Indeed. WE live by God's mercy and love upon us all.
OTOH God is also Holy and Righteous. Holiness and Righteousness demands obedience to God.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).

Pastor KongHee? I think he's out and preaching ady.

Last I checked on England's Church they're not allowed to perform any marriage rites for homosexuals but they're open to blessing those couples which sends mixed messages to the world.

When I think about it, Yes Sad indeed.

ON the other hand though, check out Asbury revival. God reviving Students!

That is something not seen for a while.

Sorry but I don't agree Titus 3 verse 5 is talking about works of the Law.

It says there works in righteousness, referring to righteous things done which is correct. If it was on the law it would have said law.

And the phrase "ergon" in Greek can refer to any kind of righteous action or deed.

In Titus 2, the Grace of God is actually the person of Christ. Grace can also refer to God's kindness.

God's kindness teaches us to say no to ungodliness, not any human teacher. Try to think about that.

Yet nothing is indicative in there is saying your obedience to God is a criterion or pre-requisite for Salvation. Titus 3 verse 5 clearly says it.

Sorry but I think I do know somewhat about doctrine. And I think you are not that familiar with the purpose of God's Law.

It's hinted when you say if you try to obey the Law without Christ there is no grace but via Christ, there is all grace given. That is an error.

The Bible never teaches such.

I don't know maybe I misunderstood the part where you said "When we try to obey the law apart from Christ there is no grace". I'm thinking this is the context in relation to the next sentence of obeying God via Christ then all grace is given.

Why bring law into the equation? I think It shouldn't be relevant at all.

Sure Christ did not come to abolish the Law but to uphold it and no one can remove it.

Yet only He alone was qualified to fulfill it. No one else could.

And the law was given for a sole purpose, note on "sole".

Do you know what it's for?

Law has more than one purpose. It serves as temporary restraint. It reveals God's will and holiness. And of course the law reveal man's sinful nature and that includes inability to keep the law. It reveals we are under judgement also points us to Christ. . I don't have the exhaustive list.

This post has been edited by SharpSword: Feb 22 2023, 04:22 PM

Blessings everyone.

How everyone doing?

To be honest I'm quite lazy to do long winded argument. Let's just agree to disagree.

The whole problem with this, I'm seeing repeated and recycled pattern. I've been here long enough to know exactly what is going on.

I've been in this forum for 18 years but I've been a Christian much longer than that.

Thank you for the old comrades in here for being graceful in not stirring up the pot hotter.

For me Law is basic, grace is the deeper end. I've been where you have been, understand completely where you're coming from, been there, done that.

While I understand the importance of obedience to God I think you're not reading me properly. I think what usually happens in cases like this, they usually read quickly, skimp a lot don't bother to read slowly. So a lot of miscomprehension happens. I think this guy think I'm saying obedience isn't important. I didn't imply such.

I did say the believer's obedience cannot be a requirement or pre-requisite for Salvation because pre-dominantly what saves us is the blood of Christ, Christ sacrifice on the cross. Faith in that is what saves and it's because of God's mercy, nothing of us in any form, what so ever.

And I also said these below.




Yet the way of how it is being argued against me is as if I'm discounting obedience to God, IE...as not important.

Sigh.

BTW.

The Sole purpose of God's Law is to give strength to Sin or to empower sin. That will lead to all it's other functions.

Asbury Revival. It's happening non-stop for weeks.

This is quite important for our Christian world.

I think we can start the ball rolling.

Testimony time.

Would like to hear any believer's in here.

Anything on your experience with The Lord.

[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 11 2023, 10:37 AM]
cut* even after being saved, you will do some ungodly things and I don't mean to discourage or discredit you. I'm talking reality. Talking about real Christian life processes.

God justify the Ungodly's faith. Think about that. Let this sink in.

No doing of yours...IE your obedience will merit you for Salvation. You can self justify and say it's a "response to faith" you can use whatever words but at the core of it, this theology does not solve this problem: you know you're going to heaven because you "acted" right before God. And that is "Works" my friend.

cut*

God Bless. [/color]

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 17 2023, 10:15 AM]
Jesus Christ wants to be savior, not as an example, teacher or prophet PART 4


One of the greatest flaws is that such erroneous teaching, it puts the onus of the workload on the believer to perform. Yes as indicated they will use the words; repentance is the response to faith and it's not works. These teaching are really contradicting if not in denial of their own meanings.

Faith is the pre-requisite. Change of heart or Fruits of the spirit are the works of God. We cannot use fruits as pre-requisite for salvation because everyone is a work in progress. There are no instantaneous change next day over night. Trying to disagree or refute that is akin to wanting to see beard being grown on babies.

cut*

Luke 19:9 (NIV) - Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham

Those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)
So to sum it all up, remember:


4. Don't judge another brethren who are still WIP with contempt.





[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 20 2023, 08:20 AM]
Blessings everyone, grace and peace to all of you, including LS advocates.

I'm going by scripture.
cut*

We don't obey God to get Saved.

The works of Salvation is of spiritual nature, something I would say ..to make it plain and simple; is pure if not holy where there can be no mixture of any of Man's performances or effort. It is God's Work.

If God require Man's obedience to be saved, it would be recorded in the Bible but it's not there. God alone is the one saving you.


See the problem?

And yes, to the other brother has comprehension problem, I said you will not find Jesus being angry towards any sinners who come to Him, you won't find it in the Bible. So what happen next? he go and post 2 article of talking about God's wrath and anger by the phrase "someone said jesus was never angry".

That is indeed comprehension problem.

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 20 2023, 03:22 PM]
You know with regards to James 2 Faith without works is dead?

The works here couple with faith is needed I believe to accomplish God's needed work here on earth.

The work to provide for the needy or poor, to minister to someone. <---Context.

It's not about to attain Salvation.

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 20 2023, 04:16 PM]
Yes context is important.

cut*

Christians are sanctified by Christ blood once and for all. I don't believe God's grace is just initial and after that it's up to you, whether you get Salvation or not depends on how good you obey, repented or performed, That to me degrade the finish work of Christ if not insulting the spirit of his grace. It also makes it a Man based Salvation rather than God's finished work.

whatever sin we commit as Christian, words spoken or acted...the Blood of Christ avails and speaks for us.

cut*

PS:

For Christians, the type of account that we need to give to the Father determine our rewards or no rewards in Heaven. It's not to punish us to eternal condemnation.

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 21 2023, 09:27 AM]
What does fixing our eyes on Christ means?



It is not you conjuring your own effort, gritting your teeth, using self discipline, using your own will power to refrain from sin. If you think that this is so, friend, you have not been reading the Bible right. PM me for more info on this and I'll gladly update you.

I'm speaking on reality, not fantasy. When you live the Christian Life, you will fall and commit sin at times. If or when you do, here is the secret. ALWAYS remember the cross of our Lord. Confess your prayer in this manner;

cut*

I pray this devotion will help you. God Bless.[/color]

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 22 2023, 03:06 PM]
Sorry but I don't agree Titus 3 verse 5 is talking about works of the Law.

cut*

Yet nothing is indicative in there is saying your obedience to God is a criterion or pre-requisite for Salvation. Titus 3 verse 5 clearly says it.

Sorry but I think I do know somewhat about doctrine. No you don't! And I think you are not that familiar with the purpose of God's Law.

It's hinted when you say if you try to obey the Law without Christ there is no grace but via Christ, there is all grace given. That is an error.

The Bible never teaches such.

[/quote]


[quote=unknown warrior,Feb 23 2023, 09:27 PM]
Blessings everyone.

How everyone doing?

To be honest I'm quite lazy to do long winded argument. Let's just agree to disagree.

The whole problem with this, I'm seeing repeated and recycled pattern. I've been here long enough to know exactly what is going on. No you don't! You are clueless.

I've been in this forum for 18 years but I've been a Christian much longer than that. And yet you learnt NOTHING on your journey

Thank you for the old comrades in here for being graceful in not stirring up the pot hotter.

cut*

The Sole purpose of God's Law is to give strength to Sin or to empower sin. That will lead to all it's other functions.


[/quote]

your exposition of Christianity has left me . . . . speechless so near & yet so far. truly, what a pity.

Ok, my testimony.

Must give praise to God.

Yesterday night my car tyre hit a deep hole, the tyre became flat.

Good thing it happened near my house so I could easily drove back, and change to spare.

The hardest part was unscrewing the wheel nuts. First 3 came off with much strenuous effort.

But the last nut...no matter how hard i tried, it won't budge. Was completely exhausted to the point, near to fainting already.

Really out of breath, out of strength. Was thinking of calling it a night and try next day BUT!!!!

I prayed to The Lord to ask help..... to send Angel to help me.

And it really happened!

The last one came off without the exerted strength I did on first 3. It came off much easier.

Thank you Heavenly Father. This is to testify your goodness and your reality!

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Feb 25 2023, 01:36 PM

Roll it away

Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) - In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.

Morning guys, how u guys doing?

This verse, confirms the way how God's principles works, the way of God's kingdom.

We can have all kind of intentions we want but unless God is the one who establishes them, you won't really go far with your plans or intentions.

Verse 3 of Proverbs 16 tells us to commit to God our intention/plans. The word commit in Hebrew is "galal" which means to roll away.

Roll it away to God. Roll it away in faith, believing in God's goodness that He will answer you for your good, even if it's a No, it's "still" for your good.

God Bless.

Sons of Law will persecute Sons of Grace

Galatians 4:19 (NIV) - At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

To make it easy to understand on everything that I've shared, it can be summarised as below.

The Old Testament Law is on you to perform before God to be bless or cursed. It all depends on you. Thus "You Shall Not, You Shall Not, You Shall Not...."
The New Testament Grace is on God to provide and bless. It all depends on God's goodness. Thus "I will, I will, I will....(I here refers to God Himself)"

By right as new testament believers we are suppose to take up all that God has offer under that covenant. However there will be oppositions to this and it is not surprising. This is foretold by scripture.

In book of Galatians, Apostle Paul established Grace is the Gospel (Galatians 1:6 NIV - I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel). He also established what he teaches on Grace was revealed to Him by Christ Jesus Himself (Verse 12) Grace is actually God's own agenda, not Apostle Paul's own idea.

In Galatians 4, Apostle Paul was frustrated that Galatians believers wanted to go back God's Law, ie the basis of Mens doing or performances to be saved. Hence he wrote about Faith vs Works of the Law. Yes Paul indicated there has to be a clear separation, is no mixture allowed. You can read this in chapter 3 and 4.

I'm not surprised that today there is still this idea; that those who try to obey God's OT Law without Christ, there is no grace and implying if they do via Christ there is grace. This is erroneous because God's OT Holy Law was never given for such an intention in 1st place. This was made revealed in

Galatians 5:4 (KJV) - Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

This verse tells us Grace is Higher than God's Law (The idea of fallen). This is why I said, The OT Law is basic, Grace is much higher. It's terrible when Christ is of no effect to the believer and we don't want this. With that being said, as NT believers we need to look away from God's OT Law.

Galatians 3:2 (NIV) Tell us
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?

Works of the Law here indicated you put your trust in your doing. It's Law mentality.

And Galatians 3:5 (NIV) again reinforced this doctrine

So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard.

There you go, you receive God's Holy Spirit and God's works of miracles by believing what you heard. There is no other way to receive this.

And those who try to reinforced Law Mentality will persecute sons of Grace. It happened in OT time all the way to NT time and until today. Galatians 4:29 the main theme of Today's devotion tells us that.

The basis of God's blessing coming to us is because we believe what we heard. Faith In hebrews 11 defines this believe. In principle it is the same with receiving Salvation!

I understand completely why there is this insistence that Repentance & Obedience must go hand in hand to qualify for Salvation. Believe me I understand it completely. I know you want people to repent and to obey God but you don't realize what you are insisting will not achieve that result as it is not God's way. Repentance, Obedience & Salvation is never granted on the basis of your doings. This is where you have missed it completely.

I do not give 1 verse to make a doctrine. In case you missed it, I give many verses to reinforce it. The problem with my critiques is that they do not read properly, properly as in slowly. They skim read very fast causing a lot of misunderstanding. This is where some believers are divided, each claiming others being ignorant, not understanding the Bible, we are accused of not knowing doctrine, etc.

Yet according to scripture, those who persecute us are on the wrong side.

Even the parables of the prodigal son as told by Christ Jesus Himself attest to this in Luke 15. There is this revelation of the older brother which not many are familiar with.

This older son came back from field's work and heard "music and dancing". Asking God's servant what is this "celebration" is all about, he was told the wayward son came back and God the Father accepted him back with much grace. And instead of being happy for that long lost brother, he got angry instead. <===THIS. This being levelled against us.

Take a good look at the reaction of this older son then I hope this will convict you. Look at verse 28 all the way to 32

QUOTE

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

The word "slaving" in Hebrews "douleuó" means "I am a slave, am subject to, obey, am devoted"

God the Father actually had to go out and plead with this older child. This older son actually think he has access to God the Father because he was serving faithfully and obedient. (there you go, servitude and obedient). He didn't understand the heart of the Father. If one could understand, God is indeed a Good God and very Graceful. This older son actually in reality already has access to God despite of his servitude or obedience. The basis of his access was actually God's Grace.

What Law mentality believers don't realize is the danger. It could lead to the sin of self righteousness, thinking they deserve all these "because" they repented or obeyed.
You can claim that you don't, you acknowledge grace is the basis Of Salvation, you can say many things, You can say I'm so near but so far...doesn't matter. What matters is that theology must conform to the workings of God. And all that will be attested.

Attest to whether the fruits of Holy Spirit is evident in your life or it's just all clanging sounds you accuse we sons of Sarah? If you think your theology is the correct one, how is your spiritual life at this moment? Are you still struggling with sin of pornography? Are you still struggling with lust? Are your words..words of grace or still have vulgarity in it? Does your conversation have hints of sexual immorality, impurity, or of greed? Does it involve obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking just to impress others? Is your mind at peace or still have oppressions at times causing you to lash out at others?

I'm not trying to boast but I want to testify God has indeed delivered me from those. And I heavily attest, it has nothing to do with me. Not even my attempt to repent or be obedient to God.

Just my simple but consistent believing in God's grace via sincere prayers to Him. This attest to truth of scripture.

May God give you insight on this.

The surety of the believer's Salvation

1 John 5:13 (NIV) - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

It saddens me greatly when I read christian writings somewhere along the line of such...

"At the end of the day we hope to get saved". <==== This is never the posture of a Christian.

What does the Bible teach on surety of Salvation?

1 John 5:13 the main theme of this devotion can't be any clearer than this.

The Bible was written so that you may KNOW you have eternal life. Not perhaps or maybe.

You want to know what leads to believers being unsure?

It's when you mix law and grace into the equation, qualifying for Salvation. When you add in anything of yourself into the equation, of course there will be uncertainty. I mean duh?

As I've said before, of course obedience and repentance are both very important. But You must have proper revelation as to why they are important.

But with regards to this devotion I want to ask you this important question; how consistent is your obedience before God?

Quite sure there are times you are not obedient, quite sure there are times you sin willfully? What then is your basis for entering Heaven then as believer in Christ when you fail? This is a deep question to ponder. You want to turn tail and now fall back on your repentance to God as the fitting criteria? How many times you want to repent in a day or the whole year enough to know that you will qualify? 10 times? 100 times? 1000000 times? <== something for you to reflect on as well.

* If you claim to be perfect and have never been disobedient or have never sin even after conversion, I call that a lie.

So to those who are adamant that obedience and repentance must be a pre-requisite or criteria for Salvation, all the best to those who believe in such doctrine. I'm 100% sure it will lead to uncertainty in qualifying for Salvation. If you disagree then refer to *


How then does the Bible teaches us to be sure on Salvation?

Very Simple, as I've shared many times; follow what the Bible teaches.

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) - fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It never say, you are the pioneer and perfecter of your own faith. Hint at your obedience.

This is the position that I take before God's throne of grace when it comes to Salvation. Everyday!

I fix my eyes on Christ. I always thank God the Father for Christ Jesus, for the cross. IE to have removed all my sins as far as from the East is to the West. I believe in Christ's death & resurrection who represent Me. Christ's resurrection proves justification that all my sins have been put away. I put my faith in God's work, not mine. In fact I discount mine to nothing. <===This is also key.

You will note that every scripture verses that promise Salvation have all this in common. Which is to believe in Him (Christ Jesus).

John 5:24 (NIV) - “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Because I know God will not go back on his word and is incapable of lying, I know with certainty, what God promised, it is mine!

Because my faith is on the assured foundation of Christ Jesus, this caused me to be unshakeable. Because I've been made unshakable I then put into practice of what God ask of me, knowing all that I do for Him will not be in vain.

There are so many things that God asks us to do. But when done it in surety of God's Salvation, you know that you know God is with us. We all want changes. We all want obedience and repentance but do take note those are graces that are enabled from God. If God does not work in you, your obedience is only temporal, falling back on your own strength. In there is inconsistency.

The Holy Spirit will only attest to the truth of God's Word. Meaning He only comes in and work according to God's truth. The Holy Spirit cannot act base on a lie.

For example If scripture says God works his miracle because we believe what we heard then this is the truth The Holy Spirit will attest to. Trying to add in any addition to that verse and make it a different meaning, God's Spirit will do nothing. Anyway that is added in for snippet on next devotion. "The working of God's Spirit".

Faith is the root, Acted repentance are God's fruits. So don't enforce what is of God's working into a criteria. It would not be right.

God Bless.

Just be born again je la. That is a surety already.

wow wow wow

I am gonna post a article by catholic again, to demonstrate that even catholic is closer to truth then you are

Where Is “Eternal Security” in the Bible? Hint: Nowhere
LEILA MILLER • 5/19/2017


A little over twenty years ago, as a young wife and mother, I was ready to leave the Catholic Church and become a “Bible Christian.” Like most Generation-X American Catholics, I was poorly catechized and had no real foundation for understanding the Faith. My best friend—a former radical feminist—recently had a conversion to Christ and began attending an evangelical Bible church down the road, and I was days away from joining her.

I was all but gone when the Holy Spirit intervened through my mother. Mom told me to “find out what you’re leaving before you leave it” and handed me a book of apologetics (something I never knew existed). It was Karl Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism. I was blown away by the logic and truth I found in those pages, and I quickly made a return to the Catholic faith.

However, my friend was still firmly convinced of Protestant theology, and we began discussions that were essentially a two-person mini-rehash of the Reformation. Much of the fundamentalist doctrine she embraced made no logical sense to me—including the concept of “once saved, always saved,” also known as eternal security.


In short, eternal security is the idea that once a person has “accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior,” that’s it. Salvation is a done deal—the soul is heaven-bound, with no turning back, no matter how badly he may sin. Even a free-will decision to reject Christ after being “saved” is apparently not allowed by God.

I knew by then that salvation is not a numbers game or a formula of “speak these words one time and you will go straight to heaven and those who don’t will go to hell.” No, salvation is not a hoop to jump through; rather it’s a personal love relationship with Christ, the Beloved. Not only does “once saved, always saved” undermine the nature of love itself—which must be freely given and freely received or else we are slaves—it also contradicts Scripture.

To prove it to myself at the time, I took down my bright red New American Bible, took a pink highlighter in hand, and started reading through the New Testament epistles, underlining everything that contradicted eternal security.

And boy, there was a lot.

Below are just a few of the lines I highlighted back then. The pink ink is faded and bleeding a bit now, but the words underneath still powerfully point to the truth that the gift of our salvation may, because of our God-given free will and dignity, be continued or refused.

St. Paul said to the believing Christians (the “saved”) of his time:

Romans 11:22: “Consider the kindness and severity of God—severity toward those who fell, and kindness toward you, provided you remain in his kindness; if you do not, you too will be cut off.”

Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary of doing good; if we do not relax our efforts, in due time we shall reap our harvest.”

Philippians 2:12: “So then, my dearly beloved, obedient as always to my urging, work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation.”

1 Timothy 1:19: “Some men, by rejecting the guidance of conscience, have made shipwreck of their faith.”

1 Timothy 4:16: “Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Persevere at both tasks. By doing so you will bring to salvation yourself and all who hear you.”

Similarly, the author of Hebrews is clearly not working in a “once saved, always saved” paradigm when he speaks to believing Christians:

Hebrews 4:1: “Therefore, while the promise of entrance into his rest still holds, we ought to be fearful of disobeying lest any one of you be judged to have lost his chance of entering.”

Hebrews 4:11: “Let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall.”

St. Peter describes the miserable lot of those who know Christ as Savior but later fall away:

2 Peter 2:20: “When men have fled a polluted world by recognizing the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are caught up and overcome in pollution once more, their last condition is worse than their first.”

There are several more highlights in my tattered old NAB, so many that at a certain point I stopped highlighting, but you get the idea: The concept of “eternal security” was not a Christian doctrine back then, nor is it now. The idea that we can never lose our salvation after “accepting Jesus Christ” came as a novel and dangerous falsehood during the Protestant heresies of the sixteenth century, a millennia and a half after Christ founded his Church.

My friend who attended the “Bible church” was eventually able to see the truth of Catholicism and converted, as did her Protestant husband and her parents. They, and all of us, hold joyfully to the great hope of our own salvation, while never forgetting the need to persevere in our love of Christ, heeding the words of St. Paul:

“So then, my dearly beloved, obedient as always to my urging, work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation” (Phil. 2:12).

When you are strong, God backs away, but when you cannot, God comes in - The working of God's Spirit

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Hi Everyone, God's Grace to you and your love ones.

Today we will talk on how to get God's Holy Spirit to work in us. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us how. God will not work in you if you try to be strong in yourself. As Christians, we need to always come to a place of vulnerability. There will be people who don't like this. Nobody likes to be vulnerable but it's the only way for God to work in us.

In the natural we may feel ashamed for weaknesses but not so with God. God delights in our weaknesses. God loves to use the weak things. So if you have many many weaknesses, guess what? You're a good candidate for God to work in.

And it's vital to understand unless God works in the person, there can be no fruits or results. We all want changes, we all want obedience and repentance even.
For that to happen, God must work in your life. <==Where is the basis for this theology that says unless God is the one, you cannot?

Well look at this verse.

Philippians 2:13 (NIV) - for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

And this verse.

John 15:5 (NIV) - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

With all that being said it is also important to know; in order for The Holy Spirit to work in you, you need to be connected to God. I mean that is obvious.
And in order to be connected to God, you need to know your new position in Christ

As believers in Christ, you must understand your sins have been put away by Christ's blood on the cross. This will take a bit of explaining. But it's important to know.

Our new position = We have been washed cleaned. This is the position you must hold fast to. Don't allow anyone to convince you out of it. You need to repent and believe this. I'll explain later why this is important.

As born again believer, you may not be perfect and may fail here or there. But understand your new position. Your failure(s) does not define you. Christ Jesus now defines you. <== This.
The bible states very clearly. Christ is not going come down from heaven again to die on the cross every time you fail. The Salvation offered on the cross is not confined to the limit of time nor natural space. It avails anytime anywhere.

QUOTE

Hebrews 9:24-26 (NIV) -
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

As born again believer, If you failed, Pray like this; " Abba in Heaven, I thank you for the cross. The sin (you can name it, whatever it was) that I've just committed has been judged by you at the cross and has been redeemed by Christ's blood. I receive your forgiveness and repent of it, help me to move on by your holy spirit.

Then pray this prayer.

"Abba in Heaven, I have no power to overcome this sin. I have absolutely no strength to abstain from it. I will surely fail if I even try to abstain. I ask for the work of your Holy Spirit in this weakness. Take away that wrongful desire or sinful desire. I don't want it. According to your word, I gladly admit this is my weakness, let your grace and strength rest on me. Fill my mind with what is only virtuous, good and clean thoughts from heaven.

It may be a bit confusing at the beginning but just understand 2 fundamental truth.

1. Christ Jesus has taken care of your sin. Don't try do anything to contradict this.

2. God's Holy Spirit will only work in you when you relent and surrender that you cannot.

Why is weakness so important? God cannot save the person who is strong. As analogy, You cannot save a drowning person who is struggling with his might, both will be in danger of drowning. You can only save when he/she stops struggling and allow to be saved. Hope this simple analogy helps.

God's principles is the opposite of this world. In this world, we look to the strongest, the fastest, the tallest. What Man esteem is something that God doesn't.

Anyway, there you have it, the working of God's Holy Spirit. This is how we get to repentance and obedience.

God Bless.

Philippians 2:12 must be made to understand in entire context.

Posting just that verse alone may imply you need to work out to achieve Salvation. (implying you haven arrive there yet)

But it's not the case if you read the entire chapter.

From the beginning of Philippians 2, in Verse 1, it talks about if we have any encouragement from being united with Christ.

What does that mean?

Well you have been given Salvation. (Being united with Christ?) If you are encouraged in that, then encourage others too.

It then goes on to talk about the humility of Christ and how God exalt Christ to the highest place and given a Name that is above all other names.

Because you have been given Salvation therefore work it out. You can test the logic, If you have not been given Salvation, you can't even work it out.

And what does working out Salvation involves? What is the context? Well it's in the next verse (Verse 13)

13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

That is right! Allowing God to work in you as outlined in my latest devotion.

And interestingly Fear and Trembling? It may sound alarming and panicky but it is not.

The context for those 2 stems from reverence unto God. Same as Fear of the Lord. We all know it's not fear as in scared of or feared because of dangerous creature like snakes.

There you go.