Running to Stand Still
I've read some books, I know what's going on. I'd tell you about it, but then I would no longer be superior.
---
I've found out that I am completely addicted to coffee. The absence of the delightful beverage from my body induces extremely painful headaches and grouchiness. I guess I only found out now because by the time I got up at noon during the Christmas holidays the coffee was gone already, and I was to lazy to make some myself.
I am not quite sure how I feel about being a drug addict, but for some reason it makes me feel very edgy, like am a little bit more knowledgeable and experienced.
Maybe it's because all the good artists are drug addicts.
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C.S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity "Only humans can forgive."
Only humans can forgive? Jesus said on the cross "forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing"
I am fighting with this one. But it makes sense.
God is 100% righteous. He never overlooks sins. He can't overlook sins. It goes against His very nature. In a way, God the Father has never directly forgiven us. He sent his Son so that he can take the entire punishment for us. We have been punished, our penalty has been taken away from the ones who deserved it. But since the Father is unfailing righteousness, there is no forgiveness.
Heavy stuff. It is hard to understand, but I like it.
---
I've found out that I am completely addicted to coffee. The absence of the delightful beverage from my body induces extremely painful headaches and grouchiness. I guess I only found out now because by the time I got up at noon during the Christmas holidays the coffee was gone already, and I was to lazy to make some myself.
I am not quite sure how I feel about being a drug addict, but for some reason it makes me feel very edgy, like am a little bit more knowledgeable and experienced.
Maybe it's because all the good artists are drug addicts.
---
C.S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity "Only humans can forgive."
Only humans can forgive? Jesus said on the cross "forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing"
I am fighting with this one. But it makes sense.
God is 100% righteous. He never overlooks sins. He can't overlook sins. It goes against His very nature. In a way, God the Father has never directly forgiven us. He sent his Son so that he can take the entire punishment for us. We have been punished, our penalty has been taken away from the ones who deserved it. But since the Father is unfailing righteousness, there is no forgiveness.
Heavy stuff. It is hard to understand, but I like it.
posted by Ryan at Saturday, January 06, 2007
4 Comments:
yeah. i can understand what you're saying. in a way there is no forgiveness, only blame-shifting. we do wrong, and Christ covers it. we are not really forgiven, but our sins are "imputed" to someone else. ("Imputed" is not a word that i like, but there are no other words to describe it.) so God looks at us and says "there's nothing wrong" even though there is something wrong, because he sees us through the lens of a father's love, a Son's passion and a Spirit's renewal. all these things make us look perfect, and if you think about it, in reality they do make us perfect, because God is the judge of perfection, or lack thereof, and if He chooses to see us as perfect then we are.
thanks for making a bunch of comforting truths fly around in my head Ryan.
you write beautiful words ben.
you should be a minister or something.
Ben's got it right. Two things (the rainbow and the blood of Christ) are the lens that God sees through when He looks down from heaven. Because of Christ's sacrifice, all of our sins, past present and future, have been forgiven. All we have to do is believe that Christ did that for us. At the time of the crucifixion, all debts were paid, and so now when we commit sin, the sin has already been covered. Naturally, as the Catechism says, this should not lead us to be lackadaisical, because God also requires us to show our thanks by trying our best to live the way He wants us to.
as for the coffee...
withdrawal symptoms only last a couples day (for mild addictions at least). So if you suddenly (for some weird reason) wanted to get off caffeine, it's doable if you can soldier through. No serious rehab required.
but like I said... who wants to stop drinking coffee?
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