Here is what bothers me with the endless debate about doctrine, whether it be predestination vs. armeninism, or whether water baptism is required for salvation, or fill in the blank with whatever our pet doctrine is we want to "discuss".
It reveals where are minds are- we are still eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thinking that if we just get all the tumblers lined up on the vault of truth that it will unlock the lock to abiding in God. We think knowledge is the key to godliness, and assume we just need to stuff more and moire inside our brains nd eventually, it will work and we will be "good Christians", and we will be like Him. Fellas, ladies, it simply is a lie. It is, in reality, just another of our laps around Sinai. We are ever learning, never able to understnd that we are stilll trying to clean our insides from outside, by self discipline, by Bible knowledge, by going to the correct church, by stopping doing all those bad things we do, and in the end, we are still the same- earthbound. We are still flesh, and God has spoken clearly that they that are in the flesh CANNOT please God.
Why? Why is is that we draw near Him with our lips but our hearts, our hearts are unmoved as to the need in this last day, a generation of men and women walking as light in the Lord, filled with the fullness of God, who can display to an unbelieving world the truth of the gospel, that Christ will set us free, free from our old rotten nature, free from sin that besets, free from condemnation, free to talking the talk but not walking the walk. Free indeed.
How we want to postpone that dreaded day, the day we finally say "I surrender all" and actually understand what that means, the fullness of the death He wants us to walk THROUGH to get to real life. Our own self nature has lied to us, so that it might live another day. God says "Cast it off."
But until we despise who we have become, religious, but not righteous, happy but not joyful, doctrinally correct, but not doctrinally corrected, content but without godliness, until we see that we are like the Laodecians...poor and blind and naked, and we know it not.... we will walk on in our religious prisons, thankful that our sentences have been pardoned, while remaining in our prison cells clanging our chains together singing "This little light of mine", and all the while the prison gate sits wide open and yet we refuse to enjoy our liberty.
Brothers, it is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free, nothing less, and yes, it is for THIS life. We are bound to a fleshly body till our master comes, no doubt, but we are NOT tied to our fleshly spirit. God's word is clear. Who will truly hear?
Our old natures love to discuss, to argue, to tell the other how wrong they are, to take pride in that yes, we are still sinners, but boy do we have some revelation knowledge about God!
The world looks at us, how we are living out our lives in front of them, and matching up our words with our lives, our hearts. As long as they see a huge gap, hypocrisy rules, blindness still has the day and we are not saved from ourselves. And as a result, they are not saved either.
We must be free in order to liberate! Does that not make sense? Will we continue to try to comfort ourselves with our human understanding, trying as best we can to cover our sins, our rebellion, our continued existence in the flesh, with biblical knowledge, with correct Bible words on our lips? It damns us MORE, not less. Do we comprehend that fact?
Religious pride is at the root of it all, a pride that says "You and me, God" when God whispers back, "No, my son, just me. But you will learn."
In Abraham's day, when two went into agreement, they "cut a covenant". It was a blood oath and animals were sacrificed and split in half. The halves were then laid in two long lines and the two making the agreement walked between the pieces, signifying by oath that each would do their part in the covenant to keep it, under penalty of blood.
When Abraham, who is the father of faith, cut his covenant with God, a covenant of faith, they slaughtered the animals and split them as was the custom. But then God deviated from pattern. He put Abraham into a deep sleep and walked the pieces...alone. He knew the limitations of our humanness, and He knew the amazing depth of grace, and therefore guaranteed not only to do His part in the covenant, but also OUR part as well.
Do we understand the depth of grace? Do we see how corruptible our flesh really is, how stubborn it is, how it refuses to bend, or to yield, or to submit. It will adapt to any form you desire, as long as it does not have to die. God knew the new covenant could not be like the old one was. God knew the weakness was our part of the bargain, not His. So He took it upon Himself to insure that we would do ours just as He fulfills His. Glorious God!
Blessings,
Gideon
