Christianity Oasis Forum

[saint701]

Hello All,


Blessing!

Thank you all who have been following my posts on grace. I pray through Christ Jesus you will continue to do so. As previously discussed, grace has been one of the most often misunderstood doctrines in the New Testament. The greatness of our Lord's grace has often caused many to say such is unbelievable. And such unbelief has led to the founding of many churches and denominations that disregard the abundance of our Lord's grace in favor of such things as The Ten Commandments, legalism, self righteousness, all of which are performed in the flesh.

Rom.4

1. [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.

Our Lord's grace in the mature Christian does fulfill the law ultimately, but through the Love of God and each other, with other fruits in support of such grace like humility, long suffering, kindness, meekness, and gentleness. In truth our founding Fathers the Apostles made entrance into the Holy life quite simple, saying:

Acts.15

1. [20] But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
2. [29] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

So why then the legalistic doctrines of many? Unbelief. As is written, our Lord came to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous. And Paul calls himself chief among all sinners. I say if Paul was chief among sinners, then surely I am chief junior. But doctrines other than faith, that it may be by grace, are easy to come by because those that adhere to them do not smoke, cuss, drink, or mess around. They have high IQ's, and everything they put their hand to is blessed. They prosper in all ways. Indeed they appear perfect. And such think that indeed from the day of their birth on this planet they have been perfect.

But try them on love. They will say that they have been made perfect in that as well, but such really isn't the case. If you get to know them their love is pride of life and love of the world, their presence in church is really to foster their own ambitions for more clients in their various practices. They are not in church to love you, they are in church to be seen by you, and admired because of their perfection.

Today, I ask you, where do you stand in the grace of God? Is it possible that you are able to look at your life today and say you can find no reason why God should love you as you have nothing to offer Him? I say to you, you are in a great position before Him. If you haven't bowed the knee and asked Him into your life, then do so as His grace is His delight to give to you and make you a part of His household.

If you have received our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and still have nothing to offer Him but to love Him and praise Him and thank Him for His grace and mercy? I say to you, WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL!

You are the elect of the Father!


Blessings!

Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint701.

[Mackenaw]

Hello Saint

God bless you this day.

Awesome message there! Amen and Amen!!!

So why all the varying doctrines? Because we often grow weary in the time necessary to see the change in others, and we are fooled into thinking we have to come down hard on them to convince them to change. I've seen it, been on the receiving end of that, myself, and even been the one that was cracking the whip from time to time.

Thankfully, God has still extended His grace to me, and forgiven me for my warped understanding, shaped by my own pride and ignorance on those occasions.

Last night I was searching the scriptures pertaining to being vexed. The onslaught of pressure from self and the enemy. Those sensitive buttons that get pushed from time to time, that have me NOT respond in a godly way.

Recently, I failed miserably at representing The Lord, in my response to someone that was hounding me and had been for a couple days. Even though I did apologize for hurting their feelings and I repented before God for my mouth and actions, I know that I must learn to deal better the next time a similar situation presents itself.

What sets one person off can be totally different from what sets another person off. But, I do know that God has solutions to it all. I'm still seeking the answers, and I know He'll teach them to me, so it's important that I not allow regret to drag me into bondage.

I kept hearing the lyrics "If it makes you happy, then why are you so sad?" The Lord does make me happy, so I can't hang on to "sad" no matter how much the enemy tries to remind me how badly I handled the situation. The Lord has forgiven me, and the person I sounded off to has forgiven me too.

Thank you, Saint, for the message. God is Good.

God bless and keep you.
Love,
Mack