A recent "Question of the Week" at Bullets & Butterflies listed five of the devil’s lies which sound close enough to the truth to make them believable. This week addresses them in more detail:
• Monday – "You'll never be worthy of God's grace or love."
• Tuesday – "If you have faith, it doesn't matter if you sin."
• Wednesday – "Following Jesus solves your problems."
• Thursday – "Problems indicate God's condemnation."
• Friday – "If you love others then you're loving God."
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"Sin and the child of God are incompatible.
They may occasionally meet;
they cannot live together in harmony."
~ John R.W. Scott
Lie of Hell #2: No More Worry About Sin
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment ... Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
~ Hebrews 10:26-29 (NKJV)
The devil desperately wants all humanity (saved and unsaved alike) to believe that grasping the faith of salvation means sin is no longer an issue to worry about.
Salvation is received by faith—but not all faith is saving faith. If faith is held in the mind as intellectual assent or in the mouth as verbal assent or in the hands as outward display of works, it is "first faith" rather than saving faith. Such "faith" produces the illusion of eternal security, evidenced by continued practice of sin. (See Luke 8:13; Matthew 24:12; Galatians 5:19-21; Hebrews 6:4-6; 2 Peter 2:20-22.)
Jesus speaks to His church with strong language, warning that failure to repent of sin will result in being vomited out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:16) He said He does not know and therefore rejects those who call Him "Lord" without obeying Him. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure ... for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
~ 2 Peter 1:10-11 (NKJV)
Faith held outside the heart is not secure. It must take root in the heart to cover with Christ's blood the sin lying there which condemns us.
Once heart-faith takes root, it will begin to produce spiritual fruit and works of righteousness. We are neither saved nor made "more" righteous by works. We are saved by the faith which is evidenced with the Holy Spirit's works and fruit. (James 2:14-26; Galatians 5:22-23; John 14:12; Matthew 7:17-20; Luke 6:45)
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
~ Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV)
It was necessary for Jesus to die as He did only because sin is thoroughly intolerable to God. If we wear Jesus Christ on only the outside, we remain condemned sinners. If we are in Christ, we will walk in His Spirit—in freedom from condemnation.
If we are in Christ, we will seek to make not converts holding fleeting first faith but disciples holding saving faith.
Father in Heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Beloved Son. May our hearts hold unceasing gratitude for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please help us cooperate with Your Spirit's work and yield to Your Spirit's fruit.
Your feedback is appreciated. Post to BuildingHisBody.com Comments or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. This is a teaching I needed just now.
ReplyDeleteIt is my hope that every day heart-faith would take root.
ReplyDeleteGoing to visit my sister today. I'm grateful for your prayers on this.
LOVE,
Wendy
Bless you sis for sharing this. I love you.
ReplyDeletewow! ...i can easily understand the difference between first faith because that's the only faith i knew until just a few month's ago. this brought it home for me that when i wrote i felt as though what i was experiencing was a real born again experience....it's actually what happened. went from "first faith" to "saving faith."
ReplyDeletein my first faith, i was always feeling condemnation for sins that i could never get away from completely. it's like being in a boat with Jesus but the boat had a lot of leaks in it. i was always bailing out the water. the leaks got worse and i could no longer keep up with it. then i abandoned the boat and Him altogether. now i'm back in the boat again with Him. but there's a huge difference. when there's a leak and the water starts coming in, He points out the source and He repairs it. however it's still up to me to bail the water out. sorry to get so winded on this. a brother told me a vision he had of me once being in a boat. that vision came to mind again...
i understood/understand this post. think i will go have some praise & worship now!:)
thanks again, Anne! can't wait until the tomorrow! i will keep comment shorter!
Anne, your "first faith" passage gripped me. I came to Christ by studying the Bible and reading modern apologetics. But it was just a "head belief", at first. It was valuable because it opened the door. But as you said, the love of Christ had to take root in my heart, not just my head.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the church does enough to support those traveling from "first faith" to complete, or heart, faith. Looking back on my journey, I felt alone. Perhaps that's the way it's supposed to be. Then again, I wonder if the church could/should do more for budding Christians. I pray, if God wills, that He would help me find Christians on a lonely journey, so I can come alongside them. I can't aspire to teach--I'm not a teacher--but I'd be honored to support if God sees fit to allow me.
Lots to ponder. Thank you for this wonderful post!
Natasa ~ Thank you.
ReplyDeleteRusty ~ Good! I was worried this might all be too much. Thanks for catching my typo.
Wendy ~ Yes, I've been praying for you two, and your whole family. I love you! Trust God's work.
Denise ~ I bless you too.
Bud ~ Don't worry about length of comments. If I could share only one message with Christians, I think it would be this one. It makes a huge difference in our walk, our faith, and our evangelism.
Gwen ~ You're not a teacher?! LOL! I never underestimate how much you teach through music. As for the church, I honestly cry when I think of how lonely people are, unnecessarily, because this message is neither understood nor provided to those who need it most.
I wish every Christian in the world could read this post. Sometimes the choir really does need preaching to.
ReplyDeleteT ~
ReplyDeleteAha! I found it! The reply I forgot.
For what it's worth, I also thought this was a message worth "preaching to the choir." I repeated it for the ladies worship service I led at the jail on July 16th.
And if I'd commented on June 22 when you commented, I wouldn't have been able to share that.
Love you, dear! :D ♥ :D ♥ :D