[B]y truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left … 2 Corinthians 6:7
The Apostle speaks of his ministry and of his trials, of his
desire to present only hope and a good example to those who see him. He would have his own life and testimony
never be an obstacle to the faith of any other.
Whether is it revealing the loving Spirit of Christ while suffering in
negative situations or sharing words of revelation, truth and knowledge with
others, Paul wants his life to be nothing but Christ. He would be true even while seeming an
imposter to the scornful.
What a different world it would be if Christians on the
whole lived truthfully, by the power of God, never resorting to the weapons of
the flesh to deal with difficulties and challenges, but relying solely on the spiritual
arms and armor the Lord provides.
I started reading Van Vogt’s classic, The Weapon Shops of Isher, and I love that slogan “The right to buy weapons is the right to be
free.” Yet, we need not buy the weapons
of righteousness. They are ours by inheritance
and right in Christ. We need no legal
language to protect this right for none may take these weapons from our hands, be we
living or dead. The armor of God may
cause us to be mocked and ridiculed, persecuted, imprisoned, even put to death,
but we will prevail for there is no defense against the sword of the Spirit, no
missile that can sunder the shield of faith.
The greater temptation we always face is not that we will
fight on the wrong side but that we will fight the wrong battle with the wrong
weapons. Sodom, with its grotesque and
gargantuan iniquities, calls us to reform and revitalize, to change the
culture, replace the city council with men and women of integrity when God is
telling us to leave and let the fire rain down.
We want to make better people of ourselves when the old man has been
judged, sentenced, and put to death on the cross with Christ. Azazel’s goat is lost and gone in the wilderness,
and we are looking to put a tracking collar on the beast.
The battlefield is my own heart. I am the problem. Christ alone is the solution. Over the door of my weapon shop, it
reads: So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
2 comments:
"Sodom, with its grotesque and gargantuan iniquities, calls us to reform and revitalize, to change the culture, replace the city council with men and women of integrity when God is telling us to leave and let the fire rain down. We want to make better people of ourselves when the old man has been judged, sentenced, and put to death on the cross with Christ."
Yeah, I give up. Starting to read "Cosmic Liturgy" by von Balthazar. So far he is recounting the struggles between the State and the Church and how the state was corrupting the Church, who was in power, who got excommunicated for saying something that was not politically correct, etc. And that was around 650. So, nothing new here.
It has always been the same struggle. The fashions change, but the corrupted nature underlies all. It's like stepping on ants to wipe out the colony.
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