The Eternal Law of Love

June 25, 2018

The Eternal Law of Love

“But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”

Matthew 5:39

What do you suppose is the greatest obstacle to mastering the life in Christ as your way of life? I think the answer has to do with cultural opposition to the ways of Jesus, so the answer will vary depending on where you were raised and where you are living. In the USA, I believe the answer is a tie between our rebellious nature and our competitive spirit.

Our rebellious spirit makes it exceedingly difficult for us to completely surrender control of our lives, and everything and every person within our span of influence, to the ways of Jesus. Our competitive spirit makes us devalue anything that we can’t win, or at least measure a positive rate of return on our investment of time, energy and resources. Both of these spirits within us make it very difficult for us to own the words of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. Consider the verse quoted above. How much time and energy do we burn when we feel slighted, or that someone has taken advantage of us, or mistreated us in some way? We may not proactively, aggressively retaliate in some way, but we may stew over the incident for a long while. All the time and energy we devote to pondering and replaying the incident, is time we are not spending responding to God who “is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13).

There is no simple solution to this conundrum, which is why the Apostle Paul used such drastic language to express how he found his way to the life in Christ:  “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20a) Stay with the metaphor long enough to recall that crucifixion was a very long and painful death, and you will understand why Paul warned his friends to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b NRSV).

My Takeaway: Inevitably, we are going to be hurt and angered by the words and actions of others, whether intentional or not. How we respond is of supreme importance to Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit to form Christ within us. Gandhi wrote that “Jesus lived and died in vain if he did not teach us to regulate the whole life by the eternal law of love.” Gandhi was correct in his thinking.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Liberated From the Tyranny of Public Opinion

June 22, 2018

Liberated From the Tyranny of Public Opinion

“Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

 Romans 13:14 (NRSV)

I believe the one thing that distinguished Jesus in his humanity was his absolute certainty that he was God’s child. His sense of his true identity, coupled with his commitment to his messianic mission, liberated him from the tyranny of public opinion. Contrast this with life in our fallen humanity as we try to gratify our desire for love, acceptance and self-worth through the performance-based-acceptance ways of our culture. The more we struggle with the meaning of our existence, using the tools of our culture, the more we miss life from God (David C. Needham, BIRTHRIGHT- Christian Do You Know Who You Are?)

The Apostle Paul’s injunction to put on Christ was repeating his call not to “copy the behavior and customs of this world” (Romans 12:2a) Paul’s antidote to the behaviors and customs of the world is to embrace the same liberating identity as did Jesus. When Jesus first sensed God calling him, he went to the River Jordan to be baptized by his cousin, John. “As Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Matthew 3:16-17). From that moment on, Jesus embraced his identity as God’s son.

For the followers of Jesus, “That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did“(Romans 6:3-13 The Message, selected verses).

My Takeaway: Embrace what Jesus did for you, and accept your authentic identity as a child of God with whom Abba is delighted, and upon whom Abba’s favor rests. When you do, you will be liberated from the tyranny of worrying about what other people think of you, and you will be free to know and do God’s will for you.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Vive la Revolution

June 21, 2018

Vive la Revolution

 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2

John Wesley once told a congregation they were holding to a form of religion, but lacked the power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Essentially, his congregation was fulfilling what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly” (2 Timothy 3:5). One of the most serious issues facing the church today is how so many Christians underestimate the revolutionary nature of the victory Christ won for us. In setting us free from the laws of sin and death, Jesus didn’t just refine Judaism; he established God’s New Creation. The followers of Jesus don’t need to just clean-up their old life; they need to fully embrace their new life. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Consider some on the revolutionary implications of our new life in Christ.

To follow Jesus, is to surrender everything you have to his control: “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:33).

The disciples of Jesus don’t simply try to correct a few flaws in their character; they “throw off (their) old sinful nature and (their) former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Ephesians 4:22. See also Galatians 2:20).

Christ-followers have crucified their interest in this world, and the world’s interest in them has also died. “What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation” (Galatians 6:15b).

For the fully-devoted followers of Jesus, there is “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 The Message).

The disciples of Jesus are called to be revolutionaries who “take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into (our) conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in (us)” (Ephesians 4:23-24 The Message).

My Takeaway: Vive la Revolution.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Law of The Spirit

June 20, 2018

The Law of The Spirit

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5:17

In the St. Louis Museum of Westward Expansion, there is this excerpt taken from the journal of Lansford W. Hastings, Overlander:

“We had proceeded only a few days travel, when the American character was fully exhibited. All appeared to be determined to govern, but not to be governed . . .”

I believe Hastings got it right; we Americans are a rebellious lot. We don’t like anyone to tell us what to do. However, we also have strong feelings about law and order; we don’t subscribe to anarchy. This disposition toward rules heavily influences our Christian experience. We have ways of measuring our discipleship and the health of our churches. That’s not a bad thing when it helps us achieve Godly goals. However, we want to be careful to measure the things God wants us to measure.

Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law. Now, as the Apostle Paul so eloquently put it, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free from the requirements of the law. (Galatians 5:1) Religious law paved the road toward a right relationship with God. The problem was that for mortal humans, it was a never-ending road; we could never reach our destination. Then Jesus came and completed the journey for us. Now we have realized the destination of a right relationship with God the Father Almighty by grace through faith. However, Jesus did not set us free to live lives of anarchy. Again, the eloquence of Saint Paul: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2 NRSV).

The laws of God are available to help us along our journey to make the life in Christ our way of life. However, they have been replaced as the means to our right-standing with God. Now our right-standing with God is made certain by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

My Takeaway: As our lives are governed by the law of the Spirit, which is love and compassion in Christ Jesus, there is only one measurement I need to be concerned with: how visible in my mortal flesh is the love and compassion of Jesus?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.