New Thoughts (1/29/03-1/31/03)
15 To those who are free from corrupt desires, well pruned and fit to bear fruit, all things are legally permitted, and impart no uncleanness; but to those who are polluted, contaminated by sin and unbelieving, nothing is free from soil or stain, but both their reason, understanding, perception of divine matters and their moral discernment are contaminated, defiled with sin. 16 They profess skill, discernment, and understanding with regard to God, but by their deeds they contradict themselves, renouncing His ways and forsaking Him, being an abomination to God and disobedient, and proven not to be as they should be, void of judgment, morally worthless, and morally unfit for their purpose, which is to say for any good deed.
What should become clear, looking at this verse again, is that our ability to treat all things as pure, as permissible, is not necessarily because of the nature of the thing. Then, neither is the sinfulness. The thing is not the issue. The issue, as ever, is with what motivates us to partake. Why are all things legal for the pure? Because their desires have been purified. They have been pruned by the Spirit, and prepared to bear His fruit. The desires that used to control them, the lusts that seemed so necessary to satisfy, are no longer in control. The Spirit is in control, and what is desired now is solely that which accords with God's will. If the He's all that we desire, if we have truly submitted to His purposes in our lives, then no room remains for desiring what is sinful. If we love Him, Jesus told us, we will obey His commands (Jn 14:15). His command is to refrain from all that is sinful, all which does not proceed from faith (Ro 14:23). Purified by the Spirit, our desires are pure desires, and all things whatsoever that we would have or do under the influence of that pure desire are acceptable in His sight.
In stark contrast to this is Paul's description of those who are not filled with the Spirit of God. They are polluted. The contamination of their sin has effected every aspect of their being. Their powers of reason have been distorted by this contamination. Their ability to discern spiritual truth have been all but destroyed. As such, their ability to discern moral issues are also smeared over by this corrupting power, and incapable of proper function. With this mindset, an attempt to put on an air of godliness is bound to fail. Whatever they consider, in this condition, it will seem as soiled and polluted as they are themselves. When sight is polluted, all it sees will carry the stain. Thus, their legalism. All must be forbidden! Incapable of seeing inwardly, and detecting the real issue, they look out upon everything around them, and declare them anathema. By their actions, then, Paul tells us they contradict themselves; for they are incapable of avoiding the pursuits they have declared unclean.
In contradicting themselves, they also speak out against God, they renounce His claims. How is this? Their words have declared His worth! But, their actions. Their actions are an abomination to God. They may bring sacrifices to show their holiness, but God declares that these sacrifices are no longer pleasing to Him. "When You come," He asks through Isaiah, "Who has required you to do so?" (Isa 1:12) Do you come because of My command, or do you come to serve your own purposes? "I hate your festivals and the feasts you have declared. They are an added burden I do not care to carry any longer." Notice whose events He speaks out against. It's your festivals, your feasts. There's the issue. The regulations these deceived ones put on themselves and others are not God's regulations, but their own. What they celebrate and honor is not God, but themselves. Whatever their words may be saying, their actions show their motivation: glorification of themselves.
The Corinthians suffered from this problem in a different way. There, there was a competition to see who was most powerful in the gifts of the Spirit, apparently forgetting the key matter that these were gifts. Spiritual pride welled up in them, and each claimed superiority over the other because of the things God had freely given them. How we can twist God's work in us! How we are forever trying to put ourselves back in the picture as the key element! Those who look upon their fellows today, and rather than having compassion on their pains tell them that it is only because of they have insufficient faith are guilty of the same thing. In pointing to a faith deficiency in others, what is intended other than to show off how great their own faith is? Is there anything to be proud of there? Not in the self! That faith, however strong or weak it may be remains a gift from God. He gives it to each according to His measure. Don't think more highly of yourself than you ought, Paul told the Romans (Ro 12:3). Be sound in your judgment and recognize that God has allotted a measure of faith to each person. It's His call. He decides not what each deserves, for then none would have faith at all, but rather what each needs to fulfill his purpose in the body of Christ. Gifts differ, but they are all from one Source, given in service of the united body which is the Church.
When we allow this wrong thinking to motivate our 'service to God' our service becomes an abomination before Him, just as the Israelites of Isaiah's time, the Pharisees of Jesus' time, and too many others down through the ages. We become morally worthless. Where we should be equipped for every good deed which God has prepared beforehand for us to do, we become morally incapable of fulfilling His purpose in us. Pride poisons the best efforts we can give until we come to realize that the best efforts we can give are none of our own, but only His own work worked out through us.
Now, Paul is not willing that even this message should become a source of pride in his coworkers. Later in the letter, he reminds his friend Titus that they were once just like those they now must reprove and admonish. They were just as deceived by lust and desire, just as guilty of malice and envy, just as hateful towards others. Each one of us comes from that same background. Each one of us has had that experience. All have sinned. That's the point. That's why Christ came, why He drew us to Him, and why we stay now that He has done so. We have all needed that which only He can do in us. We all continue to need it! Even when we are called to reprove, then, we must remember the mercy that was shown to us. Even when we must bear the rod of correction, we must bear in our hearts the compassion that has been showered down on us.
Further, we must not allow our own failures to overwhelm us. However far Christ has carried us to date, we're still not there yet. We're still inhabiting fallen flesh, and we will continue to do so to the day He calls us home. Oh, there will certainly be anguish for the sin we find in ourselves, may it never be otherwise! Paul, as powerfully knowledgeable of the wonders and mysteries of God as he was, knew he was not immune to this problem. I don't understand my own actions, he wrote to the Romans (Ro 7:15-20). The very things that I so hate [especially in others] I find myself doing, things I know are against the Law, things I know must offend the Spirit that dwells within me. No! I know there is nothing good in myself. I know my flesh remains corrupt, for however much I may wish to do the right thing, yet I find I do the opposite. Wishing to do the good I know I ought, I still practice the evil which is against my own wishes, let alone God's! How shall I ever be freed? There's only one answer: through Christ Jesus my Lord! In Him, by His comforting words within me, I recognize that while this flesh of mine still heeds the law of sin, yet my mind serves only the law of God (Ro 7:24-25).
In this is no excuse to quit trying, only recognition of our present state. In this, we are led to the place where our correction will be delivered with compassion and mercy, for in whatsoever we are led to correct another we will inevitably see our own need for correction. Every pastor I have known has confessed that the most powerful messages they deliver are those they have first had to deliver to themselves. So it ought always to be with us. Before ever we seek to speak something into another's life, let us first speak it into our own. It will doubtless find an audience to address there.
Rest assured, then, that nothing in our own shared condition, nothing in the hope that Christ has set before us, nothing in what has been written here, gives us license to allow our flesh to pursue its sinful agenda unimpeded. Far be it from us! Ever we should be seeking to subdue the flesh. Ever we should be praying that our spirit will rise up within us, take back the command that is rightfully its own. We have been given the tools to fight the good fight, to take on our own sinfulness and - though we may not be able to fully prevail - to subdue the desires of the flesh. Is it possible, just possible, that we can reach the place of purity described here? Is it possible that we can so attune our desires to His that our desires will never lead us to pursue what is sinful? Yes! Absolutely yes! But remember with Paul that the flesh still serves in a different court. Never in this life will we know absolute freedom from our sinfulness, not until this corrupt flesh has put on incorruption.
In the meantime, let us remember that the heart cannot help but be reflected in deeds. There will assuredly be failures and missteps, but the fruit of the Spirit cannot help but grow where He is watering the soil. If all our deeds are other than our words, we need to examine ourselves most carefully, lest we find that the salvation we thought we knew was never truly ours. "Many will say to Me, 'Lord! Lord!' yet I will declare to them that in spite of their acts of spirituality I never knew them." (Mt 7:22). All our heart, all our strength, all our soul: nothing less will serve.
God, how I have fallen short in this very thing! How often do I still shout down in others the very things I need to correct in myself? How rarely do I check myself until after I have spoken my 'righteous' complaint! What, dear Father, do my deeds speak out about my heart? Has it gotten any better? I think it has, and yet… How many times, Lord, must I fail to curb my frustrations? How many times, Lord, will I know this ungodly jealousy, and give it free rein? God! These things ought not to be! Bring me to the place where I can forgive myself, can remember my own need and be just as forgiving with others who share my weaknesses!
Holy Spirit, You have led me down paths of learning, paths of digging into Your word as deeply as I know how. Yet, if it is no more than study, my Lord, my Teacher, what have I learned? You who have planted these seeds of understanding in me, I pray You would water them profusely, fertilize them, tend to their growth my God! Lord, I don't want to be but a hearer of Your truths, I want to be one who puts these things into practice in my own life. With Paul, I cry out at the evidence before me, at the battle that rages within me between the desire to do, and the seeming inability to follow that desire. Let it be more than just my mind that seeks to obey You! Let even that mind be strengthened in its resolve, but, Lord, I hunger to see my own pursuits more fully aligned with Your purposes.
Where I serve You, let it be only in Spirit and Truth. If my service has ceased to be pleasing in Your sight, I submit myself to Your loving correction. Remove me from 'holy' acts that offend You rather than please You. Purify my heart, Lord, that I may know You more.
