Bear fruits meet for Repentance.

Unfortunately we are living in a time where repentance as a teaching is being neglected by some parts of the church. What is being taught is that you only have to repent once to be saved forever. The words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:8 are being ignored by some evangelical teachers who wrongly assume that if you repent after you are saved, you are somehow putting your salvation in question. This could be a modern form of Antinomianism which basically says that Christians are released by grace from the obligation of observing the moral law! The modern argument bases works and faith on unequal terms and says that if you obey the moral law, you fall under a works salvation. Catholic doctrine is being attacked because of this, despite obvious scriptural references that show we are to obey the moral law.

Romans 8:12-13 says "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation-but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Why is there a mistrust among many evangelicals to obey the moral law? They will say it is not necessary to live a lifestyle of repentance because all their sins are covered once and for all by the blood of Jesus. They are ignoring warning passages in Hebrews 6:1-7, and Hebrews 10:26-31, because they fear that a Christian can lose their salvation which in their state of mind is unthinkable.

Instead of being told to repent, believers are living in unnecessary guilt about their salvation and are being given an assurance apart from them actually repenting after they sin. Why? I believe it puts the doctrine of eternal security in jeopardy if a believer is told to repent in the 21st Century because the emphasis is not on the cross for our sanctification, but on holding a correct doctrine which if not properly practised leads to unholiness, and a lack of faith. Jesus becomes boring and faith no longer becomes a living faith but a dead one. Faith without works is dead, James 2:26.

Again as in the reformation, the battle is over the doctrine of Justification by faith, but repentance is being held hostage by some, not just dividing Christians on how you are saved, but the fruits of repentance that Catholics and protestants are all called to bear by Jesus. May our Lord and Saviour unite us at least on repentance, that holiness would be preached on both camps, and that we would call everyone to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9.

Comments

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

The Existence of God

Since the beginning of time, man has learned about the existence of God. It began in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, however when they sinned, they died spiritually and their closeness with God was severed. In Genesis 4:26 it reads “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.” Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, so it’s fair to say that not too long after mankind fell, we also called upon the Lord. From that time until now, mankind was closer to God then, but it’s a modern shift that the world is in the state it is in now, mainly unbelief, because even 30 years ago from now, mankind was closer to God. It is also true that in ancient Israel’s history, there have been generations that fell away and forgot God, but in the time of the prophets Israel was never left without a word from the Lord. Many generations have come and gone, but there have been remarkable generations all thr...

The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

Search This Blog