The Word of God Pushes Us Into Submission or Defiance - Balance of Justice and Mercy (3 of 10)

I’m a student of the Bible, not an authority. Sometimes I have to update my thinking. You know, if you walk in the light, and we know the source of light is God, you constantly have to be prepared to update your thinking.

Fallen man lives in darkness, and as we walk toward the light things get clearer and brighter as we move in that direction. The trouble with a lot of people is that they get started toward the light and then they stop walking. Allowing the Spirit to change their thinking, their beliefs, is scary.

The Holy Spirit is pushing to get us to submit to God's authority, and hopefully we won't end up in defiance. But when God pushes it's always painful. When God pushes us into making some really tough decisions, and when you do it for the sake of faith alone, it can be very difficult. Adam and Eve were created perfect. They had sinless natures in the beginning, but they did not have the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil did not arrive until they sinned.

James 28 says, if you really keep the Royal law found in Scripture — love your neighbor as yourself – you're doing right. The idea here is that James is appealing to the second half of the Royal law. He’s not saying that all God wants us to do is love our neighbors – No, he wants us to love him first, then our neighbor, and that was Adams great mistake in following Eve.