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Posts Tagged ‘law’

Predestination Quandaries

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2010| 3 Comments »

Back in the 80’s, I had several friends who were hardcore Calvinists and quite Reformed but they also attended the same “not-very-mainstream” charismatic Methodist church at the time. Somehow, even though Calvinism is counter to the Methodist Book of Discipline (doctrine), we all got along, more or less.

Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Just when I think I’m getting things, when I feel as though clarity is right around the corner, I’m confronted with this scripture and all the memories of arguments and disagreements and frustrations about the ultimate meaning of this passage and it’s sister in Ephesians 1:11. This is the stuff that theologians love to dissect.

Honestly, this one is right up there with pre and post-tribulation controversies. Blech!

Here’s my opinion, for whatever it’s worth. Some people are predestined for a particular purpose. I don’t believe this necessarily means predestined for a salvation/relationship which is available to everyone [I Timothy 2:1-4]. Since I enjoy the mysterious aspects of Christ’s way and its paradoxes, I believe there are those people who have a powerful anointing from God. Their path is set, from being called, to being justified, to being glorified [Romans 8:30]. They are the ones who become translucent and the Spirit shines through them. Some will reach this state in a human lifetime, others in that Christ-time eternal.

Is God sovereign? Yes. But God operates outside of time and to discuss God’s view, who will do what and when, seems ludicrous. There is no “when.” Only we, humans, in 3-D time are operating linearly and therefore, trying to figure out what’s next or why things happened in our past the way they did.

I think some people can be anointed for a season and others for a lifetime: God time.

Some years ago, I wrote a note to a woman at a retreat out of an anointing. Several years later, she happened to be at a meeting where I was speaking and came up to me, still carrying that worn-out note which had been life-changing for her. Predestined? I don’t know, but certainly, a type of glory. Christ broke through me to her because it was needful. To this day, I have no idea what was even written in that note.

How I respond to Christ will not change because of someone’s interpretation of this scripture and its codification in either Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion or John Wesleys’ Book of Discipline.

Jesus is firstborn, elder brother. He is showing the way as the rest of us are adopted into the family.

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More About Sin

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It takes me ten minutes to figure out one verse out of Romans 7. Sin, sin, sin . . . law, law, law. Does it matter anymore? Is sin just a “church” word?

Romans 7:7
What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another]. [Amplified]

I’m not sure how much more I can write about sin. I looked back over my other meditations and there are already quite a few, What is Sin?, and Sin is EOE, and if anyone wants to read other blogs on sin, have at it, there’s reading for a full day.

Personally, I think Paul beats this idea to death. I get it, honestly. Without the law, we wouldn’t know about sin. And without sin, we wouldn’t know that sin kills our body, mind & soul (eventually), and without knowing we die from our sin, we wouldn’t know we need grace (a savior) just to survive.

When Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” [Matthew 5:48], he actually meant that. It’s the only way to have an intimate relationship with God.

Oh, if anyone thinks I don’t mean that. Think again. That is the whole point. We can’t be perfect. Everyone breaks the law. We break the laws of God, we break the man-made laws of the land. We can’t even get the basics right: “love your neighbor as yourself.” If we did, there would be no orphans, no homelessness, no poverty, no starving people, no unemployment. There would be enough for everyone. The earth can supply our basic needs. But, human as we are, we want more than that. The evidence of our lawbreaking is everywhere.

Lawbreaking crosses cultures and religions. People who love Allah or Buddha or Brahma or Vishnu or Shiva (or any of the 300 million gods and ancestors that abound in this world), still break the laws, mandates, and guidelines of their faiths. There is always a cost. For some faiths, the cost is higher than another.

In reality, the Judeo-Christian faiths have the highest cost: death. It’s the reason for all those sacrifices. Jews only stopped sacrificing animals because they lost their holy place. But their law clearly states that blood sacrifice is a necessary substitute for breaking the law.

And the same is true for Christianity. The only difference is that the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ came to be that sacrifice for all. This is the point that Paul was driving home, again and again and again.

So now that Christ Jesus made this sacrifice, I am asked to confess our sins to him. My sins still require the covering of a blood sacrifice. This is weird stuff really. It all seems so archaic.

But what would our world look like without any of it? No laws, no rules, no order? Anarchy doesn’t work. Instead, some kind of order rises up, and usually, in these situations, it’s the biggest, strongest dog in the pack.

Who is my pack leader? Who is my Master? Who is my Dictator? Who is my Savior? Who is my King? Who is my sacrifice? Who indeed? I gave my answer thirty years ago, before I even understood the full impact of my decision. But I thank God that I can say I am a slave, by choice, to Christ Jesus. Handmaiden of the Lord.

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Inheritance by Grace

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Am I finally getting it? Every promise of God is possible because of grace. If my inheritance depended on my ability to obey the law, all would be lost. There is no sinless life and I am no different.

Romans 4:16a
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring . . .

Why does it all feel so difficult then? Why can’t I enjoy the full freedom that grace affords? Certainly I’m doing better in this aspect, but I still battle with the traditional culture of “shoulds” and “should haves” and “shouldn’t haves.” You know, you “shouldn’t” read that kind of book, you “should have” gone to church today, you “shouldn’t have” wine with dinner. But the court room cannot be in my own head or my perceptions of what “others” think. There is only one Judge that matters.

My historic difficulties have been wrapped around trying too hard: trying to be a “concept” Christian. I have tried to live the “idea” of being a Christian by doing “this” but not “that,” by embracing the unspoken rules of Christian behavior, by wearing a “believer’s” mask.

My focus this year must be on confession. Freedom and grace come through acts of confession. Authenticity of the heart begins with a transparent relationship with God. I long for true fellowship with other people of faith (koinonia), but I cannot expect to achieve this if I shutter myself from God, much less my family, friends, acquaintances, and fellow believers.

True obedience to the “law” comes from the heart and the heart is only prepared to obey when it is clear and whole. This holiness (wholeness) comes forth through the gate of confession.

Can I extend my understanding of grace to other people? Can I shed my tendency to judge others by pouring out the same oil of grace upon them that God is pouring out on me? Do I have the courage to invite them to remove their masks with the promise that I will not turn away? And what about the people who have grown tired of wearing a mask, who no longer have the energy to put one on anymore, who appear to be content in their darkness, can I be the light of grace for them?

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Presenting Justice

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Justice has gotten pretty fuzzy in our current culture. How often do the guilty go free if they simply have a good lawyer? How can we expect a modern world to connect to the concept of God’s justice and actually appreciate true mercy and atonement?

Romans 3:25
God presented him [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, . . . to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished . . .

Even in Bible times, the Apostle Paul spent a lot of his time convincing people that the long-awaited Messiah had arrived in Jesus of Nazareth. But the Jews had built an entire culture and way of life around the observance of “law” and a complex set of requirements to exact justice with various acts and sacrifices. Did they really believe the Messiah would come or had they put the idea so far into the future that such a reality was unimaginable?

In essence, no matter when the Messiah would appear, the prophecies promised that his arrival would wipe out the old ideology and replace every sacrifice, every payment, and every atoning act, with his own blood. It would change everything. Justice would have new meaning.

If they had accepted the “fact” of a Messiah then, their entire temple system would have been obliterated in a single day. Is there any wonder the priests and accompanying temple staff were resistant? Their livelihood, their routines, and all of their traditions were in danger of collapse if they accepted this man Jesus as the Messiah.

To accept the atoning act of the Messiah is to have faith in a new execution of justice. To appropriate the ultimate sacrifice/justice of the Messiah requires a person’s confession of sin and lawbreaking.

Unlike a court of law where the defendant is trying to convince everyone that he/she didn’t really “do it,” this court is strictly for those willing to say, “guilty as charged.” And through that personal confession of guilt, suddenly, there is mercy and grace in a way that is beyond our understanding.

This is justice without fear. This is justice married to mercy. This is justice covered by love. Thanks be to God for the Anointed One whose sacrifice made it possible for me to live under a banner of justification.

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Lawbreaker

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , on January 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Pretty simple stuff: you can’t know you’re breaking the law if you don’t know the law. Ha! Who are we kidding? We know most of the laws … even when they’re not posted or written down.

Romans 3:20
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

So many times, we think we can avoid “punishment” by saying, “we didn’t know.” But this is a flimsy excuse and doesn’t hold water even in traffic court. If you drive a car, you’re supposed to know or find out about the law… like the speed limit or right of way etc. It’s no different for a believer.

A believer either knows in her heart what is “right” or if she is unsure, she’d better get out there (or in there, i.e. the Word) and find out.

I work in a library and I think it’s pretty sad that we had to actually post a little sign next to each work station that says, “Please be considerate of others. Loud talking, rowdiness, and inappropriate language disrupts those around you.” Well, duh! And the reason we had to post it? So that we could point to the sign and say, “See! It’s library law that you must be considerate. And if you break that law, we can ask you to leave.”

But isn’t this is really a sham? Everyone knows that inappropriate behavior is unacceptable in public. But people simply choose to break this law because … well, why do people break the law?

You know: we break the law because we want to.

I break the law because I want to do what I want to do. I want to drive faster than the speed limit. I want to turn left or right, no matter what the sign says. I want to tweak the truth on taxes, etc.

And in the end, I’m a spiritual lawbreaker as well. I confess each day. I must.

In the Book of Common Prayer, the Litany of Penitence is read on Ash Wednesday. But truly, I need it every day. Without confession, I would be lost.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

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What is Sin?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 5:14
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

So, here was this man who had a fantastic miracle happen! After years and year on a mat, waiting for the waters to stir at the Pool of Bethsaida, Jesus came and healed him. Later, the man sees Jesus again. Was he astonished that Jesus admonished him? And what was his sin? We are not told what it was in this story.

But this story made me think about sin. Do we assume that because he was an invalid that he no longer sinned? Or was there a greater sin earlier in his life before he became bed-ridden? The implication here is that sin brings disasters into our lives.

For me, sin is a conscious act that I know is wrong or hurtful or law-breaking (either legal or divine). Sin begins in the mind and then is acted upon. There must be a decision or choice to sin. The problem comes when we know longer realize the acts are sinful. If we keep on sinning in a particular way, it becomes the norm. But there was a moment, a day, a time when the choice was new. It is important to find that kernel in our past.

There are always consequences to our thoughts and actions, whether good or bad. The consequences may not be immediate, but we are kidding ourselves if we don’t think they will happen. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. There is only one way to break this law and that is by grace that comes through the cross of Christ.

But before I can call on the work of Christ to block the reaping of my sins, I must face the reality of my sins. I must identify the sin. I must call it for what it is. And then I can I ask for the power of the cross to stand between me and those consequences.

Make me conscious today, O Lord my God, that I might lay the truth at your feet.

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