Your righteousness or Jesus righteousness?

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who are Wayne and Debby?

inquiring minds and whatnot. ;)
Dear whatnot,
Two beautiful people, our brother and sister in the Lord,
from Loving Grace Ministries, (lovinggrace dot org),

They have a radio ministry and have been doing virtually the
same thing they've been called to for 4 decades, praising Jesus and ministering His love and grace, helping others who call in with questions, or for prayer and/or praise, with emphasis on salvation being a gift, THE gift, and the new covenant in JESUS, like so many ppl have posted so beautifully about, in this very thread, even.

And help with understanding our position as the priesthood of all believers.
Check post #58 for a tiny piece of a retreat from back in 2011.

Ppl from all walks and all ages, both spiritually AND literally...this year there were new-born babies to senior, senior citizens, and all ages in between, and everything from baptists, methodists, non-denoms, :cool: , messianic jews, even RC's, many former, but even a few current, you name it, it's a 'cross-section' (Hey, I just got that! ;) ) of the body of Christ, and like a little slice of heaven come down to camp. Maybe even a big slice!

This year, 11 baptisms in the lake, and not all 'new' believers, either.....
How about a sunrise service 50 stories up on a rock-ridge at the top of a mountain, you can see for miles, singing and studying God's Word and being ministered to by the Lord in the beauty of His creation and Presence, or a communion service together, either in the woods or the dining hall, people, many of whom don't know each other, yet feel like we've known each other our whole lives, plus great meals and facilities, and everyone there to just praise the Lord for who He is and what He's done and will do, and to lift each other up, and to share and pray and whatever the Lord leads as individuals and collectively, to grow in His grace and knowledge, it's just wonderful.

I would encourage anyone to go, and also check out their ministry, of course like many these days, they struggle financially, but they remain faithful, their program is called 'Let's Talk About Jesus'... That's pretty straight-forward, eh?

And mark your calendar for this time next year and try to make the retreat.
All thanks and praise go to Jesus and everyone gets a blessing.
(Sometimes even MORE than one, lol).

(and again, sorry to disrupt the thread, and
anyone may pm me anytime if you like. Thx. )
 
It's not learning about the bible.. It's reading the bible to grow in the knowledge of Jesus.. In John 5:39 Jesus says "You search and investigate and pore over the scriptures diligently because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these very scriptures testify about Me!"



Reading the Bible alone wont do anyone any good, You can read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, But unless you understand what it says, you wont grow in knowledge or faith, we have to get the revelations of the Scriptures, by the Holy Spirit. So, Not only do we need to read the Bible, But we need to learn what God is saying to us.
When I first got saved, I read and studied the Bible with the view of finding out what God expected from me, and what I could expect from God. And it's a continuous learning exercise.
 
Not for eternal life. It's a free gift God gives those who believe. We are justified by faith. In fact, if we attempt to provide any part of our own salvation, the bible says we're not saved! (Matt. 9:13)


You are right, There is nothing that we can do to earn salvation, it's a free gift.
But once a person is saved, Good works follow, such as, reaching the lost, healing the sick, living holy lives, walking in the Spirit and rejecting anything that opposes the things of God and His will for us.
 
You are right, There is nothing that we can do to earn salvation, it's a free gift.
But once a person is saved, Good works follow, such as, reaching the lost, healing the sick, living holy lives, walking in the Spirit and rejecting anything that opposes the things of God and His will for us.

this is correct, as long as it is understood that these good works are a result of being saved, not a maintainer of salvation. but yes, good works and right living should be a daily life for a believer.
 
Yes, they require a lot of patience sometimes. I guess my point was...spiritual progression doesn't happen so linearly and to the month as with a human baby. It is good to be patient and careful because sometimes someone who has been born again may still be a baby spiritually after a few years. They can have a lot of head knowledge and still be a baby sometimes.

If our Lord has grown us in virtue but not them as much yet, we should try to help them as we can by sharing what we have learned, but we have to be careful for our own selves that we don't look down on them for having not been as blessed yet as us in this, as if we caused our own growth. Others can water but it is GOD who causes the growth. He's a good and faithful father and if someone is still a baby, He is still gently guiding them and won't choke them or scare them by force feeding them adult food.

With Israel in the desert, He did not guide them by the most direct route so they would not become scared and turn around. Some of us are like that.


When I first got saved, some people had a badge on, which said,
"Be patient with me, God hasn't finished with me yet" .

The truth is, God hasn't finished with anyone yet, as He is still doing a works in us all, Some people take longer to produce the character of Jesus in them, so we do need to be patient with them, and keep encouraging them.

My salvation was very dramatic, as I was 100 % for the world and the devil, and I became 100% for God straight away.
I was so hungry to learn and know God and more about Him, Jesus instantly became my Lord.
And at first I couldn't understand why every Christian wasn't like me, until I learned that some people takes longer to develop the divine nature.
 
When I first got saved, some people had a badge on, which said,
"Be patient with me, God hasn't finished with me yet" .

The truth is, God hasn't finished with anyone yet, as He is still doing a works in us all, Some people take longer to produce the character of Jesus in them, so we do need to be patient with them, and keep encouraging them.

My salvation was very dramatic, as I was 100 % for the world and the devil, and I became 100% for God straight away.
I was so hungry to learn and know God and more about Him, Jesus instantly became my Lord.
And at first I couldn't understand why every Christian wasn't like me, until I learned that some people takes longer to develop the divine nature.

This was very similar to me too.
Until I realized a few years later that I wansn't as 100% for the Lord as I had thought and that I still had a lot of pride He wanted gone before He could use me.