Shovel Shack....ongoing discussion

I just came from the Shovel Shack....ongoing discussion regarding the law....

Hello Real,

Hear what was revealed to our brother, Paul:

Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given-because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ-to those who believe. Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female-for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:19-29 NET)

Jim :)

dave wrote:

Can you clarify the last little bit of your response to me. How does the the law acting as a guardian relate to us today? Are you saying that those who parade their spirituality and act as if we are missing something are to be considered as children who need a hand? How so?

First of all, by understanding how self-righteousness relates to a standards-compliance group mentality we can recognize our own delusions of superiority, past or present. We know because we've been there ... and may even find ourselves running back to it from time to time. In Christ we have eyes to see past that old delusion. The thing is that in having considered ourselves superior by whichever aspect we adhered to only testified to the simple fact that our superiority was tied to an external source to keep us in line. That attitude is the exact same as in children who finally, despite all resistance and unwillingness, bow down to certain demands of a guardian (mom, dad, police, teachers, etc) only to turn around and hold their own compliance forth in judgment against others.

How do we who have seen past this delusion ever get sucked back up into it when confronted with the demands and/or intimidation of yet another group force? Why do we even give in to the delusion that a group actually has any real, lasting substance? It's all a facade! And it's only part of the temporal world, whose divisions, demands, standards, superiority and morality decay just as it does. How do we ever re-adopt the attitude that we know has no real substance?

To see past that parade of spirituality and recognize those who boast in it as being children who would stray unless their hand was held is merely to recognize that such spirituality/superiority is mere empty delusion. If we hold the delusion as having substance our judgments (no matter how Biblical or doctrinal) will be based upon the delusion; if seen for what it truly is (a delusion) we can see past it. And in seeing past the delusion we can regard a person according to reality ... even when dealing with or discussing the false premises of the delusion. For we hope upon the miraculous! :)

For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer. So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away-look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people's trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God!" God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:13-21 NET)

Jim

DIGGIN'THE LIFE!