....so why bother broaching these subjects anyway?
Examining the challenges I have been facing in my personal life over the last year I have found sharing my views with the world therapeutic in a way. What better chance do I have to boldly proclaim the Gospel than on a blog that the entire world, or at least the Countries that permit it, could read? What a privilege indeed knowing God could use what I write here to plant a seed of doubt in someones mind about 'just being good enough' will get them into Heaven, or, 'by being obedient and following Gods Law laid out in the Torah our salvation is secure because God wouldn't ask us to do anything impossible' type of believers.
I am pretty sure looking back over the last year of my posts reveals my own growth in knowledge of the Gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ....mostly, it's selfish, because I want to track where I was, where I am, and where I will be going in my personal understanding of The Word. (Judges 19:17)
Ever notice I don't gush about other bloggers, people others may label as 'mighty men' of God?
There is a reason for that.
Scripture is Perfect, Complete, Whole. Scripture was written by mere men, but these human beings were given the words to write by The Holy Spirit in The Old Testament using the Prophets and specifically appointed by Jesus to set up His Body in the New Testament Churches (Ephesians 4) (2 Timothy 3:16) No one will come up with anything knew, or have some sort of different revelation other than what the Gospel presents. All I need as a Christian is The Bible. I don't need to weigh what I am learning against a stranger's convictions.
Those convictions belong to them.
My convictions belong to me.
I am constantly challenged on my hypothesis, which is good, because I must constantly renew my mind to how I view Scripture. (Romans 12:2) I am afraid of digging myself in and keeping certain beliefs because "that's what the Bible says and the Bible doesn't change."
Exactly.
God's Word does not change.
Mans interpretation of God's Word must change.
Renewal of ones mind is not just a one time thing. (Philemon 1:6)
In the Greek:
anakainoó: to make new
Original Word: ἀνακαινόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: anakainoó
Phonetic Spelling: (an-ak-ahee-no'-o)
Short Definition: I renew, amend, change
Definition: I renew, make new again.
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: anakainoó
Phonetic Spelling: (an-ak-ahee-no'-o)
Short Definition: I renew, amend, change
Definition: I renew, make new again.
This is God's Work, through The Lord Jesus Christ, by The Holy Spirit.
It is constant. Everlasting. Eternal. Action oriented. (Titus 3:5)
anakainóō ("to renew") occurs in 2 Cor 4:16 and Col 3:10, both times referring to God ever-transforming the believer – by renewing "the new man" (anthrōpos) in Christ.
This reformation is done by my own personal studies, which is then challenged by The Word presented every week from the pulpit....an investigation of whether I am understanding certain things correctly because if what is being taught to me doesn't line up with what I'm learning, I need to take a step back and discover where I went off track. The Text as it is read is simple, and humbling. I believe this system does it's job perfectly because that is how God designed The Body of Christ to receive this dogma which then is carried out by the replenishing of ones mind.
Do you really believe Christianity is a checklist, and once you learn a passage or verse in The Bible you pack it away, never to look at it or relearn it a different way?
It would be very safe to assume our beliefs should be changing as God's Word is changing us.
The New Covenant reveals our desire to be like Lot's wife, to turn back to our natural understanding- Old Covenant convictions- instead of keeping our eyes always forward and upward, Heaven bound, kneeling at the cross in fear and reverence to our King while at the same time running this marathon listening to The Coach holler His instructions with full confidence that the race has been won for us and the ending is near.
Galatians 2:2 & 5:7
What could you be holding onto that is inhibiting your Spiritual Renewal?
Very well written, I enjoy your posts.
ReplyDeleteOften we ask what can we do. I have heard others ask what can I do to be saved. The harsh truth is we can do nothing to advance our own salvation. This is also the greatest blessing.
The new covenant is not about doing anything, because we would mess it up like we did the old. Humans were required to follow the law under the old covenant, which we broke. Thankfully the new covenant which God made is unbreakable, thus it must have nothing to do with our actions, lest we screw it up also.
Good post, although I think the Title should have been "More salt, more taste" - from the context that Christians are called to be salt - Mt 5:13, and that less salt, is not, from a biblical perspective, a good thing. Just my humble opinion and not that I am trying to nitpick.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Did you know that there is an everlasting "covenant of salt" - see Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5
Too much salt can be bad too....it's a reminder for me, actually all Christians, there is a time to speak, and then there is also a time to just let the text speak, because we know the text can not be wrong, only our interpritation of it.
DeleteThanks for commenting.