'Discipleship and the Cross'

Chapter 4- Discipleship and the Cross

Mar 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mar 8:32  And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Mar 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mar 8:37  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mar 8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus must therefore make it clear beyond all doubt that the "must" of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself. Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord's suffering and rejections and crucifixion. Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefor submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross.

Surprisingly enough, when Jesus begins to unfold this inescapable truth to his disciples, he once more sets them free to choose or reject him. "If any man would come after me," he says. For it is not a matter of course, not even among the disciples. Nobody can be forced, nobody can even be expected to come. He says rather "If any man" is prepared to spurn all other offers which come his way in order to follow him. Once again, everything is left for the individual to decide.'

My thoughts-  So why are we taught that to suffer is to be avoided at all costs? Why are we 'programmed' to believe suffering is something awful? We are taught this. As babies and little children we are being taught to shun all suffering. We are instead taught to indulge all our desires and whims so we don't even begin to take on the tiniest of sufferings.  It's not this way all over the world. There are 'third world' countries where people are raised in a culture of nothing but suffering and children learn very young that this is their lot in life and they learn to make the best of it all.

Jesus taught the disciples that he would suffer, he would be rebuked, he would be put to death and the reaction… Peter began to rebuke Jesus.  The disciples could not imagine their beloved Messiah being caused to suffer, being rebuked, being rejected and ultimately being put to death!  No way! They didn’t want that to happen! But Jesus turned around and REBUKED Peter- calling Peter, Satan.  Telling Peter that he didn't want the things of God, but the things of men.  Isn't that the case for ALL of us?! Jesus continued and told them - 'Whosoever will come AFTER me- le him DENY HIMSELF, take up his CROSS, and FOLLOW me.  Whosoever will SAVE his life SHALL LOSE IT; but whosoever shall LOSE his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall SAVE it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the WHOLE WORLD, and lose his own soul?'

What do we make of this? Seriously, what do we make of those words of our SAVIOR'S?

Are we, like Peter wanting to tell Jesus He is wrong? Do we want to tell Jesus, NO, You shouldn't suffer Jesus, and NO, we shouldn't suffer either, Jesus. No one should suffer, and surely no one who believes you, no one who follows you the Messiah, should be put to death!

IF we act like Peter, if we believe like Peter, then we are acting under the power of SATAN! And Jesus will say to us, just like He said to Peter, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' 

We can follow the corrupt ways of mankind and especially of the materialistic views of our day and age and we will be disciples of Satan. Or we can follow Christ, but we have to DENY ourselves, we have to PICK UP our CROSS!

We aren't forced, never forced, we must choose our path. We must choose who we will follow.

If we imagine that we can get by in this world without following either God or Satan, think again. When you choose to look to yourself you are not looking to your Creator and most certainly not your Savior.  And when we do not look to God there is only one other place to look- Satan.  Satan loves when you choose to follow your own path because he know that by your rejecting God you are accepting him.

More tomorrow by the GRACE of GOD! Please LORD, help us to LEARN the truth of DISCIPLESHIP and in learning, believe and follow as YOU want us to follow YOU.

With God all things are possilbe

Chapter 3 -Single-Minded Obedience  (continued)

Bonhoeffer-' Obedience to the call of Jesus never lies within our own power. If, for instance, we give away all our possessions, that act is not in itself the obedience he demands. In fact such a step might be precise opposite of obedience to Jesus, for we might then be choosing a way of life for ourselves, some Christian ideal, or some ideal of Franciscan poverty. Indeed in the very act of giving away his goods a man can give allegiance to himself and to an ideal and not to the command of Jesus. He is not set free from his own self but still more enslaved to himself.  The step into the situation where faith is possible is not an offer which we can make to Jesus, but always his gracious offer to us. Only when the step is taken in this spirit is it admissible. But in that case we cannot speak of a freedom of choice on our part.

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Bonhoeffer- 'The shocked question of the disciples "Who then can be saved?" seems to indicate that they regarded the case of the rich young man not as in any way exceptional, but as typical. For they do not ask: "Which rich man?" but quite generally "Who then can be saved?" For every man, even the disciples themselves, belongs to those rich ones for whom it is so difficult to enter the kingdom of heave. The answer Jesus gives showed the disciples that they had understood him well. Salvation through following Jesus is not something we men can achieve for ourselves-- but with God all things are possible.

My thoughts--

We must live our lives under the constant tutelage of our Savior, ever learning from Him. His words tell us that He opened His mouth and taught- remember?

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

Recognizing our state of helplessness we present ourselves to our Savior and seek to be forgiven by Him. Recognizing our sinfulness and our inability to ever cleanse ourselves of the stains of sin- we must seek the only One who can cleanse us. It is IMPOSSIBLE for us to save ourselves. What has been made possible by our Savior is the ability ask for cleansing, for salvation, for a life in Him.

Are there people who do not recognize their helplessness?

Yes.

Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked

Neither cold not hot.

Saying- I am rich.

Saying- I am increased with goods.

Saying- I have need of nothing.

What does all that mean? It means there are people, a lot of people, who believe in CHEAP GRACE.  They say they believe and believe they believe but what they are believing is NOT Christ's testimony, but Satan's lies.  These people believe they have all they need and need nothing more and they believe this outside of a TRUE BELIEF IN A TRUE SAVIOR.

Jesus wants us to only believe in HIM and nothing else, not even ourselves, especially not ourselves.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

We are rich ONLY in JESUS.

We are clothed ONLY by JESUS.

We can understand ONLY as our Savior gives us understanding.

We MUST REPENT- this is a REAL ACTION of repentance, not lip service mouthing the words without anything to back it up.

We MUST OPEN the door.

Only by opening the door will our Savior come into us and FEED us, sustain us.

We MUST OVERCOME- Jesus says- 'to him that overcometh'

We must overcome by living with our SAVIOR and allowing Him to save us.

Our Savior OVERCAME.

What did He overcome? Sin.  He overcame living in this world under Satan's control, proving it is possible for someone to be tempted to the uttermost and overcome. He relied upon His FATHER for all things, teaching us that we must rely upon HIM for all things.  He overcame through the power of the FATHER, why do we ever imagine we can overcome through our own power?

Only by the grace of Jesus is the impossible, possible, and we must NEVER forget this! NEVER!

Please Lord, help us to NEVER forget.

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Our Savior did not tell us we are saved now go and sin, go and disobey

Chapter 3 -Single-Minded Obedience  (continued)

Bonhoeffer- ' Are we to treat the commandment of Jesus differently from other orders and exchange single-minded obedience for downright disobedience? How could that be possible?

It is possible because there is an element of truth underlying all this sophistry. When Jesus calls the young man to enter into the situation where faith is possible, he does it only with the aim of making the man have faith in him, that is to say, he calls him into fellowship with himself.

In the last resort what matters is not what the man does, but only his faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Mediator.

At all events poverty or riches, marriage or celibacy, a profession or the lack of it, have in the last resort nothing to do with it-- everything depends on faith alone.

So far then we are quite right; it is possible to have wealth and the possession of this world's goods and to believe in Christ-- so that a man may have these goods as one who has them not.

But this is an ULTIMATE possibility of the Christian life, only within our capacity in so far as we await with earnest expectation the immediate return of Christ.

It is by no means the first and the simplest possibility. The paradoxical understanding of the commandments has its Christian justification, but it must never lead to the abandoning of the single-minded understanding of the commandments.

This is only possible and right for somebody who has already at some point or other in his life put into action his single-minded understanding, somebody who thus lives with Christ as his disciple and in anticipation of the end. This is the infinitely more difficult, and humanly speaking "impossible possibility," to interpret the call of Jesus in this paradoxical way.

And it is just this paradoxical element which exposes his call to the constant danger of being transformed into its very opposite, and used as an excuse for shirking the necessity of concrete obedience.

Anybody who does not feel that he would be much happier were he only permitted to understand and obey the commandments of Jesus in a straightforward literal way, and e.g. surrender all his possessions at his bidding rather than cling to them, has no right to this paradoxical interpretation of Jesus' words.  We have to hold the two together in mind all the time.

The actual call of Jesus and the response of single-minded obedience have an irrevocable significance. By means of them Jesus calls people into an actual situation where faith is possible. For that reason his call is an actual call and he wishes it so to be understood, because he knows that it is only through actual obedience that a man can become liberated to believe.'

My thoughts-

We are called.

Joh_12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Mat_24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

We are called, all of us.

Can we accept the grace of Jesus Christ without the call to Him?

We can't.

Anymore than we can accept anyone's invitation without there being a one who tenders the invitation.

There is NO invitation without someone inviting, that's an impossibility.

By acknowledging our need of a Savior, our need of forgiveness, we are acknowledging there is a SAVIOR, One who offers us forgiveness.  We are called to a new life, to be born of the Spirit, and we have to ACT on that call. We can ignore it, we can try to change it to suit our own selfishness, making is ineffective, or we can answer the call as it is given to us. As soon as we respond to the call- as soon as we OBEY the invitation and act by accepting the truth of our Savior and the Gospel of the Kingdom He preaches- we have OBEYED and we've OBEYED by FAITH, through BELIEVING.  But if we do not obey we are not acting on faith.

As Bonhoeffer explains in the excerpt above- it is paradoxical.

We cannot separate the two without destroying them both.

Bonhoeffer said this- 'By means of them Jesus calls people into an actual situation where faith is possible. For that reason his call is an actual call and he wishes it so to be understood, because he knows that it is only through actual obedience that a man can become liberated to believe.' 

If the call to be a disciple of our Savior isn't real to us, then we can play act at being a Christian and nothing more. 

Jesus and the gospel He preached MUST be real to us! He preached of His return and the salvation to eternal life with Him- this must be real to us NOW.  In all we do this MUST be real to us!  Obeying our Savior through Faith, having Faith in our Savior through obedience this must be REAL.

Our Savior did not tell us we are saved now go and sin, go and disobey, NEVER did He ever utter those words!

It is by HIS grace, His mercy, His love that we can have faith, that we can be saved, that we can obey!

Please Lord, save us, undeserved of it as we are, please, save us!

'All along the line we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience.'

Chapter 3 -Single-Minded Obedience  (continued)

Bonhoeffer- ' If as we read our Bibles, we heard Jesus speaking to us in this way to-day we should probably try to argue ourselves out of it like this: "It is true that the demand of Jesus is definite enough, but I have to remember that he never expects us to take his commands legalistically. What he really wants me to have is faith. But my faith is not necessarily tied up with riches or poverty or anything of the kind. We may be both poor and rich in the spirit. It is not important that I should have no possessions, but if I do I must keep them as though I had them not, in other words I must cultivate a spirit of inward detachment, so that my heart is not in my possessions."

Jesus may have said: "Sell thy goods," but he meant: "Do not let it be a matter of consequence to you that you have outward prosperity; rather keep your goods quietly, having them as if you had them not. Let not your heart be in your goods." --  WE ARE EXCUSING OURSELVES FROM SINGLE-MINDED OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF JESUS ON THE PRETEXT OF LEGALISM AND A SUPPOSED PREFERENCE FOR AN OBEDIENCE "IN FAITH."

The difference between ourselves and the rich young man is that he was not allowed to solace his regrets by saying: "Never mind what Jesus says, I can still hold on to my riches, but in a spirit of inner detachment. Despite my inadequacy I can take comfort in the thought that God has forgiven me my sins and can have fellowship with Christ in faith."  But no, he went away SORROWFUL. Because he would not obey, he could not believe.

*

My thoughts-

 Why do we imagine that we, unlike that rich young ruler, will be able to disassociate ourselves from the things that keep us from truly obeying Christ?

We do NOT want to even imagine for a moment- that God would really ask us to give up our current way of life in exchange for one of wandering, preaching, poverty.

Let's read more of Bonhoeffer on this--

'But we in our sophistry differ altogether from the hearers of Jesus' word of whom the Bible speaks. If Jesus said to someone: "Leave all else behind and follow me; resign your profession, quiet your family, your people, and the home of your fathers, " then he knew that to this call there was only one answer-- the answer of single-minded obedience, and that it is only to this obedience that the promise of fellowship with Jesus is given. But we should probably argue thus:  "Of course we are meant to take the call of Jesus with 'absolute seriousness' but after all the true way of obedience would be to continue all the more in our present occupations, to stay with our families, and serve him there in a spirit of true inward detachment." If Jesus challenged us with the command: "Get out of it," we should take him to mean : "Stay where you are but cultivate that inward detachment."  Again, if he were to say to us :  "Be not anxious," we should take him to mean: "Of course it's not wrong for us to be anxious: we must work and provide for ourselves and our dependents. If we did not we should be shirking our responsibilities. But all the time we ought to be inwardly free from all anxiety."  Perhaps Jesus would say to us: "Whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." We should then suppose him to mean: "The way really to love your enemy is to fight him hard and hit him back." Jesus might say: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," and we should interpret it thus: "Of course we should have to seek all sorts of other things first; how could we otherwise exist? What he really means is the final preparedness to stake all on the kingdom of God."

All along the line we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience.'

My thoughts-

TRUTH- 'All along the line we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience.'

So incredibly true!

Of course now you're asking yourself what the heck this means? Are you REALLY supposed to give up your riches? Are you REALLY supposed to leave your family, your job, your entire life as you know it? And if you are, where are you to go? What are you to do?

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ

Apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, teacher FOR the perfecting of the saints.

No, we are NOT supposed to imagine that we are ALL to do these things.  Some ARE genuinely called to do those things and to those who are- they'd better listen- they'd better OBEY or like the rich young ruler they will be very sorrowful and very lost to eternity. 

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ

Everyone of us IS GIVEN GRACE according to the measure of the gift of Christ.   Not everyone is called to the same path but we are ALL called to LOVE our neighbors and to LOVE God as He commands us. Jesus expounded on this loving we are to exhibit as a REAL way of life, and we are to imitate Him, our great Master!

Bonhoeffer says we CANNOT EVADE what we are being called to do by CHRIST. We cannot make excuses for not obeying.  Or rather, He's saying we can, but it's wrong.

Do we honestly believe that Christ our Savior tells us not to be anxious and yet doesn't really mean that?

There is a song out there and these words remind me of what is being said here--

'You tell me not to worry about tomorrow, but I worry anyway,

You tell me You'll take care of all my troubles, Jesus teach me how to wait.'

We worry anyway even when we are told not to. We do the opposite of what we are told to do in so many things and this has become our way of life and we EXCUSE IT.  We truly do need to be taught by Jesus to wait, to DO these things, to be OBEDIENT to HIM. We can't let ourselves get caught up in the LIE of living with excuses for our disobedience. We will be accountable for ALL of our disobedience.  And if we are not recognizing our disobedience how can we ask forgiveness for it? If we allow ourselves to be blind, we will have NO ONE to blame but ourselves!

Please LORD help us to be OBEDIENT TO YOU! Help us to NOT make excuses for our disobedience. Help us NOT to alter Your word to mean what it does not, but to comprehend all the truth You would have us LIVE.

All glory! All honor! All praise to YOU MY LORD and SAVIOR, MY KING!

How many of us REFUSE to believe enough to OBEY?!

Chapter 3 -Single-Minded Obedience  (continued)

Bonhoeffer- 'When He was challenged by Jesus to accept a life of voluntary poverty, the rich young man knew he was faced with the simple alternative of obedience or disobedience.

When Levi was called from the receipt of custom and Peter from his nets, there was no doubt that Jesus meant business.

Both of them were to leave everything and follow.

Again, when Peter was called to walk on the rolling sea, he had to get up and risk his life.

Only one thing was required in each case-- to rely on Christ's word, and cling to it as offering greater security than all the securities in the world.

The forces which tried to interpose themselves between the word of Jesus and the response of obedience were as formidable then as they are to-day.

Reason and conscience, responsibility and piety all stood in the way, and even the law and "scriptural authority" itself were obstacles which pretended to defend them from going to the extremes of antinomianism (((Antinomianism in Christianity is the belief that under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation.))))  and "enthusiasms."  But the call of Jesus made short work of all these barriers, and created obedience. That call was the Word of God himself, and all that it required was single-minded obedience.'

My thoughts--

'Only one thing was required in each case-- to rely on Christ's word, and cling to it as offering greater security than all the securities in the world. '

TRUTH!

Mat_6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal

No treasure here on earth offers us any security at all.

We are under the delusion that we can amass great riches and we'll be security but you know what, you will only be secure in things that ultimately mean NOTHING. 

There is only ONE thing that matters in THIS life- LOVE- and the result of that TRUE LOVE- Eternal life with Jesus Christ our Savior.  We cannot have LOVE without knowing Christ's forgiveness.  This is the ONLY thing that matters- JESUS.   Jesus is the ONLY security we have and yet Satan has convinced us that we can find security in this world, in things of this world. 

The rich young ruler was told to give up his wealth but to him the wealth was his security in life and in all.  He couldn't give up that security even for eternal life! He was speaking with the SAVIOR, he was speaking with God's SON and he refused to obey Him. Face to face with GOD and he refused to believe Him! 

How many of us REFUSE to believe enough to OBEY?!

How many of refuse to truly believe the SAVIOR is our ONLY SECURITY?

The Apostles were mostly martyred - does this mean their faith failed them? That God let them down because they suffered?  NO! 

THIS IS TRUTH- Php_3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ

ALL THINGS but Christ mean NOTHING!

Truly ALL THINGS- even our own LIVES!

Bonhoeffer- 'Only one thing was required in each case-- to rely on Christ's word, and cling to it as offering greater security than all the securities in the world. '

TRUTH!

Bonhoeffer-'That call was the Word of God himself, and all that it required was single-minded obedience.'

TRUTH!

By the Grace of God my we TRULY make Jesus our ONLY security.

Money will tempt us!

Food will tempt us!

A roof over our heads will tempt us!

Safety will tempt us!

Pain will tempt us!

Contentment will tempt us!

Others will tempt us!

Loved ones will tempt us!

Our jobs will tempt us!

So much will tempt us to put it/them before JESUS, telling us all the while that Jesus will understand.

Jesus calls us to OBEY Him! OBEY! And when we FAIL to obey and continue in a life of willful disobedience then we are turning our backs on CHRIST'S LOVE!

Oh, how tragic it is going to be when millions of people see Jesus Christ and because they've lived a life in direct disobedience to Christ and His Word, they hear Him tell them He never knew them. They've deluded themselves into believing that they don't have to obey just because they believe. They forget these verses-

Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Jas 2:18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

The works with faith are OBEDIENCE, they go hand in hand, one without the other does NOT work.

Please LORD, help us to make this a reality when we are confronted with all the things that would tempt us away from YOU!

By YOUR LOVE, YOUR GRACE!

Sealed Servants of God

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Sealed servants of God.

Before our Savior returns, before the time of trouble-  Dan. 12:1  '...and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time',  God's servants will be SEALED.

Remember Abraham asking God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there were only 10 people that were God's in the cities?  None were worthy of sealing and ONLY Lot and his wife, along with two virgin daughters were spared- and then his wife turned back to Sodom. 

Before God destroys He will SEAL those that are His. He spares those that are His. God doesn't call for the destruction of the good along with the evil in the final judgment. Those that are God's will be sealed before the time of trouble hits. Does this mean they won't suffer? Absolutely NOT! It means they are God's and Satan can no longer touch their eternal life.

We know the time of trouble is coming, we've been watching all the signs, we've been praying for our Savior to return. We know that it will come to pass. Belonging to God is EVERYTHING!

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

We've been discussing the book 'Cost of Discipleship' by Bonhoeffer.  So far we have been shown over and over that we are expected to obey even after we've received the grace of our Savior.  Reading this verse here about the Lord knowing them that are his- THOSE WHO DEPART FROM INIQUITY, we are again being shown that we much SHUN evil, shun sin, shun all iniquity.  We cannot be complacent with our besetting sins!

We cannot say, 'Oh well, that's how I am and I'm not changing.'  If we say that or anything like that then we are not departing from iniquity at all! We are stating that we are sinners involved in a besetting sin and we aren't going to stop committing that sin it has too great a hold over us. We are giving in to SATAN and his claim that God is not just!  Our God is JUST and our God WILL give us victory but He'd not going to take away our power of choice to do so.  You cannot give up your power of choice, but must daily choose to follow Christ. Daily, hourly, minutely CHOOSE to follow Christ. 

Whenever we are confronted by the choice to sin or not sin  (because it is always a choice) we have to ask ourselves if we are choosing Satan or Christ.  We KNOW if we choose to sin we are choosing Satan. 

We don't WANT to ask ourselves this question though. We'd much rather not even think about the question. We don't even want to think about the choice because we are accountable then- but so to are we accountable for NOT wanting to think about the choice.

Satan would have us be his and he'll stop at nothing to that end.

'Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

This is BIBLICAL! This isn't me speaking those words!

We must depart from iniquity and we depart from iniquity when we obey the moral law of our GOD!

Do we long to be sealed as Christ's?

Then we must BE CHRIST'S!

All by HIS GRACE!

'We must get into action and obey'

Chapter 2 - The Call to Discipleship  (continued)

The following encounter between Jesus and the lawyer is another example of someone trying to tempt Jesus into a religious debate, rather than someone seeking honest truth in order to obey.  In this example it says outright that the lawyer was tempting Jesus- his intentions obviously not good ones.

Luk 10:25  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Luk 10:26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Luk 10:28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Luk 10:29  But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Bonhoeffer has this to say about those who live to dispute, debate, and generally do all they can to question the truth rather than obey it.

Bonhoeffer- ' The first round is already lost, so the lawyer must try again. Like the rich young man, he tries to escape by raising his moral difficulties. "And who is my neighbor?" How often has this question been asked since, in good faith and genuine ignorance! It is plausible enough and any earnest seeker of truth could reasonably ask it. But this is not the way the lawyer meant it. Jesus parries the question as a temptation of the devil, and that in fact is the whole point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is the sort of question you can keep on asking without ever getting an answer. Its source lies in the "wrangling of men, corrupted in mind and bereft of truth"; of men "doting about questionings and disputes of words." From it "cometh envy, strife, railings, even surmising's" (I Tim. 6:4). It is the question of men who are puffed up, men who are "ever learning, and never able to come to knowledge of the truth." Of men "holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof" (II Tim. 3:5). They cannot believe, and they keep on asking this same question because they are "branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:2), because they refuse to obey the Word of God, Who is my neighbor? Does this question admit of any answer? Is it my kinsman, my compatriot, my brother Christian, or my enemy? There is an element of truth and falsehood in each of these answers. The whole question lands us into doubt and disobedience, and it is a veritable act of rebellion against the commandment of God. Of course, I say, I want to do his will, but he does not tell me how to se about it. The commandment does not give me any clear directions, and does nothing to solve my problems. The question "What shall I do?" was the lawyers first attempt to throw dust in his own eyes. The answer was: "You know the commandments, do you not? Well then, put them into practice. You must not ask questions-- get on with the job!"  And the final question "Who is my neighbor?" is the parting shot of despair (or else of self-confidence); the lawyer is trying to justify his disobedience. The answer is: "You are the neighbor. Go along and try to be obedient by loving others." Neighborliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves. Every moment and every situation challenges us to action and to obedience. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is our neighbor or not. We must get into action and obey--we must behave like a neighbor to him. But perhaps this shocks you. Perhaps you still think you ought to think out beforehand and know what you ought to do. To that there is only one answer. You can only know and think about it by actually doing it. You can only learn what obedience is by actually doing it.  You can only learn what obedience is by obeying. It is no use asking questions; for it is only through obedience that you come to learn the truth.

With our consciences distracted by sin, we are confronted by the call of Jesus to spontaneous obedience. But whereas the rich young man was called to the grace of discipleship, the lawyer, who sought to tempt him, was only sent back to the commandment.'

MY THOUGHTS-

People love the idea of loving a God they can control, a God they dictate terms to, a God who they decide is only truly concerned with their 'TRYING' to lead a 'GOOD' life and nothing more.  They love having a God in their back pockets, someone to pray to whenever the mood strikes and is expected to listen at all times. The love the God who placates them. That old fire and brimstone God preached from the pulpits is outdated and transformed and has been for a long, long time. Extremism in any form makes for a God of their choosing.  And more often than not, the God we say we believe in, ends up being far from real. People love to call God a fable, and it's no wonder so many do when people have spent many, many years, even a couple millenniums offering up their versions of God rather than the TRUTH of God.

This is when people JUMP into the conversation and begin to ask questions like- 'Who can know what's truth?', 'Isn't it all just a matter of private interpretation?', 'What does it matter as long as you believe?'  And on and on. They want to trip you up, they want to bring their evil surmising's and such into play all because the very bottom line is- THEY DO NOT WANT TO OBEY.  Make up your own God and forget about having to OBEY.  It's NO wonder at all whatsoever that Jesus is going to say to many people in the day of His return that He never knew them. He couldn't possibly know them because they've NEVER truly been His at all in any way, shape, or form. They've allowed themselves to be deluded, deceived, damned by the devil himself, all because the idea of TRULY OBEYING goes against the kind of God they want to believe in.

I'm not telling you to make God your old fashioned, fire and brimstone preacher- because like I mentioned earlier, extremism is wrong in both directions- cream puff, marsh mellowy and malleable as well as rigid rock, fire, and damnation without any compassion at all. 

God is what He says He is… love.

Love is God.

And our God says these words-

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Keep them.

Not- just learn them.

Not-just recite them.

Not- just keep one or two.

Not- make up your own versions and keep them.

Not-just think about them.

Not-abandon them.

KEEP THEM.

And that is an action- the keeping.

These aren't piece of stone we shove under our beds and keep hidden, these are living, breathing commandments of living! These are commandments meant to be lived by.  These commandments are to be a PART of us, a part of our daily lives as surely as our breathing is. These commandments are supposed to be kept with every beat of our heart.

Why did the rich young ruler and the certain lawyer ever question what they are to do to inherit eternal life? They did it because God's love wasn't fully realized in them in His commandments. They didn't take the commandments to heart or else the rich ruler would have already been using his wealth to LOVE His neighbors so much so his wealth wouldn't have been a barrier to the realized love of the SAVIOR. The lawyer would know that his neighbor included all his fellowman and not those of his own choosing, if he were obeying, if he were keeping the moral law of God in his heart of hearts. Way too many people carrying on believing as their parents believed, never making their belief a real, personal thing at all. Generations of people continue on performing rituals- physical, spiritual, and mental rituals that hold not a single shred of LOVE, of GOD.  They live God-less lives because the God they claim to be worshipping is a false god, nothing like God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit- three who fully agree as ONE.

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Obeying.

'We must get into action and obey'

By the GRACE of GOD!