My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

Romans 7:15-17 … Succumbing to sin
(06/06/2017)
“That‟s impossible!” ~ Paul of Tarsus
(said to the Followers of Jesus)
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very
thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it
is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” ~ Paul (Romans 7:15-16)
Paul never saw Jesus in the flesh, he never heard Jesus preach, and as such
he never even faintly comprehended Jesus‟ Way or his Truth or his Life (contrast
Paul‟s highly erroneous self-made “gospel” about Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 &
Romans 10:9 et al with Jesus‟ own Gospel about The Way of selfless Love in Matthew
10:7 & Matthew 24:12-14 – see also Matthew 7:21-24, Matthew 18:3-4, Mark 10:18,
John 13:15-17, Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 25:35-40 et al) … And that is why Paul is
the embodiment of our ego, looking at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling
them “irresponsible” (when they are actually the only real Responsibility we have),
looking at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling them “dangerous” (when they
are actually our only hope for anything resembling real Security of Self), and looking
at acts of self-sacrificial Love and calling them “masochistic” (when they are
actually the only way to Care, and thus the only way to honor and enliven one‟s True
Self). And yet like the ego, Paul simply didn‟t understand – he didn‟t understand
The Way of Christ because he refused to embolden the courage required to leap
onto its willingly self-sacrificial Path -- and what is never experienced cannot
ever be truly understood … And as long as we too choose self over other, and as
long as we too choose safety over service, and as long as we too choose
selfishness over self-sacrifice, then we too will go through life falsely believing
that true LOVE is impossible – and it is we too who will never know the sheer
Bliss of Jesus‟ “Kingdom of God” (Luke 17:20-21) or the sheer Joy of his
“Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).
In this vein, please understand the following stark contrasts between the
“unway” of Paul and The Way of Christ: *Paul tells us to be prudent and “give
what we can” to those who have earned it, while Jesus tells us to Give even our
last two pennies to those in need (see Luke 21:1-4) to those “least deserving” of
the same (see Luke 10:29-37) … *Paul tells us to respect governmental authorities
and obey the ruling elite, while Jesus tells us to subject ourselves only to the
Will of God (see Matthew 5:17-18 – where the Greek pleroo did not encourage us to
obey the law but rather told us to transcend the same, a la Matthew 8:22, Matthew 12:8,
Matthew 15:11, Matthew 17:27, Matthew 22:21 et al) … *Paul tells us to “love”
those who love us and to be kind to those who treat us with respect, whereas
Jesus tells us to “Love the enemy”, to “turn the other cheek”, and to “pray for
those who persecute” us (see Matthew 5:38-48 et al).
155