In Ephesians 2:10, Paul speaks about good works. These works were prepared by God for us. Why though? Thinking from a fleshly perspective, we would be tempted to answer, "Why? To do them, of course."
While it might make sense to think of good works as something to do, to perform, that is not why God prepared them for us. Don't get me wrong, he intends every good work to be done, carried to completion. The question is how, though. Let me confuse you some. We are to do the works that God has prepared, but not in the way we might think.
Notice carefully what Paul says:
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
What a difference between performing, or doing, something, as a requirement, as opposed to walking in something, which is a privilege, a relationship.
Ask yourself:
Enoch walked with God. Does that mean he did, or performed God?
We walk in the Spirit. Does that mean we do, or perform, the Spirit?
We walk in the light. Does that mean we do, or perform, the light?
Now here are some trickier ones:
We are to walk in love. Does that mean we are to do, or perform, love?
We are to walk in wisdom. Does that mean we are to do, or perform, wisdom?
The answer to each of these, including the last 2, is NO.
Now, you may be thinking..."Wait a minute. I know we can't "do" God, or the Spirit, or the Light, but surely you don't mean we are not to be loving, or be wise?" You would be right. I am not saying that. But as long as you think of love and wisdom as things to "perform," or "do," then you are missing the heart of what God is carrying out, which is something far better.
You see, HE alone is the one who is wise, who is love, and what he simply calls us to be alongside him, walking with him, as one spirit, and in doing so, to witness him showing his love, and his wisdom, in and through us, his vessels. Much more awesome and miraculous than simply trying to "perform" for God, don't you think?
To "walk", is simply another way of saying "to live." So let's look at these verses, not as a checklist of things to "do," but as the realities that they really are:
To walk in the Spirit is to live in the Spirit who is in us by means of our oneness with God.
To walk in the light is to live in the light that is by means of our oneness with God.
To walk in love is to live in the love that is ours by means of our oneness with God.
To walk in wisdom is to live in the wisdom that is ours by means of our oneness with God.
So also:
To walk in good works is to live in good works that are ours by means of our oneness with God.
We can trust our Lord to live out his life in us. He is doing it as pleases him. We, in walking with him, may not always outwardly conform, but that doesn't change the reality that inwardly we are perfectly conformed.
Instead of focusing on the outward, trying to make it happen, relax, and behold the Lord as he walks his life out through you, so that the outward is something you bear witness to when you behold it, rather than the old something you used to have to try to manufacture on your own. You will find yourself loving, and showing wisdom, but not because you are trying to do or show those things. It will be a natural fruit of a miraculous life lived in a miraculous Lord, who is tended to by a miraculous vinedresser, the Father.
We are the branches are we not? Do the branches of a vine concentrate on trying to abide on the vine? No. Do they think of ways to depend on the vine so as to bear fruit? No. Do they try to improve on their ability to live connected to the vine? No. They simply abide. They simply depend. They simply live. How? Just because they have been made to. And so have we.
Good works are not something we do, but something we have been made to produce, being connected to our Lord. Such works are truly fruit, things that are life-giving to others who partake of them.
Ron
Friday, November 27, 2009
IF THE LORD LIVES IN US, HOW CAN WE BE ABSENT FROM HIM?
2Co 5:6 Therefore, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
This verse has always troubled me somewhat, because no matter how I tried to spin it, it always left me feeling like Christ somehow wasn't really as united to me as I thought. I knew that he lived in us, and was joined with our spirit as one, but when I would look at this verse I would instantly think of the Lord being way up in heaven, and me way down here on earth, and so because of that separation I was still absent, until the day I die and then travel to where he is to be with him.
Is this what Paul is suggesting? I mean, even if you want to think of him in this far away place called heaven (which I don't, but that's for another post) doesn't Paul say we are seated there in heavenly places with Christ? So if that is true, then no matter whether here on earth, or in heaven, we are present with the Lord.
Perhaps then we need to take another look at this verse and see if it doesn't mean something else. In what way can it be said we are absent from him?
It never dawned on me until this morning to look at the next verse:
2Co 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Hmm...the "for" tells us that Paul is completing a thought here, connecting this to what he just said before...so...we could render it:
2Co 5:6,7 Therefore, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. The reason this is true is because we walk by faith, not by sight.
And the "therefore" in verse 6 connects us to the previous verse, so let's add that and then look at the whole as a unit:
2Co 5:5-7 Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit. Therefore, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. The reason this is true is we walk by faith, not by sight.
He says we have been given the Spirit as a down payment, and that the Spirit is the reason for the confidence and knowing he speaks of in verse 6. What is he confident of? What does he know? That as long as we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
At first glance, this sounds odd, does it not? I mean, why would Paul feel the need to say we are absent from the Lord? And why the need to be confident in that? The way most believers read this verse, and the way I shared earlier about how I understood it, you would think it were obvious. I don't think that is what Paul's confidence is in though. It is linked to his understanding of how a believer walks (lives his life).
I believe the reason Paul says that we walk by faith, not by sight, was to show that while to our physical eyes, it appears as though the Lord is absent from us, he in fact is not. It only appears so to our sight, which is why we walk by faith instead of sight.
God gave his Spirit to us as proof of that, for the Lord is the Spirit. Possessing the Spirit gives us confidence that, while we may appear to be absent to the eyes of sight, he is ever present to the eyes of faith.
That confidence and knowing was also related to the truth that one day we will no longer be absent in that way, for, as Paul goes on to say:
2Co 5:8 We are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
A change will take place, where we will be absent from the body, and at home with the Lord, meaning we will no longer be walking by faith, for we will see him face to face as he is.
So, in a nutshell, I see the absence he speaks of, not as a literal absence, as in being separated from Christ, but rather an absence in having to relate to him by means of faith now, while in these physical bodies.
Ron
This verse has always troubled me somewhat, because no matter how I tried to spin it, it always left me feeling like Christ somehow wasn't really as united to me as I thought. I knew that he lived in us, and was joined with our spirit as one, but when I would look at this verse I would instantly think of the Lord being way up in heaven, and me way down here on earth, and so because of that separation I was still absent, until the day I die and then travel to where he is to be with him.
Is this what Paul is suggesting? I mean, even if you want to think of him in this far away place called heaven (which I don't, but that's for another post) doesn't Paul say we are seated there in heavenly places with Christ? So if that is true, then no matter whether here on earth, or in heaven, we are present with the Lord.
Perhaps then we need to take another look at this verse and see if it doesn't mean something else. In what way can it be said we are absent from him?
It never dawned on me until this morning to look at the next verse:
2Co 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Hmm...the "for" tells us that Paul is completing a thought here, connecting this to what he just said before...so...we could render it:
2Co 5:6,7 Therefore, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. The reason this is true is because we walk by faith, not by sight.
And the "therefore" in verse 6 connects us to the previous verse, so let's add that and then look at the whole as a unit:
2Co 5:5-7 Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit. Therefore, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. The reason this is true is we walk by faith, not by sight.
He says we have been given the Spirit as a down payment, and that the Spirit is the reason for the confidence and knowing he speaks of in verse 6. What is he confident of? What does he know? That as long as we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
At first glance, this sounds odd, does it not? I mean, why would Paul feel the need to say we are absent from the Lord? And why the need to be confident in that? The way most believers read this verse, and the way I shared earlier about how I understood it, you would think it were obvious. I don't think that is what Paul's confidence is in though. It is linked to his understanding of how a believer walks (lives his life).
I believe the reason Paul says that we walk by faith, not by sight, was to show that while to our physical eyes, it appears as though the Lord is absent from us, he in fact is not. It only appears so to our sight, which is why we walk by faith instead of sight.
God gave his Spirit to us as proof of that, for the Lord is the Spirit. Possessing the Spirit gives us confidence that, while we may appear to be absent to the eyes of sight, he is ever present to the eyes of faith.
That confidence and knowing was also related to the truth that one day we will no longer be absent in that way, for, as Paul goes on to say:
2Co 5:8 We are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
A change will take place, where we will be absent from the body, and at home with the Lord, meaning we will no longer be walking by faith, for we will see him face to face as he is.
So, in a nutshell, I see the absence he speaks of, not as a literal absence, as in being separated from Christ, but rather an absence in having to relate to him by means of faith now, while in these physical bodies.
Ron
HEB 10:24
Heb 10:24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
If you consider this verse as it is rendered here, it looks as Paul is encouraging believers to get other believers they gather with to show love and do good works. People then spend their time trying to figure out ways to motivate their fellow believers to action. That's usually when the "should's" come out. You "should" be doing this...that is what you "should" be doing...and so on.
Those who do this may very well end up getting some results here and there, something tangible they can point to and see success in their attempts to motivate others to "show" the world they are truly believers.
If you look at the verse in an interlinear you will see a difference though in the way it is rendered, which changes the meaning entirely. You see, the word "to" has been added to the text. It should not be there. Notice the difference it makes:
Heb 10:24 Let us consider one another, how to provoke love and good works,
This is a more literal rendering. The Aramaic Peshitta makes makes it even more clear:
Heb 10:24 And let us pay attention to one another by encouragement of love and of good works.
Can you see the difference? Can you see the subtle shift from encouraging reality verses encouraging fleshly effort? To provoke (which also means to irritate, stimulate, stir up, encourage) to love and good works is to try to get others to conform to whatever definition of love and good works you have in mind. It is a endeavor in the flesh.
The truth is that the love and good works are already in each believer, God's love poured out in our hearts...good works having been prepared for us...and we are to provoke, stir up, stimulate, irritate, and encourage that love and good works. What does that mean?
Here are a couple of word pictures to help describe it. Imagine a pot of water with veggies in the bottom of it. The veggies are in there, but hard to see since they are way down in the bottom. Likewise love and good works are in the hearts of every believer, but most of the time it is easy for us not to see it and them.
To make the veggies visible, you stir them up, stimulating the water, provoking it, if you will, and the veggies come to the surface where they can be easily seen. It is the same with love and good works. Paul is not trying to get believers to push others into doing good things and being loving. He is doing something far better than behavior manipulation.
Because he recognizes that we have love and good works already in us, and also that in the living of life it is easy for us to be oblivious to that reality, we are encouraged to stir those things up in each other, to make them come to the surface, so that we can see them in ourselves. And what will we see in seeing them? Christ, living his life expressed in love and good works, through us. I would rather us see Christ, and stand in awe at how he finds expression through us, than to see us trying to be more loving and trying to do good things, wouldn't you?
It is the difference between trying to get each other to "do" something for God, and bringing out the love and good works that are already resident within us, so that we may all witness that facet of Christ lived out in each of us in our own uniqueness.
If you consider this verse as it is rendered here, it looks as Paul is encouraging believers to get other believers they gather with to show love and do good works. People then spend their time trying to figure out ways to motivate their fellow believers to action. That's usually when the "should's" come out. You "should" be doing this...that is what you "should" be doing...and so on.
Those who do this may very well end up getting some results here and there, something tangible they can point to and see success in their attempts to motivate others to "show" the world they are truly believers.
If you look at the verse in an interlinear you will see a difference though in the way it is rendered, which changes the meaning entirely. You see, the word "to" has been added to the text. It should not be there. Notice the difference it makes:
Heb 10:24 Let us consider one another, how to provoke love and good works,
This is a more literal rendering. The Aramaic Peshitta makes makes it even more clear:
Heb 10:24 And let us pay attention to one another by encouragement of love and of good works.
Can you see the difference? Can you see the subtle shift from encouraging reality verses encouraging fleshly effort? To provoke (which also means to irritate, stimulate, stir up, encourage) to love and good works is to try to get others to conform to whatever definition of love and good works you have in mind. It is a endeavor in the flesh.
The truth is that the love and good works are already in each believer, God's love poured out in our hearts...good works having been prepared for us...and we are to provoke, stir up, stimulate, irritate, and encourage that love and good works. What does that mean?
Here are a couple of word pictures to help describe it. Imagine a pot of water with veggies in the bottom of it. The veggies are in there, but hard to see since they are way down in the bottom. Likewise love and good works are in the hearts of every believer, but most of the time it is easy for us not to see it and them.
To make the veggies visible, you stir them up, stimulating the water, provoking it, if you will, and the veggies come to the surface where they can be easily seen. It is the same with love and good works. Paul is not trying to get believers to push others into doing good things and being loving. He is doing something far better than behavior manipulation.
Because he recognizes that we have love and good works already in us, and also that in the living of life it is easy for us to be oblivious to that reality, we are encouraged to stir those things up in each other, to make them come to the surface, so that we can see them in ourselves. And what will we see in seeing them? Christ, living his life expressed in love and good works, through us. I would rather us see Christ, and stand in awe at how he finds expression through us, than to see us trying to be more loving and trying to do good things, wouldn't you?
It is the difference between trying to get each other to "do" something for God, and bringing out the love and good works that are already resident within us, so that we may all witness that facet of Christ lived out in each of us in our own uniqueness.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
DEUTERONOMY 30 AND ROMANS 10 COMPARED
Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
Deu 30:14 But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down);
Rom 10:7 or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)"
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;" that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
In Deuteronomy, we find the word, expressed through the commandment, described by Paul as Christ, and also as the word of faith. The word of God was in their hearts and mouths even back then. Then God send his word to become flesh, and thus became the fulfillment of that which was spoken of in Moses' day, the word pertaining to faith, in the person of Christ.
Most people say the commandments were too hard, a unbearable burden. But look again at what God himself says:
Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you
Which commandment? The previous verse tells us"
Deu 30:10 if you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
If that is true, then why do we hear it said so much that no one could keep the law perfectly? Is that not true? Yes it is. But the problem was never with the commandments, never with the law. Something else was in those hearts where the law lay. Sin. And it was sin that used the commandment to cause sin to express itself.
God of course, knew this, which is why he promised that one day sin, represented by the foreskin of a man, would be removed:
Deu 30:6 Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
This circumcision, which is also expressed by God as the taking away the heart of stone and giving them a heart of flesh, would then serve the purpose of their loving God and being perfectly obedient to him. We live in that time now where we have been made to be fully pleasing to God.
Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
Deu 30:14 But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down);
Rom 10:7 or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)"
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;" that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
In Deuteronomy, we find the word, expressed through the commandment, described by Paul as Christ, and also as the word of faith. The word of God was in their hearts and mouths even back then. Then God send his word to become flesh, and thus became the fulfillment of that which was spoken of in Moses' day, the word pertaining to faith, in the person of Christ.
Most people say the commandments were too hard, a unbearable burden. But look again at what God himself says:
Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you
Which commandment? The previous verse tells us"
Deu 30:10 if you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
If that is true, then why do we hear it said so much that no one could keep the law perfectly? Is that not true? Yes it is. But the problem was never with the commandments, never with the law. Something else was in those hearts where the law lay. Sin. And it was sin that used the commandment to cause sin to express itself.
God of course, knew this, which is why he promised that one day sin, represented by the foreskin of a man, would be removed:
Deu 30:6 Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
This circumcision, which is also expressed by God as the taking away the heart of stone and giving them a heart of flesh, would then serve the purpose of their loving God and being perfectly obedient to him. We live in that time now where we have been made to be fully pleasing to God.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Abraham's Faith
Gen 15:1-21 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir." Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be." He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it." He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
It is very easy to read over this account and miss something important, something which speaks to the reason Abraham believed God. If you are like me, you probably think that when God tells Abraham to go out and count the stars, that Abraham went out, looked up at the night sky, and upon seeing so many stars in the sky, believed God. Look at any Bible story book and you will see just such a picture. We think Abraham believed God based upon what he could see (based upon the stars in a night sky). Upon reading the text more carefully, I no longer believe that is what happened.
Notice that Abraham centered his "complaint" around what he could see. He even invited the Lord into this realm, by saying 'behold' twice. In other words, he was appealing to what he could see as his reason to question God.
Now, before we get into the very next part, let's skip over that and look at what happens right after, when God cuts his covenant with him. There are 2 time statements that shed light on something we would not otherwise have known about the time of day it was when Abraham was told to go out and look at the stars.
Those 2 time statements are 'When the sun was going down', and then shortly after that, 'when the sun went down, and it was dark'. This is at the time of the covenant being cut between God and Abraham.
Now with those time statements in mind, go back and reread God telling Abraham to go out and count the stars, if he is able. What time of day would this have been? You guessed it, daytime! And how many stars can you see during the day? NONE! If you are wondering, 'ok, that's interesting. So what's the big deal about that?'
Abraham was taught an object lesson in faith, which resulted in his belief. You see, while he was appealing to God based on what could be SEEN, God was appealing to Abraham based on what was true, but NOT SEEN!
When Abraham went out during broad daylight he could see there were no stars to count, yet he knew that even though he could not see stars, they were there. That is faith. It is evidence based on what is not seen. He could therefore 'SEE' that God could be believed, despite him not 'BEHOLDING' it yet. Just as those stars would surely appear when it became night, he could see that somehow, someway, God would do what he promised. And thus the lesson of faith was taught.
May we never allow what we 'behold' to get in the way of what God promises us, for truly it is that we live by faith and not by sight.
Ron
Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be." He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it." He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
It is very easy to read over this account and miss something important, something which speaks to the reason Abraham believed God. If you are like me, you probably think that when God tells Abraham to go out and count the stars, that Abraham went out, looked up at the night sky, and upon seeing so many stars in the sky, believed God. Look at any Bible story book and you will see just such a picture. We think Abraham believed God based upon what he could see (based upon the stars in a night sky). Upon reading the text more carefully, I no longer believe that is what happened.
Notice that Abraham centered his "complaint" around what he could see. He even invited the Lord into this realm, by saying 'behold' twice. In other words, he was appealing to what he could see as his reason to question God.
Now, before we get into the very next part, let's skip over that and look at what happens right after, when God cuts his covenant with him. There are 2 time statements that shed light on something we would not otherwise have known about the time of day it was when Abraham was told to go out and look at the stars.
Those 2 time statements are 'When the sun was going down', and then shortly after that, 'when the sun went down, and it was dark'. This is at the time of the covenant being cut between God and Abraham.
Now with those time statements in mind, go back and reread God telling Abraham to go out and count the stars, if he is able. What time of day would this have been? You guessed it, daytime! And how many stars can you see during the day? NONE! If you are wondering, 'ok, that's interesting. So what's the big deal about that?'
Abraham was taught an object lesson in faith, which resulted in his belief. You see, while he was appealing to God based on what could be SEEN, God was appealing to Abraham based on what was true, but NOT SEEN!
When Abraham went out during broad daylight he could see there were no stars to count, yet he knew that even though he could not see stars, they were there. That is faith. It is evidence based on what is not seen. He could therefore 'SEE' that God could be believed, despite him not 'BEHOLDING' it yet. Just as those stars would surely appear when it became night, he could see that somehow, someway, God would do what he promised. And thus the lesson of faith was taught.
May we never allow what we 'behold' to get in the way of what God promises us, for truly it is that we live by faith and not by sight.
Ron
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
End of Comparisons-Example From Paul
Paul showed the mind of Christ in this matter also when he described his experience of going up to Jerusalem concerning the matter of circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses. Notice how the 3 apostles, Peter, James, and John, were spoken of. Then notice the contrast in how Paul viewed them:
Gal 2:1-9 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in--who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery-- to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Can you see the difference? To the believers who were in Jerusalem, they SEEMED to be something. They had the APPEARANCE of being a somebody. Whether they felt this way about themselves or not, the text does not say. But I can truly say that someone who is held in such an esteemed way is very tempted to believe it about themselves. The situation creates such a temptation.
The fact that Paul says that they SEEMED to be this shows that he did not agree with their assessment. He used that word 4 times. His assessment is what I have highlighted in red. God is NOT partial. He does not have his esteemed favorites, greater ones and lesser ones. It was God alone who equipped Paul for his ministry. These apostles, when they met with Paul, were able to add not ONE thing to what he had been given.
By the way, Paul was not putting down the apostles, rather, he was putting down the false ideas that appearances and comparisons produce in us if we let them. It is easy for us to fall into the same game today, where we look at the eloquence of someone, or their stature, or their status in life, and we put them on a proverbial pedestal. In looking up to them, we have now created a comparison where they are above and we are below. There is no such dichotomy in the body of Christ however. Let the comparisons melt away into the nothingness which they truly are. :) Your worth, your value, is equal, and without partiality, to God, for he sees you in the ONE body, we exist as the corporate Christ.
Ron
Gal 2:1-9 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in--who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery-- to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Can you see the difference? To the believers who were in Jerusalem, they SEEMED to be something. They had the APPEARANCE of being a somebody. Whether they felt this way about themselves or not, the text does not say. But I can truly say that someone who is held in such an esteemed way is very tempted to believe it about themselves. The situation creates such a temptation.
The fact that Paul says that they SEEMED to be this shows that he did not agree with their assessment. He used that word 4 times. His assessment is what I have highlighted in red. God is NOT partial. He does not have his esteemed favorites, greater ones and lesser ones. It was God alone who equipped Paul for his ministry. These apostles, when they met with Paul, were able to add not ONE thing to what he had been given.
By the way, Paul was not putting down the apostles, rather, he was putting down the false ideas that appearances and comparisons produce in us if we let them. It is easy for us to fall into the same game today, where we look at the eloquence of someone, or their stature, or their status in life, and we put them on a proverbial pedestal. In looking up to them, we have now created a comparison where they are above and we are below. There is no such dichotomy in the body of Christ however. Let the comparisons melt away into the nothingness which they truly are. :) Your worth, your value, is equal, and without partiality, to God, for he sees you in the ONE body, we exist as the corporate Christ.
Ron
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The End of Comparison
Eph 2:15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;
Once there were two men, Jew and Gentile. Each, compared to one another, had reason to consider the other as unlike them and unworthy of the other.
Now there is but one man in the eyes of God, and that one man is Christ himself, the exact and express image of God. All the comparisons have died with the divided old man. In Christ there is no more comparison, for comparisons are based upon similarities AND differences. There must be both. Christ has brought us out of that realm into the realm of NO comparison. He is the image of God, and what he is, he has made us to be as his body. We are truly one EVEN AS the Father and Son are one.
May we be blown away by such truth and moved to treat each other as is fitting the ONE body, to care for and nurture even the LEAST member in our eyes, because there is, in reality, NO least member is God's eyes. Remember, Paul said such parts are assigned more honor, thus showing God's view of them as truly not the least, and not to be compared to anything called "great," for such comparisons are only according to what SEEMS to be the case, but is not.
1Co 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,
1Co 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,5
1Co 12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,
1Co 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.
How wonderful that we are in a body, so that, all comparisons being done away with, we are free to have mutual concern for one another.
Ron
Once there were two men, Jew and Gentile. Each, compared to one another, had reason to consider the other as unlike them and unworthy of the other.
Now there is but one man in the eyes of God, and that one man is Christ himself, the exact and express image of God. All the comparisons have died with the divided old man. In Christ there is no more comparison, for comparisons are based upon similarities AND differences. There must be both. Christ has brought us out of that realm into the realm of NO comparison. He is the image of God, and what he is, he has made us to be as his body. We are truly one EVEN AS the Father and Son are one.
May we be blown away by such truth and moved to treat each other as is fitting the ONE body, to care for and nurture even the LEAST member in our eyes, because there is, in reality, NO least member is God's eyes. Remember, Paul said such parts are assigned more honor, thus showing God's view of them as truly not the least, and not to be compared to anything called "great," for such comparisons are only according to what SEEMS to be the case, but is not.
1Co 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,
1Co 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,5
1Co 12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,
1Co 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.
How wonderful that we are in a body, so that, all comparisons being done away with, we are free to have mutual concern for one another.
Ron
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