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Christ's Law

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Gal 6:7a . . Don't be deceived into thinking God is a silly old fool.

A silly old fool is a senior citizen that people know they can mistreat and/or take
advantage of without fear of complaint, resistance, or reprisal.

People in our day and age are easily persuaded that God is harmless and that the
Old Testament's version of God is obsolete, i.e. no longer someone to fear since
Jesus came along. But as God was capable of withholding blessing for conduct
unbecoming back then; He still is.
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Gal 6:10 . . So then, whenever we have opportunity, let us do good to all men,
and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Good can take any number of forms but I think a useful description we could apply
here is "beneficial".

Jesus did good (Acts 10:30) i.e. he was very definitely beneficial; not just on the
cross or by his teachings, but in practical ways too.

Those who are of the "household of the faith" are actually kin; viz: siblings; and like
they say: charity begins at home.

Some churches have what they call a deacon's fund; to assist members who are
down and out and/or in dire straits.

And don't overlook your church's senior citizens. Some may be getting up in years
and finding it difficult to even maintain their own homes and yards anymore.
Chores may not seem all that spiritual; but pitch in anyway if for no other reason
than your assistance is beneficial.
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Eph 2:11-22 . .Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth
and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision-- that done
in the body by the hands of men --remember that at that time you were separate
from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of
the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

. . . But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near
through the blood of Christ. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household

Gentiles are prone to forget; and one of the things they forget is that their religion
didn't begin with the Roman Catholic Church; no, it began with Abraham; and the
purpose of Gentiles hearing the gospel is not so they can replace the Jews as God's
chosen people, but rather, so they can join them and share in their blessings.

"If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot,
have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from
the olive root, don't boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You don't
support the root, but the root supports you." (Rom 11:17-18)

"And now says The Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, To bring
Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored
in the sight of The Lord, and my God is my strength). He says: It is too small a
thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore
the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light of the nations so that My
salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isa 49:5-6)

"Salvation is of the Jews." (John 4:22)
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Eph 4:1 . . As a prisoner for The Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the
calling you have received.

Some time long ago, a pastor in Arizona utilized a highway billboard to poll people's
opinion not of Christianity, rather; what people think of Christians. Here's the gist
of his message:

DESCRIBE CHRISTIANS WITH ONE WORD
Text Me @ xxxxxx-1152 (full number withheld for privacy considerations)

The results of the poll were open to view at iamlandonmacdonald on Instagram.

Some responses:

Hateful
Gullible
Ignorant
Satanist
Judgmental
Hypocritical

Not everybody despises Christians, but for sure everybody despises a phony. i.e.
Christians don't have to live the life of a saint to become a saint, but they do have
to life the life of a saint in order to merit the respect their religion deserves.
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Eph 4:2 . . Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, putting up with another
in love.

The Greek word translated "love" in that passage is fortunate in some ways
because it doesn't necessarily speak of affection. It mostly pertains to benevolence,
e.g. civility, courtesy, sympathy, thoughtfulness, tolerance, charity, kindness,
lenience, understanding, diplomacy, tact, etc. which are common social skills that
even the most insensitive clod on earth is capable of practicing if they'd only put
their mind to it.

Humility is relative to humbleness of mind, viz: modesty; defined by Webster's as
free from conceit and/or vanity. Humility is one of those virtues that people love to
talk about; but rarely ever seem to exemplify.

Conceit is defined as excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue, viz:
arrogance, i.e. a superiority complex and/or a master-race mentality. (A conceited
supervisor was a very key factor in the Chernobyl disaster. Had he been more
reasonable, and less arrogant, the disaster might've been easily averted.)

Vanity is defined as inflated pride in oneself, viz: narcissism and/or self adoration.
Cosmetics and figure-shaping undergarments don't really qualify as the kind of
vanity that Paul is talking about; which goes way beyond just trying to look our
best.

Vanity is an ugly creature. It's self aggrandizing and it isn't gentle either, on the
contrary; vanity can be quite cruel and competitive, caring only what's best for
itself. Vanity abhors associating with people whose station in life is decidedly below
its own; and God forbid someone below themselves should have the nerve to
correct either their conduct or their knowledge.

Patience is defined as the power, or capacity, to endure without complaint
something and/or someone difficult or disagreeable; especially when it comes to
certain folk who seem to have a natural aptitude for getting on people's nerves.
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Eph 4:3 . . Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of
peace.

The Spirit is the one thing that all born-again Christians have in common regardless
of their denominational affiliation. The Spirit keeps them combined in a fraternity
held together with stronger force than a labor union.

* Unity isn't necessarily achieved by conformity. Folks can still be unified even
when in disagreement. For example the USA at one time nurtured differences of
opinion; yet we remained a cohesive nation. Dictators, despots, and tyrants achieve
cohesion by means of edicts, violence, fear, suppressing dissent, censoring,
injustice, and abuse of human rights; but here at home we at one time achieved
unity by working toward resolutions via democratic processes before folks in high
places began favoring Socialism where it's a brave new world and 2+2=5.

Peace can be roughly defined as the absence of strife, e.g. hostility, grudging,
quarreling, and rivalry, etc.

The Spirit has much to say in regard to Christian social skills; and if each and every
believer would listen to Him, the natural result is going to be harmony wherever
and whenever they associate with one another.
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Eph 4:17-19 . . So I tell you this, and insist on it in The Lord, that you must no
longer live as the pagans do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in
their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they
have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity,
with a continual lust for more.

The Greek word translated "sensitivity" basically pertains to apathy; defined by
Webster's as a lack of feeling or emotion and/or a lack of interest or concern, i.e.
indifference. This is the only place in the entire New Testament where the word
appears so we can't compare its use in other contexts.

There are immoral people out there who wish they could stop themselves but can't.
I wouldn't call them indifferent.

Apathy, in this instance, applies to hard-core immoral folk who view themselves as
perfectly normal and satisfied with themselves just as they are; having neither wish
nor interest in revising their way of life.

The Ephesian church had a number of those hard-core progressives in their midst
that needed to wake up and realize that their attitude was maybe acceptable as
citizens in the Ephesian culture of that day, but thoroughly unacceptable as
Christians in any day.
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Eph 4:20-24 . .Surely you heard of Christ and were taught in him in accordance
with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of
life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness.

When God completed the six days of creation, He went on sabbatical (Gen 2:1-3).
The six days were all bounded by an evening and a morning. The seventh wasn't
bounded; i.e. it hasn't ended, indicating that God has yet to resume creating things
for the current cosmos. So then, the new self spoken of in the passage above isn't
for the current cosmos, rather, it's a self created for a cosmos yet to come. (Isa
65:17, 2Pet 3:13, Rev 21:1)

The Greek word translated "desire" basically means: a longing.

A longing by itself doesn't always indicate sinful desires. The very same word
describes The Lord's personal desire to dine in the company of his apostles just
prior to being crucified. (Luke 22:15)

The kind of longings in view here are "deceitful" which is from a Greek word that
basically pertains to delusion, which Webster's defines as: a persistent false
psychotic belief regarding the self, or persons or objects outside the self, that is
maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary-- in other words: deceitful
longings are delusional, a.k.a. pipe dreams.

For example: the old saying "The grass is greener on the other side" which of
course is an unreasonable expectation. Some people sincerely believe that they
would be happier if only they had more money. Well; sad to say, money can be
guaranteed to buy you neither love nor happiness.

Delusional longings get people to chasing after pots of gold at the end of rainbows
that may or may not satisfy; viz: sometimes the dream is better than the reality.
Meanwhile, their life clock is winding down while they're in pursuit of those pots and
they are steadily becoming more and more secular and unspiritual. Paul "insists"
that Christ's followers be practical, i.e. avoid squandering their time and energy
chasing after pipe dreams; viz: keep their feet on the ground and their heads out of
the clouds.
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Eph 4:25 . . Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his
neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

One's neighbor is not the same as one's brother; i.e. the former is an acquaintance,
the latter is kin.

Jews are required to be honest because dishonesty is prohibited by their law (Lev
19:11) whereas dishonesty is wrong for Christ's followers because the dishonesty of
one Christian causes outsiders to question the integrity of the whole.

Although dishonesty isn't curse-worthy for a Christian like it is for a Jew, still; the
behavior is unbecoming.


NOTE: Eph 4:25 is a bit of a challenge for transgendered Christians due to many of
them undergoing embarrassing forms of therapy, and experiencing side effects,
complications, negative public opinion, doubts, regrets, and mood swings that they
would rather not talk about. So be extra careful when dialoguing with
transgendered Christians so as not to squeeze them into a corner where they'll be
forced to maintain their dignity with fibs. A little empathy, and a whole lot of tact
and courtesy in this area, can be very useful in helping someone get thru the day.

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." (Matt 7:12)
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Eph 4:26a . . In your anger do not sin.

Anger isn't eo ipso evil. It's how one manages their anger that matters. Indignation
can be a very useful tool when it's applied by somebody who knows what they're
doing. For example:

Mark 3:5 . . And when Jesus had looked round about on them with anger, being
grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man: Stretch forth thine
hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Everybody gets angry from time to time; but we shouldn't let it drive us to doing
something contrary to our better judgment, e.g. criminal violence, profanity,
malice, cruelty, uncivil behavior, spite, revenge, ugly remarks, emotional outbursts,
demeaning comments, grudging, slander, hysteria, shouting, shrieking, clamoring,
spraying spittle, slamming doors, and/or throwing things, etc.
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Eph 4:26-27 . . Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the
Devil.

The Greek word translated "wrath" indicates rage; defined by Webster's as violent
and uncontrolled anger; and in this verse includes nursing a grudge.

People in that state of mind are susceptible to doing things, and saying things, that
they will very much regret later.

Apparently the Devil is quick to find uses for volcanic, seething Christians, i.e. they
become what's known in the spy business as assets.
_
 
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Eph 4:28 . . He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing
something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with
those in need.

Isn't it just amazing that early Christian church members were active criminals?
Yes, right there in the Ephesian church were thieves. Ironically Paul didn't forbid
the Ephesian Christians to steal, no, of all things; he ordered them to stop; and not
only to stop stealing, but to stop stealing for a living!

You'd think church would be the one place on earth where you'd be safe from
crime, but not so. Back in the 1970's I sang bass in the choir of a monster Baptist
church in San Diego. The 90+ member choir met in a rehearsal room and the ladies
would all leave their purses in there when we moved out to be seated in the loft.
The room had a very sturdy door and was always securely locked when we left the
room.

Well, one Sunday morning when we returned to the room, that Fort Knox door and
its lock were smashed open and all the ladies' purses were rifled. No other door in
the hallway was damaged so the break-in wasn't random, viz: that burglary was an
inside job.
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Eph 4:29 . . Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good
and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

"helpful" is from a Greek word that basically means: to build up (as opposed to
tearing down).

"foul or abusive" is from a word that basically means: rotten, i.e. worthless (literally
or morally) viz: inappropriate.

The foul and abusive category no doubt includes not only profanity, but also biting
sarcasm, thoughtless remarks, demeaning comments, chafing, relentless fault
finding, sneering, ridicule, mean spirited rejoinders, mockery, and unnecessary
criticism.


FAQ: Why was it okay for Jesus and John the Baptist to sometimes speak to people
in an abusive manner?


REPLY: Special men of God-- e.g. prophets, priests, etc --operated under orders
differing from what's required of ordinary rank and file pew warmers. (e.g. John
3:34, John 8:26, John 8:28, John 12:49, and John 14:24)
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Eph 4:30 . . Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption.

The Greek word translated "grieve" basically means: to distress; to make sad; for
example:

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the Earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that
He had made man on the Earth, and He was grieved in His heart." (Gen 6:5-6)

And:

"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them
as an enemy, and He fought against them." (Isa 63:10)

So then, we can safely conclude that the Holy Spirit of God is especially grieved
when one's conduct is unbecoming, and when every intent of the thoughts of one's
heart are only secular and/or impious, i.e. evil continually.

The Greek word translated "redemption" means to ransom fully. In short, those
sealed with the Spirit have their salvation locked in; however, it won't be finalized
until they step into a new, immortal body; which is yet a future event (Rom 8:23
25). So then; the "day of redemption" could be said to be speaking of closure.
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Eph 4:31 . . Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as
well as all types of malicious behavior.

It wasn't Paul's intention that the Ephesian Christians avoid all bitterness, rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice; no; on the contrary,
he wanted the Ephesians to "get rid" of them; which implies their spiritual
condition, at the time of his writing, was in need of attention.
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Eph 4:32 . . Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you.

"as in Christ God forgave you" speaks of generosity rather than a merit award.
(John 3:16-18, John 5:24, & Eph 2:5-10)

Within the context of the letter Paul wrote and sent to the Christians residing in the
ancient city of Ephesus; the objects "one another" and "each other" are exclusive;
viz: the comments refer only to Christ's fraternity of Bible believing Christians
rather than the world at large. So if you're unwilling to be kind and compassionate
to outsiders; at least be so with people at church so as to help prevent a house of
God from becoming a hostile worship environment.

The Greek word translated "kind" basically means employed; viz: useful. It's found
in only seven places in the New Testament, and without exception implies being
beneficial to others for their own good rather than using people to benefit one's
own self.

It used to be that Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts were trained to be useful to others as
just simply a matter of good deeds and good citizenship. I don't know, maybe they
still are; but I've known lots of churchians who were totally useless to others
because they're infected with an ugly spirit of conceit, rivalry, and indifference. Far
from being kind and compassionate; those Christians are actually sociopathic and
don't even know it.

The word for "compassionate" basically means sympathetic.

Webster's defines sympathy as: 1) an affinity, association, or relationship between
persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other, 2)
inclination to think or feel alike: emotional or intellectual accord, 3) feeling of
loyalty: tendency to favor or support, 4) the act, or capacity, of entering into or
sharing the feelings or interests of another, 5) sensitivity, and 6) heart; as in "have
a heart".

The word translated "forgiving" basically means to grant as a favor; viz:
gratuitously, i.e. courtesy.

Webster's defines gratuitous as: 1) given unearned or without recompense, 2) not
involving a return benefit or compensation or consideration, 3) costing nothing:
free, 4) not called for by the circumstances: unwarranted, 5) complimentary, 6)
gratis, and 7) voluntary. In other words; gratuitous seeks no reciprocation; it never
says "you owe me one"

Sailors are oft heard to say that the sea is very unforgiving: meaning it allows no
room for error or weakness. Christians ought not be like the sea. We ought to be
the most forgiving people on the planet; and not because we expect others to
reciprocate; but just because we enjoy being gratuitous. For some Christians
though, courtesy is an effort.

Eph 4:31-32 isn't easy. What we're looking at there is not just good citizenship; no,
what we're looking at is something divine in both its nature and its behavior.
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Eph 5:1 . . Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

Webster's defines "imitate" as to follow as a pattern, model, or example, i.e. copy.

The imitation mentioned herein is relative to the previous exhortation to be
compassionate to one another and forgiving; which is a reflection of Matt 5:44-48.

* One's dad is probably the most important role model a kid can have, that is, if
he's a good man; otherwise, he'll just be another bad influence. It's pretty kool
when a kid can look at their dad and honestly say, from the bottom of their heart:
"Dad; when I grow up, I want to be just like you".
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Eph 5:2 . . Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

There were times when Jesus came down on folks pretty hard, but basically he was
a benevolent guy: very helpful, very patient, and very accommodating.

The kind of love spoken of in that passage is very easy to exemplify. It's translated
from the Greek word agape (ag-ah'-pay) which can be either affection or
benevolence; but more often it's just benevolence. (e.g. John 3:16 & Matt 5:45)

Benevolence is typically helpful rather than harmful; and consists of common
courtesy, kindness, generosity, charity, sympathy, pity, civility, deference, lenience,
tolerance, gentleness, etc; which were no doubt all effective in compelling Christ to
lend his life to rescue his fellow man from the terrible event depicted by Rev 20:11-15.
_
 
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Eph 5:3a . . Among you; there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality

"among you" indicates Paul's concern for a particular congregation, i.e. a local
church. Anyone familiar with the Jews' history in the Old Testament has seen just
how harmful immorality was for God's people.

* One of Chinese Communism's tactics when going about destabilizing a country
and bringing it under their influence is to corrupt its morals; which is at least one of
the reasons why they seek to undermine and/or eradicate religions and ideologies
that encourage piety.
_
 
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Eph 5:3b . . Among you; there must not be any kind of impurity, or of greed

Impurities can be defined as contamination and/or pollutants. For example water is
impure when it contains fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides, parasites, heavy metals
like lead and cadmium, untreated sewage, and/or radioactive fall-out from a
nuclear accident.

It's tempting to zoom in on naughty fantasies and porn-like behavior as the
impurities that Paul is talking about; but any conduct unbecoming is an impurity.

So then, maybe you're an usher in church; but are you dishonest? And maybe you
sing in the choir, but are you a malicious gossip? And maybe you attend mid-week
prayer meetings; but do you deny your children even common courtesy and their
fundamental human rights? And maybe you teach Sunday school, but do you go
over the speed limit, feed parking meters, J-walk, and drift through stop signs? And
maybe you even stand in the pulpit; but do you have a drinking problem?

Webster's defines "greed" as avarice; which is an excessive, or insatiable, desire for
wealth or gain. Wanting money per se isn't sin. It's wanting money simply for the
sake of accumulating it that's bad.

Ben Franklin once said a penny saved, is a penny earned; but to greedy people a
penny saved is a penny stockpiled. Were you to ask a greedy person to name the
dollar figure and/or the amount of real estate that would satisfy them, they would
likely respond: "more"
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