"No doctrine is so calculated to preserve a man from sin as the doctrine of the grace of God. Those who have called it a licentious doctrine did not know anything at all about it. Poor ignorant things, they little knew that their own vile stuff was the most licentious doctrine under heaven. If they knew the grace of God in truth, they would soon see that there was no preservative from lying like a knowledge that we are elect of God from the foundation of the world. There is nothing like a belief in my eternal perseverance, and the immutability of my Father’s affection, which can keep me near to him from a motive of simple gratitude. Nothing makes a man so virtuous as belief of truth. A lying doctrine will soon beget a lying practice. A man cannot have an erroneous belief without by-and-bye having an erroneous life. I believe the one thing naturally begets the other. Keep near God’s truth; keep near his word; keep the head right, and especially keep your heart right with regard to truth, and your feet will not go far astray."
Charles Spurgeon,
The Holy Spirit--The Great Teacher
6 comments:
"Since the word "Lord" means one who is supreme in authority, and since confession of Christ as Lord mandates that it He be Lord, and in light of the fact that we're told not to lie (and that God hates lying lips), I'd imagine the Christian would avoid lying at all costs.
Put another way, I cannot imagine a follower of Christ who'd want to live a lie.
I really don't know if there's any significance to it, but the Word Verification is, so help me, "catspit".
Is ‘breaking your word’ a lie?
Yesterday, a preacher told his 6 year-old son, “We won’t go down the slide until you say.”
Neither had been down. He was on a lawn-chair sled with his son in his lap. Fifteen minutes went by, with the son changing his mind ever minute.
The preacher tried everything from sweet-talk to prayer. The deal came down to the son counting ‘three’, but couldn’t get past ‘two’. Finally the dad yelled ‘three’, and I pushed.
The son was delighted and wanted to do it again.
So, back to the question…?
BTW, yesterday, a father that had gone six times with kids in his lap, said, “I always wondered what Santa Claus looked like; best present I’ve ever had.”
Rex,
It seems to me that all of us should be very cautious regarding the promises we make.
Man Spurgeon had it down didn't he? I have an older preacher friend who is in the process of reading through the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit his second time. Grace is not a license to sin, it's a license to live righteously.
I guess that is like believing that someone who uses symbols for foul language is OK because it won't be long until you use them yourself.
By the way, when is using a references or symbols for foul language permissible before a holy God?
As was foretold by the prophet Isaiah:
"Matthew 4:16
. . the people living in darkness have seen a great Light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a Light has dawned."
Evensong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFU3LojPuM4
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