Faith Has Legs

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith God has assigned"  (Romans 12:3, ESV). 
"... [Measuring] yourselves by the faith God has given you..." (Rom. 12:3, NLT, italics mine). 
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him ... by faith Abraham obeyed..." (Hebrews 11:6, 8, ESV).  
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race [course], I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7, NKJV, italics mine). 
"... I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3, ESV).
"[F]or we walk by faith, and not by sight"  (2 Cor. 5:7, ESV).

You've probably heard of the cliche that you don't have a leg to stand on; faith is like that as a contrast, it has legs to stand on! We have sound reasons to believe and haven't kissed our brains goodbye or committed intellectual suicide to become Christians!   Having legs implies you intend to go somewhere and are equipped for it, and even ready.  You are either going forward, backward or standing still!  In the walk of faith, you are supposed to be going forward, and not standing or going backward.

Faith is an abstract concept and must be seen to be understood.  It's something you do--, not something you have.  By faith the heroes did this and that in the hall of faith chapter of Hebrews.  Faith is not static or inert,  but active, living, growing and involved--bearing fruit.  Everyone has some kind of faith in something because we are hard-wired that way.  Secularists have faith in science or man's ability to solve his dilemmas and issues.  But it's not the amount of faith that's the vital link, but the object. Small but sincere faith in the right thing will bring results, but even much faith misdirected will be vain and fruitless.  The Israelites had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2).  People in the North know there are two kinds of ice, and you can have a lot of faith crossing thin ice and you'll still fall through, but small faith in thick ice will get you from point A to point B.

The whole point of the Christian life is that you must grow in your relationship and mature in Christ, in other words, that you are going somewhere!  A walk with Christ implies you cannot tread water or stand in one place.  Ever heard of the "Nowhere Man" song of The Beatles?  He doesn't know where he's going to and doesn't have a point of view! We are not to wander aimlessly through the Christian life without purpose and meaning, because Christ gives us a reason to live and for our existence to find fulfillment--a more abundant life--some Christians never achieve this because of the so-called rat-race they get tied up with and are never set free spiritually to live victorious Christian lives in the power of the Spirit, not the energy of the flesh.

Faith must be illustrated to be conceived:  suppose I reach into my pocket and pull out something and ask you to tell me what's in my hand.  If you can't guess, let's say for the sake of argument, that I give you a hint that I had coins in my pocket.  Now you say that you believe I have a coin in my hand--that's faith, if I tell you that you're right, you take my word for it and have greater faith, but it's still faith!  Now, let me destroy your faith!  I'll open my hand and show you the coin.  Now you don't have faith anymore, but knowledge--see the difference--faith isn't absolute but has room for doubt and cannot be perfect, but God requires sincere, unfeigned faith, not perfect faith--it's evidence of the unseen (cf. Heb. 11:1)!

Now another illustration:  we must act on, or out, our faith.  If a tightrope walker tells you he can carry you across the rope and you tell him you believe him, that 's not faith unless you are willing to be carried across--you can say you believe, but your decisions may belie your so-called profession; there's a profession of faith or bogus faith, and a reality of faith or saving faith.

We are not rewarded according to our faith (cf. Rom. 2:6)!  We are rewarded according to our deeds and the good works we accomplished through God's Spirit with the faith given by God (cf. Romans 12:3 above). Note that faith is a gift: "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29, ESV); Peter writes:  "... [To] those who have obtained a faith of equal standing..." (2 Pet. 1:1, ESV).  We cannot boast of what God accomplishes through us (cf. Rom. 15:18; Isaiah 26:12).  God is simply using us as "vessels of honor" to accomplish His divine will and to bring glory to Him (cf. Isaiah 43:7).

Living faith grows and goes somewhere!  If your faith hasn't improved or accomplished something you can doubt it's being genuine and saving faith.  It must be validated by good works. We aren't saved by good works, neither are we saved without them, but saved unto them (cf. Eph. 2:10).   Paul would say, "I'll show you my good deeds by my faith!'  James would counter a complimentary statement:  "I'll show you my faith by my good deeds!"  These two can be distinguished, but not separated.  We are not saved by faith that stands alone.  We are saved by faith alone, but not be a faith that is alone, according to the Reformers' formula!


Antinomians insist that works don't have to accompany saving faith, or they believe we are saved by faith minus works!  No fruit means no faith!  Dead faith doesn't save and the only faith that saves is productive faith doing God's will!  Dead faith isn't profitable for anything and cannot go anywhere.  A person can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity matters, it's not the most vital link to salvation--it's not everything.  We are saved by grace through faith, and our faith is solely a gift of God, not something we conjure up or work up in our own efforts of the flesh. God quickens faith within us!  "So faith comes from hearing, and through hearing, of the word of Christ," (Romans 10:17, ESV), and God opens the heart (cf. Acts 16:14) to respond positively to the gospel, "who through grace had believed" (cf. Acts 18:27, ESV).

Saving faith is obedient and the only authentic test of faith is its obedience and it's always manifest through it, not by experience or emotions, feelings, or ecstasies.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  Jesus also said that if we love Him we will keep and obey His commands (cf. John 14:21). Faith, it is said, is not believing despite the evidence, but obeying in spite of the consequences!   All faith must be tested for obedience, not emotions!  Some people are just hard-wired differently and are stoical and not demonstrative, even at concerts and sports events, not just worship!

Note that faith is not an end in itself; faith doesn't save, the object of the faith is what matters--Christ saves!  We don't have faith in faith!  When you say, "To defend the faith," you must be talking about the orthodox body of dogma of the Christian religion, not just your own personal faith, we are all called to be defenders of the truth and contenders of the faith (cf. Jude 3), and to be able to have an answer for why we believe, not just know what we believe (cf. 1 Pet. 3:15).  In the end result, it matters more how big your God is than how big your faith is!

The same word is used for faith and faithfulness in the Old Testament Hebrew (e.g., Hab. 2:4, "The just shall walk by faith [faithfulness]").  We must not divorce these two but realize they are juxtaposed and together like a coin with a flip side--they are complimentary! Good works is no substitute for faith, but proof it exists!  True faith always expresses itself!  We show our faith by being faithful to whatever gifts, talents, abilities, opportunities, time, resources, money, relationships, and so forth that are bestowed on us by grace!

Remember the words of Heb. 11:6 that faith is what "pleases" God, we can become emotional, wear our religion on our sleeves, or flaunt our religion, but that doesn't please God, if there is no genuine faith and obedience--even if there is no sentiment, for they don't save, but they will come from a life of faith in the order: fact, faith, then feeling--we must not be feeling-driven or emotionally crippled and dependent!  Jesus didn't say that if you love Him, you'll be on Cloud Nine, but that you'd obey Him!  Faith is a door to eternal life, not the destination:  we "believe in order to understand," for "faith precedes reason," according to Saint Augustine.

In the final analysis, the only happy believer is the serving one and a non-serving believer is a contradiction in terms, for we are saved to serve; even Christ came not to be served, but to serve (cf. Mark 10:45).  At the final audit of our life at the Bema or tribunal (called the Judgment Seat of Christ by some), we will have to give an account of what we did with the faith God gave us, and each is given a portion of faith (cf. Rom. 12:3).

To whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48)!  With great faith, comes great responsibility and God will say that His grace is sufficient for us as He did to Paul about His thorn in the flesh (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).  We must sow to reap, and he who sows sparingly will reap likewise!  We must sow and leave the results to God and focus on faithfulness, not success!

 As Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now canonized and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, said that God "calls us to faithfulness, not success!" It is said that if you've never made a mistake [failed], you've never made [tried] anything [challenging!]"  Failure doesn't always mean lack of faith or faithfulness.  We must remain faithful to the calling God gave us.  As Peter said, "... [Make] your calling and election sure..." in 2 Pet. 1:10, ESV.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Are You Sure You're Saved?

We are commanded to make our election and calling sure (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) and this is done by searching our own hearts, examining our fruit, claiming Scripture promises to lean on and sensing the ministry of the Spirit "bearing witness to our spirit" (cf. Rom. 8:16).  Christianity is about walking in the Spirit, and increasing in faith--genuine faith is penitent and not inert or static (it grows!).  We walk by faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7), and progress from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17).  Being sure of one's position in Christ is only the door, not the journey or destination.

Knowing we are saved is not an automatic fruit, and it's not presumption nor arrogance to know for sure (as is promised that we can know in 1 John 5:13). Believing and assurance don't mean we know all the answers and have no doubts--we just believed in spite of them.  It's not the preacher's job description to certify our salvation, but he can offer reassurance.   Even though Catholics call assurance a "sin of presumption," it's obedience and a boon to our walk to know for sure without a doubt.

Some people have this assurance because they claim Bible verses, and are not ignorant of the Word, but take it at face value: one such Scriptural "birth certificate" might be the verse in John 1:12, which says that anyone who receives Christ has the right to become a child of God.  This assurance goes hand in hand with security--they can be distinguished, but not separated--the flip side of assurance is security that you cannot forfeit your salvation, even if you fall into sin, for we have an "Advocate with the Father" when we do sin (cf. 1 John 2:1).  He always intercedes on our behalf (cf. Heb. 7:25).

Knowing we are saved is only the beginning and first step of our walk with Jesus, the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (cf. Heb. 12:2).   A Christian is no spiritual giant just because he is 100 percent sure of his salvation, if his life isn't consistent with the Spirit, and he isn't producing good fruit.  You can have many unanswered questions and still grow in Christ!  Only in glory will all our questions be answered (cf. John 16:23).  Faith isn't believing in spite of the evidence; it's obeying despite the consequences.  "By faith Abraham obeyed," (cf. Heb. 11:8) despite the fact that he doubted God's promise, he went ahead and obeyed anyway!  Notice that in the hall of faith chapter 11 of Hebrews it portrays all the saints as obeying in faith!  Faith is abstract and you see it in action, you don't describe it.  You don't need all the answers to believe, but can go right ahead and choose to believe anyway!  God can increase our faith, but that means more responsibility!

We are not to take advantage of grace, to insult the Spirit of grace and misuse it.  Knowing we are saved should be all the more motivation to live for Christ--for the more, we are given, the more God expects from us in return.  God is only pleased with faithfulness and faith, and we must not divorce or separate the two, though they can be distinguished.  Faith is only measured in obedience ("Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," --Dietrich Bonhoeffer), and not experiences, mystical or real life, nor by emotions or feelings, which may be sentiment and signs we have never grown up in the faith so as not to depend on feelings.  Faith, not feelings, please God (cf. Heb. 11:6).  Our ecstasies, visions, dreams, and mystic or surreal experiences are not the measure faith; God is looking for obedience, not success or achievements.  Blessed are those who have not seen!  (Cf. John 20:29).

The best way to be sure is to have the witness of a fruitful life that supports your faith--showing that it's genuine, saving faith--not bogus.  God isn't going to ask us at our final audit at the Bema, or Judgment Seat of Christ, how sure we were of our salvation, or how big our faith was, but what we did with it and whether we grew to know, love, and obey Jesus.   It's not how big your faith is, but how big your God, and it's not the amount of faith, but the object that matters.  We must learn to trust and obey Christ in the mundane activities of life and to grow in our fellowship and relationship with Him.

If we are honest, all of us have been at the point of the man who cried, "I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"  Don't confuse works and grace, or fact and feeling (the divine order is fact-faith-feeling).  Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but one of its elements and is healthy.  Faith is not to be perfect or it wouldn't be faith, but knowledge, and what God wants is sincere, unfeigned, faith without any hypocrisy.  We are not to be pretenders who have a veneer to hide behind. We all have feet of clay and must progress in our walk as we get to know the Lord, the ultimate goal.

I propose two illustrations to exhibit faith:  a boy flying a kite on a cloudy day was asked how he knew the kite was still up there, when unseen, he said he felt a tug every now and then to reassure him;  another one is why you believe in the sun being up there when you don't see it:  "Because I see everything else!"  God opens the eyes or our hearts to see spiritually so we can say with the blind man:  "... But I know this:  I was blind, but now I see"  (John 9:25, NLT).

Who can refute such personal reality?  Not knowing for sure makes you a handicapped Christian in your walk, who cannot grow and mature in the faith as a seasoned believer! A word to the wise is sufficient:  False assurance, overconfidence, spurious faith, and reckless living are more of a problem than the weaker brother who stumbles and has doubts--lacking full assurance.  In sum, you must morph beyond mere assurance and fulfill your destiny and calling.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Following Christ

Just "as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him [as Lord!]" (cf. Col. 2:6).  We are to walk in fellowship and in the truth, as "the truth is in Jesus" (cf. Eph. 4:21). The whole concept of our ethics in Christ is to follow Christ in discipleship, taking up our cross we bear, deny ourselves, and follow on to know Him as Lord and Savior.  We are to follow the example of pious believers and teachers and consider the outcome of their faith.  The faith is not so much imitation as inhabitation! We turn over a relinquished life at salvation, live an exchanged life, and enjoy a substituted life while we surrender constantly to His will, and walk in fellowship.  The Christian life is not knowing a creed, but a person.

We don't need to get educated or enlightened but transformed by the Word's power to change lives.  We shall know the truth that shall set us free, by growing in Christ and believing God, not just believing in God. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto righteousness!   Lots of believers think some saints have a surplus of the Spirit or a monopoly on His grace, but all Christians are anointed and have the fullness of the Spirit.  It's not how much of the Spirit we have, but how much of us the Spirit has.  No one has cornered the market on the gifts of the Spirit and doesn't need the body to complete the ministry and mission of the church.

Two believers can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue!  It is important to look for commonalities, instead of division and areas of dispute.  No one can follow Christ solo or as a spiritual Lone Ranger or lone wolf!  All Christians are under authority through the body of Christ and no one has the right to throw his weight around or lord it over the flock.  The body is in it together and must learn to interact and grow as a body corporately, as well as individually.

Do good deeds in the Spirit (we are a people "zealous of good deeds" per Titus 2:14), and not because you're a do-gooder or trying to gain the approbation of God by good behavior.  The whole summation and goal of discipleship is to follow Christ--to know Him and make Him known in a relationship of love.  The Christian walk is a matter of faith, but anyone can say he has faith, but faith isn't something you have as much as you see in action:  Paul would say I'll show you my works by faith, and James would say I'll show you faith by works.  Paul said to the Galatians that the only thing that counts is "faith expressing itself through love" (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV).

The only test of faith is obedience per Heb. 3:18-19!  Oswald Chambers said that the value of spiritual life isn't measured by ecstasies, but by obedience; Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  They are correlated and go hand in hand, not to be divorced.  Faith without works is a guise and not the real thing, but a dead faith that cannot save; the Reformers taught the formula:  "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."

We must validate our faith by a Christian testimony and life of good works (we are saved unto good works, not because of them).  We are not saved by works, but not without them either--our faith is manifest only in obedience, for Christ said that, if you love Him, you will obey Him (cf. John 14:21).
Soli Deo Gloria!

Salvation Is Of The Lord, Period!...

The phrase that salvation comes from [or is "of"]  the Lord is repeated several times in Scripture: Jonah 2:9; Psalm 3:8; Psalm 37:39; Prov. 21:31.  Also, in view of Rom. 1:17, (cf. Heb. 10:38; Gal. 3:11; Hab. 2:4), which said the "just shall live by faith"  (i.e., the birth-text of the Reformation), Martin Luther had a spiritual wake-up call from his dogmatic slumber and instigated the Reformation by nailing his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on Oct. 31, 1517.

These verses are the whole quintessence, synopsis, and compendium of salvation doctrine and all we need to know, if apprehended--it is a matter of God's work on our behalf alone (monergistic), and not a cooperative venture (synergistic). There are only three possibilities for salvation:  of man alone; of man jointly with God; and of God alone! We don't contribute some pre-salvation effort to our salvation, but only receive it in faith as a done deal--fait accompli.  Jesus said, "It is finished," on the cross or "tetelestai" in Aramaic, meaning that it was completed on the cross and we could add nothing to it.

Man is incurably addicted to accomplishing his salvation and doing something: if we had to do something, we'd fail!  Salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia), meaning we don't add works; in Christ alone (soli Christo), meaning we don't do a work with Christ; and God alone gets the glory (Soli Deo Gloria).  Titus 3:5 says that we don't merit our salvation: Grace is something we can't earn, payback, or deserve.  Sola fide means we are saved by faith alone:  Faith is the instrumental means of our salvation and is not meritorious, being a gift.   If God had to save us due to our faith and was obliged to justify us, it wouldn't be grace, but justice.  God doesn't save us because we are ready for salvation, or even worthy of salvation; we don't prepare ourselves for it.

God elects us unto faith, which is a gift according to multiple verses (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1) and we believe through grace (cf. Acts 18:27).  The fallacious and erroneous prescient view (Romans 8:29-39 militates against it) is that it holds that God elects us because of faith or foreseen faith--that would be merit.  Our election is unconditional as is His unconditional love for us "according to the pleasure of His goodwill" (cf. Eph. 1:5).  In short, we're "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" and "according to His purpose and grace" (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). Left to ourselves, none of us would've chosen Christ! "Many are called, but few are chosen" (cf. Matt. 22:14).  Our salvation as our ultimate destiny is in God's hands because no one is inclined to come to Him but must be wooed.  "As many as were appointed unto eternal life believed"  (cf. Acts 13:48). "... The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened"  (Rom. 11:7, ESV).

When we say salvation is "of the Lord," (monergistic) we mean that no works of the flesh are prerequisite--faith is not a work or it would be meritorious salvation.  In a works salvation, you never know how much is enough and you have to keep trying without ever getting any peace and rest.  The only way to be assured of salvation is to have it solely from God and not a joint venture or cooperative work (synergistic).  This is where grace makes Christianity unique because it makes possible the full assurance of salvation in the here and now or in real time and in light of eternity.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Works Religion

"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works..."  (Titus 1:16, HCSB).
"Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.'  But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds?  I will show you my faith by my good deeds' ... You see, his faith and his actions worked together.  His actions made his faith complete"  (James 2: 18, 22, NLT).  

There are four contradistinctions:  Works equal salvation (religion); works plus faith equals salvation (legalism); faith equals salvation minus works (antinomianism), and faith equals salvation plus works (Reformed and evangelical theology).  

It is our natural inclination to believe that our works must count for something to gain the approbation of God; however, you never know in a works religion--God doesn't grade on a curve and the only way to be saved is by grace, not merit, which works imply.   The Bible is not against works, just those done in the flesh, for man cannot please God in the flesh (cf. Rom. 8:8).  All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags or useful for nothing (cf. Isa. 64:6).

All of the works of a believer are done by letting Christ live through him and He gets the credit, as we are just vessels of honor (Isa. 26:12).  Paul, himself, would venture to boast of nothing, except what Christ had accomplished through him (cf. Rom. 15:18).  We are not saved by works, but unto works, as Eph. 2:10 says "unto good works."  We are not saved by works, but we are also not saved without them:  Paul would say that he'll show you his works by his faith; while James would tell you that he'll show you his faith by his works.  The two, are distinguished and inseparable, and they cannot be divorced.

All coins have a flip side and can be seen in a twofold manner.  Antinomians believe we are saved by faith, but that works do not necessarily follow, so they say that faith equals salvation minus works.  On the other hand, the Reformers taught that we are indeed saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone--true faith always generates good works as validation.  Having no works is equal to no faith, just like a branch without fruit--YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS (cf. Matt. 7:16).  Faith must have fruit, for this is the reason we are saved, and no fruit means no faith.

Many think that works are a substitute for faith, but they are the evidence of it!   The problem with some sincere people is that they are "incurably addicted to doing something for their salvation," (according to Charles Swindoll), but the work of God is to believe in Christ (cf. John 6:29).  Works are indeed important in their own right because we are judged and rewarded for them, not our faith (cf. Rom.  2:6).  There are two issues concerning do-gooders, or those enamored with good works:  some cannot do enough because they put their faith in their works, not in Christ; while others are too confident in their faith that they think they don't need good works.

The Reformed formula for salvation is that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone; nonproductive or dead faith doesn't save.  James says, "Can that faith save?"  It should be noted that we can only do God's work by God's power, for Christ said, "Apart from me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).  Our good deeds are meant to show our faith and to win over others as Jesus said in Matt. 5:16, ESV: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

The problems encountered with some who do good works are that you can have works without faith--but not faith without works--each must examine himself.  We all need to put our faith into action because the faith you have is the faith you show!   We turn our faith into deeds or translate creeds into deeds, you might say--seeing we are not saved by knowing a creed, but knowing a person.  We are all called into the service of our Lord, and we are not saved by our service, but unto service!  The only true measure of faith is obedience as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."

Living the good life really amounts to abundant life in Christ, doing His will for your life, and serving in whatever capacity you are equipped to do by talent, gift, resources, opportunities, relationships, time, and circumstances.  The whole purpose of good works is that they give proof of our salvation, for without them our faith is suspect.  Theologically, faith and works are distinguished, but not separated--juxtaposed.  But works are the result, and outcome of faith, not the cause of it or part of it; we are not saved by faith and works, which is legalism, but by faith alone, but only a faith that is productive.  We do good works because we want to--not because we have to.

In summation, it boils down to the two viewpoints (Paul's and James's):  Paul teaches that works must spring from faith; James teaches that faith must be proved by works!

THEREFORE, YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY (BECAUSE OF) YOUR GOOD BEHAVIOR, BUT UNTO (FOR THE PURPOSE OF) GOOD BEHAVIOR!  TO BE BLUNT:  TRUE FAITH EXPRESSES ITSELF.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Closing The Deal

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Phil. 2:12-13, NIV). 
[Note that God is able to mold us like clay in a potter's hand (Isa. 64:8)!]

"[Who] have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..."  (1 Pet. 1:2, NIV).  [Note that we did not merit our election or it would be conditional, and we would have place to boast in God's presence.]

Salvation is like a done deal, but not to the highest bidder, but to the lowest! He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (cf. Luke 5:32; Matt. 9:13).  Jesus said that healthy people don't need a doctor by analogy, but sick people do (cf. Matt. 9:12).   Remember, religion says "do" while Christ says "done." If we think we are worthy, we're not.  Some believers actually are under the delusion that they cooperated with God for their salvation, and thus did some presalvation work in preparation.  God works grace in our hearts to make us willing and able to believe, known as special grace (common grace is given to all for general blessings and gifts according to Psalm 145:9).

The better we think we are, the less qualified we are.  Someone who thinks he is someone must become humble like a child (cf. Matt. 18:3) to enter the kingdom of God.  The only qualification for salvation, then, is to realize your need for God (to be "poor in spirit"), and your spiritual bankruptcy.  We have nothing but brokenness and strife to offer Him, according to the song.  Sometimes God has to bring us to an end of ourselves as He did to Nebuchadnezzar, and actually break us before we are willing to believe in Him.

Regeneration is God's work of grace, and its fruit is repentance and accompanying faith (call it either penitent faith or believing repentance, if you will!).  We are saved via sanctification of the Spirit (comes first or preceding faith, according to 2 Thess. 2:13 and 1 John 5:1 in ESV), and belief in the truth (coming afterward or post-regeneration and sanctification).  God actually quickens faith within us or awakens our spirit to the truth, and knowing the truth sets us free per John 8:32.  Charles Swindoll says, people are addicted to doing something for their salvation; the Philippian jailer asked what he must do, and the Jews asked Jesus what they must do to do the works of God ("this is the work of God:  to believe in the One whom He has sent," cf. John 6:29).  We must realize faith as a gift of grace and not a work of merit, for that would be meritorious salvation and we would have reason to boast. Salvation is not according to any work we did (cf. Titus 3:5).

God alone controls and is in charge of our destiny--it's in His hands!  He chose us and we didn't choose Him, according to Jesus in John 15:16. Note also that "many are called, but few are chosen," according to Matt. 22:14.  Salvation then is not some deal we make with God or something God owes us because of our faith--that would be justice if God had to save us and not grace.  God owes no one salvation and doesn't have to save anyone!  Salvation, then, is not a tradeoff, or something we give to God, namely faith, in return for salvation!  If we are already changed people we don't need salvation; we come to Christ for a changed and new, transformed life, we don't offer or give Him one in exchange for salvation--that's not grace!  We come as we are, but don't remain that way!  FAITH IS RECEIVED, NOT ACHIEVED, AS THE UNMERITED GIFT OF GOD (GRACE), and we didn't conjure it up of ourselves or our effort, but faith comes by the preaching of the Word  (cf. Rom. 10:17).

There are several proof texts that demonstrate that faith is a gift (Rom. 12:3;  Acts 16:14; Acts 18:27; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Pet. 1:1; Phil. 1:29; John 6:29), but when you understand grace and are grace-oriented it just makes sense that this has to be and the only way for God to get all the glory (sola gratia, Soli Deo Gloria).  Keep in mind that our salvation cannot be earned, isn't deserved, and cannot be repaid.  When a child is born, by analogy, he can take no credit for cooperating, in fact, he fought it!

God doesn't ask our permission before working on our hearts (He's determined to save us as the "Hound of Heaven" dogs us), He sovereignly chooses to save us and woos (the actual word in Koine is elko, which means to drag, like to drag into court).  We don't meet God's standard for salvation either--all have fallen short and all our works are as filthy rags (Rom. 3:23; Isa. 64:6)--in that our election unto faith is unconditional--without meeting conditions in any way, including faith and repentance as prerequisites; they are the fruit of regeneration.  In sum, this is God's way of making believers out of us--the beauty of it all is that we are made to want and desire Him (He turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh--cf. Ezek. 36:26), and apart from grace no one would; we have truly "believed through grace" (cf. Acts 18:27), and have received our faith (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1), which was granted to us as a privilege (cf. Phil. 1:29).

One of Jesus' hard sayings was that no one "can come to Him," unless it has been "granted of the Father" and the Father "draws him" (cf. John 6:44, 65).  We aren't saved because we were wiser, smarter, more virtuous, more disciplined, more successful, nor more popular, but because of God's "good pleasure," "will," "purpose and grace" (cf. Eph. 1:5; Eph. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:9). It wasn't anything we did at all!  We are not elected because we will believe or that God foresees us as believing (cf. that's the beginning of merit and is called the prescient view).  However, we are elected unto faith and repentance and so our destiny is ultimately in God's hands and He chooses, if God weren't in charge and sovereign, He wouldn't be God--for what kind of God isn't sovereign?  God is not one who reigns but doesn't rule like the do-nothing sovereigns of GB. In short, God's sovereignty is not limited by our freedom--it's total and complete!

When understanding God's freedom, note that He is not free to sin, and yet He is totally free.  We will enjoy this kind of freedom in glory, but now we are limited and fallen and are unable to do good or please God in the flesh (cf. Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:11; Rom. 8:7-8)--our freedom is limited this side of glory.   We are only able to sin before salvation, and after we have the ability to sin, and not to sin, while Christ was totally unable to sin!  The will is stubborn (cf. Jer. 5:23; 1 Sam. 15:22-23; Rom. 1:32; Psalm 81:12; Jer. 18:12; Isa. 63:17), and needs to be converted as well as the rest of us, we are in a state of rebellion before salvation.

That's the nature or essence of sin:  Man's "Declaration of Independence" form God! Man goes his own way (cf. Isa. 53:6).   In acknowledging God's sovereignty and lordship, He has reserved the right and power to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and to harden whom He will harden (cf. Rom. 9:18).  The elect will attain unto it, while the rest will be hardened (cf. Rom. 11:7).  Only those appointed unto salvation will believe (cf. Acts 13: 48).   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Being Soft On Sin

"I have kept myself from my sin"  (cf. Psalm 18:23). [Note "my sin" not "sin," since perfectionism is not possible this side of glory.]
"Who can say, 'I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free form sin?"  (Prov. 20:9, NLT).  
[Note that repentance is progressive and we are never too good to repent of some sin since there is no perfectionism state in the believer.]
"I have seen the consummation of all perfection..."  (Psalm 119:96, NKJV). 
 "... There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent" (Luke 24:47, NLT). 
"... [T]hat they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance"  (Acts 26:20, HCSB).  [The whole point is a changed and transformed new life in Christ.]

Repentance is a mandate and God demands that "everyone" repent (cf. Acts 17:30); it's a clear mandate, not fire insurance.  And no one can say he is good to go apart from obeying this recurring motif of Scripture.  God grants repentance as a gift of grace and a privilege (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18) and is good to us and patient in order to lead us toward it (cf. Rom. 2:4).  Some mistakenly believe that repentance is merely changing your opinions about sin: au contraire, it's a change of heart, mind, and will--and a change of behavior is the proof (cf. Acts. 26:20).  

Yes, repentance is a prerequisite, but it is the imperative and result of God's special grace in the heart (grace doesn't just facilitate it, but is necessary and sufficient)--so that we change from the inside out.  We must all come clean and own up to our sin or wrongdoing and make our U-turn or about-face from sin toward Christ.

In short, we must repudiate sin, and renounce it to show our change of heart. The true sacrifices of God are a contrite heart and David illustrated this with his penitential Psalm 51 and in verse 17 (NKJV) he says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise."

Prophets of old had the thankless job of preaching repentance (actually they called them to turn from their wicked ways and return to the Lord), and they did it as part of their job description to bring about true revival, which only results from total repentance, no matter the source (inspired preaching or prophetic utterance).  The mere mention of the word sin is taboo to some preachers because it's such a "killjoy" word!  God levels the playing ground and calls everyone a sinner, and it makes no difference to what degree, we all fall short, since it's not okay to fudge a little, one cannot say his sins aren't very serious, for example saying, "I only pilfered a few bucks from petty cash."  This is theft, period, no exceptions.

Prophets have a way of making you feel uncomfortable and ill at ease in your sin.  Sermons are meant to meet people where they are, and the good preacher knows his flock and is able to do this.  People get the message that sin repels God's nature like matter and antimatter cannot coexist.  Why doesn't God do something about all the sin and evil in the world?  He has, He made you!  Prophets also make the comfortable and complacent feel uncomfortable and convicted, while the troubled conscience is given hope.

The same message has dual effects, subject to the condition of the soul.  John the Baptist began his ministry with this prerequisite:  "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!"  Jesus, likewise, began:  "Repent and believe the gospel!"   Repentance is not some additional work we must accomplish to make ourselves qualified to believe or be saved, but a work of grace in our hearts, bringing us to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 2:25).  You cannot have true repentance without the accompanying saving or genuine and sincere faith--they go hand in hand and cannot be separated, but only distinguished--like two flip sides of a coin.  True repentance bears fruit to show its reality according to Acts 26:20 (quoted above), and if there's no change in one's life, his repentance is suspect.  Works are no substitute for repentance or faith, but only it's proof and evidence.

Calvin Coolidge, a church-going president, came home from church service and his wife asked him what the sermon was about:  "He preached on sin!"  What did he say about it, his wife inquired:  "He was against it!"  This is the gist of the gospel, God will not countenance sin, and we must not only measure the strength and sincerity of our faith but the thoroughness and completeness of our repentance. The fault of churches today is that they make and allow sinners to feel comfortable in their sin, with no urgent call to change their ways.  The church shouldn't be a place where sinners feel comfortable but become convicted of their sin, otherwise, they will get false assurance, not based on the truth of the gospel message.  They are welcome as seekers, but must realize that God is not soft of sin, but is holy--and without holiness, no one will see the Lord. (Cf. Heb. 12:14).

Now, all believers are still sinners in a technical sense (cf. Gal. 2:17), but believers are called saints and brethren and are justified sinners, members of God's family in Scripture, not sinners.   Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, and in reality, one never ceases to repent (it's not just a one-time event, but a progressive one with daily renewal), just like he never ceases to believe or grow in his faith, but believers are never to become callous or indifferent to sin and sinners but to have their conscience kept sensitive, not immune and insensitive to its presence and voice.  It's not always how big your faith is, but how complete your repentance--they go hand in hand!

What is appalling in some Christian churches or circles is that they pick on certain sins that offend them in particular; namely, homosexuality, divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc.  Even ex-cons are treated with contempt of unwelcome arms as if they aren't as holy as the others (beware of a holier-than-thou attitude per Isa. 65:5).  The worst of sins is the one of pride in the heart (cf. Prov. 6:17), and this is only visible to God because He looks on the heart of man, his motives and spirit, not the outward appearance (1 Sam. 16:7; Prov. 16:2; 21:2). "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart"  (Prov. 20:27, NKJV).  

Churches tend to be legalistic in the appraisal of man and only see "sins," and not "sin."  We need forgiveness from what we've done and deliverance from who we are.  It is true that we need to be saved from what we are (sin), as well as what we have done (sins), by justification and sanctification respectively, but then we are not to pick on certain pet sins that offend us, but to mention that the whole problem of man cannot be solved apart from the conviction of sin, accomplished only by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), and man must repent of his inner rebellion against God manifested in manifold "sins."

When we focus on merely one sin, let's say smoking is one, all we do is produce reformed sinners and not born-again ones.  Just because some alcoholic has been dry or clean and sober, doesn't mean he's saved.  This problem is compounded by many alcoholics who go to AA meetings and take their pledge and substitute this for the benefits of the local church.  They reduce Christianity to an AA pledge or the buddy system, and just because this keeps them sober, they think they are walking with the Lord or living a victorious Christian life--they must have higher goals than just sobriety.

In the story of the so-called sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet, the Pharisees were offended by her "sin" because they felt self-righteous.  We are all sinners saved by grace in Christ and God doesn't see our sin anymore, but only the imputed righteousness of Christ on our behalf.  And Jesus didn't see it this way, but that she only loved Him (love is the fulfillment of the law, cf. Gal. 5:14; Romans 13:8, 10) and all the more, because she had been forgiven more:  the point is that all of us have been forgiven "more," but we just don't realize it.  William Jay of Bath said that he is a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior!  Only when we realize the seriousness, reality, and severity of our sin, do we acknowledge that we have a real, serious, complete Savior who can give us victory over sin.  Yes, Paul said that we are more than conquerors in Christ (cf. Rom. 8:37).

When we get saved we are set from the power of sin and are no longer under its dominion, and this means all sin, including our pet ones or the ones that easily beset us (cf. Heb. 12:1).  Romans 6:18 (NLT) says, Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living."  Verse 14 says, "Sin is no longer your master...."  We are to let no sin have dominion over us  (cf. Psalm 119:133).  Even David prayed not to let any sin have power over him, as he says in Psalm 19:13 (NLT):  "... don't let them control me...."  David is speaking of presumptuous or great sin and we are to pray for victory as a matter of course.

Church is not a place for people to feel that their sins are overlooked or countenanced.  It's true that you can come to Christ as you are, but you cannot stay that way!   But they should become convicted and find solace only in repentance and the power of the gospel message to change them from the inside out.  We aren't looking for reform or conformity, but the transformation that only God can accomplish.  What He's done for others, He can do for anyone!   We welcome sinners but not with the approval of sin!  Just like they say that we love the sinner but reject the sin.  

Just like it says in Jude 22-23 (NLT):  And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.  Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment.  Show mercy to others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives."  We need to stop confirming sinners in their sin by accepting or overlooking sin.  The ideal place for bringing conviction is from the pulpit and the message is to be dependent upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 16:8);  it's not our job to convict of sin, but only God can do this.

A concrete example of a church being soft on sin is when they go out of their way not to condemn homosexuality, though we are not homophobic either, we are not to give the impression that it's not a sin!  Leviticus 18:22 clearly condemns this sin, but we are not to go on a witch hunt against this particular offense either, as being known as an anti-gay church; but churches are to be "anti-sin."  It's just as bad to boast that your church has no homosexuals attending.  Those churches that make it a mission to aim their guns at any particular sin, overlook sin in general, and that all sin offends God--why is, for instance, that you don't hear any anti-gluttony sermons?  It's probably because too many churchgoers are guilty of it!  When God demands repentance, it's of all our sins, not just the ones that offend others, ourselves, or the church!  It's no wonder we all tend to justify our personal sins and condemn those in others!  As it is written in Psalm 36:2 (NKJV):  "For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates [to hate his own sin]."

We shouldn't need to doubt the gravity of sin (there's really no such thing as a small sin), for Israel was given a graphic reminder of their iniquities every Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and do we need to see the Via Dolorosa of Christ and His passion, from the flogging to the mockery, to the crucifixion, whereby He suffered on our behalf without complaint, completely voluntary for the joy that was set before Him?  If sin weren't such serious business, God would've found another way to solve the sin question apart from Christ's death on a cross. Isaiah realized that sin cannot survive in God's presence because of He is thrice holy and said, "Woe is me, I am undone" (cf. Isa. 6:5).  Job likewise repented in "dust and ashes" upon seeing the LORD (cf. Job 42:6).   At a certain point of time the day of grace is over, and God appraises man with a plumb line of scrutiny, and he is found wanting:  He proclaims,  "... I will no longer ignore all their sins"  (Amos 7:8, NLT).  In Gen. 6:3 God says, "... 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever....'" Thank God we have a Savior:  "... [And] you are to name him Jesus, for he shall will his people from their sins"  (Matt. 1:21, NLT).

The conclusion of the matter is that it is no wonder that the closer you grow towards God and see His face in Christ, the more aware of your own sins you become and how repugnant they seem to you?  Familiarity normally breeds contempt, but not so with Christ, the apostles grew more aware of their own personal failures and shortcomings, and Peter himself declared bluntly:  "Depart from me O Lord, for I am a sinner!" (Cf. Luke 5:8).  While Christ alone could declare to the skeptics, "Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?..." (John 8:46, NLT).

Note that one must realize he is lost before being found, since the locus of the problem is our old sin nature, and one must become convicted of sin, before being set free of it in Christ:

"O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name's sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You"  (Jeremiah 14:7, NKJV).   

"... For you have stumbled because of your iniquity [sin has been your downfall!]"  (Hosea 14:1, NKJV).   

"For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.  There's no regret for that kind of sorrow.  But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death"  (2 Cor. 7:10, NLT).   Soli Deo Gloria!  

A Bona Fide Savior

We don't worship a martyr for a good cause, or a good teacher of moral principles, nor even a great example or role model of how to live life to the full, but a risen Savior who gives us a real hope of heaven and even a more abundant and fulfilling life in the here and now, which we learn to live in light of eternity as God's will is revealed to us through Scripture.

We must realize we are lost before Jesus can find us, for He came to seek and to save those who are lost (cf. Matt. 18:10; Luke 19:10).  That's why a good rule of thumb for evangelistic outreach is to get them lost first!  We are not to reach out with an easy-believism that downplays the importance of taking up our cross and following Him, as we learn to deny ourselves.  It's also called cheap grace that doesn't point out the cross to bear only justifies the sin, not the sinner.  Salvation is not cheap at all, but costs us everything--it's free, but paradoxically it's at the cost of ownership of our lives as we follow Him as Lord of our life.

It has been said wisely that, the more we realize what a sinner we are, the more real of a Savior Christ becomes.  Also, the closer you get to Christ, the more aware and convicted you become of your own shortcomings, failures, and sins.  William Jay of Bath said that he is a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior!

The gospels are not bios of Christ and do not attempt to describe Him, but to make Him known.  That's the difference:  We can know our God personally--a facet of God denied by Islam and Eastern faiths.  In other words, God gets personal with us and is a personality to get to know through His residence in our hearts.  The purpose of Jesus becoming manifest to the world was to save us, because that was our problem, and we were lost in sin and needed forgiveness and justification.  Jesus didn't come to educate us or enlighten us, but to open our spiritual eyes, and not to tell us what creed to believe, but to change our lives by residing in our hearts in personal union and fellowship.

Our salvation differs from Eastern tradition because it's not just learning a code of conduct, rules to live by, good advice, nor a collection of wise sayings to ponder, but is a restoration of our relationship with God.  The religions of the world believe in a creed, Christians believe in a person!  We don't need another to-do list, list of taboos, or prohibitions to refrain from legalistically.  God teaches us right from wrong and writes His law in our hearts so that we need no one to order us to do the right thing.  Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to anoint and teach us so that we can go directly to the Bible and read God's Word for us and speaking to us.

The reason Jesus is a Savior is because He is in the business of changing and transforming lives.  We learn an exchanged life in Christ with Jesus living through us!  If all you want to do is to improve your behavior, or kick a habit, or reform your vices, any religion will do, but if you want to know God, Christianity is the only one the foots the bill and can satisfy; merely acknowledging Him for who He is doesn't satisfy, we must surrender to Him and trust Him implicitly and unconditionally.  Yes, it might cost something to follow Jesus, but it costs more not to!  The whole beauty of our faith is that it rests in the power of God and not our own wisdom (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5; 1 Cor. 2:4-5)!

One pertinent promise to believers is that God promises that they will not be dissatisfied or disappointed in Christ (cf. Isa. 28:16; Rom. 10:11)--it's the way to the more abundant life Christ promised in John 10:10.  Walking in the Spirit, or with the Lord is a joy to transform and once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on!   One thing about the real McCoy of a genuine follower of Christ is that you can discern they have been with Jesus because it's apparent and cannot be denied because the Spirit will be irresistible and noticeable.  The Christian soon finds out that if he has Christ, he has all he needs and all that is necessary for a fulfilled life that has purpose and meaning.

All religions will tell you some moral principles and virtues, but everyone falls short because the real problem is man's sin, and only Christ gives us the power to overcome it and defeat it victoriously--we are not all on our own to find our own enlightenment or to reform ourselves by our own efforts and strength.  Christ is the threefold Savior:  As Prophet, He saves us from the ignorance of sin; as Priest from the guilt of sin; as King from the dominion of sin!  Yes, Jesus saved us--He did; He keeps us--He does; He's coming for us--He will!  Jesus was more than just another teacher or prophet--the Law did come through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus (cf. John 1:17).   He is the very personification of truth itself (cf. John 14:6), and all who are of the truth hear His voice (cf. John 18:37).

There is a world of difference between putting a new suit on the man, and putting a new man in the suit!  This is shown just as Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:17 (NLT):  "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"  A point in fact:  Jesus isn't looking for sidekicks, admirers, groupies, fans, nor buddies, but worshipers, lovers, and devoted servants who trust Him to take the pilgrimage with Him as their Pilot or Captain, going wherever He leads, following in His steps.

We must reverence Him for who He is, not just patronize Him with human respect or homage as a great leader, teacher, or example.  We must not only believe that He lived and died on a cross, but did so for us and is alive today!  The whole summation of Christian ethics is summed up in following Him, and this means a surrender to His lordship and ownership of our lives, there's no accepting Him part way or conditionally--He demands unconditional surrender, as it were; in the final analysis, obedience is the only measure of faith!  Genuine believers walk the walk and talk the talk, their profession is not bogus, but is demonstrated by a life of good works as proof (cf. Titus 1:16).

Of all the major world religions, you can remove its founder and still have the religion remain intact; i.e., Islam doesn't need Muhammad, nor Buddhism need Buddha--it's merely a collection of teachings and philosophy.  However, if you remove Christ from Christianity you disembowel it and there is nothing left--Christianity is Christ, and all else is circumference, it's been described by John Stott.  That's because Christianity is not a creed nor a code, but a relationship--this is not just a cliche, but a deeper truth to be recognized personally.   In short, salvation is but the establishment of a personal and family relationship with the person of God; while the only proof of salvation is fruit (cf. Matt. 7:16, 20)! We are saved to become a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13).

We need to be set free!  "People are slaves to whatever has mastered them"  (cf. 2 Pet. 2:19).  Paul says in Romans 6:16 (NLT):  "Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?  You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living."  We are meant to stand fast in our liberty and not become slaves again (cf. Gal. 5:1).   Acts 13:39 (NIV):  "Through him, everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses."

The only way to be set free is in Christ:  "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"  (John 8:36, NIV).  We no longer live in bondage to our old sin nature nor the yoke of the Law.  We do not have the freedom to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit!  We are no longer subject to the power of the Law:  "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace"  (Romans 6:14, NIV).  Soli Deo Gloria!  

The Freedom Of The Will

"For who makes you to differ?  What do you have that you didn't receive?"  (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).
"Apart from Me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).
By definition:  the will is the choosing faculty of the mind that makes decisions as it desires, apart from feeling any outside force--the issue is how free it is; basically, it's free to make mundane decisions but has lost ability to make divine choices to choose God apart from His work on our heart. What is important is that we still have self-determination; i.e., we make a decision for or against God voluntarily.   

Jonathan Edwards wrote a book by the above title, but he was a Calvinist, or as some call Reformed theologian par excellence, and wasn't propagating Arminianism or that grandiose idea or notion of a so-called free will  (liberum arbitrium).  "We are free but not freed," said Augustine--meaning we have retained the power to make choices and decisions, but have lost our liberty--we're voluntary slaves!  We sin and rebel against God precisely because we want to!  We are fallen creatures who have lost our inclination to good completely and totally--what so-called good we do is tainted (cf. Isa. 64:6) by evil motives and self-interest, like the applause of man.  We feel no outside force, though, which would be coercion or determinism.

Sin is rebellion against God's divine order and nature and anything that is repugnant to His holiness!  Martin Luther wrote the book, or diatribe,  De Servo Arbitrio, or, The Bondage of the Will, to refute Erasmus and the Catholic ideas of free will.  This word is never mentioned in Scripture, except for free will offerings, meaning voluntary ones.  We don't need a free will, but wills made free; we are not born free but born slaves to sin!  We get set free upon salvation and the Son is the only one who can adequately do it (cf. John 8:32,36).

In our decision making, the will is only a small part of the equation:  environment, heredity or genes, custom or tradition, pressure, etc. all play a role.  We all owe God for being born in America and most of us to Christian parents!  The thing about God being our Maker is that He designed our nature:  sanguine, choleric, melancholy, impetuous, happy-go-lucky, etc.  The point is that we didn't choose our nature!  We always act according to our nature, even whimsically or in an arbitrary manner sometimes.   As an analogy from nature:  the dove eats seed by nature; the hawk kills prey by nature; the vulture eats carrion by nature.  They will not act au contraire!   God is able to make us willing, though, and do so that we become believers (even against our former will), if He chooses to--God made a believer out of you and me, and it wasn't because we were virtuous or intelligent or even wise--we "believed through grace" (cf. Acts 18:27).

When we get saved, our whole soul and spirit gets saved: our heart, mind and will:  we become willing to do God's will; and able to comprehend God's Word, and able to love with our hearts and worship God with our spirits.  Our mind, heart, and will are all depraved--this is called total depravity (the first point of the Reformed acrostic TULIP).  If you deny total depravity you cannot maintain consistency with any of the other points in TULIP.  The will is wicked and stubborn (cf. Jer. 17:9; Isa. 46:12),   and needs redemption also--the heart of man is desperately sick and evil and we cannot know it (cf. Jer. 17:9).  God literally takes our stony hearts and makes them hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek. 36:26).

God bends our wills to His will by an act of sovereign grace ("grace reigns" cf. Rom. 5:21).  Our wills are not neutral in that they are able to weigh the pros and cons and make a freewill decision without any influence or wooing from the Holy Spirit to convict us and open our hearts to believe (cf. Acts 16:14).  Man was intended to have a mind to know God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him, but this was lost at the Fall, but is restored at salvation. Note that we never ceased to be men, but ceased to be good--after the Fall man is inclined towards evil.


Acts 18:27 says that we believe through an act of grace--it's a gift per 2 Pet. 1:1 and God grants it to us according to Phil. 1:29.  God gives each of us a measure of faith according to Romans 12:3.  The people that believe in free will think that God's sovereignty is limited by our wills!  They also claim some desire to be saved while others don't--no one seeks God per Rom. 3:11!   God's sovereignty is total and He reigns and rules over all--what kind of God wouldn't be in control of all?  Our destiny is in God's hands, and He decides who will get saved, not us--it's not a matter of sincerity or of willpower!  Some very strong-willed seekers will never come to faith because they simply rely on themselves--it's not a matter of trying, but of trust.  Note the hard saying of Jesus in John 6:44 and 65 that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws and grants it.

Salvation is monergistic, not synergistic, that is, it's solely an act of God apart from our cooperation--we don't contribute to our salvation nor do any presalvation works.  We are dead spiritually and God quickens faith within us and regenerates us so that we can believe in our hearts.  We weren't elected because we believe (prescient view) but we are elected unto belief, so that "Salvation is of the Lord"  (cf. Jonah 2:9).  It is not of man and God working jointly or in concert, nor of man's sole effort, but of God alone!  We don't save ourselves--there's only one Savior!   God wants all the credit and glory and we cannot even say that we wanted to get saved apart from His grace--without which no one would believe.  The almighty and sovereign God is able to change our disposition so that we desire Christ!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Sin Is "In"

"In Adams fall, we sinned all"  (The New England Primer).   
"God be merciful to me, the sinner"  (cf. Luke 18:13, NASB). 
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief"  (1 Tim. 1:15, NKJ). 
"... 'For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance'"  (Matt. 9:13, NKJV, cf. Luke 5:32).  


We must present the bad news of sin before the good news of Christ!  In other words:  Get them lost first!  The people are enslaved to sin and must be set free, self-help is no help, they need supernatural intervention by God's Spirit on their hearts.  It is sad that people think sin demonstrates their freedom, it only proves and shows their slavery.  We are all in the same boat, lost in sin just like one drowns in 700 feet of water as well as seven feet.  It is not the evangelist's job to convict of sin--that's the prerogative of the Holy Spirit!  Jesus came to save us from our sins (cf. Matt. 1:21) and was not aloof from sinners but reached out to them, getting down and dirty with common men.  

Sin is the way to go if you want popularity or to be cool; being holy is being square, uncool, or naive.  You have to be savoir-faire and know your way around the block, wise to the ways of the world, known as being streetwise or familiar with the game called life.  People nowadays believe that moral principles have evolved and adultery is no longer wrong, but anything goes if you can make up half-baked excuses for it or self-justification or rationalization.  Psychology won't even admit to the existence of sin.  Why?   Because Albert Camus said it best: "The absurd is sin without God!"  Dr. Karl Menninger, America's Freud and a Christian psychologist and psychiatrist, wrote a book entitled Whatever Became of Sin?

Psychology tends to see sin as mere deviance from the so-called norm (which is arbitrary, not absolute).  It seems like sin is creeping back into our vocabulary as we search for the answer:  we have found all the questions, according to G. K. Chesterton, now is the time to find the answers!  I believe we cannot solve our personal problems, and sin is the culprit, but we can manage them and get them under control--there's no such thing as sinless perfection in this life, because all Christians are merely works-in-progress, at varying stages of maturity and development.

Sin is sometimes called by pretty names to make it more palatable:  mistakes, poor judgment, weakness, bad habit, or even falling short of our own standards, not to mention God's, whose standard is the ultimate measure and judgment of sin.  We tend to glamorize sin and are becoming immune to its effect and influence, or even shock value as we see murder, rape, theft, etc., on TV and don't blink an eye because we are used to it and it doesn't offend us anymore--it seems okay to observe sin, but not do it?  The problem we have today in reclassifying sin and in not calling a spade a spade, as it were, is that we get enticed and drawn in unknowingly and become insensitive or immune to its influence.  If you were to take your bottle of rat poison and label it as candy in your cabinet, don't be surprised if your kids eat it--by changing labels and not coming to grips with what it is, we make it all the more dangerous!

Sin is our birthright and no one is immune from it--it's universal and no one can escape its clutches or power except by the grace of God in salvation.  The unbeliever has no power over his sin nature and can only sin, while the Christian has the ability to refrain from sin, as he has the ability to still sin at will.  We have become inoculated from sin, so we are unaware of its full impact.  Sin can be defined as our Declaration of Independence from God and a virus that affects everyone, for the Bible states:  "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"  (cf. Romans 3:23).  The first step to solving a problem with sin is admitting you have one, and the problem with sinners is that they don't see or admit their own personal sin--they justify themselves, which is the normal reaction.

We all have fallen short of God's ideal standard set by Christ in living the perfect life of obedience--the word, hamartia in Koine, or common Greek, means to "miss the mark" and is a marksman's word.  We aren't expected to be as "glorious" as God, for even Adam wasn't, but we miss the standard of the Law of Moses, which sets the precedents for all good and moral behavior and ethics for us to live by.  Sin is indeed a disease and we are all affected, no one is immune: we all have shortcomings, even by our own standards, and no one even lives up to his own expectations.

The command by God is to repent and turn from our wicked ways and follow on to know the Lord; we must renounce and denounce our sin and confess it, or say the same thing about it as God does, not some lame excuse for what we do in self-justification, which is our tendency. Sin has been our downfall:  "... For you have stumbled because of your iniquity"  (Hosea 14:1, NKJV).   We all can admit that there are things we "ought to have done," or have done something that wasn't God's will. 

Remember the words of God to Cain in Gen. 4:7:  "Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it."  Sin is self-destructive and may be seen as a virus that has affected all mankind.  The point in seeing ourselves as sinners is to awaken us to the fact that we cannot save ourselves, we cannot keep God's Law, and we are powerless over it; this ought to make us see our need for salvation, not make us just resolve to do better or take a self-improvement course, as it were, lifting ourselves up by our own bootstraps engaging in a mere do-it-yourself proposition of good works or deeds.

Repentance is more than turning over a new leaf, reforming ourselves, making a resolution, or vowing to do better next time, but a change of heart, mind, and will from the inside out, that results in a change of behavior to prove its reality--that it's not bogus.  The purpose of God laying down the Law was not to show us a way of salvation, but to show us how bad we are and we are bad enough to need salvation; we should be suing God for mercy, not trying to save ourselves by good behavior, morality, ethics, philosophy, religious ritual, or good works or deeds--the essence of religion (works-based, not faith-based).  Pray for a lively sense of sin, says Samuel Rutherford, because the more we get it, the less we sin--gross sinners aren't aware of the degree of their depravity, while saints have a fine-tuned and sensitive conscience, that notices minutiae of sin.

Man is not basically good nor inherently good, but lost this at the Fall of Adam, and is basically and intrinsically evil through and through--if sin or evil would be yellow, we'd be all yellow--and it is affecting his entire being, which needs salvation--mind, heart, and will.  Note that even the will is stubborn and recalcitrant and needs salvaging by God and God must melt the heart and make one willing to believe by His wooing and drawing of the Holy Spirit.   We all "enjoy" our solidarity with Adam--yes, sin is fun and games for a limited time, then new sins must be found; Hebrews 11:25 says that there is pleasure in it for a season.  Theologians have analyzed man's nature and found him wanting:  He is not a sinner because he sins; rather, he sins because he's a sinner--we all born sinners and cannot escape our birthright; i.e., we sin and err from the womb (cf. Psalm 58:3).  Sin made its entree in Adam's fall and we confirm that sin by repeating it ourselves, showing we are no better.

Psychologists tend to blame society and the environment or even one's parents for our sins, but this is a cop-out, and escaping our duty and responsibility.  The first sin was committed in a perfect environment!  We all know better and don't need a lecture to tell us we are sinners:  Ovid said, "I see the better things and approve them, but I follow the worst."  It has been said, though, that we are great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior.  When we see ourselves as real sinners and unworthy in God's sight, we realize Christ is a real Savior.

We all have feet of clay and no can really clean up his act; we don't do any pre-salvation work (however, the work of God is to believe in Christ and this is all God's doing!) and we don't prepare ourselves for salvation, but come as we are in faith for our "healing" to be made whole, and God will do the transforming of our person to be made new in Christ's image. However, this is the catch-22 according to C. S. Lewis:  We must see how bad we are to be good, and we don't know how bad we are till we have tried to be good!  It's like finding out how addicted to cigarettes you are only after trying to quit, and realizing for the first time that you are not in control of your cravings.

No one fools God, for He sees through the veneer and all of us are in the same boat of being called sinners--He has leveled the playing field and demands repentance from all ("... but now God commands men everywhere to repent," according to Acts 17:30, NKJV).  Christians are justified, but still, sinners (cf. Gal. 2:17).   In the last analysis, sin is not just a shortcoming or weakness, but a sign of evil and a direct consequence of Adam's sin, as we have inherited this tendency to sin and cannot escape our birthright, except by the grace of God, who doesn't just whitewash us, but transforms us---a miracle in itself from the inside out.   Soli Deo Gloria!  

Pure Religion

Scripture speaks of "pure religion" in James 1:27 and also in Acts 26:5 Paul mentions being from the so-called strictest sect of his religion, in Galatians Paul mentions the Jew's religion.  James says that if you cannot control your tongue, your religion is vain.  It has been said that Christianity is not a religion:  Is this a contradiction?  A contradiction violates the law of noncontradiction, which states something cannot be something and no be something at the same time and in the same manner of speaking. If two people say the same thing that seems contradictory but use different dictionaries, they are not violating the law of noncontradiction!

We say that Christianity is not a religion, in the sense of contrasting it with all other religions; they all involve reaching up to God and trying to gain His approbation by good deeds or works done in the flesh.  Christianity alone deals in grace without merit and salvation by faith without works alone for salvation!  There is such a departure from works religion that Christianity should be called a "faith," for we walk by faith and not by sight; our faith is given and not achieved, for then it would be meritorious--and we believe that salvation is by grace alone without meriting it (cf. Eph. 2:8-9).  James mentions "pure religion" and even if one had pure religion and didn't have faith it would be vain; for without faith, it's impossible to please Him (cf. Hebrews 11:6).

It is an insult to say that we "got religion" when trying to explain away our transformation of character and conversion experience.  Being born again is a miracle in itself and is evidence of the truth of the gospel message.  But note that our experiential knowledge is also based on the objective, historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus, which has "many infallible proofs" according to Luke 1:3.  It is not "pie in the sky," nor wishful thinking, but based in reality.  What He's done for you, He can do for others!  It is our job and calling to spread the Word and win souls (Proverbs 11:30 says that whoever wins souls is wise).  Our marching orders are to fulfill the Great Commission, as well as live by the Great Commandment, and to practice the Golden Rule as our ethic.

Religion says "do" while Christianity says "done."  It's that simple, and you can never know whether you've done enough in religion and therefore, you can never know for sure if you are saved or will enter Paradise, Nirvana, or Heaven, or wherever you aim to go.   It's not religion that saved us, but Christ.  The Bible doesn't save--even believing it or admitting it's the Word of God--and faith doesn't save, for it can be misdirected and the object of the faith is what's important.  It's Christ alone who saves and He accomplishes it by grace through faith.  Religion is largely a man's achievement, while Christianity is God's accomplishment.  It also isn't the amount of faith that saves, but merely the object that saves us, when it's placed in Christ alone.

And so Christianity shouldn't be referred to as a religion, but a relationship with God via a walk of faith with God in fellowship.  According to the dictionary, it's a religion, but Christians use a different dictionary for spiritual words, and it is to make a point that this contrast of the use of the word is made.  You can have all the religion in the world, and you won't please God unless you have faith in Christ!  The good works you do in religion are in order to please God, gain His approbation or good graces; while in Christianity you perform good works out of gratitude because of God's salvation of your soul and works are a "therefore," not an "in-order-to," like religion, strictly speaking in my definition.  Note that Christianity is the only "religion" with a knowable God that wants to have a relationship with us and we can personally know, trust and believe in.

If you don't worship the Lord, you will find something to worship, your job, your possessions, yourself, your lover, fame, fortune, power, success, careers, relationships, celebrities, heroes, entertainment, material goods in general, what have you.  John Stott has called man Homo religiosus, or a religious being--we were made for the worship of God and can only become fulfilled doing that.  Dostoevsky has said, "We cannot live without worshiping something." Worshiping anything or anyone besides God is idolatry! 

But our souls are restless, according to Augustine, until they find their peace in God.  Pascal said we all have a God-shaped blank only He can fill.  Secular Humanists claim they aren't a religion; however, the courts have ruled otherwise: they are a religion without God, and they are, by definition, very religious too.  Freud has called religion a neurosis, or even psychosis, but this doesn't explain the power of a changed life that testifies to its reality.  By the way:  Even atheism has been declared a religion by the Seventh Court of Appeals!

We were made for God and will only find happiness and fulfillment in doing His will and in knowing Him! And so all believers ought to strive to have "pure religion" as our standard (perfection is the standard, while the direction is the test per Matt. 5:48), though we'll never achieve it (cf. Psalm 119:9:96) it's an ideal because the Christian life itself is not hard, it's impossible! In sum, Christianity is so unique that it shouldn't be classified as a religion, but in contrast to it as faith or relationship with the living God! The reason religion is so popular and widespread is that people are incurably addicted to achieving something to get saved!  We tend to be "works-oriented" and put pride in ourselves and our achievements.    Soli Deo Gloria!

How Faith Is Caught...

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation [offering it and making it available] for all people"  (Titus 2:11, ESV).  

Some Secular Humanists believe faith is caught much the way one catches a cold; i.e., by hanging around believers and becoming "infected." Richard Dawkins wrote The God Delusion to elucidate, expound, and articulate this premise, and he believed we must be cured of our so-called illness or "mind-virus" that only those naive enough fall prey to; which is just like Freud saying religion is either a neurosis, or even a psychosis that must be healed by therapy.

The Bible does say that walking with the wise makes you wise, but no one gets faith by osmosis or being in the right crowd (it doesn't just rub off on us!), and we certainly don't inherit it either; no one gets in automatically, as from heredity or lineage, but must go through a turnstile or individually, one by one! It isn't who you know that bears any weight with God!  God's open invitation to "[taste] and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Psalm 34:8) is valid for all who desire to know Him, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating! 

We aren't converting to a creed or adherents to a philosophy of life, but followers of a person we can have a relationship with and know individually--we are converted to Jesus!  Scripture says in Romans 10:17 (NIV) that "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."  Preaching is God's methodology of choice and the Word is His seed that He plants into our souls and causes us to grow into faith.  Preaching isn't the method of the madness but opens doors and we are born through the power of the Word (1 Thess. 2:13, ESV, says,  "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers"). God opened Lydia's heart to respond to the gospel (cf. Acts 16:14).  God quickens faith within us and awakens us by regeneration to believe in Him and repent of our sins.  God opens our hearts (cf. Acts 14:27).  

The problem why some don't believe is that they refuse to repent:  they love their life too much to want change or transformation; i.e., they love sin, especially their pet sins and think the price is too high to get saved from them--the price for not repenting is higher! People don't have an intellectual problem but a moral one--that they don't want to live their lives for God!   You must have penitent faith (or believing repentance, if you will) to respond to the gospel message--you cannot come on your own terms!

It is true that believers encourage each other and can enable or build each other up by edification or a prophetic word, but God doesn't save groups or churches en masse, but only one by one!  The Bible challenges the skeptic to search for God; for God is no man's debtor (Matt. 7:7 says, "seek and you shall find") and God is always willing to authenticate Himself:  "Taste and see that the LORD is good..." (cf. Psalm 34:8);  Peter says in 1 Pet. 2:3 (NLT):  ".... now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness [goodness]," meaning God never disappoints anyone and no one will ever be put to shame because of Him, but God will make him a vessel of honor, doing His work.

Faith isn't something you have, it's something you do and see--our testimony must not be jeopardized! James would testify that you can see his faith by his works, while Paul said the flip side: "I'll show you my works by my faith!"   Faith is knowledge in action; it's not believing despite the evidence, but obeying in spite of the consequences, they say. It's important to have good role models during the formative years and to plant seeds in the youth, even if they aren't saved yet because God guarantees fruit if we don't give up (cf. Prov. 22:6). Parents are in the unique position as role models and authority figures to stand in the place of God or, in loco Dei, in Latin, and they can influence the character and attitude of their children most during their innocent (cf. Deut. 1:39 mentions an age of accountability by inference) and formative or impressionable years.

But the Bible makes it plain that faith is not rubbed off or caught like a fever, but the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to hear the Word of God as it's preached and expounded.  Again, faith isn't inherited, but parents in the unique position of having more direct and indirect influence, and leaving lasting impressions they'll never forget, even in old age!  For example, a child may recall:  "I remember how Grandma used to always say grace before meals and say a good-night prayer to bless everyone in the family!"

Someday conviction will catch up with them and the Hound of Heaven will come knocking at their door to be let in for salvation and fellowship.  The key to remember is that children are experts at spotting insincerity, acting, pretense, and hypocrisy--you cannot pass on a dubious faith as a lasting legacy!  The problem with most children is that they have grown up to be just like Dad, and that is not good news in some cases!

Every family needs its own Great Awakening and spiritual rebirth, regardless of whether parents are believers--only planting seeds of the Word are guaranteed fruit, not worldly wisdom or common sense.  Just like Socrates suddenly awoke from his dogmatic slumber, you never can tell the potential in a person who gives his life to Christ--and we all have unrealized potential that God sees in us as vessels of honor.

It all boils down to conviction of the Holy Spirit: "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts"  (2 Pet. 1:19, NIV).  In the final analysis, it's not always how big your faith is, but how thorough your repentance.  Soli Deo Gloria!

By The Grace Of God

"[H]e predestined us ... according to the purpose of his will"  (Ephesians 1:5, ESV). 

Paul would not boast, but in the Lord, but he was forced to tell of his sufferings for Jesus (cf. 2 Cor. 11) as if they were the marks of Jesus, a crown, and not just a feather in his cap.  Jesus warned him of the great things he must suffer for sake of His name upon his salvation experience in Acts 9:16.   We are all that we are by the grace of God, not just Paul. "By the grace of God, I am what I am..." (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10).   George Whitefield said, upon seeing a man dragged to the gallows, what he thought:  "There but for the grace of God, go I." That's humility, thinking of others rather than yourself, (if God were to withdraw His restraining grace from us, we'd be all worthy of prison or worse!), and thinking of your unworthiness compared to the grace of God.

None of us was elected conditionally, but unconditionally, and not according to anything we did or didn't do, or any work or righteousness in the flesh.  "Grace reigns through righteousness." (Cf. Rom. 5:21), and that means that grace is sovereign and when God decides to send grace it's irresistible and effectual in its purpose according to the will of God. God's sovereignty is over everything and absolute and is not limited by our freedom--what He says and decrees will happen according to plan! We have "believed through grace" (cf. Acts 18:27), and God quickened faith within us, as we received faith or were given it,  and didn't achieve it--it's a gift, not a work!  If it were a work we would have merit to boast of.  Merit is opposed to and counter to grace; we cannot earn salvation, didn't deserve it, and can never pay God back for it.

It is important to be grace-oriented to get away from the paralysis of legalism and the mentality that we have a performance-based faith and works earn favor with God or that we can ingratiate ourselves with Him.  "The faith you have is the faith you show, they say in theology.  Christians aren't saved by good works, but unto them and in order to do them as a result of gratitude and a changed heart.  We are indeed saved by faith alone, as the Reformers taught, but not by a faith that is alone!  Faith without works is dead, according to James 2:17 and we are not saved by them, nor without them, for they prove our faith as fruit--as a sign of a good tree.  (Ephesians 2:10 says we are "saved unto good works, which God ordained beforehand, that we should walk in them.")   God's providence guides us to a productive life of good deeds and works.

We cannot believe, except by grace, because Jesus said that we can do nothing apart from Him:  "Apart from Me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).  Every good thing comes from God, the Ultimate of Goodness or Supreme Good (of Plato), and source of all blessings; and every perfect gift is from grace to us to be stewards of.  Our righteousness, then, is not a gift or offering to God, but His gift to us!  "Who makes you to differ?  What do you have that you didn't receive?"  (Cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).  If left to ourselves, none of us would've chosen Christ (cf. Matt. 22:14, "Many are called, but few are chosen" and cf. John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you"). We weren't inclined to come to Him, and our destiny is ultimately in the hands of God, not ours!

The good works we do are God working through us as vessels of honor doing His bidding and will.  "I will not venture but to speak of what Christ has accomplished through me"  (cf. Romans 15:18).  "... you have done for us all our works"  (Isa. 26:12, ESV).  Our fruit is from God per Hosea 14:8 and the fruit of the Spirit is God's blessing on our lives as He cultivates us and causes us to grow; gifts are given, fruits are grown.  We don't automatically exhibit all the fruits as infant believers, but must grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, as 2  Pet. 3:18 exhorts.

Understanding grace is paramount to comprehend that salvation is all grace  (the work of God according to John 6:29, ESV, which says, "... This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent..!) and not our work:  "Salvation is of the LORD," according to Jonah 2:9 and that means it's not synergistic or a cooperative venture with God, nor a work of man alone apart from God's aid, but wholly accomplished by God;  salvation is the accomplishment of God, not the achievement of men, which is religion trying to gain the approbation of God and reach out to Him--Our God took the initiative and reached down to us in grace, seeing our hopelessness, and desperateness without His intervention.  He called us, not because of our works [of righteousness or pre-salvation works], but according to His purpose and grace (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9).  Works say "Do," while God says, "Done."

 No one can pat themselves on the back or give themselves kudos for achieving salvation as if they were wise, good, virtuous, or even intelligent!  It remains a mystery why God chooses some and not others ("the elect obtained unto it and the rest were hardened" according to Roman 11:7 and Acts 13:48 says that "as many as were appointed unto eternal life believed."

The Golden Chain of Redemption from Romans 8:29-30 makes it patent that God loses no one in the shuffle from foreknowledge to glorification--all who are called are justified, not some lucky ones who endure through trials or don't "lose their salvation." These verses militate against the prescient view that God elected us because we had or would have faith, instead, we are elected unto faith, not because of it--there is no room for any merit in our salvation.  You must distinguish between the inward call of God, which is always effectual, and the outward gospel call given by us to the lost to exhort them to repent and believe in Jesus, which can turn on deaf ears and be ineffectual.

And so none of us has the right to get a big head, even Paul had a thorn in the flesh to keep him from getting one, and we are all one in Christ, with no elite believers who are privileged or especially blessed--God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality (cf. Rom. 2:11; Acts 10:34).  If we think we came to Christ on our own and by our own ability without being wooed, we probably left alone too and don't have the Spirit.  If we don't need regeneration or grace to believe, what good is it and who needs it?  The only ones who get the call are the ones the Father grants can come to Him and the ones He draws or woos (elko or to drag in Greek--implying force). 

There is no second blessing, or higher life, or work of grace, as some holiness-movement believers (Neo-Pentecostal or charismatics) will have you believe--nowhere are we commanded or exhorted to seek the "baptism" of the Spirit.  "We are all baptized into one body by the Spirit"  (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13).  There is one Lord, one faith, and only one baptism according to Eph. 4:4!  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Out Of The Slave Market Of Sin

Please reflect on and ponder the following verses relating to our freedom in Christ! 

"Being made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness"  (Rom. 6:18, KJV).

"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything [namely, sin]"  (Acts 13:38, ESV).

"For freedom [liberty] Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke [bondage to] of slavery [to the Law or legalism]"  (Gal. 5:1, ESV).   

"Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin.  But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is" (1 John 3:6, NLT).  [Carnality is temporary.]

"Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them.  So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God"  (1 John 3:9, NLT).

"So if the Son [only Christ can liberate us from sin's power] sets you free, you will be free indeed [from sin's bondage]"  (John 8:36, ESV).

"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything"  (Acts 13:38, ESV). 

INTRO IN ITALICS:
Note that it's the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, performing an open-and-shut case, while the adversary, the devil, merely accuses us of sin.  We are only responsible for what God reveals to us and convicts us of, not any vague sense of guilt or having a guilt-complex.  Jesus challenged the authorities and Pharisees to convict Him of sin (cf. John 8:46), and He knew no sin, did no sin, and had no sin, yet Christ became sin on our behalf and suffered its full penalty.   But He had to live for us also a life of obedience to the Law of Moses, in order for God to impute His righteousness to us.


Theologians define our situation of depravity as follows:  "We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners [we can't help but sin and only do what's natural to our nature]."  We are not basically good but evil: inherently and thoroughly tainted from the image of God:  "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots  Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil"  (Jer. 13:23, ESV).   Paul says in Romans 3 that there is none that does good, no not one! Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, proclaimed our predicament:  non posse non peccare or that we are unable not to sin--we can only sin as natural men, even our good deeds are tainted and have wrong motives, our righteousness is as filthy rags per Isaiah 64:6 and our righteousness is not our gift to God, but His gift to us (cf. Isa. 45:24).  Our fruit is from Him (cf. Hos. 14:8) and "... [He] has done for us all our works" (Isaiah 26:12, ESV).  Paul said in Romans 15:8 (ESV):  For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me...." 

At salvation, we are redeemed from the slave market of sin and set free, no longer in bondage to our old sin nature as its slave, but given the power to overcome.  Indeed if we remain in our sins or continue in them we are not free. There is no category of believer who is in perpetual sin or carnality if he is unrepentant, he is lost--the believer may fail his Lord, but he yearns to obey.  Obedience is the only true test of saving faith, as a Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis, said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." However, we see the result of salvation:   "For sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace"  (cf. Rom. 6:14).

As believers, we are saved from the penalty of sin at salvation, the power of sin in time, and the presence of sin in eternity.  We are born to become overcomers and be masters of our own domain, and comfort zone, not like fish out of water.  Who is it that overcomes the world, but he who believes in the Son of God? (Cf. 1 John 5:5).  We also know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (cf. 1 John 5:20).  We ought to consider ourselves dead to sin, no longer obeying that cruel taskmaster.

Romans 6:16 (NLT) says, "Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?  You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living."   And 2 Pet. 2:19 (NLT) says, "They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption.  For you are a slave to whatever controls you."    Jesus said that unless you believe He is who He says He is, you will die in your sins (cf. John 8:24).  

We are to examine our fruit regularly (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5) to see if we are walking in the Spirit and following on to know the Lord in fellowship and obedience.  We have been rescued from Satan's power and the power of our own selves because we are our own worst enemy.  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us to overcome sin and set us free:  "[That] I may know him and the power of his resurrection..." (Phil. 3:10, ESV).

However,  the adversary knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and exploits them to catch us at an opportune time after a victory or on a spiritual high.  Epictetus appropriately said that we are never free till we have mastered ourselves.    Everyone has some easily besetting sin (cf. Heb. 12:1) or even pet sin that they find difficult to stop committing and keeps tripping them up.  But the good news is that there is always an escape clause and way to defeat it because no sin is a temptation Christ didn't face and overcome--He is able to sympathize with our weakness and even intercede for us when we do sin.

The whole purpose of repentance is not to change your opinions about your sins, but to come to a change of heart, which means mind, feelings, and will.  It will result in the fruit of a changed life and conduct (cf. Acts 26:20; Luke 3:8).  We "must prove [our] repentance by [our] deeds" (cf. Acts 26:20).  We must also bring forth fruit worthy of our repentance.  No fruit, no repentance.  The key to overcoming sin is genuine repentance, and confession, which implies saying the same thing about as God says and being willing to stop it;  we must be sorry enough to quit!  Our commission:  "... [That] repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem"  (Luke 24:47, ESV).

The trouble with the sinner is that he doesn't see his own sin, according to Martin Luther,  and even flatters himself too much to hate it (cf. Psalm 36:2).  We don't have the power in ourselves to overcome sin, but must learn to walk in the Spirit--the secret to that is to keep short accounts of your sin with regular and frequent confession.  Walking with God is only possible with progressive and continued repentance--it's a way of life, not something we go to confession to do and be absolved by a priest.

We can fall from grace, but not the state of grace, and not absolutely; however, we can and do backslide, but God can heal us of it and restore us (cf. Hos. 14:4).  Paul told the Galatians just that and to stand fast in the liberty they had in Christ.  The whole point of salvation is to be saved from the tyranny of sin and live a transformed life in Christ:  "... [And ] you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins"  (Matt. 1:21, ESV).

Religion is an exercise in futility as one lifts himself up by his bootstraps and reforms himself and engages in a do-it-yourself proposition, while Christ gives us the power for change by grace [a foreign word to world religion]. Conversion is not an acceptable way to have a nervous breakdown, but a transformed life, not done by self-help, an AA-like pledge, nor self-reform, but God changing one from the inside out.  When sin abounded, grace abounded all the more (cf. Romans 5:20).

Victorious living is then learning to put off the old man, and put on the new man, made in the image of Christ. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom"  (2 Cor. 3:17, ESV).    In sum, when we sin we are not showing our freedom, but demonstrating our slavery!
Soli Deo Gloria!