What Is The True Nature Of Repentance?

In Christian doctrine, repentance is the changing of one's mind from sin to holiness. God has called us to a life of holiness (1 Peter 1:16) from a life of sinfulness. Christians are called to change their minds on sin and decide to follow God. However I have heard it argued that true repentance has a zero failure clause. In sum any failure to resist a specific sinful behaviour, after having repented from it is evidence that the repentance from that sin was never genuine. Does Scripture support this strict application of repentance? No. The entire Jewish nation is guilty of idolatry and adultery, (Isaiah 47. 7-11, Jeremiah 2:13, Ezekiel 9) time and time again; and they did have times of repentance, (Haggai 1:12-15, 2). God dealt with these repeated offences with repeated calls to repentance.

However since we can't repent from a sin with a 100% success rate does this view not justify sin? No. Should any of us really practice repentance? Yes. Complete repentance is mandatory. When someone comes to faith in Christ, they will repent from their sinful nature. No Christian has the luxury of choosing which sins to repent from as all sins must be addressed and repented from. We are to repent from all sin and rely on God to help us to stay the course regarding all sin. What if someone is simply not ready to repent from a sin? Nobody can condemn someone a non-Christian for a conscious and willingly unrepentant sin, as that call is only for God to make. A reservation for repentance however should cause themselves and others to call their commitment to Christ into question.

However nobody can repent from 100% of their sins as none of us know 100% of our sins. We are to repent from our sins when they come to light. Some sins are akin to taking out the kitchen garbage, in that its a matter of tying the garbage bag and throwing it into the dumpster. While other sins are akin to spring-cleaning a basement that accumulated 20 years of junk; it takes a long time and persistent effort to overcome these kinds of sins. However everyone's life is like a multi-roomed house where there are many different areas that need cleaning and in each room there are both kinds of sins. The answer is to be ready to deal with each sin as they come to pass. Every time it rises up, and with the Lord's help you take it down. This means repentance from is a day to day, and even a minute to minute duty.

However everyone of us has compromised on chores like taking out the garbage and cleaning the basement. Does that mean then that ones failure to take out the garbage means that they truly want a smelly kitchen? Or if they forget a day to work on cleaning the basement does that mean that they truly don't want to clean up the basement? No on both accounts as we all may want to have the end result such as a clean smelling kitchen and a clean basement; but sometimes our commitment is week (Matthew 26:41). For someone to fall for temptation for a sin they are trying to daily kick does not mean that they really do want to do the sin; it just means that they had a time of failure. What are they to do? Since none of us can gain the past, the only thing that any of us can do is decide to figure out what caused the comprise and pick up where we left off. In the same way if a Christian truly wants to overcome their struggle with a sin, such as pornography, but they fail once or over the course of time they have bouts of failure, each time they ought to repent and keep on going. One's failures does not undermine one's successes but it doesn't justify the sin as they are guilty of breaking God's moral laws.

Why do people repent from a sin? In many cases many people repent from a sin, even when they don't want to because they know how it has hurt them in the past. Many people will still love to eat fatty foods and drink alcohol and watch too much television, but due to experiencing a recent heart-attack they give them up. Other people sometimes quit drugs because of almost overdosing to death. Other people see how their behaviour has hurt others and they feel dreadfully bad about it; they are very apologetic and as a result they decide to not do the act again, or do the thing they should have done. In sum one big encourager of repentance is having suffered a great pain. However why should the Christian repent from their sin? 1) God tells us to. 2) We are to represent God (1 Peter 2:) and 3) God cannot tolerate less than perfectness (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). A Christian does not need any other reason than the first one to justify giving up a sin. Its all about priorities: which is your priority, God or your sin?

To conclude what is the nature of the true repentant Christian? The apostle John highlights that if we say we are without sin we are liars (1 John 1:8). This means that sin is a reality in every Christian. If someone denies they are a sinner they are thusly a non-Christian because Jesus came to bring sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Jesus can't bring a non-sinner to repentance. John argues that the person who says such a claim is deceiving themselves, that is they are believing a false view as truth and if they believe a lie then they can't live out the truth.

Furthermore, John states that if we have not sinned we are making Christ into a liar (1 John 1:10). A Christian is an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). This means we are to represent Him in His views and practices. Jesus asserts that we are sinners and proposing that we are not is making a liar out of Him. Moreover, we make Christ out to be a liar on virtue of denying specific sins that are in fact sins. John is clear in his words: "[if] we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar..." (John 1:10 [my emphasis]). If we do something that Scripture is clear on is a sin, such as any of the wide variety of sexual sins and say "I have not sinned" we are making Christ into a liar by saying: "He is wrong, what I did is not a sin."

John explains why he is writing this to his reader namely so that they will know the truth and thus know how to appropriately respond (John 2:1a). However John highlights the implication of his teaching, namely if we are sinners, we will then sin. A such he offers some good news: 1) If we confess our sins God will forgive us and make us right in His eyes (1 John 1:9) and 2) Christ will represent us in front of the Father, who is the one who we sinned against. He will argue for our salvation from condemnation (1 John 2:1b).

In sum a true repentant Christian is someone who knows that they are sinner, one who agrees with Christ regarding sin and who represents his views on the subject and one who daily turns away from their sin. The nature of the true Christian is one who is represented by Christ.

You Are God's Princess

Authored by: Jacqueline
Co-Authored with: Ian

[i]

One day the supervisor's daughter joined the staff meeting at work. She was an attractive young lady in her early to mid twenties. This was the first time I saw her. She walked into the room full of confidence because she takes personal security in the fact that her father is the department head of a famous university. Her appearance and behaviour were so elegant that it makes people naturally respect her. After admiring her for a while, I turned to look at all the other ladies in our group. In comparison, although they have pretty faces, everyone’s body language seems to indicate that they lack confidence because their families are all of lower social class and none of them have celebrated fathers. 

I was astonished by how confident this woman is, as like the other ladies in the group I also have a low self-esteem. Although I have believed in God for many years, deep in my heart I am still influenced strongly by my family background. However I think I first need to explain where I am coming from.   Many cultures throughout the world dictate that honour and respect will be given to the lady who has a rich and famous father. If a man wanted to pursue the president's daughter, chances are he will try hard to impress her and her father, and do no harm to her; and this is largely due to him being the president of a country. In sum no matter who a girl is as a person or how beautiful or ugly she is or smart or stupid she is there are many places around the world which teach that as long as she has a rich father, she should be honoured. The lie that social classes determines how much worth and self-worth one should have is still being pounded into so many people’s minds today.

However, my walk with Jesus taught me that my identity does not depend on where society slots me based on how much money my family has or doesn’t have. Rather, my identity is dependant on who I am. So who am I? I am someone who is “fearfully and wonderfully made” - Psalms 139:14. I am someone who was made by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). I am someone who broke God’s laws but who is loved by God so much so that He took His punishment for my sin onto his shoulders so that I could have a chance to be called his daughter, (John 1:12). I am someone who has purpose, namely to represent God (Matthew 28:19).

Until that day in the meeting, I realized that I forgot that I have a heavenly Father. My heavenly Father is the richest in the universe, but not only because He created the universe and everything in it belongs to Him (Colossians 1:16) but also because he is rich in love (Ephesians 2:4). My heavenly Father is the most powerful in the world (cf. Psalms 65:6), because He is God, the King who rules all (Psalm 47:7). 

My fellow sisters in Christ, let’s put this into perspective. If an earthly father who is only more rich than others can bring such influence to his daughters, resulting in them holding their heads up high, what influence do we as daughters of God have based on God being who He is, namely our heavenly Father? The Apostle Paul gives this promise to all who follow Christ: we can be “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). My dear sisters in Christ, no matter your family social status, that is, rich or poor, as daughters of our heavenly Father we all can be confident in that we have a calling that supersedes any status that any human culture can slot us in. God is working and His work that He is doing through us will allow us to have a great influence in this world. 

However, we can also be confident that, as an earthly parent should, our heavenly Father will look after us. Jesus says: 

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? - Matthew 6:25-26.

Again, Jesus asks us: are we not worth much more than the birds of the air? (Matthew 6:26). Yes. Therefore we should be confident in the knowledge that we have worth and it is Jesus who determines that worth, not culture or family social status. Jesus thought us worthy enough to die for us; this of course doesn’t mean that we are worthy of his sacrifice, as nobody is, but God loved us so much that he thought that we were worth saving (John 3:16). We are precious princesses who are redeemed by Jesus' blood (Ephesians 1:7). God demonstrated “His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God did this with a perfect love (1 John 4:12). 

To conclude, how can we continue to use imperfect love to deny or harm ourselves? Our heavenly Father is saying to you and to me: "My child, you are tired and weary. Come home! Receive my love!" (cf. Matthew 11:28). As a sister in Christ, I beg you: don't refuse His love again and again. You are searching for unfailing love in all the wrong places. Come home and receive His faithful and everlasting love!

___________________

[i] - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cima_da_Conegliano%2C_God_the_Father.jpg - accessed July 27, 2015

Is Virtual Murder Equal To Real Murder?

Of course TV, movies, books, magazines, video-games, etc. are within themselves harmless as they are just the platforms by which morals and values are promoted. It however is simply fact that an extreme majority of entertainment in this world are in moral conflict with Christian morals and values. This puts many Christians into a tight position because as the disciple John tells us clearly we are to "not love the world or anything in the world." (1 John 2:15a).

There are three categories John puts worldly values into: 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, and 3) the pride of life, (1 John 2:16). In the first article of the three part series I alluded to above I introduced a character named Joe, who identifies himself as a Christian but who also has a sinful-pleasure, as it were, for adult oriented, open-world video games and in particular Grand Theft Auto, (GTA). All packed in one blue-ray disk, the fifth instalment of the GTA series sports every kind of immorality this world has to offer including, theft, physical assault, vandalism, murder, manslaughter, multiple homicide, having sex with prostitutes, killing animals, doing drugs, dealing drugs, getting drunk, driving while intoxicated, stealing every drivable vehicle from cars to jumbo jets to military tanks and so on. Almost every female character in the game is in some skimpy outfit that shows a lot of her cleavage; and in the Playstation 4 (PS4) version of the game, the game designer RockStar Games included partial nudity at the local strip club. The PS4 version also includes various vantage points by which the player can view the game-play ranging from far-3rd-Person to close-3rd-Person view to 1st-Person view. Needless to say Joe can have his fill of lust by just playing GTA5. What can one lust after in games like GTA? Take your pick! Every scantily dressed woman; the ability to own $100,000 cars; the ability to do crime without any serious consequences; the ability to have $30,000,000+ in the bank; the ability buy weapons of war such rocket-launchers, honing-launchers and a rail-gun so to cause mayhem and so forth.

In the article I alluded to the fact that Joe did struggle with this moral quandary. He enjoys playing the game immensely but he does not agree with the values that it promotes when done in the real world. He has no problem committing virtual multiple-homicide and beating up virtual people and hiring computer animated prostitutes with fake money; but, although he would love to own a real $100,000 car in real life, he does have real issues with real murder, real theft, real crime, real sexual immorality and so forth. Is it not inconsistent to for him to hold the belief that its okay to commit fake murder, but not real murder? And that it is okay to pretend to be having sex with a prostitute in a game, but not agree with real men who pay real money to real flesh and blood women for sex?

To give a brief summary of the three part series, I concluded three things: 1) There is no real difference between playing a video game with questionable morals and watching a movie or reading a book that promotes those morals. However those morals are mere plot points to move the story forward and the story is written to serve adults; as such only adults should partake of these sort of forms of movies or video games. 2) Christians have the freedom in Christ, however we do not have the freedom in Christ to offend others or put a stumbling block to the cross in front of others. As such if ones partaking of such entertainment is causing someone to stumble, the Christian has the moral obligation to forsake their freedom in Christ to enjoy these sort of movie or video-games for the sake of their weaker brother or sister in Christ or unbelieving neighbour; and 3) no Christian is immune from being affected by the immoral content of such entertainment. It is imperative for a Christian to keep an eye on their thinking and if their enjoyment of these forms of entertainment is causing them to fail to represent Christ in all they do, then they have to walk away from the genre of entertainment.

Let's hone in on the second and third conclusions for a moment. It is true that Christians are not confined to rules and regulations as the Hebrews were in the Old Testament; we are free to dress how we want, work where we want, eat what we want, plant our crops however we want, and so forth. However do we have the freedom to enjoy worldly values, even in spirit if we are called to represent Jesus? No. However this is where the third point comes in. A Christian has permission to love a murder mystery or a crime drama but just as long as they hate the evil. This means that the Christian is to be hotly against the action not morally neutral on it; and if the Christian is starting to reclassify the morality of those actions into the latter category that is when the Christian has crossed the line and should put away the entertainment.

However it has been argued to me that virtual murder is murder just as lust is adultery. Jesus argues that if Joe was to merely lust after a woman to whom he is not married to, he has committed adultery with her. What is done in his mind, namely lust, is the same thing as doing it in action; so lust = adultery just as 2+2=4 (cf. Matthew 5:27-30). Is then virtual murder equal to real murder? When Joe maneuvers his character with the controller to kill another character in the game is Joe committing a murder that is parallel to a physical murder? Is Joe a murderer? Is Joe deceiving himself when he claims to have no issues "playing murderer" in a game but hate murder in real life? The answer is in connection with the third point made above. What is Joe's motive? If Joe is merely doing the murderous actions and stealing cars and so on in GTA to push the story forward, to go through the levels, then he is not a murderer. However if his motive is to end life, but since he can't do it legally in real life, he resorts to doing it virtually then he is a murderer, even if he is not one legally. If his mindset has evolved to the latter then he aught to slay the game. However is virtual killing, even to progress through the story, equal to real killing? No. Killing takes life, and video-game avatars are lifeless; you can't kill a rock anymore than you can kill a computer game character.

To conclude merely enjoying entertainment that uses ungodly values is not parallel to loving ungodly values; but ungodliness can arise when the entertainment, any entertainment becomes more important than God and representing him in ones day to day life.

Why God Won't You Deliver Me From My Sin?!

A number of months ago, I introduced you to a factitious character named Timothy, who like King David, was truly a man after God's own heart, (1 Samuel 13:14).[i] However, also like King David he had a heart that got side-tracked by his own desires. I told you his story of betrayal by a couple of clergymen at his former church for essentially doing two things: 1) struggling with a sexual sin and 2) repenting of it and asking one of these two men to help him by being a friend. He looked to this man to whom he knew for over 10 years to be someone to whom he can go to for help for when he is running low on his ability to stay sober. After this incident his ability to trust another clergy-person was severely weakened.

Several years went by and Timothy was simply unable to talk to anyone about his struggle; (lest he suffer round two of being betrayed from those who are supposed to be Biblically sound.) He of course had weeks and even months of sobriety, but he never truly found freedom from this sin. In his head he knew that no one was to be blamed but himself but in heart he took a play from Adam's play book, namely blaming everyone including God for his problems; his mind started to believe his heart that he is not at fault. He blamed the two clergymen for mistreating him and he blamed God for not taking this sin away from him. Lets take a closer look at these two main attitudes that Timothy had.

Choices vs. method of execution:

Timothy was justified in being hurt because, although what they did was not wrong, it was how they responded that was wrong; but Timothy didn't see it this way; he held that being disciplined was out of place and how he was disciplined was simply unBiblical. However it wasn't till recently when he fell in love with a very Biblically sound woman that helped him to see things differently. The day after he told her his story of betrayal this young lady ran home from work on her lunch hour and called him up to tell him that he deserved what he got from the pastors, namely their discipline was justified. After about an hour of listening to her (and arguing with her) he began to see where she was coming from. However he reminded her that the two pastors didn't act Biblical in their method of discipline. She agreed but she still maintained her position that they had full Biblical authority to excommunicate him from their local church. She held this view for one simple reason: just because they were wrong in their method of discipline doesn't negate the fact that they were right in their act of discipline. What made their choice of excommunication justified? One reason was that Timothy was in teaching ministry. He taught every Sunday that his students should refrain from sin; he said this all the while behind the scenes he was doing the thing that he told his students not to do. In sum he was being a hypocrite.

Its God's fault for not delivering Timothy:

Moreover, as I explained in the previous article Timothy pleaded with God to take his sin away, namely deliver him from the temptation so he can go about his day and serve Him with relative ease; and because God seemed to say "no" Timothy was angry at Him. However Timothy's beautiful beloved put things into a light that he never considered. Consider for a moment a tenant being evicted from their apartment for getting a dog after agreeing to not have any pets. How ludicrous would they be for them getting mad a their landlord for evicting them and suggesting that it was their landlord's fault for simply not taking this dog away from them, if they insisted that they didn't want animals on the premise? In the same way Christians are called to a standard of living that requires them to make sacrifices. How stupid then is it for Timothy to blame God for him not laying down a deed because God won't take the desire for the deed away?

However the question begs to be asked, "why wouldn't God deliver him from that temptation?" Timothy realized he was being lazy and he wanted God to strengthen him by taking away the resistance that, if dealt with daily would make him strong. There is a definite parallel between lifting weights at a gym and dealing with sin. Going to the gym takes discipline to get up, go, push through the pain and daily complete ones exercise routine. However if one sticks to it, they will see, over a period of time, not just an internal change such as feeling fit but also an outer change; they will have lost weight, gotten stronger and toned. In the same way dealing with sin is a daily routine and at times it is very difficult to successfully push through the temptation; however each day of sobriety will reward the person with the feeling of success and trusting in God's grace to be their spiritual fitness partner will promise blessings (cf. Jeremiah 11:1-4).

It is true that there are testimony's from people who can say that they have been delivered from a temptation, such as pornography or alcohol addiction, etc. Yet it is equally true that there are many other people to whom God has not delivered them from temptation but instead allows them to struggle with their sin. There is a lot of discussion among Christian scholars and layman alike as to what the 'thorn' in the Apostle Paul's side resembles (2 Corinthians 12:1-10); but one can say for sure that it was something that was hindering Paul's ability to serve God; and as such he pleaded with God three times to take it away (2 Corinthians 12:8); but God replied:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9

In Timothy's case, it seems God is doing the latter that is instead of giving him mercy and taking away his sexual temptation He chose to walk with him as he daily battles it. Why does God deliver some people from their temptations while he makes others battle them? This cannot always be known, but it could be for some people the same rationale as it was for Paul, that is to show His power through their human weakness. I'm sure there are other reasons God allows people to go through their sin instead of delivering them from the temptation; and perhaps nobody will know what some of them are on this side of heaven, but one thing that can be surly known: God will be with every person who is with Him.

____________________

[i] - http://acrazychristian.blogspot.ca/2014/06/hyperactive-christianity-how-not-being.html 

Taking It Like A Christian

[0]

There is one common phrase that has been used and misused throughout the English speaking world. That phrase is: "take it like a man." This phrase often connotes being tough. A man may say to another man "take it like a man" to refer to taking some sort of physical abuse or not whimpering when he is in serious pain. A wife may say to her husband the proactive equivalence of that phrase, namely "be a man" when she wants him to do something that she believes (or is culturally believed) to be the duty that is dedicated to the male half of the human species; for one such example: being the protector of the home by chasing away the burglar with his wife's hairdryer (which was the first object he grabbed when he was startled awake, at the sounds of rumbling at 3 AM).

Conversely a man may chastise another man for being a lazy-bones by not getting up off his rear end and getting a job to provide for his family. It is because this is the case that the phrases "take it like a man!" or "be a man!" are very overly cited. They are often said in the movies and in television shows; in novels we read fictional characters saying them to one another and perhaps you may even have heard them in the privacy of your own home.

However how many times have you heard these two phrases being spoken: "be a Christian!" or "take it like a Christian." Probably never, as 1) they are simply not phrases we use, 2) if they were used they would only refer to anyone who follows the Christian religion and 3) figuring out what they might mean would be hours of discussion because they are wrought with nuances.

Be a Christian!

However if someone was ever chastised by another with one or both of these phrases how should they be interpreted? Being a Christian in the sense of salvation means to be one who truly and actively believes in their heart that Jesus is LORD and that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). However let's hone in on that nuance of 'active belief'. What does it mean to be an active Christian? It means to be a slave who is in love with his master (cf. Titus 1:1-4). A slave is one who knows he is not free to do his own will and submit his entire being to his master. A Christian is one who knows his place in God's world and submits his entire being for the will of God.[i] However the Christian also does so with a heart of willingness; so to suggest that if God gave him an 'out' he would not take it, as he wants to serve Him, because he loves Him. And so the Christian is one who doesn't just say the right things but who also excitedly does the right things; whatever God wills him or her to do they do with glee.

Take it like a Christian

However being a man or a woman after God's heart (cf. 1 Samuel 13:14) doesn't negate the fact that the Christian is still a sinner whose natural inclination is to do what is ungodly (cf. Romans 8:7). There is a commonality between many people who are caught doing something wrong and a dog who is caught doing something wrong. Almost all dog owners have, at one time or another, seen their dog pitifully walk up to them with their tales between their legs and their heads hung low for doing their business on the carpet. The dog knows that they disobeyed their owners house rules and now they are going to get a consequence, and they are scared! In the same way, all people, have the same natural reaction. They do something wrong and they want to do what they believe needs to be done so avoid being punished, and Christians are no exception.

When we do something wrong, the world teaches us to run and hide; and or bury the evidence; and or to concoct a story that is convincing enough to be believed by the authorities (e.g. the police or one's parents); and or to play by Adam's playbook and find an escape-goat (cf. Genesis 3:12) and cast blame onto another. This however is not what Scripture teaches about dealing with consequences for doing something genuinely wrong, or sinful. Scripture advocates for the practice of proudly and willingly taking the consequences for ones actions.[ii] This doesn't mean that the Christian should be proud that they sinned against God and thus they should be proud to suffer the consequences for sin; rather how they take the consequences for their sin will be a multi-facet testimony. Let's look at one example of how this is played out:

King David took pride in the vast power of his army and trusted in his army rather in God, (2 Samuel 1-9). However he eventually came to his senses and remembered that God's abilities greatly supersedes in a combined power of the number 1,300,000 soldiers. As a result he realized that he sinned against God and he prayed earnestly:

“...I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” - 2 Samuel 24:10

David's love for God caused him to desire not be found guilty and so God saw to it that he pay for his crime, thus making him innocent in His eyes once again.[iii] God gave him 3 options to choose as a consequence for his sin: 1) a famine in the land 2) loosing battles or 3) plagues, (2 Samuel 24:13). David choose option #3 with the hopes that God will show mercy. However by doing that he also knew that God's will may turn out deadly, and this was in fact how it turned out as thousands of people died (2 Samuel 24:15). However this wasn't the end of David's punishment. David suffered as a king, and now it was time for him to suffer as an individual man of God for his crime against his God. As it was the custom for his people David sacrificed an animal for the forgiveness of his own sins, however when an animal was offered to him for free David refused the handout and insisting on paying for it, because he didn't want to "...sacrifice to the Lord ... God burnt offerings that cost [him] nothing.” - 2 Samuel 24:24. David knew that he must be the one who pays for the consequences for his actions.

This illustrates three things: 1) A true follower of God wants justice, even when they are the criminal deserving of punishment for evil. A true Christian will take their discipline from God like a Christian should. 2) A true follower of God wants God's righteousness to be broadcasted, even if it means that they suffer God's wrath and 3) a true follower of God wants everyone to know that he's on God's side. Although suffering a consequence for sin is not pleasant taking it "like a Christian (follower of God)" is a testimony in itself. It proves to the world that the Christian is no more or less a sinner than the greatest and Godless sinner and it shows God's righteousness and love for the sinner.

So being a Christian is being a slave who is in active love for his master, who is God, even if this means taking a well deserved punishment for breaking the master's rules. The Christian is to represent God's righteousness and justice and love for his creation; and sometimes this is done by the act of suffering for personal acts of sinful stupidity.

_______________________

[0] - "Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 079" by Rembrandt - The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_079.jpg#/media/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_079.jpg - accessed May 24, 2015 

[i] Does this mean that someone who is a non-Christian is 'free'? Is there liberation in being a non-Christian? No. Everyone is captive, so the question is, who is your captor? If you are your own captor and you use your own judgement, then you are held captive by death; and that is where all who are not in Christ will end up, (cf. Romans 8:1, 6a). However for those who are Christ's captives life is the natural outcome, (cf. Romans 8:6b). So who are you submitting to, death or life?

[ii] I do not mean to suggest that there are no non-Christians who are advocates for the philosophy of fessing-up and dealing with the consequences. I only mean that its the natural instinct to evade the authorities and try to avoid getting caught.

[iii] This is parallel to a criminal who successfully completed their prison term; they are no longer in debt to society for the crime that they committed because they had paid the debt in full; or they were released early thus they were shown mercy for the crime they did; either way they in the eyes of the law paid for their 'sin' as it were. 

One Day At A time

[i]

There is a famous saying in Alcoholics Anonymous: "one day at a time." The idea of taking each day as it comes is not limited to overcoming addiction as it also applies to marriage life. Marriage is designed to bring both participants in the union much closer together than any other human relationship and to also bring both people close to God. Therefore it should not be taken lightly.

Paul teaches that the husband and the wife are to both "[submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21). Why? Each person brings applicable value to each others lives may it be instruction, wisdom, guidance, compassion, skills, positive (and unfortunately some negative) attitudes and general and specific philosophies on life. Moreover, each person also brings the value of their very nature to the table, that is one person is a man and the other is a woman. So the husband brings himself in-toto to the relationship and the wife brings her total self to the relationship; and over the years what begins to develop is a new man and a new woman. The husband is to submit to his wife as she has things to offer that will do nothing but benefit him as a man and a follower of Christ; and in the same way she aught to submit to him as what he has to offer will make her a better woman and a follower of Christ; this of course is contingent on both people as individuals being reliant on Christ and sharing the vision for a God-centred union.

However there are unique ways for the husband and wife are to individually actualize this mandate as a husband and a wife. From here on in, I will discuss the role of the husband. Paul is clear that "...the husband is the head of the wife,..." - Ephesians 5:23a Such propositions are often stained with perception; a perception that is influenced by factors such as upbringing, friends, society, comparing first century middle-eastern culture to 21st century Western culture, and of course let us not forget that he is a sinful human being. So what is one to do? In this day of social quality is the husband still the head? Or is that a first century way of thinking, and now for us in The West, who live in the 21st-century is there ought to be a different interpretation or application for that passage? The answer is found in the passage itself. 

...as Christ also is the head of the church,... (Ephesians 5:23b)

Is it societally relative that Christ is the head of the church? No. Therefore since Christ is the picture to mimic then the husband role does not change with time and culture. Husbands will forever be the head. How, however is he to proactively live out this responsibility in his life? 1) Concentrate on his own responsibility and not police his wife's role. 2) Remember her role in his life, namely be his complementer or helper, (Genesis 2:18b). Why? He needs the help! God noticed that it was not good that the man was alone (Genesis 2:18a) so He solved the problem, namely his wife. 

However what does it mean that he is 'the head'? The husband is the spiritual leader; the one who is commissioned to teach God's word and lead his family to Godliness, (cf. Ephesians 5:26). However he needs help! His wife is called to help him, therefore he needs to listen to her (cf. Proverbs 31:26)! Solomon states:

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. ...a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. - Proverbs 31:10-21, 30 

Moreover, he is also to love his wife "...just as Christ loved the church..." - Ephesians 5:25. If you are a married man the day you put your signature on your marriage license you signed onto love your wife with a parallel love that Christ had and has for His church - a daunting task indeed! If you are an unmarried man, but you are looking down the corridor to marriage with your girlfriend, a great blessing indeed, but realize how God wants you to love her. 

How is the husband to parallel his love for his wife to Christ's love for the church? The first step is to concentrate on loving her and not how she is loving you in return. Christ's love for His church was not contingent on receiving love from His church (Romans 5:8); as such the husband should love his wife non contingent of receiving love from her.

Regarding all relationships Paul commands that all of us are to "...have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" - Philippians 2:5. This thus includes your relationship with your beloved. How should a husband love his beloved? Take on the nature of a servant and be obedient to her needs; and he is called to do this as far as to his own grave, (cf. Philippians 2:7-8). Christ sacrificed something, namely the glory that he had with his Father, so to meet our need of reconciliation back to him, (cf. John 17:5). In the same way husbands are called to be prepared to make sacrifices so to meet their wive's needs. 99% however of sacrifices won't have the err of death, except for from time to time, the death of one's preferences for the benefit of his wife. 

Christ also humbled himself by entering his creation and dying a natural death, (cf. Philippians 2:8). This however does not apply here for the husband because he is not on a higher standing than his wife; therefore there is no way that he can mimic the humility for his wife that Christ did for him, as he is, like his wife, but a lowly sinner. However the service end of that scenario is one that all husbands are commissioned to do; and this service is to love her unconditionally and ensure that his love for her is his number two priority as God is to be his number one (cf. Matthew 22:37-39).

Moreover, God pleads with his people to return to him and love him (cf. Jeremiah 3:12); he parallels his relationship with his people as His bride and He their husband (cf. Jeremiah 3:14). He chooses them; and when they love him, he promises not to reject their love and be angry (cf. Jeremiah 3:12d). Remember that your God-centred wife willingly chooses to love you and so be willing to be loved by your wife. This can done by a submission to all that she has to offer!

To conclude if you are an unmarried man who is looking to marry to your girlfriend, practice being her husband now. Show her today the reality of who she is namely, a person of "...noble character...". Someone who "...is worth far more than rubies." - Proverbs 31:10. 

Loving your spouse is a wonderful opportunity; but it can be hard. Therefore both you and your beloved should thank God that He's given to both of you rationed portions of time to do it; namely each of our relative hours that we are awake, (cf. Matthew 6:34). Just as I took sobriety from alcohol and drug abuse, one day at a time, every married man and woman should not try to love their spouses in chunks of 3 days or 7 days or 50 years, but only one day at a time to one portion of the day at a time to one hour at a time; and relish every second of it!

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[i] - "Placing a wedding ring" by Petar Milošević - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Placing_a_wedding_ring.jpg#/media/File:Placing_a_wedding_ring.jpg 

Who Am I?

I was invited to become a guest blogger for Faith Beyond Belief. I am addressing the argument that one's identity is in their sexual orientation thus making acting on homosexual attraction a justified behaviour. 

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"The question: “Who am I?” is one that is old as dirt. When this question is asked, many people take a trip down a common road of qualifications such as name and vocation. It is true that someone’s name identifies them and their career says something about them, but neither name nor career defines them as people in toto. There was a time when sexual orientation was also not included as a qualifier, as even though it is a part of who someone is, it does not complete them. However, times have changed, and now when someone in Western society says “I am gay,” their homosexuality is not just “a part of who they are”; it is in fact the very essence of who they are." - Con't here