Posted: April 5th, 2010 |
Filed under: life | Tags: grace |
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(Additional thoughts added to help clarify for those who asked are written like this.)
There are so many who writhe in the memory of their own sin and what it did to ruin their relationship with God. They think, ‘If only I hadn’t…’ and mourn for what they lost and for what they destroyed. It’s as though they could have done something to keep themselves clean. (I’m thinking about all of the people who contact me that are stuck in that place and feel no hope. They want to go back and make better choices and they can’t. They’re kicking themselves because they knew better.)
This line of thinking, believing you could have done something, keeps you from the only thing that can make you clean. (If you’re constantly focusing on your past mistakes, especially pertaining to ‘knowing better’, then you aren’t moving forward.) You, before your big fall, were still inept, you just didn’t know it. (You don’t know you’re sick until you have symptoms. In the same way, you don’t know your weaknesses until they trip you up. You don’t know what you’re capable of until you do it.) You thought you were ‘good’. (Because you didn’t do ‘bad’ things.) You did not consider what Jesus did, because you didn’t ‘need’ to. (Not in that raw ‘He’s my only hope way.’) There may have been a translucent scent of ‘I’m a sinner in need of Jesus‘, but only because it’s part of the Christian costume. (It’s like saying you’re ‘dying of hunger’ because you’re hungry, but not like people who are actually dying of hunger. We say these big things without really connecting to them.) The inability to forgive is the proof that you never believed in the first place. (To forgive yourself or others. If you can’t forgive yourself, then you never believed what you were saying, ‘I’m a sinner in need of Jesus.’)
There is something within us that makes us believe we have the ability to always choose right over wrong and good over evil. (‘I know better!’) Why is it, then, that we don’t succeed? If you know right from wrong, have every intention of always choosing right, why don’t we? We can lie to ourselves as much as we want. We can make excuses, dumb down our role in the wrong, but what good does that do? Relying on your ability, whether it’s to do right or explain it well enough when you don’t, is not relying on Jesus. (Justifying your actions with excuses and not being able to forgive yourself when you can’t justify are both evidences of not depending on Jesus.)
We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good. -Galatians 2:16
You cannot do this on your own. You can’t get it right. You can’t keep yourself blameless. If you think you can, you are further from ‘spotless’ than the man with his body covered with a road rash from sin. It goes against our common sense to see things the way they really are (the ‘Kingdom’ way). (For example: it’s better to be an obvious mess than to be a hidden pit of self-righteousness. Being flawed is not the problem. acting as though you’re not is.) To see a person’s worst makes those who haven’t yet met their own worst feel morally superior. It’s hard not to, but a gleaming outside is not evidence of a gleaming inside. Mercy, compassion, grace…LOVE, is evidence of a gleaming inside. Those things have nothing to do with sin. They have everything to do with what they believe.
I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God. -Acts 13:41
It’s a promise. An an unaffected promise that is not dependent on what we do or don’t do. He does not wait to make good when you earn and He does not rescind when you mess up. Sin is not a definer, it’s a reminder. If your salvation depended on you, you’d never make it. Jesus did not go through the crucifixion just to leave His gift open to being over shadowed by what it conquered. He didn’t give you forgiveness to have when you don’t need it. If that’s the case, then He gave you nothing. (It’s like a doctor only seeing well patients. A hospital not allowing you in if you’re bleeding. They brag about their technology and ability to serve the community, but not if you need them. It’s getting denied for health insurance if they think you’ll use them.)
When Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ what do you think He was talking about? What is ‘it‘?
Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion. -Luke 22:37
‘It‘ is what was written about him. And this is what ‘it‘ is referring to:
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many “righteous ones,” as he himself carries the burden of their sins. Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly— the best of everything, the highest honors—Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep. -Isaiah 53:11-12
Those who belong to Jesus are not responsible for the debt of their sin. He is not embracing the ‘highest’, He embraces the ‘lowest’ and that is how He is honored. (That blows my mind and will probably be another blog post.) He carries the dead weight of the outcast, the imperfect, the flawed, the broken, wanting, poor, wretched and wrong and that is how He is ‘honored.’ (Are you getting that? Jesus is honored by embracing the worst, not the best. I really will have to dig into that later in another blog.)
In trying to be good, whole and sufficient on your own, what does that do to His honor? (In light of that scripture.)
We’re used to hearing about the effects of grace pertaining to the desires of our heart changing and certain habits or tendencies being roped in, but we’re not used to hearing this story in order. We try to look at the effects and perform the role in order to receive the cause. (Grace, love, mercy change people. But people look at the changes it makes and start faking them, hoping they’ll keep themselves in grace, love, mercy. Sort of a ‘fake it till ya make it’ mentality. It’s a loaded thought, but it’s what makes me giddy.) It’s my goal to get you to look at this in order. First thing’s first otherwise the whole system is corrupted by human effort. (If all of the attention is on what a ‘Christian’ should look like, then people will be using that as their standard and goal, not Jesus. I might need to write another book…)
If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That’s not a holy promise; that’s a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God’s promise at that—you can’t break it. -Romans 4:14-15
We have to approach ourselves and others with the essence of the Gospel, the cause of righteousness (Jesus, because of what He did, makes you righteous. Not doing righteous things.), and not the residuals that are entirely personal and dependent on you or another’s personal journey. (People are too different for others to be stereotyping them. You can never size up a person’s relationship with God by anything humanly perceivable with certainty. It’s disgusting to even try. If you are focused on what Jesus did, then you won’t have time to focus on what anybody else is doing. Nothing can trump grace, so just focus on that.) Paul referenced this line of thinking, the order of things, when he said:
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. -1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV
Posted: April 2nd, 2010 |
Filed under: life |
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‘Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’ -Jesus; Matthew 16:12 ESV
They were known for their strict teaching of Mosaic law, the 613 commandments found in the Torah (first five chapters of the Old Testament). They would teach these things, use political power to enforce them, but never keep all of them themselves.
the law is crucial.
People made a mess of the law. There wasn’t anything wrong with the law itself, but once it interacted with human nature, it became more of a temptation and awareness of sin than it did anything else. The law was never a mistake, it was crucial. But, sin turned it into a piece of forbidden fruit.
The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel. -Romans 7:8-12
Sin is dead without the rules. With nothing to hold over your head, sin has no power over you. It doesn’t mean that you won’t sin, it means that sin has no ground to stand on. It’s an echo of a threat. It’s a gun full of blanks. It’s a ferocious dog with no teeth. Sin used the law to make sure you could never escape death. It was perverted entrapment. You couldn’t teach it without being condemned by it. You couldn’t practice it without failing and you couldn’t be on good terms with God without practicing it. Sin was an inescapable noose that hung from every letter of the law.
I can already hear your next question: “Does that mean I can’t even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?” No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God’s good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own. -Romans 7:13
The teaching of people who rely on moral code and religious conduct should be sifted through a sieve. They can preach true and good things about right and wrong, do this-not that, but those things don’t bring life. What’s more, the people who preach the law don’t uphold it, therefore, they become targets of those looking for a reason to dismiss the whole thing. These teachers only teach the first part of a lesson and have nothing to show for their work. They’re not planting seeds of life, they’re staking reminders of death.
the law promises life, but proves death.
If you follow the commands, then you’ll live. If you don’t, you’ll die. No one can do it. Jesus brought life by faith and did away with life by the rules.
You can either trust in your ability to follow the rules or you can trust Jesus. There are always arguments about complete disregard or going the extra mile, but they’re made by people who don’t understand what this whole thing means. Micro-managing rule followers…
…are impressively energetic regarding God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don’t seem to realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation is God’s business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it. -Romans 10:2-3
The law was given to introduce a need. It was a standard that no one can live up to and it was no surprise nor was Jesus an afterthought. God always knew that you would need to be rescued, but he let you in on it, too. What good is rescuing when you don’t know you need it?
The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. -Romans 10:4
If knowing right from wrong only solidifies how wrong you are, then the knowledge is not about trying to get it right, it’s a gateway to a Saviour. When you’re focusing on your failures and achievements, then you’re completely missing the point. You are supposed to feel the failure. It’s supposed to kill you (flesh) so that the real you (spirit) can live. It was designed that way. It was never about you and your ability, it was, is and always will be about Jesus.
Beware of preachers who preach the rules and bury you in what you ‘should be doing’. They’re better suited for funerals.
the point to pivot on…
Before God created the earth, He planned to send His son to die for our sins. Before God created a man who could sin, he planned to send His son to die for him. You sin does not change God’s plan. God’s plan came first and includes your failures. You may be just now finding this out, but it’s been God’s plan all along. If I didn’t have the clearest scripture to back this up, I wouldn’t be saying it. I don’t care what you were taught, I don’t care what this stirs up in you. You either trust scripture or you trust your religion. You can look this up in any translation you want. If you want to argue, then just know that if you were right, then your sin wins. I’m simply echoing a message laced all throughout the Bible that says your sin is dead and buried. Even the ones you don’t know about yet. You can either argue around the point or let your life make music when you pivot on it.
And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. -1 Peter 1:20-21
Posted: April 1st, 2010 |
Filed under: life |
13 Comments »
They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them. -Jesus, John 16:1-4
What would cause a church to throw someone out and feel like it’s what God wanted them to do?
This happens all the time. Even if bystanders have a deep feeling things aren’t being handled properly, they can’t reconcile what they feel with the reasoning their church gives. Churchy talk can go a long way with a group of people who don’t know anything other than what their leaders tell them. Even if something deep within them is unsettled, they dismiss it and stay under the cover of the bylaws instead of taking a risk on grace. Maybe they’re afraid that if they speak up, they’ll be kicked out, too.
The religious homeless have the best seats in this story. On the surface, you would think the pressed out, backcombed, polish tipped alter professional would be the crowned jewel, but that’s not the case. The transient, ruffians with salty tongues and a raw diet of grace and wild grown sanctification are the ones with the golden ticket. Ragamuffins. Outcasts. A band of spirit led gypsies.
If you’re there and you’re feeling left out of the religious red carpet fashion show, then take this as a reminder. They don’t like you because they don’t understand you. They don’t know where you’re coming from and you make them feel uncomfortable. Their pride wells, up and they fight it. Their muscles ache to run, but they massage it away. You cause them pain because something deep within them knows that they’re supposed to be free, but they don’t know how. They’re the earners, the achievers, the competitors. They need to do this thing their own way, in their own strength, so they can beat their chest at the top of this mountain. Stake their claim of property and settle down on their throne. They hate it when you saunter in late and get paid the same wage.
When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’
“Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’
“He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’
“Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.” -Jesus, Matthew 20:8-16
It has to be antagonizing to do everything you know to be who you think you should be and watch someone else not be so conscientious and still get the same serving. When compared to time and effort, they’re actually getting paid more. The more need, the more provision. Makes personal strife in the matters of religious gain seem the same kind of useless as complete disregard of morality for selfish satisfaction. They both end up in the same spot with the same pay.
Why do they throw you out of the meeting places? Because you represent something they can’t stand. You’re disregard for tradition and ‘brand’ are intolerable. Not when you’re the only one who doesn’t seem to want to ‘wear more flair.’ Seriously, most just want to get passed the regulatory b.s. so they can get on with their worship and ‘fellow-shipping.’ They can’t get to the table of food because everyone is questioning their level of devotion.
You know what, Stan, if you want me to wear 37 pieces of flair, like your pretty boy over there, Brian, why don’t you just make the minimum 37 pieces of flair? -Joanna; Office Space
Jesus changed everything when he sauntered into town. His attitude was unacceptable to the churchy people. I see him with a road worn swagger and air of ‘I’m not from here.’ Like a traveling band of rock stars excited about a truck stop bathroom. People were drawn to him and a little afraid of Him. He cared more about fringe people than he did about the way he was perceived. He nestled in the uncultivated, uncolored part of the picture because he didn’t belong to the time warped civilization of religious pretension and narcissism. They hated Jesus because they thought he’d come in and validate them and their efforts and he didn’t. He didn’t even attend their multi-media, U2 song covered, fake fog saturated church service. He went straight to the seedy part of town and made friends with the guy who never showers because his beer glass never stops refilling itself. Most choke on their communion grape juice if they saw who he was sitting by when he should have been sitting in their synagog.
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. -Jesus, John 15:18-19
If Jesus had kept his mouth shut drinking wine at birthday parties and talking to women he shouldn’t have been talking to, then he wouldn’t have gotten in so much trouble. But he didn’t. He walked into towns and was met by the neighborhood holy gunslingers. The religious villains keeping the towns people scared and compliant. He bypassed their intimidation dance and started unravelling the ropes the law tied them with. They questioned his authority, they accused him of being a heretic, they tried to undermine his message by casting doubt on his reputation. They scrambled to out smart him, to intimidate him and to make him keep his mouth shut. But it didn’t work.
They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I hadn’t come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. -Jesus, John 15:21-24
When these people did this to him and they do it to you, just notice the irony that they are confirming the very scriptures they quote when they are trying to condemn you (or ‘speak truth in love’ as they like to call it).
Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’ -Jesus, John 15:25
Jesus was who he said he was and he went back from where he came. He sent the Holy Spirit to stay with us and help guide us. Jesus started this whole thing and he’s asking us to continue it. You’re not going to be treated better than he was, so when it happens, just expect it and shrug it off.
Your calling is to join this ‘thug life’ and carry out the work he started.
When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start. -Jesus, John 15:26-27
