Church in Hungary “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Is this the cross of your life or some other? If this one frames us, we know with the mind a once and forever done-by-another-for-me deal, (perfect passive indicative tense). The present tense “knowing” practically effects the destroying of the “The body of which sin has taken possession.” All of it enables me to not be a slave to sin. Jamison, Faucet, and Brown cite our new relationship with Christ and says: “The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying effectiveness of our union with the crucified Savior.” So that “all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ,” “was” crucified with Him. Henceforth, we are not in bondage to sin. So, we have…
Category: <span>Healing Cross</span>
On the Danube River Create? Imagination and what else? Materials are necessary but so is glue. Thoughts and words must meld in a way that has continuity and also sensible relatedness. There needs to be permanence, stability, link, no interruption. Abstractions? Unless somehow connected to sanity, these are illegitimate in my opinion. Why? Because any idiot can build oblivion by non-thinking, but true creativity requires a mind applied, inspired, with vision. It is constructive and not destructive. Reflections are interesting as they expose the negative side of a positive. For example, wholesomeness reflects as decadence on the pessimistic side, decency becomes immodesty, integrity becomes fragmentation, and benevolence becomes offensiveness. Cmon, friends, you want to uglify beauty and call that art? Instead, let’s turn it around and beautify something hideous; now that’s creativity! See, true creativity requires some givens, namely love. The higher the degree of love involved and understood, the…
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: “Holy and without blame” is more than conduct, but relates here to an identity, a self worth, a dignity and ultimate nobility. “Without blame” defines a self image which does not impute sin or trespasses to itself and this person is blessed as in Psalm 32:1-2. Sin was originally imputed or “reckoned” to the whole human race, from Romans 3, 4 and 5, then the very same sin was transferred onto Jesus in Isaiah 53.6, 1Peter 2:24, and in 2 Corinthians 5:21 He became sin that we would become the righteousness of God in Him. This refers to His righteousness being imputed to us at the point of salvation. Following this? So, “holiness” becomes not an issue of conduct, but a setting-apart…
I and the Holy Spirit become inseparable when we two walk together agreed, for it is in Psalm 36:9 that “in thy, (His), light we see light.” In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we find these words; “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In Proverbs 4:18 this light progresses in its illumination, and the succession sanctifies us as we go. Now, light and forward movement both, take the “one time” sanctification of our soul, and unfold the glory of it to us in a process. So, we are set apart unto God, once and for all at salvation and the unfolding revelation to us of this fact takes us closer to its truth in a practical realization. We walk in a moment by moment…
People do “soul power” when they exercise undue influence over another person. Many in our society innocently welcome this kind of controlling stimulus, thus making the issue a complex problem. Some of these “well meaning” people bear wrongs in the name of simply being a “good” wife, friend, son or daughter. Others embrace this strong-feelinged thing because it makes for good T.V. and movies. The cina-maniacs project every relationship as a compatibility explosion, a madly in love sex affair, or hyper-meaningful change-the-world type of quest. Dutifully or willfully deceived, lives are permanently manipulated away from their God-given freedom door, which implies a personal responsibility to Him and to His nature; and to Him alone. Candidly, we all, Christian or not, lose our place of true liberty by neglecting willful accountability to Him who has the sole right to it. This lack deepens the deal of life, and creates a world…
Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great High Priest, whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me, my name is graven on His hands, my name is written on His heart, I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart, no tongue can bid me thence depart. Selah “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin, because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the Just is satisfied, to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me.” The song continues. David feared to bring the ark of God into the city of David, having watched as that Holy Presence smote…
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 2Co 9:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 2Co 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) 2Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. The allusion is to the act of sowing seed. The idea is, that when a man scatters seed in his field God provides him with the means of sowing again. He not only gives him a harvest to supply his needs, but he blesses him also in giving him the ability to sow again. Such was…
Memory is defiled when something of a snare resides in it. For example, if I have in remembrance a sin or failure, this stumbles my function today. My question for me remains, “What part of ‘blotted out’ do I not understand? Well, my big-shot memory feels that it must keep my big-stuff secure, for the purpose of big-recall in case I need to defend my big-self, or “set the big-record straight.” Sorry, I got carried away with big-me. The problem is I may feel the need to place the blame on the right person, myself or other; after all, I must be honest. Yeah, right! “I must show my sincerity, after all, I have to ‘man up’ and eat my fate. I have made my bed so now I must sleep in it.” —excuse me while I regurgitate. Frankly, “forgetting” has become a chore, and bucks up against my big-boy…
Some folks are sane, others insane. Lined up on one side of the field are health, healthy mind and heart, single-eyed, balanced, and whole. On the other team; divided, double-minded, sick, unbalanced and ignorant are the terms. “Holiness” for man speaks of set-apart-to-God; the other guys can be referred to as “profane.” This second term meant originally, “outside the temple.” The Hebrew brings out these definitions also: “exposed, common, wounded, break a word, dissolve.” Ephesians 2:14-15 teaches: “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” “He” is Jesus and His Peace creates a buffer of protection for the soul against internal division. What was the middle wall? Enmity, the law of…
Always carrying about in our body the death, state of death, dying, liability to death, or suffering of Jesus? Which one is revealed in 2 Corinthians 4:10? Well, I understand that I will suffer what is common to man in this world, I am liable to the death of my physical body at all times, and I am aware that I am dying and one day will eventually die as the body grows old and expires. My question is; how do these produce life in others? I have a tendency toward agreement with certain scholars that the “state of death” of Christ gets the reference here. This is the one given to me at salvation and this is what I carry. Why? Because, by His death, my “death” died. Yes, my being dead in trespasses and sins, died, by the death of my Savior, and this reality I carry with…