Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Reformer Joe | 100109 | ||
"What is the difference between my self effort to be holy now that I am saved and my self effort to be good when I was saved?" I assume you meant your self-effort to be good before you were saved, right? :) Your self-effort before you are saved is a pointless exercise, because no one can attain the perfection that God requires. We all have sinned, and legalism (the idea of earning salvation by law-keeping) is thoroughly refuted in Scripture. We need the imputed righteousness of Christ to be able to stand before an infinitely holy God. The key is understanding that you were not saved just so that you will go to heaven, but so that God's glory would be displayed through your sanctification. So, the Spirit of God motivates us and empowers us to fight against our old sin nature, to put sin to death (Colossians 3). Our role in our sanctification is to wage "no-holds-barred" war against our sin and thereby glorify God (1 Peter 2:11-12). To do this, we rely on God's Spirit that is working within us to give us the strength to do so, and we make use of the means of grace God has given us (word, sacraments, prayer) as our tools and weapons in this struggle. None of those things is effectual in the life of the unbeliever seeking to establish his own righteousness (other than to be used as visual aids for a hypocritical legalism), but they are God's gifts to the Christian, ways in which the Spirit works to glorify the Triune God through our cooperation and transformation (Romans 12:2). A great book on this subject is _The Discipline of Grace_ by Jerry Bridges: http://www.discerningreader.com/disofgracjer.html --Joe! |
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2 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Pam D | 100243 | ||
Dear Joe, This is Part II of my response to you. Part II: As you can see, all of these points would certainly give someone the wrong idea as to exactly what their role in sanctification was. Once I recognized what “wrong” beliefs I was believing, a whole new world opened up! After recognizing all of that, I now think MY part in my practical / experiential sanctification is that “I” am supposed to PURSUE holiness. Personal Holiness is not attained by faith, like justification. It is work. “I” need to MAKE EVERY EFFORT to be like Jesus, and get rid of every attitude, action and motivation that is unchristlike. But then the question arose in my mind as to what is Gods part in my practical / experiential sanctification? I believe that God plays the whole part in both my positional sanctification and my ultimate santification. But what is Gods part in my practical / experiential sanctification? I suppose part of it is that the Holy Spirit reveals to me through reading the bible where I am missing the mark so I can fix it. But whats the difference between my self effort to be holy now that I am saved and my self effort to be good when I was unsaved? That last question is the one I was urged to repost and which you responded to. But I guess what I am really asking is: if God plays a part in my experiential sanctification, exactly how does God help me in this struggle to be holy? Thanks for any insight you may have. Blessings, Pam PS The following are some of the very helpful answers I received before I reposted the question and you answered. -------------------------------------------------- Emmaus answered and said: Let me offer that the difference is grace. By that grace of Justification you are now a child of God, a member of His family and you are able to cooperate with God because of that grace, which is something you could not do without it. It is the fact that you are now in Christ that allows you to be conformed to Him and to cooperate with Him in the process of being sanctified by Him. I hope this is of some help. -------------------------------------------------- EdB answered and said: I like what Emmaus said. Let me add. As we strive for perfection (holiness) grace covers our imperfections and gives us the desire to become holier. The difference between your effort to be holy now versus your effort to be good when you were unsaved is GRACE. Your effort to be good was an effort to conform to the law, a task that was virtually impossible. Once saved your effort to be holy is an effort to have a deeper relationship with God. What is God's part in all of this? In the past you did everything to in your attempt to be good, being human you failed and tried and tried again. Today you do what you can and God provides the rest so that you can be in relationship with Him. The more we put out of our lives seeking more of God, brings us closer to God and us less accessible to sin. James 4:7. Stay with it your on the right track. EdB -------------------------------------------------- |
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3 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Ken hepting | 100257 | ||
Do I have your permission to address this, Pam? | ||||||
4 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Pam D | 100279 | ||
Dear Ken, I am so sorry. I did not mean to slight you in any way. I posted the note to Joe at 2:45 am and I was getting awfully tired so I went to bed and planned to send a note to you this morning. Since Joe was coming from a Reformed perspective and I am unfamiliar with that viewpoint, I wanted especially to hear his views on this subject which is why I emailed him first. I hope you have had a chance to read the article that I recommended. I would certainly love to hear your views on it as well as I am still a little bit shaky on my conclusions. You will also note that I just emailed Joe another note in response to his note to me and I asked for his perspective on another question. Would you please respond to that question too? Blessings, Pam |
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5 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Ken hepting | 100309 | ||
No worries, Pam. On this one I just didn't want to barge in an "pontificate" like I have been known to do. I read the article "Wesleyan - Keswick Models of Sanctification" here on the net. I confess I knew nothing of Keswick and it spoke volumes to me about what I believe to be correct/incorrect. I'm not unsure as a result of my reading but rather am most convinced why there are so many denominations. I don't hold with all of what John Wesley espoused either but through it all we have history to show us that God used it all to bring about His purposes. I'm becoming more persuaded God allowed all the differences to happen to narrow down the field to those who seek Him because they really Love Him, not for religious reasons. |
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