Post by Les Brewer on Mar 26, 2012 7:02:37 GMT
Calvary's Cross Ministries
Preaching Christ Crucified,I Cor.1:18-25
From the Pastor's desk and heart.
Good morning to all and God bless you all!
... Galatians 5:1-4,"Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.Indeed I,Paul,say to you that if you become circumcised,Christ will profit you nothing.And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.You have become estranged from Christ,you who attempt to be justified by law;you have fallen from grace."(NKJV)
Standing fast in the liberty with which Christ has provided for us through His substitutionary death,is true liberty indeed.He conquered the sin problem and paid the ransom to purchase us back from the devil,who held us in bondage to sin and the law.Those who know Christ through faith and salvation,know what I'm talking about.They know the freedom that one experiences when they know that their sins have been forgiven and the guilt of those sins has been removed.
We no longer have to fear the wrath of God that's about to be poured out on those who do not obey the gospel of Christ and on those who do not know Christ (II Thess.1:3-12).
The yoke of bondage spoken of by Paul,is speaking of the law of Moses,but could also be applied to any rule or law instituted by man over others in an attempt to control others through fear or the guilt trip.I'll give an example:A person has just given their heart and life to Christ,they've truly been born again,and now comes to the process of sanctification in their life (how you live for God once you are saved).Someone with good intentions wants to help this young convert to Christ begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ,comes along,and immediately begins to heap rules and regulations upon this babe in Christ.Do this,don't do that!You have to go to church,you have to take the Lord's supper,you have to stop drinking,and you have to stop living with your lover,you have to stop doing this and that if you are going to be a true christian.All types of things are heaped upon these young babes in Christ,thereby overwhelming them and immediately the devil seizes upon the opprotunity to heap discouragement upon them,and many fall away from the truth,because they cannot live up to all the new rules and regulations being heaped upon them,by wrong but well meaning christians.And then when failure inevitably occurs,they are told that their conversion to Christ was not real.How sad this must make our Lord when we offend one of these little ones.
What are you saying preacher?Are you saying it's wrong to go to church,to take the Lord's supper,to study the Bible and pray,or do any of the other disciplines of the christian faith? No not at all,all of these things are good disciplines to do in order to get established in the faith.But what takes place even with good intentions is that they will become dependant upon the works that they should do as their means of salvation,rather than keeping constant faith in Christ and the cross.
This is exactly what Paul is talking about in this context of Scripture.Once we are saved by faith,we are then taught to walk by sight,thereby forsaking faith as the only means by which anyone can be saved.Paul said we have fallen from grace.We have become estranged from Christ,whoever we are,if we try to obey rules and regulations.We should all do good works,everyone of us,but not as a way to secure our sanctification,this will never happen.To be sure,if we allow others to dictate to us what we should do to be considered a "true christian",then there will be no end to the rules we will have to live up to,given to us by others in order to stay in their good graces.
This is the very thing that Christ encountered with the religious leaders of His day.He taught a relationship with the Father could be had solely through faith in Him as the Way to God (John 14:6).We must be careful in our walk with Christ,not to be entangled again with the yoke of the bondage of rules and regulations,placed upon us by well meaning but hypocritical people,who most likely do not practice what they preach themselves.Beware of anyone who would try to place you under condemnation for not following in their footsteps.Jehovah's Witnesses are notorious for knocking on your door and proclaiming that they are the only true Christains,because they go from door to door,and do this or that.
To be sure if a person has truly repented from a sinful life through godly sorrow,and has accepted Christ's sacrifice as the only way of salvation,then they will most likely want to do all the things that they should,all of the disciplines of the faith,but we must be careful not to heap upon them too much at one time.Good works are the outworking of the evidence that they are saved,it is not what saves them.Faith in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation.Let us all be careful not to fall from our own stedfastness,which is grace,not works.God bless you all this Sunday morning.....Love in Christ......JW
Preaching Christ Crucified,I Cor.1:18-25
From the Pastor's desk and heart.
Good morning to all and God bless you all!
... Galatians 5:1-4,"Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.Indeed I,Paul,say to you that if you become circumcised,Christ will profit you nothing.And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.You have become estranged from Christ,you who attempt to be justified by law;you have fallen from grace."(NKJV)
Standing fast in the liberty with which Christ has provided for us through His substitutionary death,is true liberty indeed.He conquered the sin problem and paid the ransom to purchase us back from the devil,who held us in bondage to sin and the law.Those who know Christ through faith and salvation,know what I'm talking about.They know the freedom that one experiences when they know that their sins have been forgiven and the guilt of those sins has been removed.
We no longer have to fear the wrath of God that's about to be poured out on those who do not obey the gospel of Christ and on those who do not know Christ (II Thess.1:3-12).
The yoke of bondage spoken of by Paul,is speaking of the law of Moses,but could also be applied to any rule or law instituted by man over others in an attempt to control others through fear or the guilt trip.I'll give an example:A person has just given their heart and life to Christ,they've truly been born again,and now comes to the process of sanctification in their life (how you live for God once you are saved).Someone with good intentions wants to help this young convert to Christ begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ,comes along,and immediately begins to heap rules and regulations upon this babe in Christ.Do this,don't do that!You have to go to church,you have to take the Lord's supper,you have to stop drinking,and you have to stop living with your lover,you have to stop doing this and that if you are going to be a true christian.All types of things are heaped upon these young babes in Christ,thereby overwhelming them and immediately the devil seizes upon the opprotunity to heap discouragement upon them,and many fall away from the truth,because they cannot live up to all the new rules and regulations being heaped upon them,by wrong but well meaning christians.And then when failure inevitably occurs,they are told that their conversion to Christ was not real.How sad this must make our Lord when we offend one of these little ones.
What are you saying preacher?Are you saying it's wrong to go to church,to take the Lord's supper,to study the Bible and pray,or do any of the other disciplines of the christian faith? No not at all,all of these things are good disciplines to do in order to get established in the faith.But what takes place even with good intentions is that they will become dependant upon the works that they should do as their means of salvation,rather than keeping constant faith in Christ and the cross.
This is exactly what Paul is talking about in this context of Scripture.Once we are saved by faith,we are then taught to walk by sight,thereby forsaking faith as the only means by which anyone can be saved.Paul said we have fallen from grace.We have become estranged from Christ,whoever we are,if we try to obey rules and regulations.We should all do good works,everyone of us,but not as a way to secure our sanctification,this will never happen.To be sure,if we allow others to dictate to us what we should do to be considered a "true christian",then there will be no end to the rules we will have to live up to,given to us by others in order to stay in their good graces.
This is the very thing that Christ encountered with the religious leaders of His day.He taught a relationship with the Father could be had solely through faith in Him as the Way to God (John 14:6).We must be careful in our walk with Christ,not to be entangled again with the yoke of the bondage of rules and regulations,placed upon us by well meaning but hypocritical people,who most likely do not practice what they preach themselves.Beware of anyone who would try to place you under condemnation for not following in their footsteps.Jehovah's Witnesses are notorious for knocking on your door and proclaiming that they are the only true Christains,because they go from door to door,and do this or that.
To be sure if a person has truly repented from a sinful life through godly sorrow,and has accepted Christ's sacrifice as the only way of salvation,then they will most likely want to do all the things that they should,all of the disciplines of the faith,but we must be careful not to heap upon them too much at one time.Good works are the outworking of the evidence that they are saved,it is not what saves them.Faith in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation.Let us all be careful not to fall from our own stedfastness,which is grace,not works.God bless you all this Sunday morning.....Love in Christ......JW
