I was studying this morning on the idea of ‘eternal security.’ I frequently deal with those who claim to have been saved, but their lives reflect nothing of salvation. Oh, their mouths claim it on regular basis, but no one sees it in action. Long ago, brother Emerson Wilson spoke on the subject and I came upon the sermon. That is what I was studying in conjunction with my own notes.
How blest we are to be able to live a victorious life in Christ. So very many people are falling so far short of what God has for them without even knowing there is something better. I once attended a Baptist service where my cousin was speaking. My heart ached at his sincerity and his yearning to draw close to God. And yet, yet the damnable doctrine of “we can’t live without sinning” was blocking him from stepping into all the glory of true fellowship with God. I thought of how dark the glass was that he was peering through; he had an inkling of what was available to God’s Children but was barred from reaching it because he refused to acknowledge that there was sin in his life that he did not even see the need to remedy.
What is even sadder is that there are thousands of men and women yearning to know God but bound in that false doctrine. They are taught by a ministry that is ordained by Satan and continues to teach that “sin you will, sin you must, sin you can’t help yourself.”
It is even sadder to consider that many of those trapped in the teaching feel that they cannot even understand the Word of God by themselves. Oh they read it, but when they find things that would indicate that they must live righteously before God, they take the revelation of the Holy Spirit to a false minister! There they are told that they do not understand what the Word of God is telling them because it is in direct opposition to denominational doctrine! Thus, they believe that they, individually, must be led by a Man rather than by the Holy Spirit.
We are missing our calling when we spend so much time fellowshipping with those who are following God in the fullness of truth. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, we NEED that fellowship; we are blessed and encouraged by it; there’s nothing wrong with it. But we need to be spending more time among those who are being deceived by Satan, not to fellowship with them (because there can be no true fellowship with false religion) but to have acquaintance with them that they can see our daily life portraying righteousness. Sometimes we view our witnessing as just going to people and telling them what truth is. And somehow we think that our simply telling them should carry enough weight for them to change their lives—on nothing less than our say-so. But they need to SEE the truth in action and they cannot do that unless we are spending time with them.
Some times we so compartmentalize our lives that our real contact with people in the world is minimal. We go to work for eight hours and rush around doing our jobs—doing them responsibly as unto the Lord, but still very involved with the “Job.” And when someone seems depressed or in need of a kindly ear or a moment of sympathy, sometimes we don’t have time (because we do need to give our employer an honest day’s work) When someone comes to us with ‘boyfriend’ problems we can only see that they are living in fornication and not take the time to really listen for an opening to demonstrate the beauty of salvation with them. But we are so involved with living our lives in the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in the Lord that we can’t take an afternoon to have dinner and shop with them to open the door of communication. And that is he only way we are ever going to win them.
Of course, I look at it from a woman’s point of view, but I’m sure there is a similar track that men follow.
The situation is serious. The once-in-grace doctrine has made tremendous inroads among sincere people. We must make ourselves available to be the instrument that reaches out to portray truth to them, not by “preaching” (as we are so prone to do) but by putting ourselves in the position that they can see our godly life on a day-in, day-out basis.
Only by demonstrating the truth of the claim that righteousness and holiness is possible in our lives can we put a lie to the doctrine of “sin you will sin you must, sin you can’t help yourself.”
How blest we are to be able to live a victorious life in Christ. So very many people are falling so far short of what God has for them without even knowing there is something better. I once attended a Baptist service where my cousin was speaking. My heart ached at his sincerity and his yearning to draw close to God. And yet, yet the damnable doctrine of “we can’t live without sinning” was blocking him from stepping into all the glory of true fellowship with God. I thought of how dark the glass was that he was peering through; he had an inkling of what was available to God’s Children but was barred from reaching it because he refused to acknowledge that there was sin in his life that he did not even see the need to remedy.
What is even sadder is that there are thousands of men and women yearning to know God but bound in that false doctrine. They are taught by a ministry that is ordained by Satan and continues to teach that “sin you will, sin you must, sin you can’t help yourself.”
It is even sadder to consider that many of those trapped in the teaching feel that they cannot even understand the Word of God by themselves. Oh they read it, but when they find things that would indicate that they must live righteously before God, they take the revelation of the Holy Spirit to a false minister! There they are told that they do not understand what the Word of God is telling them because it is in direct opposition to denominational doctrine! Thus, they believe that they, individually, must be led by a Man rather than by the Holy Spirit.
We are missing our calling when we spend so much time fellowshipping with those who are following God in the fullness of truth. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, we NEED that fellowship; we are blessed and encouraged by it; there’s nothing wrong with it. But we need to be spending more time among those who are being deceived by Satan, not to fellowship with them (because there can be no true fellowship with false religion) but to have acquaintance with them that they can see our daily life portraying righteousness. Sometimes we view our witnessing as just going to people and telling them what truth is. And somehow we think that our simply telling them should carry enough weight for them to change their lives—on nothing less than our say-so. But they need to SEE the truth in action and they cannot do that unless we are spending time with them.
Some times we so compartmentalize our lives that our real contact with people in the world is minimal. We go to work for eight hours and rush around doing our jobs—doing them responsibly as unto the Lord, but still very involved with the “Job.” And when someone seems depressed or in need of a kindly ear or a moment of sympathy, sometimes we don’t have time (because we do need to give our employer an honest day’s work) When someone comes to us with ‘boyfriend’ problems we can only see that they are living in fornication and not take the time to really listen for an opening to demonstrate the beauty of salvation with them. But we are so involved with living our lives in the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in the Lord that we can’t take an afternoon to have dinner and shop with them to open the door of communication. And that is he only way we are ever going to win them.
Of course, I look at it from a woman’s point of view, but I’m sure there is a similar track that men follow.
The situation is serious. The once-in-grace doctrine has made tremendous inroads among sincere people. We must make ourselves available to be the instrument that reaches out to portray truth to them, not by “preaching” (as we are so prone to do) but by putting ourselves in the position that they can see our godly life on a day-in, day-out basis.
Only by demonstrating the truth of the claim that righteousness and holiness is possible in our lives can we put a lie to the doctrine of “sin you will sin you must, sin you can’t help yourself.”
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