I had a glorious night last night working transcribing through almost 45 minutes of Rob's; "Being Established In The Gift Of Righteousness". He dealt with a familiar verse to me but in an incredible new light. This re-focus through the gospel of grace is something I am getting used to thanks to Rob and Ryan Rufus's ministry among others! It's a humbling experience for someone like myself who prided myself on being "strong on the Word" coming from a church where the senior pastor was a doctor of theology. I realised that a mixture of Old Covenant and New Covenant teaching actually means you don't understand much of the Word of God at all.
The verse Rob mentioned was Colossians 2:6 and his commentary was perfect to go onto the "Glory and Grace Blank Bible" project that some of us are working on. Here's what he said;
"Paul says just as you received Christ so walk in Him. Or the NIV says just as you received Christ, "live in Him"! How did you receive Christ? Did you have to earn or deserve or keep the law or be good enough? No - you received Him by grace through faith - He declared you righteous. So just as you received Christ - so walk in Him and live in Him.
There is a major theological heresy in this earth that is a very dangerous heresy and is more serious than any other deception in the Church today. It is this idea that there are two types of righteousness. The free gift of righteousness that God gives you and the righteousness that you have to perform after you are saved.
That's not only bad theology - that is confusing because that means that God's righteousness is not good enough. And how can you be established in the gift of righteousness if you don't know where God's gift of righteousness ends and where your performance of righteousness has to begin?
No! The truth of the matter is that the gift of righteousness is the only righteousness that you live by. You receive Christ by the gift of righteousness and you continue to live by grace through faith that "I am the righteousness of God". That gives you the power to change - but you are always righteous and are constantly righteous!".
Reference: Rob Rufus - "Being Established In The Gift Of Righteousness" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 4th January 2009.
6 comments:
Ahhhh, fresh air!!!
I'm a bit nervous about this but it is 100% relevant. When I did the Bonhoeffer extract it stirred up some discussion and then Julie did a bulimia post which I assumed was aimed at me...but may be that was not so.
I am always doing this verse you've quoted...I'm surprised I've not cvovered it on my blog or in your comments section.
It was a revelation that really blasted me into more rest. Because i remember how I came to the Lord.
Desperate. In a couple of Billy Graham films a month apart. But I'd spent a year in the deepest of depressions...having got all these A's at school...and it was all rubbish...it did not add to my emptiness one ounce of anything.So that was how I received Christ...desperate....so in the mid 80s, when Jorge Pradas brought the same word as above to explain how we "walk in Him"...that is by faith in the already accomplished work of Christ...I thought that's good enough for me. I've given up trying to do it.
The Bonhoeffer chapter was meant to be post this revelation. So you're now living your life...kind of gingerly to begin with...but believing on your insides that it is Him walking. "Dead man walking" well actually that would be us...cos Jesus is packed with Life.
And what I was trying to say to Julie was that our whole life now becomes kind of like we learn to operate in meetings...when out of the praise which brings us the consciousness of Christ's life flowing in us...and we instinctively get a picture, or a prophecy or feel to pray for someone...just as a whole herd feel the same...and suddenly someone is surrounded with uplifting prayer....and so on and so on. But at no point a) did you work it out too much with your left-brain list style b) at no point are you thinking how marvellous you are in some independent kind of glorying way...you just get on and do all these things c) you find a flow and you just move with it and d)you just do the next thing that is put in your brain to do...a bit like when you give a prophecy...one sentence at a time...without worrying that you haven't got the whole thing first before delivering it.
And that's how we now live life. The point of consciously seeking God, or soaking or whatever you call these activities....is to plug us into what it means to flow full time in God's Life. Some of you know Brother Lawrence doing washing up and consciously practicing the flow while he was doing so. Quite soon important people were coming to him while he was still washing up!!!!
For me, it's been 27 years of listening to God while piano tuning. And you get paid for it. How flash is that!!
So when Bonhoeffer is talking about doing stuff....he means it as a faith outflow...a whole obedience of faith...faith that at this precise moment this is what the God of heaven is doing through you as His branch. Looking after kids. Accounts work. Lifting a supernatural burden up to God for something or someone. Or feeling suddenly this Almighty giggle within making you want to write something stupid to Dan or Jamie.
But it's this "dependent" walk stuff in the same way exactly as we came to Christ in the first place....DEPENDANT...on His accomplished work.
Chris, you think the bulimia post was aimed at you? Why didn't you say so? That was a while ago but I'm pretty sure it was aimed at people who preach a mixture of law and grace but think they are 'grace people'. They think that the grace is a doctrine and they compartmentlize it nice and neat so they can 'balance' it. They don't know that grace is Jesus and he is an all-consuming fire!
I don't think I agreed 100% with your post (and it could have sparked some ideas in my writing) actually, I think it was the guy you were quoting I didn't agree with (and I recently read another quote on a blog by him that I didn't like either). Sometimes you confuse me and I don't know quite what you're saying, but sometimes you blow me away!
Anyway, keep on writing, iron shapens iron and I sometimes get more out of thinking on the stuff that rubs me the wrong way then the other stuff!
Aaaah fresh air. That clears that up!!
This is John Stevens' latest project over the next few days
Hi,
This may be the early signs of going without food but...
...I've started a blog on the next 7 days and am letting a select band of church and family members know - and maybe my Year 11 class at school!
One of my Year 11s (5th Formers for those out there of a certain age!) asked me how long the human body could last without food. This was in the context of teaching them about ploymers (proteins, fats , and carbohydrates) in the body. So I decided to include in my answer that I was about to embark on a 7 day fast - which has caused quite a stir. Some that were struggling to keep awake in my lecture on polypeptides suddenly came back to life!!
So I've decided to keep a blog for the next 7 days. www.thinplaces-ao.blogspot.com
If you'd like to post a comment (I think that's the jargon??) please go ahead. I feel moderately silly starting this but will feel even sillier if no-one joins in so please make a comment or two.
(If anyone knows how I can make use of the huge amount of space on the page please let me know as it's a trifle boring at the moment).
Feel free to tell anyone else who might like to contribute.
love
John
Glad you're breathing better now lol...but seriously you never have to wonder what I'm thinking, just ask me! And if I ever offend you please please let me know, I'm not known for my social skills and need people to help me out by being honest with me. That blog you just mentioned looks interesting...I'm interested in fats and diet/nutrition etc.
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