Post by Les Brewer on Mar 9, 2012 13:58:26 GMT
Good morning to all of the beloved of God.May the choicest blessings of God be upon you!
To continue our study from yesturday on the freedom from sin found in Jesus Christ,let's turn to the book of John 8:31-38.Jesus is here talking to the religious leaders of His day about several subjects,one of which is sin and being set free in Him.In verse thirty-four,Jesus uses the same word "commit" in explaining that whoever practices unabated,unhindered sin,is in fact the slave of sin.One other subject that He points to is the subject of truth.Verses 31-32 states,"....If you abide in My word,you are my disciples indeed.And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free...." There are two things I'd like to say concerning this topic:
1.)Philosophy is the search for truth.The Bible is not a search for truth.It is the TRUTH (John 17:17).The word of God is all the truth about ourselves and God that we need to know at this time,to get us from this temporal life into eternal life.It is a sad fact in the body of Christ in today's modern church,that many preachers and teachers no longer believe the Bible to be the word of God.They no longer believe in the Virgin Birth,Christ's sinless perfection,the Resurrection,The Rapture,His precious blood's atonement.In my humble opinion they should leave the pulpit and quit preaching,and start selling car insurance or something.
2.)The first thing that takes place in a person's life when convicted in their heart of their need for the Saviour should be an accute awareness of their sinfulness before a thrice Holy God.Being honest about our situation before God is one of the first things required in order to receive forgiveness of sin.Let me explain:In societies today all over the world there are millions possibly even billions of people who are in bondage to some type of sin.Here in America,we are inundated with the Methanphetimines scurge.Everywhere you turn we see it's affect on our country.Drunkeness is at an all time high.We have an estimated 30 million alcoholics and another 30 million problem drinkers in this country alone.Maybe I'm just ignorant,but what is the difference between a drunk and a problem drinker?Which brings me to my point:We have clinics and classes galore funded by both the government and the private sector and even in churches all over the country they have celebrate recovery programs ad-nausium.We have NARCO-NON and ALO-A-NON classes that describe the sin of drug abuse and drunkeness as a disease.Let me be very clear.It is a sin,the same as lying,cheating,murder,rape,lust,adultry,fornication,hatred,wrath,strife,heresies,witchcraft and the list goes on.It is not a disease any more than any of the rest of these sins listed.Man's solution to his sin problem is to blame the problem on someone else or to just call it a disease so as to lessen our own culpability and responsibility in the matter.We somehow do not want to admit that we are sinners and have broken every one of God's laws incurring His wrath to fall upon us if we do not repent.
I do not have a problem with programs to help those in need,but when we find every excuse under the sun as a reason for our problems except the real problem,we have not helped anyone.The real problem with the whole human race is that we are sinners,we were born that way.Our proclivity,our bent, is toward sin.We can not help it,we will never be able to help it outside of Christ.People may go to these places for help,and some will stop using drugs or alcohol or whatever else,but if they do not come to the foot of the cross for freedom from the sin nature they have not made things right with God.Let me say that again.If a person stops using drugs or alcohol,to be sure they have bettered themselves,congradulations are in order,but,if you have not gone to God with Holy Ghost,heart felt sorrow for offending God and His Holy Law,and have accepted Christ as your LORD and SAVIOUR,and committed your life to following Him,you have not really bettered yourself at all.The problem of the penalty for sin is still there.Just because a person stops doing something that is wrong does not mean that God automatically forgives your sin.This is not true Biblical repentence.
The enemy of our soul is very smart and very deceptive in how he manages to get people to believe that if they just quit doing things that everything is alright.Wrong,wrong,wrong.Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can set the captives free.This is what Jesus meant when He said,"whom the Son sets free is free indeed".Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to be set free from any sin that you may be involved in.There is no need to have 12 steps,10 steps,5 steps or even 2 steps to recovery.There is ONLY ONE STEP,Jesus Christ and the cross is the only step anyone needs or will ever need.He paid it all,all to Him I owe.Any other way of dealing with the sin problems in our life is a false way,and in eternity will only prove fatal for your soul.
I realize that This post was lengthy,but I felt led of the Lord to say the things that were said.Let Jesus take the problem and give you true deliverence from sin and bondage of all types.He still sets the captives free...In Christ,JW
To continue our study from yesturday on the freedom from sin found in Jesus Christ,let's turn to the book of John 8:31-38.Jesus is here talking to the religious leaders of His day about several subjects,one of which is sin and being set free in Him.In verse thirty-four,Jesus uses the same word "commit" in explaining that whoever practices unabated,unhindered sin,is in fact the slave of sin.One other subject that He points to is the subject of truth.Verses 31-32 states,"....If you abide in My word,you are my disciples indeed.And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free...." There are two things I'd like to say concerning this topic:
1.)Philosophy is the search for truth.The Bible is not a search for truth.It is the TRUTH (John 17:17).The word of God is all the truth about ourselves and God that we need to know at this time,to get us from this temporal life into eternal life.It is a sad fact in the body of Christ in today's modern church,that many preachers and teachers no longer believe the Bible to be the word of God.They no longer believe in the Virgin Birth,Christ's sinless perfection,the Resurrection,The Rapture,His precious blood's atonement.In my humble opinion they should leave the pulpit and quit preaching,and start selling car insurance or something.
2.)The first thing that takes place in a person's life when convicted in their heart of their need for the Saviour should be an accute awareness of their sinfulness before a thrice Holy God.Being honest about our situation before God is one of the first things required in order to receive forgiveness of sin.Let me explain:In societies today all over the world there are millions possibly even billions of people who are in bondage to some type of sin.Here in America,we are inundated with the Methanphetimines scurge.Everywhere you turn we see it's affect on our country.Drunkeness is at an all time high.We have an estimated 30 million alcoholics and another 30 million problem drinkers in this country alone.Maybe I'm just ignorant,but what is the difference between a drunk and a problem drinker?Which brings me to my point:We have clinics and classes galore funded by both the government and the private sector and even in churches all over the country they have celebrate recovery programs ad-nausium.We have NARCO-NON and ALO-A-NON classes that describe the sin of drug abuse and drunkeness as a disease.Let me be very clear.It is a sin,the same as lying,cheating,murder,rape,lust,adultry,fornication,hatred,wrath,strife,heresies,witchcraft and the list goes on.It is not a disease any more than any of the rest of these sins listed.Man's solution to his sin problem is to blame the problem on someone else or to just call it a disease so as to lessen our own culpability and responsibility in the matter.We somehow do not want to admit that we are sinners and have broken every one of God's laws incurring His wrath to fall upon us if we do not repent.
I do not have a problem with programs to help those in need,but when we find every excuse under the sun as a reason for our problems except the real problem,we have not helped anyone.The real problem with the whole human race is that we are sinners,we were born that way.Our proclivity,our bent, is toward sin.We can not help it,we will never be able to help it outside of Christ.People may go to these places for help,and some will stop using drugs or alcohol or whatever else,but if they do not come to the foot of the cross for freedom from the sin nature they have not made things right with God.Let me say that again.If a person stops using drugs or alcohol,to be sure they have bettered themselves,congradulations are in order,but,if you have not gone to God with Holy Ghost,heart felt sorrow for offending God and His Holy Law,and have accepted Christ as your LORD and SAVIOUR,and committed your life to following Him,you have not really bettered yourself at all.The problem of the penalty for sin is still there.Just because a person stops doing something that is wrong does not mean that God automatically forgives your sin.This is not true Biblical repentence.
The enemy of our soul is very smart and very deceptive in how he manages to get people to believe that if they just quit doing things that everything is alright.Wrong,wrong,wrong.Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can set the captives free.This is what Jesus meant when He said,"whom the Son sets free is free indeed".Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to be set free from any sin that you may be involved in.There is no need to have 12 steps,10 steps,5 steps or even 2 steps to recovery.There is ONLY ONE STEP,Jesus Christ and the cross is the only step anyone needs or will ever need.He paid it all,all to Him I owe.Any other way of dealing with the sin problems in our life is a false way,and in eternity will only prove fatal for your soul.
I realize that This post was lengthy,but I felt led of the Lord to say the things that were said.Let Jesus take the problem and give you true deliverence from sin and bondage of all types.He still sets the captives free...In Christ,JW
