Random Blog Clay Feet: 2007-10
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Paradigm Examination Time

Trying to understand Romans 9.

He seems to be saying that God picks and chooses who will be save or lost, who will get mercy and who will get anger. That is the usual take on this passage.

We all come to new information with preconceived filters in place, paradigms about what is true and what makes up reality. Since all of us are born in sin we will have at least a certain amount of Satan's lies in place in our filters from the get-go. So it should be no surprise that the majority of people upon reading this passage would assume that God is arbitrary and selective. This is likely one of the writings of Paul that Peter was talking about when he said there were some things he had written that were difficult to understand.

God created everyone with the power to choose and the freedom to change. He fiercely defends that freedom all throughout the War which is precisely why the War has gone on so long the way it has. But it will be seen in the end that His choice to preserve freedom over forcing us to believe truth was the most effective one to restore the universe to unity and joy and peace,

In this context we have the freedom to misunderstand God when reading this passage because of our false preconceptions about Him inherent in our sinful nature and perpetrated by most religion. But we also have the freedom to challenge our own assumptions when we begin to see that our conclusions conflict with other more clear fundamental truths revealed to us about what God is like. What we will take away from this passage will reflect what previous picture of God that we have chosen to endorse. We can either reinforce the lies about God by using this passage to declare that it underscores His arbitrary, punitive tendencies or we can choose to bring in a more updated filter and examine this passage in the clearer light from other places throughout the Bible.

It is usually the case that the most troubling verses we run into in the Bible often are a cover for some of the most exciting and thrilling gems of beauty for the ones willing to dig and ask and wrestle and listen to the Spirit of God. Given that history I believe the same may be true of this passage as well.

So there are basically two paradigms or filters that we might bring with us to use in unpacking this passage. The first I mentioned above, assuming a God who arbitrarily decides who to use to display his wrath (read human-like anger) and who to selectively show mercy to for contrast. But to use this filter to interpret these verses is to reveal an underlying belief about God that is in harmony with the lies perpetrated by Satan since before the earth was created. Not a very safe position to work from I would say.

The other option is to question our own paradigm before jumping to conclusions about this passage and correcting our lies about God based on the most reliable testimony about Him, namely the life and words of Jesus who claimed to be the perfect expression of God. If we make the revelation of Jesus Christ the basis for interpreting this section of writing we will be enabled to see things not obvious to the unenlightened mind using the wrong magnifying glass. This is a place where we need the Holy fire of God's light to allow us to see things correctly. If we bring the light of strange fire to our study, i.e. our human emotions and false assumptions about God, we will never be able to discover truth in this passage but will only end up reinforcing Satan's misrepresentations about our loving Creator.

These are the things that have come to my mind this morning after reading this section and feeling confused and baffled. I asked God out loud to explain what is going on here to me. I told Him that He has some explaining to do and told Him what my initial reactions were upon reading this passage. It stirs up all sorts of triggers and doubts and even anger that God might override people's freedom just to justify Himself and His favorite people. That is not the truth about God that I have been learning lately but is very much a part of the false teachings about Him that have kept my heart at a great distance from Him for most of my life.

If God is arbitrary and selective and only extends mercy to just the ones He feels like while using others as playthings for His “wrath”, then I could never feel safe around a God like that and I can certainly never love Him. But that is emphatically not true, and I reject this filter as being sourced from the depths of hell as it comes from the father of all lies. I am going to seek the Spirit's guidance to listen for a more accurate paradigm through which to read this passage and wait to see what exciting things will be revealed to my heart. I want to use the light of the truth about God to shine into this chapter and I want to look through the magnifying glass of the life of Jesus to read these words until they reveal perfect harmony and I see the glowing gems of real truth that I know are buried below the surface of this chapter. I must be careful to see how this fits into the context of the surrounding passages so that I better understand the real points that Paul is trying to get across. I am looking forward to growing and deepening my understanding and appreciation of the beauty of God and His perfect consistency in love.

(next in series)

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Darkness-dispelling Light

I want to flush out some more threads that I see running through Romans 8. I will not refer to each verse from which I get the phrases because it can be a bit distracting, but I am looking at the area from around 28 to the end of the chapter.

What I see here is the anchoring down of truths that have long been buried under lies about God. Paul is bringing the truth to light to dispel many of the religious mis-notions that have distorted our view of God.

In the old way of thinking we believed that God caused both good and evil to come into our lives.

God is actually at work constantly behind the scenes working for the good of everyone who gives Him permission by opening themselves to His presence and work in their hearts.

We have usually assumed that as sinners we are headed for hell and wrathful judgments of God unless we can figure out how to get Him to save us.

We have been predestined to become just like Himself as revealed in the life of Jesus. This is the purpose of the invitation He has given to us. He has justified us and is sanctifying everyone who does not determinedly resist it. The result is being glorified which means we take on the character attributes of God Himself.

We have thought that God was against us, that somehow we had to placate His anger and appease Him enough to be saved. We even thought that Jesus came and died for our sins so that He could get His Father to calm down and allow us into heaven through some sort of legal maneuver.

God is not against us but is all for us. Jesus did not come to placate an angry, vengeful Father but to reveal the compassionate heart of the Father to us. God did not send us Son to appease Himself but to change our mind about Him. They both allowed us to torture and kill Him to get us to see the true nature of the wickedness of the sin that is so deeply rooted in every one of our hearts and realize our desperate need to be healed.

We thought that God had to be bribed and manipulated to give us the things we need or want. We thought we had to earn His favor and His blessings with more and more perfect obedience to His rules.

God not only gave up His most valuable possession – His only Son – but is so outrageously generous that He is putting everything in the universe at the service of anyone willing to believe in His love for them.

We thought that the judgment was all about arraigning us before a stern judging God and recounting all of our sins and mistakes to shame us and remind us how worthy we are of condemnation.

Far from ever wanting us to feel condemned, Jesus came to reveal to us that it is not God but our own hearts and minds that cause us to feel condemned. Because we have a strained relationship with the Source of life we are feeling suffocated and think that it is the Source itself that is depriving us of life. But Jesus came to lay down His own life so that He could guarantee our eternal life if we will allow Him to live in our heart.

We thought that Jesus intercedes for us before God to change God's opinion about us.

God, who already knows everything about us does not need changing. It is us who needs our minds changed about Him and it is our minds and hearts that Jesus is wanting to change by His intercession.

We think that when bad things happen to us that God must be unhappy with us and when things are going well we must be doing something right.

Irregardless of any circumstances whatsoever, we can know that God's love is unwavering and unquestionable. No matter how we may feel or think we cannot change the impassioned heart of God from loving any one of His created children no matter how messed up or rebellious they may be. When we choose to allow this love to fill us we will find ourselves to be overwhelming conquerors.

In conclusion, it needs to become clear in our minds and hearts that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are all in complete agreement and harmony in their passionate love and pursuit of us. Nothing but nothing, not even death itself, can keep us away from the immense, love-filled heart of the great Ruler of the whole universe.

(next in series)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Who? Not God!

Sometimes when reading a letter that addresses questions or issues that you don't know about you can discern the original issues and questions by extrapolating them from the answers in the letter. I think a lot of that can be done in the book of Romans. In this case there are actually two versions of the original issues and questions and sometimes Paul addresses them separately and sometimes he puts them together. Because at root they spring from the same internal problem – a false picture of God and salvation.

As I look through the last part of chapter 8 I notice a series of questions that indicate there was an issue that Paul wanted to counteract head-on; there were misunderstandings that needed to be rectified. If I condense the phrases down and put them together it becomes more clear. It is in the last section of the chapter that focuses on the love of God and most of the time when people read it they focus on the answers (the love of God) but do not notice that the answers are given to address specific questions with all sorts of underlying assumptions that need to be exposed so that the answers become even more stark and powerful by contrast.

  • Who can be against us?

  • How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

  • Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?

  • Who is he that condemneth?

  • Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Paul is trying to reorient our paradigms, our context, our assumptions about what is reality. From this list of questions it looks like those he is writing to (which includes all of us) believed that someone is against us, and that is usually assumed to be God. That is why typical religion works so hard to come up with all sorts of schemes and practices and ideas that we somehow think will change God's mind toward us.

The next question exposes that false assumption even more. It is assumed that God is not very generous, that we have to do things to impress Him so that we can induce Him to bless us or save us. One does not have to look very far at all to see this kind of thinking in religion today.

The typical view of God as a stern judge sitting in austere settings in heaven and constantly looking for any mistakes, discrepancies or sins in our lives is exposed in the next question. Most people believe that the charges against them are coming from God the Father and that His kinder Son Jesus is interceding for us to placate His wrath and somehow appease His justice enough to slip us into paradise.

The next question reinforces that concept by revealing that sinful humans, ever since Adam and Eve cowered in the bushes, have felt that God was condemning them and are afraid to be in His presence. This feeling of condemnation is pervasive and is falsely attributed as to coming from God. But Jesus made it explicitly clear when He talked with Nicodemus that God is not in the business of condemning but of saving.

After all of these lies about God have been exposed for what they really are – blatant, bald-faced misrepresentations of God by his archenemy Satan (which means accuser) – Paul nails down the truth about God by confessing that it is God's passionate, unstoppable, inescapable love that is the true reality and that is our only hope. Furthermore there is simply nothing in the universe outside of our own personal choice that can prevent that love from having its intended results of restoring us into an intimate, fulfilling relationship with our Creator.

This truth about God's real attitude toward us in contrast with the lies purported by both open sinners and religious sinners is the gospel, the good news that has within it the power to save us. (Romans 1:16,17) Remember, the word “save” which comes from “salvation”, means to restore to original condition, to heal, to repair. As we allow our hearts and minds to be filled and empowered and excited by the reality of the love that God always has toward us and we let go of our lies about Him we will begin to experience the transforming process of restoration and healing that is inevitable in the atmosphere of perfect love.

(next in series)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

The End is Near

I am coming to the end of a long relationship, the soon termination of a deep bond of friendship that I have enjoyed for many years. It may seem to some like a mystery that is shallow or silly, but to others who have likewise enjoyed similar relationships they will understand what I am talking about.

I am referring to the most affectionate and adoring creature that has ever laid eyes on me – my cat George. I have come to realize that he is a special gift from God to help me understand a little better the feelings that God Himself has for me. This gift is apparently to be soon interrupted for a time, but I have no doubts based on what I have learned about what God is really like, that I will someday see George again and enjoy his company permanently.

I will not take the time to write his eulogy before his time is up, at least not quite yet. But I thought I would just share on my blog what is currently happening. I think that he probably has some type of cancer that had demonstrated itself in the growing tumor on his nose. He has been becoming weaker over the past few months and is now failing to eat much or even get around. He spent the last day or so just lying on the floor in our bedroom but came out in the evening to get up into my chair.

As I shared a couple weeks ago in the men's group, I have very deep feelings and attachment for this companion that creates potential for a lot of pain. I never know how I will respond to a death in my family. I suppose it has a lot to do with how much it is expected and what kind of relationship I have with them. But death is still our greatest enemy and I can't wait until it is eliminated from the universe forever.

In the meantime I will continue to turn my attention to the Source of life who is greater than death itself and is, in fact, the reality of resurrection Himself. In my study, or more accurately my absorption, of Romans I am getting into the end of chapter 8 which is very appropriate for this situation. It is one of the clearest declarations of assurance in the whole Bible that there is nothing but nothing that can keep any one of us separated from the love of God, the unstoppable passion of God that craves to draw every one of us into personal and fulfilling intimacy with His heart. George's impending death, though it will likely be very painful for me, will be buffered and shared by my best Friend who has the power to remove the sting of death. He holds the trump card in this game and at the right time He will play it in favor of everyone who allows His love to infiltrate their hearts.

George has taught me a great deal about unconditional love and devotion. Over the past few years he has been more and more affectionate and sometimes literally follows me ever place I walk. He amazes me with his consistent positive attitude in spite of all the pain he may be feeling inside. Even as he is wasting away and growing thinner each day he continues to respond with purring and affection whenever I come to him. That is a lesson I know I need to remember myself.

I will miss George painfully and deeply, but I know that Jesus feels the pain with me. There is nothing too small that affects my peace that He will not notice and respond to. I will grow through this pain and will remember with great fondness all the years we have enjoyed together. And I look forward with hope to the final termination of all pain, all suffering and all death forever. Maranatha.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Trophies of War

This is one of those mornings when the Spirit coordinated both books that I use each day to induce a unified revelation to my heart. The word “righteousness” has been one of the most troublesome religious terms that I have grappled with for most of my life. This is partially due to the abuse and misuse of the word to convey some of the lies about God embedded in most religion. So for the past few years I have been very alert to discovering more relevant and real definitions for this mysterious and difficult concept.

Maybe I have grown enough in my maturity to be able to put bigger pieces together now. As God has been teaching me many things they have become like sections of a puzzle partially assembled and laid aside for future insertion into a bigger picture. This seems like a couple of pieces that fit very well together and also fit perfectly into some empty spots within my experience and feelings.

As I look back over my experience, even in the past few hours, I can see more clearly what it means to look for satisfaction from shallow streams. This becomes even more clear to me after having tasted satisfaction from a much purer fountain of truth about God and experiencing the energy and stimulation that it brings to my soul.

The common thread of gold that runs throughout these two meditations is the passionate love of God that is available to transform my thinking, my life and make my heart come alive. It is the only true source of satisfaction to fulfill the cravings I desire in every area of my life. Putting this into words seems to diminish the inward intensity and “realness” of this understanding though. It makes it start to sound like religious jargon again that has bothered me for most of my life. But now the words come from an attempt to express feelings and connections deep inside that are real and true because I am beginning to taste them for myself and know the reality of what good love can feel like. And that experience makes me intensely hungry for much more, for in reality it makes me much more aware of how empty and parched my thirst really is.

Here is some of what I received this morning with highlights of the words and phrases that really spoke to my heart.

Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the life of God. The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.

Not by painful struggles or wearisome toil, not by gift or sacrifice, is righteousness obtained; but it is freely given to every soul who hungers and thirsts to receive it....

We need not seek to quench our thirst at shallow streams; for the great fountain is just above us, of whose abundant waters we may freely drink, if we will rise a little higher in the pathway of faith....

The words of God are the well-springs of life. As you seek unto those living springs, you will, through the Holy Spirit, be brought into communion with Christ.... You will know that Christ is leading you; a divine Teacher is at your side. {SD 304}

Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. 2 Cor. 2:14.

The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God’s point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don’t think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint.

The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ’s triumphs. We are not in God’s showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing—the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are—‘I am standing alone battling for Jesus’; ‘I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him.’ Paul says—‘I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.’ Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for. Paul’s joy was to be a captive of the Lord, he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him. “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.” We are enwheeled with the odour of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.

Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935, S. October 24

As I thought back over the life of Paul who wrote this, I realize how much his own life experience demonstrated the things I have been learning from what he wrote in Romans 7 & 8. Before he met Jesus in the confrontation on the road earlier in his life, he was the perfect example of living a religious life from the head, very studiously striving to keep every rule that could be found and working very hard to be a person that God could accept and bless. He was formula driven, Bible-based, proof-text perfect and full of passion for defending true religion against all corruption or threats from emotional contamination. He had succeeded so well in perfecting his religious life that he was considered the champion of God's holy church in his zeal to cleanse the church of all heresy.

But in living this way he had suppressed his real heart and was blinded to the real condition of his spirit. He lived in an increasing state of agitation fired by what he sincerely believed was holy zeal for the reputation of God and the purity of His church. His activities in persecuting the dissenters who were introducing new theology and heresy into his church made him a favorite among his peers and even his elders. Everything seemed to confirm that he was justified in his extreme positions and he was emboldened to take even more intense actions against those who disagreed with his views about religion. As his popularity increased so did his confidence that he was doing the right thing and that God was proud of his work to purify the church and protect the sanctity and holiness of the truth.

When God met him on the road to Damascus in his passionate intensity to defend “the truth”, He did not confront him about any of his theology or try to argue with his doctrines. He went straight to the emptiness of his heart, the long suppressed aching void and craving for love that Saul had tried to hide all of his life from everyone including himself. With just a few words of kindness and compassion all of Saul's defenses collapsed like a house of cards and his heart was left naked and exposed in the presence of the very embodiment of love Himself.

In that moment Saul, who became Paul, experienced the reversal of direction from living a head-led religion based on facts and formulas to being a captive of the heart led around by his spirit chained to the heart of God with the love of the Holy Spirit. These chains were nothing like the chains of force and fear that Saul had employed in his attempts to live the perfect life, protect the truth of God and enforce his view of truth on others. These chains were the silken cords of tenderness and love and affection that awakened such intense desires and hunger inside of Saul that he could not stop himself from falling madly in love with this God who treated him so carefully, so gently and cared about him so deeply.

In the days of the Romans it was quite common after great battles for the conquerors to chain together many of the people they had captured, particularly the important leaders and resistors, and upon returning home to drag them through the streets behind their chariot for the crowds to jeer at and gloat over. The prisoners were often dirty, smelly and many times even naked as it was intended that they experience the most humiliation possible after their defeat. It was assumed that the more their enemies were humiliated that by contrast the championing heroes would be elevated in the eyes of the people.

In the passage quoted by Oswald Chambers in the above reading, Paul takes this illustration and transforms it into an example of what God does in the lives of those who's hearts He has captured with His love. But instead of making them objects of humiliation and using chains of force and shame to demonstrate His power like humans love to do, God demonstrates the superior power of selfless love that captures more securely the hearts and lives of people who are stunned with amazement at the real truth about God's passion and love for them. They become “chained” to His heart with an intensity of responding love as they see the real truth about His feelings for them. They are paraded before the world as trophies of His conquering grace and goodness, but instead of being naked and ashamed they are seen to be wearing the very same clothes as the King Himself. And the odor that wafts from their bodies and spirits are the sweetest and most compelling fragrances ever encountered. This is God's version of a triumphal procession and a demonstration of how God treats prisoners of war. He makes them His sons and daughters and entrusts them with the full inheritance of everything He possesses.

We are not in God’s showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing—the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are—‘I am standing alone battling for Jesus’; ‘I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him.’ Paul says—‘I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.’

Saturday, October 20, 2007

To Dance with Joy

Why am I so reluctant to dance?

For me, I think dance is so closely related to being a true expression of my heart that my deep inhibitions in this area are simply reflective of my unreadiness and lack of synchronization with the hearts of those around me. When people with whom I have unspoken but unresolved tension ask me to dance with them it is like asking my heart to pretend that everything is OK between us when it is not. In a way it is like asking someone to have sex when you are not in a committed marriage relationship with them.

Maybe that is why dancing in general is so much of an issue in religion. Dancing is very much a form of intimacy with others, and in the world it is often the synchronization that is used as a precursor to sex outside of marriage. But that is not the only thing that it can be used for. Dance has received a very bad rap from many Christians because it is only associated in their minds with inducing people into illicit relationships. But that is the counterfeit of something very real, legitimate and powerful that could and should be experienced when living in the reality of God's ways of relating. Just because we spot a counterfeit does not mean that everything that looks anything like it is wrong too. That kind of thinking is fear-based and is Satan's means of keeping us away from the very things that can bring us the most healing.

Of course, there are quite a number of different ways of dancing and different reasons for doing so. And just because we engage in what we consider to be legitimate kinds of dance does not necessarily make them true or healthy for us. It can just as easily become an external, forced symptom that we try to artificially engage in to make us look good just like any other form of “works” righteousness. Even if we think we are completely comfortable with it does not mean that our heart is fully engaged and is free of dissent and friction between us and those we are dancing with.

My heart has been telling me that it wants to dance and has been doing so for many years. When I participated in a worship team for a couple of years I felt the pull of the Spirit to experience dancing with God. I began to realize that there was a very important part of my being that was disengaged and that God was awakening a hunger in me that He had implanted in humanity at creation. But my heart strongly pulls back every time I get close to this powerful form of expression and if I override my reservations with my left brain and join in dancing in a group my heart simply goes into freeze mode and allows the override to do whatever it decides. But while my body may be going through the motions, I am not enjoying the heart to heart synchronization that is supposed to be the basis for dance in the first place. I am only going through the motions to keep peace and satisfy someone else's insistence for me.

As I try to listen to what my heart is telling me about this, I realize that what it really wants is to experience and enjoy the intensity of closeness with a number of other hearts first that would then cause me to spontaneously and freely engage in dancing with them in joy without inhibitions or fears. I do not want just an external exercise no matter how convincing it may appear. Oh, those kinds of dance can certainly make people feel much better and can even lead to more bonding so that they can get closer to the real motives. But my heart keeps insisting that I get the horse in front of the cart and not settle for cheap substitutes.

This is not a head decision, because my head is much more pragmatic about it and simply wants to keep peace between me and others. But inside, my heart says that for dance to be real and to have the powerful and positive effect on me and my relationships with others, that I need to be much closer to being in unity of spirit with those whom I allow myself to synchronize with in this way.

It feels even scary to expose these feelings into writing. Not only am I afraid of censure and condemnation from those who severely disapprove of dancing in general but I am afraid of being misunderstood or pressured in this area. The heart is a very sensitive and vulnerable thing and is often very frightened by disclosure. But at the same time I am getting a better picture of the quandary that God is in trying to prepare us to live in full synchronization with Him for eternity. We have so many stupid and tenacious ideas about religion and God that are false that if He were to try to engage us in the activities and joy of heaven in our present mindset we would simply have a total meltdown in our resistance to Him. In fact, that is exactly what hell will be all about.

So in a way I am already experiencing hell and trying to get free from it now in preparation for being fit for heaven. Heaven is where we live fully and freely from our hearts without resistance and with our spirits fully synchronized with everyone around us. In that state of being we will be able to dance, sing and engage in every way possible with others without any inhibitions, fears or regrets. We will know the full meaning of joy and peace as we live in the intimate presence of the Source of all joy and aliveness.

But to enjoy that for eternity I must begin to experience it here and now. It is part of the healing process involved in the plan of salvation. For salvation is all about the healing of the heart and correcting the lies of the mind. The Spirit of God is working to move my toward a life of total freedom in Christ, a freedom from inhibitions, from fear, from resistance toward the joys that God designed for me. I am often very frustrated at how slow I am to release my resistance and I wonder if this healing will ever take deep root in my life. But I also have to remember that it is God's responsibility to finish the process that He began in my life and I have to trust Him to continue whatever He needs to do to bring me into full harmony with His heart.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Nature's Anticipation

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 NAS95)

When I read this this morning I drew a complete blank as to what this means or why. It doesn't make sense the way the words are arranged to imply that the bondage of creation to decay is because of God, that it is God's fault that creation is such a mess. I asked God to explain this to me and finally decided to go check out the Greek to see what I might find.

After examining the Greek words in this text carefully (as much as an untrained person can with the tools at hand) I noticed that there doesn't seem to be any original word behind the “Him” in this verse, so it must be an assumption on the part of the translators. That is not to say that it is not correct to assume a “him” in the context of the sentence, but it does mean that there may be a possibility that it does not have to be there. That would certainly create potential to change the flavor of this passage considerably.

The word for futility carries the idea of “transientness” or impermanence. I think most people who believe in Divine creation would agree that nature as we know it today is dramatically altered and different from its original design. There is a great deal of adaptation that has taken place that makes it even very difficult to imagine what the original design looked like in many ways. Even though the cycle of life makes a lot of sense to us in our context, in the original perfect world things had to have functioned much differently. If there was no death or pain then animals would not kill to eat, leaves would not die and decay etc. I am starting to see in this verse a reference to this pervasive “transientness” that we see in nature today. Paul says that it was not voluntary – nature did not choose to come under this terrible bondage to death and evil.

There is some possibility that the (missing) him mentioned in this verse might also refer to Adam, the one who's sin triggered all of creation to come under this bondage to decay and death. It was Adam's choice, not nature's choice, to indulge in sin and by which all the terrible consequences were unleashed on everything on this planet. But God was also very actively at work in this situation providing the element of hope, not only for man's salvation but for restoration of the whole planet back to its original pristine condition.

Embedded within the very modification of how creation functions after sin entered the world, God formed lessons and examples pointing us to His plan to restore us to the perfect condition from which we have fallen. The hope that can be discovered in the study of creation and nature is a reminder of the hope that we find in the true understanding of the plan of salvation.

What Paul may be emphasizing here is the fact that God does not intend to leave nature on this planet in disarray for all of eternity while only restoring humans to their original design. Nature was created as a perfect environment for humans to thrive within and to provide for all of their needs. Nature was one of the main channels through which God provided His power and life to energize and satisfy the desires and needs of His children on earth. With the choice of humans to sin, nature – the environment containing those humans – also fell into a state of being very temporary and suffering from the many effects of death, which is the result of separation from the only Source of life.

I looked through a number of other translations of this text and found one that seemed to explain it maybe a little better.

For Nature was made subject to imperfection – not by its own choice, but owing to him who made it so – yet not without the hope that some day Nature, also, will be set free from enslavement to decay, and will attain to the freedom which will mark the Glory of the Children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 TCNT)

Another thing I noticed when looking through the original Greek words behind some of these verses was something interesting in the previous verse. Verse 19 says, “For the anxious longing (intense anticipation) of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19) The words that were translated into “revealing of the sons of God” do not seem to imply a plural for the word “sons”. In fact, what it seems to be talking about is very possibly a reference to the Son of God and pointing to His return to this earth. Given the surrounding ideas of the restoration of creation to its original design, it would make much more sense to view it in this manner.

It seems to me that these verses would be talking about a time on this earth when God's redeemed children will be fully healed from all the wounds and damage of sin and will reveal the glory of their Creator. Then God will want to restore, to re-create the perfect environment of nature that He had originally designed for them to thrive in with the addition of His own presence in the form of the capital city of the universe being located here. Paul is saying that not only will the effects of sin be overcome with the glory of God revealed in the lives of the Redeemed but that God will restore nature as well so that sin and its affects will be eliminated from the universe forever.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:22-23)

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words... (Romans 8:26)

I find it very interesting that the idea contained in “groaning” is in reference to three different entities here. I have not yet unpacked it very much but thought I would mention it. If you have any thoughts on this feel free to share them with me.

(next in series)

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Fearful Slave or Joyful Child?

I am looking at Romans 8:12-17 and observing the counterfeit and the true mentioned or eluded to here. The word obligation is brought up (debt in KJV) and suddenly the sentence seems to be aborted. The strong implication that I see is a reference to the very strong motive underlying all of man-made efforts to get right with God. These are always mixed with varying amounts of fear, for fear is one of the basic ingredients and symptoms of sin.

Paul is not saying here that the opposite of being controlled by a sense of fear-filled obligation is to feel no obligation at all. But what he is trying to say is that a true motive for serving God will never be found to have fear as its fuel. Verses 14 and 15 make this very clear. When we are led by the Spirit of God we will not receive from that Source an attitude of slavery which leads to fear. The opposite, or counterpart of the counterfeit, is a spirit of joyful abandon as children – even better, adopted children. For to be adopted as a child is to be specifically chosen, not just born. There is usually a great deal more intentionality in the planning of an adoption than there is in a natural birth. And just in case we still have to deal with our ingrained fears about this attitude of God toward us, the Spirit of God is ready and eager to testify with our spirit that we really are children of God.

Of course, this means that our spirit needs to testify to this fact so that the Spirit of God has opportunity to testify alongside, reinforce and embellish our testimony. I see the need for me to encourage and give in to every opportunity to indulge in confessing the truth about this relationship with God. It does not often feel safe or even reasonable to do so, but if I choose to do so the Spirit is waiting to reinforce my testimony and deepen my awareness of this reality.

I notice a number of uses of the word “with” throughout these verses. I have come to realize from the insights from Jim Wilder about how our mind works, that this is very often a clue that there is joy involved. The neurological definition for joy is when someone is glad to be with us, when we sense that we are special to them and they want to share our presence. This is particularly true in this case. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit...” – joy. “Fellow heirs with Christ” – joy. “We suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” – joy. The following verses even seem to imply that all of nature and creation is eager to share in our joy when it becomes more fully revealed.

God, make me more willing to enjoy Your presence today. Remind me to testify with my spirit and remember with my mind that I really am an adopted son of the awesome originator of the whole universe and have a very special connection to Your heart. Remind me of who I really am and what it looks like to live as a son instead of as a slave. Teach me what it means in this context to act like myself under any circumstances. I invite Your Son to take up residence inside of me and demonstrate what it looks like to be a son through Your transformation of my spirit.

(next in series)

Monday, October 15, 2007

What Must I Do?

Each morning I open the passage I am studying and ask God to highlight something I haven't seen before. He is very faithful and gracious and I have been enjoying the Word like never before in my life as well as being instructed in both mind and heart. It is helping me to grow in maturity, knowledge and wisdom that comes back during the day to be applied to real-life situations.

Today the focus that comes to me is the action words that I find in this part of Romans 8. There is always a lot of question about what is God's part and what is my part and the two usually become confused with me trying to do all sorts of things that are only possible by God. But I can also fall into the problem of waiting for God to do things that He is waiting for me to do. So it is good to see from the Word how I can cooperate with Him in becoming a Spirit-led witness for His name and reputation.

Here are some of the action words that I see as I look at this passage:

  • walk according to the spirit (4)

  • set my mind on things of the spirit (5, 6)

  • have the Spirit of Christ (9) this is not completely a direct action but is a focus

  • put to death the deeds of the body (13)

  • receive the spirit of adoption (15)

  • cry out in that spirit, “Daddy, Father” (15)

  • testify with my spirit that I am a child of God (16)

  • suffer with Him (17)

  • experience the groans within myself as I wait eagerly for the complete fulfillment of adoption (23)

  • hope for what I do not see, wait eagerly for it (25)

As I read through the chapter to ferret out these verses I notice how many things God is doing on His part as I choose to respond on my part. What is described here is a relationship of trust between two minds and hearts that grows and strengthens and deepens as each responds to the choices of the other. I believe that this chapter really is a parallel, a practical description of what it means to abide in Christ as talked about in John 14 and 15.

(next in series)

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Cross-linked Dwelling

I am looking again at what I find in Romans 8 and connections with other passages keep popping into my mind. I keep adding them to the margin in my Bible which is becoming very crowed on this page. I will share some of what I have found today.

Romans 8

9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. (John 15:6)

10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.... Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:6-11)

10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

The word translated “righteousness” here is a word that means justified. That reminded me of the verse in chapter 5.

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. (Romans 5:18)

11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Notice the many times of emphasis on “dwelling”. This passage seems very closely linked to John 15 where Jesus talked a lot about dwelling and abiding.

Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: he who is in me at all times as I am in him, gives much fruit, because without me you are able to do nothing. If a man does not keep himself in me, he becomes dead and is cut off like a dry branch; such branches are taken up and put in the fire and burned. (John 15:4-6 BBE)

I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:3 WEB)

12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--

This word “obligation” carries the meaning of a delinquent debtor, someone who feels a strong sense of obligation to do something about repaying a debt. That is closely linked to the condemnation mentioned in verse 1 of this chapter and is the main driving motive for all the efforts to please God by keeping the Law in the flesh. In this verse Paul is making clear that feeling under obligation is not the part of our experience to ignore. The problem comes in when we try to repay the debt in a way that will only lead to frustration and ultimately death.

Many people think that the way to deal with our problem before God is to believe that He no longer enforces the requirements of the Law, no longer expects us to meet its standards. However, if that were true it would have been completely unnecessary for Jesus to have died. If that were true then God could have done the “Law relaxation” before it caused so much pain and anguish for His only Son. No, the Law and its requirements cannot change any more than God can change, and He has stated very clearly, “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” (Malachi 3:6 NKJV)

The centerpiece of the plan of salvation – restoring humans back to their original design and function – is found in the “dwelling” part of this passage. If we accept the invitation of Jesus to dwell, abide in Him and allow Him to dwell in us, then in Him we are crucified and suffer the death that is the unavoidable consequences of our sin. This is the experience described throughout this whole section of this passage in the words “according to the spirit” or setting our mind on the spirit.

Anything outside of this living according to the spirit is living according to the flesh, no matter how religiously correct it may sound or appear.

13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin....For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. (Romans 3:20, 28 NRSV)

When I looked up the original word translated “body” in verse 13, I found that it has implications of a slave mentality. That would link it directly with what Paul goes on to say in the next few verses.

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. (Romans 6:6)

You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. (John 15:14-16)

A slave can never become a son, included in the family and embraced by the family as one of their own, by working very hard and carefully to be perfectly obedient and perform everything that a son would be expected to do. In fact, in the eyes of a family I think they would find it strange and maybe even ludicrous to watch a slave attempt to act and dress and present himself as a son when everyone who really knows him knows full well that he is really just a slave. In the end, in the time of revealing called the judgment, this behavior by the slave will be shown to be nothing more than attempted impersonation of someone which has far more rights than a slave is ever allowed to exercise.

We consider it a high crime for someone to impersonate, say, a general in the armed forces and try to carry out the responsibilities and enjoy the privileges of such a position if they are not properly authorized to have that position. No matter how perfectly they may be able to carry off the impersonation, the real problem is not their performance but the reality of their authority.

Just the same, if anyone tries to be a Christian, which means “a little Christ”, without having the real sovereign Christ actually dwelling inside of them, it really does not matter in the slightest how well they may perform or how perfectly they may be able to imitate righteous living, they are bogus and a fake. Without a crucified Savior living inside of them the enormous debt created by their sins has not been satisfied. And without the real sovereign Lord of the universe living inside of them Who was resurrected after suffering death on behalf of all sinners and Who received all authority in heaven and on earth, a person is simply committing the high crime of impersonating a sovereign if they try to live as a Christian without setting their minds on the things of the Spirit of Jesus who is God, the only real sovereign.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)

(next in series)

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Pure Blood Transfusion

Another epiphany just happened in my head. For some reason I began thinking about the word “purity”. I also identified internally my lifelong typical reaction to that word as something of an impossible demand by a holy God looking for excuses to fault me. Of course my picture of God is rapidly changing away from such horrible lies, but there are still many pockets of residual associated lies in my head that need to be exposed for what they are and replaced with truth consistent with the rest of the truth I am so excited about. This is definitely one of them.

As I thought about this word “purity” and how I have typically thought about it, I began asking questions about what it really means and why it is that God is so emphatic about it. There must be a reason that God is so particular about His people being completely pure – not just mostly pure. And the reasons must be consistent with the goodness and kindness and mercy of God, not darkened with the skewed images of an angry, vengeful tyrant-God waiting to point out my failures and inflict punishment.

Then the answer suddenly struck me with perfect logic. How would a patient feel who was in urgent need of a blood-transplant to save his life if he was informed that the blood he was to receive was not completely pure but was probably safe for the most part? It only contained an extremely small percentage of deadly viruses, but that should not be of much concern since it was mostly pure.

Of course, if the patient knew anything about medicine and health he would be amazed that anyone would have the audacity to even suggest such an idea. Why would anyone in their right mind be willing to settle for a transfusion of blood that was tainted in the slightest with anything that held the potential of killing him with an infection from some dangerous organism? Why not demand only the purest blood, even if there was only one place in the world from which to receive it? Why play into the hands of death when there was a perfectly pure alternative that would guarantee life, especially if that life could last forever?

When looked at from that perspective, purity of life and character in the light of eternity makes much more sense, especially from heaven's point of view. Think about the serious and valid doubts and questions that billions of intelligent beings throughout all of the universe must have about God's plans to introduce humans into the perfect atmosphere of heaven to live there forever. It is quite plain to them the results that the infection of sin and selfishness produces in the horrible experiment being played out on this planet. They certainly must not want any part of that infection spreading anywhere else in the cosmos and they have legitimate reason to wonder how God intends to deal with that issue in His public plans to import humans into the very center and hub of all the life of the universe, the very nerve center that connects to every other part of the cosmos. What is going to prevent us from carrying even the smallest element of this deadly virus with us to someday reinfect our hearts and again spread and wreak havoc once again?

Some would suggest that God will simply wipe sin away from our minds so that we will not be dangerous carriers. But that is to deny the most precious thing that God has endured millennium's of pain to protect – the complete freedom of all His created beings to love from free choice. God is extremely jealous of our freedom of choice, even to the extent of allowing sin to flourish in that open environment without ever using force against anyone's freedom to choose, to stop its spread. That is the most mind-boggling thing that most people simply cannot bring themselves to believe about God. But God has insisted on using something He declares is far more powerful than force – pure, untainted, selfless love.

Yes, sin has flourished all too well in the rich atmosphere of freedom and that is why so many believe that the antidote to sin is to remove freedom itself. But that is not God's ways but is part of the lies conveyed by the originator of sin himself; that is part of the makeup of the virus of sin that has infected us. Force, fear, shame and blame are all part of the satanic psychosis that robs us of freedom and insists that freedom is a luxury that cannot support a perfect environment.

But God says that freedom is of such a rarified nature that only complete purity of love can be the fuel for all its participants. That is why purity is of such urgent importance to God – not because He is dogmatic and fault-finding but because He is determined that this will be the only round of sin that will ever take place without giving up the slightest bit of a universe filled with complete freedom. Purity is necessary for freedom, for real love, for safety, for securing an eternity free from reinfection of sin. Ask any good medical lab technician about maintaining purity for a safe environment of health. The slightest introduction of contamination into a pure medium can become a deadly compromise. I am sure those more familiar with this area than I am could come up with much better explanations and analogies than I can.

The really good news is that though it is impossible for any one of us to purify ourselves and make ourselves perfect and safe for heaven – well, what the Law could not do, God did through His Son. (Romans 8:3,4) He came up with an incredible plan called salvation (which means healing, restoring to original perfect condition) whereby anyone who submits to be molded and transformed by abiding in Christ and being led by His Spirit will be made safe and pure and eventually free of all traces of selfishness and sin viruses. The blood used for this transfusion is none other than the perfect, pure, uncontaminated blood of the Son of God who submitted to be murdered by sinners like us so that we would come to believe in the grace and love and kindness of a pure and holy God.

Given that context for the idea of purity, I believe that purity is something I desire, even crave. I want to be restored to full health in every part of my existence and I certainly don't want any secret sin-virus hiding out in any part of my being waiting to reinfect me and cause more misery and death to myself and those around me. I also know that I cannot accomplish this by my efforts and that only the work of the Spirit of God within me can accomplish this herculean project. But God has promised unequivocally that He is going to finish the work that He began in me. I hold Him to His word, for He is able to do what He says He can do.

God, fill me with Your presence today and make me completely pure in every way. Thank-you for Your promises and Your passionate love and Your faithfulness. Transform me into a little Christ today, a carrier of Your antidote to sin – perfect and selfless love. Let my heart be more synchronized with Your heart today and make me a magnet for You by allowing Your love to flow through me more openly. Increase Your presence in my life today for Your name's sake, for Your reputation.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

According to the Spirit - Part 2

As I started to do a few days ago and got caught in Romans 8:28, I want to explore deeper what it looks like to live according to the spirit. It just makes sense that if this is the kind of life I want to live and enjoy then I need to fill my mind with the information, instructions and descriptions of what it involves. Here are clues that I find throughout chapter 8.

1 ...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 ...the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

3 (God did) what the Law could not do by sending His own Son – He condemned sin in the flesh,

4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 ...those who are according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

6 ...the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

9 ...you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. (If one has the Spirit of Christ he belongs to him)

10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

12 ...we are under obligation, (but) not to the flesh,,,

13 ...if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" (Daddy)

16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

21 ...creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

23 ...we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

24 For in hope we have been saved...

25 ...we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good at a point in time, because of God's unfailing, totally selfless love, for those who respond to His invitation to be transparent before His presence from their hearts.

31 ...If God is for us, who is against us?

32 (God will) freely give us all things.

33 ...God is the one who justifies (us);

34 ...(Jesus is the one) who intercedes for us.

37 ...in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is a great deal of clues to sort through. I certainly can't process all of them at once, but I always find it very helpful to condense opposite ideas down to their simplest form so that I can see them more clearly and see the relationships between the various points made about one side.

I felt a confirmation this morning of the impressions and conclusions I have been contemplating the past few weeks about spirit vs. flesh being internal vs. external, heart vs. mind. While reading one of my devotional books I read the following statement.

Spiritual life is not nourished from within, but draws its nutrition from Christ, as the branch does from the vine. We are dependent upon Christ every moment; He is our source of supply. All our outside forms, prayers, fastings, and alms-giving cannot take the place of the inward work of the Spirit of God on the human heart....

One branch is not to borrow its sustenance from another. Our life must come from the parent vine. It is only by personal union with Christ, by communion with Him daily, hourly, that we can bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. . . . Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness, all depend on our union with Christ and the degree of faith we exercise in Him. {SD 290}

I want to do much more than simply learn with my mind what it looks like to live according to the spirit. I want these things to stimulate and guide my heart into an intimate union with Christ to become a flaming conduit of God's passion. These emotions and desires are impossible to condense into mere words. That is why I need so much the intercession of the Holy Spirit who searches my heart and understands how to translate between my heart and God's mind. I want Romans 8 to not just be another chapter I read in the Bible but to be a vivid description my own experience. So help me God!

(next in series)

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Offensive God

I was just told about an interesting episode that has happened in Oregon. Some posters were put up in malls (with permission) inviting people to a conference in November about the character of God. The large picture on the posters was so provocative to some religious people who cannot accept the real truth about God's love that they demanded the posters be taken down.

Check it out yourself. You can see the picture as well as read the news story here.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Pulling My Chain by the spirit

It is becoming more clear to me that the bottom line, the underlying choice I have – that anyone has – is the direction that I choose to face in living my life. Success or failure spiritually really is like the analogy of the chain. Naturally I am prone to think that employing force, even to myself, is the way to success. But using fear and force, gritting my teeth and depending on my willpower, utilizing formulas to figure out what is best for me even if I ask for help and wisdom from God to assist me, is pushing the chain in attempting to get spiritual growth.

But chains simply are not designed to be pushed anymore than humans have been designed to be pushed and forced. Through many illustrations God makes it clear that His ways are not to drive us to Him but to attract us to Him. The good Shepherd does not drive His sheep but leads them. And the main reason they follow Him is not from fear but because they know His voice and they are attracted to it. Any other model comes from the lies of the enemy.

Romans 7:25 clearly describes the arrangement of the life of a person who believes the Law of God is good, who wants to fulfill the requirements of the Law to please God, but is trying to “push his chain” to get to that goal. Paul identifies this arrangement as living in the flesh, serving the Law through the flesh. The way he is pushing the chain is by putting the mind ahead of the spirit part of his makeup. The problem is not because he is using his mind to serve God but is because he is trying to lead or control his life with his mind instead of allowing his spirit to be drawn to the attractions of Jesus. It is the direction of the internal relationship that is so critical here, the relationship between the mind and the heart. Whenever we are trying to operate our life by living more from the mind and intellect than we are allowing our heart to lead us, we are living in the flesh and are trying to push our chain to please God and become righteous. No matter how plausible or religiously correct or morally attractive it may sound, it simply does not end up with the results that we hope for.

Paul makes this even more emphatic in chapter 8. “Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8) At first glance many assume that this is describing a person who is not a Christian, who is not even trying to serve God. But that is not the case. This is a description of anyone who is trying to push their chain to serve God, who is trying to lead their life with their mind to serve the law of God.

I think this becomes even more clear when one of the stories of Jesus is viewed in this light. “On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'” (Matthew 7:22-23 NRSV) Notice that Jesus never denies anything that they claim they did for Him. In Paul's terminology they were serving the Law of God with their mind. Apparently they believed that if they performed correctly that they would deserve to get into heaven and enjoy eternal life.

But the real underlying problem, that they refused to believe, was that they were trying to please God by “pushing their chains” instead of allowing Jesus to “pull their chains” through an intimate attraction to His heart through a vital connection with their spirit. The “knowing” talked about in this instance is the kind of “knowing” that a husband and wife enjoy in their loving intimacy with each other. When we change the direction of our attention and our hearts are allowed to lead us instead of our minds, and Jesus is allowed to lead our hearts, then our chain can tighten up and we will begin to move into the intimacy required to find ourselves in the place described by the other group in Jesus story.

“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 NRSV) If we fall into the trap of externalizing this “will of my Father”, we find ourselves right back into serving the Law with our mind while serving the law of sin with our flesh. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)

It only makes sense that to live in the presence of God for eternity it would be necessary to live in a way that pleases Him. After all, if we are not pleasing to God but are living in His presence, it would be an impossibility, for to be close to God and yet out of sync with His nature (the Law) is nothing short of pure torture and a description of hell itself. Hebrews says that to please God we must have faith.

But this faith is not the kind of artificial faith that is produced by working very hard with our mind to believe something not willingly embraced with our heart. That is serving the Law with our mind – trying to lead ourselves with our mind instead of our heart.

Real faith is spontaneous and is a result of a growing intimacy of the heart and spirit with the heart and Spirit of God. Faith is simply the natural trust that happens inside of anyone toward someone they have come to know well enough to realize they are worthy of trust. The most obvious exhibition of real, mature faith is found in Revelation chapter 5, one of the glorious worship services indulged in by everyone who sees the real worth of Jesus and responds to the attractions of His love for us.

I choose today to reorient my focus on what is the leader in my makeup. I want to pay much more attention to the condition of my spirit and stay in connection with God's Spirit while containing my intellect to its proper role as supporting advisor. I want to learn by experience what it means to live from my heart with my spirit being led by the Spirit of God. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'” (Romans 8:14-15)

(next in series)

Saturday, October 06, 2007

According to the Spirit - Part 1

I started out this morning looking for what it means to set my mind on the spirit mentioned so many times in Romans 8. As I scanned down through the verses picking up clues and bits of information to form a description, I came across the very popular text of Romans 8:28. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” I remembered some people's comments about some of the words not being in the original so I decided to look back at the Greek and see what insights I might find there.

I was startled when I carefully examined the Greek words behind this text and saw a very different picture of what it says here. Here is an alternative wording of this verse from what I find in the definitions of the Greek words from Strong's.

But we perceive that all (things, people, the whole gamut daily) cooperate (mysteriously) at a point in time – because of the totally selfless love (agapao) of God – for the benefit of those who accept the invitation to focus their mind on the Spirit by exposing themselves before God (like the shewbread in the sanctuary).

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Friday, October 05, 2007

Disposition and spirit

I quote today's reading from My Utmost here because it applies so perfectly to what I am studying, particularly the first few verses of Romans 8. It helps to answer the question I have been flushing out of what God did that the Law could not do. It also provides one of the best definitions of sin that I have heard.

Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12.

The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin; but that the disposition of sin, viz., my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race by one man, and that another Man took on Him the sin of the human race and put it away (Heb. 9:26)—an infinitely profounder revelation. The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of selfrealization—I am my own god. This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself. When Our Lord faced men with all the forces of evil in them, and men who were clean living and moral and upright, He did not pay any attention to the moral degradation of the one or to the moral attainment of the other; He looked at something we do not see, viz., the disposition.

Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption. In the Cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not that I am born with a heredity of sin, but if when I realize Jesus Christ came to deliver me from it, I refuse to let Him do so, from that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “And this is the judgment” (the critical moment) “that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light.”

Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935, S. October 5

This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality... He did not pay any attention to the moral degradation of the one or to the moral attainment of the other; He looked at something we do not see, viz., the disposition.” This is a very good way to describe the two groups of people I see addressed in Romans. The first group displaying moral degradation is presented in Romans 1 and again primarily I think in Romans 6. The second group who focus on moral attainments are found in Romans 2 and primarily again in Romans 7. The commonality between both classes of people is the root problem of the condition of their spirit, what Chambers describes as the disposition.

This also helps me understand more clearly the issue of inherited sin that makes so many people very upset and mad at God. When we think of sin as primarily external oriented bad things we do that make us guilty before a Judge, then we get a strong reaction of feeling like a victim of unfairness by the Judge and we resent God's right to judge us.

But when we come to realize that the deeper issue of sin is our disposition that demands our rights for ourselves and our right to self-actualization independent of our Creator, then the issue of sin takes on a whole new color. In fact, it may not even appear as sin anymore but may seem to be a very legitimate attitude or belief.

Our obsession with rights may have caused us to embrace within ourselves the very core of the sin problem without our even realizing it, which in turn causes a great deal of confusion when trying to understand what God wants to do for us in salvation. Based on our country's Constitution document, many of us believe that our rights are inherent in just being a human being, but that is not really the case. It is true that our legitimate, God-given rights supersede the interference of any government or group of people trying to dictate and micromanage our lives. Governments can only give privileges, not rights. Rights must be respected by others but cannot be endowed on us by them.

But our relation to God is quite different than our relation to government by other humans. Our “rights” as human beings in relation to each other are really privileges when viewed in relation to God. And while rights cannot be granted, but only respected by other humans, they cannot be viewed in the same way when we think about our relationship with the One who created us.

The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of selfrealization—I am my own god. This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself.” Self-fulfillment, actualization, realization are all very popular ideas today that run cross-wise to the design we were originally created to live by. Salvation places us “in Christ Jesus” where we are not self-actualized or realized but find our highest joy and fulfillment in realizing His character and beauty, love and power flowing through us while lost in complete self-forgetful focus on others.

Many religious people rightly denounce the inroads of popular philosophy about self-actualization. But they fail to realize that in their attempts to achieve righteousness themselves they have simply replaced one symptom of sin for another; because sin, at its core, is not in the external manifestations but is a condition of the heart and the spirit causing us to focus on ourselves while the rest of the universe lives in the condition of selfless, life-giving attention on others. The life of all creation is the necessary circulation of the life-giving blood of selfless love – receiving to give. When we get caught in the trap of focusing more on our selves than in being open channels to pass through grace from God then we begin to stagnate and become poisoned with the lies of sin.

I believe that Oswald Chambers and Paul are saying the same thing. The disposition inside of us, the condition of our spirit, is what we need to pay most attention to. When we realize that we are born with the natural problem of idol worship – the craving to be our own god and run our own life apart from God – then we can recognize more clearly that the real problem is inherent in our natural disposition of selfishness. This is the deepest place inside of us that must be transformed by God's grace for us to enjoy the Redemption provided for us in Christ.

Romans 8 is Paul's description of the condition of connecting our spirit to be led by God's Spirit so that we can become reoriented to live the selfless, other-focused life we were designed to live and enjoy the satisfaction and fulfillment that our hearts deeply crave. How do we get into that relationship with God? By surrendering the very core of the problem to Him – our right to ourself.

While I do not believe I should surrender my God-given rights to be controlled or manipulated by other humans, at the same time I cannot find success and fulfillment by demanding my rights. My only hope is to surrender my rights back to the One who gave them to me to begin with, trusting that He will look after me and care for me while at the same time setting healthy boundaries in my relationships with others.

But I can only live in this kind of relationship with Him if I see enough of His goodness to be able to trust Him with my right to myself. The worse my picture of God is twisted and distorted by the lies of the enemy the more difficult it is for me to rest in His love and entrust Him with the management of my life. Because of this I have found it most helpful to fill my mind with more and more clear truth about what God is really like. As I do this the faith and trust awaken naturally and I don't have to force myself to trust Him. The more I see His trustworthiness the more naturally my faith flows from a heart drawn to His genuine love for me.

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Familiar Religion

I am looking again even closer at the first part of Romans 8 and I am seeing something more familiar than I expected emerging. I went through the verses and pulled out the key words and phrases connected with references to the flesh and was surprised at the picture they produced when assembled together. Every one of them are familiar exhortations heard in nearly every church in the land and made up the main body of instructions that I remember hearing most of my growing up years. These are the main methods and techniques developed by religious people and passed on generation to generation that have become our legacy of tradition. Paul identifies this line of reasoning and motivation for getting right with God as a religion of the flesh.

There are a number of elements brought into these verses from points of emphasis by religious flesh. But it is shown that these goals cannot be accomplished by a religion of the flesh.

  • Fulfilling the requirements of the Law – righteousness – obedience to God's rules.

  • Accomplish this by firmly setting your mind to it – determination.

  • Attaining to eternal life – getting life for ourselves.

  • Becoming like God – godliness.

  • Subjecting ones self to the Law of God – just surrender to obedience.

  • Pleasing God (by implication but unarticulated – appeasing God).

  • Belonging to God, His chosen people (or maybe God being on our side).

  • Living under a sense of obligation to keeping the requirements of the Law through hard work (deeds). This could include a sense of obligation for “speaking in tongues”, getting the “spirit”, or any number of other denominational preferences and demands.

  • This is the spirit of slavery motivated by fear.

I now see a direct connection between this passage and Romans 2:17-29 where he describes explicitly the kind of religious thinking that he labels as “according to the flesh”. It might be easy to think this doesn't apply to us since he started out with the name “Jew”, but that is not going to cut it. Even his reference to circumcision can sometimes become a distraction, but again that is only the particular issue that is a symptom of a deeper human problem in our view of trying to get right with God. These passages apply just as strongly today to our familiar routines and forms of religion just as much as it applied to Christian Jews in Paul's day. All we need to do is replace a few words that are unique to their time and tradition with our own favorite issues and doctrines and we will find that this book fits our situation all too well. The underlying principles in the heart and mind have not changed at all.

It is becoming apparent that the more I look at these passage the more questions I come up with. I guess its a good thing I am not on a hard time schedule with any deadlines to meet. That allows me to continue to explore for answers to these questions even though that process produces even more questions. I find that asking questions is a wonderful form of freedom that maybe I have not long indulged in because of the atmosphere of suppression usually surrounding religion. Typically religious people prefer to simply tell others what to think and believe instead of encouraging questions. But I believe that real spirituality thrives on questions, at least if the spirit of the questioner is honestly seeking for truth and not just using questions as a smokescreen for animosity.

Questions in the spirit realm are like hunger in the physical body. The more intense and focused our hunger is the more tasty food becomes when the hunger finds its desire. The same is true in emotional things and I suspect in every area of life. If we do not feel our need (question) we do not appreciate the fulfillment supplied for that need.

One of the biggest problems with typical evangelism is that we are most often trying to present “answers” to questions that most people are not asking. We are trying to supply something for which there is no hunger so we find a great deal of resistance to our force-feeding techniques. Any surprise there? I find the same principle in methods used to study the Bible. Nearly every form of “Bible study” that I have ever seen is generally a regurgitation of someone else's beliefs imposed over a string of proof texts and pre-arranged answers to which the studier is expected to conform. This is simply becoming a clone of another person's thinking and disengaging our own faculties for stimulating use of our own brains. It was never God's design for us and I am continually baffled as to why religious people continue to use this kind of methods. The very term “Bible study” or “prayer meeting” carried an immediate sense of heaviness and dread for me for most of my life whenever I heard it suggested. It was not until I began getting involved in a dynamic group using inductive-style thinking for study did I get really excited about the Bible and have enjoyed it increasingly ever since.

Here are a few more questions that I am wondering about as I look at this passage. I don't have time right now to explore them, but I like to at least get them out into the light so I can ponder them and listen for any suggestions that the Spirit may bring to my mind throughout the day.

8 why would a person want to please God? Not appease God. For a growing, bonded relationship.

9 He does not belong to Him. It is not clear who each of the pronouns belongs to. It may work equally well either way.

10 the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Not our righteousness – that is the deeds of the flesh in verse 13. Our spirit comes alive because of His righteousness. How/why is that?

Adam and Eve were tempted to live according to the flesh instead of the spirit.

Several references to dwelling. Goes back to John 15 – abide.

11 He who raised Jesus... will give life to your mortal bodies. Notice it is not Jesus who is doing this. And also notice that Paul says mortal bodies as opposed to flesh. What is the difference?

13 ...by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds... Notice that this activity is done by the spirit – in the spirit realm, not something the flesh can do. Also note that what is put to death here is deeds. This brings up the idea of any dependence on deeds of the Law by which to change God's mind about us.

14, 15 Spirit of God is opposite the spirit of slavery. Could it be that in 6:16 the second kind of slavery mentioned is legalism resulting in legalistic righteousness? Not according to 19 & 22. In 8:15 he moves the analogy up a step to go from a slave mentality in chapter 6 to adoption and a spirit of loving a kind and generous parent.

16 The Spirit testifies with our spirit... The more synchronized we get with God the more His Spirit reinforces the truths we are discovering and internalizing.

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