Walk by Spirit

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."  Romans 8:14

This week I have been struggling with my intuitive and innate understanding of God with what is taught in various denominations especially when it comes to the Bible.  On one hand there are denominations such as Southern Evangelicals that believe that only the Bible reveals the truth about God and that everything in the Bible literally happened as written.  Other denominations such as the Catholic Church write that “All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and this one book is Christ, ‘because all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ.”  They continue to say, that Scripture is divinely inspired and is unique in world literature.  They acknowledge the Bible contains myths, stories, parables and historical facts inspired by God. The Bible is written this way because it allows for revelation, that is drawing multiple messages from the same text.  This also allows for prophecy and other deeper insights requiring imagination.  The deep spiritual insight represented in Genesis that we intuitively understand within the story is what is essential, not whether we believe literally that a man and woman named Adam and Eve once physically existed in a garden called Eden.  

Many Biblical scholars agree that most of the Old Testament was written around 500 B.C. although chronological dates are assigned to events in Bible from 4,246 B.C. (Adam – Wikipedia) in the Old Testament.   The events and writing of the New Testament are contained within the first century A.D.  We know that parts of the Bible were written in multiple languages contained in separate documents.  Not until 500 A.D. was there consensus between denominations on what books to include in the Bible.  There are now many translations and versions of the Bible even within a single language such as English.   

In my mind, we need to recognize that the Bible tells the story of the evolving relationship and understanding by humans of God, reflecting the perspective of different cultures compiled together over a period of time.  The beliefs and understanding of God by a human at the time of Leviticus would not be the same as in 21st Century America.  Also, we need to recognize that most of the Old Testament was actually written in 500 B.C. reflecting that culture with recounted stories told verbally over possibly hundreds if not thousands of years.  To me the Bible as a divinely inspired book, the understanding of God grows as God gradually reveals his nature and message culminating in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And that process comes from within.  I have come to believe that the original separation from God is spiritual, changing the nature of our humanity because humans were no longer immersed and connected to the consciousness of God and the eternal.  Ultimately the life, death and resurrection of Jesus represents a reconciliation of humans to the consciousness of God within eternity.  The Bible is first about a spiritual journey to remember who we are as children of God.  And because some Christians do not see Jesus’s underlying message that we are spirit, they focus on human behaviors or the law as communicated in the Old Testament and portions of the New Testament.  This can be problematic in our spiritual growth as individuals and as a community.  

To illustrate this point, let us examine slavery in which there are over 100 verses in the Bible.  Leviticus 25:44-46 ESV 

“As for your male and female slaves whom you may have, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.” 

Later in the New Testament, Ephesians 6:5-8 Paul states, “Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ,” Similar statements regarding obedient slaves can be found in Colossians 3:22-24, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, and Titus 2:9-10.  In the 21st Century most of us agree that slavery is immoral and not reflective of God, even though it is still practiced in some parts of the world.  But we know that white Christian slave owners in the United States often used the Bible to justify owning blacks.  But today, you will no longer find churches preaching pro-slavery sermons based on these verses.

In other cases, some churches preach homosexuality is a sin and cite Bible verses about marriage between a man and a woman as well as verses such as Leviticus 18:22 "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin." (NLT) Although pastors know that slavery is condoned in the Bible but know it is wrong, will still preach against homosexuality.  They take this position although modern psychology states that although we do not clearly understand all the factors in sexual orientation, there is a biological element to it.   And as confirmed by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 homosexuality is no longer considered a mental disorder.    

Another example of changes in practices are Bible passages that state women are unclean when the menstruate therefore requiring isolation so not to contaminate men. We no longer follow those practices because we recognize it is a natural biological process, not an unclean act. 

Romans 13:1 states, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  When asked why a loving God would establish the governments of Hitler, Stalin, North Korea and other autocratic or fascist leaders - the standard response from some Christians is that God allows these governments for his own purposes.  That suggests that God is a puppeteer pulling the strings deciding what he will and will not allow and that humans have no free will.  If that is the case, since God is all powerful and humans have no free will, why not just wipe creation of sin instead of letting humans suffer?  Allowing humans to suffer for no purpose brings to mind a God that is cruel.  This runs counter to a loving God that grants free will to allow spiritual growth in his children and creation.  A loving God is analogous to parents giving freedom to children to make choices in order to grow knowing their children will sometimes choose unwisely. 

Which brings me back understanding the Bible as a Holy Book as primarily documenting a spiritual awakening, reconciliation and revelation.  Revelation does not solely mean a final dramatic reveal, but also an ongoing process.  God reveals himself every day in all creation including our growing understanding of our humanity, nature, physics, and the Universe. That allows us to spiritually grow in ways not possible in 100 A.D. and some Bible verses can be viewed differently in this light including those on slavery and homosexuality.

God is the loving movement which remains unseen except by faith.  When humans choose love, they choose God.  And since God and love is the most powerful force in creation, ultimately it prevails even when some humans in a fallen world separated from God, chose differently.  And the movement of God is universal in spirit, not limited to the window of time we perceive as humans.  To focus solely as a human on an individual journey for salvation, is to deny our universality in spirit and eternal connection to God.   Understanding that our journey as written in the Bible as a spiritual awakening in light of eternity, I believe is Jesus' ultimate message. 

And when we walk by spirit – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.