The physicality of human creation is often taken for granted.

This incredible combination of skin and bones complete with living, regenerating cytoplasm is the only medium of existence available to the man determined to keep himself alive and kicking.

So, we could say the body is a means to an end—the end being the only thing that matters.  

Right?

Then why should I worry about my body while I’m alive if I’m a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ?  After all, when He returns to the Earth, He’s going to resurrect it [or what’s left of it] if I’m dead—or, if I’m still living, He’s going to transform the mortal body I have into an immortal one:

“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”  [1Cor. 15:50-53]  [my emphasis]  [from the apostles Paul’s first letter to “the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who [had] been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place [were calling] on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours…”]

While flesh and blood can never inherit the kingdom, it’s still an integral part of Jesus Christ’s New Covenant temple according to Paul in an earlier part of the letter. Even though he was actually addressing the seriousness of sexual immorality, the same principle that the disciple’s body is indeed a holy dwelling place of the Spirit runs contrary to any decision one might make to neglect it:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” [1Cor. 6:19-20]  [my emphasis]

This sentence forces me to ask myself:  “How do I honor God in [or with] my body?

This natural body that I have was created to be a temporary dwelling place of the Only One who is capable of someday transforming me into something acceptable in His flawless presence.  If I invite someone to be a guest in my home, I’d go to great lengths to make his visit a magnificent and honorable one.  

And to whatever degree I choose to do this would surely parallel the amount of respect and appreciation I have for him.

On the other hand, if I treat Christ’s New Covenant temple—that is, my body, as something irrelevant or secondary now, I wonder how eager He will be to share my new one with me in the future?

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them…” [Rev. 21:3]

If I’d actually owned anything besides my ’68 Ford Mustang, I surely would have wagered it.

Because when I was twenty-two years old, nothing could have convinced me that I’d someday write a post about the impact my new bride’s doting older brother has had on my life.

He was a burr in my saddle. A nice enough guy for sure. 

Just too nice for me.

Now Denny wasn’t the typical Jesus freak, forever throwing cold water on the party by scolding bad behavior he deemed inappropriate to Biblical teaching. And he was never the kind of guy to get in your face. In fact, I think that’s what made him tolerable for me. I already had plenty of friends and relatives willing and able to admonish my inconsistent Christian lifestyle.

But he kept his eye on me. I’d hooked up with someone very special to him.

He found a way to keep his mouth shut in spite of my hypocritical profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When my penchant for playing live music in a band morphed into full scale idolatry leading to questionable conduct for a married man with children, he didn’t call me up or write me a letter demanding an explanation. When I lost my shirt in more than one business venture, he never sat me down to reprimand me for having been unprepared or lacking perseverance and maturity.

He’d pray for me. I never asked him if he did, nor did he ever mention that he did.

I just knew he did.

For so long, I never looked forward to be around him. It seemed like he never really wanted to have fun. But there was a voice inside me that wouldn’t leave me alone. Something about him made me think that The One who began a good work in me would continue to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

I couldn’t ignore the voice. I knew it was there. He knew it too. 

And it used to drive me crazy.

We didn’t know all of his friends. But he had a lot of them. He always had a church family, and they’re the ones he’d usually talk about. Whenever we’d come to visit him, it was usually on a weekend, and it was a foregone assumption that we were expected to accompany him to Sunday morning worship. And I’m ashamed to say, that used to really annoy me.

But he never gave up on me.

I remember one such Sunday morning when I was attempting to defend my right to stay at home. He looked at me and said, “You know, you’re not always supposed to want to go to church, you just do. ’’

And only in the past few years have I grown enough to be able to sit down with other men and encourage one another to persevere in a Godly lifestyle in the spirit of brotherly love. And I’m grateful that one of those few people who weren’t always looking to change the subject included not only my brother-in-law, but my brother in Christ, Denny Watkins.

Like me, he wasn’t without his annoying habits and flaws. I’ll never forget the laughs we all had when my wife bought him a birthday mug labeled “Big Bother.” He never married, but remained steadfast in a lifestyle which attempted to demonstrate, defend and proclaim the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And he was never ashamed to belong to Him.

The untimely death of those we love stir our emotions and our fears, causing us to reflect on the value of those relationships and the impact they had on our lives, hopefully restoring some semblance of that love from a different and perhaps richer perspective.

Now Denny sleeps in Christ, waiting for the day of His return and the raising of the righteous dead.

Good guys really do win in the end.

It’s not enough for me just to acknowledge that evil exists in the world.

Because I’ve learned that ignorance is often what breeds reprehensible conduct. As a result, many arguments in support of allowing unborn children to be killed is very likely rooted in a flawed understanding of exactly what a living, breathing human being consists of.

In spite of the warped logic insisting that a woman has the right to destroy life being developed in her womb, perhaps the most tolerant argument in defense of this behavior is the belief that a human fetus is nothing more than a hunk of flesh, devoid of intellect, emotion or comprehension.

Of course, if the fetus is indeed lacking these critical capabilities, the logic would follow that no semblance of human worth could exist in it either. It wouldn’t even have a “soul” at this point. So, if this “soul” had not yet been given to it by its Creator, it couldn’t qualify as human life, and no offense could be imputed to the sustainer [mother] of its development.

Hence, this clump of fetal tissue could be discarded like an unwanted malignancy.  No worries.

Interestingly enough though, the issue of ensoulment is nothing new. The matter of exactly when a human fetus becomes a living person [or somehow “receives its soul”] was the subject of passionate debate among many early church leaders. However, it seems there was no lasting consensus.

But how could there have been?

To say that a “soul” actually is some distinct immaterial part of the human makeup would only complicate matters for anyone attempting to document exactly when it comes into existence. More importantly, what mortal wisdom or cutting edge technology can redefine what has already been clarified in the Scriptures?

“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and [the] man became a living being.” [Gen.2:7] [my emphasis] [נֶפֶשׁ nephesh: a soul, living being, life, self, person]

[Do I have a“soul?” see: Everybody’s got one?]

A common argument is that a human fetus doesn’t possess the ability to breath on its own and, as such, cannot really be considered to be alive. In other words, there’s no evidence of the “breath of life” having been given by God as it was to the first man, Adam. But the breath of life is indeed present in the human fetus. Its ability to sustain life through its heart and lungs is generated and maintained through the mother’s blood supply—who already is a living, breathing “soul.”

I’m saddened to suggest that ignorance about what makes up a created human being is just one of many accelerants fueling the wholesale tolerance of killing unborn babies.

But Biblical literacy is the tool of effective resistance to evil.

And we would do well to remember that our voices resonate much louder in defense of innocent life than they do over petty squabbles about verb forms, semantics or doctrinal differences.

The men of Jesus Christ’s church are called to lead and protect, yet helpless, unborn voices continue to cry out from the womb.

Are any of them listening?

It just keeps getting better.

There’s only one thing better than uncovering the truth—that’s building on it.

And every time I read and study the Scriptures inductively, I invariably come across something which reveals God’s truth in a way I never saw before.

For example, the letter from the apostle James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who [were] dispersed abroad, caught my attention;

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking In nothing.” [Ja 1:2-4]

Consider it joy? Where was the sympathy?

But then, I remembered a familiar saying: “If it don’t kill ya’, it’ll make ya’ stronger!” Now I’d be hard-pressed to actually deny this principle as a Biblical concept because James wasn’t vague about why it’s in my best interest to meet difficulty head-on and give it my best shot:

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he shall receive the crown of life which [the Lord] has promised to those loving Him” [Ja. 1:12]

[What’s the “crown of life?’’ see: The Precious Pearl of Life.]

So, I kept reading.

And, as he rebuked the practice of partiality in the second chapter, he also exhorted the scattered brethren to be aware of this need to persevere, perhaps something they’d either forgotten or were never cognizant of in the first place:

“Listen, my beloved brethren: Did not God choose the poor of this world [to be] rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who loving Him?” [Ja.2:5]

So, after observing this sentence carefully, two questions appeared to be very relevant to understanding what it meant:

1. Who were “the poor.”
2. Who were the “heirs of the kingdom?”

The context of the Greek Substantival Adjective πτωχός [meaning poor, perhaps pitiful or inferior] in this sentence lies below what is obvious. Of course, showing preference to anyone based solely on his outward appearance was a transgression before the Lord. [see; vs. 2:9] But the the gospel authors also recorded this term as Jesus’ own words in more than one instance, describing what seemed to be a lack of understanding and hope in the human consciousness. [see: Matt. 5:3; 11:5]

So, is it possible that some of God’s people were “poor” [or lacking] in their ability to both comprehend and accommodate the promises He’d given to their ancestors?

[What were the promises? see: Common Threads are Common, It’s All About Also.]

The idea of being an heir is rarely spoken about in Bible studies or sermons. That’s because many congregational doctrines are based upon a certain pastor’s seminary or Bible college curricula which have been grounded in mid-Nineteenth Century Dispensational logic for decades.

But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not relevant.

[What does it mean to be an heir? see: BIRTHRIGHT THROUGH REDEMPTION: Was it “lost in the translation?”]

By definition, “poor” demonstrates a position of need, or a yearning for something better. James’ inspired metaphor, “the poor of this world [to be] rich in faith” depicts a starving man seeking to fill himself with something that would last. [Ja. 2:5]

If anyone claims to be content in his ignorance, he’s living in bondage. The Good News of the Bible is about being raised from the dead and inheriting the crown of life.

It’s a soup kitchen for those who are hungry for truth.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.”   [Matt. 5:3]

Sometimes I wonder if the concept of becoming a new creation in Jesus Christ is really acknowledged for what it means.

Recently, a good friend made an interesting observation concerning what seems to be a serious human character flaw. While seeking the Lord’s forgiveness through repentance is sufficient enough to establish a legitimate relationship with Him, many feel the need to take it a step further:

They have to forgive themselves too.

This seems like a noble enough gesture from a worldly perspective. After all, everyone loves humility. But, if I need to include myself in the process, I’d be attempting to resolve a problem outside of the authority of God’s Divine prerogative. And by doing that, I’d be diminishing His sovereignty.

If the individual who stole my twenty-gallon Red Wing crock from my front porch were to repent and return it to me, asking for forgiveness, I’d not only be willing to accept his settlement, but I’d also be authorized to do so under the law.

I’d also be very surprised…

On the other hand, if the same regenerate soul then proceeded to rob the gas station up the street, confessed his guilt and asked for my forgiveness once again, I might even choose to empathize with him, but I’d have no legal or moral authority to pardon his guilt if he’s charged with a crime. That would have to come from the very authority which established the infracted law at the onset. The only legitimate authority to either dispense justice or pardon through natural law lies in its original source—that is, we the people!

In the same manner, no man or woman is authorized to pardon my offenses against the Lord—not even me.

So it seems to me that any reasons I might have for needing to forgive myself for my sins would be self serving, because, as one who belongs to Christ, whatever violable convictions I hold are no longer mine, but His.

The potential to be made new again is available to everyone the Lord has chosen to have ears to hear of His life-giving, redemptive miracle. There is no “newness” in anyone except through the Only One Who is qualified to define it:

“Therefore if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creature; [the] old [things] passed away; behold, new [things] have come.” [2Cor. 5:17]

I testify to the reality that only Christ can forgive the things I once considered forever unforgivable. I’m simply not capable of forgiving myself. This remarkable renewed nature of the repentant man or woman reveals itself through obedience to the Only Source of real life. And I can tell you that being unshackled from the penalties of my past transgressions goes along way toward overcoming the periodic sting of their lingering consequences.

But, more importantly, the ultimate prize of being made new lies in a contingent promise that the human mind simply cannot fully comprehend—that is, eternal life.

[What’s “eternal life?” see: The Precious Pearl of Life.]

The value of being made new is incalculable. But I can’t do it myself.

“What no eye has seen, or what no ear has heard, and what has never come into a heart is what God has prepared for those loving Him.” [1 Cor.2:9)