Randy Green's Blog, page 365
June 16, 2015
Bible Trilogy I – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? [Psalm 22:1]
Three crucial events of the Gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In defining the essence of the Gospel to the Corinthian Christians, the Apostle Paul noted those same three items (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). In this context we will embark on a Bible trilogy comprised of those three events.
Psalm 22 is a prophetic depiction of the crucifixion, of Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of mankind. Anyone who reads the Bible, especially the Old Testament, knows that David ben Jesse suffered grievously during the course of his life.
David was hounded by King Saul without letup because the Lord through Samuel proclaimed David to be Saul’s replacement as king—and Saul didn’t want to relinquish the kingship to David. Saul was determined to keep it for himself and for his son Jonathan after him. “Down with David! Up with Saul & Family!” That was Saul’s motto.
And then there were David’s own sins which got him into hot water. He had no one to blame but himself for those ordeals. And did he pay the piper! A pound of flesh was demanded of him on more than one occasion. Yep, David suffered interminably during the course of his life.
Notwithstanding this, when David wrote Psalm 22 it was prophetic, not personal. Certainly the Holy Spirit inspired David to write it as prophecy. Yes, David suffered much in life. But no, Psalm 22 is not so much about David’s life of suffering, as it is about the suffering of the Messiah. Psalm 22 is prophetic.
From the cross Jesus the Son of God cried out to Father God, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Matthew 27:46] Jesus quoted verse 1 of Psalm 22, when He uttered those words. He recognized their prophetic import as applicable to His crucifixion.
Someone might choose to query, “What do those words have to do with Jesus’ crucifixion?”
It’s like this. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. It is a mystery of eternity how Jesus as God could take upon Himself the sins of mankind. I mean, Jesus is God and God cannot even look upon sin, so how could He permit them to be placed on Him?
For three hours while Jesus was on the cross, from noon to 3:00 PM, darkness covered the land. This was God’s demonstration, employing visible physical reality to teach us invisible spiritual truth. The visible reality was the three hours of darkness. The invisible truth was that, while Jesus the Son of God bore the sins of all mankind on Himself, Father God turned away and refused to look upon His Son.
I must apologize, but the day is far spent and the shadows are growing longer. Let us betake ourselves to the prayer closet a while and learn at the feet of Jesus. We’ll continue this topic on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: atonement, Calvary, cross of Christ, crucifixion, Golgatha, mystery of the Bible, Prophecy, Psalm 22, sin offering
June 15, 2015
Spiritual Amnesiacs – Part 5
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory [Colossians 3:1, 3-4].
To mature, a newborn Christian must be transformed by the renewing of his mind (cf., Romans 12:2). This is really a simple concept. Stop focusing on the things of the world and instead focus on the things of God. This comes from daily time alone with Jesus, spent in prayer and Bible.
Jesus is “seated at the right hand of God”. We died, which means we no longer live. The old man—he who was born naturally as a sinner—died. It’s what happens when we are born again. The old man spent his time dwelling on the earth and focusing on the things of the world. The new man doesn’t live for such things. Really. I mean it. Really.
If we Christians are so caught up in our affluence and the things of this world, it should tell us something. We should recognize from this symptom that the old man is controlling us. The new man is missing in action. If we cannot recognize this, then we can be sure we suffer from spiritual amnesia. It’s that plain and simple, dear friends.
We died, and dead people aren’t supposed to be in control. To remedy this, we first need to realize that the old life is dead. Then we need to realize what the old life is, so that we keep it buried in the tomb. Next we need to fix our gaze above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. After all, we are “in Christ”, so we are there too.
It would be silly of me to go to another land and culture, and attempt to live the way I live here. I may want to eat Tombstone Sausage Pizza for supper in the new country, but they might not have any! I may want to take a hot shower when I wake up, but there may not be one! How pathetic it would be to mope about all day every day, dwelling on Tombstone Sausage Pizza and hot showers, huh?
So too is it with the Christian. We died as mere mortals who live for the earth, who feed the natural lusts of the body. We rose out of death “in Christ” and ascended into heaven in Him. We are seated at God’s right hand “in Christ”. We need to reestablish our wants and desires to fit our new culture and country, viz., up above, heaven.
Oh, there is one more part of the medicinal cure for spiritual amnesia. Paul educated the Colossians,
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Even though we are temporarily housed in this worldly tent on the earth, it won’t be long before Jesus will come again and take us to Himself, that where He is we may be also. Hallelujah! Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
That being the case—and it is a certainty, dear friends—shouldn’t we keep the old man of the earth in the grave? Shouldn’t we want to acclimate ourselves for the glories of our new life in heaven? We indeed should…unless spiritual amnesia keeps these realities out of sight and out of mind.
We died, dear Christians. The new man lives. He is Christ, our life. He lived for heaven while He walked this earth, and He is in heaven now and still living for heaven. Since He is our life, how can we live any differently? We can’t…unless the old man is in control.
Let’s take the cure. Let’s be done with spiritual amnesia. Let’s refocus our living from the earth to heaven, from affluence and toys to Jesus and new life. What say ye?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: amnesia, born again, Colossians 3, eternal life, heaven, new life, rebirth, sanctification
June 14, 2015
Spiritual Amnesiacs – Part 4
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory [Colossians 3:1, 3-4].
The Church grows in numbers when people are born again. Yet that only begins the story. Each Christian must spiritually mature, just as in the natural realm a baby is born and then must physically mature. The Lord gave parents to teach the babies how to mature. He gives church leaders to rear newly born again Christians into spiritual maturity.
If we don’t want our folks to develop spiritual amnesia, dear pastors and teachers and other church leaders, then we must spiritually rear them into mature men and women of God. This cannot be done apart from the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible.
Man’s words about the Bible will do no better than fill their brains with sawdust and ashes. The living Word of God alone can reach their hearts and transform them into the image of Jesus. Without daily quiet time alone with Jesus in prayer and Bible, no personal relationship with the Lord can be cultivated. There is no substitute for this.
Countless church functions and activities only make for a busy beaver congregation. Such a church appears super-duper, but they are really only “getting busy serving Jesus”…before they even know Jesus! They are kindergartners who have been sent to establish a new nation in the Promised Land. Such an approach only leads to forty years of wilderness wanderings in the School of Hard Knocks.
To prevent spiritual amnesia was Paul’s goal in his letter to the Colossians. Paul’s cure is best served as preventative medicine. Stop the disease before it even gets started. If it ever does take root, the only deliverance is to give the cure after the fact and hope it succeeds.
Alas, but too often spiritual amnesia keeps the poor afflicted souls from recognizing they have a problem. Hence they aren’t much amenable to the suggestion they take the cure. They’ve become imbued with the practice of “getting busy serving Jesus”. Now that they do so to one extent or another, they are convinced all is right with God. So why fix something when it ain’t broke? (Pardon my French.)
Okay, so what is Paul’s preventative medicine to ward off spiritual amnesia? Listen:
you have been raised up with Christ
keep seeking the things above
you have died
your life is hidden with Christ in God
Christ…is our life
when Christ…is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory
Heady stuff, that. Yet it is so very practical. If I don’t want to lust after every skirt which passes by, then I need to turn my eyes in a direction away from the passing skirts. If I don’t want to feel cheated because I don’t have as many toys as my neighbor, then I need to turn my eyes in a direction away from my neighbor’s toys. If I don’t…well, enough of that. We all get the point.
Stop looking at the world and the things of the world and longing for them. Stop spending day-after-day dwelling on the things we want to buy, the places we want to go, the movies we want to see, the restaurants where we want to eat. Stop focusing on the earth and start fixing our gaze on Jesus.
We will finish this topic in our next study. Jesus is Lord! Let’s bow to Him now and enjoy His presence a while.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: amnesia, born again, Colossians 3, eternal life, heaven, new life, rebirth, sanctification
June 13, 2015
Spiritual Amnesiacs – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory [Colossians 3:1, 3-4].
Rather than push immature Christians into active duty, it might better serve the Lord’s purpose to put them through boot camp first. Let’s continue discussing our topic now.
In the text quoted at the start of this study, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Colossae. As he did in all his epistles, so too did Paul in his letter to the Colossians. He began with doctrinal teaching, with theological instruction about what it means to become a Christian and be a part of the Body of Christ, His Church.
After submitting the teaching portion of his letters to the churches, Paul finished with practical instruction for living as a Christian. First we need to know who we are, you see, and then we need to realize what that means for us in day-to-day living. This bears a strong resemblance to Paul’s directions to church leaders in Ephesians 4, to which we made reference already.
Paul didn’t pounce on the young Christians like a ravenous lion, threatening to make them his lunch if they didn’t get busy serving Jesus! He instructed them as to what it means to be a Christian. Then he directed them as to how they were to conduct themselves in their daily living.
It will never suffice for actual Christian living, to install programs and activities in the church in order to draw in new pew-sitters. This contemporary approach to “church growth” is about as intelligent as attempting to have a family by purchasing a half-dozen mannequins, and then lecturing them to get busy and help out with the family responsibilities. Yea, that’ll work.
Indeed! It might be easier than getting along with a spouse, while suffering through the teenage years with real kids. But I bet you a barn full of cows those mannequin kids will never amount to much! Rearing kids and having a family is hard work. So too is rearing a congregation from birth through spiritual maturity.
When the emphasis is on first being born again and then getting busy for Jesus, spiritual amnesia follows almost automatically. It is like a baby in the crib. The little thing cries. So its diaper is changed and a nipple is stuffed in its mouth. The little dear sucks himself full, gurgles and burps, then falls asleep. When nappy time is over, he repeats his routine: cry, diaper, nipple, gurgle, burp, sleep.
Can you imagine mom and dad rudely awakening the little tot from his sleep, then growling at him to stop lying in the crib. After all, he should get up and get busy helping out with the house cleaning and cutting the grass. He might only be 4 months old, but that’s no excuse!
Pardon my fun, but I can’t help myself. Sometimes we Christians are so outrageous in our thinking, it’s inexplicable! Especially when we have Bibles we can read in a cudzillion different translations. I hear a voice from heaven thundering, “Pick one up and read.” Novel thought anyway.
Let’s pause on that note and sleep on it. Oh, we might want to talk with Jesus about it before sleeping on it. Catch you again tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: amnesia, born again, Colossians 3, eternal life, heaven, new life, rebirth, sanctification
June 12, 2015
Spiritual Amnesiacs – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory [Colossians 3:1, 3-4].
In our last study we were discussing being born again and then growing up spiritually. Let’s continue with this discussion now.
The born again part is known as justification. The growing up part is called sanctification. The born again part occurs as a one-time act, just as being born is a one-time act. The spiritual growing up part is a continuous process for the rest of our lives, just as is the case of growing up in the natural realm.
And therein lies the problem, dear friends. Not many Christians realize this fact of spiritual life. It is common in the churches to exhort folks to come to the front of the church and “receive Jesus”. When they do so they are patted on the back, given a certificate which declares they are now born again, and sent to the pews to live as good old boys in the church.
Once or twice a year they are subjected to a “revival” service, where they are excoriated for sitting on the pews! They weren’t saved to sit on a pew, you know. They need to get up and get busy! What are they to get busy doing? Your guess is as good as mine. Just stop sitting in a pew and start serving Jesus, y’all hear?
Yep, that is known as revival in the churches. Poor Jesus had to suffer horrifically to get us into heaven. Will we dare repay Him by sitting on a pew like a bump on a log? The shame of it all. Repent, you scalawags! Show Jesus you really love Him. Get busy.
Seems like any ol’ good work is appropriate, so long as we get busy. Trouble is, that is not in the b-i-b-l-e, BIBLE! As Rule #2 for Bible study teaches, “The Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.”
Hmm. I have a novel idea. Maybe we should find out what the Bible wants from newly born again folks, rather than bury them alive under a pile of guilt feelings and send them off half-cocked to “serve Jesus”, whatever that means.
Perhaps church leaders—that would be us, my fellow preachers and teachers—perhaps we might want to read Ephesians 4:11-16 to see how the Bible instructs us to rear the spiritual young’uns under our care. The Holy Spirit gifts each Christian with at least one spiritual gift. This gift defines which ministry the Lord assigns the Christian.
It is the job of church leaders to teach this novel concept to the young’uns, not intimidate them into getting busy for Jesus. We need to be familiar with spiritual gifts, so we can help Christians to discover theirs and know how to direct them in putting them to use in the church. Think that might work? Hmm…
This would be a fine time to reflect on the subject at hand. Let’s call it a day and meet with Jesus for a spell. See you back here tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: amnesia, born again, Colossians 3, eternal life, heaven, new life, rebirth, sanctification
June 11, 2015
Spiritual Amnesiacs – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory [Colossians 3:1, 3-4].
He was a most pathetic character indeed. He got up in the morning and didn’t know who he was. He didn’t know where he came from. For that matter he didn’t even know where he was! Sounds like a cartoon or a joke, right? Wrong! It’s called amnesia.
Sometimes amnesia is mental, other times physical. Sometimes it is accident related, other times emotional due to shock. Sometimes amnesia occurs as a symptom of illness. Anyone knowing a poor unfortunate with Alzheimer’s Disease abruptly recognizes their memory problems. Stroke victims don’t only face loss of motor skills. They sometimes encounter memory malfunction.
How horrible not to remember a foundational part of one’s life. What must go through the minds of those still in their right senses, as far as recognizing the reality around them, yet they don’t recall their name or where they’re at or what they should be doing. Could anything be more disconcerting, dear friends?
Yes, I can think of something much more disconcerting. Spiritual amnesia is qualitatively more disconcerting! The problem with spiritual amnesia, what makes it so devastating to life, is that those afflicted with it don’t know they have it.
In the natural realm amnesiacs know that they don’t know. They recognize that something’s amiss. In the spiritual realm amnesiacs go right on thinking all is well with the world, when in fact all is anything but well.
The reason for this discrepancy between amnesia in the natural realm versus in the spiritual realm is simple. We live and breathe and conduct our lives in the natural realm. I mean, if we didn’t we would no longer be in the natural realm. We would have died already and gone into eternity! Ergo, since we function in the natural realm, we recognize when our natural functioning is out of kilter.
Alas, but this isn’t necessarily the case with our spiritual functioning. Even more, it isn’t usually the case, which is what makes it so dangerous and life-threatening. When we become new creations, born again as spiritual recreations, we are still in our natural bodies in time, space, and matter.
Before a person is born again, he functions only naturally. Christians function both naturally and spiritually. Any person, including a Christian, can easily enough function naturally. After all, it’s natural! A Christian must attempt to function spiritually because it doesn’t happen naturally.
To function spiritually a person must first be born again. Next the person must grow up as a new creation. He must mature spiritually. He must stop being conformed to this world and instead be transformed by the renewing of his mind, so that he recognizes what the good and perfect will of God is (cf., Romans 12:1-2).
We will press the pause button here and call it a day. See you tomorrow. Enjoy Jesus today!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: amnesia, born again, Colossians 3, eternal life, heaven, new life, rebirth, sanctification
June 10, 2015
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?…These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
Listen to how Paul in our text for this study depicted the world religious systems known as Gnosticism.
self-made religion
self-abasement
severe treatment of the body
I ask you, does that not sound like monks in a monastery? Indeed it does! Once man rejects God’s Word, all he has left vis-à-vis spiritual understanding is “religion”. Religion is any collection of beliefs about how to know God and relate to Him.
By definition any religion is “self-made”, aka man-made. Only God knows God. Man can only know and relate to God based on God’s Word. In His Word God instructs man about Himself and eternity and His requirements. Once man rejects this instruction, all he has left is his own imagination. Religion by definition is “self-made” or “man-made”.
In order to feel that he is basically “good”, man via his religion abases himself. The monks in a monastery hide from the wicked world behind walls of seclusion. They flagellate themselves to beat the wicked flesh into submission and make themselves behave according to the rules and regulations of their man-made religion. As Paul noted, this is “self-abasement” and “severe treatment of the body”.
Trouble is, it is nothing more than “will worship”. Man of his own will determined these rules and regulations. God didn’t. Ergo, by means of religion man worships his own will, not God. Man’s good works don’t satisfy God in any way. They only serve to convince man that he really isn’t so bad after all, and so God must be pleased with him.
The result of religion is that man becomes convinced God is pleased with him, while all along God most definitely is not! Hence religion serves to stupefy man, so that he never goes to God to get right with Him. Getting right with God requires the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not religion. It requires God’s grace, not man’s good works.
Listen to Paul’s summation of Gnosticism specifically, and of religious good works in general:
have…the appearance of wisdom
are of no value against fleshly indulgence
See, the trouble with monkery in a monastery is that the evils of the world stem from the sin in man. Hide as we might behind monastery walls, we cannot escape ourselves. We might keep the rest of the world out, but we are still inside and sin in us is present.
Sin inside man is his natural condition, his nature. Flogging the outer body does nothing to the inner man…except stupefy him into thinking he is now okay with God since he whipped his poor aching flesh! Such self-styled good works “have the appearance of wisdom”, you see, but they “are of no value against fleshly indulgence”.
Do you get it? How much gnostic blood runs through our veins today? How much of church attendance is composed of “the appearance of wisdom”, while the sin nature (“fleshly indulgence”) runs amuck in our lives. Not to worry though, since we have been stupefied by our self-made religious rites into thinking all is well with God!
Nay, nay, kind Christians. Let us flee religion and betake ourselves to the true City of Refuge, aka the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Religion is always a false route to take to God.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: Colossians 2, Gnosticism, God-man, good works, grace, religion
June 9, 2015
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?…These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
The Christians of the city of Colossae were surrounded by a belief system known as “Gnosticism”. Gnosticism’s tenets included belief that matter is inherently evil, while only spirit is good. This tenet perforce rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ because Jesus is the God-man, both God (spirit) and man (matter) in one Person.
Once the Gospel of Jesus Christ is eliminated from consideration, all that’s left is some form of religion. The difference between religion and the Gospel is that religion promotes good works in order to be saved, while the Gospel insists on the grace of God as the only way to be saved.
The word “grace” means that God did the works on man’s behalf, and man is to believe God’s Word about this and by faith accept God’s free offer of salvation. God’s grace comes via the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was why the Son of God took upon true humanity in the first place, viz., in order to die to pay the penalty for man’s sins and be able to offer man this paid-in-full blessing free of charge (i.e., grace).
Whereas Gnosticism denied that Jesus is the God-man, they rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This left them with religion, some rules and regulations which their devotees were obligated to obey in order to be good and holy and acceptable to God. Gnosticism was rampant in the Roman Empire’s Asia (i.e., Turkey or Asia Minor of today). Colossae was located there. Ergo, Colossae was infested with Gnostics.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians of Colossae (i.e., the Colossians), it was to address the system of works which the Gnostics promoted, so the Colossian Christians wouldn’t fall into the quagmire of gnostic beliefs. Evidently they were doing so and Paul wanted to steer them straight with regard to the Gospel.
Paul lumped the entire gnostic set of beliefs into one bag and labeled it “the elementary principles of the world”. It could not be otherwise. In the Bible the phrase “the world” is employed to refer to peoples and nations in opposition to God. The world stands in stark contrast to God and His Word. The world shakes the fist at God and says, “We won’t have this man to rule over us!” Jesus the Son of God is the man the world refuses to submit to.
Hence “the elementary principles of the world” by definition have nothing to do with God’s grace. This leaves the world’s people with only religion, and religion always promotes a set of good works to follow. The specific good works, the specific rules and regulations to obey, depend on which religion one belongs to.
Before going any further, permit me to note that the name Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis”, which means “knowledge”. Also, there was not just one set of beliefs with Gnosticism. Several schools of thought made up Gnosticism.
We will conclude this study on the morrow. We still have time to meet with Jesus before bed, however. Let’s do so, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: Colossians 2, Gnosticism, God-man, good works, grace, religion
June 8, 2015
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?…These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
When I was a boy I played games with the other kids. During school recess we played ball outside. After school we played soldiers with toy guns, or Zorro with sticks for swords. We were serious, mind you. We gave it our best effort at fighting the war or jabbing with the stick sword. But we weren’t really soldiers or Zorro. Nor were we NBA or NFL or MLB stars.
There is a point to this glance in the rear view mirror of life, dear friends. Reality is, well, real. Good intentions and sincerity doth not reality make. If I’m not Zorro, try and try as I might, all the swords in the world won’t make it so, no matter how sincere I might be about it. Fact of the matter is, the more sincere I am about being Zorro, the more self-delusional I demonstrate myself to be. And that’s not a good thing!
We folks in the churches are sincere, very sincere, no, even more sincere than that! We have good intentions too, let me tell you. But you know, all is to no avail in being right with God, if good intentions and sincerity are our guiding light. It is like playing church, just as surely as I sincerely played Zorro with a stick sword back in the day.
In the 1st Century A.D. there was this spiritual movement afoot in the Roman Empire. It seems to have been strongest in the area of what is now Turkey. The city of Colossae was located there. At the time this area was known as Asia, a part of the Roman Empire.
Anyway, this spiritual movement wore the epithet “Gnosticism”. I won’t bore you with a detailed explanation of its tenets. For our purposes in this study, suffice it to say that Gnosticism believed matter was fundamentally evil, while pure spirit alone was good or holy.
In the context of Christianity this denounced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity’s fundamental tenet is that the Son of God took upon true humanity circa 7 B.C. The Son of God is by definition God, and God is spirit. True humanity is by definition flesh, which is matter. Ergo, Jesus is the God-man, both God and man simultaneously.
Such a tenet goes counter to the tenets of Gnosticism because matter (which is good) cannot mix with spirit (which is bad). Accordingly Gnostics denied that Jesus is both God and man.
Some said Jesus wasn’t really a man at all, but as the Son of God He simply took on the appearance of a man. Others claimed Jesus wasn’t really God but only some angel-being distantly removed from God. This angel-being possessed Jesus for a while and performed the miracles. When Jesus went to the cross, the angel-being left Jesus, who was really only a man.
Oh, but we’re out of time already. Shucks. I am really having fun. Oh, well. We’ll return to this subject tomorrow. For today let’s enjoy time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: Colossians 2, Gnosticism, God-man, good works, grace, religion
June 7, 2015
Grief and Relief – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
Let the day perish on which I was to be born, and the night which said, “A boy is conceived.” [Job 3:3]
Job went through hell on earth. Then his three friends arrived to comfort him. They began well, sitting down beside Job for seven days and nights, speaking nary a word but being there so Job didn’t feel alone. That much was a good thing.
Job soaked up their presence and endured all the longer through his grieving process. In grief we begin by being overwhelmed and wiped out. After some time this changes to anger and we lash out, even if it’s only against the air. We are reeling in the pain without any recourse for bringing it to an end, so we let off steam by blurting out our frustration. The worse the grief, the more severe the venting.
This is where chapter 3 comes in. Job sat with his three friends and their companion for seven days and nights. He was doubled over with emotional devastation inside him, unable to cope with all that had transpired in his life of late.
Remember, his life was one of wealth and status. Now it was all gone, including his ten children and his health. He no longer had a life for all intents and purposes. That much is a given, when it comes to survival in this world. Instead of helping others and feeling good about himself, Job now had nothing about himself of which to feel good, and he found himself in desperate need of being helped.
The fermentation welling up inside him at last popped the cork and erupted into a lava flow of frustration. He rued the day of his birth, wishing he had never been born. Even more, he pronounced a curse on the day of his birth, wanting to get even with that day by casting it into the eternal infernal place!
This is real stuff, dear friends. If you’ve never faced anything so severe, praise the Lord! I am happy for you. But don’t get cocky like Job’s three friends did with him, thinking you could never have it so bad. Such thinking is wrong on several counts, the most compelling one being pride.
Suchlike thinking means we see the sufferer not as the victim but as the instigator of his woes, as deserving whatever he gets. But not us! Oh, no, we aren’t bad enough to deserve that! We’re good old boys.
Such was the mentality of Job’s three friends, falsely so-called. Small wonder, then, that their help did more harm than good—scratch that; their help did all harm and no good. As friends go, those three rascals were no good!
When we face the obstacles and roadblocks life puts in our way, especially the extremely severe type which leave us ruing the day of our birth, let us find our comfort in the only place it is guaranteed. Job did. The Book of Job concludes with Job bowing to the Lord and giving Him the glory. In consequence of his repentance the Lord gave Job his deliverance.
Friends may come and friends may go, but the Lord Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. He knows a thing or two about suffering—I mean REAL suffering—and He can empathize with us no matter how severe a struggle we have to endure. We cannot honestly say that about our friends.
So let’s not sing a pitiful country song about trying to find friends in all the wrong places. Let’s find Him Who is a true Friend indeed. He is to be found in the only right place, viz., in prayer and Bible alone with Him.
I must tell Jesus all of my troubles. I cannot bear my burdens alone. Sing it with me, won’t you?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
Filed under: Church Age Tagged: advice, bereavement, dependence on God, depression, despair, despondency, grieving, Job 3, martyrdom, persecution, submission, suffering, trust
