For not ashamed am I of the evangel, for it is God's power for salvation to everyone who is believing - to the Jew first, and to the Greek as well
Paul to the Romans 1: 16, Concordant New Testament
What is it about the revelation of Christ Jesus in your life that you recall from a sermon you heard this past week? In fact, can you even recall a sermon where the pastor spoke to your life in Christ? I have been out of regular church attendance for some years, so I am at a disadvantage as to the happenings in the church. Yet when I was a regular in the pews on Sundays, I cannot remember too many sermons where the pastors spoke to my life in Christ. I've heard plenty of sermons on the ills of society and plenty of "Thou shalt not" sermons spoken in my time. This is all fine and good, but what about Jesus? Isn't church the place where one would go to learn the truth of the gospel of Christ? You would think so. If I was aware that I indeed needed Jesus in my own life, I would seek out a solid local church that I might learn the truth of His gospel spoken to the world. Sure, we have the scriptures, but I want to hear His word spoken. One of the issues with the modern mainstream church is that they have been overcome by a counterfeit gospel. Like a fluff piece of journalism, modern sermons seem to spin in the direction of what people want to hear instead of what they need to hear. And what they need to be hearing is Jesus! In my previous post I spoke of the importance of the church speaking to the ills of society. While I still believe that this is important, it IS NOT the revelation of Christ spoken by the apostle Paul in his evangel. For Paul speaks to our own life in Jesus {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. That Jesus is not simply One Who sits in heaven and judges our wrong behaviors. The reason that the mainstream church does not speak to the truth we find in the evangel of Paul is that they have gotten off message. The message now is that sinful man cannot be in the presence of Christ Jesus. Therefore, the best which we can ever hope to do is to "Be like" Jesus. The truth of Paul's evangel does not speak to our imitating Jesus, but that we ARE Christ in Whom we now live our life {Paul to the Romans 6:8}. Jesus Himself speaks to our union life within He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. Jesus did not give Himself that we should "Be like" Him, but that we would know our life is in Him.
Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lords glory, are being transformed into the same image, even as from the Lord, the spirit
Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3: 18, Concordant New Testament
The church is big on speaking to our sin nature and how it is that which keeps us from a true relationship with the Father. But what does the evangel of the apostle tell us? Paul speaks to our life together in Christ {Paul to the Romans 6:8}. As far as the issue of sin goes, Paul speaks that it is something which has already been dealt with. Paul speaks to sin not in the present, but as something which has been eradicated in the past. Indeed, that Christ Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. The sin which Jesus gave Himself at the cross has been wiped away. That debt has been paid in full. With His dying breath Jesus has proclaimed "It is accomplished!" {Johns Account 19:30}. The death of Jesus set the stage for our union life in Him, not that we should imitate Him. We no longer need to worry that our sin is keeping us from fellowship with God. The true gospel of the apostle Paul assures us of this. Yet the mainstream church continues to speak to the counterfeit gospel of the separation theology. That sin and God cannot be among each other. While I agree on that premise, I also know that through the work of Christ Jesus on the cross, that we have been freed of the bondages of sin {Paul to the Romans 6:6}. When we look in that mirror, we do not see the face of a defeated sinner, but the very image of Christ in Whom we live.
~Scott~
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