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Ok…fasten your seat belts. The ground just may (hopefully) start to shake a bit:
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Listen to > The One, True Foundation
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Thank you, Pastor Mark.
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Thanks also to flickr and bjarvike, for the photo.
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Filed under: Assurance, Baptism, Preaching, Sermon, The Lord's Supper, True Foundation |
The Old Adam Lives! 
sobering isn’t it, we are without excuse – we are warned not to follow any human’s mind, lest we be lead astray– why would we – we have the mind of Christ (His complete word and His Spirit) ! 1 Cor 2:16
the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love;
for even demons believe Gal 5:6b James 2:19b
Thanks, a.
We do follow our own minds (our wills), all the time. That’s why we are stuck in sin. That’s why we put ourselves first, instead of our neighbors in love.
But…the sobering good news is, that we “are to consider ourselves dead to sin.” Because of Christ! He declares us holy and righteous four His sake!
Wow!
How can you beat that!?
amen Steve, we consider ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus and are now sons of God, being led by the Spirit of God. Rom 6: 11 Rom 8:14b. grace upon grace!
one final thing today Steve, I’m thinking if we forget or don’t believe the Lord’s word to us about His full plan and work, we might just smugly bask, staying conformed to this world.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; Rom 8:29
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:17 -18
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom 12:1-2
We do that by just trusting in Him. That He has done, is doing, and will yet do…it all.
Steve,thinking we can debate forever if we wanted, but if the Lord’s will doesn’t happen, we’ve got to wonder…e.g, maybe His work for someone one day is not to ‘rush out to help the poor’ as you described the other day, but actually that day’s work was to comment on blog posts in His Spirit fruit (love, kindness, no accusation,etc.) If that doesn’t happen, the one thing we can say for sure is……we did not glorify God.
for you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Cor 6 20
humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4. 10
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Phil 2: 13
So then, brother work out your salvation with fear and trembling; Phil 2 12
If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Cor 3 14-15
and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. Phil 3 9-16
a,
The temptation is there for all of us to water down the Word of God.
His will for us is clearly stated, that we love Him with all we’ve got and that we love our neighbors as ourselves.
If we are to look to anything that we do to make ourselves right with God then we are to, as St. Paul told the Galatians, “keep the whole law. And keep it perfectly.”
Jesus reiterated that when he said, “you must be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”
If we are to look at what we do, or don’t do, as a measure our performance and to please God, then indeed, as St. Paul also said in Romans, “every mouth will be stopped”.
The better course is to not look to ourselves in any way, shape, or form…but to trust wholly in Him and what He has done for us on the Cross and in our Baptisms. And whenever you receive His Supper.
Thanks, a..
“make ourselves right with God”
when we are His child, that just is not the issue-we understand we are only made right by His grace. And His further grace then is this -He gives us His desire to love by obeying Him. If that desire is absent, we have to wonder.
you talk that we don’t ‘do’ anything, yet you always talk about ‘doing’ baptism and communion. seems inconsistent.
Peace. Have a great day.
Baptism and the Lords Supper are God’s work for us.
He commanded them…He is in them.
I’m at work now, so I can expand later if you’d like.
Hi Steve, I’d listen to more but I’m pretty much only interested in hearing scripture and scripture expounded.
a couple things :
1) hope you do see inconsistency -the Lord says ‘do’ some things, but when He says ‘do’ others things, He doesn’t mean those? (yes all being His working); further, discounting His word seems highly self-focused, since so much directs us to love others. MOST IMPORTANTLY THOUGH I MIGHT BE MISUNDERSTANDING, BUT YOU SEEM TO SAY: ‘DO’ BAPTISM FOR THIS SAVES YOU.
2) Re the Lord’ s Supper: while you seem to discard the importance of self-examination, according to the Lord, communion’s careful self-examination is vital 1 Cor 11:27-32
3) Re baptism: I can only speak of my personal experience – when the Lord’ claimed my heart 6 years ago, He told me to be baptized proclaiming my repentance and Him as my Savior and Lord. Since He tells us we only need be baptized once, my infant baptism was not it
since we both seem to value prioritizing a regular allotted time with the Lord and learning more concerning Him, I praise the Lord for being so good to us to keep doing this work in us! Praise to the Lord – we are saved by grace alone through faith alone!
Blessings Steve.
Everything we do here, is expounding on Scripture. When Jesus says in the Bible that “unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life in you”, we preach and teach about that. When Jesus tells us that the way to make disciples is to Baptize and teach, we expound on that. When Jesus tells us (through Paul) that we “are to consider ourselves dead to sin”, because of being Baptized” and that “those of us who have been Baptized have put on Christ”…we expound on that.
All that we do, and say, comes directly from Holy Scripture. Many would just prefer to focus on the law in Scripture, and erroneously attempt to use that law as a way to improve in the eyes of God.
There’s a big difference in the sacraments and the law (the things that we ought ‘do’)
Baptism and Holy Communion are things ordered for us to do, that we don’t do. Our action does not make them efficacious, as say ‘giving to the poor’.
The Lord commanded that we Baptize and be Baptized. HE does the Baptizing. HE comes and gives us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in His Supper.
These are means of His grace, freely given…for us…to us.
You said it, a. “Faith alone”.
Trust not in what ‘we do’…but in the things He does (did, will do)..for us.
God bless you, friend.
“many use that law as a way to improve in the eyes of God.”
I guess you can choose to say that Steve, but that’s making a judgment of others hearts not possible by a human. That’s what so difficult when you so boldly share the Gospel, needing to accompany it with accusations of brothers. There is an accuser and we do not want to be associated with him.
Who said anything about judging anyone?
we could look at some of your blog comments – questioning the salvation of brothers who talk about obedience seems very perplexing since the Lord loves obedience. Shouldn’t the assumption be, we love the Lord and are devoted to Him and want Him to give us His desire and power to walk in His obedience. It is a serious matter to accuse concerning God’s truth (ideas opposed to His truth are another matter) Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and we come to know the Lord REALLY loves EVERY member of His church, HIS body. Sometimes it makes me fall on my knees asking Him desire and power to pray for a brother who I dislike because I know that brother is dearly loved by the Lord. Don’t you know: Christ Jesus Himself is the corner stone of the whole building being fitted together, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom we also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people, Eph 2 20-22 ;2 Cor 6:16 b
You have a real problem, a.
I never said any such a thing. I’ve never once judged anyone’s salvation.
What are you doing here, anyway? (besides lying about me)
You want to be a law banger and rely upon yourself in addition to what the Lord has done…then go ahead.
We’ve got better things to do here.
Sorry Steve. You questioned my salvation on a blog way back. Could find it, but that wouldn’t be productive. Also you cohort questioned the fine preacher/teacher’s Matt Chandler’s salvation. Goodbye also Steve.
Find it, a. … and I’ll give you $1000.
But you can’t find it, or any other instance where I’ve questioned anyone’s salvation.
We just don’t do that sort of thing.
Do me a favor. Go stir up trouble somewhere else.
And don’t bother writing any more comments because I will delete them. I can and have tolerated a lot here. But false accusations of the kind you ate making will not be tolerated.
Have a nice life.