James 4:4 - Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
1 John 2:15 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
AMEN!!!
As Alamo-Girl reminds us so often, our job is to ”Love God.”
And how do men show their love to God? By obeying Him and worshiping Him in truth and love.
If that is done, everything else falls into place.
But if we worship something other than the Triune God and swear allegiance to part of the creation instead of the only Creator, we can never be right with God because that skewed trajectory is only taking us ever farther from Him.
Creation is ontologically good because it was created by God for His glory. Because of the Fall Creation has been sickened over by the curse of sin which is experienced by mankind as an ethical derangement where we now see things backwards, mistaking evil for good.
The resurrection power of Jesus Christ removes this spiritual inversion, perversity and self-destruction from those whom God has chosen to acquit of their sins by the sacrifice of Christ. These men and women will, at a time of God's choosing, experience creation as intended, joyfully and good. We sing "Joy to the world...the Lord is come."
The question, distilled through the Reformation, is how do men become acquitted? The RCC gets much of this correct. Its dogma of acquittal by the blood of Christ is correct. Its method of acquittal is heresy. Men are not acquitted of their sins through the mojo of "another Christ." As Luther stated, men are justified by grace through faith given by God to whom He will.
How is God's grace dispensed? Through the priestcraft and mystical rituals, or through the Holy Spirit working directly on the heart of the believer?
BOTH. In the first place, God does not make souls with a cookie-cutter: Every person is unique. Thus a man has a particular differentiation of "mental and spiritual equipment and needs," so to speak, as compared to another man. Moreover, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit can work through rituals just as well as directly on individual souls if He wants to — the Spirit bloweth where it wilt.
Plus the two seem complementary in a certain way, "ritual" symbolizing "body" and "heart-direct" symbolizing "soul." God made man body and soul. They are designed to work together. So why cannot ritual and direct Spiritual presence work together likewise?
Other than that teensy quibble, Dr. Eckleburg, I think your essay/post at #180 is absolutely splendid. Thank you oh so very much dear sister in Christ!
AMEN. THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. No rites or chants or mystical events will do anything.
God can choose to use both.
Remember St. Paul's "I become all things to all men, so that I might by all means save some" and then recall that he adjured us to "become followers of me, as I am of Christ" -- meaning, that Christ uses all mechanisms to save us.
Grace may be transmitted through a jackass, a bronze snake on a pole, words from a person, a handkerchief, a bright light from heaven, or the voice of God speaking to your heart.
Cheers!
If that is done, everything else falls into place.
But if we worship something other than the Triune God and swear allegiance to part of the creation instead of the only Creator, we can never be right with God because that skewed trajectory is only taking us ever farther from Him.
Seems to me that some of my brothers and sisters in Christ are most spiritually aware when they are by themselves, some on a mountain or lakeshore, others when they are holding a newborn child, others when they are participating in worship in a grand Cathedral and so on. And I thank God for all of these opportunities.
Likewise God has given us His words which are nourishment to our souls. And He has also given us things to 'act out' - e.g. celebrating the Lord's Supper, washing each others' feet - bringing Spiritual truth to the foreground and committing our whole person to it. And He has gifted some for evangelizing, teaching, helping, nurturing, encouraging, etc.
And most importantly He has given of Himself to each and every one of us:
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. - I John 2:27
For if they keep that one and only Great Commandment and the distant second to love their neighbor as themselves - then they needn't "sweat the details."
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. – Matthew 22:37-40