Name:Karen Country:United States State:Wisconsin Metro:Madison Gender:Female
Interests:God's Word | Reading, studying, writing and talking about God's Word | Books, books and more books | Hunting in used bookstores for treasures | Walking, sitting and reading in parks | Listening to music | Drinking Coffee & Coffee-Related Beverages | Brewers & Yankees fan | Packers fan Occupation:Apprentice of Jesus
I've adapted this 3 Year Bible Reading Plan and occasionally post
based on what I'm
currently reading. If you don't have a plan, you're more than welcome to read along with me!
APR 11-30 GENESIS 1-20
MAY 1-30 GENESIS 21-50
MAY 31 PSALMS 1-3
JUNE 1-2 PROVERBS 1-2
JUNE 3-30 EXODUS 1-28
JULY 1-12 EXODUS 29-40
II Corinthians 13:14
MORE ABOUT ME
Theological "mutt" a.k.a.
Evangelical Reformed Charismatic Baptist with a Methodist-Mystical-Liturgical Twist
You can find links to my series here (Under construction. More to come.)
Apologies: Due to recent Xanga
changes some of these links are not available right now.
I'm trying to get this sorted out and am slowly changing the links but
in the meantime, PLEASE message me if there's a particular series you're interested in but the link doesn't work.
worship time: "Here Is Our King" (David Crowder Band)
Care to join with me in a little worship to our King?
Here is our King Here is our Love Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him He is the one, He is Jesus
From wherever spring arrives to heal the ground From wherever searching comes to look itself A trace of what we're looking for so be quiet now, and wait
The ocean is growing The tide is coming in Here it is:
Here is our King Here is our Love Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him He is the one, He is Jesus
And what was said to the rose to make it unfold Was said to me, here in my chest So be quiet now, and rest.
The ocean is growing The tide is coming in Here it is:
Here is our King Here is our Love Here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him He is the one, He is Jesus
Majesty! Finally!
Majesty! Finally!
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit...I Peter 3:18
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
Yesterday we heard a sermon on Daniel 5:
And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
–Daniel 5:25-28
It is often easy for us (me) to become casual about our own sin (my sin) and to keep pointing to the need in the Church as a whole, or to point to the sin in the world. It's easy for us (me) to say my sin is forgiven and covered with the blood of Jesus because we're not saved by works but by grace.
But, brothers and sisters, we cannot ever receive God's grace in vain.
You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God...
–Exodus 20:3-5
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
–Revelation 2:4
No other gods means no other gods. As I've been reflecting on Jesus' call for us to return to our first Love in Revelation 2, He has challenged me on this and has been showing me how much I bow down to and serve other gods — how much I love and lust after other gods.
God has called out the Church to be a people holy to Himself, a people who love Him with a pure love, a people that love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. The Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the church at Ephesus because she had left her first Love. Leaving our first Love is the greatest sin we can commit against God; in fact, all other sins stem from that sin. If we are loving God rightly, if we are loving God wholeheartedly and with a single eye, we will not sin against Him.
How have we abandoned our first Love?
I posted the following as part of a prayer at tent of meeting, but I wanted to include this on my regular blog as well. Tent of meeting is the site I have devoted to prayer for revival. Brothers and sisters, we cannot pray for revival in the Church as a whole if we are not praying for revival come to our own individual hearts.
The prayer below is based on the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7 who showed extravagant love for Jesus. I had posted previously about that passage (see here), but when I heard the passage read aloud last night, the phrase from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet really hit home with me. Have I not ceased to kiss His feet? Have I not ceased to love Jesus? My love is so fitful, like the morning dew. His love is perfect and steadfast for me. His love is never ceasing toward me. God has been challenging me as to how much I really love Him. Should I never cease to worship and love Jesus like this woman?
"Do you love Me?" comes the question from His mouth to each one of us and to the Church as a whole.
How much do I really love Him? How much do we really love Him?
How have I have left our first Love? How have we left our first Love?
May He come and show us the truth about our love for Him. May He grow His love in us so we might love Him as we ought. O, may we not be found wanting. May we more and more love Him like this woman. May we never cease to love Him! He alone is worthy! He alone is lovely! He alone is our first Love! He alone is the Lover of our souls! May He grow His love in us, so we might love Him as we ought! may we not be found wanting in our love for Him!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often we do we leave You, our first Love, to love other things!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, priceless Treasure, for fleeting earthly treasure!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Pearl of great price, for worthless trinkets!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our devoted Husband, to lust after gods!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
Yet how often do we leave You, the Lover of our souls, for fleshly lovers!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Fountain of Life, for broken cisterns!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Bread of Life, for maggoty bread!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, the Fountain of Life, for broken cisterns!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Rock, to build on shifting sand!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our loving Master, to be bound to Satan!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our Yokefellow, to be unequally yoked to idols!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our good Shepherd, for hirelings!
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
yet how often do we leave You, our good Shepherd, for hirelings!
From the time You came in to our hearts by faith, have we not ceased to kiss Your feet? O Lover of our souls, we confess how often we fail to love You. Yet You deserve all our love all the time. Forgive us for Jesus' sake. Cleanse us from our sin of not loving You as we ought. Cover us now with His blood. How our love goes in stops and starts. Your love is so unlike that. How wretched we are that we would consider loving any other, yet we do. Forgive us for Jesus' sake. Cover us now with His blood. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
By Your indwelling Holy Spirit, empower us to love You as we ought. Help us to put aside all other loves. Help us to cast off the sin that keeps us from loving You as we ought. Help us to cast of the idols that keep us from loving You as we ought. Show us these things. They can even be good things but we cannot allow any thing or any person to hinder our love for You. You must be our first Love. We are to have no other loves but You. When we put other things and people before You, we are making them gods. We cannot love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength when we continue to entertain idols and other loves. Apart from You, it is impossible for us to tear down those idols and forsake other loves. Strengthen us to to tear down our idols and forsake our other loves. Help us to continue to guard our hearts and minds so we might love You alone.
You alone are our true Love. O, Lover of our souls. O Lover of our souls, may we never cease to kiss Your feet, may we continue to love and adore You and to have no other gods before You. That is the kind of love You have for us. You have never ceased to love us. You loved us while we were yet sinners. Your love flows to us through the unceasing flow of Jesus precious blood at the throne of God. Your love flows into us through the unceasing flow of Jesus' Spirit into our souls. Your love flows to us in continuous intercession at the right hand of the Father. You cannot conceive of not loving us for even a moment. How great and high Your love is for us! You have never ceased to love us! Might we never cease to love You! Might we never cease to kiss Your feet! O God, we can only consider loving You because You first loved us. Continue to fill us with Your perfect love, so we might cling and cleave to You alone, that we might desire You alone above all other gods. You alone are our God. You alone are the Lover of our souls. You alone loved us while no one else loved us. May we not leave You, our first Love. Keep us and guard us from lusting after any other loves. Teach us to love You as we ought. Protect and grow the Church's love for You, our wonderful Bridegroom. We love You, O God. Grow in us the love this sinful woman had for you for that is the kind of love You seek from us.
from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet...
Prayerfully come before your first Love and and ask Him to show you how you have left Him for other loves. Confess to Him and ask for His forgiveness and His power to work in you to love Him wholeheartedly.
July 4: real freedom is found in His yoke (Elton Trueblood)
Here's an excerpt from Elton Trueblood's sermon "The Yoke of Christ."
Here then is what appears to be real conflict within the classic religious heritage, steeped as it is in biblical faith. On the one hand there is the call for comfort, while, on the other, there is the call for disturbance. How can the two be combined, without contradiction, in a valid system of life and faith? On the surface this looks impossible, since the two moods appear to we wholly incompatible. It is in the solution of this problem that much of the true glory of the gospel appears, for Christ is able to take us to a deeper level in which both of the valid, yet radically opposed, demands are met simultaneously. The method which Christ uses to accomplish this end involves the marvelous figure of the yoke.
The great yoke passage, which is found at the end of the eleventh chapter of Matthew, begins with the recognition of the validity of the demand for comfort. We see how tender Christ was with all the broken and needy when He began the pronouncement by saying, “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” This appears to be the theme of comfort, pure and simple, so that we naturally expect Christ to go on and say that the heavy-laden must lay down their burdens, but this is precisely what He does not say. In a really shocking paradox Christ offers rest to the burdened by asking them to share His burden. His solution of the problem of those who are tired with toil is to offer them the world’s greatest symbol of toil; namely, the yoke. The yoke means, in some places, that by which a man can, through a device on his shoulders, carry more than he could otherwise carry. In other places it means the harness which animals, either oxen or asses, wore, by which they are able to pull a plow. In any case, the striking facet is that Christ’s offer of peace was through the acceptance of new responsibilities and that His offer of rest was through the voluntary sharing of new toil. He did not say that He Himself would remove burdens. What He did say was that, because His yoke was perfectly fitted, His own burden seemed light…
Because we are accustomed to the phrase “Take my yoke upon you,” having heard it in Handel’s Messiah if nowhere else. The great words are no longer shocking to us, but they must have been terribly shocking to those who first heard them. Even our acceptance of the words does not mean accepting the idea. Perhaps this is why the symbol of the yoke has been so much less common in Christian history than have the other symbols suggested by Christ’s own words…
The neglect of the yoke is understandable when we realize the degree to which it is an affront to our ordinary wishes, Christ does not give us the answer which we naturally desire to have. We want to escape responsibility, but Christ will not let us do so. In both the yoke and the cross He took ideas which must have been revolting to many of His hearers, and transformed them by adding new meaning. In using the word, Christ undoubtedly had something of the rabbinical tradition in mind, according to which a student symbolically accepted the teacher’s yoke; however, the major Old Testament connotation of yoke was evil, referring to bondage. In any case, Christ picked up the figure and gave it a new and liberating significance.
The heart of the transvaluation comes in the note of joy. Real freedom, Christ says, is not the absence of limitations on our actions, but the joyous acceptance of limitations inherent in the new loyalty. As a result there comes a liberation greater than any merely empty or irresponsible freedom can ever bring. The yoke, instead of being a galling instrument, is consequently a harness which is easy to wear. We do not seek peace directly, but it comes ultimately as a by-product of the act of giving ourselves unreservedly to Christ’s cause.
We are made to be spent. This is inherent in the very nature of the human situation. The revolting symbol of the yoke, feared and rejected by many Christians even to this day, comes to stand for the chief meaning of the Christian life. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who seeks, in spite of his failures, to wear Christ’s yoke with Him.
–"The Yoke of Christ and other sermons" (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1958), 17-21
Jesus, show us the futility of trying to live apart from Your yoke.
When we seek freedom apart from Your yoke, we only find bondage. When we seek to labor apart from Your yoke, we only find heaviness. When we seek rest apart from Your yoke, we only find distress. When we seek peace apart from Your yoke, we only find agitation. When we seek joy apart from Your yoke, we only find misery.
Jesus, help us come to You and take Your yoke upon us and learn from You, for it is only then we will find real freedom.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Almost a year ago, my husband and I took a jaunt down to Milwaukee where we ended up in several used bookstores. While there I found the book "The Yoke of Christ and other sermons" by Elton Trueblood. As titled, the book consists of 18 sermons given by Trueblood. I read the book not long after I'd gotten it, but had been wanting to reread some parts of it so I picked it up again last week. I know when I read it previously the very first sermon, 'The Yoke of Christ" really made an impression upon me, so that was something I wanted to reread, and I'm planning to post on that tomorrow [edit 7/4/09 - now posted here)], but today I would like to post from an excerpt from the preface of the book. Trueblood speaks about the purpose of preaching and is explaining the difference between a lecture and a sermon.
It is not a sermon unless it is given in the hope of making a practical difference in the lives of the people who listen...It seeks to produce, to effect change, to alter the course of events. Always, in one way or another, the purpose is new life.
It is because the chapters in this volume have been written with such an object in view they are called sermons. All are intended to influence decision in the critical period in which we live. This volume is concerned, therefore not primarily with philosophy and not primarily with theology, but the tremendous difference which the Christian gospel can make when it become relevant to the daily lives of ordinary men and women. This theme provides the reason for the particular selection of addresses and for the order in which they appear.
In the development of the central theme, an effort has been made to keep in mind both the reasons of the head and the reasons of the heart. This is because Christianity is not best served by a sharp division of labor between those who are called scholars and those whose lives are devoted to practical mattes. The Christian scholar is a better scholar if he accepts from practical responsibilities in Christian work, and the practical worker is more likely to perform his ministry adequately if he is also concerned with some intellectual inquiry.
* * *
As I blog, I pray that the Holy Spirit works through my words, and God would use them to make a practical difference in your lives as individuals, and ultimately in the life of the Church as a whole. I am hungering and praying for revival in each of your lives and in the life of the Church. (And I know some of you have are experiencing that revival even now.)
I don't know if or when that may happen. As I've looked ahead to the task ahead, I've become discouraged because I know that God has me in this thing for the long haul. I've set my hand to the plow and His love is constraining me and I can't let go. Though He has assured me the fog is lifting on His Church, for all I know that time may not actually come until after I die and I won't see it with earthly eyes. He alone knows.
Over the past few days I've found myself asking: How long? How long do I pray? How long do I speak?
Of course, I already know the answer...
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
–Philippians 3:12-14.
Regardless of whether I see transformed lives or regardless whether I see Him widespread revival in my lifetime, I am called to run the race marked out for me and continue on each and every day in the work He has given me,
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19
So by His grace working in me, I will sit upon my watchtower, I will continue there speaking to Him and speaking to you until He comes once more to revive His Church, until He comes to take me to glory or until He comes take all of us to glory together.
* * *
Lord Jesus, I am weak. You must be my strength. You have told me to be strong in the grace You make available. Be my strength for this day. Let me trust myself to You this day and not to worry about tomorrow. Your grace is sufficient. Your strength is made perfect in my weakness.
Sunrise after sunrise I must trust Your mercies will be new every morning. Each and every morning I need new mercy and new strength because I am weak and prone to faint. Thanks be to God! Great is Your faithfulness! Your mercies are new every morning!
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:24-24
Sunset after sunset I must trust Your mercies will be new every evening. Each and every evening I need new mercy and new strength because I am weak and prone to faint. Thanks be to God! Thanks be to God! Great is Your faithfulness! Your mercies are new every evening!
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Father, Thank You I can come to Your throne of grace through the shed blood of Jesus. I have been groaning.. I thank You that Your Spirit intercedes for me with groanings which cannot be uttered. I thank You that He's groaning for me now and He's groaning alongside me. Keep me abiding at Your throne of grace every moment because every moment is my time of need. Keep me abiding at Your throne of grace for it is only there I will find mercy and grace to help in my time of need. Every moment is my moment of need. Strengthen me to hope in You. I have no other hope. Strengthen me to wait on You. Who else can I wait on? Strengthen me to wait quietly for Your salvation.Strengthen me to take up Your easy yoke. Be faithful to fulfill all Your promises to me for this day. Amen.
postcards from England: we're never to give way to false gospels
What does the Bible say about false gospels?
Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
The KJV translates Galatians 2:5 this way:
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
See what Paul is saying there, we did not yield in submission even for a moment...no, not for an hour... We are to be concerned about the truth of the Gospel. We are not to give way for a moment. We are not to yield submission or give place to any other gospel for an hour, for even a moment.
Does it sound here like it doesn't matter to God how we worship Him? Does it really matter to God if we give way to teachers of false gospels?
This was a problem in the New Testament church and it is problem today. When Jesus spoke to the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira He called them out for compromising on doctrine and corrupting doctrine. He didn't mince words. Paul tells us we must be rooted in doctrine and speak the truth in love, so we might be mature, and we must also be rooted else we'll be tossed to and fro. We read the same thing in Hebrews 2:1; the writer tells us we must pay close attention (ESV) or give earnest heed (KJV) to doctrine, otherwise we will drift away. God has called us to be mature and solidly rooted and established. Yet today many Christians continue to insist doctrine doesn't matter. Oh, but it does! I hope you are not one of those Christians. If we neglect doctrine, what do we have left? We have no foundation to stand upon. Yes, certainly, there are disputable matters about which we can agree to disagree about but we can never compromise on the truth of the Gospel! We can never give way on the essentials of our faith. We cannot allow Satan to get a foothold in this, we can not give way to Satan and his false gospels. We cannot allow the Gospel to be compromised or corrupted in any way.
Are you concerned about the truth of the Gospel? Do you even know the truth of the Gospel? This was Paul's concern and it ought to be our concern. The glory of God and the strength and stability and maturity of the Church depends on it.
WE ARE IN A WAR ZONE
Remember, we are in the midst of a war: a war for souls and a war for truth. Who is God's enemy and our enemy? Satan. What is his intent? To tear down or corrupt or undermine Christ's work. This includes blinding people from believing the true Gospel as well as confusing those who have already believed. What is the devil's expertise? Well, let me ask you: what did Jesus call the devil? A liar and the father of lies. How can we battle the devil if we don't know the truth and if we are not rooted and grounded in the truth? A large part of the devil's work includes corrupting the Gospel and God's Word. If Satan can't get people to persist in blatant sin, he will deceive them into believing false gospels. He delights to get people to believe they're saved yet they're not really saved. He keeps people blinded to the glory of the Gospel by deceiving them into thinking they must work to earn salvation through their religious observances and good works; they cannot grasp the simplicity of the Gospel: we are blessed when we cease from our works and trust God will justify the ungodly, our faith is credited as righteousness. It seems too simple to us: we believe on Christ and receive God's free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, but that's the glory of the Gospel! And Satan does all he can to keep people from believing the Gospel and receiving eternal life.
We must study to show ourselves to approved and unashamed workmen. In this day and age, most of us have so much ready access to the Word of God. If we are Christ's disciples, we will love to spend time in His Word and abide in the Word and soak in it, meditate on it, chew on it. Our enemy is constantly making war against Christ and His Gospel and Christ's children. We must know God's truth in order to recognize his lies. We must know God's truth in order to combat his lies. We must know God's truth so we will not give way to false gospels. We must know God's truth so we might become mature. We must know God's truth so we won't drift.
WHAT IS THE TRUE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST?
In these last days, God has spoken to us and revealed to us His one and only Gospel of salvation: salvation comes to men by grace through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation is all of God and none of us.
"I am a bad person. I stand guilty and condemned before a holy God. I am under God's just wrath and righteous condemnation. I can do nothing to save myself. No amount of works can save me. No amount of religious observance can save me. Only because I have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ am I saved. Jesus Christ was God incarnate. He willingly came to earth where He lived a perfect sinless life. Then He render himself an offering for sin and He was crucified on the cross. Jesus Christ died in my place. He took my sin upon Him and took the punishment I deserved for my sin. When I believe on Jesus Christ, I am forgiven and I no longer stand guilty before God because God has punished my sin in Him. I am cleansed from all my sin. God also credits His life of perfect righteousness to me. God no longer sees my sin but now sees Christ's righteousness. And Christ's blood continues to save me from God's wrath. Also, because I have believed, I have received God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ has come to dwell in me. Because God has given me a new nature, Christ's nature, I now desire to live a holy life and now have the power to do so. I increasingly find myself doing God's will because God is the one who is working in me the desire and the ability to do it! My faith produces good works, but any good works I end up doing are only to God's credit, not mine because apart from Him I can do nothing. And I know my good works cannot save me but they are proof God has already saved me. My good works can never cleanse me. My good works can never atone for one sin. My good works can never give me a new nature. Those are all things God alone has done for me through the cross of Christ."
Notice that the true Gospel all points to Jesus. From beginning to end, it's all about Jesus. From our justification through our sanctification to our final glorification. Jesus saves us from the penalty of sin and Jesus saves us from the power of sin and one day we will finally be delivered from the presence of sin. In other words, Jesus Christ is our justification (he paid the penalty for our sin) and our sanctification (he freed us from the power of sin); He is our whole redemption.
Here's Paul fleshing it out for us:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith.
–Romans 1:16-17
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
–Ephesians 2:5-10
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
–Romans 3:21-31
He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
–I Corinthians 1:30-31
HOW CAN WE DISTINGUISH THE FALSE GOSPELS OF THE WOLVES FROM THE TRUE GOSPEL OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Brothers and sisters, we need to be on guard because Satan appears as an angel of light. There are plenty of wolves in sheep's clothing in the midst of the church.
There are many people who are caught up in the middle of this battle. They may be young believers, or they may have been in the church a long time, and many, in fact, be saved, but they continue to be oblivious to false gospels or may be confused about what they believe. They hear some teaching and they think it sounds good because there is mention of Jesus Christ. They hear some teaching and they think it sounds good because those who teach it are nice people and claim to be Christians. Just because the message sounds good and just because the messengers look good doesn't mean the message is true and is actually good. We are to test and try all things.
1. THE FALSE GOSPEL MESSAGE SOUNDS GOOD
Remember that the devil is wily and deceptive. He is all about taking what is God's and twisting it just a little bit. And He does that with the Scripture. Think back to the serpent in the garden and his conversation with Eve. Or remember Jesus' encounter with the devil in the wilderness. Satan knows the Scripture better than any of us. He can use it to deceive us. That's why this issue of false gospels is so frightening. If Satan were to come into the midst of any of our churches and simply say, "You know Jesus Christ didn't do enough for you. His blood wasn't sufficient. His cross wasn't sufficient. You need to save yourselves," I think most of us would recognize that. Or if he were to come in and say, "Buddha saves," or "Mohammed saves," or whatever, we'd also recognize that. Of course, he's not coming in with a neon sign which is blinking: "Caution! False Gospel! Do not give way!" Or course not! His attempt is to deceive. He is not on our side. He is clever; he comes in and makes false gospels look good. But false gospels are counterfeit gospels, yet, like many counterfeit bills, they're often very, very, very close to the original, which makes them very hard to distinguish.
We must be on guard against false gospels creeping into the church. Just as God warned the nation of Israel not to intermarry with the tribes of Canaan, we cannot "intermarry" with false gospels. We can't ever settle for anything less than the genuine article: the Gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing but the Gospel. Again Satan's false gospels may be very close to the original gospel, but they're false all the same. As the saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. When it comes to the true Gospel, close isn't good enough. Satan tries to dress up his false gospels. He sassies up the pig and puts the lipstick on her, so to speak, but it's still only a pig. But he's hoping to deceive us and trip many of us with that pig.
2. THE MESSENGERS OF FALSE GOSPELS LOOK GOOD
We must also remember that the people who are bringing these false gospels are often very nice people. They are most likely people you admire and people who live a very righteous lifestyle and morally upstanding citizens. This is what makes it even more difficult for us. They appear to be dedicated to God. Yet we must also remember that these people are dupes of the devil. They are genuinely deceived. Their eyes are blinded to see the light of the gospel of the glory of God. They truly believe they are doing God's work in the same way the apostle Paul traveled around arresting and persecuting Christians, they genuinely believe they are in the right, but sadly they are deceived. They are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. And we must speak to them the truth about the Gospel and pray for God to open their eyes so they might receive that truth.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRUE GOSPEL AND FALSE GOSPELS?
Though false gospels will most likely mention Jesus Christ and the cross, the false gospel of the wolves continues to boast in and harp on what man can do. Jesus Christ is not given the preeminent place, and therefore God does not get the glory. False gospels focus more on outward conformity than inner heart change, on man's works rather than God's work for us. Those who teach false gospels may claim Jesus saves you, but then they insist you must continue to do things to be certain you are really justified in the eyes of God. Of course, that means they believe Christ's work was not sufficient, that it isn't quite enough to save. That's saying Jesus' blood and His death on the cross is not sufficient to save! Of course, they don't generally put it that bluntly because, again, most of us would see right through that.
What are some false gospels?
Moralism: "I will be saved if I am a good enough person." Legalism: "I will be saved if I adhere to a particular code of behavior." Religion: "I will be saved if I engage in all the right religious exercises."
We can work and work and work. We can do and do and do. But absolutely none of it will justify us in the eyes of God. God declares us righteous by faith in Jesus Christ alone. None of our good works can take away sin. None of our good works can atone for sin. None of our good works can give us a new nature.
We are saved by grace not by works. God alone saves us. God the Father put forth Jesus to be the atonement for our sin. Jesus Christ is God's perfect provision of salvation for sinners. We have no reason to boast. And this is the same gospel for all people. In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul reminds us that because everyone has sinned, everyone is guilty before God and everyone stands condemned before God. In and of ourselves, we are powerless and we have no means to save ourselves. Yet man is always tempted to try to save himself through morality, legalism and religion, which is exactly what Paul is writing about in Romans 2 (see also Colossians 2), but in Romans 3-5 Paul reminds us those human means can never save us. We are only saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've not read those chapters lately, I would encourage you to do so (well, while you're at it, back up and why not read the whole book of Romans!).
The true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ always makes Jesus Christ, His cross and His blood central. The blood of Christ is not only necessary to save but it is wholly sufficient to save. Jesus Christ is not only our justification, He is our sanctification, our whole redemption. The true gospel never puts the focus on us or on our works. Jesus Christ is always boasted in, never men. We have nothing to boast in for apart from Him we can do nothing. Yes, if we are saved, we will do good works because we have His nature and therefore good works are a fruit of our salvation. But it is the indwelling Spirit alone who gives us the desire and the power to engage in good works. The true gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned with the inner transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life, for it is only through that inner work can we produce fruits of righteousness that are pleasing to God.
Here's a list of some differences between false gospels and the true Gospel:
FALSE GOSPELS
man is glorified man is lifted up man's righteousness man's ability we need to add to Christ's work (Christ + something) man's works man's work is the central thing boasting in self hard work trying harder doing earning obedience out of obligation slavery (like the older son in Luke 15) constant fear you're never doing enough focus on externals sense of superiority (I thank God I am not like ____.) holier than thou attitude critical, judgmental attitude letter of the law emphasizes outward conformity to their rules
TRUE GOSPEL
Christ is glorified Christ is lifted up Christ's righteousness Christ's ability Christ's work is both necessary and sufficient (Christ alone) God's grace Christ's work is the central thing boasting in Christ fruit bearing walk by the Spirit abiding receiving obedience out of love sonship (like the prodigal who returned home) confident assurance in Christ's completed work internal transformation humility ("God, be merciful to me, a sinner") I am the chief of sinners extends mercy and grace spirit of the law allows liberty of the believer in disputable matters
I urge you to open your Bible and read and see what it really says about the Gospel. Use the Word to examine what you are hearing in your churches, what you are hearing on t.v. or internet sermons, what you are reading in books and on blogs (including mine). There are many people out there who seem to have a lot of credibility, but we must be checking all of what they say against the Scripture.
We must always test and try all things. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us discernment in these things. We must be like the Bereans and test all we hear against Scripture; that is why it is so vital for us to be prepared and to know what the Scripture says in the first place, so when we hear things, we will already a good foundation so we won't be deceived, so we won't drift or be tossed to and fro.
I once heard someone speak of a t.v. preacher. This person really appreciated his preaching and thought his teaching was so wonderful and watched him as much as possible. Well, I hadn't heard of this preacher, so I did a little research. Need I tell you but this man's preaching and teaching was not anything close to Biblical. There were lots of red flags, for example, he did not teach the doctrine of the trinity and he emphasized works over grace and then went into all sorts of other strange doctrines. I spoke to the individual about this. The reply was, "But he seems to know so much. He's on t.v. after all. He goes through the Bible verse by verse. My last church never taught that way."
The lion is prowling looking for vulnerable sheep to devour. Father, Son and Spirit, protect Your sheep! Guard us from the evil one. May the Spirit of truth guard us and lead us into all truth! Amen.
Have you ever been deceived by false gospels? How? What other distinctions might you add to my list contrasting false gospels with the true Gospel?
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26
Redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ by the free grace of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
blogging to the glory of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, all for your upbuilding, dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, Karen
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