Repentance is incomprehensible for the man who lives life on his own terms. It defies logic. It defies all notions of what is best for the individual. Repentance is impossible for the man who will not give his life over into the sovereign will of God. Someone living in this country illegally and becoming a Christian, would think it imcomprehensible that God would demand that they return to their country's consolate and confess that they want to make it right with both our country and theirs and accept whatever the representive decreed they would have to do. A man who has lived as a woman for 20 years would feel that it would be incomprehensible that he be asked to change back into the sex that he was born. A man would think it incomprehensible that he should forsake all his dreams and goals for marriage and family and quietly submit to a life of uncertainty in a ministry that he was totally unequipped for.
These are all examples of incomprehensible situations. Maybe they are very cut and dry for you the reader. Maybe you could easily decide for someone else what they should do with their lives. That is all your subjective reasoning. But what happens when the tables are turned? Are YOU willing to submit to God in what HE tells you to do even if it means you loose your life or that you are resigned to a life of abject solitude because of the choices you make removes you from all means of pursuing your own happiness with the people you so desire! What would it take for you to surrender your life to God? That is what I am talking about. What if God's will were that you have no happiness and live the last two years of your life in obscurity with no way of being recognized?
I remember a situation of a man who was in this country illegally and receiving dialysis. He was advised that he needed to return to his country to an uncertain situation there to keep from being a burden on other people in the church who had tried numerous times to help him, but for his own rebellion against the rules they set for their houses, he had to leave home after home until he had exhausted all options for habitations and help within the church. Instead of submitting to the elders of the church, who were all unanimous in their counsel to him, he decided to leave the church and find some way to continue living in the country illegally so that he could receive his dialysis and retain his dreams of working again so that he can go back to his own way in life. How sad. He chose to keep his life rather than facing the risk of loosing it for the sake of Christ. Why do I say this? Because had he submitted, God would have been able to use this man. But because he chose to continue in rebellion, he now lives his life like a godless man who has no testimony.
Anyone can repent. The problem is that for each one of us, there is a challenge, a test that we may be unable to do because it goes against all that we think is logical and safe. I remember the movie, "Luther", where Martin Luther said, "To go against conscience is neither right nor safe." He was right. If it violates your conscience, would you be willing to trust God or would you do what you think is right and safe? If so, you have not repented.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, January 08, 2010
Saving Faith
Saving faith has to do with much more than believing in Jesus than in the sense that we use the word believing. The essence of the word, believe or faith in Greek has a wider meaning than in the way we use it.
"to believe," also "to be persuaded of," and hence, "to place confidence in, to trust," signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence.
Be persuaded of, placing confidence in, reliance upon-not mere credence.
What does credence mean? Well, I just gave you some examples above in how we use the word today. I can give something credence but faith in the Greek sense of the word is something more robust. Why do so many people have a shallow faith? Because they have merely given credence to the fact that Jesus died for their sins on the cross. They haven't let him be the soul thing they are persuaded of and put their reliance on his righteousness and not their own.
But you may say, "I trust only in Christ's righteousness to save me." If that is true, then you will be like the man in the story below:
A tight-rope walker stretched a cable across a deep and wide precipice. He said to the crowd standing around that he was going to walk across the cable without a net or a balancing beam. And he did. Next he said he was going to walk across the precipice with nothing but a wheel-barrow. And he did. Next he said that he was going to walk across the precipice while pushing the wheel-barrow with a 100lb bag of sand. And he did. Next he asked the crowd if they believed that he could carry a person across the precipice. The crowd shouted to the affirmative because they had already seen three seemingly impossible feats formed by the man. To which the man responded, "who wants to volunteer?" No one stepped forward.
Now maybe you're thinking, "if it were Jesus with the wheel-barrow, I certainly would have stepped forward. Or maybe you're thinking, "Jesus doesn't ask us to do any works to be saved. Only faith. Jesus never asks any of his believers to do anything." Maybe you are right. I certainly agree that in this situation, you were not standing there and no it was not Jesus who was asking people to get into the wheelbarrow. But what if there was a fire behind you closing in on you? Would you be more apt to get on? Maybe you would just say, "forget you Jesus, I'm making it across on my own." Many people try that.
Well how about that second question. No, salvation is not by what we do or don't do. It is all of faith and it is also all of God. Eph 2:8-9. But certainly you can see that faith is much more than mere credence can't you?
Let's consider the following scenario:
Jesus is holding the wheel-barrow. There is no other way to get across the precipice except for in the wheel-barrow. Those who try to throw their own ropes end up falling into the gorge and those who try to cross through either balancing or climbing across on the rope are shot down by arrows from flying demons who hover on either side of the rope. Only one person can go across at a time. Jesus says, "all who will, let them come unto me." There is an inescapable fire closing in on your group as you stand before the precipice. What are you going to do? Well, in that case there is nothing left to do but get on and trust in Jesus. That would be faith.
But incredibly, you see most of the people in light of what I just described, knowing the danger knowing their death is approaching, just lounging around and getting drunk. Others are gossipping about you for considering such a crazy choice as getting in the wheel barrow. While others, knowing the risk are getting picked off left and right as they, one by one, try to exalt themselves by going across the precipice on their own. Some take armor with them to try to deflect the blows, but nothing ever works. Sound crazy?
How about this? Before you can get into the wheel-barrow, Jesus tells you, you see these people standing around getting drunk and whispering? You will have to leave them all behind and you will have to leave behind this life that you have there and trust me to take you across the precipice. But, mind you, if you go across with me, you must keep in mind that you are trusting your life to me. Not only that, heaven is not immediately on the other side. You must pass through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of God. But I will be with you every step of the way. I will never leave you nor forsake you. But as for these who are standing here; their part will be in the lake of fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels.
The reality is that in evangelicalism today, the picture is not painted as black as that. In evangelicalism. The picture painted is that, there isn't a fire coming. Jesus is just an entertainer who likes to take bags of sand across precipices and we turn a deaf ear to him. When he says that he can take a person across in the wheel-barrow we are happy and cheer, "hip Hip Hooray!" And the preachers that are standing around there with us are telling us, "You see, Isn't Jesus great? We get all this entertainment and now we are saved because we have placed our faith in Jesus! Isn't that great? Jesus asks us to do nothing but believe! Hallelujah! Pass the port!
Are you believing in Jesus in this way? I urge you to read the Bible and see that your situation is much more dangerous than you could have ever imagined there is much to loose but the reward is certain and the salvation, once entered into is sure.
- We can believe in Jesus or the boogey-man or the abominable snowman or we can choose not to. This means that we believe that he exists.
- We can Christianly believe in Jesus by praying a prayer to him. "Jesus I believe that you died for me on the cross and shed your blood to pay for my sins and want you to save me."
- You can believe someone's opinion whether they are right or wrong. For example, someone tells you they can run the hundred yard dash and if they do it you can say, "I believe you can do that." But, in this case you don't really have to do anything.
- You can believe what someone tells you that they are going to do. Like when the politicians are trying to get elected they lie and say they are going to lower taxes and you can choose to believe them or not. You can believe that Obama is going to lower taxes but you may not necessarily go out and vote for him or exercise your faith.
"to believe," also "to be persuaded of," and hence, "to place confidence in, to trust," signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence.
Be persuaded of, placing confidence in, reliance upon-not mere credence.
What does credence mean? Well, I just gave you some examples above in how we use the word today. I can give something credence but faith in the Greek sense of the word is something more robust. Why do so many people have a shallow faith? Because they have merely given credence to the fact that Jesus died for their sins on the cross. They haven't let him be the soul thing they are persuaded of and put their reliance on his righteousness and not their own.
But you may say, "I trust only in Christ's righteousness to save me." If that is true, then you will be like the man in the story below:
A tight-rope walker stretched a cable across a deep and wide precipice. He said to the crowd standing around that he was going to walk across the cable without a net or a balancing beam. And he did. Next he said he was going to walk across the precipice with nothing but a wheel-barrow. And he did. Next he said that he was going to walk across the precipice while pushing the wheel-barrow with a 100lb bag of sand. And he did. Next he asked the crowd if they believed that he could carry a person across the precipice. The crowd shouted to the affirmative because they had already seen three seemingly impossible feats formed by the man. To which the man responded, "who wants to volunteer?" No one stepped forward.
Now maybe you're thinking, "if it were Jesus with the wheel-barrow, I certainly would have stepped forward. Or maybe you're thinking, "Jesus doesn't ask us to do any works to be saved. Only faith. Jesus never asks any of his believers to do anything." Maybe you are right. I certainly agree that in this situation, you were not standing there and no it was not Jesus who was asking people to get into the wheelbarrow. But what if there was a fire behind you closing in on you? Would you be more apt to get on? Maybe you would just say, "forget you Jesus, I'm making it across on my own." Many people try that.
Well how about that second question. No, salvation is not by what we do or don't do. It is all of faith and it is also all of God. Eph 2:8-9. But certainly you can see that faith is much more than mere credence can't you?
Let's consider the following scenario:
Jesus is holding the wheel-barrow. There is no other way to get across the precipice except for in the wheel-barrow. Those who try to throw their own ropes end up falling into the gorge and those who try to cross through either balancing or climbing across on the rope are shot down by arrows from flying demons who hover on either side of the rope. Only one person can go across at a time. Jesus says, "all who will, let them come unto me." There is an inescapable fire closing in on your group as you stand before the precipice. What are you going to do? Well, in that case there is nothing left to do but get on and trust in Jesus. That would be faith.
But incredibly, you see most of the people in light of what I just described, knowing the danger knowing their death is approaching, just lounging around and getting drunk. Others are gossipping about you for considering such a crazy choice as getting in the wheel barrow. While others, knowing the risk are getting picked off left and right as they, one by one, try to exalt themselves by going across the precipice on their own. Some take armor with them to try to deflect the blows, but nothing ever works. Sound crazy?
How about this? Before you can get into the wheel-barrow, Jesus tells you, you see these people standing around getting drunk and whispering? You will have to leave them all behind and you will have to leave behind this life that you have there and trust me to take you across the precipice. But, mind you, if you go across with me, you must keep in mind that you are trusting your life to me. Not only that, heaven is not immediately on the other side. You must pass through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of God. But I will be with you every step of the way. I will never leave you nor forsake you. But as for these who are standing here; their part will be in the lake of fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels.
The reality is that in evangelicalism today, the picture is not painted as black as that. In evangelicalism. The picture painted is that, there isn't a fire coming. Jesus is just an entertainer who likes to take bags of sand across precipices and we turn a deaf ear to him. When he says that he can take a person across in the wheel-barrow we are happy and cheer, "hip Hip Hooray!" And the preachers that are standing around there with us are telling us, "You see, Isn't Jesus great? We get all this entertainment and now we are saved because we have placed our faith in Jesus! Isn't that great? Jesus asks us to do nothing but believe! Hallelujah! Pass the port!
Are you believing in Jesus in this way? I urge you to read the Bible and see that your situation is much more dangerous than you could have ever imagined there is much to loose but the reward is certain and the salvation, once entered into is sure.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST - from (Monergism.com)
THE GOSPEL IS A MESSAGE ABOUT:
GOD
- Is. 6:1-5, 5:16; Rev.4:8-11. God is Holy.
- Dan. 4:35; Ps. 135:6. God is Sovereign.
- 1 Jn. 4:8,16. God is Love.
- Heb. 12:29. God is a Communing Fire.
- Gen. 17:1; Jer. 32:17; Is. 43:13; Amos 9:2-3. God is Omnipotent.
- Ps. 139:1-6; Rom. 11:33-36. God is Omniscient
- Jer. 23:23-24; Ps. 139:7-12. God is Omnipresent
- Ps. 145:17. God Is Righteous.
- Ex. 34:6-7. God is Merciful.
- Rev. 29:11-15. God is a Judge.
- Jn. 4:23-24. God is a Spirit.
- 1 Jn. 5:7; 2 Cor.13:14; I Pet. 1:2. God is one God revealed in three distinct persons; Father, Son, & Holy Spirit (trinity, not modalism).
- Jn. 1:1-3, 14,18, 10:30-33, 17:5, 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rm. 9:5; Phi. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; I Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:1-12; II Pet. 1:1; Rev. 1:8. Jesus is God--YHWH.
SIN
- Gen. 2:15-17. Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in spiritual and physical death.
- Rom. 6:23. The wages of sin is death.
- Dt. 6:4-5. However, before sin entered the world man's purpose was to serve God and glorify Him.
- Matt. 22:34-40. Therefore, man is now living in an abnormal condition.
- Rom. 3:10, 5:6-9; Lk. 5:31,32 There is none righteous, no not one!
- Rom. 3:23. Everyone, without exception, is a sinner.
- Rom 5:12. Adam's sin nature is inherited by all mankind.
- Is. 64:6-7. God views our good deeds as “filthy rags.”
- Eph. 2:8-9. God rejects our good works.
- Ps. 51:5, 58:3. We are sinners from birth.
- Jn. 3:19. Sinners love their sin.
THE LAW
- Ex. 20:1-20. The Ten Commandments must by obeyed perfectly.
- Mt. 22:34-40. If we disobey the 1st & 2nd greatest commandments we have broken all of the Bible’s laws.
- Ja. 2:10-11. If we break one commandment we’ve broken them all.
- Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:24. The purpose of the Ten Commandments is to reveal sin in us and disclose our inability in keeping the law’s demands. This creates an attitude of desperation in sinners to be delivered from the guilt and penalty of the law. Christ alone is the sinners hope.
THE VANITY OF LIFE
- Heb. 9:27. Three things are common to all: Life, Death, & Judgment.
- 2 Pet. 3:8; Ja. 4:13-14. Life Is short: The earth will be covered by all new people 110 years from now. Our life span is compared to one grain of sand taken from one planet among a thousand planets covered with sand. After you die no one remembers you (Eccl. 1:11, 2:16).
- Eccl. 12:8,13,14, Life is vain: Solomon, the wisest man who lived, had everything this world has to offer yet he judged this life as totally vain and futile. Nevertheless, man pursues the vain things of this world against all reason, logic and intelligence (2 Tim. 3:7).
- Lk. 12:16-21. Life is fragile: You may die tonight! Many labor to extend their life through exercise and vitamins but will add only a few years.
- Eccl. 5:15; 1 Tim. 6:7; Lk. 9:24. Money and riches are vain.
HELL & JUDGEMENT
- Rev. 20:11-15. The great white throne judgment.
- Matt. 25:41-46. Everlasting fire and punishment for the unsaved.
- Heb. 9:27. After this life comes judgment.
- Lk. 16:19-31. Hell is a place of unceasing pain and torment with no escape.
THE NEW BIRTH
- Jn. 3:1-7. Jesus teaches that the “new birth” is necessary for salvation.
- Jn. 1:13. Salvation is not inherited from our parents, secured by our effort, nor decided by our will, but is a process by which we are “born of God.”
- 2 Cor. 5:17. To be born again means that our old life is replaced by a new one.
- Eph. 4:21-24; Col. 3:9-10. When a person becomes “born again” the Bible describes him as a “new person,” who brings forth new fruit.
- Gal. 6:15. All that matters is that we become a “new creation.”
GRACE
- Eph. 2:8,9. Grace is a free gift, it is unmerited favor.
- Acts 15:11. We are saved by the grace of Christ.
- Rom. 4:3-5. Salvation is by grace through faith and not by the deeds of the law.
- Tit. 3:5-7; Rom.3:24. We are “Justified” freely by His grace.
REPENTANCE
- Lk. 13:3. Unless we repent, we will all perish.
- Acts 3:19. We must repent and be converted.
- Matt. 4:17. Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” however; the world ridicules the need of repentance.
- Acts 26:20. We must repent and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
- I Jn. 1:9. If we confess our sins He will forgive us our sins.
- Prov. 28:13. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confess and forsakes them will have mercy.
- Ps. 66:18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
FAITH
- Heb. 11:6. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
- Jn. 20:24-29. Blessed are they who do not see yet believe.
- Jn. 3:16-19. Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal fife.
- Eph. 2:8. We are saved by grace “through faith.”
- Gal. 3:23-26. We are saved through faith in Christ and not by keeping the law.
- Rom. 3:28, 5:1. We ore justified through faith in Christ.
- Gal. 3:11; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38; Hab. 2:4. “The just shall live by faith.”
SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ALONE
- Jn. 14:6. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
- 1 Jn. 5:11-13. He that has the “Son” has life, and he that does not have the Son of God does not have life.
- Acts 4:10-12. Salvation is in none other than Jesus Christ.
- Rev. 3:20. Jesus knocks on the door of our heart.
- Rom. 10:13. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
- Jn. 3:36. He who does not believe on the Son of God has the wrath of God on him.
This concise overview of the Gospel is an excellent tool for Bible study, discipleship, evangelism and group studies. For a laminated copy of this card to keep in your
Bible for ready use write to: CHRIST BIBLE Pulpit, P.O. Box 5772, Oakland, CA.
94605 U.S.A.; or E-mail us @ wildernesstable@yahoo.com; or call (510) 727-1877.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Conflicting Desires and Torment in Hell
For some reason, I begin these blogs talking about some subject and that gets me thinking and by the end of the blog, I am talking about something not even remotely similar to what I began with. This time I was going to attempt to compare my life before Christ to my life now.
Before Christ, my desires were more intellectual for studying the Bible than actually deriving joy from it. Being a Christian was like a 9 - 5 Job for me. For example, I would go to church, serve there, spend time with my friends and turn my mind immediately to other things upon leaving. I spent my time thinking about normal pursuits such as movies, partying, working and playing on the computer. I was always looking for the next party where I could meet some girl or hoping that some beautiful girl would consent to go on a date with me. Even while in church I thought of those things.
Now, you are going to think, "Wow, what a hypocrite!" But I really did read the Bible. I actually read it in the morning and in the evening sometimes. I succeeded in reading the entire Bible once before I went to Mexico for a year and had read numerous books on how to live a godly life. A few such were, "Every Man's Battle", "The Prayer of Jabez", "Wild at Heart", "Life is Tremendous!", "The Magic of Thinking Big", "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and a myriad of others. I was one of the best Christians you had ever met (although I was not).
I had a good paying job at UGA and attended church every time the door was open. I actually taught Bible Study and was an Elder in my church! I even went to Mexico and became a missionary for a year. There I had to learn Spanish. I went down there knowing very little and left being able to preach the Bible in Spanish. I actually shared with the church there all that God had taught me through my stay in Mexico. But you know something, I WAS NOT SAVED!
If you had told me this, I would have told you that you are crazy. Of course I am saved! If you had named my sins and told me that my persisting in them was evidence of my perdition, I would have told you that they didn't mean that I was lost because they were sins that I didn't do ALL the time and that I had a sincere desire to serve the Lord and that my life had evidences of my faith.
Now, you are probably thinking, "you don't seem all that bad to me." You are right! I wasn't all that bad. In fact, I would probably put most people who are reading this blog to shame in regards to "being a good Christian". By the way, "being a good Christian" is just another way to say, "as to righteousness under the law, blameless!"
So, in regards to this, where was my problem? It was actually much deeper than anyone or myself could ever see. God had to reveal it to me through many painful experiences, betrayals and loneliness. Thank God for pain. Without it we just kind of simmer in the pot until we are fully cooked. This is actually one of the things that I pray more and more for people. I pray for pain and discomfort in their lives so that they can turn to God for answers instead of other things. I want people to hate themselves and others so much that they finally come to the point where they realize everything bad in their lives is their own stupid fault and that they must repent or face eternal torment in hell apart from God where, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Before Christ, my desires were more intellectual for studying the Bible than actually deriving joy from it. Being a Christian was like a 9 - 5 Job for me. For example, I would go to church, serve there, spend time with my friends and turn my mind immediately to other things upon leaving. I spent my time thinking about normal pursuits such as movies, partying, working and playing on the computer. I was always looking for the next party where I could meet some girl or hoping that some beautiful girl would consent to go on a date with me. Even while in church I thought of those things.
Now, you are going to think, "Wow, what a hypocrite!" But I really did read the Bible. I actually read it in the morning and in the evening sometimes. I succeeded in reading the entire Bible once before I went to Mexico for a year and had read numerous books on how to live a godly life. A few such were, "Every Man's Battle", "The Prayer of Jabez", "Wild at Heart", "Life is Tremendous!", "The Magic of Thinking Big", "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and a myriad of others. I was one of the best Christians you had ever met (although I was not).
I had a good paying job at UGA and attended church every time the door was open. I actually taught Bible Study and was an Elder in my church! I even went to Mexico and became a missionary for a year. There I had to learn Spanish. I went down there knowing very little and left being able to preach the Bible in Spanish. I actually shared with the church there all that God had taught me through my stay in Mexico. But you know something, I WAS NOT SAVED!
If you had told me this, I would have told you that you are crazy. Of course I am saved! If you had named my sins and told me that my persisting in them was evidence of my perdition, I would have told you that they didn't mean that I was lost because they were sins that I didn't do ALL the time and that I had a sincere desire to serve the Lord and that my life had evidences of my faith.
Now, you are probably thinking, "you don't seem all that bad to me." You are right! I wasn't all that bad. In fact, I would probably put most people who are reading this blog to shame in regards to "being a good Christian". By the way, "being a good Christian" is just another way to say, "as to righteousness under the law, blameless!"
So, in regards to this, where was my problem? It was actually much deeper than anyone or myself could ever see. God had to reveal it to me through many painful experiences, betrayals and loneliness. Thank God for pain. Without it we just kind of simmer in the pot until we are fully cooked. This is actually one of the things that I pray more and more for people. I pray for pain and discomfort in their lives so that they can turn to God for answers instead of other things. I want people to hate themselves and others so much that they finally come to the point where they realize everything bad in their lives is their own stupid fault and that they must repent or face eternal torment in hell apart from God where, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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