By Theresa Ferraro part 1
Through the grace of our Father and the instruction of the Holy Spirit, after an exhaustive conversation with a good friend and mentor, I came to an epiphany at the Kansas Weekend in the Word.
I’d had trouble recognizing law in general, anything outside of Moses’ Law. I wondered: Why should a Christian not try to live a good, clean life according to the Bible? It is the least one could do in appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice. James
endorses works as a vital testament of one’s faith.
Why is there such a discrepancy between what some churches teach and the Gospel message? What a wonderful blessing when a veil is lifted and you suddenly understand a concept you previously hadn’t been able to wrap your
mind around!
Back in the Garden, what did Adam have before he disobeyed God? What
did he exchange? He had a personal relationship with God; God visited and
talked with Adam until sin separated them. What did Satan tell Eve?
“For God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and
evil” (Gen. 3:5).
This is Sunday School stuff. But people don’t connect this exchange with what happens in religion. Many Christians live out their faith through introspection, naval-gazing!
Some people just have a penchant for self-analysis, even me; I admit it. But many study the Old Testament to learn lessons of Christian character and
try to apply it to their lives—how to be a man of faith like Abraham or Moses, or how to be a woman of God like Esther.
But, you see, the forbidden tree in the Garden was not of evil; it was of the knowledge of both good and evil. When we work the knowledge of good and evil (this includes trying to be good), we are truly acting as gods, just as Satan promised.
We are acting on our own power, as a child looks to his parent and says, “I don’t
need your help; I can do it myself.” And then he proceeds to fall flat on his face.
But what does God want? Did He create the world so He could watch us be good? No. He wanted a relationship! From the
beginning of time, God yearned for a loving relationship. God gave Adam and Eve options because love is a choice. He wants us to eventually fall in love with Him, not to be inde- pendent beings.
But, how can we have a relationship with Him if we pass our days studying our-selves and trying to perfect our flaws?
“Having begunin the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?”
(Gal. 3:3).
After years of trying to perfect the flesh, many Christians get burned out or find that no matter how good they were, they still ran into bad circumstances beyond their control. You see, law-givers hold out the promise that bad behavior reaps bad consequences.
I do believe this law is built into God’s universe, just as the law of gravity; but, fol-
lowing that reason, one would conclude that good behavior will reap good con-
sequences.
This simply is not so in this third-dimension life. No matter how you give yourself to being faithful, honest, responsible, decent, kind and sinless, you are still going to find
heartache, trouble and despair in this life.
Through the grace of our Father and the instruction of the Holy Spirit, after an exhaustive conversation with a good friend and mentor, I came to an epiphany at the Kansas Weekend in the Word.
I’d had trouble recognizing law in general, anything outside of Moses’ Law. I wondered: Why should a Christian not try to live a good, clean life according to the Bible? It is the least one could do in appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice. James
endorses works as a vital testament of one’s faith.
Why is there such a discrepancy between what some churches teach and the Gospel message? What a wonderful blessing when a veil is lifted and you suddenly understand a concept you previously hadn’t been able to wrap your
mind around!
Back in the Garden, what did Adam have before he disobeyed God? What
did he exchange? He had a personal relationship with God; God visited and
talked with Adam until sin separated them. What did Satan tell Eve?
“For God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and
evil” (Gen. 3:5).
This is Sunday School stuff. But people don’t connect this exchange with what happens in religion. Many Christians live out their faith through introspection, naval-gazing!
Some people just have a penchant for self-analysis, even me; I admit it. But many study the Old Testament to learn lessons of Christian character and
try to apply it to their lives—how to be a man of faith like Abraham or Moses, or how to be a woman of God like Esther.
But, you see, the forbidden tree in the Garden was not of evil; it was of the knowledge of both good and evil. When we work the knowledge of good and evil (this includes trying to be good), we are truly acting as gods, just as Satan promised.
We are acting on our own power, as a child looks to his parent and says, “I don’t
need your help; I can do it myself.” And then he proceeds to fall flat on his face.
But what does God want? Did He create the world so He could watch us be good? No. He wanted a relationship! From the
beginning of time, God yearned for a loving relationship. God gave Adam and Eve options because love is a choice. He wants us to eventually fall in love with Him, not to be inde- pendent beings.
But, how can we have a relationship with Him if we pass our days studying our-selves and trying to perfect our flaws?
“Having begunin the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?”
(Gal. 3:3).
After years of trying to perfect the flesh, many Christians get burned out or find that no matter how good they were, they still ran into bad circumstances beyond their control. You see, law-givers hold out the promise that bad behavior reaps bad consequences.
I do believe this law is built into God’s universe, just as the law of gravity; but, fol-
lowing that reason, one would conclude that good behavior will reap good con-
sequences.
This simply is not so in this third-dimension life. No matter how you give yourself to being faithful, honest, responsible, decent, kind and sinless, you are still going to find
heartache, trouble and despair in this life.
