Tonight I sat listening to God's word, absolutely numbed by its relevance. Relevant not in the sense of "felt needs," but relevant to my actual needs. Feelings do not always tell us what it true, so what does? Truth does--the Bible. How obviously the Bible states that I do not have "free will." We are all (and by all I mean, every human born of Adam) "slaves to sin." And only by grace, God intercedes and calls people from any and all nations from death to life--from blindness to sight!
Jesus died on a cross, became a curse for us and was RAISED, conquering death--so that whomever believes in him will have eternal life--to the praise of His glorious grace. Jesus said, "the only way to the Father is through me." We all have sinned, fall short of God's glory and are captive to sin--bound for destruction. Yet there is hope! Jesus says, "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
And this repentance, this faith is sparked by the New Birth. Just like we had no choice in our physical birth--we have no choice in our Regeneration--and how sweet that is!!! We do not cause it--God does. 1 Peter 1:3 says, "he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
And how are we born again? John 3:3-8 tells us that it is by the Spirit of God--who is like the wind: "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is not bound to a sacrament created by a tradition in a church--the Holy Spirit IS God and moves as he pleases and as he wills, not as a human commands or institutes.
The New Birth, that only the God of the Bible causes, sparks CONSCIOUS faith and repentance. John 1:11-13 says, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
A.W. Tozer's words are so helpful: "This intercourse between God and the soul is
known to us in conscious personal awareness. It is personal: it does not
come through the body of believers, as such, but it is known to the individual,
and to the body through the individuals which compose it. It is conscious:
it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness and work there unknown to
the soul (as, for instance, infant baptism is thought by some to do), but comes
within the field of awareness where the man can know it as he knows any
other fact of experience... Being made in His image we have within us the
capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment
the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses
kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly
birth without which we cannot see the kingdom of God...That is where we begin,
I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful
and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end."
Jesus died on a cross, became a curse for us and was RAISED, conquering death--so that whomever believes in him will have eternal life--to the praise of His glorious grace. Jesus said, "the only way to the Father is through me." We all have sinned, fall short of God's glory and are captive to sin--bound for destruction. Yet there is hope! Jesus says, "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
And this repentance, this faith is sparked by the New Birth. Just like we had no choice in our physical birth--we have no choice in our Regeneration--and how sweet that is!!! We do not cause it--God does. 1 Peter 1:3 says, "he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
And how are we born again? John 3:3-8 tells us that it is by the Spirit of God--who is like the wind: "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is not bound to a sacrament created by a tradition in a church--the Holy Spirit IS God and moves as he pleases and as he wills, not as a human commands or institutes.
The New Birth, that only the God of the Bible causes, sparks CONSCIOUS faith and repentance. John 1:11-13 says, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
A.W. Tozer's words are so helpful: "This intercourse between God and the soul is
known to us in conscious personal awareness. It is personal: it does not
come through the body of believers, as such, but it is known to the individual,
and to the body through the individuals which compose it. It is conscious:
it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness and work there unknown to
the soul (as, for instance, infant baptism is thought by some to do), but comes
within the field of awareness where the man can know it as he knows any
other fact of experience... Being made in His image we have within us the
capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment
the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses
kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly
birth without which we cannot see the kingdom of God...That is where we begin,
I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful
and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end."
1 John 5:1 says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him." God regenerated my heart, which awakened immediate faith in Jesus Christ for the propitiation of my willful disobedience towards my Creator. Yet faith, is also a gift! It has been granted--Phil. 1:29, Acts 11:18, 2 Tim. 2:24-26.
God has removed my will of resistance, which was not "free will" at all--it was enslaved, and my master was Sin---but praise be God through Jesus who removed my heart of stone, replacing it with a heart of flesh, making me a slave to righteousness---not by my doing in any sense--but totally God. HE "has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
And so now that my will is enslaved to a Master of righteousness is it my doing that I choose to pursue holiness by the faith God deposited in me? NO! Philippians 2:12-13 says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." So also, the answer is YES! Because God HAS exchanged my will, that I now DESIRE to do what is right--for he has written his law on my heart, and has called me his child! Yet it is fully GOD that works in me to "both will and to do."
Jeremiah 32:39-41:
"I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul."
Wow.
While reading through these Scriptures earlier tonight, I took a break. And a kind lady named Lillian introduced herself to me. She has kind eyes that were so sincere--as though she has lived through much suffering, yet much grace. And through her story...she finally said, carefully: "It's good to wait on the Lord," and she paused as if she understood it is not an easy task. And then she said, "and not run ahead..." How valuable are the words of those that have gone before us! What sincere fear of the Lord Lillian depicted to me tonight, after years and years of journeying she recognized that the more she knows, the more questions she has. The more she understands the Bible, the more IN AWE and in trembling fear of her creator she stands. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"
May I follow in Lillian's example, fearing God above all else--that I might treasure Christ as he ought to be, and by doing so glorify God...not by any power I have--but by God's work, to "will and to do."
Grace abounds!
Sara
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