Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

This Bible text, "Mercy triumphs over judgment," comes from James 2:13. My wife Cheryl and I have both recently come across several items on the Internet supporting the ideas of God's wrath, justice, judgment, and predestination - the salvation of the elect and damnation of the unelect. Prooftexts for these ideas can all be found in the Bible, but we can also find many Bible texts that speak about God's mercy, His loving kindness (hesed = mercy or loving kindness) that endures forever. God is love. This is expressed in both the Old and New Testaments, but especially in Christ's and the Apostles' teaching.

All of these ideas are true: the question is how to strike a balance between them. In Psalm 85:10 we read - "Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." This clearly illustrates the balance between mercy and truth, between righteousness (justice) and peace. In the final analysis, "mercy triumphs over judgment." God so loved the whole world that He gave His one and only Son. God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

The Old Testament tends to emphasize God's wrath and judgment when the Israelites repeatedly messed up and reverted to idolatry, temple prostitution and human sacrifice like the surrounding nations practiced. But things changed in the New Testament: Christ summed up the Law and the Prophets in His dual commandments to love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. These words, of course, are quoted from the Old Testament, but they seemed to have gotten covered up and forgotten by all the bad stuff that happened with Israel and God's response to their misdeeds.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way: "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). Picture a schoolmaster being strict with students, passing out punishments for infractions of the rules. That's how the Old Testament Law worked. But how does faith work? St. Paul continues: "faith works through love" (Gal. 5:6).

Then Paul goes on to explain -

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, gluttony, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let's also walk by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16-25).

For many people today, the ideas of freedom and democracy mean that we're free to do whatever we want, we can vote to choose the laws and rules of society to match our desires and wants. This leads to the immediate gratification of our passions. The Apostle Paul writes about this as follows -

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:17-19). That's immediate gratification.

St. Paul continues - "But you did not learn Christ that way; if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members one of another" (Eph. 4:20-24). This is delayed gratification, being transformed into God's likeness!

What does it mean to be transformed into the likeness of God? Paul gives the answer - "Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance" (Eph. 5:1-2). Imitating God is giving up oneself just as Christ gave up Himself for us.

And here's the "how-to" of imitating God and becoming like Christ - "But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God" (Eph. 5:3-5).

This all comes back to the idea that God is love: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). God loves us and wants the best for us. His commands - His rules for life - are not mean and harsh, they're for our long-term good. We are destined for an eternity of joy in God's presence - let's not lose out on this wonderful opportunity!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 30 Apr. 2017.)

Christian = Disciple; Body = Good

For much of my life, I was trained to believe that salvation, becoming a Christian, is by God's grace alone, it's a free gift; but becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ takes discipline and self-denial. NO! This is totally false! There should be no difference between a Christian and a disciple of Christ. In conventional thinking, the average, middle-class way of life in the United States has been considered "Christian," meaning fairly moral, church-going, polite and neighborly; but a disciple is someone who's gone overboard and become a religious fanatic.

Now, however, things are changing: the definition of morality has been stretched to include what God of the Bible calls lying, adultery, witchcraft and sodomy. Fewer and fewer people are church-going, polite and neighborly; more and more are openly secular and agnostic, rude and self-centered. According to the 7th circuit court, the term "Christian" is now equivalent to "bigot" - see "Did the 7th Circuit Just Rule That Christians Are Bigots?" Unelected Leftist judges are unilaterally legislating from the bench to push the U.S. further and further to the left.

But this is nothing to be surprised about, it's to be expected. When Christ said just before ascending to heaven, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:18-20), He didn't say, "make people into nice, moral and neighborly good citizens." Becoming a disciple is much more than that. It's about denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Jesus Christ.

Now, here's the clincher: after the new faith had spread to the gentiles in Antioch, Luke records this fact: "Barnabas went out to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:25-26). What were they called before they were called Christians? Disciples! Up to this point in time, all followers of Jesus Christ were just called disciples. Then sometime after the Gospel was preached in Antioch (church tradition tells us that Evodius, the second bishop of Antioch, invented the term "Christian"), the disciples began to be called Christians. In other words, a disciple equals a Christian, and a Christian equals a disciple. They're one and the same thing. It's not "Christian vs. Disciple" but rather "Christian = Disciple."

But with the recognition of Christianity first as a tolerated religion and then as the official religion of the Greco-Roman Empire, many people became Christians because it was the acceptable thing to do. It didn't cost anything, in fact it was advantageous Thus we began to see the notion emerging of "two-tier" Christianity: a "laity" of ordinary citizens of the Empire, and a higher level of Christian commitment that included monks and clergy who were supposed to practice self-denial and really live according to the Gospel. Someone has jokingly said, "The clergy are paid to be good, but we laypeople are good for nothing!" (Should someone practice self-denial and "discipleship" only if he is collecting a salary for it?)

All Christians (disciples) are "laity" because the Greek for "laity" is "laos theou" - the people of God. Clergy are also part of the "laity." And all Christians (disciples) are called to be saints. Sainthood or holiness (they're the same word in Greek), just like discipleship, isn't an optional add-on, it comes with the basic model. Either you're a disciple who's striving to be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ, or you're not a Christian at all. There's no such thing as being "just a Christian" and not being a disciple.

We need to cleanse our minds of the false dualism or false dichotomy of "two-tier" Christianity, because the time is already upon us when we must identify either as fully-committed Christians that the world may call "bigots" and "haters," or not as Christians at all.

How does this relate to the second half of this essay's title, "Body = Good"? For centuries we in the "Christian world" have been taught the notion that the body is sinful, matter is inherently evil, but spirit is good. This is another false dualism or false dichotomy, because if we are called to be saints, to be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ, then we should ask ourselves, "What kind of body did Jesus have?" He was subject to the same sort of hunger, weakness, tiredness and temptation as we are, yet without sin. He fully partook of our human nature so that we can be full partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). This is our "theosis" - becoming united with God.

When God created humans out of the dust of the earth and breathed into them the breath of life, He said, "It is very good!" In other words, our body-soul-spirit nature is inherently good, even in spite of the Fall. Adam's sin did not totally corrupt and pervert human nature. The Augustinian doctrine of inherited guilt and total depravity due to Adam's sin is incorrect, and it's a little-known fact that Augustine himself recanted of it in his last great work, The Kingdom of God. In the end, he agreed with his contemporary St. John Cassian and earlier theologians that Adam and Eve's sinning caused death, not guilt, to be passed on to all mankind. All Christians (disciples) are called to become purified and sanctified, restored into humanity's original state of goodness, into the likeness of Christ.

This false dualism or dichotomy of "the body is evil" has led directly to the notion that sex is sinful, and that to be really holy requires being celibate. This false notion is especially prevalent in Western Christianity, where the Catholic clergy is supposed to practice celibacy. But actually, sex in the proper context is "very good" - remember what God said when he created humans as male and female. Just as fire is a good thing when kept in the fireplace or on the stove but when it gets out of its place it can cause great harm, sex is a beautiful thing in the right context of a male-female permanent marriage but sex outside of this setting burns like fire and can be very destructive of families and society in general. Rod Dreher, in his new book The Benedict Option writes the following:

"To reduce Christian teaching about sex and sexuality to bare, boring, thou-shalt-not moralism is a travesty and a failure of imagination. While one may credit the courage of certain conservative pastors who don't shirk their duty to tell the truth about sex, those who jackhammer away at sexual immorality as if it were the only serious sin, or were somehow disconnected from a host of other sins of passion, distort the Gospel and undermine its credibility. This lamentable reductionism constitutes a failure to draw on the inexhaustible well of resources within the theological and artistic tradition. In the end, it comes down to a matter of Christians having lost our own grand story about eros, cosmos and theosis, the Greek word for 'union with God,' the ultimate end of the Christian pilgrimage."

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, St. Paul wrote that the marriage relationship is an icon or image of theosis, of us as the Church becoming united with Christ and being transformed into His glorious likeness -

"Subject yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself" (Eph. 5:21-28).

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 17 Apr. 2017.)

The "You Will Not Die" Lie, Part 2

How many people have you known who, when disaster was imminent, simply stuck their heads in the sand and ignored the impending catastrophe? Hurricanes and floods can have days of warning ahead of the events, and yet some people will decide to "stick it out" because they're convinced it won't be so bad. It's just like when the old serpent whispered in Eve's ear - "You will not surely die!"

This is called "linear thinking" or "the normalcy bias" - the frame of mind that people enter when facing a disaster. People with a normalcy bias have difficulty reacting to something they haven't experienced before. Perhaps they've lived through a category 2 hurricane, so they convince themselves that a category 5 hurricane won't be much worse. They also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.

You might have heard the joke about the man who jumped off the top of the Empire State Building: as he was passing the 34th floor, another man stuck his head out the window and said, "How's it going?" And the first guy replied, "So far, so good!" You can't outsmart gravity. That's "linear thinking" or "the normalcy bias" - the idea that the way things have been is the way they will continue to be. If I'm not dead yet, this means that whatever I do, I'll just continue on living.

The Psalmist wrote, "A senseless man doesn't know, neither does a fool understand this: Though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evil-doers flourish, they will be destroyed forever" (Psalm 92:6-7). The senseless or foolish person thinks, "I can keep on overeating, or smoking, or stealing, or lying, etc. because I'm not dead yet or haven't been caught yet." But then the laws of God, nature or society catch up with them.

As Christians, we can become discouraged when we see the rich and powerful of this world getting away with cheating or committing crimes and not being caught and punished. This has been going on for centuries:

"O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, o God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth. Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve. O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They pour out arrogant words. All the evil-doers boast. They break your people in pieces, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless. They say, 'The Lord will not see, neither will Jacob's God consider'" (Psalm 94:1-7).

And then the Psalmist answers this dilemma: "Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise? He who implanted the ear, won't He hear? He who formed the eye, won't He see? He who disciplines the nations, won't He punish? He who teaches man knows. The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile" (Psalm 94:8-11).

Social pressure has a huge influence on us adults as well, not just on teenagers feeling their hormones. When you're driving along at the 55 m.p.h. speed limit, literally all the other cars are passing you and there's a big SUV tailgating you, flashing its headlights, don't you feel pressured to speed up and just "go with the flow"? One little car against a whole stream of bigger cars doesn't stand a chance.

But let's say you're in the Army Reserves, and you're driving an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) with 12 reservists in it, along with a convoy of other APCs and Army trucks along the same highway, going the 55 m.p.h. speed limit. Nobody - but NOBODY - honks their horns at you! This is why we need to form "thick" bonds in genuine Christian communities, as described in The Benedict Option, Rod Dreher's new bestseller book.

The motives of our heart are not hidden from God. He knows when we're not even trying to appear righteous, and especially when we're trying to appear righteous but actually, we're deceiving people. We can't deceive God. Sooner or later He catches us in our self-deceit. It's time to "face the music," to sincerely repent and change our ways.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 03 Apr. 2017.)

The "You Will Not Die" Lie

Ever since the serpent tempted Eve by saying - "You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5), Satan has been subtly planting in the human subconscious the tempting idea that we can get away with sneakily flouting the commands of God, the laws of nature, or the rules of civilized society.

In Deuteronomy 29:18-20, Moses warned the Israelites - "lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,' so that the drunken and the sober are destroyed together. The Lord will not pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under the sky." This is a clear warning against an individual's harboring an idea that he can calmly and peacefully violate the laws of God, nature, or society, and nobody will know the difference. Instead, Moses said this notion is unforgivable and will bring calamity both on that person or persons and on those around them. Even our most private actions have repercussions on society!

Moses concluded his admonition to the Israelites thusly - "I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love the Lord your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to him; for He is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them" {Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Don't fool yourself by thinking that you can outsmart God: the results can be fatal, both for you and for those around you!

Even just a casual, careless action such as leaving a door open can invite bees, mosquitos or other bugs inside that might sting or bite you or others. Yielding to the urge to fill our stomachs every mealtime very easily leads to obesity ("He who indulges... bulges!"), which in turn can lead to diabetes and amputation, cancer, heart attack or stroke, hip or knee failure, etc. This is why the Church encourages fasting - especially during Lent - to tame the stomach's passions. The sensation of a full stomach reaches the brain only after the stomach is full, so the secret is to stop eating while you're still hungry: you won't die: our society has such a great surplus of food that we have to throw away even some of what's donated to charity. So don't worry about dying of starvation! And close the doors!

In chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Joshua, we read about the Israelites marching around Jericho for seven days and capturing the city when its walls collapsed. They were warned not to take any plunder for themselves, but to destroy everything except to consecrate any gold or silver they found to the Sanctuary. Achan, however, cleverly decided he could hide some plunder from God and the Israelites: "when I saw among the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it" (Joshua 7:21). This caused the tribes of Israel to suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of an inferior military force. It should be a warning for us not to think that our superior military will protect us even while we violate the laws of God, nature, and civilized society.

The Lord doesn't issue His commandments and laws because He's some kind of spoilsport that doesn't want us to have any fun: the psalmist David wrote about Him - "Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 103:5). He knows what's best for us, and He will satisfy our desire with things that are good for us.

But people persist in yielding to the serpent's temptation of Eve: "You will not die! Go ahead and indulge in illicit sex! Have another drink... and another! You can steal that item while nobody's looking! You can get away with speeding 50 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone! You can park next to that fire hydrant, or in some other no-parking zone... just this once, you won't get caught!" And then the results "just happen" - AIDS, a conviction or loss of a job for theft, a car accident, a speeding or parking ticket. Those old laws of God, nature, and society just seem to be so persistent, don't they?

The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 is another example of people trying to fool God. It didn't work: they dropped dead in front of Saint Peter. Sometimes we have to say hard things to people who are faking their Christianity: Saint Paul had to confront the Christians in Corinth because of incest taking place among them: "For though I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made you sorry, though just for a while. I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world works death" (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).

Note in the above Scripture that St. Paul differentiates between two kinds of "I'm sorry." A person can feel sorry for being caught: it's a form of shame for one's bad deeds being made public. But the good kind of feeling sorry is being "made sorry to repentance." This kind is "godly sorrow [that] works repentance to salvation" - and that's a good thing! We can't fool God by just saying, "I'm sorry," and expect to be forgiven, even when we fully intend to keep on doing the same old thing. Real, godly sorrow is repentance, which means turning away from sinnong and toward doing what is good and right.

Lent is a time not only for contolling the passions of the stomach, but all of the passions of the flesh and the spirit, especially the temptation that "You will not die! - you can get away with it just this one time (and maybe the next... and the next). Let us really and truly repent of yielding to those urges, and turn away from them, not just feel sorry about being caught!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 18 Mar. 2017.)

Koinonia: Communion, Community and Fellowship

"The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). This verse aptly describes passing along the Gospel from one generation of faithful and capable believers to the next generation. What is it that we pass along?

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16). This is the most important meaning of koinonia in the New Testament because it is when we commune in the Body and Blood of Christ that we become the Church, the Body of Christ on earth:

"For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of Me.' In the same way, he also took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of Me'" (1 Cor 11:23-25).

It should be very clear that "This is My body... This cup is the new covenant in My blood." When we partake of communion, we take His very Body and Blood, and thereby we are united with Christ. Thus communion is the very real, physical foundation for Christian community and fellowship. Second, by repeating this, it keeps in our memory the saving act of Christ on the Cross.

There's another important element in this context that we have in common: in verse 23 we read - "that which also I delivered to you..." and in verse 2 - "hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you." The Greek verb for "deliver" is "paradidomi" - literally to "transmit" or "pass along"; and the noun "tradition" is "paradosis" in Greek, or "that which is transmitted or passed along." St. Paul teaches us here that we must hold firm to what binds us together in the fellowship or communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. It was "passed along" at first orally, then in writing: "So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter" (2 Thes. 2:15). Tradition is both oral and written. In a semi-literate culture such as in the first-century church, much of what holds it together is oral songs and stories that are memorized and repeated over and over, shared and passed along from one generation to the next.

So the next aspect of koinonia is "community" or "common, shared life." In Romans 15:26-27 we read, "For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution (koinonia) for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings."

Also, "By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution (koinonia) for them and for all others" (2 Cor. 9:13). The context here is that St. Paul is encouraging the Corinthian believers to voluntary give aid for the church in Macedonia - "So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:5-7). Again, this assumes private ownership of property, not communal ownership or forced communism.

Writing to the Hebrew Christians, St. Paul says, "Do not neglect to do good and to share (koinonia) what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God" (Heb. 13:6).

But living in community requires responsibility for oneself - "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. But let each man test his own work, and then he will take pride in himself and not in his neighbor. For each man must bear his own burden" (Gal. 6:2,4-5). While we ought to care for someone who is unable to care for himself, it is each person's own primary responsibility for himself and his family. Also: "But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel" (1 Tim, 5:8). Just as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, there may be some who "fake it," pretending to share while they only want to "take it," not give. St. Paul warned against this: "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'If a man will not work, neither shall he eat.' We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies" (2 Thes. 3:10-11).

Thirdly, koinonia is "fellowship" - 1 Cor. 1:9 tells us, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship (koinonia) of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus Christ is the foundation of our fellowship. The Early Church experienced real fellowship: "They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship (koinonia), in the breaking of bread, and prayer" (Acts 2:42). How did they do this? "All who believed were together, and had all things in common. They were selling their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need" (Acts 2:44-45). The word for "common" is "koinos" in Greek, from the same root as koinonia. It is important to note here that the verb tense "were selling" indicates a continuing, incomplete or unperfected action: the first disciples didn't immediately give up all of their possessions: the story of Ananias and Sapphira tells us their right to continue owning private property was kept intact, their fatal problem was lying about giving to the Church the full price of the property they sold.

Act 4:32 repeats this practice: "And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. And not one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own. But they had all things common." Again, this was a gradual, unperfected action: "Nor was there anyone needy among them; for all who were owners of lands or houses were selling them, and were bringing the proceeds of the things which had been sold, and were placing them beside the feet of the apostles; and they were distributing to each, to the degree that anyone had need" (Act 4:34-35, EMTV).

Writing to the church in Ephesus, St. Paul tells of the ministry God gave him "...to bring to light what is the fellowship (koinonia) of the mystery which from eternity has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:9). The Apostle Paul thanked God for the Philippian believers - "for your fellowship (koinonia) in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now" (Phil. 1:5). And finally, looking forward to his martyrdom, St. Paul writes, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship (koinonia) of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3:10-11).

Thus we see the scarlet thread of koinonia woven throughout the New Testament, in the lives of the Apostles and the Early Church. May we become sharers of this Good News!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 04 Mar. 2017.)

We Are Coworkers Together With God

St. Paul wrote: "For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's planting, God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). The Greek word for "coworkers" or "fellow workers" is "synergoi" and for "working together" is "synergeo" - often used in the New Testament as workers or working together with God:

"They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen" (Mark 16:20).

"Working together with Him [Christ], then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1).

"and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith" (1 Thes. 3:2).

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them" (Eph 2:8-10).

The Early Church's teaching on "Synergy" is just what the above verses describe: God's grace working in all human beings, enabling us to freely choose to work together with Him and do good works. God's love and grace toward all mankind is the overriding theme of the Apostles, the New Testament, and the Early Church:

"Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mat. 28:19).

"He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light, the true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world" (John 1:8-9).

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise Him" (Rom. 15:11).

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people" (Titus 2:11).

"The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).

Synergy seems to strike the right balance between God's sovereignty and mankind's liberty/responsibility. The Augustinian-Calvinist doctrine of predestination and God's sovereignty obliterates our liberty, we are not morally responsible for our actions because our freedom to do good or evil is merely a mirage. God's sovereignty and predestination of all events, the salvation of the elect and damnation of the unelect, are predetermined. And just as people prefer to think they will win the Megabucks lottery rather than being struck by lightning when there's less chance of the former than the latter, many prefer to believe they are among the elect.

Thus whatever they do is OK, because they've convinced themselves they are among those chosen for eternal salvation, they have "eternal security" - a guaranteed ticket to heaven! This idea of "limited atonement" - that Christ died only for the elect - leads directly to a totalitarian mindset, excusing one's own actions while accusing those of the "damned" or "deplorables." In his Predestination Paradise of Geneva, John Calvin had his opponents executed: obviously, they were predestined for it, so disposing of them must be God's will! We see a similar mindset of "only we are the enlightened ones" with Marxists and Islamic terrorists, promising to build their paradise on earth, which excuses their violent elimination of all opposed.

How different is the original Church's doctrine of Synergy! It promises that God's grace is for all mankind: "He [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sakes died and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15). Here we see the implication of human responsibility: because He died for all, we should no longer live for ourselves, satisfying our fleshly passions. We struggle against the passions all our lives.

It may seem contradictory that both are true: God is sovereign, and mankind is also free and responsible. Einstein was puzzled over "Spooky Action at a Distance" - a seeming contradiction to his discovery that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. And yet, experiments now seem to prove that quantum particles can communicate instantaneously over vast distances of hundreds of lightyears. The article even mentions how it applies to human freedom. We are like tiny little quanta in the universe, floating around in an indeterminate state until we are observed by God, and known only by Him.

This Sunday is "Meatfare Sunday" for Orthodox Christians, when "we commemorate the inexorable Second Coming of Christ. The holy fathers have ordained that it be observed after the second parable of the Prodigal Son, so that no one who has learned from it of God's love of for mankind will live in laziness, saying, 'God loves mankind, and when I am separated from Him by sin, I will nevertheless be restored.' This terrible Day of Judgment is now commemorated, so that through fear of death and the expectation of future torment, those who live in laziness may be encouraged to strive for the virtues, not only trusting in the love of God but also realizing that He is the righteous Judge, who will judge all men according to their deeds." We begin the Lenten period of repentance by saying farewell to meat for the seven weeks of Lent. The Christian life should be one of continual repentance because we cannot know if we are among the elect. Only those who "persevere to the end" (Mat. 24:13) will be saved.

I've written about this in my most-read blog article "Does God Give Us a Second Chance?'. Everyone will have a fair opportunity to hear and respond to the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Christ. But that also means that everyone is responsible to respond to the Gospel. This is not Universalism! How must we respond? Not by words only, but by faith that results in works: Caring For Orphans and Widows and Building Christian Communities.

It is high time to swing into action, not whiling away our days doing the same old stuff. It's time to repent and change our ways. There might not be much time left!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 18 Feb. 2017.)

How to Relate to Foreigners Among Us

As Christians, we are commanded to care for the foreigners (“strangers”) among us, because like the Israelites we too are strangers in a strange land. For centuries after Jesus Christ lived, died and rose from the dead, Christians were a discriminated minority in the Greco-Roman world.

Alex Hill, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, whom I worked under and highly respect, recently posted the following on Facebook:

"Throughout Scripture, the Lord commands us to care for the displaced/stranger/alien/refugee. The following three passages are illustrative:

"Leviticus 19:34
'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.'

"Isaiah 16:4
'Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.'

"Matthew 25:34-40
'Then the King will say to those on his right, "come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?" The King will answer and say to them, "truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me."’

There are many more such Scripture passages emphasizing our duty to care for the needy foreigners among us. In the discussion of this current issue, however, we need to examine contrasting Scripture passages on how to relate to foreigners in our midst. David Klinghofer has written an excellent article, “What the Scriptures Say About Immigration,” posted last year on Beliefnet.org and reposted here: http://www.discovery.org/a/3475, from which I quote a few excerpts:

“The classic instance is Ruth, the Moabite. She had a Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, whom she met when Naomi’s family fled the land of Israel and moved to neighboring Moab to escape a famine. When Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, died, along with Naomi’s husband and her other son, Ruth decided to return with the older woman to Israel. Said Ruth, “For where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people are my people, and your God is my God; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and so may He do more, if anything but death separates me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17).

“Notice that the main thrust of her speech is the passionate joining of her own fate with Naomi’s, and thus with Israel’s. To this day, that remains the primary criterion by which potential converts to Judaism are evaluated. Ruth thus became, according to Jewish tradition, history’s most beloved “proselyte” or “convert” to Judaism—a status celebrated at the Jewish festival of Shavuot... when her story is chanted in synagogues.”

Notice carefully what Ruth said: “Your God is my God.” She adopted the religion of Israel. This is what was expected of foreigners who came to Israel. When Abram was given the covenant of circumcision and his name was changed to Abraham, God commanded him to circumcise all of the males in his household, including his slaves:

“Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.”(Gen. 17:24-27)

This became the standard or rule for following generations in Israel, expecting foreigners to adopt the Jewish religion and follow its laws:

“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. (Exo 12:48-49)

“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.” (2 Chron. 6:32-33)

In his article, Klinghofer continues along this line:

“The subject of conversion isn’t quite so simple, however. For there are actually two sub-classes grouped under the category of the “ger.” There is the ger, the convert, like Ruth – a full member of Israel. But there is another, the ger toshav, or resident alien.

“The latter occupies a middle ground between Jew and foreigner. It is this individual whom Jews are, in the verse we saw earlier, commanded to provide for: “If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him — stranger or resident (ger v’toshav) — so that he can live with you” (Leviticus 25:35).

“This resident alien too must fulfill criteria to join his new society, agreeing to certain basic moral propositions, including forswearing idolatry, murder, and sexual immorality. He is called a “resident alien” because it is only having satisfied this condition that a non-Israelite who doesn’t formally convert may live in the Holy Land. While inviting us to admire and love a person who would give up his citizenship in a foreign country to join our own, the Bible also commands us to give material aid, whatever is needed, to any immigrant — if he agrees to abide by an unwavering moral law.

“Here is where the Bible may be hard for a modern reader to accept, for scriptural tradition expects that any immigrant, any ger, will meet demanding moral criteria. It is not an undiscrimating welcome. The idea that a sojourner would be allowed to live in the land without having accepted one of the two sets of conditions is unthinkable: ‘They shall not dwell in your land lest they cause you to sin against Me, that you will worship their gods, for it will be a trap for you’ (Exodus 23:33).”

Let us look at the context of this last quotation: “And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” (Ex. 23:31-33)

The definition of a nation is that it shares a common culture and common laws. There can’t be contradictory cultural norms and laws if “this nation or any nation may long endure,” as Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address. Further along this line:

“Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim.” (Ex. 34:12-13)

“And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.” (Num. 9:14)

“And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” (Num 15:14-16)

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.” (Num 33:51-52)

"And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.” (Deut. 7:16)

“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.” (Deu 12:29-31)

“For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.” (Josh. 23:12-13)

“And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” (Judges 2:2-3)

“They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.” (2 Kings 17:15-16)

From all of the above Scripture passages, we can see that there must be a balance between welcoming the stranger who is in need and preserving our own faith, laws and cultural norms. Major cities in Europe such as London, Paris, Bonn and Berlin now have Muslim neighborhoods where it is dangerous for a European native to walk, especially for a woman who does not wear a veil. Dearborn and Detroit are becoming similar. Liberal democracy only works when all people – citizens and resident aliens alike – abide by the same set of values and laws. But when the majority is liberal and tolerant while the minority is rigid and insists that the rest bend to its demands, there’s trouble ahead.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 05 Feb.. 2017.)