Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12,2 is an important verse which I intend to come back to. I want merely here to draw attention to it.
Our minds matter so very much!
I want to start this time by telling a funny story:
I was talking to a great friend of mine, a pastor in England, many years ago. He told me of some parishioners who had come to him before the service on Sunday, boasting that they had been able to evade the bus conductor on the way to church; thus they had not paid the bus fare. On another occasion, they had come to him bringing flowers to decorate the church with. They told him that they had pinched them from someone’s garden on the way to church.
You may well ask me how this could happen. I cannot tell you. What I can say, is that I think these people needed a course in the 10 commandments. They needed to be told of the commandment that said: Thou shalt not steal! Ex. 20,15
Yes, we Christians are not under law. That does not mean, however, that the law ceases to have a function in our lives. We have already said that the 10 Commandments need to be a guide to us, in holy living.
Of course we need to know them!😀👍
Today, I want to add some more scripture, which I think the Christian needs to be guided by:
Mk. 12,29-30/Deut 6,4-5 (the Shema) + Lev. 19,18
Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Rom. 13,8 and 10:
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ……Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
We Christians are held to high standards; they are the standards of Jesus Christ. We know that we will not be like him overnight, but we have the Spirit to help us, to guide us, and to teach us. There is no greater teacher than he! And the Spirit is not holding us to the letter of the law, but teaching us an even higher standard, which includes it’s inner meaning; the standard of the One who fulfilled the law (Mt. 5,17), Jesus Christ.
And fear and intimidation, have NO PLACE in his teaching agenda for us! God is love!
David said of the Lord:
Thy gentleness hath made me great. Ps. 18,35 KJV
This week, I will be publishing a blog post on Galatians chapter 5. I want this time to write a post which is much shorter than the one I did on Romans chapter 8; but nevertheless making some important points on Christian ethics and Christian living.
K😀👍