Transition to Judgment

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. (Romans 14:1)

I am moving through a transition area in my study of the book of Romans at this point. While it is certainly not disconnected from the previous passage there is a definite shift of focus here in chapter 14. And interestingly the main subject of this chapter is the issue of judgment which has been something brought strongly to my attention in the past few months. I have already written several pieces about judgment that I have not finished yet because I wanted to have them more fully developed. It looks like it may be time to revisit that as I will be immersed in this subject for awhile now.

One thing that I felt impressed with as I read and meditated and listened on this idea of judgment this morning was the thought that Jesus is my example. So if I am to follow the example of Jesus and Jesus is our Judge, then why should it be wrong for me to judge?

The answer to that lies squarely in the middle of the common misunderstanding about the true nature of judgment. Like everything else in God's life, judgment has been faced with a diabolical counterfeit that has captured our attention far more readily than the real deal. Nearly everyone I know including myself have very distorted concepts of what is involved in judgment, and to complicate things, comparisons with human judicial systems are not very helpful. Human justice more closely parallels and follows the counterfeit concept of justice far more than the true way to judge in most respects. So for us to assume that God deals with His subjects similar to how we are treated by humans purporting to execute justice is very misleading at best.

What I am finding lately is that it is very difficult to easily discuss spiritual concepts with many people because in everything we talk about we always have many, many assumptions. This is completely unavoidable because of the basic nature of how we think and how language operates. We have to have a certain amount of assumptions about what words and phrases mean or else we can have very little communication whatsoever. But the problems with communication become more difficult to the extent that each person's assumptions about the words they are sharing are different given their own background and beliefs.

What I am finding is that as my understanding of words and spiritual concepts dramatically changes through my intense study of the Word and listening to the instructions from the Spirit, this process is transforming more and more of my assumptions about those concepts and their relationships to each other. Now for me this is becoming very exciting as I see more clearly the beauty and consistency and justice and sensibility and attractiveness of God's ways. There are certainly very many things I do not yet understand, but the tendency is toward a congruency and wholeness that is radically different than the arbitrary nature of much of the religion I was taught growing up.

But the more clearly things become for me and the more questions I feel free to raise and have answered in my personal experience with God, the more out of sync I find myself with those around me who still cling to many of the concepts and assumptions that I was raised with and believed for most of my life. Or they may have completely different assumptions about these words of which I am unaware. But the problem is becoming more evident that as I use the religious terms and descriptions of spiritual truths that have taken on a completely new meaning for me, others are still basing their hearing of these words from me on old definitions and entrenched concepts from years of tradition of how these things interrelate which presents great difficulty in carrying on a smooth conversation.

So I find myself needing to stop or interrupt myself to try to explain my new understandings of the words and concepts I am using. This sometimes happens so much so that I make very little progress in saying what I started out to say. It is almost as if I have to explain a whole new dictionary while at the same time using words that sound exactly like those from an old dictionary that is similar but deceivingly different but while much more familiar. Sometimes I wonder about the best way to handle this problem.

It is in times like this that I am reminded that it is my spirit that is far more important in the process of communication than the success of my words in conveying new principles of truth. While words are certainly important and need to be chosen carefully, a perfect arrangement of correct words will still convey wrong messages if my spirit is not in alignment and under the guidance and influence of God's Spirit. Conversely, a person who is very much in sync with God's Spirit may have very limited knowledge or ability to express themselves eloquently and may even sound very crude at times, but the effect of their spirit in their attempts to communicate with those observing and listening to them will have far more positive influence; their hearers will be deeply moved and far more truth will be received than otherwise would have been possible.

And that brings me very much back to the subject of Romans 14. I am beginning to see that Paul is squarely addressing this very issue now that I look at it again. All throughout this chapter he emphasizes the importance of attitude over factual correctness. That seems to be the main point of this whole passage and one that I very much need to learn at a much deeper level. It addresses one of the most slippery problems of Christianity, that of putting more value on being “right” than of giving priority to caring for another person's heart. And while I usually respond positively to being treated that way myself it is so easy for me to fail to treat others that way. Yes, just like the last chapter, I am beginning to see that God has some intense lessons waiting for me in the days ahead as I immerse myself in His life-changing instructions and open myself to the convictions from His Spirit.

I notice that this whole subject comes immediately after the admonition about putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provisions for my flesh. This is the context in which Paul addresses the problem of judging other fellow believers. It is, unfortunately, extremely common but nevertheless very destructive – this problem of judging. In judging and condemning others I am tearing apart what God is working to put together in the body of Christ described back in chapter 12. It also likely comes under the heading of making provision for the flesh and not behaving properly (13:13).

Judging others is not just primarily something that happens by the words I circulate about them but is much more a state of mind and a spirit that emanates from me. Judging can many times be such a subtle thing that it can easily be denied and discounted. I can be very careful to try and not say openly judgmental words about someone but still insinuate and create questions in other people's minds that are just as judgmental if not more so. But this issue of judgment and learning to be free from it has to be a personal learning experience and not something I try to force on others. As with nearly all truths, it must first begin in my own heart before the truth can have real affect on other hearts.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.... (1 Peter 4:17)

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More on Living as a Butterfly

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. (Romans 13:10-11)

Not long ago I wrote a piece on my other blog about wanting to become a Butterfly. Not literally, you understand, but in many other respects. God has embedded within the many things of nature powerful lessons that can illustrate spiritual truths for us that can be revealed to us by the Spirit who was involved in the original Creation of both nature and our own minds and hearts. Very often things in nature can better unveil deep emotional and spiritual truths and facts much easier than the difficult exercise of translating them into the symbols we call words and language.

This issue of letting go of resistance is very often on my mind since it has been brought to my attention over the past few months in my study of Romans 13. One reason I wrote the piece about the Butterfly was directly related to this very thing. Butterflies are almost the perfect demonstration of living a glorious life and beauty and freedom while exercising an amazingly low amount of resistance to the environment in which they fly. And yet they can travel thousands of miles across land and sea to arrive at very precise destinations which they have never even been to before.

It also occurred to me this morning that a very great percentage of a Butterfly's noticeable makeup is constituted of the beautifully decorated wings designed to utilize the sunlight to dispense loveliness and beauty wherever they go. Their bodies sink into near insignificance to our attention in comparison to the beauty of their wings. This is in contrast to most other insects that have no such large displays of extravagant beauty. It really appears that the main purpose of Butterflies may be to dispense beauty primarily – and maybe in more ways than we thought.

As I reread the above text this morning it came to me that the very process that creates the beautiful Butterfly – metamorphosis – is strikingly parallel to what I read here in this verse as well as in 12:2. And it is also very closely linked with the verses before it which talk about not resisting and being filled with genuine love. What verse eleven seems to be saying is that it is time for me to be born again and emerge from the cocoon of metamorphosis into a totally new creation that doesn't even resemble the body (my internal perception of my identity) and surroundings (the emotional and spiritual atmosphere in which I function) that I have been so familiar with all of my life. And if this parallel is true – and I believe it is – then salvation itself must be something descriptive of beauty and joy and freedom and intimate interaction with the breezes of the Holy Spirit that Jesus talked about in John three.

I suppose that there may be instances where Butterflies may cause damage somewhere, but I am not aware of them. But given the pervasive nature of the effects of sin in this world that is certainly possible. But in most respects I believe that Butterflies live to dispense beauty and inspire gratitude and praise on the part of all who are capable and willing to engage in and be blessed by this exercise.

Along the same line of thinking, verse ten says that Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. This is clearly an indication that the law, far from being done away with or ignored in the life of a true, converted, born-again Christian – the law will be the internal structure now implanted in the heart that has become so much a part of the natural thinking and reactions of a person that that person's life will reflect the light of God's love in unique and startling, even dazzling ways that will enrich the lives of all who are blessed by their influence.

Just as a Butterfly is not generally known for any damage they cause or even being a nuisance, the life of the true, transformed Christian full of real love will never do any wrong to others. And never doing any wrong to others is another way of saying they are perfectly in agreement and alignment with the Law of God. They will not be found dissing the law or complaining about talk of the law or feeling threatened by the law. But like David expressed so many times in the Psalms and particularly Psalm 119, they will love God's laws and guidelines and descriptions of the principles which govern all of His interactions with others.

I was again reminded this morning as I meditated on these thoughts of the passage that I received as something of a prophecy of my future a few years ago. And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man. And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:6-7 BBE) You will be changed into another man. That sounds an awful lot like what happens to a caterpillar when it is changed into a beautiful Butterfly.

And the last part of that passage also reminds me of the close interactions that Butterflies have with the wind and the words of Jesus to Nicodemus. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) Doesn't that sound strikingly similar to the flight of a Butterfly?

But as most people know that have ever learned much about the process of metamorphosis necessary to transform caterpillars into butterflies, the creature itself cannot bring about this amazing transformation. It simply cooperates with the impulses that God implanted into it and then rests quietly and safely inside the cocoon while the power of God mysteriously does its work of total transformation until the day it is ready to emerge in glorious and surprising beauty to live a completely different life.

When you are still living in a cocoon it is very hard to see what is going on in your own transformation process. I feel like I have been in the form of a caterpillar or in a cocoon for most of my life, but all I can do is rest and trust in the transformational work of the Spirit in my life until the day it becomes more obvious that I can learn to really fly. And when that happens I am also certain that the beauty of God's light and love will be so much more clear than it ever has been in my life that it may well be breath-taking – especially to me. But that beauty will not occur because of anything I have accomplished but because God has created yet another new creature, a wonderful experiment of grace to be a glorious reflector of part of His own beauty to attract others to Him with the loveliness that originates in His own heart.

Another thought that was brought to my attention this morning was again about this issue of resistance. I have been praying for some time now for God to remove all resistance from my heart, and I still feel that is very much needed. But in my cursory look through the Bible on the subject of resistance I noticed that a few times we are instructed to resist – but only against the devil himself.

I find this a bit curious and have wondered what this really means. I am specifically instructed not to resist an evil person (Matt. 5:39) while at the same time told that I must resist the devil (James 4:7). I have had a number of discussions about this with others and realized today that I need to pray to be full of resistance to Satan and all his suggestions while at the same time totally devoid of resistance to God and even to the evil that comes my way from others. This is all part of the alignment process very necessary to get me prepared to encounter the power and presence of God safely. Most Christians claim to desire to encounter His presence but they very often fail to see the enormous danger inherent in such a request. I will have to meditate and listen for more on this topic as the Spirit unpacks it more thoroughly for me.

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Deeds or Spirit?

The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Romans 13:12-14)

I just noticed a significant difference between these two contrasted options as I reread this whole passage this morning from the middle of chapter 12 through all of 13. When the things of darkness are itemized they generally revolve around deeds – works – activities. But in these verses there is no itemized list of deeds as such mentioned for the side of light. The closest thing mentioned here is the word behave, but even then it is described by what not to do.

This reminds me of the main theme that I have been seeing all throughout the book of Romans. A life focused on externals and deeds and activities is not the focus that prepares one for living in harmony with God. That is the focus of those who are futilely striving to get to heaven by works of righteousness through rule-keeping. Deeds are also the descriptions of those who are in open rebellion against the authority of heaven.

Paul has been unpacking for 13 chapters now the need to shift our attention to the condition of our spirit and our relationship with God and others instead of focusing on managing our external behavior to look good. For behavior, if properly understood, is simply the fruit of what lies deep in the heart. And if we want to produce the genuine fruit of true righteousness we cannot do it artificially by working at it. We must, in fact, do the very opposite and learn to rest in a vital connection with the only real source of true righteousness, Jesus Christ and the Father God and the Spirit that He has given us.

The whole history of man throughout all the Bible and all the dark centuries that have passed since is an example of the struggle between these two views of how to be right with God. The Israelites strove for centuries to get it right and align their behavior with the requirements of God, but they usually failed to heed God's pleadings with them to have their hearts transformed and as a result they repeatedly fell into apostasy and rebellion and defamed the name of God throughout the earth.

In stark contrast to this mention of deeds which is connected with the word darkness, we are instructed to put on the armor of light which is synonymous with putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is not accomplished by any amount of external work on our part but by a dramatic transformation of our spirit and attitudes. Certainly after this takes place there will be seen in the life a great deal of wonderful results and deeds in the external life that will be consistent with the righteousness demonstrated by Jesus. But those externals will be spontaneous in nature and not something forced.

So how do I get from here to there? What is really involved in this putting on?

I will not lay claim to having the final answers to this or to any other deep questions at this point. But given the many truths that have become much more clear to me over the past few years I have some good ideas of some things that can be done to bring this about in the life.

As I have noted above, this putting on seems clearly an action of the spirit much more than anything revolving around deeds and externals, except the choice to refrain from many deeds that we have been previously engaged in. Interestingly in the light of other things Paul has talked about in Romans, deeds of darkness may also include some deeds that many assume to be righteous. Any notion that our deeds somehow produce merit for ourselves to leverage God to allow us into heaven are in God's eyes deeds of darkness just as are the more obvious deeds of sin listed here. ...For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

So given the context and surrounding descriptions in these verses, I come to the conclusion that behaving properly means to move my attention to the condition of my spirit, my disposition, my attitudes and the condition of my relationship with God and with others instead of the external actions I may try to perform. To behave properly is to release my desires to act out in sinful behaviors my attempts to satisfy the deep longings of my heart and turn to the Creator of my heart with my spirit and receive real life and satisfaction from the real Source of life.

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. for everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:19-21)

Not only do I need to put on light and an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, but I need to do it so committedly that I do not even hedge my bets by making alternate provisions just in case this doesn't work out. God cannot accept anything less than my total heart commitment to His side in this conflict. Anything else creates the situation of a heart harboring treason, and that is fatally dangerous in war-time. God commands that I make no provision whatsoever for my flesh and its lusts that clamor to offer me satisfaction through any other means than complete and implicit trust in God's plans for my life. I am to only receive life and satisfaction from my Lord and only Lord – Jesus Christ.

As I assimilate and take on the flavor and odor and luminance of the presence of Jesus, my life and spirit and aura will began to more and more reflect the glorious light of heaven. And that light of God's glory will be for me a shield and armor to protect my heart from the abuse and misuse of both others and myself as I learn to live in implicit obedience to the One who knows far better than I what my heart needs.

To live behind the armor of light is the same as what Paul described in chapter eight about being led by the Spirit of God. That is the relationship that the true children of God have with their Father. And while to our way of thinking, light is a terrible choice for protecting us from attack or harm, in the world of true reality as seen from heaven's perspective it is the only protection that offers any real hope of us surviving the deceptive assaults of the enemy of our Father.

Father, I give You permission right now to do whatever is necessary to bring my spirit into alignment with Your Spirit and Your heart. I ask for a more thorough spirit of humility and peace and submission to Your authority and the authorities that You have set up temporarily on earth. I ask that You transform my life into a much better reflector of Your love so that others can see more clearly the real truth about Your heart. Cover my sins and remove my guilt and inner condemnation. Fill my heart and mind and spirit with the brilliant light of the presence of Jesus and surround me with the sweet atmosphere of love and compassion that surrounded Your Son while He lived here in person on this earth. Glorify Your name through my life today.

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Law and Love - 2

I am seeing more and more evidence of yet another major theme emerging from this passage in Romans – the contrast between darkness and light, alignment with the law contrasted with deeds of darkness or of the flesh.

As I observed last time, Jesus came to fulfill the law with real love. He interfered in the natural progression of the human race toward death and extinction to reverse this destiny for all those who would accept salvation. This choice is what is being discussed in this chapter, in fact throughout the whole book of Romans. But I would like to itemize more clearly the things referred to here on each side of the choice and begin to see their relationship with each other.

All through the book of Romans Paul has talked about the law. However, he has made it repeatedly clear that the law is not gone or done away with as many Christians try to believe. This is impossible since the Law of God is really a description of the principles of reality itself as created by the Author of all powers and forces and materials and beings. In these chapters Paul is beginning to make it much more clear that the only way in which we can be properly aligned or synchronized with the law – and that is absolutely necessary in order for any of us to be able to successfully encounter the intense presence of the Almighty – is to be filled with the same love that makes up the very essence of God Himself.

The Law of God is something of an over-simplification or a verbal visualization of the symptoms that will be seen in the life of an individual who is full of God's love. But any attempt to actualize those symptoms without having the real cause internally is a tragic choice of foolishness and is really the essence of sin. To try to exhibit the signs of life without being properly connected to the real Source of life is hypocrisy and even treason against the government of heaven. So all attempts to diminish the importance of the laws of God for humans is really promotion of sin and treason and is extremely dangerous at best and will be fatal in the end if not renounced through repentance.

To believe that the Law of God has a diminished role in the life of a Christian is to claim that God has a diminished role in the life of a Christian – a patent absurdity. But just because the Law still is in full force it does not follow that we can produce the results that the Law describes in our present condition, even with a great deal of assistance from God as many teach. We can never “keep” the law of God enough to contribute anything to our own salvation. Absolutely nothing we do has any saving merit to add to the salvation already provided through complete trust in the life and death of Jesus Christ But equally true, Jesus' life and death does not reduce in the slightest the law's requirements over us. It only amplifies the law's true function and purpose as a simple description of the character of God.

The only way anyone, either before or after the incarnation of the Son of God on this planet – the only way a person can be “saved” is to allow the provisions and demonstrations provided by God to change their opinions and attitudes toward God and subject themselves fully to His authority in their hearts and minds. Sin is rebellion against the authority of heaven. Sin is denial of God's right to the very beings that He Himself created for love. Until we submit to the ways and means that God has brought to us to re-implant His love in our hearts we will remain in our condition of rebellion and are headed for hell. For hell is actually the resistance of the heart exposed to the powerful current of heart-love flowing out of the power-source of all the universe. And when strong current meets resistance the result is always overwhelming heat and finally destruction.

So it makes sense then, that love is the fulfillment of the law and that in the very same chapter that this is explained that we are also carefully instructed to let go of all resistance to authority. Clearly love and resistance must be opposites according to this chapter. Resistance is part of the deeds of darkness and the lusts of the flesh. To put on the armor of light is to put on the very presence of God which is full of the love-current flowing from His heart. But to live in the light we must also get rid of all resistors inside of us or we will have problems with them heating up and causing pain and internal damage.

Likewise, the other things listed here in Romans 13 are also problems of resistance and deeds of darkness. When we resist rendering to anyone what is due them (v. 7), according to heaven's viewpoint we are still not awake and participating in the life of the daylight. When we dishonor any of the Ten Commandments (v. 9) we are still living in the dark. When we do anything wrong to our neighbor we cannot be living in love. And how do we know what wrong is unless there is a standard by which to measure it?

All the the deeds of darkness listed in verse 13 are indicators that we do not yet have the real love of God permeating our hearts. This includes the mention of strife which encompasses things like arguing, debating and contention. That pretty much describes everyone when it starts getting that close to our daily life. And it is true, all of us have sinned and are deeply infected in various ways with the seeds of sin and deception that keep us at odds with the pure description of love as seen in the Law of God.

But Jesus' purpose for coming to earth was not to keep the Law so that we would no longer need to. That is just as absurd as saying that Jesus loved everyone so I don't need to love anyone but myself. With that logic I could say that He loved on my behalf (kept the law perfectly) so I don't need to love because He is my substitute. I don't hear anyone trying to make that absurd claim, and yet many people try to believe that because Jesus fulfilled the Law that we no longer need to keep it. The Law and love are actually synonymous in a sense when it comes right down to it. That is why any attempts to keep the law without doing it as a natural result of a heart full of love is nothing but a charade and will never prepare a person to live in the presence of pure love.

The really exciting part of this whole plan of salvation and the purpose of Jesus' repeated comings to this earth is that God has planned a day in which His purpose will be finally realized and brought to completion. Love will once again be the only game in town. Every mind and heart in existence will be only filled with pure, selfless love and will perfectly function flawlessly in the giant power circuit of the universe totally dependent on the one and only power source of life, God Himself. This is the ultimate goal of everything we are studying and the end object of all prophecies in the Bible. And to prepare us for this end everything else must contribute. To properly understand anything in Scripture we must always keep this bigger picture in mind and the details will then begin to glow with new life and meaning and purpose.

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