“Our Daily Bread”   

http://odb.org/2012/07/17/whats-the-trouble/

 The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

2 Corinthians 7:10… For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.  (NKJV)

As I continue on from yesterdays writing, about repentance being a missing link to many churches teaching on “Easy-Believism”, I pray that God uses His Word, to awaken the sinner with this false belief, that all they have to do in believe on Jesus Christ, and they will be saved…  Here is the link for yesterdays writing, for those who want to catch up…   https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/gods-group-thoughts-for-7162012-the-missing-link/

There are so many people, falsely believing that they are a Christian, who believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins…that Jesus Christ was buried, and that Jesus Christ rose again from the grave… I often hear, what is possibly the most well known piece of scripture in the Bible…sighted as a source for “Easy-Believism”…John 3:16… For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (NKJV)

But this belief that Jesus preached, has to produce a dramatic and life long change in the life of a sinning non-believer… After all…even Satan and his demon friends believed that there was only one God (James 2:19)…

This false belief, has a person professing to be a Christian; and yet there is no real supernatural change in their lives…2 Corinthians 5:17… Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have becomenew.  (NKJV)

Many of these miss-led people, believe that their self-righteous works (like going to church every week), are what God requires to absolve their sins… Its not about works… It is God’s pure grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)… I often write about these false, self-righteous works; sighting Jesus’ verbal warning that these good works done in the name of the Lord, will not forgive sins…and will have the Lord, turning these non-repentant sinners away from the gates of heaven, when it is too late…Matthew 7:21-23… (Here is the link for this important warning, spoken by Jesus Himself, and recorded for our benefit)…   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat7:21-23&version=NKJV

The important point Jesus made in this scripture…along with warning these non-believers that they will be turned away from the gates of heaven…was what they MUSTdo to be saved, in this scripture…Matthew 7:21b… but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  (NKJV)

This brings me back to the third part of repentance, that I started on yesterday; which is required by a sinner to be forgiven of their lifetime of sins by God…  The will of a sinning non-believer, must be changed from their own will, to…“the will” of God the Father… Notice in the opening scripture, the words…“godly sorrow”… This sorrow is a true sorrow the sinner feels, because God has given them His will; and they understand for the first time in their lives…that they must repent and turn from their sins, as they seek Jesus Christ to come into their hearts, and change their lives…  This “repentance leading to salvation”, becomes a life long repentance for any and all sins that are committed; after God has graced the sinner with salvation…

This is what validates the permanent change in the life of a new creature in Christ, (the Christian) as described from the scripture above, in…2 Corinthians 5:17… The Holy Spirit is given to the new Christian, as the heart, the mind, and the soul are taken over by God… The entire focus of the Christian, should be trying to please and glorify God…with a renewed mind that continuously seeks to do the perfect will of God…Romans 12:1-2… The Holy Spirit, if left in total control of the Christian’s life…will constantly remind the Christian every time they sin…and these sins must be confessed and repented of as they occur…

1 John 1:9… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (NKJV)

A person just can’t be a Sunday morning Christian…going to a church that always makes them “feel good” while they are there…has the Christian telling themselves that they have done their duty…and that they are good to go until next Sunday; and then has them walking out the door sinning for the next 6 days…

Continuous realization of each and every sin by the Spirit filled Christian…along with a lifetime of continuous confessing and repenting of one’s sins (hopefully infrequent – though minute by minute, if necessary)…along with producing good fruit (Matthew 7:15-20) and good works…is what the Bible teaches us, is evidence that a Christian is truly saved…(read …James 2:14-26…“Faith Without Works is Dead”)… Here is the link for this evidence of grace…    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202:14-26&version=NKJV

Heavenly Father, I pray that all readers would understand the truth that is seen through Your Word today… I pray Lord, that all of us would be able to come to a point in our lives…where we seek to do Your perfect will… Help all of us Lord, each with our own specific needs…to find this Spirit filled perfection, that You can provide us if we remain humble… I pray for this perfect peace for all of us…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills