testing tinest

Actually "Poor in Spirit" means just that. Period. It means you are living from the perspective of the flesh. The beatitudes are actually petitions for you to repent (turn) your fleshy ways and be blessed by concentric events that create a Child of God. The poor in Spirit then must mourn to comforted as the blessing. What are they mourning? That self that must die for the spirit to come forth meek and be grounded in the inheritance of the earth's true bounty, for like Cain we've forsaken stewardship.

The Beatitudes are coaxial wheels within wheels that are in fact the little commandments mentioned in 5:19. What follows 19 are the comparison of in the world and not of it actions to the law. In other words how it is to be fulfilled.

Christ then gives us the mirror of the circular Lord's Prayer to help us along this road out of long suffering or the moments misfortune and sin that needs to be handled unlike did Cain handle his correction when God the Father did invite him to be blessed and do his homework over. The Beatitudes are this tool for correction.

If a believer sees the pervesion of justice in the society or in the church, should one look the other way ? Is that what is suggested by psalm 37, when it says do not fret with the evil doers ?

It says fret not 3 or more times. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.

If you read the whole Psalm (and I know you did); it says that the Lord will deal personally with the wicked. We don't have to do a thing, except make a mention in our prayers and thank the Lord for His intervention.

I believe that the wisdom shared in Psalm 37 has more to do with a godly person's inward response to evil & evil workers that are constantly around us. We are not to be troubled by them (v1), we are to trust, delight, commit & rest in the Lord (vv 3-5,7), & God's Judgement on them is certain & complete (vv 2,9,10,13,15,17,20,22,28,38). So there are more reminders of God's dealing with those that do wickedly & for us to know that wickedness will always be around us but we need to take care of our personal steps before the Lord (v23).

There are many Scriptures about discipline within Christ's Church, one good example is in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Once error & sin goes unchecked in the Church, then the 'whole lump' becomes infected & virtually useless. If we don't do our job then God will have to clean it out His Way: first with His gentle correction (Hebrews 12:5-11) & then more severely (1 Corinthians 11:27-32).

And our response to societies' judgement of wickedness? We know that as long as we have godless men in positions of power, whether at the top or in control of the various arms of government, then overlooking sins & miscarriages of (true) justice will always be the order of the day. We are to never condone their acts but we're told to be subject to them (Romans 13:1-7) as their primary goal is for the care & well-being of society. However, I don't believe it would be wrong to make your views known to them (by letter, newspaper submissions & not by raging marches), particularly as most of us here live in democratic, free speech & expression societies. Many other governments would imprison you for such outward expressions. It's possible that so much of anti-biblical laws passed & disregard to decency by the governments are because that Christians have remained quiet. The Gospel proclamation requires also the proclamation of godless behaviour in all aspects of society.

Thank you Chris.

Heavens, no. 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 (especially 5) directly state that we should address issues within the church in the world.

The verses you're speaking of are simply saying that we needn't be overly angry or worried about or envy those going contrary to the will of the Lord. The word "fret," even in the modern Websters' dictionary, means to agitate, to effect something as if gnawing or biting, or to "cause to suffer emotional strain."

It's not saying not saying, "Don't worry about it, everything'll be fine!"

It's rather saying, "You don't have to fret about this- they're gonna get what's coming."

There are different rules on judging Christians and non-Christians, but it IS okay to judge. That's a study in and of itself