What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 8 Nov, 2011 08:28 AM
When you get the sovereignty of God straight, everything gets straighter. Going wrong here will lead to error in all kinds of unexpected places. Oh, how I pray that God will give us clarity and conviction and joy in our vision of God�s absolute sovereignty over our frail and fickle lives!
Take the issue of assurance and eternal security and the possibility of falling away from Christ. One Sunday, I tackled the sobering text of Hebrews 6:4-8. There it says that you can be �enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come� and then fall away from it all and be lost.
Instead of saying that you can lose your salvation, I said that the meaning of Hebrews 6:4-8 is something almost as shocking, namely, that you can experience all those things (enlightenment, Holy Spirit, Word of God, and miracles) and never have been saved. This is shocking because it means that people may be mistaken in thinking they are Christians when they are not.
So the text and the message raise the question of assurance. How can we be sure we will persevere to the end and not fall away and become like Esau who tried to return but could not repent (Hebrews 12:16-17)? Here is where the sovereignty of God becomes so crucial.
The book of Hebrews exults in the new and better covenant, which God has made through the blood of Christ with all who are his people. The old covenant made at Mount Sinai was vulnerable to the people�s weakness (Romans 8:3). Hebrews 8:9 says, �They did not continue in My covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord.� But the new covenant is radically different in that it is not vulnerable to our weakness. Rather, it assures us that God�s sovereignty will overcome our weakness and prevent us from breaking the covenant.
Thus Hebrews 8:10 says, �This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.� In other words, God will not only tell us what we must do, he will see to it that we do it by working in us. This is what Hebrews 13:21 says about the new covenant: �[May God] equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.� This is the sanctifying, keeping, saving sovereignty of God. And it is sweeter than honey to the wavering soul.
In the new covenant our assurance rests firmly on the sovereignty of God over our own proneness to wander. We know we will not fall away because this is a promise of the new covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus. For example, in Jeremiah 32:40, God promises, �I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.� If you ask me how I know that tomorrow I will still believe in Christ, my answer is not that I am a disciplined person, or that I finish what I start, or that my will is reliable, or that the benefits outweigh the costs, or even that my church prays for me. My answer is: Christ shed his blood as the price of the new covenant (Luke 22:20), and in this covenant God promises, �They will not turn away from me.� God�s sovereign right and grace over my fickle will is my only hope for persevering to the end.
This is the sweet reality of the sovereignty of God. I pray that you will understand it and believe it and revel in the security and joy of it. What can be sweeter than to be �kept by the power of God�? (1 Peter 1:5).
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 8 Nov, 2011 03:48 PM
Just answering the question:
NOTHING is sweeter for a Christian than knowing that no matter what happens to them, no matter what suffering and sorrow they have in this life, that they BELONG to God, and that He knows their pain, and that one day they will live REAL LIFE in paradise, the way God designed life to be.
Christians who don't know the Scriptures that state that God WILL accomplish saving ALL of His chosen people, are in dire need of learning those verses.
Christians who attend a church that teaches that a true Christian can lose their salvation, need to LEAVE that church, and find another church to be a member of.
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 8 Nov, 2011 03:55 PM
This is a classical example of a play with words turned against the truth.
Christians who don't know the Scriptures that state that God WILL accomplish saving ALL of His chosen people, are in dire need of learning those verses.
All the saving was done when Jesus sat down at the right hand of the father, the next step is up to man to accept or reject
Christians who attend a church that teaches that a true Christian can lose their salvation, need to LEAVE that church, and find another church to be a member of.
Christians that do not teach that a christian can depart from his covenant is in the dark or disobedient
Go back to the word of God and particularly the parable of the sower.
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 8 Nov, 2011 07:29 PM
Why do people skirt around my sincere questions???
JAMES IN YOUR OPINION CAN YOU REJECT THE CALLING OF GOD>> WHEN HE CALLS A MAN CAN THAT MAN REJECT HIM???
this is my question only to understand what yall believe because you do not make it clear you repeat the same things over and over but they do not adress this lingering loose end If a man can reject Gods calling then that screws up everything James says becasue he says you are chosen from the begining and you cant do anything to lose your salvation, but what if the Lord calls then can you decide to reject him??
(FYI I know the answer to this I want James opinion)
I want him to admit this ludacris theory in black and white and clear enough that even I in my ignorance can understand
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 9 Nov, 2011 02:20 AM
The elishabroadway lies again by saying aganist me that:
�@ everyone else why is it ok for bahira to continualy call PJ and I barking Dogs? and for James to pretty much call PJ stupid?�
I testify her again that she sins and liars will NEVER inherit the Kingdom of God. She needs to repent of her sin i.e. abandon this sin called �lie and hatred� or God will judge her for any sin and motives and thoughts. God warns us about that in the Holy Bible.
I have never called them both as dogs. They need to understand our comments before to slander us.
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 9 Nov, 2011 02:33 AM
Jude,
she lies as always.
About dogs I use this word to describe barking Christians in video and in churches.
I said to James: �I always say: the dog barks, then the stone hits it.�
Do I ALWAYS say to pj that the he is the dog who barks, then the stone hits it.�
No, this is her slander and misunderstanding of what I say.
I do not say always such word expression to him or her. I USUALLY say so. So, it does not relate to them. But I meant by saying that to James that what he said hit the target that�s why they both are so aggressive.
So, her lie is a sin and I call her to repentance again and again. If somebody does not understand what I mean, they can ask me directly: Do you call pj as dog? No. I call dogs as dogs and describe how dogs barks and attacks when the stone hits them.
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 9 Nov, 2011 06:28 AM
Bahira, I have realtedly asked you to make your opinion clear, I have seen your comments and you imply most definatly that people who speak in tounges are barkers, you refuse to answer my question and I did not lie, since you imply that qwe bark without coming out and saying it.
that is the impression I get from yopu and I think that PJ gets the same one, now you have twice falsely called me a liar, so I call you to repentence:nahnah:
I domt know what your problem really is but I am sorry for you, you have gotten a bad taste in your mouth because of oyur friend and the barkers and not you harden your heart to the truth, that is what satan wanted you to do, thats why he plants the tares so they will make people like you turn against the truth
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 9 Nov, 2011 03:52 PM
Jude, she lies as always.
*** :rolleyes:...Who is this addressed to Bahira ???...Me or Alisha...Never mind...either way...I dont Need no part of a person Throwing Stones at Barking Dogs wether they Speak with a Tounge or Wag there Tail or not...:zzzz:...xo
What Can Be Sweeter Than to Be �Kept by the Power of God�?
Posted : 9 Nov, 2011 09:12 PM
@ Jude bahira is speaking t me, she still doesnt see why I say she calls me a dog.. If tounge speakers = dogs and Elsha = tounge speaker that elisha - dog its a very simple equation that bahira refuses to admit she understands because then she can go on implying I am a barking dog and when I call her on it she can call me a liar.. Bahira you are not stupid you know exactly what you are saying every time you say it, I very much doubt that anyone would disagree with me that it seems like you equate me to the barking dogs as you said it in an earlier post when you said "we know people can speak in tounges we have not me such people, what goes on today is just crazy barking" OH YES I DO SPEAK IN TOUNGES.. so then that means you call me a barking dog its simple as that:nahnah::nahnah::nahnah::nahnah:
