This is a Blog for those interested in following hard after His heart. Those willing to strive to live a moment-by-moment life as we go through the transformation process with Him. It is not an easy life, but the Father expects each of us to become an offering for His pleasure. So, if this is you, then let’s journey together hand in hand. I am humbled that you have chosen to walk with me. Thanks!
16 May, 2014
REWARDS by Arthur Pink Part 2 - (Eternal Life & Grace)
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15 May, 2014
REWARDS by Arthur Pink
To the infidel, much in the Scriptures seems
so inconsistent and inharmonious, that he charges them with "abounding in contradictions." That there should be no variableness or shadow of turning with God—yet that He is frequently said to "repent"; that He claims to be omnipotent and invincible—yet complains, "you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke" (Prov 1:25); that He is love—yet abhors the wicked (Psalm 5:6); that He is of tender mercy—yet has appointed an eternity of torment for all those whose names are not written in the book of life—to mention no others—all appear to the skeptic, as irreconcilable teachings. To the natural man, the Christian life appears to be a mass of bewildering paradoxes! That the poor in spirit and those who mourn should be pronounced happy; that we have to be made fools in order to become wise; that it is when we are weak we are strong; that we must lose our life in order to save it (Matt 16:25) and that we are bidden to "rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11) transcend his comprehension. Yet none of these things present any insuperable difficulty unto those who are taught of God.
so inconsistent and inharmonious, that he charges them with "abounding in contradictions." That there should be no variableness or shadow of turning with God—yet that He is frequently said to "repent"; that He claims to be omnipotent and invincible—yet complains, "you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke" (Prov 1:25); that He is love—yet abhors the wicked (Psalm 5:6); that He is of tender mercy—yet has appointed an eternity of torment for all those whose names are not written in the book of life—to mention no others—all appear to the skeptic, as irreconcilable teachings. To the natural man, the Christian life appears to be a mass of bewildering paradoxes! That the poor in spirit and those who mourn should be pronounced happy; that we have to be made fools in order to become wise; that it is when we are weak we are strong; that we must lose our life in order to save it (Matt 16:25) and that we are bidden to "rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11) transcend his comprehension. Yet none of these things present any insuperable difficulty unto those who are taught of God.
In like manner there is much in the teaching of Holy Writ which perplexes the theologian. As he studies and ponders its declarations, one doctrine—for a time, at least—seems to clash with another. If God has predestinated whatever comes to pass—then what room is left for the discharge of human responsibility and free agency? If the Fall has deprived man of all spiritual strength—then how can he be held blameworthy for failing to perform spiritual duties? If Christ died for the elect only, then how can He be offered freely to "every creature"? If the believer be Christ's "freeman," then why is he required to take upon him His "yoke"? If he has been set at "liberty" (Gal 5:1) then how can he be "under the Law" (1 Cor 9:21). If the believer is preserved by God—then how can his own perseverance be necessary in order to the attainment of everlasting bliss? if he is secure, how can he be in danger? If he has been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, why does he so often have occasion to cry "O wretched man that I am"? If sin does not have dominion over him, why do "iniquities prevail against" him (Psalm 65:3)? These are real problems.
We have commenced this article thus because the subject which is here to engage our attention seems to many to clash with other articles of the Faith. In ordinary speech the word "reward" signifies the recognition and requital of a meritorious performance, the bestowment of something to which a person is justly entitled. But what can the creature merit at the hands of the Creator, to what—save condemnation and punishment—is a sinful creature entitled to from a holy God? If salvation be "by grace" and eternal life is a "free gift" then what place is left for the recompensing of human effort? Yet whatever difficulties may be involved, the fact remains that Scripture has much to say about God's rewarding the obedient, and crowning the overcomer. The Dispensationalists (among them most of the so-called "Fundamentalists") have realized there is a knot here—but instead of patiently seeking to untie they have foolishly cut it, by asserting that rewards have a place only under the Legal Dispensation and are entirely excluded from the Age of Grace; yet the very Epistles which, as they allow, belong to the present Era, contain many passages postulating "rewards."
Our present subject is by no means a simple one, and certainly it is not suited for a novice to take up and descant upon. Not that the teaching of Scripture thereon is at all obscure or hard to be understood—but rather that much wisdom is needed in the handling of it, so as to avoid conveying false impressions, weakening the force of other articles of the Faith, and failing to preserve the balance of the Truth. Very little attention was given to the subject of Divine rewards either by the Reformers or the Puritans (less by the latter than the former), probably they felt that most of their energies needed to be devoted unto counteracting the evil leaven of Romanism, with its strong emphasis upon creature "merits" and salvation by works. Yet in avoiding one error—there is always the danger of going to the opposite, and even where that is avoided, it is usually at the price of depriving God's children of some portion of their needed and Divinely-provided Bread. Whatever is the explanation, the fact remains that our present theme is a much-neglected one for comparatively little has been said or written upon it. We are therefore the more cast back upon God for help.
The servant of God must not allow the fear of man to muzzle him, as he will if he deems it wisest to remain silent on the subject lest he be charged with "leanings towards Romanism" —their very perversion of this truth renders it all the more necessary and urgent that he should give a plain and positive exposition of the same. On the other hand, the fact that Papists have so grievously wrested it, should warn him that great care needs to be exercised in the way he presents it. He needs to make it crystal clear, that it is utterly impossible to bring God under obligation to us or make Him in any way our Debtor. In like manner, it must be shown that the creature cannot acquire any merit by the most self-sacrificing or benevolent deeds he performs. By so doing, he will preclude the laying of any foundation for pharisaic pride. Nevertheless, he must see to it that he does not so whittle away the passages holding up "rewards" to believers, as to render them meaningless and valueless, for they are among the motives, encouragements, incentives, and consolations which God sets before His people.
In a brief and incidental statement upon this doctrine, Calvin beautifully preserved the balance when in his "Institutes" (bk. 3, chapter 15) he said, "The Scripture shows what all our works are capable of meriting, when it represents them as unable to bear the Divine scrutiny, because they are full of impurity; and in the next place, what would be merited by the perfect observance of the Law, if this could anywhere be found, when it directs us 'when you have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants' (Luke 17:10), because we shall not have conferred any favor on God—but only have performed the duties incumbent on us, for which no thanks are due. Nevertheless, the good works which the Lord has conferred on us, He denominates our own, and declares that He will not only accept—but also reward them. It is our duty to be animated by so great a promise, and to stir up our minds that we 'be not weary in well doing' (2 Thess 3:13) and to be truly grateful for so great an instance of Divine goodness.
"It is beyond a doubt, that whatever is laudable in our works, proceeds from the grace of God, and that we cannot properly ascribe the least portion of it to ourselves. If we truly and seriously acknowledge this truth, not only all confidence—but likewise all idea of merit, immediately vanishes. We, I say, do not, like the sophists, divide the praise of good works between God and man—but we reserve it to the Lord completely and entirely. All that we attribute to man is, that those works which were otherwise good—are tainted and polluted by impurity. For nothing proceeds from the most perfect man which is wholly impeccable. Therefore let the Lord sit in judgment on the best of human actions, and He will indeed recognize in them His own righteousness—but man's disgrace and shame. Good works, therefore, are pleasing to God, and not unprofitable to the authors of them; and they will moreover receive the most ample blessings from God as their reward—not because they merit them—but because the Divine goodness has freely appointed them this reward." Let us attempt to offer some amplification of these excellent remarks.
First, no creature is rewarded by God because he justly deserves what is bestowed upon him, as a hired laborer who has performed his duty is entitled to the wage he receives. For, in this sense, even the angels in heaven are incapable of a reward—according to strict justice, they merit no favor. They are no hirelings, for God has a natural, original, undisputed right in them, as much as He has in the sun, moon and stars; and these, therefore, deserve to be paid for their shining, as much as the angels do for their service. If the angels love God, it is no more than He infinitely deserves. Moreover, the angels do not profit God, and so lay Him under no obligation, any more than the birds profit the risen sun by their morning songs or render that luminary under obligation to shine all day upon them. "Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?" (Job 22:2,3).
It is most essential that this should be insisted upon, more especially in these days, that the Most High God may be accorded His due place in our thoughts, His solemn majesty, exalted independency and self-sufficiency, preserved in their integrity. That the creature may be allotted his proper place—as being not only a creature—but as less than nothing in the sight of Him who gave him being and is pleased to maintain his existence—that the axe may be laid at the very root of self-righteousness. Papists are far from being alone in indulging the flesh-pleasing conceit that even a fallen and sinful creature is capable of performing meritorious deeds, which entitle him to favorable regard by the Lord God. Unless Divine grace has given our pride its death-wound, every one of us secretly cherishes the belief—though we may not be honest enough to openly avow it—that we deserve a reward for our good works; and hence we are apt to think that God would be very hard and severe, if not cruel and unjust—were He to take no notice of our best endeavors and damn us because of our sins. "Why have we fasted—and you have not seen it?" (Isa 58:3).
But, second, The fact remains, that Scripture abounds in declarations that God has promised to reward the fidelity of His people and compensate them for the sufferings they have endured in His service. "The recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him" (Prov 12:14). "Whoever despises the Word shall be destroyed—but he who fears the commandment shall be rewarded" (Prov 13:13). "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matt 5:11,12). "His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many" (Matt 25:23). "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:13,14). "Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor" (1 Cor 3:8). "Whatever good things any man does—the same shall he receive of the Lord" (Eph 6:8). Now these, and all similar passages, must be allowed their legitimate force and given a due place in our minds and hearts.
The principal difficulty which this subject presents to the thoughtful Christian is, What have I done which is fit for reward? and even though I had, how could reward consist with free grace? The solution to this problem is found in noting the grounds on which God bestows rewards.
First, in order to manifest His own excellencies. It is in His office as moral Governor that He exercises this function, in which office He evidences His holiness, goodness and benevolence, as well as His sovereignty and justice. As the Ruler of all, it befits Him to manifest His approbation of righteousness, to put honor upon virtue, and to display the bountifulness of His nature. Though according to strict justice, the angels in Heaven deserve nothing at His hands—yet God is pleased to reward their sinless obedience in testimony of His approbation of their persons and service. God rewards them not because they do Him any good, nor because they are entitled to anything from him—but because He delights in that which is amiable, and because He would demonstrate to the universe that He is a Friend of all who are morally excellent, He liberally recompenses them. Since they love Him with all their hearts and strength—He deems it fitting that they should be made eternally blessed in the enjoyment of Himself.
Second, in the case of His people who fell in Adam and who have also themselves sinned and come short of the glory of God, they neither merit anything good at His hands, nor is it fitting that their persons and conduct—considered merely as they are in themselves—should be approved; nay, so much corruption still indwells them and so much impurity is attached to all that proceeds from them, that the Divine Law condemns them. Thus it must be on quite a different ground that God considers them suited to reward. What that is, the Gospel of the grace of God makes known.
It is on account of the believer's interest in the righteousness and worthiness of Christ that his person and performances are accepted and peculiar favors are shown unto and bestowed upon him. He is "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6), and his consecration (Rom 12:1), his gifts or benevolences (Phil 4:18) and his worship are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5); yes, his prayers ascend up before God only because the "much incense" of Christ's merits is added to them (Rev 8:3,4).
Third, in showing His approval of the service of His saints God is, at the same time, owning the Spirit's work in them—for it is by His gracious operations and power that they are enabled to perform such service.
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An easy, self-indulgent life
J. R. Miller
And Jesus was saying to them all: If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23
We cannot live a life that will please Christ — without great cost to ourselves. It is never an easy thing, to be a disciple of Christ. An easy, self-indulgent life — can never be a Christ-like life.
It was not easy for Christ to redeem sinners. From beginning to end of His earthly ministry, He poured out His own precious life. The people thronged about Him with their sins, their sorrows, and their needs — and virtue went out of Him continually to heal them, to comfort them, to feed their heart-hunger. He utterly forgot Himself — and gave His life and love without stint to every one who asked. At last He literally gave Himself, emptying out His heart's blood — to give eternal life to sinful and dead souls. His sufferings were finished, when He bowed His head on the cross.
It is now our privilege to suffer for Him — to perpetuate the self-sacrificial love of Christ on this earth. Only in so far as we do this, are we living a life that will please Him.
"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death!" Philippians 3:10
"Anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me, is not worthy of Me." Matthew 10:38 v
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14 May, 2014
Why Is "The Eternal Life Of God," So Misunderstood?
We tend to tell people they have eternal life right after we
say the sinner's prayer for them, or that we make them repeat those words they
do not even understand. But, until God got me alone in the wilderness, I was
not sure if indeed I had eternal life or not. I was content to know that
someone confirmed it to me and I literally held God accountable to His
promises. So, I knew when the time came to appear before God on the day of
judgement, I honestly thought if there was any misunderstanding between God and
myself, then I was going to remind Him of His promises, for starter. I used to
see myself talking to God in the same way I was coached by those Christians whom I thought knew better. For instance, few of
the Bible verses were shown to me so that I could understand two things. One
was that Salvation was a gift of God, completely free and all that I had to do
was to put my hand out to get it, in the same way that I would do if someone I knew handed me a free gift. Secondly, nothing about me being a disgusted
sinner was ever a problem and repentance was never mentioned. As far as me not having any inward urges to call upon the name of God, was not a problem at all. The bottom line is, I did what I was led to do.
So, in my mind, I could see myself explaining things to God
in the same way it was explained to me. If He gave me some lip service, I would
have told Him that Salvation is so free with no expectations that He cemented it for us in Ephesians 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated
us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” Furthermore,
I intended to remind Him that someone else He put in my path, confirmed things
to me. In my heart and mind, I reduced God to be someone like me. I don’t
think I need to explain my thinking process more than that because I know most
of us rationalize salvation and take His word according to our understanding
without thinking twice that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Shame
on those who are sharing the Gospel without trying to know Him personally. We learn to live with a minuscule God and we go on with our faulty interpretation of God’s word to recruit people,
like the Pharisees Jesus talked about. In Matthew 23:15 Jesus said:"What sorrow awaits you teachers of
religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make
one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you
yourselves are!”
Through the wilderness, I found out that eternal life is
not something that is passed on like a second hand pair of shoes. I found out
that I must go on with Him, knowing Him personally to get the assurance through
Him and unless this transaction takes place between Him and me directly, I have no rights to claim His promises and
demands that He honors His covenant. God
is, and will always be the same yesterday, today and forever. Here is one example among several in the Bible. In 2 Samuel 7:12-16
God made a covenant with David, "When your days are complete and you
lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will
come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom He shall build a house
for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I
will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me…..Your house and your
kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established
forever.”
The above covenant was to be fulfilled through Solomon. God
did not let Solomon in the dark because He is a JUST
God. In order to give Solomon a fighting chance He needed to make this covenant
with Solomon also, to make it personal and to hold him accountable. You see,
God knows if He does not make things personal for us, then He will not be able
to deal with us justly. In the case of Solomon he knew what was at stake when
God renewed the covenant He made with David, this time with Solomon.
1 Kings 6:12 "Concerning this Temple you are
building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands,
I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David”.
1 Kings 9:5 “I
will establish your royal throne over Israel
forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to
have a successor on the throne of Israel .”
2 Chronicles 7: 17 "As for you, if you faithfully
follow me as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and
regulations,”
Unfortunately, Solomon walked away from God
because he was attracted to sin. He walked away knowing fully all that was at
stake.
When you read John 17:3 the word of God says: “And this is eternal life, that they know you
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Knowing Him means exactly that. Isn’t it funny, the things in the Bible that we are supposed
to take at face value, we truly neglect them and act as if those words were
never conveyed to us? Why on earth would we not focus on those words in John
17:3 and make them real in our lives? Why is it so easy for us to hold God
accountable for His word in Ephesians 2:6, completely forgetting that He could
turn around and do the same with those words we do not like focusing on? This
is where the day of judgement is going to be sweet. HE WILL TAKE AWAY OUR BLINDN ESS
and before we even open our mouths to say we did not see those words or that we
did not understand them in this manner, we will be disarmed. The only thing
that we will be left with is the knowledge that we did not fulfill our part. I
can hear some of you saying, well…. Salvation is by grace so I am not
responsible for what He did not do. Are you willing to bet your life that your
limited understanding of the full meaning of grace according to God's thoughts is the same as yours? Or are you willing to let Him open your mind and heart to see
more and understand that, we are the one refusing the work of grace He is
flaunting right in our face?
Honestly, whether you truly understand the full meaning of
Grace is not the issue. I read a lot of blogs and sermons, I can see these people are saved, they are going through the sanctification process, and they know God to some extend, yet, they do not fully grasp the full concept of the word "Grace." Sometimes I feel like everybody is repeating the same thing when it comes to define the word grace, as if they have been assimilated. However, as long as these people are growing through the process of
sanctification, they do not have stubborn hearts and they are willing to give
God His rightful place that's all that matter. An example that I could think of is Billy Graham, he doubted God's word but he was willing to let
God be in charge of his life in spite of the lack of understanding and the doubts that plagued Him. When you compare the story of Billy Graham to Charles Templeton, you
see the difference. Templeton turned away completely from the
word of God. He walked away! Many of us are still in the Church, we go there,
not because we care about God, but we enjoy the social club atmosphere and we
do not want to leave behind what we have built there. I know that because God
showed me how attached my heart was to the little life that I built for myself
around the Church people. I did not want to leave that behind and wanted to
hang onto it at all cost. Thank God He did not let me be that stupid.
"And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can
be made holy by your truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me
through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in
Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe
that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that
they may be one, just as We are one;…"
As long as you insist on your own interpretation of grace,
you will never see the beauty of His grace with your soul. You cannot capture
and comprehend with your heart and soul that “the one who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven” would have never been able to do so without God’s
grace. You and I, if we truly received His word in our hearts, we go on through
grace alone doing His will.
Without God’s grace we sit on the sideline, we defy Him, we
tempt Him, we analyze His word in our own understanding, we refuse to obey, we
take Him for granted, we are in it for ourselves, we do not give Him His
rightful place, we expect His death on the cross to “do his thing for us” and we act like a
petulant child when someone dares to contradict what we have come to accept as
truth.
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TAKE CARE , I WILL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!
13 May, 2014
Warning against Pastor Paul Washer and John Piper
Late
last night I read two warnings against Pastor Paul Washer and one against Pastor
John Piper. I truly was not looking for that. Instead, I was looking for a rare
puritan book and because both pastors’ names are associated with the puritan I
stumbled on those reviews about them.
My
heart was breaking as I read these reviewers words. One of them is so eloquent
that if you do not know God personally and intimately, you would be inclined to
believe everything he says because he phrased things so beautifully and so
eloquently. I have to confess, for a moment I envied this man’s vocabulary and
his writing style. Oh the beauty! The other reviewer is a man who has a popular
site dedicated to reviewing everyone else except himself. He hides himself well
and no one on earth can get in touch with him. (I wonder why?) If your ministry
is truly from and for God, about God, with God, through God and in God, and if
you are not led solely by Satan, why on earth wouldn’t you avail yourself, just
in case there was someone out there, reading your blog and that God could use
you to actually lead this person to Him?
His
website is dedicated to tearing down every pastor who writes a book or preach a
sermon that teach people to grow in the Lord, to make every effort or to
examine oneself. It is so strange to see that most pastors that are truly
called by the Lord, those pastors who are truly men after God’s heart are so hated
by him and he is warning everyone who wants to read him, to stay away from
these pastors. My heart was breaking, not for the pastors because I know they
are truly “work in progress” and in good hands with the savior. My heart was
breaking for those reviewer’s ignorance, arrogance, and spiritual blindness. In
fact, I know Pastor Paul Washer's boldness has not only been gifted by God with the gift of boldness, the Holy Spirit witnessed it to my soul when He gave me the gift of boldness. All of you who are used to reading me know that this gift comes only after a long painful training process with Him.
If you take the time to read about Pastor John Piper, you will notice how
he does not hide his flaws. This man still has a lot of work to be done. I love
reading about how he humbles himself and shares with his congregation, very
openly what God is doing in his life. He confessed his 3 years of counselling
to improve his marriage. He confessed the fact that he was once a white supremacist
all the while being a Christian at the same time. (Click here) Not long ago I read how God is dealing with
him because he needs more humility in his ministry. The bottom line is, this
pastor truly what we Christians call “works in progress” and God is at work in
his life.
What I
like the most about him is that I can see he is truly walking in the light. When
you walk in the light with God, He does something to you. Even though you can
see how disgusting you are on the inside, yet, there is an authenticity and integrity
that the light calls for, it causes you not to hide behind even the worst thing
about you. It is all in the open for anyone to see. Another reason that you
feel this way is that you do not dread the Day of Judgment and there is nothing
that God can put out there that would embarrass you, because He has already
dealt with you in His mercy.
This
morning as I was reading 2 Chronicles, I was reminded of those reviewers. I
KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that they do not see through the eyes of God. I
know they are spiritually ignorant, they do not understand God’s word and I
know they have stubborn hearts toward God. In fact, they reminded me of the
Pharisees who killed the same savior whose mistake was to care for their souls.
When I
read about God’s covenant with Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:12-22, and when you
consider how wise Solomon was, you are inclined to ask yourself why didn’t he
listen to God in order to reap the blessings of honoring the covenant God made
with him? What would make him ignore the dreadful consequences of disobedience?
No one in the right mind would choose voluntarily to go toward a life of disaster.
But, this is exactly the choice Solomon made.
The problem is that sin is so deceptively attractive, so Solomon turned
away from God.
But
God never changed. His covenant with David, Solomon and Israel was “honor God and live”
choose the destructive path which is sin, and die. God’s standard is perfect righteousness,
and when we reject it, we chose unrighteousness, once we choose
unrighteousness, we not only deserve death, and we are also enslaved by another
master. In the case of Solomon, he lived long enough to repent and found his
way back to God. Nevertheless the consequence of his turning away from God was
drastic, caused a lot of suffering and changed millions of people’s lives.
These
reviewers who seem to be allergic to anyone who elevate Christ to His right
place are blinded by their spiritual ignorance and stubbornness. They are
naturally hostile to Him and they are also holding to some form of religion, but
never truly experienced a life changing reality of true Salvation. The sign that
true Salvation has entered the heart is that the Holy Spirit is at work in us
and instead of sitting still, with one verse of the Bible, we go forward like
the apostle Paul in the book of Philippians, to claim the prize. The
need to pursue Him and persevere through the journey is one of our proof that
Salvation has reached us and we have accepted the good news exactly like Christ
meant it for us. Grace does not mean God has taken away the need for us to make
every effort. On the contrary, if indeed you have been saved by His grace and
His gift of salvation has entered your heart, then this same grace brings with
it the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you to strive, to pursue, to make
every effort as He continue to work out His Salvation in you and me.
When
you claim to have been saved by grace through faith and you have received the
gift of God, yet you are like a dog with a bone holding onto one or two verses
of the Bible and you have no inclination to go forward with Him spiritually,
then ask yourself why is it the transformational work of the Holy Spirit seems to be absent in
your spiritual life. The lesson here, be very careful when someone is trying to
shove down your throat what they know about God, when in reality they have not
even been chosen by Him….., yet. When you stand before God, you cannot tell Him
that you read one of those ignorant people and you were duped. Adam and Eve
tried that approach and it did not work in their favour and they died
spiritually. No one in the right mind should make a decision to go forward with
Christ or stay behind because you read something that you feel was right with
you. The only person who should have this much power over your life is God and
He is waiting with open arms for you to ask Him. You know why it is important
to go directly to Him? Eternity is way too long for you to live without and
away from Him. Choose carefully. Let him have the last word.
The
Holy Spirit is more than willing to show you who is right and wrong. Which
pastor is after His own heart and which is not. Which pastors have been ordained by
Him or not and which pastor is failing miserably or not. Because it is about
how and where you spend eternal life, do not use your feelings to decide
whether you are right or not. Neither use one or two verses of the Bible to
fight or bad mouth everyone who tells you to go forward with God.
Ephesians 1:18
I pray that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to
which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy
people,
I am leaving you with two important verses of the Bible. Several people
on the internet have put a different spin on those verses without truly knowing
God intimately and without understanding what walking and living in the Spirit
even means in their own lives. They are
like Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness, by telling Him what God meant to
say in Psalm 91:11-12. It is interesting to see that Satan tried to keep
something from Christ when He told Him in Matthew 4:5-6
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and
had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of
God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command
his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
Satan
can be tricky that way. He could have continued and told Christ about verse 13 which
is:
“You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
You
will trample the great lion and the serpent.”
If he had said verse 13 to Christ, it would have been like shooting himself in the foot because this verse refers to him.
Here are those two verses in question:
Hebrews
6:4-6
It is impossible for those who have once been
enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have
shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the
goodness of the word of God and the powers of
the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to
repentance, because to their loss they
are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public
disgrace.
"What sorrow awaits you teachers of
religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make
one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you
yourselves are!
If you in fact received the gift of Salvation, do
not let anyone dupe you into putting God to test or putting words in His mouth.
The word of God tells us
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test”
DEEPEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE. DIG DEEPER INTO THE WORD OF GOD
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