How does a saint of God who is struggling with Christian disciplines and sin increase their love for Jesus, thereby bringing a life that is congruent with the new nature imparted to them?
The truth is…there is nothing in the way of Christian discipline that the believer can do to increase his or her love for God. They don’t need to “do” anything. They need a revelation. “A revelation of what?” one might ask. A revelation of God’s love. Let’s take a look at a text and I’ll draw a foundational principle from it:
I John 4:7-19
{4:7} Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
{4:8} He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
{4:9} In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him. {4:10} Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to
be] the propitiation for our sins. {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit. {4:14} And we have
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son [to be] the
Saviour of the world. {4:15} Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God. {4:16} And we have known and believed the love that
God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him. {4:17} Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. {4:18}
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love. {4:19} We love him, because he first loved
us.
Notice the last verse in the text, “We love him, because he first loved us.” We don’t begin with more disciplines and behavior modification (legalism). We begin with turning to Scripture to get a revelation of God’s love towards us. Why? Because we only love Him… as a result of Him shedding His love lavishly upon us. When a struggling believer begins to get a revelation of how much God loves them, How God Himself bore all their sins upon the cross. How Jesus Christ became the object of God’s wrath on their behalf. How they are justified purely by faith, and adopted in as a son or daughter. When they realize that their Heavenly Father is indeed, “Abba father”, the condemnation and fear is lifted. There is no fear in love. If one is made to fear God as though there never was a cross…they can never be made perfect in their love for God. They fear Him as an abusive, threatening, violent father who might be provoked to beat them when they mess up or make wrong decisions. As we begin to understand God’s love…our love for Him will naturally grow in response. And the more we understand God’s love…the more we will in turn love Him. And as our love is perfected in understanding Him and His love, our behaviors will change…and we will have renewed our mind, aligning it with God’s revelation, thus producing a desire for greater sanctification.
Here’s a real life example. This college aged kid in church was expressing that he was struggling with temptations to drink on the weekends with his peers. More times than not, he gave into the temptation and went partying with them. He wanted to read his Bible and pray more, but he didn’t feel motivated enough to do it. He just wanted to love God more, but didn’t know how to do it. The brothers in our cell group advised him to institute a “quiet time” for prayer every morning. They also advised him to change the music he listened to and advised him to set aside 15 minutes a night for Bible reading. Then they assigned him an “accountability partner” to break his knee caps if he failed (Just kidding! Lol). They meant well…but they put him under bondage. As he tried to perform the duties on their “little list” (read “Law”) he found that occasionally he’d sleep to late for the quiet time he committed to. Sometimes he’d get tired and go to sleep before his 15 minute Bible reading. When his “accountability partner”, Guido the Killer Christian, called him to see if he was abiding by the list, the brother lied and said he was praying and reading his Bible every day. The result? CONDEMNATION. The Law always brings condemnation because no one can keep it indefinitely. Needless to say, this caused him to shy away from prayer time even more. He also became afraid to read the Bible, because when he read it, all he saw was that God was angry at him and displeased with him. God was becoming like a bitter, angry, and demanding father in his eyes. The first cell group meeting of last month he ditched. Just didn’t show up. So I decided to call him, though I’m not the “religious policeman” assigned to him. We talked. I asked him why he didn’t come. He said, “Because I can’t do it. I can’t be a Christian. I just don’t love God enough. I can’t stop doing the things that I know He doesn’t want me to do.” I said, “Do you know what God wants more than that?” He said “What?” I said, “God just wants you to know how much He loves you.” From there we began to talk about God’s love. How God loved us…while we were yet sinners. How Jesus became our propitiation. I looked up the definition of propitiation and read it to him. We talked about how Jesus Himself was the object of God’s wrath on his behalf. Yes…Jesus was punished for every mistake this brother would ever make to satisfy the demands of God’s holy justice. I then said, “So how could God be angry with you? His anger was already poured out on Christ?” This kid then said, “He did that for me?” I said, “Yes. And he did it once and for all.” He was silent. I could hear a sniffle over the phone as he tried to hide the fact that he was crying. I encouraged him to come back to the cell group. When he did, to my surprise he confessed about lying. He explained that he just didn’t want them to see him as a failure. I committed myself to doing something privately. Every time I see this brother, I’m saying, “He did it all for you.” Guess what…last time we talked he was sharing something he read in his Bible. What led him to begin reading? A desire to know the God who loves him so much, He’d die to redeem him. His love is growing, as a result of a revelation of God’s own love for him.
When we understand just how much God loves us…there’s just no way we can stand there unaffected. If we are sincerely seeking God, a revelation of how He first loved us will birth an ever deepening love for Him. All the “disciplines” will then cease to be seen as disciplines, but will become fruit of the Spirit.
How does a saint of God who is struggling with Christian disciplines and sin increase their love for Jesus, thereby bringing a life that is congruent with the new nature imparted to them?
The truth is there is nothing in the way of Christian discipline that the believer can do to increase his or her love for God. They dont need to do anything. They need a revelation. A revelation of what? one might ask. A revelation of Gods love. Lets take a look at a text and Ill draw a foundational principle from it:
I John 4:7-19
{4:7} Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
{4:8} He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
{4:9} In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him. {4:10} Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to
be] the propitiation for our sins. {4:11} Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. {4:12} No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. {4:13}
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit. {4:14} And we have
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son [to be] the
Saviour of the world. {4:15} Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in
God. {4:16} And we have known and believed the love that
God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him. {4:17} Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. {4:18}
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love. {4:19} We love him, because he first loved
us.
Notice the last verse in the text, We love him, because he first loved us. We dont begin with more disciplines and behavior modification (legalism). We begin with turning to Scripture to get a revelation of Gods love towards us. Why? Because we only love Him as a result of Him shedding His love lavishly upon us. When a struggling believer begins to get a revelation of how much God loves them, How God Himself bore all their sins upon the cross. How Jesus Christ became the object of Gods wrath on their behalf. How they are justified purely by faith, and adopted in as a son or daughter. When they realize that their Heavenly Father is indeed, Abba father, the condemnation and fear is lifted. There is no fear in love. If one is made to fear God as though there never was a cross they can never be made perfect in their love for God. They fear Him as an abusive, threatening, violent father who might be provoked to beat them when they mess up or make wrong decisions. As we begin to understand Gods love our love for Him will naturally grow in response. And the more we understand Gods love the more we will in turn love Him. And as our love is perfected in understanding Him and His love, our behaviors will change and we will have renewed our mind, aligning it with Gods revelation, thus producing a desire for greater sanctification.
Heres a real life example. This college aged kid in church was expressing that he was struggling with temptations to drink on the weekends with his peers. More times than not, he gave into the temptation and went partying with them. He wanted to read his Bible and pray more, but he didnt feel motivated enough to do it. He just wanted to love God more, but didnt know how to do it. The brothers in our cell group advised him to institute a quiet time for prayer every morning. They also advised him to change the music he listened to and advised him to set aside 15 minutes a night for Bible reading. Then they assigned him an accountability partner to break his knee caps if he failed (Just kidding! Lol). They meant well but they put him under bondage. As he tried to perform the duties on their little list (read Law) he found that occasionally hed sleep to late for the quiet time he committed to. Sometimes hed get tired and go to sleep before his 15 minute Bible reading. When his accountability partner, Guido the Killer Christian, called him to see if he was abiding by the list, the brother lied and said he was praying and reading his Bible every day. The result? CONDEMNATION. The Law always brings condemnation because no one can keep it indefinitely. Needless to say, this caused him to shy away from prayer time even more. He also became afraid to read the Bible, because when he read it, all he saw was that God was angry at him and displeased with him. God was becoming like a bitter, angry, and demanding father in his eyes. The first cell group meeting of last month he ditched. Just didnt show up. So I decided to call him, though Im not the religious policeman assigned to him. We talked. I asked him why he didnt come. He said, Because I cant do it. I cant be a Christian. I just dont love God enough. I cant stop doing the things that I know He doesnt want me to do. I said, Do you know what God wants more than that? He said What? I said, God just wants you to know how much He loves you. From there we began to talk about Gods love. How God loved us while we were yet sinners. How Jesus became our propitiation. I looked up the definition of propitiation and read it to him. We talked about how Jesus Himself was the object of Gods wrath on his behalf. Yes Jesus was punished for every mistake this brother would ever make to satisfy the demands of Gods holy justice. I then said, So how could God be angry with you? His anger was already poured out on Christ? This kid then said, He did that for me? I said, Yes. And he did it once and for all. He was silent. I could hear a sniffle over the phone as he tried to hide the fact that he was crying. I encouraged him to come back to the cell group. When he did, to my surprise he confessed about lying. He explained that he just didnt want them to see him as a failure. I committed myself to doing something privately. Every time I see this brother, Im saying, He did it all for you. Guess what last time we talked he was sharing something he read in his Bible. What led him to begin reading? A desire to know the God who loves him so much, Hed die to redeem him. His love is growing, as a result of a revelation of Gods own love for him.
When we understand just how much God loves us theres just no way we can stand there unaffected. If we are sincerely seeking God, a revelation of how He first loved us will birth an ever deepening love for Him. All the disciplines will then cease to be seen as disciplines, but will become fruit of the Spirit.
All nice and everythng but missed the point I made Concerning what to do. Prayer is a general seeking of God leading WHICH GOES TO EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID! e is the one that brngs love more perfectly than your words. He is the one that perfects the heart. You simply ignore what is involved so you can run off on whatever you want. I have 1000 times went over love. You act lke it is a new revelation. Like you are giving some unheard of teaching.. you legalists don't get it. While Iam constantly teaching the component legal aspects you run off around in Reformed land. Knowing God brings conviction and seeking him bings conviction. Also YOU are wrong. You DO have to so something it is called SEEK. 2) HUMBLE YOURSELF and others. What is prayer? Seeking the mind of God and his leading to bring you beyond your circumstance and finding his will and becoming intimate.
Also many will KNOW the truth an have a revelation of his love and still turn away loving the world and THEMSELVES more than Christ. Your example is a person of ignorance not knowing. Which is more like a situation of initial salvation or coming to God and the knowledge of him etc...
I will respond later to the other stuff. Not everything we disagree on but you have major issues in understanding righteousness/justice and it's usage IMO.
The Exchanged Life
by Hudson Taylor
Yes, in me, in me He dwelleth
I in Him and He in me!
And my empty soul He filleth
Now and through eternity.
Horatio Bonar
"... God made me a new man! God has made me a new man!"
Wonderful was the experience that had come in answer to prayer, yet so simple as almost to baffle description...
Do you know, I now think that this striving, longing, hoping for better days to come is not the true way to holiness, happiness or usefulness. It is better, no doubt, far better than being satisfied with poor attainments, but not the best way after all. I have been struck with a passage from a book... entitled Christ is All. It says,
"The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete...
"He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys most fully in the finished work..."
... To let my loving Savior work in me His will, my sanctification, is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding, not striving nor struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power... resting in the love of an almighty Savior, in the joy of a complete salvation, "from all sin" -- this is not new, and yet 'tis new to me... Christ literally all seems to me, now, the power, the only power for service, the only ground for unchanging joy...
How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith... but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and eternity.
... I looked to Jesus, and when I saw -- oh, how joy flowed!
It was resting in Jesus now, and letting Him do the work -- which makes all the difference. Whenever he spoke in meetings after that, a new power seemed to flow from him, and in the practical things of life a new peace possessed him. Troubles did not worry him as before. He cast everything on God in a new way, and gave more time to prayer.
It was the exchanged life that had come to him -- the life that is indeed "No longer I"... It was a blessed reality "Christ liveth in me." And how great the difference! -- instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.
Perhaps I may make myself more clear if I go back a little... I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for meditation -- but all without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness sin oppressed me.
I knew that if only I could abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye off Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, and constant interruptions apt to be so wearing, caused me to forget Him. Then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, had thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin and failure, of lack of power. To will was indeed "present with me," but how to perform I found not.
Then came the questions, is there no rescue? Must it be thus to the end -- constant conflict, and too often defeat?... Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no longer, for faith and even hope were getting low. I hated myself, I hated my sin, yet gained no strength against it. I felt I was a child of God. His Spirit in my heart would cry, in spite of all, "Abba, Father." But to rise to my privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless.
... I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength. Sometimes I almost believed that He wold keep and uphold me; but on looking back in the evening -- alas! There was but sin and failure to confess and mourn before God.
... And yet, never did Christ seem more precious; a Savior who could and would save such a sinner!... And sometimes there were seasons not only of peace but of joy in the Lord; but they were transitory, and at best there was a sad lack of power.
All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was -- how to get it out. He was rich truly, but I was poor; He was strong, but I weak. I knew full well that there was in the root, the stem, abundant fatness, but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question. As gradually light dawned, I saw that faith was the only requisite -- was the hand to lay hold on His fullness and make it mine. But I had not this faith.
I strove for faith, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior, my guilt and helplessness seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word... I prayed for faith, but it came not. What was I to do?
When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.
"But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One."
As I read, I saw it all! "If we believe not, he abideth faithful." I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed)! That He had said, "I will never leave thee."
"Ah, there is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with me -- never to leave me, never to fail me?" And... He never will.
... As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured direct into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in wishing to get the sap, the fullness out of Him! I saw not only that Jesus will ever leave me, but that I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all -- root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone -- He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding too may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.
... It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and your left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves?... No more can your prayers or mine be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus (i.e., not for the sake of Jesus merely, but on the ground that we are His, His members) so long as we keep within the limits of Christ's credit -- a tolerably wide limit!
The sweetest part... is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest position He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient... So, if God should place me in serious perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trials, much strength? No fear that His resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.
And since Christ has thus dwelt in my heart by faith, how happy I have been!... I am no better than before. In a sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be. But I am dead and buried with Christ -- ay, and risen too! And now Christ lives in me, and "the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
... Do not let us consider Him as far off, when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body. Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonoring our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for true service is Christ.
And it is all so simple and practical!
"But are you always conscious of this abiding in Christ?" Mr. Taylor was asked many years later.
"While sleeping last night," he replied, "did I cease to abide in your home because I was unconscious of the fact? We should never be conscious of not abiding in Christ."
I change, He changes not;
The Christ can never die:
His truth, not mine, the resting place;
His love, not mine, the tie
Uncertainty of salvation comes from placing one's trust in self and not Christ. Such a one is already set up for failure. Get your eyes off yourself and turn your eyes upon Jesus. Then the things of this world will grow strangely dim. ;-)
Uncertainty of salvation comes from placing one's trust in self and not Christ. Such a one is already set up for failure. Get your eyes off yourself and turn your eyes upon Jesus. Then the things of this world will grow strangely dim. ;-)
Won't you, like, trip over stuff?
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
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I'm (sic) not cynical, I just haven't been around long enough to be Jedi mind-tricked by politics as usual. Alas, maybe in a few years I'll be beaten back into the herd. tstew
Grace... when you've tired to live the best you can for God... and still fail.... thank God for Grace. Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.KJV
Does it mean we don't try? James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?KJV
The heresy hunters are still with us. Only now, instead of stakes, they use their books and radio programs to destroy those they consider heretics.... I'm concerned that heresy hunting may be turning into leukemia because some cultwatchers seem more intent on destroying parts of the body than healing the body....
Hybrid Mode
