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Author Topic: Christ's Ways  (Read 10893 times)

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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #390 on: February 09, 2020, 07:56:09 am »
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Heb 10:23 . . Let us cling to the acknowledgment of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)

"He is faithful" could also be said "He is unwavering"

One can scarcely blame the author's Hebrew audience for wondering if perchance they're making a really big mistake dumping the covenant that Moses' people made with God as per Deut 29:9-15. A lot is at stake.

For one thing, the covenant is their sacred heritage and their cultural identity; and for another, the covenant is a contract that obligates God to lower the boom on His people with some pretty severe penalties for breaching it: they're all on file at Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. When Hebrews convert to Christianity, they have to wonder if maybe they're stepping off into an abyss from whence there is no return.

But the reality is: they have nothing to lose by taking that step because the original covenant provides neither forgiveness nor atonement for willful sins; which can be defined as deeds committed by someone knowing beforehand that what they were about to do is wrong.

"The priest shall atone for the erring soul which sinned inadvertently before The Lord, so as to atone on his behalf, and it shall be forgiven him. One law shall apply to anyone who sins inadvertently from the native born of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides among them.

. . . But if a person should act highhandedly, whether he is a native born or a proselyte, he is blaspheming The Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among its people. For he has scorned the word of The Lord and violated His commandment; that soul shall be utterly cut off; for its iniquity is upon it." (Num 12:28-31, cf. Heb 10:26)

I'm pretty sure it was Num 12:28-31 that Paul had in mind when he informed his Jewish countrymen "through Jesus everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39)

One of the more common willful sins is dishonesty. Everybody knows it's wrong but go about it anyway. Well; dishonesty is forbidden by the original covenant.

"You shall not lie, one man to his fellow." (Lev 19:11)

So then, when a Torah-trained Jew tells a lie; he acts highhandedly; viz: he commits a willful sin for which the original covenant provides neither forgiveness nor atonement. That man is a scofflaw and in desperate need of a safety net.

Now, the author mentioned that "He is faithful that promised". So then, what is the promise? Well; the promise relates, among other things, to God's spirit; which began its journey to His people back in the Old Testament thusly:

"This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out My spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out My spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." (Joel 2:28-29, cf. Acts 2:16-18)

And:

"I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws." (Ezek 36:24-27)

The promise is gold because the forgiveness it promises applies to "all your impurities" i.e. willful sins just as much as inadvertent sins; viz; it's the safety net that every Torah-trained Jew so desperately needs to get him out from under the original covenant's terrible consequences for breaching it.

"Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of this Torah, to fulfill them." (Deut 27:26)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #391 on: February 10, 2020, 08:46:24 am »
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Heb 10:24 . . Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Man is a species of life that is quite naturally, and comfortably, inclined to provoke and annoy each other and bring out the worst in their fellow men. It is Christ's wishes that his own make an effort to do just the opposite; viz: bring out the best in each other.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #392 on: February 11, 2020, 08:09:12 am »
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Heb 10:25 . . Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

When my brother and I were growing up, we shared the same bedroom. Well, one day our parents decided to separate us, so they moved my brother to another room. When I asked them why; they said it was because we egg each other on. (I guess it was okay for my parents to egg themselves on but not okay for us.)

Anyway, point being, the old strategy of divide and conquer still works even to this day. It's much easier to be strong in a group of supportive friends and allies than it is all alone when the only resources available are your own. It's still true that two heads are better than one; plus, in a group, the right kind of peer pressure can work to everyone's advantage.

For example, there was a time in America when it was mocked as hippy-ish to subsist on organic food. But lately, organic has become so popular that nobody feels weird anymore when they shop for it. That's what I mean by the right kind of peer pressure.

Anyway; when people are isolated, they're much easier to suppress, and prevent from conspiring against a common foe; which is why unions are called "organized" labor. One or two workers alone against the front office are probably going to get themselves crushed but when the entire workforce is united in a common cause, it's not so easy for corporate bulldozers to abuse human rights.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #393 on: February 12, 2020, 07:33:15 am »
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Heb 10:32-34 . . Remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated . . knowing in yourselves that you have for yourselves a better possession: one that abides

I think one of the worst injuries to my feelings I had to endure when I was an up-and-coming Bible believer was to be called a Jesus Freak; which is a denigrating label once pinned on those involved in the Jesus movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

It was quickly embraced by some, and soon broadened to describe a Christian subculture throughout the hippie and back-to-the-land movements that focused on universal love and pacifism, and relished the supposed "radical" nature of Jesus' message.

Well, I was neither a hippie nor an organic gardener; I was just a simple guy very interested in Christianity. The heck of it was that the people who called me that name were (I thought) my friends.

Another term I was labeled was Mr.Clean; and that was by a girl I had known in high school as (I thought) a close personal friend. Well, later in life, after she divorced and began sleeping around, my "friend" got ticked off at me because I had no intention of getting in her pants so she called me that name. There I was the best friend and role model she knew of for her four fatherless children and she ridiculed me for being a decent man. (I can't help but wonder if a life of promiscuity was the goal she had in mind for her little ones.)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #394 on: February 13, 2020, 07:09:18 am »
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Heb 10:35-36 . .Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of perseverance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

The kind of perseverance the author is talking about is not the dogged determination of US Navy SEALS; which are a group of military guys who absolutely refuse to be beaten at anything you might name. If SEALS were to play hop-scotch it would turn violent.

I would liken the kind of perseverance in mind here as that of a farmer. The hard rock band ACDC says it's a long ways to the top if you wanna rock and roll. Well, farmers have a long ways to harvest if they wanna make it to market. First they have to till the soil, then rake it, then plant seeds, then wait on mother nature to irrigate them with rain, then they have to wait more yet for their crops to grow to maturity before harvesting.

Farmers look forward to their harvests; they anticipate them otherwise who would plow, rake, and plant if there were nothing to expect later on down the road?

That kind of perseverance anticipates a benefit. Webster's defines anticipate as: to look forward to as certain; viz: to expect. As a rule, farmers don't begin the planting season expecting their fields to produce nothing. No, they plan on going to market because they expect to see crops in the fields at harvest time. It would be a very strange farmer indeed who looked forward to the ravages of drought, disease, and insect plagues every year.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #395 on: February 14, 2020, 07:58:28 am »
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Heb 12:1 . .Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses all around us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The comparison is made to sporting events-- e.g. baseball, football, track and field, hockey, basketball, etc --where the audience is basically seated in a circle or an oval watching the games.

The term "cloud" was apparently an ancient colloquialism simply referring to large numbers of just about anything. Compare Gen 15:5 where "stars" are a term for the same purpose.

I don't think the audience in this instance pertains to the spirits of deceased saints, rather, the ordinary people all around us in our daily lives. The moment someone comes out as a Christian, then kibitzers, fault-finders and blood-thirsty critics start watching their every move for opportunities to boo them and/or destroy their credibility.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a candle, and put it under a bowl, but on a lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matt 5:14-16)

I don't know exactly how the world glorifies God when it sees Christians putting their religion into practice; but I'm pretty sure the world has nothing but disgust for a hypocrite's religion. (cf. 2Sam 2:14)
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« Last Edit: February 14, 2020, 08:03:16 am by Olde Tymer »

Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #396 on: February 15, 2020, 07:59:32 pm »
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Heb 12:3-4 . . For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin

I'm pretty sure the "sin' spoken of in that passage encompasses a whole lot more than merely something of your own; it's the entire sphere of evil in this world.

The Jews to whom the author wrote must have had it pretty good because it was only a matter of time before Christians were targets for arrows, swords, lances, pyres, and the teeth of beasts in the coliseum at Rome. Even today, it is very dangerous to be a Christian in Muslim countries.

Saturday, August 03, 2009, a frenzied mob of 3,000 Muslims stormed the tiny Pakistani Christian village of Gojra. Enflamed by (unconfirmed) charges that a Christian had incinerated pages of the Koran, the mob burned down fifty homes, cremated eight Christians alive, and wounded twenty others. Thousands of Christians fled the area.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #397 on: February 16, 2020, 07:10:16 am »
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Heb 12:5-6 . . My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.

Christians have to expect that God is going to find fault with their lives from time to time, and take appropriate steps to correct it. So be very cautious about cursing your luck because it just might be the hand of God at work rather than one of the Fates.
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #398 on: February 17, 2020, 07:09:36 am »
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Heb 12:7-11 . . If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

. . . Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

. . . Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Child training is quite a bit different than child abuse; training builds character, while abuse breaks the spirit.


NOTE: Seeing as how most of us lack a red phone line to Heaven's front desk; there's really no way to know for sure when God is chastening us or if life in general is just being its usual unpleasant self. That being the case I suggest we reckon all unpleasantness to be providential in one way or another; and follow job's example.

"In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrong." (Job 1:22)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #399 on: February 18, 2020, 07:50:08 am »
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Heb 12:12-13 . .Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak, and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

That almost sounds like physical therapy; which of course it is. When I had one of my knees replaced, the therapist had to teach me how to walk all over again-- how to walk properly because with the bad knee, I couldn't; and that had gone on for more than a decade. And not only that, but the leg with the bad knee had become feeble because I favored it and wasn't using it properly. So a large percentage of my therapy involved getting that game leg strong again by means of an exercise regimen.

The Greek word for "straight" is orthos (or-thos') which doesn't necessarily define the shortest distance between two points. It can also mean smooth and level; in other words: free of tripping hazards; which someone undergoing treatment for a joint problem (e.g. hips, knees, and ankles) has to really watch out for. In other words: an orthos path is a therapeutic path-- in this case in respect of one's spiritual conditioning rather than their physical conditioning.

Compare Heb 5:14 where it says: "Solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #400 on: February 19, 2020, 07:16:02 am »
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Heb 12:14a . . Pursue peace with all men,

The Geek word for "peace" is eirene (i-ray'-nay) and means not only a lack of strife, but also the presence of prosperity; which implies always seeking the good of others rather than only your own.

People of peace are in an advantageous category.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matt 5:9)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #401 on: February 20, 2020, 07:54:15 am »
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Heb 12:14b . . Pursue holiness, without which no one will see The Lord.

The Greek word translated "pursue" is sometimes translated persecute; which implies persistence, doggedness, and/or stalking.

The Greek word translated "holiness" basically refers to purity; defined by Webster's as chastity, innocence, modesty; i.e. goodness, righteousness, virtue, morality, decency, decorum, and propriety.

The same Greek word is sometimes translated "sanctification" which is supposed to be a work in progress involving not only the hand of God, but also one's own hand. (Rom 6:19, 1Thess 4:4, and 1Tim 2:15)

The word "see" is somewhat ambiguous. It can relate to physical eyesight and it can also relate to mental perception. I'm inclined to believe it's related to mental perception in this case.

As an allegory: at one time I had cataracts in both eyes. As a result, my vision was really blurry because the cataracts scattered light, thus preventing the natural lenses in my eyes from bringing things into sharp focus. After surgery to replace the natural lenses with artificial lenses, I can now see sharply; i.e. my vision's clarity was greatly improved and I'm able to notice details that were virtually invisible before.

In other words; people with no interest in pursuing holiness lack clarity; i.e. their perception of The Lord is fuzzy at best because there are details in view that they are unable to make out due to their mind's mental cataracts, so to speak.

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21)
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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #402 on: February 21, 2020, 07:49:18 am »
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Heb 12:15a . . See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God

The Greek word for "comes short" also means destitute; defined by Webster's as lacking possessions and resources; especially suffering extreme poverty.

I think it's pretty much a given that there are always going to be members in every congregation that are spiritually destitute. The idea here is that their spiritual destitution not be due to negligence.

In other words, the spiritual element in congregations should take it upon themselves to make an effort to assist the non spiritual element to at least know how to obtain the grace of God, i.e. congregations are responsible to police themselves, so to speak, rather than leave this aspect of the Christian way of life entirely up to pastors.

The answer to Cain's question "Am I my brother's keeper?" was NO to his way of thinking, but it's supposed to be YES to the spiritual Christian's way of thinking.
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