Posted: December 22nd, 2011 |
Filed under: life | Tags: love wins, purpose |
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She could see the distance in His eyes and it killed her. There was something calling Him away and His focus was on His good-bye’s and His final instructions for everybody. He met with people in secret rooms, on lonely walks, and on quiet dawn beaches. He was so different that it made Him unrecognizable. …until you looked Him in the eyes.
Part of Him was still there, but it was growing fainter and fainter. Her heart was breaking and it made her desperate. She held her breath to hide the sobs in her belly, squeezed her eyes to fight the sting. She knew she couldn’t make Him stay.
“I want to go with you.” She needed His eyes.
“You can’t. Not yet.” (John 13:33)
She sobbed. She knew He loved Her, He was looking at her now.
“I’m not leaving YOU, I’m leaving this MOMENT. I’m leaving this timeline of temporary.” (Hebrews 13:5)
He has talked like that the whole time she’s known Him. His thoughts would always go somewhere far away and He’d get this resolve and strength from some unreachable depth. It was His mystery. It was what drew people to Him.
She never knew where He went when His eyes looked beyond and His words became riddles. The group of us would hang on His stories and try with everything in us to understand. But it was so far beyond…we couldn’t reach it. (John 16:12)
He made us ache. He made us believe in this eternal ‘Something More”. He was moving further and further ‘beyond’ and she was clinging to His robe (Mark 5:28). She was pouring her perfume on Him (Matthew 26:7). Sobbing at His feet, she washed Him with her tears. Unable to look up, she dried His feet with her hair (Luke 7:38).
He was the only one who stood up for her. The only one would walk through the streets with her. He held her together when she was falling apart. He made the clenched fist of condemnation drop their stones (John 8:7). What would she do without Him? How was she going to survive this temporary without Him there with her?
Almost as though He could read her mind, He said, “It’s better for you if I go. The way things are right now, I can’t be with you every second. If I go, you can carry me inside you. Though you won’t see me, you’ll feel me closer than you do now. The distance that you feel when you look at me will be put inside you, ..like a promise, …like a down payment. I’ll make you one with the distance, but it will no longer be distance. It will be expanse. It will be freedom. I’ll spread out in your heart so that you know I’m there. I’ll dance with your spirit so you can feel your heart skip with our music. When you interact with others, I’ll look back at you through their eyes. If I go, I’ll be everywhere. No longer bound by the stretch of flesh, I’ll fill the expanse and everywhere you look, you’ll be able to find me.” (John 16:7)
He made sure she was listening.
“I’m going away, but I’ll come back. I’ll get you out of here, but I have to prepare a place for you. I’ll make it perfect.” (John 14:3)
He paused to let her receive what He was really saying.
‘How long?” Would He come back tomorrow? Next week? A few years?
“I don’t know. The date is set, but I don’t know what it is (Matthew 24:36). My Father knows that I would probably tell you if I did, and for His reasons… you can’t know.”
Out of all the things He didn’t have an answer for….
“He doesn’t want you sitting by your window because you’re afraid that you’ll miss me. …You’re not going to miss me. You’re the reason I’m coming back.”
Her mind was fighting the peace His words created. He was making her feel okay with Him leaving and she didn’t want to give in. As though her refusal would make Him stay longer, just to talk her into it.
“There are others coming. There are more people who need to know who I AM.”
He paused, almost pained. “Do you love me?”
His words separated her flesh from her bones like a double edged sword.
“You know I love you.”
He made her look at Him. “Will you tell them about me?” (John 21:15)
It’s the work He started. He wanted the people who loved Him to continue it.
“Tell them I love them.” (John 13:34)
It’s their way to be together. It’s her way to honor what they have. He can’t be seen anymore…He went into the calling beyond, but He’s still here. He’s here in her, in you, and in them. When we talk about His love, we can almost smell Him again.
There’s a theory that a married man and woman start to look like each other over the course of the years. Maybe it’s because they’re so in love. Their eyes are filled up on the other so when the rest of the world looks at them, they see who they love. She blushes and smiles to herself. She has it figured out. He can’t be seen, but she can. Representing what they have together, it’s when she is loving the others that she looks the most like Him.
Posted: November 4th, 2011 |
Filed under: God | Tags: grace, love wins |
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I had a dark childhood. I’ve lived and died a thousand times in this skin. But, by some miracle, I have always known that when I reach my hand up, His hand is there to take it. I have always been after the inner tug to the Something More. I can say with certainty that in spite of the brunt of life I had been served, I was meant for something more.
Knowing the damage that sexual abuse causes, I look at my children and something inside me leaps. They are unscathed by what scathed me. They are innocent and have no idea what kind of evil lurks in the dark spaces. I do everything I can to keep the predator of the innocent away from them.
I know what signs to look for. A predator tries to wedge in between the parent and the child. The predator befriends the family and waits to catch the little one alone. Innocence makes you trust. It’s all a game full of secrets and chances to be big. “You’re very mature for your age,” the predator hisses.
A cunning predator knows the right words. ”Your parents are just trying to control you.”
I know what signs to look for. A child is a streak of giggles across the room while the mother runs after her with her clothes. Reckless naked abandon and the parents laugh as the little legs scamper in play. It’s only when the child is ashamed of the nakedness and curious about things beyond their level of development that there is a problem. When shame replaces innocence and fear replaces play, the parent is gripped by a knowing they must push aside or confront. It’s a knowing that asks, “Who made you ashamed?”
Victims of sexual abuse blame themselves. They can think back to all the times that they were not careful, the times they ran around naked, and they think they brought it on themselves. The child remembers all the times they left themselves vulnerable. All the naked tumbles and what used to be innocent had become indecent. And they stop playing.
They hide from their parent out of distrust and feeling dirty. “I’ll wash myself. Leave! I’m naked.”
When we read the words of God in the Bible, they’re just printed words. The words are given life by what we believe. We animate them with what we know.
A predator came into the garden and caught Eve alone. He wedged himself between Eve and her Father. He made her believe that her Father was just trying to control her. “Do you want to be a grownup, Eve?”
“God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen3:5
Until then, she and Adam were a streak of giggles. They were innocent in reckless naked abandon. Their legs danced in play. But, when they ate, their eyes were opened and their memory was tainted in shame. They grabbed leaves to cover their nakedness and hid from their Father.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Gen3:8)
God called out to them. ”Where are you?” (Gen3:9)
They called out from their hiding place, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Gen3:10)
When shame replaces innocence and fear replaces play, the parent is gripped by a knowing they must push aside or confront. It’s a knowing that asks,
“Who told you that you were naked?” (Gen3:11)
The predator is a deceiver. He wedges himself between you and your Father. He tries to catch you alone because he is the molester of God’s children. He tries to make you feel ashamed of your freedom. He tries to take away your innocence. Every time you fall down, he humiliates you. He makes you doubt your Father and rely on him to take his condemning words back. He grooms you before he violates you. He vandalizes your trust in the Father so that you have nowhere to turn. He wants you to believe that you are damaged and alone. He wants to make a ghost town of your purity.
But look what God did for Adam and Eve. Their world had changed. They now knew what they shouldn’t have known. They stood before Him in tears as their flimsy coverings were not enough to hide what shamed them. But, God did not leave them embarrassed and vulnerable. He made them better clothes.
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Gen3:20)
They should not have even known they needed clothes, but God did not torment them with what they could not change. He found them exactly where they were and provided what they should not have needed. He wanted them to feel decent again. Maybe if they feel decent, they won’t be afraid to be with Him.
God doesn’t give up on you and leave you to suffer your own damage. He takes care of you, even when it was you who caused the destruction.
Posted: August 24th, 2011 |
Filed under: book, life | Tags: grace, love wins |
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“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” -Jesus; Luke 12:1 ESV
The ‘leaven’ referred to here is the Old Testament way to salvation. It is corrupt doctrine. It becomes corrupt when it is mixed with the message of the Gospel in a way that perpetuates the list of rules as a requirement to receive the grace of the Gospel.
Jesus calls it ‘hypocrisy’ because it is a man-made mixture of how to live a godly life. It is a citizenship to two different kingdoms. It’s serving two different masters. It’s hypocrisy because it’s already clear that no one can follow the rules. The rules remove the heart of the purpose for them. Jesus and His grace changes the heart and the rules become peripheral.
People want to hear ways that they can make themselves more holy. They want a definitive list of things they can do so that they can say they are set apart by appearance and practice. It’s a way for them to be like God, choosing good because they know the difference.
“You will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -the serpent in Genesis 3:4 ESV
“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” -God in Genesis 3:22 ESV
People can launder their appearance with a list of perfectly good attributes and unarguably valid points. But, the heart is missing. They can be like God, choosing good to be more God-like, but there is no beat in their chest or life in their blood. Have you ever known someone to call him or herself a Christian and completely tear another apart or leave someone behind? They even give credit to their Christianity for their lack of compassion and empathy. Haven’t you wondered, “Have you no heart?”
It’s a mutilated Gospel for the one who thinks that denying the overwhelming urge to love a ‘sinner’ is the part of ‘self’ that must be denied. They actually believe they are honoring God by sacrificing their heart. Don’t you remember? The sacrifice has been made! You can love freely now!
“…use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows.” -Galatians 5:13 MSG
“For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?” -Galatians 5:15 MSG
The outside world, the ones to whom you have been commissioned to prove God’s love, wants no part of a religion that has no heart.
Rules, sacrifices, and rituals cannot get to the heart, not the heart of man or the heart of God.
Under this system, the gifts and sacrifices can’t really get to the heart of the matter, can’t assuage the conscience of the people, but are limited to matters of ritual and behavior. It’s essentially a temporary arrangement until a complete overhaul could be made. -Hebrews 9:9-10 MSG
The same passage in a different translation says this:
According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. -Hebrews 9:9-10 ESV
“…until the time of reformation.” Hebrews 9:10 is the only one mention I could find of “reformation” in scripture. There is only one scripture, that I could find, that tells you what it means and the intended purpose, which is the heart, of the Law. It is here:
“And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.” Leviticus 26:23-24 ESV (emphasis mine)
Young’s Literal Translation words my emphasized portion as “instructed by me”. If, by following the law, you are not instructed by God, then you have missed the mark. The meaning of sin is “missing the mark.” (Vines Concise Dictionary).
Jesus is the mark. The Holy Spirit instructs you, personally. Throw the laundry list out. If people want to use grace as an excuse to sin, then the Holy Spirit will twist them apart on the inside. That is what this scripture means:
“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” -1 John 3:9 ESV
The ‘seed’ is the Holy Spirit. Making “a practice of sin” is not the same thing as “committing a sin”. Those who are Christians will sin and the Holy Spirit will crush them until they cannot continue. The will of man is crushed, to breaking, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you see a man who has sinned and is being crushed, it is not because the Holy Spirit has left him, it will not, it is because He overwhelmingly evident in him. You don’t have to point out the obvious. The Holy Spirit is a better lover than you are, which makes Him a better corrector than you could ever be.
You will be harassed for preaching and believing in the sovereignty of God, grace, and the authority of Love. Not by the outsiders, but by the insiders.
Be cautious with those who preach a watered down Gospel. Be on the lookout for those take up issue with “too much love” or “too heavy on grace.” Ignore their tirades and consider yourselves in good company. You can see which kingdom they’re under by which flag they choose to raise.
If I were preaching that old message, no one would be offended if I mentioned the Cross now and then—it would be so watered-down it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. -Paul; Galatians 5:11 MSG
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Posted: August 19th, 2011 |
Filed under: life | Tags: love wins |
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Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. -Romans 2:27 ESV
Scripture refers to the ‘uncircumcised’ as outsiders to religion. I see them as outsiders in the Body of Christ, the ones who don’t fit in at church. A lot of reasons exist for a person to be an outsider, but Christians who are outsiders are usually put there because they realize that their church influences are leading them in a different direction than God is. They may have had a life changing grace abduction, or their faith exceeds their fear and they have a hard time being around the fear crusted religion. Freedom can make a person an outsider.
The ‘law’ that the New Testament is referring to is the law of Love. Love others as you love yourself, 1 Corinthians 13 style. Selfless, no expectations, looking-for-the-best-and-forgetting-the-rest kind of love. This kind of love requires a lot of faith in God’s sovereignty and there is no room for fear. It also requires insane perseverance because the biggest opposition comes from those who, considering their claims, should know better.
The ones’ who should know better are like, what scripture calls, the circumcised. Back in the scripture days it meant something religious. It was an outward mark of an inward decision. They were the teachers, leaders, front row sitters, and organizers.
But just because they look like the package doesn’t mean anything.
Those who are outsiders, don’t look the part, but are better at loving others..really loving others…will condemn those who write the guide, own the fake plants on the stage, and wear the religious name tag, but do not know how to love…really love.
forget about everything else….love wins.
photo credit goes to Federica Pagano.
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Posted: July 9th, 2011 |
Filed under: God, life | Tags: grace, love wins |
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When I see the mess, I see the end. The mess is part of the beauty. It’s more than the hope of capricious wishful thinking. It’s the kind of certainty that makes it feel like a cheat for faith. Damaged people are my favorite. The wounds are something to be grafted to. Take a community of broken people and watch them form bonds that no green twig can challenge. A body formed and grafted by the pieces of others to build a seamless Temple to house the worship of them, The Pardoned. The man with decades of wounds can write his worship from the depth of his pain and lead the rest in a song that seemed like it was written for them. “Rescue me, Rescue me.” And the forgotten places cry out in unison. Two or more gathered and the valley of dry bones raises up with a new Spirit and the freshness of Breath.
A lot of our wounds were inflicted by those who were supposed to be safe. When they stepped outside the Truth, they got cut off. And you, because of your faith in Jesus, found sanctuary in the very place they said you could not come.
So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come… -Romans 11:11 ESV
Through the failure of the insider, the outsider gets to run to the Truth. The forgotten, the wounded, the lamb with a limp, relies more on the Savior than the guards at His tomb. They think He’ll be stolen. They fear a contaminated scene. They don’t get it like the woman waiting to see the sun through her swollen eyes.
Someone will lay a foundation of need. It’s the accusations, the condemnations, the run around, and the judgment that usher in the Hopeless Procession. You get beaten down, lied to, your words twisted, and your sin exposed. You lose the right to your privacy, the right to your honesty, and the right to own your spot on your own journey. They take your name and make it a sin to speak. They take your work and make a curse to continue. You are left with a death to worth and to purpose. Your Human Race Membership has been abducted.
In that spot of anger and terror, of sorrow and confusion, you hear the Whisper call through the night. “Come.” Your memories, your bag of lead sins, the scars that you carry are heavy on your shoulders and heavier on your heart. You can’t take another step, not when you have no place to go. “Come to me.”
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Jesus, Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
There is a canyon between those who leave you and the One that calls you. He is different. He’s not like them. He is gentle and lowly in heart. Your Creator is gentle. The Sovereign is lowly in heart. The Lion of Judah is roaring your name.
“a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” -Matthew 12:20-21 ESV
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Posted: May 25th, 2011 |
Filed under: life | Tags: love wins, purpose |
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You have a world of possibility and choices in front of you. You see lush life and the perfect fit between what you need and what you see. All you have to do is ram the staff of your flag into the ground and claim it as yours.
But, other people want it, too. Other people need the same things you need. You can muscle your way in, assert your right to happiness, and elbow to the front of the line, but is that the way it’s supposed to be done? In a space where God asks you to let Him guide you, it’s hard to not take the reigns and fight for the best acres of life.
Abraham and Lot were traveling with their families and belongings to find a place to settle and flourish. They came to a part of land where in one direction all they could see was lush beauty and promise and the other direction looked like second best.
Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” -Genesis 13:9-10 ESV
God asks us to let our lives be ruled by love because He Is Love. Love doesn’t say, “me first.” Love gives the best and takes the left overs. If you live your life this way, it removes the control from your hands and lets God lead you.
But, most of the time it makes no sense. We are instinctually inclined to be guided by survival. ‘Survival of the fittest.’ Love doesn’t make sense.
“And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east.” -Genesis 13:10-11 ESV
Abraham let Lot have the first pick and Lot chose the best piece of land. Abraham bid him farewell and headed in the direction of second best. He took each step knowing that God promised Him the best and it seemed that God’s promise was growing smaller behind his back.
When you let love guide your decisions, it releases God’s control in your life. You can’t see the future of what you think you want. You can’t see that the best piece of land was settled by something that could destroy you.
The best piece of land, the piece that Lot chose, was near Sodam and Gomorrah. It looked to be the best and to hold the most promise, but only God knew what lay ahead. Abraham chose to let love guide his steps and that made it possible for God to keep him far away from destruction.
God knows what He’s doing. Sometimes it may look like He’s forgotten you or He’s pouring out your promises on someone else. But, you have to know that things are not what they seem to be. There is so much that you want to do, places you want to go, lands you want to settle, but are, for whatever reason, stalled.
It is easy to get frustrated and impatient. Just remember that if you could see everything that God sees, you would trust Him without question. But, that’s where faith comes in. Faith that He has not forgotten you and that He will keep His promises to you. He’s given you a rope to hold on to while you’re wandering and waiting. That rope is love. Hold on to it and let Him work out the details.
Abraham eventually got the lush land, but He had to wait for God to get rid of the destruction first.
The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” -Genesis 13:14-17 ESV
Trust Him. He knows what He’s doing. He hasn’t forgotten you. If you have to wait, be glad. He’s making it perfect.
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Posted: April 17th, 2011 |
Filed under: God | Tags: grace, love wins |
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“…he played at religion with toy gods. Still, I stuck with him. I led [him]. I rescued him from human bondage, but he never acknowledged my help, never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon, that I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek, that I bent down to feed him.” – Hosea 11:2-4
I want you to know that God will never leave you. He has the patience of a Father. He plays with you, even if you are not playing back. He’s holding you, even if you think you’re holding yourself up. He brings you to his chest, even if you have forgotten His smell. He sustains you, even if you can’t see Him.
You are His child and He loves you. He loves you even if you do not love Him back. He’s leading you, carrying you, pulling you in your wagon…
You can turn from Him, get disoriented by false belief, and call for help from false gods who do not answer. You can evoke His anger, but He’s holding back. He’s holding back on account of you.
If you’re still here, having lived through such hell and disillusionment, He has not let you go.
He still loves you. Come back. Follow the sound of His roar of Love in this war of Love and run back home. Your bed is made, your dinner is on the table. Your seat in the child’s wagon is still there.
But how can I give up on you, …? How can I turn you loose, …? How can I leave you to be ruined…, devastated…? I can’t bear to even think such thoughts. My insides churn in protest. And so I’m not going to act on my anger. I’m not going to destroy… And why? Because I am God and not a human. I’m The Holy One and I’m here—in your very midst. The people will end up following God. I will roar like a lion—Oh, how I’ll roar! My frightened children will come running from the west. Like frightened birds they’ll come… like scared doves. I’ll move them back into their homes. God’s Word! – Hosea 11:8-11
Posted: April 13th, 2011 |
Filed under: God | Tags: grace, love wins |
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Here is an interesting thought: God wrote the Old Testament Law to reveal His nature to His people. It’s clear that He does not tolerate sin. The interesting part of all that is that He also included the format, in intricate detail, of how to provide sacrifice for the temporary cleansing of sin (which means ‘missing the mark’ [Strong's #266]). He did this not in case they fail, but when they fail.
It’s apparent that when He laid down the guide for right living, He knew that the mark would be missed and so He provided a means to start anew.
If we are looking for God’s character we can see that He has standards and that He knows we cannot meet them. He didn’t leave anyone without a way to be redeemed. Everything He does is an act of Love.
Jesus was not an afterthought. This means he was not a ‘Plan B’. Humanity was created for relationship with God and with the ability to break that relationship. The ability to break that relationship is a gift…a blessing of freedom. But, God doesn’t stop there. He also created a way for humanity to be in eternal relationship with Him, and through Jesus we have that. It’s a promise that says “Let me be your righteousness so you can be ‘free indeed’.”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. -John 8:34-36 ESV (emphasis mine)
Missing the mark, or failing, is not a reason to throw the rest of the story out the window. With Him, you cannot have one without the other. Sin without sacrifice, sacrifice without sin. God has a plan and that plan is finished. He knows that we will all mess up and use our freedom, our choice–His gift, in a way that is contrary to His nature. However, being true to His revealed nature we are never left to die in our sin or to be orphans abandoned by our Father. “The Son remains forever.”
He knows, has always known, that we can’t do this on our own. He did it for you.
Once you tap into the grace grooved reality, you have no room to walk in fear or rejection. You will know that you have not been abandoned when you know that you have always been, are, and always will be intimately and fully known.
Not once has God ever relaxed His commands because He doesn’t have to. He sent Jesus to fulfill them for you. He is and always will be fully Himself and the beautiful part of that is that He is fully Himself when He embraces every single bit of you.
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. -Romans 3:22-26 ESV (emphasis mine)
You are accounted for and claimed.
Let that sink in. Let that transform you. Transformed, continually, through Jesus. It puts you where He wants you and where you have always wanted to be. Free. Even the undoubtedly flawed and painfully marked are relentlessly loved by Love Himself.
Gather into your imagination the power of a hurricane, the force of an earthquake, the tearing wind of a tornado under which phenomena no man can stand. Now imagine the power of nature’s forces combined into a torrential and consuming display of love and you might have an idea of the force in which He loves you. A force of love under which no man can stand.
enabled
Posted: March 30th, 2011 |
Filed under: God, life | Tags: grace, love wins |
18 Comments »
What a person believes about grace influences everything. Some believe that grace gives the recipient the power to not sin. Others believe that grace is forgiveness for sins. What a person believes about grace may be the most crucial operating system in the life of a Christian because it affects the levels of love, fear, and pride. Love evicts fear and is the key to getting it right, and pride is the pretentious bride of sin.
It may help you to understand where I’m coming from if I tell you that I equate grace with the finished work of Jesus. The finished work of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith. Therefore, it influences everything.
However, grace is an issue that divides intelligent people. With so much at stake, the believer has to examine their faith to see if it is actually Jesus that they believe in, and not some form of religious superstition.
The best way to examine what you really believe is to explore the implications.
If grace gives you the power to not sin, then what does that imply? Off the top of my head…
- There are people who do not sin.
- There is a point, given enough grace, when you will not sin.
- Anyone who sins is not under grace.
- People possess the power.
These implications give the individuals, who hold this belief, the power to condemn those who sin because they are not under grace. It also spurs them to teach that grace must be earned by not sinning. This perpetuates the appearance-based religion that buries the person who must hide their shortcomings in order to remain in the Christian community.
Those who know that they cannot measure up to the impossible standards of never failing end up rejecting a system that makes them feel inadequate. Their refusal to lie about the deepest parts of their flawed condition will cause them to turn away from Jesus because, in reality, what they are being taught about Him has turned out to be a lie. It is a lie because they have not received, though they have tried to muster up the faith and do everything they can to avoid sin, the ability to not sin. They live buried in defeat and hopelessness. They feel abandoned by God and doubt the power of the finished work of Jesus.
If grace is forgiveness of sins, what does that imply? For starters….
- People will still sin.
- There is never a point when you will not sin.
- The more sin, the more grace.
- Jesus possesses the power.
These implications give the individuals, who hold this belief, the power to forgive and show mercy to those who sin. It also spurs them to teach that grace cannot be earned. This perpetuates the power of the finished work of Jesus Who has the ability to remove the sting of death that sin delivers. This teaching sets sin’s captives free to get up with they fall and do their best, even while knowing their best is not good enough. They teach that Jesus does not just make up for their lack, but that His power is made perfect in their weakness.
Those who know that they cannot do it on their own end up being conduits of grace in the lives of others. Inadequacy is crucial to understanding need and need is the reason Jesus rescued them. The deepest parts of their flawed condition no longer have the power to keep them separated from God. They no longer have to hide in shame. It keeps them at the feet of Jesus. What they have been taught about Him is the truth that keeps them connected to Him. They are no longer buried and condemned by their sin because they live in the hope of salvation. They do not want to sin, they try to keep that sin nature in check. The evidence that grace does not give people the power to not sin is found in the fact that they still sin. However, they are no longer buried in defeat or feel abandoned by God. Their hope is that Jesus is Who He says He is and grace wins over what sin attacks.
So, which is it?
I looked for any sentence with any combination of the words, “power”, “sin”, and “grace,” in ESV, NIV, AMP, KJV and The Message Bible translations and there were none. I could find no scriptural support for the belief that grace gives the person the power to not sin.
I also did a word search for every place in the New Testament where the Greek word “charis” (grace, translated to English words) occurs and found it in at least 163 scriptures. This helped me find the use of the word in context.
The scriptures where the power of grace is discussed refers to the ability of a person to boldly share the Gospel of Jesus because of their understanding of grace.
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. -Acts 4:33 ESV
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God. -Romans 15:15 ESV
In at least nine times in the book of Romans, grace is referenced in direct contrast to sin. It talked about the power of grace over sin, but it is not referenced as the power to not sin. It says that grace wins in spite of sin.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. -Romans 5:20 ESV
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. - Romans 6:14 ESV
The message of the free gift is so profound that there are several places where the writers of the New Testament feel the need to make sure the readers understand that grace is not an excuse to sin. If the message were that grace gave you the power to not sin, then that reminder would not be necessary.
Grace cannot be earned in any way. It is a free gift, so if you were able to earn it, it would not be free. The message that teaches that grace must be earned, or that a sinless life is the only way to be under grace, is false. It undermines the power of Jesus, giving the person the power, thereby making the person equal to Jesus and causing Him to be useless. This is a very blatant anti-Christ theology designed to either make you feel, at best, hopeless or, if you are deceived enough, make you feel self-righteous.
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. - Romans 4:2 ESV
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. – Romans 4:4 ESV
I hope this helped you understand what grace is and what it isn’t, what it does and what is doesn’t. It is important to understand because it changes everything. We do not have the power, Jesus does. It is only because of faith that you can live in the open spaces of a free life, flaws and all, and still have hope. Do not ever let someone tell you that you are beyond grace. The only thing that can take grace away from you is you, and you do that by not believing.
The man who is fully aware of his inability to measure up to the impossible standards of righteousness has this message:
But [God] said…, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
Belief about grace will still divide intelligent people, but you have to stick to the finished work of Jesus. Let that message do the dividing. Remember, they are not rejecting you. They’re rejecting Him. Be patient, full of love, and drenched in grace. Those qualities are what God uses to call His children to Him.
…When we preach the gospel to every creature, the gospel makes its own division, and Christ’s sheep hear his voice, and follow him. - Charles Spurgeon
Posted: March 23rd, 2011 |
Filed under: life | Tags: love wins |
34 Comments »
I wrote a blog about love the other day that received the following comment (click the underlined link if you want to read the blog):
So because “Love Wins on every level” discerning christians should just stand by and watch a man COMPLETELY trample on the truths of scripture….we should listen patiently while he disregards Christ’s incredible sacrifice as inconsequential…?? Because we don’t know what all of his thoughts are and “Love wins”….???
A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
You are correct that we only see in part….God has not revealed all to us…..but He HAS given us His word and it is CLEAR….
Romans 16: 17-18…… I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Colossians 2:8…..
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Everything Rob Bell is saying in his new book is contrary to the SOLID word of God! It is very pleasing to wordly ears……
We need to do as Jude urges…..
Jude 1:3…… Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
My response is something that I wanted everyone to read, so I am posting it here:
I am overwhelmed with kindness and the kind of patient love for you that I learned by God’s example in His dealings with me. All the while I do not understand why you hold disdain for me yet still read what I have to say. I can only give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you want, with everything in you, to be a ‘good’ Christian.
I am not sure why you are bringing up a book that I never mentioned nor have I read. Your entire comment is in response to something that I have not formed thoughts about and have not spoken about, therefore it makes your fight against something that has nothing to do with me. What, within in you, are you fighting? What is hurting you? I have to wonder why you are bringing your fight here. You even pretend that you are a separate person named Rebecca when you post something especially venomous. What draws you here? Maybe you need to know that you are loved. You are accepted. You are His precious little girl. He calls you Beloved. And… you are my sister. Destined to one day be friends in a Kingdom where we just might be neighbors. I can only hope for and choose to believe that. It helps keep my heart soft and open to you.
I will address the scriptures you quoted:
When you look up Romans 16, it’s talking about avoiding people who cause divisions and create obstacles. When I talk about love and you come in with strong opposition, what do you think that is? Are you representing division? Are you creating obstacles? Obstacles to what? The cross-reference scripture leads to this one:
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. -1 Timothy 1:5-7 ESV
Obstacles to Love. Divisions over the law of Love.
By ’swerving’ from Love, ‘certain persons’ wander off into vain discussions about the law. They do not understand what they’re saying or what they are standing up for. We’re told to avoid them. Of all the people we think we should avoid, scripture actually says to avoid people who wander off from Love and assert the law.
When you read further into Colossians 2, you can find what ‘traditions’ or ‘elemental spirits of the world’ is referring to:
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— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 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. -Colossians 2:20-23 ESV
side note: “asceticism” means: “the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons”
In Christ, you died to ‘legalism’ (the elemental spirits of the world) and have to avoid those ‘human precepts and teachings.’ Why? Because your best is not good enough. Religion can’t save you. It has no value.
side note: “precepts” means: “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought”
You said: “Everything Rob Bell is saying in his new book is contrary to the SOLID word of God! It is very pleasing to wordly ears……”
Have you read it? Surely you wouldn’t speak so boldly against something you haven’t read. Surely you wouldn’t be basing all of your opinions and beliefs, on what others say.
What if the Holy Spirit is using his message to reach people? What if the Spirit of God is speaking to people through the message of love? I haven’t read the book, so these are just “what if’s”. Again, what if the Holy Spirit is using Rob Bell’s book? What does that say about all of those who are mocking it, rebuking it, and saying it’s from the devil?
When you reject the Holy Spirit and accredit his actions with evil, isn’t that blasphemy?
You mentioned Jude 1, did you read a bit further?
But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. -Jude 1:10 ESV
The people that Jude is talking about are those who pervert the grace of God by making it something that must be earned by keeping a set of rules. It doesn’t mean that a person can live selfishly, it means that they cannot earn grace. The cross-reference scripture for the verse following the one you quoted (the cross-reference for Jude 1:4) is Act 11:23 where Peter sees the grace of God, is glad about it, and tells the church to ‘remain steadfast’. ‘Steadfast is understood with the cross-reference scripture found in 2 Timothy 3.
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness… – 2 Timothy 3:10 ESV
Steadfast in Love (and faith and patience). Those who preach grace and love have always been ‘persecuted’ (1 Timothy 3:11) but Peter, Paul, Jesus, me, and any other worker/disciple of Jesus must endure and remain committed.
side note: “steadfast” means: “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering”
UPDATE: Her response to me…
Serena….you were asked directly about th Rob Bell situation and you said THIS post answered your feelings……which means you are giving him the benefit of the doubt!
I believe in calling heretics what they are….. I have read enough portions of the book and have heard Rob Bell’s own words! He is a universalist and a heretic….He makes Christ’s sacrifice in vain……
I continue to read occasionally here because I am praying that you will see the great influence you have and how you are misusing it…. I have no disdain for you….I pity you……. I see you as distorting the gospel and profiting from it……I will no longer read however….you have a very inflated view of yourself and your own interpretations of scripture…..I think you seriously need to have a studied man of God evaluate your teachings!
We cannot be lukewarm….we cannot comopromise the truth of God’s righteous judgement in the name of love and understanding….we cannopt change the Lord into something that pleases man….He will spit us out! We are either hot or cold!
BTW….. I was not pretending to be someone else….if I had been doing that wouldn’t I have used a different e-mail?? Obviously you see the adresses….that is my middle name….I post under both occasionally…… but it doesn’t surprise me that you would be petty and demean me publicly…..that is what cornered people do! That post wasn’t venomous it was truthful!
