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VIEW PERSONAL BELIEFS
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POSTED BY:
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AnthonyB
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DATE:
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03.07.2008 |
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SUBJECT:
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Faith and Works |
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LOCATION:
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Melbourne, Australia
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Now I believe that has put the expectation that we should believe, repent, be baptized for remission of sins and walk in obedience to His commands. Now I do not see these as conditions for salvation, as if failure to do anyone of them would render apart my relationship with God. However neither would I see them as optional extras that I can take and leave at my whim. They are the God given path of discipleship, that allows me to walk ever closer to my Lord, His means of working out my salvation in this earth by His gifts of acts that allow me to respond to His love. Those who love Him will respond as He has requested, those who don’t respond need to rethink how much they love God.
God loves me and it is He who has pursued me. It is His initiative to come and be born a man. It is his initiative to be crucified and it is through His power that the gospel has continued to be preached throughout the world, which has enabled me to hear it. He will not give up on His children and continues to call them to return to Him. He will move heaven and earth to come to our rescue.
However he will not force a man to respond to His love. He through His Spirit and word will call to us to follow but no man is forced to follow God against his will. Heaven will not be full of people wishing not to be there. Not every man will choose to accept the love of God and in fact no matter how God offered His love some men will never accept it. We are required to turn to God, to respond to His love, accept His grace, and be His children.
Those of us who have heard the call of God and responded are in the blessed state of being His children. Our Father will do all in His power to call us ever deeper into relationship with Him. His love for us knows no bounds as evidenced by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus for us. As far as it depends on Him, nothing will separate us from Him.
We however can so harden our hearts that we may irrevocably cease to ever wish to be His child. This is not the result of an act of a moment or temporary lapse, since God will continue to call us back to Him. However by continual and willful disobedience we can so harden our hearts that we would refuse to ever heed God’s call. God continues to call to us but we have poisoned our hearts against Him, we have dulled our ears to hear and blinded our eyes to see.
How can we assure ourselves that our heart will not harden; by ever deepening our relationship with Him through the gifts that he has left us to respond to His love. We should repent of our sin, believe in our heart, confess with our mouths, be baptized for repentance, partake of the meal of remembrance he has left us, and learn to hear his voice to us, walk in obedience to His commands, and regularly fellowship with other believers.
These are not “works” for salvation, as Paul makes it clear that “work” is something from which wages can be demanded. These actions make no demand on God for payment to allow us to earn salvation; rather they are the maintenance of a gift. If you are gifted a car, it doesn’t diminish the gift for you to work to maintain it rather it is prudence on your part and courtesy to gift giver. Furthermore if you choose to drive as far from cliff edges (of sin) which might destroy your car (gift of salvation) it is a sensible response.
Furthermore I sincerely believe that God rewards those who do good, if with nothing else then a closer relationship with Him, surely the most precious rewards of all. Acts of righteousness are not earning salvation but rather storing treasures for ourselves in heaven. Creating imperishable mementos of life here that will not be burned away under the power of the righteous nearness of God.
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