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Shel, I am NOT looking for "loopholes" so as to not partake.
(Smile) No, I didn't mean that "loophole, luv (peace to you!). I meant the loophole of not doing "just so." Of not OBEYING... and so DOING what he SAID/SAYS. Dear, dear P... first, I am GLAD that you listened and asked. And perhaps he had you do so... so that you COULD perhaps learn where perhaps you're still struggling? Because, per your comments, HE didn't answer your "question" as to this matter... but directed you to go on an ask HERE. Why would he do that, rather than just TELL you that what you believe is accurate... and the basis for it?
So, please know, I, for one, am glad you listened... and OBEYED... at least in that regard.
As for your question:
As dear tams (peace, luv!) stated, we can't say we LOVE him... can we... and NOT do what he SAYS? I get it that you're having difficulty reconciling what he is recorded to have said... with what we are sharing with you here. Truly, I do. Your conundrum is did he REALLY mean to partake of bread and wine? Or did he mean simply to listen to his words - "feed" on his words, "drink in" what he said.
But, c'mon, luv: first he told them they had to eat of flesh and drink his blood. That UNLESS they did so, they would NOT have life in themselves... and IF they did so... HE would resurrect them. Meaning, he would bring them to life in the FIRST resurrection... versus them having to wait for the FATHER to do so in the SECOND resurrection.
THEN... he told them HOW ("Take, eat, this MEANS my flesh... blood"). THEN he told them how OFTEN ("KEEP doing this..."). THEN he told them WHY ("As OFTEN as you do it you KEEP declaring my death..."). You, though, dear one, stopped at his words before he even MENTIONED eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Which words some of those who LEFT him... AFTER he told them they would need to eat/drink... heard! THOSE words were WONDERFUL to them. His later words, however, apparently not so much. And that's kinda where YOU are, dear one: "stumbling" over this very same command.
Now, he said HE would resurrect those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. If we LOVE him... TRULY love him... wouldn't we want to be resurrected BY him (versus by the Father in the second resurrection)... AND partake of the gift HE holds out to those who DO love him: co-rulership with him as king-priests?
Well, okay, then! And in THAT light, we should DO... what he said/says to DO, yes? True, as you stated, we DO so... OUT OF LOVE. Our DOING, though, is what MANIFESTS... makes APPARENT... that love.
Dear, dear P... you're a husband. If your wife constantly told you she LOVED you...
but did not do what you ASKED her to do... would YOU not question her LOVE?? Surely, you would! And even though YOU would still love... and care for... HER... would it not mean MORE to YOU if SHE loved and cared for YOU in the same WAY? And so, just as you showed HER... YOUR love... SHE showed you HERS for YOU? Of COURSE it would!
Why, then, presume our dear Lord is any DIFFERENT
as a HUSBAND?? And is he not OUR husband, we being his BRIDE??
WE cannot question CHRIST'S love for US, no. You are absolutely right in that. BUT... HE can... and certainly WILL... question OURS. It is his RIGHT to do so, luv, as is ANY husband's right. AND wife's!
You, though, are overlooking EVERYTHING he said... for ONE thing he said. One thing he said before he said SO MUCH MORE. But he ALSO said:
"I have MANY things to tell you... but you are not able to BEAR them, yet."So, even THEN he didn't tell them EVERYTHING they "needed" to know. And so, if just "believing" was SUFFICIENT... what else WAS there? What else did they NEED to BE told? Why "bother" them with anything ELSE... if THAT was the be all end all??
And what if those who were around when he said what's recorded at John 3:17 just stopped there? Just took what he had said up to that point and considered that sufficient, the "end" of it? What if the apostles had decided, "No, we don't need to attend that last meal - he's pretty much said we don't need to do ANYTHING... except believe he is the Son of God... and we get LIFE! Why even GO???"
They went... because they LOVED him. And BECAUSE they went... because they OBEYED... they received MORE. More than just everlasting life. They received special POSITIONS: rulership over the 12 tribes of Israel! And only THEY received that privilege! Why? He told them:
"Because YOU are the ones that have stayed with me through my trials!"That, dear one... staying WITH him... EVEN THROUGH HIS TRIALS...
is DOING something. They stuck with him... out of love, yes. And they shared that meal with him, out of love, yes. And... he rewarded them MORE... for doing so! For OBEYING him.
So I can only speak for myself, but what I am sharing with you... trying to share with you... ISN'T about eating and drinking in order to get eternal LIFE - it's about OBEYING... as a MANIFESTATION of our LOVE. HE said that we should remain IN [UNION WITH] him. That if we DID, WE would receive life from him. And Paul clarified that when HE wrote:
"... there is NO CONDEMNATION... for those... who are IN Christ..." Romans 8:1And so, once again, how did CHRIST say we can be "IN" him? He said:
"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." John 6:56Now, you've ADMITTED that you partake of his flesh and blood, yes? So why are you ALLOWING the "blockage" as to understanding what he MEANT when he said to do so?
You have to ask yourself, luv, what your concerns are TRULY about. Because since you DO it... and recognize WHY you do it (love)... there should be no issue at all. We have shared, stated, and clarified WHO the "command" is for... and why.
I hope this helps, truly! Please, though, do NOT be discouraged if it isn't clear to you, as WE have shared it, still. TAKE it to our dear Lord. Ask HIM to clarify what is still unclear TO you... and if it's different, then come and share that with US. Until you hear from him DIFFERENT, though, surely you can see why WE can't change OUR understanding. Because it is the understanding WE received from HIM.
Peace to you... dear, dear brother!
YSSFS of Christ,
Shel