No. 12 - The Eternal Realities of Christ's Sacrifice When I first began to discover the things that I have been sharing with you, especially the beautiful truth of Christ's personal union with me, there was a little problem in my mind that I kept running into. I struggled to get past the thought that [...]
No. 11 - Salvation Through Christ - PART 2 We have just seen how close Jesus came to US - He became one with us. His name is Emmanuel, God with US. God the Father is the God component in that name, and Jesus Christ is the US component. So closely is He united to [...]
Now, so far in these presentations we have come to understand what we could call the “fundamentals” of righteousness by faith. A simple summary would be that we can't, God must, and so He has given us His word and through His word, He will bring His own righteousness – His own right-doing - into our practical lives. Now, what we want to understand from here on, is what Jesus Christ has to do with all of this...
So far in our series we have been learning that we cannot do anything right. All of our own good best works are as filthy rags. Because of our sinful condition, our works are contaminated, no matter how good and perfect they may be. And so God has promised that He will give us His own perfect works - He will work obedience in us. But we must have a faith that will trust Him to do it. And then, of course, we must LET Him do it.
All parents worry about their children. And so they should. We are living in very uncertain times, and in a time when the attractions of the world are stronger than ever. Many of you will have children who you love very dearly. Some of you have done the best you can with raising your children, but you still see them going in the wrong direction. Some of you will have become Christians later in life and you now repent and regret the way that you brought up your children. Some of you have been too strict on your children with your principles, and now they are in rebellion. And some may have neglected their duties altogether.
It is my prayer that through these presentations, God is giving you the answers that you have been needing. So many of us stress about our salvation. We can see that this world is rapidly descending into a time of terrible trouble and we know that we need to be ready for Jesus to come, but we don't know HOW to be ready. And this was my problem for many years. I spent some years in a more liberal way of life, taking the grace of God for granted, and some years in the legalistic way, trying to save myself by my own good works. I could never find the meaning of faith AND works in my life. It always seemed to be either faith OR works. I was never told that works come to me by faith - that it is God who must do the works, and it is through faith that God's works will become a practical reality in my life.
For a number of years there were some parts of God's word that I couldn't read. It was too painful because I had tried to do what it said, but I couldn't do it, and so every time I read it, I felt that it was condemning me. But now I have no problems reading it, because now I know that when I am reading that word, THAT WORD ITSELF will do what it says - it is not for me to do it!
I spent so much of my life trying to work out what faith is. In fact, faith was such an incomprehensible thing to me that I didn't even know how to put my questions about faith into words! I was so grateful to God when I found the answer. And I pray you will be grateful to Him also when you find the answer.
So, who did the works in the life of Christ? If He is our Great Example, then we should find Him in the same situation as us, teaching us how things are done properly. Right?
We have been learning that there is nothing that we can do right. Our own works are not good enough to satisfy the claims of the law. But God knows this and so He has promised to do all of the works for us. He is waiting for us to admit that we cannot do anything right and to ask Him to do it for us.
Did you find things in our last study a little interesting? Maybe it did for you what it did for me – it set me free. You see, I spent most of my life trying and trying to do things right. I tried so hard to be perfect, but all I ever seemed to experience was disappointment and condemnation. I was looking in the wrong place for a perfection that the law will be happy with.
The very first place that we must begin our studies is in the consideration of our great need. When Jesus walked upon this earth, He found that the world could be divided into two separate classes - those who felt their need of Him and His grace, and those who did not think that they needed it.
Welcome. My name is Camron Schofield. I would like to share with you a series of presentations that will help to answer some of the questions you have about your salvation. What I am going to tell you are the things that I wish someone told me a long time ago.
