shadows of Him

why do Christians think that the Law still applies to them?

i was wondering about this, when this table occurred to me:

type of Law	does the Law require obedience to this?	does the Spirit encourage similar behavior?
ceremonial	yes	no
civil	yes	no
moral	yes	yes

...the reason why Christians get confused is because the Spirit and the New Nature encourage and inspire Christians to act in a way that is quite similar to the moral law.  deep inside, they know that they want to love & care for people and not to hate & murder them.

when they read of this behavior in the moral law, they think they should obey the moral law.  and thus begins the confusion with all of the law...thus begins confusion about 'keeping the sabbath' and 'tithing' and many other practices.

but the law is simply not necessary for Christians.  Christians have the Spirit and the New Nature; they don't need the law; the law was for people who had neither the Spirit nor the New Nature.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
so, what is the problem with the law?  actually, there is no problem.  the law is perfect and holy and good; it proceeded from God and serves His purpose.  the law is actually fantastic!!!...because it leads people to Christ.  the law is weak and powerless to recreate a person, to make a person want to act certain ways; only the Spirit and the Rebirth does that.

so, what is the problem with following the law?  ahh, now there's the problem.  if Christians attempt to follow the law, they are not using the law as intended.  the law is intended to force you to give up, to give up on yourself and your own power to change yourself...and to guide you to Christ, to guide you to the Spirit and the Rebirth that will provide the power.  when a Christian focuses on the law, they have given up focusing on Christ, the Spirit and the Rebirth - and giving them up can only end in bitter failure.

ever since Adam and Eve ate of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", we have been focused on precisely that knowledge.  having the knowledge of it causes us to focus on good and evil, the same way that having ears causes us to focus on sound and having eyes causes us to focus on light.  the knowledge of good and evil is a sensory organ.

but what matters is the "tree of life".  "good" is only a shadow of life, as "evil" is only a shadow of death.  focusing on "good and evil" causes us to get our mind off of life.  and who is Life???  Jesus Christ.  so, to sum it all up:

the law causes us to put our focus on the law, thus taking our focus away from Jesus Christ. the law exchanges Life for a shadow of Life, a shadow that was meant to simply indicate that the Life was there.

imagine someone very good looking was standing outside in the sun with you; you are both casting long shadows.

• at first, there is a barrier between you, a wall that you can't see over.  all you can see at this point is the person's shadow; you admire the shadow, you comment on how lovely the shadow is, you count yourself lucky for being allowed to see the shadow, you want to show the shadow to other people.
• but, you actually become fixated on the shadow; you wonder if you're seeing the shadow correctly; you try to make your own shadow match the shadow you love so much; you become fixated on both your shadows; you try and try, but you find that you just can't make your shadow conform to the other shadow; to fix the problem, you start making up little rules that will help you keep your shadow in what you deem to be the right position.
• then, the barrier comes down and you can finally see the good looking person, the one casting the shadow you have loved for so long.  you can react in many different ways...
• you might continue looking at the shadow, because you loved it for so long, and you built so much of your life around it.
• you might continue looking at the shadow because you are simply afraid to look that the good looking person.  you think: that person is so good looking, and i am so ugly...how could i ever look them in the eye?  how could i ever really take in how beautiful they are?  ...i should not look.
• or, you might look at the person and look and keep looking.  you might say: this is what i wanted to see this whole time; i don't want to look at either of our shadows anymore...i only want to look at Him.

...this is the way it is, you can either focus on shadows or on Him.  you don't have the capacity to intensely look at both at the same time.  you might be able to look at the shadows and see Him out of the corner of your eye, in your peripheral vision.  but would you not rather look at Him and see the shadows out of the corner of your eye, in your peripheral vision?  this is a choice that you can make; choose Life.

Do as you please by Loving God.

Today, I again heard something that I had liked:

Love, and do as you please. - Augustine

Latin: "dilige et quod vis fac." This quote is often presented: "Love God, and do as you please."  However, there is no implied object of the love in the sentence; it could be "God", could be “one another”, could be “your neighbor” and could be "kitty cats".  Because there is no implied object, the  actual object would be more "everything and everyone".

The full quote:  Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.  -Augustine’s Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John VII.8

But somehow, as I recognized before, it just didn't seem complete to me, just didn't seem quite right.

- - - - -

I figured it out today; I figured out what was bothering me.  What I would say is this:

Do as you please, period.  But what pleases you is to Love.

-or-

Do as you please: Love.

-or-

Do as you please by Loving.

- - - - -

I say this because it is how I view God:

God does as He pleases, period.  But what pleases God is to Love. 

...God does as He pleases by Loving.

...Christians all over the world want to love, the same way that God loves.  To love the way God loves goes beyond merely doing things, it requires the same motivation that God has.  Any other motivation is of man and not God.
...Unlike natural man, God has no motivation and requires no motivation.  God is love.  God loves outwardly because He is love inwardly; when God loves, He is doing exactly who and what He is, He is true to His own character and nature.  Thank God, actually.  I don't think any 'motivation' would result in 'God dying for ungodly sinners'.  Motivation doesn't cut it; only perfect love, as character and nature, works.

...So, the only way that man can love the way that God loves is to have the same character and nature as God.  At this point, it seems hopeless for man, that we should give up the whole idea.
...Remember now what God says about us - that we were reborn and made into a 'New Creation' and brought into union with Him.  I believe that this means that we have God's very own character and nature deep inside of us; it may not be getting out, but it is there deep inside the believer.  And, if His character and nature is Love, then we are Love as well.  So, like God, we Love outwardly because we are Love inwardly.

Takeaway

In making us New Creations is making us reborn of Him, God made us Love.

Application

It is suitable for us to release the Love that God made us to be.

on 2 Peter 3:14

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The following verse is taken from multiple translations for your reference...
2 Peter 3:14
New International Version (NIV)
14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
14Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 

English Standard Version (ESV)
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 

Amplified Bible (AMP)
14So, beloved, since you are expecting these things, be eager to be found by Him [at His coming] without spot or blemish and at peace [in serene confidence, free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

People read 2 Peter 3:14 and they think it is telling them to work to remain spotless and blameless, to be without sin. Not so! But, this is especially what the NIV, ESV, AMP and NLT (for example) seem to say.

Take a look at the NASB. It is telling us to 'be found by Him in peace'.  Later on, Peter encourages 'steadfastness'.

...Now, why wouldn't they be at peace? Peter mentions in later verses all the erroneous teaching that abounded at that time.  And, what was this erroneous teaching?  It would seem to be something that made a person doubt their eternal security or their 100% holy status.  Erroneous teachings 'infect' our minds, but we can guard against the infection actively...and 'be found by Him in peace' instead of turmoil.

...And, why should they be at peace??? Because they are 'spotless and blameless'.  This is the opposite of the erroneous teaching that is mentioned later. This is what we are meant to remain 'steadfast' about.  Although, we 'ought to' live 'spotless and blameless' lives, what matters is 'His promise', His promise that we will not suffer the coming destruction.

If I were to re-write the verse, it would look like this:

14Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things [since you are saved and look forward to Heaven instead of Destruction], be diligent to be found by Him in peace [in serene confidence], [because you are] spotless and blameless,

This is what drives me nuts with different translations, by the way.  ...The original language was inspired by God, and I believe translators do their best, but I find that the bias of a translator / group of translators always finds a way into translation. I typically find that the NASB does the best job, precisely because they tried to keep it more literal; this also makes the NASB harder to read.   ...But I'd rather have it harder to read and closer to the original meaning, than easier to read and further from the original meaning.


Takeaway
You are already spotless and blameless.  And since you are spotless and blameless, God holds nothing against you. And since God holds nothing against you, you can and should feel peace. However, there is so much error out there, you may feel that you are not at peace with God. ...Fully believing, mentally and emotionally, you are spotless and blameless results in feelings of peace.
Application
It is suitable to always remember that you are spotless and blameless, no matter what teaching you hear that would say the opposite.