Last night in our family’s evening devotionals, we came across this verse.
And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. (Luke 8:15)
What struck me was Jesus’ description of the heart of the people who hear the word and hold it fast. Their hearts are honest and good. When I read that, I was struck by the contrast between Jesus’ words and how many in the church describe their own hearts. Too many professing Christians say that they still have evil in their hearts or that their hearts can’t be trusted. Apparently they don’t agree with Jesus.
The Bible says that Christians are cleansed from all sin (1 John 1:7). We have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24), and we have had the flesh removed from our hearts (Colossians 2:11). It is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20), and there can be no evil in the heart of one in whom Christ dwells (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)
The heart of a true Christian is not evil. It is holy and pure. And the proof of true faith is the holy life that pours forth from this Christ-cleansed heart.
2 comments:
Hi Sally,
I am not in a position to judge your spiritual condition. I didn't post my thoughts to shake anyone's security or question anyone's salvation. I just jotted down my meditations on the passages in front of me.
James does say that sin comes from man's own evil desire. That's why I'm so thankful that Jesus cleansed me from evil desires and has thereby cleansed me from sin. Without Him, I would still be dead, lost, and drowning in my own sinfulness. Thanks be to God for His glorious grace and mercy!
Do I love perfectly? By the witness of Scripture and my own experience, my answer is yes.
"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." (1 John 4:15-18)
So, it seems, that all who have God abiding in them are perfected in love.
I realize this isn't a popular doctrine, but it seems to me that Scripture teaches it.
As I'm sure you know, blogs aren't a great place to debate. Still, it's a good place just to state a case and let it rest. So, here goes.
I understand the concept of a positional placement by God, but such a placement is always in concert with concrete realities. We are seated in the heavenlies, and that agrees with our placement in God's design, care, and love.
A positional holiness that doesn't have a corresponding practical holiness doesn't wash. To say that God "sees" a person as holy, when in reality he is not, makes for a blind God.
Christians are positionally holy as well as holy in concrete, day-to-day reality. God sees us as holy, because we are.
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