A Spirit of Power, Love, and Self-Control

1 Corinthians 6:12, " 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful.  'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything."

When Paul writes the quotations, he was quoting what the Corinthians were saying in mockery, and then refuting it with wisdom and truth revealed to him through the Holy Spirit.  Paul says this after listing the many sins that will disable one form inheriting the kingdom of God:  the sexually immoral, idolaters (people who worship other gods and other things that they put above God, like money, themselves, or anything else); adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards (people who practise inebriation as if it's a hobby), revilers, and swindlers.  The Corinthians were saying, "All things are lawful for me," using the fallacy that because they are saved Christians, they can still commit any sin they want and still repent.  But Paul writes in Romans, "What then?  Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?  By no means!  Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  ...For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (6:15-17, 20-23).

And Paul retorts to this fallacy in his first letter to the Corinthians, saying, "And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (6:11).  In effect, he was saying this:  "You were sexually immoral, you were idoalters, you were adulterers, you were homosexuals, you were thieves, you were greedy, you were drunkards, you were revilers, and you were swindlers.  However, having been baptised by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, these ways are unnatural for you and must never be done.  You were all these things, and now in your baptism God our Father no longer sees you for those things but who you are in the sanctity of Christ, for He has called you to live outside of those sins."  And when they were saying, "All things are lawful for me," Paul pointed out, "Not all those things are helpful."  Some things are lawful to help you, most are not.  The second time, Paul was mocking them.  He was essentially saying, "All things are lawful for me because I can choose to commit any sin I want, but I will not allow myself to be dominated by any sin because of the freedom I have in Christ from those sins."

Because of the sinful condition of the world we live in, Satan berates our minds with tempting sins, which differs from person to person.  However, Paul writes to Timothy that "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7).  We are given the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer our sins and to have self-control.

"Deliver Us From Evil"

*Edited October 7, 2015.*

Before I started my Lutheran confirmation classes, I read the entire Book of Concord and one of the things that really struck me was what Luther said about the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  In this petition, many English translations read, “but deliver us from evil.”  For those who can read Greek, this is what it says in the original language:  ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς τοῦ πονηροῦ, which translated correctly, says, “but rescue [or deliver] us from the evil one.  As Luther points out, “It looks like Jesus was speaking about the devil, like He would summarise every petition in one” (Large Catechism, Part 3, The Lord’s Prayer, 113).  Before, when I would recite the Lord’s Prayer or read it, when I got to this seventh petition I would think of deliverance from evil things of the world, but now that I look at the Greek it’s not just those things (for the evil things of the world are Satan’s instruments of evil).  Luther says that temptation is of three kinds:  the flesh, the world, and the Devil (LC, Part 3, 101).  Satan uses all these methods as a means to an end to deceive and, as he hopes, to defeat us.  Like Luther, it intrigues me that Jesus uses this petition of deliverance from the evil one as the last petition.  We are to pray for all the other six petitions, which Luther explains in detail in his Small and Large Catechisms, but this one petition in particular is asking to be delivered from Satan specifically.

Praying for such deliverance can deliver us from any of his means — the flesh, the world, and even the Devil himself and his demons.  I won’t discuss it at length, but in the past I have faced a lot of demon attacks, and so I’ve come to regularly pray for deliverance from Satan and his demons.  Every time I do, God never fails to deliver me from evil, and the attacks cease until the next time I sense their presence.  I don’t recite the Lord’s Prayer when I do this like a ritualistic Pharisee because ritualism is often not genuine and sincere and it’s not what God asks for our teaches us to do, but I pray with my own words and genuineness, using the Lord’s Prayer as a guideline, and God never fails me.  As Luther describes, “There is also included in this petition whether evil may happen to us under the devil’s kingdom:  poverty, shame, death, and, in short, all the agonising misery and heartache of which there is such an unnumbered multitude on the earth.  Since the devil is not only a liar, but also a murderer [John 8:44], he constantly seeks our life” (LC, Part 3, 115).  That’s why we often have to pray to be delivered from him.  All the methods that Satan uses have the same end goal:  our destruction.

Although Satan uses the evil things of the world as a method to bring our lives to an end, since they all derive from him, that is not the only thing we must pray against.  We must pray against the evil one himself, “for he is an enemy that never stops or becomes tired” (LC, Part 3, 109).  Therefore, we must be ever vigilant and maintain situational awareness and never take off the armour of God (Ephesians 6:11-18).  Pray against all your fleshly temptations, all your worldly temptations and tribulations, and ultimately against the Devil himself and his demons.  Christ put this petition last because “if we are to be preserved and delivered from all evil, God’s name must first be hallowed in us, His kingdom must be with us, and His will must be done” (LC, Part 3, 118).  All Christians face spiritual attacks from the Devil in multiple ways.  Because this is never ending, Christ exhorts us to pray as He taught us (Matthew 6:9-13), not as a ritualistic pattern (hence, “Pray like this”), but as a perfect guideline so that we may be delivered from all evil and its master.

References

McCain, Paul Timothy., W.H.T. Dau, and F. Bente. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A

     Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2006.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged"

*Edited October 8, 2015.*

Matthew 7:1-5, “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgement you pronounce it will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you seek the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

People often through the phrase, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” all over social media whenever someone dares to contradict or challenge their point of view or lifestyle. They quote this first verse in defence of the ideology that judging people in any way is morally wrong, ignoring the rest of the passage (which, unfortunately, many Christians ignore the context of which the verse they quote is in).  Saying, “Do not judge” is itself a moral judgement against those who make moral judgements.  Yes, we shouldn’t judge people based on their appearances and personality types, but this sense of judging is not what Jesus is talking about on this Sermon on the Mount.  If it were, it would contradict with the rest of what Jesus says in verses 2-5, illustrating for us how we are to make proper judgements.  It would also contradict with what He said in John 7:24, “Do not judge by appearance [which is exactly what I said just a few sentences ago], but judge with righteous judgement.”  Righteous judgement is exactly what Jesus illustrated for us in Matthew 7:2-5.

In order to understand what type of judgement Jesus is talking about here, we need to look at the original Greek language.  The word for “judging” that Jesus used here is the word κρίνω (KREE-no), which means to take the seat of a judge and pass judgement on somebody — literally, “to condemn.”  Condemnation to what?  To Hell.  A judge in court declares  somebody guilty and sentences them to imprisonment.  This is what Jesus is telling us not to do — to not declare somebody guilty and sentence them to eternal imprisonment in Hell.  Why?  Because God is the ultimate Judge; He is the one that judges, therefore leave that to Him.

Why does Jesus tell us to judge righteously?  He has commissioned us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), which is where we draw the term, “witnessing the Gospel.”  When witnessing, the application of Law and Gospel is necessary.  The Law has three functions:  it functions as a curb, as a mirror, and as a guide.  As a curb on the side of the road redirects us on the right path to restrain us from going off the road, the Law does the same thing with sin.  It convicts us, and because it convicts us, it restrains us from continuing in that sin.  As a mirror, the Law reveals to us our sinfulness and dirtiness, hence, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).  Because the Law reveals to us our hopelessness in our sin, it guides us to the Gospel.  And this, after revealing the sin through the Law, is where we witness the Gospel — the forgiveness of sins because of what Christ did for us and what He continues to do for us, and what He will do when He returns.

Going back to the Sermon on the Mount, basically what Jesus is saying in 7:2-5 about exercising  righteous judgement is this:  Do not look at somebody’s sin and condemn them to Hell or try to get them to change their ways before working on your own sin that binds you, especially if it’s the same sin or something similar.  (For example, if you unrepentantly commit premarital sex, it would be wrong for you to try and reform the actions of an unrepentant adulterer, for  you are also guilty of a sexual sin that you have not plucked from your own eye.)  First, go to Scripture and see what God’s Word has to say about your own sin, then spend ample time in prayer, fellowship, and application to overcome it (remember that this is done through the Holy Spirit, not by your own works).  Once that happens, then you’ll be able to see more clearly and will be better equipped to help your brother or sister in Christ who suffers with a particular sin.  In essence, this is righteous judgement:  not condemning someone to Hell for their sins, but rather recognising that they are in sin and helping them to turn away from it after you have turned away from your own with the help of God.

Why Doesn't God Stop Evil?

This is the most often asked question in the study of theodicy.  Whether it's asked by Christians or unbelievers, it remains as the top asked question in Christian history.  The truth is, other than original sin, nobody really knows what horrors He has saved the world from because we can't see what never happened.  All evil flows from independence, and independence — choosing to be apart from God — creates the promulgation of evil.  If God were to simply revoke all the choices of independence, the world as we know it would cease to exist, and love (God's love) would have no meaning.  The world is not a playground where God keeps all of His children free from evil.  Evil is the chaos of this age that we brought upon ourselves since the Fall of Man, but it will not have the final say.  Evil touches everyone whom God loves — those who follow Him and those who do not.  If God takes away the consequences of peoples' decisions, He destroys the possibility of love.  Love that is forced is no love at all.

Don't forget that in the midst of all our pain and heartache, we are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of Creation, art, our music and culture, the sounds of laughter and feelings of love, of new life and transformation, and of reconciliation and forgiveness especially given by Christ.  These are also the results of our choices, and every choice matters, even the hidden ones.  The question of "why" is irrelevant, because whose choices should God countermand?  Perhaps He should have never created?  Perhaps Adam should have been stopped before he chose independence?  By doing that, it eliminates the possibility of love.  What about a married couple's choice to have another child, only to tragically lose him or her a couple years later?  Or even at birth?  Or a man's choice to beat his wife and/or children?  By doing that, it eliminates giving them the opportunity to learn mercy and comfort given by Him, in which they can also give to others in similar situations.  We demand our independence, yet we complain that God actually loves us enough to give it to us (which is done when we reject His grace).  It is not the nature of love to force a relationship, but it is the nature of love to open the way, and that way has been opened through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Just because God works incredible good out of terrible tragedies does not mean that he orchestrates the tragedy.  God is good; it's impossible for Him to do evil.  Don't ever assume that His using something means He caused it or that He needs it to accomplish His purposes.  That will only lead you to false notions about Him.  Grace does not depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colours.

People who have a misunderstanding of God's love and goodness will ask questions like, "Why did God allow people like Hitler to exist?"  Such people are focusing on the wrong aspect of that historical event.  Did God let such people reign eternally?  No, He did not.  He provided other rulers who brought him down.  Evil always rears its ugly head because of the sinful condition that the world is in, which is our own doing.  As darkness is the absence of light, so evil is the absence of good — that is, the goodness of God.  Light doesn't cause darkness; that's scientifically impossible.  Likewise, as God is the Light, it is supernaturally impossible for Him to cause evil.

Evil never lasts forever.  God always has a means to bring evil to an end.  Evil will not have the final say; Jesus Christ will have the final say, for He has said, "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:12-13).  Jesus Christ is the end of all things, and the beginning of our eternal life with Him.

Fellowship

*Edited October 9, 2015.*

When you think of the word “fellowship,” what comes to mind?  Do you think of church events, or relationship with one another?  Fellowship is about sincere relationship with one another.  Fellowship is not about church picnics, potlucks, or conducting small talk in the “fellowship hall” before and after church while snacking on some doughnuts and sipping on orange juice.  These can be used for fellowship, but it goes beyond that.  Fellowship is about real people — real Christians — meeting each other’s real needs and coming together to fulfil the Church mission.  Our key passage to understand Christian fellowship is Acts 2:42-47:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And we came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Let’s get a little context here (context is everything!).  On the day of Pentecost, St. Peter stood up and proclaimed in the presence of thousands of people that God had risen Jesus Christ from the dead, the same Jesus that they had demanded to be crucified under Pontius Pilate.  On that day, 3,000+ people repented of their sins, and this was the beginning of the first church.  These 3,000 people are who “they” are in the above passage.  St. Luke, the author of Acts, writes that they had devoted themselves to fellowship.  I will be identifying what fellowship is in a moment, but let’s first identify what the mission of the church is.

Jesus gave us the Great Commission, commanding the apostles and all Christians to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).  That is our duty as Christians.  People often complain that we are “pushing” Christianity onto them.  The truth is, they don’t feel forced at all; they just don’t want to hear what we have to say because it opposes their way of living, hence what Jesus says in John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”  The truth is that we’re simply doing what we were commissioned to do over five millennia ago; not sharing the new of Jesus Christ and teaching what He has commanded us to do is doing the opposite of what He has commissioned every one of us to do.  Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).  This language He used with Peter and Andrew was significant because they were fishermen.  But what did He mean by this?  I understand this to be a metaphor of the Christian duty.  Jesus commanded and taught the apostles to teach people everything they need to know about Him and the will of His Father, our God.  Therefore,  it is our duty to cast out the bait of the Good News of Jesus Christ and pull people in.  So really, unbelievers aren’t being “pushed” upon by our beliefs, for the action of pushing forces you away.  Rather, we are attempting to reel them in — attempting to pull them in, which is to draw someone near.  Like a very large fish on the hook (bloated with arrogance), they fight really hard to escape from the reality of Jesus Christ.

Now, what is true fellowship?  The early Christian Church is often viewed as the highpoint of Christianity, and it’s because of the intense devotion to fellowship they had — devotion to one another.  Going back to Acts, it says that they were devoted  to the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, and the prayers.  These early Christians were devoted to the teaching of the apostles — there were no divisions, no disagreements on doctrine because they “had all things in common” (v. 44).  When we Lutherans confess in the Nicene Creed that “we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church,” we are declaring that we follow the apostles’ teachings, which sadly not many American churches do today.  (Also, “catholic” in the true sense of the word means all Christians worldwide at all times — past, present, and future.)  Although divisions did not come a little later,  nowadays there is even a wider division and there is a lot of enmity among Christians when it comes to doctrinal details.  The early Christians also practised the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper regularly.  Nowadays, the majority of denominations don’t practise it on a regular basis and most are even misinformed of what the sacrament is.  We Lutherans are blessed to realise the vitality of practising the sacrament on a regular basis.  Some Christians believe it is only a sign.  It is more than that, however.  It is for the forgiveness of sins as well, which is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, “For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

The early Christians were also devoted to the prayers, meaning that they had a prayerful life.  It was just a regular part of their daily life.  Because of their prayerful life, it is highly likely that they were praying for one another frequently, which I honestly don’t see a lot of today.  People often say to me, “I’ll pray for you,” and I wonder:  Do they really?  I’m sure many of you can relate.  How often have you told someone that you’ll pray for them, but never followed through because you “forgot”?  If you tell someone you’ll pray for them, keep that promise!  I must admit that I’m guilty of forgetting to pray for someone when I said I would.  This is why I’ve developed the method of having a prayer journal where I write down the person’s name and what I’m supposed to pray for, that way I don’t forget.  (And as a future pastor, this is a great practise!)  If I don’t have it on me, I have a smartphone so I use that easy technology to use the Notes app to jot it down.

The early Christians were also diligent in giving to the poor.  They loved doing that so much that they sold their very possessions and belongings and distributed the proceeds to the poor, each according to their needs.  How often do you give money to a homeless person?  Or even something simpler like buying them a meal, or a cup of coffee if you don’t have any cash on you?  How often do you get rid of your things that you no longer need to the poor — like excess sweatshirts, old clothes, etc.?  Too many people, even Christians, use the excuse, “Well, I don’t know what they’re going to use it for.  I don’t know if they’re going to use it for drugs or alcohol.”  There’s a difference between an explanation and an excuse; that is an excuse.  Did Jesus tell us to only give to the poor when we best determine how they’re going to use it?  Did He tell us to only give to the best intentioned poor person?  No, He did not.  We can never claim to know a person’s mind, especially one we don’t know at all.  It is foolish to assume we know how a homeless person will use the money we’ll give them.  All we can do is hope and pray.  We all know the story of the rich young man — that particular young man who claimed to have done many things for Christ (and don’t’ we all make similar claims?), including having kept the Ten Commandments, and he asked Jesus how he can inherit eternal life.  Jesus replied, “You lack one thing:  go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Mark 10:21).  Selling everything you have is a bit extreme, and because of the times we live in He doesn’t call us to do that today.

Still, however, He doesn’t distinguish whom to give to.  He simply said to give to the poor.  It’s not up to us to distinguish who deserves what.  In fact, none of us deserve anything, not even the redemption of our sins.  Yet Christ still chose to die for the whole world (hence John 3:16), not a select few  whom He felt deserved it.  So how dare we have the audacity to decide which homeless person doesn’t “deserve” our giving.  Likewise, St. Paul writes, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Not knowing what they’ll use the money for is a poor excuse.  You’re not omniscient; God is, so why worry about it?  Decide in your heart how much you’ll give, and give that amount.  They’re always grateful even for a little.  Do this not in reluctance or compulsion, but out of love and joy.  It doesn’t happen very often at all, but if God does make it irrevocably clear that He’s calling you to sell everything and follow Him elsewhere, then do so.  If you keep looking for reasons to show someone mercy, you’ll never show them mercy because there will never be a reason.  Mercy doesn’t need a reason to be established.  Just look at god’s infinite mercy on us; we deserve nothing from Him, yet He gives anyway.  We  do not deserve salvation from our sins, yet in His mercy God saved us.  He had no reason to save us other than that He had mercy on us in His love.  So if you keep trying to determine what a homeless person will use the money for, you’ll always be reluctant to do a kind thing and if you do give in reluctance, you do so under compulsion instead of love, joy, and mercy, and not with a cheerful heart.

The early Christians were in so much fellowship with one another that they went to church every day, eating together.  Granted, we’re in much different times now and can’t really afford to go to church every single day because of what our jobs and other responsibilities demand of us.  But even so, we can still put aside time to visit one another and eat together, not only at annual pot locks and a small breakfast  in the fellowship hall before service begins.  Due to their intense fellowship, God “added  to their number day by day those who were being saved” (v. 47).  Their fellowship and immense love for one another caused more and more people to be added to the Church!  That’s pretty amazing.  I have never seen a church so in love with God with so much love for one another with an abundance of fellowship that resulted  in more and more people being added to the church.  I have yet to witness such an amazing account.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting  to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  This is exactly what fellowship is, and also why God requires we go to church.  Fellowship is to cause one another to love people and to do good works as a response to our gifted faith, never neglecting to meet together.  This passage also disputes the argument, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.  I can just do a personal devotion in my home.”  False, God requires it.  As the passage says, we must not neglect meeting together, “as is the habit of some,” which are those who claim they don’t need to go to church.  As God is the Creator, He set order to specific things, one of which is His people meeting together as a Church.  He requires this so that we may encourage and inspire one another in love and do His good works together in order to speak to the world, doing so more and more as we “see the Day drawing near.”  What day is that?  The Last day, which is the day our Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Individualism is widely preached, exhorted, and celebrated in western culture.  Through the influence of the media, music industry, and film industry, we are told that self-sufficiency and independence leads to a prosperous life.  Unfortunately, many Christians have developed this individualistic mindset in their faith (which is indicative of those Christians who think they don’t need to go to church).  We want to keep God all to ourselves; we don’t want to share Him with others, Christian or non-Christian.  We forget that it is God who establishes our prosperity (Psalm 1:1-3); it is not dependent on self-sufficiency, and if it happens to be borne by one’s own works, it never lasts and just leads to misery.  We don’t want to be told how to spend our time or money or what we should think.  I don’t know about you, but before I was Christian I was only concerned about myself.  I only wanted to do what was best for me; I had no concern for others.  As far as I was concerned, I didn’t need God in my life to know what I must and mustn’t do or to give me direction.  You could’ve built a monument to my narcissism.  It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit converted me that I began to think of others more than myself.  And now, I recognise that I need God in my life to know what I must and mustn’t do and that I need Him to give me direction.

The world can’t make up its mind what it wants to do.  God’s way is certain.  Like St. Paul points out, I wouldn’t know what it means to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7).  In other words, we wouldn’t know what it means to sin had the Law not revealed it to us, and we wouldn’t know about forgiveness and freedom from sin had the Gospel not revealed it to us in Jesus Christ.  When you become Christian, it’s not longer about you.  It’s all about the Holy Trinity, and it’s about serving those around you in lovingkindness and doing so through fellowship.

The Metamorphosis of Christianity, Part 3 Finale

By consuming all these fruits of the Spirit, we show people the work of Christ as He simultaneously works in us in this Christian metamorphosis of being made new. Consuming these fruits is how we are in Christ and made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). This isn't an option we are given as Christians; it is our duty. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16). We are the salt of the earth. To understand what this means, let's examine what it is that salt does. It has three functions. Salt enhances the taste of our food, it stings and heals wounds, and it preserves food from spoiling. This is how we are supposed to be spiritually, never losing that flavour.

Jesus is using emphatic language here. You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world. This isn't something that you try to do. You either are or you aren't. Be salty Christians by adding flavour to the fruits of the Spirit — that is, by practising these fruits and instilling them in the lives of others. You add flavour by actually doing them, hence James 2:17, which I covered on the fruit of goodness. By practising these fruits and by impacting the lives of others with these fruits, you enhance their lives. You also sting them with the Law (the diagnosis of sin), but then it is necessary to heal them with the Gospel (the remedy of sin). After that is done, you continue interacting with them and guiding them and loving them in order to preserve their spirituality from spoiling. As the light of the world, influence others. When we're driving on the highway at night and see a city off in the distance, the entire city is lit up and it looks very attractive. The sight of this city attracts us and makes us eager to come towards it, and we do because we don't spend our entire lives on the highway. Likewise, we have the light of Christ within us. Shine that light with the fruits of the Spirit, and people will be attracted to that light and will want to experience it. You either are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, or you're not. If you stop salting the fruits of the Spirit and lose your flavour, how can it be restored other than doing those things again? Jesus says that it becomes worthless and is thrown out into the streets and trampled under people's feet. In biblical times, when salt became worthless, they just threw it out into the street and people would inevitably trample over it. That's why Jesus uses this imagery. In the same way, if you lose your flavour as a Christian — if you have no good works in response to your faith (as we discussed with James 2:17 on the fruit of goodness), then your faith is worthless; it is dead and you might as well have no faith at all. It's harsh, but true, and the truth is harsh at times.

Ephesians 5:6-11, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." The "sons of disobedience" are people who choose to be independent of God — to disobey Him, for they have been deceived by the words of the world ("empty words"). Paul points out that this is no longer to be our lifestyle because we were in darkness, and now that we're in Christ, we are the light of Christ. The fruit of light is that of the fruit of the Spirit. Since the fruit of light consists of the light of Christ, and God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are One, then the fruit consisting of Jesus's light is therefore that of the Holy Spirit. As God's children, we walk in this way, for all would agree that the fruits of the Spirit are indeed good, right, and true. The works of darkness are what Paul listed before the fruits of the Spirit: "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21). Those attributes, and others like them, are the works of darkness, and all would agree that they are unfruitful. We are to expose the unfruitfulness of this darkness by eliminating them with the light of the fruits of the Spirit that are in Christ our Lord.

Verse ten, "and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord," might come across as confusing to some people. How do we discern God's will? Exactly as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." To be conformed to this world is to put its ways, beliefs, and practises over what God's Word says. For a simple example, God's Word prohibits a myriad of sins, and it is the world that condones sins such as premarital sex, homosexuality, stealing (particularly music and movies), and many other things. God's Word explicitly says that all those things and many more are sinful, but by being conformed to the world, one will accept sin as something right and true. This verse may also bring up some confusion: "How do our minds become transformed and renewed?" It's simple: by abiding in God's Word. The word abide means "accepting or acting in accordance with." Accept God's Word as the truth and act in accordance with what He says, and you will begin to experience the transformation of your heart and the renewing of your mind. It doesn't happen over night for many of us. It can happen, but it's extremely rare. It usually takes months or years.

I'll explain this. For me personally, it's been taking me years. Since the moment I accepted Christ into my life, that is when I first began to be transformed and renewed, which the same thing happens to everybody. I have found that transformation is a longer process than renewal. Transformation is that of the heart — growing the ability to love yourself and love others as you love Christ. For the longest time, I dealt with self-loathing and hatred for others, and it took me many years, even after accepting Christ, to conquer that anchor in my heart to begin loving myself and other people. After learning to love myself, I then grew to love others. It's a long work in progress, but as you grow, it starts to become natural. You notice the change in you that Christ started and continues to work in you. By being able to finally love myself and love others, my heart is transformed. Renewal is that of the mind — always contemplating on the ways of the Lord. The more time you spend in God's Word and the more you meditate on it, the more you will know His Word and knowing His Word is knowing what His will is. This was a much shorter process for me, and a process that I'm still growing in. Since I've come to know Christ, I've been spending a lot of time in the Word by reading it and not only that, but also living it. What's the point in reading God's Word if you don't live it? The more I read and the more I do my best to live it out, the more and more I know God's Word and ultimately what His will is because again, God's Word is His will. It took only a year, approximately, to get to the point where no matter what situation I'm in I always think, "What does God's Word say about this?" Of course, being human, there are times when I fail; but it is God's Word that reminds me that I did fail and causes me to repent. God's thoughts start to become your thoughts, and God's morals start to become your moral. You know God is speaking to you when there are Godly thoughts in your head that are in line with God's Word, and you will know this by either memorisation or by looking it up. (You can work at memorisation or memorise verses by chance. For me personally, I've accidentally memorised a few verses simply because of how much I read my Bible. The objective is not to have verses memorised and say, "Hey look at me!" but to become familiar with God's Word.) When you hear that small voice in your head telling you that something is or is not in line with God's Word, that's when you know God is speaking to you and what God's will is. By God's Word being in my mind constantly in every situation, my mind is renewed. This transformation and this renewal enables you to discern what God's will is, which is what He finds good, acceptable, and perfect, "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." I only have a few words to say about this. Be kind in your speech; be meek, be compassionate, and be sympathetic by being seasoned with the salt of God's fruits. Do not criticise, condemn, or complain. Rather, speak love, truth, and genuineness into people's lives.


The final stage of our metamorphosis is salvation! As we consume each fruit of the Spirit, the goal of their digestion is our faith, which is salvation. First Peter 1:8-9, "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." I don't know how to expand on Peter's words here, honestly. He said it perfectly. Loving Jesus and believing in Him despite the fact that we've never seen Him is exactly what faith is, as is defined for us in Hebrews 11:1, 3; and it is through that faith in Christ by which we obtain its goal — its outcome, and that is salvation.

Acts 4:12, " 'And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' " Need I say anything more? Salvation is given by no one but Christ, whom we obtain faith from and whom we have faith in. "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him" (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).

Romans 1:16-17, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' " God's power enables salvation for those who believe — believe what? In whom Christ was, is, and is to come — the Messiah, Redeemer of our sins. God reveals His righteousness and gifts salvation to us from His gifted faith for the purpose of faith itself. God is amazing! A voice from Heaven will say, " 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God" (Revelation 12:10). Salvation is coming!

The Law vs. Grace, and Relationship with God

*Edited October 16, 2015.*

The Law vs. Grace

The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and the Law were given to us as a mirror to reveal our sin — how filthy our lives get when we reject God and live independently of Him.  There are many who believe they are made righteous by keeping the Law (even when they don’t recognise it as such), which is legalism — overemphasising the Law and disregarding the Gospel.  Can you clean your face with the same mirror that shows you how dirty you are?  As St. James puts it, “For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (1:23-24).  We often look at the Law and immediately forget how sinful we are and don’t repent.  Just like a mirror, God’s Word has the ability to reveal to us the truth about our sinful condition.  In James’ example, the man looks into the mirror and then walks away without doing anything.  This illustration he gives represents the way most Christians today study the Bible.  They read Scripture, see the truth that demands transformation, and then walk away as if nothing ever happened (just think of Christians who support gay marriage).  Indeed, heretics do this as well.  If we hear the Word of God but don’t do what it says, we are merely deceiving ourselves.

James continued in saying that religion without practical action is worthless (vv. 26-27).  The Bible does not teach us to follow rules; it is a picture of Jesus.  It is God revealing to us whom He is and what He does and has done for us.  While words may tell us of God’s character and what He may want from us, we cannot do any of it by our strength alone.  Life is in Him and in no one else, not even ourselves.  You might think that living by rules and principles are easier than living in relationship with people and God.  It is true that relationships can be messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to your deepest questions and they will never love you, they will never have mercy, they will never have compassion, and they will never forgive.  The Law condemns, ostensibly revealing to the human race that we are incapable of fulfilling the Law, which is why it was necessary for Christ to fulfil it (more on that in a little bit).  When you read the Bible, don’t look for rules and principles (even though they exist); rather, look for relationship — a way you can grow closer to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit that proceeds from the Father.  The “rules” and “principles” listed in Scripture are the ways that God has made it possible for us to be in relationship with Him.

There is no mercy or grace in rules, not even for one mistake.  A rule or law (or the Law) tells you that if you commit this sin/wrongful act (e.g. lying), you are condemned and if you omit this particular action (e.g. loving your neighbour as yourself), you are condemned.  That’s why Jesus fulfilled the Law for us — so that it no longer has jurisdiction over us.  For we are no longer under law, but grace (Romans 6:14).  But that doesn’t mean the Law no longer applies to the Christian life; believing otherwise is known as antinomianism.  The Law still reveals our sin and condemns us.  However, the Law that once contained impossible demands now becomes a promise that the Triune God fulfils for us in Christ Jesus (Matthew 5:17).  Keep in mind that if you live your life apart from God, the promise is empty.  Jesus laid the demand of the Law to rest — He fulfilled it; it no longer has any power to condemn the Christian, unless you live apart from God.  Jesus is both the promise and its fulfillment.  Trying to keep the Law is declaring your independence from God — a way of keeping control; and it is a failure of trusting God in your salvation.  There is no salvation in the Law; salvation is in Christ alone.  We like the Law so much that we see others, even wrongful Christians being guilty of this, preaching the Law in condemnation in order to have control; but it’s much worse than that.  It gives us the power to judge others and feel superior to them.  We believe we are living to a more righteous standard than those we judge.  Enforcing rules, especially in its more subtle expressions like responsibility and expectation, is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty.  Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to judge and to condemn.

God prefers verbs over nouns.  Buckminster Fuller once said, “God is a Verb.”  To Moses, God said, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).  God is whom He will be.  He is alive, He is active, and He is moving.  As His very essence is a very, everything we know about God is what He does.  We know who He is (the verb for current state of action) because of what He does (the verb for continual action).  He is related to verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, dancing, singing, and so on.  Humans, on the other hand, have a tendency to take a verb that is alive and full of grace and turn it into a dead noun or law that consists entirely of rules.  Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead.  Unless God is, there are no verbs, and verbs are what make the universe alive.  What this means is this:  For something to move from death to life (or non-existence to existence), you must introduce something active to something living and present tense, which is to move from law to grace.  And who has the power to do this?  God alone.  Only can create something out of nothing, and therefore only He can move law to grace.

For example, let’s look at the noun responsibility.  Before our words became nouns, they were first God’s words (verbs) — nouns with movement — the ability to respond.  God’s words are alive and active — they’re full of life; our words are dead and full of law, fear, and judgement.  This is why we don’t find the word responsibility in Scripture.  God gives us the ability to respond and our response is to be free to love and serve in every situation, and therefore each moment is different and unique.  Because God is our ability to respond, He is present in us.  If God simply gave us a responsibility, He would not have to be with us at all.  It would now be a task to perform, an obligation to be met, and something else to fail at.

Relationship with God

Let’s use friendship as another example and how removing the element of life from a noun can drastically alter a relationship.  Say you and I are friends, and I don’t mean that we just simply know each other by association, but truly friends.  As friends, there is an expectancy that exists in the relationship (“expectancy” may be a noun, but what it consists of are actions, which are verbs).  When we see each other or when we’re apart, there is an expectancy of being together, of laughing, and talking to each other (notice how these are all verbs — things of action).  That expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and active and everything that is produced out of our being together is a unique gift that we share with no one else, otherwise we wouldn’t be such close friends.  But what would happen if I change that active expectancy to an expectation — implicit or explicit, spoken or unspoken?  Suddenly, a rule (law) has entered into our relationship.  With this expectation, you are now expected to perform in a way that meets my expectations or standards.  Our living friendship rapidly deteriorates into a dead thing with rules and requirements.  It is no longer about you and me on a personal level, but about what friends are “supposed to do,” or the “responsibilities” that make someone a good friend.  The same can apply with the role as husband, wife, mother, father, student, employee, etc.  One may say, “If we didn’t have expectations and responsibilities, wouldn’t everything just fall apart?”  This is only if you are of the world — apart from God and under the Law.  Responsibilities and expectations are the basis of guilt, shame, and judgement; and they provide the essential framework that promotes performance as the basis for identity and value.

We’ve all failed to live up to somebody’s expectations because as sinners, failure is inevitable.  God has no expectations of us because He’s never placed them upon us.  If He had, then we would be cursed with coming up short every time with each attempt, receiving only punishment and condemnation in the end (again, that was the Law); but through Christ we are promised salvation despite our shortcomings and many inevitable failures, past and future.  The idea behind placing expectations upon somebody requires that they do not know the future outcome of the relationship and is trying to control behaviour in order to get the desired result because human behaviour is, after all, unpredictable and unreliable.  Humans try to control behaviour largely through expectations (just think of job descriptions and requirements listed for a specific job position — those are set in order for the employer to control your behaviour were you to have the job).  However, God doesn’t need to predict our behaviour.  He knows everything there is to know about each and every one of us.  So why would He have an expectation other than what He already knows?  Because He has no expectations, we never disappoint Him.  What God does have is a constant living expectancy in our relationship with Him, and He gives us the ability to respond to any situation and circumstance in which we find ourselves.  As I said earlier, the “rules” and “principles” listed in Scripture are the ways that God has made it possible for us to be in relationship with Him.  Those “rules” and “principles” are criteria He put into order so that we may live good lives as He leads us towards sanctification (see 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8).  To the degree that we resort to expectations and responsibilities, to that degree we neither know God nor trust Him; and to that degree, we will live in fear.

We live by priorities — putting God first, then family, friends, however it is for you.  The trouble with living by priorities is that it’s a hierarchy.  If you put God at the top, what does that really mean and how much is enough before you call it quits?  How much time must you give God before you can go on about the rest of your day, the part that really interests you the most?  Or how much time is enough before you spend time with family or friends?  And vice versa?  You simply cannot calculate it.  You give God a certain allotment of time, and that allotment always changes, whether it increases or dwindles or varies in between both.  God doesn’t want just a piece of you and a piece of your life.  Even if we were able, which we are not, to give Him the biggest piece, that’s not what He wants.  God wants all of you and every part of you.  Put God at the centre of your life and you won’t need to live by priorities.  With God at the centre, which is where He desires to be, makes God the driving force of all your relationships.  With God at the centre, you are able to involve Him in every single aspect of your life.  If you truly want to put God first in everything, put Him at the centre of your life and He will be the driving force of every relational aspect of your life.