Mere Christianity #1:

So reading 'Mere Christianity' Chapter 1. It talks about something Lewis calls 'The Law of Human Nature'. As far as I can tell from a little read, this means that:

1. There is a kind of law / morality / justice that we all understand
2. Even though we understand it, we are constantly 'breaking the law' and justifying our actions.

At least this is what I got from it. It is easy to be cynical about this kind of generalisation (I know I can be), but if we are judgemental about this kind of stuff then we are hypocritical, if truth be told.

Reading this reminded me of Romans 7 (I had to Google it) which talks about how rules are put in place to show us our short comings (Romans 3.20); why we need a little help:

No one has the right to judge someone else without being a massive hypocrite:
'For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the same things.' (Romans 2.1)

I'm not sure of the practicalities of this -- what if you are a high court judge? etc. -- but at least in my day-to-day living I can be honest about what I believe and make sure people know that I am not a prudish hypocrite. Mission.

(Reading Romans is, frankly, confusing work sometimes!)

But what I do understand:

'... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...' (Romans 3.23)

Ok, so there is a lot of jargon that I myself will have to bust before I can get this properly:

sin = an ugly word that reeks of hypocracy and preachiness. Means doing something seperate from God's way. Our natural setting.

justification = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justification_(theology)

redemption = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_(theology)

So there are two things that people could find hard:

1.) Admitting that they are being hypocritical / doing bad things
2.) Being willing to accept the free gift of grace

How we are going to deal with these things is a whole different ball game. I guess admitting that they are there in the first place is a massive, massive leap.

That will do for now. This is a huge thing that I can't imagine people reading. It is more for my benefit thinking this stuff through.

SM