Sunday, August 4, 2013
Bonnhoeffer speaks on obedience
From his prison cell in Nazi dominated Germany Dietrich Bonnhoeffer, martyr as a result of his uncompromising faith in Christ, speaks on denying self and the cost of taking up the cross of Christ in obedience that faith demands. "To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. Action springs not from thought, but a readiness for responsibility. One act of obedience is better than a hundred sermons. To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin and more about courageously and actively doing God's will."
Seek Him, love Him, obey Him
How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of "accepting" Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need no more seek Him.
Tozer, A. W. (Aiden Wilson) (2011-03-24). The Pursuit of God (p. 17). . Kindle Edition.
In all of our "spiritual" group activities it is very possible to hear the gospel preached and explained without really embracing its truths. 2Timothy describes it as "always learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." A Hebraism which Jesus used was " you have ears to hear, but do not hear." meaning if you are not responding to the spoken truth with real application, you might as well be considered deaf. Hearing, pondering, and meditating on the truths of God's word is not the same as actually doing it, no matter how much your heart is touched by its message. God is interested in transforming our lives, not simply filling our minds with new ideas, however altruistic, but giving us a new way of walking and living. We are not changed unless we walk in the truth of what we have received through the word of God. Jesus said to the ten lepers, Go! show yourselves to the priest." And as they went they were cleansed. Hearing and walking must always go together otherwise we deceive ourselves and fall into a state of deluded unresponsiveness, which will ultimately end in a spiritual dead end of disillusionment with the gospel. On the other hand, an attitude of intentional obedience will lead us away from the gloom of our empty despair and into a place of boundless opportunities for newer and deeper truths by which to live and move ,as it were, from glory to glory.
Something my mother always told me as a child was "the drive is the gift". And as it applies here, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit is the real driving force that compels us to seek, know and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is substantiated through the reality of our actions. Like Jesus said " if you love me you will obey my commandments."
Tozer, A. W. (Aiden Wilson) (2011-03-24). The Pursuit of God (p. 17). . Kindle Edition.
In all of our "spiritual" group activities it is very possible to hear the gospel preached and explained without really embracing its truths. 2Timothy describes it as "always learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." A Hebraism which Jesus used was " you have ears to hear, but do not hear." meaning if you are not responding to the spoken truth with real application, you might as well be considered deaf. Hearing, pondering, and meditating on the truths of God's word is not the same as actually doing it, no matter how much your heart is touched by its message. God is interested in transforming our lives, not simply filling our minds with new ideas, however altruistic, but giving us a new way of walking and living. We are not changed unless we walk in the truth of what we have received through the word of God. Jesus said to the ten lepers, Go! show yourselves to the priest." And as they went they were cleansed. Hearing and walking must always go together otherwise we deceive ourselves and fall into a state of deluded unresponsiveness, which will ultimately end in a spiritual dead end of disillusionment with the gospel. On the other hand, an attitude of intentional obedience will lead us away from the gloom of our empty despair and into a place of boundless opportunities for newer and deeper truths by which to live and move ,as it were, from glory to glory.
Something my mother always told me as a child was "the drive is the gift". And as it applies here, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit is the real driving force that compels us to seek, know and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is substantiated through the reality of our actions. Like Jesus said " if you love me you will obey my commandments."
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