"This is what righteousness means as a gift. You are as righteous in the Father’s eyes as Jesus because you have been given His gift of righteousness, completely apart from the Law! And there is no possibility that the Law can come back over your life because Colossians 2:14 God CANCELED the Law and disarmed the powers and authorities at the Cross! So the devil can no longer accuse you because the law has gone. Now you are under grace and you are as close to the Father as Jesus is. In John 17 Jesus prayed, regarding all of us, “Father – may they be one just as We are one”. The Bible says in 1 John 4:17 “As He is, so are we in this world”. When I want to know what my relationship with the Father is like, I don’t look at me; I am finished with that inward looking stuff – if you spend all your time looking inwards, then you will get very depressed!"
Rob Rufus
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
what laws can you think of that "thou shall not do this and thou shall not do that or thou shall do this and thou shall do that or face the...CONSEQUENCES?"
you shall not speak against a corrupt leader or king because..he is god's anointed
you shall pay tribute to those who rule over you or you shall be excommunicated
you shall pay your tithe(define as MONEY) to those who propose themselves as the levites
you shall congregate in the temple and support its activities if your life depends on it
you shall not question authorities especially if the person is god's anointed.
you shall pray this way and not that way
from now onwards,you shall live in grace oh no...grace is not a law
grace fulfills the requirement of the laws?
does that sound double talk to you?
that's just the tip of the iceberg and the list is rather flexible and almost unending.
did god cancel CIVIL LAWS too?
you shall not comment anything that is not edifying or correct main stream theology.
Ok. My "mistake" in quoting scripture in THIS CONTEXT of an antisocial blog.
I don't know what your doctrine and theology really is, and you don't really know mine. And to unpack that would be time consuming and irrelevant to the nature of this blog (i.e. a solid unpacking of scripture with cross referencing etc is required for this, and i don't think there is a rational bridge to conduct an effective bible study here - my opinion!)
So here's some basic thoughts (because i begin to see the reality in Craigs comment of this being draining, and also the reality of there actually being a time to infact "wash one's hands and dust one's feet" on an issue).
Love has long seen the door on this debate, and frankly, if the best "trophy" up for grabs here is to win an argument, then I'm not interested, so after my SIMPLE statement below, that's (probably) it for me (and i'm very secure with that decision - no condemnation at all).
THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL (to me): It is by grace i am saved through faith, not by works lest man (I) should boast. (full stop - this creates a problem for you if you don't actually understand the context of your refence to James' statement on "Faith without works" - which i fully agree with and embrace as supporting.)
GRACE: I'm not quite sure what your frame of reference is when using the phrase "hocus pocus", but the 120 christians who were initially accused of being "drunk" due to their conduct after encountering the Holy Spirit in a very non-political encounter, might frown upon that statement (not to mention the millions since then...including me).
Does a christian who embraces grace now become numb to the law. No, Paul clearly teaches that the consequences of not keeping to the laws of the land hold true for all people (believers and unbeleivers - any other way is certainly koo-koo land stuff).
However, sinning and messing up in life (for a believer saved by grace through faith) will never impact the way God sees them, because He "judges" us with reference to our mediator who has cancelled all that accuses us.
I'm burning to elaborate, but i choose not to, because very simply put...That is why the gospel in fact means "good news" - scary to someone who loves trying to please God through self righteous efforts (that's not a sarcastic accusation to you, it's just a statement about legalists in general - please don't feel condemned).
Don't get me wrong, i love righteousness! I love living a life that reflects Christ, and i hate it when i stuff up. but God's grace reminds me who i am regardless (that is first and foremost God's son - His Spiritual "blood" relative through Christ. And not just His political ambassador sent on assignment).
I really hope you see that!
Yes, There are consequences to wrong decision (for all), but they are not GOD punishing us, nor are they eternal damnation for an unbeliever. Goodness me, how can one live in peace and freedom with that looming over their head...
thanks for the debate anon, but that's me :-)
"Yes, There are consequences to wrong decision (for all), but they are not GOD punishing us, nor are they eternal damnation for an unbeliever. Goodness me, how can one live in peace and freedom with that looming over their head..."
sorry, correction, i meant BELIEVER. An unbeliever IS destined to eternal damnation...
scary to someone who loves trying to please God through self righteous efforts (that's not a sarcastic accusation to you, it's just a statement about legalists in general - please don't feel condemned).
i know of no one alive "trying to please god" until someone says god wants you to please him and then the trouble starts because of unreasonable expectations usually imposed by those who claim to know him.
question is, why do you, like many, accept condemnation of your humanity?
why do you submit to their impossible values?
the bible says, you become slave to whom you submit.
the grace taught you don't change you. it just dresses you up. you are taking comfort in someone's clothing.
grace is coming out of their religious hold on you.
you accept your humanity and you accept responsibility in your life - not wash it away in some mystical blood.
Post a Comment