Christ's Instructions

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37) Rom 12:21 . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In other words: fighting fire with fire 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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38) 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.

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

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

● Acts 5:29 . .We ought to obey God rather than men.

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

● Matt 2:7-8 . .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 2:12 . . And being warned of God in a dream that they should not
return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

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.

● Rom 13:2-3 . .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.

* 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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39) 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)

● Rom 13:6b . . for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full
time to governing. (cf. Ps 82:1-6 & John 19:11)
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40) 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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41) 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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42) 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.

● 1Pet 3:10-12 . .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.
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43) 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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44) 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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45) 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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46) 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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47) 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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48) 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 refusing to accept and/or comply with your own
personal gray-area beliefs and practices.
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49) 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: put on your best poker face and decline to argue.
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[quietthinker]

Christ's Instructions​

The Ark's big enough for you and yer mates, just don't miss the bus!

 

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50) 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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51) 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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52) 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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53) Rom 14:22a . . So whatever you personally believe in debatable areas
keep between yourself and God.

The old adage "Let sleeping dogs lie." is certainly apropos in gray-area
beliefs and practices. For example; some folks are comfortable with having a
picture of Jesus in their homes while others think it's wrong. I think it best to
consider that issue a sort of DMZ wherein neither side initiates conflict.
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54) 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.

● Rom 14:23 . . 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.

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.

● Rom 15:1-2 . . 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.

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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55) 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.

● 1John 4:10 . .This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and
sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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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