A Short Response

I am writing a new post in response to the comment Mary replied with to my November 29th post.

I feel bad because I'm going to write so little in comparison to what Mary wrote and its obvious she put alot of thought and research into what she said, something I don't do enough of. Fortunately I'm not going to disagree very much so we won't have to fight.

So, my question in response to all Mary's well thought ought responses is, "why do we still sin after we are saved?" I agree with you that in the eyes of God we totally pure, Christ's sacrifice literally destroyed the consequences of our sin for those who accept Him as Lord. Yet sin, still reigns within many parts of us. St Paul writes in II Corinthians 3:18 "And we all with unveiled face , beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Christ died and saves us, making us see the Glory of God then we progress by stages into the image of God who having purified our inner soul(guaranteeing eternal salvation) then proceeds outward perfecting all our thoughts, actions, motives, emotions and desires from his initial stronghold in our heart.

So perhaps I worded my original post wrong but I do believe that the Christian has a responsibility to live the life God has given them. We were once dead in our Sin and Christ has given us life, we must now walk in life neither forsaking Christ nor ignoring the commands He's given us and the life He's entrusted to us.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:1-10

I hope this answers everything you commented on. In my earlier post I wasn't trying to say we can eradicate sin on our own, I wasn't trying to say that apart from Christ we can do anything good for in me and my flesh is no good thing. Let me know what you think and where I messed up again.

Thoughts on the Jesus Prayer

 

        

 

          "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner"

 

It’s amazing the depth and meaning which can be incorporated into one small phrase. It takes two seconds to say but could be contemplated on for months and not properly understood. Personally I have been amazed at the intricate detail in this simple prayer. I believe, that just as a botanist can spend hours admiring the blossoms of a perfect flower, we as spiritual beings ought to enjoy the beauty of a well ordered prayer. I divided the prayer into three parts. (Lord) (Jesus Christ Son of God) (have mercy on me a sinner).

         

   We begin with “Lord” for it is first and foremost the role of Him to whom we pray. Being Lord is God’s function more then anything else. Some say He is our friend but He is not a friend until He is our Lord. Others say He is our Savior but He is not our Savior until He is our Lord. We know not His help until we recognize Him as Lord and so before we make any sort of request or plea we must remind ourselves whose presence we are in. We are not merely asking a favor from a friend or paying for a snack from a vending machine. In true prayer we stand before the Lord of glory who was, and is, and is to come with fire and sword to judge the living and the dead. Having begun with Lord, and being reminded of our lowliness before Him we proceed onward.

            “Jesus Christ Son of God” What title can compare to such a one as this? These are the credentials of our Lord. We desire this Lord and love Him not because He is Him in whom all power abides. No we serve Him because He is Jesus Christ Son of God. We say Jesus, meaning “Yahweh saves” that we might not forget what type of God we serve. The Lord who we plead before, is not merely a ruler though He rules, He is not a power hungry dictator for He needs no nothing, neither power nor us. So we call Him Jesus for He saves. Christ is the “Messiah” the promised one. He is not a mass produced product. Christ is unlike any being in the cosmos. The God Man, He bore our sin yet was perfect and conquered death, sin and judgment so we might come before Him and pray.  “Son of God” gives Jesus authority. We pray to Him for he has power from the Father and can thus answer our prayers. We do not pray to Mary or our parents or Saints believing they in themselves do anything for us beyond praying themselves on our behalf to God who is one with the Son. Thus we are not elevating an unworthy person when we call Jesus Christ Son of God, Lord we are merely in word giving him the honor He has more then merited and which we can only acknowledge and never repay. 

          If we have heeded all that’s been before then we are now ready to humbly make our request. Note that we ask not for any specific thing, for that would assume we know what we need. Rather then arrogantly asserting our own foolishness on the divine we recognize His sovereignty  and wisdom by simply asking for His unmerited, undeserved gift of whatever He deems fit for us. Then, lest we retain any vestige of the spirit of pride we condemn ourselves as “sinner”. Indeed a proper term for all of us. This label is to remind us that we are not bartering with the Lord. It is not as though the Lord needs our lives and so He grants us mercy in exchange for servitude. It is only because of His infinite love that we might even enter God’s presence. To forget this, to think we are something other then sinners is to spit on the mercy He’s already poured out on us at Golgotha. May we never be guilty of such disrespect. May God only ever be honored. 





                                    This is my desk after I finished cleaning my room after Christmas.