Friday, January 11, 2013

17. Rooted and Grounded in Love

The Apostle Paul prayed a prayer that the church would be "rooted and grounded in love" and "able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (see Eph 3:14-19). Indeed, how do we even begin to share the love of God with others if we are not first rooted and grounded in it ourselves?


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13 comments:

  1. AMEN! THAT IS MY HEARTS DESIRE ALSO, THAT I WOULD KNOW THE AMAZIN LOVE OF OUR FATHER!

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  2. I have a question...many believers take the verse in Acts about not forgoing the assembling of yourselves as some are in the habit of doing, to mean going to a building on Sunday's. I used to think that as well but I thought that because that was how I was raised to believe but in my heart it didn't seem right. What are your thoughts on this please?

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    Replies
    1. Tricia, although I think many people are well-intentioned (including myself when I thought that way), I think this is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. :) I agree with you, it just isn't right.

      Anytime people build a doctrine out of one or two verses, I always have to question it. We always need to consider the surrounding context, which includes the verses and chapters around it, as well as the audience that the words were intended for.

      Heb 10:24-25
      24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

      In this case, the writer is writing to Jews (Hebrews), and as we read from the very beginning of the epistle all the way to the end, the main thrust of the epistle is the superiority of Jesus over the Old Covenant. He's going strong with this point in Chapter 10, and it seems silly to me that he suddenly would throw in a line about making sure the people make it to church on Sunday. :)

      But if we look back, he says in verse 22, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith..." In verse 23 he says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering..." He's trying to help the Hebrews become rooted and established in God's grace and the New Covenant, because it is so very different than the way of life that they had previously known. They were used to being under the law. They were used to sacrifices and offerings. They were used to the blood of bulls and goats temporarily "covering" their sins for a year at a time.

      But now, the writer was helping them become established in the finality and sufficiency of the finished work of Christ. He was a spotless Lamb who once for all TOOK AWAY (not just temporarily covered) all their sins. He was trying to help them see just how huge all of this was.

      And so in that context, we see that he's not talking about "going to church." He's wanting these people to remain rooted and grounded in the truth that he's sharing with them, and one way to do that is for them to remain meeting together so they can exhort and encourage one another in all of this. It's not about going to church on Sundays, but rather it's about them continuing to meet together in their homes or wherever they happen to assemble together, for the purpose of being rooted and grounded in New Covenant truths. Because this was all so new to them, and so radically different than the way they'd known, it was necessary for them to remind one another of the truth as often as they could.

      All of this said, this isn't to say that it's "wrong" if people want to "go to church" every week or however often they like going. But in reality, we "are" the church wherever we go, and it's by no means limited to meeting in a so-called "church building" and it's by no means limited to Sundays. As the church, I think we do well to assemble together to encourage and exhort one another, and that may look very different for different people.

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    2. Tricia, although I think many people are well-intentioned (including myself when I thought that way), I think this is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. :) I agree with you, it just isn't right.

      Anytime people build a doctrine out of one or two verses, I always have to question it. We always need to consider the surrounding context, which includes the verses and chapters around it, as well as the audience that the words were intended for.

      Heb 10:24-25
      24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

      In this case, the writer is writing to Jews (Hebrews), and as we read from the very beginning of the epistle all the way to the end, the main thrust of the epistle is the superiority of Jesus over the Old Covenant. He's going strong with this point in Chapter 10, and it seems silly to me that he suddenly would throw in a line about making sure the people make it to church on Sunday. :)

      But if we look back, he says in verse 22, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith..." In verse 23 he says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering..." He's trying to help the Hebrews become rooted and established in God's grace and the New Covenant, because it is so very different than the way of life that they had previously known. They were used to being under the law. They were used to sacrifices and offerings. They were used to the blood of bulls and goats temporarily "covering" their sins for a year at a time.

      But now, the writer was helping them become established in the finality and sufficiency of the finished work of Christ. He was a spotless Lamb who once for all TOOK AWAY (not just temporarily covered) all their sins. He was trying to help them see just how huge all of this was.

      And so in that context, we see that he's not talking about "going to church." He's wanting these people to remain rooted and grounded in the truth that he's sharing with them, and one way to do that is for them to remain meeting together so they can exhort and encourage one another in all of this. It's not about going to church on Sundays, but rather it's about them continuing to meet together in their homes or wherever they happen to assemble together, for the purpose of being rooted and grounded in New Covenant truths. Because this was all so new to them, and so radically different than the way they'd known, it was necessary for them to remind one another of the truth as often as they could.

      All of this said, this isn't to say that it's "wrong" if people want to "go to church" every week or however often they like going. But in reality, we "are" the church wherever we go, and it's by no means limited to meeting in a so-called "church building" and it's by no means limited to Sundays. As the church, I think we do well to assemble together to encourage and exhort one another, and that may look very different for different people.

      Delete
  3. Huh...very interesting and inspiring! Thankyou so much. Seeing it in context does help.

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  4. I guess I feel that going to church on Sunday's and Wednesdays and tithing and serving and all the other expectations put on me seems to me like law or works yet so many people say, oh...you should go to church and tithe etc. I just can't see how that's not putting law or works on a person. How is it good news to a nonbeliever that as soon as you accept Christ you have to go to church, serve, tithe, act happy all the time even if your not etc.? I just don't understand.

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  5. I guess I feel that going to church on Sunday's and Wednesdays and tithing and serving and all the other expectations put on me seems to me like law or works yet so many people say, oh...you should go to church and tithe etc. I just can't see how that's not putting law or works on a person. How is it good news to a nonbeliever that as soon as you accept Christ you have to go to church, serve, tithe, act happy all the time even if your not etc.? I just don't understand.

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  6. I am not directing my last comment at you guys, I think you guys are great! I am talking about religion. In my view religion seems to teach rule following like going to church, tithing, serving, etc. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how I see it.

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  7. Yeah, anything - even a good thing - can become a law, and completely miss the life of Christ in us. If a person desires to be a part of a community that happens to meet together Sundays and/or Wednesdays (or whenever), then that's great for that person. But indeed, the church has made this into a law, telling people that they must go to church and they must serve and they must give and/or tithe. It all becomes duty rather than delight.

    On the subject of tithing, I'm completely against the idea of teaching tithing as the way for Christians to give. I'm all for giving freely from the heart, but there is absolutely no such thing as a specific percentage or amount that Christians must give. They may give more and they may give less than 10%, and it may or may not be money. We need to be free to give (or not give) freely and cheerfully, as our individual hearts decide.

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  8. Yeah, anything - even a good thing - can become a law, and completely miss the life of Christ in us. If a person desires to be a part of a community that happens to meet together Sundays and/or Wednesdays (or whenever), then that's great for that person. But indeed, the church has made this into a law, telling people that they must go to church and they must serve and they must give and/or tithe. It all becomes duty rather than delight.

    On the subject of tithing, I'm completely against the idea of teaching tithing as the way for Christians to give. I'm all for giving freely from the heart, but there is absolutely no such thing as a specific percentage or amount that Christians must give. They may give more and they may give less than 10%, and it may or may not be money. We need to be free to give (or not give) freely and cheerfully, as our individual hearts decide.

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  9. Yes. I love your post on tithing. When I stopped going to church about a year ago, I was told by some of the people that if I stopped tithing, God would strike me dead, they feared. They used Anninias and Sapphiara as their example.

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  10. It's very good to be free from what others think, especially when what they think is based upon scriptures that they have twisted to make them mean what they were never meant to mean. :)

    As you know, the story of Ananias and Sapphira has absolutely nothing to do with tithing, but they twist it to make it mean whatever they want. And just think, if it did have to do with tithing - and if it were meant as a story that applies to any and all Christians when they lie about money - then there would be a whole lot more dead Christians!

    The thing about that story is that it tells us what happened, but it doesn't say why it happened. We're left to speculate why Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead, but I don't think we should build any doctrine around it.

    Anyway, you're still living and breathing, so either you're an apostate that God has rejected, or He deeply loves you and cares for you just as you are. I believe it's the latter. :D

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  11. It's very good to be free from what others think, especially when what they think is based upon scriptures that they have twisted to make them mean what they were never meant to mean. :)

    As you know, the story of Ananias and Sapphira has absolutely nothing to do with tithing, but they twist it to make it mean whatever they want. And just think, if it did have to do with tithing - and if it were meant as a story that applies to any and all Christians when they lie about money - then there would be a whole lot more dead Christians!

    The thing about that story is that it tells us what happened, but it doesn't say why it happened. We're left to speculate why Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead, but I don't think we should build any doctrine around it.

    Anyway, you're still living and breathing, so either you're an apostate that God has rejected, or He deeply loves you and cares for you just as you are. I believe it's the latter. :D

    ReplyDelete