Things of the flesh, things of the Spirit

If you spend all your energy concentrating on what you need to do, or not do, worrying about doing things wrong, and avoiding temptation, (which you have to literally live in a hole in America to do) you'll see sin and evil, and wickedness everywhere you go, under every rock, and behind every tree. And even if you succeed in "getting it right", you're still going to see it everywhere you look, in everyone you know, in everyone you come in contact with. If you spend all your energy concentrating on the Love of Christ, and his complete forgiveness of all your sins, past, present, and (here in lies the controversy) future, intentional, unintentional, or just plain failing, you'll see the love, mercy, and beauty of God everywhere you look, in everything you see. You'll see the Divine manifested in the most unlikely places, and in the most unlikely people. If what you're all about is things of the flesh, you're going to worry about things of the flesh. Where you will find nothing but judgement, condemnation, and death. Because the Law of Sin, which is ever present in you as long as you live, will always stand in opposition to The Law, and will grumble about it, and hold a grudge against anyone who seems to not be subjected to it themselves, while subjecting yourself to it's rule. Nothing about The Law can save, no amount of trying will justify you, or anyone else, anymore than the homeless alcoholic living under the bridge. You want to be justified? Bring that guy a sandwich, or better yet a beer, and tell him God's Love for him in terms he understands. A beer and a friend. Someone who knows that he exists, and actually thinks he's a person just like you and me. You might even enjoy yourself, and doing the Work He has given you to do all at the same time. How's that for living in the Spirit. Booya. Word

On Lists

What is considered righteousness in American Christianity are things like not cursing, not smoking, not drinking, not taking part in sexual sins, avoiding unedifying music, movies, books, magazines, websites, avoiding people, places or situations where you might encounter temptation, wearing appropriate clothes, jewelry, and/or general appearance issues, daily prayer, a quiet time, regular church attendance, serving in the church, tithing, a belief in the inerrantcy of scripture, diligent inductive study of scripture, defending the truth and standing up for morality, confronting the sin of other people and "exhorting them to righteousness", witnessing at every opportunity, inviting people to church, bringing people to church, leading people to the Lord, discipling them in, well, this list. (As you can see, I left out kill, lie, cheat, and steal, because, those are pretty much common sense.) Anyone who grew up in the church is familiar (and accountable to) this list. New Christians receive this list very shortly after conversion and baptism. All of this can be accomplished without love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, or faith. None of which can be sustained healthily without. How can you have love if you don't know love? Forgiveness with strings attached is no forgiveness at all. New Christians break under the load all the time. I've seen it over, and over, and over. People who grow up in the church, often never go back when they can finally get the hell out. How can you have joy without first having love? How can you have peace without joy? There is not patience without peace. No desire to be want to be good, or gentle, or kind. Nothing to have faith in. What's the motivation then for self control aside from fear of the wrath of God, or an infinite indebtedness as slaves to the Gospel as long as we live? Really? Is that all that it boils down to? Can this world really be as sad as it seems? Is that the Gospel? Adam sinned, and if you were there, you would have too, so you are born into and destined for an eternity of conscious, everlasting, horrible, painful, torturous, undying torment, you and 99.9% of all of humanity throughout history, unless you believe in the name of Jesus, repent of all that sin you do and change. (Because if you convert and get baptized, and you still have sin in your life, then you can't really be saved, because if you were, the Holy Spirit would be convicting you of all that sin, and you would change.) And that's not really even up to you, because you have to be chosen in order to be able to repent and believe. And that was decided at like the beginning of time and everything. Not wanting to convert? Well then, you just lost your chance. You heard the message, and you said no, so, sorry about your luck. You had your chance, and you blew it. That's right, your entire life and existence and eternity was hinged on your response. But, you were created that way. Wow. So you're looking for hope for your restless, desperate, lonely, tired broken soul? Well you've come to the right place. Say this prayer. Now your a child of God! Here, you get a Bible with a little "Re-birth Certificate" sticker on the inside with your name on it. Let's get you baptized, and then we'll show you all that God has in store for you!

Not cursing, not smoking, not drinking, not taking part in sexual sins, avoiding unedifying music, movies, books, magazines, websites, avoiding people, places or situations where you might encounter temptation, wearing appropriate clothes, jewelry, and/or general appearance issues, daily prayer, a quiet time, regular church attendance, serving in the church, tithing, a belief in the inerrantcy of scripture, diligent inductive study of scripture, defending the truth and standing up for morality, confronting the sin of other people and "exhorting them to righteousness", witnessing at every opportunity, inviting people to church, bringing people to church, leading people to the Lord, discipling them in, well, this list.

And just remember, If you're really saved, the Holy Spirit will give you the grace and power to keep up with the list, and if you're not keeping up, you're grieving the Holy Spirit and not yielding to Him, in which case he'll discipline you. But if you don't feel guilty for not keeping up with the list, or get some crazy idea that "the list doesn't matter", then you're probably just not saved, or a heretic apostate with a reprobate mind. Good Luck! And by the way, we're having a finance meeting on Tuesday. We need a new Narthex.
Wow. Yeah, THAT makes sense. Are we serious? That's how it is?! Honestly. That's absurd. Pure insanity. Am I wrong? With sarcasm added, that is exactly the way many churchs work. And it's a lie, and manipulative, and it's a money machine. And it's sooo obvious to everyone outside the church. Which is why Christians are a joke.

The Law and Grace.

The laws that govern the Christian Faith are the unchanging Moral Law of God, and the Law of Grace (Law of Christ). Law and Grace. The Law is good, and right and fair. It makes sense. It's the basis for all of civilized society. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, and science all flourish in a secure society with just, honest, and humble leadership. The Law, for all it's pragmatic value, is a code of behavior. As practical as it is, it has no redemptive value whatsoever. It's the proverbial perfect horse in the sky. It must exist, and it is good that it exists. Although it's perfect, and cannot save, it's purpose is not expressly to condemn, although it does passively condemn by inference. But it's not it's purpose. But, in order to deal with The Law's inability to justify, at the right time, the Law of Grace came. It is the fulfillment of The Law, but something all together different. It's incredibly simple, yet like a simple equation (E=mc2), it's application is all encompassing. Remember the Gospel; that God was in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world to himself, not counting men's sins against them. That's the Essence. If we love him, we will keep his commandments. He gave 1 new commandment, that we love each other the way He loves us. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love you enemies. Do good to those who hate you and use you. don't fight back in a fight. If someone wants to rob you, give them more than they ask for. Forgive people who do you wrong indefinitely. If we give mercy we will receive mercy. He forgives our sins because we forgive people who do us wrong. If we forgive much, we will be forgiven much. This is the Law of Christ. And, it wholly, utterly, and completely supersedes The Law. It does not contradict The Law, but in practice, will always yield fruits of righteous works. A tree does not plant itself. It does not water itself. It does not make fruit of it's own volition. It yields fruit because it's a tree. One who believes what Jesus said, believes he has the power to forgive sin, believes he is God, and live out his message, are by no means whatsoever under condemnation of The Law under any circumstances. All things are lawful within the confines of Grace. (I know, I left out the "expedient" part. But that's the twisted message of the Gospel today; all things are lawful, but, not all things are expedient, so let me tell you what you have to do. Que list. Oh, your having a hard time? Well, you must not be persevering hard enough, because if your saved, the Holy Spirit has given you the grace to do it, you just aren't willing. Bad things happening in your life? That's God convicting you of your sin, so you'll turn to him and repent of those things you're not willing to give up. Oh, you've given up? You probably weren't saved in the first place: No. F that. All things are lawful. They might not be the fastest way, but they're still lawful. Look at the sentence structure. Read the rest of the chapter. Read the chapter before it. I Corinthians.) It is more sinful to offend a weak brother's new and delicate faith by "taking the higher ground" than taking part in his weakness, for the sake of gaining his trust, respect, and love. If your sin causes a strong brother to be offended, the offence is the greater sin. With those under The Law, be as you were under The Law. To those without The Law, be as one without The Law! Because you will not be without The Law before God, because you are under the Law of Christ. To the strong, be strong. To the weak, be weak. There is no condemnation for those in Christ. Denying Christ in a brother, and the work that He is doing in him, is no different than the Pharisee's accusation of Jesus casting out devils and healing the sick by the devil's power. The worst, and unfortunately very common tactic used by fundamentalists and evangelicals to get around the "Once saved, always saved" doctrine, is to simply infer that their brothers in Christ are simply unsaved, examples of apostates, or having been given over to a reprobate mind. Why? Because of a lack of keeping The Law. That is the leaven of the Pharisees. Not a lack of living the Law of Christ. There's no fooling the system. If he is able to take away the branch of the Pharisees, he is able to take away the branch of christians who do the same. Heaping heavy burdens on men, and lifting no finger to help. I speak judgement upon myself as well. I hate my sin. But, I thank God in Christ Jesus that it can in no wise ever separate me from the All Consuming Love of God. I will live under the Law of Christ by which I am saved. I will let that judge me justly. Word.