In the last communication here I wrote a kind of warning to “let us not be fooled, or condemned, into accepting tolerance and inclusion, and yes, even love, as the only attributes of God and Christlikeness.” I also wrote Believing in Him, coming to the Light and living under His Lordship brings us eternal life and peace in Him. It is reasonable to do so. Remaining in darkness and choosing death is unreasonable. There is an underlying indication in my saying: “let us not be fooled…into accepting” and “It is reasonable to do so…. choosing death is unreasonable.” that there is a choice to be made and that it involves intellectual decision making. But let me say clearly that while there is a choice to be made. The choices are not made of self-reliance, but in walking with Him and under His Lordship, and knowing Him. It is so easy to be duped by that which seems to be good, and sometimes even godly. Especially when we let one of our soulish parts, our mind (intellect), our will (our own desire; even when it seems good or, perhaps, even godly), our emotions (natural releases for desire, will, and thoughts), overrule the Spirit of God or His word. It has been that way since Eve in the garden.
[Genesis 2:9, 16-17 NASB] 9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … 16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
God made full provision for man in the garden for all that pertained to being satiated, filled, and for LIFE. However, there was a bit of a caveat attached to the tree the knowledge of good and evil. Yes, you can eat from it, but when you do you will taste death.
[Genesis 3:1-7 NASB] 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
The woman was accurate in her responses to the serpent, and in her understanding. She could quote what God said directly and she dealt with the initial lie well. But, then, she believed Him not, trusting her soulish self (6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise) and giving in to the temptation, she was duped into choosing the lie and, by it, death.
Make no mistake however, although the serpent brought the temptation, these issues are choices of the will with consequences based in hearing His voice and giving responses of obedience. They are matters of the will and of worship. Hearing, or having heard from, Him and then choosing not to do what He speaks, or has spoken. They are not so much a choice to do that which someone, or something, else is telling us to do, as they are our choice not to listen to Him and His direction. Or, simply asking for His direction and following it by the Spirit. They are born of choosing instead to do what we deem to be right by our intellect, will, and emotion in the moment.
In our time, today, we are increasingly pushed to make choices by weighing out good and evil. But God did not set before Adam and Eve, in the Garden, the choice of good and evil, but the choice of life and death. In fact, His suggestion, by establishing the covenant of obedience regarding the tree associated with it, was that they stay away from knowing good and evil. He did the same with Israel putting life and death before them as a choice.
[Deuteronomy 30:17-20 NASB95] 17 “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong [your] days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
And, in the Garden of Eden the LORD God said that man could eat from any tree freely, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying that “the day you eat of it you shall surely die”. (Genesis 2:16-17). This command set up a covenant of obedience. The LORD (YHWH – almighty, sovereign who relates to man in grace and mercy) God (Elohim – creator) placed man in the Garden with a choice to obey or not. Man had free will. He had a choice; it was there from the beginning. He chose death, being deceived or duped into following his own soul and rejecting the revealed word of God. Once he made the choice the way to the tree of life was blocked
God’s desire, I believe, was for man to come to the tree of life, also in the midst of the Garden. He desired the man to come to it first. It is a type of Jesus. About that tree, He had said nothing. Why? Because the perfect can’t be commanded. He does not want puppets or those driven by fear, or those dragged or forced into love and obedience. He desires those who respond to His drawing and provision in love. The perfect must be chosen, once revealed, out of desire to know and love the creator
Traditional religion(s) and even the Western version of Christianity, and certainly the Churchiantity most of us have come to know as Christianity, is driven by religious activity, behavior, and self-effort resulting in self-righteousness. It is truly based in coming to a knowledge of good and evil. And its primary concern does not become obedience to what God is asking of us, or choosing life. Its central concern is about knowing what is right or wrong and being seen as right, and therefore not wrong, in others eyes.
But walking with Jesus co-laboring with, and in, Him, is not a matter of what is right and what is wrong. It is about life and death. Those who are born again are not birthed into the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. No, they are birthed into eternal life, and that life coming from His righteousness and feeding on He that is the TREE OF LIFE in Genesis and in Revelation, and being focused on He who is life. Their lives are not so much focused on the question “is this thought or deed right or wrong?”, but rather “Does this thought, word, or deed bring life or death?”
The knowledge of good and evil focuses on what is right and wrong and on outward discipline from rote religion and the written…touch not, taste not, handle not. The tree of Life focuses on an intimate relationship with the Father and the inward discipline and voice of the Holy Spirit, and His empowerment to do what He asks of you written or revealed by the Spirit in the moment.
OK! OK! You say… but what does this have to do with not being fooled or duped in our time by those who may not even know Him, or His word, holding up standards for Christianity to meet or exceed. Simply this: We are servants of a King, a Lord, Jesus. We are not servants of a system, nor a rote religion that is self-created resulting in will worship behaviors of love defined by the world or by self-abasement behavior and discipline, nor are we servants of need(s) or a set rules and prescribed behaviors that the world or unbelievers may deem to be, or call, Christian. We are followers of Jesus. We are servants of Jesus. In fact, we are the Body of Christ manifesting Him and His love and doing what He does in the earth as he directs as our head.
That, by the way, does not mean simply asking the question “WWJD – What would Jesus do?” and then doing that. That will lead you to determining in your own mind what that is, and into works that may not be what He desires or directs. The question is “What is Jesus doing in this situation, and does He want me co-laboring with Him in it in the moment, or at some time?” That question will lead you to the intimacy of hearing His voice and responding in obedience to His direction.
To the church at Colossae Paul wrote:
[Colossians 2:8-12 NASB95] 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
The apostles’ warning here comes in a passage that is contextually dealing with what to eat and not eat. In other words, behaviors that were being judged by people as right or wrong for Christians. Behaviors lifted up as rote rule and regulation that believers should meet.
He tells them first that they are not to be taken captive. That infers resistance to philosophy or deception. Philosophy is that which may seem well thought out and appealing in many ways. It may make some sense on the surface when judged by principles such as “fairness” rather than justice, or subjective truth, rather than objective truth, etc. Just like so many of the political catch phrases thrown at us today. But just as they were then, many today are based on lies and deception, calling things true that are not, or facts that aren’t, or truth that is merely subjective as in “my truth”. They almost always appeal to the flesh, convenience, and the thinking of the world, and emotion. And, then he specifically relates it to the “tradition of men”; that which the religious secular humanist and the religiously legal and pious call faith based, common sense, and loving on their terms. He also addresses the elementary principles of the world. That really needs no definition here, does it? And he juxtaposes it with “rather than to Christ”; suggesting by inference thaw we only be captive to the Lordship of Jesus.
He then makes it clear that Jesus is God in full deity, and that we believers have been completed in Him, we are in Him complete, and that He, Jesus, is LORD. He has been made Head over all things, (in Ephesians Paul says to the church first), and He holds all rule and authority. He is King! So, there is no need for us to be controlled by the thoughts, whims, judgements, of others, and particularly, secular men and those that may not know Him as savior, much less Lord.
Then comes one of the more curious things in Paul’s writings as he talks about us being ” circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;” What is this circumcision made without hands; the circumcision of Christ?
He defines it here as the removal of the body of the flesh. Wow!
The word circumcision means to be cut round about, to have no attachment. The point of circumcision was to get rid of confidence in the flesh. Our covenant God originated it as a sign of covenant with His people in Abraham
[Genesis 17:1-2, 11 NASB] 1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” … 11 “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
What was this covenant with Abraham all about?
I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. To walk before Him, Almighty God, and be blameless, Is that even possible? Can we serve the Almighty blameless? All our human frailties and weaknesses are magnified before someone Almighty. All our inabilities and failures, our indecision and floundering, are laid bare before Him. We stand completely naked and stripped to our base nature before such a One, we cannot compare. We have nothing to boast about and no strength.
Paul was leaning on this understanding to move believers to trust the Lord and walk with Him. Rely on Him for direction into His purpose.
In writing to the Philippians, he shows that if anyone were going to boast in the flesh it would be he. But alas, he has nothing but Jesus to boast in.
[Philippians 3:3-9 NASB] 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
He also recorded
[Philippians 1:21 NASB] 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
And
[Galatians 2:20 NASB] 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
This comes from an understanding of the Circumcisionof Christ that “made without hands.”
The removal of the flesh requires a change and often some pain comes with it. At age 99 for Abraham, and 13 for Ishmael, circumcision was bloody, painful, unpleasant and difficult. It was also humiliating. It was a putting off of the flesh and dying to self, the trust in self and our flesh.
This is how God empties us. And, if it is not done He cannot use us. We must understand it is not about our ability, talent, identity, intelligence, good we’ve done, or works we’ve produced. It is about what He produces in you. It is not about you… Abraham, Paul, or me/us. It is about Him/Jesus and coming under His Lordship and functioning as a part of His body. Its about He bringing life into our death and dead bodies. He is the only one that can do that. It is about truly representing Him and what He is doing now, not being or presenting some facsimile created in the minds of men or by rote religion.
Are you still attached? Are you still practicing your brand of religion with you and your desires at the center? Do you masquerade in an appearance of His Lordship, with you still on the throne? Is your practice of faith focused on your own understanding, your own desires, your own trying to make your own desires/purposes and understanding of things happen? Or is it focused on hearing and obeying Him as He gives direction and empowerment in an intimate relationship
To serve God means to serve no other. We serve Him alone and do not look for accolades, appreciation, applause and approval from men. If we are still attached to the world, or the flesh, we will always be worrying about appreciation, applause, approval, what men think and how best to please them, or how to best please our self. Doing so we will miss God. If we are to show the world Jesus, we will need to manifest Life as the result of the circumcision of Christ.
[John 14:6 NASB95] 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
[1Timothy 2:3-6 NASB95] 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, [and] one mediator also between God and men, [the] man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony [given] at the proper time.