Thank you Jameson. This post made me reflect back to when I was first saved at age 28. The Lord delivered me nearly instantaneously and completely from a very "wild" lifestyle,
As an exuberant yet still ignorant Christian, I would judge those fellow believers who struggled with victory over certain things and had a special disdain for those who confidently claimed to be saved, yet chose to stay in the denomination I came out of, which did not preach or teach salvation by Grace through faith.
It took me a while to get over myself. Reading/studying Romans 14 was great convicting and liberating. Sometimes, I still have issues with it, after 43 years, but now ask the Lord to help me be gracious and encourage them vs. chastise them.
Another area of "judgment" that I had to overcome was toward unbelievers, expecting them to act like believers.
Most of my career has been in or around the military - some pretty raw folk. I had to remember that I had been no different before Christ. Why would I expect them to act in a way that they knew nothing about.
It was liberating when I eventually realized that my words and actions could either turn them against Christ or toward him. They may not read the Bible, but they would see me, who professed to read and follow the Bible.
"There, but for the Grace of God, go I" should be our constant self reminder ...
I have a question though, and please forgive me if I come across as really stupid or naive, obviously we do not look down upon anyone no matter who they are. Gods word is incredibly clear as we see in 1 Corinthians 5: 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
The fact is like you stated and experienced and I myself have been privileged to experience as have many others when they come to Jesus Christ and give their entire lives to love worship and serve Him the free gift of His grace in the honour of deliverance from those sins that we were bound in when we were lost hopeless wretched sinners, then also we received as part of that undeserved unearned unmerited gift in becoming a reborn new creation and receiving the Holy spirit infilling and indwelling & put through progressive sanctification by and through Jesus christ, and it is the absolute living truths that Jesus and His word repeatedly states that we are set free from the captivity of slavery to habitual perpetual sinning. That we undergo radical transformational metamorphosis, we get completely undone from our former ways of having lived contrary to God's grace, love and ways, by the fact of the enormity of all what our Lord Jesus did by his sacrificial crucified life death burial resurrection & ascension we repent in dust and ashes with much weeping regret, stricken at heart knowing full well we deserve nothing especially not any forgiveness yet he lavishes his love and his forgiveness upon us and recreates himself after his own seed in us as the word. (Luke 8:11-18; John 1:1~51) our mind changing to God's mind and understandings into absolute Godly sorrow fully realising what we have done in hurting not only ourselves but others and Heavenly father. Having allowed self, our carnal fleshly soulish desires the world & satan to have been our father and dictator ruler and influencers. To then come into having a Godly renewed mind. And a new nature of the spirit affecting into our very soul. So if this is the truth then why are so many others not experiencing this liberation in Christ Jesus? It doesn't make sense in my head?
The New Life
Ephesians 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor...
So if this is the truth and it certainly unequivocally is & many experience and live this through our now reborn regenerated redeemed and reconciled our once uncircumcised hearts of stone that even any tiny rocks or stones left over He will completely pulverise & remove them all giving us a heart of flesh back to the Heavenly father through and in Christ Jesus in the newness of spirit of life,the empowering resurrection spirit life and of course
It is still an ongoing process as it gets more finely tuned & He still is purifying me disciplining and at times chastising me when I am not yeilding fully to His will or not submitting in even just my thoughts or how He needs me to respond to others from the spirit and not the carnal soulish fleshly ways of being that still need to die or be destroyed and completely eradicated. Those parts of my emotional self, of my self mind, of self will. Or if I have been selfish and overlooked the needs of another, putting myself first instead of the other. I discovered though it is a supernatural empowering enabling, not merely a religious rhetoric but all that are Jesus' have been imbued and imparted the power to make us Godly. It is the enabling power of the holy spirit and not through self effort or self works. To be recreated in to Jesus' image and likeness to replicate His character nature person & authority in faith abiding in the Jesus as the vine and his word.
So the ultimate question is then why are there still so many Christians stunted & held captive and slaves to habitual perpetual wilfull sinning even after 10, 20, 30, 40 years?
Thank you...I really needed to share this with some people I know.
Something we all need to remember.
Thank you Jameson. This post made me reflect back to when I was first saved at age 28. The Lord delivered me nearly instantaneously and completely from a very "wild" lifestyle,
As an exuberant yet still ignorant Christian, I would judge those fellow believers who struggled with victory over certain things and had a special disdain for those who confidently claimed to be saved, yet chose to stay in the denomination I came out of, which did not preach or teach salvation by Grace through faith.
It took me a while to get over myself. Reading/studying Romans 14 was great convicting and liberating. Sometimes, I still have issues with it, after 43 years, but now ask the Lord to help me be gracious and encourage them vs. chastise them.
Another area of "judgment" that I had to overcome was toward unbelievers, expecting them to act like believers.
Most of my career has been in or around the military - some pretty raw folk. I had to remember that I had been no different before Christ. Why would I expect them to act in a way that they knew nothing about.
It was liberating when I eventually realized that my words and actions could either turn them against Christ or toward him. They may not read the Bible, but they would see me, who professed to read and follow the Bible.
"There, but for the Grace of God, go I" should be our constant self reminder ...
I have a question though, and please forgive me if I come across as really stupid or naive, obviously we do not look down upon anyone no matter who they are. Gods word is incredibly clear as we see in 1 Corinthians 5: 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
The fact is like you stated and experienced and I myself have been privileged to experience as have many others when they come to Jesus Christ and give their entire lives to love worship and serve Him the free gift of His grace in the honour of deliverance from those sins that we were bound in when we were lost hopeless wretched sinners, then also we received as part of that undeserved unearned unmerited gift in becoming a reborn new creation and receiving the Holy spirit infilling and indwelling & put through progressive sanctification by and through Jesus christ, and it is the absolute living truths that Jesus and His word repeatedly states that we are set free from the captivity of slavery to habitual perpetual sinning. That we undergo radical transformational metamorphosis, we get completely undone from our former ways of having lived contrary to God's grace, love and ways, by the fact of the enormity of all what our Lord Jesus did by his sacrificial crucified life death burial resurrection & ascension we repent in dust and ashes with much weeping regret, stricken at heart knowing full well we deserve nothing especially not any forgiveness yet he lavishes his love and his forgiveness upon us and recreates himself after his own seed in us as the word. (Luke 8:11-18; John 1:1~51) our mind changing to God's mind and understandings into absolute Godly sorrow fully realising what we have done in hurting not only ourselves but others and Heavenly father. Having allowed self, our carnal fleshly soulish desires the world & satan to have been our father and dictator ruler and influencers. To then come into having a Godly renewed mind. And a new nature of the spirit affecting into our very soul. So if this is the truth then why are so many others not experiencing this liberation in Christ Jesus? It doesn't make sense in my head?
The New Life
Ephesians 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor...
So if this is the truth and it certainly unequivocally is & many experience and live this through our now reborn regenerated redeemed and reconciled our once uncircumcised hearts of stone that even any tiny rocks or stones left over He will completely pulverise & remove them all giving us a heart of flesh back to the Heavenly father through and in Christ Jesus in the newness of spirit of life,the empowering resurrection spirit life and of course
It is still an ongoing process as it gets more finely tuned & He still is purifying me disciplining and at times chastising me when I am not yeilding fully to His will or not submitting in even just my thoughts or how He needs me to respond to others from the spirit and not the carnal soulish fleshly ways of being that still need to die or be destroyed and completely eradicated. Those parts of my emotional self, of my self mind, of self will. Or if I have been selfish and overlooked the needs of another, putting myself first instead of the other. I discovered though it is a supernatural empowering enabling, not merely a religious rhetoric but all that are Jesus' have been imbued and imparted the power to make us Godly. It is the enabling power of the holy spirit and not through self effort or self works. To be recreated in to Jesus' image and likeness to replicate His character nature person & authority in faith abiding in the Jesus as the vine and his word.
So the ultimate question is then why are there still so many Christians stunted & held captive and slaves to habitual perpetual wilfull sinning even after 10, 20, 30, 40 years?