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.

The Peacemakers of God [Jesus Followers]

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matt. 5:9)

In its literal meaning “Peacemakers” implies those lovers of God and humanity who utterly detest and abhor all strife, all variance and contention: and accordingly labor with all their might, either to prevent the fire of hell from being kindled, or when it is kindled, from breaking out, or when it is broken out, from spreading any farther. They endeavor to calm the stormy spirits of humanity, to quiet their turbulent passions, to soften the minds of contending parties, and, if possible, reconcile them to each other.

They use all innocent arts, and employ all their strength, all the talents which God has given them, as well to preserve peace, where it is, and to restore it, where it does not. It is the joy of their heart to promote, to confirm, to increase mutual goodwill.

But in the full extent of the word, a peacemaker is one, who, as they have opportunity, "does good to all.” One who, being filled with the love of God and all humanity, cannot confine the expressions of it to their own family, or friends, or acquaintances, or party; or to those who share their own opinions; no, nor those who are partakers of like precious faith, but steps over all these narrow bounds, that they may do good to everyone; that they may, some way or other, manifest love to neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies.

They do good to them all, as they have opportunity, that is, on every possible occasion; "redeeming the time;" in order to buy up every opportunity, improve every hour, losing no moment where they may be of help to another.

Such a person does good, not of one particular kind, but good in general: in every possible way, employing all their talents of every kind, all their powers and faculties of body and soul; all their fortune, interest, and reputation; desiring only, that when they go before God, they may hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!"

One does Good to the uttermost of their power, even among the bodies of all people. They rejoice to “deal bread to the hungry," (Isaiah 58:7) and to "cover the naked with a garment.”

Is any a stranger? He takes him in, and relieves him according to his necessities. Are any sick or in prison? He visits them, and administers such help as they stand most in need of. And all this he does, not as unto anyone; but remembering him that said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.”

How much more does this person rejoice, if they can do any good to the soul of another person!

It pleases Him who works all in all, to help people chiefly by other human beings; to convey His own power, and blessing, and love, through one person to another.

No one has need, on this account, to stand idle in their vineyard. The peacemakers cannot: they are even laboring in it, and, as an instrument in God's hand, preparing the ground for the Master's use, or sowing the seed of the kingdom, or watering what is already sown, if God may give the increase.

He is implored to exhort them to stir up the gifts of God which are in them.

(Adapted from a sermon, ‘Peacemakers of God,’ by John Wesley)

Let Us Not Delay in Doing Good! #JesusFollowers

Prayer and praise are not exercises which are to terminate in themselves. They are pledges of, and preparations for, future activity and service. 

By such activity in holiness we are to prove that in our devotions we did not mock the Almighty, or think to cajole and flatter him with fair speeches, and mere empty professions. Our prayers should be only the forerunners of our zeal for the divine glory, and our honorable exertions for the welfare of mankind.

Every man has his post of duty allotted him. To such an extent one is to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. In one place, he is to give advice from his experience, and in that, condolence and sympathy to the distressed from his humanity.

Another person may not have the means to act in this manner; but he can often lend a little personal aid. He can sometimes spare a few moments for neighborly conversation; and can always put up a humble, heartfelt prayer for the spiritual welfare of those around him. A cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple shall not go without its reward. We can all do something for the comfort and edification of the little circles in which we are known. In this respect, as well as others, great providential differences are made: to some, five talents are communicated, and to others only one.

Let each of us endeavor to do as much as we can. Let those especially who are recently recovered from sickness listen to the voice of exhortation. Every event of this nature must convince us how precarious the day of usefulness is.

By interruptions of health many of our schemes are delayed, and not a few, perhaps, broken off. It is happy when these frustrated designs are of little importance to any but the parties themselves; but this is not always the case. Persons may be so circumstanced, that a few weeks, or a few months confinement, may subject them to losses and evils which can never be retrieved.

Let us be warned, therefore, against procrastination. Do not delay until tomorrow what may be done today. You know not what an hour may bring. Scripture has not a single promise for tomorrow, if today has been deliberately neglected.

The foolish virgins slept at the close of a day of idleness, and it was this circumstance that constituted their crime; for had they stocked their vessels with oil before nature demanded repose, they would not have been excluded from the bridal entertainment. We should never listen to an argument for delay, unless it is such as we can justify at the tribunal of judgment.

Permit me to guard you against one instance of delay. Let property be disposed of in the days of reason and health; do not let the lack of a properly executed will lay the possible foundation for contention among your survivors.

But what is of infinitely more importance than this, get your accounts for heaven ready. In a moment the judge may be at the door. Thousands in every stage of life are, every year, every month, swept into the grave. Walk, then, before the Lord, while you are allowed to do it, in the land of the living.

Walk, and do not fold your hands in idleness, letting opportunities of doing and getting good slip from you. Be in a posture of activity, always ready to go where duty calls you. Walk before God in a uniform dependence upon His support, with a constant sense of His presence, and under the influence of this awakening thought: "Wherever I am, God sees me." 

Do this, in the land of the living. The great field of society lies open. Before, and behind, on the right hand, and on the left, objects for the display of benevolence, and the exercise of all the useful virtues, are to be found. The day is now bright, but in a little while it may be overcast, and in a few years, it must draw to a close.

In the name of God, be up and doing. Do not be slothful in business, but be fervent in spirit. Be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Master, and your labor in the Master shall not be in vain.

(Adapted from a Sermon by Rev. Edmund Butcher, 1757-1822)