We are often told by many religious people that the book of James is proof that there are things we must do in order to be saved or in order to assure our salvation. They tell us that we must do things to "make grace available". I have heard it said that God, "only helps those who help themselves" and such like.
Does james stand in contrast to the Pauline epistles? Here is my take on the oft misunderstood passage, of James 2:24. Look at these two seemingly contradictory verses...
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
The above verses seem to stand in opposition to each other. How can both be true? The answer is that there is a semantical range of meaning for many words in the new testament. Many of the errors we tend to make when reading our bible is in assuming that a word means the same thing every time we come across it. This is not so, and a simple look at the biblical uses of the word "justify" makes that obvious. There are two types of justification in the bible when speaking of man. Understanding that will help you a great deal.
There is god justifying man and there is man justifying himself. god justifies man through imputed righteousness received through faith. Man justifies himself through works. That is the justification spoken of in James. the justification in James 2:24 is Not man receiving justification from God because of works. It is man proving or showing his faith by his works.
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
This verse is speaking of God justifying man and no man will attain it by works.
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
This is how we attain God's justification, through faith. This is saving justification.
Luk 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
Here a man is attempting to justify himself by trying to illicit a particular answer from Christ.
Luk 7:35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.
Here wisdom is justified.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Here Paul speaks of Christ being justified.Do you see how justify is not always synonymous with salvation?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Both of the verses above about Abraham are true, because the definition of the word justify is different in each case. James speaks of man justifying his faith by his actions. It is showing what you believe by what you do. Don't let people tell you that there is anything you have to do to be saved. God did it all for you. James calls us to demostrate our faith by our actions, as in "faith working by love." God justified us when we believed. That is the only justification we need for salvation.
(for more on this topic, see a book by Michael Pearl : Justification and the book of James)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Repentance
Satan is hard at work making the Gospel more difficult than it has to be, keeping people lost, and keeping saved people from resting in the finished work of the Cross. I would like to shed some light on his lies.
Repentance:
How can I know that I repented enough?
Scriptures speak of repentance being a necessary aspect of salvation. Once I am saved, how can I be sure I will not be one to whom Christ says, 'I never knew you, depart from me...'?
How can I be sure that I have repented enough?
The answer is simple, as is the majority of the Gospel. The problem with this approach is that I am assuming there is something for me to 'do' when repenting. Religious people, such as our Catholic friends, will tell us that we must feel sorry for our sins and continually repent and forsake them or we are in danger of losing our salvation.
This was a heavy burden for me when I was first converted. I went around trying to conjure up sorrow for my sin, and when that didn't work, feeling sorry that I wasn't sorry. It was ridiculous and I was making repentance into a work.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Repentance is a 'turn toward God.' It is nothing more. The object of my turn is more important than the turn. the sincerity of my turn is second to simply turning. I cannot rest in wholeheartedness to turn, I just need to turn.
Act 26:20 But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Turning toward God always results in a turn from sin, but the focus of the turn is always God-ward, not away from sin. I do not get saved by stopping my sin. I cannot stay saved by not sinning. I must simply turn to God.
Repentance is also a turn from unbelief. I must repent of dead works, repent of false God's, repent of self-righteousness.
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Repentance and belief are two sides of the same act, one stated negatively (stop believing in false systems, Gods for salvation etc) and one stated positively (start believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)
The Gospel of Christ is simple, turn to God for that which I could never earn, deserve, or work through. Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am chief. The salvation that God offers all of humanity through the Blood of Christ is so simple it is a stumblingblock to the religious, those that would rather do it their own way. It is foolishness to the wise, who see Christ and His people as fools believing fables.
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness
Don't let satan tell you there is work left to be done. If you are in a church that says there is, leave.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Thank Christ for doing what you could never do. Then live your life out of love for the God who became man to save you and me.
Repentance:
How can I know that I repented enough?
Scriptures speak of repentance being a necessary aspect of salvation. Once I am saved, how can I be sure I will not be one to whom Christ says, 'I never knew you, depart from me...'?
How can I be sure that I have repented enough?
The answer is simple, as is the majority of the Gospel. The problem with this approach is that I am assuming there is something for me to 'do' when repenting. Religious people, such as our Catholic friends, will tell us that we must feel sorry for our sins and continually repent and forsake them or we are in danger of losing our salvation.
This was a heavy burden for me when I was first converted. I went around trying to conjure up sorrow for my sin, and when that didn't work, feeling sorry that I wasn't sorry. It was ridiculous and I was making repentance into a work.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Repentance is a 'turn toward God.' It is nothing more. The object of my turn is more important than the turn. the sincerity of my turn is second to simply turning. I cannot rest in wholeheartedness to turn, I just need to turn.
Act 26:20 But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Turning toward God always results in a turn from sin, but the focus of the turn is always God-ward, not away from sin. I do not get saved by stopping my sin. I cannot stay saved by not sinning. I must simply turn to God.
Repentance is also a turn from unbelief. I must repent of dead works, repent of false God's, repent of self-righteousness.
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Repentance and belief are two sides of the same act, one stated negatively (stop believing in false systems, Gods for salvation etc) and one stated positively (start believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)
The Gospel of Christ is simple, turn to God for that which I could never earn, deserve, or work through. Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am chief. The salvation that God offers all of humanity through the Blood of Christ is so simple it is a stumblingblock to the religious, those that would rather do it their own way. It is foolishness to the wise, who see Christ and His people as fools believing fables.
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness
Don't let satan tell you there is work left to be done. If you are in a church that says there is, leave.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Thank Christ for doing what you could never do. Then live your life out of love for the God who became man to save you and me.
Kindom of God/Heaven
In this post, I would like to discuss the differences between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Most people just read that line and are already thinking that I am more than a little confused. I hope you will read on.
First of all, the main difficulty at finding the truth to this seemingly difficult topic is a lack of understanding on the basics of Scripture. Let me also say I was once an ammillennial preterist. Please allow me to state my view of Scripture in two brief statements before going further:
1) The Word of God is perfect. Not only in 'the original manuscripts' but the also the bible translated into English in the form of the King James Bible. We can believe every word of it, just as it is written. Jesus proved this with several of His own 'proof texts' such as 'Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.' Jesus based His answer on life after death and the authority of Scripture on the tense of one verb. The debate over translations (and reliability notwithstanding) is a debate for another thread, but suffice it to say that anyone who believes in the God of the Bible, who created and sustains the world, and then tries to tell me that God can't preserve His own testimony of Himself much less speak in English has some difficulties understanding the nature of God.
2) Every word in Scripture has significance. The above note makes that point but it is worth stating here. When the Bible says one thing, it means it. Many modern Bibles attempt to make the Bible more clear, by exchanging words, reversing the original Greek order of words etc. While this does in some instances offer some casual readers clarity, it hinders the nature of the Word and its' original intent. Making the Word more clear simply results in it becoming less accurate.
With that being said, the Scriptures make it clear that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are not the same things. What you say!!!???
(Before you get too worked up, please note that this is not something new. Rather, this is the position of many Bible commentaries of old. Do a quick search online and you will find many things that deal with this subject.)
We can tell they are different first of all by the fact that they are spelled different. (Now you can see why I went to such great pains to explain my position on Biblical accuracy.) This fact is often overlooked as insignificant. It is not.
The main difficulty in telling them apart is the various parables that are found in multiple gospels with seemingly similar stories and outcomes, with the only variable being Kingdom of God being transposed over Kingdom of Heaven. If we look closely at the various accounts, there is a slight variance that lends itself to the difference.
Before we look at a difference for illustration, allow me to make another observation that has great significance for our discussion. The phrase, 'Kingdom of Heaven' occurs 32 times in the New Testament, 31 of which are in the Gospel account of Matthew. It is widely understood that the book of Matthew was written for the Jews, and some suggest was originally written in Hebrew. Some say this is simply because Matthew did not want to use the name of God, since he did not want to offend his Jewish audience. This is not so as I will show briefly.
Let us look briefly at one such difference in a parable found both in Matthew and Luke:
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25. We are all hopefully familiar with this parable so allow me to skip to the important points:
Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Notice that this parable is a Kingdom of Heaven Parable of which there are 12. Notice also that this servant of the Kingdom, who is unwise with his talent and was therefore thrown into hell.
Now let us look at the same parable in the account of Luke:
Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
Luk 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
Again, with casual reading this difference would be overlooked. But clearly there is a difference in the two accounts. Here in the Kingdom of God account found in Luke, the unfaithful servant simply has his pound taken from him and is not cast into hell.
There are more such differences with the gospel accounts. They are all subtle but they offer a glimpse into the differences between the two kingdoms. The kingdom of God is spiritual, but the Kingdom of heaven is a literal place wherein Christ will reign for 1000 years.
I will give a few brief verses to demonstrate this point of a difference:
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
First of all, the kingdom of heaven can be taken by force. This is exactly what has happened since the beginning of creation. The Jews in the OT, the Pharisees and the Sadducee's took the kingdom from Israel by force through the killing of the prophets and the eventual crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
They 'shut up the kingdom of heaven against men'. They killed Christ in order to take what will one day be given to Him. No man can ever shut up the Kingdom of God for it is spiritual. Likewise, the Kingdom of God cannot be taken by force. The kingdom of heaven, being a literal and earthly kingdom, can be and has been.
Mat 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.
Once again, Jesus said, If ye will receive it. The Jewish nation did not receive it. One day they were waving palm branches crying Hosanna and the next they were crying Crucify Him. They sent Him to the cross in ultimate rejection of the Kingship of Jesus.
Part of the reason Jesus was not received by the Jews was the misunderstanding of the two advents of Christ. They saw only those that spoke of him ruling and restoring and that is what they looked forward to. They did not see the verses that spoke of Him dying etc. The disciples looked forward to the restoration of Israel and asked Him:
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Jesus did not correct their assumption, simply their timeframe saying, '
Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.'
Notice Christ did not correct the question, but refused to give them the time. The question was accurate, but the time is only known of the Father. Lastly, I would like to look briefly at the verse in Revelation:
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The contention with these verses in the use of the phrase '1000 years.' In trying to deny the literal use of the time period of 1,000 years here in Revelation, we will often hear people refer to the following verse:
Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
It is obvious in the above verse that the intention of the phrase "thousand hills" is intended to denote totality, and not that the cattle on all other hills does not belong to the Lord. We cannot in this instance however apply that use of the phrase and define the use of the thousand years spoken of in Revelation the same. The reason is quite simple. In Revelation 20:5, we see that the thousand years will end!! If the 'thousand years' was intended to denote forever, it would be foolish for it to come to an end. If we believe what the bible says where and how it says it, the matter is certain.
Jesus is coming again to rule on the throne of David, and with the twelve disciples, one over each tribe, will rule Israel and restore all things. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!!
(for more on this topic, see 'Eight Kingdoms' by Michael Pearl. See also 'Dispensational Truths by Clarence Larkin. You can also google Kingdom God/Heaven)
First of all, the main difficulty at finding the truth to this seemingly difficult topic is a lack of understanding on the basics of Scripture. Let me also say I was once an ammillennial preterist. Please allow me to state my view of Scripture in two brief statements before going further:
1) The Word of God is perfect. Not only in 'the original manuscripts' but the also the bible translated into English in the form of the King James Bible. We can believe every word of it, just as it is written. Jesus proved this with several of His own 'proof texts' such as 'Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.' Jesus based His answer on life after death and the authority of Scripture on the tense of one verb. The debate over translations (and reliability notwithstanding) is a debate for another thread, but suffice it to say that anyone who believes in the God of the Bible, who created and sustains the world, and then tries to tell me that God can't preserve His own testimony of Himself much less speak in English has some difficulties understanding the nature of God.
2) Every word in Scripture has significance. The above note makes that point but it is worth stating here. When the Bible says one thing, it means it. Many modern Bibles attempt to make the Bible more clear, by exchanging words, reversing the original Greek order of words etc. While this does in some instances offer some casual readers clarity, it hinders the nature of the Word and its' original intent. Making the Word more clear simply results in it becoming less accurate.
With that being said, the Scriptures make it clear that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are not the same things. What you say!!!???
(Before you get too worked up, please note that this is not something new. Rather, this is the position of many Bible commentaries of old. Do a quick search online and you will find many things that deal with this subject.)
We can tell they are different first of all by the fact that they are spelled different. (Now you can see why I went to such great pains to explain my position on Biblical accuracy.) This fact is often overlooked as insignificant. It is not.
The main difficulty in telling them apart is the various parables that are found in multiple gospels with seemingly similar stories and outcomes, with the only variable being Kingdom of God being transposed over Kingdom of Heaven. If we look closely at the various accounts, there is a slight variance that lends itself to the difference.
Before we look at a difference for illustration, allow me to make another observation that has great significance for our discussion. The phrase, 'Kingdom of Heaven' occurs 32 times in the New Testament, 31 of which are in the Gospel account of Matthew. It is widely understood that the book of Matthew was written for the Jews, and some suggest was originally written in Hebrew. Some say this is simply because Matthew did not want to use the name of God, since he did not want to offend his Jewish audience. This is not so as I will show briefly.
Let us look briefly at one such difference in a parable found both in Matthew and Luke:
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25. We are all hopefully familiar with this parable so allow me to skip to the important points:
Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Notice that this parable is a Kingdom of Heaven Parable of which there are 12. Notice also that this servant of the Kingdom, who is unwise with his talent and was therefore thrown into hell.
Now let us look at the same parable in the account of Luke:
Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
Luk 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
Again, with casual reading this difference would be overlooked. But clearly there is a difference in the two accounts. Here in the Kingdom of God account found in Luke, the unfaithful servant simply has his pound taken from him and is not cast into hell.
There are more such differences with the gospel accounts. They are all subtle but they offer a glimpse into the differences between the two kingdoms. The kingdom of God is spiritual, but the Kingdom of heaven is a literal place wherein Christ will reign for 1000 years.
I will give a few brief verses to demonstrate this point of a difference:
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
First of all, the kingdom of heaven can be taken by force. This is exactly what has happened since the beginning of creation. The Jews in the OT, the Pharisees and the Sadducee's took the kingdom from Israel by force through the killing of the prophets and the eventual crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
They 'shut up the kingdom of heaven against men'. They killed Christ in order to take what will one day be given to Him. No man can ever shut up the Kingdom of God for it is spiritual. Likewise, the Kingdom of God cannot be taken by force. The kingdom of heaven, being a literal and earthly kingdom, can be and has been.
Mat 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.
Once again, Jesus said, If ye will receive it. The Jewish nation did not receive it. One day they were waving palm branches crying Hosanna and the next they were crying Crucify Him. They sent Him to the cross in ultimate rejection of the Kingship of Jesus.
Part of the reason Jesus was not received by the Jews was the misunderstanding of the two advents of Christ. They saw only those that spoke of him ruling and restoring and that is what they looked forward to. They did not see the verses that spoke of Him dying etc. The disciples looked forward to the restoration of Israel and asked Him:
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Jesus did not correct their assumption, simply their timeframe saying, '
Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.'
Notice Christ did not correct the question, but refused to give them the time. The question was accurate, but the time is only known of the Father. Lastly, I would like to look briefly at the verse in Revelation:
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The contention with these verses in the use of the phrase '1000 years.' In trying to deny the literal use of the time period of 1,000 years here in Revelation, we will often hear people refer to the following verse:
Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
It is obvious in the above verse that the intention of the phrase "thousand hills" is intended to denote totality, and not that the cattle on all other hills does not belong to the Lord. We cannot in this instance however apply that use of the phrase and define the use of the thousand years spoken of in Revelation the same. The reason is quite simple. In Revelation 20:5, we see that the thousand years will end!! If the 'thousand years' was intended to denote forever, it would be foolish for it to come to an end. If we believe what the bible says where and how it says it, the matter is certain.
Jesus is coming again to rule on the throne of David, and with the twelve disciples, one over each tribe, will rule Israel and restore all things. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!!
(for more on this topic, see 'Eight Kingdoms' by Michael Pearl. See also 'Dispensational Truths by Clarence Larkin. You can also google Kingdom God/Heaven)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
A Call to Evangelism
A Call to Evangelism
The one thing the world most desperately needs today is to be evangelized. The world and the people in it are speeding off into eternity. Most of the people we come across do not even consider tomorrow, much less eternity and where they will spend it. By far the largest reason for this is the failure of the Church to spread the Good News.
By Church, I do not mean, church (little 'c'). I am speaking of the Body of Christ. The priesthood of believers. We need to stop waiting around for our church leadership to do a job we are called to. We are called to tell others about the hope that is in us. We are to tell others the reason why we cling to the Cross in this desperately wicked world. Why is it that we all fail to do that very thing in this day and age?
I would propose at least one of the answers is the feeling of inadequacy. We all look at ourselves and inwardly think, if only I could do better in my Christian walk. If only I could be a better witness, then I could be good enough to tell others about Christ.
I would submit to you that God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. If you are a child of God, you have all you will ever need to tell others about Christ and their need for Him. You may say, but I am such a sinner. Yes you are. We are called to obedience in every area of our lives, but our inability to be obedient in every area of our lives every day should not hinder us from telling others of the promises of God.
We are called to be holy, but we are not the source of holiness. We are not called to be the shining example of Christ in this world. We are children of light, here pointing others to the Light. Even a glowstick can light up a room where total darkness rules. We are not blazing the path to eternal life, but as we walk along the path, we are called to point others to The Way, Jesus Christ.
God does not tell us to tell others about Christ only after we have reached maturity in the Christian life. We may feel like we are unqualified, and indeed we are. Lucky for us, it is not our righteousness that will be imputed to the sinners we encounter, it is the righteousness of Christ.
All of this life is vanity, if it is done detached from God and His purpose. Nothing in life matters, other than to know Him and to make Him known.
Be brave enough to share your faith with someone this week. Resist the lies of the devil when He tells you that you are not good enough to tell others of the righteousness to be found in Christ. Agree with him instead. Tell him, 'You are right, and I have been to the Cross, which is exactly where I am pointing these people here today.'
If we all wait around until we are good enough, or we have this Christian walk all figured out, the world will be waiting a long time. Take your light out from under the bed, brush the dust off and begin shining it into the darkness. Allow God to use you to make the way known for those who need that which we have found. Trust Him for the results. Plant the seed, and fulfill your purpose in this life.
The one thing the world most desperately needs today is to be evangelized. The world and the people in it are speeding off into eternity. Most of the people we come across do not even consider tomorrow, much less eternity and where they will spend it. By far the largest reason for this is the failure of the Church to spread the Good News.
By Church, I do not mean, church (little 'c'). I am speaking of the Body of Christ. The priesthood of believers. We need to stop waiting around for our church leadership to do a job we are called to. We are called to tell others about the hope that is in us. We are to tell others the reason why we cling to the Cross in this desperately wicked world. Why is it that we all fail to do that very thing in this day and age?
I would propose at least one of the answers is the feeling of inadequacy. We all look at ourselves and inwardly think, if only I could do better in my Christian walk. If only I could be a better witness, then I could be good enough to tell others about Christ.
I would submit to you that God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. If you are a child of God, you have all you will ever need to tell others about Christ and their need for Him. You may say, but I am such a sinner. Yes you are. We are called to obedience in every area of our lives, but our inability to be obedient in every area of our lives every day should not hinder us from telling others of the promises of God.
We are called to be holy, but we are not the source of holiness. We are not called to be the shining example of Christ in this world. We are children of light, here pointing others to the Light. Even a glowstick can light up a room where total darkness rules. We are not blazing the path to eternal life, but as we walk along the path, we are called to point others to The Way, Jesus Christ.
God does not tell us to tell others about Christ only after we have reached maturity in the Christian life. We may feel like we are unqualified, and indeed we are. Lucky for us, it is not our righteousness that will be imputed to the sinners we encounter, it is the righteousness of Christ.
All of this life is vanity, if it is done detached from God and His purpose. Nothing in life matters, other than to know Him and to make Him known.
Be brave enough to share your faith with someone this week. Resist the lies of the devil when He tells you that you are not good enough to tell others of the righteousness to be found in Christ. Agree with him instead. Tell him, 'You are right, and I have been to the Cross, which is exactly where I am pointing these people here today.'
If we all wait around until we are good enough, or we have this Christian walk all figured out, the world will be waiting a long time. Take your light out from under the bed, brush the dust off and begin shining it into the darkness. Allow God to use you to make the way known for those who need that which we have found. Trust Him for the results. Plant the seed, and fulfill your purpose in this life.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A Message for today
Such a pertinent message in a day where the truth's of the Gospel message are lost, even in the church.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
What does it mean to believe?
The question is asked, “What does it take to be saved? What exactly is the definition of ‘believe’ in the New Testament? Is it just the mental acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is Lord and God? That He is the Messiah ? Do I just need to intellectually acknowledge that and have therefore fulfilled the requirement of "believe"?
As with all such questions, there is only one place we need to look. What saith the Scriptures? Lets start in the book of John. The disciples were speaking to Jesus and they asked Him a question.
Joh
Joh
So foremost, we must believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. If it is good enough for Christ, then it is good enough h for me. But just in case, how about Paul:
Act
Act
According to the Scriptures, the only thing required for salvation is belief. That leads us to our next question, what exactly does it mean to believe? You are probably thinking, “don’t you already know?” Everyone thinks they know, unfortunately many are wrong, and the consequences are eternal. “What about what Jesus says to many on that day, depart from me, I never knew you?” Here is that passage:
Mat
Mat
Apparently there are different types of belief. Look at the verses above. These people, who are being told that they were never actually known by Jesus, had a certain level of belief. These people believed enough to do works in His Name. They also cast out devils in the Name of Christ. But their belief did not save them. “But didn’t the other passages say that all one had to do to be saved was believe?” Yes they did. So what gives? What is the difference from one type of believing to another? Lets look at a verse that may give us a little clarification:
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Notice the parallel construction. Often Scripture is written this way to help make a point more clear. Look at it this way:
he that cometh to me shall never hunger
he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
So our first point of clarification for Biblical belief is this: To truly believe is to come to Jesus for something. That something is the forgiveness of sins:
Act 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
You may be thinking, “But doesn’t everyone who believes in Jesus know they are a sinner?” The Pharisee’s for instance did not think that they needed a Savior. They were very comfortable with their outward religious observances. That is why Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs.” They were clean outwardly, but they were unclean inwardly. They believed they were already righteous, because of their outward observance of the Law of Moses. They even accused Jesus of being a sinner because He associated Himself with sinners:
Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Jesus was playing on their own self-righteousness. Of course, we know that they were not actually righteous. Jesus can’t save us if we don’t first believe that we need saving. Oh sure, we can all read the Bible and understand from a theological perspective that we are all sinners, but it is more than that. Jesus came to save sinners, and unless the Law has done its’ work in showing us our need, we cannot truly come to Christ.
Gal
Rom
So the law convicts us and shows us our need. Without the law first doing its’ work, we cannot come to Jesus in true faith. That is how we get false converts. Someone says a little prayer and everyone rejoices as if they have been Born Again, and 2 months later they are gone and no one hears from them again. There was no true sense of need. Those people never come face to face with how richly and deeply they deserve hell, and therefore place very little value on Christs’ work for them.
So the law has convicted us, now what? Does that mean that we are saved? Not at all. We must come to Jesus.
So believing is understanding we have a problem, and coming to Christ in faith and believing that He paid the price we cannot. Sometimes, people believe in Jesus, but for various reasons do not come to Jesus. Some come, but have never had a need. There are various reasons for this.
Some people think they can save themselves (self-righteous):
(Rom 10:3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
This takes on many forms. Sometimes it is an inner pride, deep seated based on one’s standards of righteousness that fall short of God. Often, a person will be convicted by sin and be driven to religion. One of man’s greatest instincts is to work for things they receive. Salvation is no different. Religion offers the convicted soul a place to ‘work off’ their sins, or to simply earn enough Grace to be worthy of salvation. Christianity is full of these institutions, and the devil will show you the way.
Some would rather have the praise of men than of God:
Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
They wake up in their sin one day and realize they are in debt to their Creator. They see the Cross and know it offers their only cure, but their fear of what their friends might think is of greater importance than being reconciled to God. They fear what it might mean to their career, their popularity, their position in society. They fear what their mother will think, will they be cast out of the family, shunned, or in some parts of the world, treated as an enemy and killed. Jesus said, ‘He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.’ Matt
Mat
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sanctification by Faith
Below is a little discussion I had on a forum site with a Greek Orthodox discussing the nature of sanctification. He of course, coming from a religious background, defines sanctification quite differently than Scripture. The discussion was going on for quite some time, and this post captures the essence of Biblical sanctification. I hope you may find this a blessing.
He replied to one post this way:
"Sanctification and Salvation are two very distinct aspects of salvation. Christ died so we could live with Him in relationship whereby the righteousness of Christ can be imparted to us."
He asserted that we are not imputed the righteousness of Christ, as Scripture clearly states (Rom 4:24), but is rather taken in increments through adhering to the various church teachings such as communion, water baptism joining the Greek Orthodox church etc.
I responded to him as follows:
This is your religion getting in the way of clear scriptural teaching again. Christ died and rose to save you, particularly your soul. He died to condemn sin in the flesh, and rose to glory and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Your flesh is dead, and you are free to live for God. Christ overcame sin and death and by belief, you can too.
Our relationship to God has been restored through our belief in the finished work on the Cross. The original relationship that Adam had with God in the garden was one of faith. It was not to work with God, it was to commune with Him in a relationship of trust.
When God created Adam and Eve, He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then left them alone. He wanted fellowship, based on trust and wanted Adam and Eve to simply 'believe' in Him. To believe what He said was for their benefit, and to believe that He was Good.
Through Christ, we are offered an opportunity to restore that relationship of faith. Christ came and overcame the world, the flesh and the devil on our behalf. Through our faith in Him, we are reconciled to God, crucified with Him, buried, raised new creatures in Christ, and our lives are hid with Christ in God. All of this happens by faith.
I received salvation through faith, through a simple trust that God can and will do what He said He will do, which is, as the angel of death who passed over the homes of those with the blood on the door posts, pass over us at the judgment when he sees that we are washed in the blood of the lamb.
That same faith that saved me, has also sanctified me.
1Co6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
You say, no the righteousness of God is imparted to me as I appropriate it and apply myself to overcome sin. You try to die to yourself, abide in Him, continually confess and repent, trying to attain something that God has given us by faith. You are trying to kill something that is already dead, and you are making yourself a transgressor.
Gal2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Rom4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Abraham was counted as righteous simply by believing God. That belief created a faith in Him and he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. What is faith?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is not something we build and release on God, faith is a substance, it is the evidence of the things we have in Christ, based on the promises of God, though we cannot see them. That faith creates a hope in us and our relationship to God takes center stage in our life.
Just as Abraham believed God when God told him that he was the father of a great nation, Abraham simply believed it. Abraham did not have one single thing to show anyone, the least of which was himself. He had never had any children, he was old, and eventually his wife passed child bearing age.
At this point, Abraham thought he would help God out. He decided that what God promised needed some work on his part to complete, so he went into Hagar to produce a seed to 'help' God fulfill His promise. Abraham offered God his works. God said 'throw out the bondwoman with her son.' God did not need Abrahams work.
Just as Abraham tried to 'help' God, you are trying to help God make you righteous. God says that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to you by faith, but you have a hard time believing it, so you change the word to 'impart'.
You see, Abraham had the same problem. He looked around at his old body, and his old wife and just had trouble believing what God said. You are doing the same thing. You look at me, or yourself and you see sin and you say, there must be more. I must crucify this flesh and put off the old man. I must appropriate the righteousness of God in increments through the sacraments, through confession and repentance and fight this body of flesh.
But that is absolutely contrary to the Gospel of Christ. Religious people try to make themselves righteous instead of submitting to the righteousness which is of Christ.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
But Paul said that we are righteous through faith.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For decades, Abraham was asked to walk around telling people that he was the father of a great nation, innumerable. People probably thought that he was crazy. They saw no children and two really old people who didn't even come together anymore. His faith was not perfect and he failed many times, not the least of which was trying to work out in his experience that which God said was true. But despite his failings and flutterings, God sees his life as one of faith:
Rom4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
I am not righteous in and of myself. My walk of faith is no better than Abraham's yet I believe what God says about my condition. He says I am the righteousness of God in Him and I believe it, not because I am perfect or that I confess or work to attain it, but because I believe that it is so because He said so.
Rom4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Abraham believed in spite of what he saw, and in the face of doubt. Likewise, I believe what God says is true even though I do not see it. I have faith that he is able to deliver on His promises.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
Just as Abraham did not look to himself for visual fulfillment of what God said was true, I do not look at myself for evidence of what God says. I know I am no perfect person, but I know I am perfect in God's eyes because He has imputed the righteousness of Christ to me, through faith.
Rom4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Even though Abraham had some failings in His walk of faith, the Word of God says, 'he staggered not at the promises.' I have faith, not in my ability to 'be' righteous, but in the promises of God. You have faith in your ability to make something true in your experience that God is asking you to believe by faith is already true because He is faithful and just who has promised.
That is why God has us here, in this body, in the world in the presence of the devil. God is building faith in us. Faith in the unseen. Faith in Him, not in us.
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold thatperisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
I am dead to the flesh and alive unto God.
Gal2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
You are a dead man. You have been crucified with Christ. You say, 'but I must stop sinning and war against the flesh and fight temptation and sin or I am not righteous.'
The Gospel says something altogether different:
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
You cannot fight the flesh, because the flesh is dead. How can a dead man sin? That is the power of God to deliver from sin, once for all!!!
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Here is what you are doing, RG:
Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.
What you are doing is concentrating on yourself, on the flesh in a religious show of will-worship, voluntary humility and you are vainly puffed up in your own mind, looking down your nose at those simple Bible believers who simply believe what God has said, all the while refusing to believe it and changing righteousness imputed by faith to a righteousness you must work out.
The Gospel is quite clear, that we should:
Col
Col
Col
Set your affections on the hope, that is in Christ. We don't overcome sin by warring with the flesh or the devil, we do it by reckoning ourselves to be dead, just believe what God said. We cannot fight the flesh with our will:
2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
When sin rises up, we can declare,'I am a dead man, how can I live any longer therein?'
That is the Gospel of sanctification. It is by faith in the promises of God. Just as Abraham was asked to believe something that was not true in his experience, he simply believed it was so, because God said it was so, nothing more.
(For a very thorough teaching of sanctification by faith, see "Sin No More" a teaching series by Michael Pearl)
He replied to one post this way:
"Sanctification and Salvation are two very distinct aspects of salvation. Christ died so we could live with Him in relationship whereby the righteousness of Christ can be imparted to us."
He asserted that we are not imputed the righteousness of Christ, as Scripture clearly states (Rom 4:24), but is rather taken in increments through adhering to the various church teachings such as communion, water baptism joining the Greek Orthodox church etc.
I responded to him as follows:
This is your religion getting in the way of clear scriptural teaching again. Christ died and rose to save you, particularly your soul. He died to condemn sin in the flesh, and rose to glory and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Your flesh is dead, and you are free to live for God. Christ overcame sin and death and by belief, you can too.
Our relationship to God has been restored through our belief in the finished work on the Cross. The original relationship that Adam had with God in the garden was one of faith. It was not to work with God, it was to commune with Him in a relationship of trust.
When God created Adam and Eve, He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then left them alone. He wanted fellowship, based on trust and wanted Adam and Eve to simply 'believe' in Him. To believe what He said was for their benefit, and to believe that He was Good.
Through Christ, we are offered an opportunity to restore that relationship of faith. Christ came and overcame the world, the flesh and the devil on our behalf. Through our faith in Him, we are reconciled to God, crucified with Him, buried, raised new creatures in Christ, and our lives are hid with Christ in God. All of this happens by faith.
I received salvation through faith, through a simple trust that God can and will do what He said He will do, which is, as the angel of death who passed over the homes of those with the blood on the door posts, pass over us at the judgment when he sees that we are washed in the blood of the lamb.
That same faith that saved me, has also sanctified me.
1Co
You say, no the righteousness of God is imparted to me as I appropriate it and apply myself to overcome sin. You try to die to yourself, abide in Him, continually confess and repent, trying to attain something that God has given us by faith. You are trying to kill something that is already dead, and you are making yourself a transgressor.
Gal
Rom
Rom
Abraham was counted as righteous simply by believing God. That belief created a faith in Him and he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. What is faith?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is not something we build and release on God, faith is a substance, it is the evidence of the things we have in Christ, based on the promises of God, though we cannot see them. That faith creates a hope in us and our relationship to God takes center stage in our life.
Just as Abraham believed God when God told him that he was the father of a great nation, Abraham simply believed it. Abraham did not have one single thing to show anyone, the least of which was himself. He had never had any children, he was old, and eventually his wife passed child bearing age.
At this point, Abraham thought he would help God out. He decided that what God promised needed some work on his part to complete, so he went into Hagar to produce a seed to 'help' God fulfill His promise. Abraham offered God his works. God said 'throw out the bondwoman with her son.' God did not need Abrahams work.
Just as Abraham tried to 'help' God, you are trying to help God make you righteous. God says that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to you by faith, but you have a hard time believing it, so you change the word to 'impart'.
You see, Abraham had the same problem. He looked around at his old body, and his old wife and just had trouble believing what God said. You are doing the same thing. You look at me, or yourself and you see sin and you say, there must be more. I must crucify this flesh and put off the old man. I must appropriate the righteousness of God in increments through the sacraments, through confession and repentance and fight this body of flesh.
But that is absolutely contrary to the Gospel of Christ. Religious people try to make themselves righteous instead of submitting to the righteousness which is of Christ.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
But Paul said that we are righteous through faith.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom
For decades, Abraham was asked to walk around telling people that he was the father of a great nation, innumerable. People probably thought that he was crazy. They saw no children and two really old people who didn't even come together anymore. His faith was not perfect and he failed many times, not the least of which was trying to work out in his experience that which God said was true. But despite his failings and flutterings, God sees his life as one of faith:
Rom
I am not righteous in and of myself. My walk of faith is no better than Abraham's yet I believe what God says about my condition. He says I am the righteousness of God in Him and I believe it, not because I am perfect or that I confess or work to attain it, but because I believe that it is so because He said so.
Rom
Abraham believed in spite of what he saw, and in the face of doubt. Likewise, I believe what God says is true even though I do not see it. I have faith that he is able to deliver on His promises.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
Just as Abraham did not look to himself for visual fulfillment of what God said was true, I do not look at myself for evidence of what God says. I know I am no perfect person, but I know I am perfect in God's eyes because He has imputed the righteousness of Christ to me, through faith.
Rom
Even though Abraham had some failings in His walk of faith, the Word of God says, 'he staggered not at the promises.' I have faith, not in my ability to 'be' righteous, but in the promises of God. You have faith in your ability to make something true in your experience that God is asking you to believe by faith is already true because He is faithful and just who has promised.
That is why God has us here, in this body, in the world in the presence of the devil. God is building faith in us. Faith in the unseen. Faith in Him, not in us.
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold thatperisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
I am dead to the flesh and alive unto God.
Gal
You are a dead man. You have been crucified with Christ. You say, 'but I must stop sinning and war against the flesh and fight temptation and sin or I am not righteous.'
The Gospel says something altogether different:
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
You cannot fight the flesh, because the flesh is dead. How can a dead man sin? That is the power of God to deliver from sin, once for all!!!
Here is what you are doing, RG:
Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.
What you are doing is concentrating on yourself, on the flesh in a religious show of will-worship, voluntary humility and you are vainly puffed up in your own mind, looking down your nose at those simple Bible believers who simply believe what God has said, all the while refusing to believe it and changing righteousness imputed by faith to a righteousness you must work out.
The Gospel is quite clear, that we should:
Set your affections on the hope, that is in Christ. We don't overcome sin by warring with the flesh or the devil, we do it by reckoning ourselves to be dead, just believe what God said. We cannot fight the flesh with our will:
2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
When sin rises up, we can declare,'I am a dead man, how can I live any longer therein?'
That is the Gospel of sanctification. It is by faith in the promises of God. Just as Abraham was asked to believe something that was not true in his experience, he simply believed it was so, because God said it was so, nothing more.
(For a very thorough teaching of sanctification by faith, see "Sin No More" a teaching series by Michael Pearl)
My Testimony
Faith
I was born into a family that was not at all religious. My parents were casual Christians and we were holiday church attender's. There was, however, a brief time in my life when we attended church regularly for a couple of years. My dad was disenchanted with what he called hypocrites in the church. During that brief time, I was ‘saved’ and baptized.
I went on with my life. I lived as a ‘typical’ teenager, doing all the things the world said a teenager would do. I didn’t think much about faith, and when I did I usually gave it a passing thought and my friends and I would wonder if all religions were the same. I did not grace the doors of a church for years. I got married when I was 22, and decided I should start living right, thinking all along it was simply a decision I could make at any point, after all I was a Christian all along. I married a beautiful preacher’s daughter, and we began attending church together. I became genuinely interested in the faith, but there was still no conviction or personal relationship with God.
For quite a long time I was a professing Christian. I had prayed the sinner’s prayer and there was no doubt that I was saved and on my way to heaven. I had grown quite a bit in my knowledge of Christianity, but I was a casual Christian to say the least. I attended church regularly, but more out of service than a deep desire to know God. I had no conviction of sin. Sure I tried not to sin. I knew I was supposed to live a decent life, and be a respectable person, but any effort was minimal, and without conviction.
After many years, I began to listen to a man by the name of Michael Pearl. The message and gospel that he presented was different from anything that I had ever heard before. I heard him talk, not only about the grace of God which I had heard so often, but also about the justice of God. I heard the law, and it was merciless. I heard the message of 2Co 13:5
‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?’
For the first time I began to examine my faith. I began to look at the state of my life, my thought life, the sins of my youth and I was forced to consider it. I realized that saving faith was more than simple acknowledgement of Christ as the Son of God.
After some time, around the summer of 2007, I came to the realization that I was lost, and dead in my sins. I realized that if I were to die that day, that I would be spending eternity separated from God in hell. I realized that I had never been Born Again, I had never repented toward God and been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. For the first time in my life, I was confronted with my sin. For the first time I realized I deserved to go to hell, and that was exactly where I was going. It was no longer simply agreeing with what the Bible said about me, I knew I was deserving of every bit of the hell I was about to get. I was lost. My sins were like a burden that I was carrying around and it was heavy. I was wondering where I could put it down. I just wanted to get rid of it, but I could not figure out how to do it. I realized that I needed a Savior. My sin had to be paid for.
Now, at this point I had been an actively professing Christian for some time. I knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ and knew that Christ came to save sinners. I knew that he came to take the burden of my sins upon Himself. I could relate to the theology of it all. For what seemed like the first time in my life, I simply could not wrap my mind around how that could apply to me. I knew that I deserved to go to hell. I felt as though the Gospel could not have possibly been for sinners as vile and undeserving as me. It was clear that I was the hypocrite Christ spoke so angrily to in the Gospels. My conscience had convicted me and the law demanded justice for my sins. I thought, you are such a hypocrite, you cannot be saved.
Satan attacked me with his every weapon. I dealt with Calvinism. Satan told me I wasn’t elect and therefore could not be saved. He told me my attempts to seek God were in vain. At times, the devil would tell me to give up, and give in. ‘It’s no use, God doesn’t love you’ he would say. I would drop into a state of deep, abiding depression as if all hope was lost. I just couldn’t go on. Then I would recall the words of Christ when some of the disciples left Him, ‘Will ye also go away? Jn 6:67’ And I would respond in my mind just as the disciples did, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Jn 6:68’. So the process would start all over again. I would remind myself of His word, ‘He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Heb 11:6’
I studied the Word of God with vigor for the first time in my life. I read every testimony I could get my hands on. I wanted to hear the Gospel as much as I could. I wanted to hear of the transforming power of Christ in the lives of others. I wanted to hear it in such a way that it could become real to me. For months I was in a state of depression. I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to do anything. No matter what I read, or how I prayed, I could not get the gospel to make sense to me. I repeatedly prayed and begged God to save me, but still the burden remained. How can I lay down this sin? How can I be saved? Lord, help me.
One day I ordered one of Michael Pearl’s books, ‘By divine Design.’ It was supposed to be a philosophically geared presentation of the plan of salvation. I devoured it in 2 days. It made a great deal of sense to me, but I still did not find rest for my weary soul. I was still every bit as lost as ever. I left that book on my night stand next to me for a while, and one night picked it up again. I flipped to the back and re-read the section where he presented the Gospel. I went to bed, still pondering my state and where I was headed. I was fearful, yet hopeful.
On the morning of
Gal
I realize that was the purpose of the law, to show me my utter helplessness without Christ. The law had certainly done that. I was broken and knew I could not help myself. The law had brought me right where it intended to, the foot of the Cross.
Rom
I realized I was crushed under my conscience for good reason; God was drawing me to Christ by making me realize and understand my guilt before Him. He wanted me to come to Him for that which I could not attain on my own. It all began to make sense to me that moment. My sins did indeed deserve punishment, and Christ had taken that punishment for me. He took my place. It was as though I heard it for the first time and for the first time it all made sense to me. That morning it was like I lifted the sin off of my back and placed it on Christ, simply believing that He bore the punishment I was due. The burden was gone. It was such a relief. All I could say was thank you, thank you. I knew I was forgiven.
I wish I could say it has been rosy ever since, but it has not. Shortly after that I began to question everything. I saw Christ’s’ answer to Nicodemus when he asked Him how to attain eternal life:
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
Was I born again? I began to feverishly look inside myself for evidence. The Scriptures say that the Spirit of God testifies with our Spirit that we are His. I expected some radical transformation of my person. I didn’t feel different. I still had all the strengths and weaknesses of character I had before. Had I been born again? I knew that I had the burden of my sins lifted off of me, but was it simply an intellectual exercise that did not result in my being saved? How could I know for sure? I prayed for assurance from God, and at times felt as though I got it. There were brief respites from despair, moments I have felt so close to God that I could just go and be with Him for eternity. Most of the time however, I was unsure. Did I receive the indwelling of the Spirit of God at the moment I believed?
I also struggled with the idea of repentance. How could I be sure that I had repented enough to be saved? Did I feel sorry for my sins? Did I turn away from my sins sufficiently? I struggled with it for some time. I studied the word ‘repent’ in its’ various forms throughout the NT and was relieved to find out that repentance was just another aspect of belief. It as not an emotion, or something I had to work up to present to God for Him to save me. Repentance is simply another aspect of belief.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
So, I was able to set that aspect aside. But still, the lingering thought of ‘Am I born again? I do know that Satan is constantly trying to get me to look at myself for evidence of my salvation, instead of at God and His finished work through Christ. I am still searching through it, and trying to understand it all. I have read Spurgeon, Bunyan and
I then worked through faith. How could I be sure that I had faith? Do I have enough faith to believe the Gospel? So I would try to work up my faith. I would question myself about certain things, like would I be afraid to die. I was testing myself to find out if I had enough faith. Again, I began to study out the idea of faith and realized that I was not responsible for creating my own faith. Faith is a gift of God.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
I realize that faith is a gift that we receive through hearing the Gospel:
Rom
So that was taken care of as well. Neither repentance nor faith was anything that I do, praise God.
For a while, I struggled with the concept of the changes wrought in me. I looked at myself and saw the same struggles of lust, anger, pettiness, bitterness, laziness etc that I have dealt with my entire life. Where is this remarkable change I hear everyone talk about? Why isn’t everything rosy and sweet? What am I not able to walk through life unaffected by sin, bringing people to faith by the dozens? What about, ‘But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’ (Rom 8:9).
Once again, Michael Pearl came to my aid. I was listening to his series entitled, ‘Sin no More’ which deals with the immediate sanctification available to every believer by faith. Overall, it was the most thorough teaching I had ever heard on faith in general. About the third time I listened to it, I heard exactly what I had been looking for. He said on the 8th CD, something like this, ‘It is vain, to look to yourself for evidence of salvation. It is vain to look to yourself for fruit as evidence of salvation or fruit in the life of another. We are not hoping in ourselves, or in the change God does through us, we aren’t even hoping in God in us, we are hoping in something totally outside of ourselves.’
It was the most freeing thing I had ever heard. For the first time in my life I knew with 100% certainty that I was saved. There was not even a shadow of a doubt, I just knew, immediately. For the first time, my eternity was secure, as I saw that my hope was totally and 100% in God. I remember saying to myself, ‘there is a better chance that the sun will not come up tomorrow than there is of me not going to heaven when I die.’ It was the most joyous and freeing time of my life.
Unfortunately, for me, the devil was not through. After a period of about a month or so, I began to see my own shortcomings and doubt whether or not I was born again. I began to struggle with belief. Was my lapse into doubt caused by my lack of belief in the promises of God?
How can I be sure that I have believed unto salvation? How can I be sure that I have laid hold of the promises? How can I be sure that I am not resting on anything I have done or can do and that I believe on Christ and Christ alone? How do faith, hope and belief intertwine? How can I be certain that Christ will not say to me what He said He will say to so many? How do I know that I believe enough? Am I making a god out of my own ability to believe?
What exactly is belief? How much of it am I responsible for? What do the very doubts that I am having have to say about my condition? Are my doubts answer enough for my current state? Am I one who has 'drawn back to perdition?' Did that seed of faith fall on stony ground allowing the devil to come and steal it before it could take root? I then came across a thought from ‘Hopefuls Testimony’ in the Pilgrim’s Progress, and speaking of this very thing he was brought to this verse, ‘And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (Joh
So, I am just a pilgrim, one of millions who the God of the Universe has chosen to reveal Himself to. It is fearful and yet invigorating all at the same time this journey from faith to faith, on the road to eternity. No matter what is in store, I am and will forever be 'Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.' (Heb 12:2)
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