Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
Being filled with the Holy Spirit may be caring for those who are sick. "When I was sick, you visited me..." Was this visiting then self-effort, devoid of Godly connection? Doesn't seem so, from the text.
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I'm definitely not saying works aren't needed, necessary, helpful, important, etc. Surely works express God, and frankly I think the LC is very very short in the works department. And I will say that they lack the humanity of the Lord himself a great deal from my experience with them in the Western Washington region
But we can't go too far one way or the other. Works outside of the spirit become dead works- Isaiah 64:6, Hebrews 9:6, 1 Corinthians 3:12, John 15:5. On the flip side I think if we just have the spirit without the works then that's short also. Which I believe brother Lee is guilty of promoting. Many times I've read him say that all we need is the spirit and all we need to do is take care of the spirit. In a sense this is sorta true, but clearly there's much more to the Christian life than just that. It's certainly indispensable and vital. Without the spirit the Christian life is done, it's shipwrecked. But certainly there is more to it than that. And for Lee to simplify it and distill it to that degree is pretty dangerous in a sense and venturing into misleading territory. He himself has said that the main focus of his ministry was Christ dispensed and the spirit in relation to the economy of God. However I find his ministry to be hyper focused on those aspects, while to a great deal neglecting many other aspects of the bible and the Christian walk
For instance in the past I used to totally ignore the book of James. However recently I have been appreciating this passage from James 2:14-18, which I think touches on this matter nicely....
2:14 What is the profit, my brothers, if anyone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and lacks daily food,
2:16 And any one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, yet you do not give them the necessities of the body, what is the profit?
2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.
2:18 But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works
So taken as a whole the Bible is balanced on this. But I think the LC and denominations are not balanced on this point. I think they're both too much one way or the other. The denominations neglect the exercise of the spirit to contact God, and the LC neglects the works which glorify God