False Teachers Conflate Faith & Obedience!
Faith is Not Obedience!
Faith is Trusting and Believing in Christ, and His Perfect Sacrifice on the Cross!
Lordship Salvation is Not the Gospel!
The Lordship of Christ is about Sanctification, Not Salvation!-
“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
(John 1:12 NLT)
. #faith #believe #acceptingChrist
July 22nd
Nehemiah 9
And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. (Neh. 9:3)
What an instructive scene we find in Nehemiah 9, as these returned Jewish exiles confess together before the Lord. We can learn at least four lessons here about confession of sin.
1. Confession grows from conviction by God’s word. We cannot read chapter 9 apart from chapter 8, in which these people at the start of this same month gathered in Jerusalem to be read and taught the Book of the Law (the Pentateuch). This chapter also begins with reading of the Law (Neh. 9:3). In this part of Nehemiah, the word goes in, does its work by the Spirit, and comes out again in the people’s prayers: this long prayer in chapter 9 basically follows events throughout the history of Israel. They have heard the word, and it has convicted them. God’s word will do that.
2. Confession is made by God’s people. It can and must also be made individually. But this scene of corporate confession in Nehemiah 9 is significant, as “the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth” before the Lord (v. 1). Our sins are part of a big story of a people needing God’s cleansing and forgiveness. Our sins affect others in the body of Christ. When we make corporate confession together regularly in worship, we present ourselves before God as his repentant and forgiven people, cleansed by the blood of Christ. We help each other to confess, to turn from sin, and to trust God’s forgiveness.
3. Confession depends not on us but on the character and work of God. This prayer begins by praising God for who he is (vv. 5–6). It repeatedly affirms his mercy and grace (vv. 17, 19, 28, 31). It recalls his acts of provision and deliverance—from slavery in Egypt, through the Red Sea, with manna and water in the wilderness, from surrounding enemies, and on and on. All this gracious deliverance points ahead to the promised deliverer, Jesus Christ, and the final deliverance from sin and death accomplished on the cross and in the resurrection. The confession of God’s people depends finally on that grace and that deliverance provided for us by God himself.
4. Confession involves saying what we turn from and what we turn toward. It’s not just a feeling of regret. These people say clearly, “We have acted wickedly” (v. 33), and they enumerate the ways. They end by making a covenant with God (v. 38; see also ch. 10), committing themselves to obey his Law. Of course, these people were not perfect after this scene—far from it! They needed the promised perfect deliverer—and so do we. Praise God for his merciful forgiveness and deliverance of us, through his Son.
Crossway blog
“As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.” Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”
Romans 3:10-20 NLT
VERSE OF THE DAY
July 15
James 1:12
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!
Genesis 1:3 NET
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There is a reason that all the best stories end with a bride and groom living happily ever after: it is the one true story in the universe. At the end, Jesus Christ will fulfill his vows to his church, “All that I am, I give to you, and all that I have I share with you.” The glorious fullness of God will be ours forever, and we will find unending delight in our husband. This was his great purpose from the beginning of all things. Edwards writes,
The creation of the world seems to have been especially for this end, that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse, towards whom he might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature, and to whom he might, as it were, open and pour forth all that immense fountain of condescension, love and grace that was in his heart, and that in this way God might be glorified. 1
The final mention of the Lamb in the book of Revelation comes in chapter 21 when John is invited by an angel, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (v. 9). He is carried away by the Spirit to “a great, high mountain,” where he sees “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel” (vv. 10–11). The Lamb on the throne has been married to the bride he purchased with his blood. Their new and heavenly marital city-home is indelibly inscribed with the names of his people (v. 14), the reward of his suffering. His work is finished, the union is complete, and his glorified bride is his forever. This had been his heart’s desire from the beginning (Song 2:10; Hos. 2:20). This was surely “the joy that was set before him,” which enabled him to endure the cross (Heb. 12:2).
Yes, the culmination of history is the glory of God. Not glory taken but glory given.The whole creation suffused with his light, his creatures filled and made happy in his goodness, his bride drenched eternally in his love. We, the redeemed, can only sing,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing! (Rev. 5:12)To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Rev. 5:13)
1. Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 25,
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
James 1:19 NET
July 09
19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”
Psalms 1:1-6 NLT
The beginning of wisdom is to fear the LORD, and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 NET
“Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
Galatians 3:23-29 NLT
