Skip to main content

Death...

             Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8)

 

            This passage reminds me of I Corinthians 13:1-4 and the passage in which Jesus warns people that they may say tell Him all about how much good they did, and He will say “Away from me. I never knew you.” It also reminds me of horror movies. Even if you haven’t seen them  you’ve heard enough about them to know – the vampire or zombie are “undead,” meaning that they have the appearance of life without actually being alive. It doesn’t seem kind to say it but there are a lot of people out there who are vampires and zombies. Some of them claim to be Christians. Some of them may be “nice people” or even perform great deeds. That’s not what makes them alive.

            This passage tells us that the mind governed by the flesh is death. In a physical sense, if there is no brain or heart activity, we say the person is dead. There’s no judgment of the person involved in the statement. In the act of grieving, someone may become angry with the dead person for being dead, but the person in question doesn’t have a choice. If they’re dead, they’re dead (Yes, excepting resurrections…) The same is true when there is no spiritual activity. When the person does not respond to the Spirit, he/she is dead. Their body may dance, sing, or even perform miracles, but if they haven’t been made alive by the Spirit, they’re dead. You may as well scream at them for having a collarbone or a stomach. They can’t do it themselves no matter how hard they try.

            The flip side of this is the folks who are alive. It’s not because they’re better. They’re simply alive and it won’t help if they kill themselves because being dead doesn’t make things better. They didn’t make themselves alive. But this is where the passage from Deuteronomy I mentioned the other day comes in. We tend to like to think that when someone becomes a Christian, they are instantaneously perfect and never do anything wrong for the rest of their physical lives. So when we’re less than perfect, we think ourselves showing symptoms of deadness, and other people are likely to agree. But we (and they) need to be careful, because just as the dead can seem alive, so the alive can seem dead. The goal is to become more and more alive. Just as when we have physical symptoms, we go to a physical doctor, so when we have spiritual symptoms, we should go to the Great Physician. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Out of the Depths

  Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.   If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds . (Psalm 130)             I like Mr. Peterson’s interpretation of the first line. “The bottom has fallen out of my life!” Of course, the problem for some of us is the fact that we’re drama queens, and/or we’re weak. Any time anything happens that disturbs our sense of mastery and control, the bottom has fallen out of our lives. If the past couple of days have taught me anything, they’ve t
1 comment
Read more