I'd like to wish a meaningful spring
Holy Day season to any readers who are celebrating the Days of
Unleavened Bread (DUB). Especially at this time of year, we should remember
the great sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us and the hope His
resurrection gives us. I hope you find some quiet time to reflect
upon both of these amazing truths. On a physical level, I hope you
find some quiet time, period.
For me, there was not much rest around
the DUB. I spent most of my spare waking moments cleaning crumbs from
every nook and cranny of my house. I'd meditate on my spiritual state
while wiping down the pantry, only to get distracted moments later.
I'd try again later that evening and dose off, drained from the extra
housework. This cycle continued until Passover, where I was almost
thankful for the cold water in the footwashing basin that jolted me
into alertness.
Afterwards, I'd race home to start
preparing for the Night to Be Much Observed - because everyone knows
only Laodiceans pay a restaurant to cater a meal on the Sabbath.
Later that week, when I finally got a chance to sit, I'd realize that
I failed once again. I got so caught up in the physical preparations
that I glossed over the spiritual ones. I hoped God was merciful
enough to consider me worthy to take the Passover, because I
certainly didn't think I was. Maybe you've found the balance between
spiritual and physical aspects of the DUB. If so, I commend you. I
readily admit I did not. And I know I wasn't the only one.
Please know I'm not criticizing anyone
for keeping the DUB or questioning their sincerity. I kept it for
decades, and most of my family still does. I know that the majority
of people who keep the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 believe they are
obeying and honoring God by doing so. Who could blame them for that?
Not me.
In more recent years, some ministers
admonished us not to go crazy cleaning our homes, since the physical
act was only symbolic of the spiritual. I understood what they meant,
but it just didn't seem logical. If removing leaven was a command,
and if it symbolized putting sin out of our lives, then was it
possible to go overboard? God would never tell us to give less than
our best efforts at removing sin. Deep down, I knew God didn't really
expect me to find every crumb. But how much was enough? After all,
these same ministers also warned us that we might not "make it"
into the Kingdom if we didn't eradicate sin from our lives.
Really, my struggle with the DUB
reveals the COG's faulty salvation model on a smaller scale. We
believe that, by grace, our past sins are forgiven through Jesus
Christ's sacrifice. And we rightly believe there is nothing we can do
to earn that forgiveness. But after that, as UCG explains it, "to
remain justified after being forgiven, one must behave in a righteous
or just manner from that time forward" (from The New Covenant
- Does it Abolish God's Law?). This
sounds good on the surface. Scripture instructs us to do things like
flee temptation and overcome sin. Besides, we have the Holy Spirit -
the power of God - as a tool to help us! And who would argue that
refraining from sin is a bad thing?
Here's a question that no COG minister
has been able to answer for me: how much sin do I have to overcome to
"make it?" Most agree God doesn't expect me to become 100
percent sin-free. So how righteous do I need to be? I'm not playing
games like Paul's opponents in Romans 6:1. This is a deadly serious
question - your eternal destiny hangs in the balance. If God doesn't
expect you to be perfect, what percentage do you need to achieve - 98
percent righteous? Is "C" a passing grade for the Kingdom?
And does God grade on a curve?
Rod Meredith, LCG's presiding
evangelist, sets the bar pretty high in his booklet, Who or What
is the Antichrist: "When we
accept Christ's sacrifice we must also make a literal covenant with
our creator to quit sinning in the future." In the same passage,
Meredith explains that we abide in Christ and the Father "by
obeying God and living as Jesus actually did - by every word of God."
How do you define
"every word of God?" That's important to know if we've
promised God that we will quit sinning in the future, presumably by
the end of our physical lives. Is it every command ever given in the
Bible, both the Old and New Testaments? Including observing new moons
and swearing off clothing made from mixed fabrics? Is it every
instruction Jesus gave? Must we completely root out every impulse of
lust? What about snapping at someone who's hurt us, or even just
wanting to do so? Is it the list of do's and don't-s that Herbert W.
Armstrong intuited as he developed COG doctrines? Is it the ones that
Meredith carried forward to LCG? Or maybe to be on the safe side, we should stick to Gerald Flurry's more conservative
restrictions. Hope you didn't like spending time with those non-member grandkids.
I apologize if I sound irreverent, but I'm just trying follow these
doctrines to their logical conclusions. Because if you accept them,
you believe that your behavior factors into your salvation.
Underpinning the COG's doctrines about salvation is the related teaching that, in this lifetime, believers are
like fetuses who will be born into God's Family at Christ's return. If we don't achieve
a proper, yet undefined, level of righteousness in this life, God
aborts us. Think that sounds horrific? Don't blame me, I didn't come
up with it. You can thank Herbert W Armstrong. Check page 45 of his
booklet, "Just What Do You Mean... BORN AGAIN?". I can't
post a link directly to the paragraph containing this statement, but
electronic versions of the publication are easy to find online.
Most COG splinters
still embrace Armstrong's fetus analogy, although they conveniently leave
out the part about God aborting His own children. Splinter groups
can edit and sanitize their literature all they want, but this is the
foundation of their doctrines, directly from the man who created
them.
So back to God's
grading scale. Righteous behavior is a pass/fail proposition,
according to James 2:10-11. Would God have accepted Jesus' sacrifice
if He had sinned even once? LCG's Meredith tells us we are to live by
every word of God. Well, in His his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught
that sin is about the attitudes in our hearts, not just our physical
behavior. I don't know about you, but my Passover examination always
showed me how badly I was failing in this area. I might as well have
been dusting crumbs off of a bakery counter covered with doughnuts.
Just "trying harder" to be more patient with my kids, or to
avoid silly spats when someone hurt my pride wasn't working. That
approach wouldn't change my heart if I lived to be 250 years old.
Yet
ministers like UCG's Darris McNeely would have us believe it's
possible - in fact, it's the reason God created the DUB, he says. In
a recent episode of Beyond Today (What Easter Doesn't Tell You),
co-host McNeely tells us we can become a new creation in Christ "as
a result of our putting sin out, by working on our lives and living a
righteous life, and God helping us to accomplish that."
That's absolutely false. He blatantly
twists 2 Corinthians 5:17, which directly states that anyone who is
in Christ IS a new creation. Not he WILL BE a new creation, or that
he is in the process of becoming a new creation. He is one now.
Even worse, McNeely
makes this transformation about our efforts. But, oh, yeah, God helps
us do it. The very next verse, 2 Corinthians 5:18, tells us that this
change is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. We
are not a new creation because of what we do; we are a new creation
because of what He did, both at the Cross and in our lives each day
once we place our faith in Him alone for salvation. Our righteousness
is nothing more than filthy rags.
It's an incredible
blessing that our eternal destiny doesn't depend on just
"trying harder." It's based on grace through faith in the
shed blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24). And it includes all of
our sins, not just those committed before we accept Jesus' sacrifice. It's ridiculous to teach that His sacrifice almost 2000
years ago paid for my past sins but did not cover my future sins as well. That
it paid for the future sins of my unborn, unconceived grandchildren,
but only until they officially accept His sacrifice. Jesus died once
for all, covering our sins completely. We must let go of any
dependence on our own efforts or goodness for salvation and place our
faith in Christ alone. When we do, His righteousness is reckoned to
us, just as it was to Abraham (Romans 4:18-5:1). Just as all our sins
are credited to Him (Romans 5:17-19, 2 Corinthians 5:21), His
righteousness is credited to us (Romans 5:17). Protestants call
this doctrine imputed righteousness.
COG leaders like
Rod Meredith malign this doctrine. In fact, he ridicules the teaching
in the booklet I quoted earlier, Who or What is the Antichrist:
"Now we just 'accept Christ' and His righteousness is
somehow imputed to us - without any requirement for righteous
works?".
In a word, yes. Rod
Meredith's Bible must not include Ephesians 2:8-9, because that's
exactly what it says. Salvation has nothing to do with our works. If
it did, we could boast about what we've done. Instead, if we boast,
it's supposed to be about what Jesus has done (Galatians 6:14).
The "works"
part, which Ephesians 2:10 mentions, comes after we repent, accept Jesus'
sacrifice and receive the Holy Spirit. Good works are part of a
Christian's life, as the book of James states. They are evidence of
our conversion, proving we didn't just utter idle words. That's evidence, not cause. If we are
truly converted, our hearts are regenerated (Ephesians 2:1-6 and
other verses describe this, which some call being "born again"),
making us a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter
1:23). Then God begins the process of sanctification - or making us
more and more like Christ. Our lives outwardly will reflect this change within us. How could it not? But this is an effect of sanctification, not a cause.
Yes, we have a part
to play in the sanctification process. It's our job to follow Jesus'
example (1 Corinthians 11:1), live an obedient life of sacrifice
(Romans 12:1), live at peace with others (Hebrews 12:14), avoid
covetousness and coarse joking (Ephesians 5:3-4) as well as other
behaviors that do not bring honor to God. It's our duty to obey the
commands of Jesus and His apostles. But our responsibility is to
cooperate with God, not to lead or guide the process. God is the one who transforms us into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18) through
discipline (Hebrews 12:10), the truth of His word (John 17:17,
Ephesians 5:25-27) and His Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13). It may seem like a trivial distinction, but it makes all the difference in the world when we put it into practice in our lives.
Remember,
Christians who accept this doctrine don't believe it gives us
Jesus' character instantly, as COG ministers claim. The imputation of
Christ's righteousness simply changes our legal standing with God
from "guilty" to "not guilty". This justification
(Romans 3:20-25), or covering of our sins, is foreshadowed in
prophetic passages like Isaiah 61:10. (I plan to discuss
justification, regeneration and sanctification in detail later this
year. If you have questions now, please feel free to email me at
marthacog@gmail.com)
We
are the clay, not the potter. We can't change just by committing to
trying harder. We can't just grab hold of the Holy Spirit and use it
as a tool to shape ourselves. Trying to do so either leaves us with a
self-righteous sense of accomplishment or a hopeless sense of
despair, depending upon how honest we are with ourselves. Either way,
Satan wins. Our focus is taken from Christ.
Sure, it's possible that God intended
for the DUB to teach Israel about sin. Instructions about the
festival urge Israel to remember God's deliverance from Egypt,
though, not to purge sin. Other scriptures talk about leaven in both
negative (Matthew 16:5, 1 Corinthians 5:6-7) and positive terms
(Matthew 13:33), although they refer to leaven's ability to permeate,
not to puff things up. I don't know if the Israelites found DUB
preparation overwhelming. Maybe only modern-day crumb traps like
toasters and child car seats show the total futility.
Anyway, doesn't 1 Corinthians 5 tell us
to keep the DUB? There's no doubt Paul used leavening as a metaphor
for sin here. But notice that 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells the church that
they already are unleavened. This likely means that God sees them as
officially sinless, not that their houses are deleavened. We know
many Jews exiled from Jerusalem were living in Corinth. On a related
note, one major concern in Acts and Galatians is that Jewish converts
were pressuring Gentile believers to follow physical observances from
the Sinai Covenant. So the Corinthian church might have been keeping
the DUB, but Galatians 4:21-31 reminds us it was not required for
gentiles, to put it mildly. (Nor was it required of Jews who accept
the New Covenant, if there is no longer a difference between Jews and
Gentiles). For more information, please visit the post Were gentiles in Corinth observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
So if Jewish believers and some Gentile
Christians kept the DUB, is it OK to do so today? I can't say for
sure. Many in the COGs say they do it because they want to
obey God, and that certainly is a commendable reason. But if
we believe that NOT doing so will cost us our eternal life, then it logically follows that we are keeping it, at least in part, to ensure our
salvation. Which is a problem, according to Ephesians 2. To me, it seems like a slippery slope, tempting those who
do it to think they are more obedient and righteous than those who
don't. That line of reasoning encourages us to look to ourselves and
our efforts, instead of Christ, for our salvation - comparing ourselves to others instead of to Him. And that
definitely is sin.
In Galatians 3:24, Paul tells us that
the law was our tutor - our teacher - to bring us to Christ. For me,
the DUB was exactly that. Not as the COGs explain it - as an annual
cycle teaching me the way to live - but as a teacher that showed me
my own efforts were in vain. That placing my full faith in Jesus and
His finished work on the cross was my only hope. The purpose of the
Sinai Covenant and the prophets was to point us to Christ -
that is what Paul meant when he wrote that Christ is the end of the
law (Romans 10:4). One doesn't continue practicing elementary addition drills when they are enrolled in college algebra.
God loves you. He loves you so much
that He willingly suffered a brutal death on the cross for you. He
wants you to live a happy, abundant life - not brimming with
self-righteous pride or wallowing in depression. Step into the New
Covenant and enter into His rest - into a life that's humble yet
secure in your salvation. A life, not just a week, that's truly
unleavened.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; ) Acts 17:11
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9 comments:
Fantastic article! What a sad thing that so many are afraid to accept the grace that Jesus offers believing instead that it is somehow their own effort that makes them a new creation. Folks, if you could just TRUST Jesus that he loves you and has given himself for you, and that he has made you new. You can be a new creation NOW. Just trust and believe Him! And your life will be forever changed and yes, you will start to experience continued victory over sin.
See - it is not all about what we do to make ourselves worthy of God's acceptance, it is all about trusting what Jesus did to make us worthy of God's acceptance.
From Anon
Would like to contact you if possible..cog caught in a cog..so many questions for someone who has been there, done that..tired of being afraid to truly live..use my talents. Any insight appreciated.
Thank you
Anon,
Please DO contact us! We are all available for you and we'd love to help you out.
Martha: marthacog@gmail.com
xHWA: escapingarmstrong@gmail.com
Bill: williamhohmann@sbcglobal.net
Caleb: 11dayjourney@gmail.com
I want to encourage you, Anon, that God gave you talents and He very much wants for you to have the opportunity to use them for the good of others in this world. It's good for others, it's good for you, and it's good for God. Everybody wins.
There is no shortage of sadness and need in this world. People often ask where God is. Well, God is in His Christians. We are supposed to be hands and feet. If we aren't using our talents to make the world a better place then God gets the blame, but the shortcoming was really in us. God equipped us and promised to continue with us, but we just didn't go with it.
If you are in a system that teaches that God doesn't want you to use your talents to serve and brighten this world (and the COGs definitely teach such) then I heartily recommend you reconsider that system.
Is it really godly to abandon the world? Jesus came to serve and give everything He had for people who were not in His church, in fact they hated Him. Is "if you serve the world then you're fighting against God" really the lesson we were supposed to take away from that? Is "only use your talents inside the church" really following His example?
Another thing the COGs teach is that giving money [to the church] is how you serve. I'm here to tell you that money is the least of God's concerns. You can serve in a million ways without much money involved at all. It's what Peter did:
(ACT. 3: 6) "Then Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.'"
God has given you a talent and a desire to use it. Put it to use for His glory. Be His hands and feet in a world that needs Him. Shine that light!
Anon,
Please feel free to contact any us, as xHWA wrote - all of us here have been in the same place as you. And we've all helped each other - some here on ABD were the ones who helped me sort things out some years back.
Caleb
11dayjourney@gmail.com
Anon,
We know God does not want us to hide our light under a basket, but to use them to light the world. This is how believers first spread the gospel and how many Christians still do it today. Your desire is not wrong - it's what God made you to do.
Absolutely feel free to get in touch. That's why we are here. We have all been on this same journey and want to help others any way we can. Many here helped me along the path as well.
Martha
marthacog@gmail.com
Hey Anon, just wanted to add, if you are feeling nervous about using your primary email address to contact us, there's always the option to create a free, anonymous gmail account to use for that purpose. No one will be offended. We totally understand.
Martha
I remember the rituals as a kid. The last DUB that I observed was in 1976 at age 12. But even before then, it would be explained that leavening was sin. Yet I remember even as a kid, that this didn't make sense. It was "sin", but we only got rid of it one week a year? I used to have a lot of questions about the inconsistencies of the wcg going through my head. But I knew to vocalize those questions would have meant dire consequences and certain death. SIGH. Can't change the past but I know I can change how I react to my past. Peace out.
Hi there all,
Does Jesus mean that people would keep the Law in other places when He said,"There will come a time when people will no longer worship in Jerusalem?" Is there anywhere in Scripture that says tithing can be done with cash also or is it just eatables?
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