freedom?
When did I lose my vision? I lost sight of that for which my eyes have been opened.
Again
And the hardest part is getting back up on that beam again after a fall.
How do you succeed?
Don't think about the possibility of falling, but know what you will do to get back up again and finish strong.
"my dear friends I am writing this to you so that you do 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"
So there it is, plain and simple and extremely confusing. Here is an encouragement to live without sin. Then the next sentence explains the grace that is there to cover our sin - - so obviously God expects that we will sin. Just because he says be holy as I am holy does not mean that if we do not achieve this we are condemned. In some ways the church preaches this though. I have not been in many churches that are actively dealing with their sin, or even admit that they sin at all. And I have not been in many churches where people seem "alive." But those who are alive are those with a sober view of themselves and a view of God as the one who makes them great and for His purposes. It seems as if majority opinion trumps written down theology or church value statements. The culture of the church becomes the gospel; majority opinion is the message that gets sent; theology gets all twisted into our own crap and its no wonder people don't feel welcome, free or hopeful when they walk into the avg. church these days.
The pride of Christians seems to hide the message that we are all sinners and we that we will always be dealing with this fallen world until death do us part. I believe in following Jesus. This to me is what he asks of us. If I were to try to be Christian from what I have seen in my life of Christians, I would be attempting to lessen my desires, become more disciplined by self-will, and try to look really "good" to others. This is so repulsive!!!!! Why? Because it's not real! People who live like this are not really living! They are not recognizing the reality of their propensity toward self-centeredness, pride, and other destructive ways of living (or sin). I like to call it "denial." And if there is one way I hate living it is "In Denial." It is total hypocrisy! and it is ugly to God and others. (I believe this was part of the reason Jesus caused the fig tree without fruit to wither - it had nothing real to offer, it had no purpose other than to look good, and it was not reflecting the reality of how it was made! - Matt 18?) So Jesus did this once for all thing, meaning his death and resurrection were sufficient to cover over all sin should we take advantage of this. Then the question comes..should we sin more so that grace may increase? or can I just keep sinning because it's all covered? Then the question is, if someone you knew had to take on the consequence for every screw ups and you had to watch them suffer would you keep doing it? We learn this way. If something results in a negative consequence we generally stop doing it (however, often we choose to ignore or forget there were consequences so we can experience that same pleasure again - which is often the case with drugs and alcohol).
So what about sin where there seems to be no consequence? There seems to be nothing wrong with it? Chances are I'm am going to keep doing it until I experience some negative consequence. This is very true of me. I find my negative consequence is spiritual - I experience a sense of loss in my connection with God - I cannot stay in relationship with him and stay in this sin. When this becomes so painful, I give it up.
Another negative consequence is the recognition that this particular sin has an eternal negative consequence - well that's the easiest kind to deny right? I can't see it, there is no consequence. And then I listen to Johnny cash sing Revelation, all about the judgment and I realize that the person I claim to love is the one who suffered that consequence.
You know I am finally starting to see this gospel thing as normal, or relevant to who I am, my struggles and my desires. Ironically, Christian college left me in a state of real confusion, as did the serious relationship I had with a, well, we'll call him a "superChristian" (he was all rules, all self-willed discipline, and all judging of others).
It seems it took some rebellion on my part (not to justify) and getting nitty gritty real with my sin nature to truly understand what I am believing now; to get out of that guilt-ridden, judgmental, yet apathetic state that college seemed to leave me in. I believe it truly was more difficult to be a follower of jesus in Christian college simply because the atmosphere or culture was so far from reality and I could sense it. It was not real and I craved reality! I craved honesty and integrity and truth!
And I found it and I am finding it
Again
And the hardest part is getting back up on that beam again after a fall.
How do you succeed?
Don't think about the possibility of falling, but know what you will do to get back up again and finish strong.
"my dear friends I am writing this to you so that you do 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"
So there it is, plain and simple and extremely confusing. Here is an encouragement to live without sin. Then the next sentence explains the grace that is there to cover our sin - - so obviously God expects that we will sin. Just because he says be holy as I am holy does not mean that if we do not achieve this we are condemned. In some ways the church preaches this though. I have not been in many churches that are actively dealing with their sin, or even admit that they sin at all. And I have not been in many churches where people seem "alive." But those who are alive are those with a sober view of themselves and a view of God as the one who makes them great and for His purposes. It seems as if majority opinion trumps written down theology or church value statements. The culture of the church becomes the gospel; majority opinion is the message that gets sent; theology gets all twisted into our own crap and its no wonder people don't feel welcome, free or hopeful when they walk into the avg. church these days.
The pride of Christians seems to hide the message that we are all sinners and we that we will always be dealing with this fallen world until death do us part. I believe in following Jesus. This to me is what he asks of us. If I were to try to be Christian from what I have seen in my life of Christians, I would be attempting to lessen my desires, become more disciplined by self-will, and try to look really "good" to others. This is so repulsive!!!!! Why? Because it's not real! People who live like this are not really living! They are not recognizing the reality of their propensity toward self-centeredness, pride, and other destructive ways of living (or sin). I like to call it "denial." And if there is one way I hate living it is "In Denial." It is total hypocrisy! and it is ugly to God and others. (I believe this was part of the reason Jesus caused the fig tree without fruit to wither - it had nothing real to offer, it had no purpose other than to look good, and it was not reflecting the reality of how it was made! - Matt 18?) So Jesus did this once for all thing, meaning his death and resurrection were sufficient to cover over all sin should we take advantage of this. Then the question comes..should we sin more so that grace may increase? or can I just keep sinning because it's all covered? Then the question is, if someone you knew had to take on the consequence for every screw ups and you had to watch them suffer would you keep doing it? We learn this way. If something results in a negative consequence we generally stop doing it (however, often we choose to ignore or forget there were consequences so we can experience that same pleasure again - which is often the case with drugs and alcohol).
So what about sin where there seems to be no consequence? There seems to be nothing wrong with it? Chances are I'm am going to keep doing it until I experience some negative consequence. This is very true of me. I find my negative consequence is spiritual - I experience a sense of loss in my connection with God - I cannot stay in relationship with him and stay in this sin. When this becomes so painful, I give it up.
Another negative consequence is the recognition that this particular sin has an eternal negative consequence - well that's the easiest kind to deny right? I can't see it, there is no consequence. And then I listen to Johnny cash sing Revelation, all about the judgment and I realize that the person I claim to love is the one who suffered that consequence.
You know I am finally starting to see this gospel thing as normal, or relevant to who I am, my struggles and my desires. Ironically, Christian college left me in a state of real confusion, as did the serious relationship I had with a, well, we'll call him a "superChristian" (he was all rules, all self-willed discipline, and all judging of others).
It seems it took some rebellion on my part (not to justify) and getting nitty gritty real with my sin nature to truly understand what I am believing now; to get out of that guilt-ridden, judgmental, yet apathetic state that college seemed to leave me in. I believe it truly was more difficult to be a follower of jesus in Christian college simply because the atmosphere or culture was so far from reality and I could sense it. It was not real and I craved reality! I craved honesty and integrity and truth!
And I found it and I am finding it
posted by Sell it to Me at 8:17 PM
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