by Rebecca Bynum (May 2015)
Freedom and Truth are ever linked by those who ponder the depths of reality. False belief leads inexorably to spiritual bondage and, being mortal, we will inevitably be burdened with sins small and large throughout our earthly lives, even as our forefathers have been throughout the ages. This is the curse and the blessing of life; for where there is intelligence, truth will be sought, belief sifted and altered, and reality eventually found. Where would the adventure in living be if every answer were known in advance? The individual’s search for truth and his struggle for righteousness is no small thing – it is everything. more>>>
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2 Responses
Dear Rebecca,
‘it is still largely assumed, that righteous action had to come first – that good works were the key to entering the kingdom of heaven, which would only occur after death. Jesus turned this assumption upside down. He offered us choice to enter the kingdom of heaven now, through faith alone, and then, after one is securely inside, the old habits of sin will naturally fall away and be replaced by the joy of living rightly. Living wrongly, that is, sinfully, is incompatible with a life of consecrated devotion to God’.
A nice one, and inspiring enough. One passing thought. When Jesus says, right now, the faith implies total transformation to instant righteousness, that washes away previous imperfections. So righteous action again comes first, with the’symbolic death ‘of imperfctions of the imperfect one who has turned sinless, with his path of righteousness. Because one who has changed spiritually , has shed his sinful cloak already and reemerges from the ‘death of the other’.
I think Jesus was saying that faith in the love of God and the overriding desire for eternal life in the Father’s kingdom is the overriding factor – faith first, then with faith comes delight in doing good. It’s all positive. I know Christianity has often fallen back into instilling fear of doing wrong rather than love of doing good, but I don’t think that was Jesus’ actual message.