My Walk With Him: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Friday, January 24, 2025

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

Today, I continue a pause of my study of Zechariah as I prepare for leading worship at The Gardens and The Lodge this upcoming Sunday as part of a ministry outreach of my church Bay Leaf Baptist. Since the start of the new year, worship for this ministry is based on Tony Evans' booklet The Grace of God, and for this Sunday's worship specifically, we are using chapter 4 Set Free by Grace. Like yesterday, today I sought views on Christian freedom from R.C. Sproul in this short video, and also from John Piper in this video.

In the video from RC Sproul, Mr. Sproul shares that we do have free will, we are not robots and therein lies the problem because we then are prone to our sinful nature which has been true since creation and The Fall in Genesis 3. Although we are physically and biologically alive, we remain spiritually dead, enslaved to our sinful appetites and impulses.

In the video from John Piper, the question at hand is whether we have free will to choose Christ. Piper then defines free will on this question as having "ultimate self-determination," and this demands that you personally, not God, are the decisive cause to choose Christ. Piper then shares that the answer to this is no because it is God's grace that is the decisive cause of salvation. We are referred to Romans 8:6-7, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Timothy 2:25, Philippians 1:29, 1 Corinthians 15:10, Philippians 2:12.

Coming back to RC Sproul, I am reminded of Romans 12:2 and how once we are saved, God renews our minds though the sanctification process sharpened through submission to spiritual disciplines primarily daily study of God's Word, prayer, corporate worship, etc. See also this article from RC Sproul.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who softened my heart to see Your glory and You grew in my heart over time such that my desire and love for You deepened and I am eternally thankful for this. I am not deserving of my salvation nor the sanctification process. My sin is great and it continues...daily. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.