I Have to Earn It – Lies of
the Enemy #9– Purity 1021
Purity 1021 04/19/2023 Purity 1021 Podcast
Purity 1021 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a view of the mountains of Georgia
along part of the Appalachian Trail comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared
this scene from his visit to Hogpen Gap, Georgia on social media a couple of
days ago.
I’m sharing Fred’s photo to mark our arrival at the
midweek summit of “humpday” and as a reminder that in order to experience some
good things in life you are going to have to “step up” and work for it.
In my limited research of Hogpen Gap this morning I
discovered that it was along the Appalachian Trail and there is more than one
way to get there. One hike listed the distance as a mile, another from Neels
Gap to Hogpen Gap gave a round trip distance of 16.1 miles. So how much walking
of climbing you want to do is up to you, but I didn’t see any ways to get there
by doing nothing. To experience the view
Fred experienced, you have to get up and work for it.
Whether it’s worth the trip or not would be up to
you, my journey there would require me to get to Georgia first, so that won’t be
on the to do list in the near future, but I understand that to experience this
view it would cost me something. It would require time, money, and physical
effort to hike my way there and I don’t get to experience it unless I’m willing
to pay the cost.
This is a basic concept of life here on earth. If
you want something, you are going to have to set goals and work for it. And believe you me, some things are definitely
worth the sacrifices and hard work that it will take to experience them.
However, as much as this is true, the enemy, Satan
and his associate demons of the kingdom of darkness, just love to twist the
things that are true to lead us astray and to steal, kill, and destroy our
peace if not our very lives.
And so that brings us to our current series, which
is an examination of some of the common lies that the enemy tells us to cause
us to doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to influence us to choose not to
follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.
So today’s big lie is:
Lie # 8: I Have
to Earn It.
This is the lie from the pit of hell that kept me
out of the kingdom of God and the joy of my salvation for most of my life.
I was raised in a liturgical church setting and
although I knew that “Jesus died for our sins” and was well acquainted with the
fact that I was a sinner, I never had any hope that what Jesus did on the cross
had the power to save me. My church tradition
gave me the impression that I had to have faith in Jesus but I also had to “be
a good person” and if I didn’t walk straight and behave myself I might very
well find myself in hell at “the hour of my death”. Even though our church supposedly believed in
Jesus’ atoning work on the cross, I don’t recall any one ever proclaiming the
joy or assurance of their salvation.
As a sinful youth and young adult, I knew I wasn’t “good”
and even though I tried to stay out of trouble for the most part, my heart wasn’t
really into following any rules that would get in the way of me doing what I
wanted. That included theft – “you want something?
take it, just don’t get caught.” That
included vandalism- “let’s break it! Let’s destroy it! Let’s just not get
caught. Look out, the cops!” That
included sex, “I don’t care what they say at church, a man has needs and I am
not ready to get married, just don’t hurt anyone – get consent – and by all
means do get anyone pregnant! That
included drunkenness –“What I can’t drink? Since when? Watch me! Whatever… I’m
sorry I’m not a saint!”
So you can see, why I didn’t think I could ever earn
my way to heaven. Not only was I not working towards it, I was actually doing
things that would indicate that I was NOT a Christian, I was not a “good person”
and unless the Lord actually did recognize “one baptism for the forgiveness of
sins” (I was baptized, right mom?) I was on the highway to hell.
Because the emphasis of my liturgical church was on
the fact that I was a sinner and I had to “be good and obey”, I eventually
decided that there was no God and “religion” was the creation of man in his
efforts to control his neighbor.
It was ignorant view born of my desire to sin, but
because there seemed to be a performance aspect to Christianity that I seemed
powerless, and frankly unwilling, to attempt to meet, I walked away from church
and God.
The enemy’s lie that “I have to earn it” made me
hopeless of having a relationship with God. I just couldn’t do it and I knew
that if God was mean enough to crucify His own Son, who didn’t do anything
wrong, there was absolutely no hope for me.
So I decide not to play His game, because I knew I would lose and so I
gave up on God.
But the Lord didn’t give up on me and in 2010 He
directed my path, when I was as far removed from Christianity as I could
possibly be, to hear a gospel message on the radio in which I finally heard and
understood the truth, Through a “chance”
encounter, I heard the truth that I didn’t have to earn it. I didn’t have to “be a good person” to be
accepted by God. I didn’t have to “make up for” all the things I had done
wrong. I didn’t have to work for my
salvation or forgiveness of sins. That
radio message from David Jerimiah was all about the love of God and how it was
expressed through Jesus paying for our sins on the cross.
I didn’t have to pay for my sins or earn my
salvation. Christ had paid the cost and God’s grace made that payment cover all
the sins of the world, including mine. My past, present, and future sins were
paid for by Jesus and all I had to “redeem” that payment was to put my faith in
Him as my Lord and Savior.
I was simply amazed at the simplicity and the love
of God’s gift to us and because He revealed this to me I was joyfully and
tearfully compelled to accept it and dedicate my life to Him that day.
I had believed a lie based on the truth of an earthly
principle, that I had to earn my place in God’s kingdom and was deaf and blind
to the truth in God’s word that tells us otherwise.
Ephesians
2:8-10 (NKJV) tells us
8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should
boast.
10 For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are not saved by works! We are saved THROUGH
FAITH and BY GRACE. IT IS A GIFT OF GOD.
And the “good works” are something we do AFTER we are saved. The good works
are something God prepares for us to do – as evidence that we are His
workmanship! Our salvation leads us to
do good as representatives of God.
Anyone who thinks we have to “work” to be saved, has
it backwards. We don’t’ have to earn it. Salvation is a gift from God and we only
need to accept it.
Smarter men than I have missed this fact. Martin
Luther beat himself bloody and spent hours in his monstery’s confessional trying
to be absolved of every sin, real or imagine and was utterly without hope. But then He examined the original Greek language
of the New Testament scriptures and made a startingly discovery – we are saved
by faith!
He testified later of seeing the truth in God’s word
through Romans 1:17. He said:
“At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and
night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the
righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is
righteous shall live.’” There I began to
understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives
by a gift of God, namely by faith. And
this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel,
namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by
faith.” (https://steadfastlutherans.org/2019/02/martin-luthers-discovery-the-late-medieval-background/)
We don’t have to earn it. We don’t have to earn our
forgiveness, our acceptance, or our place in God’s kingdom. It comes by grace,
through faith in Jesus Christ, and is a gift of God.
Now we should “study to be approved” after we are
saved. We should study God’s word to renew our minds and be transformed into He
wants us to be but in many ways that too, our sanctification, comes by faith –
by simply knowing who we are in Christ and living like it.
So don’t believe the lie that “ I have to earn it”,
instead understand that Jesus paid the cost and did the work for you, and all
we have to do is enjoy it and follow Him into the pathways of peace to the
abundant life that He gave to us. Rejoice you have been saved by faith, believe
it, receive it and live it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse is:
Titus 1:2
(NLT2)
2 This truth gives them
confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised
them before the world began.
Today’s verse reminds of
the benefits of knowing the truth. This
actually goes well with today’s message on salvation by grace and through
faith. I encourage Christians to study
the Bible. Why? If we are saved by grace
and through faith in Jesus what do I need the Bible for?
Well today’s verse tells
us why. This “truth” in today’s verse indicates not only the gospel message of
Jesus’ atoning work, it also indicates the word of God – the Bible because
verse 1 of Titus 1, Paul states that “this truth” “shows them how to live godly
lives.”
Paul was a big Bible
scholar – He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees by his own admission but he
understood all the Bible knowledge didn’t mean anything if it didn’t lead you
to Christ. However, like wise and
paradoxically, he understood that a life that was redeemed by faith in Jesus needed
the wise of counsel of the Scriptures to guide us in the way of the Lord.
Not only would the
knowledge of the truth, help them to lively godly lives, it would also give
them the confidence that they have eternal life, as God’s promises in the Old
Testament all make sense in light of the Messiah’s coming. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah
and not only encouraged people to put their faith in Him, He also encouraged
their repentance – changing their minds from their worldly ways to follow the
word of God and His example.
When we have the
confidence that the promises of God apply to us and that we have received
eternal life, we are moved to follow the One who saved us and gave us life. We
are compelled to follow Jesus.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
CONCLUSION
continues
It now remains for us
to offer a few closing reflections and our happy task is finished.
God’s
wisdom in the government of our world shall yet be completely vindicated before
all created intelligences. God is no idle Spectator, looking on from a distant
world at the happenings, on our earth, but is Himself shaping everything to the
ultimate promotion of His own glory. Even now He is working out His eternal
purpose, not only in spite of human and Satanic opposition but by means of
them. How wicked and futile have been all efforts to resist His will shall one
day be as fully evident as when of old He overthrew the rebellious Pharaoh and
his hosts at the Red Sea.
It has been well said
“The end and object of all is the glory of God. It is perfectly, divinely true,
that ‘God hath ordained for His own glory whatsoever comes to pass.’ In order
to guard this from all possibility of mistake, we have only to remember who is
this God, and what the glory that He seeks. It is He who is the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ—of Him in whom divine love came seeking not her own, among us as ‘One that
serveth.’ It is He who, sufficient in Himself, can receive no real accession of
glory from His creatures, but from whom—‘Love,’ as He is ‘Light’—cometh down
every good and every perfect gift, in whom is no variableness nor shadow of
turning. Of His own alone can His creatures give to Him.”
“The glory of such an
one is found in the display of His own goodness, righteousness, holiness,
truth; in manifesting Himself as in Christ He has manifested Himself and will
forever. The glory of this God is what of necessity all things must serve—adversaries and evil as well as all else. He has ordained it; His power will
insure it; and when all apparent clouds and obstructions are removed, then
shall He rest—‘rest in His love’ forever, although eternity only will suffice
for the apprehension of the revelation. ‘God
shall be all in all’ (italics ours throughout this paragraph) gives in six
words the ineffable result” (F. W. Grant on “Atonement”).
That what we have
written gives but an incomplete and imperfect presentation of this most
important subject we must sorrowfully confess. Nevertheless, if it results in a
clearer apprehension of the majesty of God and His sovereign mercy we shall be
amply repaid for our labors. If the reader has
received blessing from the perusal of these pages let him not fail to return
thanks to the Giver of every good and every perfect gift, ascribing all praise to His inimitable and
sovereign grace.
“The Lord, our God, is clothed with might,
The winds and waves obey His will;
He speaks, and in the shining height
The sun and rolling worlds stand still.
Rebel ye waves, and o’er the land
With threatening aspect foam and roar,
The Lord hath spoken His command
That breaks your rage upon the shore.
Ye winds of night, your force combine—
Without His holy high behest
You shall not in a mountain pine
Disturb the little swallow’s nest.
His voice sublime is heard afar;
In distant peals it fades and dies;
He binds the cyclone to His car
And sweeps the howling murky skies.
Great God! how infinite art Thou,
What weak and worthless worms are we,
Let all the race of creatures bow
And seek salvation now from Thee.
Eternity, with all its years
Stands ever-present to Thy view,
To Thee there’s nothing old appears
Great God! There can be nothing new.
Our lives through varied scenes are drawn,
And vexed with mean and trifling cares;
While Thine eternal thought moves on
Thy fixed and undisturbed affairs.”
“Alleluia:
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:6).[1]
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