The Sinner's Prayer is not in the Bible and neither is catechism

In order to be saved, you have to do what?

Well, that depends on whatever institution or doctrine or belief you subscribe to.

It may even depend on the rite of passage and prescribed rituals you have to go through and perform.

And even if you conformed and did all this, you might never be certain because you may remain a sinner according to the specific institutional church you subscribe to.

It all depends on your effort and how well you do the things they wanted you to do.

But, does it?

Like-mindedness - phroneō

I recently read Romans 15:1-7 ... again ...

No, you do not understand ...

I really read it!

Not just thoroughly, but this time intensely ... with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The discovery I made was not hidden

My discovery was, as always, mind-blowing.

love and the law

So love has nothing to do with the law ... right?

And, what does Romans 13 say when it says that "... owe no man any thing, but to love one another ..."

Is this a new law?

Before time was ...

Sometimes it is amazing how that we skip over something just because we do not understand it or because we have been made to believe differently.

As modern people, we are schooled to think uni-literally (is there such a word?) for some reason. We are programmed like computers to believe that there is only one meaning to a word. After all, that's how programming works - constants and variables. But the variables are handled differently altogether until they produce a constant.

We forget how that through the ages, through circumstances and the traditions and customs of man, different meanings have been ascribed to the same word so that word today may not even mean the same as it did two hundred years ago.

New Year double trouble double blessing

There is nothing like an encouraging message. And sometimes one is fabricated or concocted from the old covenant and used with good intentions to inspire people. That is the way it is with many a New year's message. Yet, many of them border on fortune-telling and some are nothing but sorcery ...

The institutional church is quick to tell us that we will receive double for our trouble, that the next year will be better than the one before, that we have to look out for our blessings and signs and we have to start performing to receive them.

Yes. Fortune-telling.

You might rather have gone to the gypsy in her caravan around the corner, just the same.

The New Year Message

Pastors and ministers spend days and weeks preparing for their new years message so that the congregation may get the ultimate boost and satisfaction out of what is portrayed as a message directly from God.

Walk and talk like a son or daughter

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Rom 8:14-16

Share in the sufferings of Christ?

In our last post we pondered the question: Do we have to suffer as Christ suffered?

Remember we ended with Paul's famous Philippians quote ...

But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then],

these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].

But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,

and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals,

but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did]; Phil 3:7 - 10

... and coming from that post, we agreed that this is exactly how we should react as heirs in the kingdom ...

... but (gulp) what was Paul saying here to the Philippians? Fellowship in Christ sufferings? Dying His death?

Heirs by agreement

One thing we seemingly do not understand ...

We are heirs!

But we do not understand what it means. And because we do not understand what it means, we are rendered powerless.

To make it even worse, the institutional church got it all wrong for more than 2000 years!

So, how do you become an heir? And what is the difference between the two covenants that says you are or you are not?

Stand - the fight is fought

Sometimes something happens and we loose control.

Sometimes when something happens and we loose control we get all emotionally shattered-up and short-circuited (eh). We loose our ability to think clearly and loose or ability to ... stand ...

What?

Yes! We get emotionally muddled ... higgledy-piggledy.

And then we cry onto God.

And it happens so quickly, because we are wired by this world to go into panic mode.

Can we pray to move God?

The other day someone I deeply respect and listen to quite often was teaching on how that when we pray God moves ...

... and the Holy Spirit moved inside of me ...

The Holy Spirit reminded me of an awesome truth that I would like to pen here and remind myself of every now and then. This is the Truth I should NEVER forget and always take into account in every situation ... because this Truth is the GOSPEL TRUTH!

We say things we do not think through

We say things that sound profound. It even sounds Bible-ish, even Godly but these words are frequently the manifestations of our brainwashed religious upbringing.

We proclaim Grace ... and wonder why our prayers did not work immediately. And the "best" reason we can come up with is from the book of Daniel. That is, if you don't subscribe to the ridiculous and insane gesture that God is always in control no matter what.

Yet, there is something we keep missing as New Testament heirs in the kingdom of God that makes the whole Daniel example totally irrelevant to our prayers.

So, here goes!

In grace teachings one would often find teachings or motivational messages that attempt to provide reasons why certain prayers did not work. After all, Jesus did say that we could ask anything in His name and we shall receive.

So, what could go wrong?