KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
“Jars of clay” have no real value except to serve as a vessel for the thing of great value, the Gospel (including all of God’s Word).
Our confidence before the Lord is provided to us by the Lord.
“confidence” – from parresia [pas = “all” + rheo = “out-spoken”] – means boldness, confidence; all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance – Strong’s
The Lord, Himself, encourages us (aka gives us the confidence) to approach the throne of grace with a familial heart. We do so, understanding that it’s HIM who calls us to Himself in the first place! This begins at salvation, even (Jn 6:44).
To fulfill the Gospel command, God must provide the means (grace)!
The Deceitfulness of Sin – Part 4: Dec 13, 2018
We are INCAPABLE of beating sin at its own game! The nature of sin is that it is deceptive. This means that its first order of business is to go unidentified! ONLY the Light of the Word is able to illuminate sin, identify it, and then deal with it.
“How does sin go undetected?” Answer: Mt 6:23 – when we exchange truth for a lie, light for darkness, good for bad, bitter for sweet, etc. (Is 5:20).
Sin poses as a friend, as something good, even righteous, for us. (eg. Ps 55:21; Pr 5:3)
You are incapable of controlling sin on your own! Sin wants to deceive you of this very truth; it wants you to think that you actually CAN control it so that you don’t cut if off (ala Mt 18:8-9), but you HAVEN’T, you CAN’T, you NEVER WILL!
God isn’t interested in playing man’s game of odds.
Grace works most abundantly in the absence of human strength (“God opposes the proud” – 1Pe 5:5).