₦airaland Forum

afternoon.....

afternoon..

afternoon

How do you mainly identify with God? As a

(a) servant of God,

(b) a friend of God, or

(c) a son of God?

When Samuel Mathew posed this question on his Facebook page yesterday, I was so surprised at the results, that I decided to poll E2R readers on E2R’s FB page. (Before you read on, answer the question for yourself. How do you primarily relate to God? As a servant, a friend or a son?)
So far about 30 people have responded to the FB polls. To my astonishment, less than half picked (c) “son of God.” And so, once again, Facebook has provided a brilliant answer to one of the world’s most pressing questions:
Why is the world still a mess, even though Jesus did everything He came to do, 2000 years ago?

The problem may not be what you think. It’s not legalism, condemnation, or even sin. The root cause of the problem is that the majority of people do not identify with God as their Father. They relate to Him as something other than sons. That is, they have an orphan spirit. Those outside the church are like the prodigal son, while many of those inside the church are like the elder brother. Neither brother received their father’s love. Both trusted in their own labor and had little confidence in the grace and provision of their loving father.

There may be only two kinds of people in the world: sons and orphans. Which are you? The devil’s plan is to get you confused about your identity. He will sow doubt by asking, “if you are the Son of God…” (Mt 4:3). To the degree that you are uncertain about your sonship, to that degree you have an orphan spirit.

I will probably write more about this some other time, but the FB polls have fired me up. I couldn’t sleep for thinking about it. So many of you are evidently victims of identity theft! I can’t stay silent while the devil runs off with your birth certificates, so below are 10 reasons why (c) is the best response to the question above. Even if you serve a God who is your best friend, you are first and foremost a son of God. And this applies equally to the ladies, for we are all one in Christ (Gal 3:28).

Top 10 reasons why you are a son of God first and foremost

………………

(1) The Holy Spirit says so. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba , Father’” (Rms 8:15).

(2) Do you really need more reasons? Come on now! Paul thought no. 1 above was such an important truth that he said it twice. “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, ‘Papa! Father!’” (Gal 4:6, MSG). God Himself calls you son. (You wouldn’t want to call God a liar now would you?) He is the one who makes it possible for you to call Him Papa!

(3) The Bible says so – in many places (see Gal 3:26, Rms 8:14, Heb 12:7, 1 Jn 3:1 for starters).

(4) The Old Testament prophets longed for the day when God’s people would be called “sons of God” (Hos 1:10). They thought it applied to the Jews, but Paul says it includes “even us whom He also called” (Rms 9:23). Jesus came to reveal the Father (Mt 11:27). This is what makes the new covenant
new. Sonship – not servanthood, not friendship – is the pinnacle of redemption. Not even Adam and Eve were identified as sons! Because of Jesus we have come closer to God than when we started out in the Garden. How awesome is that?!

(5) We are to be servant-hearted, not servant-minded. Someone with an orphan spirit readily identifies themselves as a servant of God. It sounds noble, but it insults the cross and the Spirit of grace. Servants work for wages but we live under grace and there are no wages under grace. Sons are shareholders, not employees. We don’t work because we have to, but because we are wholly invested in the success of the family-business.

(6) A servant doesn’t know his master’s will, has to be told what to do, and then relates to God on the basis of what he does. If he does good, he thinks God loves him more. How sad, how utterly tragic to be enslaved to such a lie. A mature son is nothing like that. He has the mind of Christ (1 Co 2:16), is clothed with His righteousness (Is 61:10), and relates on the basis of the Father’s love first shown to him (1 Jn 4:19). A servant waits on God. A son does what he sees His Father doing (Jn 5:19).

(7) Servants suffer from performance-anxiety. Even friends may worry thinking they have to pound on doors in the middle of the night merely to borrow something (Lk 11:5). But sons need not worry, for our “heavenly Father knows we need all these things” (Mt 6:32). Our Father – not our master nor our friend – delights to give good gifts to those who ask Him (Mt 7:11). You’re not on the outside looking in. You’re warm and secure in bed with your Papa (see Lk 11:7).

( True, Abraham was a friend of God (Is 41: and we are revealed to be friends when we do what Jesus says (Jn 15:14). This is a good thing and something to treasure. But sonship is better by far! Sons have “full rights” of access that friends lack (Gal 4:5). Sons have an expectation of intimacy that servants and friends do not enjoy. My kids are with me 24/7 (it’s the school holidays). In contrast, I only see and enjoy my friends occasionally. Wouldn’t you rather walk with God enjoying His presence continuously? As a son you have full rights to do so!

(9) Sons are heirs. I have an inheritance and it’s the entire planet (Rms 4:13). All the cattle on all the hills and all the blessings of Abraham are ours, paid for with Jesus’ blood. Indeed, we are co-heirs with Christ (Rm 8:17). Our share is no less than Christ’s!

(10) What will it take to fix this broken, poisoned planet? A revelation of the sons of God (Rms 8:19)! In the garden God gave us a planet to keep. We lost it, Jesus got it back, yet we still act like it belongs to the devil. It is OURS! “The earth he has given to man” (Ps 115:16). Jesus paid a high price to redeem this planet for us. Creation is not waiting for the church to rise up. Neither is creation waiting for God’s servants or His friends to rise up. Instead, creation waits for the mature sons of God to rise up and say with authority “this is my planet; hands off devil!”

If you’re still having trouble wrapping your head around this, look to Jesus. Did Jesus describe God as His (a) Master, (b) Friend, or (c) Father? That’s an easy question. Under the obsolete law covenant, God was Master. Under the Abrahamic covenant, God is our Friend. But under the new covenant in Jesus’ blood, God relates to us as our Father!
And don’t water this down by saying that God is “all of the above.” He’s no more “all of the above” than you are “all of the above” to your own children. My kids will serve many employers and have many friends, but they will only have one earthly father and that’s me. I am thrilled beyond words to be identified as my children’s father because it is my unique privilege. I hope they will be equally thrilled to be identified as my children. It makes my heart soar when they call me Papa. I’m less thrilled when they call me “your majesty.”

He is your Father and my Father! Yes I serve Him and yes He is my closest friend. But service and friendship stem from my secure position as His adopted son. There’s nothing I enjoy more than being with Him, knowing Him, walking with Him and talking with Him. Every day with Him is an adventure!

When you have a revelation of your sonship, it will change the way you pray. You will pray for the smallest things, because if it matters to you it matters to Him. But you will also ask Him for big things, because God has promised you the nations. You won’t hold back like a waiter or a friend – you’ll come running in to Papa knowing that He loves to give good gifts to His children.

Paul prayed, and so do I…

“…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 the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Eph 1:18-19)


https://escapetoreality.org/2010/10/04/son-servant-or-friend-of-god/

morning

The other day I was walking with my girls to a playground. We were walking along a waterfront esplanade that is sometimes used by goods vehicles. My girls were ahead of me and with all the noise and excitement they didn’t notice a van approaching from the right. In a loud voice I told them to stop and they did.

Like good Kiwi kids, they then instinctively looked to their left for the vehicle they knew must be coming, only they could see no car. It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t been dangerous. They were both straining so hard to look left that they were oblivious to the van approaching on their right.

Forgive the dramatization but at this point each of my girls faced a life-threatening choice: to walk by sight (I see no car) or by faith (but Daddy told me to stop ). They were itching to get on to the playground but thankfully their trust in me kept them safe and still. Well, to be honest, the younger one needed a bit more encouraging, but you get my point. They obeyed me because they trust me. Do you see? Genuine obedience follows trust, which is based on love.

Hopefully that reminds you of something Jesus said:
If you love me, you will obey what I command. (Joh 14:15)
In Part 1 of this series on obedience – which is itself a subset of my ongoing study of eternal security – we saw that Adam disobeyed God because of his distrust. Disobedience follows distrust just as surely as obedience follows trust. If you love someone you will trust them and heed what they say. That’s what Jesus is saying here. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Here’s the flipside:

He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. (Joh 14:24)

If you don’t love someone, you won’t trust them and you won’t heed what they say. Again, this is obvious, right?
Only it’s not obvious at all for there are many who are trying to obey God out of fear instead of love. Why fear? Because they’ve been told that they have to prove their repentance with good deeds, they have to hold fast, endure to the end, avoid sin, and do everything else the Bible says. And what if they don’t? God will reject them. They will be cast aside with the weeds, told to depart with the goats, and burned with the unfruitful branches. It’s terrifying stuff!

Missed it by a hundred miles

Now holding fast and enduring is a very good idea, but if you think the Bible is encouraging fleshly persistence and that God will reward you for your stamina, you have missed the mark by a hundred miles.

I plan to take a closer look at the hold fast/endure/continue scriptures in later posts. (Make sure you don’t miss out by
signing up for free updates today .) But for now I want to focus on obedience because too many of us have reduced the relationship that God desires to a set of rules. This can happen when we read, out of context, scriptures like this one:

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. (Joh 15:10)
Ouch! That looks like Jesus is preaching conditional love. Only he isn’t. Read the preceding verse:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (Joh 15:9)

How does the Father love the Son? Un- conditionally! Before Jesus had done a blessed thing God said, “This is my beloved Son” (Mat 3:17). See that? says Jesus. Do you see how my Father loves me? That’s how I love you . Jesus is preaching unconditional love . That’s good news! His love is a rock-solid fact you can build on. But you won’t have a rock-solid life unless you receive it. Hence the exhortation that follows:

Remain in my love. Abide, dwell, stay permanently in my love. Sink your roots deep and let nothing move you from my love. Don’t let the insecurity mob try and sell you my love. Look to the cross – you already have my love. Everything else will fail except my love for you. My love is the one constant that will hold your world together if you receive it, so receive it. Bask in it, bathe in it, swim in it, stay in it. (Joh 15:9, Paul’s paraphrase)

That’s good news, no? Come on – it’s great news! It’s the best, blessed news in the universe! It’s the news a loveless world most needs to hear. Perhaps you’ve heard it before but you need to preach this good news to yourself every single day. God loves me with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns! The cross proves he would rather die than live without me. And now that my Beloved is mine and I am his, he will never let me go!

Then, when you are secure in the foundation of verse 9, you can read verse 10, which I paraphrase like this: “Trusting me to the point of heeding what I say is a sure-fire sign you are remaining in my love.”

Do you see the distinction? It’s not about obedience vs. disobedience, but trust vs. distrust. When you know the love of God you will trust and obey him naturally. But if you are not secure in his love any attempt to obey him will be unnatural and fruitless. Your relationship will have all the love and trust of a forced marriage.

Meanwhile, back at the waterfront…

Return with me to the esplanade. Do you see my girls standing obediently still and safe? Here is the $64,000 question: What holds them still when they want to run on? There is only one thing – my love for them.

Because my girls know how much I love them, they trust me to make decisions for them. I can see things they can’t see – like oncoming vans. It’s exactly the same with your heavenly Father. He loves you so much that you can trust him with your life.

But what if one of my girls is having a bad day? Perhaps she got out of bed on the wrong side. Perhaps she is hungry and irritable – whatever, the point is she is no longer remaining in my love. She might start thinking, Why do I have to stop? I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. I’m not stopping. I’m going to run on to the playground.
So she runs out in front of the van. Not good! Her disobedience could get her killed. But I would not be the one killing her.

Again, this is obvious right? Only to many it’s not obvious.
Many people think that God smites us when we disobey him. The heavy van of life runs us over and as we lay bleeding we tell ourselves, “God is chastising me.” No he’s not. He didn’t give you cancer, make you redundant, or cause your spouse to run off with the kids. God is almighty but that doesn’t make him responsible for everything that happens to you.

God is not sovereign in the way that word is usually used.
Let me bang the drum one more time: For Adam, it wasn’t about the tree and for us it’s not about the rules. God is not primarily interested in your ability to obey and he’s not judging you on your rule-keeping performance. You need to understand that he loves you when you’re obedient and he loves you when you’re disobedient. His love never changes.
If my daughter disobeys me she might get flattened by the van but I won’t kick her out of the family. Neither will God kick you out of his family when you disobey. His eternal love is greater than your momentary lapses of judgment.

“Paul, are you saying that my obedience doesn’t matter?”

Of course it matters! Obeying God will keep you from getting splattered by the proverbial truck. But we don’t obey to earn his love (we already have it) or his forgiveness (in Christ, it’s already ours). Rather, we obey our heavenly Father for the same reason my girls obeyed me the other evening: because we love and trust him and we know that he wants the very best for us.

The end of the matter

There are many rules and exhortations in the New Testament, but Jesus summarized them all in just eight words:

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (Joh 15:12)

Again, we don’t keep the command in order to merit God’s love – that’s back to front. Look again at the words of Jesus: “Love each other as I have loved you.”

In the old, we did to get. In the new, we do because we have already received. We love because he first loved us. We forgive others because he has forgiven us and when you receive his forgiveness it sets you free from hurt and unforgiveness.

When you know how much your heavenly Father loves you, it empowers you to live life to the fullest, to be generous with your heart, and to draw others into the orbit of his great love.

In this post we have look at what Jesus said about obedience. In the next post in this series I will look at the words of the one who wrote more about obedience than any other New Testament writer, namely, John. Stay tuned.

https://escapetoreality.org/2013/03/26/the-root-of-obedience/

“Adam disobeyed God and suffered the consequences. Jesus has given us a second chance – don’t screw it up this time. God demands total obedience. The devil will do what he can to make you disobey because he knows that ‘God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.’ So do what you’re told and obey.”

Right there is your standard sermon on obedience. Have you heard it before?
If you have you may wonder, “How does the love of God figure into this?” The preacher of insecurity has a ready answer:

Heed the words of Jesus: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (Joh 14:15). To love God means to obey his commands. God is to be feared and obeyed.

Gulp. That sounds scary. That sounds like the love of God hinges on my perfect obedience and, to be honest, I am not perfectly obedient. Does that means God won’t accept me? Does that mean I’m not truly saved?
Bingo.

Now the preacher of insecurity has you right where he wants you – sitting on the edge of your seat in mortal terror ready to swallow whatever list of instructions he has for you today. Using fiery rhetoric and chopped up scriptures he will whip you into an emotional frenzy of promising-making. “Lord, I’ll do everything the Bible says.”

What happens next? Well, if your flesh is strong, you may be singled out as a walking-talking Christian success story. But if your flesh is weak, you’ll be shackled with guilt and condemnation. Either way, pack your bags because we’re going on a flesh trip .
Such is the life of the insecure believer.

What you misdiagnose, you mistreat

Having read my little rant you may think that I am against obedience. I am not! What I am against is flesh-powered Christianity, which is what obedience usually smells like.
To get to the heart of this obedience issue we need to go back to the beginning, to the Garden of Eden. To get the right answer, we need to ask the right question, and here it is: How did Adam fall?

For many years, my answer to that question was: “Adam disobeyed.” That seems simple enough doesn’t it? God told Adam not to eat; Adam ate. End of story.

Only it’s not the end of the story. It’s not even the right story. Adam’s disobedience was not the problem but rather a symptom of a deeper problem, which is that he did not trust God. In eating the forbidden fruit, Adam declared God to be an untrustworthy liar. Through his actions he was saying, “God, I’m better off without you.” Big mistake.

Disobedience follows distrust

Like us, Adam lived in a world of uncertainty. Like us, he had questions he couldn’t answer. Here are Adam’s questions:

– “Why did God forbid me to eat from this one particular tree?”

– “What is this death he said would come if I eat from it?”
Adam was in the dark – and that was the whole point. God purposely set things up that way because he wanted Adam and Eve to trust him. By introducing uncertainty into their world, he was inviting them to a relationship of dependence on him. If they had trusted him they would have lived – indeed, they would’ve had abundant life – but they chose to distrust and so reaped the awful consequences of their choice.

People think that God rejected Adam in the Garden but it’s the other way around. Adam rejected God. By spurning God’s words of life he cut himself off from the Source of life and when you do that you die. And that is the real story of humanity.

The purpose of life

Life is a set-up and it has been so since the get-go. Life is an invitation to respond to the overtures of a God who loves us and desires to share his life with us. Think about it. There is far more to life than we can comprehend or manage. Try as we might we simply weren’t designed to cope with all that life throws at us. Rather, we were designed for a life of dependence on a good God who promises to supply all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Php 4:19).

The secret to life is not “obey or die” it’s “trust God or die trying.” (See John 5:24, 11:25 if you need to see this in the Bible.)

The bottom line is not whether you obey God but whether you trust him. It’s impossible to trust God and not obey him, but there are plenty of people who think they are obeying God yet they don’t trust him.

The two faces of unbelief

I will talk more about obedience in the coming posts but I want to finish here with a picture of distrust. What does it look like to distrust God? Distrust has two aspects:

(1) It’s Adam doing the opposite of what God told him to do

(2) It’s the Israelites at Sinai saying, “God, just tell us what to do and we’ll do it” (see Ex 19:

Don’t be fooled by the Israelites’ desire to obey – it was a flesh trip pure and simple . If they truly trusted God they would not have asked for rules. They would’ve said, “God remember your covenant with our father Abraham and bless us.” Instead they basically said, “God we don’t believe your promises to Abraham – tell us how we can bless ourselves.” And God gave them what they asked for – lots of rules for
self-blessification .

(Like that word? I made it up to impress you with my theological jargon. Whew! That wore me out. Back to the simple stuff.)

Today there are folks who, like the Israelites, are searching for keys and principles and guidelines and strategies – anything but God himself. They are doing their level best to obey all the rules in the Bible but the sad fact is they don’t trust God. They are trusting in themselves by thinking…

– I will be safe IF I keep the rules

– I will be accepted, righteous, and good enough IF I keep the rules

– God will bless me IF I keep the rules

– God will be pleased with my IF I keep the rules

It’s as if Jesus never came! It’s as if we were still under the old law-keeping covenant. If you know your Bible history, you will know that rule-keeping is a recipe for disaster. Don’t you see? The Israelites couldn’t do it and neither can you. Indeed, no one can keep all the rules except God himself.

It’s not about the rules

Life isn’t about rules, it’s about relationship. This is so obviously true that people have trouble believing it.

“Paul, are you saying God is not interested in my obedience?” He is, but probably not for the reasons you think. (See my next post.)

“Are you saying God is not judging me according to my obedience?” He isn’t – if you are in Christ, then you have already been judged righteous, holy, and good, on account of
his obedience. That’s the good news!

“Are you saying we don’t need to keep the commands of the New Testament?” The fact that you have asked this question tells me you are still confused about the purpose of life. Go read everything above, again.

Here’s the punch-line:

An old covenant preacher will use carrots and sticks to motivate you to obey. Heed this sort of preaching and you will become an insecure, distrustful believer with an up and down lifestyle. Your walk with God will be a caricature of true Christianity and you’ll be a bad advertisement for the gospel.

A new covenant preacher, on the other hand, will seek to reveal God’s unconditional love to you and from this secure, rock-solid foundation, inspire you to walk confidently as a child of God. As you do this, you will find yourself obeying God effortlessly and you will be a stunning advertisement for the gospel!

I’ll dig deeper into these issues in Part 2 , when we take a fresh look at the commands of Jesus.


https://escapetoreality.org/2013/03/21/root-of-disobedience/

menxer:
Smh

Please keep your head you hear? I am 100% for the GOSPEL OF GRACE which is the Real Gospel of Christ.... I dont do Grace + Law kinda Christianity as i can see thats what u stood for....

So in your own interest and mine too, it is better you stay away from my posts too cos you wont agree with me and i wont agree with you too....

So to save your time and unnecessary argument, which am not ready for, its better you stay away.... Keep to your belief let me keep mine.. . Have a nice day....

menxer:
You have failed to answer the question you set to: what is the assurance of making heaven here?

Is it endurance that wins the race? If yes it still behooves us to endure? if no, why all the talk to endure to the end?

The Christian race is indeed a marathon but for those of us in Christ, the race begins at the finish line. How is this possible? When you were placed into Christ, you were placed into the race winner.

If you are "placed" at the finish line, why are you still in the race?
You should be on the podium receiving your medal.
Or you mean, since your race begins at the finish line, you are racing backwards?

My take on this, enduring to the end is to qualify you for the championship, we are doing qualifying series here.

Ps:
Sometimes we make it seem as if it is possible for someone to be admitted into a B.Sc degree with another man's credentials.

The question was answered and you are still asking more questions....

The Christian race is starting at the Finish Line of what Christ did at the Cross by Him saying IT IS FINISHED!! before giving up his spirit. When you give your life to Christ, you start at the Finished Line of His Work at the Cross.....

There is nothing to endure again cos Christ have endured all in this world .... This is not to say u won't have challenges or trials as a believer. You will, but guess what? Be of good cheer cos Christ have overcome the world!! Just rest in His Finished Work and the Holy Spirit will do His work in you....

Every believer in Christ will make heaven..

...

jiggaz:
morning

...

This is the Will of God the Father....

So what is God's will? What are the works that God wants us to do? Some people asked our Saviour Jesus this very question in John 6. No better answer or explanation than that which comes from our Saviour Jesus Himself!

28 "Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 "Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

Again, in the same John 6, Christ says:

3 9 "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Our Saviour Himself is telling us what God’s will is! He is saying here that the will of God is:

1. For us to believe in our Lord Jesus (verse 29.) Even this we cannot decide to do on our own. Verse 44 of the same John 6 says “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” And there we were thinking “I decided to follow Jesus out of my own good sense and smarts”

2. That Christ should lose none of us that He (our heavenly Father) has given to Him but raise us up at the last day (verse 39)

3. That all of us who see our Lord Jesus Christ and believe in Him may have everlasting life. (verse 40)

Believers, this is what God wants us to do: to believe in His Son. For the New Covenant believer, believing in our Saviour Jesus is obedience. Under the New Covenant, there only the obedience of faith, not the Law. The Law is not of faith and without faith, it is impossible to please God. When the believing is right, right living will follow.

In the Bible, Christianity is sometimes compared to a race. But what kind of race is it?

Is the Christian race like the marathon, something to be endured rather than enjoyed?

And is it true that only those who endure to the end qualify for the kingdom?

You might think so to read verses like these…

Heb 3:6 We are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Heb 3:14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life…

Rev 2:10 Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

I have studied every scripture and read every commentary I could find on this issue of Christian endurance. I learned that there are two views:

1. Salvation is indeed conditional on enduring; if you don’t endure to the end you’re lost forever

2. Enduring to the end proves you are saved – if you didn’t endure, you weren’t saved to begin with

I have problems with both views. My problem with the first view is that it contradicts the many promises of God regarding our eternal salvation. If it is true that salvation hinges on us, then we’re not saved by his grace but our endurance and God is a liar.

My problem with the second view is that it’s useless. Since you won’t know until the end whether you have endured or not, how can you have any assurance that you are saved now? Rather than promoting simple trust in Jesus this perspective sows uncertainty and doubt.

If the first view is true, and salvation is conditional on enduring, you will be full of fear. If the second view is true, and enduring to the end merely proves you were saved all along, you will be full of uncertainty. Since God is neither the author of fear or uncertainty, you can safely dismiss both interpretations as manmade.

Christ has endured

Why are there so many verses in the Bible on endurance? They are not there to instill fear and uncertainty in the hearts of the saints, but to inspire us to trust in the One who keeps us strong to the end (1 Cor 1:.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (Joh 16:33)

This is such a profound statement for Jesus is offering us a choice between two realities:

1. Worldly reality: “you will have trouble” – this is bad news

2. Heavenly reality: “in me you can have peace” – this is good news

The Christian race is indeed a marathon but for those of us in Christ, the race begins at the finish line. How is this possible? When you were placed into Christ, you were placed into the race winner. Consider the endurance of Jesus:

Jesus endured the cross (Heb 12:2)

Jesus endured bitter opposition from men (Heb 12:3)

The love of God, which is found in Christ, endures all things (1 Cor 13:7)

Since Christ has already endured so have we. Do you see it? Look at what Jesus says: “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” Why is that good news for the one who believes it? Because in Christ, we too have overcome the world. The crown of life is the believer’s crown. It is given to those in Christ as the just reward for what Christ has done.

Do you see it yet? Every spiritual blessing and everything we need comes to us through Christ . Now let’s look briefly at those four endurance verses I listed at the the top of this post:

Heb 3:6 We are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Insecure view: If you don’t hold fast, you will no longer be a member of his house.

Secure view: We are his house if we are come to Jesus and are saved (see 1 Pet 2:5). A sign that we really understand this is – that Jesus has done it all – is that we hold fast, with rejoicing and undoubting boldness, to the hope (i.e., Jesus) of which we boast.

Heb 3:14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first

Insecure view: Hold firmly to the end or you’ll have no share in Christ.

Secure view: One way to recognize someone who is resting in Christ is they have peace in a world of trouble. They even persevere and endure beyond all natural limits because they are being kept by Jesus (Jude 1:24), the author and perfecter of their faith (Heb 12:2). Hebrews 3:14 is not preaching salvation conditional on our perseverance. It’s saying, “We have been made partakers of Christ – it’s done – but we won’t experience the benefits of our union unless we hold firmly to the confidence we had when we started out.”

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (NKJV)

Insecure view: If you succumb to temptation and sin, you’ll be rejected and won’t receive a crown of life.

Secure view: Who is the man that endured and has been approved? It is Jesus (Php 2:9)! There is no divine approval outside of Christ but the good news declares we are “tested and approved in Christ” (Rom 16:10; see also 2 Cor 10:18). The trials of life are not to test us and trip us but to reveal the genuineness of the gift God has given us. This is why we’re blessed and approved and crown-worthy – not because we are resilient but because God is gracious and his gifts are good and durable.

Rev 2:10 Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Insecure view: Getting into heaven’s tougher than SAS selection and only the strongest make it.

Secure view: Jesus is speaking to the saints in Smyrna. He is saying: “Some of you are going to be persecuted and some of you will even die. Don’t be afraid but fix your eyes on me. I’ve been through it all and I have overcome the world. We’re going to go through this trial together and you’re going to be amazed at how well your God-given faith bears up under pressure. This test will only be for a short time and then we will meet face to face. I can’t wait to see you and hug you and give you your crown.”

Again, why are there so many verses in the New Testament on endurance? They are not there to scare you or promote flesh-powered endurance. They are there to inspire you to trust in Jesus who endured all things and was tempted in every way but remained untouched by sin.

From time to time you will have a great need for endurance and patience and perserverence. Look to Christ to supply your need (Php 4:19). In Christ, we are approved. In Christ, we have endured. In Christ, we began our race at the finish line.

https://escapetoreality.org/2013/05/30/is-the-christian-race-a-marathon/

morning

A scripture that worries some Christians, but shouldn’t, is this one:

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!” (Matt 7:21-23)

Jesus’ words worry some people because they seem to contradict what Paul writes in Romans:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)

Say “Jesus is Lord” and you’re saved, says Paul. But you might not be, says Jesus. Which is it?

You need to know that Paul is 100 percent correct. If you are persuaded that Jesus is the risen Lord, then you are his and he is yours and you are saved. Don’t let anyone move you from your secure position.

Yet Jesus is also 100 percent correct for there is no contradiction between him and Paul. Indeed, there is a nice symmetry, for Paul is describing sheep, while Jesus is talking about wolves. Let’s look at three things Jesus says:

1. On that day

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord…’” On what day? On that day of judgment when the nations are gathered before him and Jesus separates his sheep from the goats (and wolves).

Today (as in right now) there are only some who recognize Jesus as Lord, but on that day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess him as Lord. On that day it won’t take any faith to recognize Jesus as Lord because he will appear as he truly is.

2. I never knew you

Jesus is not speaking to Christians who have somehow missed the mark, because he says “I never knew you.” Not, “I knew you once but now I’m writing you off.” Nor does he say, “I wrote your name in my book but now I’m blotting it out .” Jesus is talking to people he never knew.

We may not be 100 percent faithful but Jesus is. If you are his you can rest assured that he will never let you go (John 10:28-29). God does not break his promises and unchild his children. If you have been born again you can’t be unborn. What God has joined together, no man can separate.

3. You evildoers

Jesus calls them evildoers which seems harsh for people who have gone around helping others. “Did we not prophesy, drive out demons, and perform many miracles in your name?” But things are not always what they seem. These guys are not as helpful as they make out.

First, they are self-righteous. “Jesus, here’s my resume. You gotta let me in because I am an accomplished individual. Look at all I’ve done!” Which is basically saying, “Jesus, you died for nothing. Keep your grace; I don’t need it. I stand on my own merits.” Pretty dumb.

Second, they are ravenous wolves. Read Jesus’ words in context and you will find this warning:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matt 7:15, NASB)

The word for ravenous is translated elsewhere as
extortioners . That’s what these evildoers are. They are religious gangsters who make their living by frightening those whom God loves and threatening the sheep. “God is mad at you. His sword is hanging over this city. Judgment’s coming. You are standing on the precipice. Beware astronomical omens. Stay away from grace – it’ll send you to hell.”

These terrorists use threats of punishment to extract money and service from the sheep. “Sow into my ministry and save yourself from the flames.” I am not talking about the misguided preacher who loves the Lord, but the self-righteous man who lives off stolen property and “makes himself wealthy by extortion” (see Hab 2:4-7). These fearmongers may serve in the name of Lord, but they are servants of fear and darkness.

The third thing to note is they are liars. They claim to be doing good but a “bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt 7:18). They’re putting on a big show, they’ve got their perfect smiles on the posters, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. They may look good on stage, but in private they are different people. They are bad trees with bad fruit.

Put it altogether and you have some very dangerous sheep-rustlers insulting the Son of God to his face, bragging about how awesome they are, and Jesus says, “Not in my house. Away with you evildoers!” This ought to make us happy. We may occasionally be fooled by charlatans, but Jesus is never fooled. We may let them into our houses, but he won’t let them into his, which is good, because they’d ruin the party for everyone.

What is the will of my Father?

Jesus says only those who do the will of the Father enter the kingdom of heaven. What is his will? Jesus answers with a word picture in the verses following. It’s building on the rock. It’s hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice. It’s banking on Jesus. It’s believing in Jesus (John 6:29). In short, the will of God is to trust in Jesus.

And this brings us back to Paul who said “If you declare, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart…”

This isn’t rocket surgery and you don’t need a seminary degree to make sense of it. Ravenous wolves who eat sheep will eventually have to deal with the Good Shepherd. But bet your life on Jesus and he will never let you down!

https://escapetoreality.org/2015/10/07/religious-gangsters-matthew-7v21-23/

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Lordgel:
You want to tell me that UNBELIEVERS don't believe that Jesus died for their sins?

If you are cannot acknowledge your sin, you cannot be forgiven (Romans 3:23).

True repentance that comes with "godly sorrow" as Paul said, is what brings forgiveness!

Please just stay clear off all my posts. Its very clear that i teach radical grace and you teach mixed grace ( grace + law ). So in dat essence, to avoid unnecessary argument stay clear off my posts cos am not nice when i get angry. I don't like arguing with people about the things am very sure of. So to avoid me being harsh to you, just keep off. thank you.

deleib:
@JIGGAZ, It Means Once We Accept The Lord Jesus As Savior All Our Sins Both Now And In The Future Are Forgiven. Now, Do We Have D Need To Ask For Forgiveness In Our Daily Prayers If We Should Consider The Lord's Prayer?

If you like you ask, but your asking for forgiveness isn't what will make God to forgive u. He forgives you because of what Christ did on the Cross..... When you sin, your conscience condemns you not God. Conscience came about after the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden. If asking for forgiveness makes you feel better, plz do but have it at the back of your mind that you are already forgiven in Christ Jesus.

If u feel u have sinned, confess it to God..... We confess our sins not to be forgiven but because we are already forgiven. Its all about Christ's finished work on the Cross!!

afternoon........

afternoon......

afternoon..

afternoon

afternoon

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kaen1317:
very nice and educative. Why is it that anyone is freely allowed to comment on this Christian thread while its not so for an Islamic thread. When you want to comment on an Islamic thread you'll have to swear you are a Muslim and all that

thank you..... Concerning that, i dont know oo my dear...

What do you say to the parents of a Christian teenager who has just killed himself? I faced this situation several years ago and, I have tell you, it’s not easy. Premature death is hard to handle at any time but suicide leaves loved ones bewildered at its senselessness.

It seems the subject of suicide is one of those sensitive issues that Christians don’t like to talk about. That’s probably because most of us don’t have anything good to say! Ask a believer, “What happens to Christians who kill themselves?” and you’ll likely get one of the following responses:

1. They go to hell because they never repented for the sin of murder.

2. It’s not up to us to judge – we don’t know what happens
.
3. It’s a grave sin but God will somehow take care of it in his mysterious ways.

None of these responses brings much comfort to those who are left behind. But happily none of these responses is true! Let’s compare each response with what the Bible says.

What does the Bible say about those who commit suicide?

First, do people who commit suicide go to hell? Not if they’re saved. Revelations 21:8 tells us that the lake of fire – whatever that is – will be full of murderers. But you don’t end up in the lake of fire because you are a murderer (see Rev 20:15). If murder sent you to hell, King David would be a goner. But it doesn’t and he isn’t.

But didn’t God say, “Thou shalt not murder”? He did – it’s the sixth commandment and part of the law. Do you know what the penalty for law-breaking is? Jesus said anyone who breaks the law is in danger of hellfire (Mt 5:22). But his words were directed to those who were born under law – not you (Rm 6:14). When Jesus went to the cross he fulfilled the requirements of the law on your behalf so that you might live free from its curse. Don’t look at your own obedience for salvation; look at his. On the cross Jesus carried the sins of the world and now you are completely and eternally forgiven .

But what about repentance? Don’t we have to repent in order to receive forgiveness? Isn’t this the stumbling block for those who kill themselves – that they never repent? No. We are not forgiven on the basis of anything we do or don’t do. We are forgiven because of what Jesus has done:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Eph 1:7)

In God’s eyes you are forgiven whether you repent or don’t repent. To say, you must repent to be forgiven , is to cheapen the riches of His grace. The blood of Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world – including the unrepentant and suicidal (1 Jn 2:2). This isn’t to say that the whole world is saved, for we all need to respond to the grace of God by faith (Eph 2:. Everyone is forgiven but not everyone has received the gift of his righteousness (Rms 1:17). But we are talking here about people who are saved when they die.

Can a Christian nullify God’s forgiveness by committing suicide? No – it’s impossible. God’s gifts are irrevocable.
Second, to say, “we don’t know what happens to Christians who kill themselves” merely reveals an ignorance of God’s promises. We do know what happens. They go to be with Jesus (Jn 3:16, 14:3). Some say that “suicide is a grave sin.” Is there any sin that’s not?

The good news is that God’s grace is greater than our gravest sins; His best is better than our worst (Rms 5:20). Just as we are not qualified by our good deeds, neither are we disqualified by our bad (see Col 1:12). We were condemned by Adam’s disobedience but now we have been justified through Christ’s obedience:

So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God’s grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rms 5:21, GNB)

Third, to offer vague comfort by saying, “God will take care of it in some mysterious way,” is to insult the finished work of the cross. Take care of it? He already did! He came and died and rose again that we might have resurrection life:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (Jhn 11:25)

Look closely at this promise of Jesus and see if you can find any conditions pertaining to the means of death. There are none! The way in which you shrug off your earth-suit has absolutely no bearing on his promise of resurrection life. Whether you die in a house fire, from an over-dose, or go down with the Titanic, Jesus said, He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.

The main thing

For those who are left behind, suicide hits like a Mack truck. But allow me to bring some perspective to this issue. The single most important fact of your life is not where you were born or how you die, but whether you believe in Jesus – whether you have put your trust in him and confessed him as Lord.

You can be born a prince and die on a field of glory, but unless you know Jesus it’s all for naught. Conversely, you can be born a nobody and die a nobody but if Jesus knows you, all is eternally well! If you have lost someone to suicide and they belonged to Jesus, all is not lost! You will be with them again. Believe what God has promised and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

It is beyond the scope of this post to discuss those things that might drive a believer to suicide. Perhaps you find it inconceivable that someone acquainted with the goodness of God would ever consider ending their lives. But only God knows the depth of pain that some of our brothers and sisters have to endure in this world.

The teenager I mentioned at the top of this post took his own life because he was the ongoing victim of a sexual predator and he could see no other way out. Who am I to say that I would’ve chosen differently if I had been in his shoes? I’m not trying to justify suicide. I’m saying I can’t condemn those who, for reasons I cannot fathom, choose death over life.

It’s too late to help that young man but it’s not too late to comfort his parents and those of you who’ve lost loved ones to suicide. Maybe you have heard words of condemnation or hollow comfort. Maybe you’ve been be told that the one you lost is lost for eternity. If so, I encourage you to find rest in the grace of our loving Father and to cultivate the same conviction as Paul:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rms 8:38-9)

https://escapetoreality.org/2011/07/04/what-happens-to-christians-who-commit-suicide/

evening