The Behavior of the Christian and the Law
Right now, read Matthew 5:13-20 and meditate on Jesus' words. Ponder this question--how are Christians free from the law and yet must follow the Law?
The Modern Church has manipulated this to make people "work." Rather than living freedom, Christians have been convinced to WORK for the church, not necessarily for Christ. Many people in the church have never done anything for the sake of Christ but for the sake of works. In our Protestant beliefs that salvation is by faith alone, we have built it upon a foundation of works.
Now, with that said, Christ was quite clear. We are to live a life of "salt" and of "light." We are to work within the Law of Christ, yet we are to live by the freedom Christ has given us. Now the questions for you to answer are:
Was
The Modern Church has manipulated this to make people "work." Rather than living freedom, Christians have been convinced to WORK for the church, not necessarily for Christ. Many people in the church have never done anything for the sake of Christ but for the sake of works. In our Protestant beliefs that salvation is by faith alone, we have built it upon a foundation of works.
Now, with that said, Christ was quite clear. We are to live a life of "salt" and of "light." We are to work within the Law of Christ, yet we are to live by the freedom Christ has given us. Now the questions for you to answer are:
- What does it mean to be "salt" and "light"?
- What does it mean be saved by grace and yet live within law?
Was
posted by Was at
6:17 PM
4 Comments:
I dont know Was ... the Bible is 80% OT and thus the Law is critical .. i think that the law points to our need for grace... yet when the law shows us who we are, instead of repent we seem to dismiss the Holiness, Justice, and Righteous Wrath of God instead choosing to elevate His love ... essentially we create a God who is loving, welcoming, slow-to-anger, and benevolent to all prodigals yet we continue to "trample underfoot the son of God" (Heb 10) ... Woe unto me if I dare forget that "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:31) .. (notice that this is NT and not some foreign distant OT God, because we love to separate them) ... Allow me to submit that in America the church deals with idolatry above any other sin. This is not done by becoming materialistic or greedy. We do this by creating a God of Love, Kindness and Friendship and elevating these atributes above His Holiness and Justice. Then (in boldface sin) we worship this new "God" and sing to Him with genuine hearts ... genuinely sinning hearts.
as for the questions ... salt has two purposes .. to preserve and flavor ... but check this out. Salt should also make you thirsty. Christians should cause others around them to crave God like they crave water... Light is to pierce the darkness, cast shadows, and provide the necessary element to vision
To be saved by grace and yet live in the law ... i think its about fearing God ... The Bible tells us to check our election and make sure that we are truly in the faith yet many "believers" hide behind once saved always saved ... thats Gods perspective .. we are to fear Him and bear good fruit ... and the techings like Romans 1-3, John 15, James 2, John 10, and certainly Hebrews 10 should scare us and cause us to seek the true repentance spoken of in Luke 3.
corey are you a calvinist?
if by calvinist you mean that I hold to a set of 5 or 7 doctrines that scare American Christians ... maybe ... I cant deal with all five very easily but I do believe that Paul clearly teaches the doctrine of unconditional election before the foundation of the earth ... Read Matthew 7:21-23 and tell me if you think that the men saying "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name" thought they were saved ... the issue is not do we know God ... the issue is, does God know us ...... here it is ... The greatest blasphemy in all of Chrisianity is telling people that if they ask Jesus to come into their heart, he definitely will. there I said it .... "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6 Prov. 3:34)
yeah im right with you. election is a new thing for me. but im trying to search it out. but sweet, it encourages me that you believe that.
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