Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,067
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:10-12 ESV)
When God calls us to faith in Jesus Christ, to die with him to sin, and to now walk in obedience to his ways and to his commands, this calling is of God, and not of the will nor of the flesh of humans. So we, as human beings, do not get to determine what that calling should look like or what faith in Jesus should look like, for God predetermined all of that even before we were conceived in the wombs of our mothers, even before he created the world.
Now, regarding our salvation, the New Testament Scriptures are clear on what that should look like. We are to die with Christ to sin and obey God and his commandments, in practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God. We are no longer to make sin our practice, or the flesh our idol, but we are to now serve the Lord Jesus in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. For our lives now belong to him, and he is the one to direct our paths.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
God has a general plan for all of us who profess him as Savior and Lord, but he also has specific assignments for us within the body of Christ which are our body parts within his church, his body. And the Holy Spirit has gifted each of us with Spiritual gifts which we are to be putting into practice, by the Spirit, for the encouragement and edification of the body of Christ, as a whole. For we are all to be ministers of Christ within the body of Christ.
Now the Scriptures teach that we won’t all have the same gifts, and that we won’t all have the same body parts. So we are all going to have our unique roles and purposes within the body of Christ, as a whole, for the mutual edification of one another, to help one another to grow to maturity in Christ and to not walk in sin. And these assignments and gifts and body parts are all purposed and selected and determined by God, and not by human flesh.
Therefore, although we should definitely be considerate of other humans, and be loving and tender-hearted toward them, we are not to let other humans determine our salvation for us nor God’s calling upon our individual lives, for that is God’s call, not ours to make. But our callings should not be anti-biblical nor operated in direct defiance of those in authority, unless that authority requires that we disobey God and that we not do his will.
For example, Jesus submitted to those in authority over him unless they demanded that he not obey God the Father and that he not preach the truth of the gospel and that he not heal people on the Sabbath. And the apostles also submitted to those in authority unless they demanded that they disobey God, and that they do what is opposed to God. And the same was with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and other servants of Christ.
The problem we have in much of what is called “church” today is that so much is now being man-centered with the goal of pleasing other humans, but not generally with the goal of pleasing the Lord and doing his will. So much is being determined by marketing books and schemes and seminars on how to “draw in large crowds of people into their gatherings,” so that the gifts of the Spirit and people’s “body parts” are getting cast aside.
And so the gatherings of “the church,” at least here in America, have largely become more like theatre productions to entertain and to please human flesh, with the goal to attract the world, rather than them serving God’s purpose for his body to minister to one another in encouraging, exhorting, and teaching one another what it means to believe in Jesus and to be his, and to warn one another against false teachings and sin’s deception.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:27-28; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; Ac 2:14-18; Ac 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]
But when God puts his call upon our lives, we are to surrender to his will and purpose, and we are to do what he has called us to do his way, and not to please humans, but to please God. And we are to share the truth of the gospel and to encourage the body of Christ in the ways of the Lord. And all this must be led of the Holy Spirit, and not of human flesh, and with the goal to please God even if other humans don’t like or approve of us.
For if our goal is to please other humans so that they will like us and not reject us and not speak evil against us, then we cannot be servants of God. For we have to be in a position where we go with God and we do what he has called us to do, and we speak what he gives us to say, even if all turn against us and hate us and reject us and want nothing to do with us. For they may not understand us, but we have to obey God above all else.
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
When God calls us to faith in Jesus Christ, to die with him to sin, and to now walk in obedience to his ways and to his commands, this calling is of God, and not of the will nor of the flesh of humans. So we, as human beings, do not get to determine what that calling should look like or what faith in Jesus should look like, for God predetermined all of that even before we were conceived in the wombs of our mothers, even before he created the world.
Now, regarding our salvation, the New Testament Scriptures are clear on what that should look like. We are to die with Christ to sin and obey God and his commandments, in practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God. We are no longer to make sin our practice, or the flesh our idol, but we are to now serve the Lord Jesus in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. For our lives now belong to him, and he is the one to direct our paths.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
God has a general plan for all of us who profess him as Savior and Lord, but he also has specific assignments for us within the body of Christ which are our body parts within his church, his body. And the Holy Spirit has gifted each of us with Spiritual gifts which we are to be putting into practice, by the Spirit, for the encouragement and edification of the body of Christ, as a whole. For we are all to be ministers of Christ within the body of Christ.
Now the Scriptures teach that we won’t all have the same gifts, and that we won’t all have the same body parts. So we are all going to have our unique roles and purposes within the body of Christ, as a whole, for the mutual edification of one another, to help one another to grow to maturity in Christ and to not walk in sin. And these assignments and gifts and body parts are all purposed and selected and determined by God, and not by human flesh.
Therefore, although we should definitely be considerate of other humans, and be loving and tender-hearted toward them, we are not to let other humans determine our salvation for us nor God’s calling upon our individual lives, for that is God’s call, not ours to make. But our callings should not be anti-biblical nor operated in direct defiance of those in authority, unless that authority requires that we disobey God and that we not do his will.
For example, Jesus submitted to those in authority over him unless they demanded that he not obey God the Father and that he not preach the truth of the gospel and that he not heal people on the Sabbath. And the apostles also submitted to those in authority unless they demanded that they disobey God, and that they do what is opposed to God. And the same was with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and other servants of Christ.
The problem we have in much of what is called “church” today is that so much is now being man-centered with the goal of pleasing other humans, but not generally with the goal of pleasing the Lord and doing his will. So much is being determined by marketing books and schemes and seminars on how to “draw in large crowds of people into their gatherings,” so that the gifts of the Spirit and people’s “body parts” are getting cast aside.
And so the gatherings of “the church,” at least here in America, have largely become more like theatre productions to entertain and to please human flesh, with the goal to attract the world, rather than them serving God’s purpose for his body to minister to one another in encouraging, exhorting, and teaching one another what it means to believe in Jesus and to be his, and to warn one another against false teachings and sin’s deception.
[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:27-28; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; Ac 2:14-18; Ac 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]
But when God puts his call upon our lives, we are to surrender to his will and purpose, and we are to do what he has called us to do his way, and not to please humans, but to please God. And we are to share the truth of the gospel and to encourage the body of Christ in the ways of the Lord. And all this must be led of the Holy Spirit, and not of human flesh, and with the goal to please God even if other humans don’t like or approve of us.
For if our goal is to please other humans so that they will like us and not reject us and not speak evil against us, then we cannot be servants of God. For we have to be in a position where we go with God and we do what he has called us to do, and we speak what he gives us to say, even if all turn against us and hate us and reject us and want nothing to do with us. For they may not understand us, but we have to obey God above all else.
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
