ANSWERS ARE: 1. Yes 2. No 3. No
ANSWERS:
1.
Yes
2. No
3. No
“CHRIST’S
OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW”
Yes the correct answer is
#1 as it is Christ’s
obedience to the law but not ours.
It can never be #2 because
our faith, or indeed our
obedience, has nothing to do with our acceptance with God as the
following
scriptures says
“For
by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any
man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
So
first of all, it is not our faith that saves us but it is the faith of
the
Jesus Christ as follows:
“Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the
works
of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16)
Furthermore
“I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Firstly,
we are saved by the faith of Jesus Christ and secondly we continue to
live by
the faith of Jesus Christ.
And
Christ is acceptable to God the Father only by fulfilling the
law, as he
came to fulfil the law as the scripture says
“Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am
not come to
destroy, but to fulfil.” (Matthew 5:17).
This
means that Christ’s perfect life of obedience to the law meant his
acceptance
with God … never our obedience to the law, and never our faith.
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
“FOR GOD SO LOVED
HIS LAW …”
Have you ever considered how obsessed and
self-absorbed man is … and I’m NOT talking about the unsaved
here. It’s
about Pastors and Christians who fall into three categories and
it
concerns the following scripture
For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have
everlasting life. John 3:16
1. Pastor number 1 says “When Christ died on
the cross, who did he die for? That’s right you, sitting right there in
the
congregation, and me, the Pastor. Now if God Almighty himself made this
sacrifice, he wouldn’t die for nothing would he? You don’t go into a
shop and
pay a 100 million dollars for a second hand, scratched and dented 20
year old
car, do you? If God made his sacrifice to buy you back, to redeem you,
therefore you must be worth something, Amen? That’s right, look on
yourself as
being something that was worth dying for, you were wonderful and had
great
potential. Oh yes, you may have done bad things, and yes, God hates the
sin,
but remember that he loves the sinner. Yes, even when you weren’t
saved, God
loved you because he could see, that even though you were in the world
and
sinning, you were just a victim of circumstances and not to be blamed.
Yes, you
were just a good, wonderful and worthwhile person doing bad things!”.
2. Pastor number 2 says “Yes, God hates the sin
and he hates the sinner as well. Yes, you were wretched and vile, but
God so
loved the world, that’s you, But
God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died
for us. Rom 5:8.
3.
Pastor number 3 says “Have you ever
stopped to think about how much God ‘loves’ himself and in particular
his laws?
Before you became an adult, should you as a child break a window, your
parents
were responsible for damages and so on. The family reputation and
standing in
the community was paramount. Of course some families couldn’t care less
about
this. But a worthwhile father is most concerned, that should laws be
broken,
inside or outside of the family, that justice should be done. Similarly
God
having created man, is responsible for man’s sins and the breaking of
his laws.
Justice must be done and seen to be done. First and foremost, God loves
his
laws and went to the cross to satisfy the demands of his laws, that a
life be
given as a sacrifice to himself and his laws. Only he was worthy enough
to
fulfil his laws.
The
first two Pastors focus on man – the first not
seeing that God hates the sinner as well as the sin. The second with a
focus on
man’s sinnerhood, but still on the man. The third directs our thoughts
to God’s
love of himself and his laws and what they demanded. How many
sermons do
you hear on this? None!
God,
having brought creation into existence, is
responsible for everything, and all will be brought back to its
pristine glory.
Man’s sins are therefore God’s concern and the cross was the payment
God had to
make to satisfy his law. Oh! …. by the way as a result, a
by-product, a
universe of sinners might be saved as a result. Should none be saved,
it would
neither be here or there to God. The only concern to God is his
satisfaction to
the fulfillment of his laws.
Wow!
This would be a sermon wouldn’t it? A total
concentration on God and leaving man out of the discussion. I guess,
however, a
saved man being a schizophrenic of two natures with a saved soul
trapped in a
sinful flesh body, can’t help but anthropomorphically turn the camera
on
himself. Like an actor attributing his success to someone who helped
him
succeed, we throw a few kisses at God waiting off stage.
And
what could be some topics? How about “Before
the World was”; “Creator and Upholder of all Things”; “The nature of
the
Godhead”; “The Humility of the Three Persons in the Godhead”; “The
Great
Mystery of Godliness”; “The Self-Emptying of God”; “God Satisfying his
Laws”.
It is to be suspected that five minutes into one of the above sermons,
the
congregation would shifting in their seats, muffled yawns taking place,
looking
out the windows and so on. “Where do I fit into all this?” “Can’t the
pastor
give me a witty story to maintain my interest?” “Mmmm! What am I having
for
lunch?” This is the nature of the beast down here on earth. Spiritual
men
trapped in physical bodies. Is it possible that beyond five minutes, a
man could
dwell upon God? Of course, once in heaven, our total focus will be on
the Son,
Jesus Christ himself, 100% of the time for all eternity. No problem
there. We
accept that.
I
half suspect that God is more ‘impatient’ for the
rapture than us, in that his long suffering will be drawn to a close
and he can
get on with the rest of his program. I’m sure he can’t wait for the
post
Millennial creation to begin where he will be the sole object of
attention,
worship and praise. He will be all, in all, above all, through all,
under all
and above all, as God is a Jealous God.
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