A peace maker tells the truth so that believers walk righteously. The peace maker gets to the bottom of the problem to bring about truth and change.
The peace keeper is one who compromises just to make everyone feel happy. The peace keeper is often the enabler unable to help in a very real way. Sort of like sweeping the dirt under the rug, the dirt is still there but will make others trip over the pile under there.
Peacemakers are hated by most people but peace keepers are often loved by all.
Mark 13:12-13 "…12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved"
James 4:4
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
Romans 1:29-30
"being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,"
Those who have experienced what the Bible describes know that not everyone will hate us, those who love Christ will not, however, those who do not love Him above all else will be angry at the truth we speak. Even when we do not speak they hate us for not being them.
There is great joy in knowing that we speak truth to please God, it doesn't matter if someone hates us for it.
Ephesians 2:8-9
"8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
Colossians 3:3
"3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
John 5:24
"24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
Eternal life begins at the born again experience and God never tells us a lie.
Romans 8:1
"8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Ephesians 1:13-14
"13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
Ephesians 1:30
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
1 Peter 1:33
"23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
Romans 6:2
"2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"
Romans 4:5
"5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
Heberws 7:25
"25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
John 6:37
"37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:38-40
"36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:51
"51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
John 14:16-17
"16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you FOREVER;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
1 John 2:19
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."
1 John 5:4
"4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
We DO overcome the world if we are born again. NO question about it.
1 John 5:10-11
"10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
1 John 3:2
"2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
1 Peter 1:5
"5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
When we are born again we are kept by His power not our own.
Over the next few posts I will be placing scripture to prove that when someone has been born again they will never lose their salvation.
Let's begin:
The believer has everlasting life at the moment of salvation: that is that eternal life begins and remains all through our existence.
John 5:24
"24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
Those who are born again are BORN OF GOD!
John 1:12-13
"12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 6:44-47
"44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
John 3:36
"36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
The believer will not listen to or follow a stranger.
John 10:5
"5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."
John 10:14
"14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
John 10:27
"27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"
John 10:28
"28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
John 10:29
"29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."
John 10:11-14
"11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
12 "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep."
13 "The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep."
14 "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
John 3:18
"18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 4:14
"14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
The believer will keep Christ's commandments!
John 14:23
"23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."
John 17:9-12
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
John 17:15
"15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."
Over the next few posts I will be placing scripture to prove that when someone has been born again they will never lose their salvation.
"According to Bonhoeffer, cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."
God imparted His grace to us, giving us a pardon for sin when we did not deserve it.
It was not that God took sin lightly, its that He took it so seriously that the shedding of His blood was required to pay for that sin.
How could anyone use "grace" as an excuse to diminish sin knowing what it cost to be forgiven for that sin.
God has not diminished sin in this age of grace, just the opposite, He gave us a means to confess and reject the sin that dwells in our bodies.
God commanded that we confess to be cleansed, however the is a second requirement that comes with confession and that is to reject the sin we have confessed as having any place in our lives.
The word "grace" has been bandied about as though it erases the consequences of sin as well as the stain of it. As long as we remain in our sin without confession we have a stain on us that God does not only not overlook but will discipline.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Sweeping sin under the rug as a lenient way of accepting it, is not only sin in and of itself, it manages to dilute truth, the need for confession and enables those who remain in it. The influence of ignored sin has been seen in our culture to such a degree that there is barely any righteousness left anywhere.
Every sin that is ignored is another building block in the degradation of the culture and the family.
We used to hear it often many years ago, the "degrading of the fabric of society." Meaning every act and every attitude is part of a bigger piece of the fabric. Each new sin that is ignored is a new tear in that fabric. The fabric of our culture right now is so torn and thread bare that it can hardly be viewed as a beautiful tapestry.
Even the churches are torn and thread bare lacking the ability to warm anyone with holiness and righteousness.
Our culture is cold, mean and indifferent to the needs of one another. Pleasure and good feelings have replaced dignity and duty because of the lack of concern for the influence of our own actions on others, family and society in general.
When we take lightly the sin withing the body of Christ it is an endorsement of it.
Hebrews 12:11
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
1 Corinthians 5:12
"5:12 For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to judge those inside?"
We are to judge those in the body of Christ and discipline them when needed. This discipline is to help them learn how to obey God as well as encourage them to confess to be cleansed.
There are those in the body of Christ who brag at how accepting of sin they are even feeling proud that they do not chastise those who are in sin. Here's what God says about that:
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
"5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.
2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.
4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Hebrews 6:1-2 "1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?…"
Lets not make a minor disagreement a major argument. Christ must be exalted above all else. Nor should we diminish an important matter as unimportant when Christ is clear!
The Biblical model of the church gathering is that the men lead, but it does not exclude the women from participating in the worship or outside the gathering.
When we understand the first century gathering model we see that men are led by the Holy Spirit. However we see too that the women were allowed to pray openly as well as share from the word and ask for a song as long as her head was covered. 1 Corinthians 11.
Most Brethren gatherings have made a rule that women may sing aloud and pray silently but are not allowed to expound on the word, that is left up to the men. I agree with this model but question the exclusion of women to "prophesy" meaning expounding on the Word.
The Bible clearly says that a woman may pray and prophesy as long as her head is covered as a sign that she is under the headship of her husband.
However it is also clear that women are not to be in charge of the gatherings. Men lead by power of the Holy Spirit and women share as they are led. I have no issue with the men making a rule that women cannot share, I simply go along to get along because it makes no sense to fight and argue over this matter when the Lord should be the focus.
I am not interested in declaring my "rights" that would make me the focus. It is far more important to focus on Christ during worship. Women have many opportunities to share other places than the gathering and they can be of great value as they pray silently.
I have always wondered why a woman is allowed by some gatherings to sing when the assertion is that they are to remain silent. Isn't singing not silence.
When we are too fixated on one minor aspect of a gathering we have the ability to disrupt the worship over something that does not matter.
1 Corinthians 8:11-12 "11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.…"
I am not saying that those who believe in silence for women are weaker brothers, but I am saying that they believe their model is correct and will not budge on it, then it is our duty to allow them that. After all, isn't the prayer of a woman valuable in the gathering. Praying silently can bring great blessing to the woman who does it and may even bring a greater Holy Spirit movement among the men of the gathering.
The sad reality is that often women are treated disrespectfully merely because they are women, in many gatherings today. I have had "pastors" who were disrespectful to me simply because I disagreed with them. I was not overstepping in a casual conversation with them. They seemed to have the attitude that because they were a sort of special breed above others by virtue of their "education", they were entitled to complete loyalty. This I do not agree with. No one is superior in knowledge merely because of their gender or their education. It is the Holy Spirit who is superior to every human being.
