Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners/...

 "But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." Rom. 5:20 

One may ask: How much grace do we need?  It is often said by cliche even that we're saved by grace, everybody has heard that but nobody understands what is meant by that fully or comprehensively.   For the grace of God is infinite.  And like God's mercy cannot be measured or limited,  God's grace abounds to the chief of sinners wrote John Bunyan and Paul would say God save me the chief of centers. Often it is the worst kind of sinner that God shows the greatest grace to And the greater the sin the greater the grace or abounded grace abounded all the more. (Romans 5:20).  But it says we're saved by grace and this means grace all the way from first to last, beginning to end, we do not participate in our salvation we're only recipients of it. 

This is called synergistic salvation.   God does everything from beginning to end. He makes believers out of us he kindles faith in us he makes us believers by grace or an act of grace and in fact, faith and itself is a work of grace a gift of God, and the work of God (John 6:29).   Now Paul went through great effort to teach that we receive the grace we received faith like all brethren we don't achieve it we receive it does not work if faith were a work then salvation would be by works this is what the Catholics believe that faith is a work and not a gift they deny it's a gift.

 For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself it is the gift of God, not works and so forth in this verse we see that that is the antecedent of faith so it's referring to faith as not the is the gift and faith is not of ourselves Jesus himself said you can do nothing of yourself nothing apart from me (John 15:5).   Peter said that we receive a like faith  (2 Peter 1:1).  We are not saved by works of righteous which we have done. (Titus 3:5).  In a faith world, work that would be a reason or crown for boasting in God's presence would say while I was smart enough or wise enough or good enough to have faith no one will get with this for this faith is a gift it's what we do with our faith that matters not our faith itself. 

Faith is not salvation it's the object that saves Christ. We do not put faith in faith we put faith in Christ it's the object of the faith that matters not the amount of faith we can have faith as a grain of mustard seed and it will be sufficient to move mountains.  Now Romanists will tell you that faith is merely acquiescence or an assent or consent to the doctrine of the dogma of the church. Not true, faith is active faith is living faith is growing and faith is commitment and dedication and renewal.   We must first have the correct body of knowledge to have faith but must believe the right things secondly we must have trust in that knowledge that it is correct, thirdly, we must commit our dedicated ourselves to that knowledge and live it out and this is not just a one-time event but it continue all ongoing resolution day by day. 

So living faith means you are growing in it is alive is going somewhere is not stagnant or static. The whole gist of Reformed theology is that we are saved by the Lord not by ourselves (monergism) as Jonah said "Salvation is of the Lord."   What this means is that it is not a joint effort between us and God or synergism. Is not our efforts alone that bring salvation either no one can do much for salvation even though mankind is addicted to doing something for his salvation. But Salvation is wholly a work of God and his grace and we contribute nothing we receive it by grace as a gift to do anything for it would be to insult God in a mustache to the Mona Lisa it's an insult to add something to a perfect masterpiece such as salvation our salvation work of God. 

You know if God required some work for salvation a lot of people would celebrate because they think they could do it but you know the work would be impossible if it were possible and no one could achieve it in fact only Christ did and he lived the perfect life he's the only one that did it he obeyed the law completely. But if people are just like an argument had to do something then feel secure because they wanna put their confidence in their own works. 

But to put our confidence in our faith in God requires a belief of faith and trust and dedication to God not ourselves not our self-esteem but our God-esteem. We have to give God the credit, not ourselves credit in other words if God did make some work available to due for our salvation you know we would blow it because we are only human we would mess up our own salvation it's a good thing we receive it by faith we do not achieve it. 

It is not something we conjure up or imagine or conceive, it is something that is kindled in our hearts as they become alive by the spirit of God and open the eyes of faith within us? You see what matters in the final analysis is what we think of God not what we think of ourselves our estimation or appraisal of our self matters that we are worthless and can do nothing for our salvation this is nothing but music to God's ears when we realize that we are helpless I need God to have mercy on us. We must file for spiritual bankruptcy in other words and realize that we are at God's hands in our salvation our destiny is in his hands not ours he controls our future.

What Is An Obedient Believer?

"And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him" (Acts 5:32, ESV).
"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." (Matt. 28:20, ESV).
"And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal [not temporary, probationary, nor provisional!] salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9, ESV).
"For they have not all obeyed the gospel..." (Rom. 10:16, ESV).
"[I]n flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thess. 1:8, ESV).

It has been wondered among believers what the obedient Christian looks like--can we spot them? Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey His commandments (cf. John 14:21). Obedience is the only test of faith according to John MacArthur, and can be distinguished but not separated from it, as they are equated and correlated in Heb. 3:17-18; Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7, and John 3:36. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said eloquently: "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes." In Acts 5:32 it says that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him.

There is no such thing as a disobedient Christian as a subclass or rank of Christian, though Christians can and do disobey God and sin both willingly and unintentionally. We never reach a point of entire sanctification or perfectionism as Wesleyans and Deeper Life or Keswick movement people like to call it, because if we deny we have sinned we make Him a liar and His word is not in us according to 1 John 1:10. Also, Proverbs 20:9 (ESV) says, "Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure, I am clean from my sin?'" The psalmist said he'd seen the limit of all perfection in Psalm 119:96.

We are not fruit inspectors of each other's fruit but should examine ourselves carefully to see whether we are walking in the faith--don't break faith! In other words, we should be too busy in our walk with the Lord to wonder about our brother's walk and whether he is obedient. We should search our own hearts and examine our own fruits. The Spirit-filled life exhibits the fruit of the Spirit in increasing bounty as one matures because fruits are grown and if we abide in Christ they are a natural result.

The reason we obey God is that we are His creatures and it is fitting and proper as we owe Him this. We don't feel we have to as believers but want to or get to. God alone is worthy of our obeisance and homage. God's commandments are not burdensome (cf. 1 John 5:3) and we do them "in love." To love Him is to obey Him! The Bible was given to shed light on God's will and as believers, we naturally seek God's will in our lives as a matter of His lordship. All sin is disobedience according to Scripture, and we become more godly and less sin-prone as we mature in Christ. 

God's Word gives us instruction in righteousness. Bear in mind that it is God's Spirit living in us that gives us the power to overcome sin and obey Christ and become Christlike--we cannot do it on our own (the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!). God's commandments are for our own good and He knows what is best for us. We must not rely on the energy of the flesh, but learn that He gives us the power in the Spirit--we don't have the freedom to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit.

The Navigators taught me a great truth: The obedient Christian is regularly involved in prayer, getting into Bible study and reading, fellowship and worship, and witness and outreach. We have both a ministry to our brothers and a mission to the unsaved in our obedience. There are Lone Ranger Christians who navigate solo and think they don't need the body--if you love Jesus, you will love His body! We must be "rooted and grounded" in the body of Christ and in the truth to have discernment and growth and move forward in our walk. It is absolutely impossible to be living in obedience apart from the discipline, nurture, discipleship, and fellowship of the body of Christ! We all need each other and no one, no matter how gifted, has all the gifts and doesn't need the other members of the body.

Furthermore, obedience not only implicates obedience to the Word per se, but to all dully delegated authority or "the powers that be" in Paul's lingo. A Christian must obey the law unless it is in clear contradiction to the Word. He is a good and upright or model citizen who not only exercises his rights but does his responsibilities. To obey authority also means parental and any authority in loco Dei or in the place of God, even an institution. The government is a God-ordained institution, just like the church and the family--but family is the premier authority and most important one to be protected. 

Another aspect of obedience is submission to one another in the name of Christ, and not lording in over others, for instance, but allowing Christ to rule in His body, the church. The final aspect of obedience that must take place is accountability because if one is a rogue all on his own and doing his own thing he is out of fellowship with Christ and disobedient to direct commands. Every believer needs accountability and is accountable, whether it is to his suiting or not.

In my personal walk, obedience is how I relate to the leading of the Holy Spirit as I walk in the Spirit and walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7). Paul said, "As many as are led by the Spirit are sons of God." The goal is to know Christ through the body and, our walk and make Him known by our testimony, witness, and mission. When I read the Word I get "Aha!" moments where I feel God speaking to me or me of something convicting, which you might call an existential experience--you can experience God in the Word and He has promised to use it to speak to us. I obey Christ by submitting to authority and not trying to make up my own rules, and do my own thing, like Israel was doing in Judges 21:25 ("each man did what was right in their own eyes...").

I believe prayer is the acid or litmus test of the believer and a true gauge of his pursuit of holiness and fellowship with God. Fellowship is another test to consider: '"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another ..." (1 John 1:7, ESV). God has put me in the ministry of doing a Bible study and I am being obedient by preparing and studying for that--when God considers us faithful, He puts us into the ministry. 

I also obey God by abiding (or staying in fellowship by having no unconfessed or unjudged sin) in Christ and being sensitive to the Spirit so as not to quench or grieve the Spirit I am ready to witness of my faith in obedience and look for open doors from God at all times, and thank God for every opportunity that He gives me to share my faith in observance of the Great Commission. In short, I have heard it expressed very well: A great Christian has a great commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment! There are many commandments in the Bible as well as prohibitions, but basically, we become a natural as we go on to know the Lord and walk with Him in faith and fellowship.

"... [A]nd a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, ESV). Unbelievers are called "sons of disobedience" in Eph. 2:2 and God delights in obedience: "To obey is better than sacrifice..." (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). Jesus said that you cannot love Him and be disobedient, for if we love Him we will obey Him as the proof of the pudding. Christ doesn't give suggestions, hints, or good advice, but commands! He instituted two ordinances to be done in His name and memory (baptism and communion). Jesus said, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me..." (John 14:21, ESV). What are these commands that are so pivotal to our salvation being fulfilled?

Jesus did say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light in Matt. 11:30, and John said in 1 John 5:3 that His "commands are not burdensome." "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (1 John 3:23, ESV). Note that in the Upper Room Jesus instigated a new command: to love one another as Christ has loved us. He who loves another has fulfilled the Law! Paul says in Gal. 5:6 (NIV) that the only thing that matters is "faith expressing itself through love."

At the Bema or tribunal of Christ, our works will be judged, not our shortcomings and mistakes or sins, because they were judged at the cross, and this includes sins of omission. If Jesus commanded us to do something and we fail, it's a sin of omission. He is not going to inquire as to what school of theology or denomination we subscribed to, but will be interested in granting us rewards for the deeds done in the Spirit--the ones done in the energy of the flesh will be burned as wood, hay, and stubble in a fire (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-13). Sin can be defined as knowing the right thing to do and falling short or not doing it. There is a legitimate place for ignorance if it's not willful.

There is a danger in sectarian pride and bias, such as feeling you're right and everyone else is wrong or disobedient to the Word of Truth. Churches aren't saved en masse, but members individually as if going through a turnstile one at a time. A good believing and faithful Lutheran has the edge over a disobedient Baptist because churches don't save and aren't necessary for salvation, as Roman Catholics espouse, Christ alone is the Savior. However, it is important to remain faithful to the faith you were taught and to abide in the truth without apostasy or heresy. A church is a cult when they get exclusive and think they have a monopoly on the truth, or think they are superior to other churches or denominations.

The real reason we get baptized is that we are disciples who desire to follow our Lord and His example in baptism to inaugurate or make our testimony official and public. We should never feel that it is just a hurdle to jump over or test to pass to get accepted and that we "have to do it for salvation." Grace-oriented believers never feel they "have to" but that the "get to" or "want to" obey their Lord and do as He did, following in His steps. Baptism is a chance in a lifetime to get on track and give your testimony in public in order to be welcomed with "the right hand of fellowship" per Gal. 2:9 (ESV).

There are many measures and standards of obedience, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes: "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him" (Acts 5:32, ESV). Whether we pray regularly and walk in the Spirit, abide in the Word, witness and fellowship and worship through association with the body of Christ are also crucial factors to weigh and consider.

You cannot say that Baptists are the obedient believers because they are correct in this ordinance (i.e., baptism), while Lutherans are disobedient. There are way too many aspects of obedience to just label believers like that due to sectarian bias. As Paul says in Rom. 1:5 that he wants to "bring about the obedience of the faith," he is primarily concerned with the entirety of the person's walk--the whole package, net effect, or sum total and result.

The church needs to fulfill the Great Commission to be obedient as a body, though individuals can do it, it's usually a joint and cooperative effort to evangelize, preach, teach, baptize, and disciple. As Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required." But teachers are especially responsible for disseminating sound doctrine and being good examples to the flock. Soli Deo Gloria!

An Impossible Debt

 To get saved, we need to be forgiven of an impossible debt to God that only He can pay (Christ's sacrifice, being God, was perfect and infinite value); we must declare spiritual bankruptcy in God's court.  We do not have a chance to meet God's demands and it's good that Jesus paid it in full by declaring: "It is finished [Tetelestai]." Which in interpretation, means and implies "Paid in Full." Once you have remitted a bill, you forget it! Same with God, once we are forgiven at salvation, God keeps no record of wrong and doesn't count our sins against us. (cf. 2 Cor. 5:19; Psalm 32:2).  We no longer are debtors to God after our salvation because God no longer can count our sins against us or there would be double jeopardy and God is just and cannot allow His justice to  be perverted. 

We owe an outstanding debt to God and man to love and this the summation of our ethic: loving God and our neighbor. We even owe a moral debt or obligation to society in general!  We forgive others then as Christ has forgiven us! We return the favor and be examples of forgiveness without any malice or vengeance for trespasses against us. Our forgiveness is not conditional because that would not be grace. 

Just like Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer that we should forgive others their debts or sins as God forgives us. This is not legalism or adding to the grace of God: Jesus plus this or that. The statement is highly troubling and some think that if they haven't forgiven someone, they are lost.  But we want to forgive out of gratitude and the operative word is "as" meaning we will do it. That is not the same as saying "if we forgive others."  All our sins are forgiven upon salvation and we need only confess them to regain fellowship, not salvation.  The woman forgiven of adultery loved Jesus so much that Jesus was prompted to say that he who is forgiven much, loves much!  

God's grace is not only necessary for  salvation, but sufficient. We forgive others out of love and a change of heart  because God has transformed us from the inside out to be new creatures in Christ eager to do good and love others. Whenever we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are to examine ourselves to see if anyone holds something against us or we have sinned against a brother, even offending them or making them to fall. 

God's mercy means that God doesn't treat us as we deserve and punish us, and His grace means He give us what we do not deserve as a blessing. We must never come to God seeking "justice," for if we got that, we would certainly be condemned. Some wish God were only "fair" to them and don't realize that would not be living by grace and we would forfeit the grace of God. If we deserved salvation, it would be justice, not mercy. The cost of unforgiveness is damnation!  It does cost to be saved, but more not to be!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Musings On Faith...

 What are some meditations regarding the common faith?

It began at salvation, flourishes in time, and is completed and fulfilled in glory! Only in a world where faith is difficult can it be possible; there can be no easy-believism or easy faith; it might be easy to believe but hardly worth it. Faith comes by the gift of God: “It is the work of God that you believe….” (cf. John 6:29). It comes by virtue of hearing and by hearing of the Word of God—preaching per Romans 10:17 (and we are to grow in our faith and go from faith to faith ever increasing in glory per 2 Cor. 3:18 and Romans 1:16–17). Remember the servant who said to Jesus: “I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” Meager faith in a big God is better than big faith in a small or limited God.

Some people think they have faith without a doubt, but that would be knowledge, not faith. We all live in a doubt-certitude continuum. There are degrees of certitude but God requires us all to take a leap of faith, not into the dark but into the light. Faith is trusting in what you have good reason to believe and knowledge isn’t always certain. It isn’t then a matter of how much you believe but how thorough your repentance that may be the issue! Faith and repentance go hand in hand and there can be no genuine repentance without saving faith! (Acts 20:21).

Faith is only measured by obedience, not ecstasies or experiences. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nazi martyr, said, “Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes.” You cannot walk in the glow of some epiphany or glorious experience or encounter with God. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Isaiah 7:9. We do not walk into some perpetual religious high or remain on Cloud Nine as believers but our faith must be tested as if by fire. Thus, you should say that faith isn’t now much we believe but how well we obey; God doesn’t want our achievements but our obedience! In sum, you might say, “It’s not how big your faith, but how big your God.” (Don’t put Him in a box and limit Him.)  Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You A Do-Gooder?

NOTE: THE TERM AS NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS BUT CHRISTIANS ARE THE ONES WHO REALLY DO ANYTHING GOOD.

We are all known by our fruits, our deeds, whether good or evil. We are even supposed to judge according to the fruits. Only God sees the heart. If we claim to believe in God and even repent and don't have the fruits to prove it, we are hypocrites and pseudo-believers or false brethren. (cf. Acts 26:20; Matt. 3:8). Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing! We are to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves and to "be wise to good but innocent to evil." (cf. 1 Cor. 14:20).

There are some people who engage their activities in the service of their fellow man such as giving blood, serving in food shelves, giving alms to the poor, visiting the sick, feeding the starving, and opening up their homes to strangers and even entertaining angels unawares. But some people forget that deeds themselves do not earn us brownie points with God nor ingratiate us with the Deity. We are to be zealous of good deeds (cf. Titus 2:14) and to do those that are foreordained (cf. Eph. 2:10) for us but just doing them for their own sake is do-goodery or to to gain the approbation of our fellow man and not as unto the Lord is in vain; viz., Ted Turner granting $1 billion to the UN to become the Humanist of the Year. Whatever we do, ought to be in the name of the Lord and for His glory, not ours. (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31: Col. 3:17, 23).

Jesus said that many will say, "Lord, Lord, did we not... in Your name?" and Christ will say that He never knew them! This may seem shocking but some people put their faith in their deeds or even in themselves and not in Jesus, the one worthy of our faith.

We are not saved by doing good, but unto doing good. We are not saved by good works, but not without them either! We need them to authenticate and validate our faith. The faith we have is the faith we show, for faith expresses itself. If we have no deeds to back up our faith, it is suspect. As the Reformers said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone."

Now to whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48); we are to serve according to the measure of faith and grace given us. We are to serve and find our gifting so we can find God's will for our life and be fulfilled with purpose and meaning in life serving God the best we can. The whole aim is so that people will see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven (cf. Matt. 5:16).

People may even speak highly of us in the Lord but we must realize that it is God working in us as Paul said, "I will not venture to speak of nothing but what Christ has accomplished through me." (cf. Rom. 15:18). God works His will in us who are yielded to Him. "He has done for us all our works," (cf. Isaiah 26:12). Our fruits are from Him (cf. Hosea 14:8).

We ought to do good especially to those of the household of God and as the opportunity arises with others, have any gift envy of what God has gifted others, nor are we to project our gifts to others expecting them to do what we do or can do. We are all unique in Christ and have individual callings and God will fulfill His purpose for us. When we have done all God's will, we will be taken home and to our reward. We must hope for the words of Christ: Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

We are not to do good deeds to be seen of others as to publicize them but not to privatize them either for some deeds cannot be hidden. Remember, we are the salt of the earth (to preserve!) and are saved to become a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13). There is no social gospel but there is a social commission to be a light on a hill and to bless the city ("to seek the peace and prosperity of our city,") we live in to make it better for our neighbors (cf. Jer. 29:7).

And we all know that we are to be good neighbors regardless of whom they are and look for chances to be good Samaritans and thus fulfil the Law of love. Soli Deo Gloria!

Cheap Grace

PART I

Easy-believism or cheap grace (first popularized by theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer) has been a constant misconception of our faith. It justifies the sin, not the sinner! Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap! It will cost something and you will be tested. The most obvious one that some won't be willing to pay is to turn from a life of sin, like living in sin and not being willing to change that lifestyle. If we want to live godly in Christ, we will suffer persecution, according to Jesus. We must be willing to seek first the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:33) above all other priorities, dreams, ambitions, and whatever is ours--because all ultimately belongs to Him, because Jesus doesn't want these things--He wants us as living sacrifices (cf. Rom. 12:1)!

That's what He meant when He said we must deny ourselves and follow Him. We don't know where He will lead us or know God laid out a plan for our whole life at salvation but must be willing to do His will, whatever it is in the complete surrender of our wills to His. Jesus also said that we must love Him preeminently above family, friends, children, spouse, and even self. In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves (cf. 2 Tim. 3:2), or "looking out for number one!"

Jesus did everything He could to discourage insincere followers and make salvation "well-nigh impossible." But it is worth the cost to follow Jesus through thick and thin and the reward is eternal. The more abundant life we experience begins in the here and now, as we live in light of eternity with God's blessing in all we do in His name. True prosperity isn't necessarily higher income, not even fame, or power. What being prosperous entails is God's blessings on our ventures and helping us to find what He will bless us in. The disciples were inquisitive about what their reward would be since they gave up everything to follow Him, and Jesus said that it would multiply not add (like ten times, instead of ten more).

Jesus had no trouble attracting admirers or people who wanted to be buddies or sidekicks, but He was looking for disciples who would devote their lives to the learning of Him and be following Him--this is what He meant by those who worship God in Spirit and in truth. Jesus said that if we abide in His Word we are disciples indeed (cf. John 8:31). Don't be someone to whom Jesus might say, "You have sacrificed nothing!" This is an awful rebuke of a disobedient life, and some believers may be saved as if by fire and by the skin of the teeth, so to speak.

The reward that we strive for is everlasting and we should be inspired by athletes who make great sacrifices and strive for a temporal prize that fades away. One of the metaphors that Christ uses for the believer is one of an athlete--we are to exercise discipline in our life and set our eyes on Jesus and finish the race He has set before us. If athletes can endure the discipline and think it will be worth a temporal prize, so much the more should we be inspired to make sacrifices for eternal prizes in Christ's kingdom, and even the ultimate sacrifice, because we are considered worthy to suffer for His kingdom (cf. Philippians 1:29).

The prize we seek is worth more than anything on earth and we should be willing to sacrifice anything on earth to gain it--God doesn't ask everyone to make great sacrifices, but He does expect them to be willing to do so. Nothing on earth (fame, fortune, power) is worth losing our soul for and Jesus said succinctly (cf. Mark 8:36), "What shall it gain a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" One soul is worth more to God than the entire world! You cannot put a price on salvation nor on the joy that a believer has in Christ.

Jesus never made it seem easy to be a bed of roses to be a believer and admonished us to count the cost, but "all these things shall be added" unto us if we follow Christ. The problem with most seekers is that they want the benefits without the Benefactor. We are not to get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the more spiritual we are, or that we gain salvation through suffering or martyrdom--Jesus isn't calling us to die for him but to take up our cross and follow Him regardless of the results and through thick and thin. We are called to deny ourselves and this is the unique sacrifice of Christianity, and the one that makes it unattractive to some, because they are unwilling to heed Christ's "hard sayings." When we suffer for His sake, we shall in His glory--no cross--no glory!


PART II

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder" (James 2:19, NIV).
"Believe in the Lord [i.e., accepting his lordship or ownership] Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31, NIV).
"...' Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37, NIV).

A. W. Tozer wrote a book, I Call It Hersey, to debunk the false notion of easy-believism (i.e., not accepting Christ as Lord of one's life but believing in spite of it) or cheap grace (i.e., forgiveness without repentance, justifying the sin, not the sinner!), as Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to it as. This message of domesticating and dumbing down the call to lordship is the gospel in vogue in modern, mainstream denominational churches who disregard repentance and, its flip side, faith as the only means of salvation. William Booth warned of a church offering forgiveness without repentance!

We must have a penitent faith or believing repentance as it were. Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap--it costs everything we've got (total surrender of self to His will). The propagators of the easy-believism tend to preach that we don't have to obey Christ to be saved--just believe! This is not accepting Him as our Lord. Christ will not dichotomize His offices and personhood.

We must submit to Him as Lord and trust Him as Savior. We cannot accept a half-Christ. He is Lord of all, or not at all! (Cf. Rom. 10:12; Acts 10:36). We must bow to His authority (cf. Phil. 2:10-11) and ownership over our lives as the "Captain of our soul and Master of our fate" (cf. Invictus by William Ernest Henley)--we must release control of our life. In other words, our destiny is in His hands (cf. Job 23:14) and we must openly confess Him as our Lord before men to confirm our salvation (cf. Rom. 10:9-10; Matt. 10:32-33). There are no secret Christians or closet believers. There are also no Lone Ranger ones or solitary saints--we must all get connected with the body to function and grow.

Now there is no such thing as a carnal Christian as a class of believers, though believers can become carnal or lose their fellowship, backsliding or even falling from grace. Christians do disobey God, though they do not continue in it, for God disciplines them and brings them back into the fold. If we are without discipline, we are not real children of God! Blessed are those who have learned to be rebuked by the Scripture and don't need a school of hard knocks to learn lives Reality 101. "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all" (Psalm 34:19, NIV).

God is looking for believers with gusto, who are gung-ho for the Lord, not halfhearted! We must seek Him with our whole heart to find Him, for God regards not triflers. It was said of Joshua (cf. 14:8) that he "wholly followed the Lord." We must hold nothing back, making no compromises with the world, for if we love the world or the things of the world, we will not love God (cf. 1 John 2:15). We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (cf. Mark 8:34). Jesus never made it sound easy to be saved, but even discouraged halfhearted "disciples."

We, also, must not contextualize or water down the gospel message to lure or entice folks with an "acceptable" gospel they can swallow or handle without offense (but Christ is the Rock of offense and a Stone of stumbling!).

Some people merely pay lip service or go through the motions, memorizing the Dance of the Pious, in their worship--which is a fraud and a sham, not the real thing--this is Churchianity or playing games with the church, not Christianity. The Bible condemns those whose lips are near but their hearts are far from the Lord only doing their religious "duty" in church, not out of the heart. Lukewarm believers are ones who are not walking with the Lord and need Christ in their heart to be a real encounter with Him.

The only genuine test of faith is obedience and "only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Yes, there's a cost to discipleship and no one is promised a bed of roses--our reward is not in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14), for the Lord is our portion (cf. Gen. 15:1)!

Our faith is not measured by our ecstasies or encounters, even experiences such as visions and dreams, but only by our obedience (cf. Heb. 3:18-19)! Jesus will say that we are merely good and faithful servants at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). Yes, the cost is great and it's a life of sacrifice of self--not living for oneself--but the cost of rejection is greater!


PART III

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (cf. The Cost of Discipleship) the famous martyred Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being.

Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough; one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him.

Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives. The Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44). Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all. Soli Deo Gloria!

Great Expectations?

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (cf. Psalm 27:13).
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13, KJV). "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall srengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14, KJV).   "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).   "... [F]or it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hosea 10:12, KJV).  

Charles Dickens wrote the book by the title Great Expectations and made this a treasured classic.  William Carey preached: "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God."  We are to be ever-waiting for the coming of Christ, the Parousia (Second Advent or Coming).  In a manner of speaking, we're all "expecting." We all need delayed gratification.  We're pregnant with God's hope and promise!   It's not just during Christmas that we should honor and recognize the magi or wise men, but today to emulate them.  In other words, "wise men still seek Him!"  This is the common message on many a greeting card because it applies, resonates, and hits home.

Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is the seeking of God.  We are to always seek His face and R. C. Sproul says that finding God begins at salvation, just like it says in Amazing Grace:  "I was lost but now am found."  The Good Shepherd found us as lost sheep, we didn't find Him.   Pascal said that if God hadn't first sought him, he never would've found God. Scripture says:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV). 

His coming is sure; are you ready?  Being prepared for it isn't just a matter of making our funeral arrangements and taking care of our final expenses!  Hezekiah was told that he was about to die and to get his house in order!  Do you feel that if you were to die today that you have lived according to the will of God and have completed your mission?  When David had completed God's purpose, God took him (cf. Acts. 13:36).  We're all here for a purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil, and God orchestrates and micromanages all of history for His glory and plans with no backup plan or Plan B.  We are either in the will of God or not, and the safest place to be is in the will of God.  We are bold when we know God is with us just like the apostles willingly gave their lives for the gospel message as martyrs.  They considered it an honor to suffer for His name's sake.

We must wait patiently on the Lord, for He will not tarry and His promise will be fulfilled in God's timetable. Waiting can try our patience, but the great hope we have should make it worth it and give us the grace to do God's will till the end.  There is great expectation in anticipation!   Our payoff is great and this is a greater motive to wait patiently, for the present trials we endure are nothing compared to the reward we'll see in heaven.  Simeon was told by the LORD that he'd see the Messiah before he died and when he did it turned out to be worth the wait and he could depart in peace.  We may not die happy, but if we died fulfilled, that is much greater, for happiness can be deceiving.  Over seventeen million hours ago John said that we were "in the last hour."  This only shows God's perception of time, not that the Lord tarries or delays His coming, for we know that His patience means our salvation.

Jesus said that if we seek, we shall find, but we must search for God with all our heart (cf. Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29) to find Him, for He doesn't deal with triflers.  In our expectations, we are to aim high for God has not set any limit as to how far He can take us if we trust in Him. We are to walk on water and move mountains!   But if we aim at nothing we will surely get there.  Therefore, dream big!

In the final analysis, we must realize that the enemy is a killjoy seeking to discourage us from finding our mission in life or calling in Christ (we're then as meandering stars) and his ominous words are:  "Hath God said?"  He asked Eve this and got her first to doubt God's Word, then to believe his words, and finally to disobey God's Word.  God wants to be our Guiding Light, Beacon, and GPS through this life and we must let Him lead the way.

This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland where she asks the Cheshire Cat at the fork in the road, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to walk from here?"  He said that depends upon where you want to go.  Alice says, "I don't care where."  The cat tells her that it doesn't matter which way she walks then!  Alice says, "As long as I get somewhere!"  The cat says you'll do that if you walk long enough--you're sure to get somewhere!"   But we want God's best!   In sum, we must not "settle" but seek God's will for our lives and not some default plan.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Needless Consternation Over Election

Calvinist or Reformed thinkers, theologians, and believers are accused of stealing man's free will and making us puppets, automatons, robots, even pets of God. Election is a kind of determinism, but it's not determination or coercion.   We are free agents, but free will is not a biblical doctrine but a Romanist one; it's nowhere mentioned in Scripture.  What I mean by free will is not the power to make choices, but the independent power to receive faith and salvation apart from God's grace and influence.  Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" [evidently not even believe].

He also said that believing in Him is the work of God (cf. John 6:29). Why election, that He chose us from the beginning, is so important is that it's the overture to our salvation--the first step in our salvation.  What Calvinists believe is that our salvation is not our wills ultimately to decide, but God working on our wills.

When we say that God knows who will be saved and elects those He foreknows, it's not referring to the prescient view that God elects us because we will have faith--leading to the narrative of merit in our salvation, but that God elects us unto faith--He decides in whom He will work the miracle of regeneration in.  Some people say that this is unfair that everyone should have an equal chance, but if we were all left alone to ourselves by God, none of us would come to Him in faith and repent.  If God is to save anyone it must be by election according to His purpose and will.  Indeed He regards the salvation of the elect more important than not interfering with their wills, and His glory more important than the salvation of everyone.

The result of God's holiness and justice, which require punishment for sin and evil, eternal damnation in hell must exist.  If God knows our destiny, it must be determined; and if determined, we must ask by whom?  God doesn't play dice with the universe of souls and also isn't pleased in the death of the wicked nor rejoice in their punishment, it is justice meted out in mercy but due justice not more than required without any cruelty 

This is the crux of the matter:  human choice doesn't mean without any influence from God to be free.   No one can say they came to God entirely on their own initiative without any grace leading them to God known to some as the wooing of the Holy Spirit--those who claimed they did, probably left Jesus without His grace too.  NB:  God determines our nature and nurture, circumstances, and events, or character and innate righteousness, our contribution to God is nothing--that's why we must be saved by grace--that means very little of our decisions ultimately depends upon our wills and choices.   But God does promise to give us a choice and even the non-elect have made choices against God, not for Him.

But God has determined to save His sheep or the elect, just like he chose the elect angels, He chooses us, we don't choose Him.   "The elect obtained unto it..." (Cf. Rom. 11:7).    We are elect according to His purpose and grace, since God will have mercy on whom He will and no one can resist God's will, being more powerful than ours (cf. Rom. 9:19).   God is totally able to influence our wills to do something of His will voluntarily--He can make the unwilling willing!   But at no time are we forced to do something we don't want to against our wills.  We cooperate all the way with God's sovereign will willingly and voluntarily and not by compulsion or impulsion.  Remember:  "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (cf. Acts 13:48).

The questions posed are:  Why are some saved and others not?  Does God woo all equally?  If so, why do some respond and others don't? Does man need free will?  If it's determined, do we have a choice?

If God woos all equally, and some do respond; therefore, it must be by human merit or inherent goodness and wouldn't be unconditional, and if God doesn't woo all equally, as He doesn't, then that means the ultimate destiny of man is in God's hands, meaning God decides who gets wooed and by how much.  It's a fact though that some are saved and others not because God cannot save all and salvage His justice and maintain holiness and the purity of heaven--He must judge sin and has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  But God is unjust to no one, salvation is not justice, but a form of non-justice known as grace and mercy.  If God had to save anyone at all, it would be justice!

We are not born free but in bondage and slavery to sin. We don't need free wills to be saved but wills made free!   Our wills are stubborn and need saving too, they are not righteous and able to make free choices:  Augustine of Hippo said, we are "free but not freed," meaning that we've lost our liberty like a man in prison who is still human with a will.  If God left it up to us, no one would be saved because we're all stubborn.  God gives us a choice to make and no one has an excuse or can charge God with wrong for how His Maker made him or Potter molded him; however, we're all culpable for the choices (cf. Josh. 24:15) we make throughout our adult life after the age of accountability (cf. Deut. 1:39; Isa. 7:15).

In sum, we must all give God the glory in our salvation, which is "of the LORD," not mankind, and the only plan giving Him all the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!) is for it to be unconditional election by grace through faith.  No one will have any basis of boasting in God's presence.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Incurable Addiction

"[F]or in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to discover and hate his own sin" (Psalm 36:2, HCSB).     

Man insists upon presenting Himself to God in the most favorable light in regards to his deeds, thinking that the good ones outweigh the bad ones and that he has some merit before a "just" God who will have mercy on him.   He should realize that Job One is repentance and that he must realize he's a lost sinner in need of God and cannot save himself.  The chief problem with man is that he doesn't see his own sin or unworthiness--he believes in the basic or inherent goodness of man and of himself; however, our do-goodery amounts to zilch in God's estimation and He doesn't grade on a curve--He leveled the playing field and we're all in the same boat (totally depraved with nothing good to claim).

If God were just to all of us, we'd all be judged worthy of damnation!  We can be thankful God tempers His justice with mercy (cf. Habukkuk 3:2) We would hope God is not just, and not only merciful (keeping us from getting our just due) but also gracious (giving us what we don't deserve, cannot pay back, and cannot even earn).

The difference between what the common man in view of his religiosity thinks and Christianity is that he is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation and doesn't seem to have the mindset to realize that it's a gift to be received.  It's not about "Do!" but "Done!"  In Christ, it's a done deal and there's nothing we can do to improve upon God's plan!  To add to God's work is an insult to our Maker like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa!   God doesn't need our efforts to impress Him, for we cannot.  Put it this way:  If we had to do something for salvation, we'd fail!

Salvation must be seen as something we cannot earn by anything we do, and we have no merit before God--that's the definition of grace (unmerited favor!). This is the only way to make salvation available to all  (the outward, general call is to all per Titus 2:11) because it's the only way that everyone has equal chance and no one is excluded, since anyone can believe!  If God had said we had to run the mile in under four minutes, you'd see every earnest believer taking up jogging and joining track teams!

But faith is not what we see, it's evidence of that something being real to us; however, we want to do something because we cannot conceive of this abstract thought of faith.  The Jews asked Jesus what they must do to do the works of God and He told them:  "The work of God is this:  to believe in the one he has sent" (cf. John 6:29, NIV).  You can read at least two doctrines into this verse:  Our faith is solely God's work in our heart and a gift that only God can accomplish; and the only thing that pleases God is faith and our works in the flesh amount to nothing..   But James (cf. James 2:24) said that we are not saved by faith alone but by works!  What he was getting at was that faith must be proved by works and Paul would say that works must spring from faith.

We dare not divorce faith and works for a faith without works as evidence is dead faith and cannot save.  ("faith without works is dead" according to James 2:26).  The Reformers reconciled all this by their famous formula of salvation:  We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone!  It just makes sense that anyone can just say they have faith or even believe they have faith, but if there's no fruit, there's no reality of faith.  Our works become a "therefore," not an "in order to."

There's a difference between a profession of faith and a reality of faith.  Just as Christ said that we shall know them by their fruits, and know fruit means no faith, the whole point of salvation is a changed and transformed life from the inside out due to a living relationship with God through Jesus. We must realize that true faith expresses itself, it's the evidence that gives us credibility and witness to the lost.

We are not saved by our good deeds or behavior, but unto them, likewise, we are not saved by good deeds, but not without them either (CAVEAT:  Beware the doctrine of the antinomians who adhere to a faith that is alone and doesn't need produce works; i.e., once saved you can live lawless or without restraint).

In sum, we must turn that creed into deeds, letting it show, giving it away to keep it, just as Titus 2:14, NIV,  says so plainly:  "... purify for  himself a people, that is his very own, eager to do what is good."       Soli Deo Gloria!

But He Gives More Grace

John Bunyan wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners to tell his testimony of salvation.  Paul also saw himself as the "chief of sinners."  It is true that the more sin, the more grace from God's abundance and bountiful provision:  "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more" (Rom. 5:20).  We are great sinners and need a great Savior!  Salvation goes to the unqualified, not those who see themselves as righteous.  "No perfect people need apply" to God's church!  James 4:6 tells of God granting more grace to the believer and how:  "He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

This is the way it is in God's economy:  the way up is down; we must humble ourselves to be exalted.  Christianity is full of paradoxes like these:  we must become emptied to be filled; we must give to receive; we must love to be loved; we must serve to be served &c.  God sees things in a different light than the natural man. The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God!  The lesson on grace is that we are commanded to grow in it:  "But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"  (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).

Notice that grace and knowledge are juxtaposed or linked in this verse!  They go hand in hand and can be distinguished but not separated.  God doesn't want us to remain in ignorance but to grow in knowing Him; for this is eternal life--to know God and His Son Jesus whom He sent.  To know Him is to love Him!  But God frowns upon ignorance and puts a premium on knowledge and wisdom.  One fault of Israel is that they had a "zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (cf. Rom. 10:2).

Our hearts must be right before the Lord in our service not like Amaziah's who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a right heart (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2).  We are only eligible for grace when our hearts are right before the Lord, for the Lord looks upon the heart and sees our motives (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2). Then we are candidates for more grace!  God is a God of grace and mercy and is good to all: to some in all ways, to some in few ways (cf. Psalm 145:9), but good to all nevertheless!  No one will be able to accuse God of not being good! But some will realize that this isn't the whole equation for them--God is also just, holy, and righteous!

Some err in adding merit to grace, tradition to Scripture, the church to Christ, and works to faith!  Salvation is by grace and not by merit or it wouldn't be grace, it would be justice and God would be obligated to save us; however, He is obligated to save no one!  In grace, God gives us what we don't deserve, in mercy He withholds what we do deserve.  Merit is the antithesis of grace and there is no place for merit in salvation--we cannot prepare ourselves for it or do any pre-salvation work; therefore, there is nothing for us to boast of before God. Grace is not only necessary for our salvation, but sufficient--it doesn't just facilitate it, but completes it and we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, cannot pay it back, and we cannot add to it! Therefore, grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God and one of the Five Only's of the Reformers was that salvation was sola gratia or by grace alone!

Our salvation is by grace all the way we are:  called by grace; saved by grace; believing by grace; kept by grace; empowered by grace; delivered from sin by grace; sanctified by grace; and glorified by grace!  God gets all the credit in our salvation.  That's why Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is of the LORD," (not of us and the Lord nor of us alone either)!   If it were even partly by us, we'd blow it!  When God is responsible for our salvation, it's by grace and cannot be taken away or forfeited, because it wasn't by merit in the first place.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Who Am I?

"But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results ["I am what I am by the grace of God]" (1 Cor. 15:10, NLT).  
"But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"  (Rom. 5:8, HCSB).
"The law came along to multiply the trespass.  But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more"  (Rom. 5:20, HCSB).  
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me" (2 Cor. 12:9, HCSB).  
"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!..."  (Isaiah 45:9, KJV).
"I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."  --Amazing Grace, public domain

When I was in college it was popular to search for yourself, find yourself, and to know yourself.  I had gotten religiously confused and was going through an identity crisis or moratorium to find myself--but which one, for I came to feel I was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!  I went all through high school thinking I was a somebody because of my scholastic achievements--they said I bloomed too early--then when I went to college found out I was a nobody in comparison, actually being with students who offered intellectual challenge.

Then my pride in myself or my self-respect or ego had suffered a blow.  I endured several years wandering from job to job and finally entering the military thinking I was a nobody going to amount to nothing or what you might call a ne'er-do-well, or even a loser!  But in the service I found new life as I really got connected with a fellowship known as the Navigators (a parachurch ministry), with whom I hooked up with and who discipled me to grow up in Christ and realize the spiritual potential I always had but never realized--we all have unrealized potential if we look for it and use it!

I was a fast learner and soaked up the Bible, memorizing hundreds of verses and realizing a new talent I had doing this.  I was finding out in real time that even being a nobody, God could do something with me to His glory and use me as a vessel of honor, if I submitted to His lordship and ownership of my life.  I learned to lead people to Christ, and even my mom credits me for doing this while I was on leave.  I can remember my first witness to her as saying, "Mom, you're going to love the new me!'  and her reply was that she loved "the old me!"   I felt for the first time that I could lead a fulfilling life doing God's will without achieving the so-called American dream or of being a success according to the standards of the world.

Moses went through similar steps in his life:  forty years thinking he was a somebody; then forty years thinking he was a nobody; then finally forty years finding out what God can do with a nobody!  It was during his sojourn in the land of Midian that he was called of God and wondered there about his being unqualified to serve a gracious and merciful God (this is a contradiction in terms).  He had three excuses:  Who am I?  I am slow of speech; and they won't believe me!

I have wondered the same thing as that about myself.  Of course Jesus was right that your own family is the last who people actually give you any praise or credit. But we are to witness to them first!  I never thought I was a great writer but I just felt called to write and to vent or hone my skills via blogging and voila, there were hundreds and hundreds of posts fit to be published (and to this date they comprise ten volumes personally published).  But the point is that I believed the verse promise:  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"  (cf. Phil. 4:13).

God will always be with us to give us strength to do His will (cf. Col. 1:19)--even the means and support.  The Bible also says God promises to meet our need  (cf. Phil. 4:9) and to equip us to do His will (cf. Heb. 13:21).  Now I'm perfectly poised to do nothing but God's will even as if I were a monk in a monastery with no outside or mundane worries or concerns--just like Christ said that a soldier doesn't get involved in civilian affairs to be a good soldier.  I can virtually devote myself into full-time service of the Lord.

I not only have had the time and opportunity to do God's will, but the encouragement, the inspiration from a Bible-preaching church with inspired expository preachers, but also a little extra financial support for the extras that my mom as a special benefactor to me.  She is responsible for making the transition a little easier and also been my closest spiritual confidant and support or even rock to depend on when I needed advice or sympathy--it is good to have a wise and godly mom to learn from and I realized in time that she was wise, while my younger brothers seem to not yet have come to this realization. 

We all must realize that we have potential with God and must aim high to realize it.  As William Carey preached:  "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!"  If we aim at nothing--we'll get there!  Jesus is the prize and goal!  (Cf. Heb. 12:2)  Success, which has many definitions besides monetary, doesn't come by accident! Now, I feel fulfilled in life because I know I'm doing God's will and that's ultimately the safest place to be where the devil cannot touch me and there is a hedge of protection around me.  When Christians say that they have found it (in reality He found us per Isaiah 65:1), I can connect with that.  There is meaning and purpose in life beyond the mundane and what the world offers (cf. 1 John 2:1)--for the more room for what the devil offers with his delicacies and temptations, the less room for God's riches and blessings--that's simple math and I was always good at mathematical equations, which can come in handy!

But we will never find out who we are in Christ unless our hearts are fully committed and we know Christ as our Lord.  To find your spiritual gift you have to be willing to serve and find out what God uses you for--it may take experimentation and a willingness to debut for your dreams--but don't stop dreaming.  Some people only know Him as the Savior: for instance, they may say, "I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior; it's a great relationship!" These believers are merely carnal and cannot expect to get anything from the Lord.  We don't want to sin presumptuously (cf. Gal. 2:21), tempt or test God and take His grace for granted or to resist it either.  We must learn to walk with God to ever grow into adulthood, for the length of being saved doesn't always mean maturity.  Some believers never grow up! 

Moses (cf. Numbers 12:3) was one of the few men in the Bible who actually walked with God and the only one besides Christ who was called meek or humble! But Christ calls all His children to walk with Him in fellowship and the Holy Spirit makes this possible.   We are called to walk by faith and not by sight! No matter how far we progress spiritually or in the eyes of the world, we must never forget who we are and what our roots are--where we came from.  Many of us have humble beginnings like Gideon (the least in his family) or Amos (the shepherd and took care of sycamore-fig trees), and few of us are of noble roots like Moses (the crown prince).  Even David was but a humble shepherd before being called and anointed of God.

Few of us are as educated as a Dr. Luke or Paul as a Pharisee, but we don't have an excuse to remain ignorant for God frowns upon that and places a premium on knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  Isaiah says to look to the rock from which we were hewn! That means remaining faithful to our calling in God and never losing touch or caring about family if possible.   But Christ did say that He could be a cause of division and even a sword within families, so we must put our faith first. 

Now there was one man in the Bible who was righteous in God's eyes, but also knew it; namely, Job.  He would not let go of his integrity for the world and would never consider himself a sinner or worthy of punishment, but he kept his faith in God and didn't charge Him with error.  At the end of his ordeal, he was humbled by a vision of God and realized he was indeed a nobody--and then he finally repented. We must all realize that we amount to nothing apart from God but it doesn't matter who we are in the long term, but who God is:  it all boils down to how big our God is.

In closing, let me add one final thought:  In light of the fact that we are in a no-lose proposition or that we are in a win-win one from the spiritual perspective, we cannot fail at God's will done in faith for God is on our side and we cannot lose (cf. Psalm 118:6), He is with us eternally and we are never alone (cf. Isa. 41;10), and He believes in us more than we do and our situation is never hopeless (cf. Isa. 49:6; Jer. 29:11).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Impenitent Sinner's Hope

Repentance is a prerequisite to salvation as well as its accompanying faith.  We must have a radical change of heart, will, and mind with fruits bearing witness to it--it must be proven by our lives in real-time or in our actions.  We don't just change our opinions but our wills are affected enough to renounce our sin.  But we must acknowledge our sin first as Job One.  We must also feel contrition or genuine remorse, not simple regret that we are sorry but not sorry enough to quit.   Once more, our repentance is progressive and we must always keep short accounts with God and not conceal or hide our sin from God (no repentance without confession, which we willingly confess in order to obtain mercy).

NB: Martin Luther's first thesis was that it's not a one-time event but an ongoing lifelong continuing resolution or process of renewal and recommitment.   Repentance is not fire-insurance or a security blanket, but a sign of regeneration.

There can be no genuine repentance without saving faith as the flip side--they go hand in hand and are distinguished but not separated (juxtaposed in Heb. 6:1; Acts 20:21).  That's why Reformed theologians refer to penitent faith or believing repentance as the instrumental means of salvation.  NB:  Repentance, like faith, is the result of the regenerative work of God and act of grace in our hearts.  Often we don't feel up to repentance, but we repent not when we feel like it, but so we will feel like it. 

Some people feel that they cannot repent and something is wrong with them.  But we can do nothing apart from God's grace ("Apart from me you can do nothing," --John 15:5).  The real reason they can not repent is they don't trust God, they are trying to please God in their own right. We must trust, not try!  But the bigger our God, the more we can trust!  Due to the juxtaposition of faith and repentance and the terms linked in Scripture, when we cannot repent it's probable that we lack faith, and if we lack faith, we probably are unrepentant.  We all experience both extremes of the spectrum at times and must learn by them.

Repentance is a mandate or imperative and must be evident in fruit to be genuine.  Bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance!  (cf. Luke 3:8).  When we show contrition, and this the sacrifice that pleases God, we are cleansed of all wrongdoing, our slate is cleaned, and God's memory bank about it deleted.  We shouldn't keep drudging up old sins because God says, "What sin?"  As far as the east is from the west (cf. Psalm 103:12), God just blots out our sin and forgets (cf. Isa. 43:25), and like a mist that is swept away (cf. Isa. 44:22); and our sins are cast into the depths of the sea (cf. Micah 7:19)--they couldn't be more neutralized than that!  Why do we get hang-ups about them or let them make us feel guilty then?

The motif of repentance is common in the Old and the New Testaments.  The thankless job of the prophets during the dark ages of Israel was to call them to repentance.  The New Testament opens with John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance, while Jesus opened His ministry preaching repentance and belief in the gospel.  Repentance is from the Greek metanoia or to change one's mind.  We must not only make an about-face, U-turn, 180-degree turnaround, New Year's resolution, or turn over a new leaf, but our hearts must be renewed in Christ's image and from the inside out.  Times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord (cf. Acts. 3:19).

The heart in tune with repentance echoes David's prayer of contrition in Psalm 51 after the prophet Nathan told him of his sin with Bathsheba.  Finally, repentance is by grace:  "... 'So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life'" (Acts 11:18, NIV; cf. 5:31).  God commands repentance be preached (cf. Luke 24:47) and we must repent now (cf. Acts 17:30; 3:19; 2:38).

In sum, we are never good enough to be saved; however, we are all bad enough to need salvation.  And in order to realize how bad we are, we must try to be good, and we cannot be good without realizing how bad we are--the catch-22.  Actually, the closer we get to God, the more cognizance of our sin; like when Peter said, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man" (cf. Luke 5:8).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Great Exchange

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV). 
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." (Luke 3:*, NIV).  
"By faith Abraham... obeyed" (cf. Hebrews 11:8).  
"... [T]o advance the obedience of faith among all nations"  (Rom. 16:26, HCSB).
"The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience." --Oswald Chambers
"True faith manifests itself in obedience only."  --John MacArthur
"Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Faith is not believing in spite of the evidence, but obeying despite the consequences."  --source unknown 
"Faith is not how much we believe, but how well we obey."  --source unknown


Religion is defined as tit for tat:  good works in exchange for salvation! You must earn it by good deeds outweighing bad ones.  But you can never know where you stand!  Legalism is defined as works plus faith in exchange for salvation.  While antinomianism or libertinism is defined as faith in exchange for salvation minus works; (in other words, works are not a part of the fruit nor authenticate salvation) in contrast to orthodox Reformed doctrine that faith is given in exchange for salvation plus works (works will always be the fruit and evidence!).  

The only way of assurance is for everything to be grace!  It's not a matter of us, nor of God and us in any combination, but of God alone ("Salvation is of the LORD," Jonah 2:9).  The rub is that if we had to do anything, we'd fail.  There's nothing we can do!  For those hoping their good works will amount to anything, they are never good enough in God's estimation.

This is an important nuance because the correct Reformed formula for salvation is that "we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone!"  The "Five Only's" include by grace alone and by faith alone!   Faith and faithfulness (making good on our faith) cannot be divorced! These two can be distinguished but not separated more than you can distinguish your body and soul but if you separate them you're dead!  Paul and James both saw the two flip sides of the spiritual equation: Paul would say that he would show you his works by his faith; while James (cf. James 2:16) would counter that he would show you his faith by his works; the point is that they are not contrary nor contradictory statements but just two ways at looking at the one truth of our salvation by a faith that produces evidence in good deeds as fruit.

Salvation is not an imagined or figurative righteousness but actually forensic and totally by grace from beginning till end.  Our contribution to the cross was our sin and God exchanged that for the righteousness of Christ on our behalf to our account to use business jargon.  It was credited Christ's deeds to our account and that's why they say justification is "just-as-if-I'd-done-it!"  When God looks at us in our sinful nature all He sees is Christ's righteousness as it's imputed to our new nature in Christ--the new man.  It's not a new suit on the man, but a new man in the suit!

The point about this great exchange is that we must see our need for it.  The necessary condition for salvation is to realize we aren't worthy of it.  You could say it goes to the lowest bidder!  We don't realize how sinful we are till we've tried to be good and we cannot be good without realizing our sin! Sort of like quitting to smoke.   This is the catch-22 of salvation that is solved only by the mystery of how grace works in our hearts to kindle faith and awaken repentance and regenerate us into new creatures in Christ.

In coming to Christ, we must come in penitent faith or believing repentance which is granted by a work of grace--we exercise this making Christ real to us.  We cannot come of our own power but must be wooed or actually drawn by Christ (elko used here in Greek doesn't mean to woo but to drag, but Arminians don't want to make God out to be forceful and they are trying to protect His honor or reputation).  John 6:44 says "no man can come to [Christ] unless the Father who sent [Him] draws him, and verse 65 says similarly that it must be "granted of the Father."

Many see salvation is something that God owes them for their faith or repentance in a tit for tat arrangement or exchange.  However, if that were true, it wouldn't be by grace but justice; the point is that God owes no one salvation and didn't have to save anyone to remain holy!  We don't earn our salvation by our faith because faith is not a work, as the Roman Catholics believe, and a meritorious one at that-- but don't think grace is enough but add merit to grace, works to faith, the Church to Scripture, and the Pope to Christ.

Faith must be in the right object (we aren't saved by faith in faith--it must be directed in Christ), Christ saves--not faith!  It isn't how much faith we have in the church or in the priest or pastor!  If faith is a work, then we are saved by works!  But we are saved from beginning to end by grace--grace is not only necessary but sufficient (it's all we need).  He saved us by grace (cf. Eph. 2:8-9), He keeps us by grace (cf. Jude 21), and He's coming for us and gives us victory by grace (cf. Phil. 2:13).  We must become totally grace-oriented to appreciate our salvation in its totality.

Now our "righteousness is as filthy rags" in God's eyes and only what's done in Christ is worthy of God's stamp of approval, imprimatur, and reward in heaven.  Paul counted all his deeds in the flesh as "dung."  We must see our faith as God's gift to us, not our gift to God.  We must never attain the mindset that God owes us and we're doing Him a favor! We are simply vessels of honor that God is using for His glory and purpose.  For this is the "chief end of man," according to The Westminster Shorter Catechism, "is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  John Piper adds that it should really read "by enjoying Him forever."  Our righteousness is God's gift to us and is the grand exchange for our sin.

That's grace:  we are forever in God's debt and will never be able to reimburse or pay Him back, and we never can earn it nor did we, and we certainly didn't deserve it and never will, much less we cannot add anything (nada!) to grace (not Jesus plus "churchmanship," Jesus plus "Churchianity," Jesus plus emotion (emotionalism or sentimentality); Jesus plus knowledge (Gnosticism or intellectualism); Jesus plus knowing the rules (legalism); nor Jesus plus being a do-gooder (moralism).  We must realize that grace means just that--the free gift of God we cannot even give back!  And God certainly won't ever take back His gift to us, for gifts are given and God will not repent concerning them:  "For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29, NIV).

In sum, we may think we are not that bad but God doesn't grade on a scale or curve and the closer we get to salvation and to God, the more we realize our own unworthiness and sinfulness.  Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" and William Jay of Bath said that he was a great sinner, but he had a great Savior.  No one is too far gone for God's grace and, in effect, we are all hopeless  (cf. Eph. 2:12) without it, no one cuts the mustard or meets the standards because Christ raised the bar to perfection, fulfilling the Law.

A word to the wise is sufficient:  We're predestined by grace, called by grace, saved and justified by grace, kept by grace, sanctified by grace, glorified by grace! By grace, no one is lost in the shuffle.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Gospel In Its Purity

The Reformers' formula for salvation was that we are "saved by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone," and they defined this faith:  by grace alone, in Christ alone, giving God alone the glory, and the Scripture alone as the authority--known as the Five Only's (by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, Scripture alone as authority, to God alone be the glory: sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, sola Scriptura, and sola Deo gloria).  We are to have Bible verses as our spiritual birth certificates, not taking the authority of a teacher, preacher, or church to certify our salvation--it's not their job description!  Our assurance comes from the Word of God coupled with the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:16).  We are to examine our own hearts, and become fruit inspectors of ourselves! 

Grace means we cannot add to it, we cannot substitute for it, we don't deserve it, we cannot earn it, nor can we ever pay it back--grace all the way!  We cannot put faith in the church or the pastor/teacher or even ourselves but the object must be Christ--it's the object that saves, not faith per se. Faith doesn't save:  Christ is the Savior!  Faith is the instrumental means or channel of grace.

The battle cry or rallying cry of the Reformation was that we are "saved by faith alone"; yet Romanists said that the Bible doesn't say that and they couldn't point to any certain passage in particular.  When we are arguing or proof-texting we have missed the boat and don't see the big picture. Many cults like to point you to some verse and catch you off-guard, unprepared for their interpretation.  You are either grace-oriented or not!  Yes, they are technically right, but no text says Jesus is God per se, in so many words, or that God is a Trinity either!  Some seemingly obscure doctrines we deduce from accepted dogma and plain, obvious passages or verses.

But with the Romanists, faith is seen as agreeing or acquiescing with what the Church (in their case the Roman Catholic Church) teaches or espouses.  Faith of this kind is merely head belief, not heart belief,  that doesn't enter the inner being of man and grow as a living and saving faith.  Saving faith is an obedient one!  We obey the gospel!  The Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey:  "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32, HCSB).  (CF. Heb. 3:18-19). THE POINT IS THAT FAITH AND OBEDIENCE ARE ETERNALLY EQUATED IN HOLY WRIT! THEY ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN; "ONLY HE WHO BELIEVES IS OBEDIENT; ONLY HE WHO IS OBEDIENT BELIEVES"

NB:  The Judaizers were guilty of mixing law and gospel, works and faith, merit and grace!  This confusion led Paul to delineate the gospel message and condemn anyone who preaches an unbiblical evangel. 

Rome distorts the pure gospel message in multiple ways:  it adds works to faith, merit to grace, the Church to Christ, tradition to Scripture, and diminishes the glory of God as a result and outcome. For instance, they may have a lot of faith in their priest or in the Pope as being right.  Of course, they see faith as necessary, grace as necessary, and Christ as necessary even Scripture as necessary, but they refuse to acknowledge them as sufficient.  We believe grace is not only necessary but also sufficient to save us, as we are saved by grace, not by works, as Paul said, "My [God's] grace is sufficient for thee" (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).

What Rome has done is make faith a meritorious work and in effect enabled man to save himself by what's called an analytic is a tautology, adding no new data, inherent righteousness and infused justification, not a synthetic, meaning we add data, alien righteousness (belonging to Christ, not us), and imputed justification of Christ--they see man as getting qualified or meriting salvation and he must make himself worthy in some way with some presalvation work--this is like stealing God's glory and giving yourself a pat on the back.  "Salvation is of the LORD," (Jonah 2:9) and is a completed work of God, not a cooperative venture.  If we had to do anything, we'd fail.  (Inherent is what we already possess and analytic means we add no new info--a triangle has three sides-- and this implies he already has the capability and is just and it's only latent, and it's infused which means inspired or quickened--so God just instills our latent righteousness--whereas synthetic means we add new data we don't have to the equation, and alien means foreign and not our own--so God imputes Christ's righteousness to us, it's not our righteousness that saves us!  In other words, God declares us righteous by virtue of Christ's righteousness, we are not made righteous and have no natural righteousness of our own--our righteousness is solely God's gift to us, not our gift to Him.

We must not believe in ourselves but in Christ and the object of our faith must be Christ, not Christ plus something or someone, not even us--we must give up trying to save ourselves.  It is heresy to add anything to Jesus in our salvation:  Jesus plus alms-giving, Jesus plus churchmanship, Jesus plus tithing, Jesus plus witnessing, Jesus plus any good behaviors--we are not saved by good behavior, but unto good behavior and if we don't have it our faith is suspect and may not exist.  Dead faith cannot save and that refers to a faith that is unfruitful and is not shown or demonstrated by works or deeds to prove it and validate it.  The faith you have is the faith you show, is what I always say.

The present-day evangelicals like to preach an easy-believism and/or play down the lordship of Christ in making a decision to follow Him and open the door of one's heart to die in Him, taking up one's cross after Him in obedience.  Christ will not save those He cannot command according to A. W. Tozer and what this means is that we must accept His ownership over our lives and surrender our wills at salvation and constantly renew that surrender as is fitting and proper.  In other words, true saving faith involves trusting Jesus alone as Savior, and submitting to His authority or lordship over our lives--only then do we own Him as our Lord and Savior.  He will not be a divided Christ, we accept Him for who He is or it's rejection.  

We must not confuse the gospel with the law either!  Law involves our duty to God and gospel is how Jesus settled the sin question and all He did on our behalf.  The two can be distinguished but not separated: we have responsibilities as well as privileges as the flip side!  They go hand in hand.  Parishioners must see their duty as well as the grace of God.  The Law was given to break and make us realize we cannot keep it; we don't break it, however, it breaks us!  What we do break is God's heart!  Preachers must get them lost ( cognizant of conviction of sin) before attempting to save them (preach salvation via the gospel) and some actually believe they are saved having never sensed they were ever lost sheep!  All we like sheep have gone astray!  We all need to be corralled into the flock now and then and a sermon ought to be able to give us a spiritual inventory as we get our regular checkup and connect with the preacher and one another with the message in mind.

The slogan "Just do it!" is relevant to following Christ; a disobedient follower or disciple is a contradiction in terms!  Remember the obedience of Peter:  "Nevertheless, at thy Word, Lord, I will cast down my net."  We are like soldiers in God's army and the line for the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson comes to mind:  "Ours is not to wonder why ours is but to do and die!"  If Christ can be obedient unto death for us, we must follow our Exemplar and do likewise, for He doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do.  Those who question orders don't belong in the military and likewise, with our Lord, we should obey wholeheartedly, and in full compliance.

In regards to law and gospel, we must never separate faith and repentance.  There is no saving faith without genuine repentance, and no genuine repentance without accompanying saving faith--they're two sides of the same coin, going hand in hand and one is the flip side of the other; you could call the command to penitent faith, or believing repentance, for you can distinguish them but never divorce them without compromising the truth.  Acts 20:21, ESV,  says that the apostle was "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Note that these two active verbs are juxtaposed and forever wed in Scripture.  We see other passages where we are enjoined to repent unto salvation and in others to believe in the gospel.   We make a turnaround from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith).  The first words preached by John the Baptist and Jesus were to repent; Jesus added to believe in the gospel! 

NB: The Reformation was inaugurated because of a revolt against so-called tradition of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the restoration of the gospel, and during the Counter-Reformation in the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Church declared tradition on a par with the Bible in authority as well as condemn (pronounce anathema) anyone who believes we are saved by faith alone; i.e., the Protestants!

In sum, we must learn as the gospel hymn goes, "Trust and obey!"  Paul was a good example for he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision and warned of those who distort or pervert the gospel (cf. Gal. 1:7) and even preach another gospel, another Jesus, and another Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Pre-salvation Works?

"I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD, and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart" (Jer. 24:7, NASB).   
"I will give you a new heart and put anew spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26, HCSB). 
"For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive?  If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7, HCSB). 
"Jesus replied, 'This is the work of God--that you believe in the One He has sent" (John 6:29, HCSB).
"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you desire and to work out HIs good purpose" (Phil. 2:13, HCSB).

NB:  If our salvation depended on us or our works, we'd find a way to blow it! 

I have heard that the outsider or infidel thinks we are saved by submitting to the Lordship of Christ as some kind of tit for tat arrangement!  There are no, and I repeat no, pre-salvation works we must do to inherit salvation!  God does all the work and also gets all the glory!  We contribute naught and get no glory or credit--we cannot pat ourselves on the back and give ourselves congrats for a job well done; i.e., being proud of our virtue, wisdom, or even intellect.  Salvation is not by works, but by faith received from God.  We don't achieve faith, we receive it ("[we have ] received a precious faith," cf. 2 Pet. 1:1; cf. Phil. 1:29).  It's grace all the way:  We cannot earn it, nor pay it back, nor do we deserve it, nor even can we add to it!  If faith were a work that we do, we'd have something to boast of because ours salvation would be a work, and we are not saved by works (cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6)!

This tit for tat (quid pro quo) is the totally wrong way to view salvation, because God turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and removes all our wrinkles and blemishes in His sight to make us acceptable and justified, even though we are still sinners, we are just in His eyes--He declares us just, He doesn't make us just.  We must look upon salvation as going from Point A to Point Z, whereas Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith and works in us to do according to His good pleasure (cf. Phil. 2:13; Col. 1:29; Heb. 13:21), completing what He began, our salvation accomplished by the power of God, not in the energy of the flesh.  What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus?  Jesus changed his rebellious heart and told him he was "kicking against the goads [fighting God's will]."

God is able, because He's the Almighty, to overcome our weak wills and change our hearts (cf. Jer. 24:7), totally transforming us into new creatures in Christ. Our destiny is in God's hands, not ours (cf. Rom. 9:16).  When we realize that it was God at work, and we that turned over a new leaf, made an AA pledge, or a New Year's resolution, then we are becoming grace-oriented and giving God His due glory.

NB:  There is nothing we can do to make ourselves "acceptable" in God's eyes; we are totally depraved and unable not to sin in His estimation.  As theologians say, "We are not sinners because we sin, but sin because we are sinners."  We cannot not sin!  We are dead in trespasses and sin before salvation and a dead man can do nothing but await the grace of God like Lazarus did, whom Jesus rose from the dead.  What He does is quicken faith (cf. Acts 16:14) within us and make us alive in Christ to respond to the gospel message; i.e., we are regenerated unto faith.  "He opened the door of faith. [cf. Acts 14:27]"  A good rule of thumb for sound Bible doctrine is that the one that gives the glory to God, not man, is the right one!   For example, the sinner who claims he came to Christ of his own free will, probably left of his own too, un-regenerated, that is. We must be wooed or drawn (cf. John 6:44, 65) and transformed all by grace.  If we merited our salvation because we believed, it wouldn't be grace, but justice!

In summation, let me point out that salvation is wholly a work of God (it's monergistic, not synergistic or cooperative) and Jonah 2:9 summed it up with one utterance:  "Salvation is of the LORD!"  It's not Jesus plus anything:  not plus going to church, plus witnessing, plus giving alms, et cetera!  This means it's not of us and God, nor of us, but of the Lord--He did it all!       Soli Deo Gloria!

Domesticating The Biblical Evangel

Many preachers today are into watering down or contextualizing the gospel message, even glossing over sin, while they preach to make it seem less strident and more palatable to the seeker.  Jesus made it appear well-nigh impossible and even discouraged the faint in heart and those who wouldn't count the cost of laying down their lives for Him. When the evangelist preaches that all we need to do is simply believe, or agreeing without obedience or lordship, he is guilty of disseminating a false gospel or what are termed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as "cheap grace."  (NB:  Salvation is free but not cheap! This is also known as "easy-believism" because it denies the necessity of making a lordship commitment to enter into a permanent relationship with God in salvation and reconciliation.  Its logical conclusion is that there can be "carnal Christians" who haven't fully surrendered to Christ's lordship and ownership of their lives as a new type or class of Christian.

This is where we must distinguish but not separate law and gospel in our preaching and evangelizing.  Law is what we must do: gospel is what God has done (the done deal!).  We must get them lost first!  We must preach sin to get them convicted of sin--for they may not see any need for salvation or believe they're righteous already.  We must not dumb down the gospel to those would-be disciples who admire or respect Jesus but don't worship Him. Why?  Because false assurance that one is saved is more of a problem than lack of assurance among sincere believers with weak faith.  Those who see no need of Christ are worse off than those seeking Him and realize their sinfulness.   What does lordship entail but obedience to the gospel and following on to know the Lord and walk with Him in fellowship producing fruit? And so the bad news of condemnation due to sin is the first word.  Sin is not a killjoy word to be avoided, even though it seems like a thankless and unwelcome task to preach it.

Then we welcome the grace of God to set the sinner free and restore his relationship with God (reconciliation). The bad news is our condition as totally depraved and that we are not good enough to need to be saved, but bad enough to be saved (knowing that no one is too bad to be saved though).  However, there's a catch-22:  we must realize how bad we are to be saved, and to realize how bad we are, we must try to be good! It's like not realizing how addicted one is to cigarettes until one tries to stop.  The good news is what God has done for us: solving the sin question with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  We must become grace-oriented to have any assurance because merit is the antithesis of grace and there is no place for merit in God's economy.

Faith is not seen as a work of man for then he'd be worthy but as a miracle work of kindling it as wrought in God ("This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent," cf. John 6:29).  When we are grace-oriented in our salvation it affects our whole outlook on our relationship or walk with God.