Year: 2015

Wolves feigning obedience, or repentant sheep?

1JN 2:5-6 ESV
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY
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Yes, Christ walks in truth.

No, I am not perfect. Anyone that says that they do not sin may not be examining themselves deeply enough, because we are not perfected works while we are still in the flesh.

Yes, I obey God’s commandments.

Yes, I know that it is critically important to obey His commandments.

No, I do not see this Grace of Jesus Christ as a get out of hell free card that we put in our back pocket as a freedom to continue in our old, sinful lives. This graces frees us FROM sin, it isn’t meant to free us so that we can continue our sin.

Yes, I see and understand what Jesus meant by explaining that all the commandments and the words of the prophets hangs on love. Because if someone makes the law an idol (like the Pharisees did) and does not have love, they do not have Christ abiding within them.

Yes, the law is meant for those in lawlessness. But if we are in Christ, if we have the love of Christ in us, and we walk in the Spirit of love, doesn’t scripture tell us that He will overcome, that He is our advocate, that He is our guide, that He is for us, not against us?

So the question is not just are we obedient, because even the wolves can feign obedience to get near the sheep. Isn’t it made so clear in the example of the Pharisees that exacting obedience to the law without the greater things of mercy and forgiveness falls short of the righteousness that God seeks in our lives.

We do not claim to know His grace and believe and be alive with Christ in us if we are still controlled by the flesh.

Neither do we obey the spirit and intent of the Word of God if we obey the letter of the law, but do not have love, mercy, and forgiveness.

There are many religious people standing in ditches on either side of this narrow path. On one side, they are crying out, “Use this Grace and continue in your sins”. On the other side, they are crying out, “Use this Law to condemn and judge and accuse others”.

But this narrow path –

The Holy Spirit convicts me of sin in my own life, it teaches and guides me, and I know a repentant heart, and I despise the sin and imperfections in my own life – and I see them taken prisoner as this temple is swept clean for His presence and dwelling. I see my fellow man of flesh and blood, and I have mercy and forgiveness towards him, because I know the battle and refinement that is taking place within him as well.

If I begin to think that I am a completed work, that “I have arrived”, Oh, the pride that comes before a fall!

So in knowing that we believers are each in various states of forgiveness and redemption within the hands of the Lord – isn’t it clearly evident why encouragement, why loving and gentle correction, why mercy and love and forgiveness is what lifts up – isn’t it clear that these fruits of the Holy Spirit are the tools (even the weapons) that we use in this spiritual battle if we are children of God, with Christ abiding in us?

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

And isn’t it clear that the weapons of the enemy are those things that rise from a hardened heart, those things that tear down, those things that are rotten, stinking death from the mouths of empty tombs?

Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Yes, idolatry, quarreling, jealousy, selfish ambition, dissention, division and envy are in that list.

And so many “warnings” are spent these days picking and choosing messages that audiences want to hear – condemning and attacking those things that are safe to talk about by pointing the finger at others outside their own little group, instead of tackling those things that need to be cleaned up in the life of the messenger, and in the lives of their flock.

Yes, it pains me, seeing so many choosing which ditch to stand in with so many others, pointing the finger at those in the other ditch and mocking and laughing at them for being in a ditch – even judging and accusing and condemning each other – instead of working together in love to walk this narrow path, to get out of the ditch, and to lift others up onto the path, not tear them down and drag them into the ditch.

I love you, friends. Let’s climb out of the ditch today. Let’s know grace and mercy and forgiveness and repentance and truth and love.

Tearing down or building up?

There was a father who owned a large estate of farm land that divided his estate into separate fields to be managed by his sons while he was away. The father emphasized to his sons the value of the crops that grew good fruit that sustained their family’s future. He also pointed out the weeds that grow amongst the crops that do not contribute to their future. He gave his sons instructions to care for and make sure that all of the plants of the field received water and light, and the things that they needed to grow. He also taught them how to use fertilizer on the good plants to increase their output when applied carefully. But he warned them against trying to remove the weeds from the fields because they might damage some of the good crops in the process.

Once the Father was away, one of his sons was dedicated to the father’s instructions, and he focused on nurturing the fruitful crops and expanding the fruits that the would bear. His fields were expanding and bearing many fruit.

However, his brothers were lazy and thought that they knew better than their father’s instructions. So they started out by tearing down the plants that looked like weeds to them, thinking to themselves, “If the crops don’t have to compete with these weeds, they will grow better.” And then they saw that it was too difficult to always tell the difference, so they began tearing down any plants that weren’t obviously a fruit bearing plant – destroying both weeds and crops alike. Then, when they still saw how few fruit they had compared to their faithful brother, they began to say, “But he is including imperfect fruit. Our father is so wonderful that he should only receive fruit that is perfect and that meets our standards.” So they continued tearing down the crops from their own fields, only leaving the stalks that were obviously bearing fruit that looked beautiful on the outside. But even then, they weren’t applying fertilizer and nutrients that would make the inside of the fruit delicious and satisfying.

Since the one faithful brother was producing fruit both in great quantity, and whose taste and nourishment was undeniable because of the care and fertilizing and nourishment that he provided for his crops, and since any blemishes on the outside of the fruit were quickly ignored and dismissed when the delicious and satisfying nourishment of the inside was uncovered – this only served to make the other brothers hate him even more. So in their envy and hardened hearts, they watched closely, waiting for an opportunity to complain against the one brother.

They began to spread the word that the proper way to harvest and care for the crops was to tear down and destroy those crops that weren’t up to their father’s standards, and they tried to turn the opinions of the people against the faithful brother who provided for all of the plants and was following his father’s instructions. But even with all of their lobbying to try to convince others to be against their faithful brother, it was hard to argue against the quantity and quality of fruit that was being produced.

The faithful son was dedicated to improving the output of his fields, so he received a container from a trusted friend that was labeled in a foreign language. Misunderstanding the translation, he used it on some of his good crops, thinking that it was fertilizer. But he was shocked at the reaction of the plants, and he began to realize that he had mistaken a poison for fertilizer. He moved quickly to acknowledge his oversight, take responsibility, and make corrections to insure that it would not happen again.

But his envious brothers who did not care about his genuine love and care and dedication to the crops, and who did not care that he was following his father’s instructions, saw an opportunity to attack him openly in front of the people. They argued that this was proof that their way of tearing down did not put crops at risk of being accidentally poisoned. All the time, they were ignoring the lack of good fruit being produced from their own fields. But these envious brothers were more intent on the people believing and following their ways of harvesting as the right way, than they were interested in the quality or quantity of the fruit being harvested.

And when the Father returns, expecting to harvest the fields, gathering the fruit together, and casting the weed on the fire to be burned – who will he find favor with?

The faithful son that followed his instructions, caring for all of the plants, fertilizing and tending the garden, not destroying or tearing down the weeds because he was mindful that it might harm the good, fruit bearing crops?

Or the sons that have laid waste to his fields, destroying both good and bad, so they could have a few fruit that look beautiful on the outside, but are dead and rotten on the inside?