Saturday, 22nd November 2008
Yes it does, and the reason why it does is because the devil is working overtime to veil the eyes of the church from seeing the truth that will set her free.
And the truth is that Jesus has done it all. It is *all* Him and none of us.
The trouble is that many of us want to take some form of credit, however little, upon ourselves, rather than giving all credit, glory and honour to Jesus. When someone gives his life to Jesus, for example, we want to say it was because we prayed hard, or we fasted, etc etc.
So instead of "worthy is the Lamb", we are implying "worthy is the Lamb and me".
By doing so, many compromise by having trying to strike a balance between the works of the law and operating under grace. By doing so, we think we can come to a common understanding and have unity within the Body of Christ.
We may call it balance, but God calls that "mixture". And that mixture produces lukewarmness. Guess what Jesus does to those that are lukewarm? Yup, he vomits them out of His mouth (Rev 3:16).
So, the sooner we realise that the grace gospel divides (yes even amongst those who call themselves believers), the sooner we accept that unity will never be achieved this side of heaven, because Satan is the one behind that disunity.
Here is a typical example of how the evil one has stirred up a brother who is supposed to be a believer to rise up against the grace gospel. He uploaded a video entitled "Joseph Prince False Teacher" :
It is interesting to note that he has disabled comments on the video, so that a point-by-point rebuttal cannot be made against him. But this is typical of people whose eyes have been veiled from the truth of what Jesus has already accomplished for us by His finished work on the cross :-D
He quotes the case of God not answering Jesus' prayer for the cup of suffering to be taken away from Him when He was agonising in the Garden of Gethsamane as an example of God not answering our prayers for healing!
But that was the very reason why God did not take away Jesus' suffering. Because God is holy and just, sin had to be punished. Jesus had to take *our* place of condemnation and sufferings, so that we can in turn take *His* place of justification and blessings before the Father. Duh?
Which brings me back to the title of today's post. Knowing that the grace gospel divides, what should our response be then? To pretend to get along? To allow law and grace to co-exist side by side?
Certainly not!
Read what Paul had to say in Gal 4:30. He said that we are to "cast out the bondwoman and her son" and not allow them to remain under the same roof as the freewoman and her son. It is very clear that he typifies Hagar (and Ishmael) to Mt Sinai (from which came the Mosaic Law) and Sarah (and Isaac) to Mt Zion (from which came the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace).
Why didn't Paul admonish Abraham for not keeping all 4 (Sarah, Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael) under the same roof, so as to maintain family peace and harmony? Nope. No can do. What this goes to show is that while unity is important, it should not be at the expense of compromising the grace gospel. Amen?
9 comments:
Hi Malcolm,
Like you I do believe in the grace gospel and whole-heartedly support the teachings of pastor Prince. However, I have come to understand that those brothers/sisters in Christ who do not seem to subscribe to the grace gospel actually do believe in the grace gospel but they just view it differently. The point these brothers/sisters are missing is that we do not have to strive to do good/ follow the law but that God Himself gives us the strength to do so. I do understand where they are coming from, I used to believe that since God has saved me, I should be doing something to show my appreciation to what God has done for me but I fail miserably because I am doing it in my own strength and I feel guilty not because God will not be pleased but that I have let God down. After having understood the grace gospel, I know now to allow the Holy Spirit to work in me rather than using my own strength. Now I find myself better in fighting habitual sins and temptations. All glory to God!
By the way, I think you know one couple in your church - Mr/Mrs Bak/Mak Soo Har. Mrs Mak maiden name is Koh Poh Yean. They are my parents-in-law. I am trying to share with them the grace gospel message. Hopefully on your side, you can share your story with them.
After reading your blog, I feel certain kinship with you as I also come from a Methodist background and have been in MYF when young and now we both also believe in the grace gospel. Would certainly love to meet you to discuss more about God's love and grace.
may God bless you and your family richly and may His favour be upon you!
In His Love,
Thomas
Hi Mal,
This is so typical of grace bashers. They claim others are false teachers but they dare not subject their claims to scrutiny and debate lest they themselves are exposed to be false!
That guy again, ckckckck.. He loves to do it.
He has his own website to expose preachers who he doesn't want to hear....
Abraham called the things that not exist as though they did... Ps. Prince explained it in the same sermon (I got that sermon, so I know). The reason why he didn't say that, because he simply want to attack Ps. Prince... (I believe that he listen to that sermon entirely and spot the weak points).
Hi Thomas
What a small world :-D
Yes, I know your parents-in-law. In fact, your dad-in-law and I acted as "wise men" in a Christmas play 2 years ago.
Say, I still have one spare copy of D2RD. Let's meet up so that I can pass it to you. You can text me on my mobile -- 90295677.
Paul, chief of sinners was not converted from adulterer or drunkard but from self righteousness to Christ Who is our righteousness. 2 Cor 5:21
We still need milk when we don't understand the righteousness of faith.
Those who partake of milk mixes law and grace,not understanding Jesus as our righteouseness.Melchizedek is also known as king of righteousnesss and king of peace.
They become dull of hearing and make the gospel of grace hard to explain.Heb 5:10 - Heb 6:2.Read Heb 7 and 8 for more about the teaching of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek preisthood.
Jesus is our rigteousness.Jesus is our life.Jesus is our Mediator in the new covenant.Yet some want Moses as their Mediator.(law) 2 Cor 3
Hi Malcolm,
Thanks for the response and for giving your number so I can text you. I have already sent you a text. I suggest that you remove your phone number from the blog as my concern is that some people may spam you especially those who are against the grace gospel.
I forgot to mention that I came across this blog (sorry forgot what the url is) which declare that pst Prince as a heretic and delete posts/ comments from people who disagree with him stating that they violated his blog rules of character assasination on him and those who agree with him.
He proclaim his arrogance/ self righteousness by talking about systematic theology, exegesis, greek and hebrew, etc.
Strange that for people like him to declare pst Prince as heretic which is a form of character assasination to say that people who don't agree with him has assasinate his character and condemn anyone who disagree with him.
Sigh! It is really very heart-breaking to see brother fighting against brother. I guess that is why we need the grace of God...to love the unlovely (in our eyes) and pray for God to unveil their eyes. All glory to Him!
It is sad indeed guys...
This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. - Mk 13:13
Not all who see and hear the same thing receive the same message because sometimes the heart soil is not ready to receive and chokes the message out before it is ready to bear fruit.
Keep these brothers and sisters in prayer - there is power in intercession. No point arguing over and over sometimes as their hearts remain hard. Sow that seed and wait patiently in the LORD for Him to make it grow.
Let us pray that their heart soil will be prepared and ready to receive the blessings of God that rains on them, waiting for them to drink.
God will make them grow, not us - we are just his gardeners - planting seeds, watering soil, removing weeds, fertilizing...
I was a legalist and didn't know it.I agree totally with the grace gospel.That is what Paul Preached.
Pastor Prince is a straight shooter. I find that I need that message again and again to renew my mind in "What did Jesus Do?" When I answer that question I find He did it all and He finished it; the Cross, the death ,the burial, and the resurrection, so I may have the gift of His right standing with My Heavenly Father by right believing in the Right Person Jesus Christ!
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