Post by dannylirette on Jun 1, 2010 18:00:32 GMT -7
If we base Salvation on "our" works and believe that it consists of a "stop sinning" gospel then by default we hold to sinless perfection which is contrary to Jesus Christ being the Advocate of BELIEVERS who may sin and need forgiveness:
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".
For example, if a drug addict asked us, "What must I do to be saved" many would tell him that repentance means "stop sinning" and that he would need to "cleanse himself".
This is a false gospel... not only is this a minor error but believing it will damn a man as it relies on man cleansing himself and looking away from Calvary.
Nothing is more offensive to God than unbelief; it's worse than adultery, fornication and even murder, because it's unbelief that causes people to commit these things.
I believe that freedom is available to all through "faith in His Name (John 3) and that the gospel many are holding to is the very thing stopping them from coming to Christ.
Those who seek to be justified by the law have fallen from grace:
Galatians 5:4 (NLT) "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."
Wecan rise far above the demands of the law and come into the "obedience of faith":
Romans 16:25-27 "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."
If our hope rests in the obedience of the law rather than the obedience of faith the only resultant fruit from such a tree is spiritual death; there can be no other alternative.
I do not believe it is faith alone; I believe it is Grace THROUGH faith and once Grace is received we place our faith in the Cross; otherwise, if we place our faith elsewhere, even in our repentance, we're placing it in a gospel that cannot save.
Repentance is not what saves us; Grace through faith does:
Ephesians 2:4-10 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We see here that repentance is not mentioned in the salvific work of God...at least not repentance as many have defined it ("stopping sin" as opposed to the Biblical definition of changing our mind)
Many state that if a Believer sins he is "of the devil" while the Word of God is in complete contradiction to such a statement as the Word exhorts Believers not to sin yet says that if they do sin these Believers, called "little children" are told they have an Advocate with the Father (showing their Father, even if they sin, is God):
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".
Does this mean we have a license to sin? God forbid!
However, "if" we sin, this does not mean we're "of the devil". On the contrary... the one who claims to be without sin is deceived and not in the truth:
1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Repentance, Biblically defined, is not "stopping sin" but is defined as a "change of mind".
Is repentance essential? Of course; Jesus commanded that repentance and faith be preached in His Name. However man's repentance seeks to justify himself while the repentance of the Word of God commands men to change their minds (Greek; metanoeo)
Repentance is not changing our lifestyle; it is changing our mind (Greek; metanoeo) and placing our faith in the Lord Jesus for Salvation which then causes one's life to be changed (their repentance is actualized) by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
There's a vast difference between repentance wrought by man (stop sinning) and the repentance wrought by God (a change of mind which results in the reception of a new heart by the Holy Spirit).
We are saved by Grace through faith... not by repentance through faith.
Repentance (changing our minds) is the door which unlocks faith (trust in the Work of Jesus) which then unlocks the cleansing Blood of Jesus in our lives to make us holy before God and to cause us to walk uprightly in HIS power.
If we get the definition of repentance wrong we get the Gospel wrong and will never be saved because such a gospel can do nothing more than condemn the seeker rather than bring the seeker into the glorious liberty of the Spirit of God which is by Grace through faith alone which will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives as opposed to the legalistic following of rules and we'll find ourselves walking in Holiness as a natural response to the faith we've been given by God which causes us to repent (change our minds) and trust in the Cross alone as our only Redemption.
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".
For example, if a drug addict asked us, "What must I do to be saved" many would tell him that repentance means "stop sinning" and that he would need to "cleanse himself".
This is a false gospel... not only is this a minor error but believing it will damn a man as it relies on man cleansing himself and looking away from Calvary.
Nothing is more offensive to God than unbelief; it's worse than adultery, fornication and even murder, because it's unbelief that causes people to commit these things.
I believe that freedom is available to all through "faith in His Name (John 3) and that the gospel many are holding to is the very thing stopping them from coming to Christ.
Those who seek to be justified by the law have fallen from grace:
Galatians 5:4 (NLT) "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."
Wecan rise far above the demands of the law and come into the "obedience of faith":
Romans 16:25-27 "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen."
If our hope rests in the obedience of the law rather than the obedience of faith the only resultant fruit from such a tree is spiritual death; there can be no other alternative.
I do not believe it is faith alone; I believe it is Grace THROUGH faith and once Grace is received we place our faith in the Cross; otherwise, if we place our faith elsewhere, even in our repentance, we're placing it in a gospel that cannot save.
Repentance is not what saves us; Grace through faith does:
Ephesians 2:4-10 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We see here that repentance is not mentioned in the salvific work of God...at least not repentance as many have defined it ("stopping sin" as opposed to the Biblical definition of changing our mind)
Many state that if a Believer sins he is "of the devil" while the Word of God is in complete contradiction to such a statement as the Word exhorts Believers not to sin yet says that if they do sin these Believers, called "little children" are told they have an Advocate with the Father (showing their Father, even if they sin, is God):
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".
Does this mean we have a license to sin? God forbid!
However, "if" we sin, this does not mean we're "of the devil". On the contrary... the one who claims to be without sin is deceived and not in the truth:
1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Repentance, Biblically defined, is not "stopping sin" but is defined as a "change of mind".
Is repentance essential? Of course; Jesus commanded that repentance and faith be preached in His Name. However man's repentance seeks to justify himself while the repentance of the Word of God commands men to change their minds (Greek; metanoeo)
Repentance is not changing our lifestyle; it is changing our mind (Greek; metanoeo) and placing our faith in the Lord Jesus for Salvation which then causes one's life to be changed (their repentance is actualized) by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
There's a vast difference between repentance wrought by man (stop sinning) and the repentance wrought by God (a change of mind which results in the reception of a new heart by the Holy Spirit).
We are saved by Grace through faith... not by repentance through faith.
Repentance (changing our minds) is the door which unlocks faith (trust in the Work of Jesus) which then unlocks the cleansing Blood of Jesus in our lives to make us holy before God and to cause us to walk uprightly in HIS power.
If we get the definition of repentance wrong we get the Gospel wrong and will never be saved because such a gospel can do nothing more than condemn the seeker rather than bring the seeker into the glorious liberty of the Spirit of God which is by Grace through faith alone which will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives as opposed to the legalistic following of rules and we'll find ourselves walking in Holiness as a natural response to the faith we've been given by God which causes us to repent (change our minds) and trust in the Cross alone as our only Redemption.