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From the Pulpit of Bro. JR.
Fields
November 15, 2009
I John 2:1-2
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The disciple John, who walked with Christ, wrote the book
of 1 John. It is believed that John wrote the third Epistle between the
years of 85-90A.D., some fifty years after Jesus began His ministry, which was
around 30A.D, give or take a few years. Try to remember the timing when
John wrote this; the church had begun to break forth. The disciples
received power from above and when Peter preached the message during Pentecost,
thousands of people came to Christ.
It was common in the Jewish faith to live by the laws of
the Old Testament because that is how they were taught. They taught these
laws to their own children as well. Some Christians were hesitant to
embrace grace. They believed that the teachings of their fathers still
applied in the New Testament era. The Jewish leaders were hesitant to
change the way they thought of how a person found favor with God.
Acts 15:1 -- A certain man which came down from Judea and taught the brethren
and said, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be
saved." Circumcision was a token given to Abraham to identify his
seed as true followers of God. That is why the teachers were saying that the
Christians had to be circumcised to be saved. What they were doing was
taking the doctrine of grace and adding conditions to their salvation. The
disciples heard about this and Peter confronted the Jerusalem council.
Acts 15:10 -- Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. We
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even
as they.
It is through grace and grace along that we are saved.
You cannot add anything to it and you cannot add conditions upon a person's
salvation. Neither can you contaminate the doctrine. Someone may ask
the question, "Why is it important that we are saved by grace?" The answer
to that is because we cannot earn salvation any other way. It is through
grace and grace alone that we are saved.
Therefore, when people heard about this doctrine that we
are saved by grace alone, there was another doctrine floating around -- the
doctrine of liberalism. The people began saying that if they were saved by
grace, than they could live however they chose. Do you know why there is
so much confusion in the world today about salvation? Because there was
confusion from the beginning. People have always believed that being saved
by grace gives you the right to live anyway you choose and everything will be
fine. Romans 6:1 -- What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound? Some people believe even today that since
they have been saved by grace they can live however they wish. They feel
that since they are in the family of God they can live with what makes them
happy and God will pat them on the back and say, "Well done." That is why
John wrote, "Little children, sin not."
There are those people who believe you must work your way
to heaven. When you are saved, you must work, work, work. Let me say
this, "I believe we work after we are saved, because we are saved." It is
not for us to get an "Atta, boy." It is not to earn an extra jewel in our
crown. It is because we are saved by His grace and we want to work for Him
out of love for Him.
There is a doctrine floating around now called Legalism.
This doctrine teaches that a person can do something to earn his salvation and a
blessing from God. Listen to me, people! You cannot earn salvation.
It that were true, then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. Let
me try to define Legalism. I found this definition in the Oxford English
Dictionary -- "Legalism is the principle of those who hold a theological
position adhering to the law, as opposed to God. It is the doctrine of
justification by works or the teachings that favor that doctrine." Those
who believe in Legalism believe in Christ and keep the law. To believe in
Christ you must be water baptized, join a church and make a public confession of
your sins. You must give up your bad habits. They think that if you
believe, that's it -- that's all there is to it.
So where are works in this belief system of grace? We
work because we want to do it, not because we are trying to earn salvation.
The other doctrine is Liberalism. It is as far from
Legalism as it can be. Liberalism says that a Christian can live however
he want to. Do not regard the Bible as God's word. Do not believe in
the divine birth; do not believe in the virgin birth. Do not believe that
Jesus is the only way and do not believe that Christianity is the the only true
religion. Do not believe that God is the only God. Believe what
makes you feel good and we will all go to heaven together.
Both of these doctrines are off base. I John
2:1 -- Little children, sin not." That is the very basic
requirement of God's children. We must not yield ourselves to the
temptation of the flesh. Our lives must honor God.
John wrote, "Little Children, these things I write to
you, that ye sin not." What things did he write? He wrote in
1 John 1:7 -- But if we walk in the light, as He is the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us
from all sin?"
He tells us to sin not, but what happens when we do?
Some people would have you believe that when you do sin, you will lose
your membership in heaven. If that were the case, many of us have lost our
membership in Glory. Even though we are saved, we have two forces working
within us. We have the spiritual man and the fleshly man. So, who
wins? John says that if we do sin, we have an advocate to the Father.
While Satan is whispering in the ear of God telling Him all about JR Field's
sins, JR has already hired an attorney. His name is Jesus Christ, and
Jesus is the propitiation for my sins. Propitiation means there is
satisfactory atonement for what sins we have. Jesus goes directly to God
on my behalf to plead my case. Why does He do it? Because He knows us.
He knows our failures. He is the only one qualified to plead for us and He
will do it every single time. I could hire any famous lawyer to plead for
me, but he could not plead my case to the Father. I have confidence in
Jesus as my advocate. We have a direct line to Heaven, and I believe when
a true child of God stumbles, he will not rest until he has confessed, pleading
for God's forgiveness.
A Christian's good works are evidence of who they are, and
because we are saved by grace, let us work until Jesus comes. What is our
work? Our work is laying up treasures in Heaven.
Bro. JR Fields
November 15, 2009
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