[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Aquila

I think it can be seen. Ever notice how so many different churches have different "lists" of "standards" that supposedly "please God"? Ever fear losing your salvation over something like short sleeves? Ever been told you can't approach God unless you're in complete agreement with the pastor's (a man's) "standards"?

It's seen and experienced every day. Yet people either ignore it or make excuses for it. One church I attended condemned anyone who wore a wedding band to Hell. The next church I attended said it wasn't any big deal to God. Is GOD the author of confusion??? Absolutely not.

Let's face it... these "lists" of "standards" and interpretations leave the believer drifting on the sea of the highly subjective opinions of men. No one as any assurance of their salvation. We then judge one another and measure one another by one another. The body is divided. Christ takes a back seat to our performance with regards to the "list" we've been given. Jesus is seen as dying for us to get us in the door... and then seemingly abandons us to save ourselves through rigorous adherence to the given list in front of us. Soon our "Apostolic Identity" becomes far more important and precious in our eyes than our identity in Christ alone. This is a subtle form of idolatry. And none of these lists can provide us a better chance at attaining Heaven than an attempt at building a wooden ladder to Heaven. We think that God is "impressed" with our efforts and our standards. Many think God will judge each of us differently in accordance our respective "lists". However, God is no respecter of persons. Even worse yet... though we've designed our lists in the back rooms of our denominational headquarters... we fail to keep them perfectly ourselves! Thereby making ourselves the worst of hypocrites. Technically, even our own lists will stand to condemn us.

However, there is a single solid objective truth that we can stand upon. That truth is... God's grace towards His elect children. The truth that God chose an elect remnant from before the foundations of the world through which to demonstrate His love and grace. The truth that God has provided atonement, propitiation, and justification for His children's glorification. All through grace and grace alone. No performance is necessary. Just a continual life of surrender to God's leading. A surrender to... love. Loving God and loving others. An absolute surrender of the self, the soul, the ego to the very person of Jesus. The quest to be conformed into the image of the glorified Christ Himself. The surrender to being a branch of the True Vine. The surrender to being filled with all the fullness of God's own Spirit. The surrender to being "one spirit" with the Lord. This brings us to the point of truly knowing ourselves and being honest about our wretched fallen nature and the depravity of our filthy, rotten, sordid flesh. Accepting the reality that we are chosen treasures trapped in earthen vessels. The absolute and utter dependence upon God's grace to grow into the fullness of Christ's own likeness.

Grace is the only solid objective truth of Scripture. Grace requires nothing as it relates to performance. However, it demands everything with relation to the surrender of self and honesty about one's condition before God... leading to absolute dependence upon... Him and Him alone.

Grace.

Still. It does remain to be seen. When it's too late to do anything about it!