Re: Hmm - a dangerous argument (Yes, but..)
Submitted by Chris on July 23 2000 01:09:00
In reply to Hmm - a dangerous argument submitted by Forgiven on July 22 2000 04:00:33
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Hi Forgiven, I was hoping this message would touch you in some way, brother. Ok..... Actually, I believe that, if taken to it's logical extreme, what I said is truth. And I will show you exactly why by taking a closer look at somethng you quoted from the Bible....1 Cor. 6: 9-10. "Do you not know that the un-righteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?"....Let's stop right there for now and let me ask you this. What is it that can make a man "righteous"? Can you or I or anyone for that matter, make himself righteous in God's eyes? If you answer "no", you are absolutely correct. If you look in the word you will see that, since Adam, man has tried to make himself righteous. And you will see that he has failed. Always utterly failed. Even God's own chosen people failed, because they could NEVER perfectly follow every single law. And because of this fact, literally NOONE could, or can, be righteous. Lets look at Romans 3:20... "Therefore no one will e declared righteous in his sight by observing the law: rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." This was actually God's devine purpose in giving man laws to follow...so man could see that, of himself, he could never perfectly follow each and every one without fail. Man is doomed to fail in trying to please God by following ANY set of laws or rules because he tries to do it under his own power. And I would go on to include most (if nt all) churches and denominations today. Man ALWAYS trys to please God by resorting to rules and laws, and ALWAYS gets the very same results....utter failior. But lets look at more of Romans 3...verses 21 and 22. "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God (!) comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." And I can go on with verses 23 and 24... "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemtion that came by Christ Jesus." You see, we CANNOT please God by ourselves, but we CAN please Him by GRACE, through the redemption provided to us by His Son, Jesus. We cannot do it by our own power...only by the power of God's own provision for us. This is how we can become righeous....through God's grace. Now let's look at 1 Cor. 6 again. What is God's Kingdom? It says that only the righteous will "inherit the kingdom of God". Brother, God's Kingdom is not one of this world, but rather, it is a kingdom of the heart. Take a look at Romans 14: 17... "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." "Righteousness, peace and joy" are all things that happen within one's heart. They are NOT physical things like "eating or drinking" or, might I add, a city, or a palace, or anything like that. It is a matter of what God places in our hearts...this is His Kingdom. Now another look at 1 Cor. 6 It goes on to name off some attributes of those who cannot inherit the Kingdom, i.e., sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers...etc. Now you might think,"Aha! I know that I fit into some of these things! So I cannot inherit God's Kingdom." But what does it say after that? "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." By FAITH in Jesus' name, we have been washed, sanctified, and justified. Not by our own works, but rather by faith in Him. God does this FOR us, because we cannot do it for ourselves! You are sanctified and justified by faith...never by works. So you see, that if I take what I said to it's logical conclusion, it IS correct. God does things like bring about changes in our lives because we cannot. I will go for now but please let me know what you think. Love in Christ Jesus, Chris |
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