I definitely cannot claim to be
old enough to be numbered amongst those who have a head full of white hairs;
but I do have a few of my own and have seen enough seasons of life to know
without a shadow of doubt that God’s word is unchanging. His word is so
settled, not even His grace can change The Word and I am eternally grateful for
that. The unchanging nature of His word makes it easier to have confidence in and/or
trust Him completely. His stability is something everyone needs and even more
so now as the word becomes more unstable. It gives me great pleasure and joy to
serve a God whose word does not always require authentication. God authenticates
His word Himself. This is all some of the reasons we have hope. We are certain
that He is not playing games with us so that we can trust Him enough to look
forward to the coming to pass of that which He has said. No wonder the bible
says Hope will not fail: How can it, when it is in a God whose word is certain
forever?
Romans 5: 5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment.”
Psalm 119: 89 “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.”
It is therefore sad to find that
there are those who would like to make nonsense of this word and yet claim to
depend on it as well as being lovers of God. These are indeed, “perilous times”
when we must live deliberately and carefully so that we are not swayed from The
Truth. The truth is under attack from all fronts, within and outside the
church, we just must be careful what we accept. The gospel that was once handed
down is still the only gospel. Jesus Christ who came to teach and/or share this
truth, has not returned to teach another and will not return until He comes for
His bride. So where are all these strange gospels which permit us to live
carelessly come from? These gospels we now enjoy which only talk about benefits
leaving out responsibilities creating the impression that since Christ bore all
the consequences of our wrong, we can continue in wrong doing since we once invited
Jesus Christ into our lives. We have a big problem.
Romans 6: 1 – 2a “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can
show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not!”
Jude 3b - 4 “I find that I must write about something else, urging you
to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy
people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into our
churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.”
God’s word clearly tells that
Jesus Christ took away the sting of sin so that anyone who accepts to cede
authority of their life to Him, compels sin to let go of their lives thereby
breaking the power or control of sin, and enjoy the benefit of doing so. This
entire process requires God’s help from the beginning to the end and that help
is in the person of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in our
lives and the help He releases to facilitate our living the way and doing the
things God desires, is grace. It is the strength to do what God would have us
to do or live the way God would have us live. Grace never contradicts the power
of God; instead it facilitates our becoming like God. Wherever God is revealed,
grace is present because it is one of the things that make Him who is. It is a
characteristic of God; for He is full of grace. It is therefore a little disconcerting
to find some who want to create another gospel which they call the gospel of
grace. There is only one gospel and upon which our faith is built; that gospel
is one of grace and is rooted in the cross. To gain full access to and enjoy
the benefits of grace, we must also come through the cross.
Hebrews 13: 13 “So let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the
disgrace he bore.”
We must be very careful and
sensitive as believers otherwise we would be deceived. God already warns us in His
word that there would be a lot of deception in the last days so please look out
for yourself. There is a lot going on “in the name of the Lord” but recall that
we were already warned when He said some would come telling how they did a lot
in His name and they would still be turned away so it is much more than doing
things in His name; it is more of how much we let Him live in and do things
through us. Our faith is not complicated; it is simple as our God is. Hence,
God says not many wise or noble make success of this faith.
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