The Asylum (2)
What say we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? Romans 6:1 NASB
Increase – “Obviously, that standpoint is congenial to the notion that sin does not affect or pollute the deepest being of a man. It only impinges on the periphery of our living. Sin does not break down the harmony of life. Man retains his intrinsic power to resist and to restore.”[1]
We noted Berkouwer’s insight that insane hubris accompanies deliberate sin. But perhaps we need to pay closer attention to the resulting deranged evaluation of the power of human reason. Does sin still allow someone to retain the intrinsic power to resist and restore? Once we set a course toward removing the obligation of hesed, are we immune from the debilitating power of the yetzer ha’ra? Can we bring ourselves back into grace at a moment’s notice?
There is a very deep paradigm issue at stake here. In the Greek world, the place of reason is supreme. With reason in full control, men are always capable of determining the true course of action regardless of their present circumstances. Armed with rational investigation, men can examine the evidence and correct course. Reason always provides a way out of the box. This is the fundamental assumption of the Greek mind.
But try this approach with radical Jihadists and see who dies first. Try this approach with the generational culture of entitlement and see who emerges from the pack. Try this approach with fascism or totalitarian governments. Try it with the mob outside your door. The Greek supremacy of reason works very well on paper but the history of Mankind is much closer to Genghis Kahn than Aristotle. The world is ruled by evil, not reason, and its only hope is redemption, not intelligence. To believe that sin has no destructive effect on the core of the person is to stare the devil in the face and call him “Friend.” Every addict knows. Every sinner should.
Paul’s rhetorical question demands the exclamation, “Are you crazy! Of course not!” Yet many continue on the path of “freedom.” They do not assess the true strength of the yetzer ha’ra and its power to corrupt the justifications of our actions. We are really at war; a battlefield within our very person. We are victim and enemy, perpetrator and casualty. And the sooner we confront the stern warnings concerning the treacherous position of our existence, the more quickly we will run for the cover of obedience. In His camp is security and safety. Outside His camp is tohu va-vohu, the wasteland of discontent. But the camp is ordered. Those who take no comfort in ordered living will long for the wasteland – and they will find.
Topical Index: increase, pleonazo, sin, Berkouwer, reason, Romans 6:1
“And the sooner we confront the stern warnings concerning the treacherous position of our existence, the more quickly we will run for the cover of obedience. In His camp is security and safety. Outside His camp is tohu va-vohu, the wasteland of discontent. But the camp is ordered. Those who take no comfort in ordered living will long for the wasteland – and they will find.”
This (and yesterday’s TW) simplifies our situation in South Africa for me. Thank you.
It also convinces me that, despite fierce objection from mainstream Christianity, I need to be Torah obedient and love the Christ with all of my heart, all of soul, all of mind, and all of my strength – and love my neighbour as myself.
That’s why we don’t need this type of “freedom” in democracy, but the slavery of the King! Please, Lord, pierce my ear to Your doorpost!
Two words: ~ but God ~
~*But God*~, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us..
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has NOW BEEN REVEALED by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel THE GENTILES ARE HEIRS TOGETHER with Israel, MEMBERS TOGETHER OF ONE BODY, and SHARES TOGETHER OF THE PROMISE IN CHRIST JESUS. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: TO PREACH TO THE GENTILES the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to EVERYONE the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which HE ACCOMPLISHED in Christ Jesus OUR LORD. IN HIM and THROUGH FAITH IN HIM we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom HIS WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with ALL THE SAINTS, to grasp HOW WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the love of Christ, and to know tHis love that surpasses knowledge—that YOU may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within US, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amein. (Ephesians 3)
“Try it with the mob outside your door”
“…the men surrounded the house – young and old, EVERYONE from every neighborhood…(whole generation)
…Lot went out to them….and said, please BROTHERS, don’t do such a wicked thing…
…They replied, Stand back…..for we’ll deal worse with you than with them!”
Since when has reasoning with animals ever worked?
Luzette,
That is the same thing I thought of when I read ‘the mob outside your door.’ Since we just studied that, it is still fresh on my mind. If I have learned anything from Torah study, it is how very obviously The Golden Rule is brought to fruition, and Scripture records it.
So he offered them his virgin daughters . . . and eventually, those daughters rape him. This should get our attention, but it doesn’t seem like that’s happening nowadays.
…They replied, Stand back…..for we’ll deal worse with you than with them!”
Since when has reasoning with animals ever worked?
The LORD himself will fight for you.. (Exodus 14.14) ~ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door ~ (Genesis 19.11)
But they are not animals, they are people, people also made in the image of God. For whatever reason, they have allowed sin to twist that image in themselves, so that they become, as C.S. Lewis, called them,
“bent ones.” I agree that there is no reasoning with them, though.
Have you ever tried to reason with a young, disobedient child? To me, that is a closer analogy.
Attempts at reasoning are fruitless and usually end unhappily. Far more effective with a little sinner is the clear drawing of the boundaries of the “camp,” so he knows what is expected and acceptable, and he does feel safer within those boundaries.
While I appreciate your sentiments, the Scripture even calls these “beasts.” Our definition of HUMAN BEING is not determined by genetics or substance (space-time existence). It is determined by the “image of God” in His creature. And since that image is the active expression of God’s character, if there is no expression of the character of Exodus 34:6-7, then how can we call these “Human.” YOu must step away from the substance view of Greek thinking and ask what it means to be human from the Hebraic VERBAL view. I am afraid you will find a lot of “other than human” beings in the world.
Skip,
I think I understand what you are saying, especially after reading today’s TW. What I don’t see is how this squares with the sanctity of life from conception (“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,” for example). Are you saying that we are given the potential to be fully human at birth but must still act righteously to achieve it? In that case, I see the achieving as not “earning” or “evolving,” but rather, as you said, “becoming” what we were intended by God to be, through obedience to His commands.
Right. Rabbis teach man is nexus of choice and at birth becomes subject to the yetzer ha’ra.