my gorge rises at it

You get three points if you can tell me where the title of this blog came from.

But all foolishness set aside:

What have we become?
A self indulgent people
What have we become?
Tell me, where are the righteous ones?
What have we become?
In a world degenerating
What have we become?

What is going through our heads? I'm sick lately of these filthy rags.

"What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient servants, you are servants of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
~Romans 6:15-16

There are two kingdoms. Light and darkness. There is no in between. We are servants of sin or obedient to God. This isn't an angel and a devil on our shoulder type thing, sometimes we side with one, sometimes with the other.

"But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it."
~Joshua 6:18

God is bent on destroying sin. After Joshua said this, the people went into the city of Jericho and destroyed all there: man, woman, child, animal, and all that could be burned. One man took a nice piece of clothing. Israel was defeated in their next battle, and 36 men died because of his sin. Then, he and his family was stoned and burned. After that, Israel easily defeated their enemies with no problem, killing 12,000 without losing a single man themselves.

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that [Christ] appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy to works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he can not keep on sinning because he has been born of God."
~1 John 3:4-9

Not one of the most popular passages in scripture. Why? Because we love our filthy rags. We're being offered white robes, why do we cling to the rags?

What about love?
What about God?
What about holiness?
What about mercy, compassion, and selflessness?

Oh, that we would learn to abide!

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirits are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under teh law. Now the works of the flesh are evident; sexual immorality, impurity, sesuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, murder, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
~Galatians 5:16-24

If a little leaven leavens the whole lump (Gal. 5:9), then why are we not aggressively seeking out the areas of our life where sin lies undisturbed and giving those areas over to God in obedience? And not just the ugly sins, but worldliness, vanity, greed, manipulation, and everything that the Spirit is against. We have taken a weak view towards sin, making some worse than others, but there is only sin and obedience, and nothing that doesn't come from God can stand before Him, so why do we permit it?

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Galatians 5:1

And what does our Lord say?

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recogize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."
~Matthew 7:15-20

And again,

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a brance and withers; and the brances are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
~John 15:1-11

What are we to say then? "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be perecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Tim. 3:12-13) Where is our persecution?

Where is our desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus?

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
~Romans 8:1

"Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
~Romans 8:8

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries....'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."
~Hebrews 10:26-27,37-39

Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
~Matthew 9:61-62

If anyone would dispute that God does not require absolute holiness out of us, let him show me in scripture. Yet it is not our holiness that He accepts, because our filthy rags are worth nothing to Him. He doesn't want the kingdom of darkness's attempts at holiness. Instead, if we abide, being completely obedient, crucifying our flesh, then He purifys us as He is pure, and we receive His righteousness, and we no longer belong to ourselves, for truly a King can command His servants without first asking how they feel about the command. In this country we've gotten so used to owning our own lives that we don't know what it means to say "Lord" to Christ. If He is our Lord, He would have us live differently then we are. The freedom I am given in this country I only count as value in that it lets me be a bondservant and a slave to Christ, obedient to His heart and no other.

Consult Matthew 22:1-14.

"Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it....for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works as God did his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience."
~Hebrews 4:1,10-11

So we rest from our works, because they are worthless, but by being obedient we receive His righteousness and are not put to shame.

"Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."
~Hebrews 12:12-14

~sojourner