Gus Foster Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 I take Scripture very seriously. Since our Lord made the Bible available to all of His people, I look upon it as a book to any one of His, to me. So when Peter writes in 1:4:18, 'and if the righteous scarcely be saved', he is talking directly to me. I should quote the context, verses 17-19: "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 'And, if it is hard (scarce) for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinner?' (quoted from the LXX of Proverbs 11:31) So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good". This Greek word molis, from molos #3433 means scarcely, hardly, with difficulty, with toil. This certainly describes the great controversy within, this battle between good and evil in my life, in my mind. I speak in the singular person so I do not exercise my talent as a 'chief' fruit inspector of the brethren. Never has this been more significant and timely in my life. The apostle Paul writes in Titus 3:3, "at one time we were too foolish, disobedient---" as he does in so many of his epistles. And Paul further writes in Romans 8:2 that we are 'set free by the Spirit from the law of sin', again in verse 9; "you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit". And I reply, but Paul, I'm not there yet! It sometimes feels like I'm guarding this closed door that never opens for years; nothing moves, nothing changes, I'm rutted. When does this freedom (released) from sin, from sinning occur? When do my thoughts become pure, clean, never wavering? Jesus said that I must be as a seed planted in the ground to die to grow anew. Jesus said I must separate myself from the world and unto Him, totally! Jesus said my thoughts are to be heavenly thoughts and not of this world. Do I scarcely do that? Do I scarcely die unto myself and unto Him? Does the symbolism of baptism; the death, burial and resurrection of me unto this new life scarcely take place? Obviously, I need to look more to Jesus, to trust in His grace and mercy and benevolence. I need to submerse myself more in His love. Just more than 'scarcely'. Quote Striving for a better relationship with Him! Gus Foster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodema Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 For me the key is becoming not to fear insanity. Not to fear what men may do to me. Not to fear the consequences. Not to fear the repercussions, the ostracisation, the misunderstandings, or "where the chips fall" -- let them fall where they will. I really believe conquering fear is the key. Overcoming being fearful and unbelieving releases us to step out in boldness -- holy boldness -- for God, in faith, doing as He bids us, and the more we make ourselves available to Him the more He will fill our hands with work for Him that brings us delight and an experience in Him. Quote "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Bravus Posted January 27, 2005 Moderators Share Posted January 27, 2005 YES!!!! Fear is not what *makes* us good, it's what *keeps us* from being good! (I guess different people are differently motivated, but when I watch the consequences of fear I rarely see goodness - maybe rectitude, sometimes...) Quote Truth is important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeHiscost Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Quote: I really believe conquering fear is the key. [:"red"] "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." [/] 1 John 4:18 [:"red"] "...God is love." [/] 1 John 4:8 [:"red"] "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.[/] John 15:5 Lift Jesus up!! Quote Lift Jesus up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Foster Posted January 27, 2005 Author Share Posted January 27, 2005 Quote: For me the key is becoming not to fear insanity. Not to fear what men may do to me. Not to fear the consequences. Not to fear the repercussions, the ostracisation, the misunderstandings, or "where the chips fall" -- let them fall where they will. I really believe conquering fear is the key. Overcoming being fearful and unbelieving releases us to step out in boldness -- holy boldness -- for God, in faith, doing as He bids us, and the more we make ourselves available to Him the more He will fill our hands with work for Him that brings us delight and an experience in Him. I am surprised that 'fear' came out of my scarcely saved. I would think it would be more relational motivated, more of giving up this life for the next, more of Christ and less of 'me', more of reaching out than in, more of love and less of criticism. Quote Striving for a better relationship with Him! Gus Foster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodema Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Sorry Gus, maybe my post was too vague. It actually IS relational if you think about it. At least for me it is. For example -- when I am motivated inside to do something out of love for Christ, but what holds me back? What gets in the way? My own fears, my own self-protectivenesses, selfishnesses not in the sense so much of wanting things for myself but for my own comfort, to not have to put up with what negative consequences might come as a result from other people, like non-believers hassling me for my faith and stuff. Does that make it clearer? Anyway it was not what you put into it; it's what I was thinking about as *I* was reading. Peace, brother. No assumption about you was intended here in any case! I was talking about me. The bottom line as I see it: in being "scarcely saved" we all are in the process of making our own unique transition between living a life centered around self to living a life centered around Christ -- and as you well pointed out, all of us are "scarcely" there. But we can share the same goal, right? To focus more on the King, less on the "me", to become MORE there? Nico Quote "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveM1936 Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Hi Gus: I understand completely where you are coming from. I seem to experience what Paul told of his experience in Romans 7. There is a part of me that truly loves God and wants to do what I know to be right. But there is another part of me (my fallen nature which I am stuck with) that wants no part of the Lord or the good things he asks of me. I struggle against my fallen nature which only ends in discouragement. Jesus does not want us to fight useless battles. Fighting our lower nature or fighting temptation is wasted effort. Some days, I have to pray constantly: "Lord, You know I cannot resist this tempation. I ask for the angels and the Holy spirit to fight for me. If you leave it up to me, I will yield. So I am not going to fight my nature or temptation. I lean on You instead." Remember, having a lower nature that wants to sin is not sin. That is, you are not held accountable for the nature you were born with. Also, you are not held accountable for being tempted. In a sense you are not accountable for yielding. Jesus forgave you on the cross for that. All you are accountable for is accepting God's offer of peace. He has never fought you. The one and only thing you can do is to stop fighting Jesus and the help He offers. My favorite promise is this: Isa 27:2-5 In that day-- "Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. 4 I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire. 5 Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me." (NIV) God promises the protect you from all harm. He promises to keep you safe, to supply your needs. What really reached my heart was the fact that He never is angry with me no matter what I have done. He tells us if only we were presenting thorns and briars, He would be glad. For He can easily take care of those. But what He cannnot take care of is our efforts to produce fruit. He never asks us to produce fruit. All He asks is for us to put down roots deep into Him. I try to read at least a chapter a day from the Gospels. Then I will bring up EGW on the computer and her comments on that chapter. I pray about what I have read and try to apply it to myself. What else can I do? I welcome your comments. Dave M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodema Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Quote: I have to pray constantly: "Lord, You know I cannot resist this tempation. I ask for the angels and the Holy spirit to fight for me. If you leave it up to me, I will yield. So I am not going to fight my nature or temptation. I lean on You instead." Have you ever prayed this prayer and ended up sinning anyway? Tell the truth ... Is this the same Dave I used to chat with? If so, welcome back! Quote "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveM1936 Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 "Have you ever prayed this prayer and ended up sinning anyway? Tell the truth ..." The truth. Many times. But since I know Jesus forgives me and is not angry with me, I just get up, put my hand back in His, and try again. The one thing I refuse to do, is to leave His school. And yes, this is the same Dave. I was not away because I was angry with anyone. I just ran out of money to pay the both my cell phone and my land phone. So I let the land phone go which meant I had no access to the internet. Your friend, dave m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodema Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Quote: ... since I know Jesus forgives me and is not angry with me, I just get up, put my hand back in His, and try again. The one thing I refuse to do, is to leave His school. Dave I think that's a great attitude to have! And welcome back. I wish I'd known you were having difficulties as I would have been glad to help you out if I could in any way. I am rejoicing today because my friend is back! {{{{{{{{{{{ Dave }}}}}}}}}}}}}} <------ (cyber-hug) Happy Sabbath! Maybe we can chat some later (after church or this evening) if you like? Nico Quote "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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