Lord Have Mercy! Is This Good News Message THAT Hard to Believe?

[Roofdad]

As I try to share this rightly divided good news with others, I am finding that most people find this message hard to believe! Why is that??
I have pondered this......... why would someone NOT want to believe this message? Could it be that in a subconscious way, people do not want to feel under any obligation to ANYONE, to the point that they feel that they must somehow be responsible for their own salvation, by trying so hard to walk a certain way, and attain a certain righteousness?
As I talked with my niece a few nights ago, she asked me if I thought that she was going to heaven. I asked her if she believed in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
She said yes. I told her that yes, I believed that she was going to heaven, then. She shook her head, and told me that she was so far from where she needed to be in the Lord..... I said that we ALL were! I added "as opposed to what?" BEING where we needed to be?? We will NEVER be there! We MUST lean on Christ, and allow HIM to be our righteousness! He became sin for us, so we could become righteous in Him!

What a shame that so many people feel that there is just NO way that thay will see heaven, unless they walk a certain way, and live a certain way. I tried to explain it to my niece like this: All of that walking and living in the Lord is where your rewards come in..... The salvation that Jesus gives us for believing is the gift of a firm foundation that we can then build on! What we choose to build on it is up to us.....we can build up rewards, or leave it an empty foundation, but either way, that firm foundation that He gives us remains! It can NOT be lost!

I don't think she is convinced, though. I love her dearly. She is the oldest daughter of my only sister, and she hasn't beeen in church for the last couple years. I will keep trying to convince her to enter into that rest in Christ, and allow HIM to be her righteousness.

[Christine]

Dear Darryl,

Now you begin to see the inroads that organized "religion" and the traditions of MEN have taken....its scary aint it?

The flesh wants to think that somehow it can improve itself to "become" acceptable to God and to somehow pay Him back for all He has done. So many have NO CLUE of the GRACE of God and that our righteousness is a GIFT thru believing in the ONLY righteous ONE! Our flesh is still as stinky as the day we got saved, and God has declared it crucified WITH Christ, buried with Him, and RISEN in newness of HIS LIFE operating in and thru us. These basic IDENTIFICATION truths are what is missing from the pulpits and from the knowledge of most who profess to BE Christians...isn't it SAD?

Instead they cling to "establishing their own righteousness" and not accepting the righteousness that God has provided thru Christ alone. It should be a glaring reminder to all of us that satan CAN and does present himself as a "minister of righteousness"(albeit NOT the righteousness God provided) and he and his fallen angels STILL sit in churches and present themselves as "ministers of light." The GREAT deceiver is still at work and because people do NOT study to show themselves approved unto God, they settle for a false sense of security NOT based on the finished work of Christ, but on their OWN efforts.

It reminds me much of what Paul faced when dealing with the Galatians:

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Colossians 2:10 And ye ARE complete in him....this is where we find our completeness. We are ACCEPTED in the Beloved...because of what HE did, not because of anything WE do...we cannot add to His perfect work one little bit.

Hang in there , Darryl....share what you know and leave the results to God...we are proud of you and honored to have you stand with us in this most important message.

Huuuugs

[Blood Bought]

For those of us newer to right division, I think if we're honest, even we wonder sometimes, especially since we've been muddling in typical, traditional teaching for some time. I know personally that since I've found so many grace teachings, including this site, my love for the Lord has deepened much further. I have my problem areas, but I find myself glued to these refreshing and eye opening teachings so much, there have been some naturally occuring changes in my life because of it. Oh, if only I could be perfect for Him, though I know I never will be, nor does He expect me to be. The simplicity in Him is just TOO simple for man to fully understand and acknowledge. I think We all have just that little bit of pride that gets in the way. 

Love in Christ   

[Christine]

Yep...we have trouble admitting we were somehow WRONG, don't we? Thats what makes right division so awesome....we have been given the answers and the criteria is to compare scripture WiTH Scripture. It becomes a joy to find how Gods plan is so absolutely wonderful, instead of slogging thru in an religious HAZE.

When we dump the PRIDE, its amazing the things we can SEE.  We are delighted that you are learning so much, Berean....huuuugs.