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| How do we express truth immersed in love
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In a world that embrace political correctness and tolerance, how do one who is a follower of Christ maintain the balance of stating "truths" as one understands it within the atmosphere of love? I have come to realize more and more that the message of the Gospel is just as the word is defined and that is Good News to mankind. And it should always be presented as such for the essence of the message is that God loves humanity and devised a rescue plan to save us.
We as his children must always present this as the core of the message and not adopt some other agenda. I personally do not believe that "sin" is the issue as much as that is the prevalent rhetoric of our day, it is souls that is the true issue. We must realize that when we approach someone that do not know the Lord, we can not expect that person to live as if he/she does. The message to the lost is the Gospel for this message is designed to save souls. It is not by pointing at each other sins that makes us righteous --it is our full acceptance of the superior plan of salvation that has been imparted to mankind and whosoever may come and partake of this free gift that is not dependent on the "works" of man in his own strength. It is an absolute walk of faith in God, PERIOD. It is simply believing in Christ as the savior of your soul. It is so simple and yet profound all at the same time.
We as Christians constantly say that we would love this world to "return" to the Judea Christian values of which it was founded upon but this is not the Gospel for our citizenship is truly not of this world and we need to stop trying to build a kingdom of righteousness on this earth for that is not what the mission entailed. Our first call is to a lost world that is full of lost and hurting souls of which our Christ loves to the point of utter sacrifice and we need to learn and adopt this mind in us and that is the words of Christ when he declared that "He desire mercy and not sacrifice." We are so quick to write off souls if they do not comply to our standards and likeness, we must remember that it is ludicrous to ask an unbeliever to live like a Christian. We keep forgetting that we, are born from above and this transformation took place as a direct supernatural occurrence when we individually ask Christ into our hearts. So, if our conversion is genuine and spiritually manufactured, how do we expect the un-redeemed to function and act as if they are saved?
We must truly believe God when he says "Beloved, you must be born from above" and we must seek to be gentle and respectful of the plight of the lost that is void of Christ light. We must try to become all things to all men so by the continual prayers for the lost --they may come to the saving knowledge that surpasses the elementary principles of this world and ushers one into the spiritual place of keen awareness. I am not interested in converting the old adamic nature unto a false brand of righteousness that will inadvertently be made up by a list that "we" have selected that does not incriminate ourselves too much.
We actually put labels on sins and place each one in categories as being most egregious while others are considered not all that bad however, the Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so therefore no matter where anyone is "standing" at this moment, the holy and righteous requirement will not be met in our own selves no matter how hard we try to be perfect. WE are NOT!
The unbelieving world looks right through that veil of hypocrisy and reject the message of Christ because actually they have not really heard it or it was diluted with religion that the pure heart of Christ is obscured through our attempt to make each and every person a carbon copy of our selves which is not life giving. The message of Christ has always been and continue to be Life to the ears of the lost when it is clearly spoken in love. I am not the least bit interested in passing out a lot information about everything that I think is right or wrong but I will always in my own feeble way point to Christ and invite others to seek him on their own. For he made some claims about himself that no one should ignore or reject without thorough examination although I must acknowledge that it is indeed your prerogative to reject this message based on presumptions about Christ or by stumbling over his servants representation of him..but please keep in mind that his servants, are not HIM. when you began to measure his message --make sure it is indeed Christ message and not just some form of religious or traditional thinking that you are rejecting.
I write this in the hope that we, who know him would begin to truly share the Gospel and not just religion. And that those who do not know him --their conscience will be pricked out of curiosity to know him and look beyond the veil of religion or people and know the Lover of their soul that is sweeter than life.
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Posted by SRD on 2008-01-24 00:16:12 | Rating: | Views: 136
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I know you mean well by your above post but it sadly misrepresents the Gospel I know from scripture. Christians walk a dangerous line when they start throwing comments around like "personally I don't think..." Read the Bible and you certainly find a Merciful and Loving God. However, you also find a Wrathful and Just one as well. You can't pick which attributes you want and attach them to God. The bible is black and white-- completely clear on the gospel and what is required of man. Void of human subjection and fully objective. In order to share the full gospel you must start with sin. There is no way around it. For without sin, the world needs no Savior. Without acknowledging sin and its effects (ie seperation from a HOLY God), we can not understand our need for Christ to be the Savior of our souls. Paul tells us that "by the Law (God's commandments) is the knowledge of sin" To give the good news of the gospel you must start with the bad-- its the only way the gospel makes sense. And, what makes it fully unique is the fact, as you stated, that we are completely unable to satisfy the requirements of God outside of Christ. We're all hypocrites and hopefully don't boast otherwise. God expects perfection-- we see this over and over again in his Word. No one is righteous-- the bible tells us if we are guilty of one sin we are guilty of all. This should certainly humble us as we share the gospel. I am no better than the next guy- the difference is that I'm justified through Christs sacrificial death on the cross and have new life because he rose again and conquered death.
Christ died in vain if sin isn't the issue.
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Posted by stampingsam
on 2008-01-24 14:03:59
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Hello stampingsam:
Please don't assume that I have not read the Bible for I have been knowing the Lord for over thirty years and I do not pick and chose what verses are needed for salvation, the Bible is clear and that is the Gospel is a free gift from God and it is by faith and not by works, least any "man" should boast. It is the blood of Christ that saves humanity--we can preach law and sin until Christ return and if no one understand that it is HIS blood that redeems mankind --there will be a lot of souls in spiritual jeopardy under the impression that the old rehabilitated ADAM or EVE have met the righteous standards by their "efforts."
I know that a person absolutely must be BORN AGAIN from above and this is a spiritual God ordained process that can not be manufactured by mankind. God righteous requirements is absolute perfection --AND this can only be satisfied in Christ death on the Cross and risen from the grave --He and HE ALONE has paid the sin debt of mankind. Christ took care of the sin issue! It is not surprising that whenever someone magnify the Cross, people gets nervous because they much prefer SIN to be the focus. Christ is the ISSUE and his death and ressurection is the main issue of the decades. He took drastic measures because mankind was--IS and continue to be in a drastic situation apart from his "work" on the cross of Calvary.
I will always obey God and not man's religious ideas about him. Just like it was in the days of Paul when the message was misinterpreted and those around him did not like him lifting up the cross of Calvary and reported that he was preaching "let us sin so that grace may abound and how many stumble over what he written because they did not understand.
I do not know you personally and will try not to make a rash judgment on your understanding of God. But I do know that he has placed it upon my heart to share the Gospel---not religion--not tradition--not the law--not the ten commandments --but the Gospel! Which is God perfect plan of salvation that did not need man imput but he and he alone (as he was alone when he entered into a convenant with Abraham independent of Abraham imput because Abraham experienced a deep sleep)God is able to save to the uttermost and I like making him the issue and not man's religious and well meaning agendas that continues to block "the very lost unbeliever" from seeing Christ in the first place. God bless you and obey God as he directs you and I will do the same. I do believe that we have the same desires--and that is to share the messge of the Gospel and reach out to the lost---not for the purpose of adding numbers to the church or creating a "kingdom of god" on earth (for this is not HIS plan) but like a true soldier of the Lord, we should not get entangle in civilian affairs but follow Christ who of course is not of this world although he created it.
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Posted by SRD
on 2008-01-24 15:38:03
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Dear SRD,
I hit a nerve and I didn't mean to. I am not assuming you have not read the Bible and I apologize if that is what you inferred from my comments. I was simply stating that in reading the Bible you find a God who has many attributes-- even some we may have a hard time acknowleding. My point was simply to say that we as humans are by nature subjective creatures and make many "good intentioned" decisions with our hearts instead of our heads. I am also not making a judgement on how spiritually mature you are but I certainly wouldn't make that judgement based on the number of years a person has been saved. I've worked a lot in ministry and I've worked with people that have been Christians ever since they can remember and I also have worked with some that had only been saved a few years. God has used them both in a number of ways to touch the lives of many individuals.
Christ will be a stumbling block to some Isaah tells us. This is because he comes with a strong message. A message of repentence AND redemption. I agree with just about everything you said in your email except for the minimization of sin. I hope you don't misunderstand me here-- when I witness to someone I certainly do not go up to them and start rattling off things that I see them doing wrong or tell them that they're on their way to Hell. I am a compassionate person but I also know that you cannot seperate sin from salvation. Yes, Christ took care of the sin of all who will believe but part of believing it is knowing that our sins are what sent him to the cross to begin with. All I tried to say was that Christ died with a purpose, and that purpose was to reconcile us to the Father. Why? Because we are sinful people and deserve the wrath of God-- all of us as you stated-- but instead He provided a spotless lamb to take our place-- thanks be to God! We must acknowledge the debt we owe or we can't accept the debt that has been paid on our behalf. That whole message applies, not just parts of it. I think that many people in this day and age water down the gospel in hopes that others will better receive it. But we cannot compromise its message. What good do we do those around us if we do this? We will have done them a great disservice. Indeed we need to acknowledge our sin and ask forgiveness in order to be forgiven. We are not truly saved otherwise.
I think its wonderful that you have a passion for the lost. May God give you words to speak.
Sincerely
your sister in Christ,
Sam
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Posted by stampingsam
on 2008-01-24 20:22:06
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Dear Stampingsam:
I appreciate your understanding of Scripture and also embrace it as consistent with the message of salvation. I agree that it was indeed our sins that sent Christ to the Cross of Calvary and that indeed he died with a purpose and that purpose was indeed to reconcile the world to the Father. It appears that we actually do believe the same exact way--we just disagree on the approach to reach the lost. I have incredible faith in the power of the Holy Spirit ability to lead one to the knowledge of the truth. I think too often we who are called by his Name--minimize the fact that this is a walk that should be directed under the influence of the Holy Spirit. I would only disagree with you that it is a head trip because my personal experience has taught me that God still speaks and many times it is through the heart. I have also found out that the "mind" sometimes gets in the way of spiritual understanding for even in the book of Proverbs it states: "lean not unto your own understanding but trust in God and HE will direct your path." I truly do Believe this is profound truth and the message I share magnify Christ and the Cross for he stated "If "I" be lifted up "I" will draw all men unto "ME."
This is not a "watered down message" but a focused message pointing to the Cross at all times as the most important issue. As I stated in my post, this is a "rescue" plan initiated and executed by God himself. For the unsave to receive this "plan" he or she will have to realize they are saved from their sins if they accept him as their Savior. I do believe that we in the church, feel compelled to point at sin and not Christ and the unbeliever walks away staring at sin and not looking into the face of Christ. We are also saved from the wrath of God and the penalty of the sin debt which is eternal damnation. I recognize this as truth and this is why I seasoned the message with Grace for it is to be presented at all times in and out of season with Grace. It is that serious of a consequence that I do not limit it to "head knowledge" and a bunch of information for I am confident that the Holy Spirit is very capable of leading one to a greater knowledge of himself and the purpose.
When I came to the Lord, NO MAN taught me but the Holy Spirit himself. I know first hand the power of the Holy Spirit ability to teach by way of revelation and recognize that this is a spiritual transformation first--before the mind can be renewed. The seed of truth is planted in the heart of man first and not the mind of man. One of God's servant may plant this "seed" and the other servant may water that seed, but the increase always comes from God himself if there is to be any genuine growth. We are his co-laborers and do play an important role in spreading his message of HOPE and not DESPAIR. It is a message that is designed to be embedded into the heart of man and not so much the mind of man. (Remember the "Parable of the Sower"--It speaks about the heart as being the soil for the seed and not the mind)
This is the Greatest News that has ever been given to this planet and unfortunately many times -NO one recognize it as such. In Christ day, the sinners graviated toward him like a magnet but it was the religious people who had a problem with his method of teaching for their mind and concepts of religion prevented their ability to SEE the Messiah was standing right in front of them. I think it is true today, that we, Christians have to always study the Scriptures under the influence of the Holy Spirit and not our well intentioned methods of thinking that a person have to jump through our loops in order to be saved.
For while we are down here on earth creating all sorts of hoops for the lost to jump through--God is still wooing the hearts of the lost through methods that we in the church may have problems with, just as in the day of Christ before the religious leaders. I am convinced that Christ is not all that interested in our "four step plan of salvation" and much as he is interested in the saving of the lost soul and do use methods beyond the traditional ones orchestrated by the Church. He knows the consequences of what happens to a lost soul far better than we do and is grieves to the extent that HE will leave 99 righteous and go search for that one lost soul to bring into his kingdom.
We need to adopt this mindset and weep for the lost with genuine concern to the point we never fail to pray that the Lord of Harvest sends more legitimate laborers into the Harvest. For the days are truly short and we need to pause and reflect on the fact that this is a supernatural walk of faith and the Holy Spirit is very capable of revealing himself to a lost soul. My role in this as his servant--is to point them to the Cross of Calvary and lift up Christ so HE and HE alone is SEEN. Not me, or my concepts, or dogma or doctrine but Christ and him alone. NO one on this earth can teach as well as HE, the Holy Spirit!
I thank you for your comments and appreciate that you love him as well. I honestly appreciate your prayer that God would give me the words to speak. This has always continually been a prayer that I uttered each and every day. God bless you, my sister in the Lord.
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Posted by SRD
on 2008-01-25 09:25:43
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