Who is your master?

[jmdrake]

While all may participate in this thread, it's really geared towards Christians. If you are an atheist or agnostic, you don't believe you have any master. I'm not sure what the view of other religions are.

Jesus made it clear that you cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Paul expounded upon this. If you chose to obey sin then sin is your master. If you chose to obey God then God is your master.

Romans 6:15-18

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Note what Romans 6:17 says about heart obedience. That is the new covenant. The new covenant is the circumcision of the heart. Paul talked about this in Romans 2:28,29.

Romans 2:28,29
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God

Notice what this is saying. The circumcision of the flesh, what Paul preached against in Galatians, is contrasted with the circumcision of the heart. Who does the circumcision of the heart? The Holy Spirit. If you speak against this circumcision, you are speaking against the work of the Holy Spirit.

Note that this circumcision of the heart was prophesied by Moses.

Deuteronomy 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Hmmmmm...where have we heart the term "love God with all your heart and soul"? From Jesus.

Matthew 22:37 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Only through the circumcision of the heart by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the pharisees. After all, they weren't really trying to keep the law. The were using their understanding of the written law to attempt to circumvent the law.

Mark 7:9-13 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Someone only serving the written law can play games like that. But not when the law is written on your heart. You can still, and will still, make mistakes, but under the new covenant of the law written on your heart you will not try to legalistically justify your mistakes as the pharisees did. Instead you will follow the advice of apostle John.

1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This new covenant, this writing of the law on our hearts was also predicted by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

This is echoed by the writer of Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:16 "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."

So the choice is clear. You can choose to be a slave to sin or a slave to Jesus. You can't have two masters. If obedience to the voice of Jesus is seen as "optional", if it's just something that you "should" do, then Jesus is not your master. Romans 6 is very clear on that. God desires heart obedience from His children. No, he's not going to throw you out just for making a mistake. That's the beauty of 1 John 1:9. God is ever willing and able to forgive. But Hebrews 10:26 is also clear that God will not be taken for granted. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

 

[donnay]

God is my master, and I am his humble servant.

 

[OrigSEOH]

Yep, "Put a mortal man in power and watch him become a god!" is what I say, I think I got that from a song. I do believe that is why Anabaptist are the way they are...if they could produce their own electricity they would use it. However, it seems that I rather worship the AEP for my power rather than run a bio gas generator or pay homage to the food gods for some milk and bread rather than have a cow or goat and a wheat field. I do believe the argument is that we can voluntarily worship private enterprise such as the energy and healthcare gods, but government's alter to various gods, such as the Federal Reserve System of things run by the FOMC, are forced on us. I don't like churches since they always seem to "pray" about the "U.S. Dollars".

 

[cjm]

Jesus made it clear that you cannot serve two masters.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to jmdrake again.

You are the real deal, jmdrake. Let us know when you run for office and I'll do what I can to help.

Yep, "Put a mortal man in power and watch him become a god!" is what I say, I think I got that from a song.

Not sure about the exact wording, but that sounds like "Symphony of Destruction" by Megadeath.

 

[jmdrake]

Bump for AB/SF. I pray that you will accept Jesus as your master.

 

[Todd]

God...

Then my Wife.

 

[jmdrake]

God...

Then my Wife.

Come to think of it, Jesus said he who would be the greatest, let him be a servant. And He took on the role of a servant to save us. If husbands adopted Christ-like servant leadership, divorce would probably go away.

 

[jmdrake]

Bump for Sola_Fide in the sincere hope that he will accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior instead of merely as his savior.

 

[jmdrake]

Bump again SB/AF. Who is your master? Is Christ your or is sin? If Christ is your master then why do you think you don't have to obey Him?

 

[jmdrake]

Bump for AB/SF again. Who is your master? Why are you so afraid to answer this question?

 

[Sola_Fide]

While all may participate in this thread, it's really geared towards Christians.

Your post isn't geared toward Christians because what you espouse in your post is not Christianity. What you keep repeating over and over again is the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It is, sadly, a pervasive heresy...in this day and in times past.

The Lordship Salvation heresy is even promoted by those who call themselves "Reformed", so it is understandable why there would be so much confusion. You don't seem to read anything I type so maybe it would be better if I left you some links to articles that discuss the heresy of Lordship salvation and why it is not Biblical:

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/Lordship%20Salvation/foolish.htm

http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=193

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

What you are promoting is not the gospel. The gospel is not a new set of requirements. The gospel is not a call to repentance. The gospel is not a promise to try harder. The gospel is not a decision to start again. The gospel is not obedience. The gospel is not law.

The gospel is a declaration of how God has already perfectly fulfilled the requirements of salvation for His people, who lay hold of that justification through the passive instrument of faith. There are no requirements for salvation, it is a FREE gift to all those who simply believe. The Westminster Confession says:

”Those whom God effectually calls he also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, that act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience, to them as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them.... Faith...is the alone instrument of justification....”

Our working does not count toward our justification in any way:

Romans 4:5-8

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:


“Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

 

[Smart3]

I am indeed my own master, no man is above or beneath me. I don't see how someone could live any other way.

 

[jmdrake]

Your post isn't geared toward Christians because what you espouse in your post is not Christianity. What you keep repeating over and over again is the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It is, sadly, a pervasive heresy...in this day and in times past.

So you reject Jesus as Lord. Got it. What is your explanation for Romans 6:16? Paul clearly teaches that if you obey sin then sin is your master. If you obey God then God is your master. Obedience to sin leads to destruction according to Paul. Obedience to Jesus leads to righteousness according to Paul. So according to you, Paul is a heretic. Yet you rely on Paul to prop up your false doctrine.

The Lordship Salvation heresy is even promoted by those who call themselves "Reformed", so it is understandable why there would be so much confusion. You don't seem to read anything I type so maybe it would be better if I left you some links to articles that discuss the heresy of Lordship salvation and why it is not Biblical:

Deal with Romans 6:16. Quit hiding behind your false logic and tradition.

What you are promoting is not the gospel.

I'm showing you the plain teachings of Jesus and Paul. By rejecting Jesus and Paul you are rejecting the gospel.

The gospel is not a new set of requirements.

The New Covenant is the law written on our hearts. Who said it was a new set of requirements? I certainly did not. But Jesus still calls for obedience and Paul affirms this. Again, deal with Romans 6:16. Do you think that Paul is a liar? Do you think Jesus is a liar?

The gospel is not a call to repentance.

The gospel started out with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus by calling for repentance. Paul confirms this in Acts 19:1-7.

19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Peter also affirms that repentance is part of the gospel.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Further Jesus Himself made repentance part of the gospel.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

So you are basically calling John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and Jesus Himself heretics! I back up what I'm saying with the Bible. You ignore the Bible and instead post links to people who are apparently as foolish as you are.

The gospel is not a promise to try harder. The gospel is not a decision to start again. The gospel is not obedience. The gospel is not law.

The gospel is the promise that Jesus will forgive your sin and live out His life in you if you let Him. It's not hard to obey Jesus if He is living inside of you. If He is not living inside of you then it's not only hard, it is impossible. The question is, will you let Jesus live inside you? Will you?

The gospel is a declaration of how God has already perfectly fulfilled the requirements of salvation for His people, who lay hold of that justification through the passive instrument of faith. There are no requirements for salvation, it is a FREE gift to all those who simply believe. The Westminster Confession says:

The devils believe and tremble according to James. Relying on the "Westminster Confession" to overturn the Bible shows that you are not following the Protestant teaching of sola scriptura. Instead you are relying on tradition. Jesus warned against Pharisees like you setting aside the His commands through their traditions. The Westminster confession cannot save you. Only Jesus can save you. But Jesus will not force Himself on you. You have to chose Him.

Our working does not count toward our justification in any way:

Jesus said "The work of God is to believe". So even your belief, according to Jesus, is a work. But you don't accept Jesus as Lord (you just said you didn't) so I guess what He says isn't important to you. You've found another door to salvation instead of Jesus. It's the "Westminster confession".

 

[jmdrake]

Edit: One more thing. YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED THE QUESTION! WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

 

[kylejack]

 

[jmdrake]

From the OP:

While all may participate in this thread, it's really geared towards Christians. If you are an atheist or agnostic, you don't believe you have any master. I'm not sure what the view of other religions are.

 

[Sola_Fide]

More on the difference between law and gospel:

The gospel, in this, its strict and proper sense, seeing it is the form of Christ's testament which contains absolute and free promises of Him, contains no precepts. It commands nothing. It doesn't enjoin us to even believe and repent; but declares to us what God in Christ as a God of grace has done, and what He promises still to do in us and by us and for us.

Every requirement of duty, all precepts, those to believe and repent not excepted, belong to the moral law.

-John Colquhoun

"Then what? Is the Law useless for righteousness? Yes, certainly. But does faith alone, without works, justify? Yes, certainly.

Otherwise you must repudiate Moses, who declares that Abraham is righteous prior to the Law and prior to the works of the Law, not because he sacrificed his son, who had not yet been born, and not because he did this or that work, but because he believed God who gave him a promise. In this passage no mention is made of any preparation for grace, of any faith formed by works, or of any preceding disposition. This, however, is mentioned: that at that time Abraham was in the midst of sins, doubts, and fears, and was exceedingly troubled in spirit. How, then, did he obtain righteousness? In this way: God speaks and Abraham believes what God is saying.

-Martin Luther

"You must not expect that you will be perfect in "repentance" before you are saved. No Christian can be perfect. "Repentance" is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of salvation. Condition of nonsense! There are no conditions of salvation. God gives the salvation himself..."

-Charles Spurgeon

 

[acptulsa]

Your post isn't geared toward Christians because what you espouse in your post is not Christianity. What you keep repeating over and over again is the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It is, sadly, a pervasive heresy...in this day and in times past.

So why don't you burn him at the stake? See what that gets you on the Judgement Day.

Christians attend and accept the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The people who do this, perfectly or imperfectly, are Christians, and it really doesn't matter how hard you try to narrow the definition of Christian in an effort to be exclusive enough to look down on them. They are still Christians.

Some understand these better than others--especially the ones who listen to Jesus and work at making sense of what He said. Others prefer the alluring poppycock of false prophets. No one gets it perfect but some wander farther astray than others.

One undeniable fact: Jesus didn't teach arrogance or intolerance. Indeed, when he found someone arrogant and intolerant (almost always a Pharisee more interested in the letter of the Law than the spirit of it), he generally wasn't gentle with them...

I try to be gentle with them, because I know I don't have as perfect an understanding as Jesus. I do try. But it's hard to see someone pick through such wisdom merely looking for loopholes and for things to be snobbish about.

 

[jmdrake]

More on the difference between law and gospel:

Yes. Keep relying on the teachings of men to set aside the plain teaching of the Bible. The road to hell is indeed broad. Paul makes the issue crystal clear. Either you obey sin and it is your master and it leads to death, or you obey Jesus and He is your master and you are led to righteousness and life. It's your choice. God has laid life and death before you and He wants you to choose life.

I understand now how a Dutch Reformed minister can be an open atheist and keep his pulpit. Your theology cares more about the clever sayings of men who claim to be teaching God's word than it cares about God's word itself.

 

[acptulsa]

'As usual, those whose dogmas are the most unintelligible are the most angry.'--Thomas Jefferson