Posted on 02/23/2016 8:17:35 AM PST by Salvation
In the epistle for the Second Sunday of Lent (Phil. 3:17-4:1), St. Paul laments those whom he calls enemies of the cross of Christ: For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil 3:18).
What does it mean to be an enemy of the cross? And how do people end up in this condition of being inimical to the very thing and the very One who alone can save them? St. Paul not only laments the situation, but shows how they get into this condition. He does so in a very succinct way, in one verse, as we shall see below.
But first, let's rescue the word enemy from too narrow an understanding. In modern (American) English the word "enemy" tends to be associated with a distant foe, perhaps one with missiles aimed at us or armies ready to conquer us. It is often reserved for those who threaten our life or are opposed to us in the most extreme ways. In practice it is considered almost impolite to refer to difficult people who oppose us in some way as enemies.
Enemy comes from the Latin inimici. And while inimici is best translated "enemies," its roots are in (not) + amicus (friend). So our enemies are those who are not our friends, who oppose our values, who do not wish us well or stand ready to assist us.
This understanding helps us to grasp that enemies may be very close to home, not merely on distant shores. Enemies are not just those who plot the most serious hostilities against us. Thus, when Jesus tells us to love our enemies He has more in mind than just a distant group in some foreign land. He is also referring to those who are near--even within our own families--who are not friendly, who oppose us or the things and people we value.
So when St. Paul speaks of those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, he is not just referring to those who go around tearing crucifixes off walls or demanding that crosses be removed from public property. In his very brief description, St. Paul emphasizes an opposition that escalates from mere worldliness to the outright idolatry of comfort and pleasure. Indeed, if we take St. Paul seriously and are honest with ourselves, some of us who have crucifixes in our homes and march in processions with the crucifix before us as we sing "Lift High the Cross" might find that we are in some opposition to the cross.
So let's take a deeper look at St. Paul's description of the enemies of the cross of Christ. St. Paul describes the inimical stance of some in a fourfold way: Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things (Phil 3:19).
St. Paul, like many ancient authors, states the result first, followed by the causes. Because that is not the usual way to present a point of view, in the reflection that follows I am going to reverse St. Paul's order. By reversing his order, I will try to show how things can escalate so that one can become an enemy of the cross.
The text says, For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things (Phil 3:18-19).
St. Paul describes the escalation that can make a person more and more an enemy of the cross of Christ.
I. Foolish Preoccupations -- The text says that the enemies of the cross are characterized by having minds set on earthly things.
Of the threefold origin of temptation (the world, the flesh, and the devil), the world is understood not so much as a physical place in which we live, but as a mindset, a collection of thoughts, priorities, premises, values, and goals that are opposed to God and His Word. The fundamental values and priorities of this world include the amassing of possessions, power, prestige, and pleasure. Goals such as autonomy and instant gratification, and views rooted in materialism, secularism, anthropocentrism, secular humanism, utilitarianism, and utopianism are emphasized.
There are many in this world who not only accept these flawed premises and values, but also advance them. They do this because when one follows the world's agenda, one is frequently rewarded with wealth, access, popularity, and approval.
But we were not made for these things. The finite world cannot satisfy the infinite desires that are within us. The world may well grant us temporary comforts and benefits, but in the end it takes everything back and assigns us to a stone-cold tomb.
For this reason, having our minds set on earthly things is a foolish preoccupation. Scripture says,
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).
In a world that tells us to "scratch where it itches," there is going to be a cross of self-denial and of trusting God, who teaches us that we are made for more than mere trinkets. The world and devil promise pleasure now and then send you the bill later. The Lord speaks to sacrifice and discipline now and points to the fruits and blessings that come later.
To refuse this and insist exclusively on pleasure now is to become an enemy of the cross of Christ, who warns us to refuse to give our hearts over to the false promises and passing pleasures of this world. We are to crucify our excessive passions and desires (Gal 5:24). We are not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may be able to test and approve what God's will is (Rom 12:2).
Historically, this has meant the cross and suffering for Christians who live this way. The world and the consensus it desires (and often demands) does not take lightly the rejection inherent in true Christianity. The long legacy of persecution and hatred of Christians demonstrates this. It is one thing to choose to live our values in a personal way, but it is quite another to stand opposed (as we must) to the excesses and errors of the world and to seek to snatch others from its illusions and false promises. Marketers, industrialists, politicians, advocacy groups, ideologues, and the like all depend on a widespread "buy-in" in order for their products, projects, and schemes to advance. If we are not easily manipulated by the fears, anxieties, and guilt that the world uses to separate us from our love and loyalty to God, and our basic sense of truth, we are "off-message." We must, therefore, be silenced, either by pressure to conform or through shame. And if these do not work, then persecution: the cross.
But Scripture warns us that such crosses must be endured. Jesus says, If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (John 15:19-20). And St. James adds, You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:4).
Many Christians find resisting the world and its errant demands a cross too difficult to bear. It is easier to cave in to the world's demands, to "go along to get along." This can be done in a thousand little ways through small and growing compromises, or in larger, clearer ways in which one denies truths of the faith in order to receive the praise of men and the blessings that come with conformity to the ways of the world.
To the degree that this happens in our life, we subtly and increasingly become enemies of the cross of Christ. We refuse the self-denial that is necessary and foolishly set our mind on worldly things, which can neither save nor satisfy.
II. Festive Perversions -- The text says of the enemies of the cross that they glory in their shame.
As people deepen their alliance with the ways of the world, their initial compunction is gradually and steadily eroded by rationalization and by surrounding themselves with teachers who tickle their ears (2 Tim 4:3). St. Paul speaks of those who, on account of their sinfulness, suppress the truth. Claiming to be wise, they become fools as their senseless minds are darkened (Rom 1:18, 21).
And as the darkness deepens, not only do they move further away from repentance, but they actually glory in their shame. Of their lack of shame over sinful acts. St. Paul says, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (Rom 1:32).
And thus today we live in times of "gay pride" parades and the celebration of "gender diversity." Further, there are movies that glorify mob violence and political corruption and glamorize all sorts of evil. Some forms of music celebrate rebellion, hatred of authority, and misogyny. "Greed is good" was the theme of a movie about Wall Street in the late 1980s.
Being an enemy of the cross of Christ deepens in this stage. Not only are the crosses of self-control, self-discipline, and living within limits set aside due to human weakness, but now there is a prideful "doubling-down" in which one declares that what God calls sin ought instead to be celebrated.
This gradually becomes an outright mockery of the cross of Christ because it would seem to say that Jesus died for nothing, that the sins He died to save us from are not only not sins but are actually things worth celebrating.
These enemies of the cross see any limits as unreasonable. And if this weren't bad enough, as their inimical stance to the cross deepens they celebrate their rejection as a virtue of which to be proud. Their glory in their shame is a twisted and deformed version of tolerance; anyone who does not join in their celebration is guilty of one of the few sins left in their worldview: intolerance. Traditional biblical morality now becomes a form of hate, of intolerant bigotry.
This leads to a de facto rejection of God, at least the true God of Scripture:
III. Fallen Passions -- The texts says of the enemies of the cross, their god is their belly.
At some point the enmity toward the cross grows deep enough that the passions and pleasures of the world reach a godlike status, and indulging them becomes in effect a form of idolatry. All human beings struggle at some level with unruly passions and desires. But as long as we struggle and engage in the battle we are still clinging to the cross. Having rejected the cross by outright glorying in their shame, enemies of the Cross now begin to imbue their sins with a kind of godlike quality.
We know how easily money can become like a god to some; they give their whole life over to its acquisition. For them it is the most worthy and valuable thing they have. It is at the center, where God properly belongs.
In the sexual arena the idolatry is more subtle, but it is still evident in the way some talk. Consider that many today attribute their sexually irregular state to God Himself. They say, "God made me this way" and speak of sins and sinful desires as a gift from God. Some equate their desire with the very voice of God; the simple fact that they have a desire must mean that God put it there, and if God put it there it must be good.
In this way a fallen and disordered desire is thought to come from the very voice and will of God, and should therefore be accorded the reverence and obedience due to God Himself.
In this third stage, those who entertain such notions have entered idolatry's clutches. In effect, they reinvent God and ignore His actual revelation in Scripture and Sacred Tradition. But a reinvented god is not the one, true God, and to worship and obey such a false god is idolatrous.
IV. Final Place -- The text says of these enemies of the Cross: their end is destruction.
Only the true Christ and His true cross can save. Those who stand opposed to the cross embrace a poor destiny indeed. An old litany says, "Sow a thought, reap a deed. Sow a deed, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny." And so we see how our stances deepen within us, either for or against God.
It is therefore a serious matter to permit enmity for the cross to grow within us in any way. It begins with simple weakness and aversion to the more difficult and narrow way of the cross. Then we begin to surround ourselves with teachers who assure us that our sins aren't all that important or even that we can outright celebrate our sins. This then leads to a growing form of idolatry in which we reinvent and reimagine God, going so far as to call our sinful desires godly. The final stage is destruction, for a fake god, an idol, cannot save us. Only the One true God, who told us to take up our cross daily, can save us.
Beware the tendency to become an enemy of the cross of Christ. Spare us, O Lord, from our foolish tendency to substitute false religion. With St. Paul and all the saints may I be determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
They don’t? There are quite a few. Read:
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/ortho_cath.html
http://christianityinview.com/comparison.html
Your post is most instructive, as usual. Thank you. The Born from above are the Body Of Christ. It appears that catholiciism is today unable to discern the Body of Christ, having presumed they can lead Him down from Heaven every minute to be continually sacrificed on their catholic altars for ingestion to the alimentary tract.
Two little brothers fought and bickered all day long. Every time their mother turned around, these boys were at each other, bickering. Came bedtime and the youngest was bathed and put to bed. As the older brother was getting his bath, his mother worked on his conscience, asking how he would feel if he went to bed without making up and forgiving his brother and in the night his brother died? The oldest boy thought about it while the bath continued, then when mother was toweling him off he responded: "Okay. All right, I'll forgive him ... But if he's alive in the morning ..."That's the way most of us forgive. I'm so glad God 'remembers no more' our sin when we come to Him for forgiveness. He's had a lot to forget with me. ;^)
The Blood of The Lamb of God covers the box with the laws inside, so that when God looks down from the Mercy seat, toward the law satan keeps referring to as he accuses we newborns, all God sees is The Cleansing Blood of The Lamb.
You’re free to have that opinion though it is a wrong and elitist one.
Truth be told, even Catholics have to admit that they are not drinking real, human blood or eating real human flesh. They have faith that this is a mystery somehow. That piece of cracker/wafer/whatever doesn’t magically turn into anything. It remains what it started out as and all this talk of substance and accidents and transubstance was thought up over centuries to try to make sense of a literal meaning to what Jesus taught in a figure - an object lesson that even the simplest peasant could grasp. Bread was life. For most people of that time bread and water was their main sustenance. Rome only made it harder to understand.
Roger that bro. My point about this, is to counter those who say they think getting saved, means we can get saved and then go sin to our heart's content. That is, of course, garbage, but many seem to think that way.
Yes, the rapture is coming. Glad I would have to see the tribulation either. I want to put into my will, that in case of rapture, I want to leave all my worldly possessions to the poor saps left behind.
You know, someone should make a movie called "Left Behind"
🙃😊😊😆😂😎😃
I’ve made the offer to some I know are Catholics. I won’t need the stuff I accumulated. Been fiving ‘things’ to family members, too. Perhaps those left behind will have enough time to thinkl it through and call out to Jesus for deliverance. It is sure gonna be a mess! But we have God’s word that there will come out of the Tribulation so many tribulation saints that no man could number them ... yet the Revelation has 200,000,000 used to number so we know the number has to be bigger than that!
That about describes me to a T
😊😎😆😂😄😀😃
Oh look, old eyes have made another typo (for your amusement? Naw, just a missed key by tired old fingers stiff with arthritis): ‘fiving’ isn’t a word I am familiar with, but giving is ...
This is an interesting point, and one I can support. If you look at the Baptist/Evangelical spectrum, you will find out that Lewis Sperry Chafer (founder of Dallas Theological Seminary) and Earl Rademacher (professor of theology, writer, voice of evangelicals), and Charles Ryrie (Ryrie Study Bible) hold to the "Free Grace" model (click here) in which the explicit preaching of Biblical repentance is not a part of the Gospel they present to the hearer, nor insist on in their soteriology, AFIK.
This seems to be a message that many evangelical assemblies are holding to, and which their numbers are convemirntly increased.
TC, that is not an approach which I can accept or recommend, and I warn. They preach "Only believe!" holding that "belief" includes repentance, and therefore need not be emphasized, or even mentioned. I believe thast is wrong.
(And by that same token, so is the false doctrine of salvation of infants by "baptism," only vaguely simulating the immersion of repentant, believing, spiritually alive rsponsibly, accountable adults.)
Just an observation, not a distraction.
OK, so in order to inherit eternal life, I have to “excel in good works”. that then is a works based salvation I see.
Thank you for the admission of that.
Specifically, which good works and what level of commitment to them qualifies as *excelling*?
Titus 3:8 It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee affirm constantly: that they, who believe in God, may be careful to excel in good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Titus 3:8 in CONTEXT does NOT say that one must excel in good works to be saved, to inherit eternal life.
It simply says that it is good and profitable for me to do so.
Lifting a phrase out of context to support an opinion is NOT equivalent to Scriptural support for a doctrine.
You could start by apologizing for saying that I don’t substantiate my position, when I both post the relevant scripture and explain why my opponents contradict it.
Chapter and verse?
Faith alone IS all that's needed, but what that is has been explained to you before in the past and it was never explained as "for one fleet second, that is one believes that Jesus is the savior...." (Your post 413)
Even the demons know who Jesus is. Simply acknowledging that with mental assent is not the kind of faith that saves.
It has been explained over and over again to RC's on this forum.
Because the Magisterium, and not the Bible, defines what "truth" is?
Well, you are undeniably, unequivocally WRONG.
On this very thread, this post to YOU. Perhaps you didn't read it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3400726/posts?page=488#488
Look for any other posts of mine in red or blue.
tc: It certainly does.....but only if we REPENT and acknowledge our guilt, and vow not to re-offend...otherwise what's the point???
God does not demand that of us.
Why do you? Or why does the Catholic church?
Mark obviously cares for you, and I join him in praying you allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate your heart and mind and receive Jesus as you savior ... by faith only .... 'cause that's not on all that's necessary .... that's all there is
Your argument falls apart.
He also said He was a door, a vine, and bread.
Does that mean He is also made of wood, has green leaves, looks like the Pillsbury Dough Boy?
Or was He misleading us?
Then again, which one is it?
If the bread is really Jesus because of what He said and it’s NOT a metaphor, then Jesus is really a physical, literal door, vine, and bread, composed of those substances.
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