Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur
Cincotti. 02/25/2024
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Study Discussion at: Ritual, Form and Tradition Podcast
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Ritual, Form and Tradition
“having a form of
godliness but denying its power. II
Tim. 3:5
In the last study we looked
at two spiritual dynamics that seem to be at odds with each other; “the fear
or the LORD” and “the joy of the LORD.” We
noticed that, though they be in tension, they are both truths that we embrace
and must find harmony with.
We observed that “the fear
of the LORD” is
associated with wisdom, and “the joy of the LORD” is
associated with strength and often times victory in battle; even passionate
celebration.
A place where we found them
manifest in the same moment was in Mt. 28:8 at the first inclinations of the
resurrection, “And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and
great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.” This word would
be called, “the gospel.”
In our walk of faith we are
called to know about God; His ways, character and design. This knowing about
God may constitute wisdom, and we have seen that wisdom is good, but there is a
higher calling on our souls. Satan and demons know about God; Eze 28:12 says, “You
were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.”
“Orthodoxy,
or right opinion, is at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right
tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist
without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love
or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this. John Wesley
Therefore, Jesus calls us to
a higher place of actually knowing God intimately: Jn. 17:3 “And this is
eternal life, that we may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
You have sent.”
This precipitates great joy
because of the victory that we have in Christ
over sin, hell and the grave.
I Cor. 15:57, “But thanks be
to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I Jn. 5:4, “For whatever is
born of God overcomes the world. And this
is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”
In the breath of our earthly relationship with Christ, which
is yet veiled, we may often drift to one extreme or the other. Typically the
movement is from joy to wisdom. When we are first saved there is great joy in
redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and the new life offered to us. The long
process of sanctification can stifle that joy which we often try to patch up
with knowledge or wisdom. But some believers may remain in a euphoric state –
of sorts – and never mature to a place of knowing God by discovery.
Though our first point of contact with knowing God is the
Scripture, we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” as we apply the
Scriptures to the circumstances of life, pursuing Christ-likeness. Knowing
Christ is living what Christ lived while among us and responding as He did. So
Paul writes, in Ph. 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering…” the full orb of human
experience.
This leads us to another similar manner in which we may
drift from a place of freedom in Christ, which is expressed by the leading of
the Holy Spirit to a place of ritual, form and resting upon tradition.
“Every great move of God
begins in a cave and ends in a cathedral.”
James Finn
Relying upon God, with
reckless abandonment, while hiding in the cave of Adullam, and running from the
tyranny of an apostate king is scary. It might just increase your
cardiovascular.
My intention is not to
criticize the liturgical church. There is great freedom to be found in living
by a prescribed order. In giving Israel the law God introduced a rhythm of
life that was healthy and stabilizing. The keeping of the feasts was to
stir Israel to remembrance knowing that a drift may occur in
individuals, as well as from generation to generation.
But we were never intended to
live only in remembrance, but in a present engagement with the living
God.
Suzanna and I celebrate our
anniversary, birthdays and Valentine’s Day because, “what you fail to celebrate
will move away from you,” Pr. Finn. But the health of our marriage is formed in
our daily, moment-by-moment, bonding experiences.
The free-wheeling, hear from
the Holy Ghost, swinging from the chandlers church has liabilities too, and
those liabilities often manifest themselves in the form of abuses; just
assuredly as King David had liabilities and abuses.
Let’s be circumspect for a
moment. In as much as we are called to know God intimately, how do we wish to
be known; stereotyped and easily categorized, exploited like a rock star,
casually encountered and easily dismissed, or fully, objectively, tenderly and
perfectly, “accepted in the Beloved.” Eph. 1:6
“For now we see in a
mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I now in part, but then I shall know
just as I also am known.” I Cor. 13:12
And this is the “mirror
dimly” problem. We live in this tension between, “God is the same yesterday,
today and forever” and “God, who made the world and everything in it,
since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with
hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands as though He needed anything, since
He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” Acts. 17:24,25
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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