Return to Me - Day 5
Good Morning :-)
The title for today's study is "Embracing Christ-Guided Thoughts". I'm going to focus on just one passages of Scripture used this morning - Psalm 101:2-3. The 2 Corinthians 10:5 passage deserves some attention as well, but time is short so I will address that in my next post.
Psalm 101 is a portion of King David's Psalm of Commitment. This passage delineates the specific commitments he is making to God to ensure he lives a holy, "blameless" life. Depending on the version you use, you will note the use of the word "perfect" in the Psalm 101 section. It is important to note that a better translation is "blameless". As a perfectionist, I am keenly aware that "perfect" & "blameless" are two very different things!! I muff things up all the time - SO far from "perfect" - but blameless - that's something I can strive for. And so can you.
It is a conundrum the Lord has given us - the call to holy, "blameless" living and the battle we have with the flesh as we strive to attain to it. Think it's impossible? It's not. Check out 2 Peter 1:3 . . . We CAN - the question is whether we will. If we say we will not, it is the same as saying we cannot. It is admitting defeat in the battle with the flesh. This is one of the reasons I am more & more inclined to put together a study on that "Birthright" book - I believe the author has captured the heart of the matter and it is revolutionary, to say the least. We are taught all our lives by well-meaning and highly respected Godly people the same thing that they were taught and that has permeated the church from it's earliest days - that we are "sinners, saved by grace" - that salvation leaves us with TWO natures - the sinful (erroneously referred to as the flesh, which is different) and the saintly. The truth of the matter, in a nutshell is that we are NOT "sinners saved by grace" - we WERE sinners who, on encountering the grace of God were TRANSFORMED INSTANTLY into Saints. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. Note that the verb phrases in this passage "are passed away" and "are become" are in the Greek "past, completed" tense - signifying an event that has occurred at a particular time, is DONE, and is NOT ongoing. Our change from sinner to saint was instantaneous and fully completed at the moment of salvation. period.
Now, I realize this leaves us with the conundrum of how we live in comparison to who we are . . . but that's a much larger topic for another time (and a whole study in & of itself . . . ) Suffice to say, regardless of how we feel about it - the Scripture is clear and the fact is - we CAN live a "blameless" life on this earth. :-) SO - STRIVE FOR IT!
The title for today's study is "Embracing Christ-Guided Thoughts". I'm going to focus on just one passages of Scripture used this morning - Psalm 101:2-3. The 2 Corinthians 10:5 passage deserves some attention as well, but time is short so I will address that in my next post.
Psalm 101 is a portion of King David's Psalm of Commitment. This passage delineates the specific commitments he is making to God to ensure he lives a holy, "blameless" life. Depending on the version you use, you will note the use of the word "perfect" in the Psalm 101 section. It is important to note that a better translation is "blameless". As a perfectionist, I am keenly aware that "perfect" & "blameless" are two very different things!! I muff things up all the time - SO far from "perfect" - but blameless - that's something I can strive for. And so can you.
It is a conundrum the Lord has given us - the call to holy, "blameless" living and the battle we have with the flesh as we strive to attain to it. Think it's impossible? It's not. Check out 2 Peter 1:3 . . . We CAN - the question is whether we will. If we say we will not, it is the same as saying we cannot. It is admitting defeat in the battle with the flesh. This is one of the reasons I am more & more inclined to put together a study on that "Birthright" book - I believe the author has captured the heart of the matter and it is revolutionary, to say the least. We are taught all our lives by well-meaning and highly respected Godly people the same thing that they were taught and that has permeated the church from it's earliest days - that we are "sinners, saved by grace" - that salvation leaves us with TWO natures - the sinful (erroneously referred to as the flesh, which is different) and the saintly. The truth of the matter, in a nutshell is that we are NOT "sinners saved by grace" - we WERE sinners who, on encountering the grace of God were TRANSFORMED INSTANTLY into Saints. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. Note that the verb phrases in this passage "are passed away" and "are become" are in the Greek "past, completed" tense - signifying an event that has occurred at a particular time, is DONE, and is NOT ongoing. Our change from sinner to saint was instantaneous and fully completed at the moment of salvation. period.
Now, I realize this leaves us with the conundrum of how we live in comparison to who we are . . . but that's a much larger topic for another time (and a whole study in & of itself . . . ) Suffice to say, regardless of how we feel about it - the Scripture is clear and the fact is - we CAN live a "blameless" life on this earth. :-) SO - STRIVE FOR IT!
posted by Eowyn7 | 8:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home