PERFECT IN GOD'S EYES
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An examination of what the word grace actually means is always a good thing imo. I'm sorry some don't take the things I post as helpful. I wish someone shared these truths with me years ago but alas it was not to be. But I know it now and I share it.
I don't see that "everyone here" knows about grace because it's been obvious based on the posts here by some who posted that there is more to know. My empathy is huge for the Christians who are not using the grace of God but feeling unworthy of it. The whole point of grace is that it's given to us unworthy people because we are now worthy in Christ. But if we don't know that., we stray from God and false condemnation from the devil and not the Holy Spirit. yes, there is soooo much to learn about this subject.
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I read a post just now about the proper understanding of how God chastises us and it's just another different way I read those verses you posted Marc in Hebrews 12:5 and on. You can disagree with my conclusions and I can disagree with yours but there is no need to think I'm being showy or boastful no more than I think you are. I come to CC to share and to read other Christians views. I've learned a lot and shared a lot.
It's my opinion those are good things to do for each other and I'll continue to do it because it's the whole reason for CC. For those of you who are not interested and even annoyed at my way of posting., you don't have to read what I write. It's a free country. Blessings to you as you learn and share.
I don't see that "everyone here" knows about grace because it's been obvious based on the posts here by some who posted that there is more to know. My empathy is huge for the Christians who are not using the grace of God but feeling unworthy of it. The whole point of grace is that it's given to us unworthy people because we are now worthy in Christ. But if we don't know that., we stray from God and false condemnation from the devil and not the Holy Spirit. yes, there is soooo much to learn about this subject.
.
I read a post just now about the proper understanding of how God chastises us and it's just another different way I read those verses you posted Marc in Hebrews 12:5 and on. You can disagree with my conclusions and I can disagree with yours but there is no need to think I'm being showy or boastful no more than I think you are. I come to CC to share and to read other Christians views. I've learned a lot and shared a lot.
It's my opinion those are good things to do for each other and I'll continue to do it because it's the whole reason for CC. For those of you who are not interested and even annoyed at my way of posting., you don't have to read what I write. It's a free country. Blessings to you as you learn and share.
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[h=1]Conviction vs Correction[/h]Posted on February 28, 2013 by Paul Ellis // 68 Comments
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What I say: “God never convicts us of our sins.”
What they hear: “God is oblivious to our sins. He never corrects us nor rebukes us.”
What they think: Hebrews 12 says otherwise so Paul is in error.
This issue of conviction of sins is fast becoming an unnecessary shibboleth among Christians. Sincere believers are dividing themselves along one of two lines:
1. “God never convicts us and if you think he does you are sin-conscious and need to become Christ-conscious.”
2. “God convicts me in a positive way as a loving father and if you say otherwise you need to read your Bible.”
This is a most unfortunate and unnecessary division! It is the result of two truths hammering the same nail – namely, how does God deal with our present sins and shortcomings? Does he convict us? Does he correct us? Is there a difference?
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; (Heb 12:5 NKJV)
God both chastens and rebukes us but in this post I want to focus on the word rebuke. (Chastening simply means training. God trains us as a Father; he does not chastise us with punishment, sickness and definitely not scourging (see v.6). God trains us primarily through scripture and the revelation of his Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16-17, John 16:13).)
The word for “rebuke” in Hebrews 12:5, elegchō, is the same word which is translated “convict” in John 16:8.
And (the Helper), when he comes, will convict (elegchō) the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16:8-11, NASB)
It is also closely related to word Jude uses when he quotes Enoch:
See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict (exelegchō) all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jud 1:14-15)
Put it altogether and you have a recipe for confusion: The ungodly are convicted and the sons of God are convicted! But the confusion may be all in our English-reading heads.
Lost in translation
Consider the meaning of the English word “convict”:
Verb: Declare someone to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Noun: A person found guilty of a criminal offense and serving a sentence of imprisonment.
Does the Holy Spirit ever declare the righteous guilty? Of course not. If he did, it would be like saying Christ’s redemptive work was an insufficient remedy for your sin. Since you have been justified by his grace (Rom 3:24), you cannot be convicted for your sin. Not now, not ever.
“But Paul, I’ve got some serious sin.” That may be, but he has some serious grace and his grace is greater than your sin (Rom 5:20).
When I talk like that, I am accused of diminishing sin. I am not. Sin is destructive. It has consequences. I am not diminishing sin. I am emphasizing the only thing that can deliver you from the power of sin: his grace.
What’s wrong with a little conviction?
The word convict has become so churchified that we sound like fools when we talk to outsiders.
I used to do prison ministry. If I told the inmates that the Holy Spirit had convicted me of sin they would think, “He busted you! You were caught red-handed you bad, bad sinner.” What a slanderous portrayal of the Holy Spirit’s life-giving ministry. I have made out that he is like the Law or worse, the Accuser. The Holy Spirit is nothing like that!
But it certainly doesn’t help when we have translations like the NIV adding words to scripture:
Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin… (NIV)
The word guilt is not in the original Greek. (Check it out in a literal translation.) It was added in the 1970s by translators working for the International Bible Society. Their other Bible, the 20-year old NIrV, is even worse:
Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will prove that the world’s people are guilty. (NIrV)
Sheesh. It makes you wonder why God wasted 14 centuries with the law-keeping covenant. If his plan was to condemn us with the Holy Spirit, what purpose does the law serve?
I hope you can see that “convict” and “guilt” are terrible words to associate with the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit and guilt go together like the devil and love. He’s the Spirit of grace, not the spirit of guilt (Heb 10:29).
As long as you’re rewriting the Bible, why not go the whole way and call Jesus the Condemner of the world?
What a dis-grace.
Conviction vs. correction
I hope you can see the Holy Spirit never, ever convicts (assigns guilt) you of your sin. In fact, he has gone on record saying, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Heb 10:17). How can he declare you guilty of sins he chooses not to remembers?
“But Paul, you are speaking of conviction in a negative sense. There is also such a thing as positive conviction and I have experienced it.”
No, you are confused about the meaning of words. There is no such thing as positive guilt or positive condemnation. That old line about the devil condemning and the Holy Spirit convictingis a big fat lie. Say it often enough and people will believe it but it’s not found anywhere in the Bible.
What you have actually experienced is a life-giving correction. And as we shall see in the next post, that is altogether a different thing.
—
Acknowledgement: This post was inspired by a question raised by Dustin Horstmann in the comments section of this recent post, namely, are we who preach grace creating an unnecessary schism by insisting God doesn’t see our sin? I want to thank Dustin for framing the issue in such a clear and sensitive way. I also want to thank Felix, Jennie, John S. and Colleen G for their thoughtful responses to Dustin, some of which I have incorporated here.
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What they hear: “God is oblivious to our sins. He never corrects us nor rebukes us.”
What they think: Hebrews 12 says otherwise so Paul is in error.
This issue of conviction of sins is fast becoming an unnecessary shibboleth among Christians. Sincere believers are dividing themselves along one of two lines:
1. “God never convicts us and if you think he does you are sin-conscious and need to become Christ-conscious.”
2. “God convicts me in a positive way as a loving father and if you say otherwise you need to read your Bible.”
This is a most unfortunate and unnecessary division! It is the result of two truths hammering the same nail – namely, how does God deal with our present sins and shortcomings? Does he convict us? Does he correct us? Is there a difference?
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; (Heb 12:5 NKJV)
God both chastens and rebukes us but in this post I want to focus on the word rebuke. (Chastening simply means training. God trains us as a Father; he does not chastise us with punishment, sickness and definitely not scourging (see v.6). God trains us primarily through scripture and the revelation of his Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16-17, John 16:13).)
The word for “rebuke” in Hebrews 12:5, elegchō, is the same word which is translated “convict” in John 16:8.
And (the Helper), when he comes, will convict (elegchō) the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16:8-11, NASB)
It is also closely related to word Jude uses when he quotes Enoch:
See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict (exelegchō) all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jud 1:14-15)
Put it altogether and you have a recipe for confusion: The ungodly are convicted and the sons of God are convicted! But the confusion may be all in our English-reading heads.
Lost in translation
Consider the meaning of the English word “convict”:
Verb: Declare someone to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Noun: A person found guilty of a criminal offense and serving a sentence of imprisonment.
Does the Holy Spirit ever declare the righteous guilty? Of course not. If he did, it would be like saying Christ’s redemptive work was an insufficient remedy for your sin. Since you have been justified by his grace (Rom 3:24), you cannot be convicted for your sin. Not now, not ever.
“But Paul, I’ve got some serious sin.” That may be, but he has some serious grace and his grace is greater than your sin (Rom 5:20).
When I talk like that, I am accused of diminishing sin. I am not. Sin is destructive. It has consequences. I am not diminishing sin. I am emphasizing the only thing that can deliver you from the power of sin: his grace.
What’s wrong with a little conviction?
The word convict has become so churchified that we sound like fools when we talk to outsiders.
I used to do prison ministry. If I told the inmates that the Holy Spirit had convicted me of sin they would think, “He busted you! You were caught red-handed you bad, bad sinner.” What a slanderous portrayal of the Holy Spirit’s life-giving ministry. I have made out that he is like the Law or worse, the Accuser. The Holy Spirit is nothing like that!
But it certainly doesn’t help when we have translations like the NIV adding words to scripture:
Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin… (NIV)
The word guilt is not in the original Greek. (Check it out in a literal translation.) It was added in the 1970s by translators working for the International Bible Society. Their other Bible, the 20-year old NIrV, is even worse:
Joh 16:8 When he comes, he will prove that the world’s people are guilty. (NIrV)
Sheesh. It makes you wonder why God wasted 14 centuries with the law-keeping covenant. If his plan was to condemn us with the Holy Spirit, what purpose does the law serve?
I hope you can see that “convict” and “guilt” are terrible words to associate with the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit and guilt go together like the devil and love. He’s the Spirit of grace, not the spirit of guilt (Heb 10:29).
As long as you’re rewriting the Bible, why not go the whole way and call Jesus the Condemner of the world?
What a dis-grace.
Conviction vs. correction
I hope you can see the Holy Spirit never, ever convicts (assigns guilt) you of your sin. In fact, he has gone on record saying, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Heb 10:17). How can he declare you guilty of sins he chooses not to remembers?
“But Paul, you are speaking of conviction in a negative sense. There is also such a thing as positive conviction and I have experienced it.”
No, you are confused about the meaning of words. There is no such thing as positive guilt or positive condemnation. That old line about the devil condemning and the Holy Spirit convictingis a big fat lie. Say it often enough and people will believe it but it’s not found anywhere in the Bible.
What you have actually experienced is a life-giving correction. And as we shall see in the next post, that is altogether a different thing.
—
Acknowledgement: This post was inspired by a question raised by Dustin Horstmann in the comments section of this recent post, namely, are we who preach grace creating an unnecessary schism by insisting God doesn’t see our sin? I want to thank Dustin for framing the issue in such a clear and sensitive way. I also want to thank Felix, Jennie, John S. and Colleen G for their thoughtful responses to Dustin, some of which I have incorporated here.
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again, most here are well aware of what BIBLICAL grace is
to quote someone, you are free to believe whatever you want
this is a public forum and you are also free to post whatever the mods and or owner allows and in that same vein, I and others are free to object or try to reason or even argue
I've studied for many years now and I do have a little something to offer but I do not agree that all people are equipped enough to take from certain teachers that which is beneficial and disregard the rest
many people have gotten themselves into serious trouble doing that very thing
I don't recall saying I disagree with your conclusions. I disagree with Prince's conclusions
I also disagree that personal experience dictates doctrine to the rest of us
I do believe we are to test all things...but far too many just accept all things
you should not just dismiss what someone writes with 'if you are not interested' or annoyed..that is hardly what is going on here
perhaps you are annoyed as you mentioned it, but again, this is a public forum and it is the Bible DISCUSSION forum and not the 'this is what I believe and if you don't like it then go away forum'
I don't agree with Paul Ellis on lot's of things. He doesn't believe there will be a rapture of the church and finds all kinds of things wrong with that. But I still can find other things he and I do happen to agree on like the way he understands the Bible when it talks about chastisement for the believer. I'm totally on that and am thankful for Christians who share what they have learned and even that it counters what popular beliefs are.
I have come to learn and agree with Christians that hold to many unpopular beliefs for instance tongues and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. My way of believing has changed over the years based on what I've read and been taught by the Holy Spirit and other believers.
Some things I hold can totally disagree with other Christians beliefs here depending on who is posting at the moment. But they are not foundational Christian faith truths that are different. Tongues and the ministry of the Holy Spirit has many interpretations by many believers. For me., these truths in the Bible have set me free from ideas and interpretations that me and other believers I'm close to have come to over the years. I've changed and had my mind renewed in lots of areas. This should not be a problem but an encouragement. imo.
I have come to learn and agree with Christians that hold to many unpopular beliefs for instance tongues and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. My way of believing has changed over the years based on what I've read and been taught by the Holy Spirit and other believers.
Some things I hold can totally disagree with other Christians beliefs here depending on who is posting at the moment. But they are not foundational Christian faith truths that are different. Tongues and the ministry of the Holy Spirit has many interpretations by many believers. For me., these truths in the Bible have set me free from ideas and interpretations that me and other believers I'm close to have come to over the years. I've changed and had my mind renewed in lots of areas. This should not be a problem but an encouragement. imo.
I believe it's a simple courtesy and respect for each of us to avoid going to a thread where someone totally disagrees us and is ready and willing to fight. What's the point of me going to a thread where someone is posting all the evils of the teaching on the Rapture? I can give my opinion but to denigrate into personal insults the way you do here when you visit my threads is not helpful and only genders strife.
I suggest you avoid my threads since you have many wrong ideas about me and you have no qualms about posting them. What is the point? I'd suggest you start your own thread and enjoy being here instead of being vexed about mine. As you said., we are in a public forum with many different people with different points of view. We can't all agree 100% so it's wise to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and not our annoyances about other people's posts.
How do we do that? We can visit and leave our opinions but we don't stay there and insult one another. That is not why I come here.
He was banned. This was his last post:
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/132689-bible-verse-verse-continued.html
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/132689-bible-verse-verse-continued.html
7
so then you are oK if I say the Holy Spirit had me write here?
now mind you, I may or not be saying that, but since you believe YOU wrote by the Holy Spirit, then I am sure you would have no problem if another CC member said the same
and that is a big problem here. people saying God told them to say this or that or the Holy Spirit told them and therefore everyone else should just take their word for it
all reasons why your personal dislike for my posts, which are in disagreement with your beliefs, most likely will appear from time to time, as others who are also in disagreement with your posts will also appear
on the other hand, you can always just ignore me. right? I do actually post in response to others here who think as I do concerning Prince, so maybe just chill
you really do know what the fuss is about so stop playing the victim. you know when you post from prince that people are going to disagree
courtesy can act both ways. I can just as easily ask you to stop posting about prince...but I would not do that because it is, after all, not my place anymore than it is your place to tell me to stay out of your threads
as far as personal insults go, you know very well I have not insulted you. this is what you do. you don't like how someone responds so then you try to make it personal
this is about what prince teaches...not you personally
maybe you should get back to your own op because that is what I was responding to.
Let's take a closer look at this, and see what Joseph Prince omits, and thereby presents only partial truth. I do not wish to nit-pick but we are required to prove all things in the light of Scripture.
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[TD="class: yiv3999919976mcnTextContent"] The biblically correct statement would be "do not doubt that God sees the perfection of Christ in you. Christians will only be perfected at the Resurrection/Rapture, but we have been given the "robe" of Christ's righteousness being justified by faith.
The fact is that all of us Christians are far from being perfect. That is the reality. But that is not doubting the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
We have been perfected in God's Divine foreknowledge ("elect according to the foreknowledge of God") since God has predestined each one of His children to be "conformed to the image of His Son"). Once again this perfection will become an accomplished fact at the Resurrection/Rapture. But according to Prince we are already perfect, which is false.
This is true at the moment a sinner repents and receives Christ as Lord and Savior. Prince omits the fact that at the same time we are to examine ourselves daily, confess our sins, and repent of our present sins since none of us is as yet sinlessly perfect. So once again we have false doctrine.
Once again, at the time of salvation, our sins are remitted and our guilt is removed. But that is not where the matter ends. As Paul says "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup (1 Cor 11:28). Prince has a moral and spiritual obligation to bring this to the attention of the reader. So once again false doctrine.
But that is not what the apostle John tells us. What he says is "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all righteousness. So once again false doctrine.
This is totally absurd. Why would the Holy Spirit "convict" us of our righteousness? No, the Holy Spirit convinces us of our righteousness in Christ, but at the same time convicts us of our present sins so that we may confess and repent, and continue in fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, once again, false doctrine.
But what saith the Scripture? (Heb 12:5-13).
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gavethem reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he forour profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
So joaniemarie, while you are very fond of quoting Joseph Prince, what you are actually doing is presenting and promoting FALSE DOCTRINE.
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[TD="class: yiv3999919976mcnTextContent"] The biblically correct statement would be "do not doubt that God sees the perfection of Christ in you. Christians will only be perfected at the Resurrection/Rapture, but we have been given the "robe" of Christ's righteousness being justified by faith.
The fact is that all of us Christians are far from being perfect. That is the reality. But that is not doubting the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
We have been perfected in God's Divine foreknowledge ("elect according to the foreknowledge of God") since God has predestined each one of His children to be "conformed to the image of His Son"). Once again this perfection will become an accomplished fact at the Resurrection/Rapture. But according to Prince we are already perfect, which is false.
This is true at the moment a sinner repents and receives Christ as Lord and Savior. Prince omits the fact that at the same time we are to examine ourselves daily, confess our sins, and repent of our present sins since none of us is as yet sinlessly perfect. So once again we have false doctrine.
Once again, at the time of salvation, our sins are remitted and our guilt is removed. But that is not where the matter ends. As Paul says "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup (1 Cor 11:28). Prince has a moral and spiritual obligation to bring this to the attention of the reader. So once again false doctrine.
But that is not what the apostle John tells us. What he says is "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all righteousness. So once again false doctrine.
This is totally absurd. Why would the Holy Spirit "convict" us of our righteousness? No, the Holy Spirit convinces us of our righteousness in Christ, but at the same time convicts us of our present sins so that we may confess and repent, and continue in fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, once again, false doctrine.
But what saith the Scripture? (Heb 12:5-13).
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gavethem reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he forour profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
So joaniemarie, while you are very fond of quoting Joseph Prince, what you are actually doing is presenting and promoting FALSE DOCTRINE.
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Hi Nehemiah., There is so much you posted that I see very differently today. I would have agreed with you a few years ago but today the understanding of what 'righteousness' means has changed my interpretation of these Bible verses. Another reason I post about the righteousness of Christ is when we understand what that means, we can interpret the Bible properly in sooo many areas of Scripture. Knowing who we are in Christ is vital for survival here. Walking by faith is our calling. We may not feel righteous but the truth is we ARE. We believe the Word of God., not our feelings or the condemnation of the devil.
About Communion for instance. Wow., that was a major blessing for me to find out what communion was really all about. For years I feared going to communion because our church taught that if you were to partake of the Lord's supper unworthily., you could even be taken out right there in the pew and be zapped by God. (just like Ananias and Saphira) who now I know were not believers.
I thought my sins were all forgiven up until the day I got saved. Then after the day I got saved and I sinned some new sins that were committed still needed to be confessed and forgiven A NEW. They needed to be paid for. I feared I had not overcome anger about my mother in law from the heart. So until I did, I avoided communion because I didn't want to get zapped by God in the pew infront of all the family and congregation.
But now I know that is false. Why? Because we have been made worthy by the blood of Jesus on us. Our born again spirit is perfect. We are righteous., We have access at allllll times to God because of Jesus., And especially now while we are in these mortal bodies that are weak. Jesus made it so. Those who come unworthily are unsaved because they don't have an Advocate and they don't have a new spirit.
We worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Unsaved people can't do that. We have those things given to us as gifts from Jesus Himself. The only way to grow in the knowledge of that is to practice it daily. Our Advocate makes intercession continually. It is the enemy who wants to keep us from celebrating communion and remembering that because of Jesus, we come boldly to the throne of grace and have full access. We always go IN Christ's righteousness given to us as a gift. At all times we have 100% access to the Father.
Communion is to be done regularly so we remember what Jesus did privately and as a body of believers gathered. It's a time of JOY and remembrance of Jesus and all He has done for us. Isn't it like the enemy to use condemnation and guilt and shame and weakness to keep us from the very One who cleared the way for us in every one of those issues!?
This subject of communion is only one of the many topics you mentioned that I've come to see differently because of the understanding of the righteousness of Christ given to us believers. We are now the righteousness of God in Christ. Not later when we die and get to heaven. We won't need to practice that reality there., it will be simple then when we don't have these flesh bodies to deal with. it's here and now we need to walk in newness of life by choice. And for that we need the love and grace of God in Christ to do it. We need to know we are righteous., not that we will be righteous but that we ARE now the sons of God.
We have the new nature., we have the blessings. It's a matter of working out what Christ worked in us at the time of our salvation. The only thing left is getting our new bodies. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. We have the victory., we need to learn how to walk in it. The seeds are there., we need to water them and grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
About Communion for instance. Wow., that was a major blessing for me to find out what communion was really all about. For years I feared going to communion because our church taught that if you were to partake of the Lord's supper unworthily., you could even be taken out right there in the pew and be zapped by God. (just like Ananias and Saphira) who now I know were not believers.
I thought my sins were all forgiven up until the day I got saved. Then after the day I got saved and I sinned some new sins that were committed still needed to be confessed and forgiven A NEW. They needed to be paid for. I feared I had not overcome anger about my mother in law from the heart. So until I did, I avoided communion because I didn't want to get zapped by God in the pew infront of all the family and congregation.
But now I know that is false. Why? Because we have been made worthy by the blood of Jesus on us. Our born again spirit is perfect. We are righteous., We have access at allllll times to God because of Jesus., And especially now while we are in these mortal bodies that are weak. Jesus made it so. Those who come unworthily are unsaved because they don't have an Advocate and they don't have a new spirit.
We worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Unsaved people can't do that. We have those things given to us as gifts from Jesus Himself. The only way to grow in the knowledge of that is to practice it daily. Our Advocate makes intercession continually. It is the enemy who wants to keep us from celebrating communion and remembering that because of Jesus, we come boldly to the throne of grace and have full access. We always go IN Christ's righteousness given to us as a gift. At all times we have 100% access to the Father.
Communion is to be done regularly so we remember what Jesus did privately and as a body of believers gathered. It's a time of JOY and remembrance of Jesus and all He has done for us. Isn't it like the enemy to use condemnation and guilt and shame and weakness to keep us from the very One who cleared the way for us in every one of those issues!?
This subject of communion is only one of the many topics you mentioned that I've come to see differently because of the understanding of the righteousness of Christ given to us believers. We are now the righteousness of God in Christ. Not later when we die and get to heaven. We won't need to practice that reality there., it will be simple then when we don't have these flesh bodies to deal with. it's here and now we need to walk in newness of life by choice. And for that we need the love and grace of God in Christ to do it. We need to know we are righteous., not that we will be righteous but that we ARE now the sons of God.
We have the new nature., we have the blessings. It's a matter of working out what Christ worked in us at the time of our salvation. The only thing left is getting our new bodies. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. We have the victory., we need to learn how to walk in it. The seeds are there., we need to water them and grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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