II Timothy 2:11 Here is a statement you can trust: If we have died with him, we will also live with him. 12 If we persevere, we will also rule with him If we disown him, he will also disown us. 13 If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. 16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; 18 they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people's faith. 19 Nevertheless, God's firm foundation stands, stamped with these words: "The Lord knows his own," and, "Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord stand apart from wrongdoing." CJB

20.6.10

Paralyzed by Grace....by Sombra Wilson

Paralyzed by Grace?

"In most churches we’re not

 only saved by grace, we’re paralyzed by it.  We’re afraid to do anything that might be a ”work.”  The funny thing is we will preach to people for an hour that they can’t do anything to be saved, and then sing to them for a half an hour trying to get them to do something…. People need to see that action is a receptacle for grace, not a substitute for it.  Grace is God acting in our lives to do things we can’t do on our own.  Grace is not opposed to effort; it’s opposed to earning.”(Dallas Willard, Interview, Leadership Magazine, Summer 2005, pge 23)


The gift of Grace is not an excuse to cease from doing – yes DOING what we are commanded to do once we have received salvation. Grace empowers us, sets us free so that we can step out of the ways of this world and be God’s peculiar people, walking in His ways, not a Christianized version of secular ways.  Read from Matthew 5 and see who it is who is blessed. These are the righteous who are living by Torah, and being persecuted for it. And the next part of scripture is the one about salt not losing it’s saltyness. What is salt without flavour?  It’s like a Christian who has no impact on this world because really, he looks just like the world. But what about the fellow who believes in Christ, and walks just as Christ did, as the Torah teaches us, wow oh wow do we stand out from the world, and wow oh wow are we persecuted for it, with words like “trying to earn your salvation” or “forsaking the gift of grace”, persecuted for the way we look and the way we live and what we believe and what days we keep.
No, I’m not paralyzed by grace, nor have I forsaken the gift of grace, rather, I have been set free to keep the righteousnesss and wisdom that is found in the Torah. Grace has set me free and I am DOING the will of God. "

I love it when I find words from others that mirror my heart and thoughts!  Bless you Sombra!




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