Christ's Law

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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?

NOTE: 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, and such things; by and large taxes are essential if we're to expect services
like schools, parks, national defense, law enforcement, fire protection, Medicare,
Medicaid, Food Stamps, foster care, endowments, reparations, flood control, TANF,
SSI, and the maintenance of infrastructure, etc.

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

"for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing." (Rom
13:6b)
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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, 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.
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● Rom 13:12 . . Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Among the first things that God created for the cosmos was light (Gen 1:3). He
didn't have to create darkness because darkness per Gen 1:2 is just simply the
default condition in the absence of light.

At that time, God made a distinct difference between light and darkness (Gen 1:4).
I think it is very notable that God labeled the light "good" but He didn't label the
darkness good.

I believe Gen 1:4 set the stage; in other words: from that point on in the Bible,
darkness typically represents something harmful and/or distasteful; while light
always represents something tasteful and/or beneficial. So then we could label the
deeds of darkness as deeds unbecoming 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 --quarrelling, 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 colloquialism 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 on
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 you 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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● Rom 14:13a . .Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one
another.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, "passing judgment" pertains to criticizing
others for refusal to accept and/or comply with your own personal gray-area beliefs
and practices.
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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 you 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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Tomorrow is Assumption.

Mariä Himmelfahrt in German.

 

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● Rom 14:13b . . Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in
your brother's way.

The Greek word translated "stumbling block" means a stub. For example: one year
I cut down a troublesome bush in my front yard and left a bit of a stump sticking up
out of the ground that later damaged my lawn mower when I accidentally ran over
it while cutting the grass; which had grown tall enough to conceal the stump. In
that respect, stumbling blocks are hazards not easily detected.

Within the context of the 14th of Romans, I would equate stumbling blocks to the
clever sophistry that silver-tongued Bible thumpers employ to persuade people to
do things contrary to their convictions and their conscience. Should you get pulled
into a debate with one of those thumpers you'll be frustrated because no matter
how skillfully defended your position, they will continue to oppose it with one
rebuttal after another; so the best track is: decline to argue.
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● Rom 14:14-16 . . I know and am perfectly sure on the authority of The Lord Jesus
that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong,
then for that person it is wrong. And if another Christian is distressed by what you
eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don't let your eating ruin someone for
whom Christ died. Then you will not be condemned for doing something you know
is alright.

For example: We may believe that there is nothing wrong with eating freaky,
barbarian foods; but our Christian dinner companion might feel very strongly about
it. Well; sure, we can get by with eating freaky, barbarian foods; but Christ expects
his own to restrain themselves from eating distasteful stuff in front of our Christian
companions in thoughtful and sympathetic regard for their personal sensibilities,
i.e. as a courtesy.

I'm pretty sure this principle isn't restricted to diet, but can be applied to any
debatable issue with the potential to drive an unnecessary wedge between
ourselves and other Christians. For example; if you have friends over for an
evening of entertainment, and know they're uncomfortable with movies saturated
with crime, cruelty, obscenity, vulgarity, deviance, indecency, and violence; then
accommodate their feelings by selecting something you both can enjoy.
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● Rom 14:19 . . Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to
mutual edification.

The Greek word translated "edification" is somewhat related to the building trades;
and in this instance pertains to structural improvements like a new wing, or a
bedroom, or another floor; and in many instances adds square footage to an
already-existing structure and/or improves its appearance, its value, and it's utility.
Edification then, is just the opposite of demolition, i.e. it builds up instead of tearing
down.

Webster's defines "peace" as a state in which there is no war or fighting; viz:
harmony and mutual concord. In other words: there are times when it's appropriate
to accommodate people's feelings about certain things for the sake of us all getting
along together.

NOTE: An important element in the practice of love is deference; which, in a
nutshell, implies regarding the wishes of others as trumping yours; viz:
subordination. (Eph 5:21)
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● Rom 14:20-21 . . Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is
clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to
stumble.

The critters that God lists in the covenant that Moses' people agreed upon with God
per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy as unsuitable for human
consumption aren't intrinsically unsuitable. They're only designated unsuitable for
the Jews because that's how God wants it for a particular people. But outside the
covenant, for everybody else, whatever you'd like to eat can be eaten; all flora and
all fauna; and that dates all the way back to the Flood. (Gen 9:3)

But still; we wouldn't want to invite someone over for dinner serving foods that
they sincerely believe are wrong for them to eat; and thus lead them to
compromise their own personal convictions about what's right and what's wrong for
Christians. Prepare something else that you both can eat without feeling guilty.
That's the Christian way to go about it; it's also the sympathetic way to go about it.
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● Rom 14:22a . . So whatever you personally believe in debatable areas keep
between yourself and God.

The old adage "Let sleeping dogs lie." certainly applies to this requirement in regard
to gray-area beliefs and practices.
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● Rom 14:22b. . Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he
approves.

The Greek word translated "blessed" means fortunate and/or well off. The opposite
of that would be like deprived and/or missing out on something worth having.

"But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not
from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." (Rom 14:23)

Where there's doubt; it's possible to be wrong even when you're right because it's a
sin to forge ahead when one's conscience is not sure it's okay to do so.

I once knew a Christian who felt guilty just setting foot inside a Block Buster video
store. Was he silly for feeling that way? Not in his mind; and it's your own personal
moral compass that counts in gray areas. Some Christians can't permit themselves
to dine in a restaurant that serves alcohol; while others see nothing wrong with it.
If those two kinds of Christians should perchance dine out together, it's the more
sensitive conscience that determines where to eat.

In other words; it makes good spiritual sense to avoid insisting upon your freedoms
and rights sometimes in order to prevent dragging your fellow Christians into
something that makes them feel guilty and/or uncomfortable.

"We may know that certain things make no difference, but we cannot just go ahead
and do them to please ourselves. We must be considerate of the doubts and fears
of those who believe certain things are wrong." (Rom 15:1-2)

Webster's defines "considerate" as thoughtful of the rights and feelings of others,
i.e. deferential, gallant, chivalrous, sensitive, yielding, and diplomatic.
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● Rom 15:7 . . Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to
bring praise to God.

Christians begin as sinners alienated from God.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another." (1John 4:10-12)

The thing is: God takes sinners under His wing even when they are as stubborn and
rebellious as conceited adolescents. So then; I think we may take it that
disagreement over matters of conscience-- i.e. gray issues --is never a valid reason
to disown one's fellow believer. This calls for benevolence, i.e. the graces of tact,
diplomacy, and tolerance.
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● Rom 15:27 . . For if the Gentiles have shared in the Israelite's spiritual blessings,
they owe it to the Israelites to share with them their material blessings.

Within the context of Rom 15:25-27, the Israelites to whom Paul refers are not
those who believe and practice Judaism; but those who believe Jesus (a.k.a.
Y'shua) is the Messiah.

It is unbecoming for Christians to support religions that undermine Christ;
especially when it's taken into consideration that 1Cor 16:22 requires Christ's
followers to regard the followers of religions opposed to his as cursed.

NOTE: The Jews' original beliefs and practices were primarily biblical. By the time of
Jesus' day, their religion had become rabbinical, i.e. defined by the Talmud; which
incorporates the Bible but isn't strictly limited to it.
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