What is missing from Christians? Integrity! That is strong adherence to values. Integrity is “wholeness.” That implies that the moral values are applied in all things.
Integrity has neither weight nor dimensions, but its value is greater than gold.
Abimelech was king of Gerar. When Abraham entered his territory, Abimelech took Sarah to be his own… perhaps his own wife. She was Abraham’s wife, but also his half-sister. Abraham did not lie but lacked integrity. He did not tell the whole truth. He was righteous in some respects, but not others. On the other hand, Abimelech had integrity as can be seen from the key verses:
5 Said he (Abraham) not unto me (Abimelech), “’She is my sister?’ and she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.’” 6 And God said unto him in a dream, “Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. (Gen 20:5-6)
Abraham was righteous enough to be favored by God but was not beyond deceiving to keep himself safe from foreign kings. Rather than rely on Gid for safety, according to the Covenant, he relied on his own devices! He had not yet learned integrity.
Abraham was still, at that time, unprincipled but remember that Abraham had found grace; to wit: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Gen 17:1).
“Perfect” here is “tamim” in the Hebrew. In the key verse, “integrity” is “tom,” but they mean the same thing! Abram found grace and was allowed to walk in the Presence of God, and to be spiritually whole, upright, righteous, complete, and to have fidelity (integrity) to God in all things.
“Fidelity” is complete faithfulness. In the case of Abimelech, God would have taken care of Abraham and Sarah, and finally did when the whole truth was revealed. Abraham was to have spiritual integrity, but that foreign king outside the Covenant one-upped Abraham. He had more integrity than Abraham!
“Integrity” is walking as if in the Presence of God, even when not facing God.
An example of “integrity” is used in many classes: For instance, if someone misplaces a large sum of money, and another person finds it; “integrity” is even in the absence of being caught, the finder returns the money to the rightful owner. That is the classical example of integrity, but spiritual integrity is walking the Way of Jesus even when Jesus is not present.
It is keeping the commandments of God, not because they are legalistic but still God’s Will for you. And not only keeping them when in the presence of righteous men but all mankind.
With that said, Christians are usually more Christian when in the presence of other Christians. That is a lack of integrity.
For instance, it was reported some time ago that in one large city, the Promise Keepers who gathered during the day, at night purchased adult movies at their hotels. That was known because the Promise Keepers rented most of the rooms and during that week, the purchase of adult movies skyrocketed. That is not to put down the organization, Promise Keepers, but to point out the lack of integrity when some Christians are away from the “presence” of God and other Christians. Of course, we are always in the Presence of God but somehow think that God turns a blind eye to sin when it is convenient to the Christian.
Abraham did that! When it was inconvenient to call Sarah his wife, he called her his “sister.” Those Christians at Promise Keepers probably did not lie, but in the comfort of their room, concealed the truth. They were not in the dark what they had been in the light of day!
What is God’s Will for you? The same as for Abraham — to be spiritually complete and to have spiritual integrity.
Things have changed with time. Just a few short years ago, Christians would do in a dark room when alone what they would not do in the presence of Christians during the day. Nowadays, they do not care what God thinks or even other Christians. Many even bring adulterers and adulteresses with them to church and pass them off as if they are wives or husbands. Is that not despicable, but even the most righteous are not complete in their faith.
Does integrity mean anything to modern Christians? Is the requirement for integrity lifted because God is gracious?
God told Abram, “Be thou perfect….” Be totally faithful to me, Abraham! Have integrity. Then what did Abraham do? He was his old self; he again passed his wife off as his sister just as he had with the Egyptians. [i] Putting it a little crudely, here was Abraham twenty-nine years after finding grace, still “pimping” out his own flesh, Sarah, as his sister! The new person, Abraham, was much the same as the old person, Abram.
Abraham was imperfect in his walk with God. Perfection was a part of the Covenant. That Covenant with Abraham was everlasting; it remains in effect today; [ii] to wit: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:48)
Abraham was in the Presence of God in earth, but Christians are to be perfect even when the LORD GOD is in heaven. We are not in the Father’s physical presence as Abraham, but we remain in His Spiritual Presence. As such, just like Abraham, we too are to be perfect.
Did Abraham obtain perfection? No, but he walked that way! His faith — his fidelity — was demonstrated when he was willing to sacrifice his own flesh to the Father in Heaven. How so? Just as he and Sarah were one flesh, not by birth, but by Holy Matrimony, Abraham and Isaac were one flesh by birthright.
Abraham changed because of grace. His faith was made whole, and Abraham is noted as the epitome of faithfulness:
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (Rom 4:16)… Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. (Gal 3:7)
What did Abraham learn from his experience with Abimelech? Perfection… wholeness… fidelity to God… to walk the Way of God without regard to who is present.
Just why did Abraham not take his companions to the Holy Mountain to see the sacrifice of Isaac? That would be easy with witnesses, but what would Abraham do when he was alone with God? Finally, Abraham had integrity, even more than Abimelech had.
If Abraham had pulled off a deception, he and Isaac would have planned a fake sacrifice to fool Abraham’s companions. They could have been deceived, but God cannot! The same goes for Christians today — “What is done in Vegas does not stay in Vegas;” God sees it all. He is always present, yet Christians behave as if God is blind rather than us, just plain stupid!
Some (Gnostics) believe that the crucifixion of Jesus was faked to persuade the Christians that Jesus was God. They believe that a “phantasm” of Jesus was on the Cross, and not his body of flesh and blood. They believed that Christians pulled off the “Calvary Hoax” but that is not the case!
Isaac was sacrificed yet he lived. That demonstrated the integrity of Abraham, finally, and that was counted to him as faith. [iii] It was not perfect faith but was “great faith.” That satisfied God!
Only God has perfect faith, and only He is complete. His Integrity comes from His identity — only God is Good.
God showed Abraham that he was no Adam. Adam was made “perfect.” Genesis 1:31 should not be translated “very good” but “entirely good” or “perfect.” There is only one who qualified for perfection, and was without sin, and that Person is Jesus!
Abraham was no “Jesus,” and neither are we, but we, like Abraham long ago, should walk with Him with integrity.
Just when was Abraham perfected? When he died, because now we know that Abraham is in Paradise. [iv] Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” What is that “gain?” Of course, eternal life, but also perfection in the absence of the gravity of the flesh!
“Glorification” is the body and soul of Christians walking in the Presence of God, and perfected by God. “Glorification” is not hard work (ergon). God perfects… Christians walk that Way.
(picture credit: 123RF.com' "Gold Coins Falling Out of Sack")
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