“True Gospel and the False Gospel” The church is in trouble—thats what they say anyways. The problem is most of what they call the church is not the church, and the church is not quite as in trouble as everybody thinks. As a matter of fact, the church today is absolutely beautiful—shes glorious, shes humble, shes broken, and shes confessing her sin. The problem is what everybodys calling the church today isnt the church. Basically, by and large, whats called the church today is nothing more than a bunch of unconverted church people with unconverted pastors. The cross does not give us a minor shift or two with regard to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values. The cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self to Christ. And if the cross has not done that, youre not a Christian! The person who demonstrates no desire for the things of God and has no inclination to avoid sin or passion to please God is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit and thus does not belong to Christ. Or think on this, there are many people who call themselves Christians who could not give a biblical explanation of the gospel. Now how can you be a Christian if you dont know the gospel? How can you be in Christ if you dont know what the Bible says about how to be in Christ? If you show me a man deliberately living an unholy and licentious life, and yet boasting that his sins are forgiven, I answer, He is under a ruinous delusion, and is not forgiven at all. I would not believe he is forgiven if an angel from heaven affirmed it, and I charge you not to believe it too. Pardon of sin and love of sin are like oil and water…they will never go together. All who are washed in the blood of Christ are also sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Irreverence for the Bible, Christ, God, and all that is holy: These are all made the butt of many jokes, and some so-called Christians laugh the heartiest of them all. Why? Because they have no sense of sin, and no love for God, His Christ and His word; all they have is a form of godliness. They have flatly denied the power of God in His Gospel to save, keep and deliver from sin. Youve got a little bit of religion, but you, aside from that little religion, are just like the world. Youre just like the multitudes; youre just like the crowd that shall see the fires of hell with just a little bit of religion. Unbroken patterns of sin are characteristic of the unregenerate. No matter what a person claims about being a Christian, if he or she continues in sin, it is only a claim and not a reality. When you became a Christian, the pattern of sin was broken and a new pattern came into existence. Godly desires took over. Does that mean theres no sin in your life? No, because you’re unredeemed flesh is still there. But the more you pursue those religious affections, the less you will sin. … Sin as a life pattern is incompatible with salvation. Thats because to experience salvation is to be saved from something, and that something is sin. If a person could continue in sin after being saved from sin, that would mean salvation is ineffective. The true believer is heavy laden with the sinfulness of his nature, and longs for entire victory over his corrupt affections, appetites, and passions, for pure spirituality in his duties, and for perfection in holiness; and therefore heartily desires and accepts the Lord Jesus as his Sanctifier as well as Savior, and earnestly seeks the renewing, strengthening, and quickening influences of His Spirit.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 21:43:20 +0000
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