And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Luke 11:27-28
SAVING FAITH – II Timothy 1:12
Here is a definition of faith: knowledge, confidence, and committal!
“I know whom I have believed.” A personal, spiritual knowledge of Christ is necessary to faith in Him. Those who know Christ (who He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is now) believe on Him, and the more they know of Him, the stronger they believe.
“I am persuaded He is able.” Confidence in the Savior’s willingness to save, and power to save is necessary to our faith in Him.
“I have committed unto Him.” Where there has been no genuine and complete committal of all things to Christ, there is no true saving faith! One cannot separate faith from conduct! Committal to Christ involves trusting Him, casting ourselves upon Him, and leaving all things totally in His hands to save, sanctify, and glorify!
Pastor Henry Mahan
Satan’s master plan is to get man religious without Christ. He would rather you be WHITEWASHED than WASHED WHITE in the blood of the Lamb. Whitewashing will not save! I must be washed white in the BLOOD OF CHRIST.
Pastor Donnie Bell
WHO NEEDS WHOM?
I recently saw a message entitled “God NEEDS us!”. The thrust of the false prophet’s message was God is sovereign, but God needs us to witness and preach or the lost will not be saved. My friends, if God needs you and me, we are in serious trouble. If God needs us, you can rest assured that no sinner will ever be saved because no man is sufficient for these things. (II Cor 2:16)
The scriptures are clear that WE are the ones who need God, not the other way around. We NEED God in everything. If we don’t need God to give us life, then we are not dead in sins. If we don’t need God to give us the gift of faith, then our will is free to choose either life or death and we have some ability in our flesh to please God. If we don’t need God to keep us, then we have the power to keep ourselves from evil and have no need to pray as the Lord taught us to pray (Luke 11:4).
The church must indeed preach the gospel, not because God needs us, but because it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (I Cor 1:21) Then when we do preach, we know that we are nothing and that we NEED God, for He must give the increase (I Cor 3:7). I preach because I know that God is going to save His elect through the preaching of His Word, so “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (I Cor 9:16). If we don’t preach the gospel, God will use some other clay pot, an ass (Num 22) or the stones (Luke 19:40), but I would prefer it if God would give us the honor of declaring His sovereign grace to needy sinners.
I love the gospel declared in the scriptures because that gospel answers every need of a needy sinner like me. I NEED God in every way. I NEED God the Father to choose me for I would never choose Him. I NEED God the Son to suffer for my sins and pay the debt I can never pay. I NEED God the Son to give me a righteousness that I can never produce. I NEED God the Holy Spirit to give me life and call me to Christ because I am a dead sinner who will not and cannot come to Christ unless God in mercy draws me to Himself. I gladly admit that I am a needy sinner, for God delivers, spares, and lifts up the needy (Ps 72:13-13 and Ps 113:7). God grant us the grace to humbly preach this gospel to the needy!
Upcoming Bible Conference
Todds Road Grace Church – Lexington, KY – Nov 22-24
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