I like this subject and have considered it a lot over the past number of years so I'll post my random thoughts on "truth" in Christ.
It's ok if you disagree - I won't call you names or insult you nor de-mean you by trying to "lord it over your faith". I won't chastise you because your knowledge of Greek is "not like mine" ( as if that is the criteria for revelation knowledge ) - if you don't agree with some or all aspects of what I am sharing.
The other aspect is that all of us only see in part and as Paul said " Those that think they know something - don't know it as they ought to know it".
We are all learning about this walk with our Lord together and we need each other.
I always ask myself 3 questions about truth or a teaching.
1) Does it make Jesus bigger in your heart when you see His work and majesty? ( Or does it bring fear and insecurity because you are not "doing" enough to stay saved? )
2) Does it make you depend on Jesus and His finished work? ( or does it depend on what you do and depend on yourself?)
3) Does it make you fall deeply in love with your Lord, our Father and with all people? (Or does it make you view God as being a heavy task-master and so we view others as accursed, hated by God...etc - even though He loves them so much He sent His Son to die for them )
If I can answer these questions in the affirmative - then it is the good news of the grace of Christ.
We can view scriptures through the lens of the Old Covenant and then try to mix in a little of the New Covenant and we end up in mess of "working to maintain" our own righteousness for going to heaven.
When ever we don't factor in the finished work of Christ nor the real purpose for Jesus dying for us - the fact that God loves us dearly and He is not looking for ways to keep people from Him - we will end up in error as we are mixing up the covenants.
Bearing fruit stems from the life of Christ in us. He is the Vine we are the branches. The branch does not produce it's own fruit. It bears the life of the Vine.
The fruit of the Spirit being produced is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith and self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit of God living in us - not a product of self-effort in the flesh. There are counterfeits of all these fruit that the flesh can try to generate but they are not from God.
There is good fruit and bad fruit of the flesh - but it is still flesh. Outwardly these are sometimes hard to discern. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had both types of fruit on it. Don't eat from that tree.
Eat from the tree of life - Christ = who is inside of us wanting to bear His fruit in and through us to a hurt and dying world as well as to our fellow brethren. We are one with Him in the spirit.
Let's keep beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and the Holy Spirit will transforms us outwardly to reflect our true nature in our new creations in Christ - created in righteousness and holiness.
Those are my thoughts on how I view a teaching from anyone and there is no one teacher I agree with fully on every subject no matter who they are or the number of people that listen to any one person.
I hope in 2 years I will not agree with all that I believe now as I see new truths of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. I look forward to repenting as I see new facets of the love and grace of God toward us that are in Christ.
It's ok if you disagree - I won't call you names or insult you nor de-mean you by trying to "lord it over your faith". I won't chastise you because your knowledge of Greek is "not like mine" ( as if that is the criteria for revelation knowledge ) - if you don't agree with some or all aspects of what I am sharing.
The other aspect is that all of us only see in part and as Paul said " Those that think they know something - don't know it as they ought to know it".
We are all learning about this walk with our Lord together and we need each other.
I always ask myself 3 questions about truth or a teaching.
1) Does it make Jesus bigger in your heart when you see His work and majesty? ( Or does it bring fear and insecurity because you are not "doing" enough to stay saved? )
2) Does it make you depend on Jesus and His finished work? ( or does it depend on what you do and depend on yourself?)
3) Does it make you fall deeply in love with your Lord, our Father and with all people? (Or does it make you view God as being a heavy task-master and so we view others as accursed, hated by God...etc - even though He loves them so much He sent His Son to die for them )
If I can answer these questions in the affirmative - then it is the good news of the grace of Christ.
We can view scriptures through the lens of the Old Covenant and then try to mix in a little of the New Covenant and we end up in mess of "working to maintain" our own righteousness for going to heaven.
When ever we don't factor in the finished work of Christ nor the real purpose for Jesus dying for us - the fact that God loves us dearly and He is not looking for ways to keep people from Him - we will end up in error as we are mixing up the covenants.
Bearing fruit stems from the life of Christ in us. He is the Vine we are the branches. The branch does not produce it's own fruit. It bears the life of the Vine.
The fruit of the Spirit being produced is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith and self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit of God living in us - not a product of self-effort in the flesh. There are counterfeits of all these fruit that the flesh can try to generate but they are not from God.
There is good fruit and bad fruit of the flesh - but it is still flesh. Outwardly these are sometimes hard to discern. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had both types of fruit on it. Don't eat from that tree.
Eat from the tree of life - Christ = who is inside of us wanting to bear His fruit in and through us to a hurt and dying world as well as to our fellow brethren. We are one with Him in the spirit.
Let's keep beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and the Holy Spirit will transforms us outwardly to reflect our true nature in our new creations in Christ - created in righteousness and holiness.
Those are my thoughts on how I view a teaching from anyone and there is no one teacher I agree with fully on every subject no matter who they are or the number of people that listen to any one person.
I hope in 2 years I will not agree with all that I believe now as I see new truths of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. I look forward to repenting as I see new facets of the love and grace of God toward us that are in Christ.
Better than the other one. Thank you.
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