The delusion within the delusion.......... oh what a web Satan weaves.
Orthodoxy, you've simply given up one form of apostasy for another.
After reading your last post I was moved to go back and read some of your previous posts and in doing so I saw something that I hadn't before. Lord Jesus,..... forgive me, sometimes we become more narrow than we should be and thus miss important things.
Orthodoxy, you want to know Christ. Amen, its the only way to grow in God, the only growth of God.
And this is the Lord's mercy, for none come to Him of their own accord. It is Jesus who has turned you towards Himself.
Yet there is more, as what the Lord desires is our cooperation from the inward parts of our being, as this is where His work begins.
There is a terrible lack of Christ in the corridors of Christianity. And it has been this way for centuries. In fact, the slide away from Christ began back in the first century, even from the time when Paul was still alive. This is what I believe you sense in your being, a lack, a dryness,.... and this is a good thing, for we must become desperate before we become truly dependant. And Christ can only be received by one who is utterly dependant on Him.
Are you utterly dependant on Christ?
Tell me, when you "left" the Protestant environment were you in a completely defeated state? Were you empty, alone, filled thoughts of "What now,.... where do I go from here?"
You know, even Paul made the mistake of going back into that which he had left, causing God to take drastic measures to counter Paul's actions.
On reading your posts I wonder just how "emptied" you were at the point of leaving the Protestant environment, as you seemed to have had some strong concepts/opinions regarding what believers need. But I was not there with you so I don't know. Yet, if you did have concepts and opinions about such things these are what may have lead you into the reliogion of the Orthodox institution,.... and not the Spirit.
See, the Spirit gives life, and there is no life to be found in religion, only more death.
Which though can be a good thing in a negative way, for one day you will come to see that for all the forms, traditions, doctrines, and human history, still there is little or no Christ. And you will find yourself as dry and thirsty as you were before.
Tell me Orthodoxy, where does the bible tell us that Christ is found today?
And this Christ, what is found in Him?
Lets address some of your concerns below,....
Orthodoxy said:
Very Good. However, I submit the heterodox world cannot be humble because they will not "obey and submit to those in authority over them".
True,.... but why?
Are you saying its because of the environment they are in? Is it the teaching they are receiving?
And the disciples, were they not in the presence of God on the earth? Shouldn't this have been the best environment possible? Yet, did they not fail to "obey/submit" to Him who had declared God's authority to them?
What were they missing?
Tell you what, why not allow the bible to give us the answer.
LEPROSY,...... the outward issue/manifestation of of disobedience/rebellion.
Matthew  8 : 2, "And behold, a leper, coming near, worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me."
The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior to be the people of the kingdom is represented by a leper. According to the examples in the Scriptures, leprosy results from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against God's deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). Naaman's leprosy was cleansed because of his obedience (2 Kings 5:1, 9-14).
All fallen human beings have become leprous in the eyes of God because of their rebellion. The kingly Savior came to save men from their rebellion and to cleanse them from their leprosy that they might become His kingdom people.
THE HOLY SPIRIT,.....
Acts  5 : 32, "And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."
Obedience is the way and the condition for one to receive and enjoy the Spirit of God.
So, in a simply sense, God gives leprosy to the disobedient, and the Holy Spirit to those who are obedient.
But,....... the disobedient issue is not so hard to understand as we are told that we are sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2), and so our disobedience is a outward manifestation of our fallen nature. But what of our obedience, where does this come from? Certainly it cannot come from our fallen nature?
It doesn't, it comes from something else,..... as the bible tells us,
THE CROSS,.....
Hebrews  5 : 8, Even though He was a Son,
learned obedience from the things which He suffered."
God ordained that Christ should die, and Christ obeyed (Phil. 2:8).
He learned this obedience through the suffering of death.
And so there we have it, the secret of learning obedience,..... it is found in our experience of the suffering of death. The death of the self.
The truth of obedience finds its beginning in the inward and terrifying sense of not knowing how one will go on. The abject horror of knowing who you truly are in your fallen state. The void that rises up from within as you are mercilessly (it seems) confronted with the meaninglessness of all your past efforts.
Obedience finds its beginnings in the defeated being, the bowed head, the slumped shoulders, the unstopable tears of anguish, the darkness of depression.
Obedience is first encountered in the deepest valley of our life experience. Just as it was for the Lord. For His is our pattern.
2 Corinthians  13 : 4, "For indeed He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God. For indeed we are weak in Him, but we will live together with Him by the power of God directed toward you."
"... out of weakness" means weakness of the body; the same as in 10:10. For Himself, Christ did not need to be weak in any way, but for accomplishing redemption on our behalf, He was willing to be weak in His body that He might be crucified. However, after being resurrected, He now lives by the power of God.
This is the pattern for us, we need to be willing to be brought into a weakened state so that we might enter into the killing work of the cross, so that we can be brought into our Lord's resurrection.
But doesn't the bible tell us that an aspect of the experience of the cross is losing the presence of the Father?
Matthew  27 : 46, "And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
.... My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
This is the valley where obedience to God is first encountered.
When your being knows nothing other than this anguished cry to the One who is over all.
The truth is, every believer will be brought to this point in life-experience, either in this age or the age to come.
There is no other way.
And it has nothing to do with outward things, with traditions, forms, man's doctrines, or human history. It is a matter of divine life, a matter receiving divine life. A matter that requires the full weight of the cross being applied, so that resurrection can be gained.
And this is the work of Christ, through the Spirit, according to the Father's will.
All that is necessary is that we be open to His work in us, according to His present economy.
In love,
cj
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