John 17:20-26 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (21) that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one- (23) I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (24) Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. (25) Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. (26) I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
We’ve all seen & been surprised at the polls that indicate very large percentages of Americans consider themselves Christian. Well, either most Christians are living under rocks & in caves, only exiting to answer poll takers’ phone calls, or we have a large group of Americans who do not know what it means to be “Christian”. I think the latter is the more likely scenario, & an unfortunate recent event gives us yet another reducio ad absurdum argument against too broadly applying the term:
“A majority of so called agnostics and atheists in Europe are cultural conservative Christians without even knowing it. So what is the difference between cultural Christians and religious Christians? If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity, and moral platform. This makes us Christian.” -Anders Breivik’s manifesto, page 1307
Well, we could spend hours broaching all the contradictions in this paragraph alone, much less the devilish drivel on the other 1499 pages. Nevertheless, I want to focus in on this brief moment of lucidity found in Breivik’s manifesto; the clear delineation- the line in the sand, that he makes here. He speaks of one group, calling themselves “Christian”- these “have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God”, & yet another group, also identifying themselves as such, that “do not” have that bond. He himself speaks openly of lacking that relationship, yet he still lays claim to the title. So therein lies the pertinent question: What, or Who, should define the term “Christian”? Should it be based on a personal relationship, or can it be, as Breivik says, just “a cultural, social, identity, and moral platform”?
Defining ancient words from an etymological perspective is best way to find what should be their true meaning; and make no mistake the term “Christian” is very nearly as old as the faith that formed it (Acts 11:26). So what should be the root? (hint- this one’s a softball) Obviously, the word is a patronym, derived from a “fatherly” view of the Person of Christ (Is. 9:6). Accordingly, the first definition in any good dictionary will go along these lines: “a person who believes in and follows Jesus Christ”. Yes, the “cultural, social, identity, and moral platform” definitions will follow that primary meaning & that is key. In this case, the primary definition must truly apply for the secondary definitions to have true application. What’s more, the secondary meanings should act as an introspection to the depth one has accepted the primary meaning. Given Breivik’s actions, his factual denial of a relationship with Christ is wholly duplicitous. It should not need to be said that a person committing murder does not know Christ in any intimate way. His visible actions betray his invisible heart. (Luke 6:45)
Return then, to our question: What, or Who, should define the term “Christian”? Breivik's delineation between two clearly different entities is correct; where he errs is in the misapplication of the term "Christian" to both. To be “Christian” demands firstly a belief in, & following of, Jesus Christ, which results in the secondary connotations becoming evident. The term should be as it originally was, fundamentally founded not on the “what” of a cultural, social, identity, and moral platform, but upon a relationship with the “Who” of Christ.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Are Sinful Thoughts Sinful? (part4)
So we have this sad unmitigated reality that the seed of sin is with man from cradle to grave & that a holy God will not avert His eyes from judging all of its outgrowth, down to the very moment of germination. But there is good news! Another unmitigated reality is that there is another seed germinating in the garden of those drawn to Christ. Even more fantastically, this seed is strong enough overpower & eventually destroy the bad seed, & even its bad fruit! Hallelujah! How does this happen?
First off, believe in the eventual triumph of that seed by trusting in the ability of the Master Gardener that sowed it. We did not produce that seed, it was not of human descent, but of God, “lest any man should boast”. So while this fact denies us vanity, it also accords us tremendous confidence; a good seed does in fact dwell within, & it cannot be averted, destroyed, nor revoked (Rom. 11:29)- we indeed “will be saved” (glorification- e.g. Rom. 8:17-30, 1Cor 3:15). But faith in Christ’s seed is key to glorification’s prerequisites- justification & sanctification. We neither “were saved” (justification- e.g. Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:8) nor are “being saved” (sanctification- e.g. 1Cor 1:18, 15:1-2) apart from faith.
Hebrews 11:24-27 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, (25) choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. (26) He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (27) By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Therefore, since faith is so basic to being in Christ the pertinent question is- How does one believe to a greater extent?
The Master’s Good seed will grow a good crop, but He, in some part, leaves the when & how much to the due diligence of His fellow laborers. Paul makes the following fascinating statement as he instructs of God’s future fiery-styled judgment of our works:
1Corinthians 3:9a For we are God's fellow workers.
The honest & diligent student of the word knows Paul cannot be speaking of that aspect our salvation known as justification for, as he states elsewhere that one is justified by entirely by faith, apart from works (e.g. Rom 3:28).
Getting down to brass tacks, faith is grown in the most outwardly ordinary ways. True, it is God who delivers the measure of faith, but He does not generally do it by some arcane & mysterious impartation. It is unfortunate that so many Christians think this is the way the Spirit feeds our faith, because they therefore tend to be completely laissez-faire in regards to growing their spiritual maturity. Even reformed-minded believers can fall into this trap when they try to apply the concept of God’s utter sovereignty to the process of sanctification. Since both justification & sanctification are elements of the greater salvation (conversion) experience, some features, like repentance & faith, will be common to both. The Spirit leads all that are His to repent & believe for the purposes of justification, but the further measures of these godly traits are taken up under the auspice of sanctification. Therefore, in reference to justification & sanctification, there is an overlap in regards to the signs of repentance & faith, but not in regards to God’s utter sovereignty. God does all the work of justification Himself, but we are His fellow workers in the way of our sanctification & good works accomplished in Christ. Thus the necessity for Paul to confess our “fellow worker” status as he heralds the news that our diligence will be called to account in a very real way in 1 Corinthians 3...
“Uh… uh… I thought God was supposed to do it all” will be the regrettable words spoken by blasé believers on that day when it is revealed how little they have accomplished with all that God has given unto to them.
But of course there is a flip side to Paul’s edifying adjuration in 1 Corinthians 3, & this is directed as a warning to the other extreme- the proud & boastful overachiever. And here again, the phrase “God's fellow workers” is equally applicable; these run into the field without waiting for the Master’s lead, plowing & planting according to their own myopic understanding. They think to themselves “I’m capable of the work, I can do it on my own, I don’t need to wait on anyone else.” Their pride is all that leads them as they run ahead, leading the pack, instead of finding the Master (the Holy Spirit) in order to follow in His lead of producing eternal works likened to gold, silver, & precious stones. These infantile Christians accomplish everything & nothing at the same time.
Their lack of maturity (sanctification) is what hinders them, for increasing faith & repentance at work within them would destroy the fleshly pride that will otherwise surely cause them to be without on the day of fiery testing.
These will indeed drag copious works into God’s courtroom on their appointed day, but a giant fireball will be their only reward for all their proud deceiving diligence, as all their worthless “wood, hay, & stubble” is consumed.
1 Corinthians 3:1-16 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, (3) for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (4) For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? (5) What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (8) He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. (9) For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (10) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- (13) each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (16) Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
First off, believe in the eventual triumph of that seed by trusting in the ability of the Master Gardener that sowed it. We did not produce that seed, it was not of human descent, but of God, “lest any man should boast”. So while this fact denies us vanity, it also accords us tremendous confidence; a good seed does in fact dwell within, & it cannot be averted, destroyed, nor revoked (Rom. 11:29)- we indeed “will be saved” (glorification- e.g. Rom. 8:17-30, 1Cor 3:15). But faith in Christ’s seed is key to glorification’s prerequisites- justification & sanctification. We neither “were saved” (justification- e.g. Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:8) nor are “being saved” (sanctification- e.g. 1Cor 1:18, 15:1-2) apart from faith.
Hebrews 11:24-27 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, (25) choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. (26) He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (27) By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Therefore, since faith is so basic to being in Christ the pertinent question is- How does one believe to a greater extent?
The Master’s Good seed will grow a good crop, but He, in some part, leaves the when & how much to the due diligence of His fellow laborers. Paul makes the following fascinating statement as he instructs of God’s future fiery-styled judgment of our works:
1Corinthians 3:9a For we are God's fellow workers.
The honest & diligent student of the word knows Paul cannot be speaking of that aspect our salvation known as justification for, as he states elsewhere that one is justified by entirely by faith, apart from works (e.g. Rom 3:28).
Getting down to brass tacks, faith is grown in the most outwardly ordinary ways. True, it is God who delivers the measure of faith, but He does not generally do it by some arcane & mysterious impartation. It is unfortunate that so many Christians think this is the way the Spirit feeds our faith, because they therefore tend to be completely laissez-faire in regards to growing their spiritual maturity. Even reformed-minded believers can fall into this trap when they try to apply the concept of God’s utter sovereignty to the process of sanctification. Since both justification & sanctification are elements of the greater salvation (conversion) experience, some features, like repentance & faith, will be common to both. The Spirit leads all that are His to repent & believe for the purposes of justification, but the further measures of these godly traits are taken up under the auspice of sanctification. Therefore, in reference to justification & sanctification, there is an overlap in regards to the signs of repentance & faith, but not in regards to God’s utter sovereignty. God does all the work of justification Himself, but we are His fellow workers in the way of our sanctification & good works accomplished in Christ. Thus the necessity for Paul to confess our “fellow worker” status as he heralds the news that our diligence will be called to account in a very real way in 1 Corinthians 3...
“Uh… uh… I thought God was supposed to do it all” will be the regrettable words spoken by blasé believers on that day when it is revealed how little they have accomplished with all that God has given unto to them.
But of course there is a flip side to Paul’s edifying adjuration in 1 Corinthians 3, & this is directed as a warning to the other extreme- the proud & boastful overachiever. And here again, the phrase “God's fellow workers” is equally applicable; these run into the field without waiting for the Master’s lead, plowing & planting according to their own myopic understanding. They think to themselves “I’m capable of the work, I can do it on my own, I don’t need to wait on anyone else.” Their pride is all that leads them as they run ahead, leading the pack, instead of finding the Master (the Holy Spirit) in order to follow in His lead of producing eternal works likened to gold, silver, & precious stones. These infantile Christians accomplish everything & nothing at the same time.
Their lack of maturity (sanctification) is what hinders them, for increasing faith & repentance at work within them would destroy the fleshly pride that will otherwise surely cause them to be without on the day of fiery testing.
These will indeed drag copious works into God’s courtroom on their appointed day, but a giant fireball will be their only reward for all their proud deceiving diligence, as all their worthless “wood, hay, & stubble” is consumed.
1 Corinthians 3:1-16 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, (3) for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (4) For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? (5) What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (8) He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. (9) For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (10) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- (13) each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (16) Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Are Sinful Thoughts Sinful? (part 3)
Psalms 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
In the former parts of this series, we delved into the depth of man’s depravity & found it sinful to the core while also discovering that God justly desires to deal with every bit of it. Man made religion relentlessly seeks to reduce his degeneracy so as to increase his comfort level in the company of a holy & almighty God. We do not feel at ease being so utterly bad in the presence of One so utterly good. But true religion seeks only truth. It never mitigates reality in pursuit of spiritual solace. The unmitigated reality is that the seed of Adam dwells within all, that we do not do right because we neither think nor desire right, & we are accordingly due swift justice for every such deviation from the nature of Christ. Grasp that. It was not merely Christ’s actions that set forth the standard for mankind, but His innermost nature. He alone was outwardly perfect because He alone was inwardly perfect...
Luke 6:43-45 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, (44) for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. (45) The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
In pursuit of a concordant, systematic theology that aligns with Scripture, we must embrace the idea that Christ’s outward perfection stemmed from His inward perfection. Just as the tangible evidence of good fruit evidences the goodness of the tree, wholly perfect fruit evidences the wholly perfect Tree. And that Tree alone rises above all others as mankind’s model, his upward call (Phil. 3:14).
The question is often posed “Why did God even allow that cursed tree of evil knowledge within Adam’s purview?” as if all our eons of evil could have been avoided if only Adam had not opportunity to overtly display the desire of his heart. As if we would all be still be abiding in the Garden, blissfully at peace with God, if only we never needlessly tarried with that temptatious, tempestuous tree. But Christ’s words strike home here also, as we accept Luke 6:45 pointing to God’s purpose for that tree; it was as nothing more than a metaphorical marker for a mind that had already wandered outside its proper boundaries, away from the “image & likeness of God”, akin to the 12 stone monument at Gilgal (Josh. 4:20). The 12 stones of the river Jordan gave tangible testimony to an entering in, while the Garden’s tree evidenced an exiting out. Both only symbolized events of the past. Adam’s sinfulness did not begin with his grasping of that fruit, not with Eve, nay, not even with the appearance of the serpent; his sin began as pride had erstwhile developed deep within heart & mind. Adam, like his tempter, arrogantly despised his blessed portion under God, desiring instead to be as God. It is akin to a man, when presented with a gift of a perfect filet mignon, laid upon a bed of crisp asparagus, conspiring to secretly possess the farm & kitchen that gave forth such blessing, instead of rightly honoring his benefactor. Was he sinful as he first conceived his evil, or only as it was hatched? The judgment of man cannot peer into a man’s thoughts, & so cannot rightly judge thoughts, but God does know our thoughts, & therefore does rightly judge them.
“The Devil made me do it”…
Satan is not as he commonly represented by the naïve, as one who instills evil within an individual; rather, the much more ugly reality is as Job 1-2 & Luke 22:31-32 attest- his role is more often to “sift”, or draw out into the open our true, but obfuscated nature. Adam, Job, & Peter all failed Satan’s testing, as would we in their stead; in Scripture it is Christ alone who continues bearing perfect fruit in course of suffering all of the slings of Satan (Luke 4). Therefore, comprehend that Adam’s consumption of the bad fruit was simply indicative of the nature of his tree. Bad trees desire fruit that is accord with themselves; simply put, sin begets sin.
In the former parts of this series, we delved into the depth of man’s depravity & found it sinful to the core while also discovering that God justly desires to deal with every bit of it. Man made religion relentlessly seeks to reduce his degeneracy so as to increase his comfort level in the company of a holy & almighty God. We do not feel at ease being so utterly bad in the presence of One so utterly good. But true religion seeks only truth. It never mitigates reality in pursuit of spiritual solace. The unmitigated reality is that the seed of Adam dwells within all, that we do not do right because we neither think nor desire right, & we are accordingly due swift justice for every such deviation from the nature of Christ. Grasp that. It was not merely Christ’s actions that set forth the standard for mankind, but His innermost nature. He alone was outwardly perfect because He alone was inwardly perfect...
Luke 6:43-45 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, (44) for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. (45) The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
In pursuit of a concordant, systematic theology that aligns with Scripture, we must embrace the idea that Christ’s outward perfection stemmed from His inward perfection. Just as the tangible evidence of good fruit evidences the goodness of the tree, wholly perfect fruit evidences the wholly perfect Tree. And that Tree alone rises above all others as mankind’s model, his upward call (Phil. 3:14).
The question is often posed “Why did God even allow that cursed tree of evil knowledge within Adam’s purview?” as if all our eons of evil could have been avoided if only Adam had not opportunity to overtly display the desire of his heart. As if we would all be still be abiding in the Garden, blissfully at peace with God, if only we never needlessly tarried with that temptatious, tempestuous tree. But Christ’s words strike home here also, as we accept Luke 6:45 pointing to God’s purpose for that tree; it was as nothing more than a metaphorical marker for a mind that had already wandered outside its proper boundaries, away from the “image & likeness of God”, akin to the 12 stone monument at Gilgal (Josh. 4:20). The 12 stones of the river Jordan gave tangible testimony to an entering in, while the Garden’s tree evidenced an exiting out. Both only symbolized events of the past. Adam’s sinfulness did not begin with his grasping of that fruit, not with Eve, nay, not even with the appearance of the serpent; his sin began as pride had erstwhile developed deep within heart & mind. Adam, like his tempter, arrogantly despised his blessed portion under God, desiring instead to be as God. It is akin to a man, when presented with a gift of a perfect filet mignon, laid upon a bed of crisp asparagus, conspiring to secretly possess the farm & kitchen that gave forth such blessing, instead of rightly honoring his benefactor. Was he sinful as he first conceived his evil, or only as it was hatched? The judgment of man cannot peer into a man’s thoughts, & so cannot rightly judge thoughts, but God does know our thoughts, & therefore does rightly judge them.
“The Devil made me do it”…
Satan is not as he commonly represented by the naïve, as one who instills evil within an individual; rather, the much more ugly reality is as Job 1-2 & Luke 22:31-32 attest- his role is more often to “sift”, or draw out into the open our true, but obfuscated nature. Adam, Job, & Peter all failed Satan’s testing, as would we in their stead; in Scripture it is Christ alone who continues bearing perfect fruit in course of suffering all of the slings of Satan (Luke 4). Therefore, comprehend that Adam’s consumption of the bad fruit was simply indicative of the nature of his tree. Bad trees desire fruit that is accord with themselves; simply put, sin begets sin.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Are Sinful Thoughts Sinful? (part 2)
Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
In part 1we addressed the question of our culpability in regards to the degenerate nature, i.e., at what point should we feel that God judges the primordial sinful thought? Is it still sin, potentially accounted to us, even in its most nascent stage? Christ’s letter to Thyatira speaks His mandate to judge the entire human condition, from ostensive works to innermost thought & desire…
Revelation 2:18-23 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. (19) "'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. (20) But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. (21) I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. (22) Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, (23) and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
Philippians 2:1-5 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, (2) complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (3) Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (4) Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (5) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
These verses contain imperatives; the verb “have” says you must do something in gain that “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” This clearly implicates our personal, individual culpability in regards to the primordial thought of sin. We can cultivate the ground of our heart & mind to readily grow such a bountiful crop of godliness, or we can choose to lazily let the land languish & continue to wonder why we get nothing but a crop of tiring tares & worthless weeds.
Matthew 3:8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Yet, despite even the most fervent nurturing, the cultivated field will sometimes bear weeds; vigilance is the key to gaining a generally fruitful crop of godliness within your heart & mind. Pulling those weeds quickly, before they gain strong root & multiply with seed & spore of their own is key to opposing their degeneracy. But there is much more towards the goal of godliness than simply trying to deny the outside evil a place within; indeed Christ states that such effort at “cleaning house” is vain if it is forlorn:
Matthew 12:43-45 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. (44) Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. (45) Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."
Colossians 2:18-3:5 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (19) and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (20) If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- (21) "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (22) (referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? (23) These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Simply cleaning up the pig’s mess does nothing to deny the pigs habitation. They simply return to carry on rooting up & destroying the garden of your soul. Barriers must be erected to prevent the pigs entry to your garden. We must detest & live set apart from “that woman Jezebel” have sustainable growth in godliness.
But Jesus teaches, then the Apostle elucidates (the typical NT narrative), that attempting to grow in godliness by simply cleaning up the day’s mess, erecting barriers, & living minimally apart from outside worldliness (asceticism) “have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh”. Why is this? Why can’t a ten foot, electrified barrier prevent the pigs from rooting & defecating in our garden? Because of this profoundly fundamental fact that both Savior & saint laid down as well: that we owners are primordially pigs as much as those that live outside the garden of our heart, mind, & soul. The teaching of original sin declares the shocking reality that, despite our every effort, a pig lives inside the garden, & that pig is us! (Romans 7) Nathan’s parable to David had the king in a mood of righteous vengeance, until the point in the story that appalling truth came out. “You are the man!” was stated, & then all David could do at that point is fall on his face & weep out the words of the 51st Psalm.
Psalms 51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. (2) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! (3) For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. (4) Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. (5) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (6) Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. (7) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (8) Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. (9) Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. (12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (13) Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. (14) Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. (15) O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. (16) For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (18) Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; (19) then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Colossians 3:1-5 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set (imperative verb) your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (5) Put (imperative verb) to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
In part 1we addressed the question of our culpability in regards to the degenerate nature, i.e., at what point should we feel that God judges the primordial sinful thought? Is it still sin, potentially accounted to us, even in its most nascent stage? Christ’s letter to Thyatira speaks His mandate to judge the entire human condition, from ostensive works to innermost thought & desire…
Revelation 2:18-23 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. (19) "'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. (20) But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. (21) I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. (22) Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, (23) and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
Philippians 2:1-5 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, (2) complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (3) Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (4) Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (5) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
These verses contain imperatives; the verb “have” says you must do something in gain that “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” This clearly implicates our personal, individual culpability in regards to the primordial thought of sin. We can cultivate the ground of our heart & mind to readily grow such a bountiful crop of godliness, or we can choose to lazily let the land languish & continue to wonder why we get nothing but a crop of tiring tares & worthless weeds.
Matthew 3:8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Yet, despite even the most fervent nurturing, the cultivated field will sometimes bear weeds; vigilance is the key to gaining a generally fruitful crop of godliness within your heart & mind. Pulling those weeds quickly, before they gain strong root & multiply with seed & spore of their own is key to opposing their degeneracy. But there is much more towards the goal of godliness than simply trying to deny the outside evil a place within; indeed Christ states that such effort at “cleaning house” is vain if it is forlorn:
Matthew 12:43-45 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. (44) Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. (45) Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."
Colossians 2:18-3:5 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (19) and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (20) If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- (21) "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (22) (referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? (23) These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Simply cleaning up the pig’s mess does nothing to deny the pigs habitation. They simply return to carry on rooting up & destroying the garden of your soul. Barriers must be erected to prevent the pigs entry to your garden. We must detest & live set apart from “that woman Jezebel” have sustainable growth in godliness.
But Jesus teaches, then the Apostle elucidates (the typical NT narrative), that attempting to grow in godliness by simply cleaning up the day’s mess, erecting barriers, & living minimally apart from outside worldliness (asceticism) “have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh”. Why is this? Why can’t a ten foot, electrified barrier prevent the pigs from rooting & defecating in our garden? Because of this profoundly fundamental fact that both Savior & saint laid down as well: that we owners are primordially pigs as much as those that live outside the garden of our heart, mind, & soul. The teaching of original sin declares the shocking reality that, despite our every effort, a pig lives inside the garden, & that pig is us! (Romans 7) Nathan’s parable to David had the king in a mood of righteous vengeance, until the point in the story that appalling truth came out. “You are the man!” was stated, & then all David could do at that point is fall on his face & weep out the words of the 51st Psalm.
Psalms 51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. (2) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! (3) For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. (4) Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. (5) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (6) Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. (7) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (8) Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. (9) Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. (12) Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (13) Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. (14) Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. (15) O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. (16) For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (18) Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; (19) then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Colossians 3:1-5 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set (imperative verb) your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (5) Put (imperative verb) to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
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