Tuesday, May 12, 2020
His Workmanship Not Ours
Christ said the desire to sin is enough to send someone to hell, even if they do not actually commit the sin. Its the sinful nature that has to be dealt with, not merely the act of sinning.
James 2:10-20
"10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."
"10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
Galatians 5:17
"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."
"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."
Galatians 5:19-21
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
If someone never carries out sexual immorality but wishes they could, they have done it in their heart, God counts it as committing the sin.
The only escape from the flesh is through Jesus Christ. He makes the born again believer into a new creation who no longer desires the evil they used to love. If they are tempted they hate it, if they fall they confess to be cleansed.
Romans 6:6
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
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 are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
If you work really hard in the flesh to try to stop sinning you will fail. You must trust in Christ so that He will change your nature and your response to sin. It is only through Christ living in us that we can resist sin.
The Christian life is not about impressing others, it's about being changed entirely by Christ and His working in us as He dwells in believers.
Here's the key, the really big deal; We cannot do anything that will make us better people. We cannot do anything to change our character or our nature. The good news is that Christ can and does do this in anyone who wants Him to change them into a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
Did that sink in? "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP", HIS!!!!
A Culture of Foolishness and Softness
Rom 16:17
"Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them,"
Those who cause divisions are those who bring in false doctrine or who are disobedient to the Word. They usually drag others with them and in so doing they turn others from truth against those who speak it. The truth-tellers will be the ones who are despised by the divisive ones and their flying monkeys.
2 Cor 10:1
"Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!"
Ephes 4:1
"Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,"
1 Thess 5:14
"We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are idle, cheer up those who are discouraged, and help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone."
Titus 2:2
"Urge the older men to be temperate, venerable (serious), sensible, self-controlled, and sound in the faith, in the love, and in the steadfastness and patience [of Christ]."
In our culture now we have been indoctrinated to believe that urging someone to do what is right is rude. This is because the entire culture is full of pride and refuse to be told they are wrong or in need of confession to be changed by God. Many do not confess sin when pressed to do so, in fact they say words like "judgmental" or "mean spirited" to intimidate believers into a silence that they might freely rebel without challenge.
When challenged about something the prideful man does they make an excuse and defer to the "delivery", how you said it rather than addressing the real problem. It has been my experience that those in rebellion always attack the delivery or "the way you said it" and completely ignore the content of the rebuke. In the mind of the rebellious person, this was justification to ignore what was said and make the one who rebuked look like the bad one for the way they said something. Those who are rebellious never address the core issue, deflection is their favored tactic.
Titus 2:15
"Tell [them all] these things. Urge (advise, encourage, warn) and rebuke with full authority. Let no one despise or disregard or think little of you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect]."
1 Pet 2:11
"Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you."
When we consider the meaning of the word "urge" in the Bible being used 52 times, we see that our culture has lost its moorings in terms of expressing urgency when it comes to sin and salvation.
URGE,
1. To press; to push; to drive; to impel; to apply force to, in almost any manner.
2. To press the mind or will; to press by motives, arguments, persuasion or importunity.
3. To provoke; to exasperate.
4. To follow close; to impel.
5. To labor vehemently; to press with eagerness.
6. To press; as, to urge an argument; to urge a petition; to urge the necessity of a case.
7. To importune; to solicit earnestly. He urged his son to withdraw.
Importune means: "harass (someone) persistently for or to do something."
8. To apply forcibly; as, to urge an ore with intense heat.
When we see the intenseness of the word "importune" we realize that God wanted us to speak with boldness, frankness, and with the intensity of importance when relaying the truth of God.
Our culture has not only discouraged intenseness and urgency by its humanistic psychological rules of softness, but it has also caused people to rebel even more. We ought not to give in to the harassment that comes when people are rebellious and will not listen. Rather we should double down our message in stronger terms and remove ourselves from those who will not listen, AND, that will be most people in our day.
When we understand what Noah went through in preaching for 120 years and no one would listen, we get an idea of what we are in for in these last days.
Here is the key to honoring and obeying God in these rebellious times: Speak the truth as you are led by the Holy Spirit and never allow the reactions of others to shut you down from speaking it. The reactions of others are not on us, but on them alone.
When we are led by the Holy Spirit it will be of no concern whether or not someone likes us. Expect them to accuse you of all kinds of things, expect them to rage when they don't like the message, and expect them to gossip against you for your boldness. We are dealing with a culture of brattiness, anger, and resistance to the truth.
Also, expect to lose friends and family who love their superficial walk based on social acceptance. Expect to be left out of things because of the fear of others that you might speak something about the principles of God that the hearers would not like or that would embarrass the group.
Bold born again believers who live what they speak and speak what they live will embarrass the superficial walkers merely by walking what they believe. Most people want to "say" the things others want to hear but have no commitment to actually walking what they know.
It is no wonder the church is apostate today, those who saw what was wrong all along were intimidated into softness to avoid being accused of being mean. All one has to do is read the Word and see how the apostles and Christ dealt with people and read the responses to know what has happened to our world of modern Christianity.
May the Lord guide us in all we say, let us never consider our own safety, it is a hindrance to boldness.
Acts 28:31
"Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."
"Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them,"
Those who cause divisions are those who bring in false doctrine or who are disobedient to the Word. They usually drag others with them and in so doing they turn others from truth against those who speak it. The truth-tellers will be the ones who are despised by the divisive ones and their flying monkeys.
2 Cor 10:1
"Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!"
Ephes 4:1
"Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,"
1 Thess 5:14
"We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are idle, cheer up those who are discouraged, and help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone."
Titus 2:2
"Urge the older men to be temperate, venerable (serious), sensible, self-controlled, and sound in the faith, in the love, and in the steadfastness and patience [of Christ]."
In our culture now we have been indoctrinated to believe that urging someone to do what is right is rude. This is because the entire culture is full of pride and refuse to be told they are wrong or in need of confession to be changed by God. Many do not confess sin when pressed to do so, in fact they say words like "judgmental" or "mean spirited" to intimidate believers into a silence that they might freely rebel without challenge.
When challenged about something the prideful man does they make an excuse and defer to the "delivery", how you said it rather than addressing the real problem. It has been my experience that those in rebellion always attack the delivery or "the way you said it" and completely ignore the content of the rebuke. In the mind of the rebellious person, this was justification to ignore what was said and make the one who rebuked look like the bad one for the way they said something. Those who are rebellious never address the core issue, deflection is their favored tactic.
Titus 2:15
"Tell [them all] these things. Urge (advise, encourage, warn) and rebuke with full authority. Let no one despise or disregard or think little of you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect]."
1 Pet 2:11
"Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you."
When we consider the meaning of the word "urge" in the Bible being used 52 times, we see that our culture has lost its moorings in terms of expressing urgency when it comes to sin and salvation.
URGE,
1. To press; to push; to drive; to impel; to apply force to, in almost any manner.
2. To press the mind or will; to press by motives, arguments, persuasion or importunity.
3. To provoke; to exasperate.
4. To follow close; to impel.
5. To labor vehemently; to press with eagerness.
6. To press; as, to urge an argument; to urge a petition; to urge the necessity of a case.
7. To importune; to solicit earnestly. He urged his son to withdraw.
Importune means: "harass (someone) persistently for or to do something."
8. To apply forcibly; as, to urge an ore with intense heat.
When we see the intenseness of the word "importune" we realize that God wanted us to speak with boldness, frankness, and with the intensity of importance when relaying the truth of God.
Our culture has not only discouraged intenseness and urgency by its humanistic psychological rules of softness, but it has also caused people to rebel even more. We ought not to give in to the harassment that comes when people are rebellious and will not listen. Rather we should double down our message in stronger terms and remove ourselves from those who will not listen, AND, that will be most people in our day.
When we understand what Noah went through in preaching for 120 years and no one would listen, we get an idea of what we are in for in these last days.
Here is the key to honoring and obeying God in these rebellious times: Speak the truth as you are led by the Holy Spirit and never allow the reactions of others to shut you down from speaking it. The reactions of others are not on us, but on them alone.
When we are led by the Holy Spirit it will be of no concern whether or not someone likes us. Expect them to accuse you of all kinds of things, expect them to rage when they don't like the message, and expect them to gossip against you for your boldness. We are dealing with a culture of brattiness, anger, and resistance to the truth.
Also, expect to lose friends and family who love their superficial walk based on social acceptance. Expect to be left out of things because of the fear of others that you might speak something about the principles of God that the hearers would not like or that would embarrass the group.
Bold born again believers who live what they speak and speak what they live will embarrass the superficial walkers merely by walking what they believe. Most people want to "say" the things others want to hear but have no commitment to actually walking what they know.
It is no wonder the church is apostate today, those who saw what was wrong all along were intimidated into softness to avoid being accused of being mean. All one has to do is read the Word and see how the apostles and Christ dealt with people and read the responses to know what has happened to our world of modern Christianity.
May the Lord guide us in all we say, let us never consider our own safety, it is a hindrance to boldness.
Acts 28:31
"Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."
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