Comments on: You might be lukewarm if . . . http://thin-edge.org/2008/07/02/you-might-be-lukewarm-if/ Exploring the freedom & simplicity of relational Christianity Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:03:25 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Jenny http://thin-edge.org/2008/07/02/you-might-be-lukewarm-if/comment-page-1/#comment-24149 Jenny Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:48:49 +0000 http://thin-edge.org/?p=378#comment-24149 I see that the church as a whole is in a lukewarm state...because of fear, wanting convenience and thinking that is inline with the carnal nature and not with the new nature/mind of Christ. I see that Christians are living an Old Testament Christianity. The focus that the OT believers had was to follow the Law. Their lives centered around their behavior...whether they were following the rules and then what would need to be done if the rules were broken. Their behaviors (if and when they sinned) were the measurement of how spiritual they were. Everything revolved around the Law...and being good was THE focus. How ever, God chose to create a whole New Testament based on the sending of His Son that would totally save and fulfill the demands of the Law. In principle, old wine cannot go into a new wineskin...it will burst. God intended that we would not mix the new ways with the old...because one fulfilled the other already...because one made way for the new way. A new commandment I give to you... & the law would be written on our hearts & love fulfills the law & we serve God not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but instead by the new way, by the Spirit & etc..... The New Testament is extremely specific that when we focus on our behavior and try to be good, we can't be. INSTEAD, the bible (NT) says to focus on the things of the Spirit (love, peace + etc) which takes the focus off ourselves onto others (ALL the fruits of the Spirit are "other-centered" and not self-centered)...and when we focus on loving as our daily motivation...when our mind if renewed and we focus on loving as our prime motivation, our behaviors automatically begin to change because (Rom. 13:10) "Love does no wrong to anyone...". When you get busy loving the people around you...when you focus on them...one of the by-products is a maturing ~ a changing. This new kind of life takes faith, cause the old way of thinking (carnal nature) would want us to put the focus back on ourselves and be the ones in control again. Another WONDERFUL by-product of looking outward and making love our motivation is the bright lite that our lives will become to the world! Most people I know and have known try to live good lives with good morals...most people in the world endeavor to try and obey the laws of their land and be good citizens...so, us focusing on our goodnesses or lack of sinning (as something that makes us good witnesses to the world) does not make us any different from the world. BUT what WOULD make us different is if we would truly be the body ~ hands and feet ~ of Christ and love the people around us as He would. The word Christian means "little Christ". If we loved i.e., smiled at the cashier, was considerate of those around us and honestly loved each person we met people would naturally either be drawn to us cause we ARE truly different...or on the other hand hate us cause of how our lives challenge them. The light that we would carry if we truly loved in this way would shine so brightly and powerfully that barely a word would need to be said. Love fulfills the Law. I will dare to say that it trumps every other scripture that we think tells us to try and be good or righteous. Loving will take care of everything if we allow God to make us into that New Testament believer that conquers evil (in himself and others) with the ingrediants of the 1st Cor. 13 love. Thank you for reading... :) I see that the church as a whole is in a lukewarm state…because of fear, wanting convenience and thinking that is inline with the carnal nature and not with the new nature/mind of Christ. I see that Christians are living an Old Testament Christianity. The focus that the OT believers had was to follow the Law. Their lives centered around their behavior…whether they were following the rules and then what would need to be done if the rules were broken. Their behaviors (if and when they sinned) were the measurement of how spiritual they were. Everything revolved around the Law…and being good was THE focus.

How ever, God chose to create a whole New Testament based on the sending of His Son that would totally save and fulfill the demands of the Law. In principle, old wine cannot go into a new wineskin…it will burst. God intended that we would not mix the new ways with the old…because one fulfilled the other already…because one made way for the new way. A new commandment I give to you… & the law would be written on our hearts & love fulfills the law & we serve God not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but instead by the new way, by the Spirit & etc…..

The New Testament is extremely specific that when we focus on our behavior and try to be good, we can’t be. INSTEAD, the bible (NT) says to focus on the things of the Spirit (love, peace + etc) which takes the focus off ourselves onto others (ALL the fruits of the Spirit are “other-centered” and not self-centered)…and when we focus on loving as our daily motivation…when our mind if renewed and we focus on loving as our prime motivation, our behaviors automatically begin to change because (Rom. 13:10) “Love does no wrong to anyone…”. When you get busy loving the people around you…when you focus on them…one of the by-products is a maturing ~ a changing. This new kind of life takes faith, cause the old way of thinking (carnal nature) would want us to put the focus back on ourselves and be the ones in control again.

Another WONDERFUL by-product of looking outward and making love our motivation is the bright lite that our lives will become to the world!

Most people I know and have known try to live good lives with good morals…most people in the world endeavor to try and obey the laws of their land and be good citizens…so, us focusing on our goodnesses or lack of sinning (as something that makes us good witnesses to the world) does not make us any different from the world. BUT what WOULD make us different is if we would truly be the body ~ hands and feet ~ of Christ and love the people around us as He would. The word Christian means “little Christ”. If we loved i.e., smiled at the cashier, was considerate of those around us and honestly loved each person we met people would naturally either be drawn to us cause we ARE truly different…or on the other hand hate us cause of how our lives challenge them. The light that we would carry if we truly loved in this way would shine so brightly and powerfully that barely a word would need to be said. Love fulfills the Law. I will dare to say that it trumps every other scripture that we think tells us to try and be good or righteous. Loving will take care of everything if we allow God to make us into that New Testament believer that conquers evil (in himself and others) with the ingrediants of the 1st Cor. 13 love.

Thank you for reading… :)

]]> By: Jack O'Grady http://thin-edge.org/2008/07/02/you-might-be-lukewarm-if/comment-page-1/#comment-22565 Jack O'Grady Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:14:50 +0000 http://thin-edge.org/?p=378#comment-22565 I'm very challenged by that Bill - am sensing a worrying familiarity with many of those points! I’m very challenged by that Bill – am sensing a worrying familiarity with many of those points!

]]> By: Tom M. http://thin-edge.org/2008/07/02/you-might-be-lukewarm-if/comment-page-1/#comment-22536 Tom M. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:45:05 +0000 http://thin-edge.org/?p=378#comment-22536 People who think they have it all figured out apply a label to everyone that doesn't meet their standard. People who have it all figured out aren't ever worried that they sound arrogant as they're "just speaking the truth." People who have it all figured out don't oversimplify; they just state the obvious in plain language. Yes, I am aware of the irony of these statements. People who think they have it all figured out apply a label to everyone that doesn’t meet their standard.

People who have it all figured out aren’t ever worried that they sound arrogant as they’re “just speaking the truth.”

People who have it all figured out don’t oversimplify; they just state the obvious in plain language.

Yes, I am aware of the irony of these statements.

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