The Letter Kills
We had the television tuned to "The News Hour" on PBS last night, and we were puttering around while the story about the Pope's visit to Turkey was airing. I happened to catch a glimpse of this placard held up by the protesting crowds, and it really struck me.
You'll note that the Pope is looking in a mirror, and what he sees there is Death. I'd guess the Muslims are ostensibly making a statement about the fact that the Pope oppresses them with his remarks and so forth. But could they know more than even they know?
Simply by being out there reveals how much they dislike their papa telling them what to do. Oh yes, the Pope is their papa, even if they're Muslim. If he wasn't, what are they complaining about? The fact that they show up to protest his power says volumes about the power he has over them.
But the thing that I thought about the most is the essense of this statement, essentially, "Pope equals Death." If we presume that the Bible is accurate in portraying the Pope is the chief visible law enforcement officer, an anti-Christ doing his duty on behalf of Cain to prosecute the evildoing of the World's inhabitants, and we furthermore accept the Bible's breadth of exposition about the difference between the nature of the law against that of truth and grace, then the placard is nothing less than a graphic depiction of the sixth verse in the third chapter of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.
Again, the placard: "The Pope is death."
2 Corinthians 3:6: "The letter kills."
What is the letter? It is none other than the law. And Scripture is unequivocal about it: The law is for lawbreakers to expose their sinfulness. This is a body of death, and the only way one can be free from it is by Jesus Christ and trusting in Him and His work of salvation.
As the Pope said himself long ago, he is legitimately there to crack the heads of all those in need of salvation. Followers of Christ have nothing to do with the Pope, for they are already saved. But look. All those Muslims who need him. No wonder they're so enraged at everything.
They know the Pope is doing his job of peeling open their soul and they see their sinfulness-- and they hate it. So they yell at him a lot. Lots of people yell at him a lot.
The law is a brutal thing, particularly when it is in the hands of the Agents of Cain.
Who is the One who would actually liberate you from this horror?
You'll note that the Pope is looking in a mirror, and what he sees there is Death. I'd guess the Muslims are ostensibly making a statement about the fact that the Pope oppresses them with his remarks and so forth. But could they know more than even they know?
Simply by being out there reveals how much they dislike their papa telling them what to do. Oh yes, the Pope is their papa, even if they're Muslim. If he wasn't, what are they complaining about? The fact that they show up to protest his power says volumes about the power he has over them.
But the thing that I thought about the most is the essense of this statement, essentially, "Pope equals Death." If we presume that the Bible is accurate in portraying the Pope is the chief visible law enforcement officer, an anti-Christ doing his duty on behalf of Cain to prosecute the evildoing of the World's inhabitants, and we furthermore accept the Bible's breadth of exposition about the difference between the nature of the law against that of truth and grace, then the placard is nothing less than a graphic depiction of the sixth verse in the third chapter of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.
Again, the placard: "The Pope is death."
2 Corinthians 3:6: "The letter kills."
What is the letter? It is none other than the law. And Scripture is unequivocal about it: The law is for lawbreakers to expose their sinfulness. This is a body of death, and the only way one can be free from it is by Jesus Christ and trusting in Him and His work of salvation.
As the Pope said himself long ago, he is legitimately there to crack the heads of all those in need of salvation. Followers of Christ have nothing to do with the Pope, for they are already saved. But look. All those Muslims who need him. No wonder they're so enraged at everything.
They know the Pope is doing his job of peeling open their soul and they see their sinfulness-- and they hate it. So they yell at him a lot. Lots of people yell at him a lot.
The law is a brutal thing, particularly when it is in the hands of the Agents of Cain.
Who is the One who would actually liberate you from this horror?
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