Let us go on to maturity!

For the first time in my eight years as a Christian, I am going to actually read through the whole bible this year. It has been some wonderful time spent with the Lord, and I have learned many things from Him, and about Him. Such things as how much it means to Him to have His children seeking Him and trusting Him. I have seen His abundant blessings and chastisement. So many awesome and scary things. But through it all, there was a continual message of grace coming, such as the world had never seen.

I was cruising along, looking at the popular commentaries, doing a little study in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic trying to find some deeper understanding, in other words looking to man for answers. During my studying, about 7 or 8 months ago now, the Lord sent a friend of ours over to tell us about the full assurance of faith which was found in grace. I was so disturbed by the message of grace; that God is no longer dealing with me over my sin, I am already a believer mind you, and that if I wanted to go out and sin my butt off I could. It would not change how God feels about me one iota.

Well of course I rejected it at first; even saying this kid has a demon! Then came the ‘Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound argument’, saying: ‘We will just give people a license to sin. We have to be careful!’ Sounds like I trust an all powerful God to me, doesn’t it? I have now come to understand that people are going to sin whether we give them a license or not. In fact if we read the words of Paul in Romans 7, we will see that trying to be sin managers will only produce more sin. I didn’t write it, I just read it.

When are believers going to realize that is why Christ took it out of the way? Do we still sin? Of course! It is just not against God, it is against each other. How many times have you heard a believer quote Psalm 51 or 1 John 1:9 as an excuse, in my opinion, to not go to someone they have sinned against. Why? Is it because we do not really know God’s heart? Or just as bad, are we not being led by the Spirit of Christ who is supposed to be living in us?

If we believe we are a new creation, and the Spirit of God lives in us, if indeed He does; then wouldn’t He be telling us when we go to Him all pious and reverent to confess our sin over cussing out a friend or brother or sister and say: ‘Oh God forgive me, for against you and you only have I sinned’, that His Spirit would be telling us, ‘Why are you telling me? Don’t you believe that my Son took care of that problem between us? What about that person you sinned against? Go tell them about it. They are the one you sinned against. Not me!’

You see brothers and sisters, going on to maturity is not sinning less as so many teach these days. Will this happen? Yes. But going on to maturity is realizing just exactly what Jesus did accomplish for us when He said, ‘It is finished!’ Paid in full is the Greek. Let us find out what paid in full means so we can step into the full assurance of grace by faith and faith alone. Let us step out of our arrogant, self-righteous belief system that according to the word of God is obsolete, (adherence to the law or the ten commandments), and step into the ministry of reconciliation, and the new covenant, bearing fruit that remains that only the vine can produce. And let us walk in a new and living way, loving our brothers and sisters and having one mind which our precious Lord and Savior died a horrible death to provide. Jesus is no longer at the cross people, He rose again to give us a new way to live, but without Him we can do nothing.

Love and grace....Lisa