Believers in Christ as their saviour from sin have to contend with these two categories. Believing is an important part of Christianity.
There are statements of belief , which articulate the truths about God, which must be believed in order to be called a Christian. This is finely taught and firmly stressed by most Christian churches. This is basic and necessary and we are doing a good job.
All of us believe Jesus is the incarnate son of God , coequal with the Father and he is the saviour i.e saviour from God's wrath and judgement , from the penalty of sin , from the power of sin , the sinful nature , the worldly system and Satan and his demons. There is no one else who can save us from these entities. Jesus is the only way. He opened the doors for all to be saved by believing that he ,Jesus , the sinless son of God died in our stead , taking up our punishment due for our sin and opening the way for us to have a relationship with God.
What we mean is that , we cannot do anything by ourselves to atone for our sins. Only in Christ , forgiveness of sins is made available to anyone who "Repents of his sinful life and believes in Christ and petitions God to forgive his sins". There is no other way. This aspect of salvation is accomplished by repentance and faith.
Many Christians are not taught this basic tenent of Christianity very clearly and repeatedly. People are taught to believe , but not repent. These are the first type of "born again" believers.They are told they can have a relationship with God. They don't know what they are saved for ,which is good works , obedience , living like Jesus ,which is what their relationship with God is ,according to the teaching of Christ and his apostles. They believe they are saved by grace, by which they mean forgiveness of sins, but have not understood the other side of grace ,which is the grace given to say "no! to sin and live self controlled and Godly lives in this present age"(Titus 2)
11 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
They don't believe in "working out their salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who works in them" Philippians 2 .So they don't work out their salvation as the apostle teaches. That has become an optional teaching.
These guys believe only half the gospel ,because they know only about 1/2 the work of grace i.e faith and forgiveness of the same sins again and again. They don't think it is necessary to overcome sin and work towards perfection.
Second group , are those who start well . They do repent and believe. But after that , they are not taught to go the full way of self denial , cross carrying and loving God and loving neighbours like Jesus did. These type two believers are taught to read the bible and pray and to attend church service ,without sufficiently emphasizing , teaching and modelling repeatdly the commandments of Christ. They are not self denying , cross carrying followers . They only follow when it is convenient. Inconvenience , threats and insecurities lead them to justify their unfaithfulness to the teachings of Christ and give themselves false assurance of salvation inspite of willful unrepentant sin based on the fact that they still believe in Christ. Their brand of Christianity can be called convenient Christianity , inspite of their initial and continuing repentance and faith. They are not sincere in their continuing repentance . They think they can live with willful unrepentance of certain sins and still continue in Christ. Theses form the majority of the believers of the Church of this age. These christians work out their salvation , but not with fear and trembling but insincerely. They try and adjust and accommodate unrepentant willful sins to their own destruction. These people believe and overcome sins , but are not willing to confess , repent and forgo some sins intentionally and repeateldly because they don't think it is necessary. They think they can still reach heaven with their willful , repeated , unrepentant sins. They fit the verse in hebrews , " You have not resisted sin to the point of shedding your blood" Hebrews 12. They are still holding themselves back. They do not love God or their neighbours with all their heart ,soul ,mind and strength.
Type three believers are those who repent , believe Christ died for their sins , bear fruit in keeping with repentance and take seriously the commands of Christ , which is nothing but self denial , carrying the cross and loving like Jesus both God and fellow humans. They take their sins seriously .They mourn over their spiritual poverty. They rejoice in overcoming sin and obeying to the point of shedding their blood . They seek to love God with all their heart ,soul , mind and strength and God fulfill the hunger of their heart by teaching them to love God and neighbour like Jesus did. They are not just believers , they are serious followers of the teachings of Christ. This rare group have entered the small gate and narrow way of Christ .These are few , who sincerely love God. Their understanding of love for God is very biblical.They believe the words of Jesus, "The one who obeys me is the one who loves me." These are proactive Christians , not reactive in their obedience.Their obedience to Christ is not based on circumstances. Their obedience does not change with insecurities , threats and inconveniences. They are ready to sacrifice all and they do sacrifice whatever necessary then and there to follow Christ , to express their love and gratitude to God . These are the ones God is looking for , seeking for .These are the ones whose names can be added to the Hebrews 12. They walk by faith , not by sight. They express their faith through holy love. They have grasped what it means to follow Christ.
There are statements of belief , which articulate the truths about God, which must be believed in order to be called a Christian. This is finely taught and firmly stressed by most Christian churches. This is basic and necessary and we are doing a good job.
All of us believe Jesus is the incarnate son of God , coequal with the Father and he is the saviour i.e saviour from God's wrath and judgement , from the penalty of sin , from the power of sin , the sinful nature , the worldly system and Satan and his demons. There is no one else who can save us from these entities. Jesus is the only way. He opened the doors for all to be saved by believing that he ,Jesus , the sinless son of God died in our stead , taking up our punishment due for our sin and opening the way for us to have a relationship with God.
What we mean is that , we cannot do anything by ourselves to atone for our sins. Only in Christ , forgiveness of sins is made available to anyone who "Repents of his sinful life and believes in Christ and petitions God to forgive his sins". There is no other way. This aspect of salvation is accomplished by repentance and faith.
Many Christians are not taught this basic tenent of Christianity very clearly and repeatedly. People are taught to believe , but not repent. These are the first type of "born again" believers.They are told they can have a relationship with God. They don't know what they are saved for ,which is good works , obedience , living like Jesus ,which is what their relationship with God is ,according to the teaching of Christ and his apostles. They believe they are saved by grace, by which they mean forgiveness of sins, but have not understood the other side of grace ,which is the grace given to say "no! to sin and live self controlled and Godly lives in this present age"(Titus 2)
11 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
They don't believe in "working out their salvation in fear and trembling for it is God who works in them" Philippians 2 .So they don't work out their salvation as the apostle teaches. That has become an optional teaching.
These guys believe only half the gospel ,because they know only about 1/2 the work of grace i.e faith and forgiveness of the same sins again and again. They don't think it is necessary to overcome sin and work towards perfection.
Second group , are those who start well . They do repent and believe. But after that , they are not taught to go the full way of self denial , cross carrying and loving God and loving neighbours like Jesus did. These type two believers are taught to read the bible and pray and to attend church service ,without sufficiently emphasizing , teaching and modelling repeatdly the commandments of Christ. They are not self denying , cross carrying followers . They only follow when it is convenient. Inconvenience , threats and insecurities lead them to justify their unfaithfulness to the teachings of Christ and give themselves false assurance of salvation inspite of willful unrepentant sin based on the fact that they still believe in Christ. Their brand of Christianity can be called convenient Christianity , inspite of their initial and continuing repentance and faith. They are not sincere in their continuing repentance . They think they can live with willful unrepentance of certain sins and still continue in Christ. Theses form the majority of the believers of the Church of this age. These christians work out their salvation , but not with fear and trembling but insincerely. They try and adjust and accommodate unrepentant willful sins to their own destruction. These people believe and overcome sins , but are not willing to confess , repent and forgo some sins intentionally and repeateldly because they don't think it is necessary. They think they can still reach heaven with their willful , repeated , unrepentant sins. They fit the verse in hebrews , " You have not resisted sin to the point of shedding your blood" Hebrews 12. They are still holding themselves back. They do not love God or their neighbours with all their heart ,soul ,mind and strength.
Type three believers are those who repent , believe Christ died for their sins , bear fruit in keeping with repentance and take seriously the commands of Christ , which is nothing but self denial , carrying the cross and loving like Jesus both God and fellow humans. They take their sins seriously .They mourn over their spiritual poverty. They rejoice in overcoming sin and obeying to the point of shedding their blood . They seek to love God with all their heart ,soul , mind and strength and God fulfill the hunger of their heart by teaching them to love God and neighbour like Jesus did. They are not just believers , they are serious followers of the teachings of Christ. This rare group have entered the small gate and narrow way of Christ .These are few , who sincerely love God. Their understanding of love for God is very biblical.They believe the words of Jesus, "The one who obeys me is the one who loves me." These are proactive Christians , not reactive in their obedience.Their obedience to Christ is not based on circumstances. Their obedience does not change with insecurities , threats and inconveniences. They are ready to sacrifice all and they do sacrifice whatever necessary then and there to follow Christ , to express their love and gratitude to God . These are the ones God is looking for , seeking for .These are the ones whose names can be added to the Hebrews 12. They walk by faith , not by sight. They express their faith through holy love. They have grasped what it means to follow Christ.
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