Does Colossians 2 Teach That You Should Keep the Holy Days?

Fall is here, and there’s so much to love about it. Crisp air. Sweaters. Pumpkin spice everything. Colossians 2.

I just might love Colossians 2 as much as I love my pumpkin spice coffee creamer. Until last year, I probably never even turned to it, except when my Church of God pastor would get up and read verses 16 and 17 almost every Holy Day.

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ.”

The COGs routinely quote this passage to support their doctrinal stances on the Holy Days, Sabbath and clean and unclean meats. Although, ironically, not new moons. Last year, COGWA did it. This year, UCG does it, in their latest issue of the Good News magazine:

 “It’s commonly thought that he was telling the Christians of Colossae to disregard Jewish criticism over their not following Jewish observances. But the reality was just the opposite. This was a gentile congregation that had not participated in such observances before. The truth is that Paul was telling the Christian converts to disregard outside criticism over how they were now observing these occasions.”                                                        - “God’s Annual Festivals: Foreshadowing Great Coming Events!” The Good News, September/October 2015.

I wish there was a gentle way to say this, but I can’t find it, so here goes nothing:

Looking closely at the Greek language and the context of the passage shows that UCG’s claims about Colossians 2:16-17 are unfounded.  I was shocked to discover how flimsy the claims were when I studied what COGWA had to say last year, and we all know COGWA and UCG got their misinformation from the same source. As did James Malm just this week on his The Shining Light.

I’m sorry, UCG, COGWA and any other COGs who makes this argument, but it’s commonly thought that Paul was telling the Christians at Colossae to disregard Jewish criticism because he WAS telling them to disregard Jewish criticism. Most of the first Christians were Jews, and many were reluctant to accept Gentile converts as their equals. The COGs are blinded to this fact because they, in large part, hold the same beliefs as the Judaizing Christians in the early church. But the New Testament gives ample evidence that Jewish Christians pressured Gentiles to adopt Jewish traditions and little evidence that the opposite happened, at least during the time frame that Colossians was written. Yes, that came later, and it is a different discussion for a different day. But it is not what Paul addressed at Colossae.

These links specifically address COGWA’s claims about Colossians 2:16-17, but they apply to what UCG and most other Churches of God teach about this passage:

• The COGs largely ignore the historical and scriptural context of Colossians 2 to fit their narrative.  Contextual clues tell us that Paul was not simply arguing against Gnostic ascetics, but against syncretists that combined elements of Gnosticism, Judaism and Christianity – possibly an Essene sect.
• The COGs play word games that defy logic to try to make this passage say what they want it to say. They try to shoehorn the rules of modern English into ancient texts.  They invent Greek tenses that do not exist to support their claims.
• The COGs uphold other practices from Colossians 2:16-17 but ignore new moons, which they logically should keep if the other ordinances listed in Colossians 2:16-17 are still in place. They plead ignorance on how new moons were marked in Christ’s day, while many historical sources, including Josephus, document the 600+ year old Jewish tradition discontinued only years before the temple fell. It's possible to conclude that the Rosh Chodesh fires are only Jewish tradition and not mandatory. But if the COGs contend that Holy Days, the Sabbath and food laws are still required of Christians based on Colossians 2:16-17, then so are new moons, and they need to observe them as commanded. Not sure how? Maybe there's a reason new moons, and potentially the other commands from this passage, are murky when applied today.   But anyway, I'm sure they could find a way if they wanted to - they've established plenty of Sabbath traditions found nowhere in Exodus or Deuteronomy. I'll at least give James Malm bonus points for being consistent and advocating that new moons should be kept today.

Please understand this criticism is not aimed at you, dear reader. I know that you are trying to obey your Creator the best you can. I understand that you are depending upon your spiritual leaders to help determine the best way to do that. I was in your shoes. For decades.

Interestingly, every non-Internet source I cited in my research on Colossians 2 was on our family's bookshelf while I was in the COGs. All of them were recommended by COG ministers, which also means they are likely owned by COG ministers. Who often missed these points because they, in turn, depended upon their spiritual leaders to guide them. This is why it is so important for those in today's COGs, who may have never heard of Herbert W Armstrong, to understand where they came from. The truth - about Colossians 2, about the Churches of God, and about Herbert Armstrong - is out there for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

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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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Trumpets and the New Testament Church

Happy Feast of Trumpets, to those of our readers who celebrate it! We hope you will find meaningful worship and fellowship today. 

This particular festival gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is probably the most Christ-centered observance in the Churches of God, excluding Passover. Fixing one’s eyes, focus and attention upon Jesus is a good thing. In case you haven’t noticed the theme, it’s my goal in almost every post. 

On the other hand, there is no example of Christians celebrating the Feast of Trumpets in the New Testament. Unlike a couple other Leviticus 23 Holy Days, which get a passing reference (for reasons I will not be getting into here), the Feast of Trumpets isn’t even named. 

Over the weekend, I saw a chart being passed among COG members this weekend that cited specific scriptures that demonstrated Holy Day keeping in the New Testament. The chart's author stated that the Feast of Trumpets was not mentioned by name, but explained  that the events the COGs believe the day pictures certainly are a part of the New Testament writings. 

Did you catch that? The author admitted there was no direct scriptural evidence that the New Testament Church celebrated the Feast of Trumpets, but justified observing it based on passages Herbert W Armstrong attached to the date. The first verse cited was 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, in which Paul attempts to comfort the friends of a recently deceased brother in Christ by detailing the promise of the resurrection. This passage in no way references, discusses or advocates celebrating the Holy Day. The second verse cited was Revelation 11:15 – a prophetic passage discussing the blowing of the seventh trumpet. Same story, different verse. Neither passage supports a literal Feast of Trumpets celebration for the New Testament church, the author says, but they certainly picture scriptural events worth celebrating.

Oh wait! Now I get it! The New Testament doesn’t mention the festival by name, but it pictures a remarkable scriptural event worth celebrating. That’s so cool, we have a celebration like that too! It's called Easter, and it celebrates one of most miraculous, significant moments detailed in scripture. Yet somehow ours is vile and pagan.

Might I suggest another possible reason the Feast of Trumpets is not named in the New Testament? It’s not clandestine and sexy, like a conspiracy from Rome or a ploy from Satan. It’s because the Feast of Trumpets and the other Holy Days faded into obscurity because they fulfilled the purpose for which God created them – pointing Israel to Christ. 

(Hebrews 8:10) In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The Holy Days were part of the tutor – the Sinai Covenant – intended to bring Israel to Christ (Galatians 3:24). In a way, the Holy Days do show God’s plan of salvation. And that plan was Jesus. They were intended to show our need for Christ’s sacrifice, as shadow of the one who was to come in bodily form, who could do for mankind what the tutor couldn't. They were intended to be incomplete, to show man - especially God's chosen people, who had every advantage imaginable - his utter and complete need for a Savior.

This is perhaps best demonstrated today in the Messianic Jewish community. Messianic Jews are ethnic Jews who accept Christ’s sacrifice but continue in many of their historic religious and cultural traditions. They retain many practices, much like Peter (Acts 10:9-16) and Paul (Acts 18:21), but they knew these works did not factor into their salvation. (And, being aware of this fact, they do not pressure Gentiles like us into keeping these practices).  Groups like Jews for Jesus frequently evangelize their ethnic brothers and sisters using their common heritage to explain the incompleteness and insufficiency of the Hebrew traditions. To show how the Holy Days foreshadowed the coming of the One whose sacrifice would be sufficient, who could make them complete. 

How could these Holy Days, given by God, be incomplete? Because they were part of the tutor intended to bring us to Christ, to show our need for Him (Galatians 3:24). They were a shadow of the one who was to come in bodily form. They were intended to be incomplete, to show man - especially God's chosen people, who had every advantage imaginable - his utter and complete need for a Savior.

Click on the following links for more insight on how the meaning Messianic Jews attach to the Fall Holy Days and Feast of Booths as compared to how the Churches of God view the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles. 

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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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A Wake-Up Call to Rod Meredith

“As a former Protestant with many family members still Protestant, I feel compelled to warn you of a soon-coming disaster!”

So begins Rod Meredith’s article, “A Wake-Up Call to All Protestants!” in the September-October 2015 issue of the Living Church of God’s Tomorrow’s World magazine.

Ok, Rod, you have my attention. I left the Church of God community and am now what you would call a “Protestant.”  What’s up?

Apparently Protestantism is becoming irrelevant because “mainstream” Christian churches are trying to fit in with the world and don’t stand for anything anymore. Gone are the faithful ministers who strongly condemn fornication, drugs, drunkenness, lying, cheating and other immoral behavior from the pulpit.

“Do such God-fearing, Bible-believing ministers still exist anywhere?”Certainly not in “mainstream” Protestantism!” Meredith contends. “For if any such faithful Bible-believing minister like this did exist in any of these churches, he would soon be fired or figuratively “run out of town”.

This is news to me, as well as the other 3,500 members of my church, who have not run my Protestant pastor out of town after he made any of the following comments from the pulpit during the last 12 months:

“God's will for you is that you would become more like Jesus, and the first thing that the Bible addresses as we seek to become more like Jesus is that we should abstain from sexual immorality. Notice that phrase: "that you should abstain from sexual immorality."  The word "abstain" there means to stay as far away from something as possible.  And the Greek word for sexual immorality there—in English, it's two words.  In Greek, it's one word.  The Greek word is "porneia."  We get our word "pornography" from that word for  sexual immorality.  It's a word that refers to any kind of sexual sin.  It covers the whole spectrum.  It covers pornography.  It covers homosexuality.  It covers adultery.  It covers marital unfaithfulness.  It covers premarital sex.  It covers dirty, lustful thoughts.  It involves filthy talk.  It covers dirty jokes.  It covers anything that is sexually impure before God.  And the Bible says we should abstain from those things.  We should get as far away from it as possible.”

“Look down in verse 7 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.  Notice there, the Bible casts an even broader net.  It says, "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness."  Now, the word "porneia" is a broad word for all kinds of sexual immorality, but the word "uncleanness" there in verse 7 includes any type of immorality, whether it's sexual immorality or any kind.  The word for "uncleanness" can refer to drinking and drunkenness.  It can refer to lying.  It can refer to cheating.  It can refer to stealing.  It can refer to mistreating other people.  In short, anything that is displeasing to God—the Bible says God did not call you to that.  Listen, God did not save you so that you can indulge your life in sin.  And yet there are many Christians who think that, because they're saved, and because God's mercy has reached down and touched them, and they have been made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, and they have a home in heaven, that they can turn around and live however they please.  And friend, it doesn't work that way."

 "I am appalled by those who call themselves Christians, and yet they've justified sins, just made excuses for all kinds of sins, from the use of alcohol and drugs to homosexuality to abortion to premarital sex.  And I believe the heart of God is broken by Christians who have called light, darkness, and darkness, light and who are even turning away and walking away from their marriages, as though their vows to God meant nothing.” 

 “Friend, as a follower of Jesus Christ, God wants you to tell the truth, to be honest and to live with integrity, whether you’re under oath or not under oath. Whether you’re talking to someone casually or whether it’s a serious conversation, whether it’s in business or it’s in school or whether it’s in a relationship. Whether it seems like a major lie or a little white lie… He wants you to be honest, to tell the truth, and to live with integrity. Because we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has said, I am the way… and what? The Truth… and the life…”.

Wow. I see Rod's point. That guy is a spineless jellyfish. (Sarcasm intended).

Are there liberal Protestant churches out there? Absolutely. Probably more than there should be. But are there conservative ones that uphold moral standards? Absolutely. You might have to look around a bit to find one that “stands for something,” as Meredith's article puts it. But what he wrote is intended to discourage you from doing that.

Make no mistake. I suspect this article is not intended as a “wake-up call” to Protestants, although if it dragged a few in to add to LCG’s dwindling tithe base, Rod wouldn’t cry.  But I am willing to bet it was intended to discourage unhappy Living Church of God members from looking elsewhere (as we know many of you are). Why do I think that?

Because right after Rod gets done telling us how bad the Protestants are, he starts in on the Catholic Church. Wait a minute. I thought this article was a wake-up call for Protestants. Why is he drawing Catholics into this? Now, I’m not Catholic, but I certainly have met some Catholics in the past few years whom I respect greatly. Some who know more than me about the Bible. And the more I talk to them, the more I see that some of their traditions have more logic and less superstition than I was taught.

Though it's now a cold war instead of hot, the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism is alive and well. Alexander Hislop capitalized on it when he created his disproven theories, and the COGs are only too happy to follow in his footsteps today. COG leaders are almost giddy when they point to the un-Christian ways Catholics and Protestants have interacted throughout history (as Meredith does in this article). There's no way there could be true Christians on either side of that mess! I guess battling and slandering other churches is sin unless you happen to lead a COG splinter. And I'm not just talking about LCG.

Here's the point: If Rod Meredith can scare you into believing that anything outside of LCG is Sodom and Gomorrah, then he stands a better chance of holding onto you and your tithes. Because if all Protestant churches are shallow, immoral social clubs and the Catholic Church is the great whore of Babylon, then why rock the boat and look elsewhere, no matter how unhappy you are in LCG? It's pointless. Sit back down and keep your mouth shut. Oh, and don't forget your offering. After all, next Monday is a Holy Day.

In effort to shore up his crumbling empire, Rod Meredith impugns good men who stand for far more than he ever has; and risk far more than he ever will. Unless you consider the risk Meredith stands for bearing false witness against men of God. As a former COG member with many family members still COG, I feel compelled to warn you: Wake up yourself, Rod, and repent of your errors. Unless they're not simply errors...

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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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Faith and Parachutes, Part 1

Random fact for the day: Parachute prototypes have been around since the 1400s, but the backpack-style parachute that we know today was only invented in 1906. It was first used solely for entertainment; but military leaders found a variety of applications for the invention during World Wars I and II. Today we have come full-circle – parachutes are still used by the military, but most are worn by thrill-seekers who are dumb enough to choose to jump out of perfectly functional airplanes.

Why talk about parachutes, other than to rant and disclose my irrational fear of heights? Well, in my last post, we talked about sin, morality and airplanes.  Specifically; how Church of God theology on salvation teaches that if true Christians just try hard enough, pull up on the throttle enough using willpower and the "tool" of the Holy Spirit, they can pull themselves out of the death spiral in which sinful humanity finds itself. Unfortunately, pulling up using these methods doesn't get anyone off the airplane; it only prolongs their journey before hitting the ground.

Today I’d like to talk a little more about how to get off that airplane – by placing your faith for salvation in Jesus alone.  Faith in Christ is like the parachute that gets you off the plane. But you have to know how the parachute works to avoid disastrous results.  If you attend a COG, chances are good that you've been misinformed about what "so-called Christianity" teaches on this subject. I noticed that UCG, COGWA and LCG all wrote on the "faith and works" portion of James 2 this summer. One particular quote really stuck with me:

“Just agreeing with a set of facts about who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done, and what it means to believe in Him, that's not the same thing as being saved.  The devil believes everything there is to believe about Jesus—he's not saved.”

Oh wait, my mistake.  That wasn’t from a COG. That was from a sermon my deceived  Protestant pastor gave a few weeks ago. The term “saved” was probably a good clue this didn’t come from a COG publication. This was the COG quote:

“As the apostle James points out, belief is pointless unless it is backed up by action and obedience: 'You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe —and tremble' (James 2:19). If we think that belief is all we need for salvation, we are sorely mistaken. As James tells us, the demonic spirits fully believe in the existence of the one true God. They further know that Jesus is the Son of God raised from the dead. But the demons’ belief in this regard doesn’t mean they are saved!” ("Is Belief All That's Required For Salvation," The Good News, United Church of God, May-June 2015).

How disappointing. I would have expected a bigger difference between what a "so-called" Christian pastor and a minister in God's true church would have to say about James 2:19. With that thought in mind, are you sure you understand what mainstream Christianity teaches about salvation to reject it as false doctrine?

WHAT IS SALVATION BY FAITH?

Maybe we can clear up some misunderstandings about by first exploring what salvation by grace through faith doesn’t mean:

(James 2:19) You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble!

• Faith in Christ is not simply believing that He existed. It will not help you any more than the knowledge that  parachutes exist will help you survive a freefall.  Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Pharisees, Judas and many others knew that Jesus truly existed.  As do the demons, as James so aptly explains.

(Luke 4:41) And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!". And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

• Faith in Christ is not simply knowing facts about Jesus, or even believing that He was the Son of God. Knowing Jesus was born in Bethlehem and lived to be 33 years old will not help you any more than knowing that a parachute is 25 feet in diameter and made of gray silk will keep you from plummeting to the ground. 

(Matthew 7:21) Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

• Faith in Christ is not the same thing as just saying His name. Scriptures that allude to “calling on Christ’s name” poetically express the simplicity of accepting Christ’s sacrifice for salvation; how it depends wholly on divine effort instead of man’s.  The name itself is not magic – simply uttering syllables will not save you any more than pronouncing the word “parachute”  will keep you from hitting the ground after a skydive.

(Ephesians 2:8-9) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

• Faith in Christ for salvation is not the same thing as believing your past sins were forgiven when you accepted His sacrifice; but that you must maintain your right standing before God through things like obedience, repentance and good works. Doing so indicates you've placed your faith in your actions, not in the parachute.  Thrashing and flapping all the way down doesn’t demonstrate faith in the parachute – it puts you at risk for tangling or breaking the cords; a mistake that’s just as deadly as the others I’ve listed.

I figured you'd have trouble with that last one. We'll talk about James 2 and the role works in part 2 of this series. But make no mistake. Misplaced trust in works as a component of salvation is no small matter. In the tragically misunderstood book of Galatians, Paul refers to just such a message as a different gospel (1:6), "no gospel at all" (1:7, NIV) and calls curses upon anyone who would teach such a gospel (Galatians 1:9). Why so serious? Did years of strict Phariseeism finally cause him to snap?

A few chapters later, Paul warns us that anyone who tries to be justified by the law is cut off from Christ (Galatians 5:4). That includes those who teach you need to maintain your justification before God with good works in order to inherit eternal life.

(Galatians 5:4, ESV) You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace." 

Severed. That's not how you want your parachute cords to be.

What is salvation by grace, through faith? Placing your faith in Christ is just that – trusting that your sins are forgiven through Christ’s shed blood alone. Renouncing any trust in, any reliance on your own efforts to increase your standing with God. Believing that you will inherit eternal life only because of what Jesus did, not what you’ve done. Faith is putting the parachute on your back, jumping, pulling the cord and trusting in the chute and only the chute to get you safely to the ground

(John 6:28-29) Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?". Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." 

With this background established, in my next post we will take an in-depth look at James 2. Until then, if you have questions about whether the book of Galatians simply discusses circumcision, please visit:

Confusing the Covenants
The Plain Truth About Peter's Hypocrisy
Galatians: Holy Days or Pagan Days?
Response to Galatians: Holy Days or Pagan Days?
Faith: What It Ain't
What Does the New Testament Teach About Law and Grace
Some Difficult Scriptures

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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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Get Me Off This Plane!

It’s August, which means it’s almost back-to-school time. If your house is anything like mine, it’s only a matter of days until you’re sitting at the dining room table, helping your little blessings with highly relevant homework questions like:  If Plane A leaves San Francisco at 8:40 a.m. traveling east at 525 miles per hour, and Plane B leaves Boston at 9:15 a.m. traveling west at 450 miles per hour, which plane will cross the Mississippi River first?

I felt like I got a foretaste of these afternoons last week when I read Jeremy Lallier’s “Sabbath Thoughts” blog. Mr. Lallier is a writer and editor for COGWA’s Life, Hope and Truth endeavor; the Sabbath Thoughts blog is his personal project and has more than 1,500 readers.  

In his July 31, 2015 post, Lallier demonstrates the dangers of grading personal righteousness “on the curve” by contrasting two planes speeding toward to the ground. The passengers of the first plane are oblivious to their fate, while the passengers of the second plane, who have maintained a slightly higher altitude, occasionally glance out the window to mutter at the fools in the first plane, who have no idea where they’re headed. Does it really matter which plane you’re on, he asks, poignantly.

I agree with Lallier’s sentiment (and want to state that I have nothing against him, personally). He's correct that Christians should be striving for more than just being better than their neighbor, better than their co-workers, or better than the guy sitting next to them at church. We are commanded to imitate Christ, to grow into His stature. I don’t disagree with this charge, although I disagree with the COG’s explanation of how and why.  

So what should we do?

Aim higher, Lallier says. Pull up, to put it in aviation terms. Because there is no crown for being “not as bad” as the people around you, he says.

“The crown is for those who push themselves to rise to the high standards of the word of God – for the people who do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8),” Lallier writes.

Wait a minute.

Try even harder? That’s your big plan? You just got done telling us that it’s not good enough just to be better. Now you’re telling us the answer is to be a LOT better? So where is the cutoff point between better-but-not-trying-hard-enough and better-and-trying-hard-enough?  Unless there is no cutoff point, and you’re telling us we have to be perfect. 

So which one is it?

This example demonstrates the flaw in all religions that teach human behavior is a component of salvation. No one can ever tell you how good is good enough. Because there is no such thing as “good enough” when it comes to salvation. Would the Father have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice if He had only pushed Himself to rise to the high standards of the Word of God?

The theological reasoning Lallier uses in his “Sabbath Thoughts” post is more coherent and less blunt than predecessors like Herbert W Armstrong, who founded the Worldwide Church of God, the group from which COGWA, UCG, LCG and other COG groups descended. Armstrong was known for describing his followers as spiritual fetuses and telling them God would abort them if they did not demonstrate enough spiritual growth (see page 45 of the linked booklet if you don't believe me). One positive outcome of Armstrong’s 200-plus failed prophecies is that later COG generations have gone to college instead of hunkering down and waiting for the end. That fruit manifests itself in writing like Lallier’s - material that's less dogmatic and more intelligent. But the underlying Armstrongist implication is the same: if you aren’t good enough, you die in a fireball of jet fuel.

The COGs got part of it right. Humanity is on a doomed plane, spiraling downward because of our sin. But there’s a critical detail they fail to understand: trying harder doesn’t get you off the plane.

Pulling up might keep you off the ground a little longer or help you make more forward progress. You might delay impact for hundreds of miles, figuratively speaking. But as long as your performance is a part of the equation for salvation, you are responsible for keeping the plane aloft.

No, we don’t believe we are saved by our works, you argue. Christ’s sacrifice was necessary to wipe out our past sins. We’re only responsible for preserving that blameless status before God! Listen to yourself! It’s only cognitive dissonance from decades of COG sermons that blinds you from the realization that working not to lose your salvation is just the flip side of the same coin. 

(Ephesians 2:8-9) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Lallier seems to believe that he and other “men and women of action” can be “diligent to present themselves approved to God.” I don’t know. Maybe you guys are just better people than me. I can better relate to Paul in Romans 7:21-25:

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

This is Paul talking! Not Sapphira or a newcomer like Simon Magus or Bob the Gentile. This is a man who is the definition of radical life change; who was beaten, shipwrecked and stoned for the cause of Christ. And yet, near the end of his life, he is still warring with his sin. He is despondent. He sees that his track record will get him nowhere. If Paul can’t make it on his spiritual batting average, what chance do I have?

(Romans 4:1-6) What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

There is only one way to get off the plane. Repent, stop relying on your own goodness and place your full faith in the work Jesus finished on the cross. No matter how hard you try, how high you aim, how high your righteousness batting average rises, it is all filthy rags. The only way to stand approved before God is wrapped in the garments of righteousness, the imputed righteousness that only come through faith in Christ. It will get you a heck of a lot further than that life vest underneath your seat.  

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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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Tragedy Strikes LCG Summer Camp

It is with great sadness that we share reports from several Church of God news sites and individuals regarding the death of teen camp counselor at a Living Church of God summer camp near Delaware, Ohio.

Morgan Montgomery, 19, of Australia, was reportedly killed in a boating accident on Alum Creek Lake at LCG’s Ohio Teen Camp.  We pray for the Montgomery family as well as the campers, staff and others touched by this tragedy.

No one, regardless of religious affiliation, is immune from disaster. We do not use this incident as an opportunity to judge God’s love for Montgomery or to criticize LCG. We hope that the ministry and membership in other Church of God splinters will do the same.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. We pray that He will use this tragedy for His ultimate glory.  

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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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