The Final Criterion ...

Who you are matters.  Not who you know.  Not what you know.  But who you are in the core of your character, does matter.  Modern Christian churches tend to get this entirely wrong.  They focus on what they can teach you.  The idea is that if you find out enough knowledge, some of it is bound to rub off on you, and perhaps you might become a better person than when you started.  That idea may even have some merit.  But what if who you are is essentially the same as who you were; only after all this education, you have a better understanding of doctrines.  If you think it has never happened before, just spend some time reading about the Pharisees in the time of Christ.  They had immense knowledge of the scriptures, spent nearly every day debating and trying to increase that knowledge.  But it did not change “who” they were.  And when Christ came, they refused to recognize Him.  Why?  Because Jesus was obsessed with loving others, especially those in need.  The Pharisees were more comfortable with a “caste” system where the people in great need were largely ostracized (you know, in order to keep the church pure).

And speaking of the “church”, it can’t save you either.  The Pharisees went to church obsessively.  They had a special temple building that was specifically authorized for this purpose.  They had many rituals designed to point them to the Messiah, ALL of which they followed for public viewing.  They sang all the hymns.  They wrote a few new ones.  They washed themselves up and were “clean” all the time.  Their clothing was “temple proscribed”.  It was conservative (as nearly as conservative as clothing gets).  Their family lives were very regimented with each member of the family knowing their “place”.  Wives and daughters did household chores and only those.  Sons were meant to carry on tradition and were educated thoroughly from an early age.  For our conservative brothers and sisters who think that modern society has gone down hill because we let our standards erode – the Pharisees had the best lock on standards there will ever be, and yet – they missed the Messiah entirely.  Rather, they chose to kill the Messiah rather than adopt another way of doing things.

So what about doctrine?  True doctrine is supposed to point you to Jesus.  If it works, that should lead you to submission and transformation of who you are.  But how many doctrines are really setup for that purpose?  Instead doctrines have become the central pillars that divide one church from another based on what is now called “belief”.  All modern Christian churches believe in Jesus, and yet every distinct denomination is somehow divided over the doctrines they teach.  Again noting the irony of doctrines being supposed to point you to Jesus, yet churches divide over them incessantly.  But let’s assume for the moment that your brand of Christianity (that is your particular denomination or unique set of beliefs) is 100% right, and everyone else is 100% wrong.  What then?  Does holding all the right doctrines to be true, make you a different person on the inside?  To the point, does it change who you are so completely, that you become just like Jesus (hard to tell you apart)?  If not, why?  All that truth must be good for something right.  But then, knowing “about” Jesus, and knowing “about” the Bible, only makes you a good student – not a different person.  To “be” a different person all you need is Jesus (and nothing else will do).

So what kind of person are you supposed to be?  That would be the $64,000 question.  And of course, Jesus left us the answer.  Matthew in his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries records the words of Jesus Himself on this topic in chapter 25.  Jesus once again transitions the context from prior scriptures, beginning with the signs and wonders, moving to the conditions, moving again to the work or mission, and now to a final judgment scene that most conservative Christians love the idea of.  The last topic Jesus will address is what happens at His second coming (whether at the outset of it, or at the end of it – time is a little fuzzy in this one).  But there is very clear a division of people into two camps.  The saved, and the not saved.  This makes all of us nervous.  And it should.  The selfishness in the roots of who we are, dictates a lot of bad outcomes.  But this story has a twist, in fact a number of them.

It begins with Jesus speaking in verse 31 saying … “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:”  This is the second coming of Jesus.  No longer a humble baby laying in a manger for Herod to plot to destroy.  He is now beyond the reach of plotting Pharisees who want to see Him dead because He will simply not accept their version of the doctrines of truth they believe are beyond dispute.  This is a different picture of the same Jesus, and He is back.  This is not the sign for the atheists to finally accept the ridiculous ideas of a spaghetti monster as opposed to a tangible Son of God who is now here in front of them with all His holy angels (a number likely too large for us to guess at now).  And He brings with Him a throne, that is meant only for Him to sit upon.  This is the revelation of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He does not bow to our money or wealth.  He does not humble Himself to our leaders, for He is the ultimate leader of all time.  The glory of this is beyond our imagination today.  Yet Jesus gives us this small glimpse to get our heads in the right train of thought.

He continues in verse 32 saying … “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: [verse 33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”  Our ultimate shepherd dividing His flocks is something we can kind of understand.  But does He mean His right, or our right?  And does He mean His left hand, or does He me the hand we see on the left from our perspective?  But that’s the thing about sheep, they just do what they are told.  They do not need to understand it.  They just do it.  This is a subtlety we sometimes miss.  Everyone here in this crowd thinks they are the same.  We ALL believe Jesus has come to take US home.  We ALL believe we are His sheep.  Nobody is looking around making accusations.  We’re just ALL happy.  But despite what we think of ourselves, there is a division going on, none the less. And we the sheep and goats are more or less oblivious to it.  Keep in mind two ambitious disciples had asked that when Jesus came into His kingdom that one might be placed at the right hand of Jesus, and one at the left.

Jesus continues in verse 34 saying … “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: [verse 35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [verse 36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”  The group on the right has made it in to the Kingdom.  Why?  Keep in mind the above set of activities is NOT a definitive list, it is a set of examples.  What drives the behavior above is a core love of others that has become a part of “who” we are.  There is no check list of this stuff.  There is a driving motivation that pushes always into these kinds of behaviors for others, because we genuinely love them.  This set of examples is evidence of a full transformation of the heart and mind.  You leave behind the person you are today (one obsessed with self), and you are re-created into the very image of Jesus Christ by the power of His transformative love you choose to submit to.  The Holy Spirit acts as the mechanism.  And the result is a different kind of sheep.

Now again, I must call attention to the obvious (sorry).  Where is doctrine listed in the above set of final criterion?  Where is our understand of scripture cited, or our perfect knowledge of prophecy tested?  For that matter, where is something as basic as the Ten Commandments examined?  The above set of actions are examples of you loving others (which should be an embodiment of both doctrine and the Ten Commandments) – because it brings you into harmony with God.  But the goal post Jesus lays out is not whether you have kept all ten or any one of the Commandments properly, or whether you broke one tenant of the Law.  He does not have to.  Perfect love of others brings you into perfect harmony with the Law, until the Law is not something you even think about anymore, it is just a basic proscription for how to love others, that you would not think of badly.  You already love God, because loving Jesus is how your transformation began, continued, and finally concluded.  You already love others, so what “not” to do is only a beginning for you.  You have been spending your thoughts on what “to do”.  The above list Christ cited are examples of that thinking.

For some traditionalists, they believe you would gain entry into heaven or not, based on how perfectly “you” kept each commandment.  Sorry guys, that is not enough.  Jesus does not divide sheep from goats based on how many people learned not to steal, or lust, or covet, or commit adultery.  Jesus does not even look at His flock and divide it based on how many people broke the Sabbath, treated it badly, wasted their special day with Him, or worse yet; refused to worship on His day made holy at creation, choosing rather to worship on their own day.  THAT is not the criterion by which Jesus divides the flock.  Treating the time with Jesus how it deserves, cannot be accomplished, until we are brought into harmony with His Laws.  While His Laws are a burden to us, our hearts reflect our lack of transformation.  Once we allow Him to change “who” we are, how we see His special time with us changes, and only then can perfect obedience be found in us.  The Law never goes away.  Our perspective of the Law changes from burden to automatic as we are transformed into harmony with it.  Attempting to keep the Law, without transformation is nothing more than vanity.

Lastly, again notice it is not the brand of sheep that gets you into His Kingdom.  It is not “your” particular brand of Christian that is the final criterion.  Catholics are going to have to share the Kingdom with Protestants, and Mormons, and people of no brand at all.  The criterion laid out appears to be acts of loving Jesus Himself, not of belonging to a particular sect of Christianity.  It is not that only white sheep made it in (representing your faith), and reluctantly spotted sheep (people near your ideas), and from a state of grace black sheep (ones who were complete rebels, but somehow found His grace).  Color or sect or creed was not the deciding factors.  Loving Jesus was (and is).  A tangible demonstration of the first four Commandments, or a tangible demonstration of a relationship with Jesus Himself.  Either or both are true.  Loving Jesus, it would appear, is found in how we love – period.  And it is not found in turning that love inward, but in turning that love outwards to those in need (as this list would imply).

Jesus continues in verse 37 saying … “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? [verse 38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? [verse 39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? [verse 40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  And here is another evidence of transformation – it is something you do not focus on – it is something happening to you without your knowledge, but within your motives.  The transformed sheep are simply different.  They love others because it is “who” they have been made to become.  As they look at the face of Jesus, they do not remember ever providing such loving acts to Him personally.  Yet Jesus says to them, when you did it “unto the least of these”.  Not to popes or presidents, or Bill Gates.  Not when your actions were designed for credit, or check marks in heaven.  But when your acts of charity and love were done because your heart bubbles over with charity and love.  Notice too, the “least of these” are also in the flock now, perhaps in part, because of your tangible love for them.

The sheep who gain entry into His Kingdom are like two-year-olds, unaware of their state of being, unaware they are the saved of this flock.  They do for others, without the knowledge of being saved, but because it is who they have become.  Think of that.  If it were possible these sheep could be lost (it’s not), they would be going to hell with kindness and love for others as their primary driving motivation.  They lived the way they do, because Jesus re-made them this way.  It is not something they did for themselves, or in partnership with God.  It is something Jesus does for us all, as we submit who we are to Him in the here and now.  He remakes us in the here and now.  And before long, a passion for others begins to develop in you, you cannot explain.  It brings tears to your eyes unexpectedly.  It brings joy to your heart from things you would not even have noticed before.  It is the new you, beginning to learn how to love like God loves, shedding the scales of your self-love behind.  It starts now, and going to heaven merely extends it.

Jesus continues in verse 41 saying … “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: [verse 42] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: [verse 43] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.”  Pay careful attention to the reasons Jesus cites for this group NOT getting into heaven.  Examples of NOT loving others, therefore of being untransformed.  It is NO particular sin that keeps them out.  They are forgiven too, of the bad things they have done.  It is NOT the breaking of the law, or the misinterpretation of scripture that is keeping them out.  It is because they are NOT different people, they are the same at the core of who they are.  Forgiven, but not different inside.  And it shows.

The untransformed heart is all too happy to shower itself with the love of God, never thinking for a moment to share that love with others (perhaps outside of the inner circle of people we say we care about).  We care about very few, and are blindingly apathetic to those outside of our circles.  Even within our circle of people we are supposed to love, our love for them is far from perfect.  Often we choose what is convenient or easy for us, less so for them.  Sacrifice for others is seen as sacrifice (not as joy).  Giving to others is done in moderation (never completely, that would not make sense).  We strive to be “good” Christians (or worse), good people.  We tell ourselves we have achieved our goal of being a “basically” good person.  We tell ourselves that our sins do not matter, because they have been forgiven.  We treat His grace like a diaper we can relieve ourselves upon.  Never looking for an escape from our sins, only an excuse to remain in them.  Our thoughts are filled continually with a reflection of our motives, chief among them is love of self.

And it gets worse.  We too are unaware of our state of being.  Those goats, or active Christians involved in the church, hide our true condition by “working” in the ministry.  We may be the ones preaching, or planning, or helping out in church.  We make a fuss about attending events where the homeless are helped, or houses are built.  We consider these “events” as proof of our love of others (after all, we can point to a dozen of our neighbors who make no such attempt).  We give our means to ministry and again use this as proof of our love of others (pointing to others who make no such gifts, or who are unable to give as much as we).  And all of our “proof”, is proof of something else – an untransformed heart that looks for credit and reputation, not for anonymity.  When confronted with those in need, we pass by, because there is no “event” in it.  We do not make a habit of helping, only special events of helping.  We are quite comfortable leaving the least of these right where they are.  And there is no guilt in us, because who we are, is not someone who burns with the love of Jesus in us, only the love of self.  Our “good” hearts have never tasted of His transformation.  And so our lack of love for Jesus shows.  It is evident.

Jesus continues in verse 44 saying … “Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? [verse 45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. [verse 46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”  These goats are unaware they are goats.  And they too looking at the face of Jesus for the first time, realize they have never met Him before.  So they offer in their own defense, not repentance, but a statement of facts.  We never saw you, so how could we ever help you?  But the “least of these” who are in the flock today are present.  And they were ignored here by the goats who had no time for them outside of scheduled events or charitable donation.  The evidence is in front of them even if now it has been cleaned up significantly at this event.

What cannot be cleaned is the hearts still inside the goats.  It is too late for that.  They have steadfastly rejected transformation when it was offered.  They believed salvation was something “they” could achieve by their own good works, or asking for forgiveness (never a real change), or helping out in church.  They believed themselves “good” when Jesus looks at them they are far from the “good” the universe demands going forward.  Lucifer thought himself good too.  And while he loved others in harmony with the Law he was.  It was when he started loving self that is when Satan emerged.  These goats have known not much more than loving self in their own lives.  They have long evidence of it.  And the irony is that they may have perfect understanding of doctrine.  They may be able to recite a perfect understanding of all prophecy ever recorded.  They may be pastors, or ministers, or elders, or deaconesses.  They may go to church regularly.  They may do everything they thought they were supposed to do.  But they do not really love Jesus.  They mostly love themselves and bringing pleasure to themselves.

It is only in our submission that we find His ability to transform who we are into who He envisions we can become.  That means we turn over to Him our decisions (large and small).  That means we turn over our hearts and passions (for Him to remake, revise, or amplify as He sees fit).  Submission is about wanting to get rid of “who” we are, and trusting that what He will re-create us into, is the best thing we would ever really want.  It is a radical change of who we are.  It will radically disrupt everything about us.  And it will always be the best thing for us.  The evidence of this transformation will be found in the passion we have for loving others.  When we cannot keep still, when we cannot sleep away our time, when we must help that person in need – we are beginning to see them like God sees them.  That is what sheep look like.  You probably already know what goats look like (I do anyway).  But I continue to try to learn what submission means, and how much more of it I can learn to adopt.  Join me in that quest, and learn what Jesus has in store for you.

This concluded the answers of Jesus as to what to look for before the destruction of the Temple, and His second coming from signs, to conditions, to mission, to the final criterion.

 

Genetically Modified Organisms ...

How can a blade of corn resist the poison of our pesticides?  How can an infant sprouting of seed withstand the onslaught of bugs, birds, drought, or flood?  In an effort to create stronger plants (and animals), large chemical corporations experiment with modifying the genetic composition of “life” in order to create more “sustainable” harvests.  But the science of GMOs, particularly when published by companies that have a long history of covering up the damage of carcinogens found in their products, does little to reassure the fears of the consuming public.  Does the process of genetic modification end in the plants we alter … or does it continue in us after we consume them … and to what effect?  Does altering a tomato to make it more red, and less seedy, have a side effect in me when I consume it?  In short, how could we possibly assess the damage that genetic alteration could do to us, especially when we are certain profit was the motive behind the science?

But perhaps the more interesting question is … does humanity itself need a genetic level alteration?  In our previous studies, Peter recalled to John Mark is his gospel, the first parable or story-telling lesson of Jesus Christ to His followers.  It was a story of the sower (God the Father) sowing His Seed (Jesus Christ) into the earth or (hearts of mankind).  The response to the Father taking the initiative to sow His Son into us varied in this story.  And without the lens of Jesus Christ and His mission to redeem all of mankind, we might tend to miss the point for the details.  But our salvation from ourselves, that is, the removing of even our desire to sin, can only be accomplished as we allow Christ to change us from the inside out.  In short, we are asking Jesus to modify what we want, how we think, and who we are.  Perhaps what humanity needs is a genetic level re-wiring of who we are, in order to become something else, and something better.  At least we know the changes God proposes to us, are NOT motivated by profit, or any selfish reason on His part, they are motivated by a love that would see us be happy and live lives of meaning and fulfillment.

And it is the “process” of salvation that follows the analogy of growth or decay.  Peter picks up the conversation with Jesus in chapter 4 of John Marks gospel and in verse 24 saying … “And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”  This is not just an admonition to be fair with others in our business dealings.  It is bigger than that.  “Take heed” or pay attention to, or give consideration to … what we hear.  The “wisdom” of the Pharisees was all around the disciples at that time.  Many were content to seek the wisdom of tradition, of what their parents had taught them, of what the establishment dictated was truth.  This collective “wisdom” gathered through centuries of studying scriptures, was ready to deny Christ and see Him murdered for His dissent.  To choose to listen and learn from Jesus Christ instead of from the religious leadership of His day, was considered a radical thing.  It was enough to get you thrown out of the Temple, and denied re-entry.

Imagine the irony of being cast out of the earthly Temple, because you sought the wisdom of the Heavenly sent Temple of Christ.  What understanding of real Truth the disciples would gain, would come only from the direct interactions and study of Jesus Christ.  It is no different today.  We risk losing Jesus in our quest to master the scriptures.  We allow our preconceptions to govern what we permit our minds to absorb from the reading of His word.  And we translate our certainty about what we “know” from scripture to create boundaries between one Christian and another, because we do not see eye-to-eye on every point of faith … while ignoring our privilege to love one another like He loves us.  Instead we prefer to denigrate one another for a “lack of understanding” of the written word, and in so doing, reveal we know so little ourselves of the personification of the Word.  What disagreement over doctrine should so cause us to isolate ourselves from each other, and refuse love that is so desperately needed from each other?  Perhaps if we “took heed” of what we heard in the voice of Jesus Christ calling us to love each other as our first priority, the other differences would resolve themselves, or we would discover, they did not matter anyway.

When we are harsh with each other in the application of the word, Christ warns us that our actions and motives will be returned to us.  The phrase … “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you” … is not about retribution from others, or from God.  It is more dangerous than that, it is a warning about self-created GMOs of a spiritual nature.  As we permit ourselves to apply the word of God in judgment and condemnation of others for their misdeeds, we “become” judgmental and condemning people.  We slowly but surely extinguish the caring for others from our insides out.  We modify our genetic spiritual condition over time such that we do not realize what we are doing until we become the people we used to pity or despise.  Love is destroyed within us.  Love is altered to the point where our hate speech is rationalized as a form of “loving” others.  We actually think we are doing them a favor for condemning them for their sins, all the while ignoring our lack of love in us.  We may go so far as to perform miracles in the powerful name of Christ, but in truth He does not “know us”, because we have no Love in us.

Too many Christians apply this text as a warning of punishment from God if we are unfair to others.  The punishment is not FROM God, it is FROM us; and will be inflicted on us, by us.  This text is a warning label from God about the dangers of spiritual GMOs.  We have the ability to alter ourselves in a negative way by attempting to use scriptures as a method of judgment, instead of a tool of redemption.  The point was never to condemn sinners as they justly deserve, but instead to redeem sinners in spite of them (and us) never deserving redemption.  The point of scripture was to find true forgiveness for every single misdeed we ever did, no matter how bad, how often, or how premeditated our actions were.  And beyond forgiveness, to find a way to escape repeating these painful deeds, in our submission to Jesus Christ, and His power to remove even these desires from within us.  We should allow Christ to modify who we are … if we attempt the modification process ourselves, we produce no better results than Monsanto.  Instead of true spiritual growth through having Christ re-wire us, we produce true spiritual decay because we attempt to do it ourselves, choking all signs of love for others out of our stony hearts.

But there is a promise in this text as well for it further reads … “and unto you that hear, more shall be given”.   This is not a warning, but a cause for celebration.  It is liberating to be made free from ourselves, and our past, and our tendency to cause pain to those we love.  The seed of Jesus Christ, can grow within us as we let it.  He can teach us how to love others like He loves others.  In so doing, more light and real Truth is brought to our minds.  As we love others in a tangible way, we begin to learn His Truth in a tangible way.  We begin to see the fallacy of attempting to bring others to Christ, while casting stones at them every step of the journey.  We begin to see that the positive motivation of love that would free us, is far more alluring, than the threat of a punishment God does not even want to give out.  Instead of painting God as a tyrant who demands obedience and love, we begin to see Him for who He truly is, a God who loves us so much, He would rather die than see us suffer and share that fate.  He came not only to forgive us, but to redeem us from the self-inflicted pain we are helplessly addicted to.  In short His love motivated Him to save us, not see us punished for being who we are.  He wishes to free us from who we are, and modify us to restore us, to who we were intended to be.

The lesson of Jesus continues in verse 25 saying … “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”  Here again is a promise of growth and bearing fruit for those who seek wisdom from Jesus Christ.  Instead of looking to other “spiritual” pathways to God as every other religion would have us do; and instead of looking to self within Christianity to find “our interpretation” is king; we can safely look to Jesus Christ for the wisdom we need.  That wisdom is only found in our transformation in becoming like Him.  It is not found in a refusal to be changed by Christ, but an embrace of His changes for us.  We become like Him, that is, we become the ears of corn He intends us to be, when we allow Him to modify the core of who we are.  When we attempt to find wisdom internally, or through “alternative” means, we remain only the weeds we ever were, sustaining a self-fulfilling prophecy for our destiny.

It is the destiny of “self” that is described in the latter part of this verse saying … “and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath”.  The little understanding of Christ a person may have had before, will be extinguished within them as they choke it out, by constantly seeking other means of finding spiritual wisdom.  Christians naturally assume this text is meant to apply to Muslims, or Buddhists, or people who seek any other god but Christ.  However all too often it is Christians who have lost the distinction of relying upon self for wisdom, instead of being willing to un-learn, and re-learn, the Truth from Jesus Christ. 

A symptom of this can be revealed in how willing you would be to worship God or share His love in a church that is not your own, in a denomination that is not your own, on a day you normally choose to do other things on.  There are those Seventh Day Adventists who believe finding themselves in church on a Sunday is a sin, and non-SDA’s who equally dislike the idea of worshipping on Saturday.  While both struggle to honor God on the day they believe is correct, I do not recall a preclusion to worship God on other days of the week.  Both lines-of-thinking typically conduct meetings of prayer on a Wednesday evening.  Does our disagreement over doctrine so preclude us from association with each other even in the middle of the week, in the evening, in order to pray?  Are we so hardened in our doctrinal positions, that we are unable to cross self-imposed denominational boundaries even to associate for prayer mid-week?  And yet we claim our wisdom is based on Christ, and we remain “certain” of this fact, and steadfast in our refusal to associate with other believers, let alone pray with them … “because they don’t understand”.  Someone does not understand, but it is not “them”.

That Christians would so fear each other that they cannot meet together, crossing self-imposed denominational boundaries, for prayer midweek is beyond comprehension.  That so many Christians would refuse to take time to attend these midweek meetings for prayer (even within their own denomination), is a further testament to where our priorities are, and how little we perceive our “need” of God to be.  Being too busy to dedicate a small amount of time to pray to God to ask Him for His blessings … not for ourselves (we do that nearly all the time) … but for others who so desperately need our intercession, is a testament to how much we truly love others.  Our television schedules, the demands of raising a family, the project at work that requires extra effort, all find a way of making us “too busy” to go to the inconvenience of a midweek meeting to pray for the souls of others, who remain lost in their self-inflicted pain.  Our spiritual GMO created through the lens of self is bearing fruit … just not the kind we would eat, if we truly saw it for what it is.

And the lessons of growth had only just begun …

 

Family Redefined ...

Most of us hold a special place in our hearts for mom.  Mom generally earned this place because as far back as we can remember, she was there taking care of us, nurturing us, and showing a love for us we could barely understand back then.  Dad’s love was different, likely less expressive, but present.  Dad had a natural instinct to insure the family was safe, secure, and taken care of.  It meant less of his time, but always because of His desire to work for our greater good.  Our siblings are another kind of love entirely.  We grew up with them, fought with them over silly things, and were close to them when in times of need or sadness.  We share their joys and triumphs and share with them their sadness and defeats.  Underneath it all, the fights with them were more about establishing a unique identity in the family unit, than about any “real” disagreements.  And so we define our family unit by blood relations, and are often taught that blood is thicker than water, and only blood can be counted on in the world.  But our premise is mistaken at its core.  It is not just the Supreme Court of the United States that is redefining family, it is Jesus Christ.

Our core premise of family is broken from the outset.  Mom and dad are not actually related by blood (usually), unless you trace back our ancestry to Noah or Adam.  Taking history back that far makes us ALL related by blood (a concept we find Jesus endorsing).  So then mom and dad are family not by blood, but by choice, and by commitment.  In our world choices and commitments fail regularly leading to new family unit compositions, where new partners for mom or dad equate to new roles in the parental offering.  Step dads, or step moms, become part of the family unit through different choices made on the timelines of our lives.  New siblings that may have no blood relation at all enter the family unit, and if things go well, and Christian charity is employed, they can become as close to us, as any blood relation ever was.  The love between the new partner of mom or dad is different as well, and can be more or less intense than the original pairing.  And so how do we judge (perhaps not at all), about the validity of a family unit after it was broken, and now attempting to repair itself in another way?

Our core premise of family is broken in yet another way.  Sometimes children are left alone in this world, because of situations beyond their control.  They may be lucky enough to be adopted by parents who so desperately want to add another child to their family unit.  Those parents invest deeply in the lives of these adopted children, working hard to demonstrate a love that is intended to fill the gap left by the pain and loss found in this world.  No adoptive parent ever makes a distinction in how much they love their child.  While not the biological parent, they are the parent none the less.  These family units are determined by choice and commitment, not by blood.  They are as strong as any family unit, and the restorative love they put on display emulates the love of God as much as any we see here on earth.  And blood relations have little to do with the choice and commitment adoptive parents and children make to each other.

While the Supreme Court recognized that the privileges of a marital family unit are more defined by a choice and commitment than by the sexual orientation of the two individuals making that choice; they only chose to expand our legal definition of family to those who may be a bit different from ourselves.  But I submit, what they did is not new, nor did “they” actually redefine family for us or Christianity at large.  How could they?  We already had homosexuals in our family units, whether by blood, or by choice.  The orientation of a person does not determine their place within a family, it is instead only a characteristic that self-identifies with that person.  Many parents will discover that one or more of their children are in fact gay.  While this revelation may be painful at first, particularly if it is at odds with the values those parents hold to; ultimately it changes “nothing” about how much a parent continues to love that child.  Moms don’t stop nurturing, caring, and loving their child because they discover the child is gay (or they shouldn’t).  And dads don’t stop providing, seeking for safety and security of their families, because they discover a child is gay (or they shouldn’t).  So the inclusion of a gay person in a family unit was ALREADY part of our culture, and our definition of family.

It turns out, we already love people who are gay, whether as siblings, or children, or parents.  Loving someone with this characteristic is NOT against the law of God, nor is it forbidden in scripture.  There is no scripture that demands we ostracize a member of our family because they exhibit some behavior the Bible defines as sin.  If it did, every single parent, spouse, or child who has ever told a lie should be cast out (instead of forgiven).  Every single act of sexual misconduct including “lust” even if only in the mind, would be grounds for excommunication between the family unit and that person.  Under these extreme conditions there would be no family units left, only single individuals who are universally guilty of misguided sexual expression both straight and gay.  If our sin is allowed to separate us from each other and from redemptive love, there is no hope for any of us.  Instead Christians believe and need the forgiveness our Savior offers us.  It is a constant and ever present need, and it spans many more sins, than just those of a sexual nature.  At its core, a family unit is composed of choice and commitment, it is not simply a matter of blood.  But that lesson is not mine, it was Christ’s.

Peter recalls to John Mark an incident that proved just this point.  Mark wrote it down in chapter three and beginning in verse 31 saying … “There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.”  This occurs at a time when Jesus is deeply engrossed in teaching His followers about the restorative love of God.  His mission is beyond healing only our bodies, but it remains for Jesus to heal our minds, and our souls.  He is demonstrating to his listeners what freedom from sin can really mean.  And during His teachings, His blood relations, or His family come to see Him.  Keep in mind this designation includes not only His mom, but “His brethren” or His siblings.  Mary did not remain a perpetual virgin after having Jesus Christ.  Instead she was a normal wife and mother.  She had sexual intimacy with Joseph, and the brothers and possibly sisters of Christ were a result.  Mary was like any other wife and mother, she loved her children, and her husband.  She had earned a place of respect in the family unit due to her choice and her commitment.  And now she was here with her other children to see Jesus.  But the venue was packed, another standing room only event, and she could not even get close enough to her Son, to ask Him what she was there to ask.  So they had to send in word by messenger.

John Mark records how the message progressed in verse 32 saying … “And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.”  Whether it was whispered from person to person, or perhaps someone sitting there at the feet of Jesus saw His family outside waiting for Him and just assumed He needed to know, the message about His family waiting was delivered to Jesus.  Of course in so doing, the flow of His sermon was interrupted.  The train of thought had to by necessity pause, while consideration of this new situation was discussed and addressed.  Jesus, being divine, already knew they were there.  In addition, He already knew why they were there and what they wanted from Him.  He had already evaluated their needs and their request in His head before they arrived; had it been more critical to Him than what He was teaching, He would have ended His dialogue early, and met them outside, or on the road to go address what they felt was important.  But Jesus did none of this.  Instead He had remained inside, with these people in front of Him, teaching them something that outweighed the needs of His family.

Then Jesus does what the Supreme Court could not ever do as Mark continues the account in verse 33 saying … “And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?”  This is not a casual question.  The parentage of Jesus Christ was “the” pivotal question of His ministry here on earth.  Jesus had repeatedly commanded the demons who fled before Him to remain silent on identifying Him as the literal Son of God.  To be born of a virgin was a miracle ONLY God could accomplish, and since it has never been done before or since, it remained an issue of faith to accept.  You will also note in this text, He does NOT ask who His Father is.  That question was to be settled as we examine His life.  But questioning who is His mother, and who are His siblings was intended to shock His audience into thinking deeper about what it means to be in a family with the Son of God.

Then Jesus ups the stakes in the definition of family as Peter has John Mark transcribe the further words of Christ in verse 34 saying … “And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!”  Ouch.  If our traditional views of blood relations were all that defined family, Jesus Christ just blew that away.  There would be no special place of respect for His mother standing outside, or for His siblings that grew up with Him.  Mary would be no intercessor with Christ as our Catholic friends might like to believe, as here Jesus plainly equates NO special status to her as to any other person sitting on the floor in front of Him.  To be the blood brother of Christ, did not afford His siblings any more special consideration than to be a stranger sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Blood is obviously not something that defines inclusion in the family of Jesus Christ.

Perfection was not a pre-requisite either.  The crowd sitting in front of Jesus were not well educated wealthy, religious leaders who committed little if any sins.  They were common folks.  The Pharisees who were deeply religious, wealthy, and obsessed with the keeping of the Law, had largely abandoned following after Jesus to learn.   They were instead plotting how to kill Him.  The people here on the floor were common sinners of every variety.  They were not there to justify their sins, or deny them, or make false claims about having already gained perfection.  They were universally guilty of sin.  But the focus there was on restoration and redemption.  To free these listeners from even their desire to sin, was the paramount goal of Jesus Christ.  In that mission, He could not be interrupted for trivial concerns.  And just because you had a blood relation, did not make your request more important that the restoration of one who is bound in sin.

Then Jesus made a declaration that would redefine family forever as John Mark records in verse 35 saying … “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”  It would not be about blood, it would be about choice and commitment.  Those listeners there had chosen to find Christ and learn at His feet, they had committed to being restored by Jesus Christ, and in so doing were named as part of His family.  When we choose to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ and let His will become ours, let Him remake our desires, our thinking, and ultimately our choices … we are making a choice to enter the family of the Son of God.  He considers us family as we unite with both Jesus and the Father God.  When we become in harmony with His Laws of Love, we become part of His family.  This can only happen, as our sin-sick diseased and addicted minds are remade by our Creator God.  We need re-creation, if we are to be brought into harmony with the Law of God which reflects His entry-level definition of what it means to love others. 

Being Jewish was and is not enough to be considered part of the family of Christ.  Being of the bloodline of David or Abraham was not enough.  Being Christian was and is not enough to be considered part of the family of Christ.  It is not just about making a declarative statement that we “believe” in Christ.  It is about taking that belief to Christ and surrendering “who” we are to Him to be remade.  For many a Christian does NOT do the will of the Father God, as instead they cling to the sins that define their characters.  This is not just a gay condition, it is a straight one.  It is not just about sexual expression or behavior, it is about loving self more than loving others.  We could completely abstain from sex altogether and still be found lacking in the pursuit of the will of the Father God, because we have not surrendered our desires to Him to be remade.

Those who focus on sex as the discriminator of proximity to Christ, ignore every other sin they are bound to.  Both gay and straight people lie.  Both steal.  Both love themselves more than they love others.  Both have pride, arrogance, and can reflect a coldness to those in need.  Christians are supposed to be the antithesis of these characteristics yet they are not.  It is the un-surrendered heart that keeps us at odds with the Law of God.  It is our pride in “who” we are that prevents us from being willing to put even our spouse or our sexuality on the altar of God.  We wish instead to retain the things that are important to us.  We wish to retain the things about us that define who we are.  We cherish our characters instead of looking at them with the disdain they deserve.  The only good in us, can be found as we reflect the Love of God to others.  This love does not originate in us, it is only reflected through us.  And that reflection is made dim or non-existent because we refuse to let go of who we are, choosing to try to retain ourselves and find a “partial” salvation instead of a full one.

It is as if we wish to get better from our cancer rather than find a cure for it.  It is as if we are comfortable being HIV positive as long as our condition does not evolve into full blown AIDs.  Jesus was not here to dispense so many spiritual pills to make us feel better about our diseases.  He was here to cure them all, fully.  He was here to restore us to the condition He had in mind for us.  When we are ready to put our sexuality on His altar, even if that means we live the rest of our lives in abstention, or are compelled to find another partner, or must forgive and recommit to the partner we have no matter how bad they treat us … to allow Jesus to reshape what we desire and how we love … is at the core of a full cure from our disease of sin.  Lest straight believers think I am only talking to our gay brothers and sisters, I am not.  Adam withheld Eve from the trust of the Lord to save her.  Eve was the one thing Adam was not willing to give up, and in joining her, he initiated sin into our world and our genetics from then to now.  Original sin was not found in homosexuality, it was found in the love of a husband for his wife, over that of his Creator.  That test remains for us all.  Is there anything, or any part of us, we love more than we love God?  If we hold back any part of ourselves from the restoration Christ offers, we cling to the cancer that kills us.

But, if we are willing to bring all of ourselves into surrender to Christ, then there is no difference between any of us in His eyes.  Our perfection will be the journey Christ brings us to.  It does NOT matter what sins we suffer from today, as ALL of them are to be a thing of the past as He remakes who we are, how we love, and how we think.  In this process, our sole job remains to love each other.  We are to be a family by choice and commitment, not by blood.  I am to love you, no matter what condition of sin you suffer from, or that I suffer from.  I am to love you without precondition, or demands upon you.  For it Jesus Christ who will free both you and I from our sins.  No need to judge your progress on that path, only to encourage you to remain on it, and ask that you encourage me to remain on it as well.  It is not our sins that exclude us from restoration, it is our unwillingness to see those sins disappear.  Letting go all of ourselves to Christ, frees us to love each other without condemnation or judgment.

The Supreme Court redefined legal marriage in our country this week.  But what spiritual marriage is, remains a concept no law of our land will ever fully be able to comprehend or enumerate in legal language.  The relationships that God blesses of family units begins with an entirely different understanding of what it means to love others like He loves others.  If we are not in harmony with how He loves, how we could possibly hope to understand what a true spiritual marriage is all about.  Instead we bring our selfishness into our weddings, and our lives, and look to see what marriage has to offer us; instead of holistically re-evaluating marriage through the eyes of Christ, and what it means to have intimacy between ourselves and our God as the underpinning of any choice and commitment.  The intimacy between each of us and our God must occur prior to the success of anything we call marriage.  If we are distant from the source of Love, how can we hope to truly love each other, as a spouse should be loved?

Before Christians decry the breakdown of the family unit because our country made something legal, they should take a serious look at why the concept of divorce exists, and the damage it causes to our families and our nation.  Divorce exists (and will now impact the gay community), because of the selfishness in how we love others.  It is a reflection of our addiction to loving self, and unwillingness to love another beyond the limits of our lives.  Divorce is enabled because Christians are unwilling to have their desires remade, and be taught a new way to love another.  If we were willing to submit the entirety of who we are in surrender to Jesus Christ, we would be making better decisions before marriage, and better decisions once in a marriage.  It is not the legality of our marriage license that determines the spiritual validity of marriage, it is determined in how much of ourselves we are willing to surrender to Jesus Christ to be remade by Him.  Full surrender will yield full restoration, and we can trust in Jesus to save us from ourselves.  To be part of the family of the Son of God, remains only about choice, and about commitment.  How much of who you are, are you willing to relinquish to Christ?  Or perhaps better stated … how much pain would you like to let go of as our Lord offers a full cure just for that asking?

 

To De-Value Grace ...

In our last study, Peter began enumerating the degeneration that occurs, even within a “spiritual leader” when once the concept of “self” is introduced into the process of our salvation.  It begins with pride; perhaps pride in the idea that “we” alone have found some nugget of truth in an interpretation of prophecy or scripture, and therefore all others are by definition … wrong.  Instead of attributing the cost of our salvation to Jesus Christ alone, we begin to assume that our own efforts matter as well.  We begin to think that perhaps through study and dedication, we can fix some portion of ourselves, and simply leave the remainder that is broken to Christ.  Instead of success, we only prolong failure, but in the stubbornness of our pride, we cling to our ideas that “we” too, must have some measure of control in the process of our salvation.  Holding on to the value of self in our religion, we begin to tailor our worship services to be pleasing to us.  We begin to confine the notion of family to those only of blood or marital relations and when once marriage is discarded, those former soul-mates are cast to the winds.  None of these end-states were envisioned when once we started down the slippery slopes of self or pride.  Lucifer could not imagine killing God when he merely pondered the idea of loving himself instead of others, even if only for the briefest of time.  But degeneration is the nature of sin.

The insidious doctrine of Satan must not be wholly in error, or else it would be discovered and eliminated quickly.  So even the teachings of Satan must include some measure of truth.  For Christians, this measure of truth could rely upon the concept of forgiveness.  Forgiveness, is the Christian’s “get out of jail free” card.  There is an unlimited supply of forgiveness.  There are no limits to the sins it will cover, everything from the serial rape and murder of children, to little white lies.  Forgiveness erases it all.  Forgiveness allows us to be “saved” with a clean slate, a complete do-over, a white-out of the sins of our past.  Without it we could never begin a face to face relationship with God.  For whatever reason, God never seems to hold forgiveness back from us, whether we commit sin knowing full well in advance what we were doing, or just stumbling in on it by accident.

So Satan does not attempt to destroy the idea of forgiveness, instead he amplifies it.  He makes forgiveness the “king” of Christian doctrine and philosophy … to the exclusion of any further thoughts on the subject.  By leveraging forgiveness, we can effectively remain in our sins, content with “who” we are.  We can come to believe that “God understands our weaknesses” and therefore invented forgiveness in order to keep loving us.  We begin to tell ourselves, that what we do must actually be God’s fault because He made us this way.  So in reality forgiveness is something He owes us, in order to keep up His end of the justice equation.  Over time, we come to believe that forgiveness is automatic, we don’t need to ask for it every time, because God “knows our hearts” and provided forgiveness in advance for every deed we will ever do.  And at some point, we decide the value of forgiveness is just not that great, so whether God grants it or not, becomes much less important to us.  Apparently God wants us to “enjoy life” and has provided forgiveness as our Christian reset button when life comes to an end.

For those who have embraced the idea that “self” plays a role in our salvation process, it is VERY easy to fall into this thinking on the topic of forgiveness.  For having embraced the notion of “self” in salvation, our failure to find perfection, to avoid the desire for sin, goes away.  We find we want sin as much as we ever did.  No measure of self-discipline or self-control ever eliminates the desire to sin; at best it eliminates the actions of sin.  In our hearts, we remain with longing for the forbidden.  In our hearts, our lust consumes our thoughts, and we enact (if only in our minds) the object of sin over and over again.  This process repeats until at some point, our actions follow our desires, and down into sin we plunge.  Our guilt may drive us back to forgiveness, perhaps because some relative or friend still enlists God’s intervention on our behalf even though we no longer want Him ourselves.  Perhaps He gladly answers their prayers for us, since we keep telling Him “no”.  But forgiveness only wipes our slate clean.  It does not transform what we “want” to do again and again.

This is why Satan ONLY amplifies forgiveness.  He hopes that in our repeated failure and degeneration over time, we will come to a point where we no longer even care about it.  He hopes that the sins of the flesh will so overwhelm us; that the gratification of self will so consume us and warp our desires, that nothing will provide an allure to return to God and his path of self-denial (translate unhappiness).  And Satan is VERY successful at luring “backsliders” out of the church through this path.  He is even MORE successful creating hypocrites that remain in the pews, content to sin, and cast stones at others.  All of us denying the central core tenant of salvation that would free us from this course of perpetuated pain and slow torturous death.  The truth that “we” have NOTHING to do with our salvation, that Jesus Christ alone purchased us with His blood, and through our submission of our will to Him, He re-creates “new” desires in us, eliminating the sins we were once so bound to and enslaved by.  The power of transformation is LOST on those who continue to insert self into salvation.  This was Peter’s greatest fear.  And he wanted to make sure we all knew where it would lead.

So he begins in his second letter to the church in chapter 2 and verse 10 saying … “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”  The men to which Peter refers are not just members of a church, or babes in the faith.  They are spiritual leaders, they are false teachers, they do not just commit these sins, they advocate them to others.  They assert their independence and their individuality and despise unity and conformity.  They misuse their unique perspective of Jesus to assert there is no other.  And they despise both correction, and transformation, as they have come to accept themselves for “who” they are.  The repeated failures of self to perfect them, have led them to the idea that perfection is simply not possible.  And since perfection is impossible, it must not be required.  They never for a second believe that perfection might be possible, if they gave up on the idea of having “self” achieve it.

Peter continues in verse 11 … “Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. [verse 12] But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;”  Peter is astounded at how far a corrupt spiritual leader can fall.  One who should know the truth and the power of transformation instead after relying upon self, offers criticism of things they do not understand at all.  Even fallen angels do not rail as these “brute beasts” of men do.  They march like cattle to the slaughter understanding not the effect of evil upon the soul and warping of the mind.  They lack transformation, and begin to de-value both forgiveness and grace, and in so doing they insure their destruction, running from the only source that would otherwise save them.

Peter continues in verse 13 … “And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;”  These false religious leaders are not timid, shy, or ashamed.  They are bold, arrogant, and desire to be the center of attention.  They insert themselves in the lives of believers.  They sin in heart and deed, and are “content” to do so.  Yet they feast with the saints, spreading their heresy, and hoping to have others join in their behavior as if in some way validating what they do.  But they remain a cancer on the body of Christ because they will not see past themselves.

Peter continues in verse 14 … “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:”  Here is one of the saddest warnings in all of scripture.  Having “eyes” full of adultery; literally everything we see inspires in us only the desire to gratify self.  It is not the banner ads of scantily clad women selling perfume or cars on the roadside that inspire lust in us.  It is our own natural inclination that does so.  It is not the preponderance of sex on TV, and in every form of media, that causes us to lust.  Our lust merely feeds on these things.  If they did not exist, we would find other ways to feed.  And in this counsel is laid base the NATURE OF ADDICTION.  Our eyes are so full of adultery, that we … “cannot cease from sin”.  Cannot.  Not “will not”.  We are unable to stop sinning, in mind, heart, or deed.  This is not about sin as some choice we make.  This is about sin being “who” we are.  This is about the core of us being the very thing that needs to be remade by Christ, lest we remain enslaved to this kind of thinking.

Sin is NOT something we free ourselves from.  Sin is NOT something we can cease from committing by simply not allowing ourselves to “actually” commit adultery.  Adultery happens repeatedly in our minds, in our thoughts, in our fantasies, before it happens in our flesh.  We sow the seeds of it long before we reap the harvest.  It is the desire to sin that must be altered, if the deeds that follow are to ever stop occurring.  If the desire remains in us to sin, we will sin.  And most unfortunately, those accursed children who have rejected the transformation that Jesus Christ longs to give us, are not content to keep their sins confined to their minds, hearts, and thoughts; they must find expression with another person.  They work to “beguile” unstable souls.  How many a pastor or counselor has taken advantage of the weakness of a supplicant struggling against the desire to sin, to commit that very sin with them?  How often has a spiritual leader used the lure of God, to attempt to lure another soul into actions neither should take?  These false teachers preach self-indulgence combined with forgiveness, and advocate abandon to selfish desires, instead of to Jesus Christ to be remade.

Peter continues in verse 15 … “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; [verse 16] But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.”  These spiritual leaders and false teachers have completely abandoned allowing Christ to remake them.  Instead they would use the supernatural powers of Satan in their ministry.  They crave money, fame, admiration, way more than they ever craved the humility of service found in the true ministry of Christ.  But God is not unaware of their actions and intentions.  He is not willing to abandon His sheep in His flock.  And He does intervene from time to time to supernaturally interfere when Satan attempts to use his own power to destroy the flock of God.

Peter continues beginning in verse 17 … “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. [verse 18] For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. [verse 19] While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”  These are “wells without water”.  They look like a place of refreshing in a dry desert, but they have NOTHING to offer, but further thirst.  These pastors, conference leaders, evangelists, or neighbors in the pew, can all TALK about salvation, but none have experienced it yet.  They speak with great swelling words of vanity, meaning they exalt their positions, their knowledge of scripture, their time with the Lord.  But none know what it means to really be saved, to really be made free from sin, any sin.  Their base desires remain within them, and are a constant focus of self-gratification on any level.  So they preach forgiveness and the liberty that comes with a clean slate, having no idea how to change the underlying desire for sin.  They are servants of corruption, inspiring others to join them in bondage to self, allowing none to escape the notion of “self” inserted in our salvation.

Peter concludes, starting in verse 20 … “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. [verse 21] For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. [verse 22] But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”  Again Peter introduces the concept that it IS possible to fall from grace.  Even spiritual leaders who perhaps at one time knew what it was like to be made free from the grip of sin, have instead of furthering their surrender to Christ, taken back a measure of “control”.  They have allowed the idea of “self” back into the process of salvation. 

Perhaps they reasoned that God would free them from the “big” sins, and they would work on the “little” ones.  Perhaps they reasoned that God would only free them from sins once or twice, not every time.  Perhaps they came to believe that it was never really God who freed them, but through their devotion and study, it was actually their own dedication that saw that sin go away.  It does not really matter how they came to deny the power of Jesus Christ in their original transformation, only that they did deny it.  It does not matter why they stopped surrendering their will to Jesus Christ, only that they did stop surrendering, trusting to self, and common sense, and will power, instead of to Christ alone.  Having tasted only briefly of the freedom of salvation, must be devastating when it is fully lost.  The end-state even a worse form of torture for them than never knowing it at all.  For now, they know it is possible, but no longer possible for them.  A dog returning to his vomit, the thing that should most repulse him – a pig returning to their own poo and mud that should most repulse any creature – yet both find “happiness” in this pit of despair.  More accurately, both are bound to seeing this pit of disgust, as a pinnacle to rise to.

This is the level of perversion that will occur in the mind of even a spiritual leader who relies upon self in the process of salvation.  They will not simply die alone in their sins, they will work avidly to have others join them.  They will not simply withdraw from the membership of the body of Christ, they will instead assert leadership in that body, and attempt to destroy from within what should have been preserved.  They will seek the company of saints, if only to corrupt them.  They will preach forgiveness because this is the part of the process they understand.  But they will never preach transformation because this is the part of the process that “self” keeps them from experiencing.  They will preach the need for “good works” but never understand the motives that would drive them.  They will preach adherence to the Law of God, but never understand how to be in harmony with that Law.  The best doctrines of Satan have a measure of truth within them.  The fostering of guilt within the church does nothing to purify it.  The knowledge of committing sin is not the same as a release from it. As long as “self” is allowed to be part of our thinking in salvation, we will continue to deny ourselves the ability of Jesus Christ to actually rid us of the desire to sin.

Those who would choose to believe in the natural “goodness” of mankind must examine the words and warnings of Peter and see where the degeneration of self leads … even in spiritual leaders.  We de-value grace when we assert self.  We de-value grace when we choose to rely upon forgiveness and never let Christ build upon that foundation, the transformation of who we are.  We de-value grace when we become “content” with “who” we are, instead of aspiring to allow Jesus Christ to remake us into “who” He intended we become.  There is so much more for us, than the clean slate we begin life with post forgiveness.  There is a life without the pain of self-serving sin.  There is a life no longer bound by eyes full of adultery.  There is a life where the idea of sinning no longer appeals to us.  There is a freedom and happiness found in loving others like Jesus loves others.  This is the life Peter wants us to find, through the transforming love of Christ.  And it was important to Peter, that we were not deceived into de-valuing the grace of our God.

And Peter had more yet to say …