In my first post here I will answer to the accusations levied against me and my beliefs:
You said, "You say in honesty(and I respect this) that each and every one of us fails miserably you included to keep God's Hpoly Commandments. You further say that we including yourself breaks everyone of God's commandments every day. Such honesty is to be commended. But I am left baffled that you then suggest that if we do not strife to live an almost perfect Christian life and if someone does something like smoking they should consider if they are reallyb a Christian. Why should they if all Christians every day break all of God's commandments?"
- I indeed said all people including myself fail miserably to keep God's commandments daily. By this I was appealing to the basis of the law: loving God (1st great commandment) and loving your neighbor (2nd). And I came up with this conclusion based on the following questions: 1) Have you today truly loved God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, as He deserves? 2) Have you today truly loved your neighbor as yourself, in every degree and respect, as called by God to do? And if anyone answers yes to these questions, they are arrogant, blind, and idolatrous. For in this sense each and every one of us breaks the commandments of God miserably, as none of us is capable of loving God like He deserves or loving our fellow man in every degree at all times as God intended. Knowing this truth will keep a man who, perhaps, may be able to keep himself from committing adultery or murder or hate/lust all day, from becoming proud and developing trust in his own righteousness. I have never said we must strive to live an almost perfect Christian life, I never even hinted to the word perfection! I have stressed many times before that I was NOT talking about perfection, in order to prevent such an occurence as this from occurring.
You said, "This is the tragedty I have seen all my life. Ministers and over zealous Christians demanding how pure and high a level of Christianity must be obtained when in truth they cannot themselves aspire to such a level and so it is true. 'They tie up heavy loads and put them on mens shoulders, but they themselves are not willi9ng to lift a finger to move them.' Matt23:4. 'Woe to you teachers ofr the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You shut the kingdom of Heaven in mens faces. You yourselves do not enter nor will you let those enter who are trying.' Matt23:13"
- Here you have accused me of being one of those over zealous ministers or Christians who, according to your usage of Matthew 23:4,13, are condemned hypocrites. I have never demanded, nor do I today, that Christians must reach a certain high level of purity. This is legalism at its best and those verses are properly applied to people who believe such lies. But you have misquoted such condemning verses against me because you've mistakenly said I've believed and taught the very things the Pharisees did, when in fact I condemn the Pharisees' hypocrisy just as much as you do.
You said, "We receive the Holy Spirit, not by law keeping(being good or pure enough) but by faith. And we receive the power for miracles by faith, not by law keeping/being good enough or worthy enoughy."
- I do not believe nor have I ever said that we receive the Holy Spirit or power for miracles by law keeping. I 100% believe and teach that we receive the Holy Spirit and power to do anything for God by the grace of God alone through faith alone.
You said, "We are saved from our sins by faith in Christ. We are justified, sanctified by faith in Christ and the Holy Spirits power."
- I 100% believe and teach that we are saved from our sins only by the grace of God through faith in Christ. We are justified, sanctified, and glorified by God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
You said, "I would invite people to read your comments and decide for themselves whether you have almost fully spoken of someones Christianity hinging on them being pure and Holy enough to enter Heaven."
- I do not believe nor have I ever said that our salvation depends on our being pure or holy enough to enter Heaven. I believe that there is no one living who is pure or holy enough to enter Heaven. I believe that if someone were to use their holiness and purity as the reason or grounds for which they should be worthy of Heaven, that God would utterly condemn them to Hell for bribing Him with their own righteousness, which is really filthy rags in His sight.
You asked, "Do you regularly when preaching or talkingb to non Christiansd explain to them that Christ died for every sin a Christian can commit(if thery are sincerely looking to Christ and trusting him)? Do you tell them that no Christian is under law? Do you tell them it is the law that arouses the sinful passions in us, and do you tell them Paul was consumed by list by trying and failing to obey the Ten Commandmennts?"
- I always tell unbelievers when discussing how a person is saved that Christ died for all the sins of His people, past, present, and future, and that it is only by His sacrifice and atonement on the cross that they are made perfect before God, and that He alone is the only One in whom they can trust for salvation, apart from trusting in personal righteousness or anything else. I teach that no Christian is under the law, but has been set free from the law, because being under the law requires perfect obedience in order to enter into life, and none are perfect; I tell them we are under grace. I am not sure about your last 2 questions, I would ask you to quote the particular Scriptures but I fear that would deviate from the rest of my post which will be lengthy. So we can save this for another time.
You asked, "Do you tell them that by dying to the law and living by faith in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they will have their victory, and that in their own strength they cannot do a thing. Do you constantly tell them it is not about being 'good enough' but faith in Christ, andf that ther only righteousness for Heaven we will ever have is Christ dying for us on the cross"
- I teach that victory is only won in Christ alone by Christ alone. I teach that there is nothing we can do to be saved. I teach that it is never about us being good enough, for we are perfect in the eyes of God because of the merits of Jesus Christ alone. Righteousness is required in order to enter Heaven but this is only the righteousness of Christ; our personal righteousness is nothing and in fact filthy rags in God's eyes. I put no confidence in my flesh; all my confidence goes in the power and saving grace of God in Christ.
You said, "What God wants is a sincere person who knows in his heart that he is a worthless sinner and that in himself he cannot achieve what God requires. He accepts it has to be what God can do in him, not what he can do himself."
- I believe that God wants is someone who is completely, utterly, hopeless, helpless, and worthless, begging on their knees before Him for His grace trembling in humility, brokenness, and contrition. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." God saves the one who trusts in nothing of himself, or of man, or of the flesh, or of anything save the Lord Jesus Christ.
You said, "Paul said we get everything from God we strove for by law(being good /pure enough) by instead trusting in His Son."
- We indeed get absolutely everything from God according to His own mercy, grace, and determined will; not by anything we do or strive for.
You said, "It was the people who had Jesus crucified that demanded so much and that the people fully obeyed the law, and yet these Pharisees and Saducees themselves could not obey the law."
- I have never demanded either of myself or of any other person that they must fully obey the law, either the law of Moses or the law of Christ.
You said, "I believe the difference in us is I believe of a sanctification of faith in Chjrist who died for me, not by looking at striving to obey laws/commandments. I found that did not work."
- I believe as well of a sanctification of faith in Christ and not by striving to obey laws and commandments. Therefore, there is absolutely no difference in this respect.
You said, "We must tell people of a grace, an Amazing Grace of God sending His Son to die for their sins while they were yet without strengty We must tell them it is not by their striving to be 'good enough' thast God iws pleased, but if they trust in His precious son who died for them"
- I indeed tell people this very message, that God, before the foundation of the world, purposed to send His Son to die for the sins of His people, when as yet they were wicked sinners, enemies of God, and only by the saving precious grace of God that they were redeemed and given eternal life. They did nothing to gain this or maintain it; except that it was only gained and is only maintained by God in Christ. There is nothing at all any person can do in order to get to Heaven or to make God pleased.
