I’ve Tried and Failed

~ Maybe That Is The Problem! ~

note:  This is one in a series of Biblical answers to objections some individuals raise when presented with the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

“I’ve tried to live the Christian life before and I failed. I don’t think I can follow through!” 

This is similar to saying, “I will not bother to personally conduct a serious investigation of Jesus Christ because I tried to live a good Christian life before and couldn’t do it.” Such a response doesn’t stand up to the test of logic. But logic is not the main issue. What does God say?

The key issue of true Christianity (versus cults and other religions) is that you are incapable of living the Christian life. You must recognize that fact and allow the Spirit of God to work through you. In other words, if you truly believe and accept Christ as your Savior, your standing before God is done and there is nothing required of you other than to trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ on your behalf.  In other words, it is not DO but rather it is DONE! 

It Is God Who Delivers You (not your self-effort)  ~  “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:17).

“Being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:21).

It Is God Who Will Save You (not your self-effort)  ~  “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12). 

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). 

“To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4b).

It Is the Spirit of God Who Will Empower You (not your self-effort)  ~  “Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

You Can and Will Do It (through God’s help)  ~  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12). 

summary: “The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His divine being.

So nobody has a good excuse.

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life” (Romans 1:19-22, The Message).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Law vs. Grace, 2of12

~ The Law Cannot Justify vs. Grace can Justify ~

introduction:   The Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Galatians to the believers of this local church at a time when they were beginning to reject the gospel of grace and were instead moving backward toward obedience of the Mosaic Law as the means of winning favor with God. Paul’s purpose in writing was to point out the dramatic differences between Law and Grace. 

The Law Cannot Justify vs. Grace can Justify

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!” (Galatians 2:16-17, emphasis added). 

“But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith’ [Habakkuk 2:4]” (Galatians 3:11 emphasis added). 

summary:  The bottom line of understanding Law vs. Grace is a theology of “DO or DONE!” Are you still trying to DO things to earn your salvation, or do you understand that it was DONE for you on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ—you only need to accept/trust His provision on your behalf?

“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). “Not by works of righteousness which we do, but according to His mercy He saves us” (Titus 3:5a).

notes:  (1) The fourth Tuesday of each month during 2013 ALN will look at one aspect of “Law vs. Grace” as seen in the Book of Galatians.

(2) In addition to this series of 12 posts on Law vs. Grace, you might take a look at two previous ALN posts.  Law vs. Grace (July 6, 2010) and Law vs. Grace, 2 (July 5, 2011), as well as The Core Message of the Bible #2 (February 1, 2011).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Focus In Life

~ Is Jesus Christ the Focus of Your Life? ~

Look To Jesus  ~  “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus Christ is our example.

Learn From Jesus  ~  “And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word” (Luke 10:39). Jesus Christ is our teacher.

Lean On Jesus  ~  “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; there she who bore you brought you forth” (Song of Solomon 8:5). Jesus Christ is the source of our strength. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). 

Look For Jesus  ~  “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Jesus Christ is the basis for our hope.          

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

the key question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). This is the most important question you will ever answer. If you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest mistake anyone can make!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Messiah, 85

~ Messiah Would Be Rejected by His Own People ~

“Search the Scriptures—they testify of Me.”

— Jesus Christ (John 5:39)

The Scripture

“Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered My face. I have become a stranger to My brothers, and an alien to My mother's children” (Psalm 69:7-8).

The Messiah  

“Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind’ (Mark 3:20-21).

“After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’ For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:1-5). 

~~~ EXPLANATORY “MESSIAH” NOTES ~~~   

(1)  Each Saturday ALN posts an example of a Hebrew Scriptures prophecy (or foreshadowing) related to the coming Messiah which was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, or resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(2)  While extensive it will not be a complete list—there are hundreds of prophecies of the coming Messiah which have been fulfilled by one man—Jesus Christ at His First Coming.

(3)  It is important that there are many more prophecies of the Messiah, yet unfulfilled, which Christians believe will be fulfilled at the time of His Second Coming.  A particularly relevant Scripture verse in this regard is: “Do not despise prophesies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

(4)  These posts will typically consist only of Scripture—which speaks for itself.  Sometimes italicized or bold font will be used by ALN for emphasis.

(5)  The numbering of these fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah is used to differentiate individual posts. It is not chronological (either by time of the prophecy or by sequence in the life of the Messiah).  The posting sequence will, for the most part, be in the order that the prophecies appear in Scripture.

(6)  Because of the chosen methodology (#5 above) we will find many specific prophecies repeated multiple times throughout the Scriptures.

(7)  These serial posts are in addition to our regular Tuesday ALN postings on random topics.

(8)  Subscription to ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog is simple—just use the link on the left sidebar.  Once subscribed you will not miss future posts.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW