Repentance and the Law

But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  Romans 2:3-4 (NASB)

Teachers of the Bible usually teach this passage to mean that God is kind to us so that we will turn from our sinning and accept Christ as our Savior.  That's what I was always taught in church.  But I believe the context of this passage is entirely different than that teaching.  The sinful acts of the person are not the main point.  The main point in context, rather, is the person's conception of judgment and the projection of that judgment onto others, including God, and their futile attempt to justify themselves while ignoring their own failings.

Remember, the new covenant biblical word translated as "repentance" is metánoia.  It means to change the way one thinks.  Our sin-focused and sin-tainted minds have given the word metánoia a non-biblical definition: primarily, stop sinning.  When we hear the word "repent," we automatically think "stop sinning."  But this is not what the word means in the original, ancient language.  The difference in what we think it means and what it actually means is a tragedy of epic proportions.  How then, are we able to truly change the way we think?  And what are we supposed to think differently about?

It is not sorrow for our sins.  It is not a commitment to live better by the aid of the law.  It is not even that we should no longer give in to a sin.  Metánoia finds its source in the riches of God's kindness and tolerance and patience.  And more specifically, it is a revealed gift from God where we finally understand that God does not relate to us based on the law, but rather on the basis of His nature.  In other words, God intends to turn the person from living according to the system of the Law, where good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds punished, by showing His kindness, tolerance, and patience.  The kindness of God is intended to convince us that our effort to live by a knowledge of right and wrong (do good; avoid sin) is nothing more than dung to God--we cannot earn favor and blessing, ever.  He wants us to clearly see that we are only and will only ever be the objects of His rich kindness, tolerance, and patience.  He wants us to receive His grace and live in the power of this good news.

We must throw away our scales and weights which we use to measure how well we and others are doing, and instead receive the undeserved and unconditional love and acceptance of an unobligated, unrestrained, giving Lover.  His message to the entire world is that each person would receive His gift (fulfilled by Him on the cross) and think differently about Him, living in the richness of His grace toward them.  Any change in behavior a person would make outside of this message is a self-attempt to reform.  It falls eternally short of the power He has to transform us.  Accept His grace and let it transform you and the way you think.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

The Message Of Grace On Reacting Versus Acting

I recently came across something called the "Model of Life."   It is a diagram designed to help one understand and diagnose the differences in a person's responses to various life events.  Specifically, whether someone is reacting according to the flesh (one's own wisdom and abilities) or acting in the Spirit (reliance upon God's wisdom and ability).  It has been said that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react.  If this is so, then understanding why one responds certain ways to events in life will certainly help create an objective viewpoint, an aid to choosing to act according to the Spirit, versus not.

The components of the model form a flow chart and progress as follows:  Event; Thoughts; Emotions; Words; Reactions; and Consequences (positive or negative).  Thus, an event occurs progressively leading to thoughts that affect one's emotions.  From the external stimulus of the event to the internal effect, the person consequently begins to speak words and finally take action.  It's interesting that of all the elements in the above sequences, the event itself can be something very minor, yet as the person progresses through the following parts, the issue can be inflated to extreme proportion.  In other words, a minor situation may lead to someone exploding with a disproportionate response, thereby producing even greater (and usually negative) results.  In his book, Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gilham states that the stress meter of most people is already at a high level, e.g., seven out of ten, and only a minor event is needed to push the person emotionally to a ten, which might be, for example, where they explode or take unpremeditated action.  Indeed, I have observed many people who are already operating out of a fleshly mind react negatively to unfortunate circumstances, even though the situation itself is minor.  This type of person always views life in terms of the negative—they are seemingly perpetually pessimistic and "life" is always against them.

Galatians 3:12 provides much insight into the life of such a person we have been discussing:  "But the Law does not rest on or require faith [it has nothing to do with faith], but [instead, the Law] says, 'He who practices them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [instead of faith]'" (AMP).  This verse reveals, I believe, why many individuals "give up" on traditional Christianity, some of them deciding to live without reference to God and instead relying on their own wisdom and principles, and some of them eventually hearing grace for the first time and discovering true faith.  And here is the core issue:  what is true, biblical faith?  The understanding of this question affects how we respond to situations around us.  Do we react to the events we encounter?  Or is our response in truth an action based not upon what happens in any given circumstance, but rather upon what we know to be true?  Faith might then be compared to an authentic monetary bill against which any negative circumstance (counterfeit) can be measured.  One dismisses the worthlessness of the false in favor of the value of the real.

Faith, as commonly understood and taught in most churches is this:  it is the strength of one's belief.  Listen to any news report or testimony and one is likely to hear how well a person believed (or tried to believe) in God during duress.  This is not to discount the end result that many people do indeed come out on top of very negative situations, but listen very closely to their words:  does God's goodness and trustworthiness receive credit, or does the person add the strength of their own faith to their testimony?  Scripture never intended us to focus on our testimony, as Acts 4:33 reveals:  "And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all."  A similar word search of "Jesus" and "testimony" reveals multiple occurrences in Revelation.  Every event in one's life must be measured by and made to bow to the testimony of Jesus.  The testimony of Jesus, then, is the foundation of our faith.

I have seen individuals struggle over and over with the same issues simply because their faith is in their faith.  Or, their faith might lie in someone else's faith.  This kind of person must constantly confess sin and ask for prayer.  They usually need someone else to tell them what to do.  The other person and/or their prayers may even well be the source of motivation for the recipient.  All of this occurs because there is no real faith life in them.  They have a law mentality that disqualifies them from receiving blessing freely from their heavenly Father.  True, biblical faith rests in God's goodness alone.  It always has reason to rejoice and give thanks.  True biblical faith can sit in a dark and unsanitary jail cell, praise God, and impact every person overhearing the individuals who should be complaining, mourning, and spewing bitter phrases instead of exuding peace, confidence, and joy.

Consider several persons in Scripture who reacted to negative situations or acted positively in faith, even to similar negative situations and notice that those who had negative reactions usually caused consequences only upon themselves, whereas acts of faith impacted both the person and many others positively:  Moses and Aaron reacted negatively to the people's stubbornness and were restricted from entering the Promised Land.  Jesus rebuked the disciples who asked to call down fire on the Samaritans.  Conversely, Isaiah (preaching to Israel) and Ananias (praying for Paul) both responded according to faith when confronted with potentially difficult and dangerous circumstances.  As a result, many benefited.  However, even in the negative examples above, grace appears to abound.  Joshua, as a Christ-figure, led the people into the Promised Land.  Moses eventually appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Thus, Moses did make it into the Promised Land.  Furthermore, although the disciples wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans, it was Jesus Himself who brought the gospel to a people hated by the Jews.  Jesus seems to work everything out in the end—a statement upon which one should rest.

The consideration of the sequence of an external event to an internal processing and then the outward speech, actions, and consequences should help us to realize the simplicity of faith.  Faith is resting in a persuasion that God is good, reliable, and for us despite any circumstances in life that may be interpreted from a limited perspective.  Faith looks beyond the limitations of the natural "now" and instead sees a better reality of Christ's abiding presence, both past, present, and future.  Faith refuses to trust in self; it rests upon the truth of Jesus' testimony:  the Father only brings good and the Spirit only gives resurrection life.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Relationship versus "Confessionship"

I think most of us know the story of the "Prodigal Son" from the Bible. That's the one in which a young son leaves his father, taking his inheritance prematurely with him, spends all his money on wild living, and then returns after some time, repentant, but expecting to only be allowed to serve on his father's farm as a servant. He is unaware that his father's love would restore him to full authority and recognition of a sonship that never ceased to be.

What I wonder though, is something I observe in most Christians: they may have had those days of wild living and even returned to their Father. They may even be living in the house again, so to speak. But what I see is that most Christians don't accept the complete and unconditional forgiveness, acceptance, and full restoration with their Father. They are always looking back to those days of wild living with regret and fear, thinking they are destined to mess up again and therefore can never enjoy a true union with their Father.

Not only do they feel as though there is a gap between them and their Father, but also with any siblings in the Church family. "So-and-so is such a better Christian than I am," they might think. "I'll never be able to have the peace and freedom with God they have." "I will always end up messing up again." "I wish I could be like my Christian brother who obeys God so well."

I find this state of affairs tragic, because in reality, they are refusing to believe the greatest of all good news: Union with a Father who doesn't remember sins, Who doesn't record sins, and Who sets free from the effects of sin, INCLUDING its effect of guilt, shame, condemnation, and fear of habitual sin and sinning.

Because they refuse this good news, they settle for relating to God in a "confessionship" as opposed to a real relationship. Such living is inferior and is much like a self-fulfilling condition based on the notion that they deserve punishment and rejection as opposed to qualification and acceptance.

Don't harden your hearts or stiffen your necks. Embrace Grace. Reach out and grab hold of it. Don't reject it. Take it as your own. Lambano!

http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/lambano.html

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Are You In Debt To Jesus? ...or... Grace vs. Good Works (the Law)

Have you ever wondered about the logic of the following scenario?

You were in debt because of sin, but Jesus set you free so you would be in debt to Him and feel in debt and obligated forevermore. What? And we even go so far as to call that holiness.

Our mindsets, which have been so affected by guilt, shame, and condemnation, prevent most of us from truly experiencing freedom. Therefore, we continue try to reach the Lord and His blessing through a knowledge of good and evil. In other words, we strive to be good and avoid evil so God will bless us.

LISTEN: A knowledge of good and evil never brings a person to the Lord, but only reveals sin and creates a sense of separation. The Law--which is that knowledge of good and evil--does not bring someone to Jesus. It only causes sin (and sinning) to increase.

Rinse. Wash. Repeat: Insanity.

And remember: the knowledge of good and basing your life on how you're choosing and living out that good is just as poisonous as the fruit of choosing evil. Said differently, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil contains absolutely zero percent of Christ's life.

(And by the way, it's fruit--singular, not fruits. It was never about choosing good and avoiding evil. Good and evil is one singular fruit in a system of living, and living by that system is deadly. You can't separate living in terms of good and evil, because it is a singular fruit that brings death. Don't believe me? Eve thought the fruit was good, pleasing, and profitable!!!)

Grace is an entirely different and better way. In fact, only faith in it accurately describes the Gospel.