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Feb 10, 2018 - Default    No Comments

The Loneliness of the Christian

The Loneliness of the Christian by A. W. Tozer
(From Man – The Dwelling Place of God, ch. 39)

       The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.

       The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

       The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

       He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

       It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.

Feb 7, 2018 - Default    No Comments

Liberal Churches

A liberal church says you are welcome here, and Jesus will change your life. 

A legalistic church says you are welcome here, and you need to change your life.

A reformed church says you are welcome here, and God will change your life through Jesus by the Holy Spirit with the Bible.

Feb 2, 2018 - Default    No Comments

得救的信心 Saving Faith

天主教 vs. 基督教

天主教:稱義  =  信心  +  善行
基督教:信心  =  稱義  +  善行

* “稱義” = 被稱為 “義人” (好人) = 得救
* “善行” = “好行為” = 順服神 = 遵行律法

 

什麼是 “得救的信心”?

Saving Faith
(得救的信心)
= Notitia
(知道)

+ Assensus
(同意)
+ Fiducia
(信靠)
1) 知道 = 知道福音的內容
2) 同意 = 同意福音的真實性
3) 信靠 = 信靠和順服
“我們被稱義不是因為遵守律法,
而是為了可以遵守律法。”

 

Notitia = Knowing
Assensus = Assenting
Fiducia = Trusting and Obeying

Legalism: Works = Justification
Antinomianism: Faith – Works = Justification
Catholicism: Faith + Works = Justification

Christianity: Faith = Justification + Works

 

Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Logic: Knowledge + Evidence = Truth
Faith: God’s Word = Truth

 

真正的悔改

Repentance is running from sin, and faith is running to God. Same direction, same action. They are the two sides of the same coin.

Repentance = Running from sin = Running to God = Faith

 

Fear-based repentance is running to God without Christ.
Joy-based repentance is running to God in Christ.


Attrition = fear of punishment
Contrition = a broken and contrite heart = true faith