Aju Balance Series

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    It this rightly said that Common Sense is not so common.

    Similarly, in the arena of Christian views, balance is utmost essential, but is often missing. Majority

    gravitate to either extreme and become spokespeople for each points of view & beret the others who

    differ from their point of view. Where is the Oneness that the Lord prayer for while on earth (that they

    might be one, as we are one)

    But then we should not get frustrated, it is all part of the Divine Comedy-each need the others in the

    Body of Christ, just as the whole body is not just 1 part but a whole made of seemingly disjoint parts- 1

    Cor 12:14 onwards is relevant to this context:

    14 For the body is not one member, but many.

    15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

    16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the

    body?

    17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the

    smelling?

    18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

    19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

    20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

    21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have

    no need of you.

    22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

    23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more

    abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

    24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more

    abundant honour to that part which lacked:

    25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one

    for another.

    26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all

    the members rejoice with it.

    27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

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    So the point is Paul is a member as well as James, one is given an insight into a particular aspect of Gods

    revelation and another to another- in Ephesians 3:2 onwards we see the Revelation Paul had which is

    not that which James had-

    Hence to embrace one & to forsake the other-especially if both are part of the Whole word of God

    would be erroneous.

    Let us not assume that Paul had a greater revelation than James, and in doing so we would be erring,

    since no prophet speaks by Himself

    2 Timothy 3:16 onwards

    16 All scripture (& not some or few only) is given by inspiration of God (GOD BREATHED), and is

    profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

    17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

    2 Pet 1: 20 onwards

    20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

    21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were

    moved by the Holy Ghost.

    The point is- it is not Grace or Works- it is Grace, followed by Works

    I would say that most preachers are not incorrect- it is just that they are incomplete. They preach on

    Grace- and then they stop, but the word does not end in grace, it is followed up by works.

    What did Jesus say- the Grace preachers are telling the truth in this- That God forgives us not due to our

    righteousness- but even while we are sinners- and this is perfectly as per scripture where the Word says

    in Romans that even while we were sinners, God reveled his love for us by sending Christ for us. But

    once grace has been offered to us- and grace is indeed needed since a sinner cannot stand without

    grace before the righteous God- and the person has received forgiveness through the grace offered to

    him which he accepted, then work should follow.

    The women who sinned was freely offered grace and she accepted it, since she had not other option-but

    Christ followed it up with a statement that most Grace preachers forget to mention or emphasizeequally- Sin No More- which is essentially speaking about works!

    Again what Grace preachers are saying is that it is not fear that drives one away from Sin but rather the

    grace of God and the realization of the Love of God towards the sinner- I agree 100%- but does that

    mean that everything is dependent on God alone and that no human effort is involved at all-I dont think

    so.

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    The real point is that, once we have been justified by Grace, we should remain under the shelter of

    grace and should not take Grace as an excuse for Sin- that we can commit sin- and God will graciously

    forgive every time. Then we are no longer operating under grace- we have made it void by using it as an

    excuse for our indulgences. There has to be a willful effort on part of each of us to Sin No More- and

    the Lord will not specifically say the same to us if He has not made us partakers also in the same. It is

    indeed his will that we should make effort in a willful manner not to sin anymore and consciously avoid

    avenues of Sin. Hence we look at every one of the cases where Jesus forgave people their Sins and re-

    instated them to the Kingdom- they no longer followed their old lifestyle, but became new in their

    approach by the willful and purposeful discipline of renewing their minds to be conformed to the word

    of God, and once their minds have fallen in line, their bodies have to follow suit-if they are genuinely in

    the pursuit to please the one who forgave them & gave them a second chance to life.

    Again I need to acknowledge that despite our best efforts, we can remain holy only by the grace of God

    and not by our works- but works in our lives has to be aligned with grace-there cannot be a miss-match

    and only then we are being sincere in our approach.

    Balance Series:

    Balance between Faith and works

    If we observe Romans & James, we depicted- Romans talk of Justification through faith-Holy Spirit

    through Paul and James talk of Justification through works, again the same Holy Spirit through another

    apostle-James.

    Even for men of God, however great they are, revelations could be partial-the only full revelation ever is

    the Full Word of God. In itself, Romans is incomplete in itself and James is incomplete in itself, while the

    full Word of God- its message is complete.

    It is noteworthy that both Paul and James use the same verse & life of Abraham to prove their

    respective perspectives.

    But the whole mosaic of the eternal message of God is clear only when viewed under the full-revelation

    of the whole word of God.

    It is true that Salvation is through faith & it is also true that Salvation is through works.

    The Spirit being tainted by the Sin of Adam could not be cleared by any good works of man- Salvation ofthe Spirit can only happen through the righteous sacrifice of Jesus-the second Adam, which un-did the

    corruption that came through the sin of Adam and was the right appropriation in the sight of the Eternal

    righteous judge- God the Father, and faith in Jesus finished work on the cross is the sole means of

    Salvation & hence re-generation of our Spirit.

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    The Salvation of our Spirit is a once only act-but the Salvation of our Soul is a daily process, the Salvation

    of our body is also a one-time process- when we get our new bodies at resurrection or Rapture.

    Works are needed for the salvation of our Soul- on a daily basis. Once your Spirit is saved once for all,

    your Soul which has not been saved- it needs to be renewed daily, to conform as per the Word of the

    living God as per its divine stipulations- and this has to be a continuous process-day in and day out and itwould only be possible due to the grace of God. This goes on and various people are perfected in their

    souls are differing levels by the time they live on earth- till the reach the stature-the full measure of

    Christ. In fact the Lord has given the 4 fold ministry for preparation of the Church to achieve this stature.

    Do the word of God assure the same future for every one of Gods servants- No- it is as per their works-

    that they wrought as per the grace given unto them.

    Hence for entry into Heaven for the Spirit- it is by the once act of Salvation faith in Jesuss work on Cross

    while our heavenly positions depend on our works on Earth for His Kingdom.

    It might even seem that the redemption of our bodies could differ- due to the nature of differences in

    heavenly bodies- hence even that could be based on works.

    But then too, it cannot be purely based on works since every work that we do for the Lords work has a

    foundation in faith- since that which we see is no faith at all, but that which we do not see is indeed

    Faith and hence every such work is based on Faith.

    Sufferings & lack of same- Cross & Crown

    Sadhu Sunder Singh points- that it is in this world alone that one can suffer for Christ, the Old believers

    would embrace any such opportunity! They would jump into the fire-it iwas like becoming heros for acause with promise of eternal rewards

    Hence we see in act that they were happy that they got a chance to suffer for Christ

    NIV 1 Pet 4:12, 13- suffering

    Suffer cheyyan varam nalkapettirikunnu, made perfect through suffering, what he should suffer for my

    sake- Character formation, God using same- not due to your own folly-15 onwards, flesh detest any sort

    of discipline & suffering, if you suffer with him, we will rule with him

    Many who attest to 1 particular form of theology or lifestyle would like to delete anything that is writtenin the word that is contrary to what they are living by or believing. Alternate lifestyles- Gay & Lesbians-

    would like to reason away anything written in the Word against that kind of a lifestyle- that it does not

    mean what it seems to say or that the context was different and that the times have changed-

    unfortunately TIME as an entity matters to us- since we are creatures bound by time, we all have a time

    of birth, a time to mature, a time to have a family, a time to also die, but God, the Judge is sitting

    outside time & has pronounced his verdicts in His word for all of us to see & know that we might be held

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    accountable on Judgment day- No flesh will be able to justify & He does not change as per time- it is He

    who spoke through His servants and were instrumental in the Word of God- it is God Breathed.

    If you preach to the whims and facies of the audience and according to & in-tune with the times, you

    will be in-tune with the changing times & changing moral values and changing concepts- but out of tune

    with the unchanging word & eternal pronouncements & eternal decrees that will stand the test of time& will come up on the Judgement Day.

    It is not what you think or feel as right, in the Kingdom- it is as the King says, and he is not as a human

    king with frailities, he is the Eternal God, who is wisdom in total. If He has said so, it is to be wholly

    believed and complied to- that will serve us best in eternal perspective, however it might not make

    sense in the temporal perspective.

    , Watchman Nee broken Vs Joseph Prince & the real message.

    Prosperity

    Trinity and oneness

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