Tag: Matthew 7:22

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Resurrection Power: the Evidence of Salvation

This episode builds on the previous program, asserting that mere propositional knowledge about Christ is insufficient for salvation. Many of us have encountered "believers" who insist they are saved based on a past recitation of the sinner's prayer, though evidence that they are presently FOLLOWING Christ is absent. This past confession amounts to acknowledgment of the facts of the gospel [propositional knowledge], but devoid of subsequent following of Christ, is an empty confession that doesn't save. The above scenario highlights the necessity of the ONGOING application of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to anyone who claims to be a Christian. And, it is part of the constitution of every believer, "if anyone would be my disciple, he must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24) "Following Christ" then is the ONGOING application of our Master's life to our lives. So the application of the resurrection of Christ to everyday life, as it turns out, is foundational to being a Christian.

The Law Expresses the “Beauty of Holiness”

This episode is a recap of the previous week's teaching on Psalm 119, emphasizing the common threads of God's work in establishing our way, ultimately leading to a genuinely positive delight in God's law. Since the law is a reflection of God's character and beauty, love of God coupled with disdain for God's Law is inconceivable. While true believers would never seek to justify themselves by keeping God's Law, they nevertheless delight in that Law based on being born again. Romans 7:22 affirms that they "delight with the Law of God in the inner man." The episode closes with Jonathan Edwards' phraseology describing believers' delight in God's holiness described in the Law. Christians alone can apprehend the "beauty of holiness."