Legalism Builds Pride

Legalism is a trap, it only serves to create pride in those who think they have done all the right things. God told us to consult with the Holy Spirit about everything, but prideful human beings want to be in control all by themselves.

Galatians 5:18
"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."

The leading of the Holy Spirit will never disagree with the principles of His word. If something appears to be from God but is not supported by the Bible, then it is not the Holy Spirit speaking. Simple!!!!

The Prison without Bars

Comparison Equals Pride

Wow, just Wow!!!!! Interesting that our world is so full of competitiveness. In all the sports, in the awards for movies and nearly everything else.

I have always thought we ought to attempt to be better us's, but not to be better than someone else. I think it might be true that those who compete against others for prizes tend to have jealousy if they don't win.

When we compete with ourselves to improve, that seems acceptable, as long as Christ is at the center of it.

God Never Breaks a Promise

When we repent, change our mind, then Christ does all the rest of the work. He saves and seals us, He cleanses us and He will take us home when the time comes.

Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

When this happens we are sealed, it is a done deal for eternity.

Ephesians 1:13-14 "13 And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 14 The Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"

God never breaks a promise!!!! EVER!

Boys will be Boys!

This is almost funny if not so tragic.

There is now a problem with transgender boys who became girls. They have been joining the girls athletic competitions and taking all the prizes. LOL, LOL!!!!!

Anyone who doesn't believe there is a difference between men and women needs another look at the anatomy of the human body as it was designed by God.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/06/15/parents-petition-policy-change-after-transgender-athletes-dominate-high-school-track-meet

The Woman on the Video got it Wrong

There is a woman who spoke on a video that is full of enthusiasm but has so many things wrong, its hard to catch immediately but with more reflection on what she says, one can see the works aspects in the video. I do not judge her salvation, that's up to God, but she clearly has misunderstandings.

This woman stated that we must keep on repenting our entire lives. But the Bible teaches repentance, meaning a change of mind, a brokenness over our sinfulness, while trusting Christ to become born again. After we are born again we confess our individual sins to be forgiven.

This lady also speaks of making a vow to God as though she thought this was a vow by us to be kept for salvation. We are not born again nor are we kept by God through a vow we make. Our trust is in Christ who promised if we believe upon Him, we will be saved. There is no vow on our part.

When we become born again it is a work of God, He makes us a new creation. It is all His work in us.

Our salvation is not dependent on a vow to Him that we keep, its dependent on God's promise and His sacrifice on the cross, again all His promise, all His work.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"

Ephesians 2:7-9 "…7 in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.…"

After trusting Christ we grow in holiness in proportion to how much we obey the Holy Spirit. If we do not obey after salvation then the Holy Spirit torments us with guilt until we confess.

1 John 1:9 Written to believers after salvation.
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The lady in the video spoke of "reading between the lines in the Bible", this is patently wrong. We never "read between lines" of the Bible. We read and pray for the Holy Spirit to tell us truth.

The woman also mentioned that we are saved and can be blotted out of the book of life when we sin and no longer saved. This is also unbiblical. Christ died for all people for all time, but all will not accept Him. Because he died for all it is my belief that all names have been in the book of life. Those who are blotted out are those who have rejected Christ. They were there, God wanted them to be saved, but they rejected Him, so their name is removed.

No one who becomes born again can return to the old nature that GOD changed us into.

We cannot walk away from Christ, our new nature doesn't want it nor could it ever reject Christ again.

The confusion comes when people notice that someone claims to become a Christian but their attitudes, their actions and their desires have not changed at all. These people remain in their sin, even defending it claiming grace, when there was no grace. God does not extend grace to those who have not been broken over their sin and do not want to be changed by Him. Matthew 7:21-23 describes these people, who will get to the gates of heaven only to be turned away; here's what God says to them.

Matthew 7:21-23
"21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

God does not throw away his children when they have trusted Him, His sacrifice on the cross that paid our debt of sin. Past, present and future, we know this because He died two thousand years ago, but that sacrifice is carried on to this day, even before I was born it was offered to me.

The woman made reference to the "fruit" as though it had to do with works, it does not. The fruit of the Spirit are character qualities that determine our works, but the works alone are not the fruit. The fruit are inner spiritual qualities that are seen in our actions.

Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

The woman in the video rightly said that light and darkness have no fellowship, this is not speaking about works but rather companions in life.

2 Corinthians 6:13-15 "13 As a fair exchange, I ask you as my children: Open wide your hearts also. 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?…"

If someone has no change in their life after they have become a Christian, then they have never been born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit.

When God seals those who belong to Him, this is guarantee that they are a new creation and will never go back to the old one again.

Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 14 The Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"

No one can break the seal of the King, not even us, nor would we want to. Those who love Christ love His ways. WE are grieved when we transgress the commandments of God. He will bring us back to obedience.

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

We are not completely sin free because we live in this body of death, but our Spirit, that is the seal of God on us, hates any sin that we do and wants to be cleansed.

I don't worry about following rules to keep from sinning, I don't want the sin. If someone is working really hard to stop sinning and just refuse to stop, then they still have the desire within them for sin, they have not been changed into a new creation by Christ.

Those who have been born again hate the sin they do, they confess, they grow in holiness and continue to sin less. They are not "sinless", but they "sin less."

Those who rage at us when we point out sin or inconsistencies in their walk are very likely not born again. Authentic believers are ashamed when they sin and grieved when it is pointed out that they have harmed someone else. If someone remains arrogant and lacking empathy without guilt about it, then the Holy Spirit may not live in them. The Holy Spirit always torments His children until they obey.

You shall know them by their fruit: a reminder

Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."