January 1st, 2009 Happy New Year! My "resolution" is to graduate strong and finish school well this semester and not have a lot of dead and down time where I waste a lot of valuable time. I also want to read a lot more.. and start applying the knowledge I already have attained. This year will have much change. January 6th, 2009 I did some studying in Philippians 3:17-21 for this weeks sermon and here are some key points I found that come straight from the text pretty much: - Imitate others examples who imitate Christ(v.17) - Do not set our eyes on earthly things but on eternal things(v. 19-20a). keep an eternal perspective, similar to theme of last week's sermon. - Good cross reference to Matthew 6:19,20a,21 ("do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is there your heart will be also") - Christ will transform our bodies to be like His, by his power (v. 21). He subjects all things to Himself. January 7th, 2009 I am going to be posting good information gathered at other websites and other useful sources that can all be accessed by using my misc./link page. These have all helped me in my studies from day to day so I hope they will do the same for you. Justification and Sanctification: What is the Difference? Understanding the difference between justification and sanctification can be as important as understanding the difference between salvation and damnation. Rightly dividing between the two is of crucial importance. When you understand what they are, you can then draw a line in the sand and say, "This is what saves. This is not what saves." Justification is the work of God where the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to the sinner so the sinner is declared by God as being righteous under the Law (Rom. 4:3; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). This righteousness is not earned or retained by any effort of the saved. Justification is an instantaneous occurrence with the result being eternal life. It is based completely and solely upon Jesus' sacrifice on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) and is received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). No works are necessary whatsoever to obtain justification. Otherwise, it is not a gift (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, we are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Sanctification, on the other hand, involves the work of the person. But it is still God working in the believer to produce more of a godly character and life in the person who has already been justified (Phil. 2:13). Sanctification is not instantaneous because it is not the work of God alone. The justified person is actively involved in submitting to God's will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly (Gal. 5:22-23). Significantly, sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't live a perfect life, we are still justified. Where justification is a legal declaration that is instantaneous, sanctification is a process. Where justification comes from outside of us, from God, sanctification comes from God within us by the work of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Bible. In other words, we contribute to sanctification through our efforts. In contrast, we do not contribute to our justification through our efforts. Does this mean that those justified by grace can sin as much as they want? Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it?" 1 Thess. 4:7 says, "God has called us not for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification." The Scriptures teach us that we are to live holy lives and avoid sin (Col. 1:5-11). Just because we are saved and eternally justified before God (John 10:28), that is no excuse to continue in the sin from which we were saved. Of course, we all sin (1 John 1:8). But the war between the saved and his sin is continuous (Rom. 7:14-20) and it won't be until the return of Jesus that we will be delivered from this body of death (Rom. 7:24). To continually seek sin and use God's grace to excuse it later is to trample the blood of Christ underfoot (Heb. 10:29) and to reveal the person's true sinful, unsaved nature (1 John 2:4; 2:19). (Other verses worth checking out are: Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; and 1 Pet. 2:21-22.) What the cults do with justification and sanctification? The cults consistently blur the meanings of the two terms and misapply the truths taught in God's word. The result is a theology of works righteousness, of earning their salvation which only leads to damnation. This is because by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (Gal. 2:16). Man cannot contribute to his salvation (Gal. 5:1-8). Because man is sinful even his best deeds are stained and filthy before God (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore, making a person right before God can only be God's work (Gal. 2:20). Typically, in cult theologies, a person is not justified (declared righteous in God's eyes) until the final day of judgment when his works are weighed and a reward is given or he is found worthy of his place with God. Thus, a person with this errant theology can not claim 1 John 5:13 as their own which says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God." Contextually, "These things" refers to loving God, being obedient to Him, belief in Christ, and eternal life in Jesus. Therefore, 1 John 5:13 can be considered a test. If you are believing and doing the right things, then you will know if you have eternal life. Can a cultist know he has eternal life? No. He cannot. But a Christian can. People in cults don't understand the difference between justification and sanctification. Therefore, they must depend upon a cooperative effort with God to have their sins forgiven which is, essentially, combining the filthy works of man (Isaiah 64:6) with the holy work of God. They don't mix. They can't. Hence, salvation is by grace through faith, alone. To believe anything else is to miss salvation. Copyright Matthew J. Slick, 1995 - 2008 from CARM January 12th, 2009 Convicted About Purity - A Lifelong Challenge from Ephesians 5 by James MacDonald (these are my notes) -Eph. 4:1. When we think about our life, the pattern of purity is Jesus Christ, imitate Him. -Children imitate with quickness, enthusiasm, and without embarrassment (John 1:12). -Walk in love as Christ loved us. -When I am living a life of purity, and setting aside what is ungodly and shameful, God is up in heaven and taking that in as a fragrant aroma and that is pleasing to Him. -Perversion is the opposite of purity. (Immorality, covetousness, greed, and all forms of sexual sin) and "must not be once named among us, as is proper to saints." -Pornography is an 8 billion dollar per year industry. -v.4 – begins with how we talk, "let there be no filthy talk" (talk that is sexual degrading of someone else). Foolish talk = moron words, crude joking, "genital jokers", etc. It is not appropriate for followers of Christ. It is "not fitting." - But rather, start with thanksgiving to God. -The price of impurity is hell! Everyone who is sexual immoral as the pattern of their life is an adulterer and has no place in the kingdom and inheritance of God. -We do not get to heaven by becoming holy, works salvation is false, however; the people who are going to heaven by the grace of God should be continually striving for purity in the pattern of their life. -Impurity is so easily woven into the fabric of people’s beings that it is increasingly obvious and is apparent to where they are going. -We need to want what God wants, or else we are our own God. Idolatry is the worship of self and doing what we want. The price of this impurity is hell. -The power of impurity is darkness. v.6. -let no one deceive you with empty words, empty rationalizations -Jude 4, unbelievable prophecy about the US today, who pervert the grace of God by preaching how much God will forgive you and forgive you until it is distorted. "pervert" the grace of God into sensuality. -The grace of God becomes an excuse to sin. A conviction of purity isn’t important anymore to anyone because people say, "God will forgive me". -Rom. 6 -We want our words and thoughts and actions to link us to Christ and not the world. -Be followers, do not be partakers, do not have fellowship with... aka zero tolerance. -v.7 no "associating with them", no "sort of", no "sampling". No participating or pretending or allowing, or enabling, etc. -We were darkness but now you are light in the Lord! -Luke 1:79, II Cor 4:4, John 3:17 - v.9 walk as children of the light. The fruit of the light is found in all that is good and true. Aka when a person is living in the light it can be seen in their life. -Speak the truth. Love the truth, share the truth. -Discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Expose it and get it out into the open if necessary -Self Conviction is to say "I will not tolerate personal impurity". -Establish patterns of moral purity and behavior. "moral fences". like "guard rails on a mountain road", you do not want to be near the edge. do not trust your moral fences. stay far away from them. -Even if you would be victorious in a certain situation, stay away from it! Proverbs 4:26. -Remove the opportunity to fail in a moment of weakness. Rom 13:14. "no provision for the flesh" -James 5:16, maintain accountability -Count the cost of impurity. January 19th, 2009 I composed a new song this weekend. The words are written by Charles Wesley. I rearranged them and wrote music for it and sang it at Fellowship Raleigh on Sunday morning. The title is: Rejoice, the Lord is King. Here are the lyrics: Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore Mortals give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore Jesus, Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love When He had purged all our stains, He took His seat above Lift up your heart, lift up your voice - Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! Lift up your heart, lift up your voice - Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o'er earth and Heav'n The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv'n He sits at God's right hand till all His foes submit And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come And take His servants up to their eternal home We shall soon hear the archangel's voice The trump of God will resound, rejoice! Rejoice! Hopefully I will get some time to record it soon this semester. January 21st, 2009 From the Charles Spurgeon devotional At the Master’s Feet for January 20. Using the Sword of the Spirit Spurgeon slices through the mystic mist of the mush god of contemporary Christendom: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8, KJV) v And we now declare that the God of Holy Scripture is a God of inflexible justice, He is not the God Whom some of you adore. You adore a god who winks at great sins; you believe in a god who calls your crimes peccadillos and little faults. Some of you worship a god who does not punish sin but who is so weakly merciful, and mercilessly weak, that he passes by transgressions and iniquity and never enacts a punishment. You believe in a god who, if man sins, does not demand punishment for his offense. You think that a few good works of your own will pacify him, that he is so weak a ruler that a few good words uttered before him in prayer will win sufficient merit to reverse the sentence, if indeed you think he ever passes a sentence at all. Your god is no God; he is as much a false god of the Greeks or of ancient Nineveh. The God of Scripture is one who is inflexibly severe in justice and will by no means clear the guilty. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1:3, KJV). The God of Scripture is a Ruler who, when His subjects rebel, marks their crime and never forgives them until He has (sic) punished it, either upon them or upon their Substitute.