Posted on 08/17/2015 9:45:07 AM PDT by amessenger4god
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" - Matthew 7:21-23
Brothers and sisters, it is seriously time to drop the works-righteousness. Time is so short. When you stand before the Lord don't for one second think you can offer your works as the admittance fee. The deluded folks Jesus mentioned above did just that and were told that He never knew them.
Works-righteousness is something that I and almost every Christian I know falls into over and over again. It goes something like this: Jesus died for me, but I have to hold me (truth: Philippians 1:6, John 6:39). Jesus died for me, but I have to prove myself to Him. Oh man of dust, how great do you think you are that somehow you can ever measure up to the standard of the holy and living God? That arrogance is called self-righteousness, the very thing the Bible says will lead to death.
Understand that this issue is at the very heart of the Gospel and is the very heart of the Reformation. It is a Catholic doctrine that you must somehow balance faith and works, as if Paul and James were not in agreement (they were in complete agreement: see here, here, here, here, and here). Sadly many Evangelicals are taking the road paved by N.T. Wright right back to Rome. I see many watchers doing the same thing. You can't possibly balance faith and works. It is either all grace or all works. The only works you've ever done that have pleased God are the ones that came from your trust in the sufficiency of Christ's own work.
Good works will never come from your efforts to 1. prove yourself, 2. prove that you're saved, 3. atone for your sins, 4. save yourself. These are rubbish works, which the Pharisees do. Your job/your choice is simply to trust that Jesus died for your sins and rose gain and then not let go of this hope (see also here). Forgiveness is not a debit card. If you really believe that Jesus died for ALL of your sins and that you've been set free from sin and death and that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you unconditionally, you will:
1. Be saved.
2. Be extremely grateful.
3. Be extremely joyful.
4. Dance with all your might.
5. Love unconditionally because you know you were loved unconditionally.
If you still think that you are saved by grace + works, or mostly grace with a few works, or if you are just confused about what the Gospel is, I recommend you read Part One in this series.
How did you birth yourself from your mother’s womb?
....” there is the power of acceptance itself which is experienced........To accept this power of acceptance consciously is the religious answer of absolute faith, of a faith which has been deprived by doubt of any concrete content, which nevertheless is faith and the source of the most paradoxical manifestation of the courage to be.
Paul Tillich , The Courage to Be, p.177
Yes.....
I think this is where those who somehow think what they “do” is going to qualify them in any way is tough to let go of and to realize to “accept” His finished work for themselves is also needed but seems out of reach.....
“What it does mean, though, is that our falling doesnt cost us our salvation...We are still saved, even when we blow it, as we all will and we all do.”
I firmly believe unless someone accepts the free gift of God, that Scripture remains a contradictory mess. Works righteousness is just as much “the way that seems right to a man” as is “let’s sin so grace may abound!” They both lead to death.
The Father provided a way out of our hopeless mess: His SON. He couldn’t have made it more clear that the best among us ain’t good enough. Jesus upped the ante of impossibility and still Christians are saddled by deluded teachers missing the point of the sermon on the mount.
I cherish something I heard the Lord say in John yesterday:
“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?
BOOM! Paul echoes this diagnosis in Galatians, when speaking of the Judaizers:
“It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised DO NOT THEMSELVES KEEP THE LAW, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.”
Anymore I listen to those who tacitly brag that they are cutting it—because they demand it of you—and know deep within that they are failures along with the rest of us. Hopefully they’ll fall on the Rock before it falls on them for good.
Michael Card
Awesome song.
Was it Michael Card whom Ravi Zacharias took with him to the Mormon Tabernacle for the presentation Ravi gave there? ... But I’m still hooked on ‘Five Loaves and Three Fishes’.
Um, make that ‘Five Loaves and Two Fishes’ ... Corrine May.
Thanks for that it was lovely.
I had forgotten about Michael Card. Many years ago, at a low point, I would go to sleep listening to his SLEEP SOUND IN JESUS album. I was in a vulnerable state and felt like a little child emotionally/spiritually. The Lord meets us wherever we are, doesn’t He?
BTW, I particularly loved the picture at 1:22 on the video (maybe because I’ve been in the gospel of John). Sweet.
We bought Sleep Sound in Jesus for the kids.
I haven’t listened to it in a long time.
HMMMmmm...
I wonder WHY?
Luke 1:26-38 New International Version (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeths pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgins name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacobs descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.
34 How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin?
35 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.
38 I am the Lords servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her.
(will is NOT 'asking')
(There ain't no 'choosing' here!)
I've just read this... somewhere...
Ma'am; you darn near HIT us!
Please don't report us to the bishop for NOT wearing the skinny tie today!
Those two were advised to avoid the skinny ties? (skinny ties would make their heads look fatter)
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