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Author Topic: Christ's Ways  (Read 10897 times)

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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #39 on: March 03, 2019, 08:53:26 pm »
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Rom 13:1-5 . . Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

. . . For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

There are Christians out there sincerely believing that all capital punishment is wrong; and how can they be faulted when of late Pope Francis himself has been saying it's wrong. But according to the passage above, and the one below, capital punishment is divine.

"And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Gen 9:4-6)

Murder deserves the death penalty not so much because it's morally wrong, but because it disparages the image of God. In other words: murder is an act of blaspheme.

Rom 13:1-5 is a fair warning to Christians that should they break the law; to expect neither favoritism nor immunity. So then, if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime.

Christians that commit capital crimes should expect their heads to roll just like any other capital criminal's head; and that goes for lesser crimes too, e.g. J-walking, illegal U-turns, feeding parking meters, drifting through stop signs without coming to a complete halt, exceeding the speed limit, unsafe lane changes, road rage, disturbing the peace, littering, trespassing, shoplifting, civil disobedience, animal abuse, etc.

God has given governments the right to play God; any Christian who opposes government's right to play God, is playing the Devil. God forbid! Christians ought not to be scofflaws; no, they really ought to be the most law-abiding citizens on Earth.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #40 on: March 04, 2019, 09:58:42 pm »
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Rom 13:6a . . Pay your taxes

While it's true that tax dollars often get wasted on fraud, graft, pork, bail outs, ear marks, and such things; by and large taxes are essential if we're to expect services like schools, parks, national defense, law enforcement, fire protection, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, foster care, endowments, reparations, flood control, TANF, and the maintenance of infrastructure, etc.

Taxes are also used to pay government salaries, wages, and benefits. Though they are not holy people in the religious sense, they should probably be regarded as such: maybe even as angels seeing as how they are the servants of God. (Rom 13:6b)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #41 on: March 05, 2019, 07:27:10 pm »
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Rom 13:7 . . Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

There is currently throughout America a wave of hate, hysteria, and disrespect for the U.S. President the intensity of which is unlike anything I've ever seen in my 75 years on this planet. I should hope that none of Christ's followers get caught up in it. We don't have to particularly like Mr. Trump, but we do have to honor his position. Don't be a Mordecai-- Esther's guardian is not a suitable role model for Christ's followers.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #42 on: March 06, 2019, 08:34:30 pm »
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Rom 13:8 . . Owe no man anything.

Some have construed this item to mean that it's a sin to have a mortgage, a car payment, and/or a credit card balance. However, the koiné Greek word for "owe" is opheilo (of-i'-lo) an ambiguous word with a number of meanings, one of which is to fail in duty; viz: fail to meet your obligations. In today's world; debt is pert near impossible to avoid; but debt is okay for Christians just so long as they pay their bills on time. Christ is neither pleased nor honored when his followers are known as deadbeats.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #43 on: March 07, 2019, 09:54:45 pm »
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Rom 13:12 . . Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Among the first things that God created for the cosmos was light (Gen 1:3). He didn't have to create darkness because darkness as per Gen 1:2 is just simply the default condition in the absence of light.

At that time, God made a distinct difference between light and darkness (Gen 1:4). I think it is very notable that God labeled the light "good" but He didn't label the darkness good.

I believe Gen 1:4 set the stage; in other words: from that point on in the Bible darkness typically represents something harmful and/or distasteful; while light always represents something tasteful and/or beneficial. So then we could label the deeds of darkness as deeds unbecoming Christ's followers, and we could label the armor of light as deeds befitting his followers. In other words: deeds befitting Christ's followers are their first line of defense in a world gone mad with evil.

"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1Pet 3:10-12)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #44 on: March 09, 2019, 07:39:31 pm »
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Rom 13:13 . . Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and envy.

The Greek word for "envy" is somewhat ambiguous. It includes-- along with envy --jealousy, indignation, and outrage.

The Greek word for "strife" is somewhat ambiguous too. It includes-- along with strife --quarrelling, wrangling, contention, debate, and a whole other bunch of ugly stuff associated with variance.

"in the day" probably refers to daytime when the sun is up as opposed to nighttime when the sun is down; which is usually when people are out partying, drinking, and picking each other up for one night stands.

Though strife and envy can be seen during both day or night, they're listed as nighttime behavior due to their being shameful.


BTW: What I find interesting about Christ's commandments is that his followers have to be instructed how to properly conduct themselves; viz: it's never assumed they can be trusted to instinctively and/or intuitively know how.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #45 on: March 11, 2019, 08:22:10 am »
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Rom 13:14 . . .Clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ

Clothing one's self with a personage was a colloquialism many years ago which would correspond in our day to "emulation" which Webster's defines as trying to be like someone or something you admire.

They say that imitation is the highest flattery. Well; if you'd like to flatter The Lord; adopt his integrity, his principles and his core values. But don't guess at them; learn them, from someone that the Lord has empowered to teach for him as per Eph 4:11-15.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #46 on: March 12, 2019, 08:51:54 am »
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Rom 14:1 . . Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

A strong faith consists of the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction. A weak faith can be defined as vacillating; viz: one that's not all that sure whether something is wrong for a Christian; or even that something is right; in other words, a weak faith lacks the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction.

Disputable matters are matters of opinion rather than matters of fact. Opinions are often subjective, biased, and arbitrary, rather than objective, unbiased, and by-the book. Opinions inevitably invite perpetual debating that never really gets to the bottom of anything; which, in matters of spiritual significance is strictly forbidden within the context of the 14th chapter of Romans; because debatable matters are not matters of doctrine; but rather; matters of conscience.

We're not talking about black and white doctrines and principles here. Those are not open to debate. We're talking about gray areas.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" is black and white; while issues like video games, music, fashions, foods, cosmetics, movies, self defense, gambling, swim suits, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, fasting, religious art, crucifixes, couture, and holy days of obligation are debatable. In regards to those areas; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind rather than somebody else's mind.

Those are things about which each has to decide for themselves according to the dictates of their own conscience; and God forbid they should impose their personal dictates upon others and thus become dictatorial because that's playing God and usurping Christ's sovereign prerogative to make the rules for his own church.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #47 on: March 13, 2019, 07:33:46 pm »
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Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.

If somebody sincerely believes that fast food, GMO, high fructose corn syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed beef, raw oysters, sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well; more power to them; but God forbid they should condemn others who disagree.

So then; whether or not to eat grass-fed beef or grain-fed beef is your call; although in my judicious estimation; you run a much higher risk of contracting E.coli 0157-H7 by eating grain-fed beef. But the choice to run that risk is yours alone; not mine. The important point to note is that either way, God will accept one's diet just so long as they are convinced in their own mind it's not a sinful diet.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #48 on: March 14, 2019, 07:53:21 pm »
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Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), and the Sabbath. Some would probably include Easter and Ash Wednesday.

If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the above are sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself really and truly rules them as sacred is irrelevant. What matters is whether you are convinced He does.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #49 on: March 15, 2019, 05:33:53 pm »
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Rom 14:13a . .Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, "passing judgment" pertains to criticizing others for refusal to accept and/or comply with your own gray-area beliefs and practices.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #50 on: March 16, 2019, 08:25:13 pm »
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Rom 14:13b . . Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

The koiné Greek word translated "stumbling block" means a stub. For example: one year I cut down a troublesome bush in my front yard and left a bit of a stump sticking up out of the ground that later damaged my lawn mower when I accidentally ran over it while cutting the grass; which had grown tall enough to conceal the stump. In that respect, stumbling blocks are hazards not easily detected.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, I would equate stumbling blocks to the clever sophistry that silver-tongued orators employ to persuade people to do things contrary to their convictions and their conscience. In other words; there are people out there with the skills to make a lie sound like the God's truth (cf. Eph 4:11-14) and if you get pulled into a debate with those people you'll probably lose.


NOTE: The Star Wars era spawned a pertinent colloquialism that goes like this: "Let the Wookie win one." When it comes to gray-area disputes, that colloquialism is pretty good advice.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #51 on: March 17, 2019, 10:04:36 pm »
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Rom 14:14-16 . . I know and am perfectly sure on the authority of The Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another Christian is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don't let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be condemned for doing something you know is alright.

For example: We may believe that there is nothing wrong with eating non-Kosher foods; but our Christian dinner companion might feel very strongly about it. Well; sure, we can get by with eating non-Kosher foods; but Rom 14:14-16 is saying don't. In other words; it is Christ's wishes that we restrain ourselves from eating non-Kosher foods in front of our Christian companions out of respect for their feelings about it.
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