Ruling & Reigning Training Part II–Healthy Living, a fresh look at the fruit of the Spirit.

 God has given us a prescription for healthiness that is applicable everywhere and for all time.

 Galatians 5  (NIV)

Paul starts with a picture of unhealthiness, of a Church destroying itself like a cancer.

[14, 15] The entire law is summed up in 2 commands: “Love God…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

[19-21] The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you…

Skating on thin ice-a warning-this is ill health. 

…those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 Paul then goes on to give us a list of attributes of God that are healthy.

[22, 23]

• 1. Love
• 2. Joy
• 3. Peace
• 4. Patience
• 5. Kindness
• 6. Goodness
• 7. Faithfulness
• 8. Gentleness
• 9. Self-control

 The list is designed to reproduce the attributes of God within His body.

• The list is not exhaustive, but representative.
• The tone of the entire passage is corporate-directed at the community more than the individual. There is health in the spaces between the members of the Christian community.

Love

• Eros: Sex
• Phileo: (Philadelphia) brotherly love, fondness 
• Agape: Extravagant Care

1.  Cleanses

The first thing that God’s love does when it encounters your heart it to go for what is rotten.  It begins to arrest the decay.  Immediately He begins cleansing-it’s the nature of love.  It’s the nature of God.

 2.  Bolsters

Lifts and promotes.  God finds our weaknesses and adds His strength at the very point of need.

 3.  Preserves

God supplies whatever is needed.  His fruit is always there, always fresh, always nourishing.

His care will go on forever.

Let me begin by saying that I don’t like situational ethics, they are a slippery slope on which it is nearly impossible to stand.  Having said that, there are times when one simply does what one has to do.  My earliest encounter with one of these times was very mild in nature, but it has shaped my thinking for many years.  We were returning to the mission field, in this case Borneo, not long after the Second World War.  Transportation was difficult, and we often spent long periods waiting for our next ride.  One of those times was on the small island of Ambon.  We lived in a tropical house (open windows and doors) made entirely of poured concrete.  Plumbing was a split bamboo aqueduct that brought water down the mountain from a spring higher than I was allowed to go.  Gray water drained into a shallow trench cast into the concrete porch that ran the full perimeter of the house.  I was strictly forbidden to touch that water because it was “nasty.”  One day I found a .50 machinegun slug in the water, and being young and male, really wanted it.  I expressed my stress to my mother who just said, “Wash you hands after you pick it up.”  I was stunned; the stone-engraved commandments had exceptions.  

In the 14^th chapter of Luke, Jesus was engaging in a little Pharisee baiting-one of his favorite pastimes.  He was eating with them on the Sabbath, and there was a man there with dropsy, a form of edema.  Jesus asked these moral scholars if it was legal to heal on the Sabbath.  They did not answer, so he healed the man’s illness, and sent him on his way.  Then he asked them, “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?”  Obey the law, or save a valuable animal from a slow death.  Humm.

The news is full of debate over an interrogation technique called “waterboarding.”  The technique is much older than the name; I was taught its use, and techniques for resisting it, in the early 60’s.  It was always torture.  The real question has nothing to do with waterboarding, the question is whether the United States condones the use of extreme methods of extracting information.  The answer is simple-we do not.  The real world, however, is seldom framed with such clarity. 

Imagine for a moment that a man has kidnapped your child, and buried the baby in a box with only an hour’s air.  Imagine that you had captured the man, and were trying to find where he had buried the box.  He refuses to tell you. As the hour drains away, where do you draw the line.  Under those circumstances, most of us would not even contemplate the existence of a line.  Some might even pretend to hold onto their principles like the Quaker who, hearing a noise in the middle of the night, came down the stairs with his shotgun in hand.  Finding an intruder, he said, “Friend, I wouldst not hurt thee for the world, but thou art standing where I am about to shoot.”  Most of us would simply improvise, using any technique available to wring an answer from the kidnapper.  In one of Tom Clancy’s books (don’t ask me to go back and try to figure out which one) the mysterious Mr. Clark has a line something like, “It’s not how you break the finger, it’s how you manipulate it afterwards.”

No, I don’t approve of torture, but when time is limited, and lives are at stake, one sometimes does things that are personally repulsive.  My problem is that we did those things routinely, even when time was not limited, and the information sought was more than slightly ambiguous.  It is unthinkable to me that the leaders of our country would meet to consider a policy, however classified, to allow torture.  When the circumstances demand it, no policy forbidding torture will stop it from happening.  When we try to define when torture is appropriate, we allow it to become routine, and tumble head-over-heels down that slippery slope into the pit of savagery.  If we plan to torture, if we have the implements on hand, we have just regressed humanity about 20,000 years (6,000 to 9,000 if you believe in a Young Earth.)

Tags: water boarding, waterboarding

Ruling & Reigning Training

Part I

Royal Obstetrics

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: Gal 2:20 

SIN

The big singular.

Romans 5   Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.  And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.   For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made[1] sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.  

In Romans 6:4 the resurrection is spoken of as imparting to us new life with a view to a holy walk: “That like as Christ was raised from the dead . . . so we also might walk in newness of life.” Here the matter before us is behavior.

Peace is spoken of in both sections, in the fifth and eighth chapters. Romans 5 tells of peace with God which is the effect of justification by faith in His Blood: “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (5:1 mg.) This means that, now that I have forgiveness of sins, God will no longer be a cause of dread and trouble to me. I who was an enemy to God have been “reconciled … through the death of his Son” (5:10). I very soon find, however, that I am going to be a great cause of trouble to myself. There is still unrest within, for within me there is something that draws me to sin. There is peace with God, but there is no peace with myself. There is in fact civil war in my own heart. This condition is well depicted in Romans 7 where the flesh and the spirit are seen to be in deadly conflict within me. But from this the argument leads in chapter 8 to the inward peace of a walk in the Spirit. “The mind of the flesh is death,” because it “is enmity against God, but the mind of the spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6, 7).

In Adam we receive everything that is of Adam; in Christ we receive everything that is of Christ.

Where sin abounded grace did much more abound, and as sin reigned unto death, even so may grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:19-21).

Our despair is in Adam; our hope is in Christ.   (Paper in a book)

“Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus.” The Lord God Himself has put us in Christ, and in His dealing with Christ God has dealt with the whole race. Our destiny is bound up with His. What He has gone through we have gone through, for to be ‘in Christ’ is to have been identified with Him in both His death and resurrection. He was crucified: then what about us? Must we ask God to crucify us? Never! When Christ was crucified we were crucified; and His crucifixion is past, therefore ours cannot be future. I challenge you to find one text in the New Testament telling us that our crucifixion is in the future. All the references to it are in the Greek aorist, which is the ‘once-for-all’ tense, the ‘eternally past’ tense. (See: Romans 6: 6; Galatians 2:20; 5: 24; 6:14). And just as no man could ever commit suicide by crucifixion, for it were a physical impossibility to do so, so also, in spiritual terms, God does not require us to crucify ourselves. We were crucified when He was crucified, for God put us there in Him. That we have died in Christ is not merely a doctrinal position, it is an eternal fact.

The Lord Jesus, when He died on the Cross, shed His Blood, thus giving His sinless life to atone for our sin and to satisfy the righteousness and holiness of God. To do so was the prerogative of the Son of God alone. No man could have a share in that.

In 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47 two remarkable names or titles are used of the Lord Jesus. He is spoken of there as “the last Adam” and He is spoken of too as “the second man.” Scripture does not refer to Him as the second Adam but as “the last Adam” nor does it refer to Him as the last Man, but as “the second man.”The distinction is to be noted, for it enshrines a truth of great value.

As the last Adam, Christ is the sum total of humanity; as the second Man He is the Head of a new race. So we have here two unions, the one relating to His death and the other to His resurrection. In the first place His union with the race as “the last Adam” began historically at Bethlehem and ended at the cross and the tomb. In it He gathered up into Himself all that was in Adam and took it to judgment and death. In the second place our union with Him as “the second man” begins in resurrection and ends in eternity? which is to say, it never ends-for, having in His death done away with the first man in whom God’s purpose was frustrated, He rose again as Head of a new race of men, in whom that purpose shall be fully realized.

When therefore the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, He was crucified as the last Adam. All that was in the first Adam was gathered up and done away in Him. We were included there. As the last Adam He wiped out the old race; as the second Man He brings in the new race. It is in His resurrection that He stands forth as the second Man, and there too we are included. “For if we have become united with Him by the likeness of his death, we shall be also by the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:5). We died in Him as the last Adam; we live in Him as the second Man. The Cross is thus the power of God which translates us from Adam to Christ.

I don’t often discuss my day job-I manage a Senior housing complex for the Volunteers of America.  (Hence the occasional VOA posting on my Facebook page.)  One of my fellow administrators announced today that she is retiring.  Although she’s younger than I am, she has done this rewarding work since just after God invented dirt, and deserves a break.  There are some people who’s positions can be filled, but who are, nonetheless, irreplaceable.  She is one of those.

Inevitably, there comes a time to contemplate retirement-I should know, I’ve retired four times so far.  The problem for me is twofold.  First, I like what I do-at my age I can afford to refuse work I don’t like.  The second is more or less the outworking of a study one of my subordinates did while I was still in the Air Force.  He needed a real-world statistical study as part of his undergraduate work.  He chose to study how long members of the military lived after retirement.  He was surprised to learn that he could not statistically prove that officers and enlisted were drawn from the same universe.  Officers retire at a later age, and live longer after retirement.  Enlisted can retire as early as 37, but die younger.  His conclusion was that the generally better-educated officers took responsible jobs that kept their minds and bodies active.  A higher percent of enlisted men and women (OK, mostly men) bought a cabin and a fishing pole-and died young.  Apparently, this human machine is designed for moderation in its high-mileage years, but putting it out to pasture has the same effect as it has on a ‘66 Chevrolet.  The body rusts, the battery fades away, and the engine seizes up beyond repair. Maybe I’ll work one more year.

Tags: retirement

Ruling & Reigning Training

Part I

Royal Obstetrics

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: Gal 2:20 

The Conclusion of “Sins”  &  Looking Ahead at “Sin”

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all¹ unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1Jn 1:5-10 

¹ep’-o [each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything]

Our salvation lies in looking away to the Lord Jesus and in seeing that the Blood of the Lamb has met the whole situation created by our sins and has answered it. That is the sure foundation on which we stand. Never should we try to answer Satan with our good conduct but always with the Blood. Yes, we are sinful, but, praise God! the Blood cleanses us from every sin. God looks upon the Blood whereby His Son has met the charge, and Satan has no more ground of attack. Our faith in the precious Blood and our refusal to be moved from that position can alone silence his charges and put him to flight (Romans 8. 33, 34) ; and so it will be, right on to the end (Revelation 12. 11). Oh, what an emancipation it would be if we saw more of the value in God’s eyes of the precious Blood of His dear Son!

So we see that objectively the Blood deals with our sins, The Lord Jesus has borne them on the Cross for us as our Substitute and has thereby obtained for us forgiveness, justification and reconciliation. But we must now go a step further in the plan of God to understand how He deals with the sin principle in us. The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man’. It needs the Cross to crucify me. The Blood deals with the sins, but the Cross must deal with the sinner.