Thank you for moderating, blessed are the peace makers for they shall inherit the earth. But we must never make peace with those who deliberately teach heretical lies. We must strive to correct them and bring them under true Gospel light.
Jesus was both a radical and a peacemaker. Lest we forget. However, how he approached his purpose on earth was largely through peace.
Remember the Apostle Paul's wisdom in his epistle to the church in Ephesus? Teaching the purpose of Jesus ministry. Salvation by God's grace through our faith in him.
Expanded Bible Version] Ephesians 2:15 He did this by ·ending [setting aside; nullifying] the law of commands and rules ·by giving his own body [L in his flesh; C this phrase may go with the previous sentence]. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new ·people [humanity; person; man] in him and in this way make peace.
Do we lead people to truth by abandoning our own peace to do so? Rebuke does not necessitate losing gentleness in the process. Anger or its companions does not demonstrate truth and security in truth. It demonstrates insecurity and fear. Not all people will read God's words as you do. Not all people who are in Christ are in the same relationship that you are. And it is a relationship.
The doctrines of men, those denominational fences that often divide, will without intention, not to say that was not so at their birth, can lead us to ignite our passion for being right. Not righteous.
We are still human and are prone to those characteristics we grew into before being renewed in Christ. We have this tendency wherein we believe if others do not share our belief system our system is made weak. That is impossible in matters pertaining to God's plan of Salvation. None the less, there is that tickle in our personal identity that sees that which does not believe as we do as an attack on what we do believe. Because what we believe and in any belief system and especially in our faith as a Christian, is the center of who we believe we are. The thought system centers on what we believe we are. When someone doesn't think as we do we take it personally.
That's the old self, the self-centered , operating. We take offense and then we become offensive as a defense of our rightness in our personal belief.
But we are all equals in the body of Christ. The I in our world view is now blended with the great I Am.
Realizing some sisters and brothers we encounter have been raised with a particular denominational instruction that tells them precisely what it means to be saved. How that happens. What they need to do to stay that way. And sometimes there are attached all sorts of rules that make it a process to remain in grace. Remembering that deep in our psyche we can believe also that precision is paramount for the sake of eternity and the future of our soul.
It isn't easy to let go of what someone has been led to believe through the teachings of men using God's word as the fulcrum for installing a particular denominational lever. The more we cling to how Jesus told us to bring peace, the easier we will find we can live peace. Peace motivates change. Jesus was the highest example of that as Messiah and Rabbi.
When in history he was the powerful God who brought his wrath on wrong doing and strict discipline against sin.
Be the peace you want to see alive in your life. Try and imagine how you'd feel if someone spoke to you concerning your beliefs in the same manner you feel sparked to speak to them in defending your beliefs. Take a breath. Jesus brought the universal absolute truth to the world in one small area of it. In the midst of pagan people who ruled the known world, in the midst of those his Jewish heritage saw as other, or outcasts. He was never abrasive save when he took to the money changers.
Remember in the book of Matthew? Jesus taught a Samaritan woman he met at Jacob's well. In those times the Jews and Samaritan's were separated by divisions wherein Samaritans were thought to be lesser. But the king of king's knew better. And the woman's faith in Jesus there saved her.
It is so easy for me to be so in love with the teachings and truth of Christ. It takes patience, practice, and faith, that I am able to be Christ-like , as Christian implies, when I get into situations where my pride, or my beliefs, my identity as Christian, meet with those who don't think as I do. But hey, isn't that how it is suppose to be? The teachings Jesus brought to us through the centuries on paper in our Bibles lay the groundwork for becoming. It is a life long journey to live the teachings to that point where we don't have to think to do the right thing. To breathe and say the right thing in peace. We don't graduate from that lesson plan until we're dead. And then we're scholars!
May God's peace and breath always whisper to your heart and mind.
God knows that post right there is reallll preachy. I apologize for the wall of text. I was inspired I guess.
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