When I made a decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the call to repent sounded like just one more sweet deal with no strings attached.  

However, I don’t ever recall being encouraged through a sermon or by congregational elders to repent further from any one of my character flaws that were still obvious to both them and the rest of the world.  Because in my mind, the fact that my sins were covered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was somehow sufficient enough for my “salvation.”

[Is there more than one meaning for “salvation? see: Playing to Win the Salvation Game]

However, somewhere along the line, I started reading.

And I came across a New Testament letter which claimed to be an eye-opener to its readers. It stated its purpose to be that of “stirring up [their] sincere mind[s] by way of reminder” in order for them to remember the promise given by God to the Jewish prophets as well as the commandment of [their] Lord and Savior spoken by His disciples.

[Do you know what the Lord promised Abraham and the Jewish prophets? see: Common Threads are Common, It’s All About Also.]

But one sentence had me scratching my head:

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  [2 Pet. 3:9]  [my emphasis]

This was written …to those who [had] received a faith of the same kind as [the author], by the righteousness of [their] God and Savior, Jesus Christ…  They were already “saved!”

[What does “saved” mean?  See: Different fruit, Same Good News.]

So, in the mind of the apostle Peter, the issue of sin had been covered, but the problem of sin remained.  Otherwise, there’d be no need for those who were saved to continue in the act of making lifestyle changes by repenting.

I used to assume that the word translated in the Bible as “repent” meant to be sorry or show regret. However, this Greek verb μετανοέω actually means “to change one’s mind or purpose,” and calls for a lifestyle change, not just in attitude, but in behavior as well.     

So, if I seriously look forward to inheriting what the Lord has promised me, perhaps I should also think seriously about both the context and the Biblical definition of the word “perish” Peter used above:

[ἀπόλλυμι:  to destroy (an inanimate object); to kill (by taking a life); cause to lose (especially a life); to die or perish; violence and strife is often the associative meaning related to this word]

I can’t expect to be found “spotless and blameless” before the Lord someday simply because I confessed I was living an ungodly life ten years ago.  

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ demands a conscious commitment to recurrent change.  

I heard a wise man once say, “The Gospel requires a changed life.” 

I’m not finding any Biblical provision for an idle existence in old age for God’s people.  

Sure, we quit our jobs and collect a pension or Social Security check and retire from our occupations. But where is it written that, by virtue of age or physical limitation, Jesus Christ’s disciple has somehow reached a sufficient enough stature of holiness the Lord has planned for him?  

On what basis is he ever entitled to conclude the process of becoming transformed into a “priest of God and Christ?” [see: Rev. 20:6]

Even the Psalmist anticipated an essential purpose to life as an old man:

“…even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation—Your power to all who are to come.”  [Psa. 71:18]  [my emphasis]

And, after leading His people Israel out of bondage and providing them with life-sustaining miracles, the Lord shared his reasons for their redemption:

“Now then, if you all shall indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you all shall be My own possession among all the peoples.  For all the earth is Mine, and you all shall be to Me a royal priesthood and a holy nation.  These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”  [Exod. 19:5-6]  [my emphasis]

[Redemption meant the same thing then as it does now. see: Different fruit, Same Good News.]

Even in spite of this evidence in the texts, some would suggest that Jesus Christ’s New Covenant abolished God’s royal priesthood. But it certainly did not.

It only enhanced it.

This recurrent theme throughout the Bible is revealed again when the apostle John wrote his letter of Revelation to the seven churches in Asia. He conveys the ultimate goal the Lord still had to make priests out of those He has redeemed:

“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection—over these, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him for a thousand years.  [Rev. 20:6]   [my emphasis]

So, in what way could I ever expect to become a priest of God and Jesus Christ?

Although it originally operated that way, God’s royal priesthood wasn’t created to be a caste system.  His law, given to the Jews, acted as a tutor to lead them and the world to Christ. [Gal. 3:24] However, the idea of being a priest was always built around a vision of attaining to to a state of ideal sanctification, or of being set apart from the world.

The Lord God has permanently established His High Priest in the Person of Jesus Christ.  [see: Heb. Chapters 7-10]  But He’s always had a plan to transform Christ’s disciples into priests—that is, to be learners, teachers and ministers in His service.  

They’ve been both duly created and continually refined since the beginning of time.

They’re still being set apart, cleansed and purified as I write.

“The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree.  He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord.  They will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still yield fruit in old age.  They shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright…” [Psa. 92:12-15a]   [my emphasis]

I watched two of my grandsons practice their wrestling moves during a team workout a couple of weeks ago.

And it didn’t take long to recognize that a familiar form of perversion had once again breached the boundaries of sexual distinction.  Some young girls were also participating in the session, grappling, one-on-one, with other prepubescent boys.

Now, before I submit any moral reservations about what I saw, let me submit, from personal experience, what are some unintended natural consequences of ignoring those boundaries.

When my son was a nine or ten year old boy, he wrestled regularly in tournaments with a local club.  He was very aggressive and loved being competitive.  He also won many of his matches as a result.  But during one event, he was bracketed to compete with a little girl in a first round match.

At the time, I remember thinking that something didn’t seem right about it.

However, I kept my feelings to myself as I stood and witnessed every ounce of that confidence and zeal evaporate while confusion consumed him.

He rolled over and let her whip him.

I was furious.  And so were a few spectators—including some of the coaches.  I’m sure I was embarrassed as well, but that’s not the point.  I’d taught my son from a very early age that physical aggression was never permissable toward the opposite sex.  It wasn’t about losing the match.  It was, rather, about invalidating every attempt I’d ever made to try to teach him to respect a female’s body and her integrity.

Normally, I would’ve said,  “What happened, Son?”  This time, I didn’t have to ask.

But I’m not writing to try to convince any father that allowing girls to wrestle boys can create a moral dilemma.  Because if he needs to persuaded that males and females are quite capable of somehow grasping each other’s hot spots in a wholesome manner while mutually engaged in a body-contact sport, he’d probably have quit reading by now and gone back to streaming mud wrestling competition online.

So I write to those of you who might see things like I once did—someone who should have known better.

Before my son’s match even began, I should’ve refused to let him participate.  I should’ve listened to the voice which cautioned me that it really wasn’t okay for him to clutch a female by the crotch or forcefully bear down on her chest with his own.

To have questioned whether or not young children were normally aroused sexually through close contact shouldn’t have been an issue to consider.  Nor should any argument suggesting that they had neither knowledge nor respect for the boundaries created by gender have been raised either.

The only issue to have been considered should have been, “What were the young wrestlers being taught?”

The objectives of those who push to blur the lines of sexual definition go far beyond its present-day repercussions.  It’s not about attempting to initiate sweeping changes overnight.

Depravity thrives in its capacity to be subtle.

And the Evil One is a master at peddling perversion through incrementalism.  There’s no better way to incubate the seeds of lust and indecency in innocent children than to instill doubt and vacillation about where purity begins in the hearts and minds of the ones to whom that knowledge has been entrusted.

That’d be me and you.

One of Satan’s most effective means of separating Jesus Christ’s disciples from Him is to synthesize God’s miraculous gift of sexual distinction.

How long will we continue to allow him to do that?

Solomon certainly had the creds to preach about wisdom.

But it wasn’t as if the Lord God just decided to lay it on him one day.  He asked for it, and he got it! Not only that, he was also obliged to share it.  [see: 1Kg. 3:5-13]  Maybe that’s why he chose to jot down some of his thoughts:

“To know wisdom and instruction…to discern the sayings of understanding…a wise man will hear and increase in learning…to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.” [Prov. 1:1, 5a, 6] [my emphasis]

And wisdom is certainly not without an Origin:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  [Prov. 1:7]

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  [Prov. 9:10] 

So, even if I have doubts about the origin of wisdom, or feel like I can’t benefit from Solomon’s collection of proverbs, I could surely acknowledge one important principle after reading them:  It doesn’t just happen. In order to have it, I need to look for it—or “her,” as the “teacher” sometimes suggested:

“If you seek her (wisdom) as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.” [Prov. 2:4-5]

I’m certainly no authority on why the feminine pronoun was commonly used to describe an inanimate topic in ancient Hebraic dialog, but I can make an educated guess. That’s because I’m a male.  I’m naturally predisposed to modify an object of my affection into a more familiar image of gratification.

When did you ever hear a female say something like, “Mary, come look at my new pearl necklace, ain’t she a thing of beauty?”

But a man can’t help it.  He correlates the beauty of a woman with his restored ’49 Roadster Coupe, or his new fiberglass bass boat, or his old burnished Winchester over/under 12 gauge shotgun.

The most remarkable wisdom that Solomon imparted to the reader of his proverbs was that a man’s most precious object of affection is realized in the Word of God Itself—or rather, Herself.

And I don’t have to look that far to find Her.

“Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square.  At the head of the noisy streets She cries out.  At the entrance of the gates in the city She utters Her sayings: ‘How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded—and scoffers delight themselves in scoffing—and fools hate knowledge?'” [Prov. 1:20-22]

But just like your new bass boat, She comes with a price tag.  For Solomon, that cost was paid with humility and reverence. These human attributes were commonly expressed by the Jewish patriarchs as a fear of the Lord.

It’s interesting that he seemed wise enough to ask God only for wisdom to lead His people even before the Lord granted him the capacity to do so.  He didn’t ask for a new horse, or greater authority, or a long and healthy life.  [1Kg. 3:5-13]

He perceived the majesty of God’s sovereign wisdom and just character as something comparable to the glory and elegance of a righteous woman. [Prov. 31:10-31]

It was priceless.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  [Psa. 90:12, the words of Moses]

My wife and I went to see the motion picture Gosnell the other day at a local movie theater.

We went expecting to witness some of the documented horrors about a Philadelphia physician who was convicted a few of years ago of performing abortions on impoverished women living in the inner city .

I remember reading and hearing about this trial in the news when it happened, so I was prepared to reaffirm something I already knew was unconscionable—that is, that the slaughter of human fetuses on demand is murder.

So I guess, then, in some respects, my expectations were met.  A bad guy did some bad things and got caught and is paying the price.  But maybe you think it’s not that simple.  Perhaps my world seems to be a little bit too black and white?

Well, my world’s just like yours.

In a civilized, moral society—that is, in something we’re expected to embody and demonstrate, the premise that someone can possess the legitimate agency to kill at will can never be granted in the course of public debate or adjudication.  If it is, then a crucial tendency for any form of decency to prevail is forfeited, and no amount of “Christian” tolerance or understanding can takes its place.

But something else caught my attention during the movie.

And I suppose it was intentional on the part of the producers.  It didn’t just expose the horrors of the abortion industry.  It revealed a much greater abomination—one which exposed the dispassionate nature of what would otherwise seem to be a reliable pool of courageous, God-fearing people. Men in particular.

The plot revealed that no one appeared to be interested in what was happening.

Not until they were forced to, that is.  So I didn’t have to wonder why media reporters didn’t report, or governors didn’t govern righteously in support of defenseless, unborn [and already born] infant children.  I also shouldn’t have been so surprised that every seat in the movie theater we were in was empty except for ours and the three others which were occupied by females.

Nevertheless, I was enraged and deeply discouraged at the same time.

I’m confident that, in spite of what appears to be a wholesale endorsement of abhorrence from certain news media, celebrities and political interests, most people do indeed claim to fear the Lord and profess to live and act in His best interests.

But when pressed to defend their beliefs, it appears that certain violations of God’s civil and moral code remain off limits to criticism.

However, any decision Jesus Christ’s disciple makes not to stand up in the face of evil is an open denial of His authority to accomplish an effective line of resistance through the actions of that disciple.  His lack of confidence in Christ’s power to execute much needed change through His Body undermines His purpose of achieving what the Body is unable to do on its own.

I refuse to find myself standing before Him someday, pleading my case of indifference to His Holy Nature.  And if I have the audacity to denounce evil, then I should be able to find the backbone to follow up with action.

Organized vocal protests at the doors of abortion facilities and the support of pro-life movements are integral to winning the battle, but the voice of God’s people resonates the loudest from the voting booth.

The polls open at 7:00 am on Tuesday.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”  —William Wilberforce