Newness of the Spirit

Romans 7 was my spiritual food today. Is it me or is that chapter a particularly hard read. I had to read it in like three different translations before I could start getting it. I think this chapter is confusing for many because it is so loaded. If you really drink it in it could very well undermine your entire way of thinking about your spiritual life and church in general. I mean...yikes...who wants that? As I started to read it, I actually thought to myself, "Maybe I should go read Psalms instead, there's an easier book" Then I realized wow there must be something good in here if Satan is trying so hard to keep me from reading it. In this chapter Paul is talking about the Law, not the constitution, but the Law/Rules/ Traditions of the religious "right" of that time. I don't know much about Biblical history but I do know that these Laws and Tradition were essential to the way of life back then. People based their lives and careers around religious laws and traditions. In chapter 7, Paul basically says that the Law has no bearing on salvation and furthermore can become an open window for Satan. I began to think about this passage and how it pertains to the current western church. My father, for example, is a very traditional man in his belief system. he believes strongly in the doctrine of the Catholic Church because he was raised in it. He believes that is he follows all the rules and is "basically good" that he will go to heaven. This "living a good life" theory of salvation is shared by many people from all faiths. But my friends it is terribly flawed. Number one, that is nowhere in the Bible. Number two, that thoery is based on the concept that human nature is inherintly good. In Romans 7:24 Calls himself a "wretched man" To truly grasp the concept of salvation and being in a spiritual and real relationship with God we have to recognize and accept our own sinful nature. We have to admit to ourselves that without Christ there is no "Good" in us. I started asking people around me why they believe the things that they believe about God and I was able to break 90% percent of those people into two categories: One group who attends church said, "Because it just is, it what my parents told me. I don't want to go to hell, so I try to be good" and another group who tries to seek God outside the church. They ussually said "I don't believe that there is just one way to God and I don't like all the rules in church or I just can't relate to church". Wow..... how the "church" can undermine itself. This is what I got from the passage I read today. God's not about rules. God's law that he sets forth in the Bible is solid and meant for good, but those things are not the main idea behind God. He gives us commanments and wisdom through the Word to guide us in leading a good life. It when we start to interject or put our own spin on it that we give Satan that open door to come in and perverse the Laws that God created to help us. For example, I think that everybody can agree that we should pray daily as individuals, that's very Biblical. Here's where the perversion happens:
In our human need for structure we will start to ask ourselves "well, how much should I pray? If I forget to pray today do I have to make it up the next day?" So we start looking for the answers and instead of seeking God about it, we hear a pastor or a book or whatever tell us that we should pray for 30 minutes everyday. So we start making ourselves pray for 30 minutes a day. And it goes well for a while. Then we forget one day and we begin to feel guilty and like we've failed somehow, so we try to make it up. Then we continue to force ourselves out of this desire to do what is "right" until it become another chore in our day. One day we get fed up with the chore and we begin to ask our selves why we are even praying or who we are even praying to.
You see friends, we can set these rules without even knowing and most of the time it is out of a desire to do what is right. Paul says in Romans 7:11 "For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death." He saying that even when we try to do good Satan will try to decieve us. Satan knows that if he can convince us that all of our manmade rules are God's rules he can divide us. In closing Let me challege you to think about your life and ask God to show you what rules you follow are from Him and what are from you or the people around you. Begin to think about why you do or believe the things that you do. In romans Paul uses the term "newness of the Spirit" This really jumped at me. God's is steady and unchanging but He continuously uses the Holy Spirit to refresh and transform our minds and ideas about God. God is never old or outdated, only we can become irrelevant by refusing to allow God to set the rules.

Rob Bell has been heavily criticized by the more conservative sects of Christianity for his challenging thoughts of what it means to be spiritual. He challenges both believers and non to examine their belief and not take them without careful examination. Here is what he had to say in response to some of these attacks.
"When people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened, Generally lurking below some of the more venomous, vitriolic criticism is somebody who's created a facade that's not working"
- Rob Bell to the Chicago Sun Times