[SIZE=12pt]Yes, Peter did deny the Lord three times, but this was before he'd received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was with his disciples and would be in them, but first He had to go to the cross and pay the price for our sin (and Peter's sin as well.) You might be surprised at how many "Christians" on this message board alone don't really get this point. It's one thing to understand something intellectually and it's another to receive it as true. I deserve destruction, death, and condemnation. According to scripture, if you did so much as rebel against something your parents told you to do, even once in your lifetime, you deserve the same penalty. None of us deserves redemption or salvation, that's what makes grace what it is. The scary part about this with respect to "Christianity" at large is the vast number of people who believe themselves to be good in spite of what the scripture says about themselves (it doesn't apply to them. How could it? It must be about someone else.) What the so called "hyper-grace" teachers that I've listened to teach is that you can never have a proper walk with Jesus if you continue in the notion that you are being condemned by every sin that you commit after having received Christ and must go back for forgiveness over and over again. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]The Lord wants us to be obedient to Him, but as our Father (once having received Him through His Spirit) He's no longer condemning us, but correcting us and there's a huge difference between the two. We know what the book of Hebrews says about this, though some believe it actual while others consider it hypothetical: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]26. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27. but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries[/SIZE].[SIZE=10.5pt] Hebrews 10:26-27[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I once struggled with this verse, but our doctrine has to be built not on single verses, but by comparing verse to verse with other passages dealing with the same issue. The last passage follows a complementary passage from the same chapter: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]14. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15. And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]16. "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,'' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]17. then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.'' 18. Now [/SIZE]where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
[SIZE=12pt]19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]20. by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21. and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22. let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]. [/SIZE][SIZE=medium] Hebrews 10:14-22[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Verses 18 and 26 would seem to suggest that if you commit some sin intentionally once having received Christ, that you are automatically condemned (and this is probably why teachers avoided the book of Hebrews for a very long time.) But when we look at what John wrote in 1st John we find:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. [/SIZE]1 John 1:6-10
[SIZE=12pt]Some people like to point out verse 9 saying here you go, this verse proves that you can lose your salvation, but verse 7 actually tells us what salvation is (in a somewhat cryptic way):”[/SIZE][SIZE=medium] if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] We are being constantly cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ if we walk in fellowship with Him. This isn’t accomplished by our will, but by His Spirit indwelling us. We can profess Him without knowing Him, but we can only have fellowship with Him if we know Him. To put it another way, we walk in the light because we know Him. If we don’t know Him we can’t walk in His light, but remain in darkness. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Going back to the book of Hebrews, if we understand that the book is written to a congregation of Hebrew “believers” and is about the excellence of the New Covenant as compared to the Old, we also find earlier in that same book:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]12. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13. but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today,'' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt],[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] Hebrews 3:12-14[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]And:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]18. And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt].[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] Hebrews 3:18-19[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]These verses don’t claim that we haven’t received salvation until the end, but rather that those who “have become partakers of Christ” hold the beginning of our confidence to the end. The reason the word “if” is in the sentence is because this only applies to those who have received the Spirit of Christ through faith in Him. The exhortation is to a congregation and such verses specifically to those who may not really believe the gospel. The scripture doesn’t define belief as a simple assent to the truth, but as a confidence in the truth that renders a person’s life in compliance to the truth. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Let’s consider the thief on the cross beside our Lord, who came to repentance during the last hours of his life. He spoke to Jesus with these words: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.'' From Luke 23:42 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]This thief didn’t say, Lord I believe you so I’m coming with you, but rather expressed a belief in the person of Jesus Christ, calling Him Lord and acknowledging Him as the rightful heir of the kingdom of God, and demonstrated a confident hope in the Lord’s faithfulness to those who put their trust in Him by saying “remember me.” Jesus responded not simply to the thief’s words, but to them as an expression of his faith: "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.[/SIZE]'' From Luke 23:43
[SIZE=12pt]The thief entered into fellowship with Christ while on his own cross, believing Him and becoming a partaker in Him. This had nothing to do with works (outside of the thief’s confession of faith), but was entirely the working of God’s grace.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Now, let’s go back to Hebrews: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]10. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]. Hebrews 4:10-11[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]God calls us, just as He did this congregation of Hebrew “believers,” to enter into His rest (that righteousness provided in the person of our Lord), to cease from our works (for a righteousness of our own), and not to be disobedient to enter into that rest through unbelief. You can’t argue that the disobedience of the Hebrews was about works, because after hearing the word of the Lord from Moses about their rebellion and disbelief they changed their minds and were willing to do the works that God commanded of them: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, "Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!'[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]' Numbers 14:40[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Yet this was after the Lord had sworn an oath: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]28. "Say to them, `As I live,' says the Lord, `just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29. `The carcasses of you who have murmured against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30. `Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31. `But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] Numbers 14:28-31[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]So they were condemned because of their unbelief and lack of faith. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]We are commanded or exhorted to have faith,or to hold onto our confidence to the end, to believe the promise of the Lord and to hold onto our fellowship with Him (to abide in Him). This is what cleanses us and sanctifies us and renews our mind. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum, but through having fellowship with Him in His word, believing it, living it, sharing it, but none of these are even possible if we don’t know Him through the person of His Spirit. We have to strive to enter in by faith, but once having entered in we are called to rest in Him. It seems a bit contradictory, but so did the passage of the tribes of Israel out of the land of Egypt and through the red sea into the wilderness of Sinai. The tribes of Israel had to enter into the depths of the sea with the waters piling up on their left and on their right. This required faith, even if motivated by fear of destruction. The destruction of the army of Pharaoh was accomplished by God, not by Israel, but Israel was called to be a witness of God’s mighty salvation and to enter into His rest. God accomplishes our salvation through the blood of our Savior and we are called to enter into His rest. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Jesus is called not just the second “Adam,” but the “last Adam. (see 1 Corinthians 15:45) [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Adam was created without sin and with the genuine ability to choose to do what was good or what was evil, but without the knowledge to discern one from the other. As people born under the curse, with a fallen nature our choice or “free will” has been corrupted by our nature. Jesus, in redeeming us from sin has provided the way, through His Spirit, for our corrupt nature to be overcome, for us to overcome sin by trusting in what He has done for us, not in what we can do for ourselves. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]This is what the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ says: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] Revelation 12:10-11[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]What does this say? Those that overcome the adversary of God do so by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony, and putting their love of God over the love of their lives. None of these are possible without receiving His Spirit and in receiving His Spirit we have the assurance: for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Who can defeat God? Simple answer: nothing, no one, not Satan, and certainly not us. If we've received His Spirit then there remains a war within us, between His Spirit and our fleshly nature (according to the fall), but in the end, God wins, even over any willful disobedience or carnality that remains with us.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I don't like chastisement. I don't like the rod of correction. I don't like being reminded when I make wrong choices, but I love the God who saves me from everything including from myself. The more I love Him, the more easily I can obey Him and trust Him when obeying is difficult or seemingly impossible. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I wish that I were as faithful as my Lord, but I'm reassured by the fact that He has chosen to renew me in His image and according to His will and not my own. I rest upon His word and upon the Spirit within me that testifies to the truth of His word. Any man can be deceived, but can a man be deceived by the truth? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]My heart, the center of my being, is at rest in His love. Every one of us is tested, but the test is for us and not for the One who knows us and has always known us. He doesn't prove us, He proves Himself to us, rewarding us for our faith in Him, and not with temporal things, but with eternal things. This is the only way that the beatitudes make any sense, and so we walk by faith and live by faith and are justified by faith. Not some faith that we work up in ourselves, but by what He supplies by His Spirit and through His word, and in the person of His Son, even our Lord, Jesus called the Christ. Amen.[/SIZE]
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