The Nature of Gospel Salvation. #JesusFollowers

 

The Gospel presents us with clear and comprehensive views of the Nature and character of the Deity. 

It teaches that there is but one God: by this simple principle, expressed in every way which is necessary to make it fully understood and cordially received, putting an end to heathen idolatry.

It teaches us that this great Being is a Spirit; possessed of every natural and moral excellence in an infinite degree; almighty, all-wise, all-just, all-holy, and all-gracious; exercising a righteous moral administration over His creatures; rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked.

In short, He is perfect goodness, pure and unlimited Love, our Friend and our Father; yet at the same time a Being of perfect Righteousness, our Sovereign, and our Judge.

The Gospel teaches us what the requirements of this great and gracious Being are. It instructs, by precept and by example, that we should love Him with supreme affection; that we should exercise a steady faith and a devout and holy communion with Him; and that we should make it our first and highest concern to do His will.

It requires that we should exercise a careful government over our own hearts; that we should suppress all inordinate affections and all high thoughts of ourselves; that we should be sober, temperate, and chaste in all things; that we should be humble and watchful, earnestly desirous to be, as well as to do, what God commands. In short, the religion that is pure and undefiled before God is to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

Jesus is never represented as the cause, but as the effect of the Father's love: and to imagine that God was not disposed to be merciful to mankind till Jesus wrested pardon from him (as it has sometimes been expressed), is to contradict the simple but all-important assertion of the Gospel, that "God so loved the world…" (John 3:16)

It is nowhere stated in the Scriptures that God could not forgive sins without the death of Jesus, or without some other full satisfaction: but many passages prove that though perfectly just, God is also essentially merciful; and which supply us with Divine declarations of pardon to the repentant sinner, and examples of the extension of it, without any reference to the death of Jesus.

The justice of God, as far as we have the means of knowing, consists in the due distribution of rewards and punishments according to the moral condition and character of the objects of His justice.

Jesus suffered for the completion of his spiritual excellence, and it was for the welfare of his followers that he should set them an example that they should follow in his steps – an example of meekness, of fortitude, of patience, of gentleness and mercy, of firm endurance and self-denial, of boundless love to man, and of obedience unto death.

When considering the effects and purposes of the death of Jesus, it should never be forgotten that they were all in view in the apostles’ minds, as a whole, as they should be in ours; and then we cannot fail to perceive that the effects on the spiritual excellence of our Master’s character, and the perfecting of his example, and all their blessed influences in the hearts of his disciples, are among the purposes of his death.

The death of Jesus is of service to only those who through the work of Jesus are redeemed from all iniquity; and its efficacy in effecting our salvation depends on its producing, through the influence of his sufferings, his precepts, doctrines, spirit and example, that spiritual sanctification, and eternal purification, which will make us dead to sin, and alive to God.

If neither our Master himself, during his ministry on earth, nor his apostles whose preaching is recorded in the book of Acts teach the doctrine that the death of Jesus was a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of men, is it reasonable to conclude that it cannot be essential to salvation?

There is no passage in support of the doctrine that the death of Jesus had some mysterious, unknown, immediate efficacy in obtaining from God the pardon of sin.

Persons who entertain this doctrine of atonement, should shrink from the notion that Jesus was in any strict sense punished for the sins of men, or that he was substituted for them to bear the Father's displeasure, or that he thus made satisfaction for their sins: still less should they allow that the death of Jesus appeased the wrath of God, and made him merciful.

Of such a doctrine, often taught by theologians, I do not hesitate to declare that it is not Christianity, that it is not Judaism, that it is heathenism.

(Adapted from an 1843 sermon by Rev. Lant Carpenter)

"Christianity As Jesus Christ Preached It" [JesusFollowers]

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You Have the words of eternal life." JOHN 6:38.

WHO will show us any good? Where are we to look for the clearest, truest setting forth of religion? There is such a variety of Churches, there are such differences of form and of creed, there is such a babel-confusion of ecclesiastical tongues, and so many of them asserting that theirs is the only faith by which any man can be saved; and meanwhile some think it doubtful if any faith can stand. Where shall we find some real light, - some solid ground to rest upon?

Am I mistaken in saying that this is a craving widely felt at the present time? The heart of society just now is in a curiously puzzled and perplexed condition. It is not satisfied. Men have the answers of their various Churches. These tell them in creed and catechism, in article and confession, what it is that man must believe, and which shall be "saving faith" to him. And all the points are well backed up by "proof texts," which sound clear and unmistakeable; yet, when all is said, people are not satisfied. It may not be that they have come actually to disbelieve these doctrines, but they do not feel that they go to the root and reality of the matter. The creeds may be all right and true, and yet even those who still hold them, or think they do, do not like to hear them much insisted on; they feel that there is something deeper. They feel that, behind all those doctrinal differences which separate them, there are there must be some deeper realities, a few great thoughts of faith and love, something far simpler and more practical than these matters that divines have wrangled over, and something on which they might join hands, and feel brotherly and friendly, and get rid of all their miserable doubts about each other's acceptance and salvation in the world to come.

Now I want to set before you what I believe to be the true way out of these perplexities and doubts, the true way to this broader, simpler, more practical religion, upon which men might be able to agree, -or at least to see their differences in their true light, as minor matters. That way, I believe to be, to look simply to Christianity as Christ preached it; to go back, as near as we can, through the narratives of the Gospels, to Christ as he went about among the people, himself preaching his own "good tidings," his own religion. See what he himself said; how he answered people's questions; what he urged them to believe or to do; what it was that he was constantly putting before them in his parables, and beautiful deep sayings. You know that often-quoted saying of Chillingworth's: "The Bible, and the Bible only, the religion of Protestants." Well, we Unitarians want to bring that idea to a brighter point still, and would say, -" Christ, and Christ only, the special teacher for Christians."

See, at the outset, one thing which surely should be a great recommendation of this principle. It is not a new principle, and it is not a sectarian one, nor in any way a partial or exclusive one. The thought which lies at the bottom of it, and on which it is founded, is one which is owned by every church in Christendom. There is not a church throughout the world that does not own Christ to be its teacher; there is not one that does not wish its belief and its thought to be his thought and faith; there is not one that does not hold its doctrines under the idea that they are those which he meant men to hold. Why, the man who wrote the Athanasian Creed, wrote it because he believed that he should by it make clearer to men the thought of Christ. John Calvin, in all his sternest, gloomiest doctrines about some being elected to be saved, and the rest of mankind being elected to be damned, sincerely believed that he had penetrated to Christ's deeper thought, and was interpreting it more clearly than ever before. Martin Luther attacked the Papacy, because he believed that it had hidden Christ from men. John Wesley went forth to the hill-sides and by-ways, because he felt that the churches of his time were not preaching "Christianity as Christ preached it." So that it is a very broad, comprehensive principle, and one which in the abstract the members of all Churches must gladly approve.

The real difficulty occurs when we come to the practical application of it. Many of those who quite believe, in the abstract, in holding for Christianity as Christ preached it, have been accustomed to fancy that, in some way, that light of Christ's teaching operates and shines throughout the whole Bible. So they will admit a text from one part just as readily as from another; and they are apt to think that any other plan amounts to rejecting the Scriptures. People have said to me sometimes, when I have been urging this matter, "What? are we to have nothing to do with the rest of the Bible? are we to put it all aside as useless or superfluous, and to read the four Gospels only?"

We do not mean anything of the kind For my own part I believe that the whole of that old Hebrew literature, for it is a literature rather than a book, which is bound up together as our Bible, is helpful and valuable. But it is not all helpful in the same way, nor in the same degree. Nobody would say that the histories of the Wars of the Israelites are as useful as the Parables of Jesus, or as the Sermon on the Mount. Even those who believe that every writer in the Bible was inspired would hardly say that they were all equally inspired, and that the light of the religious truth revealed shines equally brightly and equally clearly in all parts. And that is all I ask, in order to bring out the principle I am advocating; for surely that light of the world, which shines all through the course of the Hebrew religion, came to its very brightest in Christ. It was only twilight before, compared to that perfect day. And I think no one would say that it was ever quite so bright again. The light was wonderfully reflected in the Apostles, and in all the early Christian life; but it kept fading a little. Even Paul, and John, and the rest, holy men as they were, were not preserved from all errors by their inspiration. As Emerson says, "When God makes the prophet he does not unmake the man." Paul had to withstand Peter to the face, once. They preached the Gospel with all their might; and still, if they had been asked whether they or their Master best understood and best taught the Gospel, can any one doubt what their answer would have been? I should be sorry if Paul's epistles were lost, but still, if the four lives of Christ were left us, surely we should not lose the knowledge of what Christianity is. They would be sufficient, -those four Gospel accounts of how Christ himself preached, -surely not only sufficient, but the best of all would be left to us. And so, even though we are thankful that they are not all that is left us, yet still we ought to give them the very first and highest place. Did you ever read what Luther wrote to Eck, one of his adversaries, who was defending the authority of the Catholic Church? He said, "It is certainly impudent in anyone to teach as the Philosophy of Aristotle any doctrine which cannot be proved by his authority. You grant this. Well, then, all the more, it is the most impudent of all things to affirm in the church, and among Christians, any thing that Jesus Christ himself has not taught." It is true that Luther himself did not half keep to his principle; but that is no new thing in the world. The principle is good, and it is exactly the principle that we plead for.

It is, then, to the Gospels, as giving us Christianity as Christ himself preached it, that, as Christians, we ought to look. We may not have a perfect record, even there, of all that he was, or of all that he taught; but we have at least one so full-or rather four, so full, so artless, so bearing the mark of being honest personal recollections of him, on the face of them, that we may be sure we lack no material feature in his character, and no essential part of what he taught us. 

And, look for a moment at what a simplifying of the problem of Christianity this is. Why, what a task it is that any one has before him who shall sit down to the whole Bible without any feeling of any one part being more especially adapted for him than the rest! Christianity was given to be a "glad tidings" for the poor; but what could poor unlearned a poor make out of it, turned loose upon the whole Bible, without any guidance as to where he may find what he wants most clearly put? Fancy him trying to make his way through the strange visions of Ezekiel or Daniel! Imagine his difficulties with some of David's curses for his enemies in the Psalms! Think how much light he would get from that mystical book, the Revelation, the meaning of which is quite as much disputed by those who believe it inspired as by those who do not. Why, is it not exactly this way of consulting the whole Bible, indiscriminately, as if it was all on one dead level of authority-is it not this which has led to so much diversity and contradiction among Christians? Men have thought they found this or that doctrine stated, somewhere--and, anywhere in the Bible it must be absolutely true; and so everything else must be consistent with it. Thus one sect has started from one point, and another from a different point; and from those different points they have argued against one another, and might go on arguing, and never agreeing, to the end of time! And is it not a wonderful simplifying of the matter to be able to say :-Turn to the Gospels; there you have the life of Jesus himself, his very teachings as he went about trying to convert men to his Gospel. There you have everything that you need, and there you have it in its greatest simplicity. There you have the very heart of Christianity. Make that the chief study. Let that be the criterion of what the religion of Christ is. If any doctrine be put before you, and urged upon you as part of Christianity, turn to the Gospels, see whether Christ preached it. If you have been accustomed to regard any doctrine as part of Christianity, if you have been used to think that, without that doctrine, any system of religion must be a questionable sort of Christianity, again, I say, -turn to the Gospels: see whether it is something that Christ taught. Even if you fancy you can discern some trace of it in his words, do not be satisfied with that! See if it is really something that he put before men and urged upon them, if not, then do not admit it as any essential part of Christianity! That is no reason for not thinking about it; there are points that Christ did not touch upon, which we cannot help thinking about, and forming some thought or hope about. It was meant to be so. Jesus Christ is "the Foundation," not the Building,- the strong foundation of religious truth on which our thoughts are to build and climb. 

So think, and build, but do not insist upon what you make out as, a part of Christianity! For that, keep to "Christianity as Christ preached it."

Adapted from an 1875 Sermon by Rev. Brooke Hereford

The Unique Character Of Jesus #JesusFollowers

Guest sermon by Dr. William Ellery Channing

In the Gospels, we're struck with the uniqueness of the Author of Christianity: that while all other men are formed in a measure by the spirit of the age, we can discover in Jesus no impression of the period in which he lived. 

We know with considerable accuracy the state of society, the modes of thinking, the hopes and expectations of the country in which Jesus was born and grew up; and he is as free from them, and as exalted above them, as if he had lived in another world, or, with every sense closed to the objects around him.

His character has in it nothing local or temporary. It can be explained by nothing around him. His history shows him to us a solitary being, living for purposes which none but himself comprehended, and enjoying not so much as the sympathy of a single mind.

His apostles, his chosen companions, brought to him the spirit of the age; and nothing shows its strength more strikingly, than the slowness with which it yielded in these honest men to the instructions of Jesus

Jesus came to a nation expecting a Messiah; and he claimed this character. But instead of conforming to the opinions which prevailed in regard to the Messiah, he resisted them completely and without reserve to a people anticipating a triumphant leader, under whom vengeance as well as ambition was to be glutted by the prostration of their oppressors, he came as a spiritual leader, teaching humility and peace.

This hostility to the hopes and prejudices of his nation; this deliberate exposure of himself to rejection and hatred, cannot easily be explained by the common principles of human nature, and excludes the possibility of selfish aims in the Author of Christianity.

One striking peculiarity in Jesus is the extent and the vastness of his views. While all around him looked for a Messiah to liberate God's ancient people, while to every other Jew, Judea was the exclusive object of pride and hope, Jesus came, declaring himself to be the deliverer and light of the world, and in his whole teaching and life, you see a consciousness – which never forsakes him – of a relation to the whole human race. This idea of blessing mankind, of spreading a universal religion, was the most magnificent which had ever entered man's mind.

Compare next these views of Jesus with his station in life. He was of humble birth and education, with nothing in his lot, with no extensive means, no rank, or wealth, or patronage, to infuse vast thoughts and extravagant plans.

The shop of a carpenter, the village of Nazareth, were not spots for ripening a plan more aspiring and extensive than had ever been formed. It is a principle of human nature, that except in case of insanity, some proportion is observed between the power of an individual, and his plans and hopes. The purpose to which Jesus devoted himself was as ill-suited to his condition as an attempt to change the seasons, or to make the sun rise in the west.

That a young man, in obscure life, belonging to an oppressed nation, should seriously think of subverting the time-hallowed and deep-rooted religions of the world, is a strange fact; but with this purpose we see the mind of Jesus thoroughly imbued; and, sublime as it is, he never falls below it in his language or conduct, but speaks and acts with a consciousness of superiority, with a dignity and authority, becoming this unparalleled destination.

The most striking trait in Jesus was, undoubtedly, benevolence; and although this virtue had existed before, yet it had not been manifested in the same form and extent. Jesus' benevolence was distinguished first by its expansiveness. At that age, an unconfined philanthropy, proposing and toiling to do good without distinction of country or rank, was unknown.

Love to men as men, love, comprehending the hated Samaritan and the despised publican, was a feature which separated Jesus from the best men of his nation and of the world. Another characteristic of the benevolence of Jesus was its gentleness and tenderness, forming a strong contrast with the hardness and ferocity of the spirit and manners which then prevailed, and with that sternness and inflexibility which the purest philosophy of Greece and Rome inculcated as the perfection of virtue.

The character of Jesus, then, was real. Its reality is the only explanation of the mighty revolution produced by his religion. And how can we account for it, but by that cause to which he always referred it, a mission from the Father.

- Written by Dr. William Ellery Channing, 1826, adapted from "Discourses on the Evidences of Revealed Religion" in Tracts of the American Unitarian Association, Vol. 1, 1827.

The Beatitudes: Jesus' Doctrine of Happiness #JesusFollowers

            

The Beatitudes: Jesus' Doctrine of Happiness [#JesusFollowers Weekly Message]: 

Matt. 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23

The Beatitudes contain Jesus Christ's doctrine of happiness. A strange doctrine it must sound to worldly ears! It seems a series of paradoxes, or even contradictions, amounting together to a declaration that the miserable are the happy. Nowhere does the boldness of the preacher of Galilee appear more conspicuously than in the opening sentences of the Sermon on the Mount.

This man has faith in the power of his Gospel to cope with every evil. He speaks as one who has Good News for all classes of men, and for all possible conditions. There is no human experience which Jesus regards with despair, and his doctrine is as original as it is bold. 

It is not to be confounded with that of any philosophical school. It is not Stoicism. The Stoic preached submission to misery as inevitable, and offered to his disciples the peace of despair. Jesus looks on evil as something that can be transmuted into good, and all sufferers have a hope, a reward, an outlook. It is not mere optimism, however. The optimist denies evil or explain It away, and thinks to cure human misery by fine praises. 

Jesus admits the evil that is in the world, And speak of it in plain terms; only, unlike the pessimist, he declines to regard it as final and unsurmountable. 

The kind of happiness that Jesus offers is obviously something different. Its both novel and peculiar. When he says blessed are the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, he means either that they are blessed In spite of their misery or that they are blessed through their misery. In either case, the blessedness must be something different from what the world usually counts as happiness, something in the soul. Jesus invites us to reach felicity by the method of inwardness, Representing it as within the reach of all, just because that is the way to it.

These sayings on happiness prefixed to the Sermon on the Mount might have formed a part of the sermon in the synagogue of Nazareth on the Acceptable Year of the Lord. It is only once written in the Gospel narrative, but they might have been spoken by him many times. They would have served to show the nature of his message. They might have been, and probably were, themes sounded by Jesus many times in his ministry. 

They are certainly among the most characteristic utterances of the new era of Hope. It has been remarked of the Sermon on the Mount that it seems to be a mixture of two distinct sorts of doctrine, one specially suited for the ears of disciples, and the other such as would more suitably be addressed to the multitude. 

In the judgment of critics, the former kind of doctrine predominates, so that the Sermon may be represented as a disciple-discourse with popular elements, interspersed.

There is a certain amount of truth in this view, and the mixture, discernible throughout, is traceable at the commencement. Some of the Beatitudes are for all of humanity, while some are spoken specifically for the benefit of the disciples. 

One set seems specifically for the woes of humanity at large, another brings consolation for the tribulations of Believers. The distinction is most apparent in Luke's version of the Sermon. There, three Beatitudes are spoken to the hungry, the poor, those that weep; then follows one comprehensive Beatitude for the faithful servants of the Kingdom suffering for truth and righteousness. 

It was necessary that there should be Beatattudes for both. No Gospel is complete, which has no consolations for both ordinary suffering mortals and those saints who were already battling moral evil.

In Luke's version of the discourse, they seem to refer to literal poverty, hunger, and sorrow. Christ Jesus appears there, saying, "Blessed are you poor;” “Blessed are you that hunger now;” “Blessed are you who weep now.” 

In Matthew's version, the terms employed to describe the classes addressed in the two first sentences have attached to them qualifying  phrases which make the characteristics spiritual, and limit the scope of the sayings, turning them in fact into special Beatitudes pertaining to the children of the Kingdom.

If the question is asked: which of the two forms is the more original? Our judgment inclines to that of Luke. Speaking generally, the more pregnant, kernel-like form of any saying of  Jesus is always the more likely to have been likely to have been that actually used by Him. The briefer, less developed form is most in keeping with the striking originality of His teaching. 

Jesus, as befits the Sage, loved short, suggestive sentences,  revealing much, hiding much, arresting the attention of the memory, provoking thought, demanding explanation.

(Adapted from the book "Galilean Gospel" by Dr. Aleander Balmain Bruce, 1882)

What Does the Bible Say About Human Abilities? #JesusFollowers

The Bible tells us that human beings were fearfully and wonderfully made, and created in the very image of God, the creator of all the universe. (Psalms 139:14, Genesis 1:27)

It includes no call for us to have a low opinion of God's creation, and the fact that God created us all in His image means that the teaching of Jesus that we are to love our neighbors exactly as we love ourselves is a pure reflection of this truth. (Mark 12:31)

Further, Jesus teaches us to have incredibly high ideals for ourselves and to seek them in our daily lives every day.

We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We are to be merciful just as God is merciful. We are to love God with every fiber of our being. And yes, we are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Matt. 5:48, Luke 6:36, Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:31)

There is nowhere in the teachings of Jesus to support the idea the God believes we cannot do all that He asks of us, or that these ideals are placed before us in order to tease us with our imperfection and inability to achieve them.

Indeed, there is nothing in Jesus' teachings and nothing in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets for which we can justify or excuse mediocre behavior towards God, who nonetheless is merciful towards us when we fall short of those ideals and ask humbly for His forgiveness.

The Hebrew Prophet Micah says, "Who is a God like You, Who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgressions of his remnant of His inheritance?" (Micah 34:7)

So, everything Jesus said points to the fact that we are wonderfully made creatures in the image of God, innocent children who are capable of acting in a Godly manner.

And of course this is utterly consistent with the Hebrew Bible's teachings - teachings with which Jesus was completely familiar and believed were Scripture inspired by God.

Once we recognize this, new vistas open up on the pages of Scripture and in the teachings of Jesus because they become the art of the possible, and a reasonable and joyous challenge for us.

The teachings of Jesus thus become for us a template for living, an actual guide for Life as God wishes us to live it.

The Hebrew Bible, especially the Wisdom books in the moral teachings of the Prophets, is filled with verses calling human beings to achieve great things and live active lives of holiness and service to others.

"Be holy, for I am holy," declares God in Leviticus (11:44). "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3). "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked." (Psalms 1:1). "Depart from evil and do good." (Psalms 34:14). 

In these Scriptures, we are viewed as noble and able beings, capable of achieving what God has called us to do.

"A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things," says Jesus. (Matt. 12:35) 

But yes, this same Bible is filled with people, and entire nations, who failed to live up to those standards.

Let us not be fooled by these Scriptures' ample examples of those who fell short of the ideals set by God.

The very fact that those were made examples for us means that they are there on the pages to inspire us to avoid such mistakes and to do better than they did.

For example, King David was guilty of great sins and misdeeds. He repented of these (Psalms 7) and went on to serve God in holiness, saying, "Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands he has recompensed me." (Psalms 18:20)

We, too, are called to Holiness and to piety by King David's example and by that of Jesus, who pleased God and did all the things that He asked him to do (John 8:29) and was chosen as his spokesman and Son at his baptism (Luke 3:22). He calls us to follow him, and to do all that he did. (Matt. 4:19, John 13:15, 14:12) And unless those are empty words, our Master meant for us to do just that.

We know that with the help of our Father in heaven, we may humbly seek to walk in the steps of His Son, Jesus, taking up our cross daily to follow him. By this, we become the beings that God created us to be, and we build God's kingdom on Earth with our acts of kindness and service.

Our Search For Godly Wisdom [#JesusFollowers]

“VANITY of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” - Ecclesiastes 1:2-10

This is recorded as the declaration of one of the wisest, if not the wisest of all the men that recorded history give us an account of: and from what is recorded of him and of his sayings and doings, we have reason to believe that he was. 

And when he was raised and exalted upon the throne of his father, David, he was humbled, no doubt, under a consideration of his incapacity, at that time, to govern and rule so great a people. 

And having done some work that was grateful to the Almighty, He made him an offer, to ask of him what good he should choose? It was not for long life, nor riches, nor honor that he asked, but that the Lord Almighty should endue him with an understanding heart, and wisdom that might qualify him to judge and rule so great a people. 

And his request was granted - the Almighty gave him greater wisdom than any other man; and from the account recorded of his wisdom and acts, it seems verified. 

Now, there is a good deal to be learned from this account of that great and wise king. By looking to this same Source for wisdom and understanding, we shall gain more true knowledge than we were ever able to arrive at through mere human, rational science. 

It is that only which can enable us to fill up our place in creation, agreeably to the design of a great and gracious Creator. 

By attention to the manifestations of God’s will, He will certainly give us this same knowledge, for we must know his commandments, and what he requires of us before we can do them: and therefore He has given to every man and woman a measure of His own Spirit.  

When we repent, and are sincerely sorry for what we have done, He grants us the gift of forgiveness, and we come to experience remission of sins, and reconciliation with our Heavenly Father. 

This is the way in which we can fulfil the first and great commandment, “You shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” 

We give all up for Him, and for His sake; not only all that is dear to us here on earth, but our own lives. This was shown in the example of our great and blessed pattern, Jesus; who, for the love he bore to the truth and the God of truth, readily surrendered his will and life, to the will and mind of his Heavenly Father - such was his love to him. 

When we come to love God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, it becomes the most excellent, and beautiful, of all things.

Therefore, as this comes to be our experience, it fixes and impresses upon our minds a care, that every step we take may be conformable to our duty to God, according to His requirements. 

Here, now, when we come to know God, and feel him to be continually with us, an observer of all our works, and watching over us continually for good, it enables us to put in practice the saying of the wise man, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” 

Our duty to our Heavenly Father, and our own best interest, can never be divided: they are one, because Almighty Wisdom has ordained that every act of a man's life shall have its consequent reward, let it be good or evil.

- Adapted from a sermon by Elias Hicks, given at the 12 Street Quaker Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Dec. 10, 1826.

God-Blessed: The Beatitudes [#JesusFollowers]

THE SERMON OF SERMONS - God-Blessed: The Beatitudes [#JesusFollowers Weekly Message]: This world isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes, it’s the opposite of Good. Often, it’s frustratingly bad. 

When everyone is seemingly coloring outside the lines, swerving into your lane, and making up their own rules as they go along (often hurting us in the process) we have to wonder whether there’s a way we can model Goodness for the world – for our own sakes as well as that of others.

The good news is that we have just such a thing: the teachings of Jesus; namely, the Sermon on the Mount.

If we had nothing of Jesus’ teachings in existence today other than the Sermon of the Mount, we would have almost all we would ever need to live our lives in a way pleasing to God and as an example for others.

These three chapters in the book of Matthew are the very core of Jesus’ message to us. And if we believe that Jesus is the man whom God chose, anointed, and sent out to us to preach how God wishes us to live and love, then these are very important chapters indeed.

The opening lines of the Sermon, the "Beatitudes," are among the best known verses in the Bible.

Many of these we remember from our youth:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matt. 5:2-12)

Some Bible versions translate the word “Blessed” as “Happy” (a Latin word for “happy” actually is “beatitudus,” though of course Jesus didn't call them Beatitudes, because he didn't speak Latin.)

But "Happy" really isn't a strong enough word in English to convey what’s meant here. "God-Blessed" may be closer, because Jesus is conveying something important about God and what God does for us. 

God blesses those who are weak, who have a broken spirit, who are thirsting for righteousness, yearning for mercy, and who are being reviled, persecuted and abused.

But these statements weren't meant to be passive, cold assurance that ONE DAY our needs would be met by God and God alone. Jesus meant for us to adopt them into our own character, and to guide our actions. Further, they are the basis for the Kingdom of God, which Jesus inaugurated when he began preaching. 

These teachings of Jesus are not far-off ideals, or commands we cannot keep. They are clear, bold challenges that God, through His chosen Spokesman, Jesus, tells us we can achieve.

Later in the Sermon, Jesus will tell us we must be perfect (as in perfectly complete and mature) JUST AS God is perfect. (Matt. 5:48) And, in similar language, says, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you DO them.” (John 13:17)

Jesus assures us that while we won’t be immediately morally complete, that isn’t the expectation of God. He assures us that God forgives us when we forgive others for falling short. (Matt. 6:14-15)

And this hints and the second half of each Beatitude, mirroring the pain, suffering, heartache and troubles we suffer with the comfort and love God gives to us, if we only ask Him for it.

Jesus does not allow us to make God the sole comforter, love-giver, and mercy-bestower. We have work to do, as well. Just as we must forgive others to be forgiven, we are to serve others to be served. 

Following the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that we are to be the salt and light to the world, and that we must let our light shine before others, so that they will see our good works, and praise our Father in Heaven. (Matt. 5:13-16)

We are clearly called, therefore, to be the hands of Jesus here on earth, bringing in the Kingdom of God here and now. We must do as Jesus did, and even greater things! (John 14:12)

We may draw hope from these teachings of Jesus, and they are living water for us that we can share with others in our daily lives, being the salt and light our world yearns to see.

The Teachings of Jesus Call Us To ACTION!, Not a Passive Faith! #JesusFollowers

 

Only those who gain knowledge of the teachings of Jesus and follow him ina can truly become whole, perfect and complete in Godliness.

Jesus was the perfect example through which we can know and see how God wishes us to act, live, to relate to others and to die.

It is in this context that we can begin to understand the otherwise "difficult" saying of Jesus: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6.) The rarely-quoted next verse reads: "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him." He's not saying he's the Father, but that he completely does His Will, and bids us to follow his example.

Seeing and learning without acting 

 what we've seen and learned is pointless, and useless, leading to dead faith (James 2:20; 26.) We cannot hide our Light, or keep our Good Works to our selves, but instead, Jesus calls us to spread goodness and light to others (Matt. 5:16.) It is only by action that we spread God's Kingdom upon the face of the earth.

Jesus challenges us to be better than we are, not remain exactly as we were before we met him. The act of following him is meant to transform us; we are to be BORN AGAIN in service and obedience to God, with the example of God's chosen exemplar always before our eyes (John 3:3.)

Jesus didn't ever claim to be God. But he did claim to be Godly, and he was in fact perfectly in tune with God's will. He says of his Father, “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” (John 8:29.)

From his example, we need not look through a "dark glass" seeking vainly for what God wills for our lives. Jesus lays it out clearly, and says we CAN achieve it, and must attempt to do so. 

And we need not do it alone. God's servant Jesus teaches that we can rely on God's forgiveness when we falter on this journey, and must as a consequence forgive others who may offend us - in Godly imitation of both God and God's servant, Jesus (Matt. 6:14-15.)

The Good and Beneficial Message proclaimed by Jesus wasn't to simply have mere belief in his existence, but was a call to ACTIVELY serve God, to follow Jesus, and to love others just as we love ourselves (Mark 12:29-31.) His Gospel calls us to serve and act, not sit and contemplate, nor to simply admire Jesus nor even to worship him.

To be Good and Beneficial, the message of Jesus must spread goodness to others, and be beneficial to others. To turn a deaf ear to God's instruction through Jesus is detestable to God (John 9:31; Prov. 28:9.)

When we realize the wonderful gifts God has given all people from birth - but we have not used to benefit others until we knew Jesus - we should feel a great sorrow of realization, followed immediately by great joy that we now know the goal for which we were born, and the Good Works for which God has equipped us!

Jesus is a "Door" and a "Gate" by which we may walk through and glimpse the potential perfectP life for which God has equipped us - and has promised to continue to equip us. Let us have the courage to walk through this narrow passageway and enter into spiritually complete and morally useful lives together!

Jesus Shows Us Our Human Potential #JesusFollowers

When we think about ourselves and our fellow human beings, we often think of how much we have yet to achieve, not just physically or as a species, but spiritually and morally as individuals.

We know that we are spiritually incomplete, and we are often at a loss as to what our next steps should be to advance ourselves.

We innately know that we can and should be better than we are. We also know that human beings have great potential within us.

However, Christian preachers, especially Evangelical ones, tend to view the very words "human potential" as anti-religious language.

The "human potential movement," of the past century, which does focus on humanity apart from any religious aspects of our lives, hasn't made this a difficult conclusion to draw.

Christian pastors and theologians have long said that many are trying to reach their full human potential without God in the picture. and they are right to point out the futility of striving without God. 

But it can easily, and more positively, be argued that Jesus himself, and the Hebrew Bible that he grew up with and studied as a youth, understood and accepted the fact that human beings had great potential, and explained in great detail how to reach it. In fact, his teachings almost shout the concept that we were created for something better by our Creator.

For example, Jesus says that we are to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect. And while modern Evangelicals tend to interpret this to mean that we will BE perfected, "one day," in heaven, or when we are "made perfect" by God, apart from any effort of our own, Jesus didn't seem to mean this. 

In fact, the preceding paragraph in the Book of Matthew spells out actions that we are to do over and above what others do, when it comes to loving not only those who love us, but our enemies as well.

Luke also records Jesus as saying that we are to be merciful, just as our Father in heaven is merciful. In When we think about ourselves and our fellow human beings, we often think of how much we have yet to achieve, not just physically or as a species, but spiritually and morally as individuals.

We know that we are spiritually incomplete, and we are often at a loss as to what our next steps should be to advance ourselves. 

However, Christian preachers, especially Evangelical ones, tend to view the very words "human potential" as anti-religious language.

The "human potential movement," of the past century, which does focus on humanity apart from any religious aspects of our lives, hasn't made this a difficult conclusion to draw.

Christian pastors and theologians have long said that many are trying to reach their full human potential without God in the picture. and they are right to point out the futility of striving without God. 

But it can easily, and more positively, be argued that Jesus himself, and the Hebrew Bible that he grew up with and studied as a youth, understood and accepted the fact that human beings had great potential, and explained in great detail how to reach it. In fact, his teachings almost shout the concept that we were created for something better by our Creator.

For example, Jesus says that we are to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect. And while modern Evangelicals tend to interpret this to mean that we will BE perfected, "one day," in heaven, or when we are "made perfect" by God, apart from any effort of our own, Jesus didn't seem to mean this. 

In fact, the preceding paragraph in the Book of Matthew spells out actions that we are to do over and above what others do, when it comes to loving not only those who love us, but our enemies as well. 

Luke also records Jesus as saying that we are to be merciful, just as our Father in heaven is merciful. In this very teaching, not only is he saying we are able to be as God is, but he teaches us that God is merciful with those who are trying and seeking to do His will.

We know this because elsewhere, he says we are to forgive 70 times seven times (in other words, endlessly) and that if we expect to be forgiven by God for OUR shortcomings, we must forgive others theirs. (Matt. 6:14-15)

And Jesus demonstrated such radical forgiveness as he hung dying on the cross, forgiving those who had put him there.

In these ways, we begin to reach our full human potential in imitation of Jesus himself. And that is a key to understanding our potential as human beings.

Unlike a regular philosopher or a mere teacher who might have said some good things that were recorded in history, Jesus not only taught, but gave us a living example, of how we are to live in accordance with God's will.

He actually showed us how a perfect human looks in real life. And then he said, "follow me." And not simply for the Disciples to follow him around ancient Judea, but to "Go, and do likewise" and even "do greater things than I." And finally, "go into all the world, teaching others to obey my teachings." That means us, today.

We can therefore set modern preachers' minds at ease. We will not, and cannot, seek to do God's will and become all God wishes for us to become, apart from God's help and the knowledge of what that Godly path is. And that path was made clear by the life and example of Jesus for us to imitate and follow.

We are born with an amazing potential for goodness, and a moral ability for greatness. This potential must be humbly recognized as an inate gift of God, and it is reached by seeking to follow our Creator's plan for our lives. 

To do this, we need only follow the teachings of the one whom God chose for us as a perfect example - someone who pleased God with all he did, and in doing so, achieved his full potential as a human being. We may be assured by his life and words that we may do the same.

Why Do We Exist? To Love And To Serve Others! #JesusFollowers

It is clear from the teachings of Jesus that we were created for a purpose: to serve and love one another. This is the reason why we were saved by Jesus from the ignorance of our true Nature, in order to be the beings that God created us to be.

God has set high standards for us, and He knows we can do all the He asks us to do. Who knows us better than our Creator? He knows our weaknesses, for sure, but also knows of what we are capable.

He would not ask us to be holy if there was not something within us that would allow us to seek this lofty goal. He would not call us to be perfect and complete if He did not believe this is something are innermost Soul yearns for.

God chose from among us a man with whom He was well pleased; one who did all that God asked him to do, and did so perfectly. This man, Jesus, was anointed and chosen by God to be our template, example, and guide in all things.

The core of the message Jesus preached was to pursue moral completeness in all of our interactions, be they with our fellow human beings, or with God, our Father and Creator.

Jesus, this chosen, God-anointed man, said that we may do all that he did, and even greater things. He taught us through parables and sayings that we have a choice to follow Godliness or to reject it, and that God alone would judge those who chose to seek the opposite path.

We can have the Knowledge of what is Good through the example of Jesus. We also can know that we may accomplish all that God asks of us, because Jesus, our elder brother, has done it.

God has not asked us to do the impossible. He did not set us up for failure, He isn't mocking us, nor is Jesus in his teachings to us. And there is no fault in our Nature preventing us from seeking the Godliness Jesus calls us to seek after. 

Whatever past acts on our part that may have dulled our sense of Good, and damaged our God-given ability to do what is right, Jesus gives no indication that we cannot change the course of our lives with our future actions.

Indeed, Jesus confidently declares that we may yet deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him. Those who follow his teachings are his friends, and he lived, preached, taught, and died as an example for his friends. To his friends, he revealed all that God taught him, and from him, we have all the Knowledge we need to please God.

When we repent of our past misdeeds, and then accept the message Jesus alone can teach us, Our past ignorance of the Goodness God wishes us to pursue melts away. When we commit to following that path of Goodness, we begin to make our friendship with Jesus into something morally complete, Good and tangible.

This path of Goodness consists of serving others. We are called to love one another, but not just love, love backed by service. We are called explicitly to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort those in need of comfort, visit prisoners, and by doing so, we are a light and example to the world.

This is the Gospel message, and no other: to serve and love one another, and by doing this, we serve, love and honor God.

When we gain Knowledge of this Gospel, we are challenged by Jesus to live it. By living it, we begin to establish God's Kingdom here on the earth. 

Let's commit to taking this precious Knowledge of the Gospel and make it real in our lives!

#Jesus' Words - Was He Just Mocking Us? #JesusFollowers

 

The book of Matthew (chapters 5 through 7) records Jesus’ words in a well-known series of chapters known as the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus went up on a small hill and began preaching, and what he said amazed the assembled crowd who heard it.

It amazes us, still.

Jesus’ teachings were both shocking and clear to those who heard them; startling statements meant to both spiritually awaken and challenge us to action.

He started by teaching about the character that God wishes us to have. In these “beatitudes,” Jesus assures us that God sends blessings of comfort, hope, healing, love, and strength, and that God expects us to share these blessings with others.

Jesus calls us to become both salt and light – spiritually enriching the world by being great moral examples to it - and says that we can do this by humbly performing righteous deeds. 

Our attitudes towards oaths, marriage and even our dealings with our enemies, he says, ought to be guided by extremely high ideals, not by shallow obedience alone.

But just because this challenging sermon IS so challenging, some scholars and churchmen throughout history have questioned whether it REALLY should be taken seriously by us at all.

For example, some have claimed that Jesus' teachings in this Sermon were not meant to be followed, but instead, his intention was to merely show us what we COULD NEVER accomplish, because all human beings are too corrupted to obey his teachings.

When Jesus said we should avoid even thinking of committing adultery - an act that is one of God's Ten Commandments to Moses - they claim that we couldn't possibly avoid thinking of such a thing. Therefore, they assert, Jesus was teaching that human beings couldn't possibly do what he was asking.

But to believe this would make Jesus a mean-spirited, cynical teacher. And indeed, most who believe this way don't see him as much of a teacher at all, but as someone who’s just mocking (or "convicting") us by spouting high ideals that are beyond our ability to obey.

This kind of teacher would seem mean and sadistic in a classroom, and insane standing on a hill claiming to be a religious Teacher from God.

A teacher who would mock us by teaching what we cannot follow (and then teach that we'd be punished by God if we didn't follow!) would be the worst of all teachers, and certainly not a prophet sent from God.

Of course, Jesus, our God-anointed Master, never said his teachings were impossible for human beings to follow, so we can easily reject this interpretation. Jesus said, "follow me," and "obey my teachings," and "let your light shine before others."

It's reasonable to take Jesus at his word, that he wants us to strive for even higher ideals than simply not cheating on one's spouse. He calls us to purify even our thoughts, not just our outward deeds.

This is consistent with his other teachings, in which he condemns the Judean religious teachers known as the Pharisees for having an outward appearance of goodness, like "a whitewashed tomb" he said, but inside, their minds were full of corruption and evil. 

This imagery clearly illustrates what he means by his teachings on the Mount, and elsewhere. 

We start the process of committing a sin by thinking about it, and dwelling upon it. Jesus knew this, and warned us to guard our thoughts just as we are to guard our actions.

"Out of the good treasure of our hearts," put there by our thoughts, come goodness in the form of good works that serve others and please God.

We can be assured that Jesus meant what he taught at face value, and when he says that we can become morally and spiritually complete, and that we can do all the he did during his ministry, we can rest easy knowing that he is not lying to us or mocking us.

Would #Jesus Have Something To Say About Social Media? #JesusFollowers

 

It's obvious that Jesus lived long before the advent of social media, or even computers, but is there anything we can learn from him regarding how to deal with these wonders of our own era? 

If Jesus is our teacher, guide, and Master, we can find many useful lessons for our lives today in his teaching and example.

Social media can be, and is, a great benefit. We stay connected with family members, friends and co-workers, often years after they're no longer living near to us; we keep up with current events in our communities, our nation, and around the world, and we meet and interact with people from around the world whom we would never have met without social media.

But social media also has a well-known destructive side. 

We can become addicted to staring at laptop and smartphone screens. We can become disconnected with the people who are ACTUALLY around us. And we can misuse this great gift in many new and harmful ways.

It's often easy to say hurtful things, safely hidden behind a screen, that we'd never say in person. 

And perhaps one of the most damaging aspects of social media use is that it can portray others' lives as perfect, which leads us to feel bad about how our own lives measure up.

Jesus spoke of the hypocrites of his day among the Pharisees, saying: "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." (Matt. 23:27)

Jesus therefore calls us to not bear false witness, or put on a false facade to others while on social media.

And what of the content we consume on social? It's been said of computer programming, "Garbage in, Garbage out." Many years before this saying, Jesus spoke of what we put into our hearts.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)

We are called by our Master to absorb good treasures, treasure that lasts an eternity, and ones that bear good fruit in the here and now.

"Do not store up for yoaurselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt. 6:19-21)

Our God-anointed Exemplar goes on to exaplain that what we SEE can put goodness or evil into our hearts:

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:22-23)

Jesus also calls us to serve and love our neighbors. This requires that we remain connected to the living, breathing people around us - friends, co-workers, family, neighbors, and even strangers that we encounter. 

We can remain connected and reach out to them through social media, surely, but we ought not substitute a Direct Message or text for a comforting word and a helping hand.

Jesus calls us to perform righteous acts, in humility (Matt 6:1) feeding, clothing, comforting, visiting and actively engaging others - in person. (Matt. 25:35-36)

Jesus assures us that his teachings will last forever, and said if we truly love him, we will follow him, and do what he commands us to do.

Let's take his eternal teachings 20 centuries ago to heart when we use the wonderful gifts of our 21st century lives for the creation of the Kingdom Jesus says lives within us, and must come to pass on this earth through our acts in his name!

12 Ways #Jesus Challenges Us to Be Better! #JesusFollowers

 

Jesus' ministry was a call to humanity to come back to God, our Creator. That’s not a minor thing, nor is it a call that can leave us unchanged.

In fact, while we may come to God “as we are,” we cannot remain unchanged after approaching our Heavenly Father, Who is our God and the Creator of the universe.

God chose Jesus, anointed him, and sent him out to preach His Truth.

Jesus’ ministry calls us to make changes to our life, as well as to humbly approach God in repentance. Without action on our part, starting with our repentance, we aren’t truly returning to God, but simply SAYING we are.

Jesus calls us to be better people; to become the human beings God knows we can become. Mere belief is not enough, that is only the start of our Faith. If we say we love Jesus, we will actively seek to keep his commands (John 14:15.)

Those who claim to know him, but don’t believe his commands are worth following, or are “irrelevant” or are superseded by another person’s teachings, are liars, and don’t really know Jesus at all (1 John 2:4.)

Here, then, are a few (not all) of the commands Jesus gives those who say they follow him:

1. Jesus calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30.) That’s complete and total love, not just lip service or emotionalism.

2. Jesus calls us to love each other, our neighbors, with the same zeal with which we love God – complete and total love (Mark 12:31.) And all people are our neighbors.

3. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves take up our cross and follow him. (Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23.) We are to be “other-centered,” not focused on Self.

4. Jesus calls on us to do the will of the Father – His God and our God, the Creator of all that is (Matt. 12:50; John 5:30.) Mere words and vain professions are NOT enough to ensure eternity with God (Matt. 7:21.)

5. Jesus calls on us to forgive others, and makes this duty a condition of being forgiven by God (Matt. 6:15-16.)

6. Jesus tells us we must repent of our sins. “Repent,” he says, “for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17.) Repent means to feel sorry about our sins, and work to stop sinning.

7. Jesus calls on us to “go the second mile” (Matthew 5:38–42) which is not a challenge to be lukewarm or partially committed to serving others.

8. Jesus says we must lay up heavenly treasures, not earthly ones that don’t last (Matthew 5:44–46.) The race for wealth doesn’t last, but our rewards in Heaven do.

9. Jesus tells us to be a “light to the world” and that we must let our Good Works “shine” so that others may see God’s righteousness manifest in us (Matt. 5:14-16.)

10. Jesus calls on us to choose the “narrow gate” that leads to God and salvation, rather than the “wide gate” that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14.) The popular way, the easy way of “faith alone” and the way that requires the least work isn’t the way Jesus calls us to approach God.

11. Jesus calls us to “do to others that which you would have done unto you” (Matt 7:12.) This “Golden Rule” has been ignored, demeaned and ridiculed by modern Christendom, but it’s at the core of Jesus’ preaching.

12. Jesus calls on us to follow him (Matt. 4:19.) Jesus sets for us a perfect example of how to live our lives (John 13:15.) We have the ability to serve God through Jesus’ moral commands (Matt. 5:48) strengthened always through God’s spirit and Jesus’ holy example.

Let us take up the challenge Jesus puts before us!

What Does God Think We Can Do? #JesusFollowers

 

Just a few verses into the Hebrew Bible, in the book of Genesis, there is a well-known story that has valuable lessons that, if better known, could change the way we understand God, our human abilities, and our responsibilities as God’s children.

The story of Cain and Abel – well known as an allegorical tale of brotherly strife – begins with both brothers offering up a sacrifice to God. Abel offers up animals on an altar, while Cain offers fruits and vegetables. However…

"[Yahweh] didn’t respect Cain and his offering. So Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires you, but you must rule over it." (Gen. 4:5b-8)

The story goes on to tell how the angry, confused Cain sought out and murdered his brother Abel. God then finds Cain in hiding, and asks him where his brother was. Cain answered with that well-known line (as if he was innocent of the crime) "Am I my brother's keeper?" God then punishes Cain by marking him for all eternity.

So, what lessons does this story teach us, today, about human beings, and our abilities?

First, God laid out two paths of action to Cain, equally offering acceptance (to be “Lifted” in the Hebrew, meaning exalted) if he had chosen to do what was right.

God also told Cain he had the ability to RULE OVER or “master” sin, if he chose to do it.

God’s offer of acceptance to Cain, and the choice he was given, prove that he had the ability to do what is right – and so do we.

But this simple lesson has been invisible to many religious teachers, who have long denied that we as human beings have the ability to choose to do what is right.

Some – living hundreds of years after Jesus' ministry – taught that Cain’s father, Adam (the first human being, along with Eve, in the book of Genesis) sinned against God. This, they say, caused all of his descendants, including us, to be UNABLE TO AVOID SINNING.

They also taught that this inability was passed on to us through our ancestors when they had sex. This is the teaching of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and all modern Protestant and Catholic churches.

If this is true, then we are powerless to avoid sin – and powerless to do what God commands us to do.

But the actual words of this story blow apart these man-made theories.

Cain, the very child of Adam in this story, had the ability to NOT kill Abel, had he chosen that option. He was assured by God that he could CHOOSE to not sin, and in fact, said he MUST do so, to avoid punishment.

This story teaches us volumes about God’s nature, as well as human nature. God created us to obey His moral commandments. And because God is our Creator, He knows of what we are capable, and calls us to seek out His holiness and obey Him.

Rather than telling his disciples that we could do nothing EXCEPT sin, Jesus – the one whom God chose as our example and teacher and anointed as His spokesman – taught them, and through them, us, that we are to be "perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)

And the one who said he did all things that pleased God also said that we must follow him, doing all that he had done. (John 13:15; 14:12)

In saying this, Jesus echoed all the Hebrew prophets who had come before him - because he did not teach anything new about our ability to obey God that was not already known.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, we are assured that God's commandments are, "not too hard for you," and "The word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, SO THAT YOU CAN DO IT." (Deut. 30:11, 14) Isaiah writes, "Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well." (1:16)

The Psalmist writes: "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges the earth." (Psalms 58:11)

“He has shown you, O man, what is good," writes Micah (6:8)

We are called upon to "Hate evil, and love good" says Amos (5:15)

"Choose this day whom you will serve," says Joshua (24:15)

"If you choose, you can keep the commandments; and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. Set before you are fire and water; to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand. Before everyone are life and death, whichever they choose will be given them." (Sirach 15:15-17)

Therefore, while sin may be waiting by the door for us, seeking to master us, we may indeed defeat – and master – sinful temptations. We HAVE THAT ABILITY, given to us by our Creator!

If we have damaged this ability because of our past behavior, God will grant us greater moral strength when we ask (Psalm 138:3; Prov. 2:6; James 1:5)

That we have this ability born within us is amazingly good news, because it shows that our Creator knows us, and still gives us the freedom to act and choose to obey Him freely!

Through the teachings of our Master, Jesus, we know that God is like a parent, Who allows His children to make mistakes, repent, and turn back to doing what is right and good.

We should thank God, our Creator, in Whose image we were created, for trusting us to make our own choices, and let's pledge to always take that awesome responsibility seriously in all that we do.

What Is Our True Nature? #JesusFollowers

   

A minister on the radio was heard saying that humans beings are all, morally, "condemned criminals" in need of "radical surgery." Holy mixed metaphors, Batman! Not only was that metaphor a language crime, it was theologically criminal, as well!

Fortunately for us, he is wrong. In fact, Jesus teaches just the opposite. Jesus, just like the Hebrew prophets before him, consistently taught that we are all free to choose either to do good or to do evil, and that we will be held responsible for those choices when we stand before God.

Let us quickly dispense with the idea that we are all condemned criminals. The only ministers who say this too readily discount the idea of our Heavenly Father's vast mercy, or are deliberately hiding this wonderful aspect of our Creator.

Of course, what this minister was really trying to imply is that we are all born under an imaginary curse, one that somehow makes us unable to do any good to please God, and that we are therefore born already condemned in the sight of God. 

This is scripturally false and logically nonsense.

That God made us free to choose and liable for our choices is one of the best attested facts of scripture - both the Hebrew scriptures and the words of our Master, Jesus, whom God chose to be our example and teacher in all things.

To claim that we are so damaged that we can do no good; that we cannot follow Jesus and do as he calls us to do, are man-made excuses for our failure to obey.

Not to mention, it makes Jesus into an unreasonable master, for commanding what (according to those ministers) cannot be done by us. That would mean that God knows we cannot do it, but had Jesus tell us to do these impossible tasks anyway. To "convict us." 

If God did this, and if we could not act Righteously, God would be the author of our sins, and an unfair judge. He would be solely responsible for our sinful actions, and not us, if we were unable by our very nature to obey what He and his chosen son have so clearly laid out before us to do.

It would also mean that Jesus was a liar, and his teachings calling is to do Good would be a mockery, too.

Without our freedom of Will and freedom to act, there can be no judgement of our actions by a moral God. But the good news is that we were created with the ability to choose.

This ability means that our choices have eternal meaning, and that the Good we do is not just a forced choice made by a domineering God, but instead, is a joyful and grateful response to God's love.

The Hebrew Bible is filled with examples of God giving us a free will and the freedom to choose. The story of Adam and Eve is all about our Free Will and ability to choose, and the Jewish people have always understood it that way.

Adam's poor choice didn't damage his children's, nor his descendants' ability to choose right from wrong. In fact, God is portrayed in Genesis as telling Adam's own son, Cain, that he had the freedom (and the duty) to do right or to do wrong, and to take the consequences of either choice. That, alone, ruins the concept of our alleged "moral inability" to do good, because of Adam's Sin.

King David is shown in scripture as sinning and doing evil deeds, but he repented, and God forgave him. He says in the Psalms that he stood after his repentance before God with "clean hands" and with righteous actions.

Isaiah teaches that we are to wash ourselves and make ourselves clean. If we are totally unable to do good, then what could this possibly mean?

Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the Hebrew scriptures teach nothing else except that we have the ability to act and to do good, and that we are commanded by God, our Creator, to do exactly that.

Jesus, also, teaches us that God wishes us to have willing hearts and to follow the path of righteousness through our actions.

We are, like King David, fully able to repent of our past mistakes, and to stop doing them, as in the story of the woman caught in adultery demonstrates. Jesus said, "Go, and sin no more." No radical surgery was required on her, simply a determination to repent to do good, instead. Radical action was required of her - and she was able to do it.

The kingdom of God is built through our deliberate righteous actions and good works done in accordance with the teachings of our Master, Jesus.

So, we see that the minister's foolish statement about "radical surgery" is another theological falsehood. While our wills may have been damaged by our past actions, that can no way mean that we have no ability to turn our lives around by reaching out to God and repenting. Jesus teaches that all may repent, and indeed must repent, of past mistakes, which are a falling short of the high standards God wishes for all of us.

And again, all the Hebrew Prophets and Jesus taught that sincere repentance is all that is required of us to begin turning our lives around toward godliness.

The Gospel that Jesus preached is a challenge to reach our full potential - how God wishes us to live our lives. The fact that many do not know that the Gospel is a challenge, and are unaware that Jesus' Gospel is fully contained in his words, doesn't make them criminals sentenced to death eternally. 

Instead, it makes them imperfect, because they are, out of ignorance, not following God's perfect path of righteousness. This ignorance is because wicked ministers have not taught them this Truth.

Those who are living imperfect lives don't need radical surgery as much as they need a radical reassessment of their lives. And they should be informed that there is a better way: to seek to live their lives in accordance with God's will. 

And those who are living an easy faith without challenge, who believe that good works are impossible (or something that we need not even concern ourselves with) fall grossly short of Jesus' teachings, often warping them beyond all recognition, or worse, ignoring or minimizing them.

These ministers, and their flocks, perhaps need a radical new faith, based on the challenging, joyful teachings of our Master, Jesus, who says emphatically that we are capable of doing all that he asks us to do and that we may do all that he has done. THAT is the True Gospel message. It is one worth sharing.

Knowing that Jesus pleased God in every way, and said that we may do the same, shows that God and the one He chose as our example have far higher confidence in us human beings than many ministers do.