“We walk by faith and not by sight.”
“Judge not, lest you be judged.”
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is NOT OF YOUR OWN DOING , IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD – NOT BECAUSE OF WORKS, LEST ANYONE SHOULD BOAST.” Ephesians 2:8,9
HELLO! Could you all hear that ok?
“Well yes we heard it just fine… BUT I have my own verse from the Book of James that says…yada yada yada, and oh yes…yada”
Do you want to kill that wonderous feeling of joy that comes from the forgiveness of sins and frees the sinner from his chains of ‘performance’? Then just drag out James anytime someone starts to become elated at not having to get right with God on his own accord! You will kill the party and put the shackles back on everyone in the room. “Handcuffs all around…on the house!!!! ”
“Lord, we fed poor kids, we worked at rummage sales for the church, we went to the County jail and visited the scumbags, we gave regularly, and we prayed great prayers…all in YOUR NAME, LORD!!”
And the Lord said, “Who are you? Get out of my sight.”
“But Bobby and Suzy were such faithful Christians…how could the Lord do that to them?” The Lord didn’t do anything to them, they did it to themselves by thinking that their actions were actually meriting themselves something. They were ‘DOING’ all the right things. But their hearts were so far from God that they wouldn’t know the gospel if it hit them in the face. They didn’t have an ounce of grace and mercy in themselves to give…only their performance of works.
And then, to the ‘scumbags’ at the County jail and some of their ilk, Jesus says “blessed are you, when I was hungry you fed me…”, etc etc.
They said, “when did we do that?” THEY DIDN”T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE DOING ANYTHING SPECIAL! ‘They did not have works on the brain, because of some ignorant preacher giving them biblical principles to live by…which is just the law packaged in another way.
This ought to send shivers down the spines of the ‘little bit of God and a little bit of me’ crowd.
But it probably won’t. Because the world never looked so undeserving, and myself so deserving, as from the point right where I am standing. It is so easy to say, “he’s not doing enough.”
And…the chorus of “yeah buts” resounds!
Am I off base…or what?
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The Old Adam Lives! 