then
God's grace becomes boundless and acceptance of God's boundless grace by human
beings will happen for all. And God will cause this to happen by the end of
this age. For God has the initiative, and it is only thru His control of
the human conduit.
Unfortunately,
we tend to twist the concept of repentance in ways that water down God's grace.
We twist passages of scripture like the one from Hebrews 10:26 and another one
from Luke 13:1-5 which reads, "Now there were some present at that time
who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse
sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell
you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who
died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty
than all the others living in
I
assert that the fundamental meaning Jesus conveys here in Luke is that unless
we obey and claim the Father's grace thru Christ (which for us refers to grace
thru Christ Jesus and thru the form of other humans being Christ-like), we will
all suffer as sinners. Continuing on in verse 6 of Luke 13, Jesus tells a
parable of a fig tree that, I assert, had not been grafted into the true vine.
This tree (branch) would be cut down unless it bears fruit but in order to bear
fruit it must 'take' to the gardener's effort to dig, fertilize and graft it
in. We must not reject but 'take' to the good host into whom we are being
transplanted. We must take to God's grace. We can look forward to taking to
God's grace when other human beings accept the good stewardship of God's
primary responsibility for our emotional well-being. Others can look forward to
taking to God's grace when we accept the same. And God will cause this to
happen by the end of this age. For God has the initiative, and it is only
thru His control of the human conduit.
The
"deliberate sinning" from Hebrews 10:26 shows that everyone is
to no longer have anxious, guilty and/or disbelieving attitudes over the fact
that God promises to faithfully forgive us of ANY sin we feel anxious, guilty
and tempted from, including anxiety and guilt over the temptations of the
repeated, deliberate and premeditated actions of sin!
God
cannot forgive a heart hardened in disbelief that His grace alone shall end the
temptations of the repeated, deliberate and premeditated actions of sin because
God cannot touch this heart with His Spirit and bear the fruit in this heart of
lost faith. Even though God wills it so, it cannot be done. Therefore God shall
soften all hearts. For as God draws close to us with His cords of human
kindness, we in His presence receive the knowledge of the truth about His
grace. It is the make up of both God and humans that in this way, we are able
to repent of our anxiety. With God presiding over us, we are enabled to draw
back close to Him - obeying His good will for us: "Let Me forgive you all,
all of the time - first and foremost!" If we never let Him forgive us,
then we are doomed to the anxiety of doubt about the forgiveness of deliberate
sin but God can and willingly shall help us LET Him forgive us thru His cords
of human kindness, which will be by the end of this age.
If
because of the not yet perfected church during this age, an individual dies
feeling partially or totally unforgiven, he will feel completely forgiven in
the next age of the perfected church. If because of the not yet perfected
church during this age, an individual dies partially or totally a slave to sin,
he will be completely free in the next age of the perfected church.
Hebrews
10:26 is a passage of scripture badly twisted by us. I will quote it once
again, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." But verse 22a
says, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience."
The book of Hebrews reveals that the sacrifice of Christ Jesus and His church
is what now perfectly reconciles man back to God. God initiated His grace thru
Jesus Christ. In chapter 3 of this document, I asserted that for us, Christ
refers to the goodness of God thru the form of other human beings. The
forgiveness of God thru other human beings figuratively sprinkles our hearts
clean from a guilty conscience with the blood of Jesus Christ.
How
can someone draw near to God with a conscience cleansed from guilt if other
human beings burden him or her down in guilt with sins (real or invented) that
are placed on him or her? How can someone be encouraged with forgiveness and so
spurred on towards love unless human beings are doing the forgiving? But we
neglect to encourage. So there is no grace of God. There is no forgiveness of
God while His forgiveness is not thru human form. Yet God has the initiative
and control of forgiveness for all, and it is only thru the human
conduit.
There
is the principle of unforgivable sin, the one against the Holy Spirit that
Jesus talks about in scriptures such as Matthew 12:31-32. "And so I
tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven, either in this age or the age to come." Jesus said
this when it was asserted that Beelzebub, the prince of demons is God. Now this
fallen angel, Satan and the demon hosts of Satan claim to be God and His
kingdom. But only God is sovereign.
CHAPTER 6: DETERRENCE, REBUKE AND MORE ABOUT REPENTANCE
Now
I shall concentrate more elaborately on the topics and some concepts about
deterrence, rebuke and more about repentance.
For
the sake of an outward appearance of law and order, we all practice what I call
"deterrence" in one form or another. Instead of living righteously
because we want to, we modify our behavior into patterns of righteousness only
from the motivations coming from the feelings of anxiety, guilt and grief.
We
are a world of sinners cowed from but not cured of sin. I assert that
deterrence can never change a person on the inside for the good. Deterrence
comes from the Latin for frighten away. Deterrence suppresses sinful outward
actions towards one another but it never puts sin itself to death in one
another. The temptation to act sinfully remains in spite of the presence of
deterrence. In fact, sometimes no amount of deterrence will stop sinful outward
actions towards one another.
The
physical world of humankind in which we live enforces its own laws to prevent
chaos. But the universe, which God created, is more than the physical. He
created the spiritual to be the foundation of the physical. So there are laws
against spiritual chaos to obey first. Then we can be in harmony with each
other in the physical world.
Colossians
2:20-23 helps to reveal that deterrence has the appearance of wisdom but lacks
any value in restraining and destroying sin. Deterrence serves the deceitful
appearance of order and righteousness. It is what Jeremiah 6:14 refers to when
it states, "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not
serious.’Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace." When
we replace grace with deterrence, we are "playing into the hands" of
the sinful nature.
When
we teach that the fear of punishment will motivate a person to do good rather
than teach that the joy of forgiveness will motivate a person to do good, we are
"playing into the hands" of the sinful nature. For instance, when a
thief murders in order no to get caught stealing, it is because fear of the
punishment of theft motivated the person to murder. It did not motivate the
thief to stop stealing.
If
the thief within all of us felt more likely to be forgiven by timely pardon and
financial relief, we would be motivated to steal even less and produce income
even more while relying on and supporting one another.
Unfortunately,
we tend to attempt to deter the outward actions of wickedness rather than to
put sin to death in the individual sinner by the comfort of indulgences
forgiven.
I
am again recalling something an acquaintance of mine has told me. He said not
to act from one's feelings but to act correctly and one's feelings will follow.
But, as I first mentioned in chapter 3 of this document and touched upon twice
in chapter 4, in Matthew 23:25, 28 & 26 Jesus says, "Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the
cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. In the
same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside
you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Blind Pharisee! First clean the
inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
It is very unfortunate that we tend to tell each other that the individual has
to clean up his act before goodness will come into him. But Jesus states that
the individual's heart must be clean. And then outward actions and behaviors
will be correct. The individual cannot clean his own heart. God must clean it.
And He does this only thru the conduit of other human beings. Within
this cleansing way of the church, one is more willing to act correctly and have
more of one's feelings follow.
Yes,
I admit that what I am asserting is foolishness from a conventional, worldly
point of view. But remember, as I mentioned in chapter 3 and 4 of this
document, I Corinthians 1:25 declares that "the foolishness of God is
wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's
strength."
Now
I shall concentrate more elaborately on the topics and some concepts about
rebuke and repentance, which I began to write about respectively in chapters 1,
4 and 5 of this document.
Unfortunately,
we claim that the practice of rebuking someone for a transgression does that
person good because it causes that person to do well. If the person does not do
well as the result of rebuke, then that person is a wicked person. We
incorrectly cite Proverbs 9:7-8, "Whoever corrects a mocker brings on
insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he
will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you."
I
assert that we cannot tell if a person is wicked or is wise by the negative feelings
and behavior he or she has as the result of rebuke. For a person is wise within
the positive feelings and behavior he or she has as the result of
FORGIVENESS.
Just
two verses later in Proverbs 9 it says in verse 10, "The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Psalm 130:3-4 sets forth, "If you, Oh Lord, kept a record of sins, Oh
Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are
feared."
Rebuke
does no one, even the wise any good. It does only evil. Rebuke causes no one,
even the wise, to do well. It causes only evil. God's grace, which is
forgiveness thru the human conduit, is that which does a person good. For it
causes a person to do well and respond positively. Blessings are God's
initiative, and the only thru His control of the conduit of other human
beings.
Here
are some passages of scripture; Psalms 38:1, 4, 6, 8, 11-12 & 15-19,
40:11-16, 41:4-9 and 51:1-2, 6, 8, 10-12 & 17. "Oh Lord, do not
rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. My guilt has
overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. I am bowed down and brought
very low; all day long I go about mourning. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I
groan in anguish of heart. My friends and companions avoid me because of my
wounds; my neighbors stay far away. Those who seek my life set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception. I
wait for you, Oh Lord; you will answer, Oh Lord my God. For I said, "Do
not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips." For I
am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. I confess my iniquity; I am
troubled by my sin. Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate
me without reason are numerous. Do not withhold your mercy from me, Oh Lord;
may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number
surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than
the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased, Oh Lord, to
save me; Oh Lord, come quickly to help me. May all who seek to take my life be
put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in
disgrace. May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their
own shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who
love your salvation always say, "The Lord be exalted!" I said,
"Oh Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you."
My enemies say of me in malice, "When will he die and his name
perish?" Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart
gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad. All my enemies whisper
together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, "A vile
disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies."
Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his
heel against me. Have mercy on me, Oh God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Surely you desire truth in the inner
parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, Oh God, and
renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take
your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me
a willing spirit, to sustain me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, Oh God, you will not despise."
I
assert that God rebukes so that we would recognize the "truth in
the inner parts" about our need for God's grace, which is only
thru others. "Wisdom in the inmost place" is our mind in recognition
with regards to our heartfelt spiritual condition.
If
someone is not recognizing their need of forgiveness, it is necessary
for them to experience the lack of forgiveness at the proper time. So it is
necessary to rebuke one another. For there is a season for everything under
heaven.
But
not everything under heaven is good, like rebuke. When disciplining parents
hurt as much as their children it is because rebuking, at the time it becomes
necessary, becomes an evil time.
This
document in part is a rebuke to us. But this document also asserts God's grace
so that no one will be harmed. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "There is a
time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."
There is a time for rebuke, including the rebuke in this document. But the time
of rebuke must always end when the time of grace is in season.
I
now want to refer to Luke 17:3b. It says, "If your brother sins, rebuke
him, and if he repents, forgive him." The context of this passage can
be better understood from Matthew 18, which is about mutual fair treatment and
self-assertiveness in the church. I first shared Matthew 18 in chapter 3 of
this document.
I
wish, at this point, to relate repentance to the issue from chapter 4 of this
document about the practical way we claim God's grace and about sinful
indulgence.
When
someone humiliated enough into recognizing his or her need for
forgiveness and bravely asks to be indulged with the objective to put sin to
death which includes its inner desire to indulge, it might seem to us that this
sinner could unfairly manipulate and unethically control others. Although I
believe it is rarer than we generally assume, if the objective is to indulge
for its sake only and not to put sin to death, it will not help the sinner for
others to allow the indulgence and I believe it will be the others' wasted
sacrifice. When the objective is to put sin to death, which includes its inner
desire to indulge, then it will be put to death in the sinner when others allow
the indulgence. To claim manipulation (in the situation where the sinner recognizes
his or her need for forgiveness and has the objective to put sin to death) is
just another way we phrase Cain's destructive attitude that we are not our
brothers' keepers as revealed in Genesis 4:8-10. Remember what Matthew 5:39a
says, "I tell you, Do not resist an evil person."
Repenting,
in this Luke 17:3 passage of scripture, I believe when properly interpreted
using the fruit test of God's Spirit, can only mean a sinner recognizing
his need for forgiveness by his feelings going from ignorance and
indifference to guilt and grief. Repenting does not mean stopping the outward
actions of sin while ignoring the fact that sin is still alive as evidenced by
its inner temptation. Repentance means recognition that forgiveness is needed to
end the guilt and grief coming from the rebuke AND is needed to end the
temptation of sin causing the action, which incurred the rebuke in the first
place.
Rebuking
a person can never really cause that person to stop the particular sin he or
she was rebuked for.
It is intended so that the sinner will recognize his sinful condition
and not remain ignorant and indifferent. Rebuke is intended to motivate the
sinner to receive forgiveness and not to try to struggle against the outward
actions of sin. Rebuking can never cause a person to truly stop sin, for even
if the outward phase is halted for a little while, the temptation phase remains
in spite of the guilt and grief rebuke causes. Only forgiveness can truly stop
sin and that only when the person recognizes his need.
In
conclusion, we see what rebuke is for. And here repentance, I believe, has to
mean recognition.
Now
we all want our own and each other's outward actions to be good. Once we have
repented, which is the recognition of our needs (wisdom in the inmost
place) then when we receive forgiveness towards the outward actions of our
inner temptation of sin, this destroys sin and changes our outward actions into
good ones. Romans 2:4b reveals that God's kindness leads us toward repentance.
It is not kind of God to supposedly forgive only after we are no longer acting
sinfully. Let us all consider our heartfelt knowledge of the revelation
of God's grace thru the historical person of Jesus Christ "While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8b. Grace is not
intended to be only historical but also always now and forever. For God has the
initiative, and it is only thru His control of the conduit of other
human beings.
Once
recognition of the need for forgiveness occurs, rebuke is NOT needed
again - ONLY always forgiveness. This is all closely related to the practical
way we claim God's grace, which I asserted in Chapter 4 of this document.
CHAPTER 7: THE NATURE OF CHOICE AND FREE WILL, THE FEAR (JOY)
OF GOD RATHER THAN THE ANXIETY OF GOD AND CONCLUSIONS ON HELL
Now
I shall concentrate more elaborately on the topics and some concepts about the
nature of choice and free will, the fear (joy) of God rather than the
anxiety of God and conclusions on hell.
We
do not have free will in the sense that God does. God makes His decisions
autonomously, free from all influence and control. Now the scriptures show Him
choosing in relationship to human beings but God always has sovereign choice,
free from all influence and control. Proverbs 16:9 & 33 help reveal that we
as human beings have the decision-making capacity but this capacity is never
free from influence and control because we are always in subjection to God. To
believe otherwise is for us to be vainly trying to be God. For if we are
looking at the individual's choices instead of looking at God's sovereignty
then we have either a boastful admiration or a contempt and condemnation for
people instead of continuing reverence for God! Look at what James 4:13-16
says, "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to
this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are
a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to
say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As
it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil."
Ecclesiastes
9:1-2 reveals that a person is, whether good or bad, and what he or she does is
in God's hands - not in the hands of that individual.
"Free"
will does not exist for a human being. Even one's hopes and the dreams of
accomplishment that one has cannot be willed by the individual into existence
without the gift of self-confidence granted by God thru others and manifested
also as the constraints of time, planning or practice. Furthermore, all of us
often unknowingly and knowingly choose wrong and the trouble and pain resulting
from those choices. So we see that even ignorance and sin can influence our
decision-making capacity. And as we are mastered this way, so our wills are
mastered supremely by our dear Lord God. For John 15:16 says, "You did
not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit
that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."
And John 6:44 says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent
me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day." God has
preeminent choice and initiative, and it is only thru His control of the
human conduit.
Human
choice and initiative are constrained by the contents of the human heart. And
God controls the contents of the human heart. This is closely related to the
difference between primary and secondary responsibility, which I brought out in
chapter 3 of this document. So we cannot "take credit" for our right
choices although God shares His glory with us. Nor are we
"responsible" for our wrong choices although the unfortunate
necessity for the sake of recognizing grace is, at times, to experience
the evil consequences and ramifications of our wrong choices.
We
are always in subjection to God. God chooses who knows Him and that He is known
only thru the human conduit (This principle is revealed from the example found
in Exodus 5:2 with 1:8.) And He chooses who is hardened to Him during this age
and who receives mercy from Him during this age (Romans 9:15-23.)
Many
might ask that if God is responsible for everything, why does He permit evil and
seemingly blame us for it. Yet as I mentioned in chapter 1 of this document and
repeated again at the beginning of chapter 3 of this document; Yes! God is
sovereign and directs everything, including evil. But evil is not of God. We
must not become confused on this point because Jesus says, "A good tree
cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." And
God's Holy Spirit thru Christ (His control of the human conduit) is the good
tree. His sovereign control of evil is simply a tool for the holiness of His
spirit. For the Holy Spirit is most special. Evil is just a contrast to what is
good - contributing to our recognition between the two. In fully
experiencing joy, one can know the lack of it.
I
repeat from chapter 3 of this document that God is good! I assert this! "For
Christ's love compels us", II Corinthians 5:14a. This means God's love
in human form constrains the contents of our hearts and leaves us no other
choice than to respond in happiness, goodness and kindness. Let us live the happiness,
goodness and kindness of God in our treatment of one another. For God, thru us
and us alone has primary control over the emotional well-being of other human
beings just as God, thru other human beings and other human beings alone has
primary control over our emotional well-being. God has the initiative, and it
is only thru His control of the human conduit.
I
believe in the blessing of self-control, for it is of the fruit of the
Spirit. It is Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in
free will, not having been dead in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with
Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I am thankful in being granted the benefit of
this gift of undergoing the process of being set free from sin, becoming a
slave to God and under the control of righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.)
We
were not created evil. In fact humankind is God's "very good"
creation (Genesis 1:25-26 with 31a). The fact that God created us in His image,
which includes the ability to make choices does not make us evil. God did not
create us with a propensity to choose to fall into an evil condition. What was
created was the reality of being separate from the LIVING God. And this created
the possibility of choosing wrongly when an evil influence presented itself.
Since God created us with the ability to make choices and the evil one, Satan
had the opportunity to cause us evil; death in this age has become a reality
for us.
I
assert that simply having eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
is not what caused death. Genesis 3:22 reveals that when Adam and Eve ate from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they had not yet eaten from the
tree of life. As a matter of fact, the attaining of the knowledge of good and
evil was a part of the creation of man. Genesis 1:26 and 3:22 reveals this fact
for being in the "likeness" of God is the same as being "like"
God. The fact that this knowledge was acquired at the disobedience of Adam and
Eve does not mean that God created us evil beings. For what was evil about the
disobedience is the fact that without God's living presence, death was
produced.
Fundamentally,
Adam and Eve fell into the evil condition of death when while they had not yet
eaten of God's living presence, the evil one, Satan lied to them about life and
death as they were enticed to use the knowledge of good and evil to replace God
with themselves.
I
assert that God really was commanding Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil before first eating from the tree of
life. This is the proper deduction of Genesis 2:16-17 with 3:22 for how could
they "surely die" if they "live forever"?
Knowledge
of good and evil did not kill Adam and Eve. What killed them was not having
God's living presence to sustain them in their heartfelt knowledge that
they had done evil by disobeying God's command not to eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil before first eating from the tree of life.
This
heartfelt knowledge of the evil of their eventual death was because now
they knew why they should have first eaten from the tree of life. For now they
understood that God's commands bring creation out of nothingness and life from
death. And without God's command there is no life, there is nothing. What Adam
and Eve felt was the fact that by disobeying this one command of God's, they
undid the very basis of their existence.
Genesis
3:22b says, "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat." This does not mean God is cruel and
did not want man to have eternal live. On the contrary, He has always planned
on giving man the offering of eternal life (Genesis 2:9 & 16). It is
just that God does not want man to be taking eternal life from God
without first recognizing the need for the love of God. We all have
the capacity to know our need because, like Adam and Eve, we know good and
evil!
Since
we have undone the very basis of our existence in this age, we transgress the
commands for us to "not be afraid." (Exodus 14:13 & 20:20)
and to "not be anxious about anything." (Philippians 4:6) and
to "Banish anxiety from your heart." (Ecclesiastes
11:10) We undid the very basis of our existence. We know this in our hearts for
we have the knowledge of good and evil. So we transgress God's command not to
have anxiety. Feeling anxiety, guilt, shame and all other temptations is
intended to be the recognition that we are in the evil condition of
dying in this age, in need of God's grace thru His control of the human conduit
which is the tree of life. As we use our knowledge of good and evil about our
need, we are given ever more of the tree of life. When we don't realize this,
we will be vainly reaching out our hand to take from the tree of life. But God
will cause everyone by the end of this age to use the knowledge this way. For
God has the initiative with human kindness to enlighten us to ever more human
kindness.
Anxiety
indicates our heartfelt knowledge that we undid the basis of our
existence in this age. Biblical fear indicates the joy of God's command
to create life for this age. We feel more alive when we are feeling joy. Romans
8:11 reveals this to be so: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."
Psalm
34:9 states, "Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him
lack nothing." Unfortunately, we change this imperative into a license
to use anxiety to motivate each other into the suffering of the appearance of
putting sin to death in our lives.
Psalms
130:3-4 shows what is meant to fear God, "If you, Oh Lord, kept a
record of sins, Oh Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared." The feelings that come from
receiving God's grace are love, which are joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The
tree of life (first mentioned in the account of the Garden of Eden) represents
God's living presence. God has made His living presence available thru Christ
Jesus and His body the church. In Luke 23:31, Jesus refers to Himself as the
tree when green. He also states in John 15:1 & 5, "I am the true
vine and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a
man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can
do nothing." When this statement is tied in with all that I covered
throughout the chapters of this document, we see that Christ Jesus and His body
is the good tree which bears all the fruit of the Spirit, that Christ
Jesus and His body is the tree of life, that Christ Jesus and His body the
church is the culmination of God's grace and grace is part of God's command
bringing life into existence.
Is
there a human hell? This issue comes about only after addressing all other
issues in this document, for they are the more fundamental ones. Once they are
understood, then perhaps it is more easily concluded (as I have come to
conclude and believe) that there is no human hell, even though there is an
unfortunate necessity to comprehend such an experience in order to fully
experience the joy of ultimately knowing one does not exist.
Unfortunately,
we believe that not everyone will be saved for the everlasting age to come. But
consider carefully these passages: Romans 9:14b-21 says that; "God is
not unjust. He has mercy on whom He has mercy and compassion on whom He has
compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on
God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this
very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be
proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to
have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Then why does God still
blame us? For who resists his will? But who are you, Oh man, to talk back to
God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like
this?' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay
some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" II Peter
3:9b states that the Lord is "not wanting anyone to perish, but wants
everyone to come to repentance." And I Timothy 2:3 states that God our
Savior "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth."
God
is not unjust, He is Sovereign! We do not have free will in the sovereign way
God does. We are clay to Him. And He will fashion all hearts, not just a few,
but all hearts by his mercy and compassion into nobility. None will perish for
the age to come. All will be saved by the end of this age.
John
6:44 says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws
him, and I will raise him up at the last day." Look at the
significance of this. For John 12:32 reveals that God will draw everyone to
Himself, causing everyone to come to Him.
I
believe in the blessing of self-control, for it is of the fruit of the
Spirit. It is Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in
free will, not having been dead in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with
Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I am thankful in being granted the benefit of
this gift of undergoing the process of being set free from sin, becoming a
slave to God and under the control of righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.)
I
know that for a long time, we have interpreted a lot of scripture that
seemingly contradicts the assertion that every human will be saved for the
everlasting age. Hebrews 2:1 says, "We must pay more careful attention,
therefore, to what we have heard, so we do not drift away." Mark 4:24
says, "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With
the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and even more." So,
with the fruit test of hypothesis, we must carefully interpret any other
passage of scripture that seemingly contradicts the scriptural assertion, I
believe, that every human will be saved for the everlasting age.
One
such passage is Revelation 20:15. It says, "If anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
The more careful consideration of this passage is that everyone's name was
written in the book of life. And therefore no one was thrown into the lake of
fire!
Another
such passage is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31.
In it, we see Jesus draw a picture of the awful agonies and fixtures of hell.
This would seem to contradict what I have just asserted. But the more careful
consideration of this passage is that Jesus was not telling the parable to show
the existence of a human hell but to teach something about the true nature and
source of the motivation that makes human beings repent. This story's rich man
in hell erroneously supposed that humans would turn to God because of being
anxious not to go to hell. Abraham reveals that all have God's love working thru
Christ Jesus and His church. For in this parable, Abraham instructs all to
listen to Moses and the Prophets. And John 1:45, Luke 24:25-27, Matthew
22:37-40, John 5:46 and I Peter 1:10-12 reveal that they wrote about Jesus
Christ and about the nature of God's love. God's love is the only determining
reality for human repentance. All other so-called motivations are ultimately
vain.
Remember
that anxiety does not work to put the sinful nature to death. Anxiety
strengthens sinful desire. For instance, when a thief murders in order not to
get caught stealing, it is because fear of the punishment of theft motivated
the person to murder. It did not motivate the thief to stop stealing.
If
the thief within all of us felt more likely to be forgiven by timely pardon and
financial relief, we would be motivated to steal even less and produce income
even more while relying on and supporting one another.
Unfortunately,
we tend to attempt to deter the outward actions of wickedness rather than to
put sin to death in the individual sinner by the comfort of indulgences
forgiven.
We
might say, "What if I am wrong with these and other scriptural
interpretations mentioned here and throughout this document? Shouldn't we all,
to be on the safe side, reject these interpretations?"
This
speaks from the overflow of anxiety in our hearts as Luke 6:45b helps to
reveal. When I fixate on: "What if I am wrong?" I am suffering a form
of anxiety coming from perfectionism, which is a terrible spiritual condition
arising from not being treated with forgiveness. We must ask questions in the
learning process. But we cannot acknowledge the truth we are seeking to learn
when asking questions from anxiety. For anxiety prevents us from asking further
questions and gaining information. Let us test these interpretations by putting
them into practice and seeing if they produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Yes
I am wrong - wrong with the sinful nature living inside of me. God will save
all of us from our sins by forgiving us for the everlasting age to come.
At
the beginning of this chapter, I wrote about the nature of choice and free
will. It is a continuing topic throughout the chapter and I am continuing now
with this topic. Unfortunately, we believe the choices an individual makes in
this age determines the reality for him in the everlasting age to come.
Ecclesiastes 11:3b says, "Whether a tree falls to the south or to the
north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie." An individual
might choose wrongly in this age and die but just like a tree remains the way
it falls, so that individual still has the capacity to choose. And God reveals
His love fully for the individual by the end of this age thru the resurrected
human conduit so that correct choices can be made. For God has the initiative
in regards to human choice, and it is only thru His control of the human
conduit.
Unfortunately,
we preach to each other that most people are damned for the age to come. We
fixate on passages such as Matthew 7:13-14 without properly interpreting the
gospel from all scripture using the fruit test of hypothesis. "Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Just how many and
how few? Most of us consider ourselves on the narrow road but that's the many
where according to this passage there the few are. What we are doing is
unfairly comparing ourselves with each other and this is not in keeping with
the gospel! From a frequent perspective of mine, I assert that right now, the
many of us believe that each is choosing the right road for the next age but
only the few of us believe that God will lead all of us on the right road by
the end of this age and into the next one.
Romans
11:32, John 10:1-16, Isaiah 53:6 and Matthew 25:32 help to reveal that in
binding all over to disobedience, God has allowed thieves, uncaring
employees and wolves to steal, kill, abandon, attack and scatter the flock. So
we all, like sheep, have gone astray. But we all shall be one
flock with the one shepherd, lead by His voice. None of us are like goats. We
are all sheep who recognize and follow the shepherd's voice.
Isaiah
55:10-11 says, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so
that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that
goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
So
let us look some more and again at what God's desire and purpose is: We have
already seen the assertions from II Peter 3:9b and I Timothy 2:3 that the Lord
is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance and that
God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth. Hosea 6:6, Psalm 40:6, Isaiah 66:2-3 and Psalm 51:16-17 states that God
desires mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of Him rather than burnt offerings
- that He did not desire the sacrifice of burnt offerings for they are like the
killing of a man and the breaking of a dog's neck. But that God esteems one who
is humble and contrite in spirit. And the sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit; a broken and contrite heart. Isaiah 5:15 & I Peter 5:6 reveals that
humility is necessary and imperative. Yet Psalm 138:6-8, Psalm 57:1-3, Isaiah
57:15 and 55:6-9 states that though the Lord is on high, He looks upon the
lowly and preserves life and has mercy and saves in fulfillment of His purpose
that His love endures forever - not abandoning His works. For the high and
lofty One also lives with the contrite and lowly in spirit. And the imperative
to seek the Lord and forsake wickedness are His thoughts and ways - mercy and
pardon heavens higher than the earth to our ways and thoughts.
So
since God desire and purpose for humankind is mercy to the humble and contrite,
the command for this (as His word out from His mouth) shall be obeyed by all.
Everyone who ever has been who ever is now and who ever will be shall be humble
and contrite, blessed with salvation - the merciful joy!
Hebrews
1:1-3a helps to reveal that our Lord's powerful word sustains all. It says,
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many
times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his
Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the
universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation
of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."
Proverbs
19:21 states that many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's
purpose that prevails.
We
have prerogative and decision-making capacity. So from this mundane thing, we
mistakenly see this as the ultimate reality. But we can see that God controls
our wills. And each of His commands is joyfully fulfilled after the
fashion of light out of darkness.
Romans
8:28-39 helps to reveal that nothing stops God from choosing to love and give
salvation to everyone - not pride, rebellion, weakness, cowardliness nor any
other kind of sin - NOTHING. This is the main point in what I have said at the
beginning of this chapter that God always has sovereign choice.
Yes,
I admit that what I am asserting is foolishness from a conventional, worldly
point of view. But remember, as I mentioned in chapter 3, 4 and 6 of this
document, I Corinthians 1:25 declares that "the foolishness of God is
wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's
strength."
This
age and the age to come in reference to the true nature about choice and free
will with regards to the human conduit is set forth fairly clearly in Romans
8:19-23. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God
to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the
glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has
been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
Hebrews
2:15 helps to reveal that this age will not end until we are no longer afraid
of death because of others that have already sinned and died. Hebrews 2:15 also
helps to reveal that this age of slavery to sin will not end until sin is fully
put to death. God will end this age of slavery thru the church when it becomes
perfect as it becomes the whole world of human beings, wise in the good
stewardship of knowledge. I believe God will cause this gradually or suddenly
because He no longer wants an enslaved world and an imperfect church. The whole
world of human beings includes those who have already died so, in ending this
age, God also will raise the dead to restore all flesh, just like He did to
Jesus as documented in passages such as Luke 24:39 and I Corinthians 15:4b.
This resurrection by God, I believe, will be thru everyone following the good
stewardship of knowledge. I believe God will cause this gradually or suddenly
because He no longer wants His world of human beings to be incomplete.
In
chapter 3 of this document, I set forth that God rules heaven and He rules the
earth thru human form, and further, that God has connected His invisible
heavenly realm to earth thru human form. A special elaboration of this is that
God, thru the human conduit rules everything we know about the universe and
everything we don't yet know about the universe and can only theorize. This
metaphysical idea includes what we know and don't yet know about the experience
of death.
What
I am asserting in this chapter is not some evil version of the philosophy of
fatalism, where each person is just a puppet hung on manipulating strings. And
although mathematical calculations of super string physics shed light on this
subject, it is more like God constraining our wills as our dance partner to His
glorious musical vibrations.
In
chapter 8 of this document, I elaborate on the topics and some concepts about
suffering and sacrificial love. One assertion from this that I make now is that
God knows what it is like to be a human being, suffering and dying - estranged
from his or her Creator. And God will never let a single human being remain
unsaved!
Revelation
20:10 & 14, Hebrews 2:14-15 and I Timothy 3:6 reveal that the devil and
everything ruled by the power of death, held in conceit by the devil, will be
destroyed. And this will happen when death itself is destroyed by the very
principle of death: God will undo death's very existence from His creation for
God's power of creation and life is greater than death. God is the first power!
And He is also the last power!
Finally,
by the Spirit, with all flesh and creation restored, every knee will bow in joy
(Romans 14:9-13 and Philippians 2:5-11).
CHAPTER 8: SUFFERING AND SACRIFICIAL LOVE
Now
I shall concentrate more elaborately on the topics and some concepts about
suffering and sacrificial love.
Here
are some passages from Hebrews. I have underlined for emphasis some of the
actual text. Also the city of
Therefore
Jesus didn't suffer to cleanse Himself of a guilty conscience but to cleanse
our consciences. Jesus did not decide to die on the cross in order to become
perfect. He decided to do so because He is perfect. He always had the eternal
Spirit offering Himself unblemished to God.
Dying
to sin is easy for us because it is a loving thing, which is a joyful,
peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled thing. It
cannot be a thing of suffering for us because Romans 8:11 and Galatians 2:20
sets forth that we remain alive with Christ living in us. We do not suffer
because what dies is sin itself.
In
contrast to having a wearied soul from sin being alive, Jesus provides the
following invitation found in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Also, Matthew
12:20 and Isaiah 42:3 adds more on this nature of Christ by saying, "A
bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out."
Let
us thank our dear Lord God! He has the initiative, and it is only thru
His control of the human conduit.
Now
I will show how we unfortunately have an unwholesome consideration of pain
relating to God's will and use it in a false doctrine to again burden ourselves
after we have already been relieved. This extremely damaging false doctrine
that again burdens us arises from our ill consideration of Matthew 7:21 with I
Peter 4:1, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same
attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin."
Unfortunately we claim that when Jesus Christ decided to do His Father's will,
He suffered on the cross and therefore set us an example that suffering has to
happen if we are to choose God's will to die and remain dead to sin. This is
the evil and false doctrine that it is necessary to suffer pain in order to do
God's will of dying and remaining dead to sin (putting sin to death).
Later,
in this chapter, I elaborate on this using Hebrews 12:4-13. But first off, we
must again give careful consideration that the will of God mentioned in Matthew
7:21 is that we die and remain dead to our sins (putting sin to death) by fully
accepting His grace to allow it to produce the fruit of love which is joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
which casts out our guilt and anxiety over who will enter the kingdom. From
God's Spirit comes the perspective that all enter the heavenly kingdom.
Secondly,
consider that I Peter 4:1 does not state that he who has suffered in his body
dies to sin. It also does not state that suffering in one's body is needed to
remain dead to sin.
I
assert that suffering in one's body has nothing to do with dying and remaining
dead to sin. Bodily suffering is simply a sacrificial act one is joyfully
willing to undergo for everyone's well-being. Jesus did not suffer on the cross
in order to die to sin because He is sinless. He also did not suffer on the
cross in order to remain sinless but because He is sinless. The cross
was not in order for us to be loved but because we are loved. Jesus did not
decide to suffer on the cross in order to do God's will but because He was
doing God's will. And the will of God that Jesus was doing was giving grace
to us.
Hebrews
5:7-8 reveals that Jesus did suffer a struggle whether or not to obey this will
for Him at Gethsemane and at other times during His ministry (such as before
Gethsemane - John 12:27-28 and on the cross - Matthew 27:45-46 and Mark
15:33-34). Jesus knew that God wanted Him to give grace (just as we know that
God wants us to receive grace). We do not receive grace by dying on a cross but
Jesus died on one while giving grace. Jesus was afraid to die. But He had the
eternal Spirit offering Himself unblemished to God (Hebrews 9:14a). He felt
fear but He also felt joy and peace, which caused Him to transcend fear and go
to the cross. He did not go to the cross in order to feel joy and peace; God
transcended Him with joy and peace above fear. II Timothy 3:12 and Hebrews
11:35-40 help to reveal that without all of us together - past, present and
future, we are afraid to be persecuted (by omission and commission) - possibly
to death by being vulnerable with the outward actions of sin while putting
ourselves in the position to receive grace. But God can transcend us with joy
and peace above fear. Jesus was scrutinized to reveal that He is no mere human
in His perfect transcendence. God, thru His control of the human conduit
blesses us with a remembrance of times past when we received forgiveness thru
that conduit. And He causes us to transcend the fear of being vulnerable with
the outward actions of sin in order to ask for and receive forgiveness once
again.
Also
while we are feeling afraid, God, thru His control of the human conduit can
cause us to feel that our fear will cease at the end of this age by blessing us
with the remembrance of faith that we have rational historical empirical
evidence that God raised Jesus physically up from death and that God promises
to raise us physically up from death.
Let
us not be slow to learn concerning what can be said about Hebrews 5:7-11. For
suffering cannot produce obedience and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Throughout His ministry Jesus learned obedience while suffering and it was
the fruit of the eternal Spirit offering Himself unblemished to God that
taught Him (Hebrews 9:14a and John 17:13 - joy)!!! God transcended
Jesus to do His will for Jesus to give grace instead of Jesus’ will not
to die. And God, thru His control of the human conduit can transcend us to do
His will for us to receive grace instead of our will not to be persecuted (by
omission and commission) - possibly to death by being vulnerable with the
outward actions of sin in order to put ourselves in the position to receive
grace.
God
did not use this particular suffering of the cross to perfect (make complete) Jesus’
historical ministry, He ended this particular suffering at Jesus’ death
and resurrection to complete Jesus’ historical ministry.
GOD,
AS CHRIST JESUS AND HIS CHURCH, IS PERFECT/COMPLETE BY BECOMING THE WORLD OF
HUMANS AND THEREBY BEING SUBJECT TO SUFFERING AGAINST THE SAME
WEAKNESSES WE SUFFER IN.
As
I mentioned in chapter 7 of this document, God knows what it is like to be a
human being, suffering and dying - estranged from his or her Creator. And God
will never let a single human being remain unsaved!
Because
God's fruitful Spirit was always with Jesus Christ, He was always the
unblemished Lamb of God (I Peter 1:19). Hebrews 12:2 and Luke 23:34 I believe
clearly sets this forth - that He endured the suffering of the cross and
scorned its shame when, with joy, grace flowed thru Him to us. For He
had the forgiving spirit while nailed to the cross.
Dying
on a cross was involved in the primary will God had for Jesus Christ to GIVE
us grace. Let us realize the fact that the only sacrificial suffering we shall
ever endure and scorn for the sake of each other (because of authentic death to
and finish from sin - the putting of it to death) can come only by the
authentic joy from RECEIVING grace. This is the primary will God
continues to have for us.
We
recognize that we CAN obey (do) this which is God's will and no longer suffer with the
struggle and burden of guilt about not wanting to do His will by the joy
this true obedience has with the perfect transcendence in the complete presence
of God by the end of this age.
God
forgives us our sins! Sins burden us down with guilt but His forgiveness
unburdens us and bears the fruit of joy. He purifies us of all
unrighteousness because we are of Him forever! Unrighteousness burdens us down
with anxiety over the well-being and abundance of our lives but God purifies to
unburden us also of this and to bear the fruit of peace and faithfulness
in the grace of God.
God
forgives us our sins! God protects the well-being of our lives by purifying us
from all unrighteousness! He unburdens us with the fruit of the Spirit! God
does this for us! Who we are becomes revealed because of the fruit we
feel in our hearts! Praise God! For we are His powerful offspring. We are full
of abundant life!
As
God's powerful offspring and being full of abundant life, we have the authentically-felt
capacity of great human kindness. Even when our great human kindness takes on
the form of punishing personal sacrifice and disciplining ministry for one
another, we undoubtedly know that we happily want it to be done
so. For there is no better choice for us by His Holy Spirit. We have no doubts
because we feel the love which is the joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control we get as God forgives
us and keeps us as His offspring and full of abundant life.
Unfortunately,
we are burdened and seek to continue to burden ourselves with the false and
evil notion that God's grace alone does not keep us as His offspring because we
unfortunately believe He must also employ any imaginable sacrifice, suffering,
punishment and discipline on our part to keep us as His offspring and full of
abundant life. This notion bears a terrible burden of guilt and anxiety
over whether we are still God's offspring and full of abundant life. And this
happens whenever any of us will not submit to any sacrifice, suffering,
punishment and discipline vainly imagined we HAVE to do - rendering us
vulnerable to the abusive control we unfortunately inflict on each other.
God
does not need to employ pain on our part from any sacrifice, suffering,
punishment and discipline to keep us as His offspring but only because He is
helping us see that we already are His offspring. Pain, like any other
aspect of evil is a contrast to what is good - contributing to our recognition
between the two. The only pains for the sake of others we have to submit to
are the ones we WANT to. We can submit to these because our wills
authentically let us. God simple forgives us the ones we do not want to submit
to - keeping us His offspring.
Pain,
devoid of the fruit of God's transcending Spirit does not indicate that
we are embracing life correctly, it indicates that we are embracing life
incorrectly - that we are handling stress improperly. And the proper way to
deal with the pains of hardships and disciplines is set forth as follows in
Hebrews 12:4-13.
Our
suffering is not to put sin to death in us, but for the good of others. And
others' suffering is not to put sin to death in them, but for the good of us. I
assert this is the healthy way to consider verses 4-13 of Hebrews chapter 12.
In the paragraphs that follow, I shall elaborate.
Verse
4 says, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the
point of shedding your blood." Consider the struggle against
sin - NOT with sin, for God faithfully takes away the struggle with sin.
With pathetic misfortune, we are so burdened in the struggle with sin that some
of us will go so far as to harshly "discipline" his or her body to
the point of shedding blood in order to have false peace towards well-being and
relationship with God. But shedding blood when resisting (struggling) against
sin is a different matter all together. Struggling against sin is something only
God and His offspring does. Look at verses 5-7. I have underlined some of the
actual text for emphasis: "And you have forgotten that word of
encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not
make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he
accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating
you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
God
is treating us as His offspring, not making us His offspring. We are already
made offspring by forgiveness. We are not made offspring by the requirement of
us to sacrifice when we (without the fruit) do not want or desire to.
Let
us ask ourselves the fact that we feel greatly relieved knowing that God
does not require us to submit to anything painful unless we really want to. God
does not make unfair and burdening comparisons between us. Verse 8 says, "If
you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are
illegitimate children and not true sons." God does not say, "Your
brother or sister so and so did such and such painful personal sacrifice. You
must also or your growth in abundant living shall be stunted and I will no
longer consider you an offspring of mine." Unfortunately, we treat
ourselves this way but God does not. Consider that verse 8 does not teach that
everyone has to submit at the same rate and against the same areas of
unholiness. We are all individuals with different lives. What is the same
for all of us (that which everyone undergoes) is that God always GIVES some
sort of discipline we authentically will submit to. This is the one
and only one quality of God's discipline, which is uniform to all of us and is evidence
that we are legitimate offspring of His! The evidence of authentic submission
is because of the presence of the fruit of the Spirit.
The
very writing of this document by me is a good example of what I just asserted.
I am experiencing great joy and satisfaction even while I am undergoing the
pains of discipline as I write about the grace which bears the joy and peace I
am experiencing. I am authentically submitting to the pains of the discipline
of writing. Yet what is really expected of everyone else?! It is not to write
this document or to live my life but to know the sort of discipline God is
giving each one of us that we authentically will submit to - for we certainly
shall then do so! We all, as God's maturing offspring - as His growing children
shall certainly share in God's holiness and likeness with ever-increasing glory
(verse 10 plus II Corinthians 3:18). Do we not feel this certainty? Test
it out and recognize that feeling it is as it should be.
Verse
11 sets forth that as offspring, we have the righteous fruit of the Spirit and
continue to feel joy and peace even while feeling the pains of discipline
and produce an even greater harvest of righteousness and peace for one another.
Unfortunately,
we claim that this verse teaches that discipline, which is painful, produces
the righteous fruit of the Spirit. We are unfortunately wrong, for pain cannot
produce pleasure and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit! Only God and His
offspring, already good branches, produce more good fruit during discipline's
training. All other trees and branches begin to wither under the evil of pain
(becoming disabled, verse 13). But the forgiven and purified, joyfully and peacefully
reign over this evil and make it as a servant in the training for even greater
harvests of good fruit. It is the feelings of joy and peace which teach
us how to reign over the evil of pain, how to struggle against sin, how to
strengthen our enfeebled arms and weakened knees - lame from the burden of
guilt (verse 12) and authentically submit to the Father of our spirits
and live (verse 9)!
Unfortunately,
we often bring up the notion that if everyone did only what they felt like
doing, potentially nothing good would ever be followed through with. This
really is just a different offshoot from what I discussed in chapter 6 on
deterrence. The point is that the world of human beings is vulnerable to evil.
And God, who has the initiative and primary responsibility for our well-being,
has provided His grace thru His control of human stewardship thereby creating
the wonderful fact that each of us can start on our own road of personal
excellence and secondary responsibility for the sake of others. Thank God that
everyone is involved in this because everyone is His offspring. Everyone is
forgiven. One person writes a document on God's grace, another becomes the
manager of a manufacturing and administrative concern. And everyone is
headed in the same direction.
CHAPTER 9: A SUCCINCT AND VITAL MESSAGE
This
chapter is a succinct and vital credo that helps make clearer the thoughts and
perspective set forth throughout this document.
Jesus
Christ is the required, once for all, eternal, sinless and unblemished
sacrifice for the forgiveness and removal of sins. (Hebrews 9:22, 26 & 28
Hebrews 13:8 I Peter 2:22, John 8:46 & I John 3:5 Hebrews 9:14 & I
Peter 1:19 Isaiah 53:1-12)
His
life was sacrificed but He claimed to be the resurrection and prophesied His
resurrection. His claim and prophecy was fulfilled when He was brought back
from the dead, as documented by many witnesses. (John 11:25 John 10:17-18 John
2:18-22 Matthew 26:61-64, Matthew 27:62-65 & Matthew 28:1-15 Acts 1:3 I
Corinthians 15:3-8 Acts 2:22-36 & Psalm 16:8-11 Romans 1:1-4 Hebrews 13:20)
Unbelieving
historians, including those antagonistic to Christianity, who were contemporary
with the New Testament writers, also shed light on the historicity of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here are a few: "On the eve of Passover they
hanged Yeshu of Nazareth and the herald went before him for forty days saying
Yeshu of Nazareth is going forth to be stoned in that he hath practiced sorcery
and beguiled and led astray Israel." (The 100-500 AD
The
believers solemnly testified to the resurrection. Such testimony is found in
the New Testament such as I Corinthians 15:4b & 12-20a. It says, "Christ
was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. But if it is preached
that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there
is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then
not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching
is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false
witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from
the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if
the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then
those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we
have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has
indeed been raised from the dead."
The
historians who did not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead attributed
His followers' solemn testimony to things other than an act of God - such
things as sorcery, beguilement (deception by trickery), mischief, superstition
and enormity (outrageous claims.)
The
apostle Paul appealed to unbelieving and/or antagonistic witnesses to Jesus by
asking, "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises
the dead?" (Acts 26:8 along with Acts 26:2-3 & 25-29 Acts 23:6-9
Acts 24:22 & 24 Acts 25:9-10)
Let
us not consider it incredible that God exists and raises the dead. Let us not
be afraid of God.
The
original manuscripts of the vast majority of literature written from about 500
BC - 200 AD no longer exists. And even though we do not have the original
manuscripts of the New Testament, there is a greater abundance of existing
copies made closer in time to the originals than there are for any other works
of literature written from about 500 BC - 200 AD. This archeology of writing
shows the New Testament we have now to be a highly reliable and accurate
document of the original writings. The New Testament has been well established
by God thru His use of the human conduit.
Christian
writers as well as their non-Christian historian contemporaries have testified
that the believers promised never to falsify their word or to be untrustworthy.
And as literary analysis sheds light to the form by which the New Testament
originated and was written down, it is shedding light on the way God directed
it to be. The New Testament is according to God's sovereign will thru His use
of the human conduit.
Let
us not be afraid to consider the New Testament credible.
We
have these fears because of the past inundation of unhealthy interpretation
about God. So let us consider carefully and pay more careful attention to Jesus
Christ and what He taught His apostles to be written down and taught to all of
us. (John 14:24b-26 John 17:17-20 Mark 4:23-24 & Hebrews 2:1)
The
temptations Jesus Christ suffered are due to and reveal that He is without sin
- no sin is in Him for He is pure. This special paradox was accomplished
because He was transcended with the joy of the sinless, unblemished, forgiving
spirit of God who cannot be tempted by evil. (Hebrews 2:18 Hebrews 4:15 I John
3:3 & 5 Hebrews 9:14 James 1:13 Hebrews 12:2 John 17:13 Luke 23:34)
So
Jesus Christ was scrutinized to reveal that He is no mere human in His perfect
transcendence and although His temptations are due to and reveal that He is without
sin, our temptations are due to and reveal that we are with sin. For
even though unclean desires are not of us, they do live within us and make us
unclean on the outside. We are already sinning when we experience evil desires.
Temptation indicates evil desires, which are sinful desires because they are
produced by sin. They are conceived by sin and after they grow for a while, the
outward phase of sin is born. Temptation is not a test to determine if
we can remain without sin or not. Temptation is proof that we are with sin and
that we are in need of help. And we know when we are without sin and no longer
in need of help when there is no temptation. Temptation is evidence of sin
being alive. It is equivalent to being caught in sin. (Romans 7:8 Mark 7:20-23
Matthew 5:21-22 & 27-28 James 1:14-15 Hebrews 2:18b Hebrews 4:16 Romans 7:9
Galatians 6:1)
So
the point is not to resist temptation. By the Spirit and will of God, the point
is to resist the tempter. Resisting the devil is done by gently instructing one
another to knowledge of these truths about the temptation phase and outward
phase of sin for us as mere humans so that we all may come to our senses and
escape this ignorance. For ignorance is the trap of the devil. (Matthew 4:1-3
& 5 I Thessalonians 3:5 James 4:7 I Peter 5:8-9 II Timothy 2:25-26)
Stewardship
is faithful and wise management service. The conduit of human stewardship is
the earth-subduing design and creation of God. God's Spirit of FORGIVENESS exists
for us only thru this conduit of human stewardship. God's Spirit of
FORGIVENESS is for the whole world. But it can reach us only thru this
conduit of His. And He initiated and controls the conduit for FORGIVENESS thru
Jesus for His followers, next thru them for others, then thru others for us.
And once we are receiving God's Spirit of FORGIVENESS, which is thru the
conduit, then we become a part of that conduit as well. Until we are receiving
God's Spirit of FORGIVENESS, which is thru the conduit, we are not yet a part
of that conduit. (Luke 12:42 Matthew 24:45 Genesis 1:26-28 John 1:1-4, 14 &
17-18 I John 4:2 John 20:21-23 I John 4:12 Psalm 23:2 & Hosea 11:4 John
13:15-17 John 21:15 -17 I John 4:19)
God's
Spirit of FORGIVENESS (which exists for us only thru the human conduit)
cancels the written code with its regulations and takes it away. (Colossians
2:13-14)
Sin
does not live in us when it is dead apart from law. (Romans 7:8b)
To
reiterate, from all that has just been asserted, we recognize the death of sin
within us when we are no longer experiencing temptation.
It
is imperative that we put sin to death. But this is not done by the false and
valueless resisting of the temptation phase of that sin in us nor is it done by
resisting the outward phase of that sin in others. We put sin to death by
continuously receiving FORGIVENESS when we have gotten to the point where we
persistently ask for FORGIVENESS of the outward phase of that sin in everyone.
For this is God's way out when sin seizes the opportunity to live in us.
(Galatians 5:19-21 & 24 Colossians 3:5 & 8 Colossians 2:23 Matthew
5:38-42 Acts 13:38 & 43 Matthew 18:21-22 Luke 11:1-13 Luke 18:1-8 John
16:24 Matthew 5:42 I Corinthians 10:13 & Romans 7:8)
DILIGENCE
TO DETAIL
God
indeed cares about all the details
of people locked up in spiritual jails.
Using bricks of anxiety when they were built
their doors and windows are barred up with guilt.
A vague threat is used like a ball and chain
by the abusive, themselves abused - pain begets pain.
(If you think of a few, be kind and not name.)
"If I can get
people to worry and fret
with the message of
disobeyed details
that still has to be met
then You shall never receive
their praise, their true love
for they shall not know
they are fondly thought of."
Boasted the evil one in the presence of God.
So what do you think He said to that fraud?
"WITH CORDS OF HUMAN KINDNESS I LED THEM, WITH TIES OF LOVE."
Hosea 11:4 is the precedent to know what is or is not from above.
My heart is led in this way - and follow my heart that I do!
The heart, misunderstood and yet with this message is new.
So with a feel for details, one will be able to know
what applies today from long ago.
I
considered what I might write about myself. So I have made an extra number of
personal remarks. In stating my viewpoints, I have wanted to go beyond the mere
sharing of the thoughts and feelings of loneliness, isolation and hurt that I
have. And even though I assert that these feelings are the result of being
demoralized and devastated from bad religion, I want them to be an example for
all of us to relate to when any of us thinks and feels this way, ultimately for
the comfort and edification of us all as we become more understanding towards
one another. For I have attempted to state viewpoints of hope.
It
might be said that the experiences I've had and the propensities and
disposition I've got have polarized me. I want to say that we all have
polarization tendencies. So my point is for us all to have attitudes and
perceptions that are accurate to what is universally true for human society
which pluralism tests and discovers for.
I
often haven't experienced the kind of forum where I can share strong personal
opinions. So I'm asking readers to be open-minded to the idea that perhaps the
things I so strongly assert just might have universal truth and value.
We
need to stop blaming ourselves for our problems and start seeing others for who
they really are. They are God's conduits of His responsibility and love for us.
And we need to stop blaming others for their problems and start seeing ourselves
for who we really are. We are God's conduits of His responsibility and love for
others.
It
gets suggested that I create the situation of hurt, isolation and loneliness
for myself. It is not true. If I am contributing to the perpetuation of this situation,
it is only partial and in a secondary, subordinate way. But I have not created
the situation. I have been demoralized and devastated by bad religion. And
although the world is complex and enriching, it is often ignorantly careless
and indifferent. For even when it has asserted a good teaching, it has often
neglected to encourage me to put it into practice.
If
someone were to say, "What's your problem? I've faced suffering!” I
would say, "You are either belly-aching or boasting. Either way you are not
encouraging me as I face the suffering of a waning faith in God.
I
know that many conventional thinkers in the world would say that I'm just
trying to shift the blame instead of taking responsibility for my life, and to
teach others to do the same. Yet I must say now, please! read how I've
addressed these subjects throughout this document. For it is not about me, it is
about us - all of us!
So
I don't blame others for their miseries. And others should not blame me for
mine. Let all of us, as the Lord shall grant, make an ending to all whining.
I've
been accused of profligating with some evil version of the philosophy of
fatalism, where each person is just a puppet hung on manipulating strings. And
although mathematical calculations of super string physics shed light on this
subject, as previously mentioned in chapter 7 of this document, I see it as God
constraining our wills as our dance partner to His glorious musical vibrations.
We
have prerogative and decision-making capacity. So from this mundane thing, we
mistakenly see this as the ultimate reality. But we can see that God controls
our wills. And each of His commands is joyfully fulfilled after the fashion of
light out of darkness.
I
believe in the blessing of self-control, for it is of the fruit of the
Spirit. It is Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in
free will, not having been dead in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with
Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I am thankful in being granted the benefit of
this gift of undergoing the process of being set free from sin, becoming a
slave to God and under the control of righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.)
Here
is another, more condensed credo that enhances all I've written about
throughout this document. It also will help introduce some additional personal
remarks.
1.
God is the only source of our well-being. His Spirit is that of loving
forgiveness. And joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control are the fruits of His Spirit.
2.
God is creator and sovereign over all things. We have no free will. God
constrains us as the good shepherd for His flock by being the Lamb of God thru
Jesus and His church. So only thru His sovereign control of the human
conduit, is God the source of our well-being which includes the fruit of
self-control.
3.
Jesus Christ was scrutinized to reveal that He is without sin. Our temptations
reveal that sin is living in us. God's forgiveness thru Christ (Jesus and His
church) aborts sin at its temptation phase (before it is ready to be born as
its outward phase.) Therefore, sin dies.
4.
God gives His fruit to nourish our faith, temporarily has mysteries to train
our faith and temporarily allows evil to test our faith so that the gift of
faith in His goodness grows as strong as the fact of His goodness.
I
think about the events of John chapter 11. God wept over His friend, Lazarus.
He wept! Almighty God experienced the grief of loss and soon would experience
His own brutal death. It is an unfortunate necessity that all manner of evil be
experienced. Almighty God has demonstrated this to be so. For even though He
used His might to raise Lazarus from the dead and soon would raise Himself from
the dead, He did not use His might to stop Himself from experiencing pain and
suffering. God understands. He knows. He shall spare us all. For evil is not
His will.
I
loath pain and suffering. So much of my hopes and dreams and plans are killed.
Yet, there are additional hopes and dreams and plans. And God directs the faith
He gives. God causes me to trust Him and to see that there is no better choice
than to believe I am loved and to feel that my life, such as it is, is a
gift - touched by and touching many people for the better or the worst. I begin
to trust that the experience of the fruit of God's Spirit is His will
for me. Perhaps things are getting better. I feel more joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
with God in relation to others in the world. And I'm more confident that
God provides in every way. Although I can feel better, this is not always the
case nor do I always trust. And I do not always have a sense of well-being. God
directs me forward - both up and down.
When
I pray to the invisible God, it is often a prayer for His help to go to the places
in me where His Spirit is (given thru others in the past) to sustain me while
alone. And I remember the positive choices and choose again and again - as
habit. This is of benefit to me and to others. I believe in the blessing of
self-control, for it is of the fruit of the Spirit. It is Christ living
in me (Galatians 2:20.) But I don't believe in free will, not having been dead
in my sins (Ephesians 2:1) nor having died with Christ (Colossians 2:20.) For I
am thankful in being granted the benefit of this gift of undergoing the process
of being set free from sin, becoming a slave to God and under the control of
righteousness (Romans 6:17-22.) I am not always blessed with prayer life of
this kind. Nor am I always blessed with these good remembrances and positive
habits.
I
know that the mundane blessings of skill (asserted by the world) in the
practical affairs of acting upon the right thing to do and not upon how one
feels would be all for not without grace and its acknowledgment by us all. I
think how self-initiative is such a personal power - easily corrupting a person
into thinking and acting wrongly that self-control is not a gift from another,
not a gift from God. Therefore God grants it sparingly.
I
am being given my humble portion. So sometimes I'm a success in society and
sometimes I'm not. It is a brutish society, incognizant of anything but
the mundane and charmed by the worldly blessings of the skillful practice of
amoral realism by the disciples of Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince.
I
aim to be in the world but not of it. I aim to participate in the mundane. But
I aim neither to have my heart enthralled by the world nor to have my heart
waste away - aghast at the overwhelming mundaneness of the world. I aim to deal
in the fact that I have no better choice than to live this necessary life given
to me. I aim to travel this realm of half-lights and dim heavenly visions -
hoping for the best; accepting the worst and preparing to meet and create the
brightness of heaven.
The
world is not yet as it should be. Unfortunately, we must do for ourselves alone
more than what ought to be so. There is an old vulgar saying that goes,
"You got to hold your own water." I therefore aim to busy myself with
accomplishments - not worrying about the fact that we all remain in want
because there is still too much ignorance of the best aspects of Christian
wisdom that is available for us to gain perspective on and to practice with.
Yes,
I aim myself this way. But only sometimes do I experience accomplishment and
only sometimes do I not worry.
In
the author's foreword to this document I stated that I wanted to reflect in
writing a specific perspective. I trust that I have set forth this perspective
throughout this document. And I trust that this perspective can be continued in
some other way at some other time.
I
used to have a much different perspective during my childhood and for most of
my very young adult years. But my beliefs are different now. And whole sets of
questions I had then have now been answered.
It
seems too frequently that I have difficulties experiencing a sense of
companionship in the relationships I have with others. And I can wonder why.
Occasionally, there is opportunity to discuss in detail with people this belief
system I've had since 1986. With open-minded integrity, I still ask questions
about the difficulties: Is it because I still do not believe in the correct
things that need to be believed in and am not putting them into practice? Is it
because others still do not believe in the correct things that need to be
believed in and are not putting them into practice? Is it a combination of the
two? Or is it something else? So far, the answers to these new questions have
always been the perspective and thoughts set forth throughout this document. So
God sometimes grants His blessings sparingly. And I'm lacking. I trust that my
current lack of joyous self-control with my sense of companionship
towards others will ripen rich in joy.
May
the discussions I've had and the ones I might have in the future be good enough
for this not yet perfected world of ours. May this document be good enough for
this not yet perfected world of ours. May I be good enough for this not yet
perfected world of ours. My life has continued, by the grace of God.
I
hope that care will be used in the interpretation of this document so that all
may be better edified. I ask for this consideration to be done regardless at
what level of regard I'm held in.
Here
are some additional viewpoints: I believe that our God-given uniqueness, which
sometimes can be manifested in such biochemical mechanisms as DNA but is more
fundamental than that, make all of us individuals, each with our own set of
propensities and dispositions that differentiate us one from the other. And
also by God's sovereign will, the good experiences of the Spirit of His
forgiving and edifying love make all of us the righteous individuals we are as
His church - the body of Christ. I feel that I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 4
through chapter 14 verse 4 and Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 through verse 16
contributes much to this belief.
The
most important battles between God and Satan rage in the church, not out in the
so-called "world". I believe God designed His church to be the whole
world of humans. And I am writing this document for all to help assure (if only
to me) that the gates of Hades will not overcome the church. But the worst
evils are not when people fall away but when we all in the church throw them
away, not when the church gets lampooned but because we all in the church have
failed to forgive.
Now
floating about is the notion of "agreeing to disagree" as the way for
harmony in the world (as if we had nothing better available to us to create the
harmony). I assert that this notion is stupidity. For its principle allows
division, strife, bad temper, dissension, schism and quarreling to fester
and grow.
As
a matter of fact I Clement 46:5-9 & 47:7 says, "Why is it that you harbor
strife, bad temper, dissension, schism, and quarreling? Do we not have one God,
one Christ, one Spirit of grace, which was poured out on us? And is there not
one calling in Christ? Why do we rend and tear asunder Christ's members and
raise a revolt against our own body? Why do we reach such a pitch of insanity
that we are oblivious of the fact we are members of each other? Recall the
words of our Lord Jesus. For he said: "Woe to that man! It were better for
him not to have been born than to be the occasion of one of my chosen ones
stumbling. It were better for him to have a millstone around his neck and to be
drowned in the sea, than to pervert one of my chosen." Your schism has led
many astray; it has made many despair; it has made many doubt; and it has
distressed us all. Yet it goes on! The result is that the Lord's name is being
blasphemed because of your stupidity, and you are exposing yourselves to
danger."
Let
us see that the true, safe, proper and necessary thing rather than festering
disunity is to open up the wound, clean and disinfect it. Even though this
causes a sting for us to feel, it shall not last, for this wound will then
truly start to heal and greater unity will then proceed to develop. Test that
what I'm asserting is true by the fruit it shall produce. For what we
have available to us is God's forgiving good will! And Paul exhorts in I Corinthians
1:10, 2:16 & II Corinthians 10:5, "I appeal to you, brothers, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so
that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united
in mind and thought. We have the mind of Christ. We demolish arguments and
every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." God is
forgiving. He is good! So, as Proverbs 29:18 helps to reveal, without the
restraint of a unified revelation about God, we will continue to be exposed to
tragedies.
Charles
Dickens helps to shed light on the great importance of knowledge and revelation
in his story, A Christmas Carol. As the ghost of Christmas present was
about to leave Scrooge, he showed him the two wretched children and stated
essentially that the girl is want and the boy is ignorance, and to beware of
them both but mostly to beware of the boy. And I assert that we must resolve
our ignorance, or we all will continue to be in terrible want.
By
the way, and this is beside the point: Are men and women different? Is one
gender superior? Men and women are different, sure. But we are all the same as
unique individuals. We are all fully human.
In
reference to the important link of God with His human conduit - Jesus and His
church, I must say that more of the worldly orthodoxy of fitting in with a
society's culture and conventional thinking - that which was used to spread the
church to worldwide influence must give way to elements of grace like those
outlined in chapter 4 and elsewhere in this document. For it was for the sake
of God's grace that this orthodoxy was used, and now grace must be brought to
the table of honor, so to speak.
The
scripture refers to Logos many times and I understand this and now share in one
particular way: The writer establishes a relationship with words to reflect the
powerful, everlasting reasoning which fathers those words.
I've
referred to the scriptures often. I've used the New International Version of
the Bible. I believe the Bible is not a textbook only of science, nor
economics, nor grammar or even only of history. Every word is about loving
wisdom. So that we may properly value every complexity of reality to have
reality properly serve us and us - reality.
This
document is not too esoteric for the common good, even though others say that.
Let us remember that the world thought that the knowledge in the 1970's of
supposed inert chemicals which actually damage upper level atmosphere ozone was
too esoteric for the common good, yet was so valuable that Nobel prizes have
been given. This is only an example of how we often have the misfortune of not
properly valuing esoteric endeavors.
It
is my perspective and belief that God's blessing of wisdom is in me. Now the
reader might say, "Well, there's his problem - he thinks he's better than
everyone else. So there's alienation." But this is not about me; it is
about us - all of us. I believe a gift of wisdom has been given to me by
God. This is not arrogance on my part, for possessing the knowledge of God is
no guarantee that any love will dwell on earth, in me or in anyone else. I
believe that God has blessed me with enlightenment but only when at least two
similarly enlightened people are in earthly fellowship will there be a more
effective conduit for love on earth. We lack mutual cognitive
understanding. I am not God. I am just like any other person, often filled with
sin.
I
am alone. It is so rare to meet sufficiently enlightened people or others who
are becoming sufficiently enlightened (according to my God-given perspectives.)
I am cognizant of the feelings of others when perspectives differ, yet I often
feel the pain of loneliness.
I
keep seeking, knocking and asking of the world of human beings to be
enlightened with me in shared perspective. But I discover far too few who are
sufficiently enlightened and far too few who are becoming sufficiently
enlightened (according to my God-given perspectives.) So far, for the most
part, everyone I've come in contact with has a childish cognition.
Sometimes the desire to remain in this quest diminishes. Because of human
ignorance, I very often unfortunately experience a world of humans that are
worse off even from other animals that have the sentience only of instinct. For
even animals are totems for us. Often I try to escape this pain with pleasant
past times and playful diversions with others. But it feels like I'm
associating with something far less than children or pets, and not with the
enrichment of adults. I try doing things by myself for escape. I have the pain
of no human fellowship in this world of dull and unearthly brute beasts.
Sometimes sin wells up inside of me and I do what is wrong and not what is
right. And I wonder what is to become of me. I even find it difficult sometimes
to earn a living when co-workers and business associates are these brutes to
me. What an unfortunate thing this is. God is granting me the self-control to
regard my fellow humans more excellently and nobly (to better enter His gates
with thanksgiving, as the psalmist says.) But God often grants self-control
sparingly. So sometimes I'm lacking. I trust the lack of this joyous
thing will ripen rich in joy. But until such time, this lack is an
unfortunate thing. We are afraid of poverty. We are afraid of many things
including death. The more we are afraid of what can happen to me or anyone
else, the less we see the truth that I have asserted in this document. This is
terrible. But this is how I am "saying my peace." May it be good
enough for this not yet perfected world of ours.
Often
there is little fruit in me because I know too few to practice wisdom
with. I have written this document about wisdom but I Corinthians 13:2 helps to
reveal that even if I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge about wisdom,
without love I am nothing.
There
are those who presume to be teaching enlightenment but are not. They assert
that there is no absolute truths yet assert they are absolutely certain of
this. So they are set up to suffer painful cognitive dissonance. And I
feel even more alone.
I
understand a sad irony found in Watership Down by Richard Adams. It is a
story about rabbits written to illustrate a number of human characteristics.
Some of the rabbit characters are more like adults to me than are most actual
people I know. For of the actual people I know, most have very childish cognition.
Here is a quote near the end of Chapter 31, which helps to reveal my lament:
"'Are you angry, El-ahrairah?' asked Lord Frith. "'No, my Lord,' replied
El-ahrairah, 'I am not angry. But I have learned that with creatures one loves,
suffering is not the only thing for which one may pity them. A rabbit who does
not know when a gift has made him safe is poorer than a slug, even though he
may think otherwise himself.' "'Wisdom is found on the desolate hillside,
El-ahrairah, where none comes to feed, and the stony bank where the rabbit
scratches a hole in vain. But, speaking of gifts, I have brought . . .'"
May gifts of blessing continue to be brought to us all.
Sin
and death is temporary, not to be the way of things to come. For now it does
not matter that this is the age of a world of humans punishing humans. And it
is not the most fundamental issue whether or not there is an everlasting human
hell. For these do not destroy the sinful nature within me. I do not want to be
punished. I do not want to die. But I want to sin even more than this. The
terrible consequences of sin cannot really motivate me to stop sinful actions
and inactions because the inner desire remains. I want the inner desires to be
destroyed so there is a simultaneous experience of the felt fruit of the
Spirit acting as love which is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I am still subject to and
dependent on God, whether experiencing failure or success, punishment or
reward, death or life.
This epiphany
site was revised last on: June 6, 2000 with some spell-checking & grammatical editing last on: March
13, 2008.