LOVE: WHY DO WE REBEL AGAINST IT?

Do you ever rebel against love?

Do you think that it is good for you to love other people? How often do you think that God wants you to take a break from loving other people? Is it good to get impatient, frustrated or angry toward other people? Can you remember having a bad reaction toward someone in the past year? Why do you think you had that bad reaction? Ponder this a moment before reading further.   

Haley’s Conversation of Surprises

Recently Haley stopped by the free book table at USU and joined conversation with Kyle and me. Both spoke like active Mormons. I commonly get at our rebellion and our need for Christ by asking about a person's experience of struggling to love others. Here is the sense of our conversation that revealed to her surprises in her heart (understanding). This reflects very many conversations I have had the past 2 years. 

Read along as if you were Haley.

Me: Do you ever struggle in loving others?

Haley: Sometimes.

Me: Do you know why you struggle?

Haley: I am an imperfect person.

Me: That sounds like an excuse to me. I know why you have done every evil thing you have ever done. You know it too but don't realize that you know it. Would you like to hear what I mean?

Haley: Yes, I would.

Me: It is easier to understand this matter if we evaluate our experience. Theoretical conversation often leaves us confused. Here is a simple example that has helped me. 

The sun and moon illustration

Me: The sun and moon both light our world, but shine for different reasons. What is the difference?

Haley: The sun has its own light, but the moon only reflects the light from the sun.

Me: How much light of its own does the moon have?

Haley: None.

Me: Even though the moon has no light of its own it does a good job lighting our world. We get the benefit. The moon’s role is to be a reflector of light. The sun's role is to be a source of light. Isn't this what we learned in school?

Haley: Yes

Me: I suggest that this can help us understand our role in life. God is good. He is the source of all goodness and created the world in a good way to display his goodness. He created us in his image to be in a good relationship with him where we would live in his goodness and shine out his goodness in all directions. This keeps pride out of life. Do you like this illustration?

Haley: Yes, it makes sense to me.

Me: There is a difference between the moon and us. The moon is not a person. Light simply reflects off of its surface. The moon doesn’t think about it. But we are people who live from the heart. God’s goodness and love flow from our hearts while we are properly focused on his love and goodness. 

How do we shine out God's love?

Me: Here is how it works. Can you think of a recent time when you got irritated, impatient or frustrated with someone?  We all have these experiences.

Haley: I am thinking of one.

Me: Don't tell me about it. Just keep that experience in mind.

Haley: Okay.

Me: Let’s start simple. Do you believe in God?

Haley: Yes.

Me: Do you believe that God is love?

Haley: Yes.

Me: Do you believe that God showed his love by sending Jesus to die for your sins?

Haley: Yes.

Me: For all your sins?

Haley: Yes.

Me: So, all your sins are forgiven?

Haley: Yes.

Me: That is wonderful. Do you ever beat yourself up for your failures? 

Haley: Very often. 

Me: Is God's love only for you or for other people, too?

Haley: God loves everyone and Jesus died for everyone. 

Me: Did Jesus die so that everyone could be completely forgiven?

Haley: Yes.

Me: We are on the same page. Go back to your experience of being irritated. Does God love that person and did Jesus die to take away all that person's sins?

Haley: Yes.

Me: Are you sure?

Haley: Positive.

Me: While you were irritated at that person, were you thinking about how much God loved her and that Jesus died to forgive all her sins?

Haley: (with a surprised look) No, I wasn't, but I should have been.

Me: Everyone tells me that. They should have been thinking love but weren't. 

The experience of remembering Jesus' death for sinners

Let's say that one day you were praying for that person who gets under your skin and thanking God for loving her and sending Jesus to die to take away all her sins. And let's say that while you were praying this way, the woman came up to you and did the thing that often irritates you. While you were praying or thinking this, do you think that you would have gotten irritated? 

Haley: (in surprise) No, not while I was thinking that. But I might forget easily.

Me: Isn't that interesting. While you are thinking of God's love, you don't get irritated. I have asked many people about this and they all describe the same experience. 

The experience of seeing people properly

Me: There is one other surprise about Jesus that helps us understand our experience of not loving others. Is it good for you to look down on me so that you can feel good about yourself?

Haley: No.

Me: Is it good for me to look down on you so that I can feel good about myself?

Haley: You should not do it either. No one should, but everybody does it.

Me: That is painful but true. Then how should we compare ourselves?

Haley: We should look up and compare ourselves to Jesus.

Me: That is good to do, but our pride doesn’t like it. Is it ever okay to lower the standard from Jesus?

Haley: No. We should never do that.

Me: I agree with you completely. Go back to your experience of irritation. While you were irritated, were you comparing that person to Jesus?

Haley: (in surprise) No. I was thinking about what she did wrong.

The experience of forgetting love

Me: You simply forgot that your place in life was to see that God manages her through love. The situation needed to be managed and you took matters into your own hands, lowering the standard and managing her through rules. It gets ugly when we do this. And we do this more that we realize. Our bad reactions always have this same cause. Jesus reveals the love of God through his perfection and death in our place. While we are remembering these two things, God's management through love overflows from our hearts. And it works this way for everyone else too.

Why is it easy to forget love?

Me: Here is the reason that we so easily forget God’s way. Go back to our illustration of the sun and moon. The moon shines brightly unless something happens. What can stop the moon from shining? 

Haley: When there is an eclipse. 

Me: For us the problem is different. No one else can block light from us. But we can self-eclipse. we can block the light from ourselves by forgetting our proper place of dependence on God’s goodness and love. We are made in God’s image and feel deeply his imprint that it is good to be a source of goodness. But that is his role in life. It isn’t yours, or mine or anyone else’s. We thrive when we are satisfied with our role as receivers of love and goodness. While we are satisfied this way, we overflow properly with his love and goodness to those around us, even while they are causing us trouble. But when we get tricked into forgetting our role, then we can have bad reactions.

The experience of self-condemnation

Let’s go back to something you said earlier. You said that Jesus died for you and that you are completely forgiven. Am I remembering correctly?

Haley: Yes, that is true.

Me: Has Jesus taken all your condemnation, shame, and guilt?

Haley: YesHH

Me: Has he taken all your beatings?

Haley: Yes

Me: It sound like you believe that Jesus is enough for you for all of life.

Haley: He is enough for me.

Me: I really like what you are saying. But if Jesus is enough for you for everything, and has taken all your beatings, condemnation, and shame, then why did you tell me that you often beat yourself up for your failings?

Haley: (surprised and embarrassed) I don’t know.

Me: (smiling) You forgot Jesus and in forgetting Jesus you tried to do his job. You were pretending to be God. This is really bad. Jesus took all your beatings and you believed the lie that there are some left for you to carry. Right?

Haley: (smiling) Yes

A testimony of how we experience change

Me: It is not good to believe this lie but we all do sometimes. I suggest that you are too weak to change, but there is hope because God wants to change you. Your job is simple—to trust him to do it by you remembering who Jesus is for you. The most natural way to remember is to pray without asking. Here is a testimony I wrote about my friend Pat, who was diagnosed with three mental illnesses and was nearly always super depressed. He read the Bible much and memorized many verses, but couldn’t escape his depression. He was so depressed that some people felt depressed just being around him. After many years of seeking to encourage him, in 2000 I gave him a piece of paper containing four Bible verses simplified into a prayer of thankfulness for who Jesus is for him. I told him to pray that daily. He said he couldn’t because it was too hard. But he somehow began to pray it. After five months he began to smile and now after 18 years he is consistently cheerful and seeks out discouraged people to encourage them. Please take a copy and follow his simple example. Pray as often as you want, thanking God for what you told me is true. Don’t ask for anything. Just thank God something like this. “Father, thank you that Jesus is enough for me for all of life. Thank you that Jesus carries all my sins. Thank you that Jesus has taken all my shame, guilt and beatings.” As the months go by you may notice that your mind more easily goes to what Jesus has done for you.

The beauty of self-honesty

Haley: I have been thanking God for my family, friends and church…

(beginning to cry) but I have forgotten to thank him for what Jesus has done for me.

Me:  Don’t beat yourself up. Simply start today thanking God for who Jesus is for you. He is enough for you for all of life.

Haley: Please may I take Pat’s story?

Me: Yes of course. You likely know someone else who struggles with self-condemnation, with whom you could share the story after you begin practicing it. We need each other. I am glad for our conversation. I am here on Wednesdays in good weather. Feel free to come downtown to Oasis Books inside the Great Harvest Bakery if you want to talk on other days.

Note: Haley left happy, with two books and Pat’s testimony.

HOLINESS IS A WAY OF SEEING LIFE

Holiness is about being set apart, about being different. 
The question is: set apart and different from what?

Two Ways of Life

There are two sources of wisdom: heaven and this world. We can read about this in the Letter of James. We can also read it in intuitive human knowledge since it relates to what it means to be a person. Holiness is the label for heavenly wisdom. Worldliness is the label for the wisdom of this world. Holiness is the theme of the letter of James, which describes the war between these two ways of wisdom. God's wisdom and true holiness are all about perfect love--that only moral perfection is good and that Jesus died to offer it as a gift apart from personal righteousness. Worldliness is all about moral manageability, the compromise of moral perfection. Moral compromise is the lowering of moral standards from perfection. The only reason this is done--consciously or unconsciously--is to honor human striving. 

Counterfeit Worldliness 

Worldliness is a counterfeit way of wisdom. Worldliness is counterfeit holiness. And surprisingly, worldliness declares that there is a worldliness to be avoided. It is what my culture is all about. We Christians don't have a corner on using the word worldliness. My non-Christian friends talk about avoiding it. Since worldliness is a way of thinking, and since it is manageability (rather than true holiness), it declares that moral laziness is the enemy. It declares that the conflict in life is between laziness and moral diligence. Notice that both of these are about human effort. They differ only in degree.

We Live Only in the Present Moment

We live in time in the current moment. As Christians we have our life in Christ outside of time. That life we have in Christ is real. We are called to live that life out in time in the present moment. Even when we make plans for the future, we are doing so in the present moment. Our past does affect out present, but we live in the present moment only. True holiness is thinking God's way about life in the present moment. This includes thinking about the past in a good way and thinking about the future in a good way. Proper thinking about life in the present moment honors both the individual aspects of goodness and that goodness is a seamless whole--that goodness is all or nothing. There is great freedom in embracing these two realities: 

1. We live life in the current moment only.
2. Goodness is all or nothing.

Do you embrace these two realities that are critical if we are to embrace God's wisdom, His holiness?

Counterfeit Holiness

Worldliness is the shepherding of behavior rather than the shepherding of the heart. Worldliness sees falsely that behavior is the point of holiness. This counterfeit holiness sees that behavior can be addressed directly. Every time you are impatient, frustrated, or angry at other people for their behavior--every time--your sinful responses are a result of embracing the worldly wisdom, the counterfeit holiness, that behavior can be addressed directly without going through the heart. 

Jesus declared that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. He then lists bad behavior and bad words. Do you agree with Jesus that the heart is the source of all bad behavior? If you agree with Jesus, then why does bad behavior distress you? Of course bad behavior is wrong, but it is only a symptom of a bad heart. Your distress is an indication that you have been tricked to focus on the fruit and not the root of the problem. The fruit simply reveals that there is a root problem in the heart that needs to be addressed. Why not deal with the root? When I had cancer, the appropriate action was to entrust the surgeon to cut out the cancer. Focusing on stopping the symptoms would have been a foolish solution. In the same way it is foolishness to deal with behavior directly. The heart is the problem and the heart of a Christian is super easy and natural to change. For a non-Christian it is a different story. 

In summary, counterfeit holiness focuses on behavior, dismisses the heart as the source of behavior, dismisses the reality that goodness is all or nothing, and seeks to address behavior (conduct) directly. 

True Holiness Brings Freedom

The Bible writers call for complete holiness now. Peter commands "As the One [Jesus] who calls you is holy, so be holy in ALL you do." (1Peter 1:15) Do you think that it is unrealistic for God to expect you to be holy in all things like Jesus was? Jesus' life reveals clearly what goodness is--total freedom from sin. If God does not expect you to live a good life in all ways, then God's expectation is not good. Let's embrace that God is always good and always expects goodness from all people. Do you notice that Peter does not command holy conduct? He is commanding us in all our conduct (thoughts, words, and actions) to be holy. Do you see the difference? The difference is critical. It is the difference between slavery and freedom. It is very simple once we notice what Peter means. 1) Holiness is a way of seeing life. 2) There are only two ways of seeing life: through eyes of perfection or manageability. 3) In the present moment, God calls us to see (discern, appreciate, honor, consider, regard, perceive, be aware of) every person and situation in the light of perfect love (perfection expected and provided at the cross). 4) Right awareness sets the heart in a good place and goodness then overflows in all directions effortlessly. (James 1:25) 5) Bad behavior is simply an indicator that the person has been distracted from awareness of perfect love. 6) The solution of a sin problem is always a restoration to a vision of perfect love (Gal 6:1). 7) In summary, each moment of life takes care of itself as the mind is set on perfect love. 

Deeply Rooted False Cultural Bias

Counterfeit holiness is deeply rooted in Western Christian culture which is rooted deeply in Roman culture. The Hebrew and Greek cultures saw that life overflowed from the heart--from the big picture understanding of life in the moment. When the Roman Empire took over from the Greeks it slowly imposed its cultural bias which dismissed the value of the mind and culture. Roman culture declared that right behavior was what was important. It also declared that people know the right things to do and are simply too weak or lazy to do what they know is right. What they need is external pressure to help them make their own right choices. This way of thinking became deeply entrenched in the West. Do you appreciate people pressuring you to make right choices?

This cultural bias suppresses the truth of what it means to be human. In the past 150 years we Westerners have begun to notice the fruit of this bias and to seek to confront it. The light is dawning and clarity is coming. We now make a distinction in child rearing between shepherding the heart and shepherding behavior. We need to apply that distinction to all of life. I ask people if they have ever been manipulated to proper behavior. All have said yes and all have said that they both did not like it and that it was not helpful.

Simple Application

Evaluate yourself. The next time you become aware of having a bad reaction toward someone, ask yourself what you are thinking about.

1. Are you comparing that person to Jesus, the only perfect person?
2. Are you rejoicing that the only hope in life for that person is the gift of righteousness provided at the cross?

By the way, by what authority do you think of other people in ways that are not good? 

Renew your mind. Why not simply think of people as God does? We all need to continually renew our minds to God's good vision of all people. I suggest another simple application that has many nuances.

• When you notice someone fail, be honest and immediately talk to God about the violator saying something like, "Hey God, he shouldn't have done that, he should have been perfect." 
• When you notice yourself fail, be honest and tell yourself something like, "Hey, that sin deserves death, good thing Jesus died the death you deserve and has taken all your condemnation." 
• Thank God often that He is good and and expects perfection from you and all other people. Thank Him that He gives the gift of righteousness to all who rest in Christ's work on the cross. 
• When you notice someone sin, thank God that the behavior is just a symptom and that the root problem is that the person has simply been distracted from perfect love.
• Thank God that He has poured out His love in your heart (Rom 5:5) and has made loving others to be simple--seeing them through the eyes of perfect love. 
• Thank God for specific riches you have in Christ. Do this also for Christians who rub you the wrong way. 

HAVE YOU BEEN TRICKED BY SATAN AWAY FROM THE SIMPLICITY AND PURITY OF CHRIST?

"But I am afraid, lest by any means, as the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve,

your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity in Christ."                                  -2 Corinthians 11:3

Christianity Is All About Christ

The New Testament declares in various places and ways that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the revelation of the Father. This means that we approach God properly by seeing Him in Jesus Christ. To bypass Jesus in approaching God is to approach God in an unauthorized way—in a way that is not good. It is the worship of a false God. Do you agree?

Christianity then is simply the label for proper worship of God, whatever that means. This label is rooted in the name and title of our Lord. Jehovah is the name God declared for Himself for the first time to Moses at the burning bush. Jehovah is good and is the creator and sustainer of life. Jesus means Jehovah brings resolution. Christ is not Jesus' last name as I was self-deceived to believe for much of my Christian life. Christ is Jesus' title and means anointed one. What was he anointed for? In the gospel of Isaiah we see that the theological meaning of Christ is: Jehovah is my righteousness. Thus Jesus Christ as the revelation of God is full of meaning with His name and title reflecting who God is.

It should be natural then to see that the person, Jesus Christ, is Christianity. When we declare with the apostles various statements that they made, or quote Jesus as having made, we are declaring realities of the universe; we are not merely using words. Words can and do have various and shifting meanings. Words do not determine meaning. Words are simply identifiers used to identify or tag objects. The words: present, gift, bribe, and reward each signify or tag something different. Each of those different things is real. And I suggest that we have been much tricked to drain the meaning out of words. The statement that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life is reality and not merely a doctrinal statement. Paul's statement that Jesus is a person's holiness, righteousness, redemption, and wisdom from God is a statement of reality not merely wishful thinking or sentimentality. Peter's declaration that God commands complete holiness now with Jesus as the standard of evaluation, is not flowery overly optimistic language, or a goad to get Christians to work harder, but is reality. The question that I (you) need to continually ponder is: what is the reality behind the words that I am using, reading or hearing? Since I (and all of us) am easily tricked into shallow or confused thinking, it is not good for me (all of us) to just assume that I or others know what words mean. I see this as the center of the spiritual battle—heavenly wisdom versus worldly wisdom (James 3) —truth versus lies—spirit versus flesh—real versus counterfeit authority—perfect love versus manageability—worship of the true God versus idolatry—honoring others versus dishonoring them. 

In the past few years the above scripture has moved to the center of my thinking and theology as I have begun to scratch the surface in understanding the reality behind the words we Christians use.

"But I am afraid, lest by any means, as the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve,

your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity in Christ."                                  -2 Corinthians 11:3

What is the simplicity and purity in Christ?

Do you agree with Paul's statement that what is in Christ is simple and pure? Do you share Paul's great concern that Christians can be corrupted away from this simplicity and purity? Is it possible that you may have been corrupted away from this simplicity? This is true for me and is my constant spiritual battle. Do you see this corruption to be about the mind or do you see it as about something else such as behavior, commitment, or dedication? If it is simple and pure, then it is possible to explain it as simple and pure. If I can't do it, then the implication from this passage (assuming or trusting that the passage is true) is that either God is confused or I am. I assume that I, in my thinking, am always the problem. How would you explain this simplicity and purity? Ponder it a moment. Here is my explanation:

Perfect love.

This simple phrase is full of meaning which shines brightly in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The words perfect and love are both full of meaning. Jesus always saw the world through eyes of perfect love, which has two aspects. 1) Jesus always saw, thought, and spoke that which honored the reality that only perfection is good. 2) Jesus always saw, thought, and spoke that which honored His death on the cross as the only place where sin (violation of goodness or rebellion against perfection) is taken care of.

Do you see the simplicity of perfect love? Perfect love implies that:

1. Imperfect righteousness is unrighteousness.

2. Imperfect holiness is unholiness.

3. Imperfect obedience is disobedience.

4. Love is a way of seeing (thinking, perceiving, reckoning) that honors perfection.

God is and commands perfect love ALWAYS—no compromising of goodness. Do you agree that God ALWAYS calls you: to ALWAYS love perfectly, to ALWAYS be COMPLETELY holy, to perfect obedience, and to perfect righteousness? If you don't, then by what authority do you compromise the reality that goodness is perfection? 

The Opposite of Simplicity and Purity

The opposite or alternative to perfect love is not perfect hate, but rather manageability. Manageability is the compromise of perfection. It declares that God doesn't really mean perfection now—that goodness is about striving not about success at being morally flawless. Manageability is the big lie of Satan. It is THE counterfeit. It is the polluting and defiling thing that Jesus and the apostles continually warned against and criticized. Manageability is the leaven that defiles. It is the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It is the log in the eye that hinders one from seeing clearly the speck in one's brother's eye. It is the flesh—human strength and wisdom at its best—which bears such ugly fruit. It is spiritual blindness. It is what causes stumbling. It is walking in the darkness. It is hard-heartedness. It is what the prophet's called the people to circumcise their hearts of. It is what defiles the flesh and spirit. It is spiritual slavery. It is the wide gate and the broad road to destruction. It is the rocky soil. It is the eight demons that made the Israel of Jesus' day to be far worse than the Israel that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed. It is worldliness, irreverence, and unrighteousness. It is quenching the Spirit. It is the source of all counterfeit spirituality. It is the demonic or worldly wisdom that James warns about. It is the object of all temptation. It is the draw to honor human performance rather than God's goodness. It is looking away from Christ. It is lawlessness—the dishonor of the law. It is the heart of idolatry. It is a way of thinking that mocks God's goodness, but God will not be mocked. Manageability cries out that since it is good to do good, all people need to try to do good. And it is the only thing that Jesus hated, and he hated it so passionately that He died to create a way of life free from it.

Perfect love versus manageability is the titanic spiritual battle which we all are part of every waking moment. The Holy Spirit always cries out for perfect love and always points to the finished work of Christ. Manageability always cries out "do what is right but don't be concerned about perfection."

The Application of this Simplicity

At conversion every person receives the perfect love of Jesus. It is poured out in the heart by the Holy Spirit (See Rom. 5:5). Have you ever wondered why this love flows out of you and me so inconsistently? If perfect love is the simplicity and purity in Christ, then the reason for this inconsistency is simple. Here is a simple example.

Think of the last time that you were impatient, irritated, or angry with a Christian. While you were irritated, impatient, angry, etc., what were you thinking about? Were you thinking that the person was dearly loved by God, covered by the blood of Jesus, fully forgiven, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ? No you weren't. Guaranteed. You were thinking about the behavior or words that you reacted to. Why were you thinking that way? Now let's say that later today you are praying for that same Christian and thanking God that the person is fully forgiven, delighted in by God, covered by the blood, and righteous in God's sight. Now let's say that while you are thinking and praying this, that person sneaks up on you and does that action that you reacted to previously. While you are thinking and praying this way, will you have a bad reaction toward that person? I have asked this of many dozen Christians over the years and all have said the same thing with different intensities and varying humorous comments.

I asked it recently of some BIOLA students who were on campus witnessing. One woman laughed and said she often gets impatient with her friends. She spoke in a way that indicated that her recent impatience was still vivid in her mind. She said that in that moment she was not thinking of her friend's identity in Christ but of her bothersome behavior. To the big question she responded as if her mind was slowly opening to a new reality. At first she hesitatingly stated that while she was praying this way she didn't think she would have a bad reaction. This was obviously a new train of thought for her. She slowly gained confidence, eventually smiling and declaring that seeing a person in their identity in Christ would make bad reactions impossible for her—while she was thinking that way. I have had this basic conversation many times. And I have even had it many time with non-Christians. All have been surprised about how considering or forgetting to consider the love of God so consistently affects them.  

The critical question is this. Why did this Christian declare to me that it would be impossible to have an impatient reaction while seeing a person through identity in Christ? One dear Christian friend who has suffered much from long term depression told me that it would be impossible for any Christian to have a bad reaction while seeing the violator through identity in Christ. How does he know this about you and every other Christian?  

The testimony of these Christians is what I see in the scriptures. 1) When you see a person through eyes of perfect love—that perfection is required now and that perfection is provided as a gift now and always in the death of Christ—while and only while you are seeing that way—it is impossible for the works of the flesh (bad reactions, evil, sin) to come out of your heart toward a person who is mistreating you, even while you are being mistreated. Actually not only do bad things not come out, but good things overflow naturally from your heart, and in abundance. 2) All your sinful reactions are a result of you seeing life through eyes of manageability. Point one is walking in the Spirit and point two is walking in the flesh. It is that simple.

The surprise in the Christian life is twofold: 1) that what is in Christ is simple and pure, and 2) that we all are too weak to do anything except resist the work of God in our hearts. His work is always perfect love and it is His work not ours. We are called and commanded to maintain and grow in a razor sharp vision of perfect love. The one and only way that you can resist perfect love overflowing right now from your heart is to get distracted from a vision of perfect love. That distraction is by definition manageability. It has a multitude of forms.

If you doubt my words that it is actually this simple, I suggest an application for you. The next time you are irritated, impatient, or angry with a person you think to be a Christian, ask yourself what you are thinking about. Is it God's viewpoint of perfect love or some form of manageable behavior? Try this experiment many times to confirm it to yourself.

If you are convinced that my words are true and you are discouraged at how easily your get distracted from this vision of identity in perfect love, I would suggest an application for you. Today begin thanking God for details of your identity in Christ. Feel free to thank Him often for this. Then as other Christians come to mind, thank God for some aspect of their identity in Christ. Pray for the Christians by name. Especially do this with the Christians who tend to rub you the wrong way. The more you do this the faster your mind will be renewed. As you do this often, you may be surprised at how quickly your mind runs to identity when you see a Christian fail. This is not about minimizing 
moral failure, it is about maximizing it, about considering it God's way, through the eyes of Christ—that only His death resolves sin. You may find yourself surprised that you actually like the other Christians and are happy with them even while they are mistreating you. It is not that you are dismissing their sin, but you are no longer playing judge. In that moment, you are their advocate and are delighting in them because of Christ's work and not their own good behavior.

Summary

God calls all people to always to do what is good. Let's agree that this is perfect love. This perfect love was poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit at conversion (Romans 5:5). We are called to continuously set our hope totally on the grace (perfect love commanded and provided) revealed in Jesus Christ, (1Peter 1:13) and to be continually renewed to that new simple vision of life (1Peter 1:14). We are called to goodness, to in every waking moment have the mindset of perfect love. Having this mindset in the moment makes behavior in the moment to be fitting and beautiful. This simplicity is what holiness is. Thus the call to perfect holiness NOW in all behavior is THE good, simple, easy, natural, beautiful-fruit-bearing call to see (consider) life in the current moment through perfect love (1Peter 1:15). We all live in the current moment.   

Let's be honest about our place in the universe. Let's be honest that we are weak and our problem is that we are easily tricked into pretending that we are strong. Let's be honest that only perfect love counts with God. Let's be honest that Satan is a counterfeit Jesus. Let's be honest that it is easy to get tricked away from seeing (considering) ourselves and all others through eyes of perfect love. Do you want to see the simplicity and purity of Christ? Wonderful. This is a good desire. Take the baby step in the current moment of seeing through the eyes of perfect love yourself, those you interact with, and those who come to mind. In the next moment do the same. When you find you have been distracted, simply look back to perfect love. That is the full resolution for your failure. It is so simple and good that we ought to be always celebrating that simplicity and goodness. odness. 

IS YOUR HOLINESS ABOUT YOU OR CHRIST?

I spend much time meditating on questions to help me think more clearly about life. Here are a some to ponder on the topic of holiness. 

-Is being a Christian about you or about God?
-Who maintains your relationship with God: you or Christ?
-Is it good to lower standards of obedience and goodness to some manageable level so as to feel good about yourself or others?
-Did Jesus ever lower standards from perfection?
-Is your holiness about you or about Christ?
-What does it mean that Jesus is your holiness? (1Cor 1:30)
-What makes a person holy?
-If holiness means to be different, then different from what?
Hint: Mormons tell me that holiness is about trying not to sin.
-Is holiness a process? If so, then how do you do it?
-If holiness is a process, then why did Peter command complete holiness now? (1Peter 1:15)
-Is holiness about behavior or about a way of seeing?
-If holiness is a way of seeing, then how does it work and how do you do it?

My view is that holiness is a way of seeing just like love is a way of seeing. In my view I don't have to compromise any scriptures to make them fit with something manageable. Shepherding the heart versus shepherding behavior. As we begin to see what is at the root of the difference we begin to see that it is easy to be "deceived away from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2Cor 11:3) That simplicity is the root of all holiness and love, and so much more. 

WHAT IS YOUR SIN TOLERANCE? GOD'S IS ZERO.

Noticing Human Failure

When you look at yourself, other people, or the world in general, how do you deal with the failure you observe? Do you get disappointed, depressed, impatient, frustrated, or even angry? What do you do with these reactions? Do you wish you could stop having them? Do you wish that the people would change so that your life wouldn't be so troubled? Have you ever tried to not care so that then you wouldn't feel so hurt?

Let's approach this situation from a different angle. We have all failed morally, and more times than we notice.  Have you ever been surprised at your failure, wondering how you could possibly have done such a terrible thing, or done it again? Have you ever wished that you had tried harder so as to have avoided failure, or at least to have not failed so greatly? Have you ever found yourself surprised at the failures of others: your wife, your children, your friends, fellow saints, or even pastors? Why were you surprised?

God Notices Human Failure

God is never surprised at your moral failings or mine. It is good for us to always love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And it is never good to compromise those standards. God always loves perfectly. Since He is responsible to resolve all issues in the moral world, He notices every violation of perfect love. Perfect love doesn't pretend sin away, but rather deals with it in a righteous way--always--and sends it away. Read about the first failing of our first parents and see if you can notice any surprise, impatience, frustration, or anger on God's part. It isn't there. Adam and Eve sinned and hid in fear from God. But God didn't hesitate to draw close to them. He went to them and spoke to them like a kind father to bless them with words of a promise of hope, even while explaining the curse resulting from their sin. Have you ever wondered why God did not seem bothered by their sin? I suggest that it is because God's goodness is full of surprises and that this is the biggest surprise.

All Sin Converges at the Cross

All the sin committed from Adam to the cross was left unresolved by God in anticipation of the cross. God saw this from before the creation of the universe (1Peter 1:17-23) and desired to reveal His goodness in a glorious way. Read closely Paul's declaration in Romans 3:24-26 that God passed over ALL sin in order to reveal His righteousness at the proper time--at the cross. Notice that God both is righteous and makes righteous all who are persuaded that Christ's faithfulness is their only hope. David killing Goliath didn't reveal the seriousness of Goliath's mockery of God. The flood didn't reveal the seriousness of the world's sin. Sodom being consumed by fire from heaven didn't reveal the truth about their sin. Certainly these events hinted that sin was terrible, but only the cross reveals the seriousness of sin. The cross reveals that only the death of God Himself can overcome sin. Read Romans 1:32 in several translations and notice that God has written into the conscience of every person that every sin deserves death. Paul declared earlier in the chapter (verse 18) that we humans suppress that knowledge. Today we live in the light of the cross, looking to Christ as the one who 1) in His death and resurrection is our freedom, peace, and satisfaction in a broken world, and 2) in His future coming to bring physical recreation and make public to all His good judgment--that goodness is a seamless whole, that violation of it deserves death, that He gladly took the death all people deserve, that He offered as a gift life in goodness free from the pressure of personal performance, and that those who rejected His goodness will receive the full weight of His good judgment on their self-righteousness.

God is not Surprised at Human Failure

Notice the theme in the following three passages from Isaiah. "Lord, you will establish peace for us, since you have also performed for us all our work." -26:12 "The Lord is well-pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it glorious." -42:21 "By his knowledge my righteous servant will make many righteous, for he will bear away their transgressions." -53:11 Here it is again 100 years later in Jeremiah 31:14: "'I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness,' declares the Lord." God is not surprised at human failure because He delights to be the provider of all we need. He has made His goodness to be our satisfaction. If God thinks this way how could He possibly be disappointed or surprised by human failure?

  

Your Surprise at Human Failure

Your surprise at human moral failing results from only one thing: not viewing the world in a good way--through perfect love--through the goodness of God being the satisfaction for His people. If you are a Christian, then God has declared for all time that His goodness is your satisfaction. Do you see how all encompassing that is? When you fail and get upset at your failure, you have two problems. When you see a fellow saint fail and you get upset about it, you simply have more of those same two problems. If you see a non-Christian fail and you get upset about it, you have those same two problems nuanced from a different angle. Here are the two problems.

Both problems are related to forgetfulness. First, God is not a God of second chances. Rather, He is the God of one chance and a new creation. If you had a zero tolerance for sin like God does, and you never forgot this principle, then you would never get upset with anyone who sins, no matter how great the violation. You may wonder at this point, "Then why is God's anger mentioned so often in the Old Testament?"  I plan to write on this topic, but for now would suggest two teaser questions.  In my observation the first mention of God's anger or wrath is toward Moses at the burning bush--2500+ years after Adam. I suggest that there is a surprise in the larger context that helps answer the first question: Why was God angry at Moses? I suggest that there is one event during Moses lifetime that precipitates the regular expression of God's anger that continues all the way through Jesus' preaching. What is that event? Notice the expressions of anger and work backwards in context to the point at which they disappear. 

Back to forgetfulness. it is a big deal--far bigger that we tend to think. Again, if you are a Christian, then God's goodness is your satisfaction. The only reason that you would not have an active experience of this satisfaction is because of your forgetfulness. You entered into the beauty of that satisfaction at conversion and have been called to grow in the understanding of it and remembrance of it. When you observe sin in self or others, the pressure is on to forget or get distracted from that true satisfaction. Certainly it is wrong for any person to do evil. But there is no satisfaction from God's view in a person stopping or not doing a specific evil action. The alternative to doing one evil action isn't doing that one thing right, rather it is doing all things right--perfectly right. Learning and remembering this is the spiritual battle. You get upset at sin because you forget that God has a zero tolerance for sin, and you forget that the goodness of God is your satisfaction, the satisfaction of all other saints, and the only hope for satisfaction for all non-Christians. The world preaches a counterfeit satisfaction, but God never honors that pretense. 

The Surprise of Grace

What is the opposite of grace? Is it some form of unkindness, meanness, or harshness? I suggest that the surprising and simple opposite of grace is law. The world sees grace as some form of niceness, kindness, or a second chance to be a better person. But heaven sees grace as total freedom from law--the obligation to do what is right. Even more surprising is the realization that to live in grace does not mean living free from performance, but rather living in the performance of Christ free from the pressure of personal performance. Living in grace is not living in a vacuum of no performance. That would be like buying a pet fish and laying it on the counter. A person rather puts the fish in a fish bowl full of water. A Christian is designed to swim and thrive in the performance of Christ. The performance of Christ is simultaneously a zero tolerance for sin and a full satisfaction in the goodness of God. Therefore, while you are mindful that you live in the performance of Christ, out of you flows a zero tolerance for sin and full satisfaction in the goodness of God--no matter how much people around fail. Mindfulness is the issue. When your mind is in the right place then your behavior and attitude will be in the right place. Practice setting your mind in the right place--on the performance of Christ in both of its aspects--and realize that your temptation is always to be distracted from that vision, and you might find yourself enjoying other people while they fail--even while they are mistreating you.   

Goodness includes both zero tolerance for sin and full satisfaction in the goodness of God. If we Christians embraced God's vision we might just be the happiest people on the planet.