Author: bonniefaurote

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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HYPOCRITES

“To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” (Prov 21:3 ESV).

“…the whole world…is without excuse.  For if we scrutinize the intentions of men, we eventually understand that people carefully and anxiously seek various superstitions because they are unwilling to come before God and to devote themselves to him without deceit and hypocrisy.  Since it is so, all who desire to pacify God with their own ceremonies and other trifles cannot by any pretext escape judgment” John Calvin (ref#164, May 25th).

“God has clearly and distinctly prescribed what he requires of us, but the ungodly wish to be ignorant of this.  Hence their error is at all times willful….It is much easier to render to God anything other than a broken heart and an upright life.  Sacrifices are easily obtained…” John Calvin (ref#164, May 25th).  My note: I would have to acknowledge that anyone who will not read Scripture and pray on a regular basis “wishes to be ignorant.”

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;…paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions…I could go on….If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom” (Gal 5:19-21 MSG).

“The whole purpose of our salvation is that we be ‘holy and blameless in his sight’ (Eph 1:4).  To continue to live in sin as a Christian is to go contrary to God’s very purpose for our salvation” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p34).

A characteristic of a Christian is: “The man who is born again is a holy man.  He endeavors to live according to God’s will, to do the things that please God and to avoid the things that God hates….to prove himself to be Christ’s friend by doing whatever He commands…” J.C. Ryle (ref#222).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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NOT REAL

“There are many today who are sincere, but they are not real; they are not hypocrites, but perfectly honest and earnest and desirous of fulfilling what Jesus wants of them, but they really cannot do it because they have not received the Holy Spirit who will make them real” Oswald Chambers (ref#83, p85).

“It is the Holy Spirit alone who by His indwelling can make a spiritual man” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p25).

 “…I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom 10:2 ESV).  “…they trusted…and argued that because they were zealous they were therefore of necessity right….they rejected the knowledge the Gospel was offering them because of that very ardor.  The conflict in their case was between zeal and knowledge, between sincerity and truth” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, May 27th).

“There can be no doubt at all but that these qualities—zeal and sincerity—are being exalted in our day precisely as they were by the Jews of old.  Knowledge is being depreciated, almost despised.  Clear, logical thinking and exact definitions are discounted.  Doctrine and dogma are taboo and regarded as being almost the enemies of truth, and even good deeds are not given the prominence they had a few years ago” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, May 27th).

“…knowledge…draws us to the kingdom of heaven or takes our affections from the world, and leads us to Jesus Christ…when we do not know what the salvation means that was purchased by our Lord Jesus Christ, we belong to the world and are profane” John Calvin (ref#164, Nov 9th).

A characteristic of a Christian is: “A man who is born again…believes that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour who can pardon his soul, that He is the divine person appointed by God the Father for this very purpose, and beside Him there is no Saviour at all….trusting in Him, he believes that his sins are all forgiven.  He believes that, for the sake of Christ’s finished work and death on the Cross, he is reckoned righteous in God’s sight. (Rom 4:20-5:1, 8:1)” J.C. Ryle (ref#222).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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PHARISEES

“…others…have strained after holiness of life, but have denied the faith, like the Pharisees of old” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Sept 18th AM).

“…few people are aware how far an individual may go—not merely in an outward change of character and an external union to Christ, but in a strong resemblance to the positive and manifest evidences of the new birth—without actually possessing any of them….the soul…the will…and the heart…are all unrenewed by the Holy Spirit….It is surprising how far an outwardly moral individual may seem to progress—spiritual knowledge, eminent gifts, and even great usefulness—while yet retaining the carnal mind, the rebellious will, the unhumbled and unbroken heart….we should be perpetually beguiled into the belief that a head filled with rational, theoretical truth must necessarily be connected with some degree of divine grace in the heart… let no man be so deceived as to substitute knowledge for grace” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, May 7th).

An outward man may have occasionally slight works of the SPIRIT.  The SPIRIT may be present to convict him by not convert him.  “True conversion and repentance consists of a true and thorough change of the whole man, whereby not only some actions are changed, but first and chiefly the whole frame and disposition of the heart is changed.  He is now set aright toward God, from evil to good, as well as from darkness to light (Eph 4:22-24)” Henry Scudder (ref#225, Oct 11th).

A characteristic of a Christian is: “He cannot prevent bad thoughts from entering his mind, or shortcomings, omissions, and defects from appearing in both his words and his actions….But…his whole nature does not consent to them” J.C. Ryle (ref#222).

“The believer’s calling is to think and feel and will just what Jesus thought and felt and willed” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p154).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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EMPTY PROFESSORS

“Every bird that hath fine feathers hath not sweet flesh; all that shine with the golden feathers of profession are not saints.  How devout were the Pharisees” Thomas Watson (ref#48, “The Counterfeits of the New Creature”)!

 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord! Will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter” (Matt 7:21 NLT).

“Our blessed Lord foresaw and forewarned men of the danger that an outward profession of the gospel may exist though the heart be yet a stranger to its power….There may be a deep and clear knowledge of divine truth, a strongly enlightened judgment, and a sound and scriptural creed.  There may be a strong attachment to and zealous maintenance of some of the distinguishing doctrines of grace—even a desire to hear of Christ and an ability to judge between sound and unsound preaching. And all the while, the heart is encased in the hardness of impenitence and unbelief, a stranger to the regenerating influence of the Spirit of God” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, June 9th).

“…for a man to get out of the carnal life into the spiritual life…is when a man utterly breaks with the flesh, when he gives up the flesh into the crucifixion death of Christ, when he sees that everything about it is accursed and that he cannot deliver himself from it, and then claims the slaying power of Christ’s cross within him” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p21).

“According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 35), sanctification is ‘the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness’” The Reformation Study Bible(ref#56, p1650).

FATHER, in 1 John 5:15 You say you will give me what I ask for and then follow it with: “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life…” (1 John 5:16 ESV).  I do not know where the names of the people on my prayer list are in their spiritual life, because I only see the outward signs, but, I pray for their spiritual welfare with all “hope and expectation of success” Matthew Poole (ref#21, p941, [1 John 5:16]).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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BACKSLIDERS – LOST THEIR FIRST LOVE

CHRIST warned the church at Ephesus for they had abandoned their love for Him.  They toiled and patiently endured, and could not bear those who were evil, and judged those who were false.  They did not grow weary in their work, but they had forgotten CHRIST, which made it impossible to continue growing spiritually (Rev 2:1-4).

“’Remember from whence thou art fallen’—revert to your past history, your former spiritual state; remember your first sorrow for sin, the first joy of its pardon; remember the springtime of your first love.  How precious Jesus was, how glorious was His person, how sweet was His cross, how fragrant was His name, how rich was His grace.  Remember how dear to you was the throne of grace, how frequently you resorted to it….’Repent, and do the first works’….[backsliding] is a sin of peculiar magnitude; it is a sin against God in the character of a loving Father, against Jesus in the character of a tender Redeemer, against the Holy Spirit in the character of a faithful Indweller and a Sanctifier.  It is a sin against the most precious experience of His grace, against the most melting exhibitions of His love, and against the most tender proofs of His covenant faithfulness” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 23rd, brackets mine.)

“A Christian living in the daily neglect of self-examination must not marvel if, at a certain period of his religious course, he finds himself trembling on the brink of gloomy despondency, his evidences gone, his hope obscured, and all the past of his Christian profession appearing to his view as a fearful delusion” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 10th).

FATHER, as we end the subject of backsliders, (since we all fit into that category occasionally), certainly we should take a moment and contemplate if we still love CHRIST as much as we did at first.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting” (Ps 139: 23-24 ESV)!

“Conscience is read, motives are studied, principles are sorted out, actions are examined, the heart is searched, sin is confessed, and iniquity is acknowledged, as can only be done alone in the presence of Jesus” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, May 17th).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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BACKSLIDERS – CONTENT IN THEIR STATE

“A believer may fall into a drowsy state of soul—not so profoundly as to be entirely lost to the voice of his Beloved speaking by conscience, by the Word, and by providence; yet his grace may have decayed so far, his love may have grown so cold, and his declension may have been so hardened, that he is content in this state.  Oh, alarming symptom of soul-declension: the indulgence of laziness and self is preferred to a visit from Jesus” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, July 28th)!

“They are converted; they know what it is to have assurance and faith; they believe in pardon for sin; they begin to work for God; and yet…there is none of the beauty of holiness or of the power of God’s Spirit in them” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p9).

FATHER, backsliders have walked in Your ways long enough to have “…seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit…” (Heb 6:4-8 MSG).  They have personally experienced the sheer goodness of Your Word and the powers of the age to come (Heb 6:5) but have, at some point, turned away from CHRIST.  (These words in Hebrews may describe one who has never experienced regeneration but these Scriptures also fit the definition of a backslider.)

GOD…”would walk with them all the day long, and sun them with the unclouded light of His countenance.  But when He hides Himself for a little moment, He is driven from their embrace by their lukewarmness of heart and unkind resistance of His love” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, July 28th).

FATHER, You tell us to not grieve Your SPIRIT; we grieve You when we do that.  There are endless ways we injure You, GOD.  How continually You must discipline us to move us back into a right relationship with You.  We are constantly “high maintenance.”  But that shows Your longsuffering love and faithfulness.  Once we are reunited we possess much to praise and glorify You.

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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BACKSLIDERS – ENDANGERED SOULS

“…so much as the flesh is gratified, so much is the soul endangered” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p111).

“Remember that, though your love has waxed cold, the love of your God and Father towards you never diminishes; it has never known even a shadow of change….God has never, not even for a moment, turned His back on you, though you have turned yours on Him times without number.  His face has always been toward you…” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Aug 22nd).

“If…children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules,  if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness” (Ps 89:30-33 ESV).

“All spiritual declension in the true believer necessarily implies the actual possession of grace….In the lowest condition of the believer, Christ never denies His own work in the soul….” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 10th).

“True grace may suffer a shrewd decay, but not an utter loss.  In temptations it may be sorely shaken; the heel may be bruised, as Christ’s was, but ‘his seed remaineth in him’” Thomas Manton (ref#225, Sept 28th).

“If God says, “Return,” that is sufficient for you.  You need nothing more; if He is willing to receive you back, to pardon your sins, to forget your ingratitude, to heal your backslidings, and to restore your soul, you have the broadest warrant to return…He is on the eager lookout for your first movement towards Him…He sends His own Spirit to work that return in your soul, to break your heart, to waken your slumbering spirit, and to draw you and win you to His arms” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 10th).

FATHER, in the Apostle Paul’s writing to the Corinthian church he calls them all “saints.”  They have much to learn in their walk of sanctification, and despite their unloving activities, Paul is sympathetic toward them.

Paul “…takes them by the hand and goes over all the old ground again, directing them in how to work all the glorious details of God’s saving love into their love for one another” MSG Bible (ref#262, p398, “Introduction to 1 Corinthians”).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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BACKSLIDERS – CARNAL-LIKE BUT SAVED


“…Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back…” (2 Pet 2:20-22 MSG).

“All backsliding has its commencement in the neglect of prayer…do you tremble at the possibility of ever becoming a backslider?  Do you dread the thought of wounding Jesus?  Then do not restrain prayer before God….A distant walk from God will induce distant thoughts of God….The more we know of God, the more we love Him; the more we try Him, the more we confide in Him….In order to reap the proper fruit of the Lord’s dealing with the soul, it is necessary that they should be viewed in the light of His faithfulness and love.  The moment they are interpreted otherwise, the soul heads away from God and wraps itself up in gloomy and repulsive views of His character, and government, and dealings” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 5th, underlining mine).

“…the great difficulty in a backsliding soul is to bring it to the necessary, spiritual duty of self-scrutiny….Perhaps nothing tends more to unhinge the soul from God and engender distrust, hard thoughts, and rebellious feelings than to doubt thus His loving-kindness and faithfulness in the discipline He is pleased to send” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 16th).

“Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us.  God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and, in mercy, He sends the rod….our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Jan 24th AM).

“…faith…anchoring itself on divine truth and the unchangeable love of God, is sure to strengthen and increase by every storm that beats on it….Is it the enchantment of the world that…caught you with its glitter, and overwhelming you with its crushing cares?…He was never known to cast out anyone who in lowliness and brokenness of heart sought His compassionate grace” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 16th).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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SPIRIT CHECK_5

“Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness” (Luke 11:35 NLT).

Am I willing to consider ideas about Christianity that are not spelled out in the Bible?

 “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind” (Col 2:18 ESV).  “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls….” (Jer 6:16 ESV).

Do I compare myself to other people?

“…I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers…” (Luke 18:11 NIV).  “…’None is righteous, no, not one…no one does good, not even one.’” (Rom 3:10,12 ESV).

Do I let GOD guide me all day long?

“God fills the whole universe; therefore, there is no room for another god.  If He reigns in my heart, there will be no space for another reigning power….If this is not the case, O Lord, pardon my sad offense and unite my heart to fear Your name” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 14th AM).

Do I really “know” CHRIST or just know of Him?

“I am not asking whether you believe certain things; that is possible intellectually. Rather, I am asking have you life, are you in the realm of life, do you know God, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?…When you pray, do you know that you are speaking to God” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p90)?

Is serving GOD more important than loving everyone around me?

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels…If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…if I have a faith that can move mountains…If I give all I possess to the poor…but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3 NIV).

“If your faith does not reshape your life, it is not true faith” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 5th).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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SPIRIT CHECK_4

“Make sure that the light you think you have is not really darkness” (Luke 11:35 NLT).

Am I content with the service I decide to do for GOD?

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform…many miracles?”  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matt 7:22-23 NIV).

Is my belief more important than my service?

“By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain.  It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference…” (Heb 11:4 MSG).

Do I attempt to appease God with my good conduct?

“…a righteousness of my own that comes from the law…” (Phil 3:9 ESV).

Do I work for GOD the best way I know how?

“Our doing and working are but the fruit of Christ’s work in us.  It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that its energies are stirred to their highest activity, that we work most effectually because we know that He works in us” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p25).

Do I act differently in church than the rest of the week?

“…There is great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate!…” (Matt 10:21-23 MSG).

Do I totally submit my entire life to GOD as JESUS did?

“…not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42 KJV).

“God is sovereign, self-sufficient, and free.  If we do not have this foundational vision of God in place when we ask how we can please him, it is almost certain that our efforts to please him will become subtle means of self-exaltation…” John Piper (ref#220, p209).