04/21/23 WHY I "HARP"

04/21/23 WHY I "HARP"
(this will take you between 5 to 10 minutes to read, but it might help someone in their daily walk and lifelong journey: it may be worth the time).

I preach and teach about a wide variety of issues related to our spiritual lives (doctrinal, practical, social, relational, political, moral, economic, recreational, educational). There are periods of time when I focus on a specific subject and I address it from many different angles. I deal with the lies of sinning religion almost all of the time, since it is the counterfeit, which Satan wants us to believe, and sin is the life he wants us to live. I often expose the lies of the supposed Divine decree of our inability to choose to believe on Christ; the false doctrines of unilateral and unconditional salvation, limited atonement, and the blatant lie that sin does not separate us from God.

I also realize that I address these issues a lot in my writings. This is because the doctrines of sinning religion are running rampant. It was not always this way. However, those who have espoused the false teachings of Augustine and Calvin have flooded the internet, and since people go to the internet for information they encounter the most visited, most popular sites, which are Reformed and Calvinistic.

Since there is a flood of false doctrine, I respond to the darkness by shining the light of Scripture, though some folks, even in my own congregation, may think I over react. I don't want any of my family or my congregation to ever turn from light to darkness. Let me tell you how that can happen through the following steps (*).

*Truth sets people free, but it only frees the people who believe the truth.

*We are born with God's grace already active in our lives, and God extends His love, mercy and grace to us through His goodness, kindness, enlightenment and the restraining work of the Holy Spirit in our world, but we are born with a spiritual "bent to sin."
*As a result of this "sinful nature," at some point we choose to do that which we know is evil (to whatever degree it may be, it is still sin) and we become accountable for our sin.

*At some point we hear the gospel of Christ's sacrificial and salvific death and resurrection for the sins of the world, and we hear the call of God to believe on Christ for Divine salvation, we then repent (turn from sin and turn to follow Christ); to confess our sins and confess our faith in Christ publicly.
*These are Divine conditions, which are declared in the Holy Bible. These are not humanly devised impositions, rules and regulations.

*When we respond in faith to the call of God (when we are "saved" from sin), which includes *justification (forgiveness of our past sins and being made righteous); *regeneration (new birth, aka born again, born of the Holy Spirit); *initial sanctification (our conscience and life is cleansed), *we are then empowered to live righteously.

*Salvation (being saved) transforms us from sinners to holy ones (saints) and enables us to keep God's commandments and to do that which is pleasing in His sight.
*Remember, entire sanctification (cleansing from the Old Man, deliverance from the Double Mind) comes to the believer subsequent to our conversion, as we come to understand our inherited sinful nature and our need to make total consecration.

*Believers are enabled through salvation live as God's word says,
*walk in newness of life;
*walk in the light, even as Christ is in the light;
*walk in the steps of Jesus;
*walk as Christ walked;
*walk in truth;
*walk in love;
*walk in faith;
*walk in good works;
*walk worthy of our calling;
*walk worthy of the Lord;
*walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh;
*walk in God's commandments;
*walk uprightly;
*walk in righteousness;
*walking in God's ways;
*walk in the perfect will of God (walk in perfect love);
*walk honestly;
*walk as children of light;
*walk circumspectly (carefully, wisely),
*believers still have a free will after salvation and after being filled with the Holy Spirit (as did Adam, though he was created without sin or flaw), therefore it is possible for the most advanced believer to choose sin, to turn from God's will, from God's grace, from God.
*The danger of going into sin is immediate and can be eternal.

The following emphasizes why I am so deliberate and persistent in warning people about sin and sinning religion.
*Sin has three postures; WALKING, STANDING and SITTING, each with a different degree of separation from God.

Psalm 1:1 points out that the blessed person:

*"Walks not in the counsel of the ungodly."
"To Walk" refers to the way we live.
"The Counsel" refers to influence promoted by someone.
"The Ungodly" refers to people who are not seeking or yielding to God and His word; they neglect God.

*"Stands not in the way of sinners."
"To Stand" refers to a commitment deliberate choice.
"The Way" refers to a specific behavior of someone.
"Sinners" refers to those who have chosen to willfully disobey God; they reject God.

*"Sits not in the seat of the scornful."
"Sits" refers to taking an immovable position.
"The Seat" is the assumed position of authority.
"The Scornful" refers to those who mock, ridicule, demean God and His word; they invect God.

*Each of these three postures leads to a more defiant and separated relationship concerning God.

I am pastor to family and friends. I am concerned that any one of them can be in a right relationship with God, but a lack of vigilance may lead them into sin.

*Going back into sin would start out in the life of a believer who hears, listens to the counsel of the ungodly. That has been the way of rebellion and backsliding since the beginning of mankind and it was the concern of Paul at the beginning of the Church Age.
*The believer does not have to be convinced, or well versed in the lies of darkness.
*However, when there is more garbage in than there is truth, then the person will slack off from a vital commitment to God and begin to absorb some of the false doctrines around them.

*The person (the one who is socially and morally responsible) but listens and is receptive to the counsel, the teaching, the philosophy, the worldview of the ungodly, will be more susceptible to more destructive false doctrines.

I am seeing this happen more frequently and more quickly than ever before. This is why I bear down on the plain truths of the Bible. I don't want my family members or my fellow church family to be nudged away from truth or drift into deception because the way of darkness will end in eternal loss and tragedy.