To the question: what must I do to be saved? the old gospel [Calvinism] replies: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To the further question: what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? its reply is: it means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one's natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one's heart by the Holy Ghost. And to the further question still: how am I to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if I have no natural ability to do these things? it answers: look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch pray read and hear God's Word, worship and commune with God's people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you ("Introductory Essay to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ," p. 21).
Let Charles Spurgeon lead you in prayer:Join with me in prayer at this moment, I entreat you. Join with me while I put words into your mouths, and speak them on your behalf— "Lord, I am guilty, I deserve thy wrath. Lord, I cannot save myself. Lord, I would have a new heart and a right spirit, but what can I do? Lord, I can do nothing, come and work in me to will and to do thy good pleasure.
Thou alone hast power, I know,To save a wretch like me;To whom, or whither should I goIf I should run from thee?
But I now do from my very soul call upon thy name. Trembling, yet believing, I cast myself wholly upon thee, O Lord. I trust the blood and righteousness of thy dear Son...Lord, save me tonight, for Jesus' sake." (From Iain Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1973], pp. 101f.)
11 comments:
The gospel is the power that saves a sinful dark human soul.
Nice post, and prayer.
Keep up the good work my brother.
How are Jivan & Anita doing? How is the church doing?
Good night my friend!
ZZZZzzzzzzz
Don,
Thanks for the encouragement bro. and for stopping by.
Anita and Jivan are doing good. The church is so close to being complete but not quite. They have run out of money. The walls are completely plastered. It looks done, but the floor is rough and undone (not comfortable to sit on; they sit on floors rather than chairs here), and they also have no windows or door or electric yet. Those are the final things that remain. They hope to finish it, but only $50 came in for them last month (quite low even for them), so we are just waiting upon the Lord. It is still amazing that the building is as far along as it is. There is much to praise God for. They do have weekly meetings downstairs in their apartment, but not in the church hall yet.
PS: They haven't even run electric in their own apartment yet. They've invested everything into getting the church done. They have a single electric wire run from a neighbor’s house so they can have a light on. But they can't even charge their cell phone, operate the computer or anything from their apartment.
Jivan stays quite busy (too busy really): teaching at various Bible colleges almost everyday (that is how he makes a living) and running church services at three locations. I don't know how he keeps up with it all.
Thanks for stopping by Martin. Thanks also for keeping me laughing with all your hilarious posts my friend.
Triston
I love Jivan, what a man of God. Thanks Triston for the update.
Is Dave Fontz still coming over there? If so I'll have to contact him.
BTW, we had the Guiess' over at Dave and Kathy Shive's the other night, which is our weekly Bible study and dinner.
It was a good time of fellowship, and prayer for Nepal, and for the gospel to go forth in even greater ways than ever.
His children speak Nepali. that's very cool.
Mike & Lupe are fine servants of our Lord.
Have a blessed weekend brother.
All praise and glory for God's grace!
Thanks for serving GOD Brother,For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton SON that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3;16
God's standard is perfection and His just judgment is unbending. The penalty for my disobedience is eternal separation. I need a Savior. Only Jesus Christ satisfied God's wrath against me. "It is finished!" He said. What can I do but trust in His completed work? I have nothing more to offer!
See the picture clearly: http://www.goodseed.com/learning/online-books-home/
Hi, in reference to "What Must I Do to be Saved?", Please see God's recorded answer in Acts 2:36-41: '"All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!" When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, "What shall we do, brothers?" Peter said to them, Each one of you must turn away from his sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven: and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit. For God's promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away--all whom the Lord our God calls to himself." Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them, saying, "Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!" Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day......" God also defines baptism: Romans 6:1-17 and Colossians 2:12 (a burial); 1 Peter 3:20b-21 and John 3:3-5 (in water). May God Bless all Seekers of Truth with answers from His Inspired Word:)
Litl Luther,
My name is Drew Grumbles. I am a member of ekklesia (famous for Doug Short) and he has told me much about you. I found your blog and wanted to get in contact with you. I would like to hear more about your mission in Nepal.
If you post to this thread it will send to my email account. Perhaps you can give me your email and then we won't have to communicate on here anymore. Thanks.
Drew Grumbles
Hi Drew,
Please say hi to Doug for me. He's a good friend. Leave me your email address here and I'll contact you by email....or ask Doug for my email address.
Hi again Drew,
I just realized that you are the same guy I have been meaning to contact. So I just emailed you at the gmail account Doug gave me.
Blessings
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