2 Corinthians 10: In defense of ...

"I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh."-2 Corinthians 10:1-2

Have we ever ventured to think that the "bold" don't necessarily desire to exercise their boldness all the time? That, the bold ... actually love you more than you know? Try to keep this idea in mind as you read this blog.

I keep reading this over and over. To some degree, though in its minuteness in comparison, I feel a portion of the weight that is on Paul's spirit. If you remember, 1 Corinthians had a bit of a harsh tone to it because the Corinthians were way off track. Here, Paul quotes one of their accusations of him when he says "I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!" He is addressing an accusation made of him, what follows is his defense. In our society we have a bit of a two-fold mentality towards such a thing as a defense. On the one hand if one is defensive we assume that it is the engendering of guilt, needless to say, its a means to "cat and mouse" oneself away from accepting their downfalls (lack of humility), or in a other cases, on certain occasions ... their strengths. Some people, like myself, aren't so good at accepting compliments. In the second of this two-fold assumption we find that the word defense brings about a bit of arrogance, and political correctness. In the eyes of your simple minded laid back layman we see that this can be viewed as a means to gain superiority and intellectual foreground. While both of these assumptions are very true in some circumstances we need not make ourselves believe that a defense is a bad thing, rather, Jesus and His apostles saw fit to defend the truth, and preserve the true gospel. We may not think that the simplest forms of flattery, entertainment, humor, and encouragement may not be a bad thing, but we also can agree that people are deceitful, perverse, and ill-informed, so we MUST take all of this into consideration as ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

So is a defense a bad thing? Or course not ... actually, within the Christian worldview we see that most pastors, theologians, philosophers, and apologist actually spend the majority of their time defending the one true Gospel. As followers we CAN NOT afford to slip into passivity because as soon as we do the devil has gain serious ground. Paul goes on a little ways further stating a defense in favor of his ministry but he also gives rise to 2 truths of the Christian life, first in verse 7 and then in verse 11.

"Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we."-Verse 7

"Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present."-Verse 11

In verse 7 Paul is addressing the issue of "like-mindedness" saying that we should all know the truth of the gospel and by that truth we can test, and discern, the validity of others. So many people will probably think that this is the same thing as judging someone but it is not. Jesus spent a lot of time comparing His followers to fruit trees stating that if they were in season that they would be producing fruit ... today it is no different. Also, we should not allow this misunderstanding of "judging others" cripple us in fear of discerning things and testing them. We are called to "guard our hearts" but how does one guard themselves if they are not aware of the things that they are guarding themselves from? There is a tremendous difference in judging someone, by which it enables you from loving them, and making a judgement call, by which you may protect yourself from others based off of experience and wisdom.

Paul, in verse 11, states that the christian is not someone who exercises righteousness and purity amongst the company of brothers and yet fails to sustain that same standard in that absence. He is addressing the fact that they are measuring his truth and validity with his physical appearance. Verse 10 is Paul quoting them yet again, "For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” By this standard they have judged him to the point they have prevented themselves from hearing the truth of his gospel based off of his physical appearance. Today, like in the days of Paul, we see this sort of mentality manifested all around us. Sometimes we measure the "anointing" of others by their physical appearance. At the turn of the new years I resolved to try my best to not compare people to other people, but rather to allow that individual to speak for themselves and to weight all virtuous behavior in accordance to themselves. This is in direct relation to what Paul says in verse 12, "Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding." In view of the defensive nature of Paul, and myself, I think this would make a beautiful platform for me, and Paul as well, to reiterate a serious truth for all to hear. It is a dangerous thing to compare yourselves with others. In so doing you fail to see that person in light of themselves, and you fail to see yourself correctly! Rather, you see them in light someone other than themselves ... Paul says that by doing this you are "without understanding." 

"But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence."-2 Corinthians 10:15-16

Paul, in essence, is pleading with the church of Corinth. He is appealing to their faith now and saying that if your faith would increase, so also would the influence of the gospel amongst you and the church would grow both in strength (faith), and number. Thus, the church would grow and by doing this people beyond Asia Minor would experience the gospel! Friends, lets not get so wrapped up in our own problems that we neglect the mission of the church. We are all called to be participants in the establishment of the Kingdom of God. If we let our problems take priority over the bigger problem of a universe evil then we have all together lost a crucial aspect of Christ death on the cross. Paul gives us a glimpse into this battle in verse 3-6 (below). 

I would contend that our inability to advance the gospel, thereby establishing and ushering in the Kingdom of God, is giving rise to the validity of the gospel one preaches ... in that, if we fail to fight our personal battles, which also means bearing that burden with your community of believers (which is a significant portion of the battle given the independent, strong willed society that we live in), we cannot indeed effectively fight in the world wide, and universal cosmic battle for the Kingdom of God. 

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but ha

ve divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."-2 Corinthians 10:3-6

"For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends."-2 Corinthians 10:18

good vs. bad

What makes a person good?

What I gather from people is that they believe your either good or bad. What has become the standard for being good because of this mindset? To be good you must not do bad.

This is irritatingly dim to even a black and white person as myself. Usually people who are black and white are usually disregarded by the general public because it is assumed that they are narrow minded individuals, however, let me emphasize my position here in that while my responses are black and white, my thinking it rather grey ... that is the only way to establish a strong black or white response. So, to say that these are our only two options really shows us all how much, and to what degree, the devil has infiltrated our society, even to its core. Let me use a rather simple illustration taken from the book of Revelation.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." -Revelation 3:15-16

In this scenario we can establish that cold is bad, and hot is good. But, it is the middle ground, this state of being lukewarm, that is in fact leaving them detested. So, if we can realize that between good and bad, hot and cold, light and darkness, there is a climate of stale, dimly lit, and muggy conditions that are ultimately roaring with passivity then we can establish that there is so much more to this whole good/bad model. Realize this ... the middle ground, this state of being lukewarm, or even staying away from evil and assuming that your good because your "doing the right thing" is ultimately the most distasteful aspect of life ... LISTEN UP!

I think that while so many are numb to this middle-ground the other big issue is that we think that we are good. This really enables us from seeing our true wickedness. You just gotta hear what Jesus said about good people, even in relationship to himself.

"And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."-Mark 10:18

So, if no one is good accordingly to Jesus except God why do we even maintain the idea that "good" is something that we can be?

"No one is righteous, no not one."-Romans 3:10

The only thing good and righteous about us is Jesus. So, for us to believe that we can be made good by our works, in this case, our efforts to abstain from bad, do not make us good ... after all, good is exclusive to God's character. Maybe we have seen the fruits of following Christ manifested in other people's lives and as an effort to draw close to God, we instead simply fashion ourselves around a Christ-follower. The error is that at the end of the day you don't personally know Jesus any more than you did when you started your day ... however, you may know him less because you are allowing men to set the bar for Christ instead of allowing Christ to speak for Himself. We have to realize that the kingdom is about action, its about raging war with the right enemies ... not turning a deaf ear to the fight because that is chalked up to a "win" on behalf of the devil. If Christ life and death was indeed an act of war on evil then we should expect nothing less from our walk with God. We have to reclaim this aspect of life for the Kingdom! The Kingdom is established first in you heart and then it manifest itself for all to see.

Ill leave it at that. Hopefully thats enough to get your wheels turning!

Greener pastures ...

Ever feel like everyone is running in opposite directions? 

For the past year of my life I have been really trying my hardest to pursue Christ. I find myself in the midst of so many people who are christians but I think that in that regard the title of Christian means different things to different people. So many people lead a life that exposes the lie that they believe about God. Some just hold to the fact that Jesus is the son of God and everyone else is wrong BECAUSE they don't believe that foundation point. While that is a great start I think we are all wrong. I know so many people who grew up in the "christian bubble" and now that they find themselves in there 20's wanting to experience the world a little more and now they are getting a bit mixed up. I think often times we get the idea of being set apart, and not judging people intertwined. For instance, lets take a look at this scenario. An individual who used to judge anyone who drank alcohol may find themselves in the future thinking that "If I wouldn't be so judgmental towards people who drank I could probably love them more effectively and show them God's love" but instead they will go into a bar and want to shatter everyones predisposed notions by saying something like: "I don't believe drinking is wrong!" and to solidify their point they will then order a beer while the on-lookers are thinking about how this person with such backbone is actually being more influenced by us than we are them. While this is just one example, the same mindset reverberates all the same. While the intent was to escape that judgmental state of mind that living in a christian bubble can produce it quickly lost its appeal when the individual compromised their sobriety. Maybe I am partial to all of this because I never found alcohol to be beneficial, enjoyable, or charming. Nevertheless, I feel that while the intent had a valid starting point, the destination has presented quite another problem.  The focus shifted from "God loves you and so do I" to "did you know that you can be a christian, go to a bar and drink an alcoholic beverage?" I do not consider myself to be legalistic but I do consider myself to be a wonderer and in these instances I wonder what the outsider is perceiving. 

One time, after a show, I met a man who was a little past tipsy and he really enjoyed our music so as he engaged me about the music I sat down with him to entertain the conversation further. He quickly offered to buy me a drink and I declined saying "I really appreciate the gesture bro but I don't drink". He quickly glanced at me and said "how do you play heavy metal and not drink?" I told him that I simply didn't enjoy alcohol but I was particularly interested in furthering our conversation ( I had hopes that my faith would come up without me implying it). He went ahead with his drink order and we got back to talking. Like I had hoped he asked what our music was about and I told him, "We are a christian band and all of our songs are a reflection of His love for us and you also". As I assumed he quickly made the assumption that I had neglected to drink because I was a christian. I had to be completely honest with him so I told him "Let me be real honest with you. I did not let you buy me a drink for a few reasons. First, I do not like alcohol and I didn't want you to waste your money. Second, you do not have to buy my time. Third, I have a responsibility to uphold when I am here because I claim to be a follower of Christ. Not many people know what that looks like but they sure know what it doesn't look like." He sat in silence for a bit and then said "If you liked alcohol would you drink while you are here?" to which I said "No! Because my first responsibility is to reflect Christ and I don't want anything to compromise that, like having a drink would most assuredly do." After a moment of silence he burst forth and said, quite frankly "Yea man, if I knew you were a christian here preaching about God and shit and then saw you drinking I would have thought you were a hypocrite"

I told him that I had no problem with anyone drinking and informed him that the bible does not indicate that this is wrong unless you drink in excess. He ultimately just told me that he thought it was cool that I was not willing to compromise my message for having a drink (though he was looking at me through his eyes because he would not be able to go into a bar and not drink. As it were, and still remains, I have no problem in doing so) ... this was probably more to his advantage! I ended up seeing this guy at other shows of ours in the future and though I did not get the chance to pray with him, or read him some scripture, I did get the chance to present a part of the gospel unblemished to him. Praise God!

In this regard, I really think I lucked out growing up because I witnessed many occasions where the sheer fact that someone was drinking was the one reason why those people did not take what that person had to say seriously about the gospel. That IS tragic! I really have a heart for people and I want to see them come to know God like I did! So, while I say that I lucked out I really mean that I was able to see the other side of the fence (where the grass is reportedly greener), which was an easier side to be on because discipline is a dead practice. Now, I find myself on the other side of the fence (the side where supposedly the grass is not so green) and I can only think of how much I want this patch of pasture to be seen in its truest light. I have a suspicion that that side of the fence that has the supposed "greener grass" only appears to be greener as a selling point, it after all is a playground, while this side of the fence with the dead grass, patchy bays, and dirt plots is actually being seen for its true essence, that it is a battle-field that has been contended for! After all, these imperfections, these battle scars, are exposing its real worth! I feel like maybe I am someone who is trying to contend for this side of the fence while everyone who has roamed these lands is more curious about what's on the other side of the fence rather than seeing  these lands that they occupy for their true worth! Our grass is still green! Remember how those green pastures got so green? ... a bunch of cows took a crap on em! 

disclaimer: This illustration is not here as a caricature for a "christian bubble" because at that rate no one outside that bubble would ever experience Christ BUT it is meant to be a community of trust! And maybe the real truth here is that we don't need to go in search of vibrant colors and distant lands ... maybe these longings of the heart are a true reflection as to what regard we really hold Christ?

Just a thought!

Ramblin' man!

God's will has always been a rather perplexing things to me. I remember as a kid growing up that I would hear little phrases like "God has a plan for everyone and everything" or "everything happens for a reason". I never quite latched onto this vein of thinking but needless to say, despite the vast amount of people who adhere to this type of thinking (or lack thereof) have seemingly polluted my though process, and not just me but so many others as well, to the point that I have to fight that predisposed notion when facing life's twist and turns.

I have been doing quite a bit of studying of God's sovereignty lately, ultimately anytime I read scripture I feel like I am looking at His sovereignty but just because I am looking at it does not mean I understand it. For about a year now I have been pretty vocal about not aligning myself with the common Calvinistic view of God. In fact, I believe this view of God has tarnished the very attributes of God as so many view them. Indeed, it would be silly to assume that because I do not agree with the 5 points of Calvinism that I am, by default, an Arminian.  There are more sides to this whole debate than just the above listed. Two of the more prominent views are Molinism, and Open Theism (this would be my current take of things). I will not explain all of these points of view here but you are more than welcome to check them out online for a better understanding.

Open Theism states that the future is open, rather than predetermined. They use biblical models such as the conflict-creation warfare model that presupposes Genesis 1:2 due to the history of angelic and human free agents, and the "world in between", also known as spiritual warfare. Open Theist believe that the future, apart from the future establishment of the eschatological community of God, is rather open. Stated different, God will establish His kingdom but the means by which he does that are not definitive in light of human and angelic free will. This does not deny God's will or sovereignty like so many assume, rather (in my opinion) it enhances it.

Last night as I was attempting to fall asleep I was pondering on all of this and really asking myself "Can I really throw all of my chips into one stack?" I know how I feel about believing God to be the God that the Calvin's insist in the God of the Bible, thought I disagree on many accounts. Needless to say, I know how I feel about adhering to Open Theism in light of scripture AND personal experiences, yet I cannot help but think that I have much further to go with this whole thing because the open view of the future makes me feel far to dependent on myself. So, while I believe that Open Theism is a step in the right direction, and it gives the best exegesis of spiritual warfare (including angels, or gods, the Watcher legend, inter-testimental and apocalyptic writings, Mesopotamian & Babylonian mythology) I still need some time to fine tune everything. I know many of my fellow nerds have been eagerly awaiting for me to reveal my stance on this issue and so I seek to affirm where I am at in all of this, but I also want people to know that I am not settled quite yet. Stay tuned as I wrestle through all of this is an attempt to deny any pride and embrace whatever intellectualism I may possess in order know God more fully! Amen.

"Not everything happens for a divine purpose, rather everything happens with a divine purpose"

Reality is pretty relative, right?

Reality: a quality or state of being real; and real event, entity, or state of affair.


I think it is pretty obvious that people will and do perceive reality to be a vast majority of things. The problem with this is that while the reality is that people hold many perspectives only one finalized reality can be true. In fact, many will argue that our perception of reality is a geographically charged virtue and in this vein of processing we can see how quickly an individuals say so can be demoted in light of there geographical placement. Ultimately this is the by product of a prior mindset that is biased to any sort of dialogue concerning truth because all of us are from somewhere geographically, and in the minds of such thinkers, this is below them to entertain such variables in light of their intellectually charged processing of reality. This is, to say the least, a reality we have to be aware of in light of such a topic as reality.


I often wonder how much of what people say, and also support, is indeed a reflection of what they believe is reality. Now, this point can be argued in both ways and to each end it will ultimately affirm itself in so doing. If our assumption is "Yes, what these people say and do is a reflection of what they believe is reality!" we can, and will, most likely, then assert that this is true on the basis that in the mind of the individual they are in fact verbalizing and supporting what they believe is the truth, and this has to remain the decent assumption unless this individual were to write their own statement of faith to which we could parallel all of their actions and words with. At this point the person can live in accordance to their theological assumptions, and convictions. The problem here is that we lack the ability to know for certain, as outsiders, what exactly those assumptions and convictions exactly are. Maybe "ability" isn't the right word to use in this context because knowing a person and what they believe is possible but as mere passers-by we find ourselves wondering all the same! Again, if we find ourselves saying "No, what these people say and do is not a reflection of what they believe is reality!" then we have generalized them with their comrades and have demoted them by comparison, which is always dangerous business. Without a statement of faith from the individual we are merely stereotyping and judging. Though there is a difference between making a judgement call and judging the individual, usually we see the latter. So, in this instance the affirming reality is that they are not living in accordance to what they say and support by the standards of our perception of their reality. People feed off of their perception of reality. This is what I have dubbed as "personal reality"


The truth of the matter, though it is always debatable, is that some people do and some people don't. The problem I see with society is that we look at a group of people who believe this or that and, if not automatically, but gradually, though ultimately, eventually, demote the testimony, both in word and in action, of an obedient adherent in parallel to the fruits of a disobedient adherent. We are all testifying with our words and our actions what we truly believe. The real thing I think we need to learn is that while we have perceived life and we know that life is surreal we also have to do something very challenging and that is that we have to separate "personal reality" from "ultimate reality" in order to see where the 2 differ. After we have done this we are more apt to align ourselves with the ultimate reality. Often times I think we see people who allow the ultimate reality to become shadowed in our personal desires. The reality in that is that while we started off making our own choices, our choices begin to make us. 


So as I relate the "relativity of the quality of my state of existence and affairs" to my relationship with God I find myself puzzled to a certain degree. Mainly, that at times this reality is so tangible that it leaves me utterly changed, viewing the world through a whole new lens and being terribly vexed by the state of things, and then at other times its as if I find myself numb to the reality(God) that previously left me transformed in my mind, my soul, and my actions. I know for many people they will respond to God emotionally. I am not apposed to emotional responses but I am opposed to the emotional response being the only responding that one does with God, and I am opposed to emotions being the foundation for truth. I think in this we find a major err in human to human, and human to God response. Often times we let our emotions blur our vision and we start to parallel the way someone would do something with the way another person would do something strictly because of the way the 2 encounters made us feel. We tend to forget that we need to take into consideration the individuality of the individuals without comparing them to other ... such is the case with God. We need to let God be God and not try to fashion him into something we are more comfortable with. I am noticing that more and more people are basing their theology on the basis of their emotions. Rather, they will believe only what they are comfortable with. The big problem in that is that we are proud and arrogant people and we often reject the ideas of God that hold us in a different light other than God's love, grace, and compassion ... or rather, how we perceive such virtues in relationship to God.


I think the most confusing thing for me to perceive through all of this is the variations in transformation amongst individuals, in my town, in other states, and on different continents. Why is this brush with reality so different for different people? I think for me it has been so surreal for a few different reasons but I will emphasis 2.


1.) I have seen both sides of the coin. When I say that there are 2 sides to this relative coin I mean that before I enjoyed fellowship with God, searching, listening, praying, obeying etc. I was living a life style engulfed is an atmosphere of sin. I saw the darkest sides people. I saw pure hate spring up in people to the point that they wanted to take another persons life and even put that plan into motion a few times. I have seen addictions that have disabled people, I have seen a lack of discernment completely engulfed in the life they were leading to the point that I wasn't even sure if they even knew that they were not remotely the same person as before. Watching people lose their grip on reality deeply betrothed me. This was the main push for me in my decision to take God seriously. It was not determined on the grounds of fear or simply bleeding in with my the demographic I was surrounded. Rather, this fusing of degressive decision making, how it altered an individuals mind and perception, and ultimately lead them to a dark place was ultimately what sent me over the edge and eagerly seeking truth though I did not know where that would take me. Fortunately, because of the evangelized state of the region I live in I did not have to look very far. Most people who credit living in the "Bible Belt" as a bad thing but rather, in the big scheme of things, I am becoming more and more aware that such a reason is, at the core, what God desires for the whole world; that anyone who would seek Him would be at arms length! This whole journey is not over yet, I am still finding out who God is, and who God is not. Because of the passivity of some many people who have looked to other christians to set the standard for holiness and righteousness we now have a complacent group of people who call themselves the church ... but this is not what followers of Christ look like. Again this is where the personal reality has overshadowed the ultimate reality. Also, again, we cannot parallel all of these people with their personal statements of faith (unless they have one), because there are so many different POV's of scripture. However, the one thing we can do is parallel people in light of Jesus. (thank you Greg Boyd for hammering this truth into my head)


2- My road to God was paved in grace totally, I will not deny that even though I resisted it for many years. However, it was as much an intellectual spiritual battle for me as it was a fight against grace because I am such a broad, logical thinker. There were times where, through my pursuit of truth, I would get puffed up with confidence that this was THE truth. Other times I would get an unsettling stomach and my mind would run in a crazy philosophical direction. Through all of this God was really painting a picture for me of who He really IS! He refused to settle for my input on who He should be and how He should do things. He is eternal, and I am finite. Had I decided to fashion a deity of my own making it would not have been this difficult. 


I have had run-ins with people all my life but more recently concerning my world-view. The biggest point of tension is that people will view me in light of their "personal reality", or  they will parallel me with other people of the same world-view that they have had rendezvous with. They view life and all things through their own eyes and then begin to attempt to mold me to the ways in which they see most acceptable (this is also true of my christian community). The problem with this is that I have about 2 dozen people trying to mold me into 24 different things and intellectually this is perplexing for me. Personally I am thankful for my perception of reality even though at times its almost unbearable. I say that in the most sincere way possible. 


"For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."-Ecclesiastes 1:18


What we all need is a higher vision, a stronger dose of reality. 


"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.'-1 Corinthians 2:10-12


We need to enjoy a fresh perspective, that of God! We need to stop responding in accordance to how others have responded and start working along side the Holy Spirit. I think The Talmud has a very interesting bit of truth to it. Maybe the reality is that you actually perceive others in light of your own reality vicariously through them? I wont say that this is bulletproof but I will say that in most cases I can see where this has been a real issue.

 "We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are."

Its a new year but what is really new?

For the past few days I have seen random tweets, read facebook status updates, and heard people make comments about the new year. This is not a surprising thing to hear around this time or year seeing as the new year is in full swing, but what really strikes me as peculiar is the mindset being relayed via the remarks I have observed. Once again this observation has been made from my Christian world view and it will pertain to such adherents.

What I am seeing is a blurry perspective of things. I can't help but wonder why people would even entertain the idea that with the new years comes a fresh start. Basically, I am seeing everyone around me, full of optimism, full of fresh air, simply because its a 2011 and its a new year. This really frustrates me for one reason in particular. Newness of life is available ALL. THE. TIME. To be honest, it troubles me to see and hear people treat the new year with the same sense of relief as paying off a debt. What about repentance? I just do not understand why we as Christians even think this way ... AT ALL! Maybe you are optimistic about the new year because you are harboring the idea that maybe "this is the year that such and such will happen" ... "maybe this year life will be easy." Though, I assure you that upon the dawn of 2012, and with the reflection of 2011 you will realize that life was just as hard as the prior, and with that in mind you will seek the deliverance of 2012. We are capable of so much more than than this arbitrary mindset allows.

As a society we are always searching for something new and fresh. People always entertain their time with the culture. What we have failed to do as a community is to grasp the reality that such things as "newness" are available to us at all times. In fact as the kingdom of God, the body of Christ, His bride, we are in fact called to walk in "newness of life."

"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."-Romans 6:4

This verse is written in the context of dying to sin, and walking in life with God. Maybe this is the problem in this community or "believers"? We just don't such things as repentance and obedience. 

"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him."-Romans 6:6-8

Paul brings those whole thing full table when he says:

"But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness."-Romans 6:17-18

For those who are paying attention the next question will be "How do we know this righteousness?" and I am sure glad you asked!

"About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."-Hebrews 5:11-14

This bit of scripture is written as a warning against apostasy! The writer of Hebrews even points out to his audience that they have "become dull of hearing." This is especially relevant to my point of view and what I see in so many people. But, what is worst is what the writer says about such a thing as being "dull of hearing." He says these people "need milk"and then later says "for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness." He goes on to say that this "solid" food is for the mature, "for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." Where does this power to discern come from? I contend that it comes from God's word. 

So in short, lets do as Paul is saying and walk in the newness of life. Lets exercise authority over sin, lets practice obedience in reading God's word daily, let us not allow the things that happen to us in life, that drag us down, to be thrown on to God in a "you did this to me" mindset. Rather, lets enter the mindset that says "Despite what happens, I am yours! My circumstances will not define me, rather, I will find my image in you and ONLY you!"

In light of Hebrews 5 I find it exceedingly encouraging to hear how he continues this thought in Hebrews 6! Let this be a challenge for 2011 and through out the rest of our lives as we work as active participants in the ushering in of the Kingdom of God!

"Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.  But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.  For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."-Hebrews 6:1-12

Happy New Years! Be renewed!