I'll Be Honest

The doctrine of regeneration is one of the foundational doctrines of our faith and lack of clarity on it can lead to deadly error.

To be walking in darkness does not just mean that you are living in scandalous sins, but it means your life is not regulated by the Word of God. Do you start out your decisions by what you want to do and then come to the Bible and say "I hope it lines up"? Yet when it doesn't you just kind of justify it away? Rather to walk in the light is to start out with the Word of God and let it control your decisions.

The task of taking the Gospel to the lost is to be taken not only occasionally, but intentionally; which is when you set aside time in your weekly schedule to go share the Gospel with the lost. If you do that on a consistent basis, you will find it is not easy. It is because at the point you decide to be intentional in sharing about Christ, you cross a certain line, and that is the territory of the evil one. You invade Satan's territory and he is really strong there, but we must not be intimidated but go in the power of God.

There are all sorts of subtle ways that we can turn from Christ and the purity of the Gospel. Men will come along and say, "If you really want to be perfected, you need 'Christ plus something else'". In Galatians Paul is adamantly arguing that his Gospel came by the authority of Jesus Christ and that this is the Gospel that we want to lay a hold of.

The Apostle Paul was being accused of preaching a different gospel to the Jews and to the Gentiles. Yet Paul comes along in Galatians and says "by works of the law no one will be justified." for "if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose."

Acts 20:24 - But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

This message was preached at Richard Gonzales' funeral on October 19, 2014.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7

What does it mean to confess my sins? The Greek word means "to say the same thing", it's agreeing with God; agreeing that you missed the mark. Confessing of sin is an evidence of someone who is in the light and has fellowship with God.

1 John 2:1 shows us that what is normative for the Christian is that they don't sin. However, so often professing Christians have the mindset that sin is what is normal, but that is not the way John talks. He "writes these things to us so that we may not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."

The Galatians were wanting to be perfected and grow and advance in the Christian life, and yet Paul came in and rebuked them for being conceited and biting and devouring one another. Why? Because they had gotten their eyes off of Christ and Him crucified and had turned back to the works of the law.