God is more concerned with WHY we do something than he is with the actual doing of it.
Merely obeying the commands of God does not save anyone nor does it score points with God.
If we have contempt for someone it is called murder. Even if we outwardly give gifts that everyone can see pretending to be a nice person, and the purpose in the gift giving is to impress others or remove our own guilt then the gift is dung in God's eyes.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”…"
If you give a gift in an attempt to disarm or cause false guilt in someone then the gift is manipulation and despicable to God. Our gifts must be given without intent or guile otherwise it is nothing more than self aggrandizement designed to manage the relationship in one's own favor, rather than to build a lasting and mutually loving one.
James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
The gifts of God are spiritual and emotional in nature not physical. Those who attempt to bring physical gifts to someone without the spiritual blessing of love and honor are honoring only themselves.
Hosea 6:6
"6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
God hates gifts given to Him that demonstrate a heart that desires to impress others and manipulate Him or the emotions of others.
Have you ever received a gift from an acquaintance who treats you with contempt and disloyalty often but never forgets to wish you a happy birthday? This is disgusting to those who have been the object of this sort of hypocrisy.
There are those in Christian churches who do not recognize exceptions to the Law because they think more in linear terms than vertical terms. Linear being person to person and vertical being man to God.
They snatch a verse out of its context and make a hard fast rule out of it to the point that now the rule does not only not represent God's intent but goes beyond His command.
Galatians 2:21
"21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
As born again believers we should understand the leading of the Holy Spirit. The law says that we are to punish those who steal, however there is mercy when we discover someone stole from us because they were starving and needed that loaf of bread. They were sorry they stole but were motivated by the starvation to seek food for their family. These are those who we show mercy to and to whom we bless with another loaf to further help them.
This principle can be translated to other things as well. When a woman lives with an unsaved husband and he is asking her to do things that violate God's will, she is obligated to go with God against her husband.
The mercy in the case of the woman and her unsaved husband is to come alongside the suffering woman and uphold her decision to go with God. It is monstrous to place a burden on the woman to sin against God to obey her husband.
The same things is true in the worship gathering. The women are commanded not to disrupt the proceedings by chattering and asking questions of her husband, she is to wait and ask him at home.
These days many woman know more than their husbands so they have a basis to share. The command to remain silent does not mean she may not speak things of the Lord as led by the Holy Spirit.
Men are to be the leaders in the formal gathering, but this has nothing to do with woman sharing their faith and instruction with men outside the gathering or to unbelievers. We see the mention of prophetesses in the Bible who are prophesying to everyone.
Luke 2:36, Luke 2:25–27, Luke 2:38, 15:9, Acts 1:14; 2:17, Acts 21:9, Rev. 2:18–29.
1 Corinthians 11 describes a woman who prophesies and prays openly as led by Christ, as long as her head is covered.
One cannot snatch verses out of the Bible and claim absolute obedience to them while ignoring all the other supporting principles of the Bible that expound further.
In other words one must consider the WHOLE counsel of God to come to understanding.
Those who make up their own human rules, intimidating and demeaning others to be able to control them based on age or gender are only interested in controlling people instead of leading by example and teaching.
1 Peter 5:1-5 "5 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over [a]those allotted to your charge, but [b]proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading [c]crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Arrogant, dominating and self righteous men do not belong in leadership. We are free to ignore these types to obey God.
1 Corinthians 14:37-38 "…37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, he himself will be ignored. "
Ephesians 4:18 “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
1 Corinthians 14:38
"38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant (ignored)."
No comments:
Post a Comment