Predestination

I came across an article recently by William Lane Craig presenting the idea of Molinism which I found interesting. Basically, Molinism is the idea that given all the possible realities that might have existed if various choices and circumstances had been put into place and set into motion with man's free-will in full operation, God examined all these and chose the best one to be the actual reality.

I think Molinism is a nice way to approach the idea of how God might have decided to make things the way they are, but still doesn't address what I have always seen as the most pressing issue which is the relationship of God's and man's responsibility to choice. If God is sovereign or does any kind of predestination at all on what men will choose which the Bible clearly indicates that he does (even if he chooses a particular set of choices that I might have chosen to be the ones that I actually choose as Molinism indicates) then isn't God really the one doing the choosing and not man? How can we escape the idea of being robotic drones with only an illusion of choice in our lives?

After thinking about this I came up with a way of understanding simultaneous predestination and free-will that I think makes sense. I believe to comprehend predestination, free-will and who the Bible says God is in relation to this we must rid ourselves of the idea of singular ownership of choice. God and man have shared ownership of choice with moral statuses attributed independently not to the choice, but to the choosers. So, a choice exists that was made by person X and is owned by person X as well as by God. There is no moral status that can be attributed to the choice in and of itself, but rather a moral status regarding the choice is attributed to the choosers of it. The moral status attributed to God is always good, but the one attributed to the person is sometimes good and sometimes evil. God's act of ordaining the choice does not mean the person loses responsibility for the moral status attributed to him or her in relation to it. This is precisely because of the existence of a dual ownership of the choice. While the choice can be attributed to two owners the moral status of the owners is in relation to their motives for the choice. This idea of dual ownership of choice is made possible because of two different perspectives of reality that are involved here.

God and man have different perceptions of reality and in a sense can be said to live in two different realities, although I think more accurately we might say that their is one reality which God has a perfect ultimate and infinite perception of and which we only have a limited perception of. From now on however, I will refer to God's reality meaning his unique infinitely perfect and all-knowing perspective of it and our reality as man's limited view of it. Though we can come to somewhat of an understanding regarding the shape of God's reality we can never actually enter into it ourselves. One of the things that defines God's reality as it is, is his ability to perceive the particulars of fates which he has predestined for men and all things. Though we in our human reality can understand that he knows these particulars, we can never ourselves know them until they have actually occurred for us. It is precisely our lack of knowledge that enables the reality we live in to have the shape that it has. So, in other words the existence of free-will for us is dependent on our lack of knowledge regarding the particulars of our ultimate fate.

I can become consumed with the idea that all actions are futile, because of a false perception that I understand my fate. However, because I don't know my fate I can pray for God to change some circumstance I see in the world or in my life and then in my reality I can perceive God answering that prayer as though my original perception of the fate of this circumstance had been altered, however in God's reality the overall fate of that situation remained the same from beginning to end outside of time despite my lack of knowledge concerning the particulars of it. It is this lack of knowledge in us that makes our free-will possible. Granted we have a perception of free-will, but this perception is more than just a simpleton's deception it is an actual inescapable reality for us that God intended for us to live in. We know this because we are told that we will be held responsible for the choices we make according to this perception of free-will that we have and live in. If God is solely responsible for choices we make then punishing or rewarding us for them contradicts the justice attributed to him in the Bible. Christ sacrificed himself for the world. God wouldn't ordain this to happen for something that is a mere illusion. Clearly, our choices are real and the consequences for our choices are very real. So, the moral status attributed to us and judgement due us because of it in regards to the choices we've made are dependent and directly related to our motives and perception in the reality we live in made possible by our lack of knowledge regarding the particulars of fate. God is responsible for our choices in relation to his reality and motives which are ultimately good. Nothing I do can change what God has fated to happen to me. My choices in life are decided by God in one sense and by me in another. One choice, with two choosers. Although it may be difficult to see immediately how a clearly evil choice that I choose to make could ever have been chosen by God we know that all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Our ability to judge the over-all goodness or evilness of a choice especially with respect to God in his infinite all-knowing perspective from our own limited one is clearly prone to the possibility of error.) So, we have individual choices with two choosers in relation to them.

There is a danger in thinking about predestination that we will begin to believe it does not matter what you or I do because it is fated. If I knew precisely what my fate was then I would agree any attempts to circumvent it would be futile, but I don't. The fact that it exists as disconcerting as that may sometimes seem is not enough to bring about the loss of my free-will to me in my reality because I don't know the particulars of what that fate actually is. The moment I know that I know the particulars of my destiny regarding something, any choice I have in that matter is forfeit. It is important I think to realize that there are some elements of our destiny that we do know by faith and therefore have lost choice in. But this is a good thing. For example, I know by faith that when I accepted Christ in baptism and chose him to be my Lord and Saviour that my fate as one of God's elect was sealed and my choices no longer affect this matter with one condition. The condition exists because this is true only as long as my choices in life don't lead me to a loss of my foundational faith that is saving me. Notice that when my belief is completely lost, my knowledge of my fate of salvation is freed and in effect my fate of salvation may never have really existed in the first place, but only God in his reality can know the truth regarding that.

Worship

This morning I began to sing a hymn. I really don't sing to myself very often, but as I did this morning I realized I meant what I was saying. I remembered the verse that says his Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are his children and as I worshiped God in song I realized this is how Christians commune with the Spirit of God. I also realized that before I was worshiping the Lord I had almost subconscious troubled feelings. If we live in the Spirit and walk in step with the Spirit, the Kingdom of God is now for us as Christians and we can experience the fruits of his Spirit now. This is how we should live daily. So, my point here is we never have to be worried, or anxious, or afraid because of the Spirit of God living in us. Worship helps us connect with God and be able to live constantly with the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. Worship is an expression of faith. It is faith put into action. The action may not be as great as we might imagine some acts of faith, but it is possibly the most important act of faith we should make. I say it is an action because I not only intelectually affirm a theological idea in my mind, but I profess it aloud and when I do this in song I can express precisely how I feel about my statements. Worship in song is not the only kind of worship, but I've found it to be an incredibly bonding one. Eph. 5:19 says "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord" Whatever music you make to God it should be sincere and from your heart. The reason I say worship is possibly the most important act of faith is because it is something I am realizing I should be doing every day and even every moment if possible. (Remember the verse that says pray continually.) It not only is a way to express love to my savior, but it also affirms my faith in His love and solidifies/strengthens my bond with God. I know we can worship without singing and I believe that is important too. If I speak a psalm or hymn or Bible verse of encouragement in faith I am worshiping. Whenever we speak something whether good or bad it has great power over our own perception and the perception of others around us. (Remember the verse that says do everything without complaining or arguing.) This is because it directs the focus of those who listen. Focus is simply attention or in more general terms putting your eyes on something. Have you ever noticed if you are driving and you start looking at something on the side of the road sometimes it is really hard to not start driving off the road towards what you are looking at! This is because we naturally start following what we focus on. Someone said, you become like what you worship. This is very true. Take a look at people who idolize skate boarders, certain kinds of rock stars or people in a club that they want to be a member of. Appearances of these people change and their minds are quite frequently on becoming more like what they are focusing on all the time. Their characteristics sometimes even subconsciously become like those of the ones they idolize. The awesome thing about becoming more like Christ is that it is more fulfilling than any drug, more satisfying than any vice and it is in fact precisely what God planned for us when he created us. It's side effects are all good things unlike things of the world that we try to satisfy ourselves with sometimes. Being like Christ, knowing him and living in him is what we were created for. Our lives will continually be void and we will always feel as though some huge gaping invisible whole is secretly in us somewhere until we find him and live in his Spirt. He completes us. Worship helps us solidify our bond with him.

"It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men." --C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms

Purpose

My next door neighbor passed away last week. He would come into my house and help us fix things. We had him and his wife over for dinner once. I've only had a few limited experiences with death, but when I do it always makes me stop and think about life. I remember writing a poem called "The Blur of Life" when I was in high school. It was after I got home from riding on the bus one day and it was about being on a train and watching all the scenery go by being like watching events go by in life. Often times I tend to feel like an observer riding on a one way train that doesn't stop and eventually though it seems far off is destined to roll off the edge of a cliff. A lot of times I have this underlying urge even passion that I'm supposed to do something meet some purpose yet I don't know what and so I sit there on my train car looking out the window. Sometimes I feel guilty because I want to change the world, but I'm not doing it and then someone says you can't change the world but only the things around you that you encounter in your daily life. I thought wow that's a great thought. It helps me relax a bit realizing I'm not responsible for the whole world, but I only need to try and influence those in my immediate circle that I come into contact with. Then I sit back in my train car chair more relaxed and continue to stare out the window. My point here is that it's really easy to do a whole lot of nothing. It's even possible to start to feel okay about it, sort of... There was a book that came out not long ago called "The Purpose Driven Life" that was very popular for a while. It was written to answer a deep question in the hearts of all men and women. Why am I really here? What is this existence, this life, really for? I mean it seems so futile like somebody put me in a rat race to see what I would do in it, but it's a timed race and before long its game over. A timed deadline is a great motivator. Many games have time limits. Have you ever played a game where you weren't perfectly sure what the rules were or how you could win, but there was most definitely a time limit? This is how one can look at life at times. Sometimes I feel like people get so apauled at death and murder and wars, yet sit idly by hardly giving it a thought as who knows how many millions of people inevitably die each day. Its like the whole world has a terminal illness and no one can live more than 80 to 100 years, yet people just accept it and go on. But then, what else can you do... Well, for starters you can devote what little time you have to figuring out why you're here and what if anything you should spend the time you have doing. Because one thing is for sure... death is coming. People look to something classified as "religion" to answer questions like these. Some people have one idea of what the answers are and others have totally different ideas. This is called faith. Some look at faith and its effects from a scientific approach... i.e. "I'll accept only what I see or can observe and classify scientifically and is commonly accepted in the scientific community" and others look at it from an anti-scientific approach... i.e. focus on one hand clapping, when you understand that, then you will reach nirvana or whatever. Belief is a powerful powerful force. It's like a dark room full of people with various paths they can walk on that have steep drop offs. You grope around trying to find which path to take, but only the one you believe in will you follow. Belief inspires action. Just because one believes in something however, doesn't mean it is the truth. If one is following the path they believe in and it fails them and they fall. It alters their faith in some way if they survive it. If it happens to alter their faith enough they may choose to trust in an entirely different path or maybe to not trust any paths at all. How can one in this situation know how to trust anything? If the person running the dark maze were to turn on all the lights everyone would trust in themselves walk out of the maze and it would be over. But what if the purpose of the maze is to teach the people not to trust in themselves, but rather in the one running the maze. In the Bible God promised Abraham a son which is something he desparately wanted. He promised him a myriad of descendents which was highly prized in that time. Yet God waited until Abraham was very old and Abraham as well as his wife Sarah had some doubts at times, but finally gave them a son. Then in their great joyous moment of receiving their long awaited child, God asks Abraham to sacrifice him! He asks him to kill his son. Why in the world did God do this? To teach the person in the dark dark maze to trust in the person running it. Abraham did trust God and was ready to sacrifice his beloved son reasoning that maybe God would raise him from the dead. The point is not that Abraham understood how it would work out, but rather that he trusted God was able to do all things and could work it out ultimately for Abraham's benefit. He trusted that God had his best interests at heart. When Goliath was belittling the armies of Israel David wanted to face him. His brothers and others mocked him. When he ran to face Goliath a massive giant with a huge sword and helmet and shield and he with only five small stones and a sling the point was not that David thought he was more powerful than Goliath, but rather that he knew he came against Goliath in the authority of the living God. His belief was powerful and his faith moved him to action. He trusted in the one running the maze. Not that he understood or knew the way out, but that he knew the one who did and had a relationship with Him. I say all this to say that I believe the purpose of our lives is to learn to trust the one running the maze. To grow in our strength of belief. To learn how to believe well. David believed well. Abraham believed well. The book of Hebrews teaches us that the most dangerous sin is unbelief. All other sins are offshoots of unbelief. Because when we believe in the power of Christ and the freedom we have in him from sin the sins can fall away.
I can choose to believe in many things and even change those beliefs over time, but in reading the Bible I've seen a picture of faith. I've seen a picture of courageous men putting it all on the line to stand on something they believe in, in the face of ridicule and even seemingly impossible odds and yet make it through victoriously... and it was beautiful to me. It is inspiring, beautiful and has powerful meaning that resonates deep in my soul like a low bass note resonates in a water pipe. It makes me think this is what life is for. To trust deeply in the maker and find that he is trustworthy despite all ridicule. To live courageously and be inspired to action through my faith in Him and find that he is worthy of my trust. This is my life-purpose.

Has it ever occurred to you that almost all movies feature some good courageous hero facing impossible odds, yet somehow triumphing over evil. Many feature a savior and some emphasize the faith of the hero which moved him to action. People throughout time and in our culture today have resonated with ideas presented in the Bible. The Heavens declare His glory. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I've watched the Bethlehem Star movie (get it from http://www.bethlehemstar.net/) recently and it amazes me that the planets and stars were set in motion before time to align at just the right position to mark the coming of our savior Jesus Christ and that we can verify it today with software! :) There are many subtle indicators and many not so subtle ones, but the point is God does not want us to trust in ourselves or our own ability to see, but rather in Him. Believe well.

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.

Spiritual Ninjas

When I was young my sister and I would often fight. I knew just what to do, to make her get irritated. If I got perturbed with her I would initiate it. Sometimes you hear this referred to as knowing how to push your buttons. I've realized in life we are in a constant war with our enemy the devil and other spiritual forces. It's not much fun to think about, but if we don't the danger is greater. Our enemy slowly carefully and strategically lives to push our buttons. Sometimes a gnat or fly will come and buzz in my ear. Generally, I shew it away with my hand and hope it doesn't come back. After a while I forget about it, but then it returns. If I leave it undealt with and just keep shewing it each time it comes. My anger rises exponentially each time! The solution is generally for me to put my mind to seeking out the location of the fly and then swatting it. Or if all else fails to just leave the room and go somewhere else. When you notice yourself getting angry mentally step back and examine why. Seek out the irritation and try to squash it flat before you errupt with anger. If all else fails get yourself away from the source of irritation. Something Carl Medley mentioned in one of his men's sessions I attended recently was that when we find ourselves offended and angry or on the verge of a sin we should say to ourselves, "something is wrong with my identity". You see we died to sin, we no longer live... "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20 We died. In our flesh we are dead. But in our spirit we are alive. If you walk up to a corpse in the morgue and punch it in the face does it get offended? Does it get angry and curse or strike back at you in anger? No, it's dead. Neither should we if we are truly dead in our flesh. Dead men don't get offeneded. (This is another tidbit of wisdom from Carl.) When the Holy Spirit lives in me and when I am walking in that Spirit it is unnatural for me to respond as I would when following after the flesh. So, I am struck by the fact that we are constantly under assault. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 This seems to be my biggest problem. I am inconsistent in being alert. The devil left Jesus to come back and tempt him at an opportune time. Our enemy searches for points in time when our guards are down. He looks for points when we have grown weary because of pressures and may be more susceptible or vulnerable to a pushing of one of our buttons so to speak. He tempts me to not write on this blog, to not think about God each day, to not pray or read the Word and at the time my failure to do one of these things seems minor, but their cumulative effects are devastating. I must have a habit developed of actively focusing my mind on God daily. I must also practice and become accomplished in being aware of His presence in all things constantly. This is a skill to be developed that I believe is a gift from the Holy Spirit. There is a funny thing about gifts from God. It seems you aren't really able to receive them until you really want them. Preparing ourselves for defense and even offense against our enemy is no different than training in Taekwendo or some other martial art. We are called to be spiritual ninjas. This is not by our own strength but by the strength of the One living in us. I really liked the movie called the Matrix, because it has so many spiritual parallels. The second and third movies kind of dropped the ball in my opinion, but the first one is worth seeing. It reminds me of Pilgrim's Progress in many ways although not quite as obvious. Neo begins his journey realizing there has to be something more to life. This is not unlike a non-Christian searching for meaning. Then someone external to his world seeks him out because they believe in him. God chose us in a similar way. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. (Heb 12:2) He has a new name, Neo, symbolic of his liberated self. Mr. Anderson is the name of his enslaved self. In much the same way God is always giving people new names in the Bible when they make a transition. Later on in the movie Neo meets with an "Oracle" and he speaks with Morpheus about believing in fate he struggles with the idea of whether he is in control of his own destiny or not. The answer seems to be yes and no. The Oracle new just what to say to help him along his journey and ultimately it seems she knew his destiny. Did he break the vase or did she make him break the vase. Christians struggle with this same paradoxical conundrum in trying to comprehend the predestination and the free will that God has given us simultaneously. All through the movie he tries to determine if he is the "One". Now, I know you could see this as though the "One" is symbolic of Christ, but I like to look at this another way. He is the "first one" to really, truly wake up from the matrix and realize who he is (Just as Christians wake up and realize who they are in Christ). Granted others are awake, but he realizes the power he has from another realm like none other. I'm not claiming there are perfect parallels, but there are many cool symbolisms we can draw from this. The situation of Neo going to the Oracle because he wants her to tell him who he is resembles our own struggles with identity. The answer to that question tempers our entire lives. We will never be anything more than who we believe we are. This also reminds me of how believers begin to doubt themselves and if they are really who God says they are. Morpheus is symbolic of God to me in that he never stopped believing in Neo and who he believed Neo was. The Oracle told Neo he was waiting for something. Many times we as Christians have immense and incredible authority over our enemy through Christ, but we don't believe who God says we are. Or if we do, we feel like we have to grow into it or something. We are waiting for something. The truth is we are already seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6) We are more than conquerers through him who loved us. (Rom. 8:37) "You know that road Neo, you know where it leads." Trinity encourages Neo to long for a new life, just as in Christ we have a new life. Another compelling part of the movie is when Neo is in a sparring room with Morpheus. Morpheus is encouraging him to see beyond the physical. All his power and strength and speed were predominantly grounded in another realm. In much the same way, all of ours is grounded in another realm. It is grounded in Christ and the Spirit in the Spiritual realm. A famous line from a small boy to Neo is, "Do not try to bend the spoon, that is impossible. But rather try to realize there is no spoon." In much the same way many times Christians try to "be good" or just focus really hard on getting better and not sinning to avoid condemnation from God. When really we should simply realize there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ and the bending of our behavior that takes place is rooted in another realm. Every miraculous power Neo had available to him was rooted in another realm, just as every miraculous power aka gift given to us from God is rooted in another realm. If we walk by the spirit we live in this spiritual realm and not in the world. Then toward the end of the movie Neo dies physically when trying to stand up to his enemy... and then he resurrects rooted in an entirely different realm awakened by love (a kiss from Trinity) just as we as Christians are beckoned and called to and ultimately awakened as new creations by the love of the Holy Trinity in our lives. He is dead in a way to the way of thinking and the life he once lived and alive in another way, more alive than he's ever been before. This is what it is like for Christians when they are baptized and then become a new creation. They die to the flesh and are raised with Christ in the Spirit. Neo isn't really the savior in this movie, he's the saved and his mission is to liberate all the other human beings in the world just as he has been liberated. He is symbolic of a Christian who has become a new creation in Christ Jesus. I feel like the most powerful assault our enemy can throw at us as Christians is the same as one Captain Picard sent to the Borg in a Star Trek episode... sleep. (If you're a Star Trek fan, maybe you'll remember that one. :) This is the same thing that happens to Prince Rillian in the Silver Chair... it's as though he's asleep to who he is during the day. Our enemy distracts us with daily activities and we lose sight of who we are. We must learn how to live as who we are in Christ throughout all the daily activities we face. And when a temptation comes to us, which will feel like our own idea or thought, that we might enjoy ourselves more if we did something in a way contrary to the spirit, we must step back and ask ourselves who are we? Is that who we are? Are we one that walks according to that nature that pleases itself and ultimately results in death, or are we one that walks according to the Spirit. John 8:32 (You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.) We will never find the power to conquer the temptation of the flesh in our own strength... for that is like trying to bend a spoon with your mind, but rather we must realize there is no condemnation for us, we are already seated in heavenly realms with Christ Jesus, we are not of this world, our home is in another place ... We are more than conquerers through him who loved us. Know it... Be it... Live it.

Connect with God

I've found that usually when I get an idea for a habit and try to start it things will go great for a while, but eventually it stops. They say you have to repeat something X times (21 days?) before it becomes an official habit. I'm not sure what that means. I guess just that you've officially developed a tendency or familiarity with doing it. I think some things always take self-discipline to make yourself do though, habit or not. One habit I am hoping to develop is to write on this blog every day if I can. It seems to me that it helps when I express myself for me to think about things. I've noticed sometimes when I tell people things I really just want to tell myself, but hearing myself tell someone else makes the ideas sink in better for me. Another habit I've tried to acquire, but has proven difficult is to read the Bible every day. I don't want to just read the words though, I want them to read me. I want to meditate on each verse and hear what God wants to say. (The Word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword.) God is always communicating in different ways if we keep our eyes, ears and hearts open. Praying continually is what Paul says we should do. This is a constant conscious awareness of your communion with God through the Spirit. Sometimes when I try to focus on this I get a feeling that kicks back saying, "but wait, you can't be close to God... you're sinful... and dirty." I don't think it is wise to ever even remotely take the seriousness of sin lightly, but I know God never ever ever wants sin to be the reason for my separation from Him
ever again. Because when Christ died on the cross the temple curtain tore! Praise God! This symbolized that I don't have to be separated from Him ever again because of sin. "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (2 Cor. 3:16)

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:15-18)

Our enemy is sly and he assaults in subtle ways. His main goal for any human is one thing... disconnect from God. If we are separated we are cut off from strength, power, joy and life. Cut off from every good thing. It's important for it to sink in that God's acceptance of us has nothing to do with how much or little we have sinned, but rather it has everything to do with the condition of our heart. "Anyone who comes to me I will never turn away." "Seek him and you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart." "Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." "Their lips praise me, but their hearts are far from me."

Sometimes I feel distant from God even when I understand these things. In my life, I find that I think a lot about the power of my focus and the value of my attention... which is priceless. Sometimes I wonder about how I can hear from God without constantly looking at His Word. It's true His Word is vital and an awesome way that He uses to communicate with us, however the whole world is His. I think that when I'm on a walk and a leaf happens to fall to the ground in front of me... God dropped that leaf and was in control of my exposure to it. Every thing I see or hear can be a tool for God to communicate something to me if I keep my mind and heart open. I love God and want to commune with Him constantly. I want to know who I am and claim authority over deception. I believe that their are many things in life I don't understand. Their are many things about God I don't understand. But, I also have faith that He created me in my vast complexity and the universe and that he orchestrated the heavens and the laws that govern them. And, the most important things that I have faith in about God are that
He loves me, He is able to accomplish anything He wants, and that He is faithful.

Our God, is an awesome God, he reigns from Heaven above, With wisdom power and love our God is an awesome God. He is faithful... and He will rule, so bow before Him, and praise His name.... Our God is an awesome God.

I've also realized it's important to praise God. Just to sing verses to a praise song in your head from time to time not even out loud, help to focus your mind and tap into the communion or the "connect" with God that fuels our strength and joy in Him.

Walking in the Light

I studied Galatians this morning. It was early and still dark. I couldn't quite see the pages. I had to tilt the lamp towards me and move into the light to see. Then it occurred to me, the farther I am from the light the weaker my vision is. I am talking about my familiarity with the Word and the Spirit of God and how the farther I am from that the harder it is to see anything. To see that I even need it, to see hope, to see how to trust even when I don't understand because of the love that I see, know and experience in Him.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. That's what it says in Galatians 5:6. It doesn't say the only thing that counts is baptism or the 5 steps of salvation, but faith expressing itself through love. Not that those things aren't important, but when it all comes right down to it what matters is whether you have faith that is being expressed through love. That expression is a reflection of your heart. Faith and obedience are interconnected and not really seperable. True faith is expressed through corresponding action. False faith is when I say I believe something, but don't act like it. This is the kind of faith our enemy wants us to have. "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." Gal. 5:7-10 I realized from reading this verse that the voice of persuasion in my mind calling me to consider gratifying a desire of the sinful nature is real and may not always just be me. I find it interesting that though I have studied the Bible and been a Christian for most of my life and know many truths about how we have an enemy called the devil and other demonic forces striving to coax us to sin and how sin though it looks good really hurts and destroys in the end that I still find myself struggling with it. In verse 24 it says "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." Yet right after this in verse 25 it says "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." My first thought is if I have crucified the sinful nature how could I not keep in step with the Spirit? Does this mean I haven't and I don't belong to Christ? This sounds like reasoning my enemy would love me to buy into. He is the accuser. This goes back to the idea of identity again. When the devil accuses me or anyone my identity is called into question. I must be prepared to respond with an answer. When I am in step with the Spirit the passions and desires of the sinful nature are no where to be found in me. So here I am walking along in step with the Spirit and along comes the sly voice of a tempter that says... "you're alone". This is where it all begins. When I begin to believe this, usually its almost subconscious, I begin to sever relationship with the Spirit. When I begin to believe this I get out of step with the Spirit. When I am out of step with the Spirit all bets are off! My identity has slipped away from me and I begin walking according to the sinful nature. There is no middle ground. Either I'm walking with the Spirit or I'm walking according to the sinful nature. What the devil specializes in is trying to get people and especially Christians to walk according to the sinful nature without them realizing it. So, if I start going this wrong way do I suddenly no longer belong to Christ? No, only if I deliberately go on sinning to a point that my guilt and remorse for sin are gone do I endanger salvation. This comes straight from Heb. 10:26. In 1 John 2:1 we are told, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." Sin is deadly, addictive and serious, but if I stumble on my journey through life while I am attempting to keep in step with the Spirit, I have one who intercedes for me. However, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Gal. 6:7) If you continue to live in sin nonchalantly taking advantage of God's amazing grace you will reap what you sow... and be careful not to be one who fulfills Heb. 10:26. Yet if I walk in the Spirit, sin is of no danger to me. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55) "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him." (1 John 5:18) Why does it seem sometimes like this verse isn't true? Because we get out of step with the Spirit. We begin walking according to the sinful nature. The child of God walks according to the Spirit. That's who he (or she) is. That's his identity. If ever we lose sight of our identity, we lose who we are. Who we are is dependent upon who we know ourselves to be... by faith. So, my greatest fear now is that I will get out of step with the Spirit. Ah, but as a child of God we have so many verses that speak of our power in Christ Jesus that is able to keep us away from this fear and its threat. But these verses are weapons that we must come to know and love and weild when we are assaulted, when our identity is assaulted. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Tim 1:7) When we are in step with the Spirit there are so many verses that speak the promises of God which we have available to us to speak in authority over any accuser or assailant, which ultimately provide us with the means to remain in the Spirit. So, here I am and I have stumbled, what should I do now? Get up! Press on toward the goal. Do not fight like a man who beats the air, run in such a way as to win the prize. Wake up to the fact that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of this dark world. Do not be deceived into believing that your stumbling makes you even the slightest bit less precious to God. If you stop now all that Christ did for you is lost. Never give up. Become well versed and familiar with your weapons of war, the Word of God which is the Bible, and with your creator and lover of your soul which makes the whole struggle against sin in life and the pains we face worth it, also through reading the Word of God. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Cor. 4:17)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

Identity

I've been going to a series of classes led by Carl Medley for men. It has been really enlightening to me. One of the main themes we've been hitting on over and over again is the idea of identity. Everything in life hinges on it. Who do we perceive ourselves as? What do I identify with? Also important is what do I really believe? People say a lot of things when you ask them about their beliefs, but there is a big difference in what a person says they believe and what they actually do believe. The way you can see the difference is when your beliefs are actually put to the test, do you act according to what you say you believe or some other way? If you act some other way then this reveals the heart of what you really believe. Our beliefs and perception of identity are grounded in one concept which is faith. Another thing that I knew, but we have talked about is the power of the spoken word. The way I speak influences the way I believe and correlates with my perception of my identity. My spoken words can strengthen my beliefs or tear them down. Regardless of whether my words are true. Thoughts I think to myself in my mind are like this as well, but spoken words are thoughts put into action which is always more powerful. Even more powerful than this is when I act in ways that line up with the asserted truths according to the concepts behind the words I think and speak. (Aka. Faith put into action.) There is a saying a friend/mentor of mine used to say a lot when I was growing up. His name was Roc Moore. He said what your mind thinks on your body will seek to act out. This saying stuck with me because it is very true and powerful. Another word for this idea of conscious thought is focus. I am convinced that everything I am or have been or ever will be is connected to things I have focused on in the past and am focusing on now. My attentions define me. This is why it is so important that I learn to choose what thoughts I will or will not allow my mind to entertain. I believe this concept is generally foreign to most people in America's culture today. Our society is full of things begging for our attention. Television and other media are designed to appeal to our attentions. What is appealing however is not always beneficial. Back to this idea of identity. If I am in highschool and notice that all the "cool" kids are wearing green t-shirts and I want to identify myself as a cool kid, I will go and buy a green t-shirt and wear it. Why would I do this? Because I have a belief. I have a faith that if I imitate those that I perceive as cool if I act like they act that maybe hopefully I will become one myself. So, I buy the shirt and I play the part. My identity is a cool kid. Then someone sees me with an uncool person who is wearing a brown shirt and labels me as uncool. My identity has been attacked! I adjust my behavior to not associate with that person to protect my identity. When I act like this I am allowing my identity to be defined by what others think. Now suppose I say to myself, I already know I'm cool and I don't have to wear a green shirt or imitate those supposedly "cool" kids to prove this to anyone. I will just be myself, because that is enough. Then my identity is grounded in my personal faith of who I believe I am, rather than in what someone else says I am. The problem is though, that sometimes its hard to really know if I am cool or if I just want to be and so am telling myself that I am. In other words how can I really know who I am and walk in it regardless of what others say about me. This is directly related to my faith. If my faith is grounded in myself then it isn't very strong. But if my faith is grounded in something bigger than myself it can be more sturdy. The Bible makes some awesome claims about who a person is when they become a Christian. When they leave their old selves to become a new creation in Christ they take on a new identity. The Bible tells us about our new identity. If we beleive this and act according to it and speak according to it an impressive thing begins to happen. We see benefits being reaped from our beliefs and actions. There is a passage that says "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." This is powerful and true. Our knowledge of the truth is what enables us to act according to it. If I believe a lie then I will act according to what the lie asserts and I am therefore in bondage to its deception. The Bible tells us of our enemy the devil. He is labeled as the deceiver and the father of lies. Deception is the enemy's most powerful tool and in a way his only tool. Every assault is grounded in it some way or another. I asked the question is it ever presumptious for me to ask God for something in prayer and expect him to do it? What happens if God doesn't do something I asked him for? I discovered our one and only task in life is to learn to believe God, period. When I pray for something I pray in belief of the promises I see given to me in the Bible. Whether or not I receive what I asked for should not affect whether or not I will beleive Him again, but rather I should have already resolved that I will believe him back when I first became a Christian, back when I first became aware that he loves me and wants the best for me and is trustworthy. When Abraham was promised a son he didn't see it happen. His belief that God was trustworthy did not change because he didn't see it happen. His belief in God's goodness wasn't grounded or proportional to his understanding of how God fulfilled his promises or answered his prayers, but rather he simply believed God regardless of what he saw happening around him. God finally gave him a son and then told him to sacrifice the son! Abraham didn't fully understand how this could make sense, but he tried to understand and resolve to believe God regardless of what he saw or was asked to do. In the end God proved faithful. Life is about learning to believe God and to believe who we are in Christ. Life is about coming to know our identity and freedom in Christ and walking in it.