Therefore there is now no conemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and of death. ~ Romand 8:1-2
Paraphrased from Rob Bell's "The Gods Aren't Angry" tour:
So what is repentance? In the Old Testament it was always paired with joy, with celebration. It was realizing that, "I've missed it... until NOW! And of course I'll rearrange my life accordingly!" Repentance is realizing that what's required has ALREADY BEEN DONE. Any ritual or any belief that doesn't tap you into the celebration of the reconcilliation of all things is simply not Christian. ANYTHING that creates guilt in us or tells us we are not enough is not from God.
4 comments:
Rob Bell completely missed the mark. Guilt is God's way of saying "if you're feeling this you are not following the path I set out". Guilt is the gift God gave us to tell us when we are not following a path of love for our neighbors, compassion for others, acceptance of differences. Listen to your guilt and get yourself back to "spirit of life"!
Thanks for your comment, Anonymous. I'm glad that you made that distinction. Guilt that brings a sense of condemnation is not from God. There is NO condemnation for those in Christ.
I guess I make the distinction between guilt and conviction. I see conviction is definitely a work of our concience and also of God. We can feel genuinely remoresful and even sorrowful about our actions, but if it leads to a sense of condemnation, it's THAT that is not from God.
It's THIS kind of guilt that is the evil one who is causing us to doubt that Christ's work on the cross is sufficient. That's the good news, is that it IS! What was required has been done!
And sufficient it is! Praise God! I'm just catching up on reading blogs, no over time tonight! I know I said I'd comment, just haven't the time to do it each day. Who'd a thunk that blogging every day was so time consuming. Well, reading blogs and blogging. I see you take time out to have some fun, 'till the wee hours.
Take care!
Though Christ's work on the cross may have been sufficient, certianly the work of many Christians (the outspoken ones atleast) is not living up to his expectations. All you need to do is turn on the TV to see Christians full of condemation. It is sad that the face that Christianity shows to the world is sometimes a bit ugly. My cheers to those who live a Christian life that is free of condemation of others regardless of what lifestyle and beliefs they have! Speak up more!
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