Blessed are those who care for the poor

Psalm 41:1  (A psalm by David for the music leader.) You, LORD God, bless everyone who cares for the poor, and you rescue those people in times of trouble.

There are so many Christians that object to social justice and call it socialism disguised; They say that it is merely a term for taking wealth from people and giving it to others. They claim that anyone who emphasizes social justice mis-quotes and mis-interprets the scripture. They insist that Jesus was not an advocate for social justice. Are they correct? In two words, absolutely not!

Social justice was not *just a theme* that Jesus promoted. The truth is that it is one of the over-riding themes of the Old Testament also. When God found fault with Israel for their corporate national sins, often times it was greed and the mis-treatment of the poor. Read Amos chapter five. Let’s look specifically at verse 11-12. (Amos 5:11-12)  “you abuse the poor and demand heavy taxes from them. You have built expensive homes, but you won't enjoy them; you have planted vineyards, but you will get no wine.  (12)  I am the LORD, and I know your terrible sins. You cheat honest people and take bribes; you rob the poor of justice.”  This could be an indictment of Wall Street and the global corporations today. They over tax the poor and pay little or no tax themselves.

When you search the word *poor* in the bible you find that there are over 170 verses that deal with the treatment of the poor by the wealthy. It is a VERY IMPORTANT concept with God. It was not just Amos. Isaiah also found fault with corporate, national Israel for the treatment of the poor. (Isaiah 3:14-15)  “He will even judge you rulers and leaders of his own nation. You destroyed his vineyard and filled your houses by robbing the poor.  (15)  The LORD All-Powerful says, "You have crushed my people and rubbed in the dirt the faces of the poor." The idea that Christians should not want nations to care for the poor is unbelievable, and it would be repugnant if it were not done from ignorance.

While the church judges drug addicts, drunks and sexually addicted individuals… they support people that rob the poor to increase their own wealth and ignore social justice. If the church would spend even half of the time on social justice that it does on condemning people the lot of the poor would be increased immeasurably. Now there are those in the church who care for the poor, but they are the minority; especially in Euro/American-protestant denominations. I find it amazing that those who take such a literal stance on the bible ignore the social justice themes of scripture. This is especially true in view of Matthew 25:31-46. It is a warning of judgment and the sole criteria for judgment is social justice.

I have often said, that if church folk would just rest in redemption by the grace of God, and then begin working hard at social justice issues, they would find that they are too tired to sin so much ;-).

Misrepresenting and misunderstanding James 2:17

James 2:17  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Whenever someone stresses the idea of God’s grace and the gospel, invariably someone will quote James 2:17. They will say *faith without works is dead… being alone.* What they always mean is faith without *law obedience* is dead being alone. They equate the works proscribed in James 2:17 as being works of the law with law obedience as the proof of the works. The problem is that they do not understand James 2:17 in its context and they neglect to understand that the works that James is speaking of are very narrow works of love; mainly, feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, dressing the naked etc. If anything, James chapter two provides a call to social justice works. It is a call to not favor the wealthy in assemblies and it has *NOTHING* to do with the works of the law or law obedience.

This is a passage that fits in well with Matthew 25:31-46 and Isaiah 58:6-12. Social justice is a very important part of God’s agenda. Taking care of the less fortunate and underprivileged is a theme that God has stressed over and over again in the scripture. There are 170 verses that focus on treatment of the poor. Psalm 41:1 is one of many verses that explains how God views those who consider the poor. This is the entire focus of James chapter two… and it is the foundational context of James 2:17. James two is not about obedience to the works of the law in general and it distorts the meaning to believe it is.

What is the point of this you ask? Well, plainly stated it is to counteract those who claim that James 2:17 is an admonition to show that grace alone is not the driver of the gospel. The fact is that grace alone is the driver. The law acts as a tutor to drive one to grace. Grace then acts supernaturally to provide peace with God. Peace with God from grace is the source of true love for God and true love for God is the motivating force in the obedience of faith… or the obedience brought on by faith. I am not suggesting that there is not an obedience that is driven by faith. I am merely stating that evangelical-orthodox dogma, doctrine, and practice eliminate the possibility of this faith obedience.

On the other hand, the works proscribed in James 2:17 are works that anyone can choose to do. Whether one has an addictive personality or not all can choose to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless and visit the sick. Interestingly enough, these faith works are mostly ignored by orthodox evangelicals. Oh, there may be an occasional Thanksgiving dinner or turkey give away… but feeding daily? … not many of those in the evangelical orthodox realm. They are too busy trying to elect congressmen that will take even more away from the poor.

Transforming Grace not Law; a comment and answer from an older post

Over the time of writing this blog, I have written many posts demonstrating that the true transformation is brought about by unrestrained grace and not conforming to the law. One such post, Need, Rest, and Reasonable Service… was written back in February of 2010. I just recently received a comment on it and I thought the exchange would be very beneficial. It was written by someone who thought grace alone was not the transforming power and posited a view similar to the evangelical party line. I am going to post the discussion in its entirety. You may want to read the original post for background.

Anonymous writes:

“I do not think Christians need to be told to stop "striving to please God, striving to love each other...". This is all Christians ever hear anymore. It’s not unloving, legalistic or contrary to the Holy Spirit to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling"...It is the same Spirit who said "faith without works is dead"... and "those who love me will obey my comandments..." not to mention Galatians 5:19-21.

"Faith expressing itself through love" is indeed all that counts but genuine faith is rooted in the indwelling Holy Spirit which "compels" us to obey God's Torah/commands. If we have the Holy Spirit wont we be compelled to strive to please God, love others... and aren't we obligated by the nature of a covenant relationship with God to obey Him whether we feel like it or not? As someone who personally has struggled with addiction in the past, I know that this "God does it all we just wait around for it to happen ("rest") mentality" does not work. In fact I continued to struggle no matter how much I begged God to remove my addiction. It was when I seriously intended to stop sinning that my recognition of my powerlessness over sin could begin to open the door for the Holy Spirit to change me. We are called to strive to align our wills with God's through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. That involves effort on our part and is our "reasonalbe service".

Anonymous continues:

In other words I think that, in the Spirit of love, that we as Christians should be warned that our behavior is the only indication of our salvation. What else is there? Words? Professions of belief? Those are meaningless without concrete change. There simply can not be a change in heart with out a change in behavior.

My Reply:

Thanks for the comments. I intend to turn these into a blog post. What I think you miss is the idea that the catalyst for obedience is love brought about by unrestrained grace. I can appreciate that you overcame addiction. The fact is that Atheists do that also without any faith at all. So overcoming addiction is not a sign of spiritual transformation, but rather could be merely moral reformation. What this blog post is driving at is how the gospel will/does transform people. Yes, gospel not law. You said that the gospel will not work in that way and I say that you cannot possibly know that because there are no fellowships that emphasize grace as the transformer. If there were, then perhaps you could have received help to stop your addiction by brothers and sisters that would lovingly help you with accountability.

As it stands now, most fellowships put the addictive personality in a position where they have to doubt their salvation. They are forced to either change, hide or leave. That is not the way the bible explains the working of the Spirit. The Spirit transforms. The read and do mentality brings about reformation not transformation... it is not trans-formative, and getting free from addiction by the “read and do” method is not a testament to Spiritual transformation. No one is saying that people should not obey God from love. The problem is obedience that comes from a place of fear. It does not promote real love for God and does nothing to transform lives over the long haul.

The Christian life should be known for uncommon love and not strict moral obedience. Certainly a moral, ethical life is an important goal to reach but not to assure salvation and our eternal station with God.

The All in All

1Corinthians 15:28  “And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.”

I personally think that the fifteenth chapter of 1Corintians is mis-understood with too much read into it. We are now living in the days of the All in All. If God is our father and Jesus taught that metaphor to be truth, then our Father is the All in All. If you look at New Testament Prophecy in the way it was written, you will see that it was meant for the first century believers. It was pointing to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews. You can find all of the many posts that show this at this link; it is the link that shows all of the posts that discuss and include eschatology.

The Psalmist said the following: (Psa 110:1)  “Here is the LORD's proclamation to my lord: "Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!" Who were Jesus enemies? It was the Sanhedrin. It was the rulers and authorities, principalities and powers of second temple Judaism. How did God make Jesus enemies his footstool? He used Titus of Rome to destroy the temple and Jerusalem, and disperse the Jews away from Judea. Jesus enemies were in fact made his footstool in 70CE. He was exonerated. His prophecies were proven to be true. All things were put under his feet including death. The sting of death was sin. The power or strength of sin was the law. The last enemy was the death brought about by the law. Christ provided the victory over death with the assurance of eternal life. Once Jesus had proclaimed eternal life, had risen from the dead to prove it --- death lost its sting. But, when the temple was destroyed, the ministry of death was destroyed along with it, and all things, including his enemies and death were put under his feet.

That being the case, the kingdom has been turned over to the Father so that the Father is the All in All. Jesus prayer is answered; (John 17:23)  I in them and you in me — that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me. It is not necessary to see a distant eschatological future fulfillment. It is current reality. The kingdom is now and we are to be manifestly the children of God now. The fact is that we have become partakers of the divine nature and have been given all we need for life and godliness. The problem is that we must realize and believe it. This will only come as more and more people embrace the provision of God’s grace and rest in our eternal connection.

Isn’t it  a shame to be waiting for what is already here? If believers would corporately re-enforce one another in resting in God’s grace, it would be possible to experience the All in All continually. It is so simple… all that we need to do is shift our paradigm.

Apprehending and apprehended by Christ

Philippians 3:12-14  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  (13)  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  (14)  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I have used the King James here because of the multiple use of the words apprehend and apprehended. I would like to unpack that word a bit and look at the Greek word translated as apprehend and apprehended. The Greek word is katalambano. It means to *take eagerly* *seize* *apprehend.* I like the word apprehend and I think that it is very descriptive of how we participate in our salvation. When one is apprehended by the police it means that they are taken into custody and cannot get away even if they want to. By the same token, the apprehender seizes and will not let go. Christ provided reconciliation to all and it can be apprehended by faith. So then, there is a double action. We apprehend Christ’s provision by our faith, and Christ Jesus apprehends us and will not let go. This is what the writer of Hebrews meant by persevering to the end.

The double apprehension provides security because we realize that Christ will not let go of us. Once we apprehend we are apprehended. How is katalambano used in other places? That is a very good question. Paul uses it in Romans chapter 9.  (Rom 9:30-31)  “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained (apprehended) righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;  (31)  but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained (apprehended) the law of righteousness.” I inserted the word apprehended because it fits just as well as attained and shows definitely what I am positing. It must be remembered that the word is katalambano in both Philippians and Romans.

The Gentiles had apprehended righteousness by faith… do you see that? --- apprehended by faith. The Jews had been trying to obtain/apprehend righteousness by the works of the law. It should be so obvious by this post and yesterday’s post that orthodox-evangelical doctrine and dogma is grossly off the mark. This eliminates the possibility of self-righteousness and it assures the perseverance of the saints. Holding on, persevering, laying hold of, apprehending is all accomplished by faith. This is a promise that even the chief of sinners can rest in. --- Remember, Paul, the Pharisee that was blameless according to the righteousness found in the law, said that he was the chief of sinners.

The point of all of this, is simply that one must rest in their apprehension by faith of the provision of Christ Jesus. Do not try to rest in behavior and law obedience… you cannot apprehend Christ that way. It is sad that so many evangelical teachers and preachers are emphasizing the law and law obedience as if one could apprehend Christ by obeying the law.

Not having your own righteousness that comes from the law; Self-righteousness is repugnant

(Philippians 3:8-9 NET)  More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things — indeed, I regard them as dung! — that I may gain Christ,  (9)  and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ's faithfulness — a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ's faithfulness.

Most everyone at some level finds self-righteousness repugnant. Self-righteousness brings about the charge of hypocrisy and justly so. Individually, many Christians are not self-righteous by nature, but let’s face it, Evangelical-Orthodox Christian dogma and doctrine promotes self-righteousness. This doctrine has made Christianity a self-righteous religion. It finds its most repugnant manifestations in the legalistic holiness movement, and the legalistic Christian right. In these forms it is not only repugnant it is actually Christ dis-honoring.

In the above passage you have Paul speaking of what a great Pharisee he once was. He states in verse six that when it came to law righteousness he was blameless. Still, he realizes that he needs imputed righteousness that comes from the righteousness of Christ. Yes, in verse 9 the Greek is pisteows christou… it should be translated *the faith of Christ.* This would make the verse read… “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through *the* faith *of* Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—“ This becomes especially important when one takes a solely redemptive view of scripture. Christ’s faith in God’s grace points our way toward resting in God’s gracious provision. Christ’s faith made way for our faith.

This completely eliminates the need for self-righteousness. It eliminates law righteousness. Thus, as I have stated over and over and over again it becomes the catalyst for love for God that will result in resting in His grace. That in turn is the catalyst for loving others, and spiritual obedience. It all emanates from the faith of Christ and God’s grace.

So then, how one sees the word of God… that is… as scripture or gospel, makes all the difference. This is the reason for the necessity of seeing a solely redemptive focus to the scripture. When one sees the entire scripture as the word of God then the law takes a completely different complexion than when one sees the word of God as the gospel. It is the difference between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant. It removes the read and do mentality that drives the need for self-righteousness.

When will Christian leaders and theologians gain the moral courage to acknowledge this? Down deep in their heart… when they look in the mirror all alone… they know that the legalistic constitutional reading of scripture promotes the self-righteous spirit. Yet they allow fear and peer pressure to go against the gospel and play the Pharisee.

What were Jesus’ commandments?

1John 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

What does Jesus mean when he says keep my commandments? Does he mean keep the Decalogue (Ten Commandments?) I have heard and read so many people that teach exactly this. How can one square this with Colossians 2:13-14? If God canceled the written code and nailed it to the cross, how can Jesus mean that keeping his commandments is keeping the Decalogue? The answer is that it cannot or the text contradicts itself. Either God canceled the written code through Christ or Jesus demands that we keep the Decalogue, it cannot be both.

Let me try to unpack this a little. Those who say that Jesus commandments and the Decalogue are one in the same thing assume this because they see the entire scripture as the word of God. However, we have proven beyond doubt with overwhelming scriptural evidence that Jesus and his first century followers redefined the *word of God* to mean the gospel. This is the only way that one can square John 14:15 with Colossians 2:13-14. So then, what are Jesus commands anyway? The answer to this question is clearly stated in 1John 3:23-24  “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  (24)  Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

While I will admit that loving one another is covered in the Decalogue, it must be seen in light of grace producing love. That is what Paul meant when he spoke of faith working through love. Faith in God’s grace produces love for God. Resting in this fact provides the ability to love one another. It is not a situation of read and do, rather it is a situation built on trust and love. That is, trusting in God’s grace provides the ability to rest, and resting produces the love for God that will lead to true love of others. The evangelical world has this process exactly backwards and it will not work backwards… not ever! They adamantly claim they are right in this when they are wrong.

It is best understood by the difference between the *law of the Spirit of life* and the *law of sin and death.* It is essentially the same law. The difference comes in the operation of obedience. The law of sin and death resides in a read and do mentality. The law of the Spirit of life resides in trusting in God’s grace for no condemnation… not ever! The law of sin and death produces fear. The law of the Spirit of life produces love. The reason that the law of the Spirit of life produces love is directly because there is no condemnation… not ever!

Jesus said this: John 3:17-18  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  (18)  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” It should be plain as day. Evangelical dogma and doctrine distorts and convolutes a concept that is so simple.