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We have to know the gospel of the grace of Christ and the love of God for us in order to grow up in Him. For the person "in Christ" fear of punishment and being kicked out of God's kingdom is not the gospel of Christ. John below describes this very thing.
1 John 4:18-19 (NASB)
[SUP]18 [/SUP] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
[SUP]19 [/SUP] We love, because He first loved us.
1 John 4:18-19 (NASB)
[SUP]18 [/SUP] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
[SUP]19 [/SUP] We love, because He first loved us.
E
It's interesting...grace, faith, forgiveness, works, obedience...these are all basic tenets of the Christian faith, yes?
somehow, misunderstanding gets in and chews away at the fabric of what one poster says to another
(let's just forget a moment that some my deliberately go at that with scissors)
lately I have been accused of some things that are not at all true...but God knows
the heart judging really needs to stop...you are trampling all over God's personal garden when you do that
frankly, I am thankful for the mods doing a clean-up....I welcome them anytime
somehow, misunderstanding gets in and chews away at the fabric of what one poster says to another
(let's just forget a moment that some my deliberately go at that with scissors)
lately I have been accused of some things that are not at all true...but God knows
the heart judging really needs to stop...you are trampling all over God's personal garden when you do that
frankly, I am thankful for the mods doing a clean-up....I welcome them anytime
Fear ( as in terror ), condemnation, guilt and shame are NOT tools of heaven and God doesn't subcontract them out. They are tools of the enemy.
Fear as in terror for the unbeliever will be real when they stand before God without the righteousness of Christ. For us believers that are in Christ - fear means an awe and reverence for the awesomeness of our Lord and God.
Fear as in terror for the unbeliever will be real when they stand before God without the righteousness of Christ. For us believers that are in Christ - fear means an awe and reverence for the awesomeness of our Lord and God.
J
Jesus nature is this " my food is to do the will of God" that's what His nature MAKES our heart into through obeying the truth. The grace of pauls words is wonderful and beautiful and true to every degree. I thank God for the apostle pauls words , they really were essential, but again the rest is essential also to the one saved from the flames because of Grace. If Jesus is real to us, is all the difference really. He really did do what He said, what do we now say? and DO?
G
The patient Gardner LIFTS IT UP, RAISES IT UP, so the light can reach it.
New American Standard Bible
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away(airó: to raise, take up, lift); and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
New American Standard Bible
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away(airó: to raise, take up, lift); and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
P
Hi Jasonj, I live in Oceana County in Michigan. It's an agricultural area. Right now, the peach trees are beginning to flower, however the apple trees look dead-but they aren't. It's just not thier season right now.
The asparagus is sprouting, the corn looks dead but it's not, It needs a more sun and next month it will be sprouting.
People are the same, each in thier own season.
The asparagus is sprouting, the corn looks dead but it's not, It needs a more sun and next month it will be sprouting.
People are the same, each in thier own season.
J
Luke 13......6Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
Kinda was looking at the lesson here fruit is what Gods will is for us, there is a point we need to just do what He says.
truth
8‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
Kinda was looking at the lesson here fruit is what Gods will is for us, there is a point we need to just do what He says.
truth
E
I think there can sometimes be a thin line in people understanding how the Spirit of God works...He does not condemn
The very word condemn means to :
so are those things what we believe the Holy Spirit is up to? I would think not
Jesus Himself said He did not come into the world to condemn the world...but that the world, through HIM, might have life AND have it more abundantly
When we focus on sin, it is my experience we become ingrown...without meaning to, we are looking at ourself instead of looking up from where our salvation comes
Now, that in no way means I am free to sin...it is the law of God IN my heart that is made real in love for my Savior that is the catalyst for actions of obedience
So, we have a heart that God promised...the heart of flesh...and that all covered by the sacrifice of Jesus who alone is righteous and blameless before God. We, are IN Him and staying there, we stay there
It is always all about Him
The very word condemn means to :
so are those things what we believe the Holy Spirit is up to? I would think not
Jesus Himself said He did not come into the world to condemn the world...but that the world, through HIM, might have life AND have it more abundantly
When we focus on sin, it is my experience we become ingrown...without meaning to, we are looking at ourself instead of looking up from where our salvation comes
Now, that in no way means I am free to sin...it is the law of God IN my heart that is made real in love for my Savior that is the catalyst for actions of obedience
So, we have a heart that God promised...the heart of flesh...and that all covered by the sacrifice of Jesus who alone is righteous and blameless before God. We, are IN Him and staying there, we stay there
It is always all about Him
E
in that case, it is a GOOD thing that none of us here follow a gospel of lawless grace
I don't know who those folks are that you are so well acquainted with, but I think we can all agree that because of the cross and our Holy Spirit given understanding, we all know better than to think or believe such a thing
Isn't God wonderful to keep us from such things?
G
Luke 13......6Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
Kinda was looking at the lesson here fruit is what Gods will is for us, there is a point we need to just do what He says. truth
8‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
Kinda was looking at the lesson here fruit is what Gods will is for us, there is a point we need to just do what He says.
truth
The fig tree speaks of Israel as a client nation(the nation that spreads the Gospel) if Israel didn't start to spread the Gospel again, and soon, God was going to cut them down and use a another nation to spread His Gospel...........which eventually went to Rome. A gentile nation.
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Amen..good one.
An orange tree is still an orange tree even though it doesn't produce the fruit we want to see in the timeframe we think it should. What happens if this orange tree dies before it has had a chance to be fed properly to grow up to be able to produce the fruit of a ripe orange?
To some works-based people - you would have to display 50 oranges in order to prove you are a real orange tree ( saved ) - to others you need 100 oranges in order to be a proved orange tree. ( saved ) So, this fruit inspection thing is not viable ..that's for God to look at people to determine if they are in Christ or not.
A person could have love and kindness as a fruit in their life but be addicted to some pills or alcohol which they are continuing to struggle with in their life. The people that don't have a struggle with alcohol will condemn the ones that do and declare they don't have the fruit and thus are not saved. This is Pharisee-ism at it's finest.
Does the orange tree stop being an orange tree even though it dies without having fruit that we think "proves" it was an orange tree to begin with?
What if Christians were like that? What if we fed them messages about the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness in Christ so that they could grow? Then they would produce an abundance of fruit.
I say let's preach and teach the grace of Christ in their lives so that they have the proper nutrients to grow up in Him!
An orange tree is still an orange tree even though it doesn't produce the fruit we want to see in the timeframe we think it should. What happens if this orange tree dies before it has had a chance to be fed properly to grow up to be able to produce the fruit of a ripe orange?
To some works-based people - you would have to display 50 oranges in order to prove you are a real orange tree ( saved ) - to others you need 100 oranges in order to be a proved orange tree. ( saved ) So, this fruit inspection thing is not viable ..that's for God to look at people to determine if they are in Christ or not.
A person could have love and kindness as a fruit in their life but be addicted to some pills or alcohol which they are continuing to struggle with in their life. The people that don't have a struggle with alcohol will condemn the ones that do and declare they don't have the fruit and thus are not saved. This is Pharisee-ism at it's finest.
Does the orange tree stop being an orange tree even though it dies without having fruit that we think "proves" it was an orange tree to begin with?
What if Christians were like that? What if we fed them messages about the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness in Christ so that they could grow? Then they would produce an abundance of fruit.
I say let's preach and teach the grace of Christ in their lives so that they have the proper nutrients to grow up in Him!