Results 21 - 40 of 6029
|
||||||
Results from: Notes Author: DocTrinsograce Ordered by Date |
||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | Affirming the TOU | Col 3:14 | DocTrinsograce | 244003 | ||
Love binds and does not promote division and dissension. Lckman was very gracious to provide such excellent guideline... walking in them gave evidence of a person's love of the Lord, His people, and His Word. So blessed to have participated. So sorry that just a single discenter can bring it all down. But our sovereign God can turn it all to His purposes. The trail of posts will remain to validate His Word. | ||||||
22 | Known by their Fruit (Spirit or Flesh?) | 1 Cor 2:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243995 | ||
"By 'them which are in Christ Jesus,' St. Paul evidently [clearly] means, those who truly believe in Him; those who, 'being justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' They who thus believe do no longer 'walk after the flesh,' no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature, but 'after the Spirit'; both their thoughts, words, and works are under the direction of the blessed Spirit of God. "'There is therefore now no condemnation to' these. There is no condemnation to them from God; for He hath justified them 'freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus." He hath forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their sins. And there is no condemnation to them from within; for they 'have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that they might know the things which are freely given to them of God' (1 Cor. 2:12); which Spirit 'beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God.' And to this is added the testimony of their conscience, 'that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they have had their conversation in the world' (2 Cor. 1:12). "But because this scripture has been so frequently misunderstood, and that in so dangerous a manner [let us take heed!]; because such multitudes of 'unlearned and unstable men' (oi amaqeis kai asthriktoi, men untaught of God, and consequently unestablished in the truth which is after godliness) have wrested it to their own destruction; I propose to show, as clearly as I can, first who those are 'which are in Christ Jesus,' and 'walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:' and, secondly, how 'there is no condemnation to' these. I shall conclude with some practical inferences." --John Wesley (1703-1791) from Sermon 8 on Romans 8:1 You can read Wesley's complete sermon here: https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-8-The-First-Fruits-of-the-Spirit |
||||||
23 | Known by their Fruit (Spirit or Flesh?) | 1 Cor 2:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243994 | ||
"By 'them which are in Christ Jesus,' St. Paul evidently [clearly] means, those who truly believe in Him; those who, 'being justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' They who thus believe do no longer 'walk after the flesh,' no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature, but 'after the Spirit'; both their thoughts, words, and works are under the direction of the blessed Spirit of God. "'There is therefore now no condemnation to' these. There is no condemnation to them from God; for He hath justified them 'freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus." He hath forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their sins. And there is no condemnation to them from within; for they 'have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that they might know the things which are freely given to them of God' (1 Cor. 2:12); which Spirit 'beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God.' And to this is added the testimony of their conscience, 'that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they have had their conversation in the world' (2 Cor. 1:12). "But because this scripture has been so frequently misunderstood, and that in so dangerous a manner [let us take heed!]; because such multitudes of 'unlearned and unstable men' (oi amaqeis kai asthriktoi, men untaught of God, and consequently unestablished in the truth which is after godliness) have wrested it to their own destruction; I propose to show, as clearly as I can, first who those are 'which are in Christ Jesus,' and 'walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:' and, secondly, how 'there is no condemnation to' these. I shall conclude with some practical inferences." --John Wesley (1703-1791) from Sermon 8 on Romans 8:1 You can read Wesley's complete sermon here: https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-8-The-First-Fruits-of-the-Spirit |
||||||
24 | Known by their Fruit (Spirit or Flesh?) | 1 Cor 2:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243993 | ||
"By 'them which are in Christ Jesus,' St. Paul evidently [clearly] means, those who truly believe in Him; those who, 'being justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' They who thus believe do no longer 'walk after the flesh,' no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature, but 'after the Spirit'; both their thoughts, words, and works are under the direction of the blessed Spirit of God. "'There is therefore now no condemnation to' these. There is no condemnation to them from God; for He hath justified them 'freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus." He hath forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their sins. And there is no condemnation to them from within; for they 'have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that they might know the things which are freely given to them of God' (1 Cor. 2:12); which Spirit 'beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God.' And to this is added the testimony of their conscience, 'that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they have had their conversation in the world' (2 Cor. 1:12). "But because this scripture has been so frequently misunderstood, and that in so dangerous a manner [let us take heed!]; because such multitudes of 'unlearned and unstable men' (oi amaqeis kai asthriktoi, men untaught of God, and consequently unestablished in the truth which is after godliness) have wrested it to their own destruction; I propose to show, as clearly as I can, first who those are 'which are in Christ Jesus,' and 'walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:' and, secondly, how 'there is no condemnation to' these. I shall conclude with some practical inferences." --John Wesley (1703-1791) from Sermon 8 on Romans 8:1 You can read Wesley's complete sermon here: https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-8-The-First-Fruits-of-the-Spirit |
||||||
25 | Known by their Fruit (Spirit or Flesh?) | 1 Cor 2:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243992 | ||
"By 'them which are in Christ Jesus,' St. Paul evidently [clearly] means, those who truly believe in Him; those who, 'being justified by faith, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' They who thus believe do no longer 'walk after the flesh,' no longer follow the motions of corrupt nature, but 'after the Spirit'; both their thoughts, words, and works are under the direction of the blessed Spirit of God. "'There is therefore now no condemnation to' these. There is no condemnation to them from God; for He hath justified them 'freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus." He hath forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their sins. And there is no condemnation to them from within; for they 'have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that they might know the things which are freely given to them of God' (1 Cor. 2:12); which Spirit 'beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God.' And to this is added the testimony of their conscience, 'that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they have had their conversation in the world' (2 Cor. 1:12). "But because this scripture has been so frequently misunderstood, and that in so dangerous a manner [let us take heed!]; because such multitudes of 'unlearned and unstable men' (oi amaqeis kai asthriktoi, men untaught of God, and consequently unestablished in the truth which is after godliness) have wrested it to their own destruction; I propose to show, as clearly as I can, first who those are 'which are in Christ Jesus,' and 'walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:' and, secondly, how 'there is no condemnation to' these. I shall conclude with some practical inferences." --John Wesley (1703-1791) from Sermon 8 on Romans 8:1 You can read Wesley's complete sermon here: https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-8-The-First-Fruits-of-the-Spirit |
||||||
26 | Known by their Fruit (Spirit or Flesh?) | 1 Cor 2:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243991 | ||
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God." 1 Corinthians 2:12 Try as one might to find but one, there are no Historical Arminians extant in this day. Certainly there are those who adopt the Jacobus Arminius' name or John Wesley's name; yet they do not so much as read, let alone, study these founding Arminians. Consequently, they have evolved together into something that is entirely a matter of nay-saying, i.e., expressions against other beliefs, but very few things that they hold in unity. "We all believe the Bible!" they claim, so why reject even the teachings of the founders of their denominations? I cannot be entirely certain, but it appears that they are more about promoting their individual teachings in hope of demonstrating themselves as "more spiritual" and "wiser" and more "pious" than all those that have come before. This has all the earmarks of heart puffed up with self, rather than a heart deeply in love with the our Lord and Savior. In 2016 I became very interested in trying to understand some of these popular contemporary denominations -- they are over 2/3rds of the 33,000 denominations that tout themselves as "Christian." I began reading their sermons, their articles, and their blogs. I have been in extensive communication with four pastors and two academicians concerning the positions they hold. In unanimity they reject historic confessions of every stripe and sort. This narrows down the alternatives specific articles of faith has been impossible by traditional investigation. They care little for any teacher in whom Christ ministered to His church in the past. I broke things down into the following categories: theology proper, ecclesiology, eschatology, and soteriology -- "these are a few of their favorite things." I documented their statements in these categories by their initials. I then presented to each, various contradicting statements by the others. In a few instances I was able to approach a tenuous consensus (but only by being willing to stretch the rules of rhetoric). The following conclusions were the very few consistent conclusions: (1) they almost never agreed; (2) when they agreed it was at the expense of Historical Christian teaching; and (3) they were particularly fond of the teaching that they considered Biblical (which was a way of describing their own ideas). One other thing stands out for me concerning this study: None of them thought that a Christian might be identified by being Christlike behavior; yet they conceded that the fruit of the Spirit was an entirely optional aspect for believers. Regardless, they all affirmed that supernatural signs could be taken as definitive evidence of redemption. Below is the first part of a sermon by John Wesley on this topic. Despite their accolades of Arminians in history, Modern Arminians fundamentally disagree with historic Arminian doctrines. As the year comes to a close, you can do your own research: look back at the history of the most recent posters. Keep in mind the distinction between walking after the flesh and after the Spirit that John Wesley took pains to delineate. Right there in the first paragraph Wesley distinguishes between the two type of people. Look for the trends in the posts, and hold them in the light of Scripture. (Observe how others respond to these posts, and argue for their own righteousness.) The flesh is characterized by immorality; impurity; sensuality (mind set in this world); idolatry (placing something above the Word); strife; jealousy; outbursts of anger; enemities (hatred); disputes; dissensions; factions and promoters of factions; envy; pride; pugnacious (quick to react to anything with which they disagree); unlearned; unstable; etc. The Spirit is characterized by love of the Father, His Word, and His Own; joy; peace; patience; kindness; goodness; Godliness; faithfulness; gentleness; self-control; etc. God can work subtly, but in His Eternal Purpose His work is always evident. Read Wesley's sermon attached to this post. |
||||||
27 | Let Go of Offenses and Resentments | Deut 6:3 | DocTrinsograce | 243987 | ||
...and these are very clearly needed to be repeated... "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:6-8) "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." (Ephesians 4:29) "But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior." (1 Peter 1:15) "The Lord Jesus is our text-book and our teacher, the schoolhouse in which we are taught, and the object lesson in which all truth is enshrined. But all is in vain unless we definitely and forever put away the old man; that is, our old manners and customs in so far as they are contrary to the Spirit of Christ. With equal decision we are called upon to seek the daily renewal of our spirit and the outward conformity of our mode of life to the example of Jesus. But it should never be forgotten that the latter will be a dry husk unless it is energized from the true vine. There can be little of Christ without unless He dwells without a rival within [!]. But the Holy Spirit will see to this [!!], if only we grieve Him not. "What a transformation immediately ensues! Truth instead of falsehood, gentleness for anger, earnest toil for dishonesty, cleansed instead of filthy speech. If all believers were to live like this, the world would know that the Son of God has come. It is not enough that a man should believe to secure deliverance from the wrath of God; he must daily seek to attain to such resemblance of Jesus as shall make men recall Him to mind." --Fredrick Brotherton Meyer (1847-1929) |
||||||
28 | False Prophets in Sheep's Clothing! | Matt 7:28 | DocTrinsograce | 243984 | ||
Wow! This is incredibly encouraging! Read the seven characteristics of false prophets! Clearly these folks find the truth in the Word Alone. Praise God that they have avoided the popular teaching of the many false prophets that clamor for attention! 1. Different Source -- Where does their message come from? Peter says, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1:16). And then he says the false teachers exploit you "with stories they have made up" (2:3). So the true teacher sources what he says from the Bible. The false teacher relies on his own creativity. 2. Different Message -- What is the substance of the message? For the true teacher, Jesus Christ is central. "We have everything we need for life and godliness in Him" (1:3). For the false teacher, Jesus is at the margins: "They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them" (2:1). Notice the word secretly. It's rare for someone in church to openly deny Jesus. Movement away from the centrality of Christ is subtle. The false teacher will speak about how other people can help change your life, but if you listen carefully to what he is saying, you will see that Jesus Christ is not essential to his message. 3. Different Position -- In what position will the message leave you? The true Christian "escapes the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (1:4). Listen to how Peter describes the counterfeit Christian: "They promise ... freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity, for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him" (2:19). The true believer is escaping corruption, while the counterfeit believer is mastered by it. 4. Different Character -- What kind of people does the message produce? The true believer pursues goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (1:5). The counterfeit Christian is marked by arrogance and slander (2:10). They are "experts in greed" and "their eyes are full of adultery" (2:14). 5. Different Appeal -- Why should you listen to the message? The true teacher appeals to Scripture. "We have the word of the prophets made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it" (1:19). God has spoken, and the true teacher appeals to his Word. The false teacher makes a rather different appeal: "By appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error" (2:18). 6. Different Fruit -- What result does the message have in people's lives? The true believer is effective and productive in his or her knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:8). The counterfeit is "like a spring without water" (2:17). This is an extraordinary picture! They promise much but produce little. 7. Different End -- Where does the message ultimately lead you? Here we find the most disturbing contrast of all. The true believer will receive "a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1:11). The false believer will experience "swift destruction" (2:1). "Their condemnation has long been hanging over them and their destruction has not been sleeping" (2:3). Jesus tells us that there will be many who have been involved in ministry in his name, to whom he will say, "Depart from me; I never knew you" (Matt. 7:21). From the article here: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/49627-7-traits-of-false-prophets-in-sheep-s-clothing |
||||||
29 | Let Go of Offenses and Resentments | Deut 6:3 | DocTrinsograce | 243983 | ||
Why Ed, is there nothing other than sarcasm, vitriol, and denominational bias that you deem worth repeating in your life? Here is another quote worth repeating: "How excellent is that inner goodness and true religion that comes from this sight of the beauty of Christ! Here you have the most wonderful experiences of saints and angels in heaven. Here you have the best experience of Jesus Christ Himself. Even though we are mere creatures, it is a sort of participation in God's own beauty. 'Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.' (2 Peter 1:4) 'God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.' (Hebrews 12:10) Because of the power of this divine working, there is a mutual indwelling of God and His people. 'God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.' (1 John 4:16) "This special relationship has to make the person involved as happy and as blessed as any creature in existence. This is a special gift of God, which he gives only to His special favorites. Gold, silver, diamonds, and earthly kingdoms are given by God to people who the Bible calls dogs and pigs. But this great gift of beholding Christ's beauty, is the special blessing of God to His dearest children. Flesh and blood cannot give this gift: only God can bestow it. This was the special gift which Christ died to obtain for His elect. It is the highest token of His everlasting love, the best fruit of His labors, and the most precious purchase of His blood. "By this gift, more than anything else, the saints shine as lights in the world. This gift, more than anything else, is their comfort. It is impossible that the soul who possesses this gift should ever perish. This is the gift of eternal life. It is eternal life begun: those who have it can never die. It is the dawning of the light of glory. It comes from heaven, it has a heavenly quality, and it will take its bearer to heaven. Those who have this gift may wander in the wilderness or be tossed by waves on the ocean, but they will arrive in heaven at last. There the heavenly spark will be made perfect and increased. In heaven the souls of the saints will be transformed into a bright and pure flame, and they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." --Jonathan Edwards |
||||||
30 | Let Go of Offenses and Resentments | Deut 6:3 | DocTrinsograce | 243981 | ||
"It is easy for us as modern Christians to point the finger at the Israelites and take them to task for the fact that they forgot God. The complaining we see in the wilderness, the cycle of apostasy, judgment, and restoration that we see in Judges, the good king/bad king alternations that we see in 1–2 Kings -- these all emphasize the incessant inability of the Israelites to heed Moses’ admonition to 'take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery' (Deut. 6:12). We get tired when we read through Jeremiah and chapter after chapter is devoted to enumerating the sins of Israel and telling of Israel's coming judgment. We feel that we are superior to Israel, more spiritual, less likely to forget God. "But we, too, get distracted by the demands of our days, by the busyness of our times. We forget that as Moses warned that declining from the commandments of God displays a forgetting of God, the same applies to us. We tend to think that ignoring, or rather, not fully living up to one commandment of God is a small thing. But the result is not simply disobedience. It is the beginning of idolatry, of making a god in our own image, a god we can easily obey. But did Jesus not say, 'If you love me, you will keep My commandments' (John 14:15)? Yet, we find His commandments so easy to ignore. 'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you' (Eph. 4:32), Paul says, but we want to hold on to offenses and resentments. It feels good to bear a grudge. But that is not the way Christ teaches. To bear a grudge, to envy the gifts and graces of others, to covet the possessions of others -- these are steps on the way to forgetting God." --Dr. Benjamin Shaw |
||||||
31 | Reason, Truth, and Love (Evidence) | 1 Cor 4:21 | DocTrinsograce | 243980 | ||
"Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast. Do not imagine that God has called you (just contrary to the spirit of Him you style your Master) to destroy men's lives, and not to save them. Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think [!]. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are farthest out of the way never compel to come in by any other means than reason, truth, and love." --John Wesley (1703-1791) |
||||||
32 | Repeating Our Repentance | Rev 3:19 | DocTrinsograce | 243978 | ||
"You will never be done with repentance -- at least, not until death or Christ's return. While it is something you should be doing frequently, it is not something you just 'get used to.' Repentance requires a daily intentionality. And let's be honest; you will have more to repent of by the end of the day than you can possibly remember. So, where should you start? "It will be helpful to think of repentance in three parts: revulsion, resolution, and repetition. Revulsion is finding something offensive or distasteful. In this case, it is seeing the heinousness of sin and pulling back from it. Sin, your sin in particular, should make you recoil. Revulsion will come only when you see the holy, just, and good character of God in contrast to yourself. Until you understand that your sin, all of it, is a self-destructive rebellion against God that betrays your purpose and denies his worthiness, you will not experience revulsion. "Resolution is purposing to walk in righteousness, delighting in God's law, laying off the old self, and walking in newness of life. Repentance is more than feeling sorry for what you are and have done. It is having the resolve to live for the glory and pleasure of God. "Repetition is the ongoing nature of this work. Without repetition, it is all for nothing, for as long as you continue to sin, you need to repent. If your repentance is not continual, it means, at the very least, that you are simply choosing some sins to deal with, while ignoring others. "The deepness and consistency of your repenting will have a direct impact on the liveliness of your faith and the brightness of your confidence. This is not because you repent so well, but because in repenting you know the darkness and trouble of your own sin, and the great work of grace in Jesus that overcomes it all." --Joe Thorn (2011) |
||||||
33 | Providential Work of the Creator! | Gen 1:15 | DocTrinsograce | 243977 | ||
"Secondly, it is notable that the very first creative act we read of in the Bible is God's creation of light (Gen. 1). Remarkable! Why? Because as we discussed above, the central constant in our cosmos is this very creature! No matter where you are, no matter how fast you move, no matter when you observe it, light moves at a constant speed. And as such, though we do not read that time was God's first creation, He in effect made that creature too when he fashioned light as His first creature. And so, while Einstein's work may have pointed to the primacy of light as a constant, it was our heavenly Father who fashioned it to be His standard for the physical laws governing the creation. A mere coincidence, says the scoffer. No, say we, a providential work of the Creator! "In the third place, I would point out that God’s omnipotence over time is not only key to our understanding His creative power, but also to understanding the possibility of the cross. It was there that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for sin, conquering it completely and atoning for sin such that we may have fellowship with God. But the puzzling thing about that atonement is that our Lord accomplished it in the space of just three hours. Stop and think about that. Complete atonement for an eternity of punishment for sin—in just three hours. No mere man could do this, regardless of his perfection, because no man could bear eternity in the space of time, regardless of its length. But we confess that Christ is not only man; He is God incarnate! As fully divine, He was able to bear an eternity's worth of suffering for all His people, compressed into a temporal space of three hours. No man could do this; but 'with God nothing shall be impossible.' (Luke 1:37)." -- Dr. Brendan Looyenga (2016) |
||||||
34 | Studied Delight in the Word | Ps 111:2 | DocTrinsograce | 243973 | ||
"I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb -- study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings." -- Martin Luther (1483-1546) |
||||||
35 | The Important Thing is Truth | Mark 7:37 | DocTrinsograce | 243972 | ||
"If you are looking for politeness in the Reformers, then you are going to have to buy a microscope. Courtesy in polemic was a rare commodity, as even the woodcuts frequently demonstrate. True, there is some evidence that the French editions of Calvin’s Institutes were a little more polite than the Latin but that was less to do with Calvin having second thoughts about his style of attack and more to do with his elitism. After all, we would not want the Great Unwashed thinking that they can talk about our educated opponents in quite the ways we do…. The Reformation was remarkable for two things in this connection: It engaged in powerfully worded polemic; And it generally played that polemic out in public, eschewing elitism, as Luther did in 1525 when he rudely rebutted Erasmus’s view that the bondage of the will was too tricky and confusing a doctrine to preach from the pulpit. "Those of us who claim to be heirs of the Reformation should take heed. Style and substance are not so easily separated as we might like to think. And the people in the pew have the right—and the need—to hear about the whole counsel of God, from his being in eternity to the consummation of all things at the end of time. For the Reformers, nothing in God’s Word was to be the monopoly of a priesthood or a scholarly guild." --Dr. Carl Truman (2016) |
||||||
36 | God's Protection Against a Fall | Matt 7:27 | DocTrinsograce | 243967 | ||
"We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein. For since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures: nay, though it were an angel from heaven, as the apostle Paul says. For since it is forbidden to add unto or take away anything from the Word of God, it does thereby evidently appear that the doctrine thereof is most perfect and complete in all respects. Neither may we consider any writings of men, however holy these men may have been, of equal value with those divine Scriptures, nor ought we to consider custom, or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons, or councils or decrees or statutes, as of equal value with the truth of God, since the truth is above all; for all men or of themselves liars, and more van than vanity itself. Therefore we reject with all our hearts whatever does not agree with this infallible rule, as the apostles have taught us saying, Test the spirits, whether they are of God. Likewise: any one comes to you and brings not this teaching, receive him not into your house. --Belgic Confession article VII |
||||||
37 | Value of the Roots of Halakha | Acts 17:17 | DocTrinsograce | 243965 | ||
"We often read the Bible, hear the news, listen to a sermon, or talk to friends, yet we don’t get much out of it. One central reason for this may be our lack of knowledge and intellectual growth. The more you know, the more you see and hear because your mind brings more to the task of 'seeing as' or 'seeing that.' In fact, the more you know about extra-biblical matters, the more you will see in the Bible. Why? Because you will see distinctions in the Bible or connections between Scripture and an issue in another area of life that would not be possible without the concepts and categories placed in the mind's structure by gaining the relevant knowledge in those extra-biblical areas of thought. Thus, general intellectual development can enrich life and contribute to Bible study and spiritual formation. "There is a closely related reason why intellectual development can enhance spiritual development: The mind forms habits and falls into ruts. One day at a chapel meeting, a missions professor showed a film clip of a foreign culture unfamiliar to most of us. He asked us to write down everything we noticed. He then showed the clip a second time and asked us to repeat the exercise. Everyone in the chapel meeting compared his or her first and second lists and, in every case, they were virtually identical!. The professor's lesson: our minds get into ruts in which we tend to look for things we have already seen in order to validate our earlier perceptions. We seldom look at things from entirely fresh perspectives! "If we're honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we get into ruts in our thinking and develop habits of thought that can grow stale after a while. This is where renewing the mind comes in. A life of study can give us a constant source of new categories and beliefs that will lead to fresh insights and stave off intellectual boredom. Many people become bored with the Bible precisely because their overall intellectual growth is stagnant. They cannot get new insights from Scripture because they bring the same old categories to Bible study and look to validate their old habits of thought." --J. P. Moreland (1997) from his book "Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul" |
||||||
38 | Watch Yourself... Do Not Forget the Lord | Deut 6:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243964 | ||
"It is easy for us as modern Christians to point the finger at the Israelites and take them to task for the fact that they forgot God. The complaining we see in the wilderness, the cycle of apostasy, judgment, and restoration that we see in Judges, the good king/bad king alternations that we see in 1–2 Kings -- these all emphasize the incessant inability of the Israelites to heed Moses’ admonition to 'take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery' (Deut. 6:12). We get tired when we read through Jeremiah and chapter after chapter is devoted to enumerating the sins of Israel and telling of Israel's coming judgment. We feel that we are superior to Israel, more spiritual, less likely to forget God. "But we, too, get distracted by the demands of our days, by the busyness of our times. We forget that as Moses warned that declining from the commandments of God displays a forgetting of God, the same applies to us. We tend to think that ignoring, or rather, not fully living up to one commandment of God is a small thing. But the result is not simply disobedience. It is the beginning of idolatry, of making a god in our own image, a god we can easily obey. But did Jesus not say, 'If you love me, you will keep my commandments' (John 14:15)? Yet, we find His commandments so easy to ignore. 'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you' (Eph. 4:32), Paul says, but we want to hold on to offenses and resentments. It feels good to bear a grudge. But that is not the way Christ teaches. To bear a grudge, to envy the gifts and graces of others, to covet the possessions of others -- these are steps on the way to forgetting God." --Dr. Benjamin Shaw |
||||||
39 | Rejoice at the Redeemer's Birth | Luke 1:14 | DocTrinsograce | 243960 | ||
"It was love, mere love; it was free love that brought the Lord Jesus Christ into our world. What, shall we not remember the birth of Jesus? Shall we yearly celebrate the birth of our temporal king [of England], and shall that of the King of kings be quite forgotten? Shall that only, which ought to be had chiefly in remembrance, be quite forgotten? God forbid! "No, my brethren, let us celebrate and keep this festival of our church with joy in our hearts: let the birth of a redeemer, which redeemed us from sin, from wrath, from death, from hell, be always remembered; may this Savior’s; love never be forgotten! But may we sing forth all his love and glory as long as life shall last here, and through an endless eternity in the world above! May we chant forth the wonders of redeeming love and the riches of free grace, amidst angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, without intermission, forever and ever!" --George Whitefield (1714-1770) |
||||||
40 | Grace of our God Alone | 2 Thess 1:12 | DocTrinsograce | 243959 | ||
"Grace stands in direct opposition to any supposed worthiness on our part. To say it another way: Grace and works are mutually exclusive. As Paul said in Romans 11:6, 'And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.' Our relationship with God is based on either works or grace. There is never a works-plus-grace relationship with Him." --Jerry Bridges from his book "Transforming Grace" |
||||||
Result pages: << First < Prev [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ] Next > Last [302] >> |