Our associate pastor Obie
stated that biblical illiteracy is one of the great deficiencies in the
Christian church today. Definition of biblical terms is a key to understanding
the truth otherwise terms are redefined to mean something other than their
original intent. But, what is causing this decline in our Christian nation?
The late Christian writer
Dallas Willard in his book, the Great Omission, points to the lack of the
Christian church fulfilling the Great Commission commanded by the Lord Jesus in
Matthew
28:19-20 “Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. What is true
spirituality in (that essence distinct from matter; immateriality; Our
intellectual nature; as the spirituality of the soul; That spiritual nature;
the quality which respects the spirit or affections of the heart only, and the
essence of true religion; as the spirituality of Gods law. Yes, those spiritual
exercises and holy affections in a time when many spiritualities abound?
Willard states that, in the
Christian context, we are “spiritual” to the extent that our lives draw their
direction and strength from Jesus Christ, our living Lord, through the Holy
Spirit, established by God in His kingdom, which is itself a spiritual realm. The
word “spiritual is defined as: 1.
Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal; as the soul of man is
spiritual. 2. Mental; intellectual; 3. Not gross; refined from external things;
not sensual; 4. Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical;
5. Pertaining to spirit or to the affections; pure; holy. 6. Pertaining to the
renewed nature of man; as spiritual life. 7. Not fleshly; not material; 8.
Pertaining to divine things. Spirit is unbodily personal power. It is power
that functions independently of bodily and natural forces. It takes the form of
ideas, attitudes, emotions, judgments, decisions, and actions. Therefore, it is
personal. The human being has a spirit and is basically a spiritual being.
Spirit is the soul of man;
the intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of human beings. The spiritual,
rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from brutes;
that part of man which enables him to think and reason, and which renders him a
subject of moral government. Spirit is a substance in which thinking, knowing,
doubting, and a power of moving do subsist. The spirit shall return to God that
gave it. The immortality of the soul is a fundamental article of the Christian
system. Such is the nature of the human soul that it must have a God, an object
of supreme affection. God is Spirit.
Willard explains that, to
the extent that the actual life of a human being is dependent upon his or her
interaction with God, that human being is a spiritual person. Spirituality is
the quality of life that marks such a person. In contrast, One is carnal or
fleshly to the extent that this quality of life is lacking and one is operating
on merely human or natural resources. Today, spiritualities involve nothing
more than an external form of “doing religion” or even a mere lifestyle. In the
larger cultural context, the various spiritualities all represent attempts to
achieve identity and power in a world where lack of a sense of self and
feelings of insignificance and powerlessness crush the human soul and spirit. All
spiritualities are more or less exclusive of all the rest. All insist that
there is right and wrong way to go about
their own version of spiritual living.
1 Corinthians 2:12-15 “Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from
God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which
the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is
spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no
one.”
Yet, the exclusiveness of
Christian spirituality and spiritual formation lies simply in the life if is
and brings. The Christian need only follow and learn from Jesus Christ fully.
The aim of spiritual formation is obedience to Christ from inner conformity to
Christ. Such conformity will be sharply exclusive because of its degree of
genuine love and effectual caring for all without discrimination. It is not an
ethical or political stance that just anyone can accept or reject at will. One
must have the resources for it, and, to say the least, they are widely
available. They are right there at the foot of the cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment