You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, How have we wearied him? By saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them. Or by asking, Where is the God of justice? -- Malachi 2:17
We have set ourselves up as gods. Our technology is impressive. We believe this makes us capable of judging
right and wrong. As humans, we are not
called to judge but to discern. Judging
is a function of the soul, which, in the Fall, was exalted over the
spirit. It’s what we would call, in more
modern parlance, ego driven. You will have
noticed that those who scream mostly loudly that no one has a right to judge
them are the most judgmental, and the intolerant cry loudest for tolerance
while the greedy and envious denounce greed and envy. In
order to maintain the illusion of being god-like in our souls, we judge and we
condemn those around us.
Most people seem to think this attitude of judging and
condemning is restricted to the religious.
In that both religion and resentment are natural to the sons of Adam,
this is true. It is only through Christ,
the revelation of the Trinity and the God Who Is Love that we may be delivered
from the prison of self-consciousness. The
God who dwelt complete, isolated and alone, who delivered the Law to Moses
inscribed on unbending, unyielding stone could not be selfless. He demanded compliance and submission. We see him today in the stringent
requirements of Islam.
Moses and the Law could reveal only the Absolute One. To know grace and truth, we needed God
Incarnate, Jesus Christ who showed us the Father, the Son, and, at the end, the
Holy Spirit. He enabled us to know that
the Father thought not of Himself but of the Son, that the Son did not His own
will but always the will of the Father, and that, through the Spirit poured out
when the Son was glorified, we might be as one even as the Godhead is one.
We are now free to renounce the judgments, resentments, and offenses of
the soul with its intellect and emotions.
Right and wrong are plain to the spirit within each of us. We can perceive the truth and recognize
virtue directly by our spirit. We need
live no longer by rule and formula, rationalization and folly. Now we know that God is love, and the law of Christ is to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love my
neighbor as myself. Now we no longer
need bear the burden of self-consciousness for on the Cross, it was crucified
with Christ.
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