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| The importance of a preposition |
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We've all heard the following verse many times,
1:21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I've always seen this as Paul expressing his own approach to life (for me, Paul, and no one else). But this morning, as I re-read this verse, something jumped out at me. It was a little preposition I had always left out, or overlooked. And the inclusion of this little word drastically changed the meaning of this verse, to me. Paul really said, 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. The difference? Now I see Paul expressing, from his enlightened and authoritative perspective (to me, in my view, he's saying). Or in other words, what life should be for every one of us, our very purpose for living!! God did not create each of us to live as we choose, or to express ourselves, or to follow our heart, or to pursue our individual goals, etc. At least not to Paul. No, the great apostle actually saw our purpose for living as being Christ, that is, becoming the embodyment of Christ. His nature, his beauty, his fellowship with the Father, his love for people, his sacrifices, and on and on.
And this would point to a key purpose for the Holy Spirit living inside of each and every believer. The Spirit gives us not only the power, but the desire to live as Christ. Right?
I always knew that little verse said a lot. Now I'm more impressed than ever at God's ability to say much with few words. Even one tiny preposition! |
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| Gotta look at every word....and even inflections. I catch myself saying a verse that I don't get..over and over..different tones, different ways.....and sometimes, Bingo.....there it is :) Also, I have bad habit of skim reading....was taught to me by a teacher....and I can't do that when I read that Bible |
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| Hi Cindy! Thanks for the comment. Yep, good points. To skim....could that be like taking God's word lightly? Don't know, just wondering. I've been memorizing, trying to accurately capture every single word. Not only b/c I love God's word, but b/c I'm a bit perfectionistic. In fact, it was while writing this verse down on a memory card today that I discovered my oversight! So there you go, another reason to memorize scripture! lol |
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| This is more powerful than we can ever realize! |
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| Mike: it's a way to read fast but to be able to pick out key points......but in doing so, your preposition would have been lost :( I had to break myself of this...it's good for school, but not for God's Word. |
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Cheryl |
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July 10, 2008 at 11:00am |
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Beyond comprehension is the love God has for us...may we mirror our Jesus!
Blessings brother~ |
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The Spirit gives us not only the power, but the desire to live as Christ.
We have to let go and let God lead us, guide us, motivate us, show us how, what and where to do his will. Are we so afaid of what others(the world) will think??? WHO CARES as long as I am doing my Fathers will.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Power to do and the desire(thirst) to live as Christ. The desire is so strong and as long as that desire(thirst) is there then we shall forever have the power to do as Christ... AMEN |
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Cool... say, how did u manage u to get that verse once without the preposition and once with it?? |
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Mary, I just have this feeling that Christ is easily seen by those who look at you! Hey Aravind, ancient chinese secret! hehe (btw, I see you are still TDK-- did you get my email?) |
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Tonya |
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July 10, 2008 at 1:08pm |
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Philippians 1:21-26
Some read the whole expression thus: To me, living and dying, Christ is gain; that is, "I desire no more, neither while I live nor when I die, but to win Christ and be found in Him. (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.)
Philippians 1:12-26 A. He put Christ first (vv. 12-21). Were there chains on his wrists? These were his "bonds in Christ." Were his enemies causing trouble by their selfish preaching? "So what? They are preaching Christ!" Were his friends worried about him and praying for him? "Fine! This will exalt Christ!" Was there a possibility that he might die? "Then Christ will be magnified by life or by death!" This is the single mind - putting Christ and the Gospel ahead of everything else. When we take Christ into every circumstance, we will have joy. Paul was not the prisoner of Rome; he was the "prisoner of Jesus Christ" (Eph 3:1; 4:1). The soldiers chained to his wrist - were not guards; they were souls for whom Christ died. Paul had a "captive audience," and from 1:13 and 4:22, we conclude that he won some of them to Christ. The single-minded Christian does not allow circumstances to overcome him; he or she turns those circumstances into opportunities to magnify Christ and win souls. B. He put others second (vv. 22-26). Selfishness always breeds unhappiness. Paul had joy because he loved others. He prayed for others, encouraged others, and sought to bring joy to others. Paul's "heaven on earth" was helping others! While he longed to be with Christ, he eagerly yearned to remain and help these believers grow in Christ. C. He put himself last. His body was not his own; his future was not his own; his reputation was not his own. In contrast, when we put ourselves first, it always brings misery. Whenever difficulties affect our lives, we should always be sure that we have the single mind that says, "Lord, whatever comes, I want Christ to be glorified." This is the secret of Christian joy.(from Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Copyright © 1992 by Chariot Victor Publishing, an imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved.)
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| HA! I KNEW I was reading Wiersbe. lol .. I recently went through Be Joyful for the second time, so I am very familiar with Wiersbe's take on Philippians. :-) Thx Tonya! |
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Thanks Mike;
My latest memorization has been Romans 8:28-29. And we know that all things work for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. I still have some memorization to do on that. I've been using the NKJV. I can't help but notice how much prayer and thought must go into every tittle. Why I chose the NKJV for memorization I have no clue. I carry the NIV with me most places and actually sleep with it on occasion.
I think memorization is important as we can't have enough of God's word in our heads or in our hearts. |
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| We do have to look at every word.I liked Cidys idea of saying the verse over in different tones and voice inflictions til she got it.That is a great tip that I am going to try.It would help with memorization too.Thanks Mike for another pertinent blog. |
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Norm |
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July 10, 2008 at 11:24pm |
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Live as Christ? You went from missing a preposition, to misspelling "is"? And to your point, I don't know about that. Christ didn't call us to BE Him. He called us to follow Him. This goes back to the issue I have with the expression WWJD. Jesus may do something very different than us because of who He was and what He was put here on earth to do. I don't think He expects us to ride into a city on the back of a donkey to a cheering crowd putting down palm branches. When Paul said to live is Christ, to me it points to who he was going to follow/worship/preach, not who he was going to be. The surrounding text seems to support that as well. The meaning of words is important though. :) |
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Dave, Rom 8:28 is one of the most encouraging verses in the bible. Love it!
Norm, "For whom he foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he (Christ) might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Rom 8:29 /thanks Dave!) Of course we aren't called to literally become Christ. BUT there is a sense in which we are to become very much like him. I like how Paul says it, "conformed to his likeness". The more like Christ, the better. Surely you are familiar with the fruits of the Spirit? If they seem a lot like the character of Jesus, they should. The Son and Spirit are one God.
Along the same lines, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us..." (Eph 5:1-2) An imitation is a likeness. This theme of becoming the embodyment of Christ, being like him, is a consistent one throughout Paul's epistles.
Misspelling? I would cry "uncle" (I give), except the word was spelled as intended....this time. 
Thanks Sarah, and your kudos are seconded! |
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God did not create each of us to live as we choose, or to express ourselves, or to follow our heart, or to pursue our individual goals really? you dont want to be yourself? or live how you think you should live? seems a little scary to me... |
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Norm |
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July 11, 2008 at 12:37am |
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Mike, The Ephesians verses are very specific in their context of what we are supposed to be imitating. If you fan out from those verses (forward and back) you'll see that confirmed. I'm going to have to research the Romans verse for a bit. Here's why (pulling out the dictionary). I'm trying to figure out which of these definitions of conformed is being called into play. You obviously feel it's the first, but that seems really redundant when followed by "to the likeness". (Be similar to the likeness?) 1. To correspond in form or character; be similar. 2. To act or be in accord or agreement; comply: a computer that conforms to the manufacturer's advertising claims. See Synonyms at agree. 3. To act in accordance with current customs or modes. See Synonyms at adapt. My main objection though is still the word "As" as used here. I think "As" in this context is much stronger than "Like". Or putting it another way, when I see "Live as Christ" it resonates in a completely different way than "Live like Christ" does. "Like" does strike me more in the imitator role, whereas "As" strikes me more as being or instead of and starts to touch on the contentious grounds that show up here: 1:12 What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apol'los," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1:14 I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Ga'ius; 1:15 lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name. 1:16 (I did baptize also the household of Steph'anas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else.) 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. Momentary tangant. WWJD? Baptize or not to baptize? (Sorry couldn't resist. :) ) Back to the "As". The point I was trying to make with the comment about misspelling was in a post where you specifically take time to post the importance of not missing the words, it just seems odd that changing a word is OK. (Whether supported elsewhere or not). |
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Hey VS, thanks for posting! Regarding your observation, please put that line into the context of our purpose for living, rather than isolating it. Alone, I admit it looks kinda freakish.
The bible contrasts the old nature, the self that we were born with, with the new creation we become when we come to Christ and seek him as our Lord and Savior -- to be born again, spiritually speaking. Our purpose for being here isn't to fully explore what it means to be a human on this planet. No, our purpose (acc to the bible) is to personally trust God for everything, to become a member of his family (a child of God), and to be a reflection of the perfect nature his Son exhibited.
Before I surrendered my life to Jesus, I was selfish, self consumed, in fact a rather ugly person. But God has a funny way of changing people when they surrender themselves to him. I'd like to think I'm 100% different now than back then, but the reality is I still struggle. I'm going in the right direction though. |
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Norm, the point, "to live is Christ", at least to me, is to live as Christ lived, to become his likeness, the embodyment of his character. I appreciate that I've spurred you to greater thought on this verse and topic, but I'm afraid the point you are pursuing is difficult to see.
Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Philippians, wrote:
It is the undoubted character of every good Christian that to him to live is Christ. The glory of Christ ought to be the end of our life, the grace of Christ the principle of our life, and the word of Christ the rule of it. The Christian life is derived from Christ, and directed to him. He is the principle, rule, and end of it. Henry, Matthew. "Commentary on Philippians 1." Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible. Blue Letter Bible. 01 Mar 1996. 11 Jul 2008. |
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OMG MIke,
Did you have to bring this one up again?... this reminds me of another blog....
IF you love me OBEY or wait better yet... this one do anything I want
God is hitting me over the head with a 2x4 with this... this week.
Have you ever read a parable over and over? or Have you ever heard the same one over and over?,,,,,,,. then actually HEAR it for the first time?
OMG
I don't think I had ever heard the ten virgins until this week... wow my lamp was a smokin and i am not talking about something illegal. I had no oil in it, and the wick was out of whack.
then to hear this verse for the FIRST time knowing the bible....Because HE said:
22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
whoa.. and then this verse.... FOR THE FIRST TIME
22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Sorry for such colorfullness in the word of GOD. Joey taught me how to COLOR. But... all sillyness aside. IF I had read this verse... LIKE my life depended upon it. I would not have had so much COLOR in my testimony, or continue to need to add to it...in an embarassing shameful pitiful way.
Thank you JESUS.
anyway... it and a revival that is going on right now has really got me to thinking Mike.
Am I really a Christian? Am I really Saved? Like I think I am? Jesus is coming! AM I READY?
Jesus SAID
5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Good blog Mike... as always you get me thinking. You make me question, My salvation. Thank you for being a good and obeident son. Well done.
Like I heard this week....Pastor Lester....look for his book coming out soon. I hope I am quoting this correctly as to give proper credit where credit is due.
"if they (Christians) just only knew what they just got (meaning salvation through Jesus).... they'd....just DO BETTER"
AMEN
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OOOOPS...
I forgot this one
2:14 What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Oh God my God.....
Heavenly Father,
We come to you now in this hour of need. Save us by the sweet blood of Jesus that we may go as a Church of You, as Christians... and Do your word. Love you as you COMMANDED US... not once but twice. Thank you Jesus. Bless us Lord as Christians to not Only walk IN FAITH, WITH JOY because YOUR GRACE is enough.... but to love you enough to obey ALL you command in the word of our GOD. In Jesus Sweet Name we pray fervantly and constantly.....
AMEN
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Norm |
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July 11, 2008 at 6:52am |
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Mike, I think you do get the difference, but I think we are having trouble communicating again. So I'll try one more time and if that doesn't work I'll be done. There's a big (but subtle) difference between seeing to "live is Christ" as to live as Christ lived, to become his likeness, the embodyment of his character. and seeing to "live is Christ" as The glory of Christ ought to be the end of our life, the grace of Christ the principle of our life, and the word of Christ the rule of it. The Christian life is derived from Christ, and directed to him. If I were to say "to live is fishing", my point would be I would be spending every waking moment doing something with fishing. It wouldn't be that I was trying to be a fish (although there may be times I try to think like one (if fish think)). Same thing here. To "live is Christ", as you put in the second section about being completely directed to him (following), not in BEING him. |
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Norm, Henry's quote certainly doesn't disagree w/the scriptures I posted (Rom 8:29, Eph 5:1-2). Furthermore, if you still disagree, you can check out Gal. 4:19 (...until Christ is formed in you), Gal. 2:20 (I no longer live, but Christ lives in me), 1 Cor. 11:1 (...as I follow the example of Christ), Rom. 12:2 (be transformed by the renewing of your mind), Eph. 4:13 (attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ), and a personal favorite of mine:
3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. I stated nothing mind shattering in the blog or my comments. It's all pretty orthodox stuff. If you want to continue to insist there's a distinction between "is" and "as" in this context, then I think you may be well beyond me intellectually. (Well, we already knew that, didn't we? lol)
Agape to ya, pardner. |
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Becky, love the COLORS! And I suppose it's good to question our salvation, to a point. Maybe that's akin to fearing the Lord? (Knowing that he indeed has the power to save and to destroy?) Paul and Peter also encourage us to "make our hope sure", thus it doesn't appear to be very wise to sit back and claim we are saved w/o expecting any visible outworkings of our belief.
Yours is an enjoyable and honest comment, thanks for sharing it Becky! |
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yeah Mike...
I am fearing the LORD like LOT and running like the wind and never looking back to the sin that binds me...
I am actually being feared into my perfect lovers arms....
His name is JESUS |
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ps you told me that others were watching me once
to see the christ in me
I hope they see that because I love them so.... You know who she is too .... she is the one I love the most. |
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| Yeah Becky, when we claim to enjoy fellowship with the Lord, people's eyes are drawn to us. The Lord is spirit, no one has seen him, yet we all want to see this God everyone claims to know. So we look at folks who claim to know him! |
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Norm |
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July 11, 2008 at 10:19am |
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Mike, Whether there is other scripture that states something does not mean that this scripture is stating that same thing. (At this point I'm not going to argue those other scriptures because that seems to be a tangant. We can take that up some other time.) Unless I missed the point of your blog, it was that by readding a word that you missed, it changed the meaning of the Phillippians verse. And so you pointed out we should take care not to change the meaning of a verse by removing a word that should be there. What I am stating is don't make the mistake of (properly) adding the word back in, only to change a word later in the same verse which again gives the verse a completely different meaning than what was intended for that verse. The portions after the verse in your blog are all about "AS" whereas the verse and the surrounding passages in Phillippians are all about "IS". He's so excited about everything that is Christ that he's overflowing and can't contain it. In the Phillippians verse, I think it could be paraphrased "If I live, it's going to be all about Christ", not "If I live, I am going to be Christlike". |
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Norm, to be Christlike is part of being all about Christ, right? Can't understand why you make this an either/or. And your very first comment took issue with the assertion that we should cooperate with God's purpose to transform us into Christlikeness, as you said "And to your point, I don't know about that. Christ didn't call us to BE Him." This is why I pursued that point, rather than the point of grammar -- so I didn't see the verses I posted as a tangent. I would also add, I didn't change the "is" to "as" in the ensuing blog, I interpreted is as as since is is potentially confusing -- to literalists that is, as illustrated by this sentence in your first comment, "Christ didn't call us to BE Him." (lol - gotta laugh after that sentence!) Are we done yet?  |
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Norm |
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July 11, 2008 at 12:55pm |
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Mike, I dropped the non grammer point in the last comment, because I thought it was distracting from the grammer point. If you want we can revisit it (but given the knife I would have to say "No".) I interpreted is as as since is is potentially confusing -- to literalists that is, as illustrated by this sentence in your first comment, "Christ didn't call us to BE Him." RE: Interpreting or changing - When you originally missed the word "to", was that interpreting the verse or changing the verse? At what point does it become changing the verse? I'm not saying this to be contentious. I'm saying this because I don't understand what makes the difference in your mind and your definition of "interpreting" seems to fit my definition of "changing". :) Norm, to be Christlike is part of being all about Christ, right? Mike, which of that statement is the Phillippians verse affirming? The first half of that or the second half? (Or putting it differently if you didn't have any other verses, could you make the statement you make?) If you want to show that to "to be Christlike is part of being all about Christ", the other verses make more sense (whether the Phillippians verse has a "to" or not). Reinterpreting/changing a verse that doesn't say that, shouldn't be necessary and seems to be a slippery slope (whether a literalist or not)? |
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Norm |
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July 11, 2008 at 1:03pm |
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| By the way, isn't "as" a preposition in this sentence? Or is it an adverb? |
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Rob |
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July 11, 2008 at 10:18pm |
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Mike,
Being the wordsmith that I am, I'm actually getting alot out of this discussion. Norm makes some good points and so do you. Paul said to the Colossians: 3:4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Paul didn't view his Jesus as a "part" of his life or even a "big part" of his life. Paul viewed Christ as his life. Christ wasn't Paul's "purpose for living" - He is his very life. It goes along with the whole meaning of the ritual of baptism (see Romans 6). When we were buried with Christ by baptism, we were raised to walk in newness of life. Not our life but Christ's life. If any of us truly grasped the meaning and significance of baptism there would be no doubt as to its importance.
Paul said this: 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: The reverse of this is also true. If we have not been united with Christ in the likeness of His death we shall not be in the likeness of His resurrection.
Individuality:
The writer "Very Skeptical" picked up on something that I winced at myself.
God did not create each of us to live as we choose, or to express ourselves, or to follow our heart, or to pursue our individual goals
I don't know that God wants us all to become carpenters, not have spouses, become charismatic leaders, become Jesus in every way. Jesus is living His life in whatsoever state we find ourselves in. If we live as we choose, married, expressive, passionate, and driven, maybe He's the One who put those desires in our hearts. The bible does say that God gives us the desires of our hearts. Maybe it's God who works within us both to will and to do the things that bring Him good pleasure (see Php 2:13 TLB). What if Jesus wants to live His life as a married person? He already went through life single.
I'm a convicted sex offender. My life is going to turn out a little differently from Jesus' life. He knew no sin, my old life was the picture of sin. I'm a professional computer nerd. In me, Jesus is now living His life as a convicted sex offender with a job as a computer nerd. The life I live in this body I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. For to me, to live is Christ and whether in the body or clothed in a new, heavenly body, the source of life for me is Jesus, my King!
Jesus had the job of bringing freedom from sin to the world. My job is to walk in that freedom and report the good news that Jesus did what I could not do. Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom of God and I do that too but Jesus brought that kingdom to the world.
Jesus is the Bridegroom, the church is the bride. We have different roles. Jesus has already done all the heavy lifting for His beloved bride. It's my job to know my role and walk in that easy yoke and that light burden. When I doubt my salvation (sorry Becky) I know that I'm on the WRONG PATH. Jesus didn't die to make me doubt whether He has finished the work the Father gave Him to do. Jesus said: 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 6:40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Skepticism is fine but doubt is deadly. Skepticism says: "I'm willing to taste and see that the Lord is good". Doubt says: "I know Jesus saved me but maybe I'm still going to hell". As Jesus said, it's the Father's will that He should lose none of whom God has given Him. Believing that really takes a load off.
We "wordsmiths" have one fatal flaw - we tend to strain at gnats but swallow camels.
Rob |
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Rob, I really appreciate some of your points. I can appreciate your take on Paul's viewing Christ as his life, truly an awesome concept that few of us grasp, and none of us grasps fully or all the time.
The line that VS and you winced at, I believe, is easy to wince at if taken out of context. I believe the line is valid IF viewed within its narrow context, purpose for living.
God is a Redeemer, as Christ is expressed in/through you, people ought to cease seeing the sex offender Rob and begin to see a new Rob, a redeemed Rob. So Christ is expressed through a new Rob and not sex offender Rob.
As for doubts, I believe they can be healthy, if they drive us to explore our faith further/deeper for answers. If we dwell on our doubts or use them as excuses, then as you say, they can be deadly.
Thanks for the comments Rob. Nice avatar too (as I've said before). |
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Regarding our purpose for living... In support of this statement from the blog, "God did not create each of us to live as we choose, or to express ourselves, or to follow our heart, or to pursue our individual goals, etc.", which some have taken issue with, I rec'd a very nice email with the following verse:
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25) This would seem to underscore the intent of what I wrote. :-) |
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Bless you Mike n Laura,
Paul knew Christ's teaching, the Disciples of Christ knew Jesus' teachings and they all became "Dead Men Walking" in order to allow Christ to live in and through them.
Honestly ... who do you know is really doing that??
What Pastor ... Leader ... TV Evangelist do you know really Walking the Talk of Jesus??
Love in His PASSION, Doc. ;-)
Matthew 16:24-28 (NIV) “24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25For whoever wants to save his life/soul will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has Done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 19:16-29 (Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-29)27Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” 28Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the Renewal of All Things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother (wife) or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much (in value) and will inherit eternal life.” Mark 8:34-38 (NIV) “34Then He (Jesus) called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 35For whoever wants to save his life/soul will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Luke 9:23-27 (NIV) “23Then He (Jesus) said to them all: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” Luke 14:25-35 (Are we the Large Crowd just Traveling with Jesus?) 25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them HE said: 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he Cannot be My Disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me CANNOT be My Disciple. 28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has Cannot be My Disciple. 34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Isaiah 6:10, 7:13, 29:18-19, 30:21, 30:30, 32:3, 34:1-2, 42:18) John 12:23-26 (NIV)“23Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.” Follow up verses just in case we can not understand this English: Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 5:1-2, Colossians 3:1-4, James 4:4, James 5:1-3, 5, 1 John 2:3-6
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Rob |
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July 13, 2008 at 10:53pm |
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Guyz,
In order to keep the schizophrenia to a minimum, it's helpful to know where we are in our walk.
How many Christians do we know who walk around smiting their breasts, begging God to forgive them? I grew up Catholic and you can always tell a good Catholic by his perpetual "mia culpa" attitude. I like to call this the "worm of the dust" attitude.
Worm of the dust Christians hate their lives because it sounds holy and humble. In fact, if Christ is your life and you hate your life, then, logically, you hate Christ. Take another look at those passages quoted above: 12:25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Jesus never taught us to hate life but He did teach us to hate our life in this world's system. Denying oneself can mean depriving oneself of any and all pleasure or it could mean denying yourself the liberty to operate within the world's system. I prefer the latter.
Jesus commanded us to ask God for things. He gave us the authority to speak to our mountains. He told us over and over that if we did not do these things we were not obeying His commandments. He said if we did do these things, our joy would be complete. 14:12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it]. 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. According to Jesus, asking for things from the Father actually glorifies Him. If we do not ask "whatsoever" of the Father, we are actually walking in disobedience. This may not jibe with the traditional Roman Catholic definition of "humility" but it's consistent with the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. It's also interesting that Jesus would instruct us to ask for anything in His name in order to make our joy "complete" (lit. "full").
Every now and then we hear about the publican who smote his breast and would not even look up but said, "Have mercy on me, a sinner". As Christians, we are then encouraged to go and do likewise but not by the scriptures: 18:14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. The publican did this once then he went home justified. He didn't come back the next day to do the same thing yet that's what some would have us do. When we are justified we need to acknowledge that as fact or else we're in unbelief.
The point is, we don't hate our life in Christ; that would be counterproductive. We love our new life because of everything God has done for us. In Christ, He has delivered us from evil. Our lives are not to be a struggle against personal sin because Jesus made us free from that lifestyle. It's called good news because God has healed all our sickness and disease. It's called good news because we don't have to live in poverty. It's called good news because we are completely free from sin. There's only one catch: we have to believe it.
The reason I could not get my Christian life to work the first time through is because I fundamentally did not believe the good news. All I was being taught was everything I had to do to keep myself saved. I traded grace for law and, sure enough, it did what law was designed to do - it made me a slave to sin.
But now, thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ I'm free from sin and a slave to righteousness! I LOVE my new life! For the first time in my life I am EVERYTHING I always knew I could be. Almost by magic, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. What's not to love about that?
Rob |
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| Thanks for the clarification Rob. Life is to be joyful (1 Thess 5:16), BUT it is not our life but Christ's that we are to seek (Matt 16:25, Luke 17:33). God bless! |
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| In my opinion, Paul was the closest "Christ-like" apostle, so he'd know what he's talking about. ;) Great word. |
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Amen brother. That is why bible study is so important. There is so much you miss in just the reading of it. Also I find with whatever is going on in my life I can find new meaning. Keep up the great posts. God bless |
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Grant |
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July 25, 2008 at 10:07pm |
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Not being the Greek expert, I defer to those who are, rather than try to guess. According to the Word Biblical Commentary, the Greek actually says, "To me living is Christ, dying is gain." The commentary is interesting.
By saying τὸ ζῆν Χριστός (“living is Christ”) Paul does not mean that Christ is the source of his physical existence (cf. Acts 17:28), or even of his spiritual life (Rom 8:2–11; 2 Cor 5:17). Nor does he mean that Christ is his life (Luther, Tyndale), in the sense that Christ lives in him—Gal 2:20 is not an explanation of this statement (see the comments of Betz, Galatians, 124; cf. Bultmann, TDNT 2, 868-70). He does not even mean that living is to be with Christ (cf. Phil 1:23). Rather, without rejecting these ideas, but including them and embracing them in his thinking, Paul nevertheless puts the emphasis now in quite a different place. To say “living is Christ” is to say that for him “life means Christ” (Goodspeed, Knox, Moffatt, Phillips). Life is summed up in Christ. Life is filled up with, occupied with Christ, in the sense that everything Paul does—trusts, loves, hopes, obeys, preaches, follows (Vincent), and so on—is inspired by Christ and is done for Christ.
TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds., tr. G. W. Bromiley Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols., ET (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–76)
Hawthorne, G. F. (2002). Vol. 43: Word Biblical Commentary : Philippians. Word Biblical Commentary (44). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. |
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| Grant, that is exceptional input, thank you! I believe the "experts" really do have much to offer to our reading of scripture! |
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