A Must For Every Christian

[Overaged]

I am just teasing CoAspen a little Gail lol

[JoeMo]

Hey Gibs,

For the record, I don't think either OA or I (or anyone else proclaiming salvation by grace through faith in Jesus) are proposing to use "faith in Christ" as an excuse to continue in sin. Besides being the sole source of salvation, grace is the sole source of the power to overcome. That being said, overcoming is a process; and not a one-time "conversion" event. As such, I believe with all my heart that Jesus does not say "go to hell" when we sin; rather, He says "I love you and forgive you; and next time you can have even more grace to do better."

There is a difference between the "New Theology" that I mentioned in a previous post and the "New Age Theology" mentioned by others. As I stated earlier, the New Theology dates back to apostolic days when Paul first proclaimed salvation by grace in Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, and Hebrews. The New Age Theology comes from Druidism and Wiccan; and states that "you have the power within you to do or become anything you want to." Christian legalism makes New Age Theology sound legitimate by putting Jesus and grace into the equation somehow (but not all the way); yet leaving it up to our own sheer will power to manage our sin problem.

You should be able to discern that by reading posts from me, OA (not OV), Dr. Gerry, cheddar, Sky, Woody, and several others.

Like I've also said in several previous posts, I don't think any of us will convince others of which is right and which is wrong through scripture or EGW quotes and rock-solid logic. Only our personal experiences with the Spirit can convince us one way or the other. Salvation by faith works for me; and salvation by works doesn't. You must follow your conscience and experience; and I must follow mine. Christ is the ultimate gentleman - one can choose salvation by faith or salvation by works; and out of respect for our free will, He will judge us based on the standard we choose. Both are valid - but we all must be careful which standard we choose. Our eternal life is at stake! Believe me - it is with fear and trembling that I moved into the gospel of salvation by grace. It is not how either the world or the denomination works. Choose whichever one works for you; but please, don't hold me or others to your standard. I promise not to hold you to mine.

Be blessed,

JoeMo

[skyblue888]

Dear brother JM, we have no standard but that which God Himself holds us to. The moral law is that standard. The law demands perfect obedience. Does it not?

The sinner owes obedience to that law but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way he can attain to righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law, is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ. See F.W.101.

Then God accepts Him and loves him as He loves Jesus and he clothes him with His robe of righteousness and righteousness is obedience to the law. It is right doing, God's right doing.

Therefore, through the merits of Jesus the sinner is not only accepted as though he had never sinned but he is, through His righteousness, strengthened to obey the law, for His righteousness imparts power, it begets life, even the life of the Infinite One by which every jot and tittle of the law is fulfilled.

"Satan had claimed that it was impossible for man to obey God's commandments; and in our own strength it is true that we cannot obey them. But Christ came in the form of humanity, and by His perfect obedience He proved that humanity and divinity combined can obey every one of God's precepts. 'As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.' This power is not in the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ. God requires perfection of His children. His law is a transcript of His own character, and it is the STANDARD of all character. This infinite STANDARD is presented to all that there may be no mistake in regard to the kind of people whom God will have to compose His kingdom. The life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God's law, and when those who claim to be children of God become Christlike in character, they will be obedient to God's commandments. Then the Lord can trust them to be of the number who shall compose teh family of Heaven. Clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ's righteousness, they have a place at the King's table, They have a right to join the blood-washed throng." C.O.L.314-5.

"When we trust God fully, when we rely upon the merits of Jesus as a sin-pardoning Saviour, we shall receive all the help that we can desire." 1 S.M.351.

In other words, "Christ died for us that we might have life. He opened before us the way whereby we might, through His merits, keep the law of God." Ibid,46.

"Still others who are condemned by the law will repent of their transgressions and, through faith in Christ's merits, will perfect Christian character." Ibid,31.

The standard is perfect obedience to the law through faith in the merits of Christ.

We are to exalt that standard which is the standard of all character.

sky

[Gibs]

JM,

What I am trying to get across is the fact we are to be overcomers before it is eternally too late.

No most don't get with being an overcomer quickly as it is a death of self that don't want to die. But the fact remains we must do it as only the overcomer is to be in the kingdom.

It comes by His Grace and Faith in Him that He will be our strength when we do commit our all. When we are fully broken upon Him the Rock and He is complete Master we have come to the place He can do in us what we cannot do of ourselves.

It is a job we must accomplish with His Help to rid ourselves of sinning and it cannot be gotten around and be the truth of the matter.

No man can change the one and only Way He has made, we must find it and walk in it.

Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

That Word is the Holy Spirit that guides and gives you strength, His Divine Nature.

"Christ in you the hope of Glory", that is our ticket to His Kingdom.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[CoAspen]

Quote:

It is a job we must accomplish with His Help to rid ourselves of sinning and it cannot be gotten around and be the truth of the matter.

'Ourselves'....sounds like it up to us with a little help from God. I counter again, A must for every Christian is John 3:16. Accept that and you will be one happy person!!!

[Gerr]

JM,

What I am trying to get across is the fact we are to be overcomers before it is eternally too late.

You can have the assurance of salvation right now, Gibs.

"When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him, and yet are disloyal to His Father’s commandment. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easygoing, accommodating, crossless religion. But Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."--The Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890. [bEGIN P.383] {1SM 382.2}

White, E. G. (1958; 2002). Selected Messages From the Writings of Ellen G. White, Book 1; Selected Messages, Book 1 (382–383). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

As you can see, this passage has nothing to do with sinless perfection.

Quote:

It is a job we must accomplish with His Help to rid ourselves of sinning and it cannot be gotten around and be the truth of the matter.

Premeditated sinning? I would agree with you. Non-willful transgressions? A chimera.

[Gibs]

Gerry what does overcoming mean to you? It is clear you don't think it is possible. Why isn't it? We need your answer on that. With Christ in you why can't you? You have the same power He did, so what is the problem? What did he mean when He made this statement?

Re 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Mr 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Gerry, all His are expected to be overcomers. He enables all His own so why not?

I don't see we have any excuse to say "we can't stop our sinning". Is it stronger in you than Christ in you?

Read next verse,

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[Gerr]

See the thread that I started on what we are to overcome. Sinless perfection is a futile pursuit. I found that out 30 years ago. That's why I abandoned this hopeless doctrine. Jesus died and offers His perfect, spotless garment because neither you nor I can ever attain to it.

[skyblue888]

Gerry, if we believe the SoP at all, we have no choice but to believe that Satan's great lie is that we cannot attain to Christian perfection this side of Heaven.

"Righteousness is obedience to the law." C.O.L.312.

Jesus does not offer His spotless garment of righteousness to the sinner as a cloak for sin but to strengthen him to overcome as He overcame. Soon or later the Lord will have such a people. We read that "As the members of Christ's body approach the period of their last conflict, 'the time of Jacob's trouble,' they will grow up into Christ, and will partake largely of His Spirit. As the third message swells to a loud cry, and as great power and glory attend the closing work, the faithful people of God will partake of that glory. It is the latter rain which revives and strengthens them to pass through the time of trouble. Their faces will shine with the glory of that light which attends the third angel." Testimonies, Vol.1,353.

Because they will be partaking largely of His Spirit, they will grow up into Him and overcome as He overcame.

This is a prophecy that will be fulfilled.

sky

[skyblue888]

Gerry, as far as I am concerned, I am talking about the aim, the goal of the Christian which is to attain to perfection of character in Christ, not pefrection of the flesh but of character.

What do you think Mark 4:26-29 mean?

sky

[JoeMo]

Hi Gibs,

I agree with you that it is only by the grace of God and our faith in Him that gives us the strength to overcome. What I don't agree with is that if we don't overcome now, we are condemned. Jesus doesn't tell us to "go to hell" if we don't overcome now; rather, He forgives us and gives us more grace to overcome the next time we face a similar temptation. He became sin for us; and suffered the punishment we deserve so that we may share in the glory only He deserves. If it were possible to overcome on our own, wouldn't someone have done it in the past 6,000 years? And if they had, it would have proven that we could do it without Christ's sacrifice, so why would it have been necessary for Christ to die on our behalf? As long as we have breath, it is not too late to repent.

Being a convert to Adventism, I'm not a huge fan of EGW, since some of the stuff she said will never happen (my opinion); and some of her stuff is not supported by scripture (again, my opinion). For example, I don't believe that we are on "probation", and that we must be perfect before Jesus returns. I believe that sin will persist through the millennium . Carefully read the sequence of events given in Rev. 20:

1.Satan is bound for 1,000 years.

2. Satan is released at the end of the 1,000 years to deceive the nations of the earth. (Note that the dead are not yet raised.)

3. The nations attack the camp of the saints and then are devoured by the fire of God. Why would the nations attack if sin no longer existed?

4.Satan, the beast, and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire after the nations are destroyed.

5. After this,then the unsaved dead are raised and judged after Satan is destroyed.

6. Then, death and the grave are thrown into the lake of fire.

It doesn't appear to me that probation is over and sin is eliminated until after the millenium. So how can probation be over before Christ's coming?

This is just my opinion, Gibs. It is based on study and what I believe to be guidance by the Holy Spirit. I have to follow what I believe the Spirit tells me - not on what some denomination or a "prophet" that was posthumously appointed by that denomination to the office of prophet says. Likewise you must go where the Spirit guides you. We can both be judged by God's standards. He is enough of a gentleman to respect our free will to be judged by one of two standards - law-keeping or grace through faith.

I'll make you a deal - you don't hold me to your standards; and I won't hold you to mine.

Be blessed,

JoeMo

[troyjs]

Remember,

Paul states in Romans 8, that we are more than conquerors.

Also, the same Paul says that he struggles with sin, in chapter 7.

Infact, Paul teaches us that Christ saves us inspite of our sin, in chapter 7.

Infact, God justifies the ungodly -- which is why Paul, the one who was struggling with sin in ch7, could already claim to be more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ in ch8.

Likewise, Jesus teaches us in Matthew 16, that it is that which is revealed by God, which makes the people of God to overcome the gates of Hell. That which God revealed to Peter, was the truth concerning Jesus.

There are some who believe that we can be morally perfect this side of glorification. Such people say that to claim we can't be perfect, is a lie.

Rather, let us refute such speculations of men by the clear Word of God:

1 John 1:18:

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Let us suppose that someone became perfect here on earth. We could ask this person : "Are you without sin?"

What would be the truthful answer?

Ofcourse, the truthful answer would be that such a person is without sin. If that person said that he/she is not without sin, then that person would be telling a lie. Rather, 1 John teaches us that we all have sin in us, but God is faithful and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Some may even mention Noah or Job, who were said to be 'perfect'.

What such people do not realise however, is that the Bible also refers to the sinful Medes and Persians as sanctified, and consecrated. (I treat this issue at length in the thread:What are we to overcome?)

Therefore, we must look at the context to see what the term, 'perfect' means. When we doo so, we realise that it is a translation of a Hebrew word which means 'complete'. It denotes moral uprightness, but nowhere does it ever refer to a human being without sin. Infact, we later read that Job refers to his own sin, and he repents after he is rebuked by God. Noah got drunk and was immodest after getting off the ark. Both men made sacrifices to God.

Rather, we can therefore believe that the Bible does not infact contradict itself, but agree with Paul that there is none that are righteous, no not one. And we can agree with 1 John that every man who claims to be without sin, is a liar -- that means he is not telling the truth.

We can therefore understand Jesus statement when he asked, 'Why do you call me good. Only God is good? Jesus was teaching us His divine identity at this point. Christ is the good shepherd, and noone is good but God alone. This is why we shall call no man good, but God alone.

kind regards

ThoroughlyFurnished.blogspot.com

[troyjs]

For a refutation of perfectionism:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/robertson_at/word.xxvi.i.html?highlight=perfectionism#highlight

Remember that the sinner Paul, considered himself to have already overcome, and said that we are already more than conquerors, in Romans 8.

Interestingly, some Adventists here have claimed that there is something apart from the grace of God which is necessary to save us.

Remember, God saves us apart from works. It is not of him that willeth, or runneth, but of God who has mercy.

I ask all who are espousing perfectionism, are you the blessed man who God will not impute sin? If so, how do your works determine in any way whether you are saved or not?

Romans 4: 8

"BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

It is for this reason, and this reason alone why Paul, the sinner of Romans 7, was able to say that we are already more than conquerors through Him, in Romans 8.

Romans 9:16

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Romans 3:28

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology:

Protestants teach not only that sin is a specific evil, that it has relation to law, that that law is the nature and will of God, and that it takes cognizance of and condemns all forms and degrees of moral evil or want of moral excellence, but also that the formal nature of sin is the want of conformity to the divine law or standard of excellence. This want of conformity is not a mere negation, such as may be predicated of a stone or of a brute, of whom it may be said they are not conformed to the image of God. The want of conformity to the divine law which constitutes sin is the want of congeniality of one moral nature with another; of the dependent and created nature with the infinitely holy nature, which of necessity is not only the sum but the standard of all excellence. Herein is sin that we are not like God. As the opposite of reason is

188unreason, the opposite of wisdom is folly, and the opposite of good is evil; so the opposite of the divine holiness is sin. It matters not of what exercises or states in the nature of a moral being this opposition may be predicated; of deliberate acts, of merely impulsive acts, or of dispositions or habits; if opposed to the divine nature it is sin, hateful in itself and worthy of condemnation.

In 1 John, we have 2 teachings which are pertinent to this discussion:

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 2:14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

(1) We have overcome the evil one, and yet, we make God a liar if we say that we have no sin.

(2) We have overcome the evil one, ie., it is a present reality for us Christians.

(3) We continue to sin, but God is faithful and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Infact, it is part of walking with Christ, that we continue to confess our sins. If we fail to recognise our sins, or if we claim that there is no sin in us -- we are lying, and the truth is not in us.

A perfectionist then, must heed the charge that unless he confess his sins, he is not walking in the light:

1 John 1:

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from allb sin.

8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Rather, the Scriptures explicitly teach us that we continue to sin here on Earth. Perfectionists take some verses, such as those in regards to Job, Noah, overcoming, and conquering, and interpret them to mean that we can be perfect here on earth. However, every person said to be 'perfect' in Sccripture, is recorded as having sinned, and the word translated 'perfect', never refers to a sinless state of a man. Every writer of the New Testament who teaches us be overcomers and conquerors, say that we have already overcome, and that this has nothing to do with living a perfectly sinless life -- infact, Paul told us of his sins although he considered himself as more than a conqueror, and John says that we have overcome even though we continue to sin. What reason therefore, is there to believe that we can be sinless before we are glorified with Him? Rather, that is our hope, that we will have rest in Him in eternity. When we are with Him, we will no longer be struggling, but we will have entered into that eternal rest.

Furthermore, the person espousing perfectionism must do more than offer verses which seem to him to support his view. Rather, the perfectionist must show us why 1 John says that any person who claims not to have sin, is not telling the truth. He must also explain how only God is good, yet there are also others who are good. He must also tell us how Paul and John claimed to be more than conquerors, and have already overcome, but knew of their sin -- if living sinlessly is part of overcoming, then was Paul lying?

No, we believe that we have already overcome through Him, inspite of the sin we commit, because of His perfect sacrifice which has already made us Holy in His sight.

Does this mean that we can therefore sin, so that grace may abound? God forbid. For we are created in Him to do good works, and we honour our Lord by doing as He commands of us. We can all then, as sinners, thank God that we have already overcome the evil one, and as we continue to struggle in this life, nothing will separate us from the love of God.

kind regards

ThoroughlyFurnished.blogspot.com

[Overaged]

Hey man! When I make a mistake;

ITS PERFECT.

No way you can deny that!!

[Naomi]

Quote:

Hey man! When I make a mistake;

ITS PERFECT.

No way you can deny that!!

I can relate .. PERFECTLY!!!

[Gerr]

Gerry, as far as I am concerned, I am talking about the aim, the goal of the Christian which is to attain to perfection of character in Christ, not pefrection of the flesh but of character.

What do you think Mark 4:26-29 mean?

sky

I dare say that perfection of character is the AIM/GOAL of every Christian I know. NOBODY intentionally wants to be sloppy about their Christian witness. But is perfection of character in the ultimate sense of the word achievable? A goal? Yes! Perfection in this body of sin? That's a chimera. As soon as you gain victory over one sin, another pops up. That's how far we have fallen since Adam.

[Gerr]

I'm glad you brought that picture up, OA. Right now, I'm taking piano lessons that I should have availed myself too when I was younger but didn't. A newborn Christian is like the person learning to play an instrument. My goal is to play every piece perfectly. Do I do it? Is there a musician that has ever played a piece perfectly? My fingers just don't move fast enough. And they don't always hit the keys that my brain tells them to do. Should my teacher whack my knuckles every time I hit the wrong key?

“When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit” (1SM 382).

At every stage in the Christian life, we are always accounted perfect because of His merits, as long as we abide in Him.

[phkrause]

I'm glad you brought that picture up, OA. Right now, I'm taking piano lessons that I should have availed myself too when I was younger but didn't. A newborn Christian is like the person learning to play an instrument. My goal is to play every piece perfectly. Do I do it? Is there a musician that has ever played a piece perfectly? My fingers just don't move fast enough. And they don't always hit the keys that my brain tells them to do. Should my teacher whack my knuckles every time I hit the wrong key?

“When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit” (1SM 382).

At every stage in the Christian life, we are always accounted perfect because of His merits, as long as we abide in Him.

[skyblue888]

Jesus came to this world and showed that with humanity and divinity combined, fallen men can obey every one of God's precepts. Jesus grew up in grace and in wisdom developping a perfect character and yet some said that He had a demon. So the ones in these last days who will attain to Christian perfection will be treated the same way.

When we look strictly at the Scriptures and the Testimonies of God's Spirit, not only do we see that they teach that Christian perfection is attainable in this life but that God will have such a people from all nations, tongues, and people before probation closes.

We are told that these will grow up into Christ during the latter rain and loud cry (1 T 353) and at the end of the loud cry they will be reflecting Christ fully and will be prepared to go through the time of Jacob's trouble and be translated without seeing death. They could not be translated without seeing death unless they had attained to Christian perfection.

Revelation 14:5 says that the 144,000 are without fault before the throne of God. If this does not mean that these faithful few will have perfected Christian characters when the law of God was made void, what does it mean then?

sky

[Gibs]

Right on Sky,

It is not an unobtainable goal by no means, He not only has power to forgive sin but also to come and dwell in us and we too can be as He was, a victor over sin, Satan, the world and all it' evils..

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[Gerr]

Not everyone, no, NO ONE can attain to sinles perfection, but EVERYONE can have the garment of Christ's perfect righteousness. You can buy it without money & without price.

[Gibs]

Gerry,

Here is how EGW saw it and you might consider her testimony on this subject,

"He tells us to be perfect as He is, in the same manner. We are to be centers of light and blessing to our little circle, even as He is to the universe. We have nothing of ourselves, but the light of His love shines upon us, and we are to reflect its brightness. "In His borrowed goodness good," we may be perfect in our sphere, even as God is perfect in His. {RC 73.4}

Jesus said, Be perfect as your Father is perfect. If you are the children of God you are partakers of His nature, and you cannot but be like Him. Every child lives by the life of his father. If you are God's children, begotten by His Spirit, you live by the life of God. In Christ dwells "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9); and the life of Jesus is made manifest "in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11). That life in you will produce the same character and manifest the same works as it did in Him. Thus you will be in harmony with every precept of His law; for "the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul" (Psalm 19:7, margin). Through love "the righteousness of the law" will be "fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4).--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 76-78. {RC 73.5}

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[Gibs]

Gerry, I didn't want to make the above read so long but here is a couple more quotes worth looking into,

"Our Saviour claims all there is of us; He asks our first and holiest thoughts, our purest and most intense affection. If we are indeed partakers of the divine nature, His praise will be continually in our hearts and upon our lips. Our only safety is to surrender our all to Him and to be constantly growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth." {SL 95.1}

Complete Surrender

"To have the religion of Christ means that you have absolutely surrendered your all to God, and consented to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit moral power will be given you, and not only will you have your former intrusted talents for the service of God, but their efficiency will be greatly multiplied. The surrender of all our powers to God greatly simplifies the problem of life. It weakens and cuts short a thousand struggles with the passions of the natural heart. Religion is as a golden cord that binds the souls of both youth and aged to Christ. Through it the willing and obedient are brought safely through dark and intricate paths to the city of God."

31

{MYP 30.2}

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[skyblue888]

"Jesus said, Be perfect as your Father is perfect. If you are the children of God you are partakers of His nature, and you cannot but be like Him. Every child lives by the life of his father. If you are God's children, begotten by His Spirit, you live by the life of God. In Christ dwells "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9); and the life of Jesus is made manifest "in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11). That life in you will produce the same character and manifest the same works as it did in Him. Thus you will be in harmony with every precept of His law; for "the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul" (Psalm 19:7, margin). Through love "the righteousness of the law" will be "fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4).--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 76-78. {RC 73.5}

The above quote is also found in Mount of Blessing, p.77-8.

"To have the religion of Christ means that you have absolutely surrendered your all to God, and consented to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit moral power will be given you, and not only will you have your former intrusted talents for the service of God, but their efficiency will be greatly multiplied. The surrender of all our powers to God greatly simplifies the problem of life. It weakens and cuts short a thousand struggles with the passions of the natural heart. Religion is as a golden cord that binds the souls of both youth and aged to Christ. Through it the willing and obedient are brought safely through dark and intricate paths to the city of God."

31

This is another interesting statement, to say the very least of it.

sky

[skyblue888]

Here is another one:

"The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means taking away our sins, and filling the vacuum with the graces of the Holy Spirit. It means divine illumination, rejoicing in God. It means a heart emptied of self, and blessed with the abiding presence of Christ. When Christ reigns in the soul, there is purity, freedom from sin. The glory, the fullness, the completeness of the Gospel plan is fulfilled in the life. The acceptance of the Saviour brings a glow of perfect peace, perfect love, perfect assurance. The beauty and fragrance of the character of Christ revealed in the life testifies that God has indeed sent His Son into the world to be its Saviour." C.O.L.419-20.

This experience is to be ours if we are to receive the final seal at the end of the loud cry and go through the time of Jacob's trouble and be translated without seeing death.

sky