Romans 7:15-17 … Succumbing to sin (06/06/17)
“That’s impossible!” ~ Paul of Tarsus
(said to the Followers of Jesus)
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” ~ Paul (Romans 7:15-16)
Paul never saw Jesus in the flesh, he never heard Jesus preach, and as such he never even faintly comprehend Jesus’ Way of his Truth or his Life (contrast Paul’s highly erroneous self-made “gospel” about Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 & Romans 10:9 et al with Jesus’ own Gospel about The Way of selfless Love in Matthew 10:7 & Matthew 24:12-14 – also Matthew 7:21-24, Matthew 18:3-4, Mark 10:18, John 13:15-17, Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 25:35-40 et al) …
And that is why Paul is the ego looking at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling them “irresponsible” (when they are the only true Responsibility we have), and Paul is the ego looking at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling them “dangerous” (when they are our only hope for anything resembling real Security of Self), and Paul is the ego looking at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling them “masochistic” (when they are the only way to Care, and thus the only way to honor and enliven one’s True Self).
And yet like the ego, Paul simply didn’t understand – he didn’t understand The Way of Christ because he refused to embolden the courage required to leap onto its willingly self-sacrificial Path — and what is never experienced cannot ever be truly understood.
And as long as we choose self over other, and as long as we choose safety over service, and as long as we choose selfishness over self-sacrifice, then we too will go through life falsely believing the true LOVE is impossible – and it is we who will never know the sheer Bliss of Jesus’ “Kingdom of God” (Luke 17:20-21) or the sheer Joy of his “Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4) as a result.
Please understand the following:
*Paul tells us to be prudent and “give what we can” to those who have earned it, while Jesus tells us to Give even our last two pennies to those in need (see Luke 21:1-4) to those “least deserving” of the same (see Luke 10:29-37) …
*Paul tells us to respect governmental authorities and obey the ruling elite, while Jesus tells us to subject ourselves only to the Will of God (see Matthew 5:17-18 – where the Greek pleroo did not encourage us to obey the law but rather told us to transcend the same, Matthew 8:22, Matthew 12:8, Matthew 15:11, Matthew 17:27, Matthew 22:21 et al) …
*Paul tells us to “love” those who love us and to be kind to those who treat us with respect, whereas Jesus tells us to “Love the enemy”, to “turn the other cheek”, and to “pray for those who persecute” us (see Matthew 5:38-48 et al).
For The Way of Christ is what is truly possible for any Human Being, and that is what we have all been Called to make real.
Amen … Let it be so.
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