Things New and Old: Believing is a work God requires His children to do!

Things New and Old

Ancient truths revealed in the Scriptures are often forgotten, disbelieved or distorted, and therefore lost in the passage of time. Such ancient truths when rediscovered and relearned are 'new' additions to the treasury of ancient truths.

Christ showed many new things to the disciples, things prophesied by the prophets of old but hijacked and perverted by the elders and their traditions, but which Christ reclaimed and returned to His people.

Many things taught by the Apostles of Christ have been perverted or substituted over the centuries. Such fundamental doctrines like salvation by grace and justification have been hijacked and perverted and repudiated by sincere Christians. These doctrines need to be reclaimed and restored to God's people.

There are things both new and old here. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things" 2Ti 2:7.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Believing is a work God requires His children to do!

This is the work of God you shall do...
This is the work that God wants you to do...
It is a work to be done by you. It is work!
Believing in Christ is a work... Christ said it himself!!!

John 6
28 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Very plain words, are they not? But the blind and obtuse and willfully ignorant will not want to see nor believe it!!! They keep on believing that a condemned man is justified before God by faith, the believing act of the condemned man, justification by faith!

The inquirers are good men who wanted to do the works of God... i.e. the works that God requires of them.

Some want to avoid the obvious, and interpret the inquiry as those men wanting to do the work that God Himself does... just plain stupidity (i.e. lacking common sense)! Supposing you had come to Jesus, and asked the same question, what would you have meant? And did Jesus answer your question, or did He say something completely unrelated to your inquiry???

So they inquired of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ understood their question, and answered them plainly.

They inquired about workS - PLURAL. They are a zealous lot, they wanted to do the WORKS that God the Father requires of them to do.

But Jesus directed their mind to the first and chief work - SINGULAR - THIS IS THE WORK of God. He makes it very simple... this is the chief and foremost work that God requires His children to do - even the WORK of believing Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Christ himself said BELIEVING in Him is a WORK requires by God... not of every body, BUT of His children... because it is a truth concerning His children, and His children are required and under obligation to believe what is ALREADY true of them... that Jesus Christ is the Saviour sent to save them.

If you believe your faith has anything to do with your ETERNAL salvation, they you are claiming that you are saved by your work; you have denied and repudiated eternal salvation by God's free and sovereign grace!

p/s

Faith is a saving grace worked within a child of God by the indwelling Spirit, given at adoption, thus called the spirit of adoption. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit; it is not the gift spoken of in Eph 2:8. The gift spoken of in Eph 2:8 is the eternal salvation by free grace! This saving grace ENABLES a child of God to believe; believe is an act of a child of God... it is his activity, i.e. his work!!!