Intro and Excerpt from a New Book (IP) "The Gospel and The Core of Purity"

Excerpt from Chapter 9 of new book in progress for publishing Lord-willing:

Chapter 1: Our Lover, the King

The Conviction of Impurity

Default Sensuality

The Gospel’s Power

The Pearl: His Indwelling

The Spirit’s Purging of our Bodies

His Blessing of Life to our Mortal Bodies

The Heart of a Woman
Becoming What She Worships

Her Captured Heart

Chapter 2: Eternal Beauty

True Beauty

Eternal Beauty

A Characteristic of Eternal Beauty: Spiritual Motherhood

Chapter 3: The Resurrection Power over All Impurity

Regeneration

Personal Account of the Resurrection Power

Conquering Love

Chapter 4: The Masquerade of Demonic Light

The Devil’s Masquerade

The Love of Pleasure

The First Fall

The Deathly Spark of Speculation

The Damning Result of Impurity

Chapter 5: The Female Equivalent of Lust: Undue Responsivity

Responsivity

The Weapon of Complete Dependence

The Abomination that Causes Desolation

A Few Words on Modesty

Fear and Impurity

Chapter 6: Our Purity in the Face of Man Souls

True Love and Understanding of the Souls of our Brothers

14 Secrets of the Soul of a Man of God

The Carnal Man’s Response to a Godly Woman

The Relationship between Fathers and Sons

Agape’s Facilitation of Respect

Chapter 7: the Woman’s Obligation

Souls of Women in the Field of Yok
Priceless Authorities

The Sisterly Obligation

Chapter 8: The Restoration of the Virginity of the Heart

The Need for Restoration in PRISONERS OF HOPE

Restoration for His Glory

The Act of Divine Restoration

Restored to be His Servants

Expectations that Cause Despair

The Calamity that Overrides Fleshly Pleasure

Chapter 9: The Affair of the Heart

The Affair of the Heart

The Heart of the Suitable Helper

The False Gospel of the “Affair of the Heart”

The Healing of Unfaithfulness through the Gospel

Chapter 10: Letters from Two Brothers

Chapter 9: The Affair of the Heart

The Affair of the Heart    

     The affair of the heart is the unfaithfulness of love, commitment, and honor towards ordinate sources and the placing of one’s own forms of these affections onto another inordinate source. The greatest example of this unfaithfulness is the turning of the heart away from Christ towards the things of the world: people, false religions, materialism, desire for honor, pleasure, etc. For example, the seeds that fell on the rocky and thorny soils resulted in the death of the plants through a final act of unfaithfulness to God in preference for earthly pleasures, comfort, and security. This may happen momentary to true believers of Christ, but will never last, for their hearts are secured in the eternal Covenant of the good Shepherd, who will lovingly discipline and bring back His straying sheep each time that they go astray. The other primary example of this unfaithfulness, which results from a woman’s unfaithfulness or disbelief in Christ, is the turning of her heart away from her husband or father and placing it on someone or something else. Remember that women are always under a yoke, even if it is the yoke of her own self.  

     In this chapter we will discuss the affair of the heart that exists in a married woman. In the present culture, we often see married woman lose their devotion to their husbands in preference for another man causing great marital and family distress and ruin. There are deep complex issues of the heart occurring in a woman who experiences this “affair of the heart”. There is a great desire for intimacy and fellowship within human beings, so much so that our heart would become cold with despair, anger, or hatred, were we to consider ourselves unloved, unneeded, and unworthy.   

The Heart of the Suitable Helper

     The woman who is pure in heart has experienced the Spiritual life of Christ by eating of His body broken for her and drinking of the living Water by which she will never grow thirsty again. She seeks Christ for all of her spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. Christ rewards her earnest seeking of Him by granting her abundant joy, increasing comprehension of His unfailing love, and granting her the desires of her heart for His righteousness and holiness. He sustains her during trials, bandages her wounds when she pours out her heart, and delivers her out of each trouble that she faces. The desire of her heart is only to know and obey her Lord, and she knows that only Christ is able and willing to fulfill this desire of hers.

     The development of purity of her heart changes her perspective towards her husband. For she no longer seeks to be cherished and desired by him in an idolatrous desperate manner. She rather is used by God to be a suitable helper, dwelling on fulfilling, as Christ enables her, the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of her husband. Because Christ has filled her heart, all she seeks to do concerning her husband is to please him in a way that pleases Christ. Her purpose is to support his soul as he pursues Christ. She seeks to eliminate every barrier in his way that hinders his progression in his faith. The love that she has received from her heavenly Father overflows from her towards her husband. And when her husband rebukes her and speaks in such a way as guilt may be incurred in her, she seeks the Spirit’s restoration and correction of her spirit. Her repentant, broken, and contrite allows her to take no offense at his admonition, but to respect his warning, because by it, her heavenly Father will train her to yield a peaceful harvest of righteousness. Her freedom in Christ frees her from her carnal need for her husband’s enrapturing of her. What a blessed helper she is to him, selfless and strong, and yet gentle and quiet. She is like an ever-filled fountain of righteous and holy peace for him.

The False Gospel of the “Affair of the Heart”

     In the natural morally depraved state, humans are prone to dislike the people who arouse the most guilt within them. The people who make others feel ashamed, guilty, worthless, vile, carnal, and selfish are often the most hated. The romantic period that often exists during courtship and early marriage is characterized by an overwhelming emotional intimacy that puts a sheen of false grace over both of the partner’s flaws. The ecstasy of the human emotion and the sense of worth bestowed to both man and woman by the affection of the other appeals to the desires of the flesh. Humans feel great pleasure in romantic affairs, because the reciprocate affections from the partner give a temporary form of elevated worth to the recipient. The adoration of the other provides the feelings of significance and human glory. For a time these feelings seem to resolve the guilty conscience that ever plagues the hearts of men and woman. Carnal romance is perhaps one of the strongest human passions because it temporarily appears to dispel the unseen agony of the guilty conscience underlying the fear the death.

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Heb 2

     Carnal romance offers a counterfeit gospel. The Gospel of our salvation exhibits the unconditional love and grace of God that absolves our guilt and bestows upon us a mantle of righteousness and light through Christ. The false gospel of romance offers a fleeting conditional mirage of the absolving of guilt and a bestowing of human glory onto both individuals. The spirit of carnal romance denies the work of Christ and is a spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:3). This spirit cannot save and its deception results in condemnation, if the deceived individuals do not repent and continue in the faith (Rom 8:13)

“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace. Jer 6:14

    During the affair of the heart, each partner seeks for the other to fulfill his/her deep emotional needs. Both partners are often tremendously needy, empty, and unsatisfied in their hearts. The bestowment of value and cherishment from the other partner is deemed as far surpassing in worth than whatever flaws exists in the soul of this person. Each person’s heart subconsciously says, “You meet my deepest needs, and if there is moral depravity in you, I cannot see it; I choose not to, for then I cannot use you as I so please”.

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Is 28:15

     Broken marriages often arise following the romantic period due to the trials and tribulations of life which bring to the forefront the worst characteristics of both partners. The mysterious thrill of the romantic embrace fades into the familiarity of day-to-day life. During trials, each partner may start to openly or subtly accuse the other. And this is where the feelings of intimacy start to fade [apart from Divine intervention]. For each partner no longer overlooks the other’s faults. Each partner no longer eases the other’s guilty conscience. Over time each partner may even elevate guilt bringing out old and new guilt over the weaknesses of the flesh of the other. Both partners attempt to cover up the guilt by accusing the other even more with anger and arguments. Sometime one or both partners may ignore or avoid the other.

in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, Rom 2:15

     Then, when either of the partners starts to receive affirmation or affection from a third party, unless God intervenes, they are fair game for yet another affair of the heart. Little do such people know that the romance of the new affair would fade into the same gloom had they been united in unfaithfulness to the first covenant. This is often the basis for divorce-and-remarriage cycles. These cycles are characterized with persistent and building guilt in the souls of the participants. They follow in the footstep of Cain, a vagrant and restless wanderer on the earth (Gen 4:14). For no partner could relieve the guilt of the heart. No partner could fill the desires of the heart. No partner could fill the empty soul. No partner could love unconditionally in spite of weaknesses. No partner could forgive the sin, the essence of guilt. Consider what Jesus, the sinless Son of Man, who needed nothing from men, but received His satisfaction from obeying His Father, says:

²⁴ But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. John 2

The Healing of Unfaithfulness through the Gospel

     Dear saint, you are probably realizing that yet again, the Gospel of our salvation is the only healing balm for the seat of the unfaithful heart. God will heal our apostasy, love us freely, and His anger will turn away from us as we are under the new Covenant  (Heb 14:4). He calls us to return, though we have been faithless. He will heal our faithfulness. Let us come to Him for He is the Lord our God. (Jer 3:22) Then marriage will be held in honor among all of us, and the marriage bed will be undefiled. We know that fornicators and adulterers will be judged by our Lord. (Heb 13:4)

     When a man and woman are married, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Whatever God has joined together should not be separated by men. Because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites, God allowed the husband to give the wife a certificate of divorce and send her away. But from the beginning God’s command was that of the true unconditional love that remains steady, constant, faithful, forgiving, and refining towards the recipient. (Matt 19:6-8) Marriage was instituted by God to display the faithfulness of Christ towards His bride: His church, the united people of God from all time. Christ washes her with the water of His Word. He purifies His bride so that she is spotless and clean, prepared for Christ (Rev 21:2). He grants her His righteous robe as her fine linen garment (Rev 19:8). The church is progressively sanctified such that she fears, honors, obeys, and respects her husband, Christ.

“How long will you go here and there,

O faithless daughter?

For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—

A woman will encompass a man.” Jer 31:22

     When God unites His son and daughter in marriage, His purpose is to utilize their union to conform each of them into the image of Christ so that their character is refined and the glory of the Gospel is revealed to the world. The cause of marital strain is always the sins of the flesh of either, or in most cases both, partners. This strain has no remedy apart from the work of the cross. For any peace or true and lasting reconciliation of mind and heart between them to occur, each of them must put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (Rom 8:13). Something has to die in both of them. And in the process of that death to self, they are able to live anew with Christ (Gal 2:20). In fact, the only manner in which a marriage can be healed, preserved, and flourished is the work of the Spirit through the Message of the Gospel. Sometimes unbelieving couples appear to have a form of harmony and mutual affection, yet it is not unconditional, and it lacks the true and deep emotions of humility, grace, and agape. Such God-less relationships are somewhat like a business or earthly compatibility partnership. In a Christian marriage, Christ must be sought and found by both partners for the marriage to succeed and bear fruit. Thus, the refinement of both hearts from weaknesses, inordinate strongholds, and pride is inevitable in the union of two true believers who are being progressively sanctified. This ever-deepening of holiness in the face of imminent needs for self-examination, forgiveness, and Christ-likeness reveal the glory of the transforming work of the cross and the faithfulness and love of Christ towards His own. Indeed, through love and faithfulness, sin is atoned for (Prov 16:6)!

 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Cor 4:10

     If there is nothing else that you remember from this book, dear saint, remember the Gospel of our salvation. For this salvation, when understood and believed in its entirety, will result in the conquering of every sin, the full comprehension of His grace, the fullness of joy, and the satisfaction of the soul in His love. May our Lord and Savior be glorified and praised by the Word of our Testimony as He and we receive the reward of the Lamb’s blood. Seek Him with all of your heart, dear saint!

Priya Philip Thank you Preethi. I am thankful for the words of truth that you intend to proclaim in your book. You have a gift a very special gift. God Bless you as you bless adults and children with words that God gives you to speak and write.

November 17 at 9:12am · Like

Preethi Moses Mercy David Dear Priya, Thank you for encouraging me. We praise God for your example of faithfulness! May God bless your family with great joy in His Presence. Love in Christ, Preethi

Unity # 11: Assured of Our Inheritance

Unity # 11: Assured of Our Inheritance

Theme Song: The Golden City

Dear Father,

     I praise You that You are to be feared and exalted far above all other beings. Thank you that as we behold Your glory, we are transformed into the same Image. We want to know You and tobecome like You in Your righteous character. Please teach us to love and forgive one another until the end. Help us to do exactly as You would have us to do in the situations that each of us are in. Bring us back to humility and repentance when we err in pride. Feed Your starving people. Teach us to pray and to sow to please Your Spirit and not to grieve Him.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

The salvation of the true sheep is secured. Those who never believe in Christ are not His sheep. The sheep hear His voice, He knows them, and they follow Him. He gives them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of His hand. The Father who gave the sheep to Christ is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and Christ are One. (John 10:26-30) The sheep are overwhelming conquerors over all things through their Shepherd who loves them. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, not any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:37-39)

As we will discuss further in this letter, true continuing in faith is incompatible with a life lived in continual unrepentant sin. As we discussed, sheep may go astray, even numerous times, but their Shepherd is intent on progressively sanctifying them. He uses His chosen discipline at His perfect timing to perfect the good work that He began in the sheep until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). The God of peace Himself sanctifies them entirely and keeps their spirit, soul, and body preserved complete, without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls the sheep is faithful and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Thess 5:23-24)As Jude’s doxology proclaims, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,  to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25) He confirms His sheep to the end, blameless in the day of their Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful to them and through Him they were called into fellowship with His Son. (1 Cor 1:8-9)

     Though the salvation of the true sheep is secured and once they have been born again, their salvation can never be lost, a matter we must address is the characteristics of a true sheep. For there are many who try to enter the narrow gate that leads to eternal life, and yet only a few find it (Luke 13:24). Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven who will enter. On the day of judgment, many will question God saying, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ And He will declare to them that He never knew them. He will ask them to depart from Him, those who practice lawlessness. (Matt 7:21-23) Jesus also spoke of false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  But we are to know them by their fruit. Every good tree bear good fruit, and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matt 7:15-20) ? Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). Jesus was not saying that we are saved by our good works. Rather, because good deeds are an inevitable outcome of the life of someone under the forgiveness and grace of the New Covenant, it will be such that all who are under it will have done good deeds as a result of their Spirit-led love and obedience. Christ has become the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him (Heb 5:9).

Furthermore, the books of Hebrews and Peter describe that if someone experiences the heavenly gifts and partake of the Spirit and falls away and is overcome, there is no sacrifice for sin but only a fearful expectation of judgment. It would be better for people not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and turned their backs against it. (Heb 6:4-8, 2 Peter 2:17-22) It is clear that these people were not under the New Covenant that secures their continuing in holiness. For we know that we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end (Heb 3:14).

 Jesus told the Parable of the Sower to the people to explain the nature of true believers who persevere in their faith until the end of their lives. When the seeds, or the Word of God, fell beside the road, the birds came and ate them up. This represents people who hears the Word and do not understand it, and the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their hearts. These people are not professing believers. The second soil was a rocky place that did not have much soil. When the seeds fell here, they immediately sprang up, but because they had no depth of soil, they were scorched when the sun rose and because they had no root, they withered away. This represents people who hear the Word and immediately receive it with joy, but they have no firm root. They are temporary and when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, they immediately falls away. The third soil had many thorns which choked out the outgrowth of the seeds. This represents those who hears the Word, but the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word, and it become unfruitful. Finally the seeds that fall on the good soil yield a crop, some a hundred-fold, some sixty and some thirty. This represents those who hear and understand the Word, retain it with perseverance, and bear fruit. (Matt 13:3-9, 18-23) The good soil represents the hearts of true sheep. These are the true plants that have a deep root in a noble and good heart (Luke 8:15) and because there are authentic, they result in the bearing of fruit. Notice that the second and third types of soil did not lead to authentic plants which had roots and fruit. Though there may have been a similitude of faith in these people initially for a period of time, they were not born again and regenerated unto salvation by the New Covenant as the true sheep are.

From these teachings it is clear that there is a type of false “faith” that does not save. For even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19) By this false faith, people may receive the Word with joy, spring up quickly, come in sheep’s clothing, prophesy, perform miracles, cast out demons, call Christ as their Lord, taste the heavenly gift, and partake of the Holy Spirit and yet not be saved. These people were never born again into the secure New Covenant granted to the sheep. When we observe such people turn away from their profession of faith here on earth and/or see them thrown into the fires on the dayof judgment, we know that it is not as though they lost their salvation, but they were never saved in the first place. As John writes, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us”. But the true sheep have the anointing from the Holy One and know the Truth. (1 John 2:19-21) Their faith is a good and perfect gift from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (James 1:17, Eph 2:9). Because their faith is given by the Father Himself, it endures until the end and it results in obedience and increasing conformance to the Image of Christ. This true faith results in the salvation of the sheep under the New Covenant. The good works of the sheep authenticate their faith as true. Faith without the good works of obedience to Christ is false faith (James 2:26). For true saving faith in the Gospel and good works are inextricably tied together such that this faith will always result in obedience. Now, we will examine 10 Biblical tests of our faith. We truly are not saved by our good works, but by grace through faith (Rom 2:8). Rather, our good works are a direct and inevitable result of our salvation by grace through faith such that if these good works are not present in our lives to any degree, the Scriptures offer us no assurance of our salvation. Please let the Scriptures speak for themselves to your soul:

1.     Love for the Body of Christ (1 John 2:9-11, 3:13-20)

2.     The Spirit’s Seal (Rom 8:16, 1 John 4:13, 2 Cor 1:21-22, Rom 8:9)

3.     Walking in the Light and Fellowship with God (1 John 1:5-7)

4.     Ongoing Conviction of Sin and Repentance (1 John 1:8-10, Jer 3:12-14)

5.     Obedience to God’s Commands and Walking as Jesus Walked (1 John 2:3-6)

6.     Hatred of the Carnality of the World (1 John 2:15-17, 2 Cor 6:16-18)

7.     Hatred and Persecuted from the Wicked (John 15:18-19, Matt 10:22, 2 Cor 2:15-16, Luke 6:20-26)

8.     Lack of Continuation in Sin as a Life Practice (1 John 3:7-10, John 8:31-32)

9.     Being Trained by the Discipline of the Heavenly Father (Heb 12:5-8)

10.  Perseverance in Faith (Matt 10:22, Heb 3:14)

            God’s desire for His sheep is for them to be fully assured of His promises towards them. He does not want us to waver in unbelief, but to grow strong in faith, giving glory to God. We must be fully assured that what God had promised, He is able also to perform. (Rom 4:20-21) Indeed, we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because we are receiving the goal of our faith: the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:9). As we go through the Biblical tests of true faith, we are examining ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). Even the true sheep, because of the Spirit’s conviction of sin, will be reminded of areas in their lives where they need refinement. In the midst of guilt and slavery to sin, a professing Christian who has not been regenerated cannot have assurance of salvation based on the Word of God. In this case, self-examination may lead to saving repentance for unconverted sheep [i.e. appointed by God for eternal Life but not yet regenerated] as the Word of God and Spirit reveal to their souls the need for salvation and grant them a quickening of the spirit unto salvation. When the true sheep who have already been converted examine themselves with these Scriptures, they will find areas where they realize that they need the Spirit’s power and the Father’s discipline to overcome. The deepest desire of the sheep is to know and become like Christ, to put to death whatever belongs to their sinful nature (Col 3:5), to cleanse themselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit thus perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and to be holy as their Father is holy (1 Peter 1:16).

            Christ’s divine power grants the sheep everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called them by His own glory and excellence. By these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we may become partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. For this reason we ought to apply all diligence to add to our faith moral excellence, and to our moral excellence, knowledge, and to our knowledge, self-control, and to our self-control, perseverance, and to our perseverance, Godliness, and to our Godliness, brotherly kindness, and to our brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are ours and are increasing, they render us neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, if we lack these qualities, as we would during a momentary straying period which we know will not continue in view of the Shepherd’s eternal Covenant, we are blind or short-sighted and have forgotten our purification from our former sins. When the regenerated true sheep are in the midst of a period of straying, they may lose their conscious assurance of salvation. The only way for us to regain our assurance is to return to our Savior and continue in the faith that we receive from God. (2 Peter 1:1-11) Those who continue to lack these qualities are not true sheep and were never purified from sin, though they profess to have experienced the work of the Gospel and were thus formerly purified in their own minds. We must continue to believe the Gospel, and with confidence, we must enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh. Since we have a great Priest over the house of God, we ought to draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. We must hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Heb 10:19-23) Even as we sin, we know that we have an Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1), that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), and that there is sin that does not lead to death that we can be forgiven of as we return to the good walk with our Shepherd (1 John 5:16-17). If we hear the Spirit’s voice today, we must not grieve Him and harden our hearts as the unsaved do (Heb 3:15). As long as we have a chance, we must continue to willingly repent and pursue the increasing qualities of holiness described above. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;  for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. (2 Peter 1:10-11) God is faithful and just to perfect His people even through their apparent failures and to bring about sincere repentance in them.

     Until straying believers repent and continue in their belief in the Gospel, the Scriptures grant them no assurance of their salvation. But in the New Covenant, the Shepherd will not let the sheep remain in such a state.  True sheep are deeply miserable in the midst of sin until the Shepherd disciplines them and brings them back to obedience. For the sheep know that slavery to sin is shameful and yields no benefit, except death. The sheep who are truly freed from sin and enslaved to God, derive the benefits of knowing Christ, the result is sanctification, and the outcome is eternal Life. (Rom 6:20-23) These straying sheep have only one Master and they will return to Him. They will do so willingly as the Spirit moves their hearts.

³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You,
and my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
⁶ Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
⁷ You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Ps 32

     Our assurance of salvation comes completely from the secured and ordered New Covenant. The manner in which we maintain our assurance of salvation each day is to continue in our belief in the Gospel and to heed the Voice of the Spirit unto obedience. Even when our hearts condemn us, our love in deed and truth that God works in us causes us to be assured of our salvation because God is greater than our hearts and He knows all things: that we are His (1 John 3:19-20). Though at one time we were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in His body of Flesh by His death, in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that we heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. (Col 1:21-23). We are to press on to maturity (Heb 6:1), grow up into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph 4:15-16), to walk in Him, having been rooted and now being built up in Him and established in our faith, just as we were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude (Col 2:6-7)

²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2

Love in Christ,

Preethi

The New Covenant Awana 2012 Sleepover Message (first 20 min)

The Doctrine of "Free Grace Theology" Destroys the Meaning of the Gospel

The Doctrine of "Free Grace Theology" Destroys the Meaning of the Gospel

Introduction to the Doctrine: “Free Grace Theology”

This doctrine gives assurance of salvation to professing Christians who go on living in sin.

Regardless of the way that teachers of this doctrine phrases their teaching and regardless of the contexts of their statements, they present a doctrine which conveys that some Christians remain continually in darkness with no repentance and are still saved.

This Doctrine Discounts the Work of the Cross

1.     The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes. In the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. The righteous man shall live by faith. (Rom 1:16-17)

2.     By a single offering our Savior has perfected for all time us who are being sanctified. (Heb 10:14) Those who have been perfected by Christ’s offering are those who are being made holy.

3.     The work of the cross establishes us in Christ and anoints us with the Spirit, who is God’s seal and guarantee of our eternal inheritance (2 Cor 1:21-22). All who have the Spirit behold the  glory of God and are transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:17-18)

This Doctrine Denies the Eternal Covenant of God For All His People

1.     In God’s eternal covenant, He does not turn away from them, He does them good in all things, He puts the fear of Himself in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Him. He rejoices over them to do them good and faithfully plants them in the land with all His heart and soul (Jer 32:40-41, Phil 1:6, Rom 8:28)

2.     God’s eternal covenant is ordered in all things and secured for all the salvation and desire of God’s people. (2 Sam 23:5)

This Doctrine Denies the Omnipotence and Perfection of the Heavenly Fathering

1.     God disciplines all of those whom He loves and scourges every son whom He receives. Those who are without discipline are illegitimate children and not sons. God disciplines His children for their good so that they may share in His holiness. Those who have been trained by His discipline yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. This resulting righteousness always proceeds the omnipotent disciplinary action of the perfect Father (Heb 12:6-11)

2.     When we forsake His Law and do not walk in His judgments, when we violate His statutes, and do not keep His commandments, He punishes our transgressions with His Rod and our iniquity with stripes (floggings). Our Savior has been wounded, flogged, and crushed by His Father for our sakes, and the discipline which we endure is nothing compared to His infinite suffering for our sakes. Through His discipline, He does not break off His loving kindness from us, deal falsely in His faithfulness towards us, nor alter the utterance of His lips. For He has sworn long before by His own holiness, which never changes because He cannot lie, that the throne of David, that is, the throne of our Lord Christ, will endure forever like the sun and moon before Him. The witness in the sky is faithful. (Ps 89:30-37, Is 53)

3.     God calls His children to obedience: to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:14-16). They are to prove themselves blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom theyappear as lights in the world (Phil 2:14-15).

This Doctrine Makes the “Perseverance of the Saints” Unnecessary

1.     Jesus said that if we continue in His Word, we are truly His discipline and we will know the Truth that sets us free (John 8:31-32). He said that by our endurance we will gain our lives and that the seed in the good soil are those who hear His Word in an honest and good heart, hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 21:19, Luke 8:15). He tells us that those who do the will of His Father will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matt 7:21)

2.     The saints are called to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12), to be diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing of us (2 Peter 1:10), to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1) and to realize the full assurance of hope until the end so that we will not be sluggish, but so that we inherit the promises through faith and patience (Heb 6:11-12).

3.     We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end (Heb 3:14)

This Doctrine is in Contradiction to the Purpose and Will of the Sovereign God

1.     God’s purpose is for those whom He foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the Image of His Son, so that Christ would be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29)

2.     God’s purpose is that His children are granted His divine power that gives them everything pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who calls them by His own glory and excellence. He gives them His precious and magnificent promises by which they become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:3-4).

3.     Christ’s requirement and will for His disciples is that they deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Those who are ashamed of Him and His Words will be put to shame before the Son of Man and Father (Luke 9:26).

4.     Christ gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal 1:4).

5.     Those who lose their taste are good for nothing but destruction (We are the salt and light of the earth) (Matt 5:13-116).

6.     God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. The word “in” here denoted the entering into a perpetual state or process. He who rejects this is not rejecting man but God who gives His Holy Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit works the ongoing sanctification process in us (1 Thess 4:7).

7.     God’s purpose is for His people to attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Christ, to a mature man and measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. We are to grow up in all aspects into the Head: Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph 4:13-16)

This Doctrine Denies God’s Ability or Loving-Kindness to Ultimately Work Obedience in All His Children

1.     God promises to give us a new heart and to put a new spirit in us, to remove our hearts of stone from our flesh and to give us hearts of flesh. He puts His Spirit in us and causes us to walk in His statutes, and we will be careful to observe His ordinances (Ez 36:26-27).

2.     God gives His people a heart to know Him, because He is the Lord, and they will be His people and He will be their God, because they will return to Him with their whole heart (Jer 24:7)

3.     It is God who works in His children to will and to act according to His purpose (Phil 2:13)

For Saved People to Live Continual Unrepentant Sinful Lives is Scripturally Impossible

1.     No one who abides in Him sins. No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Those who practice sin are of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin because God’s seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Those who do not practice righteousness and do not love their brothers are not of God (I John 3:5-10)

2.     The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression. When God says to the righteous that he will surely live, and he trusts in his righteousness and thus commits sin, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered, but in that same iniquity that he has committed he will die (Ez 33:12-13).

3.     We know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. We should not be deceived with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. We should not be partakers of them, for we were formerly darkness, but are now Light in the Lord. We are commanded to walk as children of the Light (Eph 5:5-8).

4.     “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. ⁸ But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev 21:7-8)

5.     Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17)

This Doctrine Causes Dangerously Inaccurate Interpretation of the Scripture

1.     All of the Pauline epistles, and most of the New Testament books are proposed by Hodges to be written exclusively for believers. Many of these Scriptures are for the edification, rebuke, correction, training in righteousness, and confirmation of regeneration within believers (2 Tim 3:16) Another main purpose is for a testing or examination of one’s faith. We are called to test and examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith so that we may see that Christ is in us. It is possible to fail the test, and for those who are false believers, the failing of the test offers conviction that will hopefully lead to repentance (2 Cor 13:5, 1 Cor 14:24-25). The assumption that such test/examination Scriptures are not meant to remove someone’s [false] hope of salvation when he/she is not truly regenerate is expected to have damning consequences.

2.     When an unbeliever comes into the presence of prophetic words, he is convicted by all, called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are laid disclosed, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among His people (1 Cor 14:24-25).

3.     Whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God (Rom 3:18).

Justification and Sanctification are Granted to All Believers By Grace

1.     We have been saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)

2.     Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

3.     If anyone is in Christ He is a new creation. The old has gone the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

4.     We are who we are by God’s grace. His grace towards us is not in vain. The grace of God with us causes us to work for God (1 Cor 15:10)

True Believers Do Sin, but God brings about Repentance in His Time as He Continuously Sanctifies Them

1.     “ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (I John 2:1)

2.     “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

3.     How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
² How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit! (see entire chapter Psalm 32 written by King David when he repented)

as the watchman who sees the sword coming, The Trumpet Has Been Blown so that the people of God may be warned (Ezekiel 33). This doctrine must not be taught in the house of God. It has likely resulted in condemnation for many in the world.  

Unity # 10: One Heart and Mind

Unity # 10: One Heart and Mind

Theme Song: Come People of the Risen King

Dear Father,

     I praise You for delighting in Your people. You are set-apart from all other beings in Your perfect beauty and splendor. Thank You for allowing us to access Your presence through the body of Christ, broken for us, and the blood of Your New Covenant. In Your presence is fullness of joy and eternal pleasure. As we behold You, we are transformed into Your Image from glory to glory as You implant within us the desires of Your heart. Your people are so precious to You! Deal gently with them and bring them into Your full light.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

Dear Beloved,

     All the people around us who have not believed in the Gospel have conspired together against our God with one mind. They make a covenant against Him. (Ps 83:5) They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Ps 14:3) They have formed a united mindset against those who preach righteousness. For example, when the apostle Paul preached the Gospel, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on him and brought him to the place of judgment (Acts 18:12). Sometimes unbelievers unite for moral causes such as disaster relief work and other humanitarian causes, and yet, when God looks down on them, He sees filthy rags (Is 64:4). Remember the tower of Babel when mankind united in their efforts to reach heaven with the work of their hands. They wanted to make a name for themselves so that they would not be scattered over the face of the earth. God knew that the purposes of their wickedness would be boundless in their blasphemous unity so He destroyed their structure, confused their language, and scattered them over the face of the earth. (Gen 11)

Even among professing believers there is a similitude of unity in church projects and events which may or may not be the true Christ-exalting unity of mind and heart that God desires and effects in his people. Quite often their unity is man-centered and focuses on self-righteousness and carnal conditional “love” which does not cause those who see it to praise and glorify God. The true unity of the Spirit comes from the new heart and mind that are granted to God’s children through His regenerating work and results in the exaltation of Christ. As a result of God’s New Covenant, He gives them one heart and one way, that they may fear Him always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them (Jer 32:29). He gives them one heart and puts a new spirit within them. He takes their hearts of stone out of their flesh, and gives them a heart of flesh. (Ez 11:19)

Behold, it is good and pleasant when brothers dwell together in unity (Ps 133:1). When David was to become the king over Israel, the men of war came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest in Israel were of one mind to make David king. (1 Chron 12:38) The hearts of all the men were of one man, so they sent word calling king David to return (2 Sam 19:14). When king Hezekiah commanded the people of Israel to return to God, the hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and princes commanded by the Word of the Lord (2 Chron 30:12). Before Joshua died, he united the Israelites saying, “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.” (Josh 23:14)

The early believers were with one mind continually devoting themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14). Day after day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart (Acts 2:46). The believers had become of one mind and often made decisions together. For example it seemed good to a group of them to send Barnabas and Paul to the Gentiles in Syria, Antioch, and Cilicia (Acts 15:25). The congregation of believers are of one heart and soul, and not one of them claims that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them (Acts 4:32).

Now, the Father has willed for us to be united in mind and heart. All of our minds are to be the mind of Christ and all of our hearts are to contain the overflow of God’s heart: His Word. We are to be of the same mind toward one another, not haughty in mind, but willing to associate with the lowly. We are not to be wise in our own estimation. (Rom 12:16) The God who gives perseverance and encouragement grants us to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus (Rom 15:5). We make the joy of other true believers complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, and being intent on one purpose (Phil 2:2). As we stand firm in one spirit and one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel, we are conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27)

By God’s own doing and grace we are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30). Wisdom rests in our hearts because we have understanding (Prov 14:33). Together we love Him with all of our heart, understanding, and strength, and we love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:33). Only the true believers hear the word in an honest and good heart, hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance as the seed which fell in good soil (Luke 8:15). We are the true sheep who follow, hear, and listen to the Shepherd’s voice and run away from the stranger because we do not recognize his voice (John 10:4-5).

We have been circumcised in our heart by the Spirit, not by the law, and our praise is not from men, but from God who has cut out the heart of wickedness and hardness and planted in us the heart that knows and loves God (Rom 2:29). For God, who said “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (Rom 2:29). The peace of Christ rules in our hearts, to which indeed we were called in one body, and we must be thankful (Col 3:15). We have purified our souls in obedience to the Truth for a sincere love for the people of God. We must fervently love the saints from the heart! (1 Peter 1:22)

Importantly, we are to take care, beloved, that no one among us has an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. We are to encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. (Heb 3:12-14)

            The wisdom that we speak is spoken among the mature. This wisdom is not of the world or the rulers of the world, both of which are passing away. Rather, we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age understand; for if they had understood it they would not have [desired to] crucify the Lord of glory. For things which eye has not seen and ear has not hear, and which have not entered the heart of man, are all that God prepared for those who love Him. God reveals these things to us through the Spirit, who searches all things, even the depths of God. No one knows the thoughts of God except for the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in these taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. The natural men do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But we who are spiritual appraise all things, yet we ourselves are not appraised by any one. Who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him. But we have the mind of Christ! (1 Cor 2:5-16)

WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST

Excellent Messages

The Parable of the Sower Sermon script by Martin Luther

Sovereign Election Sermon by Voddie Baucham 79 minutes

The Shocking Message Sermon by Paul Washer 59 minutes

Love in Christ,

Preethi