From The Heavenly Places

Truth Frees From Sin - Part 4: I Encourage You...Be Free

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:57:00 +0000

For the last three posts on this blog, I have written about some of the reasons that abiding in God's Word delivers to us truth that frees us from sin. I wrote about the idea that logos is not just the written or spoken words of God, but is actually the mind and thoughts of God, and that we have been given the mind of Christ. I wrote about the different words we use for the different aspects of sin, words that represent the actions of sin, the lawless mind that causes sin, and the overall direction of our lives. And I wrote that we needed to learn to see ourselves as totally free from sin, and that's because Jesus did free us from sin in all actuality and truth. That's what I've written.

So, what do we do about all of this? I don't want to put anyone under any kind of condemnation for any real or perceived sin we may have participated in recently. This is not about condemnation. It's about understanding that God, through Jesus Christ, has really done great things for us. The exceeding greatness of God's power to those who believe, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, has been extended to us to not only get us to heaven, or heal our bodies, or give us material wealth, but most of all it is extended to us to deliver us from sin -- present, past and future. And not just in declaration, but in fact -- oligos.

So, I know that being free from sin seems to be an impossible ideal. I know that there are some that have led you to think that God only covers over our sins with His grace, but we still have to live in them. I know you've seen others that have made mighty attempts to keep from sin through man-made regimens, and have failed. I just want to encourage you to receive the truth that it is the manifest plan of God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, through no effort of your own, to free your life from the actions, the lawless mind and the wrong direction of sin, not just in declaration, but in reality and truth.

I encourage you...be free!

Truth Frees From Sin - Part 3: How We See Ourselves

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:27:00 +0000

This is part 3 of the series, "Truth Frees From Sin." Previously, we talked about the Mind of God and Understanding Sin. This time we are going to look at how we see ourselves.

Jesus says then that if we are in a state of missing the mark, of being in the wrong place before God, we will be a servant of that situation. And He says that the one who is a servant to the sinful state will not live in God's kingdom forever. But Jesus is not a servant of the sinful condition and is living in the kingdom forever. And Jesus says that He wants us to be free from that servitude, also, by continuing, abiding and living, in the logos, or the mind, of God.

Jesus says that if He has made us free, we are free indeed (verse 36). Nowadays we use the word indeed as a sort of exclamation and we often do not fully grasp its true meaning here. The Greek word for indeed is oligos and means truly, in reality, in point of fact, as opposed to what is pretended, fictitious, false, conjectural. The scripture also indicates that Jesus used the word indeed in verse 31. The Greek word used there is alethos and means: truly, of a truth, in reality, most certainly. These two words are almost the same, except oligos has stronger emphasis, alethos is more an exclamation like we are used to. So when Jesus used the word the second time (verse 36), speaking of our relationship to sin, He makes a special effort to emphasize that he is not pretending or being conjectural about our relationship to sin, and that being free from sin is not fictitious or false. This is important because, for the most part we in our day do not have this understanding. Certainly in this day most of us believe that being completely free from sin is impossible and even heretical. But Jesus is not being conjectural or even allegorical about our freedom from sin, He is making a conscious effort to tell us that this freedom is indeed true.

So what does He mean by being free indeed from sin? Jesus has loosed us from our enslavement to the sinful state before God, hamartia (missing the mark, not having a share in, see previous post). In order to do that He had to loose us from our lawless mind, our sinfulness within us, anomia (lawlessness, state of being without law, see previous post). Once that is done, we are made to dwell in Gods mind, meno en emos logos (continue in my word, verse 31). And once dwelling in the mind of God, our individual trespasses are minimized (see previous post). We are truly free from sin -- in our actions, in our inward man, and in our relationship with God.

We see this emphasis on fact in another reference in regard to sin. The apostle Paul says (in Romans 6:11), "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul also uses the word "indeed" here. This is the Greek word men which means truly, certainly, surely, indeed. But this is not where the emphasis on fact is found in this scripture. This time we are interested in the word 'reckon'. This is the Greek word logizomai and is a mathematical term. Its definition? "1 to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over. 1a to take into account, to make an account of. 1a1 metaph. to pass to one’s account, to impute. 1a2 a thing is reckoned as or to be something, i.e. as availing for or equivalent to something, as having the like force and weight. 1b to number among, reckon with. 1c to reckon or account. 2 to reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons, to deliberate. 3 by reckoning up all the reasons, to gather or infer. 3a to consider, take into account, weigh, meditate on. 3b to suppose, deem, judge. 3c to determine, purpose, decide." If I have a bank account and I gather all the records and do all the calculations and find that I have a certain amount of money in it, then that's what I have. When you are counting something, you are dealing with what is actually there, what can be seen. So when Paul is writing to the Romans he is essentially saying,"Look and see what's there and know that you are in all matters of fact dead unto the state of being in error before God." But this doesn't just stop there. This word "reckon" is used as the verb for both parts of the sentence. He also wants us to look and see and know that we are also in all matters of fact alive unto God.

We've been granted liberty to see ourselves as free from sin in any of its forms. We can see ourselves free from the state of sin before God. We can see ourselves free from the lawless mind. And we can see ourselves free from the actions of sin. And this is because that abiding in God's mind (logos) will not allow us to fall by the way, or have a lawless heart, or be in a wrong state before God.

Truth Frees From Sin - Part 2: Understanding Sin

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. - John 8:31-36.

In this discourse Jesus is talking about sin and being free from it. The last time we talked about God's logos, His word or, more precisely, His mind, and abiding in it. This time we are going to talk about the different aspects of sin.

The word "comitteth" (or, commits) in verse 34 is the Greek word poieo. This word has two definitions one is "to make" and the other is "to do." The word "sin" in this verse is the Greek word hamartia which is a feminine noun that means: "1a to be without a share in. 1b to miss the mark. 1c to err, be mistaken. 1d to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong." We can think of hamartia like this: if you shoot a basketball at the goal and it does not go in, the result is hamartia, you've missed the mark or the foal. The ball does not go into the hoop because it was acted upon by a force that sent it in the wrong direction, and hamartia (sin) was the result.

The phrase here, then, is poieo hamartia. He that acts to miss the mark, or wander from the path. It isn't just a single event that's important, but the whole process that makes us go the wrong direction. If we participate in that process we are poieo hamartia.

This phrase is found in a couple of other places. One is in 1 John 3:8 which is translated the same as what Jesus says here. The other is 2 Corinthians 5:21 and is translated, "For [God] has made [Jesus] sin for us...." If the Apostle Paul uses this phrase to say that God made Jesus to be sin, does Jesus using the same phrase mean that somehow we are made sin by some force acting upon us?

In order to understand this we must understand the difference between this word for sin and two other words: transgress and trespass.

We see an interesting phrase in 1 John 3:4. It is: pas poieo hamartia poieo anomia kai anomia. The word anomia is the Greek word for transgress. It is also a feminine noun and means "the condition of without law," or, without a controlling force to help him do right. You can think of it like this: if you want your computer to connect to the Internet, you must have the proper programs on your computer to do so. God wants us to be a certain way, His righteousness. In order to be that way, we must have the necessary programming inside us from the Holy Spirit. If we do not have that programming we are anomia -- without law. This scripture is translated "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law." So we look at this verse and say that whoever sins is disobeying the law. A right interpretation would be to say that whosoever participated in the process of missing the mark got there because he participated in being without law, or did not have the controlling force to do right within him.

Then there is the Greek word paraptoma. This word is defined as "to fall beside or near something, or, a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness." This word is translated trespass, sins, offence, fall and fault. If you are driving down the road and your tires go off the edge, that's paraptoma. You didn't intend to do it and it wasn't premeditated. It happened because you weren't paying attention or were distracted. In Colossians 2:13 it is translated as both sins and trespasses. And you, being dead in your sins (paraptoma) and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (paraptoma). In other words, you, who were dead because of your individual lapses and deviations... has He made alive together in him, having forgiven you all individual lapses and deviations. This word, then, is referring to individual acts of doing wrong.

So what does understanding these words tell us? That there are levels of reference for sin and it is important that we make the differentiation.

Mainly that there are individual acts of doing wrong, paraptoma, that can be caused by ignorance or not paying attention or some other temporary distraction but not necessarily by an evil or lawless heart. They still harm us and can even put us into a dead state. These are events that we need God to forgive us of (as in Matthew 6:14-15).

There is anomia, being without law or righteous control within one's self. This is the condition of one's heart. Certainly, if my heart is "anomia" I will "paraptoma." That is, if my heart is bad, I will do bad things. I need God to supernaturally come inside my being to remove this destructive condition and put a right controller within me.

Hamartia is my position before God, or the direction I go when I am controlled by the wrong force (anomia). That is, there is a certain purpose or goal God has for our lives and this word describes the condition of not meeting those goals. So if I possess "anomia", I will "paraptoma" , and I will be "hamartia" before God. That is, if my heart is bad, I will both do bad things and will miss God's goal for me.

The purpose of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, is to deal with "anomia," our lawless and uncontrolled heart. Once that is dealt with, doing all the right things day by day (no "paraptoma") and meeting God's goal for our lives (no "hamartia") will be taken care of.

Truth Frees From Sin - Part 1: The Mind of God

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:57:00 +0000

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. - John 8:31-36.
In John 8:31, Jesus admonishes us to continue in His word. What is His word? The Greek word used here is "logos." There are two definitions for this Greek word. One is: "of speech. 1a a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea." The other is: "its use as respect to the MIND alone. 2a reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating." In either case, this word logos has more to do with the thoughts behind the words rather than the words themselves. A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This is what Jesus is talking about here on John 8:31. Jesus isn't trying to spur us to read the Bible everyday or memorize scripture. What He is referring to is much deeper than that. He wants to live in the concepts or ideas that He has spoken of, that which is in the thinking or mind of God. He wants us to continue in God's divine plan, His mind.

The apostle Paul addresses having the mind of Christ in 1 Corinthians 2:15-16. He says we have the mind of Christ. This word "mind" in the Greek is "nous," which means: "comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining. 1a the intellectual faculty, the understanding." So we have the perceptions, understandings, thoughts, feelings, judgments and determinings of Christ within ourselves. Jesus was saying, back in John 8, that He wanted us to continue in those things.

So, what does Jesus say about all of this? He says that if we continue in His "logos," we are his disciples indeed. If we do this, we will know the truth and the truth will make us free. Continue is the Greek word "meno" and means to "remain or abide." What is the truth? The truth is whatever is in the mind of God. Free from what? A lot of things. In this discourse Jesus is talking about sin. I will talk more about that in my next post.

Let Us Go On To Perfection

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection... - Hebrews 6:1

It's easy for us to think that at the moment we come to Christ, we've arrived and that there is nothing left to do except wait for the glory train to come and take us home. Or, maybe that and convincing others to come to Christ, too. Of course, coming to Christ, convincing others to come to Christ, and waiting for the future return of Jesus are all important things -- as are the doctrines of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment to come. But as Hebrews 6:1 says, we must go on from there. We need to leave those beginning points and start down the road to perfection.

Even the work of Christ was a progressive work. He had to be born of a virgin. He had to grow physically and mentally into adulthood. As He began His ministry, He had to be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, be led into the wilderness and tempted of the devil. After that, He had to minister, preach, heal the sick and raise the dead. Finally as the culmination of His work began to draw near, He had to be betrayed, scourged and crucified on the cross. But His work was not completed, yet. He had to be raised from the dead, live among us for forty days and then ascend into heaven. But even then, His work was not perfected until the Holy Spirit was sent to us.

Even so with us, let us move on past the beginning things. Let us leave the cross and go on to the resurrection. Let us go on to the things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Let us be changed to the image of Jesus by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). Let us actually walk in the Spirit as to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5). Let us set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1). Let rivers of living water truly flow out from our innermost beings (John 7:37-38).

For me, it's not good enough just to know that I am going to heaven. I want, and need, to be transformed in this life. I need the rotten things of my sinful man burned out by the Holy Spirit and replaced with the things that come from the life of God. What is overcoming (see Revelation 3) if I am not participating in that overcoming Spirit now? Maybe all you want is to go to heaven, but I need Spiritual life now!

The Just Shall Live By Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:12:00 +0000

Three times in the New Testament -- Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 -- Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted: "The just shall live by faith." What does this mean? What is faith? How do we live by faith? Faith is depending on things that are beyond our control. Many times faith is contrasted with the law because the law represents full control. If we know the law of gravity and how it works, we can control how it affects us. But we are not commanded to live by being in control. We are commanded to live by not being in control. Or rather, we are commanded to live by being in God's control. If you shall save your life, you will lose it, but if you lose it for Jesus' sake, it will be saved. God gave us instructions on how to successfully control our own lives, the law, and we were failures. Now Jesus offers the opportunity to lose control of our lives but be successes.

One way to release control of our lives to Jesus is by having faith in His incredible words. There are so many outlandish things that Jesus says -- out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water, my words will set you free, and many others -- that we either receive joyfully but never really incorporate, because they are way beyond normal human experience, or we simply ignore them altogether. These words will totally revolutionize our lives if will will allow them to. Many of these words run completely contrary to the normal mode of everyday living in this world. Many even seem too good to be true. But we need to yield ourselves to God's incredible words.

Another way to relinquish control of our lives is to have trust that, even when we are struggling in the desert, God is still working all things together for our good. So often we get in these places and we think that this can't be right! So we trust in our own resources to get us out of the desert -- but with the result of losing the blessing of God. What if Jesus, after 40 days in the desert, yielded to the temptation of the devil and turned the stones into bread for food? Or, what if in His weakened physical and emotional state, He decided to prove who He was, and take back into His possession His status as the Son of God, and jump off the top of the temple? Or even worse, what if He just completely chucked His mission from God and accepted the devil's invitation to rule the world? It would be bad. But Jesus is our example of how to have faith even in a dry time.

Maybe the most important thing we need to do, to yield control of our lives to God, is to have faith that what He planted inside of us through the Holy Spirit will lead us in the right direction. So often we live in fear of doing evil and worry about what the devil is going to do to us. The fact is that God's grace in us is totally sufficient to defeat any of these things. The Holy Spirit in us will make us righteous, not only in standing, but in reality. We can rest knowing that He is in complete control of who we are growing to be.

So what is does it mean that the righteous ones will live by faith? It means that we relinquish control of our lives and depend on God's word, faithfulness and power to lead us in the right direction.

Convinced to the Point of Action

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Jesus said (in Mark 16:16-19) that if we believe and are baptized we will be saved. He also said that some incredible things would follow them that believe. Things such as casting out devils, speaking with new languages, taking up deadly serpents and poisonous drinks and not being hurt, and healing the sick. He didn't even say that these signs could follow them that believe, He said they would follow them that believe. The question is, what does Jesus mean by believe?

Before we answer that, we have to understand the definition of another word in Mark 16:16. That is: baptized. There are two Greek words that are commonly used for baptise and they are bapto and baptizo. According to the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, the first word, bapto, is defined as: " 1 to dip, dip in, immerse. 2 to dip into dye, to dye, colour." This refers to a single dip that gets something wet. The second word, baptizo, is defined as: "1 to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk). 2 to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe. 3 to overwhelm." This refers more to a continuous dipping or immersion that changes the nature of that which is baptized. It is the second word, baptizo, that is used here. It would be tempting, but silly, to try to say that Jesus is not talking about water baptism here. After all, this word is used many times in scripture to refer to water baptism. But perhaps water baptism is more than what we normally make it to be. We dunk people in water in a big rush and do not give consideration to what is going on. The baptism Jesus refers to here, then, is more than dipping someone in water, it involves a process of making that person clean spiritually. Basically Jesus is saying that he who believes and is is made clean by what He believes shall be saved.

The Greek work for believes is pisteuo. It is defines as: "to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in." According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word persuade means "to cause someone to do something by means of argument, reasoning or entreaty." So if I am persuaded of something, that means I have been convinced to the point of action by whatever it is that has convinced me, in this case, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So then Jesus is saying that we must be convinced of His Truth to the point of action, and that through baptism, we must also be completely cleansed or changed to be saved. He says that if we are convinced of Him to the point of action, we will see great signs following.

James (in James 2:14-26) agrees with Jesus' definition of faith and believing. James reminds us that when Abraham believed, he was willing to sacrifice his son to God, knowing that God was going to keep His promise of an heir. When Rahab the harlot believed, she was willing to sacrifice her life to hide the spies from the people of Jericho and then send them out another way. Hebrews chapter eleven gives us a whole list of people whose faith was evident in the things they did. To James believing was more than a mental acknowledgement. He, too, is saying that true faith is being convinced of something to the point of action. He even says that for those who produce no actions with their faith, you have to question if they have faith at all.

So what kind of action are we convinced to do? Jesus said that signs will follow those who have this kind of convincing. In His name they would cast out devils and speak with new tongues, snake venom and deadly poisons will not hurt them, and they will miraculously heal the sick. Jesus talks about the results of believing in other places. In Mark 11:22-24 we are to have faith in God and believe that we can have the things we pray for. In John 3:16, if we have this kind of believing, we will have everlasting life. With this kind of believing, in John 7:38-39, we can have rivers of living water flowing from within us -- the Holy Spirit. True belief in Jesus leads us to accept and receive the truth of the great deliverance and power that comes from His kingdom.

In order for us to have faith that leads to action, we must have an object that our faith is attached to. So what is this something to which faith is attached? True understanding. When Abraham believed God. He understood who God was. He understood that God was the creator of the universe and had control over all things. He understood that God was trustworthy. So when God promised that His seed would inherit the world, Abraham understood that even if God took Isaac, He was still going to keep His promise.

Even so for us, when we believe in Jesus we must understand what we are believing in. We must understand what it means that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. If we understand who He is, we will believe what He says and act accordingly. If we do not understand who Jesus is, perhaps we will not believe in the way He expects, perhaps we will not act on what He says, and then we will not see the things He promised in Mark 16.

Then we have to ask, if we are not seeing the signs following us, do we really believe? And, if we are not seeing the signs following us, are we really saved? After all, Jesus did say that these sign SHALL following them that believe. Signs following us is not optional, it is mandatory. As James said, believing will produce outward action.

A New Look at the New Creature

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:37:00 +0000

The following for II Corinthians 5:17 is taken from the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon and opens up a new way of thinking about the new creature. The first part is each word of the King James Bible text followed by the Greek word in parentheses. Then the definition as found in the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon follows. Below the list of words and their Greek counterparts, there is a message about what all this means to me.

Therefore (hoste) - 1 so that, insomuch that. 2 so then, therefore, wherefore.

If Any Man (ei, tis) - 1 whoever, whatever.

In (en, emmeso, ennomos) - A primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest. 1 in, by, with etc.

Christ (Christos) - 1 Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. 2 anointed. Additional Information: Christ = “anointed”.

A New (kainos) - 1 new. 1a as respects form. 1a1 recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn. 1b as respects substance. 1b1 of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of.

Creature (ktisis) - 1 the act of founding, establishing, building etc. 1a the act of creating, creation. 1b creation i.e. thing created. 1b1 of individual things, beings, a creature, a creation. 1b1a anything created. 1b1b after a rabbinical usage (by which a man converted from idolatry to Judaism was called). 1b1c the sum or aggregate of things created. 1c institution, ordinance.

Old Things (archaios) - 1 that has been from the beginning, original, primal, old ancient. 1a of men, things, times, conditions.

Are Passed Away (pererchomai) - 1 to go past, pass by. 1a of persons moving forward. 1a1 to pass by. 1b of time. 1b1 an act continuing for a time. 1c metaph. 1c1 to pass away, perish. 1c2 to pass by (pass over), that is, to neglect, omit, (transgress). 1c3 to be led by, to be carried past, be averted. 2 to come near, come forward, arrive.

Behold (idou) - 1 behold, see, lo.

All Things (pas) - 1 individually. 1a each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything. 2 collectively. 2a some of all types.

Are Become (ginomai) - 1 to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being. 2 to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen. 2a of events. 3 to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage. 3a of men appearing in public. 4 to be made, finished. 4a of miracles, to be performed, wrought. 5 to become, be made.

New (kainos) - 1 new. 1a as respects form. 1a1 recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn. 1b as respects substance. 1b1 of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of.

The actual words:

Hoste ei en Christos kainos ktisis archaios parerchomai idou pas ginomai kainos.

Possible Literal Translation:

Therefore whoever in Christ is of a new kind of thing created. That has been from the beginning, original, primal, passed by, behold every individual thing to become of a new kind.

Possible Interpretation:

Therefore whoever is in Christ, he is a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of act of creation. That which was from the beginning of the old creation, the original and primal things, were passed by, passed over, passed away, when the new creature was made. Now we can see that everything about the new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of act of creation is to be something that was not there before.

Message

Looking up the Greek words in II Corinthians 5:17 really reveals to us the power of what God really wants to do in our lives. There are three key Greek words and a phrase that we need to study in order that we might believe and understand what God is really doing in us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The first word is kainos and is translated "a new." It has the definition "new", but the definition is divided into two part. In respect to form it means "recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn." One of many cars of the same model just coming off the assembly line is an example of this definition. It is recently made, fresh, unused and unworn. But this word also has a second definition as respect to substance. And that is "of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. If the automaker designs a new type of car, the first one that is made as a prototype is an example of this definition. It is something that is of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of, in any part of its substance, it never existed before. Which definition of "kainos" is appropriate here? We know that the physical form of the man is not "recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn". The body is still the same body that will die, but will be glorified when Jesus returns (as Paul says in Romans 8:19-23). We know that the inward man that was in us before Christ came cannot be remade or refreshed. We tried to do that with the law, but it just could not be done (Romans 7). So the definition as regards to form is excluded because it has been judged by the word of God as not workable in our being. We must then use the substance definition -- of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. Paul verifies this in other places (Romans 6 and others), the old man must be crucified. Because of that crucifixion, the substance of who we are -- the inward man -- must be made "of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of" creation. God has to start over with us and make us out of new material. But the new creation that was made was not just made out of new material, it is a totally new kind of being, a new species if you will.

If we doubt that this is so, Paul goes on to add more emphasis to this truth. The second word of interest is the Greek word archaios, used here for "old things." This is the Greek word we get the English words "archaic" and "archeology" from. It means "that has been from the beginning, original, primal, old ancient." This word is speaking of more than of something that we bought last year and is now old. When he uses the word "archaios" here for "old things", he is taking us all the way back to the beginning of creation. He wants us to know that he is not talking about the way things were yesterday, ten years ago or the day we were born. He is taking us all the way back to the day man was created by God in the Garden of Eden. He is going to say that the old things are passed away. We must understand that he is not talking about the old things that are in our individual lives. He is talking about the bad things that were in the original man. As Paul also said in Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin...." But this is good news for us. It means He is not just cleaning up the messes we've made, but He is going back to the source of all our problems and removing the cause -- Adam's original sin.

So we must go on to understand what God is really doing with these old things. The third word we are interested in is pererchomai translated "are passed away." It is defined as "1 to go past, pass by. 1a of persons moving forward. 1a1 to pass by. 1b of time. 1b1 an act continuing for a time. 1c metaph. 1c1 to pass away, perish. 1c2 to pass by (pass over), that is, to neglect, omit, (transgress). 1c3 to be led by, to be carried past, be averted. 2 to come near, come forward, arrive." The King James interprets his next words as "passed away," but that is tricky for us. When we hear that phrase, we think of someone dying, because that is what we say when someone dies. We say that they passed away. So that makes us think that Paul is saying that the old nature is dying away within us. But that's not what is being said here. This word "pererchomai," translated "are passed away," has more to do with physical movement. It's like when we go to the grocery store and we pass by or pass over the things we do not want. Also, we have already established that God is making a totally new creature, so Paul cannot be talking about something that's dying away within us. So when we see that he said "old things are passed away," what he really said was that God passed over, passed by, and refused to take in, the original, primal, ancient things that were in us before when He made the new creature within us. The old man is not slowly dying within us. God is going all the way back to the beginning, He is destroying the original creation, and He is creating a new creature that does not have the bad parts of the original creation. You can think of it like in the movie Back To The Future where the worry was that if you go back in time and interact with the past, you could change the timeline. God Himself is going all the way back to the beginning of time and changing the timeline for us. He is destroying the old man and making us completely brand new with none of the qualities of the old creation. And if we continue to doubt, he adds idou pas ginomai kainos," interpreted: You can see that every little thing within us has been made of things that are of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of.

Here is an alternate interpretation of this scripture:

Therefore whoever is in Christ, he is a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of creature. That which was from the beginning of the old creation, the original and primal things, were passed by when the new creature was made. Now we can see that everything about the new creature is to be something that is of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of substance.

So are you continuing to wallow around in the old man since coming to Christ? Well, stop it! God did not call you to do that.

Freedom From Sin Awareness Part 5 - Coming To The Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:08:00 +0000

So how do we come to this freedom from the awareness of sin? Jesus himself said we must be born again to see and enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3,5). He also said that He would make us free from servanthood to sin: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:34-36). The Apostle Paul said in Romans 6 that we have died to sin and have been resurrected to righteousness. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:1-4). We must come to an understanding that the true process of new birth involves death to sin and resurrection to righteousness.

So often we think coming to Christ is like joining the country club or the Kiwanis. We decide we want to join, make a declaration of our intentions to abide by the rules of the club, and we're in. But coming to Christ is not a decision and this decision will not get us into the kingdom of God. Coming to Christ is not just coming to a mental agreement with the principles of the Gospel. We must be born again. Jesus must free us from being servants of sin. The Spirit of God must come into us and remove the awareness of sin from us and bring us to the awareness of righteousness. The old man must die and the new man must come to life. We must come boldly to the throne of God and draw near with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, and receive of God the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-22). These things are not allegories or pretty words. These are things that must literally happen to us as part of our conversion to Christ. If we haven't come to these things we haven't come to Christ. So when we come to Christ we must have this understanding. We must be seeking more than a ticket to heaven. We must be tired of being totally engulfed in and surrounded by sin. When we are seeking God, we must be ready for the death of the old man and the resurrection of the new man. We must come boldly to the throne of God.

But some are skeptical. It is impossible for some to believe that we can be made free from the awareness of sin. But it is true. We must be like Abraham who believed a God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which be not as though they were. Like Abraham we must not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but rather be fully persuaded that what God has promised He is also able to perform (Romans 4:17-22). Like the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we must believe in things beyond what we can see. We must believe. We must believe that it is the plan of God to deliver us from the awareness of sin unto the awareness of righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit. God does not intend for us to live our Christian lives in despair because of our supposed powerlessness over sin. He wants us to walk in victory over sin. But because so many Christians do not believe this, we see destruction and despair within the church. Sin is as rampant in the church as without. We must believe that all these things are true! We must believe so we can walk in the glory of God.

So often we are afraid to receive these things because we think we are making ourselves into something greater than we are, or that we are intruding into territory in which we don't belong. But the writer of Hebrews tells us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). But if we refuse to receive God's will, we are in rebellion against God. "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:26-29). Woe unto us if we fail to yield to God's will, for indeed He has planned from the beginning of the world for our hearts to be made free from the awareness of sin and that we live in the awareness of righteousness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Freedom From Sin Awareness Part 4 - God Has A Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:48:00 +0000

So what is God's plan? "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." (Ephesians 1:10-12). It is so much to the praise of God's glory that He is able and willing to remove the awareness of sin from us. It is so much to the praise of God's glory that not only are these things declared but are also made reality within us.

Paul prays that the eyes of our enlightenment would be opened to know that there is a calling that has great hope, that the saints have an inheritance that is rich in glory, and that God has exercised exceeding great power to us who believe. The great power that is working in us is the power that also worked in Christ when God raised Him from the dead (Ephesians 1:18-20). The same power that placed Jesus in the heavenly places at God's right hand also places us there (Ephesians 2:6). This is God's will -- that we would experience within ourselves the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that we should be seated in the heavenlies with Christ. That we would have the awareness of Christ within us rather than the awareness of sin. That after God had implanted within us good and evil, He is able to remove from us the evil and keep the good intact.

So we see the great plan of God. To know God, we had to know good. To know good, we had to know evil. God allowed us to receive both good and evil in the Garden, but He also made plans to remove the evil from us in the fullness of time by sending Jesus. So now, we are able to know good and God and He has removed the awareness of sin from us. This is such a marvelous and great plan. It is beyond our comprehension. God was in control of our sin in the Garden. He is in control of our righteousness now. It is so glorious to know that God is in control of all of this. If the sureness of our sin was under God's control, then the sureness of our righteousness is under God's control. Our righteousness is sure! It is sure by the preordained plan of God. We are now made free from the awareness of sin in our hearts so we can walk in the righteousness of God.

So Paul tells us in Romans 8 that we are no longer subject to the law that brought us the awareness of sin. We have been given the Spirit of life, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit that frees us from the law of sin and death. We are no longer under condemnation because we no longer live in the flesh, but in the Spirit. God has killed the old man (the flesh) and brought to life a new man within us (the Spirit) by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is this transformation (rebirth?) that frees us from the awareness of sin. We fulfill the righteousness that was contained in the law because the awareness of sin has been extracted from us, we're free from the old law that brought sin and death. It is impossible for me to express to you the glory and the magnitude of what this means. I can only say what Paul said in Romans 8:9: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you." We now dwell in the awareness of righteousness in the Spirit rather than the awareness of sin in the flesh.

This is the plan of God.

Freedom From Sin Awareness Part 3 - God Is In Control

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:40:00 +0000

The events in the Garden of Eden -- God giving Adam the law not to eat of the tree and Adam disobeying that law -- seem at first to be a cruel joke played on man by God or a cosmic accident God did not see coming. But in truth all this works toward the great plan God has had for us from the beginning. God is not God if He is not in full control of everything. Adam's sin was not an accident that God had to scramble to find an answer for, but was rather the very plan of God from the beginning. Adam's sin works the righteousness of God and the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20) We have to understand that in the Garden, we could not know God in the condition we were in at the time. And it was God's desire that we would truly know Him. But we cannot know God without knowing righteousness. And we cannot truly know righteousness without knowing evil. So God gave the law and the knowledge of good and evil is planted within us.

(God could have created Adam without sin or the ability to sin, but in that condition we could not know God and it would not have shown forth His glory or power. Just imagine how much power it takes to remove sin from and make righteous a man that was totally overwhelmed by sin! God receives great glory in this accomplishment. This is why we must understand that the work of Jesus did not just free us from sin in declaration only, but also in deed.)

So we see in Ephesians 1 that God indeed is in control of all things. You see, before God had founded the world, He had chosen us in Him to be holy and without blame. Before the world began, he predetermined that we would be adopted as His children and that He would bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. For these things to come to pass, though (because we could not know God without knowing good and we could not know good without knowing evil), Adam had to be created in sin, he had to be implanted with the knowledge of good and evil, and then he had to be set on the path to total destruction. For without all this, Adam could not know God, even though Adam walked with Him in the Garden every day. For if Adam had known God, he would not have eaten the fruit, even with the law. But God wants us to know Him. This was also God's plan from the beginning. Was He not the one who gave Adam the law about the tree? Did God not know that giving Adam the law would make him sin? God knew this and intended it to be.

So, awakening Adam's awareness to good and evil was all part of the plan. And lest we wonder if these things can be true, lest we wonder if God really does want us to know Him and walk in His blessing, Paul tells us that all these blessings are after the good pleasure of His will. He is not doing these things begrudgingly. He is not huffing and puffing in disgust over our sin. This is His will! Everything that has happened over the course of history is working toward His plan. And He has made it known unto us "according to the good pleasure which He hath purposed in himself." Pulling us out of sin and making us holy and without blame is His will that He is doing in good pleasure. Blessing us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places is His predetermined plan. It was His purpose from the beginning that these blessings would be so. But we could not be holy and without blame, or be blessed with His spiritual blessings, if we had not been implanted with the knowledge of good and evil. God is in control and everything is going as planned. To me it is a glorious thing to know that God works all things after the counsel of His own will, even sin. (Ephesians 1:11).

Freedom From Sin Awareness Part 2 - Awareness in Action

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:38:00 +0000

It's kind of hard for us to believe that we can be made free from the awareness of sin in our hearts. Where do we see this in action? One major place is in John 8:1-11. When the Pharisees brought to Jesus the woman taken in adultery, on display for us was this truth in action. The Pharisees had the awareness of sin in their own hearts and so it was easy for them to see this woman's sin. It was also easy for them to see their own sin when they were forced to look at themselves. Jesus, on the other hand, did not have the awareness if sin in His heart. Because of this, he did not focus on this woman's sin. Instead, He focused on the possibility of righteousness for this woman. I used to think that Jesus forgave this woman because He had a forgiving heart. Now I see that Jesus forgave her because He did not have sin awareness in His heart, but rather the awareness of righteousness.

So, where did the awareness of sin come from? The Apostle Paul addresses this issue interestingly in the seventh chapter of Romans. He says the law made him aware of sin. "For I was alive without the law once," Paul says in verse nine, "But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." What is the law? We often think of this in terms of the law of Moses, and certainly this statement is aluding to it to some extent. But he is really talking about law in a general sense. Basically, law is our attempt to regulate our behavior by our own efforts. In order for us to do that, though, we have to establish a set of behaviors that are allowed and a set that are not allowed. The trouble is that, in the absense of God's righteousness in our hearts, we can only do what we know about from our set of allowed and disallowed behaviors. We can't do any more good than what is listed in our allowed set of behaviors, and once we see our list of disallowed behaviors, our awareness draws us to those behaviors and we do not have the ability to resist. So our human efforts to regulate ourselves makes us aware of sin, but can't stop it.

Where do we see this in action? In Genesis 2:16-17 we read: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Here we see the first law. God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here we also see the first sin. In chapter three we see that the man did eat the fruit of the forbidden tree and began receiving the wages of sin. Adam did not know sin until God gave him a law. Though the law is not sin and did not cause the sin, it could not instill righteousness in Adam's heart. Instead, the law revealed and magnified the awareness of sin that was already in Adam's heart and he followed after it.

Freedom From Sin Awareness Part 1 - Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:12:00 +0000

In Hebrews chapters nine and ten the writer uses the word "conscience" four times. This is a very curious word and understanding what the writer of Hebrews is saying with this word opens up a fresh understanding of God's will for us.

The word "conscience" comes from the Greek word "suneidesis." Strong's Greek Concordance gives this word the meaning: 1 the consciousness of anything. 2 the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other. 2a the conscience.

So then the writer of Hebrews uses this word four times in this short discourse and is telling us something magnificent. In 9:9 he says that the gifts and sacrifices that were offered in the first tabernacle could not make the one who made the sacrifice perfect as pertaining to the conscience. We might first think that he is talking about definition 2 above. But what if he is not? He could be speaking of our awareness -- definition 1 above. The sacrifices of the old law could not make our awareness perfect. Those sacrifices could not take away the awareness of sin.

But the answer is in verses 13 and 14 of chapter nine. He said that if the blood of bulls and goats can sanctify us to the purification of the flesh, how much more can the perfect blood of Jesus purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Purge our conscience? He means that God wants to, through Jesus' blood, cleanse our minds from awareness of sin. He wants to take sin out of our minds. So that once the sin awareness is removed from our minds, we can freely serve the living God.

He then asks a question in 10:2. He asked that if the sacrifices of the old law could make the offerers perfect, would not they have ceased to be offered? Because if those sacrifices had any value they would have freed the one offering them from the conscience of, or the awareness of, sin, so that sin would never come back. But the offerings prescribed by the law do not have this power. But Jesus' blood does. Jesus' blood can and will free us from the awareness of sin.

So the writer of Hebrews declares (10:19-22): "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Sprinkled from an evil conscience? God has, by the blood of Jesus, removed the awareness of evil out of our hearts. Because of this, we can come in full assurance of faith to the throne of God. Not only can we, but God implores us to do so.

Faith Is The Confirmation Letter

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:55:00 +0000

Most of us are familiar with Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This passage has always seemed kind of cryptic to me, and maybe it has to you, too. But that's because we have an incorrect understanding of faith. We think faith is something we work up within ourselves in hopes that God will give us something. But that's not it at all.

It's kind of like this. If you order a subscription to Time Magazine, you fill out the order form and send the money. In a week or two, you will receive a confirmation letter stating that you are entitled to so many issues of Time Magazine sent to you in the mail each week. This confirmation letter is important. It is the legal evidence of your right to receive those magazines. If for some reason there is a dispute and you need to go to court, the confirmation letter becomes the substance of your legal rights in regards to Time Magazine. Having a copy of the magazine in your possession is not evidence of your legal rights. Only the confirmation letter is.

It's the same way with faith. When the price has been paid (and it has through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and a declaration has been made by God (and there are many declarations in the Word) that we are to receive some spiritual or physical blessing from Him, God sends us faith as the confirmation letter that we will receive that blessing from God. God sends to us true belief in a thing as confirmation.

When the woman with the issue of blood knew in her heart that if she touched the hem of Jesus' garment that she would be healed, that faith was sent to her by God. In turn, when she was healed, Jesus told her that her faith had healed her. This is a statement He made to several people when He healed them. Why? Because having faith given by God is the confirmation that the price has been paid. It is the confirmation letter that you are entitled. It is the ticket that will get you in. Faith is not what we can conjur up to convince God, it is a gift He gives us as confirmation when He declares a blessing over our lives.

So what does this mean for us today? We have to understand that success in a thing, or lack thereof, is not evidence of God's blessing or denial. It is possible to be successful in many things, even ministry, and not have the blessing of God. It is also possible to be in apparent abstract failure in a thing that most certainly is God's gift to us. This is important because Satan wants to steal our faith. He wants us to throw away our confirmation letter. He wants us to think that because we have not been healed, or delivered, or we're not presently successful at what God has called us to do, then it's not true. But the day will come that God is going to send His heavenly messenger to us to give us that which He has promised, will we be able to present the confirmation letter -- faith -- to receive God's delivery?

Glorifying God In Our Hearts

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and
to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave
them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their
own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for
ever. Amen. - Romans 1:21-25.

It's easy for us to look at this scripture, along with those that follow right after it, and think this is talking about the homosexuals and thieves and liars and murderers of the world. And certainly if we continue down the path described by these verses, that's what we will become. But this scripture has a more subtle message that hits a bit closer to home if we are willing to listen to it.
The key word here is the word "glorified" found in verse 21. Some translations and paraphrases of the Bible use the word "worship" here. But worship carries with it the connotation of action. That is, we physically do things like bow our knees or say praiseful words. The Greek word here for "glorified" is "doxazo." It means, according to my Strongs Enhanced Lexicon, "1 to think, suppose, be of opinion. 2 to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate. 3 to honour, do honour to, hold in honour." Basically Paul is talking about how we esteem God in our hearts.

How does this speak to me? How many times have I questioned the Word of God? How many times have I thought that maybe I'll do what God says, or maybe I won't, (or I at least have to think about it)? How much have I treated God like any human being, or worse, my animals and toys? Isn't this what Paul is saying in verse 23? Instead of thinking of God with the infinite honor He deserves as God, we look at Him as a human being that we can deal with how we want. Sometimes we even say when we pray that we talk to God like any other person. NOT! He is not any other person, He's God! True, we can come boldly to the throne. But He is not just any other person.

So we have to honor Him in our hearts as the all-knowing, all-powerful God He is, and we have to be appreciative (thankful) of all that He has given us. If He says by the writings of Peter that He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2); if Paul writes that if we are in Christ, we are totally new created beings (2 Corinthians 5:17); if Jesus tells us that if we believe on Him we will have rivers of living water flowing from within us (John 7:38); are we going to be ungrateful children and not receive it? But that's what we are! How many of us are receiving and living these words? Instead of saying to God, "Thank you for giving me a gift and opportunity for blessing and life," we say, "I just don't know if this word from God is true. Maybe I can find something better in my own abilities and efforts."

It's no wonder God gives us over to our own imaginations. If we think the creature can take care of us better that God, He'll just let us go. Let us worship the creature. Everything is about taking care of our natural existence, anyway, right? Isn't it your own hard work that is going to keep you alive? The truth of God is that He wants to take care of us (Matthew 6:24-34). But we say, "No! It's by my hard work!" We worship what this creature can do. We worhip our own hard work. We make the truth of God into a lie.

My testimony of this is that in the summer after I graduated from high school, I knew in my heart that God was calling me to minister His word through music. To this day, some of my best songs were written that summer. But there was a point where my parents sat me down and said I had to go to work. Perhaps it was just the immaturity of my own heart, but I felt like that day that I had to choose between doing God's will and doing theirs. (Maybe if someone had said that I needed a job, but they would help me follow God's leading, too, things would have been different. Mayby I would not have felt that I chose the creature over God.) So not knowing what to do and not having enough confidence in God's Word in me, I choose the other way. I did not glorify God as god in my heart. From that day, I've felt a certain amount of darkness over my heart. Things haven't been the same. The music has not been the same. (That was a long time ago!) I long for the day when I can honor God in my heart and have the darkness lifted. Perhaps that day is today.

An Instrument of God's Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:52:00 +0000

I think that the music industry's hustle-and-bustle, and its work at making all music fit into a small, marketable package, has corrupted our enjoyment and understanding of music. It's like going to southeastern Tennessee and being so caught up in the shops and amusements of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and completely missing the overwhelming goodness and beauty that is the Great Smoky Mountains. Or going out west and having our senses hijacked by Las Vegas when we could be enjoying the real God-given beauty of the Grand Canyon. Our hearts and minds have become so corrupted by the music industry that we are missing the real beauty of a soul that is singing of the wonders of salvation.

Even as singers and musicians we often latch onto the music industry's imitation of beauty rather than letting the sound of music flow out from our Spirit-lifted souls. I'm guilty. When I was 17 (28 years ago), the music of God was flowing out of my soul. But after I went to college and learned music, I started thinking of it as a way to make a living and started conforming myself to the industry. (That's not to say that there was anything wrong with going to college and learning music. That part of it actually helps me understand better the music God is trying to communicate with me.) But, alas, the music I have was not a fit for the music industry. And I certainly did not have the heart to chase after what they are looking for. Unfortunately, setting my heart in that direction closed up the river of music that flowed in my soul.

But I am blessed. God was merciful enough to not allow me to get entangled in that which I did not belong. God also was faithful to reveal to me, even when I was going in the wrong direction, the true direction for His music in me. But the greatest blessing of all is that God still desires that I come boldly to His throne, in full assurance of faith, to receive the great beauty that is His music.

So, now, after twenty years of wandering in the wilderness, He is beginning to set me on the right path. I want my heart to be free to hear His music. I want His music to flow from my soul. I want the layers of crust to be removed from my innermost being so I can be in Him. I want to hear God's beauty, not man's. I want to be an instrument of God's beauty in the church and the world.

A Change From God

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Prater) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:42:00 +0000

I used to have a blog here called Excellent in Christian Music. But that blog was more industry-centric. By that I mean that my own thoughts about excellent Christian music had more to do with following an industry standard for great music -- as if the music industry had invented music and holds the standard for its greatness. But I have changed. The music industry did not invent music, God did. The music industry does not hold the standard for greatness, God does. The music industry is not the life-giving source for music, God is. So, I am changing (it's still a work in progress) the way I look at music, mine and everyone else's. This blog, I suppose, will be a record of this journey.