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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 19, 2012 17:51:16 GMT -5
Is the following an untrue statement? What would your response be to someone that said this? If it is untrue...why is it untrue?
"I'm sold out for Jesus, and I hope you are too. If every waking thought isn't consumed by trying to know Him better, and conform to His image....you are probably just wasting your time here on earth."
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Post by shann0 on Jan 20, 2012 15:29:30 GMT -5
It appears to me that this statement is itself a form of boasting, is it not?
It isn't we who try to conform to His image, but rather the Holy Spirit working through us that does the conforming. Not of ourselves lest any man should boast.
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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 20, 2012 16:15:26 GMT -5
How is that boasting? I think we have a responsibility to share with others what God intends for us to be. But the reality is, if we don't actively try to live for Christ...are we not wasting our time? The phrase "I'm sold out for Jesus"...is in itself a TESTIMONY about our desire and need to follow after Christ. I don't get it....i just don't get it.
If a person says that...it's not about glory for themselves. It's about saying, we have a need to be like Christ. Sell yourself out for him....end the things that separate you from him.
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."-Philippians 1:21
I view that verse as saying the same thing. Get busy selling yourself out for him. I'm sold out for him...i HOPE that you are too. I just don't get it. We've gotten to the point in this world where we are SO AFRAID TO OFFEND PEOPLE WITH CHRIST, AND OUR CONFORMING TO CHRIST. The gospel IS an offense to people. The problem is...it is a TRUE statement. If someone is sold out for Christ, they identify with Christ....that's not self glory, that is CHRIST in me.
And I also totally disagree about who does the conforming. The Holy Spirit HELPS us to conform, he convicts us of our sins. But are we not the ones that have to STOP sinning? Are we not the ones that have to decide to LIVE FOR HIM? You can't simply say, the Holy Spirit has done everything....and go on living your life the way you always have. If you keep in sin, you have not changed.
"4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."-1 John 1:4-10
Is it not possible to put Christ first in our lives? Is it not desirable to do so? We can do nothing apart from Christ. That's what it means to be sold out for Him. I just don't get it....i don't understand why ALL CHRISTIANS DON'T MAKE THIS STATEMENT IN THEIR LIVES, WITH THE WAY THEY LIVE.
The first part of the quote, i left out....but it was in response to someone NOT KNOWING WHAT I STAND FOR. If anyone sees my life, and doesn't say "he's sold out for Christ"....then I HAVE FAILED. And that is how i felt at that moment. I'm totally sold out for Christ, but i have failed to share that message....i have failed to make people see Christ in me.
"18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."-2 Corinthians 3:18
When people see us, they should see Christ in us. If we can NOT make the statement that we are sold out for Christ....then we have failed.
I would ask this of all christians. Examine yourself with this statement. Have you sold yourself out for Christ?
There is a story of 2 young men, who growing up knew the truth of the gospel. They knew it was their responsibility to share the gospel, and they thought that the slaves in america wouldn't ever hear it. So they sold themselves into slavery, gave the money to the church...and went off preaching the gospel to the slaves working beside them. They sold themselves out for Christ. Why can't we do that?
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Post by shann0 on Jan 20, 2012 16:59:01 GMT -5
But don't you see? We cannot be like Jesus, we cannot be like God. That's the oldest lie in the book! We can never stop sinning as long as we are in this body of flesh, there will be sin in our lives. Even Paul struggled with this issue. You're correct when you say that our lives will change when we accept Christ, this is evidence of our faith. If someone heartily chases after sin, then they are obviously not saved. The fact is Jesus has forgiven us of all sin already, that includes the sin of disobedience. He no longer holds any sin against us. We must through faith in Him surrender to His will, and that in turn produces the effect of reducing sin, but it will not eliminate it as long as we remain in our fleshy bodies. But there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ and walk according to His purpose. How Will the Grace of God Guide Us? archive.livinggodministries.net/archives/grace_ungodliness.mp3The Scale between Law and Grace archive.livinggodministries.net/archives/scale_law_grace.mp3 |
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Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jan 20, 2012 18:04:43 GMT -5
I disagree with the statement. That's like saying someone has to attend school every waking moment, and can't take any time off to have fun, relax, or do other things. In reality, principles learned at school become part of one's thinking and become automatic - once absorbed one can do them without conscious thought. Sounds like something written by a "SUPER-CHRISTIAN!"  |
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Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jan 20, 2012 18:27:35 GMT -5
Come to think of it, the very idea reminds me of the book Franny & Zooey.:
Franny is an intellectually precocious late adolescent who tries to attain spiritual purification by obsessively reiterating the "Jesus prayer" as an antidote to the perceived superficiality and corruptness of life. She subsequently suffers a nervous breakdown. Her older brother, Zooey, attempts to heal Franny by pointing out that her constant repetition of the "Jesus prayer" is as self-involved and egotistical as the egotism against which she rails."
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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 20, 2012 20:01:17 GMT -5
Wow. I think you guys are totally missing the point. Jesus paid the price for our sins. He has forgiven us....but he ASKS US TO MAKE HIM THE LORD OF OUR LIVES. To be sold out for Jesus, is to do just that. You can do things for Jesus without selling all of your possessions and being a missionary. If you love other people....can you not do that in the name of Jesus? I don't get it. It's like you are saying that it is okay to just live our lives.
You either are actively working to conform to His image...or you are not. If you are, then you are working to obey Him. If you are not...then you are DISOBEYING HIM. I'm not saying that we will not be sinners...the passage from 1st John proves that. But I am saying that if we aren't actively looking to fill our lives with the light of Jesus, and with His love...and with the fruit of the spirit...then darkness will consume us.
In my view, we are either sold out for Jesus, or we are sold out for Satan. I know that you guys here are sold out for Jesus. Maybe you see it differently...but i know it by your testimonies. You constantly work towards praising God and raising awareness of His word.
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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 20, 2012 20:07:40 GMT -5
I'm sold out for Jesus and I hope you are too.
Another way to say that is, I love Jesus because He died for me....and i hope to live for him in every facet of my life....and i want that for YOU TOO.
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Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jan 20, 2012 20:08:36 GMT -5
You're missing MY point - why does it have to be a constant, conscious thought? Once a person is saved and has made the decision to be sold out to the Lord, living for Him is as natural as breathing - you don't even have to think about it.
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Post by shann0 on Jan 20, 2012 20:14:50 GMT -5
Right POH! The Spirit of the Living God is inside of us, we cannot be silent.
David I have no doubt that you sincerely love the Lord Jesus Christ, but to say that we are required to obey is just another form of law keeping... and I might add totally illogical when scriptures clearly teach that we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness. What we are to do now is to rest in His finished work. We should be thanking Jesus for what He has done for us, not re-repenting of sins He's already forgiven us for.
Did you happen to listen to the two links I provided up above?
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Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jan 20, 2012 20:26:04 GMT -5
David, do you have to work constantly every waking moment to prove to your wife that you love her, or can you just rest and feel secure in her knowledge that she's loved?
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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 20, 2012 20:32:32 GMT -5
Shanno, i'm not suggesting that our salvation depends on obeying. I'm suggesting that our relationship depends on obeying. If you knew that your relationship with Christ in eternity, was directly proportional to your relationship with him here...would it change who you are and what you do?
POH, I agree. I'm not suggesting that you have to consciously think "am i serving God" every moment. I'm suggesting that you will live that life naturally...that in serving your family, you are obeying, that in serving your church you are obeying, that in working hard at your job you are obeying. That's what i mean. It's not always conscious thought...but it is a loving attitude.
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Post by wateredseeds on Jan 20, 2012 20:33:33 GMT -5
POH,
I totally agree with that last statement. She knows i love her...but i do still work hard to show her that i love her.
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Post by shann0 on Jan 20, 2012 22:29:28 GMT -5
Jesus doesn't expect that from you. He loved you before you even knew Him, before you were even born, before the foundations of the world were laid. We are reconciled to Him already, and it's the resting in Him that produces the loving attitude, not the "work hard". It's about what He's done for us, the focus should always be Him, not on what we must do to try to make ourselves pleasing to Him. It's a great discussion though wateredseeds and I thank you for posting the question. God Bless you  |
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