Attitude

Attitude makes the difference! Probably it is your attitude toward God, His authority, and the Law of God which will make the difference. Attitude is a psychological construct of thought and emotion and is acquired through life experiences. Attitudes are a predisposition of thoughts which people have toward others, things, and events.  Attitudes formulate how we behave and think toward the world and its inhabitants. People even have attitudes about God!

Mankind’s attitudes are predisposed toward Narcissism in that our inborn nature is toward the magnification of ourselves. Thus, our attitude toward God is that we too are gods and deserve appeasement. Since pleasure is foremost desired, and God’s Law de-emphasizes pleasure, people reject God’s Law and His authority. We do what is right in our eyes. Our attitude is that if God is even real, then He is secondary to us. We elevate ourselves and diminish God.

The old creature has an attitude of self-importance, what psychologists call self-esteem. We indeed were created with love of self because that is the metric God uses for loving Him and others. The problem occurs when people love themselves first, and before God. The first commandment indicates that we are not to have other gods besides God - in God’s face. Mankind has an attitude – our desires come before God’s will. That attitude was developed with original sin as Adam did his pleasure rather than God’s will. Ever since, that supremacy has been our will. Why so? God says no man hates his own body. I accept God’s Word over man’s all the time!

People commit suicide, I believe, because they love themselves so intensely that they cannot take tribulation. I contend that life itself is tribulation. To end the self-persecution or bullying by others, the suicidal person takes his own life to stop cognitive dissonance.  He or she loves themselves even more than life. They don’t think of others they hurt but only of themselves.

We all experience that sort of tribulation, but normal people love life because it rewards them. Abnormal people hate life because their “god” is not rewarded sufficiently. Pleasure does little to change their attitude.

I believe that the primary attitude of people is that there is no afterlife. Personally, it would be troublesome for me if I thought there was nothing in the hereafter. There are certain obligations people must meet to obtain eternal peace. Some believe that they can do nothing toward those obligations and continue to sin. They inherently know that sin is wrong but do it anyway, rationalizing that they will have peace in the end anyway. In other words, they have an attitude about themselves: that their spirit is willing, but their flesh is weak. They know that is not good enough in their hearts.

They must adjust that attitude; the flesh must come to obey the spirit. That is peace, and God helps with that! A bad attitude is that people cannot change their doublethink: that they are children of God but do the works of the Devil. Their attitude is fatalistic: I can’t change so I won’t even try. Their new attitude returns to the old; they are apathetic to God’s will. The positive attitude Christians must have is I must care about God’s will. Why? To demonstrate appreciation and love for Him!

We have all experienced giving a loved one gifts when there was no thank you. We are disappointed. Well, God gets disappointed too! He so loves the world (us) that he desires that we love Him back, and to show God love, we are to show His other creatures love. Because God will save me, because He covenanted that with me, I want to please Him. It is that attitude which is my safety. If I cease wanting to please God, I am no longer safe!

It is not strict obedience which impresses God but the attitude of willingness to please Him. We can easily quit much sinning, but that is not the solution. God’s will is greater than that: He wants us to have a new attitude about sin. He wants us to no longer desire to sin. Knowing our flesh, God helps us with that. His grace continues! Unlike most churches, God doesn’t take us into His household and forgets us; He is always there with Fatherly advice and Divine assistance!

I’ve written about the difference between a salvation experience and born again. The second birth or regeneration is discarding the old selfish attitude for a new reverent appreciative one. A new attitude that I want to do things God’s Way, not my way. Regeneration is that change in attitude to diminish oneself and elevate God just as the Hebrews did with the poisonous snakes in the wilderness in Moses’ time.

Before Moses lifted Jesus up, the Hebrews tried to kill the snakes on their own to no avail; and  they died. When they diminished themselves and looked up at Jesus on the “cross”, they returned to God His Purpose: to guide and protect- to keep them safe. Their attitude changed from I am in control to God is totally in control. All they needed to DO is trust Jesus. All we need to DO ourselves is trust in Jesus. It is that new attitude which is saving. God didn’t expect the Hebrews to hone their skills to kill the fiery darts of the snakes; He only asked that they trust in Him. (They put on the whole armor of God.)

The attitude that trusting one time is sufficient for salvation will allow the dragon to devour. Trusting must be persevering. When one gets the attitude that I’ve trusted once, that is enough, Satan is half-way there to devouring those with that attitude. Christians must continue trusting God. They must keep the faith: “By grace you are saved through faith; and that is not of yourselves; it is the gift from God” (Ephes 2:8). If salvation was only for the present time, trusting that one time would be enough.  Salvation is at the end of life, and faith must endure to the end to be saved. 

Perhaps the reader can now see the difference: born again and salvation are not the same thing. Regeneration is a one-time event during life, and salvation is a one-time event at death (for some). In between, God keeps the faithful safe. No one can ever be “unsaved” but they can indeed return to unsafety! In fact, the word “unsaved” does not even exist because it would contradict itself!

The point is that doing things for merit has no efficacy for salvation but having a change of attitude from coercion to willingness is saving.