Gold Nugget 331 - A Distracted Manifold

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      As Ullmann has beautifully said “… True unity in man is possible only when that which is God-like in him – that is, the mind – acquiesces in the Divine order of life, and governs the whole being in conformity therewith.  But when he has once severed himself from the true centre of his being, that is, from God, then also does that element of his being, his mind, which is akin to God, and which was intended to be the connecting and all-deciding centre of his personal life, lose its central and dominant position; he ceases to be lord of himself and of his own nature; the various powers which make up his complex nature begin to carry on, each for itself, an independent existence; the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit wages a fruitless war with the flesh; sinful desire becomes dominant, and while the man seems to be in the enjoyment of all imaginable liberty, he has lost the only true liberty and has become a slave to himself … He is the dependent of self; and being thus the slave of self, he is also the slave of pleasure, and of all those objects which it requires for its satisfaction”  Man becomes thus a distracted manifold, instead of a God-centred unity. …

      Christ is not only the unifying element in Church life, but in the individual life as well.  He fuses all the distracted faculties into a glorious unity, and makes man his own master instead of his own slave.  Hence to quote the writer last referred to, “Christianity alone among all religions maintains a constant antagonism to the special tendency which controls the nature of its followers.” …

      Religion is not to be regarded as a negative thing, contenting itself with antagonisms, but has positive and most important fruits.  It is not a system of severe repressions, but a system full of stimulus towards a better and fuller life. … Thus man is restored to something like his true and better self.  The gospel of Christ is not a weary round of prohibitions, but is a glorious system of positive attainment, in a Divine life, which is loving, joyful, peaceful, and humane to its deepest depths.  

 

The Pulpit Commentary, Galatians p. 278-279, Galatians 5:16-26, (R. M. Edgar)

 

Gold Nugget 332

A Distracted Manifold

 

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