I don't know, but I may get reprimanded for the size of this post.
The Power Of The Cross
The power of the cross is the death it brings to us, AND His life that we receive. When we surrender our life to Christ by faith, we legally die with Him on that cross. AND, just as we died with Him by faith, we also rose with Him from the grave with the newness of His life in us, that transforms us, not only at the moment that we surrender our life to him, but also, as we carry our cross "daily".
The death of our life, gives us His life, initially; and then we receive His continued infillment as we "continue" to carry our cross. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23). Just as our Lord's cross led Him to Calvary where He died in the flesh, so our cross is meant to bring about the death of OUR flesh, though not our body of flesh, but the carnal man! "I must decrease, but He must increase."
It's good to do good works because Jesus Himself said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"(Lk. 6:31) but at the point we lift our good works unto God to gain eternal life, He brushes them to the side saying: "They are as filthy rags unto Me." We'll be rewarded for our good works when we get to Heaven, but our good works can't GET US there!
But doesn't the Bible say that "Faith without works is dead." Yes it does, (Jam. 2:26), but are your good works coming forth from your faith in Christ, or is the secret thought of your heart, that you are earning your way to Heaven, with your good works?
If you believe that the Holy Spirit is writing the Law of God on your heart (as He foretold in the Old Testament), how is it that you received the Spirit of God when you were Born-again? Was it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? (Gal. 3:2,3).
God wants you to know that salvation is retained, the same way it is received - by faith in Christ, reguardless of any of your works! Gal. 5:4 tells us that "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."
Faith in Christ brings salvation. Good works bring rewards both in this life and in the life to come, but only faith in Christ can get us to Heaven where we'll be rewarded for our good works.
If you are trying to earn your way to Heaven by keeping the Law then you are falling short of the Grace that God provided for your salvation, which was a GIFT to you, because it cannot be earned! A man is justified by faith in Christ and the work that He did on the cross FOR us, therefore our faith cannot not be in our OWN works, but in HIS work!
That's why it is said that "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."(Rom. 10:4), because when we try to keep the Law, we quickly find that we cannot, and this futility is meant to drive us to Christ, where we finally abandon our struggle to earn our way to Heaven, and accept salvation as a gift from God, by faith. (Eph. 2:8,9)
The power of the cross is experienced when we surrender our life to God by faith, trusting in the work of His dear Son Jesus Christ to provide our salvation for us. And this power continues to be made available to us as we continue carrying our cross (keeping our faith in Christ, and following the leading of the blessed Holy Spirit) each day. We might make many mistakes throughout our walk, but our faith for our salvation must remain in Christ.
It seems to be a very common thing that many Born-again Christians slip from Grace (unwittingly), putting themselves back under the Law. But this is not something that is a surprise to God because this is what the entire book of Galatians is about, and all is certainly not lost if this is something that has happened to you.
It can be scarry and very hard to accept if you have found yourself in this situation, but God doesn't want you to dispair because He has known all along where you're at, and now that you also know, He can work with you to effect your recomittment to Him.
Some people come back to Him through a very broken heart with repentance, and others have re-opened their heart to Him by just asking for forgiveness and exercising simple faith by a conscious decision. But I've also known of those who had to refill themselves with His Word, and over time, simply trust Him to work in their heart, and by faith they are once again able to submit to His Lordship.
You might slip-up many times while He is working with you, in your return to Him, but ever make the mistake of believing that He has abandoned you, because He will NEVER leave you or forsake you. No, not ever! He is so very forgiving and has much understanding of your problems, and eternal patience for your shortcomings, and His forgiveness is unending.
Here is the chief thing: if you will always KEEP GOING and never quit reguardless of how many times you mess up, He will always forgive you and continue working with you, always! You need only ask for His forgiveness and accept it, and it's a done deal! Seventy times seven! (Matt. 18;22)
The Power Of The Cross
The power of the cross is the death it brings to us, AND His life that we receive. When we surrender our life to Christ by faith, we legally die with Him on that cross. AND, just as we died with Him by faith, we also rose with Him from the grave with the newness of His life in us, that transforms us, not only at the moment that we surrender our life to him, but also, as we carry our cross "daily".
The death of our life, gives us His life, initially; and then we receive His continued infillment as we "continue" to carry our cross. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23). Just as our Lord's cross led Him to Calvary where He died in the flesh, so our cross is meant to bring about the death of OUR flesh, though not our body of flesh, but the carnal man! "I must decrease, but He must increase."
It's good to do good works because Jesus Himself said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"(Lk. 6:31) but at the point we lift our good works unto God to gain eternal life, He brushes them to the side saying: "They are as filthy rags unto Me." We'll be rewarded for our good works when we get to Heaven, but our good works can't GET US there!
But doesn't the Bible say that "Faith without works is dead." Yes it does, (Jam. 2:26), but are your good works coming forth from your faith in Christ, or is the secret thought of your heart, that you are earning your way to Heaven, with your good works?
If you believe that the Holy Spirit is writing the Law of God on your heart (as He foretold in the Old Testament), how is it that you received the Spirit of God when you were Born-again? Was it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? (Gal. 3:2,3).
God wants you to know that salvation is retained, the same way it is received - by faith in Christ, reguardless of any of your works! Gal. 5:4 tells us that "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."
Faith in Christ brings salvation. Good works bring rewards both in this life and in the life to come, but only faith in Christ can get us to Heaven where we'll be rewarded for our good works.
If you are trying to earn your way to Heaven by keeping the Law then you are falling short of the Grace that God provided for your salvation, which was a GIFT to you, because it cannot be earned! A man is justified by faith in Christ and the work that He did on the cross FOR us, therefore our faith cannot not be in our OWN works, but in HIS work!
That's why it is said that "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."(Rom. 10:4), because when we try to keep the Law, we quickly find that we cannot, and this futility is meant to drive us to Christ, where we finally abandon our struggle to earn our way to Heaven, and accept salvation as a gift from God, by faith. (Eph. 2:8,9)
The power of the cross is experienced when we surrender our life to God by faith, trusting in the work of His dear Son Jesus Christ to provide our salvation for us. And this power continues to be made available to us as we continue carrying our cross (keeping our faith in Christ, and following the leading of the blessed Holy Spirit) each day. We might make many mistakes throughout our walk, but our faith for our salvation must remain in Christ.
It seems to be a very common thing that many Born-again Christians slip from Grace (unwittingly), putting themselves back under the Law. But this is not something that is a surprise to God because this is what the entire book of Galatians is about, and all is certainly not lost if this is something that has happened to you.
It can be scarry and very hard to accept if you have found yourself in this situation, but God doesn't want you to dispair because He has known all along where you're at, and now that you also know, He can work with you to effect your recomittment to Him.
Some people come back to Him through a very broken heart with repentance, and others have re-opened their heart to Him by just asking for forgiveness and exercising simple faith by a conscious decision. But I've also known of those who had to refill themselves with His Word, and over time, simply trust Him to work in their heart, and by faith they are once again able to submit to His Lordship.
You might slip-up many times while He is working with you, in your return to Him, but ever make the mistake of believing that He has abandoned you, because He will NEVER leave you or forsake you. No, not ever! He is so very forgiving and has much understanding of your problems, and eternal patience for your shortcomings, and His forgiveness is unending.
Here is the chief thing: if you will always KEEP GOING and never quit reguardless of how many times you mess up, He will always forgive you and continue working with you, always! You need only ask for His forgiveness and accept it, and it's a done deal! Seventy times seven! (Matt. 18;22)
just please use color and bold or italics features instead of caps
