We are making head way in GODS many Promises to those who will be Obedient and become Christ ones the meaning of "Isr El" or Ben El and Sons of El, soldiers of GOD. Little by little here a little there a little is GODS way of restoring us to Himself through Christ. For this why we are to be "in Christ," as the prepared virgins were Jesus example. Even the wedding feast is an example of those who have received of Him as the honored guests clothed inside and outside with Christ. Paul used the illustration of our being dress in GODS armor of Light. Again I will draw from the spring of Pastor Hoekstra's writing on GODS Grace, with some editing. And making use of the ESV translation for the rest of our look at the Liberal.
"God's Grace Teaching Us"
"For the Grace of GOD that brings Salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and Godly in the present Age, looking for the Blessed Hope and Glorious appearing of our Great GOD and Savior Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:11-13)
"Time and again, we have considered the connection between Grace and Justification. "Being Justified freely by (in) His Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus...In Him we have Redemption through His blood, the Forgiveness of sins, according to the Riches of His Grace" (Romans 3:24 and Ephesians 1:7). Now, we have an opportunity to ponder once more the Relationship between Grace and Sanctification. "For the Grace of GOD that brings Salvation has appeared to all men." It is GOD's Grace that brings Salvation to mankind. For nearly 2,000 years, that saving Grace of the LORD has been offered to humanity through the preaching of the Gospel. This particular verse now adds another function to the work of Grace. "For the Grace of GOD [is] teaching us."
The Grace of GOD not only saves the souls of all who Believe; it also works in Believers' lives to Teach and Instruct them. GOD's Grace, working through His word ("The word of His Grace" — Acts 20:32), Instructs and shapes our thinking and living: Gives each one clear perception in the purposes of GOD and His now Living Word within us. "Teaching and properly Equipping us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously, and godly in the present Age." It is the Will of our Heavenly Father that His children (the Isr El) turn away from that which is worldly and spiritually compromising. He wants us to walk in Godliness, in Christlikeness. GOD works this into our hearts by His Grace. Restoring us to a Genesis 2 Adam, this is to say a free spiritual man.
GOD's Grace also develops expectant lives, eager to have the LORD Jesus return for His people: "Looking for the Blessed Hope and Glorious appearing of our Great GOD and Savior Jesus Christ."
The Grace of GOD impacting our hearts through His word by His Spirit is His Divine means to bring about such Transformation in us. To view sanctification as something we can produce through our own performance (that is, by Law) is akin to overlooking GOD's Grace and underestimating the provisions of the cross of Christ. "I do not set aside the Grace of GOD; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21).
To the Liberal:
Psalm 41:1-4 "Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness You restore him to full health. As for me, I said, "O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!" (the word poor is one who realizes his extreme poverty and unsoundness before the LORD, he is said elsewhere to be humiliated and ashamed of his being and frame. For this is natural mans true poverty.)
Proverbs 3:1-12 "My son, do not forget My Teaching, but let your heart keep My Commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not My steadfast Love and Faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of GOD and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He Will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear (reverence and revere) the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."
Proverbs 11:23-27, 22:9, 28:27 and Ecclesiastes 11:1 "The desire of the righteous ends only in good; the expectation of the wicked in wrath. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it."
Proverbs 22:6-12 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the traitor."
Proverbs 28:20-28 "A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, "That is no transgression," is a companion to a man who destroys. A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched. Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase."
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth."
Isaiah 58:6-11 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD Will answer; you shall cry, and He Will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD Will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."
Luke 6:36-38, 14:14 (Jesus is speaking) "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
Luke 14:12-14 "He said also to the man who had invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Matthew 25:34-40 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.'
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