saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19:38, ESV
How do we respond to the coming King? Are we as fickle as the crowd in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, shifting allegiance based on how we think Jesus should be? Or do we seek the truth of who He is?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16, ESV
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
Psalm 51:1-2, ESV
We are woefully wicked in our sin. Thanks be to God for showing us grace and mercy through the cross to blot out that sin!
[Jesus] said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me”
Matthew 18:3-5, ESV
Children know they don’t know everything and that they need help.
We need Christ’s forgiveness to and grace, and we need His wisdom.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
MATTHEW 11:28, NASB
The Great Physician has healed our souls and can give rest to our spirit. Should we not invite others to worship him and discover this healing and rest?
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
EZEKIEL 36:26, NASB
When we are born again as Christians, God renews our hearts and fills us with His Holy Spirit. And we will know this is true by our newfound devotion for God and His Word, love for the Church, and urgent compassion for the lost.
Yep. I missed last week. We had family in town, and I never had a long enough, quiet enough stretch of time by myself to record a video. Here is a new one, though! Here is the new Give Me 5:
Out of the Reformation of the 1500’s came what we call “The Five Solas or Solae”, but what do they mean?
The Five Solas
The Reformation started as a call to return to a simple faith not dogged down by man-made or superfluous rules and dogmas. (This is not the time for a debate about Catholic versus Protestant and denominational separation.)
It does lead to our first sola: Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone. Basically, this means that all of our traditions and understanding about God, Jesus, and humanity should be based on what the Bible says. There is value in traditions, the various councils, and books/teachings, but they must conform with what Scripture – as a whole – teaches.
This includes the matter of salvation, covered in the next solar: Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria – By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
This was summarized by Paul in Ephesians chapter two, when he said,
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
(vv. 4-9, ESV)
We still need to confess our sins – primarily to God, but also to each other (James 5:16).
We still do works – but as an act of obedience and love for the One who saves us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
But it is only by grace through faith in the work Christ to the the glory of the Father as revealed in Scripture that we are saved.
Now, this is only a brief overview. We can continue to discuss this in the comments or through e-mail at Together@asimplemanofgod.com, or even on our Facebook page, a simple man of God. I am sure more videos and articles will be made discussing these.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!