{"id":337,"date":"2021-01-20T09:56:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T09:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/176.32.230.18\/swordmagazine.net\/?p=337"},"modified":"2021-02-21T20:12:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T20:12:09","slug":"before-and-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/?p=337","title":{"rendered":"Editorial – Before and After"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“… Such were some of you”. Sinners can write their own history \u2013 or they can let Jesus write their future!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sober little headstone is multiplied in cemeteries around the world \u2013 suggesting multiple burial places for the deceased! Its weathered message is addressed to any casual visitor: Remember Man as you go by. As you are now so once was I. As I am now so shall you be. Prepare yourself to follow me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether the original arose from the regrets of one facing death or a stonemason indulging his black humour matters not; its thought-out message is clear “If you are reading this, you are living through your ‘before’ – but are you ready for your ‘after’?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Thought out\u2026\u2019 \u2013 now there\u2019s a novel idea for a \u2018feelings-driven generation\u2019!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For generations past, sanity has been under attack from twisted ideas that have been separated from the truth. If you believe there is no such thing as sin, but you desire to correct the glaring inequities between the super-rich and the poor, then you need a system of enforced re-distribution of wealth whereby all ownership passes from the individual to the state. Tragically, this good idea is undermined by the bit you haven\u2019t thought out: \u201cSin\u201d, observed Oswald Chambers, \u201chas made the basis of everything wild and not rational<\/em>\u201d.You didn\u2019t think of that because, of course, you calculated without factoring in the reality of sin. Thus, after 14 million of your own people have been murdered to protect your idea, you are bewildered to discover that, whilst all animals are equal, each one is determined to be more equal than the others and the ones with the guns are running the show\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guns come in many forms. Sometimes the weapons by which minorities wield power at the expense of sanity (and the masses) are ungodly laws \u2013 or political correctness waiting to become law. \u201cLaws are for law-breakers<\/em>\u201d, Paul the apostle ironically observed when he was the just political prisoner of unjust Nero. The apostle even insisted that Christians should pray \u201cfor kings and all those in authority<\/em>\u201d \u2013 irrespective of our politics or the ungodliness of whatever mad emperor compels global recognition of his horse as a Senator! Sad old Nero miscalculated. Truth, you see, is binary. It forces its every opponent to choose between reality and fiction, between right and wrong, between \u2018true\u2019 and \u2018false\u2019 \u2013 between \u2018horse\u2019 and \u2018cabinet minister\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently signed up for an online resource which required me to state whether I was \u2018male\u2019, \u2018female\u2019 or \u2018nonbinary\u2019\u2026 It occurred to me that \u2018animal, vegetable or mineral\u2019 would have been equally logical options\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engage your brain! <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers\u2026<\/em>\u201d(2 Corinthians 4:4), which, being interpreted, means: \u2018thinking without God\u2019s help is\u2026 not thinking<\/em>\u2019. If someone is seeking to force your submission to their ideology \u2013 Marxist or otherwise \u2013 their worst nightmare is that you will engage your brain with reality, instead of what you are permitted to think. Ideology can only control an unthinking society, and sane thinking starts from God\u2019s end: \u201cTrust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths<\/em>\u201d (Proverbs 3:5-6). \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is insight<\/em>\u201d (Proverbs 9:10). To calculate, to plan, to debate, to discuss, to think \u2013 but without God \u2013 is to become prisoners of our own limited intelligence. We can see the \u2018wisdom\u2019 in removing bad government, in working to undermine an evil ruler, but it never occurs to us that God (whom we have already discounted) might have a plan which that government will (unwittingly) advance. The thing is\u2026 wisdom also is binary. Either it is from God and is \u201c\u2026pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere<\/em>\u201d or, by default, it has a more sinister source: \u201c\u2026earthly, unspiritual, demonic<\/em>\u201d (James 3:15-17). You can get your wisdom from God or\u2026 from the devil. <\/strong>There is no non-binary option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a very few, like Jeremiah and Daniel, realised that God had raised up Nebuchadnezzar, not because the tyrant had divine approval, but to fulfil a twofold divine purpose. God made this pagan ruler His agent to preserve (in Babylon!) a remnant of faithful Jews who would, seven decades later, re-populate the Promised Land and re-build Jerusalem\u2019s walls to the glory of God. Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s limited brain thought these Jews were merely his prisoners! God\u2019s secondary purpose was righteous judgment. His own people had, for generations, lived like the ancient Canaanitesand misrepresented their Holy God to the surrounding pagan societies. God\u2019s patience had called time on their godless fiction\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch Dr Who,five decades into his career, suddenly morph into womanhood, but fiction can\u2019t become the new fact. You can install all the ungodly laws you like, you can enjoy the backing of the government and enforcement by the police, but falsedoes not miraculously become true, fiction does not become realityand evilcan\u2019t reinvent itself as the new good\u2013 unless God is convinced. Go on then\u2026 insist that weightlessnessis the new gravity, but don\u2019t put it to the test without a supporting ambulance \u2013 or an undertaker. Back to that headstone\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captives of fiction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once upon a time\u2026 (Disney was not involved, but there was a happy ever after), there was a group of truly blessed men in a sex-obsessed city in Greece \u2013 you see\u2026 (let\u2019s not be ashamed to tell it) they had walked away from their same-sex lifestyle<\/strong>… They had had a \u2018before\u2019; now they had an \u2018after\u2019. The apostle notes their transformation \u2013 along with a crowd of other sinners \u2013 idolaters, adulterers, thieves, drunkards, swindlers \u2013 all changed by meeting Jesus. He goes so far as to say they have been washed, set apart for God, justified (themselves, not their sin) and that God Himself has made this happen for them. \u201cSuch were some of you<\/em>\u201d, Paul said, but that was then, this is now\u2026 Now they are \u2018saints\u2019, holy people \u2013 not superior, just different \u2013 called out by God and empowered to live as His children; lighting the path for others. If Paul sounds patronising to modern ears, he referred to himself as \u201cthe chief of sinners\u201d: \u201cI was once a violent man and a blasphemer\u2026 but I received mercy\u2026<\/em>\u201d. Here\u2019s the point, neither Paul nor the Corinthianmen had been born violent, blasphemous or\u2026 homosexual. God\u2019s kindness made both \u2018choice\u2019 and \u2018change\u2019 possible for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who lacks compassion more than the \u2018father of lies\u2019 (one of Jesus\u2019 own names for the devil)? Truth and love are inseparable because God is the God of Truth and \u201cGod is love\u201d.When people are being held captive by lies and clever fictions that maintain an entirely false \u2018reality\u2019, so that they believe that personal choice and change are impossible, whoever speaks for God will love them enough to speak the truth in love and stand against the fiction. Let\u2019s see how God\u2019s Word \u2013 the product of the most supreme Love and unchanging Truth \u2013 can help us sort fact from fiction, as the first step towards freedom for the devil\u2019s captives\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with a shocking question it seems no-one is asking because most (even evangelicals) have already assumed the answer: \u2018Is there such a thing as a homosexual<\/em>?\u2019Suddenly, the elephant in the room can\u2019t be ignored. Suddenly the discussion that has been stifled \u2013 forbidden even \u2013 for so long starts to flow again\u2026 Is it \u2018homophobic\u2019 to ask the question \u2013 or just plain merciful? Is homosexual behaviour a matter of identity or of choice? Let\u2019s be careful Christians here, because the answer \u2013 one way or the other \u2013 will be a massive theological statement. The question can\u2019t be answered without saying something about God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost immediately, the shouting begins: \u201cIt\u2019s DNA!!\u2026 It\u2019s congenital!!\u2026 Offers of \u2018therapy\u2019 are cruel \u2013 you can\u2019t heal a person\u2019s identity!!\u2026\u201d Decibels are proportionate to weakness of argument<\/strong>. Fear also generates emotional noise. When we sinners take refuge in a lie, the truth uncovers our hiding place and we need to face reality \u2013 and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God: our hiding place<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mercifully, (hold that word) the Bible helps us to see that the \u2018identity\u2019 arguments are too weak to stand \u2013 and it offers a far better hiding place than lies\u2026 God Himself.  Quite simply, the Bible helps because of its preoccupation with God \u2013 His character,His love, His holiness and His merciful intentions towards the human race.Let\u2019s join some dots\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is love\u2026 He does not change; never has, never will\u2026 He is righteous in all His ways \u2013 not something that can be said of any human being. So, if God Himself is the standard of righteousness and, if \u201call scripture is God-breathed<\/em>\u201d then Leviticus 18:22 is a revelation of God\u2019s kindness, not His unfairness \u2013 far less His \u2018homophobia\u2019. (To the best of my knowledge, God is not afraid of anyone\u2026) When He commands \u201cYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination<\/em>\u201d, He\u2019s protecting His separated people from the self-destructive ways of their neighbours \u2013 that they may be a \u201clight to the nations\u201d. He is an educating God. He\u2019s opposed to darkness, ignorance, demonic fiction and every lie that presents an evil as something \u2018OK\u2019. It\u2019s not OK with God if sinners destroy themselves through ignorance when He has made the ultimate sacrifice to save them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will always be self-righteous people who think they have a right to condemn others \u2013 huge chunks of the New Testament and Jesus\u2019 own teachings warned against that fakery. Paul was exactly that kind of violent hypocrite until He met Jesus<\/strong>.True Christians are too appalled by their own sinfulness and too grateful for God\u2019s mercy to be condemning of other people \u2013 far less to beat them up for their chosen lifestyle. If we ignore God\u2019s wisdom for how we use our bodies we will sure enough beat ourselves up without any help from religious hypocrites\u2026 God is not fooled by self-righteousness \u2013 He hates it as much as any sin, sexual or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New person, new life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a great and powerful truth at stake here. The history of true Christianity is the story of countless people who have been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus changes sinners into saints (they certainly don\u2019t get there by their own good deeds). \u201c\u2026if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether – the past is \ufb01nished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing\u2026<\/em>\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:17 \u2013 Phillips).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If those Corinthian men had thought their lifestyle was truly \u2018gay\u2019 they would never have left it behind. Jesus gave their \u2018before\u2019 an \u2018after\u2019 \u2013 and not only for this life: \u201cI tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life<\/em>\u201d (John 5:24 \u2013 NLT). Trust Jesus to give even your \u2018after\u2019 an \u2018after\u2019 \u2013 forever with the Lord!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“… Such were some of you”. Sinners can write their own history \u2013 or they can let Jesus write their future! A sober little headstone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[55],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":930,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions\/930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swordmagazine.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}