Chapter 2 - The Call
to Discipleship (continued)
Bonhoeffer - 'Do not
say you have not got faith. Your will not have it so long as you persist in
disobedience and refuse to take the first step. Neither must you say that you
have faith, and therefore there is no need for you to take the first step. You have
not got faith so long as and because you will not take the first step but
become hardened in your unbelief under the guise of humble faith.'
My thoughts- TRUTH!
We read this--
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;
by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and
he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Just two examples of
men of FAITH and what are we told- BY FAITH
- Noah MOVED, PREPARED. He OBEYED
actively! BY FAITH - Abraham OBEYED, WENT OUT. He OBEYED actively! These two examples alone in this chapter
tells us that faith is more than mere thinking you have faith- it is an active
belief- it is an obeying belief. As long as we do not obey any faith we have
has been twisted by Satan into a false faith and he loves getting people to
believe falsely.
Bonhoeffer-'The
situation is therefore not the consequence of our obedience, but the gift of
him who commands obedience. Unless we are prepared to enter into that
situation, our faith will be unreal and we shall deceive ourselves. We cannot
avoid that situation and our objective is, and always will be faith, and faith
alone. ("from faith to faith," Romans 1:17).'
My thoughts- 'The
GIFT of him who commands obedience' -TRUTH. By faith we obey. Noah didn't know exactly what was going to
happen but he knew he had to obey God and it was by faith- he believed and
ACTED upon that belief- it was a REAL belief to him. Taking Christ at His
promises we obey. Noah was immersed in a
flood, half drowned by a freak storm and then taken out of that situation and
told to build an ark because worse was coming. Abram (Abraham) wasn't
miraculously taken into the future and show the land he'd possess and the
offspring that would come from him. They were told what to do and they did it
without proof. Today we want proof before we obey but it doesn't work that way.
We have been told extensively about the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Gospel of
Christ, the Gospel our Savior came to earth in the form of a human being to
deliver unto us, the Gospel of our Savior dying for us so that we would be
SAVED by Him and ONE day upon His return for us we would be with Him forever.
We are told this and we must OBEY all that our Savior tells us so that we will
have the faith we need to have.
Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is
set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
LAY ASIDE every
weight.
LAY ASIDE every sin.
RUN with patience
the race set before us.
LOOKING unto JESUS
the AUTHOR and FINISHER of OUR FAITH.
We are told what to
do, and we MUST OBEY! Why do we honestly believe that we do not have to obey
and can still have true faith? If Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc all disobeyed they would NOT have had the faith they
needed to have.
Remember from
yesterday Bonhoeffer said this-
'Only those who
believe obey" "Only those who obey believe."
He continues to day
this very thing--
Bonhoeffer- 'The
truth is that so long as we hold both sides of the proposition together they
contain nothing inconsistent with right belief, but as soon as one is divorced
from the other, it is bound to prove a stumbling block. "Only those who
believe obey" is what we say to the part of a believer's soul which obeys,
and "only those who obey believe" is what we say to that part of the
soul of the obedient which believes. If the first half of the proposition
stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of cheap grace, which is
another word for damnation. If the second half stands alone, the believer is
exposed to the danger of salvation through works, which is another world for
damnation.'
My thoughts-
TRUTH!
May God bless us as
we continue to study this chapter, this book all by looking to HIS HOLY WORD
for the real truth of what is being said.
It is BIBLICALLY
sound the points we have touched on so far.
Obeying, believing- believing, obeying, this is FAITH and it's truth
that neither can stand alone, but only together to be truth.
Bless us LORD, help
us to be YOURS fully in FAITH- believing and obeying, obeying and believing in
all YOU would have us do and believe, believe and do.
All in YOU LORD, all
in YOUR LOVE!
By YOUR GRACE and
MERCY forever!
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