Cost of Discipleship Pt 55 - Anger

Chapter 9 - The Brother… continued

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Bonhoeffer-  'Anger is always an attack on the brother's life, for it refuses to let him live and aims at his destruction. Jesus will not accept the common distinction between righteous indignation and unjustifiable anger. The disciple must be entirely innocent of anger, because anger is an offence against both God and his neighbor. Every idle word which we think so little of betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his. The anger word is a blow struck at our brother, a stab at his heart: it seeks to hit, to hurt and to destroy. A deliberate insult is even worse, for we are then openly disgracing our brother in the eyes of the world, and causing others to despise him. With our hearts burning with hatred, we seek to annihilate his moral and material existence. We are passing judgment on him, and that is murder. And the murderer will himself be judged.'

My thoughts-

Righteous indignation, unjustifiable anger.

Even as I was copying that paragraph above I was thinking about the last time I was angry with 'my brother' (meaning anyone).  As I thought about it and knew it was just earlier today I was angry over something- some perceived slight by someone, and because it was anger at a slight it was so easy for me to believe it was justifiable anger, it was righteous indignation-- but was it?

We know that Christ became very angry with the moneychangers in the temple- and obviously His anger wasn't a sin.   We know that God can become angry and not sin.

Exo_4:14  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

Moses became angry and sinned not.

Exo_32:19  And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

We know this as well-

Psa_103:8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Now let's look at some of the Proverbs dealing with anger-

Pro_15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Pro_15:18  A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

Pro_16:32  He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

And something from Ecclesiastes-

Ecc_7:9  Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Clearly anger is NOT a good thing for us.

We scarcely give what we call righteous indignation a second glance. We join with others being angry when we perceive they have a right to that anger.

Clearly we are NOT to embrace anger, that it's dangerous, not harmless as some like to believe.

The Bible has more to say --

Eph_4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath

Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

*******

Bonhoeffer- 'Every idle word which we think so little of betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his.'

My thoughts-

So incredibly true.

We have such arrogance in us! We believe we are so incredibly important that we need NOT suffer in any way!  We not only belief that, we believe that we should NEVER be mistreated verbally or mentally, in any way. And truthfully in the world to come, in that PERFECT world we won't undergo any mistreatment. We long for this world and yet, we know that this is not the world where this will take place. This is the world where our perfectly innocent Savior suffered unimaginably.

Not only did our Savior suffer horrors we can't imagine- Him in His innocence- but He did so in SILENCE.

SILENCE!

There was a reason our Savior did NOT cry out and rage against His ill treatment. There is a reason for His stoic behavior in face of His torture. It was an EXAMPLE for US!

Yet we get upset at the littlest of irritations.

How can we? 

And not only how can we, how can we justify that irritation?

How?

We rage and war against the tiniest offense committed against us and Satan is right there in all his horrific , insidious evil urging us on to feel the anger, to feed the anger, to point that anger against any and all who we believe deserve it-- when in truth NONE deserve it!  None!  Even if they torture us for no reason at all, they do not deserve our anger. Our anger immediately has us putting ourselves above them, and above our Savior. If He could suffer undeservedly and not even complain, we have NO right to believe  that we have any right a all to complain. We deserve a lot of our treatment just because we are such incredible sinners, it is Satan who wants us to believe otherwise. Satan wants us to be SELF-RIGHTEOUS. Satan wants us to believe we don't deserve any thing bad happening to us, and we have to fight against it, rail against it, get angrier, and more angrier at the injustice. 

Please LORD, help us to understand! Help us to seek YOU and YOUR example as we live our lives and Satan wars against us.  As You prayed to the Father, please, keep us from evil!

All in YOUR LOVE! ALWAYS LORD, IN YOUR LOVE!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 54 - Our Savior is the heart of the law

Chapter 9 - The Brother

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus is simply picking up the argument where he left off, and affirming his agreement with the law of the Mosaic covenant. But-- and this is where he is at one with the law of God-- he makes it perfectly clear that he, the Son of God, is the Author and Giver of the law. Only those who apprehend the law as the word of Christ are in a position to fulfill it. The heresy of the Pharisees must be excluded at all costs. Only by knowing Christ as the Giver and Fulfiller of the law can we attain to a true knowledge of the law. Christ has laid his hand on the law, and by claiming it for his own, he brings it to fruition.'

My thoughts-

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 8:57  Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Joh 8:58  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

*******

Truly it is Christ's law, He and the Father agree as one on every single commandment given.

The Word was with God in the BEGINNING.

Before Abraham was-  I AM.

Remember this--

Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

And here Jesus is saying in the book of John -  before Abraham was, I am.

Christ was with His Father in the beginning and throughout ALL.  They've never been apart.  So how can ANYONE even imagine the Christ wasn't there as the Ten MORAL Laws were given on Mount Sinai?  He agreed with every single commandment given! He was there as they were etched on those stone tablets! When He became flesh He was still in agreement with those morals laws. This is an indisputable fact. So HOW could He ever do away with them? How? Why would He? Would He have been wrong with any of them? NO! NEVER!

Bonhoeffer- 'Only those who apprehend the law as the word of Christ are in a position to fulfill it.'

TRUTH!

If you choose to follow Christ, you are following His example, you are following the path He followed as much as any human can. You are living as He lived- with the morals He lived by. He NEVER broke a single commandment, never! Only when WE comprehend that our Savior is the author of the Ten Moral Commandments can we truly understand their importance!

Bonhoeffer- ' But while he is in perfect agreement with the law as such, he declares war on all false interpretations of it, and by honouring it he gives himself into the hands of its false devotees.'

False interpretations. There are so many false interpretations of the law.  Our Savior had to tell us the heart of the law because mankind had buried it beneath their selfishness.

Remember this from above-

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

If you are even angry you are in danger!

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Our Savior is the heart of the law!

How many people had others killed without shedding the blood themselves?  David for example. He had Bathsheba's husband sent to the front lines to be killed so he could have Bathsheba.  David was GUILTY as if he'd thrust the sword in the husband's side himself.  How many people like to skirt around laws, they do it all the time. They find mere technicalities and then pat themselves on the back happily because  they've outsmarted the system. 

Well there is NO outsmarting GOD! NO WAY!  God will not be mocked, He will not be deceived, ever!  He knows the innards of our hearts, he knows our intentions!  And Jesus has revealed this to everyone!  We can't take His law and bend it to suit us! We must obey it with love! Treat it as the precious gift it really is!

Please LORD help us! Teach us! Clean our hearts!  Let us know the truth of Your law, the heart of Your law and keep it as You created it to be kept, all by the grace, mercy, and righteousness of our SAVIOR!

In Your LOVE Always!

Cost of Discipleshp Pt 53 Adherence to Christ Means Adherence to God's Law.

Chapter 8 The Righteousness of Christ Continued…

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Bonhoeffer- 'Instead the disciples now learn that genuine adherence to Christ also means adherence to the law of God.

But if Jesus comes between the disciples and the law, he does so not to release them from the duties it imposes, but to validate his demand that they should fulfill it. Just because they are bound to him, they must obey the law as he does. The fact that Jesus has fulfilled the law down to the very last letter does not release them from the same obedience. The law is fulfilled, that is all. But it is precisely this which makes it properly valid for the first time. That is why he who obeys and teaches the law will be great in the kingdom of heaven. "Do and teach": we are reminded that it is possible to teach the law without fulfilling it, to teach it in such a way that it cannot be fulfilled. That sort of teaching has no warrant from Jesus. The law will be obeyed as certainly as he obeyed it himself. If men cleave to him who fulfilled the law and follow him, they will find themselves both teaching and fulfilling the law. Only the doer of the law can remain in communion with Jesus.'

My thoughts-

Our world is filled with Christians who believe the law was done away with. Our world is filled with Christians who believe it doesn't matter a whit what they do, Jesus loves them and will save them in spite of how they continue to live. Our world is filled with Christians who have made up their own feel good religion that has nothing to do with all of Christ's truth. They've taken bits and pieces that please them and suit their lifestyles and that's all she wrote, they need nothing more.

Deceived!

So much comes back to the fact that there will be a whole slew of people who think they are Christ's, but they aren't! 

Shouldn't this fact alone cause us to study God's word and study it hard for all the truth it holds?

Bonhoeffer is stating facts here, Biblical facts. He's saying that Jesus fulfilled the law and by doing  so is teaching us that we too much do the same!

It boggles my mind, it truly does, that people can genuinely believe that the God of the Old Testament somehow changed into a big ol' softy and decided people no longer had to follow His laws. Those moral laws are as everlasting as God, there will NEVER be a time it's okay to lie, cheat, steal, murder, etc..etc.. All ten Commandments remain in effect forever!

Reading the Old Testament for my daily Bible reading has only revealed more and more how exacting God is, not WAS, but IS! He's NOT to be trifled with!  Constantly every 10, 20, 30, 40 years God's chosen people would turn away from Him, disobeying His laws, choosing to have other gods before Him, and they'd suffer for their decision as God tried desperately over and over to get His people to understand that only in Him is there truly life.  Judge after judge would rise up and bring the people back to God, but then they'd stray.  The danger in abandoning the law is extreme.  In truth we ABANDON Christ when we abandon His law.

More from Bonhoeffer- 'No one who failed to do the law could be accounted righteous. But the disciple had the advantage over the Pharisee in that his doing of the law is in fact perfect. How is such a thing possible? Because between the disciples and the law stands one who has perfectly fulfilled it, one with whom they live in communion. They are faced not with a law which has never yet been fulfilled, but with one whose demands have already been satisfied. The righteousness is demands is already there, the righteousness of Jesus which submits to the cross because that is what the law demands. This righteousness is therefore not a duty owed, but a perfect and truly personal communion with God, and Jesus not only possesses this righteousness, but is himself the personal embodiment of it. He is the righteousness of the disciples. By calling them He has admitted them to partnership with himself, and made them partakers of his righteousness in its fullness. That is what Jesus means when he prefaces his teaching on the "better righteousness" with reference to his own fulfillment of the law. Of course the righteousness of the disciples can never be a personal achievement; it is always a gift, which they received when they were called to follow him. In fact their righteousness consists precisely in their following him, and in the beatitudes the reward of the kingdom of heaven has been promised to it. It is a under the cross, it belongs only to the poor, the tempted, the hungry, the meek , the peacemakers, the persecute-- who endure their lot for the sake of Jesus; it is the visible righteousness of those who for the sake of Jesus are the light of the world and the city set on the hill. This is where the righteousness of the disciple exceeds that of the Pharisees; it is grounded solely upon the call to fellowship with him who alone fulfills the law. Their righteousness is righteousness indeed, for from henceforth they do the will of God and fulfill the law themselves. Again, it is not enough to teach the law of Christ, it must be DONE, otherwise it is no better than the old law. In what follows the disciples are told how to practice this righteousness of Christ. In a word it means following him. It is the REAL and ACTIVE FAITH in the righteousness of CHRIST. It is the new law, the law of CHRIST. '

My thoughts-

Our Savior lived the LAW - the OLD TESTAMENT MORAL LAW perfectly!  He did NOT invent some new law to fulfill. He came and PROVED it was possible to fulfill the law of God and WE THROUGH HIM can live it too!

As I mentioned earlier it seemed impossible for God's chose people to follow His laws for long, they were trying to do it in their own righteousness. Only those who placed their faith in GOD, could keep His law.

When we say Jesus was sinless, we mean, Jesus did not break a single moral law given to the people of God to follow. He followed all the laws perfectly! He never coveted! He never lied! He never broke the Sabbath! He always honored His mother and father! He never stole! He never committed adultery! He never took God's name in vain! He never put another before God! He never bowed down to any idol! He never murdered!

You might sit there and be able to say that you've never down most of those things, but in truth, you've done some of them.  For even our thoughts of doing them betray us. The Pharisees could lay claim to keeping them all, but in truth their hearts, their thoughts condemned them, and Jesus exposed this fact.

It's the same for us, we are betrayed by our own thoughts and hearts!  This is why we must constantly seek forgiveness, and lay claim by faith to Christ's righteousness, a better righteousness!  

To say the law was done away with, any part of it, is to negate the keeping of it all in every point by our Savior.

Please LORD, help us to teach and do Your law, through Your righteousness, and only through Your righteousness! Help us be Your true disciples!  All by YOUR grace and mercy, YOUR love! Our hope is in YOU, all in YOU!

Love us, know us, Lord! Please!

Bible Study - Fill in the blank.

If you need a Bible on your computer this is the one - E-Sword    http://www.e-sword.net/

(Prayer, Meditation, Watching)



Psa 65:2  O thou that _______ prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.



Heb.  11:6  But without _____ it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must _______ that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently ____ him.



Mat 7:11  If ye then, being  ____, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your ______ which is in heaven give good things to them that ___ him?



Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own ___, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely ____ us ___ things?



Mat 7:7  ___, and it shall be given you; ____, and ye shall find; _____, and it shall be opened unto you:

Mat 7:8  For every one that ______ receiveth; and he that _______ findeth; and to him that ________ it shall be opened.



Jas 1:17  Every ____ gift and every _______ gift is from _____, and cometh down from the _______ of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.



Jas 1:5  If any of you ____ wisdom, let him ___ of God, that ______ to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it _____ be given him.



Jas 1:6  But let him ___ in faith, _______ wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Jas 1:7  For let ___ that man think that he shall _______ any thing of the Lord.



Mar 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye _______, when ye ____, _______ that ye receive them, and ye shall ____ them.



Psa 66:18  If I regard ________ in my heart, the Lord will ___ hear me:



Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it ______ save; neither his ear _____, that it cannot hear:

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have _________ between you and your God, and your ____ have hid his face from you, that he will ___ _____.



Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and _____ not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Cost of Discipleship Pt 52 - Satan doesn't want anyone to believe in God's moral law

Chapter 8 The Righteousness of Christ Continued…

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Bonhoeffer- 'But there is a "better righteousness" which is expected of Christian. Without it none can enter into the kingdom of heaven, for it is the indispensable condition of discipleship. None can have this better righteousness but those to whom Christ is speaking here, those whom he has called. The call of Christ, in fact Christ himself, is the sine qua non of this better righteousness.'

(((Sine qua non (/ˌsaɪnɨ kweɪ ˈnɒn/; Latin: [ˈsine kwaː ˈnoːn])[1] or condicio sine qua non (plural: condiciones sine quibus non) refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. It was originally a Latin legal term for "[a condition] without which it could not be," or "but for..." or "without which [there is] nothing".

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sine_qua_non> ))))

My thoughts-  Without Christ there truly is NOTHING.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus manifests his perfect union with the will of God as revealed in the Old Testament law and prophets. He has in fact nothing to add to the commandments of God, except this, that he keeps them.  He fulfills the law down to the last iota. But that means that he must die, he alone understands the true nature of the law as God's law: the law is not itself God, nor is God the law. It was the error of Israel to put the law in God's place, to make the law their God and their God a law. The disciples were confronted with the opposite danger of denying the law its divinity altogether and divorcing God from his law. Both errors lead to the same result.

By confounding God and the law, the Jews were trying to use the law to exploit the Law-giver: He was swallowed up in the law and therefore no longer its Lord. By imagining that God and the law could be divorced from one another, the disciples were trying to exploit God by their possession of salvation. In both cases, the gift was confounded with the Giver: God was denied equally, whether it was with the help of the law, or with the promise of salvation.'

My thoughts- TRUTH! Such remarkable truth! So many today want to throw the law away, many more than I suppose want to keep it as their God, but truthfully I can see how that can happen as well, even today.

Continuing with Bonhoeffer- 'Confronted with these twin errors, Jesus vindicates divine authority of the law. God is its giver and its Lord, and only in  personal communion with God is the law fulfilled. There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God, and no communion with God apart from fulfillment of the law. To forget the first condition was the mistake of the Jews, and to forget the second the temptation of the disciples.'

My thoughts- This is so true. We want to forget this truth in favor of the much touted - the old law it done away with. Far be it from people to comprehend that the ceremonial law and the moral law of God were separate. The veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, without hands, the temple where the rituals- where the ceremonial laws were carried out. Sacrifices were made upon altars, blood was shed all examples of the more perfect Sacrifice that was made by our Savior, Jesus Christ. His blood was not shed upon the altar of the temple, it couldn't be. That temple was a shadow, an example of the heavenly, it wasn't the true.  Christ was the true Sacrifice, the true ceremonial law realized. The sins that came into being after Eve and Adam fell in the Garden of Eden needed to be forgiven. A realization of the result of sin was known. A way was made to bring man and God back into communion. The sin existed and a way to find forgiveness created. The sin existed because man broke the moral laws.  Eve broke the moral law. Eve put another before God. Eve didn't break some mysterious law that none of can know about. Every single sin is a result of breaking God's moral law in one way or another.  So to say it was done away with means that there should be no more ability to sin and yet we've kept right on sinning, and sinning, and sinning.  The moral law has not disappeared it stands today and will stand forever because it is God's truth!

Bonhoeffer speaks truth when he says- '...only in personal communion with God is the law fulfilled.  There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God, and no communion with God apart from the fulfillment of the law.'

How can anyone believe otherwise? How?

Satan has used great deception to get people to believe things that are not true. He could care less if you belong to a church, as long as it is a church filled with his deceptions. Make a stand for Christ, Satan is all for it, as long as it isn't based on Christ's truth, but rather Satan's lies. Truly Satan has made himself into an angel of light, people worshiping his lies over God's holy truth.

This isn't about us, it's about God, our Creator, our Redeemer.  Life means NOTHING without them, NOTHING! We can go about trying to say life is all about this, that, or the other thing, but that's what Satan wants. As long as he has us looking to ourselves and not to God, he has us!

REMEMBER and NEVER FORGET--  If you believe in God you HAVE to believe in Satan. You cannot believe in God, if you do not believe in Satan, because God tells us all about this battle between good and evil and it's real! We are evidence of its reality.  There is NO way this was how life was supposed to be for us, NO WAY. And if you choose to believe that this was how it was all meant to be, then I feel very sorry for you. To live believing that life simply is about suffering and pain, with some happiness thrown in, allows for no hope at all, none. We have hope in a world without any of this pain and suffering, it's not this world, not now. It will be in our world made new. Until that time, until Christ returns to take His people to heaven, Satan will be working as hard as he can to keep all he can from living the truth in Christ.

We simply cannot separate the law from God or God from the law, and to do so is to be under Satan's thumb, a slave to him and his lies.

By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we comprehend all His TRUTH! He wants us to know He is the all in all and the law He is Lord of it truth, His most amazing TRUTH!

All in HIS LOVE, ALWAYS, HIS LOVE!

The Cost of Discipleship pt 51 The Law, the Truth!

Chapter 8 The Righteousness of Christ

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Bonhoeffer-  But Jesus says" "You must not imagine that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets…"  And so saying he vindicates the authority of the law of the old covenant. "

"The law Jesus refers to is the law of the old covenant, not a new law, but the same law which he quoted to the rich young man and the lawyer when they wanted to know the revealed will of God. It becomes a new law only because it is Christ who binds his followers to it. For Christians, therefore, the law is not a "better law" than that of the Pharisees, but one and the same; every letter of it, every jot and tittle, must remain in force and be observed until the end of the world.'

My thoughts-

So many people believe that the old covenant law was done away with. They confuse the ceremonial law and the moral law. They want to believe the moral law was done away with and they have no obligation to it whatsoever, therefore they can break it because it doesn't exist any longer. 

HOW can anyone believe the same GOD with GOD in beginning, who lowered Himself and took on human flesh would ever desire to do away with the moral law that HE with His Father- God with God- created?  They are in complete agreement, they agree as ONE. Just as we can agree as one with others when we both agree on the exact same thing.  They agree as ONE.  They always have and always will- there is NEVER any derision between Jesus and His Father. So how can this MORAL law ever be done away with? How?

Remember there is no sin without the law because sin is the transgression of the law. So unless you believe there is no more sin, you have to believe there is a law, God's law, the moral law.

Bonhoeffer said- "It becomes a new law only because it is Christ who binds his followers to it."

Christ reaffirmed the power of the law through His very life and His disciples must use Jesus as an example of their own lives.

Bonhoeffer also said- "For Christians, therefore, the law is NOT a "better law" than that of the Pharisees, but ONE and the SAME; every letter of it, every jot and tittle, must remain in force and be observed until the END of the WORLD."

My thoughts-  STRONG words! But they need to be strong!  It's too easy for us to make excuses!

We love to makes excuses for our sins so we can keep on sinning without feeling guilty.

The law points to our sins. The law tells us that lying is wrong. The law tells us that coveting is wrong. The law tells us stealing is wrong. The law tells us these things are SINS!  They aren't things we can overlook. Sin is never something that can be overlooked. Sin is evil, at its core it is pure evil. We have trained ourselves to think it's nothing at all, let alone evil. Nothing. The very thing that separates us from God completely, and we say it means nothing.

Bonhoeffer says - 'Every jot and tittle, MUST REMAIN IN FORCE and be OBSERVED UNTIL THE END of the WORLD.'

This man is speaking truth, because it's BIBLICAL TRUTH, it's CHRIST'S TRUTH!

And if it is Christ's truth it is OUR truth if we are truly His disciples!

Please Lord, help us to realize all Your truth. Please Lord, don't let Satan deceive us to the point that we are allowed to be blind to Your truth.  Don't let him deceive us at all!  Help us Lord, only by  Your grace and mercy do we live at all!

All glory to YOU GOD! All glory to YOU!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 50 All glory to God!

Chapter 7 The Visible Community

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Continuing from yesterday…

Bonhoeffer- 'The call of Christ makes those who respond to it the salt of the earth in their total existence.'

'The call of Jesus Christ means either that we are the salt of the earth, or else we are annihilated; either we follow the call or we are crushed beneath it. There is no question of a second chance.'

My thoughts.

Today it's really been sticking with me, thinking about yesterday's blog. Not only is Satan the walking, living dead, but everyone who rejects the offer of Salvation in Jesus Christ truly desiring to be His disciple NOT under cheap grace, but costly grace, are the living dead as well.

I was talking to my son about it today a bit, and he mentioned the show 'The Walking Dead.' It's a popular zombie television show. We discussed how amused Satan must be by the depiction of what man considers zombies- the dead still living in a very altered state which makes them prey on other non-living dead humans.  I've never watched the show but I've seen my share of zombie movies going way back. I believe it amuses Satan to no end because the truth is that he has a whole slew of zombies of his own. They are the living dead, just as He is and they prey upon others who are NOT living dead, seeking to turn them into the living dead as well-- all in a very real, very spiritual sense.

When we read Bonhoeffer saying-'The call of Christ makes those who respond to it the salt of the earth in their total existence.' We are reading truth, because Christ is the salt, Christ is what keeps us alive, and Christ must be in our TOTAL EXISTENCE not merely on the occasion that we happen to think of Him.  He is the CENTER of our lives, the LIFE FORCE of our Spiritual, Physical existence. Without Christ we are absolutely NOTHING, we are dead- just like salt that has lost it's savor is dead. It still exists, but it's useless, it flavors nothing. It might look like it is good, but it's not. We too can look like we are very healthy spiritual creatures living for our Savior, but the truth can be far different. He who knows whether or not we still retain our spiritual savor can tell the difference. We might fool everyone around us into believing we are something we are not. It might sound good on Bible study night, but come the next day we are back to living a life putting self first, and Christ somewhere else.

This is the truth- Bonhoeffer- ''The call of Jesus Christ means either that we are the salt of the earth, or else we are annihilated; either we follow the call or we are crushed beneath it. There is no question of a second chance.'

No question of a second chance, no question of living somewhere in between. If our salt loses it's savor every now and again, it's a HUGE deal.  We can't be partially savory salt and partially savorless salt. We are, or we aren't. We are Christ's or we aren't.

*

Continuing…

Bonhoeffer- '"Ye are the light."  Once again it is not "You are to be the light," they are ALREADY the light because Christ has called them, they are a light which is seen of men, they cannot be otherwise, and if they were it would be a sign that they had not been called.'

'The same Jesus who, speaking of himself, said, "I am the light," says to his followers: "You are the light in your whole existence, provided you remain faithful to your calling. And since you are that light, you can no longer remain hidden, even if you want to. It is the property of the light to shine.'

'Now they must be what they really are--otherwise they are not followers of Jesus. The followers are a visible community; their discipleship visible in action which lifts them out of the world-- otherwise it would not be discipleship. And of course the following is as visible to the world as a light in the darkness or a mountain rising from a plain.'

My thoughts-- 

The same principle as the salt. Being the light as Christ is the light means our total existence is to be HIS. If we truly are HIS, we will be HIS without being anything else.  You won't have to worry about being savory or shining, because you will be automatically. As a true disciple- this is truth! As a false disciple there are a lot of things you will be- even mingled with a false light and false savor so that you may THINK you are truly Christ's, but you are not.

*

Continuing…

Bonhoeffer- Is it in this light that the good works of the disciples are meant to be seen. Men are not to see the disciples but their good works, says Jesus. And these works are none other than those which the Lord Jesus himself has created in them by calling them to be the light of the world under the shadow of his cross. The good works are poverty, preregrination (traveling),  meekness, peaceableness, and finally persecution and rejection.  All these good works are a bearing of the cross of Jesus Christ.  The cross is the strange light which alone illuminates these good works of the disciples. Jesus does not say that men will see God;  they will see the good works and GLORIFY God for them.  The cross and the works of the cross, the poverty and renunciation of the blessed in the beatitudes, these are the things which will become visible. Neither the cross, nor their membership in such a community betoken any merit of their own-- the praise is due to GOD ALONE.  If the good works were a galaxy of human virtues, we should then have to glorify the disciples, not God. But there is nothing for us to glorify in the disciple who bears the cross, or in the community whose light so shines because it stands visibly on the hill-- only the Father which is in heave can be praised for the "good works." It is by seeing the cross and the community beneath it that men come to believe in God. But that is the light of the Resurrection.'

My thoughts-

The good works are NOT the things the world considers good works, not really.  I can't count the number of times that people have told me I need to be more assertive, more aggressive. And I'm not saying this presuming to have any great meekness (only by the grace of God will I ever have that through the grace and righteousness, the meekness of our Savior.)  But I'm saying this to emphasize the point that being meek is NOT considered a good work.  Being persecuted and facing rejection, is NOT something people truly believe is a good work.  Living a life for Christ is seldom, if ever, glorified by the world.  Those who do glorify God when they see these works manifested in those disciples of His on earth, comprehend that it is CHRIST in those men and women, living in them. They know it's NOT any goodness on that person's part at all, but it is the glory of God manifest in the works.

All our works whatever they are, are a result of GOD, not of anything we've manifested of ourselves. To GOD be the GLORY always!

If anyone ever glorifies God because they've seen His works manifested in us, all PRAISE TO OUR SAVIOR for such a honor, to be HIS disciple, to be USED by HIM, to LIVE by HIM and have Him live through us!  We NEED NO GLORY, NONE! All GLORY TO GOD!