Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105) Mount
Baker
Beacon Volume 02, Number 36
09/03/2023 Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692 Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM
Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
Web site: Mt. Baker church
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Editor......John Bass
| In this issue:
ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS
Jeff Cason Occasionally, you and I are confronted by someone who wants to emphasize and elevate God’s love, mercy, and grace over God’s commandments, truth, patterns, and will. The person may also emphasize and elevate our attitudes, heart, and emotions over the necessity of our actions and obedience. The person who emphasizes these attitudes over actions can be your neighbor, your co-worker, your social contact, religious leaders, and sometimes our brethren. Examples may include:
“I’m saved by grace, not baptism.”
“You’re being Pharisaical.”
“I just feel like I’m saved.”
“Just pray the sinner’s prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart.”
“I’m inclined to give more grace.”
When confronted with these and similar statements, we may feel unprepared and embarrassed that we haven’t memorized the appropriate scriptures to present what God’s word says about the connection between attitudes and actions.
The purpose of this article is to show that attitudes and actions are “super-glued” together in God’s word. We don’t have to memorize passages that are unfamiliar to us. Most of the passages below that link attitudes and action are very well known to us. We memorized some of them as children. The passages below can be used by us to show our neighbor, our co-worker, our social contact, religious leaders, and our brethren that God doesn’t elevate attitudes over actions but rather regards both as equally important in the life of the person who wants to walk with God and love Him with all of their heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
As with all of the characteristics of God, we could never say enough nor be thankful enough for His awesome attributes. His love, mercy,grace, and ways are immeasurable (Romans 11:33, Isaiah 55:8-11). We can benefit from these awesome attributes only when coupled with faithful, obedient action on our part. Consider the following scriptures and note the connection between attitudes and actions in the highlighted words in each.
Love
1. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
2. John 14:15 – If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
3. Ephesians 4:15 – “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
4. I Peter 1:22 – “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.”
Grace
1. Titus 2:11-14 – “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
2. II Peter 3:18 – “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
3. II John 1-3 – “The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”
Heart
1. Romans 6:17 – “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
2. Acts 2:37-38 – “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
3. Matthew 7:21 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
4. Deuteronomy 32:46 – “he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.
5. Hebrews 10:19-25 – “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Notice the inextricable connection and equality of God’s love, mercy, and grace with God’s commandments, truth, patterns, and will in all of these passages. Notice the inextricable connection and equality of our attitudes, heart, and emotions with our actions and obedience. Top
PRACTICING SELF-SACRIFICE
Joe R. Price The person who practices righteousness is righteous (1 John 3:7). Likewise, we cannot just talk about self-sacrifice; we must practice it daily. Consider these applications of self-sacrifice.
(1) Self-sacrifice is necessary to repent and be saved. The godly sorrow that produces repentance unto salvation is ready and willing to sacrifice every sin that was previously committed (2 Cor. 7:10; Acts 19:18-20).
(2) Self-sacrifice is necessary to worship God. Many excuses are heard when one chooses not to deny self and worship the Lord. To put the Lord first and worship Him will mean sacrificing your time and your personal convenience to assemble with God's people (Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:24-25). Giving as the Lord has prospered you involves self-sacrifice (1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7).
(3) Self-sacrifice is necessary to learn God's word. Time and effort are required to study and learn the Bible. The upright in heart make the necessary sacrifices to learn and live the word of God (Psalm 1:1-2; 25:4-5; 2 Tim. 2:15). (4) Self-sacrifice is necessary to live a moral life. The gospel calls us to put away evil companions and immoral conduct (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22). As we live in the world, we must not be of the world (cf. John 17:15-17). This requires putting away fleshly desires and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:13-14; 1 John 2:15-16).
(5) Self-sacrifice is necessary to help those in need. To refuse to help someone when we can do so is not the love of God or the character of Jesus (1 John 3:17-18; Luke 10:30-37; Matt. 25:35-41).
Sacrifice characterizes the disciples of Jesus. Our purpose in life must be to gain Christ - everything else becomes secondary. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Phil. 3:7-8). Top
Created by Tyler Rorvig-Rieksts, last updated. 09/02/2023 The Mount Baker Beacon is a weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA.
Send all questions, comments to the editor, John Bass at (360) 325-5149 or johnbass2468@gmail.com |
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