Archives for 6.21.09

a good post on holiness

I’d like to call your attention to a blog by Marty Colborn, ‘What About Holiness?’ Marty writes very thoughtful pieces on the Christian life, but this one is particularly timely. I think he gets it exactly right. You don’t produce holiness by works, but you holiness will produce works in keeping with itself.

Many who accuse fundamentalists of an over-emphasis on externals assume that fundamentalists believe that conformity to outward standards will produce holiness. I haven’t found that to be the case in my experience in numerous fundamentalist churches. What I have heard taught is essentially what Marty highlights in his post.

Here’s a sample:

In thinking about my own life, I can say that I need to be more holy, and that there are many things that distract me from that pursuit of holiness. I am sure that some of these things show up externally, in behaviours, and not simply in my innermost being where no one else can see.

I encourage you to read the whole thing.

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6.21.09 gbcvic sermons

To Him that Worketh Not [Romans]

Rm 4.4-5

Proposition: Justification by faith is a ‘works-free’ zone.

We are still answering the question, “What then shall we say that Abraham has found?” (Rm 4.1). In our text today, we are expanding on the clinching Scripture (Gen 15.6) by examining two contrasts: the one who is working and the one who is not working. The one who is working is an illustration from life that explains why Abraham (and no one else) can be justified by works. The one who is not working explains what it means to not work and how that justifies.

Men Making a Difference [Christian Growth]

Philemon 1-25

This lesson was prepared for a separate men’s session at Family Camp last week. Since many of our people were unable to attend, we reprised it in our Bible Study session.

In the lesson, we look at the spiritual qualities of Philemon and consider how those qualities make him one whom the apostle is willing to make an amazing counter-cultural request. These qualities made Philemon a Christian of influence in his local church and are publicly demonstrated by the occasion of Onesimus’ conversion.

The Greatest Family of All Time [Christian Home]

This message also comes from our week at camp. Our theme at camp was “Families Making a Difference”. In this message we look at what I call ‘The Greatest Family of All Time,’ that is, the family of our Lord Jesus Christ. I propose that if we want our families to make a difference in this world, we need to emulate the mindset of the men from his physical family whose influence continues to this day.

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