Today I listened to a sermon on How Men Are Saved, and we know that it is through JESUS CHRIST and His sacrifice, His righteousness, it's all through Him. So how do we live a Christian life after we've accepted Jesus as our sole source of salvation? How do we put the actions of living a Christ life with the fact none of those actions earn us 'points' towards salvation? How do we not - DO the RIGHT things- out of a selfish desire to be good? I mean common sense tells us that we are to love Christ and in loving Him accept Him, living our lives for Him. Why then are there so many people who believe that it doesn't matter at all how you live because living the perfect life will still not gain you salvation?
Satan has taken the pure message of our Lord and perverted it yet again.
Our Savior does NOT want us to sin. Is there ANYTHING in the word of God that gives the remotest hint that Jesus didn't care if someone sinned, that sin didn't matter at all?
He was accused of associating with blatant sinners, did that mean He condone and accepted their sinning?
Luk 19:2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
Luk 19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
Luk 19:4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
Luk 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
Luk 19:6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
Luk 19:7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
Luk 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Zacchaeus KNEW he was a sinner and immediately in the presence of the Son of God he wanted to right that which he'd done wrong. He no longer wanted to be that sinner.
And Jesus responded to this man's change of heart with this--
Luk 19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
THIS DAY is salvation come to this house.
The SON of Man came to SEEK and SAVE that which was lost.
And Zacchaeus a known sinner repented in the presence of Jesus.
Zacchaeus made a promise to LIVE as he knew was right- giving to the poor and righting his previous wrongs. He wanted to live this way because He knew that Christ, His Savior desired this of Him.
Jesus desire right living from us all, doesn't He?
Joh_5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh_8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Sin no more.
Sin no more.
Saved and admonished not to sin.
So why is it so hard for us to believe that we are to live uprightly as we KNOW our Savior desires, even while KNOWING that none of those actions have the consequence of earning us salvation, or bring us any merit in the eyes of God?
We are caught up in wanting our actions to earn us things. We want that PAT on the back. We WANT to be able to say WE did this, it was OUR action, it was OUR goodness, OUR rightness, OUR specialness, that made us able to do that good stuff.
The truth is NONE of our goodness means anything at all when it comes to salvation.
We can be 'good' because we know that our LOVING LORD desires us to live within His commandments given out of love to us, but do so knowing none of those actions are being put on a tally sheet towards our earning the salvation crown.
We aren't to be 'good' in order to gain anything- not even the slightest commendation, especially not to pat ourselves on the back. Focusing on our own goodness is the last thing our Savior would want us to do.
Our focus is to be OUTWARD, not INWARD.
It's easy to get depressed and sink down into despair when we feel as if we are falling short of the mark- remember that verse I quote very often-
Rom_7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Paul an apostle felt this way too! He lamented his inability to be the perfect man he knew that was desired of Him.
Did he stop doing good, did he give up the good fight? No. It was because HE knew that His salvation was in Jesus Christ alone not within his own ability to be sinless. He didn't give up, he engaged in the spiritual battle every day of his life from the point of his salvation. He knew it was a battle too, and not some strange belief that his actions no longer mattered because He been saved. He knew he was going to be in this fight until the end. He also knew that all the armor and the weapons we had on our side were from Jesus Christ. He knew that everything we had to fight with came from the source of all good, and none of that armor was of his own making. Every victory in the battle, every single dart reflected off the shield, every wicked attack thwarted by the slicing of the sword, was a result of JESUS and JESUS alone!
The fight to acknowledge that we can't of our ourselves do anything good is a very real fight all it's own and the fight Satan wants all of us to wage. He wants us convinced that we can do good all on our own. Remember with Eve, He wanted her to believe that she didn't need God, that God was trying to keep good things from them. He was, and is a perverter of truth in every way. If we aren't interested in keeping God's moral laws because they won't let us earn points towards salvation, then Satan is THRILLED. If we are interested in keeping God's moral laws because was believe they do let us earn points towards salvation, then Satan is equally THRILLED. If we ARE interested in keeping God's moral laws because we know they are the guidelines of love given to us by our God, and we know that it is through His power alone that we are able to keep any of those laws, and that we are not saved by keeping them, but through the same power of Christ we are given eternal life, then Satan is very, very unhappy! Satan does NOT want us to live spiritual lives! Satan wants us caught up in all the things of this world and a very big thing of this world is selfishness and earning points for good behavior on some level. How often have you done something around the house and wanted acknowledgement for all your hard work? What about the work you've done on your job? You want the accolades even the tiny ones because they make you feel good, they make you feel as if you've are good for having done good and you deserve at the very least the recognition of your good actions. This is the life Satan wants us consumed with.
Being good by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR earns us NOTHING, but it does something very, very special- IT GIVES GLORY TO GOD!
Yes! It GIVES GLORY TO GOD! Yet Satan would have us want to steal that glory for ourselves. He's conditioned us to steal the glory, to in all our graciousness accept the praises that come and let them wash over us, filling our cup of self-gratification.
The glory belong to GOD, not to us!
All glory to GOD, this is something we truly need to comprehend.
All glory to GOD!
Less of us and way more of HIM!
Please LORD, help us to comprehend that living Spiritually in You means giving you ALL the glory, not just some of it!
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
STRONG in FAITH - in believing in GOD, the unseen, the spiritual - giving GLORY to GOD!
Strong in faith - giving glory to God.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Mat_6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The glory is GOD'S.
Act 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
Act 12:22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
Act 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
The glory is GOD'S!
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
All glory to GOD!
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
Giving glory to GOD!
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Glory of God!
Rom_8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
CHRIST'S GLORY!
Rom_11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.
Glory for ever!
Rom_16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever.
AMEN!
1Co_1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Glory in the LORD!
TRUTH- 1Co_10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
His word teaches us, by His grace may we learn and live what we learn all through Him, all glory to Him forever and ever, and ever!
All in the love and grace, the mercy, the righteousness, of CHRIST!
Glory to God in the Highest always!
Satan has taken the pure message of our Lord and perverted it yet again.
Our Savior does NOT want us to sin. Is there ANYTHING in the word of God that gives the remotest hint that Jesus didn't care if someone sinned, that sin didn't matter at all?
He was accused of associating with blatant sinners, did that mean He condone and accepted their sinning?
Luk 19:2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
Luk 19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
Luk 19:4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
Luk 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
Luk 19:6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
Luk 19:7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
Luk 19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Zacchaeus KNEW he was a sinner and immediately in the presence of the Son of God he wanted to right that which he'd done wrong. He no longer wanted to be that sinner.
And Jesus responded to this man's change of heart with this--
Luk 19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
THIS DAY is salvation come to this house.
The SON of Man came to SEEK and SAVE that which was lost.
And Zacchaeus a known sinner repented in the presence of Jesus.
Zacchaeus made a promise to LIVE as he knew was right- giving to the poor and righting his previous wrongs. He wanted to live this way because He knew that Christ, His Savior desired this of Him.
Jesus desire right living from us all, doesn't He?
Joh_5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh_8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Sin no more.
Sin no more.
Saved and admonished not to sin.
So why is it so hard for us to believe that we are to live uprightly as we KNOW our Savior desires, even while KNOWING that none of those actions have the consequence of earning us salvation, or bring us any merit in the eyes of God?
We are caught up in wanting our actions to earn us things. We want that PAT on the back. We WANT to be able to say WE did this, it was OUR action, it was OUR goodness, OUR rightness, OUR specialness, that made us able to do that good stuff.
The truth is NONE of our goodness means anything at all when it comes to salvation.
We can be 'good' because we know that our LOVING LORD desires us to live within His commandments given out of love to us, but do so knowing none of those actions are being put on a tally sheet towards our earning the salvation crown.
We aren't to be 'good' in order to gain anything- not even the slightest commendation, especially not to pat ourselves on the back. Focusing on our own goodness is the last thing our Savior would want us to do.
Our focus is to be OUTWARD, not INWARD.
It's easy to get depressed and sink down into despair when we feel as if we are falling short of the mark- remember that verse I quote very often-
Rom_7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Paul an apostle felt this way too! He lamented his inability to be the perfect man he knew that was desired of Him.
Did he stop doing good, did he give up the good fight? No. It was because HE knew that His salvation was in Jesus Christ alone not within his own ability to be sinless. He didn't give up, he engaged in the spiritual battle every day of his life from the point of his salvation. He knew it was a battle too, and not some strange belief that his actions no longer mattered because He been saved. He knew he was going to be in this fight until the end. He also knew that all the armor and the weapons we had on our side were from Jesus Christ. He knew that everything we had to fight with came from the source of all good, and none of that armor was of his own making. Every victory in the battle, every single dart reflected off the shield, every wicked attack thwarted by the slicing of the sword, was a result of JESUS and JESUS alone!
The fight to acknowledge that we can't of our ourselves do anything good is a very real fight all it's own and the fight Satan wants all of us to wage. He wants us convinced that we can do good all on our own. Remember with Eve, He wanted her to believe that she didn't need God, that God was trying to keep good things from them. He was, and is a perverter of truth in every way. If we aren't interested in keeping God's moral laws because they won't let us earn points towards salvation, then Satan is THRILLED. If we are interested in keeping God's moral laws because was believe they do let us earn points towards salvation, then Satan is equally THRILLED. If we ARE interested in keeping God's moral laws because we know they are the guidelines of love given to us by our God, and we know that it is through His power alone that we are able to keep any of those laws, and that we are not saved by keeping them, but through the same power of Christ we are given eternal life, then Satan is very, very unhappy! Satan does NOT want us to live spiritual lives! Satan wants us caught up in all the things of this world and a very big thing of this world is selfishness and earning points for good behavior on some level. How often have you done something around the house and wanted acknowledgement for all your hard work? What about the work you've done on your job? You want the accolades even the tiny ones because they make you feel good, they make you feel as if you've are good for having done good and you deserve at the very least the recognition of your good actions. This is the life Satan wants us consumed with.
Being good by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR earns us NOTHING, but it does something very, very special- IT GIVES GLORY TO GOD!
Yes! It GIVES GLORY TO GOD! Yet Satan would have us want to steal that glory for ourselves. He's conditioned us to steal the glory, to in all our graciousness accept the praises that come and let them wash over us, filling our cup of self-gratification.
The glory belong to GOD, not to us!
All glory to GOD, this is something we truly need to comprehend.
All glory to GOD!
Less of us and way more of HIM!
Please LORD, help us to comprehend that living Spiritually in You means giving you ALL the glory, not just some of it!
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
STRONG in FAITH - in believing in GOD, the unseen, the spiritual - giving GLORY to GOD!
Strong in faith - giving glory to God.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Mat_6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The glory is GOD'S.
Act 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
Act 12:22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
Act 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
The glory is GOD'S!
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
All glory to GOD!
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
Giving glory to GOD!
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Glory of God!
Rom_8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
CHRIST'S GLORY!
Rom_11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.
Glory for ever!
Rom_16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever.
AMEN!
1Co_1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Glory in the LORD!
TRUTH- 1Co_10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
His word teaches us, by His grace may we learn and live what we learn all through Him, all glory to Him forever and ever, and ever!
All in the love and grace, the mercy, the righteousness, of CHRIST!
Glory to God in the Highest always!
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