I marvel at the lack of trust many believers today have in Jesus Christ. I’ve had several conversations with believers who will absolutely agree that there is nothing they can do to earn salvation. They did nothing to warrant their own salvation, and they readily admit they could not accrue enough merits to convince God they deserved the salvation they’ve been given. Plainly, nothing we do will prove our worthiness of eternal life, or our unworthiness of eternal damnation.
Yet…the same Christians who stand on the truth that they could not earn salvation, strictly oppose any biblical claim that the truly converted sinner who is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is securely kept by the very One who saved them in the first place! While they confess their merits will/did not save them, they somehow believe their demerits can un-save them.
The bible is clear that salvation in an on-going process. Theologically, it's called “progressive sanctification.” We WERE saved (at a specific point in time), we ARE saved, and we are BEING saved. When God saved us, He saved us knowing every sin we had ever committed, as well as every sin yet to be committed. And when Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one can take them out of my hand,” I would suggest that means NOT EVEN YOU can un-save yourself if you have truly been converted.
Take comfort in the FACT that you, the truly converted BY Christ, will NEVER be left to condemnation. "You who are in Christ are a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!" He Himself said, "I am with you ALWAYS." Trust Him who is trustworthy for the eternal salvation and security of your soul; not yourself, the untrustworthy.
12.15.2009
HOLINESS:
When I think of holiness, I think of God. Maybe others might think of Ghandi or Mother Theresa. Whatever the case, holiness is a description most of us lack, but wish others could use to describe us.
I like the way Dr. John MacArthur’s states what holiness is: holiness is “the result of the manifestation of God’s grace in our lives.” It is physical proof that God has saved us.
If you want to see what holiness is NOT, just look at sinful me. The Bible tells us we are all mired by sin – unholy. The good news, however, is that saints of God are elected into holiness (Rom 8:29) as a gift because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. There’s nothing we did to earn it, and no amount of obedience to God’s law (righteousness) earned us the privilege of being made holy. It’s all God’s doing!
As an aside, what right does any Christian have in being despicably prideful about our salvation while another stands condemned. If not for the grace of God, we, too, would be where he is.
Holiness, like righteousness, has an ironic twist: unholy people made holy by God are expected to be holy (Lev 11:45, 2Tim 1:9).
What does it mean to be holy?
In order to understand how to be holy, the Christian needs to look to none other than God (Father, Son, and Spirit). When describing Jesus Christ, Dr. MacArthur writes, Jesus had “piety without pollution”, was “without evil or malice”, and was “free from contamination” (Heb 7:26).
We can consider other passages also, passages that suggest we must have our minds trained on Christ instead of worldly lusts (1Pet 1:13-14), imitate God – including our sexual purity, contentment with relation to riches, cleanliness of thought, upright speech and humor, and thankfulness (Eph 5:1-5) – esteem others as greater than ourselves, and have a love-driven approach to our daily interactions (Php 2:1-4) to name a few.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: I am a poor imitator of God. If you really want to know what God is like, don’t look at me. I am an ugly reflection of Him. I am holy only because He has made me Holy through Jesus Christ, but I long to be holy. If not for His grace, I would not have any kind of holiness that would please Him. Thankfully, when my God looks at me, He looks at me with Jesus standing between us.
God, since you have declared me holy, please help me to be holy, that I might please you.
(All quotations from the MacArthur Study Bible.)
I like the way Dr. John MacArthur’s states what holiness is: holiness is “the result of the manifestation of God’s grace in our lives.” It is physical proof that God has saved us.
If you want to see what holiness is NOT, just look at sinful me. The Bible tells us we are all mired by sin – unholy. The good news, however, is that saints of God are elected into holiness (Rom 8:29) as a gift because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. There’s nothing we did to earn it, and no amount of obedience to God’s law (righteousness) earned us the privilege of being made holy. It’s all God’s doing!
As an aside, what right does any Christian have in being despicably prideful about our salvation while another stands condemned. If not for the grace of God, we, too, would be where he is.
Holiness, like righteousness, has an ironic twist: unholy people made holy by God are expected to be holy (Lev 11:45, 2Tim 1:9).
What does it mean to be holy?
In order to understand how to be holy, the Christian needs to look to none other than God (Father, Son, and Spirit). When describing Jesus Christ, Dr. MacArthur writes, Jesus had “piety without pollution”, was “without evil or malice”, and was “free from contamination” (Heb 7:26).
We can consider other passages also, passages that suggest we must have our minds trained on Christ instead of worldly lusts (1Pet 1:13-14), imitate God – including our sexual purity, contentment with relation to riches, cleanliness of thought, upright speech and humor, and thankfulness (Eph 5:1-5) – esteem others as greater than ourselves, and have a love-driven approach to our daily interactions (Php 2:1-4) to name a few.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: I am a poor imitator of God. If you really want to know what God is like, don’t look at me. I am an ugly reflection of Him. I am holy only because He has made me Holy through Jesus Christ, but I long to be holy. If not for His grace, I would not have any kind of holiness that would please Him. Thankfully, when my God looks at me, He looks at me with Jesus standing between us.
God, since you have declared me holy, please help me to be holy, that I might please you.
(All quotations from the MacArthur Study Bible.)
12.12.2009
RIGHTEOUSNESS:
When I think of the word “righteous”, I tend to think of it coupled in phrases like “righteous judgment” or “righteous behavior.” One might also consider its relatives: justified, justice, morality.
We could say that righteousness is an appeal to law, a judgment based upon the dictates of the law. A “clean” shooting by a soldier or police officer is often called a “justifiable” or “righteous” shooting by attorney-types. You’re more often likely to hear it called a “good” or “clean” shoot by other officers, though. The idea is the same for the two groups, however. The facts of the shooting scenario are judged against the dictates and restrictions of the law. And the soldier or officer’s actions are deemed justified.
Similarly, personal righteousness is obedience to God’s law (Rom 10:5). It is an action or behavior that is found to be in accordance with God’s written and moral law. But there is an ironic twist to righteousness: It is not something that comes naturally to us (Rom 3:10) and does not come about by mere obedience to the law (Gal 2:21). Rather, righteousness is imputed to us (Rom 4:11, 22) by God (Ps 24:5) through Jesus Christ (2Cor 5:21). We are deemed righteous because of Christ, but we who are unrighteous by ourselves are expected to be righteous because Christ deemed us as such.
What does it mean to be righteous?
True righteousness comes about by confessing Jesus Christ and believing upon Him for salvation (Rom 10:9-10). We then behave righteously when we keep the Word of God being always near us, both in our hearts and in our mouths (Rom 10:8).
It’s what Moses talked about in Deuteronomy: bind it (God’s word) to your foreheads and your doorposts, talk about it with your children, when you go in and when you go out, when you lie down and when you rise up. The idea is that if God’s word is always on our minds, then our actions will follow suit. This is not something that comes naturally to natural, sinful man, but is instilled in us by our Almighty Creator.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: When I stand before God in judgment, will my Defense Attorney say I acted in accordance with the dictates and restrictions of God’s law? Will He say I was righteous? Time or space does not allow it here, but I could take you through God’s Law and show you all that I have violated. I could take you to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and add to the list of my violations!
Thankfully, my righteousness will be judged according to all that Jesus Christ has done for me. My righteousness is filthy, ugly, disgusting, and prideful, and if I was judge over a replica of me, I’d judge him to eternal chains.
We could say that righteousness is an appeal to law, a judgment based upon the dictates of the law. A “clean” shooting by a soldier or police officer is often called a “justifiable” or “righteous” shooting by attorney-types. You’re more often likely to hear it called a “good” or “clean” shoot by other officers, though. The idea is the same for the two groups, however. The facts of the shooting scenario are judged against the dictates and restrictions of the law. And the soldier or officer’s actions are deemed justified.
Similarly, personal righteousness is obedience to God’s law (Rom 10:5). It is an action or behavior that is found to be in accordance with God’s written and moral law. But there is an ironic twist to righteousness: It is not something that comes naturally to us (Rom 3:10) and does not come about by mere obedience to the law (Gal 2:21). Rather, righteousness is imputed to us (Rom 4:11, 22) by God (Ps 24:5) through Jesus Christ (2Cor 5:21). We are deemed righteous because of Christ, but we who are unrighteous by ourselves are expected to be righteous because Christ deemed us as such.
What does it mean to be righteous?
True righteousness comes about by confessing Jesus Christ and believing upon Him for salvation (Rom 10:9-10). We then behave righteously when we keep the Word of God being always near us, both in our hearts and in our mouths (Rom 10:8).
It’s what Moses talked about in Deuteronomy: bind it (God’s word) to your foreheads and your doorposts, talk about it with your children, when you go in and when you go out, when you lie down and when you rise up. The idea is that if God’s word is always on our minds, then our actions will follow suit. This is not something that comes naturally to natural, sinful man, but is instilled in us by our Almighty Creator.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: When I stand before God in judgment, will my Defense Attorney say I acted in accordance with the dictates and restrictions of God’s law? Will He say I was righteous? Time or space does not allow it here, but I could take you through God’s Law and show you all that I have violated. I could take you to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and add to the list of my violations!
Thankfully, my righteousness will be judged according to all that Jesus Christ has done for me. My righteousness is filthy, ugly, disgusting, and prideful, and if I was judge over a replica of me, I’d judge him to eternal chains.
12.01.2009
"THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE AND RESPECT", By Dr. Emerson Eggerichs:
“The Language of Love and Respect”, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs:
SUMMARY: She craves Love; He craves Respect. Dr. Eggerichs contends that love and respect are the air hoses that supply vital life to any relationship, and stepping on a spouse’s air hose could very likely lead to suffocation. Spouses ought to love and respect each other according to these biblical principles because love and respect in marriage are simple reflections of a believer’s life in Christ.
LIKES: I think “The Language of Love and Respect” is a very good book. Dr. Eggerichs is easy to read and the applications he suggests seem realistic, and his writing style is peppered with wit and relevant anecdotes. The book is written like a good reference manual, where someone could pick it up, select a principle to briefly read, and understand it in a few short paragraphs because following each of the typical introductory paragraphs, Dr. Eggerichs includes several stories to further explain the presented concepts to his readers.
DISLIKES: I am a bit reluctant to include the following critique in the “dislikes” category, but it seems to fit better here than in the “likes”: The book is a bit redundant since Dr. Eggerichs has already written and filmed a similar title, “Love and Respect”. The concepts in “The Language of Love and Respect” are largely reproductions of the original. In fact, looking up the history of this book shows it was previously released under a different title. So, it seems that the book was written simply because the first installment was such a huge success that the publishers must have thought a second would be as equally huge. And I’m sure it will, but I think someone could read this book and not need to have read the original “Love and Respect”. In either case, owning one installment would probably render ownership of the other obsolete.
CONCLUSION: “The Language of Love and Respect” is certainly insightful and inspiring, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has not read, watched, or attended “Love and Respect”.
I blog reviews for Thomas Nelson Publishers.
SUMMARY: She craves Love; He craves Respect. Dr. Eggerichs contends that love and respect are the air hoses that supply vital life to any relationship, and stepping on a spouse’s air hose could very likely lead to suffocation. Spouses ought to love and respect each other according to these biblical principles because love and respect in marriage are simple reflections of a believer’s life in Christ.
LIKES: I think “The Language of Love and Respect” is a very good book. Dr. Eggerichs is easy to read and the applications he suggests seem realistic, and his writing style is peppered with wit and relevant anecdotes. The book is written like a good reference manual, where someone could pick it up, select a principle to briefly read, and understand it in a few short paragraphs because following each of the typical introductory paragraphs, Dr. Eggerichs includes several stories to further explain the presented concepts to his readers.
DISLIKES: I am a bit reluctant to include the following critique in the “dislikes” category, but it seems to fit better here than in the “likes”: The book is a bit redundant since Dr. Eggerichs has already written and filmed a similar title, “Love and Respect”. The concepts in “The Language of Love and Respect” are largely reproductions of the original. In fact, looking up the history of this book shows it was previously released under a different title. So, it seems that the book was written simply because the first installment was such a huge success that the publishers must have thought a second would be as equally huge. And I’m sure it will, but I think someone could read this book and not need to have read the original “Love and Respect”. In either case, owning one installment would probably render ownership of the other obsolete.
CONCLUSION: “The Language of Love and Respect” is certainly insightful and inspiring, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has not read, watched, or attended “Love and Respect”.
I blog reviews for Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)