The forthcoming study FOR HIS GLORY is an overwhelmingly positive look into four topics.
First, it is about the spiritually extravagant life of the Kingdom of God, which includes the most crucial element of life in the Garden of Eden.
Secondly, it is about the defining characteristic of man as a free moral agent, which marks his exclusive place in creation. Free will’s expression is called choice. Choice is the driving force in man’s lively experience of the spiritual aspect of life, whether toward good or evil. His choices then result in obedience or disobedience – the primary factor in his relationship with Creator God through Christ the Redeemer. Choice matters.
Thirdly, it is to warn against the isms that so quickly detract us. In every case it is man’s pride creating a system to circumvent the humility of the cross. It is man’s religion replacing obedient faith. It is what Paul warned against in Gal. 6b-7a, “- – deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.” nasb.
In some cases, such as Mennonitism and Pentecostalism, it is embracing a belief system and its culture in a way that displaces faith in Christ, and in other cases such as Calvinism the belief system itself deters one from a disposition of obedient faith.
All are of man; all represent the influence of the liar, thief and murderer who presents himself as an angel of light; and all hinder our entering into the God-glorifying and soul-fulfilling life of the Kingdom of God.
And finally, it is to express our Father’s heart in calling us to turn back to Him and thus to the Life of His Kingdom. We insult Him when we represent ourselves to be His people. It is a slap in the face of Jesus to think of ourselves as His Mt. 16:18 Church. It is an affront to the Gospel to represent ourselves to the world as the example they should follow. We devalue the Apostles and the Epistles when we preach the Word and pretend to obey it. And we mock Revelation when we ignore its urgent message.
The men-pleasing preachers who collude with us in our mutiny have no fear of the sober truth of Gal. 1:9. See: https://biblia.com/bible/esv/galatians/1/6-10
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
March 14, 2022
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