Welcome to Two Covenants Ministries
Religiousness is often the result of an aborted attempt at spirituality. This results when we fail to see that our actions (fruit) should be the result of an inner connection with God. Religiousness tends toward moralism, focusing on what we do rather than our experience with God. It talks about relationship but fails to understand the true nature of that relationship and how that changes us.
The Bible talks about light and darkness. These are two perspecties that tend to inspire in kind - light inspiring light, and darkness, darkness. This is a principle that is often overlooked. Healthy spirituality is a way of seeing and experiencing things that then bears good fruit.
That experience involves connecting with God's love by faith. It then takes hold of the fact that He is working all things for our good. This allows us to rest in His care. It then "walks in the light" - taking hold of the positive perspective inspired by the truths of God's word while avoiding the negative. Spirituality also involves reframing the way we deal with moral issues, dealing with them relationally rather than legally. Let me flesh out each of these perspectives.
Many believe in God's love, however they fail to appropriate it personally in their lives. Too often the judgmental aspects in the Bible cause us to experience God along the lines of a moral policeman. Adding to this is the fact that many see God working directly through the conscience. They then equate its rigid and dogmatic style with Him. Our appropriate relationship to these issues must be understood if we are to learn how to personally experience His understanding and mercy in our lives. These are the qualities that really change us.
Peace is an important result of real spirituality. It helps to break this into its two aspects - circumstantial and moral for many take hold of one OR the other yet wonder why they fail to find it.
Trusting that God is working all things together for our good is the key to CIRCUMSTANTIAL PEACE. If we believe that God's love is perfect, then it should follow that His guidance will be in our best interest. If that is the case, we should be willing to surrender to His care. We must take this step of faith or nothing works in our spiritual life.
Trying to find peace without surrender is like taking our money to the bank but failing to leave it there. Surrender, is placing ourselves in God's care. Without it we simply know we're not secure.
Surrender is being willing to be willing. We must learn to give God time to deal with our resistance. We don't change in a day. It's important that we see God as someone who works with us in the freedom and flexibility of a healthy relationship, allowing us to work through differences over time. We must avoid the rigidity that many fall into.
If we have given ourselves to God, He can now orchestrate all things for our good. Few, however, take this to the bank. We fret about this or get depressed about that. Things aren't going the way we wanted and we aren't happy. Why? We think God should give us everything we want rather than trust that He is giving us what we really need to foster spiritual growth. We fail to realize that this is the real key to happiness. If we would believe that all things are meant to be a blessing, stepping-stones for growth, we would find a peace that few experience.
Hannah Smith, in speaking of our circumstances, puts it rather well in her book "God of All Comfort". "He may not have ordered them, but He is in them somewhere, and He is in them to compel, even the most grievous, to work together for our good. The "second causes" of the wrong may be full of malice and wickedness, but faith never sees second causes. It sees only the hand of God behind the second causes. They are all under His control, and not one of them can touch us except with His knowledge and permission. The thing itself that happens cannot perhaps be said to be the will of God, but by the time its effects reach us they have become God's will for us, and must be accepted as from His hands."
We must learn to put faith before feelings. We must believe that God is taking care of us irrespective of what we feel. We must take hold of that truth with our will. Many fail here. Things go wrong and they feel down. They believe that God is good but their circumstances seem to deny that. They fail to take hold of the fact of God's love and care, and their negative feelings win out. We must resist these feelings, taking hold of the positive perspective faith brings until it prevails.
Our growth is a cooperative effort. Part of that cooperation involves adopting a new outlook - "walking in the light". This entails living in the postive atmosphere God intends for us. This atmosphere flows down the vine into the branches inspiring goodness.
Walking in the light is both a state of mind as well as actions that facilitate that state. However, instead of focusing us on the rules, or our performance, it turns us to the light. Light and darkness do not mix. If we walk in the light, the fruit of that will be more light.
We need to avoid negative things like criticism, self pity, and anger, while filling our minds with positive attitudes like acceptance, compassion, and understanding. Much of what is available on TV and through other media sources is not positive, we need to avoid these. Walking in the light puts doing right in the proper perspective. Simply making right choices, without seeing those choices in this larger context, tends to be somewhat sterile.
There are things that we do need to do. However, don't sweat the small stuff. We sabotage our peace when we try to be perfect. When you really think about it, there are generally only a few big things that you really need to come to terms with at any given time. The rest will often take care of itself as peace and love begin to motivate your life. Grace appropriately allows many things to slide while you deal with the big issues.
We also need to give the grace we receive. It is indeed "more blessed to give than to receive". We need to fill the void created by letting go of our worries and cares by finding a way to be a blessing.
An extension of walking in the light includes the moral atmosphere surrounding our choices. We need to avoid being ruled by our often punitive and judgmental moral self. We must replace it with grace, a relational way of dealing with our choices. (The Bible characterizes these two perspectives as the covenants of law and grace.)
While on our own, our moral self, thought the conscience, rules us. We may be able to modify it to some degree, through counseling or rationalization, but we can't avoid it. When we enter into a relationship with God, we can now take the issues of conscience to Him and deal with them relationally. This creates an atmosphere of freedom and flexibility.
I'm not saying the issues the conscience is dealing with are wrong, only that the attitudes experienced as we address our choices directly through the conscience are counterproductive. We don't change, on the inside, in response to demands or moral pressure. The heart is changed as we contemplate our choices in an atmosphere of love and understanding. Freedom is critical to real change. It is only possible as we experience our choices in the moral atmosphere of grace. We are free only to the extent that we connect with God in this atmosphere. This requires taking time to communicate intimately with God. This necessitates that we understand the nature of grace or that connection will be relatively unproductive.
In the covenant of law God plays the moral taskmaster. He demands obedience to the law while threatening punishment for disobedience. This functions much as our civil law, rules giving structure and stability to society. This creates moral restraint. It is for moral children who have given little thought to their values and for those who have chosen the wrong path. The old covenant involves external authority imposing itself on others, for their good, until they mature, or for the good of society.
The covenant of grace is the true basis for God's government. It is relational, based on the principles of love. It addresses our choices with flexibility, compassion, understanding, and support. If we choose to live in this grace based relationship with God, we'll find MORAL PEACE.
Moral and circumstantial peace are the keys to real power
in the Christian life. Out of this soil will grow good fruit.
