Christian eCommunity

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The Fundamental Things We Believe

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It seems useful to provide a statement of the things we believe so that readers can decide for themselves if our postings are worthy of their attention.  Truth is our foremost pursuit and we are pleased to receive any correction and any confirmation of our doctrinal and faith position.

1. We believe that the Bible contains God’s Word to us, that it was written by holy men of God who were inspired by God’s Spirit in the writing.  We believe that it is suitable for all doctrine, instruction, and correction.  And we believe that it is spiritually discerned by God’s Spirit in the heart of every believer of Jesus Christ.

2. We believe that God is Spirit and that no person has seen Him at any time.  We believe He is that Holy Spirit who shaped the worlds and created all things that were created through His own creative omnipotence and faithfulness to His creative, directive Word.

3. We believe that God has expressed Himself to mankind through His holy men the prophets, through His heavenly angels, and finally through His only begotten Son, Jesus.

4. We believe that Jesus Christ was sent by God to enter this world as a man, the Word having laid aside His divine attributes in order to be fully man, and lived His life in union with the Spirit of God Who enabled His sinless and miraculous existence among sinful mankind.

5. We believe that God gave man authority and dominion over the earth, and that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.  As such, when mankind fell into sin only a man could redeem us from sin.  The price of sin is death and so Jesus Christ, fully man, paid that price on the cross for all people.

6. We believe that God chose Israel as bearers of His name to the world, and that they were entrusted with His commands and declarations, and with the authority to write and declare Scripture.  With fulfillment of the law declared as the means to salvation, Israel then rejected that by crucifying as a sinner the sinless Jesus of Nazareth.  All persons were effectively declared sinners through the entrusted nation of Israel because no one could surpass the sinless holiness of Jesus.

7. We believe that all mankind being declared sinners proved God to be just in permitting death as the wages of sin, and then further proved Him to be merciful through His grace in raising Jesus from death to eternal life.  God chose to save us!

8. We believe that in Jesus we die with Him through the cross and our sins are now paid in full, and we believe that in Jesus we are raised to newness of life in union with the Spirit of God and our lives are now at and in His service – empowered by His Spirit to sinless and miraculous existence.

9. We believe that all authority is given to Jesus Who is the eternal King and faithful High Priest over and for all mankind, and that trust in Him is the active and ongoing declaration of our faith.  We believe because He is!

10. We believe that we are exactly what God the Father and Jesus the Lord say we are: beloved, redeemed, accepted, holy, righteous and we live our lives in submission to His care and direction – free of condemnation and filled with trust at being in the caring and directive hands of our Creator and Saviour.

For Freedom Christ Set Us Free

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What is Settled in the Truth all about?  Freedom.

Each one of us has been a slave in this world.  We have been subject to our whims and our desires – our passions and wants.  And as we seek to fulfill ourselves with our desires we become slaves to both the object and the mechanics that surround it. 

It’s a sad irony that what we pursue in our passions and desires is to be free.  We dream of a life of no need; a life of complete sufficiency.  And in our zeal to attain we make ourselves slaves to possessions, and creditors, and employers, and business.  We can imagine a new car would be just the thing we need so we can go places and do things reliably, but that car requires financing and maintenance and re-budgeting, and so our “freedom” comes at the price of our freedom.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.”
– Luke 4:18-19

Jesus came into this world to set us free from the trappings that we have come to learn as normal.  We accept them because “that’s just how the world is”.  But Christ came preaching and proclaiming truth, that we can be free from our slavery to worldly ways and all their limitations and demands.  And He obtained that freedom for us through the cross.

” The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
– John 8:35-36

We no longer have to pursue the things we believe can make us free, and instead lay hold of Him who gives us freedom – freely and completely.  And that is what we’re about.  We seek to convey the truth so that our brothers and sisters in the Lord can realize their true value and experience their hard won freedom.  It’s a difficult thing to encounter children of God who have received His Spirit, yet still tend to think with the old mind of the world – that familiar manner of logic that does not realize they are no longer bound and limited.  Until the light of the Truth settles in their hearts they continue to live the lives they have always led – maybe the sins that defined them are no longer practiced, but they do not walk in the fullness of Christ.  Sickness and the fear of death still overwhelms their minds, and debt is a weight they carry each day as they struggle to meet their obligations.  They never seem to be able to find time for Jesus … and that is exactly what the adversary wants.

What kind of world would this be?  And what kind of day could it be if Jesus walked the earth today?  All our concerns and worries would diminish in the presence of our King!  They’d even begin to seem silly in the face of His complete sufficiency.  Well, the truth is that Jesus does walk the earth today in everyone who has been set free by the truth.  His Spirit dwells in them – inspiring, directing, and empowering them to do the same as Him.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.”
– Luke 4:18-19

We intend to continue sharing insights and applications of the Truth and our hope is that God will use them to open eyes and and transform minds.  We invite you to return – many times 🙂 – and see if you might realize a deeper level of freedom in our Lord.  Please feel free to leave a comment or share our posts with your friends.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
– Galatians 5:1