The Cross of Christ Alone Can Save

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Originally Posted by notofworks

••If my "accusing" is too strong, I'll just simply quote what you said:

"I personally know from experience that I sought the Spirit baptism for six months. The trouble was, that I knew I was not letting go of some sins, and when I let go of them I got the Spirit right away! I can only go by my experience. It is not hard. Letting go of sin may be what is hard." (Page 69, post 682)

I think that says it all. Mike there's NOTHING hard about getting saved.

Brother, lol, the way of a transgressor is hard. Not the way of salvation. I refused to acknowledge some sins as sins. I said that if something is wrong with what I am doing, then when God fills me with His Spirit He can tell me then. I had idols in my life. I refused to let them go.

And for you to take my words and claim I am legalistic is for you to say one does not need to get rid of idols in one's life in order for God to bless them.

Unfortunately, teaching people there is no need to let go of their idols, which is basically what you are saying to me since that was my problem, is an all too common trend in many religious circles today.

So, I think you may now better realize where I am coming from when I said what you quoted.

Jesus has done everything in our place, He did everything that was hard and now we walk freely in His grace. he bore the sins of the world, took the crushing blows of Calvary, and Gethsemane, so that we can simply believe and be saved.

He did not let go of our idols for us, so that we have no letting go to perform.

And baptism is no more a work than repentance, since it is how we approach His grace and receive from His grace. It does not EARN grace nor WORK for it. Baptism is no more a work for salvation than walking up to daddy and receiving a gift from him is a work to earn that gift. Baptism to me is just walking up to receive a gift. Walking to get a gift is not a work that earns a gift.

Jesus said his "yoke is EASY and His burden is light." Mike, nothing about this is hard. It's been made very simple by the cross of Jesus Christ.

I agree. But you distorted my words, for whatever reason, though I think unintentionally, and claimed I said something I never said. You misinterpreted what I meant. I meant that letting go of sin is losing your idols willingly, which I was not doing. Maybe the idolatry example can better show you what I mean.

FURTHERMORE....it is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to rid ourselves of sinful habits.

IF WE ARE WILLING.

Galatians 5:16 tells us that we walk in the Spirit and the result is, we do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. You're telling me that you found power outside the Holy Spirit to rid yourself of sin. But in reality, the opposite is true. Christ fills us and in so doing, gives us the power to avoid sinful pitfalls.

No, I am not telling you I had power outside the Spirit to rid myself of sin. The truth of the matter was that God had all the power I would ever need, but I WAS NOT WANTING THAT POWER to rid me of particular sins. My will was not in agreement with what God said was sin. Only when one ACKNOWLEDGES what God says is sin, will one ALLOW the power of God to rid it from us.

If you disagree with this, then we might as well agree to disagree, since I doubt we can ever agree on this in that case.