Monday, April 04, 2016

Terrifying Facts brought out by C.S. Lewis for our "nearly desperate" condition.

When you have realised that our position is nearly desperate you will begin to understand what the Christians are talking about. They offer an explanation of how we got into our present state of both hating goodness and loving it. They offer an explanation of how God can be this impersonal mind at the back of the Moral Law and yet also a Person. They tell you how the demands of this law, which you and I cannot meet, have been met on our behalf, how God Himself becomes a man to save man from the disapproval of God. It is an old story and if you want to go into it you will no doubt consult people who have more authority to talk about it than I have. All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts—to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer. And they are very terrifying facts. I wish it was possible to say something more agreeable. But I must say what I think true.

FROM CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR BY CS LEWIS

There is a story about a schoolboy who was asked what he thought God was like. He replied that, as far as he could make out, God was "The sort of person who is always snooping round to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it." And I am afraid that is the sort of idea that the word Morality raises in a good many people's minds: something that interferes, something that stops you having a good time. In reality, moral rules are directions for running the human machine. Every moral rule is there to prevent a breakdown, or a strain, or a friction, in the running of that machine. That is why these rules at first seem to be constantly interfering with our natural inclinations. When you are being taught how to use any machine, the instructor keeps on saying, "No, don't do it like that," because, of course, there are all sorts of things that look all right and seem to you the natural way of treating the machine, but do not really work.

My 2 cents:

Jesus came to enable us to obtain Abundant Life real living but not what you think of slavery to Christ as a feel good Gospel is. We relinquish rights to Christ. This is painful. It's also comforts. Unless we're born again we can't really appreciate this committment to be alive and real. We know we were bought with a Price and we're not our own but to glorify God honor God with our body our mind. He fulfilled the requirement of the Law even every moral rule that exposed our sinful life. As Lewis would put it, the machine is well oiled and can run smoothe. Christ succeeded to tell about the machine's oiled running well and did something about it effectually. He did succeed where every man failed at it. By Covenanting with God being Born Again denying ourselves, taking up our cross as Romans 6:11-13 describes we now have freedom to choose really for the first time moral right choices after the HOLY SPIRIT! The Holy Spirit wishes right moral choices! That's not a strange statement. We're alive to God now. Galatians 5:1 says to stand firm in the liberty Christ gives. We can love each the others with Agape God's kind of love and therefore love God's way which does no harm to his neighbor and is seen then in the fulfilling of the Law or Christ IN you, the hope of glory. The Pentateuch or five Books of Moses were given to expose our shortcomings and now leads us to Christ and union with Him with a view to the Promises granted (the well oiled well working smoothly machine.) These are not machinations for Jesus is our replaced life exchanged for sin, failure, misery, fears, death fear, etc.. Becoming as a child we can be converted. Now we experience more of love, joy, peace, etc. Children are trusting. They have great difficulty trying to deceive, are vulnerable, and exist from God's standpoint, a sheep. Better a millstone hung around one's neck than to offend one of these little ones. Christ says the Kingdom belongs to such as these. Let's be disciples and hear commands of Lord Jesus as friends of God obeying from the heart asking for rain of the Holy Spirit to bring revival through us and dwell by the Spirit within to fill us to fullness and dwell in our midst. Obeying what you hear God's Voice is going to put you on a Solid Foundation in the storms of life. Teach to observe all Christ said and did. For the Narrow way is to life, broad to destruction. Choose life, choose our Lord Messiah inside and out.

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