- Sep 24, 2010
- 5,709
- 3,505
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Non-Denom
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Repentance
A perfect Spiritually Paved Pathway throughout life is ours at the precise split-second of salvation by Grace through Faith, the free Gift of God, Romans 10:8-13. God is not "out there" waiting to reward us Spirituality. The latter is already ours, from Day One. Christian perfection is our instant, permanent possession: His Gift. We walk in His unyielding, unbending Love. Eternal life is already present. It is ours. We don't need to worry or pray for relief from financial difficulties, for employment, for promotion, for health, for anything. Everything is already ours at the moment of our salvation, the unswerving Pathway before us. Our Bible is open, we are being escorted, Spiritually, through its content.
So what happens?
WE step off the Pathway, succumbing to that which we know from the Bible is not in keeping with God's Perfect Plan, not in keeping with our scriptural, Spiritual anointing. How do we know that? It's a jungle out there. Slowly or suddenly, we're in it. We're engaging in sinful behavior. How do we handle issues of health, financial stablity, employment, recognition? It's back there on the Path.
I spoke out against X- and R-rated television and internet. More than one Christian responded, "Just don't watch." Hello? Where's the Path?
How do we get out of the jungle? Repent. To repent means to return to the Path that God prepared for us. It is already there. It doesn't have to be repaved, rebuilt. Often a Christian will fall on his / her face crying out "God, why have you forsaken me?" He hasn't. He hasn't gone anywhere. We simply need to know about and understand repentance. (Remember: We're talking about one who has already been converted, already has received salvation, not one who is lost without it).
This is often the case with the new Christian. Having confessed Romans 10:8-13, one is joyful, excited, eager to participate in Church (the Body of Christ).
Sometime later, often only after 2 or 3 months, the joy, excitement, and
eagerness depart. God did not will it, and He does not step in to punish the one who departs. The perfect, Spiritually Paved Pathway was already in place; it didn't go anywhere. We create or join the jungle.
I attended the funeral of a precious cousin. Two days before I was granted the
Gift of speaking to her on the telephone, sharing the love of our family for her, and offering up a prayer, even as her utterances were weak and not intelligible. She went to be with our Lord shortly thereafter. I went to the funeral home in anticipation of a recitation of her walk with our Lord, her ministry to others, her love of family. Instead, I heard a Bible-thumping, podium-pounding preacher yell at us about the wages of sin. I heard him screaming at the top of his voice about the imminence of hell. Some of those seated, listening, stood up at certain moments, indicating their agreement with what he was saying. I saw a hand here and there lifted up; I saw heads nodding in agreement. NOT ONCE was my cousin's name mentioned. NOT ONCE was tribute paid to her love of God and her life's witness. Not once was her family, friends and members of her Christian assembly mentioned. The charade went on for two hours. No one walked out. No one said, "Wait a minute.......". After two hours, I walked out. In the parking lot, I prayed. The Bible-thumper was her very own grandson.
That preacher was not on the Pathway that God had prepared for him at the
precise moment of his conversion, if there was one. Those in the congregation that sat there were no longer on the Pathway. This was not a memorial service, this was a screaming, facially-distorted , fist-shaking, mind-mental-emotional-lecturing
tirade.
Conclusion
That's what I'm talking about. He gifts us in perfection, intended for each of us for always, and we authentic Christians depart from it, not for eternity, but in the process disrupting what would have been a perfect life. Off the Path, we no longer proclaim, in the words of the song, "My sins without number have vanished and gone," or "I am the Righteousness of God in Christ." We become heretics. Eventually, in Spiritual grief, we wander back onto our Perfect Path, then (gasp!) wander off of it again. Rather often, we preach to others during our wandering. Our text? A thousand interpretations / applications of God's Word. A thousand denominational perspectives. A thousand translations of the Bible. A thousand intellectual meanderings exploring ancient scholars, presumptions, hypotheticals; a thousand heretical TV preachers, a thousand posts in Christian forums.
How to get back on the Path that was prepared for each of us? A magic formula? Slain in the spirit? Outbursts of tongues? Listening to a screamer? Attending a lecture? Buddha? "Other gods?" In-depth studies of psychology, science, philosophy, evolution, semantics? Wait a minute!
The Path, the Path, THE Path, is already ours. It is already there: it is His. Repent.
A perfect Spiritually Paved Pathway throughout life is ours at the precise split-second of salvation by Grace through Faith, the free Gift of God, Romans 10:8-13. God is not "out there" waiting to reward us Spirituality. The latter is already ours, from Day One. Christian perfection is our instant, permanent possession: His Gift. We walk in His unyielding, unbending Love. Eternal life is already present. It is ours. We don't need to worry or pray for relief from financial difficulties, for employment, for promotion, for health, for anything. Everything is already ours at the moment of our salvation, the unswerving Pathway before us. Our Bible is open, we are being escorted, Spiritually, through its content.
So what happens?
WE step off the Pathway, succumbing to that which we know from the Bible is not in keeping with God's Perfect Plan, not in keeping with our scriptural, Spiritual anointing. How do we know that? It's a jungle out there. Slowly or suddenly, we're in it. We're engaging in sinful behavior. How do we handle issues of health, financial stablity, employment, recognition? It's back there on the Path.
I spoke out against X- and R-rated television and internet. More than one Christian responded, "Just don't watch." Hello? Where's the Path?
How do we get out of the jungle? Repent. To repent means to return to the Path that God prepared for us. It is already there. It doesn't have to be repaved, rebuilt. Often a Christian will fall on his / her face crying out "God, why have you forsaken me?" He hasn't. He hasn't gone anywhere. We simply need to know about and understand repentance. (Remember: We're talking about one who has already been converted, already has received salvation, not one who is lost without it).
This is often the case with the new Christian. Having confessed Romans 10:8-13, one is joyful, excited, eager to participate in Church (the Body of Christ).
Sometime later, often only after 2 or 3 months, the joy, excitement, and
eagerness depart. God did not will it, and He does not step in to punish the one who departs. The perfect, Spiritually Paved Pathway was already in place; it didn't go anywhere. We create or join the jungle.
I attended the funeral of a precious cousin. Two days before I was granted the
Gift of speaking to her on the telephone, sharing the love of our family for her, and offering up a prayer, even as her utterances were weak and not intelligible. She went to be with our Lord shortly thereafter. I went to the funeral home in anticipation of a recitation of her walk with our Lord, her ministry to others, her love of family. Instead, I heard a Bible-thumping, podium-pounding preacher yell at us about the wages of sin. I heard him screaming at the top of his voice about the imminence of hell. Some of those seated, listening, stood up at certain moments, indicating their agreement with what he was saying. I saw a hand here and there lifted up; I saw heads nodding in agreement. NOT ONCE was my cousin's name mentioned. NOT ONCE was tribute paid to her love of God and her life's witness. Not once was her family, friends and members of her Christian assembly mentioned. The charade went on for two hours. No one walked out. No one said, "Wait a minute.......". After two hours, I walked out. In the parking lot, I prayed. The Bible-thumper was her very own grandson.
That preacher was not on the Pathway that God had prepared for him at the
precise moment of his conversion, if there was one. Those in the congregation that sat there were no longer on the Pathway. This was not a memorial service, this was a screaming, facially-distorted , fist-shaking, mind-mental-emotional-lecturing
tirade.
Conclusion
That's what I'm talking about. He gifts us in perfection, intended for each of us for always, and we authentic Christians depart from it, not for eternity, but in the process disrupting what would have been a perfect life. Off the Path, we no longer proclaim, in the words of the song, "My sins without number have vanished and gone," or "I am the Righteousness of God in Christ." We become heretics. Eventually, in Spiritual grief, we wander back onto our Perfect Path, then (gasp!) wander off of it again. Rather often, we preach to others during our wandering. Our text? A thousand interpretations / applications of God's Word. A thousand denominational perspectives. A thousand translations of the Bible. A thousand intellectual meanderings exploring ancient scholars, presumptions, hypotheticals; a thousand heretical TV preachers, a thousand posts in Christian forums.
How to get back on the Path that was prepared for each of us? A magic formula? Slain in the spirit? Outbursts of tongues? Listening to a screamer? Attending a lecture? Buddha? "Other gods?" In-depth studies of psychology, science, philosophy, evolution, semantics? Wait a minute!
The Path, the Path, THE Path, is already ours. It is already there: it is His. Repent.
