Christ's Law

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● Rom 12:16b . . Don't be elitist, but willing to associate with people below you.

I'd have to say that those instructions apply only in church where it's understood by
Spirit-led Christians that no one in attendance is somehow better than another. (cf.
Jas 2:1-4)

Church managers should be given a higher degree of respect than pew warmers
because they're in positions of authority and greater responsibility; but all in all,
church is a congregation of redeemed sinners, and that includes the managers; so
we're all equals on that basis. Christ had to undergo just as much suffering,
indignity, and death to redeem church managers as he did for everyone else so God
forbid the hierarchy should exhibit a holier-than-thou attitude. (cf. Matt 23:2-7)
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● Rom 12:16c . . Don't be wise in your own conceit.

Webster's defines "conceit" as excessive self-appreciation of one's own worth or
virtue. In other words we're talking about hubris; which often indicates a loss of
contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence,
accomplishments or capabilities.

Conceit is uncivil, untrainable, and intolerable. It truly believes nobody beneath its
dignity could possibly have anything to tell that it doesn't already know; and if it
doesn't already know, then that's because the information possessed by those
beneath its dignity isn't worth knowing.

Those kinds of people will interrupt you right in the middle of your sentence and
begin talking about their own perspective as if your voice is nowhere to be heard in
the whole room. You know why they do that? Because they sincerely believe that
nothing you are in the midst of saying is nearly as important as what they have to
say. In other words: you, and your thoughts, are superfluous.

Conceited folk are generally very picky about their influences too. In other words:
even if somebody is a Spirit-gifted Bible teacher, but are neither published,
accredited, or properly educated, then forget it. That Spirit-gifted somebody is eo
ipso undeserving of conceit's intellectual attention right out of the box.

Conceit is not only stuck on itself; but very critical of others too. I've seen it to
happen time and again that when a Spirit-gifted Bible teacher comes across with a
personality like Elijah's or John the Baptist's that conceit summarily brushes them
off as "unloving" no matter even if they speak as the very voice of God. In other
words; conceit disdains to be taught; rather, conceit seeks to be accommodated.

I think most people in church are aware that conceit is unacceptable.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(Matt 5:3)

Conceit is a psychological disorder, so people can't just turn it off at will. But unless
something radical is done to correct their conceit; people will have to face the sum
of all fears.

"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall
not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 18:3)
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● Rom 12:17a . . Never reciprocate evil with evil to anyone.

That is a really tough command to follow; for example: when someone makes a
demeaning comment, and/or a sarcastic remark about us, the urge to bounce back
with a rejoinder in kind is very difficult to resist.

Well-to-do families at one time sent their daughters off to finishing school to learn a
variety of social graces. I don't know, maybe they still do; but surely tact and
diplomacy ought to be common social graces among Christians.
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● Rom 12:17b . . Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

The Greek word for "right" is a bit ambiguous. It can mean honorable, decent,
sensible, mature, conforming to social norms of decency and propriety, beautiful,
virtuous, honest, having worth, fitting, and/or appropriate. Those are all good
qualities and should be practiced not only inside church, but outside church too.

Human nature has a way of adjusting to a variety of social environments. For
example: a boy might be gentlemanly and gracious with his best girl while a feral
creature with his buddies. Thus he "reads the crowd" sort of like the way
professional stand-up comedians do. In other words: he respects what's right when
with the girl, but not when with his buddies.

The boy can get by with that just so long as his two worlds don't collide; like in the
early scenes of the 1978 movie "Grease" starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton
John where a teen-age guy slips back into his bad-boy high school persona only to
be confronted by a new girl in school with whom he was sweet during Summer
vacation out of town and never expected to see again.
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● Rom 12:18 . . If possible, so far as it in your power, be at peace with all men.

NOTE: The Greek word translated "men" is somewhat ambiguous. It mostly refers
to humans of either gender-- male and female --which bounces back to the very
beginning where both genders are labeled Man & Adam (Gen 1:27 & Gen 5:1-2)

Assertive, defensive, demanding, fault-finding, imperious, judgmental,
confrontational, argumentative, bossy, spirited, hard-nosed, implacable, moody,
thin skinned, vindictive, abrasive, spiteful people are not allowed in heaven. Why?
Because heaven is a place of peace. (Rom 14:17)

Disagreeable people who fight at the drop of a hat simply don't fit in heaven and
besides, not only would they be a fish out of water; but it wouldn't be fair to the
others to let difficult people in to heaven where they would surely turn it into the
same kind of hellish world to live in that they've made this one.

Anyway; of all people, Christians should not be difficult; they should be the easiest
to get along with. (cf. Matt 5:9)
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● Rom 12:19 . . Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave it to the wrath of
God, for it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay; testifies The Lord.

The focus is upon one's "own" revenge; in other words: what we're talking about
here is evening the score, i.e. payback.

So; if the matter can't be settled legally; then let it go rather than take it upon
yourself to be prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner, viz: a vigilante. Those who
seek justice outside the justice system are no less criminals than the people they
seek to punish.
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● Rom 12:20 . . If your personal enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty,
give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.

Heaping real live burning coals upon somebody's head would be terribly vindictive
and unchristian; as would wishing them dead and condemned to Hell. It's probably
just meant to be a colloquialism for making someone feel ashamed of themselves,
i.e. guilty.

Way back when the television show "SURVIVOR" was in its second or third season,
two of the women fell out of sorts and one vowed that even if the other were lying
in the street near death from thirst, she'd walk right past and not give her so much
as a drop of water.

Bad form. Christians have to remain civil and not permit detestable people to
dictate the way we treat our fellow men. It is far better for Christ's followers to
exemplify humanitarian principles than satisfy a grudge. I'll admit it's galling to
have to be courteous with people that mistreat us; but what can I say? Christ
expects it.

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more
than others? Do not even pagans do that?" (Matt 5:46-47)
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● Rom 12:21 . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In other words: fighting fire with fire (a.k.a. turnabout is fair play) is not always
the wisest course of action for Christians to follow.

Compliance with that particular command requires some self control on our part
because human nature's impulses usually steer us into the wrong course of action
when coping with evil.
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● Rom 13:1 . . Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there
is no authority except that which God has established.

God has given governments the right to play God; therefore Christians ought not to
be scofflaws; no, they really ought to be the most law-abiding citizens on Earth;
however there is a limit to the extent of our compliance because governance
doesn't stop with the law of the land, rather, the chain of command reaches even
unto Heaven.

For example the midwives in the book of Exodus defied Pharaoh and saved the
Jews' baby boys alive. What they did was illegal, but God rewarded them for doing
so.

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the
things that are God's." (Matt 22:21)

Caesar and God are both in authority over us but with God of course having the
final word as the supreme being.

"We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)

Here's another example of the divine chain of command overruling an earthly
power.

"Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently
what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said: Go and
search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word
again, that I may come and worship him also." (Matt 2:7-8)

"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they
departed into their own country another way." (Matt 2:12)

The wise men risked prison, or worse, but what were they to do when their orders
came straight from the top?

FYI: Christians should expect neither favoritism nor immunity should they break
the law. So then, if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime because Christian
heads roll the same as any other criminal's head; and that goes for lesser crimes
too, e.g. J-walking, illegal U-turns, feeding parking meters, drifting through stop
signs without coming to a complete halt, exceeding the speed limit, unsafe lane
changes, road rage, disturbing the peace, littering, trespassing, shoplifting, civil
disobedience, vandalism, and animal abuse, etc.

"Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God
has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers
hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong." (Rom 13:2-3)

* Difficult days are ahead for Americans, and in fact are now here, as powerful
heads of government begin utilizing law enforcing agencies more and more for
political purposes.
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● Rom 13:6a . . Pay your taxes

While it's true that tax dollars often get wasted on fraud, graft, pork, bail outs, ear
marks, foreign aid, endowments, grants, subsidies, and senseless wars; by and
large taxes are necessary if we're to expect essential services like schools, parks,
national defense, law enforcement, fire protection, Medicare, Medicaid, Food
Stamps, foster care, flood control, forest management, FEMA, TANF, SSI, and the
maintenance of infrastructure, etc.

Taxes are also used to pay government salaries, wages, and benefits to
bureaucrats and heads of state. Though such folk are not holy people in the
religious sense, they should probably be regarded as such-- maybe even as angels.
(of a sort)

"The authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. (Rom
13:6b, cf. Ps 82:1-6 & John 19:11)
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● Rom 13:7 . . Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if
revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Christians don't have to particularly like the folks in government, but we do have to
allow them the dignity that their positions deserve in compliance with Rom 13:1-5.

For example: tearing up a US President's state of the union address, banning him
from social media platforms, censoring his comments, falsely accusing him of
colluding with the Russians, revising existing laws with which to prosecute him ex
post facto, and/or impeaching him contrary to Constitutional law, is not the
Christian way; so don't let Christ catch you participating in those kinds of impious
behaviors.

NOTE: It was just one lone Jew's refusal to give a federal official the respect their
position deserved that almost caused the total annihilation of Moses' people in the
book of Esther. Her uncle Mordecai is often portrayed as a hero, but in reality he's
an extremely poor role model for Christians to follow.
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● Rom 13:8 . . Owe no man anything.

Some have construed that verse to mean it's a sin to have a mortgage, a car
payment, and/or a credit card balance. However, the Greek word for "owe" is
ambiguous with a number of meanings, one of which is to fail in duty; viz: fail to
meet your obligations.

In today's world; debt is nigh unto impossible to avoid; but debt is acceptable for
Christians just so long as they pay their bills on time. Christ can be neither pleased
nor honored when his followers are known as deadbeats.

NOTE: I live in a country whose motto is: "In God We Trust" and yet hasn't fully
serviced its obligations since 2001. These days my country's red ink exceeds +/-
500 Billion dollars which is depicted by a five with eleven zeros after it, i.e.

500,000,000,000

Next year's red ink is projected to be +/- 700 Billion
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● Rom 13:12 . . Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

In the first chapter of Genesis, God made a distinct difference between light and
darkness. I think it is very notable that God labeled the light "good" but He didn't
label darkness good.

I believe that chapter set the stage; in other words: from that point on in the Bible,
darkness typically represents something harmful, distasteful, and/or unbecoming;
while light always represents something tasteful, becoming, and/or beneficial. So
then we could label the deeds of darkness as deeds inappropriate for Christ's
followers, and we could label the armor of light as deeds befitting his followers. In
other words: deeds befitting Christ's followers are their first line of defense in a
world gone mad with evil.

"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his
lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace
and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are
attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
(1Pet 3:10-12)
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● Rom 13:13 . . Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and
drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and envy.

"in the day" could be construed to mean "in that day" which would indicate life and
society as it will be in the kingdom God. Well; needless to say, people then won't be
acting like they do now, so maybe we should start preparing for that day by putting
these instructions into enough practice to make them become a habit.

The Greek word for "envy" is somewhat ambiguous. It includes-- along with envy -
jealousy, indignation, and outrage.

The Greek word for "strife" is somewhat ambiguous too. It includes-- along with
strife --quarreling, wrangling, contention, debate, and a whole other bunch of ugly
stuff associated with variance.

"in the day" probably refers to daytime when the sun is up as opposed to nighttime
when the sun is down; which is usually when people are out partying, drinking, and
picking each other up for one night stands.

Though strife and envy can be seen during both day or night, they're listed as
nighttime behavior due to their being shameful.

NOTE: What I find interesting about Christ's commandments is that his followers
have to be instructed how to properly conduct themselves; viz: it's never assumed
they can be trusted to instinctively and/or intuitively know how. (cf. Rom 12:2)
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● Rom 13:14 . . .Clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ

Clothing one's self with a personage was a figure of speech many years ago which
would correspond in our day to "emulation" which Webster's defines as trying to be
like someone or something you admire.

They say that imitation is the highest flattery. Well; if you'd like to flatter Christ;
then adopt his integrity, his principles, and his core values. But don't guess at
them; learn them, by instruction, from someone that The Lord has empowered to
teach for him per Eph 4:11-15.
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● Rom 14:1 . . Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment o
disputable matters.

A strong faith consists of the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and
conviction. A weak faith can be defined as vacillating; viz: one that's not all that
sure whether something is wrong for a Christian; or even that something is right. In
other words: a weak faith lacks the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance,
and conviction.

Disputable matters are matters of opinion rather than matters of fact. Opinions are
often subjective, biased, and arbitrary, rather than objective, unbiased, and by-the
book. Opinions inevitably invite perpetual debating that never really gets to the
bottom of anything; which, in matters of spiritual significance is strictly forbidden
within the context of the 14th chapter of Romans; because debatable matters are
not matters of doctrine; but rather; matters of conscience.

We're not talking about black and white doctrines and principles here. Those are
not open to debate. We're talking about gray areas.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" is black and white; while issues like video games,
music, fashions, foods, cosmetics, movies, self defense, gambling, swim suits,
politics, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, fasting, religious art, crucifixes, couture, and
holy days of obligation are debatable. In regards to those areas; let every man be
fully persuaded in his own mind rather than somebody else's mind.

Those are things about which each has to decide for themselves according to the
dictates of their own conscience; and God forbid they should impose their personal
dictates upon others and thus become dictatorial because that's playing God and
usurping Christ's sovereign prerogative to make the rules for his own church.
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● Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man,
whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not
look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must
not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.

If there's a Christian out there sincerely believing in their own mind that fast food,
GMO, high fructose corn syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed
beef, raw oysters, sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well, more power to
them: but God forbid they should criticize a fellow believer who disagrees.

NOTE: Christians are exempt from Jewish dietary laws because their association
with God is by means of a different covenant than the covenant that Moses' people
entered into with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, a.k.a.
The Law.
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● Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of Mary the
Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul,
Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ash Wednesday, the Nativity of
our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), Easter, and the Sabbath.

If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the above are
sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself sees them as sacred is
irrelevant. What matters is whether you are convinced in your own mind that He
does because the focus of the 14th of Romans is upon matters of conscience rather
than matters of fact.

NOTE: The Jehovah's Witnesses' personal opinions about birthdays, holidays, and
holy days are protected by the 14th chapter of Romans; and forbids debating with
them about it.
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[Carbon]

.
Hello;

There's been times during our 26+ years of internet forum activity when we
encountered people wanting to know what they're supposed to do now that they
decided to become a Christian.

They decided to become a Christian? Seems this is a problem from the get-go.

 

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@Carbon

Hello;

This is to inform you that I don't have the patience to be distracted by your
remarks so I've placed you on my ignore list. Others will still be able to view your
posts; just not me. Sorry.
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