Gossip Spreads Doubt And Divisions
Please read (3 John 5-10)
“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift” (Ephesians 2:8 HCSB).
Vision: Please find it here
We have also inserted links onto our links section to our Brother Patrice's blog and to his Praise and Worship music.
Conviction Of The Holy Spirit Opens Our Spiritual Eyes
Back to our message, it can be said that each one of us had a past life involving some poor decisions that we had taken before we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. As we know, no one is born saved, if we were there would be no need for grace. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit directly points us to the grace of our Heavenly Father (Zechariah 4:6). What I mean is this, grace manifest through the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin (John 16:8) which in turn leads us towards a Saviour to obtain salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Without boring you with my testimony which I repeatedly shared in this space. Anyway, before I initially committed my life to Christ back in 1990, I had no regard for Church, but I knew if I needed to know more about the Lord that is the place I would have to go. However, like I shared elsewhere, my life with the Lord began when I started reading the bible for myself, which led me to the conviction of my sins and faith in the Lord. During my worldly ways, I sought the company of my friends to engage in our usual habits of drinking, partying and engaging in various sins, but after all my activities are done, I would often ask myself, ‘how long will I continue like this, and where will all this end?
Let’s be honest, we need to show off something or have something to gain relevance, acceptance, and influence amongst our friends and if we don’t ridicule and abuse will follow. Like all youths, I worked hard to maintain my ‘status’ amongst my friends to remain relevant and influential, but there comes a time when one has to give up that life of competition to impress friends as everybody vies for the top spot. As we know, this involves slandering, backbiting, betraying and dominating others and the evil this brings is a grudge, hatred, and feelings of inferiority. Now, how this relates to our message is that how would I have been able to see my sins and the operation of God’s grace to save me from all that? (Ephesians 2:3-5). Remember, it is not about me here; it is just good to explain from my position as the Apostle Paul so convincingly did (Romans 7:9). Rather, I was plagued by vices other than what you had been, and that brought us both to the Lord, and we received grace unto salvation.
Can Our Good Works Save Us?
We are living in a world where a person is judged by the work we do, success in attracting an audience and good looks which are the normal human measure, the facade. In contrast, the issue of a person’s heart is measured by intentions and motives and evil or good is seen therein. Motives are often well-hidden by words to coat our conscious and hide our motivations. Therefore, the part God is interested in is the condition of our hearts when we do or say something (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10) the results of what we did. Let me be honest here, we have had an experience where we were helped in our ministry by some people which we greatly appreciated, but after helping the brethren would undo the good they did by complaining and with some painful words to belittle and humiliate. Scripturally, such a person does not perform from love but regret and grudgingly. The Bible says we must not give or help others grudgingly (2 Corinthians 9:7) and the Lord’s grace is without repentance (Romans 11:29). In such instances of complaining, the Lord says keep your gifts and get your heart and life right with the Lord (Colossians 3:23), obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Having said this, do we think that our works will bring us closer to God while we neglect the condition of our hearts which He weighs and sees (Proverbs 16:2; Job 34:21-22). Briefly, we had a member in our ministry whom the Lord commanded to do something for Him. At first, the person obeyed, however, later on, the member complaint bitterly and disobeyed the Lord’s command. And this led the Lord to say, “My daughter (name withheld) is not just doing this for you but My sake,” and this led the Lord to say, “My daughter (name withheld) must no longer do the task I gave her.” Therefore, judging from this, the person did this under compulsion, stressfully and void of peace and joy. Brethren, as I conclude, does our works witness peace and relieve in others with joy or regret with bad memories? Do we befriend people or fellowship with them to genuinely help to build and encourage them (Hebrews 10:24) or simply to control or dominate? Adding our works to what or who motivated us, are others able to see us or the love of Christ through our labor? (Colossians 3:23).
As for the religious and those who are content just to attend Church and the unbelievers, do you think your good works and charitable works will earn you a ticket to Heaven and a seat of honor on the throne of the Lord Jesus? (Revelations 3:21). The answer is NO! Salvation is through Christ alone (Acts 4:12) and our good works find meaning in and through Him (Ephesians 2:10) and He should be the motivation of our efforts.
Would you like to be a light in this dark world and experience true peace and joy? Do you want to give your works an eternal meaning? To begin a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, please repent and start by praying this Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.
Blessed Regards and Peace in Christ.
Brother Glenn
