Comments About Some Comments for the Sake of Jesus Christ

Have you ever wanted to take somebody by their shoulders, stop them in their tracks and somehow truly, convincingly help them understand the good news of Jesus Christ? That happened to me in November. Way back then I placed a comment on Pastor Bob's blog, Pastor Bob's Musings. He had written about FREEDOM. I wrote:

"Pastor Bob, Something I wanted to add. Not only does Jesus free us from sin to serve him but the Holy Spirit unites us to the risen Lord and when God the Father looks on us he does not see either our sin or our righteousness, but only the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That frees us to serve God without fear or condemnation. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Romans 8:1)." And the end of that chapter in Romans lets us know that no power in heaven or earth can separate us from Jesus Christ. Therefore not only do we show the righteousness of Christ, no power on earth, no demon from hell can trouble us."

Someone responded to me who undoubtedly does not know Jesus Christ as their Lord. This is what they wrote:

"... that last sentence is wrong in a very big way:

'Therefore not only do we show the righteousness of Christ, no power on earth, no demon from hell can trouble us.'

We most certainly do NOT show the righteousness of Christ, and powers on earth are troubling us all the time. The very existence of the New Wineskins is predicated on being troubled.

So if the "therefore" is true, then the first part (the scriptural reference) is not, and if the 'therefore' is not true then her >understanding< of the Scripture is wrong.

For me it's the understanding of Paul's words that is completely off. It's what M. Scott Peck was all about in his book 'People of the Lie'."

This statement, by the second person, which I have placed in red, is off either because the writer totally does not understand what it means to be a Christian or because they do understand and they are attempting to destroy the meaning the gospel brings to our humanity.

Here is how the person so misunderstands my words and also misunderstands the gift that God gives in his Son in so many ways.

First, we are all sinners. So if we do not show the righteousness of Christ to the Father we are not Christians. We do not belong to Jesus Christ:

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal. 2:20)

"But what ever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death: in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Phil. 3:7-11)

Christ not only justifies us by his death on the cross he gives us his life, his righteousness. We are called to live out a holy life because of this but if this person is not united with Jesus Christ and sharing his righteousness he is not an adopted child of the Father. None of us are without the righteousness of Christ.

Secondly, the person writing a response to me writes like a machine not understanding that one can suffer in a physical or even a emotional way but not be spiritually troubled because God has intervened. The point here is the person who wrote, "powers on earth are troubling us all the time," undoubtedly does not understand what it means "to be cast down but not destroyed." It is like the difference between joy and happiness in a Christian's life. A Christian is not promised happiness, but is promised joy even in tribulation. That joy is based on our relationship with Jesus Christ.

"...what we have seen and heard [the Word of Life] we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete." (1 John1:3-4)

Also Paul gives a good account of what it means to never be separated from the love of Christ and yet be suffering in everyway. He writes:

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not of ourselves; we are afflicted in everyway, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (2 Cor 4:7-10)

There are only two things that can be said of a person whose response both fails to lift up the saving work of Jesus Christ and attempts at the same time to tear it down. Either they need Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or they are like Elymas the magician in the 13th chapter of Acts who opposed Paul and tried to turn the proconsul, Paul was preaching to, away from the faith. But, in God's sovereignty Elymas's impossed blindness, because of his treachery, helped to bring Sergius Paulus to the faith.