I do realize that it has been quite a gap since I've last written from 1 Corinthians. Part of this is because, honestly, 1 Corinthians 7 is a little hard to write about, especially from someone who doesn't seem all that socially inclined and is still rather young compared to who Paul is probably writing to.
Anyways, the opening lines of chapter 7 are "Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me," so Paul is probably responding to what he has been told about the Corinthians.
Paul proceeds to talk about sexual immorality and, for people to keep themselves from it, that it would be good for "each man to have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (v 2). From the preceding chapter, we find that there has been sexual immorality named upon the believers in Corinth that is alarming and not even named upon the Gentiles. so Paul is probably just trying to clear some things up - that it would be good for a man to have a single wife and for a woman to have a single husband. i think that is what he is saying, but obviously i'm biased. let me not turn this into some kind of political or spiritual debate, in which i will probably lose, but i just think things are right with man married to woman, and when man is only married to one woman and vice versa.
The next lines explain that, in marriage, a husband is no longer his own: "Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does" (v. 3-4). i had read this several times before, but this was the first time that something really stuck out. That the husband has authority - pretty much possesses - his wife's body, and the wife has the authority of the husband's body. They are not their own anymore.
That's the same set up as Christ and the church, which is the relationship that is attempted to be mirrored by husband and wife marriages. The church is - the body of Christ - and in return, the church receives Christ. i would not go as far as to say that the church has authority over Christ, because i don't think the two are equal, but it is certainly a trade. a Jars of Clay song contains the lyrics, "All I am for all You are because what i need and what i believe are worlds apart." it is that we are small and minuscule, just tiny points in time, and yet God loves us. and by His love and grace, we are allowed to trade. we trade who we are for who He is, and He lifts us up to be with Him.
The next lines in chapter seven read, "Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (v. 5). i don't have that much to say about this, but from my singular past relationship experience, i would say this is a good idea, but i would hesitate before completely cutting off all communication with the other person, and i would really make sure that you are turning from the other person momentarily for God and not for the world. i think turning away for the sake of becoming closer with God will bring both of you closer together, and yet, if turning away does not result in intimacy with God, then i think things can get screwed up.
i heard of a relationship where a guy realized that for the time that he had been going out with a girl, he hadn't really experienced God that much - that his relationship with God had been dwindling. anyways, he made the commitment that we would no longer hold hands (which, believe me, is actually a huge deal) as a kind of commitment to God. i think this could be an accurate interpretation or extension of what Paul says in this verse.
and he goes on to say it more in verses 32 through 35. paul is single and i kinda think that he wants other people to be single like him, but he admits that God has specific callings for everyone uniquely, so he doesn't say marriage is bad. he even says that it "is better to marry than to burn with passion" in verse 9. but i think he clearly thinks that it is better to be unmarried if that is your calling because then one can be very clearly focused on God and pleasing God, whereas if one is married, then that person may be focused on pleasing that person's spouse, which is the wrong idea. at the end of the paragraph, he says: "and this i say for your own profit...and that you may serve the Lord without distraction." i think it is totally possible to be with someone and yet for both to completely yearn for the Lord - i think that is what it means to be without distraction.
i think that it makes sense that two people shouldn't marry in hopes of completing each other, because then one will be dependent on another, and i don't think any mortal man can truly eternally satisfy the desires in anyone's heart. but one should be completed by God, and then if that person becomes in covenant with another who has been completed by God, then both can seek God together. also both can serve as encouragements to one another and usually their gifts will complement each other in a way that they work well as a team and can be used by God with perhaps more versatility. but i think paul's point remains - that it is incredibly important to "serve the Lord without distraction."
the only other real thing that jumped out to me were verses 12 through 16, which say that if an unbeliever is in covenant or headed towards covenant with an unbeliever, the unbeliever should not divorce the unbeliever. "For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?" reads verse 17.
the only thing i would say is that if the unbeliever has such an influence on the believer that the believer is essentially becoming an unbeliever, i would break it off. because serving the Lord should be the primary focus. as long as you can continue to serve the Lord with all your heart. but if the other person has such an influence that it is unhealthily rubbing off on you, i would at least take a break and try to seek God again.
Paul lays out a lot of church organizational things, things that don't really jump out at me. i guess they're pretty important, but they don't really resonate within me. he talks about how a wife is bound to her husband, but if her husband dies, then she could remarry, but Paul thinks it would be better if she just didn't marry. and how a husband should not divorce his wife, and a wife shouldn't either, but if the wife does, then she shouldn't remarry. things like that.
another verse that i thought was great was the last part of verse 15. Paul is just talking about an unbeliever being in relationship with a believer and says that "if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases." and the only reason i think that is cool is because the very next line is "But God has called us to peace." and that really is a great line - because if the unbeliever walks away from the relationship with the believer, you can imagine the tension and the heartache. you can imagine or maybe you have even experienced the pain, a frantic internal fight of arguments going on and finger pointing and name calling going on within someone's head. you can imagine the amount of sleep one might lose over a broken relationship, even on both sides - for both the nonbeliever and the believer. and Paul says, "But God has called us to peace." i think that is so true. and that is our hope. that God will complete us.
on a final note, as Paul was mostly talking about relationships in chapter seven, i think it should be stressed that God orchestrates our stories - even our love stories. God has set us up with someone perfect, someone who is such a tremendous fit that it wouldn't be so shocking or boring to spend the rest of your life with just one person (though, really, we'll spend eternity with God. now that's a perfect and tremendous fit as well). anyways, i really can't social advice, but i would still say that God is good and God will give to us the desires of our heart if we lay them down at our feet and give Him the keys to our lives.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
initial impressions (dchang galatians 3)
listening to David Crowder's Never Let Go and kind of in need of a boost in my day, i'm gonna be rather spontaneous with this post.
paul goes on to say that whoever is under the law is under the curse - "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them'" (3:10). when God had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave them a law to follow, and now, i don't want to be offense, but i don't think anybody really still literally follows all the rules, or at least not completely without any kind of derivation. so by the law, we should be cursed. paul continues the thought - "that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident..." - he says (and i guess he probably has the right to say this being a Jew) that it's obvious that no one is justified by the law to be right with God.
paul continues with the punch line. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law...that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (3:13-14). to Abraham, God promised prosperity and Himself, and that Abraham's offspring would fill the earth. now, if anybody can be a son of Abraham or a son of God by faith alone, then it is to them that God's promises also apply. paul even goes on to say that God gave Abraham these promises not under the law, but simply out of covenant. even if Abraham had deviated, God had still promised Abraham what He would do for him. "For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise."
i think paul calls the law a curse because it only tells us what we have done wrong. sometimes we feel like it gives bragging rights, but even if we're bragging, we still miss the mark just like anyone else who only has the law because we have not completely fulfilled it. if the law is a curse, then is it good or bad?
paul sees the question coming and answers it in the end of chapter 3. he says somewhere else that without the law, we would not know whether we were acting in the right or in the wrong. he says here that if "there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law." so this implies that life doesn't come from life - paul continues that life is found in faith, but it was the law that kept us ready and prepared us for faith in Christ. "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (3:24-25).
for example, many grow up in the church, spending their whole lives listening to pastors preach and being taught of the importance of reading the Bible and praying and tithing and living Christian lifestyle. this, to an extent, can be defined as the law of today. but righteousness does not come from these things alone. righteousness comes from faith, as paul has just exclaimed - but i think faith would be much more difficult if we did not first know some of the law. paul calls the law a tutor that brings us into God's presence, but once we begin to interact and have relationship or communion with God, then we no longer need the law. we might continue to do things that may be considered law, but we won't be under it - we will realize things greater and more relevant than it.
growing up in the church provides a framework for a Christian life, just as singing worship songs or reading the Bible. but they are only tools to bring you closer to God. faith is believing in God when you don't necessarily see Him, hence the term a "leap of faith." so just by performing the works of the law, when does not automatically have faith in Christ. the works of the law aren't bad, but when they take priority over God Himself, there is something wrong going on. a valid example is great worship environments - the first couple times, God might really move and we might really feel Him and simply fall in love with the ecstacy. my first experiences were pretty unbelievable, and hours could roll by and feel like minutes - no joke. but then the problem was that sometimes we would fall in love with the way it made us feel - we would fall in love with the worship that was bringing us to God and forget about God Himself.
so righteousness is not imputed by the works of the law. it was given to Abraham because of his faith, and because God had formed a covenant and promises with Abraham. and God formed the covenant even before the law was given to Moses, which was apparently 430 years after God had made His promises to Abraham (3:17).
after calling the law a tutor to bring us closer to Christ, paul says "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus...There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (v. 26, 28). paul seems to rip apart the hierarchy in place. religiously, there was Jew and Greek. economically, there was master and slave. socially, there was male and female. paul claims that there are no longer boundaries like this, which is consistent with the idea that God shows no partiality or favoritism to anyone, but rather looks at the heart rather than social stature or power. more than just saying that everyone is similar, paul says everyone will be united. the greatest leaders together with the lepers, the prostitutes with the priests. in Christ Jesus.
one of my old track coaches made a speech last year at our conference championships how a team, a real functioning body, blends and disrupts the lines of individuals. a team is meant to work together in such a combined effort that everyone is united, everyone working towards a set goal. and when the harmony clicks, you stop seeing male or female or distance runner or pole vaulter or sprinter. you just see a team. and what paul is talking about here is that sort of team, but he mentions that it must be in Christ Jesus. that is the joint effort - that is what all the members of the body must be seeking, or else any attempt at unity will be overshadowed by differences.
paul says "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." he uses Christ almost like an article of clothing or a deeper identity - and i think that's his argument. that, having put on Christ, having embraced the identity and the promise that God has set for each of us, the lines begin to be blurred. there's no young or old, cool or uncool, beautiful or ugly, worthy or unworthy. in fact, having put on Christ, i think all realize that what God is really saying is that there's nothing wrong with us. adjustments might need to be made, but we ourselves are okay. more than okay. we're wonderfully made, the tiniest components of our bodies and personalities phenomena in themselves.
paul goes on to say that whoever is under the law is under the curse - "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them'" (3:10). when God had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave them a law to follow, and now, i don't want to be offense, but i don't think anybody really still literally follows all the rules, or at least not completely without any kind of derivation. so by the law, we should be cursed. paul continues the thought - "that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident..." - he says (and i guess he probably has the right to say this being a Jew) that it's obvious that no one is justified by the law to be right with God.
paul continues with the punch line. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law...that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (3:13-14). to Abraham, God promised prosperity and Himself, and that Abraham's offspring would fill the earth. now, if anybody can be a son of Abraham or a son of God by faith alone, then it is to them that God's promises also apply. paul even goes on to say that God gave Abraham these promises not under the law, but simply out of covenant. even if Abraham had deviated, God had still promised Abraham what He would do for him. "For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise."
i think paul calls the law a curse because it only tells us what we have done wrong. sometimes we feel like it gives bragging rights, but even if we're bragging, we still miss the mark just like anyone else who only has the law because we have not completely fulfilled it. if the law is a curse, then is it good or bad?
paul sees the question coming and answers it in the end of chapter 3. he says somewhere else that without the law, we would not know whether we were acting in the right or in the wrong. he says here that if "there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law." so this implies that life doesn't come from life - paul continues that life is found in faith, but it was the law that kept us ready and prepared us for faith in Christ. "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (3:24-25).
for example, many grow up in the church, spending their whole lives listening to pastors preach and being taught of the importance of reading the Bible and praying and tithing and living Christian lifestyle. this, to an extent, can be defined as the law of today. but righteousness does not come from these things alone. righteousness comes from faith, as paul has just exclaimed - but i think faith would be much more difficult if we did not first know some of the law. paul calls the law a tutor that brings us into God's presence, but once we begin to interact and have relationship or communion with God, then we no longer need the law. we might continue to do things that may be considered law, but we won't be under it - we will realize things greater and more relevant than it.
growing up in the church provides a framework for a Christian life, just as singing worship songs or reading the Bible. but they are only tools to bring you closer to God. faith is believing in God when you don't necessarily see Him, hence the term a "leap of faith." so just by performing the works of the law, when does not automatically have faith in Christ. the works of the law aren't bad, but when they take priority over God Himself, there is something wrong going on. a valid example is great worship environments - the first couple times, God might really move and we might really feel Him and simply fall in love with the ecstacy. my first experiences were pretty unbelievable, and hours could roll by and feel like minutes - no joke. but then the problem was that sometimes we would fall in love with the way it made us feel - we would fall in love with the worship that was bringing us to God and forget about God Himself.
so righteousness is not imputed by the works of the law. it was given to Abraham because of his faith, and because God had formed a covenant and promises with Abraham. and God formed the covenant even before the law was given to Moses, which was apparently 430 years after God had made His promises to Abraham (3:17).
after calling the law a tutor to bring us closer to Christ, paul says "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus...There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (v. 26, 28). paul seems to rip apart the hierarchy in place. religiously, there was Jew and Greek. economically, there was master and slave. socially, there was male and female. paul claims that there are no longer boundaries like this, which is consistent with the idea that God shows no partiality or favoritism to anyone, but rather looks at the heart rather than social stature or power. more than just saying that everyone is similar, paul says everyone will be united. the greatest leaders together with the lepers, the prostitutes with the priests. in Christ Jesus.
one of my old track coaches made a speech last year at our conference championships how a team, a real functioning body, blends and disrupts the lines of individuals. a team is meant to work together in such a combined effort that everyone is united, everyone working towards a set goal. and when the harmony clicks, you stop seeing male or female or distance runner or pole vaulter or sprinter. you just see a team. and what paul is talking about here is that sort of team, but he mentions that it must be in Christ Jesus. that is the joint effort - that is what all the members of the body must be seeking, or else any attempt at unity will be overshadowed by differences.
paul says "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." he uses Christ almost like an article of clothing or a deeper identity - and i think that's his argument. that, having put on Christ, having embraced the identity and the promise that God has set for each of us, the lines begin to be blurred. there's no young or old, cool or uncool, beautiful or ugly, worthy or unworthy. in fact, having put on Christ, i think all realize that what God is really saying is that there's nothing wrong with us. adjustments might need to be made, but we ourselves are okay. more than okay. we're wonderfully made, the tiniest components of our bodies and personalities phenomena in themselves.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
initial impressions (dchang galatians interlude)
we have a tendency of believing that God doesn't want us. knowing full well who we are, even we don't want us. so then how could the God of the universe, the One perfect and just, even tolerate us? we believe in some kind of unconditional love that is dangerous in that it means we don't have to be good enough. if we can get over the idea that God would want us in the first place, then another common struggle is thinking that we can lose His favor. that by our own struggles and failures, we can be so bad that God doesn't want anything to do with us.
i heard at oneThing, a speaker who expressed it like we feel so much shame and brokenness when we turn on God or fail God that we think it will affect the way that God loves us. but really, God says, "I love fixing Your mistakes. that's even my job" - and He really takes on the role of a parent, raising a child through levels of immaturity and even rebellion. but He is like the father expressed in the prodigal son parable, who not only welcomes His son back, but does not even hold the slightest rebuke in His heart. He is simply ecstatic to behold His son again.
we have a tendency of wanting to tell God, "don't look at me. not like this. i can do better than this. don't see me now, You deserve better." we want to justify ourselves to Him. we want to show Him that He didn't make the wrong choice to save us. we know that He deserves more from us, and we desperately want to give it to Him ourselves, to prove He didn't make a mistake. but we don't have to be concerned in justifying ourselves or proving that we're okay. and i'm not sure that we could prove those things. in fact, they've already been proven.
knowing full well who we are and what is in our hearts, God still chose us. Psalm 31:7 and 8 read "I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy." God knows us. much more than anyone could ever know. He knows our soul in adversity - He knows what He's gotten Himself into. we don't have to prove ourselves to Him because He has already taken the first step. He has already justified us, by the love that took place when He let Himself be killed at our hands. that was what took away our sin - now we just have to realize that our sin's been washed away. we've been proven already, we've been received into God's family. it's just a choice, a posture of the heart.
and for those who continue to attempt to prove themselves to God, to show God that they are good enough for Him, paul says "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (5:4-5). this is written to those (which i think is probably pretty much everyone) who think that they have a special privilege to God by their circumcision and their works or think that they are somewhat separated from God by their uncircumcision and their works.
if God has essentially done all of the work in justifying us and bringing us into His presence, then what is there left for us to do? just to choose. instead of being so bent on having to fulfill the law and do all these works that, if performed right, mean that you are okay for God to love, God just calls us as we are. if that's it, then being with God really has everything to do with faith and the eyes of your heart and not works. and though we fall, God still knows who we are. He knows the depths of our heart, and He wants us despite knowing what kind of evil lies hidden away in our hearts. doing works doesn't always have to change us. going to Sunday every morning or tithing a great check doesn't have to change someone's heart. but real faith in God really challenges life. it even challenges the mundane. it forces one to question if it ever really is mundane if it can be spent with God.
i think that time spent with God is supposed to be exciting. but easily, i get disillusioned or something and i don't think it's that exciting. oftentimes, i end up trying to satisfy myself with other things. paul asks, in Galatians 4:9, "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?" having seen the light and tasted of truth, why is it that we end up falling back into the empty promises of the darkness, in which we think our lives will be changed for the better? or even if we don't think our lives will be changed for the better, do we do the things we hate because we are still dependent on that high, that momentary feeling of satisfaction? i think i have gotten myself into a habit of trading my faith away for gratification that is promised aside from God, and i think this hurts God.
and this is where it gets dangerous, because, having just written what i have and believing what i do, i still believe that God loves me. in fact, He is my only hope. what i am saying is that i could do anything and still retain God's love. but God's love isn't and shouldn't be casual. it's a big deal. Paul says this: "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (5:13). for some reason, faith matters. it matters what we do with our time and what we do with our hearts. i know that God will love me no matter what, and i think this is all the reason and urging i need that i should love God back with as much as i can. just because God has set me free doesn't mean i should run away and do all the things i want. because God has set me free, i think i should seek to give Him what He wants as well, which is simply to be close to me, so close that He could ask anything of me and i wouldn't even hesitate to give myself away.
finally, there is one last thing. God loves us no matter what, but i am not sure He will claim us or that we will really be His sons until we start doing what He did and following His example and His commandments. and if that's a posture of the heart, then that could probably happen in a split second, the time it would take for a lifelong commitment to be made. Paul says "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish...and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (5:16,17,24,25).
Paul continues several lines later, saying "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (6:7-8)
what i am trying to say God's love really is unconditional, in ways we can't even imagine. we are not saved by works, but by faith through grace. but real faith demands a change in life - a lifestyle of choosing the way of the Spirit rather than the way of the flesh, light instead of darkness.
i heard at oneThing, a speaker who expressed it like we feel so much shame and brokenness when we turn on God or fail God that we think it will affect the way that God loves us. but really, God says, "I love fixing Your mistakes. that's even my job" - and He really takes on the role of a parent, raising a child through levels of immaturity and even rebellion. but He is like the father expressed in the prodigal son parable, who not only welcomes His son back, but does not even hold the slightest rebuke in His heart. He is simply ecstatic to behold His son again.
we have a tendency of wanting to tell God, "don't look at me. not like this. i can do better than this. don't see me now, You deserve better." we want to justify ourselves to Him. we want to show Him that He didn't make the wrong choice to save us. we know that He deserves more from us, and we desperately want to give it to Him ourselves, to prove He didn't make a mistake. but we don't have to be concerned in justifying ourselves or proving that we're okay. and i'm not sure that we could prove those things. in fact, they've already been proven.
knowing full well who we are and what is in our hearts, God still chose us. Psalm 31:7 and 8 read "I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy." God knows us. much more than anyone could ever know. He knows our soul in adversity - He knows what He's gotten Himself into. we don't have to prove ourselves to Him because He has already taken the first step. He has already justified us, by the love that took place when He let Himself be killed at our hands. that was what took away our sin - now we just have to realize that our sin's been washed away. we've been proven already, we've been received into God's family. it's just a choice, a posture of the heart.
and for those who continue to attempt to prove themselves to God, to show God that they are good enough for Him, paul says "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (5:4-5). this is written to those (which i think is probably pretty much everyone) who think that they have a special privilege to God by their circumcision and their works or think that they are somewhat separated from God by their uncircumcision and their works.
if God has essentially done all of the work in justifying us and bringing us into His presence, then what is there left for us to do? just to choose. instead of being so bent on having to fulfill the law and do all these works that, if performed right, mean that you are okay for God to love, God just calls us as we are. if that's it, then being with God really has everything to do with faith and the eyes of your heart and not works. and though we fall, God still knows who we are. He knows the depths of our heart, and He wants us despite knowing what kind of evil lies hidden away in our hearts. doing works doesn't always have to change us. going to Sunday every morning or tithing a great check doesn't have to change someone's heart. but real faith in God really challenges life. it even challenges the mundane. it forces one to question if it ever really is mundane if it can be spent with God.
i think that time spent with God is supposed to be exciting. but easily, i get disillusioned or something and i don't think it's that exciting. oftentimes, i end up trying to satisfy myself with other things. paul asks, in Galatians 4:9, "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?" having seen the light and tasted of truth, why is it that we end up falling back into the empty promises of the darkness, in which we think our lives will be changed for the better? or even if we don't think our lives will be changed for the better, do we do the things we hate because we are still dependent on that high, that momentary feeling of satisfaction? i think i have gotten myself into a habit of trading my faith away for gratification that is promised aside from God, and i think this hurts God.
and this is where it gets dangerous, because, having just written what i have and believing what i do, i still believe that God loves me. in fact, He is my only hope. what i am saying is that i could do anything and still retain God's love. but God's love isn't and shouldn't be casual. it's a big deal. Paul says this: "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (5:13). for some reason, faith matters. it matters what we do with our time and what we do with our hearts. i know that God will love me no matter what, and i think this is all the reason and urging i need that i should love God back with as much as i can. just because God has set me free doesn't mean i should run away and do all the things i want. because God has set me free, i think i should seek to give Him what He wants as well, which is simply to be close to me, so close that He could ask anything of me and i wouldn't even hesitate to give myself away.
finally, there is one last thing. God loves us no matter what, but i am not sure He will claim us or that we will really be His sons until we start doing what He did and following His example and His commandments. and if that's a posture of the heart, then that could probably happen in a split second, the time it would take for a lifelong commitment to be made. Paul says "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish...and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (5:16,17,24,25).
Paul continues several lines later, saying "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (6:7-8)
what i am trying to say God's love really is unconditional, in ways we can't even imagine. we are not saved by works, but by faith through grace. but real faith demands a change in life - a lifestyle of choosing the way of the Spirit rather than the way of the flesh, light instead of darkness.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
initial impressions (dchang galatians 1 - 2)
Paul starts off this letter to the Galatians by saying that the gospel is being perverted. he says, interestingly enough, that "the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1: 11-12). this is an interesting statement - one begins to realize that what Paul is saying is that he is speaking and endorsing a gospel that is out of this world, that essentially no one has heard before. he says that not only is it from man, but that what he is saying comes from a revelation of Jesus Christ, and that he has not been taught it. rather, i think he is saying that he received it from God Himself.
and i think this is a huge component of true relationship with God. i think that, if all you have is what you have received from man - paychecks, possessions, approval - and what you have learned from man - Sunday school teachings, sermons, textbook "knowledge" - then you will know and have a great deal of things, but you will still not know God. so much of what we understand and know and base our lives on, and i know that this is extremely true in my case as well (still now), is what we have received from man. what we have been taught to know and, to a large extent, how we should live our lives. just as Paul begins to reveal this new Christianity that says salvation comes from faith and is not only for the Jews, but also the Gentiles, and goes on to make bold statements like "circumcision avails nothing" (circumcision was one of the bragging rights of Jews), i think we should also look away from the world.
i'm not saying that we should just try to come up with outrageous things that we think might be true. i'm saying that just as Paul was revealed the Word of God, a revelation of Jesus Christ, i think that we also should seek our own personal revelations of Jesus Christ. and this doesn't have to go against the church or our parents - it doesn't have to be as shocking a doctrinal conflict as that of Paul or even Martin Luther - but i think without hearing from God Himself, we will be lacking. without having God open our eyes to Himself, then our sight will be of the world.
As the first chapter continues, Paul slips in his personal testimony, how he was regarded very high socially in his nation and had used his power to persecute the church. he then says that God disrupted this lifestyle and set him aside with the purpose of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. it should be noted that Paul, who was a powerful Jew and probably believed very heavily that it was because of his circumcision and loyalty to the law that he was justified, was purposed by God to denounce the very things he believed in. Paul would end up preaching that circumcision and works do not mean salvation - rather, faith. he once had a monopoly on religion, but now he was preaching that God was the only One that mattered.
in chapter two, i think Paul gets in a fight with Peter. i'm not entirely sure, but it's verses 2:11-13. and paul, rebuking peter, says "a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" (2:16). i think this is the central focus of Paul's letter to the Galatians - that God is pleased and imputes righteousness because of faith, not because of what someone does or how well they do it.
paul continues in verse 17 (to Peter), saying "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" even though we ourselves can be in honest and active pursuit of God, we still find ourselves flat on our faces in sin. some turn from God simply because of the sin that is found in Christians or in the church. many realize that Christians are both jerks but sometimes very disconnected from reality, and if Christians can be that unrealistic or prideful, God is not given a shot because of the people representing Him. i think that paul is saying, though the people fail and fall short, this does not say or imply that God also falls short or that God approves of our falling short. just as the flesh cannot be justified by the law, i think this could also be used to say that no other flesh (no other person) will justify. God alone can justify man because He does not fall short.
chapter two ends with paul managing to put his heart into words - "i have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer i who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh i live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. i do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (20-21). i think this is hugely important, because what paul is literally saying is that Christ is in Him. he makes the bold statements that God "gave Himself for me," and that God provides grace because we cannot make ourselves right by any amount of work that we do. so grace is like God allowing us to be made with Him - God allowing us to be seen as righteous when we have fallen short.
and i think this is a huge component of true relationship with God. i think that, if all you have is what you have received from man - paychecks, possessions, approval - and what you have learned from man - Sunday school teachings, sermons, textbook "knowledge" - then you will know and have a great deal of things, but you will still not know God. so much of what we understand and know and base our lives on, and i know that this is extremely true in my case as well (still now), is what we have received from man. what we have been taught to know and, to a large extent, how we should live our lives. just as Paul begins to reveal this new Christianity that says salvation comes from faith and is not only for the Jews, but also the Gentiles, and goes on to make bold statements like "circumcision avails nothing" (circumcision was one of the bragging rights of Jews), i think we should also look away from the world.
i'm not saying that we should just try to come up with outrageous things that we think might be true. i'm saying that just as Paul was revealed the Word of God, a revelation of Jesus Christ, i think that we also should seek our own personal revelations of Jesus Christ. and this doesn't have to go against the church or our parents - it doesn't have to be as shocking a doctrinal conflict as that of Paul or even Martin Luther - but i think without hearing from God Himself, we will be lacking. without having God open our eyes to Himself, then our sight will be of the world.
As the first chapter continues, Paul slips in his personal testimony, how he was regarded very high socially in his nation and had used his power to persecute the church. he then says that God disrupted this lifestyle and set him aside with the purpose of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. it should be noted that Paul, who was a powerful Jew and probably believed very heavily that it was because of his circumcision and loyalty to the law that he was justified, was purposed by God to denounce the very things he believed in. Paul would end up preaching that circumcision and works do not mean salvation - rather, faith. he once had a monopoly on religion, but now he was preaching that God was the only One that mattered.
in chapter two, i think Paul gets in a fight with Peter. i'm not entirely sure, but it's verses 2:11-13. and paul, rebuking peter, says "a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" (2:16). i think this is the central focus of Paul's letter to the Galatians - that God is pleased and imputes righteousness because of faith, not because of what someone does or how well they do it.
paul continues in verse 17 (to Peter), saying "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" even though we ourselves can be in honest and active pursuit of God, we still find ourselves flat on our faces in sin. some turn from God simply because of the sin that is found in Christians or in the church. many realize that Christians are both jerks but sometimes very disconnected from reality, and if Christians can be that unrealistic or prideful, God is not given a shot because of the people representing Him. i think that paul is saying, though the people fail and fall short, this does not say or imply that God also falls short or that God approves of our falling short. just as the flesh cannot be justified by the law, i think this could also be used to say that no other flesh (no other person) will justify. God alone can justify man because He does not fall short.
chapter two ends with paul managing to put his heart into words - "i have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer i who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh i live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. i do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (20-21). i think this is hugely important, because what paul is literally saying is that Christ is in Him. he makes the bold statements that God "gave Himself for me," and that God provides grace because we cannot make ourselves right by any amount of work that we do. so grace is like God allowing us to be made with Him - God allowing us to be seen as righteous when we have fallen short.
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