davidbu@tekigm2.men.tek.com (David Buxton) (10/13/89)
The two sides of the $10 Bill:
Two of my neighbors each ask a different question. Each of these ques-
tions has a different answer:
QUESTION_A: One neighbor asks "What must I do to be saved?"
ANSWER_A: Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
QUESTION_B: I Love Him, what would God have me to do?
ANSWER_B: Jesus said - "If you love me keep my commandments."
The Gospel Commission.
Until my first neighbor becomes a 'Born Again' Christian and is sincerely
asking Question_B the second answer will mean little to him/her. It does
little good to try and answer questions that people are not asking yet.
We hand out a counterfeit if we offer the same answer to both questions:
Legalism is offering ANSWER_B for both questions. It is also a fraud when
we insist that "Just Believe" is the answer to both questions.
It is also a bogus Ten Dollar Bill to insist that the Gospel Commission is
the only answer to QUESTION_B. I shall presume that everyone accepts that
the Gospel Commission is a very good partial answer for QUESTION_B. Do not
think that I, in any way, discredit this commission. I simply set it aside
to limit my scope here.
I do not take the time to talk about phony Nine Dollar Bills.
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TEN DOLLAR BILL - SIDE A
* Under the Law I am condemned even if I (hypothetically) no longer
break any of the commandments starting mm/dd/yy. I did break the law
at some point in my life.
* I find no condemnation under the law until I respond to the prompt-
ings of the Holy Spirit and come to Jesus. Even big time criminals
have a way of justifying their crimes to their own satisfaction.
* Those who have not come to Christ feel pretty smug about how good
they are.
* Only as I respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit - only as I
come to Jesus and Believe on Him can I be saved.
* I come to Jesus and find that the law does condemn me, that I am a
sinner, that I truly do need to be saved from my sins.
* Now the law can be my school master and I discover that I am a
sinner desperately in need a Saviour.
TEN DOLLAR BILL - AT THE CROSS - THE PAPER THAT IT IS PRINTED ON
* At the cross I am freed from the dispensation of law and eternal
death. At the cross I personally, on that date, come under the
dispensation of grace which is a free gift.
* Paul urges me to die daily - to come to the cross every day.
* I leave the Old Dispensation behind and accept the New Dispensation.
I do it yesterday, today and tomorrow.
* It is easy to revert back to the Old Dispensation. It is easy to
try and do things my way instead of God's way. It is so human to
depend upon my own resources instead of turning to Jesus.
* A relationship with Jesus is vitally important. I need to meet Him
at the cross on a regular, daily basis. Paul sets a very good example
by saying "I die daily".
* If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved. We can be
delivered from our burden of sin and we can indeed be saved. Jesus
can then do a mighty work to change our hearts now that we are willing
to let Him do so.
TEN DOLLAR BILL - SIDE B
* Now that I have come to the cross and found Jesus and learned of His
love for me I begin to care about what He would have me to do.
* Now I am eager to do things His way instead of my way. To do things
God's way instead of man's way. I do want to do what He would have me
to do.
* "If you love me keep my commandments." (John 14:15)
* I do not keep the Law. Jesus Christ, living in me, gets all the
credit for all victory over sin. I must understand that my objective
is to draw closer to Christ, especially when I am not motivated to do
what He would have me to do.
I am reminded of Peter walking on the water. I must step out of the
boat and walk with my eyes upon Jesus. The minute I look back I start
to sink. Staying in the boat does not solve anything.
* At the time that God gave His people the Ten Commandments he made it
clear how they were to go about keeping His law. "And these words,
which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart;" (Deut 6:6)
It is the 'New Heart', placed in the heart experience, the 'Born
Again' experience that makes it all possible.
* In the Old Testament we see that there were those who did and those
who did not do it God's way. As a nation, the Children of Israel
failed miserably in their attempt to keep the law on their own terms.
Individually there were exceptions. There were individuals in the Old
Testament who did understand the true plan of salvation and did par-
take of the 'Born Again' experience.
* In Hebrews 8 we see that God has a New Covenant with anyone; regard-
less of nationality, race, creed, sex; who have the 'New Heart' 'Born
Again' experience and do keep the Commandments of God. Read verse 10.
It is the 'Place in the Heart' experience that makes it possible.
This is not the 'New Law' of the New Testament. Rather it is clearly
the how-to of both the OT and the NT.
* The Bible is full of simple and at times gut wrenching tests of
Faith. We are given the strength to meet these tests of Faith. We
will 'not be tempted beyond what we are able'. There is a big differ-
ence between a simple test of Faith and a legalism. Sometimes the
only difference is found in our attitude.
* God's law provides a simple succinct test of Faith. Any man made,
orthodox or liberal, Mishna is striving to worship Him in vain.
Those are the two sides of the Ten Dollar Bill and the paper that it is
printed on.
(To be Continued - See next Posting)
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8-) (-8 Dave (David E. Buxton)
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.-. davidbu@tekigm2.MEN.TEK.COM
. . Smile! Its a beutiful day!
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