Man cannot be violated by God!

I have been thinking a lot about the way God manifests Himself to the world. He reveals Himself through His invisible attributes - Paul says in Romans 1. Sounds like a contradiction and yet that is the only way He can draw man to Himself without violating the law of the will in man. For God to appear before mankind is no big deal for Him but then He would be doing away with the requirement of choice. Man would then choose God not because he wants to but because he has to. Beyond a certain point, man would be crossing the line between choice and compulsion. That is why even in the miracles that God does, none are irrefutable. Man can always explain it away and that is a necessary part of how God works. He does not raise the dead every day. He cannot make it too obvious. Because then man would not have the freedom to choose. He would be forced to choose. Mankind is always brought to a place where His senses are not violated. And then he has to decide regarding his future. Man should always turn to Him in faith. God will accept no other way.

Filled and yet fleshly!

A very confounding issue for most of us is the topic of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. A natural picture we have is that a filling takes place when a vessel is empty. Therefore we tend to think that the Spirit infilling happens to those who are most yielded to God. This is however, not true in the spiritual sense because God fills the new believer who has repented, not the believer who has emptied himself the most. In fact the emptying and the yielding is a lifelong process and leads someone to be full of the Spirit, a term that is vastly different that being filled with the Spirit. 
The filling of the Spirit (called the baptism of the Holy Spirit when it happens the first time) is given for a deep inner cleansing and an empowerment and has little to do with how spiritual a person is. It gives a new confidence in God and a new boldness in witnessing. It is also surprising to find out how quickly a cleansed believer can be defiled if he does not begin to walk by the Spirit. Please note that the flesh is not subdued by the infilling. This is where most of us are confused. An infilling does not cause love to overflow. It can only cause power to overflow. Love can overflow only when the flesh is subdued. The key is that we walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). A verse that can add to the confusion is the King James translation of Romans 5:5. The actual translation is not 'love shed abroad' but 'love has been poured out into our hearts' by the Holy Spirit. The context clearly shows Paul saying that we do not just look forward with hope but we can experience depths of God's love right now due to the present dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

To speak or not to speak!

We should always interpret verses strictly within its context because sometimes it can be used to mean something that it was not meant to, if we take it in a broader sense.

A classic example is with regards to the teaching regarding conduct of women. In 1 Corinthians 14 - women are to remain silent in the churches does not mean that a woman cannot preach or teach or prophesy. The context in that verse shows us very clearly that a woman cannot raise her voice and try to force her opinion (she may call it revelation!) in matters of church life. She is better off if she is able to get her husband to bring her the clarity that she needs! The context here is about order in a church setting.

In 1 Timothy 2, the context is totally different and the setting is not the church but in individual lives especially in a family context. Here Paul uses the singular tense. He maintains that a woman should not, in any way, show that she rules over a man either by teaching him or instructing him, thereby showing that she is superior to him. The context is strictly personal and most likely a domestic setting.

If we interchange the verses and use them out of their context, we can falsely conclude that a woman cannot teach or preach at all. What a loss for some of our ill-informed churches!

Laying out the Law!

A proper understanding of the Law (or law) is vital for our spiritual growth and key to stepping out of bondage into the very life of God. Unless we do a careful study, it will be impossible to decipher the different aspects of the Law that the Scriptures present to us. It is a fascinating study and the entire mosaic slowly falls into place if we persevere. When Paul says that we are free from the Law, we can become entirely confused. In Romans, Paul is using that statement to mean that we have moved out the bondage of sin into the atmosphere of grace where we have broken free from the curse of the Law. Why is it a curse? Because we have to do it completely. It is all or none! 
In Galatians, Paul is using that same statement to declare that we do not need the help of the Law to please God. Instead, it becomes an hindrance to us if we fall into the works of the Law. In Matthew 5 to 7, Jesus presents the real demands of the Law and shows us how impossible it is for us to fulfill the Law even when we are trying to keep the Law. 
There is also a grave lack of teaching in explaining the Law in relation to the sanctification process. We almost entirely relate to the Law in connection to being justified before God. We speak about how we are set free and are no longer stigmatized by the Law. What we fail to see is how easily we can be captured and brought back into bondage if we are not renewed in mind and heart. There is an ongoing deliverance from the Law and its effects into the abundance of the life of God.