weakness

Whose Virtue Are You Trusting In?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

There are three levels of authentic faith:

1) you start with the historical facts and the creeds concerning Jesus

2) you believe these facts to be true

3) you cast yourself dead on the floor, trusting solely in Christ; his death on the cross will save you.

The moral plan is bankrupt!

The difference between law & gospel:

law = your obedience in order to win God’s acceptance – self-righteousness

gospel = Jesus obeyed for you and died for you; believe that and you have God’s approval

Your daily “spiritual” experience is captive to your diet, sleep habits, health, & emotional state. None of these is to be trusted for your salvation, or your nearness to God, or his love for you.

The apostles had first-hand experiences of Jesus. If there was ever a group of people who could tell their stories, relate their personal experiences with Jesus, it was them. With the exception of Paul, who was compelled to defend his ministry to the Corinthians, none of the apostles spoke of themselves. They spoke only of Christ and his saving work. (See the sermons in the book of Acts.)

When the apostles did speak of their experience with Jesus, they spoke of their doubts. They highlighted their weaknesses. (See Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.)

You have no virtue of your own, so don’t count on it to gain God’s approval.

The only virtue worth having is Christ’s virtue. And he gives it to you as a gift.

Have you received it?

Bug Off!

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

God wants us to find our primary joy in our objectively declared justification, not in our subjectively perceived sanctification. — Jerry Bridges

I spent an afternoon visiting a Christian friend who was making herself sick remembering the failures, sins, and mistakes of her past. She was living in guilt, because as she said, “I see the consequences of my actions in the lives of my children every day.”

How many times a day do you do this?

How many times a day does the devil drag you there? This is one of his favorite  darts in his quiver.

Next time this happens pray like this:
“Devil, you’re going to have to do better than that. The blood of Jesus, my Savior, has paid the price of all of my sins, failures and mistakes. I stand firm in Him and I am as perfect as He is because I am robed in his righteousness. So go bother somebody else.” Then pray for your children. Remember the lives of the patriarchs, the life of David, the lives of countless others in the Scriptures that show their weaknesses, failures and sins, and yet God used them for his glory in spite of those things because they had faith in Christ. Take a look at the genealogy of our Lord’s in the gospel of Matthew if you need to be encouraged.

Oh, one more thing: there are no perfect people, only a perfect Savior.

Is There Any Hope?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

Q: Are you saying then that we’re destined to live lives of spiritual defeat with only little respites along the way, and that’s as good as it gets?

A: Not at all!  God’s goal for us is to be like Christ.  At the moment, Jesus is triumphant and glorified at God’s right hand, and God’s guarantee to us is that we will someday share in this magnificent image.  But when Jesus lived where we do, His life was not the glittering thing it is now.  It was marked by weakness, suffering, and by a genuine and daily dependence on His Father in Heaven.  Not even He could rise from the dead until He first died.  The road to Glory runs through the Cross, both for the Lord Himself and all who want to be His disciples.

Q: What about the verses that say we are more than conquerors in Christ, that we can do all things through Him, etc.?

A: We believe the verses, of course, but the success and triumph they promise look a lot like failure and loss: ‘tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, being killed all day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter’.  In this life God does not give us victory over these things: He gives us victory in and through them.  Just as He did for His Son who learned obedience through the things He suffered.