I grew up going to church and even went to a Christian school for three years. In school, I was taught that salvation depended upon belief in Jesus, and that if one believed, one loved Jesus enough to obey Him. Because I had a fear of hell, I would try to do good works to prove that I loved Jesus, therefore believing in Him; therefore being saved. This meant that I was trying to prove my salvation by my works, and so it wasn't real.
More than anything in life, I wanted it to be real -- I have this deathly fear of being a hypocrite. I truly wanted to do the good works out of love for Jesus -- but I never felt that love. In fact, I felt a lot of resentment because why would He continually try to "make" me do what I couldn't seem to do? Everybody around me thought I was "good" -- the word "goody two-shoes" comes to mind, and there has never been one more deserving of the title. I HATED myself and my cold, cold heart.
Added to this, I became addicted to, what in polite conversation, amounts to pornographic thoughts at the ripe old age of twelve. Now, these DEFINITELY did not "fit" with being a Christian!! I went to church regularly since I was twelve; I even spent several years teaching Sunday school during the day, and having these thoughts at night!! I even taught transformation as a Christian; the fact that we are new creatures in Christ, the old has passed away -- but why had not my "old things" passed away? The passage does not refer to the old man; unfortunately the old man (flesh) plagues us until the day we die, but it refers to "old THINGS" -- the worldly lifestyle we were to have no love for anymore. We should DEFINITELY not love our old lifestyle more than God!! If that is the case, are we really saved?
I "repented" of my thoughts all of the time, but it would only last a day or two. Yet I would read: "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62). The context is in being a disciple of Jesus, and the idea is that one can not be saved and not be a disciple -- it is all or nothing, and once the decision is made, there is no looking back to the "old man" or we are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. I've made it clear that I do not believe that we become sinless once we are saved, but neither do we LOVE the sin we are doing as I did. We do not LIVE with it.
I looked at it this way. I was praying for the Holy Spirit to cleanse and transform me of this sin, but then I didn't listen to what He was telling me. If the means He used was, "No one who does this is fit for the kingdom of God" and THAT didn't stop me, what could He try next? I knew I should not defend the right to be worldly -- how does that witness for God to others when they see NO difference in me at all? In fact, I, even I, did not see a difference in me. I wasn't living up to anything the Bible said a Christian was supposed to be!!
I wasn't loving. I hated to worship God -- how many times do I have to THANK Him, I wondered. I did not have the mind of Christ and didn't really understand what the Bible meant a lot of times. I was not more than a conqueror through Christ.
It all boiled down to this. If I was asking for the Holy Spirit's help, then why wasn't I letting Him help me. Elijah told the worshipers of Baal (and after all, I was worshiping these thoughts, placing them higher than God, being unwilling to really give them up): "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him." (1 Kings 18:21). God showed me this passage, and it was do or die. What else can God do? Hebrews 10:26-31 tells us that if we reject what the Spirit is trying to do, then there is nothing else He can do to save us. By now, I KNEW I wasn't truly saved. I had tasted a LOT of the Spirit, but I had never trusted Him. I had never really put my heartfelt faith in Christ. I gave Him intellectual assent, but never tried Him.
What James means when he says that faith without works is dead is that others will know we truly believe what we say ONLY if we act on it. Until then, it's just words!! That is true of anything in life. We suddenly make it complicated when it comes to spiritual things, and try to find our way around that verse, but how many times, and in how many ways have you heard, "The proof is in the pudding" or "Put your money where your mouth is." People say that to act on spiritual faith is adding works to faith, but in life, we look for those who live out their beliefs and principles!! We call them people of integrity who really mean what they say. Why don't we do that when it comes to Christianity?
If I was to be "more than a conqueror" in Christ, I had to be "in Christ." And that comes by believing His death and resurrection. I stated my belief in Him. THEN, the Bible says that God imputes His righteousness to us -- makes us righteous, and that He works in us both to will and to do for His good purpose (Phil. 2:13). This means that I cannot beat these thoughts in my flesh (I'd tried for 36 years), but "in Him" I could. God's marching orders for me was this:
Let us walk with decency (in the Spirit), as in the daylight; not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual impurity and promiscuity, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires." (Romans 13:13-14).
Whenever a thought would come, I would take it captive and turn it over to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), and I would picture myself putting on Christ, like sort of a garment. Then I would think about something else, often times God. I wouldn't study "self-help" stuff so much as about God, or doctrines, or whatever -- the idea was to cast it to Jesus and move on. "Self-help" stuff keeps it fresh and lingering, and if I already know what to do, rather than STUDYING it, I just need to DO it!! That was five years ago, and I've not lingered over any of those thoughts since that time -- I still cast them Jesus' way, though they come much less often, and with much less intensity now. But, it worked to accept Christ, and to obey these marching orders, and God has given me the victory -- only "in Christ". I have tried that with each new stumbling block that comes along. It is how to live practically in Christ.
Often we know what to do, it is just a matter of doing it. But we don't do it to prove our salvation, or out of fear of losing our salvation, but because the Spirit lives in us, and we made a decision when we are saved to let Him transform us. Yes, we are sinners, and yes God counts us as not being sinners now. But, if we are not trying to become what God sees in us -- if it is not important to us -- that is not in keeping with having the Holy Spirit in us. Everybody visits the old flesh -- but to live there, with no thought or concern about living the new life God has given us, to defend the right to sin, or proudly walk in it -- how is that in keeping with God in us?
Yet, the solution is not to try on our own. If God gives us marching orders, we obey, trusting in His strength and victory to win the day -- never, EVER trusting in ourselves. That is how we live out the righteousness that God gives us, and we thank God that He sees us as righteous already!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Works of Faith In Christ, Part 1
I stated that since God is in us, and our life is hid with Christ in God, then it would be only natural for us to press on for the prize of practical righteousness, rather than being satisfied with positional righteousness. Paul put it this way: "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin, live any longer in it..But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors -- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 6:1-2; 8:9-13)
Those who state that this means that if we sin (live by the flesh), we are not saved are wrong. Though Christians do not "live" by the flesh, we occasionally visit it. That is why John tells believrs, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8). "Living" by the flesh means day in, day out, continuously. But there are many who say that wo do not need to be concerned about our sin, so long as we believe Jesus died and rose again on our behalf. They say that to be concerned about becoming righteous practically is to try to earn our salvation after being saved, and that to do that is to commit heresy. They are also missing the "in Chist" part of salvation. Would Christ in us defend the right to sin? Should we seek out sin because we are under grace and not under law?
The passage I quoted from Romans 6 says plainly that we should not continue "in sin" (as we are immersed "in" Christ at salvation, this is saying we should not be immersed "in" sin or LIVE in sin; it does not say we will be completely sinless). Romans 8 explains how we are to live - if not "in sin", then "in the Spirit". In fact it says that if we continue to live "in sin", or "in the flesh" -- LIVE there -- then the Spirit is not in us, and we are not saved.
Therefore, it stands to reason that a person with the Holy Spirit in them, will show some sign that the Holy Spirit is in them; i.e., their works will declare it. This does not mean that they go out and try to earn their way to heaven by works, or prove they are Christians by their works. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." This is not something we strive for, it is something the Holy Spirit does through us. Romans 8:29 says that we are "conformed to the image of Christ". It does not say that we do the conforming; it says that God foreknew and predestined us to be conformed. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that the Holy Spirit is transforming us into His image from glory to glory. This does not mean that we are transforming ourselves; it means that God is doing it. Any effort on our part to earn good works in the flesh lands us in hell. Yet we ARE to submit to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.
Many agree that God sanctifies us, and makes us righteous, yet they say that we do not HAVE to be sanctified to get to heaven. They cite 1 Corinthians 3:1, 14-15, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ...If anyone's work which he has built on in endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." They state that carnal Christians, those who do not even care about sanctification, will still be saved, but can choose to live in sin. Yet the last thing that Paul tells these carnal Christians is, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you -- unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5) Basically this is saying that those who LIVE carnal lives and do not even care about sanctification, should examine themselves to see if God is really in them. If God is not in them, they are not saved -- never were. To live carnal lives is to be unsure. To live holy lives in our own power to prove that we are saved is legalistic and lands one in hell. As Christians "in Christ, the way to live is to accept by faith that He is in us, count ourselves dead to LIVING in sin, and live by the Spirit, submitting ourselves to Him, trusting Him to conform us. Here the "life of faith" goes beyond heaven, and gets into living our Christian life here. The Bible says repeatedly, "The righteous shall live by faith." This is not only meant as a means to get into heaven, but it means living life here.
This has all been theological, and rather dry. The next time, I would like to give an example of how I think this works in practical terms.
Those who state that this means that if we sin (live by the flesh), we are not saved are wrong. Though Christians do not "live" by the flesh, we occasionally visit it. That is why John tells believrs, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8). "Living" by the flesh means day in, day out, continuously. But there are many who say that wo do not need to be concerned about our sin, so long as we believe Jesus died and rose again on our behalf. They say that to be concerned about becoming righteous practically is to try to earn our salvation after being saved, and that to do that is to commit heresy. They are also missing the "in Chist" part of salvation. Would Christ in us defend the right to sin? Should we seek out sin because we are under grace and not under law?
The passage I quoted from Romans 6 says plainly that we should not continue "in sin" (as we are immersed "in" Christ at salvation, this is saying we should not be immersed "in" sin or LIVE in sin; it does not say we will be completely sinless). Romans 8 explains how we are to live - if not "in sin", then "in the Spirit". In fact it says that if we continue to live "in sin", or "in the flesh" -- LIVE there -- then the Spirit is not in us, and we are not saved.
Therefore, it stands to reason that a person with the Holy Spirit in them, will show some sign that the Holy Spirit is in them; i.e., their works will declare it. This does not mean that they go out and try to earn their way to heaven by works, or prove they are Christians by their works. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." This is not something we strive for, it is something the Holy Spirit does through us. Romans 8:29 says that we are "conformed to the image of Christ". It does not say that we do the conforming; it says that God foreknew and predestined us to be conformed. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that the Holy Spirit is transforming us into His image from glory to glory. This does not mean that we are transforming ourselves; it means that God is doing it. Any effort on our part to earn good works in the flesh lands us in hell. Yet we ARE to submit to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.
Many agree that God sanctifies us, and makes us righteous, yet they say that we do not HAVE to be sanctified to get to heaven. They cite 1 Corinthians 3:1, 14-15, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ...If anyone's work which he has built on in endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." They state that carnal Christians, those who do not even care about sanctification, will still be saved, but can choose to live in sin. Yet the last thing that Paul tells these carnal Christians is, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you -- unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5) Basically this is saying that those who LIVE carnal lives and do not even care about sanctification, should examine themselves to see if God is really in them. If God is not in them, they are not saved -- never were. To live carnal lives is to be unsure. To live holy lives in our own power to prove that we are saved is legalistic and lands one in hell. As Christians "in Christ, the way to live is to accept by faith that He is in us, count ourselves dead to LIVING in sin, and live by the Spirit, submitting ourselves to Him, trusting Him to conform us. Here the "life of faith" goes beyond heaven, and gets into living our Christian life here. The Bible says repeatedly, "The righteous shall live by faith." This is not only meant as a means to get into heaven, but it means living life here.
This has all been theological, and rather dry. The next time, I would like to give an example of how I think this works in practical terms.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
In Christ
I said yesterday that in Christ we exchanged places. We did not ACTUALLY exchange places, since Jesus is and always has been sinless, and we still sin. But, God reckons our counts us as though we are righteous IN CHRIST (meaning He imputes (gives) us Jeus' own righteousness). God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12); cast our sins behind Him ((Isaiah 38:17); promised never to remember our sins (Isaiah 43:25); hidden them from His sight (Isaiah 44:22); and cast them into the depth of the sea (Micah 7:19). This is called "positional" righteous as opposed to practical righteousness - we are righteous in God's eyes ONLY because we are "in Christ.".
I stress in Christ, or in Him, or in Jesus, because the Bible uses that phrase over 75 times in the New Testament, and since it is used so much, it is important. We became "in Christ" when we were saved. How did this happen? According to Romans 6:3-11, we were "baptized into Christ Jesus". Baptism simply means immersion. John the Baptist immersed people into repentance. Here we are immersed into Christ. The passage says that believers died with Hm, are buried with Him, and rose from the dead with Him to go on to newness of life. According to Jesus, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you...If anyone loves Me, he will kee My word, and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." (John 14:16-17; 23). So, not only are we in Him, but He is in us. Our baptism into Christ joins us. Therefore, Paul writes: "For th death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Through Jesus' death and resurrection, our own baptism into Him, and Him indwelling (living inside us) - we become partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). He sees us as sinless in Christ.
Thiis positional sinlessness cause some to believe that once saved, we never sin. Yet they forget that our position is only secure "in Christ". The Pharisees were "self" righteous in that they believed they could earn their way to heaven through their own efforts. Yet, Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we all are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like a filthy rag." That passage does not speak of our sins or faults, but says OUR "righteousnesses" are like filthy rags. Jesus told His disciples, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing." It was Paul's greatest desire that He might be found "in Chist", not having my (his) own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." Yet he goes on to say, "Not that I have already attaind, or am already perfcted; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." (Philippians 3:9; 12).
Paul knew that in positional terms, He had God's ighteousness -- that of faith, not of works or self-effort, yet he also knew that He was not perfect. He pressed on for perfection, not to be saved, not adding works to the law -- he had already said that he did not want the righteousness which comes through the law. In Galatians 3:2-6, he told the church at Galatia that they were foolish to start in faith and then fall back on works. Then why press on? He stated in Philippians 3:12 that he wanted to "lay hold of" (know in a practical way) the perfection that Christ had already "laid hold of him) for. In other words, he wanted to know in practical ways what God had already done for him positionally -- not to get to heaven, but because it is who he was "in Christ". He simply wanted to be who He was. And, actually, if our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), then it is only natural that we would want the same things that God in us wants. But I will go more into that next time.
I stress in Christ, or in Him, or in Jesus, because the Bible uses that phrase over 75 times in the New Testament, and since it is used so much, it is important. We became "in Christ" when we were saved. How did this happen? According to Romans 6:3-11, we were "baptized into Christ Jesus". Baptism simply means immersion. John the Baptist immersed people into repentance. Here we are immersed into Christ. The passage says that believers died with Hm, are buried with Him, and rose from the dead with Him to go on to newness of life. According to Jesus, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you...If anyone loves Me, he will kee My word, and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." (John 14:16-17; 23). So, not only are we in Him, but He is in us. Our baptism into Christ joins us. Therefore, Paul writes: "For th death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Through Jesus' death and resurrection, our own baptism into Him, and Him indwelling (living inside us) - we become partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). He sees us as sinless in Christ.
Thiis positional sinlessness cause some to believe that once saved, we never sin. Yet they forget that our position is only secure "in Christ". The Pharisees were "self" righteous in that they believed they could earn their way to heaven through their own efforts. Yet, Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we all are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like a filthy rag." That passage does not speak of our sins or faults, but says OUR "righteousnesses" are like filthy rags. Jesus told His disciples, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing." It was Paul's greatest desire that He might be found "in Chist", not having my (his) own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." Yet he goes on to say, "Not that I have already attaind, or am already perfcted; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." (Philippians 3:9; 12).
Paul knew that in positional terms, He had God's ighteousness -- that of faith, not of works or self-effort, yet he also knew that He was not perfect. He pressed on for perfection, not to be saved, not adding works to the law -- he had already said that he did not want the righteousness which comes through the law. In Galatians 3:2-6, he told the church at Galatia that they were foolish to start in faith and then fall back on works. Then why press on? He stated in Philippians 3:12 that he wanted to "lay hold of" (know in a practical way) the perfection that Christ had already "laid hold of him) for. In other words, he wanted to know in practical ways what God had already done for him positionally -- not to get to heaven, but because it is who he was "in Christ". He simply wanted to be who He was. And, actually, if our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), then it is only natural that we would want the same things that God in us wants. But I will go more into that next time.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Balance In The Bible - Righteousness/Perfection
When I was commenting on the Intrnet, there seemed to be many people who fall into extremes when it came to righteousness. Many believe that faith in Jesus makes us righteous in God's eyes (it does) and that we no longer need to practice righteousness to be saved. If they are told that we should practice righteousness, they believe this means we are trying to then earn our salvation. Others believe that when God makes us righteous, it means we no longer sin. Yet if that is true, there is no need for Romans 7, in which Paul says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Rom. 7:18) Early in Paul's Christianity, he said that he was not even fit to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church (1 Cor. 15:9). In his final "book", his letter to Timothy, Paul writes, "Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I AM chief. (1 Tim. 1:15) -- not WAS, but AM chief of sinners".
So, if we are made righteous in God's eyes, do we strive for righteousness? Or are we perfect? Do all of these Scriptures contradict each other? Many commenters seem to believe they do, because most of them only list the Scriptures with cater to their own views. Yet all are in the Bible, and "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughtly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
I believe that all sides would agree that God gives us His righteousness. Everybody agrees with Romans 3:23-26: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom, God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just , and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus." This simply means that we all sin, the penalty for sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus became our substitute, dying on our behalf, and, through our faith in Jesus, God gives us His righteousness. "For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus, who was sinless, was seen by God has taking on every sin ever committed, so that once He paid the penalty, God could then see believers as righteous. We exchanged places.
Next time, I want to look more closely at the phrase "in Him" because I believe it provides the main balance for all of the Scritures on righteousness or perfection.
So, if we are made righteous in God's eyes, do we strive for righteousness? Or are we perfect? Do all of these Scriptures contradict each other? Many commenters seem to believe they do, because most of them only list the Scriptures with cater to their own views. Yet all are in the Bible, and "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughtly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
I believe that all sides would agree that God gives us His righteousness. Everybody agrees with Romans 3:23-26: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom, God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just , and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus." This simply means that we all sin, the penalty for sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus became our substitute, dying on our behalf, and, through our faith in Jesus, God gives us His righteousness. "For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus, who was sinless, was seen by God has taking on every sin ever committed, so that once He paid the penalty, God could then see believers as righteous. We exchanged places.
Next time, I want to look more closely at the phrase "in Him" because I believe it provides the main balance for all of the Scritures on righteousness or perfection.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Hello
I've had this blog for a couple of years, but I deleted everything on it. I want a fresh start. I love to learn about the Bible and share what I've learned with others. I've tried to get on discussion boards, Yahoo Answers and You Tube, but have discovered that most people who comment on those venues already know what they believe, and are determined to convince everybody else they are correct in their belief. I was doing the same thing. I ceased to speak "the truth in love". Yet, I enjoy Bible study, and it seems a shame to keep what I've learned to myself. So, I'm going back to writing the blog. I "think" best on paper, and so it is a way God can use me to tell others about Him.
I have outlined my favorite Scriptures at the top of my blog, and my basic beliefs in the "About Me" section. I'll probably write another blog on Sunday, but I am writing this to introduce myself.
I have outlined my favorite Scriptures at the top of my blog, and my basic beliefs in the "About Me" section. I'll probably write another blog on Sunday, but I am writing this to introduce myself.
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