Here is a quote from an article by a man who has performed works in Christ...more than many would dream of:
"There is a consciousness, that seems to me by the Word of God and by my own personal experience, that must be possessed where any individual can enter into the direct presence of God and receive the baptism of the Spirit. That is the consciousness of sinlessness. The consciousness that your sins are gone...I tell you, beloved, that the external evidences of God and the power of His Spirit, no matter how wonderful, are a small matter compared with the consciousness of the Word of God in the human heart; in your heart and mine, bless God..." (John G Lake)
When we consider the parable of the prodigal son, we must understand that it's not passive or lisencious to feast at His table (lisencious would be the younger son running off and living wrecklessly like he did, yet, funny enough, even in that place, he was still his father's son...).
John G Lake understood the Grace of God, and who he was because of Jesus's sacrifice, and that's what bore fruit in his life!
Grace to you all :-)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Grace is already an "extreme doctrine"!
Truth sets free!
I feel we should be a little more careful with abusive terminologies within the church - especially when many unsaved people are watching and listening.
The Grace of God is not a new "concept" recently discovered, it infact is God's unmerrited favor towards mankind in the person Jesus Christ. And when people (mostly believers) begin to say that "this grace thing is heresy and causing people to sin", one must be very careful, because what they're really [literally] saying is, "God's mercy, and abundant love and goodness towards man in the person Jesus Christ, is causing people to sin" ... semantics...?
Also, the two false doctrines, namely Legalism and Licensiousness, are commonly seen as two extremes of Grace. This is incorrect!
Legalism is not an "extreme of grace" or "Grace controlled", it's a false doctrine in the light of the New Covenant (you cannot control the Grace of God) - it's not our "object" to control, it's our privilege to receive and advance (not do dish out in controlled doses so that man is not overwhelmed - the church has done this for centuries).
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 - We are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, which is this: God's APPEAL that He does NOT hold our sins against us (regardless of what sin it is, or when it takes place - do they have consequences, sure, but that's not my dealing here...this is not a thesis, it's a brief article).
Licenciousness, too, is not an "extreme of grace". Licenciousness is, in itself, a false doctrine too, that says we have permission to disregard moral restraint (especially sexual immorality), as well as to disregard accepted rules and standards.
This is not what the Holy Spirit will bare witness to within us - so while God Himself will not hold such (or any) sins against us (2 Cor 5 18-20), if the Holy Spirit is leading me into purity by His grace, and someone tells me his "holy spirit" says such conduct is fine, well, his "holy spirit" is not the same as my Holy Spirit...
God's grace is already an extreme all on its own....He gave ALL of Himself, so that, without any effort but to rest in Him, we can access ALL OF HIS ALL...ALL!!!
I feel we should be a little more careful with abusive terminologies within the church - especially when many unsaved people are watching and listening.
The Grace of God is not a new "concept" recently discovered, it infact is God's unmerrited favor towards mankind in the person Jesus Christ. And when people (mostly believers) begin to say that "this grace thing is heresy and causing people to sin", one must be very careful, because what they're really [literally] saying is, "God's mercy, and abundant love and goodness towards man in the person Jesus Christ, is causing people to sin" ... semantics...?
Also, the two false doctrines, namely Legalism and Licensiousness, are commonly seen as two extremes of Grace. This is incorrect!
Legalism is not an "extreme of grace" or "Grace controlled", it's a false doctrine in the light of the New Covenant (you cannot control the Grace of God) - it's not our "object" to control, it's our privilege to receive and advance (not do dish out in controlled doses so that man is not overwhelmed - the church has done this for centuries).
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 - We are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, which is this: God's APPEAL that He does NOT hold our sins against us (regardless of what sin it is, or when it takes place - do they have consequences, sure, but that's not my dealing here...this is not a thesis, it's a brief article).
Licenciousness, too, is not an "extreme of grace". Licenciousness is, in itself, a false doctrine too, that says we have permission to disregard moral restraint (especially sexual immorality), as well as to disregard accepted rules and standards.
This is not what the Holy Spirit will bare witness to within us - so while God Himself will not hold such (or any) sins against us (2 Cor 5 18-20), if the Holy Spirit is leading me into purity by His grace, and someone tells me his "holy spirit" says such conduct is fine, well, his "holy spirit" is not the same as my Holy Spirit...
God's grace is already an extreme all on its own....He gave ALL of Himself, so that, without any effort but to rest in Him, we can access ALL OF HIS ALL...ALL!!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
From a Horses Mouth!
I recently had a very inspiring conversation with a new believer - a young gentleman who has been exposed to Christianity in a religious context before, but who has only recently started to truly personalise the love and goodness of God towards himself.
His reason for this fresh outlook towards God (and life), did not come through reading hours of course material, or counselling sessions regarding sin in his life.
In fact, if I can remember correctly, he said something along the lines of, "the more I hear people at church I've started going to, carrying on about how Jesus died for ME...ME! The more excited I become..." (something along those lines).
Bearing in mind this young man does not come out of a time of "studying God's grace", he is a real life product of it (like each of us are).He went on to say the most profound thing afterwards, he said, "the more I think about how much God loves me, the more I want to resemble His character".
Un-freaken believable!
The grace of God has effect!
His reason for this fresh outlook towards God (and life), did not come through reading hours of course material, or counselling sessions regarding sin in his life.
In fact, if I can remember correctly, he said something along the lines of, "the more I hear people at church I've started going to, carrying on about how Jesus died for ME...ME! The more excited I become..." (something along those lines).
Bearing in mind this young man does not come out of a time of "studying God's grace", he is a real life product of it (like each of us are).He went on to say the most profound thing afterwards, he said, "the more I think about how much God loves me, the more I want to resemble His character".
Un-freaken believable!
The grace of God has effect!
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