Paul's Passing Thoughts

We are all born in the image of God. What does that mean? Well, at least in part, and according to the book of Romans, it means that the “works of the law” are written on the hearts of every human being born into the world with the conscience either accusing us or excusing us in regard to our thoughts and actions. If one is not familiar with the Bible, they will be judged according to that law written on the heart; if they are religious, they will be judged according to both. If you are really in tune with what being a Christian is, you know that in the end you will not be judged by any law. The focus of Christianity is how much we can love, NOT how much we can prevent ourselves from breaking a law whether someone’s personal preference law, a religious law, or some civil law. When you are loving; you are not sinning anyway. Besides, there is no law to judge us; the law of God has a different purpose for the true Christian.

There are only two people groups in the world: “under law” and “under grace.” Under grace is not a covering for remaining under law; you are either one or the other. Church defines under grace as a covering for remaining under law. That’s why you supposedly need church; your sins are not ended, they are only covered, IF you are faithful to church. That’s a big, fat, lie.

The Bible is clear: if you are still under law, sin is able to use the law to create sinful desires within us. If the law is ended, sin is striped of its power to enslave. Church soteriology actually keeps people enslaved to sin and throws gasoline on the fire by keeping people under law and then preaching the “righteous demands of the law” to congregants every week. Read the news much? Now that I understand what the Bible teaches about sin, I am astounded that there is not more evil in the church than what we read about. Fact is, when you make it a point to go to a religious law institution, you are willingly entering into a place where sin and evil are able to thrive.

The new birth not only ends the law for those who believe, but there is also a transformation of heart that loves God’s truth, and truth in general. Though sin will still abide where there is mortality, and will try to harass the believer with sinful desires, the believer knows that said desires are sin, and not love, and also; the believer is not enslaved by such desires. But in both cases of under law and under grace, practicing a sinful desire, whether in thought or deed, empowers the desire and intensifies it. Especially in the case of an unbeliever, the desire can become so strong that the person being afflicted by the desire is simply unable to say “no” to that desire. This is the essence of so-called, “addictions.” And yes, the addiction can become physiological as well. In addition, habit, or habituation, is another factor. A wise Christian knows what to say no to, knows they are not enslaved (able to say no), and also utilize conscience and habituation as well.

Sinful desires can take many different forms. This post is about the desire to murder. The sinful desire to murder is also closely related to the essence of sin itself; a desire to control others, and to be the god of your own existence. Do not confuse this topic with murder as a result of anger or revenge; that’s a slightly different topic. A desire to murder is often like any other sinful desire. Various and sundry desires can be pretty disgusting. More than not, hate groups, or ideologies that hate are just an excuse to fulfill a desire to murder. In regard to mass murder, it is the ultimate control high. As the mass murderer moves towards each victim, he decides whether they live or die. In that moment, he feels the exileration of the ultimate control high. Will people throw their whole lives away to experience that ultimate high in a onetime act of mass murder? Absolutely.

Sure, the mass murderer thinks himself a true believer of the cause, whatever that may be, but the ideology is merely an excuse to fulfill the evil desire of murder. More than likely, the development of human conscience, and the knowledge of human conscience, is critical in preventing people from growing up to be serial killers.  Our culture is egregiously ignorant of these issues. Nevertheless, let me make a tacit suggestion to somewhat bolster the point; with raising children, pets are probably a good idea. You can watch how your children interact with the pets, and how they care for them. Interaction with a pet can be an indication of what’s going on with your child’s conscience. And for sure, if your child is a bully, you need to nip that in the bud. Don’t get me wrong, this in not a simplistic issue, but it should be obvious to us that many things presently going on in our culture contribute to devaluing life in general.

Murder can also protect other desires we have; like the desire to not be inconvenienced or a desire for money. How many times have we heard about a spouse murdering the other spouse and children because of their desire to have another life with another person? And you can give me that “It’s my body” crap till the cows come home, but the real issue is the inconvenience of an unexpected pregnancy because of other desires you want to fulfill. Maybe a career, or the guy who got you pregnant doesn’t want to be a father and you want to retain the relationship.

More times than not, horrific desires are not a mental health issue, but a sin issue.

paul