Season for the Reason: Old Testament Laws in New Testament times- Jesus is always Divine

Note: This is drawn from an online conversation I had and thus it's framed as such. I was trying to answer a multitude of questions and points raised by a skeptic. As the title says, it talks about the application of Old Testament Laws in New Testament times along with understanding the divinity of Jesus. I hope someone else may find this effort to help provide some answers to legitimate questions agnostics and/or atheists ask. As always, the best idea is to go to the Source- ask God Himself to reveal these things to you. As Jeremiah 29:13 says, you will seek Him and find Him when you seek Him with all your heart.
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      Hi! Thank you for your patience, sir. I knew this would likely be a long response and I wanted to have both wifi service and a computer keyboard available when I typed it. Let me say just a few things up front before I go any further. First of all, I wanted to note the limitations of this format for such conversations, as it does not allow for a real tet-a-tet where people can see each other face to face and observe facial expressions and tone of voice and so forth. And since this is someone else's Facebook wall, I don't want to bog down their wall with lengthy posts. I am happy to do my best to address your questions but I have absolutely no desire to argue or debate about them. Thus, I will do what I said I would do and try to cover each point one by one with a Biblical view. You are of course free to do whatever you want with that after that point. As you have already proved, the truth of 1 Corinthians 2:14 remains. If you're not in Christ, you will not understand the things that are discerned by the Spirit. Thus, the best way to really address your questions is to sincerely ask them to Creator God Himself- and the best way to do that is to sincerely put faith in Jesus and follow Him as Lord and Saviour. I certainly pray you might choose to do that but that is of course your choice to make. I respect everyone's right to their own religious choices. And every choice has consequences.         
       So- back to John 20:17. Jesus says to Mary in the garden that He's going back to her God and His God. You said you didn't question Jesus' use of the term "His Father and Mary's Father". Why's that? It seems Jesus answers your question in this same verse. He was clearly identifying His Father as God here. The grammar indicates He was talking about the same Person. Thus, His God is God the Father. The reason He can say this is because of the fact that He was fully God and fully man. Secondly- you asked about a proof text for that claim. There are a number of passages that speak about this but perhaps the best one I could point you to is Philippians 2. This passage notes that though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God something to be grasped but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bondservant and being born in the likeness of men. (Some translations say He made Himself nothing and took on the form of a slave.) The term "servant" is important though as this references back to the prophecies God made about the coming of His servant in Isaiah. Isaiah 52 and 53 speak about this servant and clearly paint a picture of Jesus the Messiah, who came in human form and humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. (The "even" part is important too- this refers back to Old Testament writings in the Law that proclaimed such a death to be a curse. Galatians 3 speaks about this. Deuteronomy 21:23 declared everyone hanged on a tree to be cursed. This is why Galatians 3 speaks of Jesus redeeming us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. Because of Christ's obedience, Philippians 2 goes on to say that God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It's also worth noting on this question that Jesus repeatedly referred to Himself as both the Son of Man and the Son of God. (Matthew 16:13-17- He affirms both titles here. See also John 5:17-18)
       Third point- There wasn't a really question here, but I would say that you should reinsert the mysticism and set it back in front of you because it is important. Jesus has always existed. The fact that He came into the world for a period of time as a human via a mystical working of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb (see Matthew 1 and Luke 1) does not mean Jesus was created. Colossians 1 and John 8:58 both speak to Jesus' eternal existence. See also John 1:1, which says that in the beginning was The Word and The Word was with God and The Word was God. (John 1:14 goes on to clarify that The Word is Jesus.) God was not created- He has eternally existed and eternally exists and will eternally exist. Of course, this baffles the human mind and goes beyond our understanding. But that stands to reason- we shouldn't expect to understand God in totality; otherwise, He wouldn't be much of a God. Fourth point- I can show you a plethora of places in the synoptic Gospels where Jesus claimed divinity. For that, I will stop this post and post that separately. (See separate post-
http://wordapplelyspoken.blogspot.com/2017/03/season-for-reason-jesus-is-god-he-said.html?m=0)
       Fifth point- Again, not really a question here but as I said earlier, Leviticus 11:45 has everything to do with Jesus because Jesus quoted it in Matthew 5:48 and in Matthew 5:17 He stated that He came to fulfill that law and all the others. This is incredibly significant because none of us can keep that Law, which all humanity is held accountable to in the end. God did give this Law to the Hebrews first, but He gave it so that they could live in such a way to be set apart and be an example to the other nations of the truth of The Lord God. Romans 2 speaks of the Gentiles being a Law unto themselves as all of us have consciences as a remnant of being made in the image of God that instill in us the difference between right and wrong. Romans 1-6 speaks a lot to the tension between the Law and Grace. As John 1:17 says- "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jesus also affirmed the truth of all Scriptures as God's Word in John 17 and He spoke to the dudes on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 about the numerous Scriptures throughout the Old Testament that speak directly of Him.
        Sixth point- The funny thing about the phrase "cherry picking" is that it makes perfect sense to speak of passages relevant to a point and not mention others that are not immediately relevant. That doesn't mean one ignores the other passages. I uphold the validity of all The Bible and I certainly believe in taking the full counsel of Scripture from all of God's Word. In cherry picking, I assume one would pick ripe cherries and not unripe ones; similarly, it makes sense to reference passages to support points while not mentioning ones that are not particularly relevant to those points. I previously addressed the question about Ezekiel 18, but to reiterate and clarify a bit more: that passage, along with all others, must be read in context to fully understand it. It's important to remember the people it was written to and the purpose it was written for and the time and language it was written in, as well as where it was written. This passage was written to the Jewish people at that time in history and its setting is within the Mosaic Law. The people were still under that Covenant and the only way they had of following The Lord was living by that Covenant and putting faith in the Messiah to come. God makes clear here that He will punish the the soul who sins with death. He later says in the same chapter that He will judge everyone according to his ways. And He exhorts Israel to turn from her wicked ways and repent! He asks them, "Why will you die?" As Ezekiel 18:32 says, God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone- so turn and live! As numerous other passages affirm, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23, Proverbs 20:9, Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Psalms 14:1-3, Psalms 53:1-3) Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The whole book of Hebrews explains that the Law cannot save us because none of us keep the Law perfectly. It also explains that through Jesus we are saved by faith in His sacrifice and resurrection. The shedding of Christ's blood is absolutely necessary for our salvation. He is the final Passover Lamb. Jesus said what He said in Mark 10:18 for a reason as well. First of all, it's worth noting that it's recorded slightly differently in Matthew's account. In Matthew 19:16-17, Jesus tells the rich young ruler, "Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." (It's interesting to note here that Jesus steers him to the keeping of the commandments and shows the ruler that he still lacks because he is unwilling to sell all he has and give to the poor and follow Jesus. This leads into Jesus' famous statement about how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven; it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Yet even though with man this is impossible, with God all things are possible. (Thus, rich people can enter God's kingdom through God's help but their earthly riches are certainly stumbling blocks for them.) Jesus doesn't say that He isn't the One who is good in this passage. I personally think He is questioning the rich young ruler as to why He addresses Jesus in that manner. The rich young ruler refers to Jesus as an authority on good deeds and the way to have eternal life. I think in saying this Jesus is getting the guy to recognize what he's saying and understand why he's coming to Jesus with this question- because he does recognize Jesus as good. (And if Jesus is truly good, then He is God because only God is truly good.) Jesus is getting the guy to realize His divinity because in effect, He's telling the guy, "So you realize you're equating Me with God? You recognize that I'm the authority on good because I am good and that's because God is good and He and I are the same." (Here is a good article that speaks more to this point.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=4832&fbclid=IwAR2bMDN8CLW9IrnhwDkQIe1J3mY-siEcTnKKaDifNQEIcn0LURmkVIjZV6Q)

         Seventh- You say you don't believe in Heaven or Hell, original sin or total depravity. I assure you that all those notions are sound, Biblically based doctrine and not merely church tradition. If you want to say they are invented to control the masses, I suppose that's true in some sense. But it's not Christians who invented them- it's God. And He does want to control the masses because He wants control of all of our lives. He is our Creator and He knows best how our lives should run. That is why He came in the form of a human being- Jesus the Christ, who was both fully man and fully God at the same time- who died and rose and then left us who believe in Him the Holy Spirit, so that we could have Him living in us. It's all part of the redemptive story of The Bible. God created the world and everything and everyone in it to be perfect but man has gone off in search of many schemes. People decided to sin and rebel against God. This brought a curse on the whole world and separated us from God. God towered above the Israelites in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night and only Moses and the high priest could get anywhere near Him and live! He told them He was going to send a Prophet- later dudes like Isaiah said He was going to send His Servant- and this Prophet and suffering Servant would come and know us in a way God had never done before. He became one of us! Jesus is rightly called Emmanuel- God with us! And Jesus was tempted in all things just as we are- yet was without sin. And because He was the perfect sacrifice, He could be the final Passover Lamb- the spotless Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. And when Jesus died and rose and ascended, He didn't leave us as orphans but He sent the Holy Spirit. Now God draws closer still- He dwells inside our very bodies! The Holy Spirit lives in those who follow Christ and God uses His followers today to be a witness for Christ and show His love to the world and speak His truth to the world in love.             
       And in the end, we will be finally reunited with God face to face when Christ returns or whenever we die- whichever comes first. Those who know Christ as Saviour and Lord will be with Him in Heaven for eternity. Those who do not will be in Hell for eternity. And in the end, people get where they choose to be. Logically, one can either be with God or away from God in eternity. To be away from God is Hell and to be with God is Heaven. Jesus is Heaven because being with Him is what it's all about. It's getting back to our original design that was put in place in Eden and that we rebelled against. The devil and his demons long ago rebelled and made their choice and they love to take as many humans as they can with them to the lake of fire. Jesus wants everyone to be saved and come to Heaven with Him. (2 Peter 3:8-9) But He is not going to force anyone to come. People must make their own choice. That was the whole point of giving us free will- God wants us to choose to love and follow Him willingly and not by force. We understand that in the context of marriage. I don't think any husband wants to have a Stepford Wife who is robotically programmed to love him and do whatever he wants. In the end, the only love really worth having is the love that is freely given by choice and not by coercion. God could certainly make everyone love Him and follow Him- but He wants our love willingly given to Him. He loved us first and He wants us to love and follow Him in return. Everyone has their own choice on what to do with that.
       I'd rather people choose to follow Christ and be in Heaven instead of Hell and that's why I certainly exhort people to make that choice and pray that they will take that step of faith. I can't force them to do so though and I would never try. God is also not going to force anyone. Everyone must make their own choice. And people are welcome to believe as they want to believe. As I said before though, every choice has consequences. Jesus will return one day and the final judgement will take place for everyone. Whether that event happens in our lifetime or not, there is another day that we will all face and that is the day of death. One day we will all die. I believe there is an eternity we will face and only two options of where to spend it- in Heaven or in Hell. I also know the way to avoid Hell and to go to Heaven instead- and that's through faith in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection on our behalf! It's trusting His perfection in living the life perfectly pleasing to God that we never could. And it's following Him because He loves us and wants us to be with Him. That's the reason I share this hope in Christ- because I know the truth of the eternal consequences of our choice on what to do with Christ and the only natural response to being enveloped by God's love is to share Him with everyone! I seek to do this in obedience to Jesus.
       If you knew a house was on fire and the people inside were asleep and were going to burn to death, would you do something about it and at least try to warn them or just walk on by and ignore it? What's the more loving thing to do? Certainly, it's more loving to rip someone out of their sleep and get them to safety out of the fire. Jude 1:22-23 says to have mercy on those who doubt and save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Of course, I can't do this in my own strength. All I can do is share what Jesus says and what He did and how much He loves us all and how we can all be saved if we'll let Him. And I can seek to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and love my neighbour as myself. Jesus said those are the two most important commands. I seek to do those first and foremost and also obey Ephesians 4:15 and speak The Truth in Love.
         In any case, I hope that helps answer your questions. Of course, it may still not all make sense to you. All I can say is that I would urge you to keep seeking Creator God earnestly because He's already seeking you. Bring these questions and any others to Him in sincerity and listen for His answer. You might also like to try reading through The Bible again for the 61st. time and try it with a fresh approach. Throw out everything you already think about God and go in with an approach that is willing to take God at His Word and believe the best about Him and trust that He is really there and really true in all He says. You may like to try this just with the Gospels first. Contemplate this- what if Jesus really is God and really died and really rose again and will really return and I really will have to stand before Him and give an account for everything I've ever said, thought or done in my life? What will I say to Him for Him to let me into Heaven? I know what I will say. I don't deserve to be in His presence because I am a sinner who has chosen his own way so many times and failed God so many numerous times. But God loves me so much He came and took the punishment I deserve on the cross and rose again to save me and I trust Him and His righteousness alone for salvation. May God bless you as you seek Him and make your decision.

By Faith Trust and Obey

         The point of doing God's will is not understanding. There are some things we will never understand until Heaven- and some we just may never understand period. And it doesn't matter. The point of doing God's will is obedience. Read through Hebrews 11, the chapter often called the "Hall of Faith", and you will see numerous people in The Bible who didn't totally understand (or at all) what God was telling them to do- but they were faithful to obey.
        By faith, Noah built an ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the flood. By faith, Abraham led his family out to a place that God would tell him about. By faith, Jeremiah faithfully preached the destruction of Jerusalem throughout his years of ministry, knowing the people would never listen to him. (God specifically told him this.) By faith, Isaiah went around naked for 3 years as an object lesson. (check Isaiah 20). By faith, Hosea married a prostitute- and took her back after she cheated on him. By faith, Jesus' disciples and the apostles boldly preached the Gospel of Christ to people- and many of them were martyred for it.
       There are numerous other examples that could be listed...None of these received the promise, since God had provided something better for us. They went through suffering just like we do as followers of Jesus. But they were looking forward to the coming glory of eternal life in Heaven with The Lord- and not just to this fleeting life. Jesus did the will of His Father and He certainly endured suffering just like we do. "Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) (see also Philippians 2).
       "But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." (Hebrews 10:32-39)

3 John (song)

As Christmas approaches this year, the classic Christmas song that I have thought about a lot that I think really sums up the main point of the holiday so well comes to mind- "Love Came Down at Christmas". Indeed, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (See John 3:16) There is no greater love than the love God has for us all. He proved that by sending Jesus to die for our sins and rise again. (Romans 5:8) And some of the most verses we have about love in The Bible come from the books of 1st. John, 2nd. John and 3rd. John. I have a trilogy of song parodies I've written about each book and I wanted to post that as a Christmas gift here this year. Funnily enough, I wrote them in reverse order- a song about 3rd. John, then one about 2nd. John and then one about 1st. John. They're all from the 1970s and so there's that theme common to them along with the theme of Love Divine. John writes one more short note in 3rd. John and offers a great model of Christian hospitality in Gaius. There's no greater joy than seeing your spiritual children walking in The Truth! The Holy Spirit uses John to go belting out another letter that hits home in the area of love. This is one of the tests of a true faith in Christ- we will see His love manifested in our lives. That's one way you can tell they're from God. Read- it's in 3rd. John.


3 John
(parody of "Your Song" written by Bernie Taupin and performed by Elton John; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 8/5/2016)
(3 John)

It's a little book, honey- quick read- 15 lines
It's just one of those that can easily slide by
Note sent from Johnny to his boy beloved
To Gaius- shout out! I rejoice at how you live

Hey Gaius, the brothers put in a good word
You're the man! Your devotion to Truth- travels, it shows
Oh, I know of your love- it's a faithful thing you do
Your gift is your home
To workers for Truth

And you can tell they're from God- read. It's in 3 John
Diotrephes' quite sinful- disallows them welcome
You know he's self-minded
He pays us no mind
But I'll put down my foot
If I come there, we'll right this- pearls trampled underfoot

A shout out from Truth- Demetrius
Well, review the 12th. verse, it's where- gave props, he's like a boss!
Like my son's been quite kind
In 1:4 3 John
When you're keeping in Truth, that
Pleases me so much

So refuse imitating
The evil men do
You see good- (then) copy it
By their deeds, we tell who's who
By the way, the verse is 1:11- read
Those who do evil? God- they've never seen

And you can tell they're from God-read; it's in 3 John
Their good deeds quite signify
Now then I'm done
I hope all's well, Guy
Your soul and your life
That I pray for you, dude
How wonderful I feel when you walk in Truth
You know I've much to write
I don't wanna just Skype
Or just put down in words
How wonderful if Christ wills- by your side I'll come...
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Just a Note- 2nd. St. John (song)

As Christmas approaches this year, the classic Christmas song that I have thought about a lot that I think really sums up the main point of the holiday so well comes to mind- "Love Came Down at Christmas". Indeed, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (See John 3:16) There is no greater love than the love God has for us all. He proved that by sending Jesus to die for our sins and rise again. (Romans 5:8) And some of the most verses we have about love in The Bible come from the books of 1st. John, 2nd. John and 3rd. John. I have a trilogy of song parodies I've written about each book and I wanted to post that as a Christmas gift here this year. Funnily enough, I wrote them in reverse order- a song about 3rd. John, then one about 2nd. John and then one about 1st. John. They're all from the 1970s and so there's that theme common to them along with the theme of Love Divine. The Apostle John gives us just a note that's pretty short in 2nd. John but it speaks volumes about real Christian love and hospitality. It really is just an old fashioned love song as we're reminded that the command to love isn't a new one, but an old one. It's just what Jesus told us- love God with all you've got and love your neighbour as yourself. Then when others can see love right in front of them like that, they're drawn all the more to the Saviour. So read in 2nd. John and listen to this song!


Just a Note- 2nd. St. John
(parody of "An Old Fashioned Love Song" by Paul Williams as performed by Three Dog Night; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 9/19/2016)
(2 John, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:18-21, 3 John 1:4-8, John 13:34-35, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13)

Just a note fashioned by John
Gave it to the lady- yo!
And wrapped up in 13 verses
It expounds on 1 John's love theme- not new, but old
Look there- you've heard it before
3:23 1 John
Reread then bring it on back
To 1:5-6 2 John

Just an old-fashioned love gong
Read 1 Corinthians in 13
Just an old commandment- Love all
John wrote down a 3-part love treatise

So read in 2 John and listen
How it's pleasing when kids walk in Truth
Obey The Lord- that's love, my dear
'Cause many bad deceivers deny Christ's come in flesh
Take care to win full reward
If any leave teachings and go on
Don't greet or bring 'em inside
'Cause they were never really God's

Just a note- 2nd. St. John
Coming about in late first century
Just a note fashioned by John
One I'm sure God wrote for you and me
Holy Ghost impressed it on John
2 Tim. 3:16 calls it God-breathed
Cool to know- fastest read, son
One that's shortest note in Bible- read!

So read in 2 John and listen to this song

Just an old law- love all now
Like that old song
To be sure, they'll know by our loving
Just like God's Son told us now
13 in John
34- He spoke to you and me

Just a note- 2nd. St. John
So look out! Fakes prey on hospitality
Host an old-fashioned love-in
But be sure they hold to Christ's teachings

Got a whole lot to write on
Don't want now to use paper and ink
Hope to go flesh it out some
Come to your door and make our joy complete
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Read 1st. John (song)

As Christmas approaches this year, the classic Christmas song that I have thought about a lot that I think really sums up the main point of the holiday so well comes to mind- "Love Came Down at Christmas". Indeed, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (See John 3:16) There is no greater love than the love God has for us all. He proved that by sending Jesus to die for our sins and rise again. (Romans 5:8) And some of the most verses we have about love in The Bible come from the books of 1st. John, 2nd. John and 3rd. John. I have a trilogy of song parodies I've written about each book and I wanted to post that as a Christmas gift here this year. Funnily enough, I wrote them in reverse order- a song about 3rd. John, then one about 2nd. John and then one about 1st. John. They're all from the 1970s and so there's that theme common to them along with the theme of Love Divine. Read 1st. John and listen to this song and may the God Who holds the earth in His hands, moves and works in us like the wind blows where it wants to go and lights a fire in us as the Great Consuming Fire envelop you in His love. Merry Christmas!

Read 1st. John
(parody of "Sing a Song" by Earth, Wind and Fire; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 2/17/2017)
(1 John)

Sin concealed found you out
Read 1st. John 1:9- pray and He forgives- yeah, yeah
If you're in Christ, walk it out
(2:6) 1st. John- liars don't obey
Sometimes it's hard to care
(2:9) 1st. John- brother, hate's not The Way
Desires of world fade here
2 in 1st. John- 17- God's way

3:1 1st. John
See what love!
God gives us!
We're His sons! (and daughters too)

Love's not talk but good deeds then
3 in 1st. John- 18- our lives we lay- yeah, ah
Christ's love showing out's our reassuring
(3:20) 1st. John- condemnations fade
God is love- 4:8 reads
4:1 1st. John- Test spirits- many fakes
Liars hate bros they can see
(4:20) 1st. John- Christians, love all peeps

(5:13) 1st. John
Believe on
Son of God
Know you've got
Eternal long
Life with God
Just like John
Sing and praise God!

You need to read 1st. John today
Jesus Christ is The Way

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God Plans (Trust and Obey) (song)

Note: Here's another old favourite from the archives. Just like one of my favourite hymns says, "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey."

The Bible says that we are worth much more than the birds that are sold for a penny- we’re worth much more than a flock of seagulls even! So if God thinks of us and takes care of us (Luke 11)- why would we not just simply trust Him and obey Him? Don’t run away- trust and obey!

God Plans (Trust and Obey)
………………………………………………
(parody of “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls) (copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/9/2013)
(Genesis 1-3, Numbers 13-14, Jonah 1-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 33, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 16:33, Proverbs 16:25, Proverbs 16:1-3, Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11, John 14:1, John 14:23)

I walk alone- Genesis dude
I never thought I’d meet a girl like you
Eve’s the girl I choose
We got ensnared by serpent’s lies
Opened our eyes and realized we’re nude
Heard God striding through

And we scrammed- we panicked and hid away
God just asked- He asked where we were- Hey!
We couldn’t get away

A cloud appears above our heads
And fire by night- both guiding our whole crew
Guides us to subdue
The Lord’s behooving- in Numbers read
The Lord says what is real is Canaan’s through
The Lord will conquer, dudes!

But we ran! We ran from God’s plan- Hey!
Promised Land- we’re banned ‘cause we didn’t obey!
40 year desert stay!

Received command to preach (to) this place
“You go to Nineveh now”- I refused
A big fish stopped my coup
Spat out on land to try again
Been floating in fish three days (and) nights- I’m through
God’s will will come through

When I ran, I ran so far away
I should have just done what’s right- obey!

When God plans, His plans come true always
So don’t run- just go trust and obey!
(Trust and obey!)

………………………………………….

Season for the Reason: Grace and Law- Of Sex, Marriage and Jesus' Word

Note: This blog post entry deals with some issues I've written on before, but takes on some things from different angles. They stem from real conversations I've had regarding the seeming inconsistency Christians have in following all of The Bible, including Old Testament laws that have since been rendered obsolete by the New Testament covenant of grace. (The entire book of Hebrews is a great read for this particular topic.) Thus, there are numerous issues being addressed here and again, it is in the context of a discussion on homosexual sin, regarding the upholding of the moral prohibition on that versus upholding dietary restrictions for the Israelites. To be clear, I don't regard simply having same-sex attractedness as a sin in itself; rather, I regard that as a byproduct of the fall of man, as I don't believe God made any of us to be that way originally. However, acting on lustful temptations (whether heterosexual or homosexual) is indeed a sin. Sex is relegated to a special act to happen between one man and the one woman he's married to for life. Any other occurence of this is sin. (1 Corinthians 7 deals with this, along with a number of other Scriptures.) Lust is sin- period. We must desire to serve Jesus above anything else and that means denying ourselves in the temptations that pull at us. (Luke 9:23)
     
      I see some have some interesting opinions of Paul, but that aside- but seeing as how Paul directly met with Jesus and was called The Lord's "chosen instrument to carry His Name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." (see Acts 9)- I'd say Paul is trustworthy. (Especially considering that he suffered incredibly for Jesus' Name- including being hunted by the government, shipwrecked, bitten by a viper (and miraculously survived), even stoned- and all still kept alive by God, until he finally died a martyr's death by beheading. And all this is in keeping with God saying that Paul would find out how much he must suffer for God's Name. (Acts 9:16) It's also important to note Jesus' calling for Paul, as related in Acts 26:12-23- Jesus says he is appointed as a servant and witness to the things in which he has seen Christ and to those in which Jesus will appear to him- all for the purpose of opening the eyes of the Gentiles from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.
      Another point to be remembered is that Christians regard the entire Bible (Genesis to Revelation) as the Word of God- as 2 Timothy 3:16 indicates that all of it is God-breathed. The whole Bible was written by people inspired by the Holy Spirit to record "the word of The Lord" (as the prophets often put it in their writings.) Jesus identifies Himself as having oneship with The Father in John 10:30. Another important aspect of Christian belief is belief in The Holy Trinity, a concept seen throughout the entire Bible. (all the way back to Genesis 1:26 this can be seen.) In John 1 and Colossians 1, for example, Jesus is identified as being God- and being there in Creation. All three Persons of the Trinity are in place at The Lord's baptism when we see God the Father speaking about His Son Jesus and the Spirit descending on Him in the form of a dove. (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit- Three in One- the Triune Godhead.)
       Thus, all of The Bible is Jesus' Word. And all the verses in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1 all count as Jesus' Word. Of course, Jesus also said, while praying to God the Father, "Father, Thy Word is Truth." (John 17:17) Thus, Jesus validated all of God's Word. Of course, Jesus also prophesied that The Holy Spirit would come after He ascended back into Heaven and He would guide the disciples into all Truth. (see John 16) Jesus even said He had more to tell the disciples then, but they couldn't bear it right then. But He did say the Holy Spirit would come and tell them these things and He's only going to declare what He hears and He will declare the things that are to come. He will glorify Jesus, for He will take what is Jesus' and declare it to the disciples. (Thus, He will take Jesus' Word and speak it to the disciples after Jesus' ascension. How was that accomplished? The Spirit moved upon the hearts of people to write down God's Word via the New Testament letters of Luke, Paul, Peter, John, James, Jude and the dude who wrote down Hebrews (most scholars think it was Paul as well). Thus, the New Testament is also Jesus' Word, as much as the rest of The Bible is as well. (Jesus also speaks to the validity of the Old Testament as God's Word in Luke 24.)
      However, to go back to Jesus' Word in Matthew 19, it is true that He speaks about marriage in the context of answering a question about divorce. Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? "He answered, 'Have you not read that He Who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man separate.' " In quoting Genesis 2:24 here, Jesus upheld God's created order and model for marriage. (It's important to note that this verse is before chapter 3- which is where the fall of man happens. This is before the sin of Adam and Eve that corrupts the entire world. In God's original perfect Eden, this is the model of marriage that God lays out. This is the model that Jesus upholds for marriage. Jesus even goes on to point out that it was only because of the hardness of our hearts that Moses allowed for men to divorce their wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
       There may be people today who have same sex attractions, but from the beginning it was not so. God made people upright, but we've gone off in search of many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29)
Jesus states that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery. The disciples then say that if such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. Then Jesus tells them that not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. "For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it." (Matthew 19:12)
(Here, in answering the disciples' shock and conclusion that it was better just to stay single and live a celibate life, Jesus refers to men who have been born with a birth defect [and thus wouldn't be able to marry, in keeping with Jewish law], some who have been castrated by others [and thus wouldn't be able to marry in keeping with Jewish law] and some who choose to castrate themselves and/or live a celibate life for God's kingdom (i.e. much like Catholic priests today.) (Paul also speaks of himself being in the last category in 1 Corinthians 7, where he speaks of his chosen celibacy in order to focus fully on preaching Christ. This is also an excellent passage to consider in thinking about marriage as The Bible defines it.)
       Since sex is only allowed within the bonds of holy matrimony (one man and one woman for life, as Jesus defines it in Matthew 19:4-6) [see Hebrews 13:4 as well], and sexual relations outside of marriage are condemned throughout the Old Testament and New Testament- including specifically by Jesus in His human form in this very passage- Jesus also thereby condemns any other sexual relationship as sin. (In John 8:11, Jesus identified adultery as sin again, when He told the woman caught in adultery to "go and sin no more." Jesus also called out the woman at the well in John 4 about her sexual relationships, asking her to call her husband to come there. She responds that she has no husband and Jesus agrees with her, saying that she's right to say that because the fact is that she's had 5 husbands and the man's she with now isn't her husband. Jesus had a habit of doing such things to call people out on their sin, as He did a similar deal with the rich young ruler when He told him, since he claimed he'd kept all the commandments since he was a kid, to go and sell all he had and give to the poor and follow Him. [This got to the heart of the matter, as the rich young ruler was unwilling to part with his wealth in order to get to eternal life in Christ.])
      It is true that Galatians 3:28 states, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Of course, verse 29 states, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." What promise is that? The promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ- through faith in His substitutionary death and Resurrection for salvation and forgiveness of sins. Chapter 4 even goes on to berate the Galatians for observing "days and months and seasons and years". The chapter goes on to make the comparison between Abraham's sons (Isaac and Ishmael- Isaac being the one of promise and Ishmael the illegitimate one Abraham had from Hagar) allegorically as a comparison between being under the law and being under grace. All this leads up to a famous verse in Galatians 5:1, which says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." When we keep reading, we find that Christ makes us righteous and that we should not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love we must serve one another. We are commanded to walk by the Spirit so that we won't gratify the desires of the flesh. First among the desires of the flesh listed is sexual immorality. We are not to indulge the flesh, but rather we regard it as crucified with its passions and desires. 
Galatians 3:28 is indicating our status of oneship in Christ Jesus in metaphorical terms. Of course, race and gender and slave status still exist (the latter to this day in some places, unfortunately), but we don't let them separate us from being one in Christ. We are all Father Abraham's sons [and daughters], as the classic Sunday School song says. :-):-) This verse in the right context would not be indicating God's dismissal of gender and gender roles, but rather a symbolic picture of oneness in Christ.
        And Christ addressed the law as well in Matthew 5:17. But what exactly did He say? "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from The Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20)
         Now Jesus was addressing His disciples and the crowds who had gathered to hear Him speak. Jesus went on in the Sermon on the Mount to address a number of laws given in the Old Testament and reaffirm and redefine them for us- expanding beyond the limited idea held of them previously. Jesus said that just getting angry with your brother makes you liable to judgment, insulting him makes you liable to the council and calling him a fool puts you in danger of the fires of hell. Jesus said that not committing adultery goes beyond just the physical act; even looking at a woman lustfully is committing adultery with her in your heart. Jesus addresses divorce and states that, rather than divorcing for any and every reason, if it's not done on the grounds of sexual immorality, the one who divorces his wife then makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Jesus goes on to address oath-taking, retaliation and treatment of enemies and more. It's clear that Jesus did not rescind any of the moral laws of the Old Testament, but rather reaffirmed them and expanded them beyond the original understanding.
         However, what did He say about dietary laws and civil laws for the Israelites? Well, the Pharisees called Him out about breaking some of these laws on various occasions. In Mark 7, the Pharisees bust Jesus' chops about His disciples not washing their hands before eating, thus being ceremonially defiled. Jesus points out that they ignore God's commandments in order to hold to the tradition of men. (Jesus gives the example of the command to honor your mother and father, yet the Pharisees would tell their folks that they couldn't give any money to help their parents because it's Corban (i.e. given to God). Thus, they were making the Word of God void by their traditions.)
Then Jesus goes on to state that whatever goes into a person is not what defiles him, but rather what comes out of his heart. "And He said to them, 'Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?' (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He said, 'What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.' " (Mark 7:18-23)
        Note that verse 19 explicitly states that Jesus declared all foods clean. Thus, He just rescinded all dietary laws for the Israelites, and He also in the same passage addressed ceremonial traditions as well. Also, in John 4, Jesus spoke of a time when true worshippers of God would worship the Father in spirit and truth, rather than on the mountain in Samaria or in Jerusalem. (Thus, more rollback of laws regarding worship in the temple.) The entire book of Hebrews is also an excellent companion to reading the Old Testament in light of the new covenant in The New Testament. It explains that the old covenant is rendered obsolete by the new covenant. (see Hebrews 8:13, as well as all of chapters 8-10 particularly.) And the New Covenant of grace calls us to be led by the Spirit (as Galatians 5 tells us), which leads to bearing the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Goodness and self-control would certainly speak to maintaining sexual purity, among other things. Under the New Covenant of Grace, we are still called to uphold sexual purity (see 1 Corinthians 6 for a good discussion on this) along with other other morality commands (prohibitions against theft, murder, slander, etc.). 
        As Jesus summarizes for us in Matthew 22:34-40, the two greatest commandments are as follows, "You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Loving God means obeying Him in all His commandments, as laid out for us in the New Covenant of grace in the New Testament. (Jesus Himself says that if we love Him, we will obey Him in John 14:15. [See also Luke 6:46 and Matthew 7 for even starker pictures.]) Of course, none of us can really keep all of God's commands on our own. (Jesus tells us to be perfect as our Heavenly father is perfect. [Matthew 5:48] This is the standard we must meet for entry into Heaven.) We all fall short on that. (Romans 3:23) Thankfully, God knows this and He sent Jesus to fulfill the Law for us. Jesus met the standard of perfection and kept the Law perfectly, as He stated He came to do in Matthew 5:17. In His meeting of the standard, we are set free from that burden through putting our faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection to pay for all our sins that we could never atone for on our own.
       And when we become part of God's family (John 1:12), we get Christ's righteousness imputed to us and God declares us righteous because of Christ's completed work. (basically the entire book of Romans.) And we are then set free to do the good works that God created in advance for us to do- not in an effort to earn the salvation He's already freely given us, but in a way of showing gratitude to God by seeking to grow to be more like Him in all we say and do. (see Ephesians 2:8-10 and 1 Corinthians 10:31)

Season for the Reason: Loving Sinners, Hating Sin and Obeying God Rather Than Men

Note:   This blog deals with some ongoing questions that continue to be part of a national conversation in America, particularly in light of its distinctly Judeo-Christian heritage and a Constitution that maintains the ideals of a separation of church and state. There has long been a struggle in defining rights and ensuring equal rights for all groups of people, particularly in regard to sexual minorities. In light of the Supreme Court of the United States of America's recent ruling regarding the expansion of marriage to include same sex couples, there have arisen questions from people of religious faith who have objections on religious grounds over how to implement this ruling, particularly for those who because of their jobs directly offer services for weddings.
           This blog is an attempt to discuss a Christian viewpoint on these topics and how best to respond in love to all people, while maintaining the Truth of The Bible always and ultimately obeying God over men. And again, this has arisen out of real discussions and questions that have been raised to me from various people. I know Christians and the church have often failed in addressing these issues well and in a Godly, loving manner. I hope that this blog will be both of those things, while also firmly stating the Truth of The Bible.
 


           First of all, let me re-emphasize, as I've said before, that in dealing with all people, Christians are commanded to love one another and I always want to make sure that I am loving to all people. (Romans 12:15-18, John 13:34-35) I would never want to shun any homosexual couples. However, I would contend that it is their behavior that is shunned. As a follower of Christ, I am instructed in Jude 1:21-23 to reach out with mercy to those who doubt and help save them by snatching them out of the fire and also show mercy with fear. Why fear? The verse goes on to say that I am commanded to hate even the garment stained by the flesh. In other words, while I am always commanded to love all people, I must also be wary of sin and hate sin because it drives me away from my real life in Christ and instead pushes me back toward the old life enslaved by the devil. God hates sin too for this reason- it drives people away from Him. Because of God’s great love for us, He must hate sin because He doesn’t want anything to separate us from His indescribably awesome love. (see 1 Peter 1:13-16, Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 6 and a number of other Bible passages for more on this point.)
          The question has been brought to the forefront particularly in the case of Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk has refused to issue licenses for same sex marriage unions and was subsequently jailed for not carrying out the duties of her job. (I will briefly say on this point that I think she should look to the words of Christ in Matthew 5:38-42 and choose to issue the licenses, even if it does go against her beliefs and certainly it goes against God's plan for marriage. [see Jesus' words on that in Matthew 19- He clearly defines it as the union of one man and one woman for life- solely bound to each other in the eyes of God and man until death do them part.] I think Christians are sometimes called to let themselves be taken advantage of and to give up our rights. Certainly, Jesus directly calls us to do that in Luke 9:23 in order to follow Him- deny ourselves, die to ourselves daily and take up our cross and follow Him. I think it's also important to note that rendering such services doesn't make her complicit in approving or partaking in the sin of homosexuality. I think of it as a Christian sales associate working at a grocery store and selling customers beer and wine. If the customer chooses to go get drunk on these products, I don't think the Christian sales associate is held accountable by God for inducing the drunkenness of the customer [something that God does condemn as sin- see Ephesians 5:18, among others. However, note that drinking itself is not condemned as sin in The Bible.]- that is a sin that will weigh on their conscience, not the Christian's.)
            To look at an example that is often offered for comparison, what if it were a photographer (of any race other than African-American) refusing to give service to a black person and/or refusing to photograph an interracial marriage (i.e. refusing to do the work on the basis of race)? I think this would be a false equivalency. I fully agree that religion and The Bible (wrongfully, I must add) has been used to justify this racist hatred. (Something 1 John 4:20-21 clearly says is wrong.) I agree that a black person cannot change the color of his skin and a homosexual person cannot change their homosexual tendencies. (Although, just to point out, as Jesus says in Matthew 19:26- “With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.” God is certainly capable of changing a person’s homosexual tendencies- however, I will also say that it seems that it is rare that He does that, though there are some that would attest to this. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 speaks to Corinthians who used to be homosexual offenders but were washed by the blood of Christ and changed. However, I don’t know if this means that God supernaturally removed their sinful tendencies altogether. I think what for sure happened is that He changed their heart and desires so that they desired God’s will- and then they rejected the allure of homosexual relations and sought the fulfillment of all their needs in Christ’s sufficiency. [Philippians 3:8 and many other verses speak to this.]) And yes- I realize this can sound rather cruel if not carefully worded, but keep in mind that we are all tainted with Adam’s sin- and we all struggle with sinful tendencies, though they may not all be sexual in nature. [So I am not trying to say anything negative about homosexual people and hold their sin up as worse than any others. James 2:10 says all sins are equally bad- when we commit one, it’s the same as doing all of them.] And certainly homosexual people struggle with other sins as well- their sexuality is not the totality of their personhood. This would also be true for people born with kleptomaniac tendencies or those born with an inclination toward drunkenness through Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other such things- the choice is always theirs as to how they will respond. The secular world may certainly disagree, but I believe Jesus Christ is powerful enough to change the desires of people to give in to these sinful desires and instead to help them choose to deny them and follow His commands instead. [2 Corinthians 5:14-21 speaks to this point very well.] Psalms 37:4 says that if we delight ourselves in The Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. And as we delight ourselves more and more in Jesus alone, we will find that our desires are conformed to His and that we desire Him and His will- His standards of righteous living- above all else. Psalms 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”)
           Here is another example to consider. What would a Jewish or Muslim caterer say to the question of serving pork at a wedding? The objection the Jewish or Muslim caterer would have against serving pork (as well as their objections to giving their services to a gay marriage, for that matter) is the same that a Christian caterer would have against giving his or her services to a gay marriage. The issue is not with the people; the issue is with what the people are doing. In one case, it’s serving pork- in another case, it’s uniting a man and a man or a woman and a woman as a couple, bound as one in an institute established and ordained by God- and one that He clearly sets down to us as being strictly reserved for a man and a woman. (Matthew 19, Genesis 2:24)
However, despite this, as I said earlier, I still think it might be good for a Christian if they decided to partake and offer their services in an attempt to be a witness to the gay couple and demonstrate the love of Christ. This is of course a call that each Christian would have to make on their own conscience though. (see Romans 14- it should also be considered as to whether this would be seen as a stumbling block to a brother or sister weaker in their faith in Christ.) The concern for many Christian business owners is that they would not want to be seen as giving tacit approval to a union diametrically opposed to God’s design for marriage. It is sad and unfortunate that this gets translated by some as to mean an outright hatred for gay people. [Let me be quick to concede that I am sure that is very much the case on the part of some. And to those who call themselves followers of Christ yet hate people with homosexual tendencies, I would offer rebuke as a brother in The Lord and direct them to reread 1 John 4 and John 13:35 and Ephesians 4:15 and ask them to seek The Holy Spirit’s leading in that- as hating people is as much of a sin as homosexuality is- and that must be addressed too.] As a Christ follower, I love all people but I cannot and do not condone all that they do. That is the dilemma Christian caterers, photographers, etc. are facing in this issue.
         Of course, a non-Christian would not find this a compelling argument that applies to them- the reason being that, (and indeed, the reason non-Christian gay people would find the Christian’s position offensive and discriminatory) because in their mindset, there is nothing wrong with following on their natural desires. However, a Christian would of course disagree- and therein lies the point of contention. Of course, one does not have to be a Christian in order to respect the beliefs of Christians and people of other faiths, certainly. However, most non-Christian gay people would most likely be prone to discard any Biblical reasons since they do not believe in Christ and do not follow Him- thus, His rules in The Bible would not be a valid reason for them. I would hope that people on both sides (both Christians and non-Christian gays) would be able to reason calmly with each other and make a real effort to understand each other’s viewpoint and feelings in the matter.
I think the question for America that will eventually come is deciding whether or not marriage is a God ordained institution or simply a manmade construct. In the case of the latter, the government would dictate the matter. However, at this point, there is still a partnership of sorts between the government and the church in the matter of marriage. (Though certainly one does not have to go through the church for a marriage license.) But thankfully, that is not for me to decide. I have already stated my view that marriage is an institution established by God and ordained by Him and that is where I will stand on it. Others are welcome to draw their own conclusions of course- and that may eventually become the solution (which is already in place to some degree, with certain churches that affirm gay marriage performing ceremonies and some state governments acknowledging it, and of course the recent ruling from the Supreme Court.) As far as the legal rights that go with it, while I don’t agree with its validity as marriage as defined by God, I honestly don’t have a problem with the government providing for legal benefits to gay couples.)
           For everyone reading this, I hope you know that anything I say about Jesus and about my belief in Him and The Bible is all meant to come only out of a heart of love, concern, respect and kindness. I will fully admit that I have certainly failed on that at times, but I hope that those desires come across above all. I do not expect to convert anyone to anything, but I certainly do want to let people know about Jesus and His love for all and His standards for living that I have found to be better than anything else in the world- and His offer of forgiveness and salvation open to all through faith. This is something everyone must choose for themselves; I don’t believe in forcing anything upon anyone and I don’t believe God does either. I do believe that He rewards the sincere seeker of Him though. (Jeremiah 29:13) If anyone reading this ever wants to talk further about having a relationship with Christ, I am always glad to correspond further on that.
           Thank you for bearing with this lengthy document. I apologize for what may seem to be belaboring the point, but it’s a rather complex issue that deserves to be considered carefully, though I know I can always stand to study and learn more on it myself. I want to reiterate that we must be loving and respecting to our gay/lesbian and any other kind of queer friends (along with all people of any sexual persuasion or identity.) I have some gay friends myself as well and I certainly respect their rights too. All of us as human beings must come together as God’s creation and learn to learn from each other- and find a way to respect both the rights of people of faith and people of different faiths and/or no faith- and the rights of gay/lesbian/queer/transgender and all other variations people. I certainly pray that we will do just that and as Romans 12:18 commands, if possible, as much as it depends on us, live peaceably with all. May God bless you richly. Grace, love and peace to all.

Season for the Reason: Picking Jesus, Not Cherries

Note: This is the first in what I hope will be a series of blog posts dealing with some common objections that are raised against Christianity, some of which even Christians get confused on at times. (I certainly get confused on them too.) However, I firmly believe, as Chris Rice once wrote, that God has "an exclamation point for every question mark." And I believe The Bible addresses every issue we face, whether directly or indirectly. While this certainly isn't comprehensive and won't be definitive, I hope these posts will be helpful in explaining why Christians believe some of the things that we do and that they will do so in a loving way that does not seek to denigrate other beliefs, put merely present the teaching of Christ in His Word. These are based on questions that have been personally raised to me and I thought it might be helpful to talk about these topics here, as they reflect concerns and questions that many seekers and agnostics as well as skeptics share. [And as I said earlier, Christians also wonder on these things at times too, I do believe. Or at least this Christian has at times.] Let me also state that I do not believe in arguing or convincing anyone into Heaven; only the Holy Spirit can change someone's heart and bring them saving faith in Jesus. So I don't expect to convince anyone with any brilliant logic here, especially since I know that I don't have that much of that. ;-) (If there is anything brilliant or good in here, it's from Jesus, not me.) But 2 Timothy 4:2 commands us to be prepared in season and out of season in preaching the Word and to correct, rebuke encourage- with great patience and careful instruction. And I do want to do that, as I seek to always have an answer for the reason that I have hope, as 1 Peter 3:15 says. :-)


          

For the first point raised, this is a common question that comes up that even many Christians get confused about as well, but it is one that is well addressed by The Bible. I will talk about ye olde problem of the seeming disconnect between Old Testament law and New Testament law and why it seems that Christians seem to cherry-pick which rules to follow at times. Since this objection is often raised as a counterpoint when the topic of homosexuality comes up and The Bible's prohibition against it, please note that this piece will focus on that topic as a backdrop for this question regarding the Old Testament and New Testament.  I will include a link for further reading if you’re interested, but I never like just posting a link without at least trying to address the issue some myself. (Otherwise I just feel like I’m shuttling people off because I don’t want to confront the topic myself and I never want to do that.) [Here is said link- http://thecripplegate.com/shellfish-mixed-fabrics-and-homosexuality-picking-and-choosing/]
            Jesus states in Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV)- “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
           

This is an important point here. It cannot be emphasized enough that Jesus upheld the Old Testament. What I should have explained further is the reason why Jesus upheld the Old Testament and its laws. The key word in verse 17 is “fulfill”. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the demands of the Old Testament laws. This gets to the crux of the matter of salvation in Christianity. It is coming to the point of realizing that we have done wrong and can never live up to God’s standard for living. (Which is absolute perfection- Leviticus 11:45- God states it here and Jesus reiterates this in Matthew 5:48- “Be perfect therefore as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”) Of course, as Psalms 14:1 and Romans 3:23 and a number of other verses state, there is none righteous. There is no one who has perfectly kept all of the law. Thus, we are all imperfect sinners and wrongdoers who fail to meet God’s standard. God says in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death- both physical death and spiritual death. (i.e. eternal punishment in hell.) However, the same verse also says that the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God knows that no human being can meet His standard. And He also knows the consequence of this. And as one of the most famous verses in The Bible tells us- God loves us so much that He intervened and sent His Son Jesus to rescue us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17) And Romans 5:8 confirms that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The very thing that I most celebrate as a follower of Christ- Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday- this is where the literal crux of Christianity lies- in Easter. Because Jesus died to pay for all the sins ever committed in the world and He rose again- He paid once for all the payment for sin- and in the process, He defeated death, sin, the devil and hell- and our sinful nature that we are all born with.
           

When we put our faith in Christ to forgive us of our sins and to submit to following Him as Lord and Savior, a metaphysical, supernatural transaction takes place. God The Father sees our plea for Jesus’ forgiveness and credits us with Christ’s righteousness. Though we ourselves are spiritually and morally bankrupt as Romans 5:12-14 states (the sin of Adam and Eve tainted the entire world), Jesus is perfect and He imputes that righteousness to us at the moment of conversion. Romans 5:15-21 goes on to talk further about this- how just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, one Man’s righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. As Romans 6:14 states, once we have received Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are no longer under the Law system anymore- but we are now under the New Covenant Jesus came to establish through His blood (as Christ mentions during The Lord’s Supper to His disciples)- and that is the New Covenant of grace. In the Old Covenant of the Law, the Israelites followed God by endeavoring to obey all the commandments- including the dietary laws and other ceremonial laws that were aimed specifically at them. However, there are other moral laws (which is where the prohibition against homosexuality falls) that were given to them and that are still in place in the New Covenant of grace.
          

Galatians 3 puts it this way- (starting in verse 19)- “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” (That was verses 19-23). [My parenthetical here- indeed, as The Bible notes elsewhere, the law is what shows us just how much in the wrong we really are and how much we need a Savior because we can’t keep all of the law perfectly ourselves.]
        (resuming in verse 24)- “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
             The point I am trying to make here is that the Old Testament law served as our guardian until Jesus came. When He came and fulfilled the Law, we were no longer bound by the Law. We trust that He fulfilled all of the Law and put our faith in His righteousness to forgive us our sins and to make us presentable before God in Heaven. No one enters Heaven but by the righteousness of Christ, for as Isaiah 64:6 makes painfully clear- even the righteousness we think we have of our own account is nothing but filthy rags in comparison to the supreme holiness and righteousness of God Almighty.
      

Galatians 3:1-6 is also important to note in understanding this point. Here Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, berates the Galatians for abandoning their walk of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and instead looking again to their own righteousness (i.e. the flesh) for perfection. The whole point of the Law is to show us just how futile our own efforts are and to show us our need for the Savior. Thus, in the Christian faith, we must always lean wholly on Jesus for all our righteousness.
                Hebrews 8 explains this point quite well. It calls Jesus the High Priest of a better Covenant- the New Covenant, which Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesied would come. Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy. (See also Hebrews 9:11-14, which emphasizes the ceremonial system of sacrificing animals that the Israelites did is no longer necessary- this includes the prohibitions against eating shellfish and mixing fabrics, etc. However, the blood of Christ purifies our conscience from dead works (i.e. the flesh) to serve the living God. Again, we rely on Christ’s completed work and not any of our own.) (The whole book of Hebrews is an excellent New Testament companion book to read alongside Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It gives a lot of insight to how the Old Testament covenant of the Law compares to the New Testament covenant of grace in Jesus Christ- and it explains how we are no longer under the law, but under grace instead.) In fact, on this point, I have read Tim Keller has said that for a Christian to try to live out all of the Old Testament law is an insult to Jesus and a demonstration of a lack of faith. Because I have faith that Jesus has completed all that is necessary for salvation through His death and Resurrection and perfect upholding and completion of the law, I know that I don't have to try to keep all the Old Testament law- and in fact, I cannot. Jesus has done it for me and I trust His completed work for salvation. Of course, as James 2 points out, true saving faith is always accompanied by works AFTER faith has been put in Christ's redeeming work. And as Ephesians 2:8-10 makes clear, God intended for me to do good works all along anyway. After having been saved by grace through faith, I strive to do the good things that Jesus commands me to do out of love and gratitude and obedience to Him- not out of a misguided attempt to pay Him back or somehow earn something that has already been given to me for free. I can never earn it- I must only freely accept it. But when I do, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, it makes me a new person in Christ and God transforms me to be the person He made to be all along.
               

Now here is the caveat I want to make sure is clear. Part of following Christ is being molded more and more to His character. The Bible uses the image of a potter and clay many times, with God as the Potter and us as the clay. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27)- and of course, Adam and Eve’s sin tainted that image. God has provided for the restoration of that through Christ’s death and Resurrection. Through putting our faith in Jesus, we begin undergoing the process of sanctification, being made like Christ (the personification of perfection.) Romans 8:4 instructs us that now we must walk according to the Spirit (i.e. God the Holy Spirit) and no longer to the flesh. (i.e. our own sinful nature.) Romans 12:1-2 calls for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is our spiritual worship. We are to no longer be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Again- we are reminded that God’s will for us is to be like Him- perfect. (Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5:48). However, even as Christians we still fail and fall back into sin at times. And God promises in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thus for Christians, it’s an ongoing process of being made more holy each day- a process that ultimately reaches its culmination when we enter Heaven. (Philippians 1:6)
          

While the ceremonial laws of the Israelites no longer apply to us, the moral laws most certainly do. In the case of homosexuality, even if we were to put aside the prohibitions in Leviticus for the moment, we still have the prohibitions in Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 1 Timothy 1:10. And those commands are all part of the New Testament covenant of grace that we are under- and that we are expected and commanded to follow. Part of the reason homosexual acts of any kind (no matter what the relationship status is) are condemned is because they fall outside of God’s revealed character. God is the One who created marriage and ordained it as an institution. This is a point where Jesus spoke to the issue of homosexuality in Matthew 19 when He upheld God’s standard for marriage- the union of one man and one woman for life. God has designed men and women to relate to each other in the context of marriage, which is symbolic of the relationship He desires to have with us. Just as the husband and wife become one flesh and become united, God desires to be united with us and indeed- Galatians 2:20 and Colossians 3:1-4 speak to this exact unity that we have with Christ- where I no longer live [my old life centered on just myself is dead]- my new life centered on Christ is my real life now. We ultimately enjoy that full unity with God when we are back in His presence again- in Heaven. And as I said before, God’s standard for entry into Heaven is absolute perfection- a standard only met by Jesus Christ. We can gain entry into Heaven (and thus an escape from our default sentence of punishment in hell because of the separation that comes with our sin) only through faith in Jesus. As Jesus Himself said in John 14:6 “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life. No man comes to The Father but by Me.” It is also worth noting that God uses the picture of marriage specifically to speak to His relationship with us- He extensively used this as an object lesson in the book of Hosea with Hosea and Gomer representing Himself and Israel (Hosea 2 is a beautiful picture of the love God has for us and His plan to redeem us and take us back as His own, even though we have rebelled against Him)- and the picture is also used in Revelation 21, which describes Christ as the bridegroom and His church as His bride.
  I know that was a rather lengthy explanation and even after typing it, I feel I still could say much more on it, but I hope that helps with the first point.
                A good example occurred to me that may help illustrate the point about the Israelites having ceremonial and dietary laws that pertained only to them that modern-day Christians no longer follow, though we do still hold up the moral laws as Israel did as well. Why is it that we restrict the sale of alcohol in America? It almost seems rather discriminatory that we forbid persons younger than 21 from consuming or purchasing alcohol. Society as a whole frowns upon it in general and we have a law on the books for that purpose. However, this seems a mere compromise in comparison to previous laws. Why is that we as Americans pick and choose when it comes to upholding the laws on our books? Doesn’t the 18^th. Amendment, ratified on January 16, 1919, prohibit the manufacture, sale, transportation within, importation or exportation of alcohol? Why do we not hold to that law anymore? Why is that we freely allow the manufacture, sale, transportation within, importation and exportation of alcohol now? Aren’t we picking and choosing which laws to follow? Of course, the answer to that is that we are not picking and choosing. We uphold all of the laws on the books- including the 21^st. Amendment (ratified December 5, 1933) which repealed the 18^th. Amendment. Thus, we are no longer bound by the 18^th. Amendment. However, even so, we still hold to a remnant of that law to some degree. We still hold to some of the spirit of the law in that we restrict the sale of alcohol to only those who are 21 and older.
         In the same manner, Christians are no longer bound to the Israelites’ dietary and ceremonial laws because the New Covenant of Grace repealed the Old Covenant of The Law. (See 2 Corinthians 3 for a great discussion of this point. The New Covenant is WAY, WAY better, by the way.) Thus, Christians are not bound to the dietary and ceremonial laws, even though there are still some general moral principles that the laws are based on that we do uphold. And we still strive to maintain the moral laws, but now it is not out of guilt or our own self-effort as a means of salvation- it is out of love and gratitude to our Savior Jesus Christ, as He works in us to shape more into His image of perfection. He has fulfilled all the laws for us and we rely on His perfection to get us into Heaven- not our own. We rely on the perfect completion He brought when He died and rose again to seal the deal for us. And that is why it is not a matter of picking and choosing. I pick and choose Christ and He picked all my sins off of me and chose to bear them on Calvary. Christ has set me free from the law and free to be a slave of grace.
 

Friday, February 27, 2015

Trending World-Wide: Jesus Christ is Lord of All

“The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things.”- Rich Mullins

"And all of our hopes and our dreams of worldly pleasure won't amount to anything of any measure. And all the world will fall to its knees- His Name forever. All the world will fall to its knees...And He'll take me Home."- Kevin Ludwick

I was just thinking that I get so tired of seeing "news stories" online about trending topics of transient, banal things. (This is not to denigrate the concerns of anyone, as Philippians 2:3-4 commands me to think of others as better than myself and to be concerned about others' affairs and not just my own.) However, I am not overly concerned about the trivial fluff that seems to make up so many news stories. (I suppose I'm particularly thinking now about some dress with inconclusive color patterns apparently. But there have been plenty of other stupid things that have occupied quite a few bytes of memory on computer screens and phones- and more importantly, brain cells in people's minds and space in their hearts. The shark at the SuperBowl also comes to mind.) I am not against fun at all- some things are just funny and it's okay to laugh about them.
        And I can't say I'm always perfect about keeping my thoughts and mindset on things above and not just below. But Colossians 3:2-3 commands me to set my thoughts on things above and not on the stuff of earth. 'Cause I've died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. According to Romans 8:1-11, if we set our mind on the flesh- that's death. But to set our mind on the Spirit- well, that's life and peace- 'cause then we walk according to the Spirit and when we obey the Spirit of God, He makes peace out of our chaos as we know we are pleasing God and walking with Him. As 1 Timothy 6:20-21 says, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called 'knowledge', for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you."
Paul reiterated this in 2 Timothy 2:16-17 which tells us, we must "avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene." Ugh!
        Note that the concern in both cases is that such foolish talk can lead people to swerve from the faith and into ungodliness instead. And with the fickleness of our minds and particularly our sinful human nature, it's quite easy to take a detour on the straight and narrow road of life into the crooked, broad way of destruction. Those off-ramps always look so inviting though! But we have to remember that the road they take us to is a dead end. The only way of life is on that straight and narrow road Jesus told us about in Matthew 7.
        What should we do instead? "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
          But wait a second! Aren't we called to be salt and light in this world? Certainly. Jesus Himself commanded us to do that in Matthew 5:13-16. He prayed for us in John 17 and asked The Father not to take us out of the world but that He would keep us from the evil one. He also clarified that we are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. (see verses 15 and 16). And then see the next verse. Jesus asked God to sanctify us in the Truth; His Word is Truth. And just keep reading while you're at it. Christ goes on to say that as God sent Him into the world, He has sent us into the world. And for our sake, Christ consecrated Himself that we may also may be sanctified in truth.
         That's our daily spiritual bath right there. Christ has already permanently cleansed us through His death and Resurrection and our faith in Him- but that is where the healing started. It is completed when we reach Heaven. (Philippians 1:6) All along the way, we undergo the sanctification Jesus talked about in His prayer. And part of this means unlearning all the old things we had learned. God has to redo our minds, hearts, bodies, spirits and souls- He's power-washing the whole system until we take on His likeness in completion. "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness." (Psalms 17:15) That's what I want to see; not only when I gaze upon the glory of The Lord in His creation and in His Word- but also when I look in the mirror. Genesis1:26-27 says that He made males and females in His image. We tainted that image in Genesis 3 with sin and the fall of man. Yet God is working to restore that image back to what it was meant to be all along. And it's a continual process working in us, which is ultimately the work of The Holy Spirit in the end. Yet God still calls us to submit to Him in this work and, as our spiritual act of worship, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and thereby be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:1-2)
          How do we effectively do this? God does call us to be separate from the world in one sense. "Come out of them and be clean and separate." "'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.'" (2 Corinthians 6:17)
But we can’t effectively run away and hide from the whole world. And I don’t think that’s what God has called us to do. However, there are some things of the world that we can separate ourselves from- we don’t have to keep up with every trend of the world. We don’t have to keep up with all the entertainment of the world (especially since so very little of it is worth watching. That is a separate matter for each believer, of course, as The Spirit leads them. I’ll just say to check Philippians 4:8 and seek to find entertainment that fits those guidelines. Of course, there are some things that pretty blatantly go against all those guidelines- thus, don’t take this quick summary to excuse things God expressly forbids, like say- looking lustfully at people. That alone might eliminate the vast majority of television shows today.) And we don’t have to be consumed with the same things the world consumes its time with, as we have weightier matters for our concern. We have the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison that our light and momentary afflictions are preparing us for, as 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us. And again, verse 18 reminds us to look not to the things that are seen but rather to the things that are unseen. What’s seen is transient, but what’s unseen is eternal. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry echoes in “The Little Prince”: “What’s essential is invisible to the eye.”
            We can’t avoid everything sinful in the world though. We still have to go to school and go to work and go to the grocery store and bank and post office and live life. We have to associate with some people- how else are we going to obey Jesus’ command to take The Gospel into all the world? (Matthew 28:18-20) As Paul instructs the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, we can’t get away from every sin and sinner in the world- we’d have to sign up for that mission to Mars and literally go out of this world to do that! (And of course, if human beings do one day colonize Mars, then we’ll just spread the sickness of sin there since we carry that death in our bodies anyway. Of course, when we’re saved through Christ, then we carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our bodies! [see 2 Corinthians 4:10]) Now if we go on to read 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, we will see that Paul is talking about addressing the sin that is within the church- confronting those who claim to follow Christ yet continue in sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, reviling, being a drunkard or swindling, etc. That is a place where we do need to lovingly confront such people and if they refuse to listen, then we need to purge the evil from among us.
            I suppose the thing that frustrates me so much in the labyrinth of distractions and delights that tempt and ensnare us is not the fact that there is so much of it. That is only to be expected in a fallen world that’s blinded by the god of this age because the God of the universe, who is the same from age to age, has allowed us to be free to make choices. (See 2 Corinthians 4:1-6). And that sinful choice in Genesis 3 is still playing out. And it has a final end that will be reached one day. One day the final count will be tallied, the tares and the wheat will be separated, the lambs and goats divided and sent to the right and left and Christ will reign over all. He and His people will enjoy eternal life in Heaven, where there is eternal fullness of joy in His presence and pleasures forevermore at His right hand. (Psalms 16:11) And all those who reject Christ will be in Hell for all eternity. That is the only two destinations. No, the thing that frustrates me is how quickly I and others of Christ’s flock trade those eternal joys for the fleeting pleasures of sin. And let’s be honest- there is some amount of pleasure that comes with sin. And sometimes we even still hide that longing for the forbidden, even as we seek to have our minds retrained and aligned with God’s Spirit- and desire what He desires above all. Indeed, if we delight ourselves in The Lord, then He will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalms 37:4) And we must continue in the struggle- it’s the paradox and balance of Christian life, as Paul described it in Romans 7. The old man of sin continues to battle the new man of the Spirit. And, in moments of Spirit-led clarity, we are reminded that there is no greater joy than The Lord Jesus Himself. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I forget Him and if I make anything other than Him and His kingdom my highest joy! (To paraphrase Psalms 137:6) C.S. Lewis said it quite well in his classic “The Weight of Glory: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (emphasis added)
          Here is a scene I would love to see occur on all the online news sites, social media and on television news shows and the radio programs and newspapers.
 World-wide trending: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it.” (John 3:16-17)
I’d love to see people posting about how much today they have been enraptured and captured by God’s love. I’d love to see people talking about the majesty and wonder of the God of the universe, Who created everything, yet loves us so much out of all His creation! (Psalms 8). I’d love to see people marveling in amazement at the grace that God has bestowed upon us through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has made freely available to all through faith in Him!  “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)
     And praise God! This is a scene that we will see one day. Philippians 2:10-11 promises that there is coming a day when every knee will bow and every knee will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father! Even those who deny this now on Earth will one day confess it in eternity- but it will be too late then and they will be taken into judgment in Hell. And knowing this truth and knowing that we serve The soon and coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16), then we should all the more seek to think about Him and His goodness and righteousness and praise Him and declare Him, His love, righteous judgment and salvation to all the world! We can enjoy the pleasures God gives us in this life- our family, friends and the beauty of creation and recreation that He gives us that is pleasing to Him. (As James 1:17 reminds us, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights.) But let us not become so consumed with the temporary things of this world that we forget to keep our thoughts centered on the eternal- on Jesus and His kingdom. As Matthew 6:33 tells us, we must keep His kingdom and His righteousness first- and then He will add all the things we need unto us.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of The Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from The Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”(1 John 2:15-17)  Amen.
     
These two favorite Rich Mullins songs sum up some of what I'm trying to say in this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jj0ZTzgmGM
("If I Stand" by Rich Mullins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiXrRmtDIk
("Land of my Sojourn" by Rich Mullins)

And this totally awesome song by my brother of the same descriptor also sums it all up very well (This may well be my favorite of his songs):
http://kevinludwick.bandcamp.com/track/come-home

         

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