1687 Lilac Road
Leitchfield, KY
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OUR EVANGELISTS
Dennis Tucker & James McClenny
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Is it grace and faith or grace alone? Do doctrine and our flawed but necessary obedient faith really matter at all? We are being tempted by those who are giving weak and muddy answers to those questions and need to know how to find the truth.
Testing For Truth: 1 John 4:1-6 was the latest lesson from a series of studies called That You May Know from 1 John presented last Sunday (4/28/24) to the Lilac Road church of Christ. It is now available on Facebook and YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Ia6eiFx_Qcg?si=5Yk7q2d7HwjeCkiq
Knowing we're in fellowship with God has been and always will be a struggle as long as human free-will response to the grace of God is required. Some seem to think we can eliminate, or at least ease, that struggle with sufficient application of God's Grace, as if it is some kind of anti-sin ointment. God's Grace is the gift of salvation, not a force or power that makes the believer's obedience easier. Such teaching may appeal to the fleshly minded, but it is deceitful in that it implicitly removes the individual's free-will and replaces it with God's sovereign enabling power. It may not approach the level of Calvin's "irresistible grace" (i.e. neo-Calvinism), but it is a falsehood that is taking the first baby step in that direction. In sharp contrast to that concept we find nearly every passage about grace is followed with a call to obey. God does the grace part - we do the obey part and therein lies the dynamic tension. The spirit of this world doesn't want us to hear that (1 John 4:5). Thankfully, we have His unchanging word to "know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6).
As Paul said, "whenever a person turns (is converted by the gospel) to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:16). At the time he was speaking mostly of Jews who clung to the old covenant (Law of Moses) and refused to accept the New Covenant (gospel) from God. However, anyone who has blinded him/herself to the truth of the gospel message of liberation from sin in Jesus Christ is wearing a veil over his/her eyes. Only when one accepts God's gospel as truth by faith is the veil removed.
Moreover, this liberty in Christ isn't freedom for the "you be you" mentality of modern American so-called Christianity. Rather it frees us from the bondage of death under the old law and its faded glory and provides the mirror of God's word where we can see the image of Christ and be transformed from our own self-image into His (2 Corinthians 3:17-18; James 1:21-25). Along the way we still trip, stumble and fall, but God's grace provides forgiveness and encouragement to get back up and keep pressing on to perfection (Philippians 3:12-16).
The question is will you stop and listen to the world or keep testing for truth?
" And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . .
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:15 (KJV)
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