Archives for February 2020

We all know the typical complaint of an unbeliever: “how can you expect me to believe something that I can’t see?”

It is a valid question.

It really doesn’t console them when we, as Christians, respond with Romans 1:20: “you are without excuse because His invisible qualities can be seen by understanding the things His power and divinity have made”.

In fact, it is a very cruel thing to say to someone who is on the outside, endlessly thirsting for the elusive “living water” (John 4:14).

Love simply doesn’t do that!

So, we need to understand that an unbeliever is an unbeliever for that precise reason: they haven’t seen the reality of God. (or, more precisely, it is because they are looking at the evidence of God with an unbeliever’s understanding).

Recent discussions on www.christianforums.net have raised the topic of Christians who have “blind faith”: They are a type of religious person who uses the bible to justify their belief system. They pray genuinely in His name, they do the good that they think He is pleased by .. and yet there are among them the sorts producing ungodly fruits: backbiting, wars, sexual immorality, conspiracies to do injustice… it shows that there is a vital piece of the Christian vision missing among them. They are a church body that does not recognise and follow the head, that is Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:18).

In that sense, churches today are a bit similar to the religion of Judaism in Jesus’ time:

[The Jews in the temple] said to Him: “Our father is Abraham!”. Jesus says to them “If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you want to kill me – a man who has spoken the truth to you that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.”

John 8:39-40 (LEB)

.. and Jesus Himself had warned His disciples of that coming reality while He was preparing to face His accusers:

Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

John 12:35 (LEB)

Soon after Jesus’ resurrection, when the disciples were actively spreading the gospel message, we read through the accounts in the book of Acts that The Holy Spirit was among them, was giving them instruction, and was doing works through them. But through other parts of the New Testament, letters written personally to churches, the disciples warn about rivalries, factions, warring and slander that were happening among the members of the churches. We know such things, and worse, have been happening in the churches ever since.

That’s not to say that Christians have a new problem though, because it is a consistent theme within communities of faith, and it always will be whenever a person is seeking the adoration of another for being a “spokesperson of God” (eg: Jeremiah 26:7-8).

Clearly, the problem is owed to the fact that there are certain religious people who simply do not see and hear God, let alone do they accept the words that are said by those who do. Yet, each person has a portion of power in any system of power, and anyone who has power believes it is their right and duty to exercise that power according to their best reasoning.

When a person is unable to perceive God in their midst but they want to do His will, they are only able to imagine Him as the authority of the idea that prevails in their mind when they pray. History has plenty of examples of people who have done bad things in the name of religion, and it is quite typical that a mystic would lay claim to a divine instruction in that manner.

So, how did they get the wrong answers from prayer?

The spirit of God is holy – that means that He is set apart from all others, and anyone coming against Him would be consumed by His righteousness. So it is necessary for a person to be humble and submitted to receiving His judgment if they are to be approaching Him (Exodus 33:20). If a person is not able to receive the judgment of God, then he probably is also unable to admit it (1 Peter 5:5). If that person, then bound by their pride, goes forth to claim an instruction in prayer, he must be appealing to a spirit that is deceiving him by flattery. As soon as he announces that God has instructed him, while the truth is that he didn’t empty his self interests, he has spoken his own will on God’s authority and has made himself an enemy of God (Exodus 20:7, Jeremiah 23:30-40).

So we see that it can be perilous to participate in Christianity if we do not truly submit ourselves to God in all matters. In this way, we can also come to understand how there are so many Christians in churches who are not producing the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). Although the same Christians no doubt have begun their Christian faith with the best of intentions, they have ended up producing bad fruit and distorting the message of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

So let’s look at what God has intended for His church, because Jesus didn’t give up His life to become a historical religious icon that everyone is fighting about two thousand years later. No, in fact there is a common theme throughout all the New Testament scriptures and most presentations of The Message of Salvation through Christ: that Jesus laid down His life, knowing it was unlawful for them to take it, so that He would secure an everlasting office as our High Priest (Hebrews 7:23-25).

Keep in mind that everybody is introduced to Christianity at a starting point having zero knowledge of it, and as they learn more day by day, making wise decisions to keep growing in the right knowledge of The Lord, they can become someone who is very experienced and full of knowledge – having learned to cultivate the character of Christ and being useful to Him for personal ministry to those who need ministering to by The Holy Spirit.

The early church recognised that the Spirit of God was real and living in them, speaking through them, just as the scriptures have told us. So, that explains how the church has traditionally addressed its priests as “father” – because a priest in his proper conduct of office would indeed be a vessel for the spirit of our Heavenly Father to speak to us (Matthew 23:9). While it isn’t impossible that a priest may, these days, be found sufficiently refined to portray the nature of God to us, do keep in mind that the modern use of the title is more of a formalism – a tradition of the church.

Indeed, a word of caution is appropriate too, when considering whether one should peer into the spirit of his priest and subject himself to it (Proverbs 25:26). We know our wrestle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the host of the wickedness in the spiritual places (Ephesians 6:12, 1 John 4:1, Matthew 24:5).

So the role of a priest (eg: Pastor), is to provide ministry to the people who seek it, in order that they also would grow into maturity:

And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

St. Paul, Ephesians 4:11-16 (LEB)

So St. Paul has said two very important things here, that are the real key for making the most of Christianity in your church: that the spiritual gifts (apostolic, prophetic, evangelic and pastoral) will continue until the church has achieved the unity of faith and knowledge of the son of God (ie: for 2,000 years and counting!), and that we are to grow into Him with reference to all things.

Let’s unpack that second thing, because the language is very rich.

When St. Paul says we are to grow into Christ with reference to all things, what is he referring to? It is quite literally all things that we do, and all things that we are. In everything that we do and everything that we believe, we ought to ask “Is that what Jesus would do?”. Whether it be the way we drive, the way we dress, the way we eat, the work we do.. and of course, the spiritual food that we eat: Do you enjoy lewd television and violent games?

For instance, when you watch your television, do you laugh when they mock a certain type of person? Do you realise that your mind is no longer pure of thought toward people who fit that stereotype in real life? How about when a character is portrayed as a bad husband and the TV show makes you agree that the wife’s girlfriend should break them apart? Do you know that you are being taught to view and believe that men have that character? .. and men, when you see women portrayed as items of lust and men gambling over who might seduce her first – do you realise that your eyes are being exercised to see the world in a way that you were not made to see? The mind is the throne of the spirit, and the heart is the source of its life. When people look to see Christ in us, they need to see a pure mind and a wholesome heart. So watch television with wisdom.

Now, let’s address this question of what Jesus might possibly have meant when He said “blessed are those who have believed and yet have not seen”.

The obvious question that anyone might ask, is: “why does He suggest that a believer having not seen Him is more blessed than a believer who has?”

There’s probably a few different ideas that can count toward the perfect answer, but the first and most important principle is found in Matthew 12:39: we know who Jesus is, because we know what love is. Thomas had said he would never believe that it was Jesus unless he had seen the nail holes. In comparison, John 21:7 shows us that the disciple knew it was Jesus standing on the shore, even though He was 100 metres away.

Also, there is a special value in having a simple faith, and simplicity of life comes through simply trusting God as a child trusts his parents.

The beginning of this article mentioned that there is a particularly destructive quality about holiness – that even the angels of fire would shield their face from Him (Isaiah 6:2-3) .. Why, and what does that mean?

In the light of righteousness, our sin is laid bare. That is the pure and plain reason why persecution comes upon the saints – a sinful world is literally unable to feel justified in the presence of righteousness. God’s wrath comes against them in light of our innocence, and it is His spirit in us that they cannot bear.

Being human, they use various methods to suppress the indignation of righteousness, and being so determined in their sin, often they do not realise that they are doing exactly that. But God is one who cannot be suppressed. A human who is unable to bear His righteousness can only hide from Him and deny His truth. We read of that famously in the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8-10).

And I said, “Woe to me! For I am destroyed! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am living among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, Adonai of hosts!”

Isaiah 6:5 (LEB)

So there is one aspect of blind faith that is valuable to a person, particularly when we are substantially young in Christianity or slowly developing: He is shielding us from the realisation of our smallness.

Our smallness is an inevitable conviction for a mortal who reveals his naked soul in the light of God. If a person who was underdeveloped for that reality were exposed to His face, they would be ruined as the prophet Isaiah cried out. So He shields us from the shame of being found naked and unprepared in His presence (2 Corinthians 3:7-8).

In that state of faith, there is simple trust in God’s goodness and total confidence in the knowledge that He is pleased with our devotion to His way (Romans 8:1-2). He is able to bless our life by virtue of our faith simply being faith (Romans 8:32, Galatians 3:24-26).

I also should mention that having blind faith is much more simple than having one’s eyes opened to the spirit world, because when you realise you are not only dealing with the people you speak to, but you are dealing with the spirits in them, you realise that those spirits are a community that is not constrained by any one body. The spirit inhabits a body, and the only relief one can get from the presence of a spirit, is to be with people who do not yield their self as vessels for that spirit.

One such way people do that, when they are trying to hide from the conviction of the Holy Spirit, is to cast a spell over the mind of the person who is bringing the words of conviction. When I say this, I speak of spell casting in a Christian way and not a pagan way, because the casting of a spell is simply, by definition of the word, the formation of words that take a mind captive to think in a particular way.

One of the most blatant examples of spell-casting, that every parent is probably guilty of, is the threat of punishment. That spell is particularly destructive to The Holy Spirit’s work in a child, because it invokes a spirit of fear in the child and shuts down the natural work of growth that He is doing in them as they are expanding their understanding of how things work and why the rules are made. But that particular spell is also a curse upon the one casting it, because in order to cast that spell, one must forego the spirit of love itself (1 John 4:18). For example, “love does no harm to a neighbour” and “love is patient, it is kind, it bears all things and hopes all things” (1 Corinthians 13).

It is also an unescapable truth that the whole world has been spellcast by the spirit, that is written of through Ephesians 2: “we all were once like them, being children of wrath”, and it goes on to say that we have been saved because of the mercy that came through the greatness of His love for us. There is no grace in the spirit of wrath that uses threats of penalties to dominate and rule weaker ones (Ephesians 6:9), and people who do that to children are not behaving in a Christian spirit (Luke 9:48).

And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the young children come to me. Do not forbid them, for to such belongs (Literally “for of such is”) the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.”

Mark 10:13-15 (LEB)

Look at that: the disciples, being the ones who had beheld the fullness of His glory in the flesh and had been around His teaching for a while, were themselves laid bare in His presence. And what happened? He gave His approval and praise to the little children, and indignation to them!

This story is a clear expression of the vital need for us to break free of the world’s way of thinking, that makes us dominate them and crush their spirit as relief from the indignation of their relative righteousness. The only way one can truly overcome the world and live in the freedom of new spiritual life, is to be born of the spirit again. We must repent of the world’s ways and glorify God with the pure heart and humble nature of a child, so that He can bless us in His presence.

So when an unbeliever says they have never seen God, we know that children are dearly loved by Him, and that wherever a person is abiding in love, God is abiding in him (1 John 4:16).

God is with us a lot more than we know, and even though Phillip had been with Jesus every day of His mission, still he had not recognised The Father until he had asked (John 14:8-9).

So all it comes down to is the one fact that an unbeliever chooses to follow a mindset that prevents them from recognising God instead of following the mindset that equips them to understand His presence, and those decisions can begin in childhood before a person has matured enough to deliberate.

Saying that a person doesn’t understand or recognise God is a bit different from saying that they don’t see Him. Matthew 18:10 shows us that the little children are constantly approved by God, and yet they would not know how to understand that the love in the people around them is the spirit of love that comes from God to them. Only the appropriate teaching can open their eyes to see it and name it that way.

Though, that is not to say that a Christian with blind faith is as a child before God. Jesus says so explicitly when He says we must turn and become again as a little child or we will never enter into the kingdom of God. Little children don’t watch horror movies and they don’t laugh at lewdness. They don’t enjoy hurting animals and they don’t conspire or gossip.

“Who may ascend the mountain of Adonai? And who may stand in his holy place?”

The one who has my commandments and keeps them—that one is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.

Jesus Christ, John 14:21

“Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

There is no doubt that Christ asks us to love each other. Sometimes this means we have to forgive each other first. It would be nice if this could happen quickly and simply, but this is not usually the case. Sometimes forgiveness is a slow process.

It would also be nice if forgiveness would just happen on its own. We can just give it some time. But usually some intervention must take place. In other words, we must work on it, sort of like tending a garden.

The process begins with a desire to forgive. Many factors may motivate this desire—none of them natural. Our natural inclination is to stay angry and hold a grudge. But, eventually, either misery gets the best of us and/or a deeply held belief system shakes loose the anger and gives way to a desire to forgive. For Christians this is a reverence for the commandment to love others—including our enemies.

After the willingness comes, we then need some fancy footwork. One might begin by getting inside the head of the person or persons with whom we are angry. Was the transgression intentional or an accident? Was the transgressor suffering in some way for which we can be sympathetic? If the person with whom we are angry tells his side of the story what would he say?

It is important, at this point, to begin a discussion of the matter. The trick here is to listen to the people we discuss this with. We may not really want to hear an objective opinion, but it is important that we do. And even if our friends and/or pastor agrees with us that we are the injured party, it feels good to loosen that knot of anger chocking us to death by talking it out with someone we trust.

It can also be very helpful to write about all this emotional chaos. Writing can lead to some interesting “Freudian Slips” about the true nature of what happened and how we feel about it.

For the sake of argument, however, what if we are truly a victim and the person we are angry with has no leg to stand on? How then do we forgive? Well in this case we must simply try to look at the bright side. For instance, our perpetrator has to bear the weight of his sin against us and we do not. (It might help, at this point, to mention that you do not have to like someone to forgive them or even associate with them. The dictionary definition of forgiveness is simply to let go of our anger. No hugs and kisses are required.)

Sometimes our best intentions get us no where. Forgiveness then becomes an act of grace. Corrie Ten Boom talks about this in her book, The Hiding Place. Corrie was a Christian who hid Jews
in her home during World War II.

Eventually she and her sister were thrown into a concentration camp where her sister died. After the war Corrie was angry even though she preached forgiveness to other Holocaust survivors. Once day Corrie was approached by a guard from the prison camp who asked her forgiveness. Corrie eloquently describes how she prayed for the forgiveness of God to channel through her so that she could shake the outstretched hand before her. Sometimes this is what it takes. Forgiveness as God’s grace pouring through our willing heart.

The hardest part of forgiveness comes when we have to feel the “real” feelings behind what happened. Our anger is just a coverup for the pain brought on by the slight. The pain of rejection, the wound to our ego, the utter disappointment in this person, the fear that this will happen again.

The hardest part of forgiveness for me is to let go of the anger when the person who wounded me is in total denial about the whole thing. Recently my mother died. My sister was angry at me for hovering over my mother on her deathbed. She said that my mother would not want me there because she did not like me. I was so wounded by this that I vowed never to speak to my sister again until she apologized.

But a year later I felt the pain of estrangement more than the pain of what she had said. So I was stuck between my anger and my loneliness for my sister. I also felt the tugging of Christ’s words to love each other, and doesn’t that sometimes mean unconditionally?

So, eventually, I went through the process I describe above and came to the conclusion that forgiveness was important to my mental health and my salvation as a Christian. So I swallowed my pride. I sent of a stiff email telling her that I was ready to move on without an apology. Immediately I felt as if a great burden had been lifted. I also felt like a better servant of the Lord and this is no small matter to me.

I have yet to hear from my sister but I feel better because I have surrendered the toxic feelings I was holding on to for dear life. And I think this is exactly why Christ asks us to forgive each other. Not only is world peace at stake, it is important for our personal well being. I see everything Christ asks us to do as serving this dual purpose—personal fulfillment and our contribution to a better world.

When I had been sober for awhile, I was talking to my thirteen-year old son about my new found love of God. He nodded his head as I was talking, and for some reason I felt compelled to ask him if he believed in God. He replied, “Sure.”

I was a little surprised because he had never mentioned this to me before. I was very curious and pursued the matter. I asked him when he had started believing in God. He replied nonchalantly, “About a year ago.”

“What brought on this newfound faith?” I inquired. At this point, he hesitated. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I pressured him a little, because I really wanted to know. “How did it happen?” I said softly.

He looked at me a minute, trying to read my face. Finally, he shrugged and said, “Well, I asked him for something and he gave it to me. I guess I’ve believed in him ever since.” I was really on the edge of my chair now. I asked him what he had requested of God. He balked at this question and whined, “It’s personal, mom.”

I told him that I didn’t want to invade his privacy, and I certainly wouldn’t force him to tell me about it, but I really wanted to know. After another hesitation, he finally said. “Well, mom, about a year ago you were drunk and screaming at sis and me and then you sat down on the floor and started crying. You were rocking back and forth, and it really scared me. I didn’t know what to do, so I went into my room and I asked God to please help you.

Right after that you got into AA and really started to change. I guess I have believed in God ever since. He gave me what I asked for.” I couldn’t say anything, but I hugged my son as the tears ran down my face. Miracles really do happen and in his own way my son had experienced a spiritual awakening. I have had many special moments since turning my will and my life over to the care of God, but that conversation with my son was one of the best.

Mark 12:28 Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

For some reason I have always wanted to distill what was complex into something that was simple—to strip away everything that might distract me from the one thing that was more important than anything else. So naturally I was thrilled to discover Mark 12:28. My heart started pounding and my mind raced as I came upon it for the first time. After the question was posed, I quickly read on, anxious to discover the answer. You would think I had just found a winning lottery ticket.

Fortunately, it did not take long to get to the answer to what Jesus wanted us to do more than anything else. What was important to Jesus, and to the God he both represented and manifested, was LOVE. And not just any kind of love—love poured out from our soul, heart, mind, and strength. In other words, from our soul we must feel love, think about love, and act in loving ways.

As if things were not difficult enough, Christ gives us another task. He makes it clear that we are to love our neighbor as we love our self, even if that neighbor is from an undesirable country—the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25). And, worse still, we are to love our enemy (Matthew 5:44). In other words, and this is my long-delayed point, we are called upon by Christ to love people who live other lifestyles (homosexuals) and people who practice other religions (even if some of them terrorists).

Now, you might ask, just how far do you expect me to go with this radical love stuff. Am I to accept homosexuality? Am I to allow gays and lesbians to marry? Am I to love terrorists? This is up to you. For me, loving in this way means tolerance of alternative lifestyles. Love in action means “live and let live.” And it includes forgiving the unforgivable. In other words, you do not have to convert someone to love them. They do not have to think, believe and act like you do in order for you to love them. And, when your enemies strike, you must forgive them.

Why do I say all of this? Partly because a friend of mine was recently shunned by church members because she is a lesbian, and partly, because I am worried about the society I live in—a society that professes to be Christian but blatantly refuses to practice its more difficult doctrines—to love radically.

For those who doubt the importance of Christ’s message to love radically, let me remind you of what John Paul II told us. Defeating evil is not the answer. Preserving love is the answer. Evil will reappear again and again in different forms. Love must be there to conquer it again and again. Only radical love can do this.

Peter came up to him and said, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven!

Matthew 18:21-22 (LEB)

Understanding forgiveness is the real key to successful Christianity – because it is by entrusting judgment to God that we free ourselves from all anxieties associated with injustice where justice is outside our own power.

In this verse, Peter comes up to Jesus with a question that we might feel too embarrassed to ask, but nonetheless, it shows how much times have changed that Peter had heard of Jesus’ message of forgiveness and had thought that it would be generous to limit his forgiveness.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer, but whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:38-39 (LEB)

Even today, after the doctrines of Christianity have been discussed, ratified, challenged and reformed, this is a difficult concept to grasp, almost as if it were unnatural – and even though it is part of the most famous of Jesus’ teachings! It is one of those questions that even an experienced Evangelist might find themselves asking.

We see there is an everlasting need to remain childlike, in humility acknowledging that despite our own status, whatever we have achieved, we have a High Priest who is holy and who always lives to intercede for the transgressors. In fact, I don’t know of a more beautiful reality than this one thing alone that Christianity offers: The Holy Spirit is always able to speak in our presence, whether it be to our comfort in our affliction or to humble us by conviction.

Consequently, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ is the one who died, and more than that, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 

St. Paul, Romans 8:1,33-34 (LEB)

Somebody mentioned to me a few days ago that he doesn’t believe any form of government can produce a righteous society – except if it is a theocracy with Jesus as the king. Such a statement is robust because the only way we can all trust in each other is if we are doing right to each other – and the Christian literature is meant to teach us those precepts (2 Timothy 3:16-17). But we also need sound judgment whenever disagreements are found, in order to prove where the one has deviated from the precepts of God’s ways (Matthew 22:16).

Jesus says in Matthew 12:25 that the strength of a house, turned against itself, will exert its power in a self-destructive way – and that is exactly what we see in the world’s way of politics (Mark 10:42).

Christians need to be different than that, because if Christianity does not operate within God’s expectations, He is unable to rule in their favour. That is precisely why Jesus laid down His life: in order to take up His position as High Priest and shepherd for as long as it takes to complete His Messianic duty (Hebrews 7:23-24).

Who is the one who condemns?

St. Paul, Romans 8:1,34 (LEB)

If you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

Jesus Christ, Matthew 6:14-15 (LEB)

.. so it is Our Heavenly Father who condemns, and if Jesus Christ is the one who intercedes for us at the right hand of God, then who exactly is the one bringing charges against the elect?

The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Jesus Christ, John 10:10 (LEB)

Jesus says it is a thief, and although He has come that we may have life in abundance, there is a thief who has come to steal, to kill and to destroy.

St. John wrote of that thief coming in the Christian era, naming the spirit as the antichrist. He said “every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3).

Now, the most heartbreaking thing about Christianity is the unwillingness of Christians to admit that their brother is right. That is the whole underlying reason why this theocracy that God has intended, just isn’t happening. They say they believe in Jesus, but when He speaks to them, they do not see Him. Who are they looking at?

Everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before people, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus Christ, Matthew 10:32-33

We have to wonder how a person can even consider themselves Christian at all in light of such powerful words of conviction. Jesus has said plainly “wherever there are two or three gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them” – and we see Christians arguing with each other all the time! .. how can this be?

If we or an angel from heaven should proclaim a gospel to you contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let him be accursed! 

St. Paul, Galatians 1:8 (LEB)

That’s a very strong statement for a Christian to make, isn’t it? .. a man who no doubt understood what Jesus had said in Matthew 5:43-44. But look, he immediately repeats it in verse 9:

As we said before, and now I say again, if anyone is proclaiming a gospel to you contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed!

St. Paul, Galatians 1:9 (LEB)

.. and what else? He says he has said it before. So this is a very grim warning for anybody who thinks they have a right to call themselves Christian, and yet they are not preaching the same gospel as St. Paul preached. It should not be surprising to see that if they are preaching a contrary gospel, they are preaching the message of the thief, the antichrist.

Why are they accursed, we have to ask. What would make a person, of all people in the world, a person who calls themself a Christian, liable to be cursed in the name of Jesus by a man of such stature as Paul?

I am astonished that you are turning away so quickly from the one who called you by the grace of Christ

St. Paul, Galatians 1:6 (LEB)

They were turning away from the one who called them by the grace of Christ. That’s a significant reason for the curse upon the one who is luring them with a false gospel: Paul says that the gospel they had received in the first place was the one and only gospel leading to salvation! .. who is the one that he says they were turning away from? His letter is riddled with hints:

you know that because of an illness of the flesh I proclaimed the gospel to you the first time previously. And you did not despise or disdain what was a trial for you in my flesh, but you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus. So where is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me! 

St. Paul, Galatians 4:13-15 (LEB, adapted)

Here, he is clearly emphasising that the gospel he brought to them the first time he visited them, was the gospel they had received (although it seems they had first heard it from other missionaries).

So there is a common spirit in the authentic Christian gospel, and he identifies that specifically in saying that they had received him as though they were receiving Christ Jesus Himself.

Therefore does the one who gives you the Spirit and who works miracles among you do so by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

St. Paul, Galatians 3:5 (LEB)

Pay close attention to the words in this expression here. St. Paul is not speaking about any human being, but God Himself. Look at this:

Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing from himself except what he sees the Father doing. For whatever that one does, these things also the Son does likewise.

John 5:19 (LEB)

Here is the truth found in the authentic gospel of Jesus Christ: “Christ lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20 (LEB)).

This is why the false teachers are so severely accursed. Not only do they deny the Word of God who speaks in our midst, but they bewitch our brethren to follow in the path to misrepresent the gospel of salvation.

If that seems only to be consequential and unfortunate in your reckoning, you have fine sense of justice, because it truly wouldn’t come upon them if it weren’t for the temptation of the deceiver. But because it has happened, we are forced to respect the judgment of the heavenly father in subjecting them to the deceiver (1 Timothy 1:20). Afterall, they did chose to follow him didn’t they?

[sic: The coming of the lawless one] is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.

St. Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Right there is the key to understanding the reason that they did not receive a pardon: they did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.

Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. The one who speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of the law. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

St. James, James 4:11-12

A rhetorical question with a fairly simple answer: the one who judges his brother is one who is not content with the Lord’s judgment. He is one who puts his own wrath in place of purity, that his voice is heard in place of the voice of our Lord.

Let us read on from Matthew 18:24, where Jesus tells a parable to St. Peter about a man who was pardoned by the king for a debt he owed to the king and that he was unable to pay. When he was free, he began to choke a man who was indebted to him, and despite the man begging for mercy, he did not relent. This is given to explain to St. Peter the reason why He had said we must forgive our brethren seven times seventy times. There is a significance in that number, much more important than defining a limit. Jesus has directed Peter to consider a reference to a scripture in Genesis:

Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice;
    O wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
    Even a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
    Then Lamech will be avenged seventy and seven times.

Genesis 4:23-24

This man, Lamech, was expecting greater vengeance from God for having killed a man for a reason he perceived as far more just than Cain’s.

A close look at the text shows us that Lamech had been set upon by a young man who had meant to do harm to him. In fact he was injured and the young man had intended to harm him. We are talking about premeditated assault.

Lamech had reasoned that because God had pledged protection for Cain after he had murdered his righteous brother Abel, that for his having killed a young man who had attacked him with malice, he should deserve more than multiples of the same protection.

Jesus tells Peter a parable to make him think about where his question is coming from. He essentially tells Peter that he has no protection from God for thinking that he has a right to condemn his brother, because the debt that his brother owed to him was ultimately owed to God.

This story is meant to help us appreciate the real quality of salvation through forgiveness, that only Christianity can give. When we realise that our debt has been canceled and our life is free by that fact alone, then we realise that we are no worse to have debtors who refuse to pay their dues, because ultimately, any debt that is owed to us, we owe to the king who pardoned us.

If you consider the situation if the king had not pardoned him, then he would have had valid cause to demand his debtor pay the 100 denarii, because he was being threatened by the king with jail on account of it. This is what infuriated the king, because the king had been so generous to him and he had been so greedy as a result.

There’s an extra dimension in Christianity too, whereby Matthew 25:31-46 shows us that the king himself is bringing charges against those who do sin against us. In that way we have the responsibility to let go of the grievance and let God do the talking. It is difficult for Jesus to be seen in us when we are letting the flesh control our person. If we truly let go of the resentment of our hurting, then we are able to give others the pure love and service they need, and He can do His work in that spirit, to bring them back to salvation (James 5:19-20).

If we truly do love our brethren who have sinned against us, we will realise that it is far more serious that we deny such service to them, because it is already evident that their soul is ensnared by the thief. Love does no harm to a neighbour, therefore our duty to them is to forgive that Jesus may preach His divine message through the opportunity He has, as king, and as being in a position to demand the debt they owe to Him.

Somewhere in the scriptures, St. Paul has said “do not be like Cain, who murdered his brother because his deeds were righteous”, and here we see that Jesus is saying “do not be like Lamech who thought God should have pardoned him seventy times more”.