| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
Untying the Knot, continued
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10)
What we have been teaching can get complicated. Why don't we stop and review before we go to the fourth and last area of disagreement.
The four areas of disagreement:
* The consequences of not keeping the commandments.
* The approach we take to the commandments.
* The role of our own personality in keeping the commandments.
* What the results are of keeping the commandments.
The first viewpoint concerning the first area of disagreement is that there are very serious consequences of not keeping the commandments. The second, Evangelical viewpoint is that there are no really significant, eternal consequences of not keeping the commandments.
The first viewpoint concerning the second area of disagreement is that we are to call upon the Lord constantly to help us keep all the commandments given by Him and His Apostles. The second viewpoint is that the commandments were given to show us our need of a Savior and it is impossible to keep them to any great extent.
The first viewpoint concerning the third area of disagreement is that it is our own personality that chooses continually whether we go to God to help us keep the commandments or ignore the commandments. The second viewpoint is that our own personality is so beyond redemption that we are to either just keep on believing that we are saved by grace or else wait for Christ to keep the commandments for us or in us (depending on the particular Evangelical group).
Now to the fourth and last area of disagreement.
* What the results are of keeping the commandments.
We already mentioned the first viewpoint, that the result of keeping the commandments is to receive the fulfillments of the promises of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
The second, Evangelical viewpoint seems to be that there is no great benefit, certainly not an eternal benefit, in keeping the commandments of Christ. We go to Heaven by grace, it is taught, and a serious effort to keep the commandments can have a harmful result in that we become a legalist or Pharisee or detract from the perfect work of Christ.
The writer has been termed a legalist for stressing that we have been commanded to live a righteous, holy life before the Lord. Can you imagine?
It is interesting that we Christians embrace many of the promises of the Old Testament. We trust, for example, in the promises of the Ninety-first Psalms. Yet there is a condition. We must abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
We understand this and yet we don't understand it. Is it true now that we have the protection of the Ninety-first Psalm by grace and do not have to make an effort to abide under the shadow of the Almighty? But if the protection is provisional, aren't we really saying that the work of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High is necessary if we are to be protected?
To be continued.