Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Bottom Line Spirituality: Worldly and Godly Thinking

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Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

Remember: The DISCIPLE-SHIFT

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The Virtual Small Group

Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.

Jesus took common words and gave them the spiritual meaning of being in the Presence of the Spirit.  Here the word “sin” means not experiencing the Presence rather than an immoral act.

The Gospel of grace is: rather than us trying to build a life of faith for God, we become a life of faith by God when consciously feeling the Faith He has in us.

PROPER 6 Luke 7:36-8:3  “She began to wet his feet with her tears.”  Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

In today’s story we have a woman who washed and wiped the feet of Jesus. She is forgiven. The question that arises is when was she forgiven? The old classic response is she repented and was then forgiven by Jesus. This is the way much of the church and bible teachers look at what happened.

Spirituality looks at forgiveness differently. It looks at confession as an act of grace not of legalism. John tells us Jesus was full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Grace comes by entering His Presence. Truth is to know the difference between being out of the Presence in legalism and being in to experience His grace. In legalism, we repent to be forgiven. In grace, we receive forgiveness in order to repent.

In the New Covenant we have been forgiven two thousand years ago from the cross. Everyone is forgiven by grace. This does not mean everyone is forgiven. It means everyone who opens their heart to His grace and Love experience forgiveness to repent. We can either repent to a close friend who is willing to give His life for us. Or we can, in The Old Covenant, repent before a hard nosed Judge who has spurts of anger, rage and blame. This is a judge who is exacting and demands a perfect confession or no forgiveness.

The Old Covenant thinking is the woman is forgiven because she is wiping His feet out of guilt for her sins. In the New Covenant she is wiping His feet out of gratitude because she already has been forgiven of all her sins.

One of the problems is not to recognize we have two Covenants, one Old the other New. One is given to us through the Laws of Moses. The other comes to us through the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. This means, for those who follow the Old Covenant, the Bible is the Word of God. For those who follow the New Covenant, Jesus is the Word of God. John 1:1

Jesus as the Word of God means all law and the prophets in the Bible both the Old and the New are changed to “doing the loving thing”.  Anything in Scripture that is not doing the loving thing is from the Old. Christians are to follow the Love Jesus gives us through the New Covenant.

A good example of this is the word “repent”. In the scriptures, before the death and resurrection of Jesus, “repent” meant confessing our sins. In the grace of Jesus Christ, the Greek word “metanoia” can be translated to mean “change our way of thinking”.  Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to this world. The world says we have to do something to be in God’s Presence. Paul tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Being transformed means to be in the Sprit first and then to respond in the world.

The Old Covenant way is to do the will of God to get into the Presence. Jesus said, “I am the Way”. He did not mean the path of legalism but the way of Grace. The New Covenant way is to become open to the Presence of God to do His will. This is what Jesus means when he tells us, “apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Not being transformed is a life built on sand. A life not used to being in the Presence finds life difficult to withstand, even in moments of the slightest disturbances. Being transformed is building a life with a deep and sure foundation. When the storm hits us, our life stands.

What difference does a life in legalism or a shift into the Spirit of grace make for you?

Galatians 2:16: We know a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith (the conscious feeling of Gods Love) in Jesus Christ. Spirituality can change our life! We can move from trying to follow the law to finding grace to follow the Law of Love.

THE DISCIPLE-SHIFT: The Virtual Small Group:  Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.