Genuine Grace
by Reid Ferguson
Walk in Wisdom - Gleanings from the Scripture
1 Tim. 1.14 - “and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
Genuine grace, when operating on the souls of men and women, invariably produces two main things: Faith in, and love for, Christ Jesus.
If either is missing, so is salvation.
’nuff said.
Labels: Ferguson, Genuine Grace
posted by mark pierson at 8:59 AM
7 Comments:
If grace produces love for the Lord Jesus Christ in believers, why do they continue to sin?
July 28, 2007 10:19 AM
Mark,
That short comment contains so many truths.....
So many non-calvinists miss the point that God applies and imparts grace. Jesus saves. What a difference it is to understand that God saved me completely rather than thinking I saved myself by responding to a take it or leave it offer.
Grace applied has power and results. It is a grace that is God-centered because it flows from God rather than a man-centered human decision. What a mistake to think that man initiates his own regeneration and then compound that mistake by asserting a powerless regeneration.
Paul explains it clearly in Romans 9. Praise God that he saves and transforms sinners. This transformation results in being led by the Spirit. Not perfectly, but if their is no following, there has been no salvation.
Thanks Pastor Ferguson.
July 28, 2007 11:07 AM
If the grace that is imparted results in love for Christ, why do Christians fail to love their Lord by their sins?
July 28, 2007 12:19 PM
Excellent quote. Faith and love are essential. And hope perhaps as well.
"why do they continue to sin?"
Because the flesh wars against the Spirit.
"I am a sinner, and I feel sin in me, for I have not yet put off the flesh, in which sin dwells so long as it lives; but I will obey the Spirit and not the flesh: that is, I will by faith and hope lay hold upon Christ, and by His Word I will raise up myself, and being so raised up, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh." -Luther, commenting on: Galatians 5:17
I love God, because He first loved me; however I do not love Him with perfect righteousness, and perfect love, as Jesus Christ did.
July 28, 2007 12:36 PM
Matthew,
Don explained this very well and so does John in the passage below. There is a basic direction or path that a person walks in. Those that continually walk in darkness are unsaved although they may claim Christ (v. 6 below). If a person walks in light they are led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14) and the blood of Jesus cleanses them from sin (v.7). More than fellowship is involved because not being cleansed from sin is not being saved and according to John that only happens to those that walk in the light. However, everyone sins and anyone who says he doesn’t sin is a liar (v. 8). But praise God that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to cleanse us from our sin (v. 9).
Don explained it beautifully and so does John in 1 John and Paul in Romans 8.
1 John 1:6-9 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth….. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin…… If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
July 28, 2007 1:51 PM
I am in agreement with Don and Jazzy and would like to add something.
Daniel (doulogos) has an excellent post on The Heart of Unrepentance. He discusses how not repenting is, at its core, rebellion against God.
"I will not have you Lord over me," says man. And to some extent, that's true of all born again believers.
But, Daniel notes and I agree, the more we act in obedience (from the heart of love for the One who paid all for us, not just because we're supposed to) in submission to Jesus as Lord, the more we will walk in the Spirit.
We can choose to obey and feed the old man or the Spirit. Every day we make these choices.
So when we feed the old man, we sin. When we walk in the Spirit, we don't. It's up to us to pray to God to remove these things from our hearts that quench the Spirit, that encumber our walk. It's up to us to obey the Spirit as He prompts us.
I know there are times when I've been prompted by the Spirit - when I know what the right thing to do or be is, but maybe I didn't want to. So I didn't listen, and thusly I rebelled against God. And the more I do this, the more I quench the Spirit, and the less I am prone to hear His quiet voice.
I think that's why Christians continue to sin. Not that we "think" that we "want" to, but that when we allow what we "want" to speak more loudly to us than the Spirit's quiet voice, we will obey our old selves. And fail Him. And sin.
The good news is we can choose to obey the Spirit and abide in Him. When we do, we won't sin.
July 28, 2007 4:46 PM
Matthew, I guess what really bothers me is that you have read Grudem's systematic at least once, and Berkhoff's at least twice. I know that you know Calvinist trains of thought much better than you let on here. Why play games? Please stop this. Don Sands has answered your quetion exactly like any Calvinist would, and exactly as you would have anticipated had you not been playing games. Frankly I'm growing bored with these antics of yours.
July 28, 2007 8:12 PM
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