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Grace does not allow you to disobey
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)
The grace of God will never allow you to disobey the Lord. Any one saying that once you say a prayer of salvation you never need to refrain from sinning in the future, is actually deceived. I strongly exhort you to keep away from such people.
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:5)
Now obedience is not the same as grace. Plus you cannot earn God’s grace. But at the same time it does not mean you deliberately refuse to honour the Lord Jesus by disobeying. Like it or not, those who don’t do the will of God won’t enter the kingdom of heaven.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
Related articles:
- Earning the grace of God? (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
- How to obtain the grace of God? (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
Take the machinery out of the church
The farther away from God you get, the more rules and regulations you’ll come up with in an effort to maintain what you once had. And what was once living will soon become mechanical and artificial. (Take the machinery out of the church.)
Beware of the yoke of men. Man’s yoke looks good, but it will only slow you down in the climb, and will make you less fruitful. The Lord’s yoke is light, it lifts you up, but man’s will weigh you down.
Zealous Christians can sometimes fall into the deception that they can earn God’s Love, and that His love is based on their performance. (I personally fell to this deception.) Be sure to love God for who He Is, not for what He can give you. The Love of God is not so cheap that it can be earned by the work of your hand or the sweat of your brow.
The above quotes are by Robert Brownell (of divinerevelations.info) and exhort us to follow God freely in spirit. Sometimes people act legalistic while they may not be aware of their behavior. However, these people are aware of how others follow God freely and so don’t have an excuse. God wants his people to love him with all of their heart, mind and strength. Acting like a machine won’t help you at all. Machines don’t have have a heart nor a mind.
You need to receive the Lord Jesus who gives true grace and truth. So hold Jesus close to your heart. Love Jesus not out of compulsion but out of free will. God knows the thoughts of your heart, so don’t do good works to get a certificate of right conduct from a preacher. Maybe you need that certificate for church formalities etc. However, be true to the will of God. The will of God is not something clouded by intellectual smoke. God’s will is that you believe in the Lord Jesus and live a holy life unto God.
Do works of charity not for fame but for the glory of God. Good works don’t get you salvation as you can never earn your way into heaven. Salvation is given freely by Jesus Christ to those believe in him and the Gospel of Christ. Salvation is not a ‘one-time-prayer-and-forget-about-it’, it’s about continuing in your relation with Jesus. For salvation outside of Jesus Christ does not exist, so keep within Jesus always.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)
Related articles
Earning the grace of God?
If the grace of God can be earned then its not grace!
Grace is the unmerited favour of God. When God favours you, all things work for your good because of his love for you. The reason for God’s favour is his own desire to bless you through his son Jesus Christ.
I have seen a lot of well meaning Christians try to do lots of good work but with a flawed mindset of earning salvation. They themselves are not aware of it. They work really hard at it and wonder why they are not blessed. Some then even feel unloved by God. Some give up and bounce back into sin. What they are doing wrong is that they overlook the fact that God loves everyone freely. They put a price tag to the peace of Christ and wonder why they can’t buy it. Again, that’s a big mistake. Jesus gives his peace freely, so its weird to even try to earn it. Maybe that earn-thy-respect-through-achievement worked for you in the military, medical school or in marketing. However this won’t work in the kingdom of God. You are called as friends of Jesus. Does a friend everyday have to earn his friendship all over again? Not at all.
Take care therefore that you don’t fall into a hellish trap of trying to earn God’s grace. Firstly it will cause you get weary in great measure and you will be restless. Secondly as you get more restless you will feel the need for grace. Finally in your pursuit of grace that gives peace you will try to earn more grace. The effect is that due being in this vicious cycle of earning grace you will be frustrated and not know if you are saved.
You just can’t earn God’s grace. The good news is that it’s available freely and generously in Jesus Christ. He opens the doors of grace to all, happy are they who find it and enter it.
Why is it important to avoid the deception of trying to earn God’s grace? To save your time, effort and money. Never think that your volunteering with orphans, going in dangerous rescue missions and giving huge donations will save your soul. These are good deeds but these won’t get you to heaven. If any one tells you to give him money so that your sins are forgiven, then he is wrong. Tell such a person that Jesus can forgive sins without money! Christ has purchased salvation for you by his precious blood and resurrection. He lived and died so that your sins are forgiven. Happy are those who true beauty and simplicity of Salvation.
There’s no need to trust worldly systems to earn salvation. I have seen the most bizzare ways in which people try to earn salvation. Some take sharp metal rods and pierce it through their cheeks. Some cover themselves from head to toe in white or black no matter what the weather is. Some walk on burning coals or lie down on a bed of needles. Some spend hours in meditation to get a out of body experience. However though they do it so hard and well, that won’t get them saved. Unfortunately they haven’t heard the gospel. You having heard the gospel must act and behave different from such people. Begin by accepting you salvation freely.
For the record about wordly people; I don’t hate such people but rather hate the devil who blinds their eyes due to which they can’t see salvation. The devil’s kingdom advances to blind people in their spiritual eyes. The kingdom of God opens our eyes to see the salvation that comes from the Lord Jesus. Happy and blessed are those that see the salvation of the Lord. Amen.
Disciples of hope 