Jehovah's Witnesses Straight Talk - Forum/Blog

Thanking God For Works or Grace?

1Cor.1:4 I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;
1:5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;

When we consider the Corinthian congregation let us always be mindful of the single problem that permeated their thinking, and what was that? A mixing of fleshly thinking into the wisdom of God, which is for these brothers and sisters, Christ Jesus.

1Cor.1:30 But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

The flesh puts things into camps evil and good, so it easy to judged the weaknesses of these brothers and sisters as though we are better, but the truth is, they like, us, hold what is common in all people the power of our flesh that lust against the Spirit of God.
When reading Paul's letter to the Corinthian's we are better served in our thinking that nothing good dwells in our flesh, no more so than these brothers and sister in their flesh who were having their faith perfected in the same trials we experience in our own flesh. Let us be thankful that God allowed such condition to be forthrightly written about his children so me might be adjusted in our own minds and hearts.

Heb.12:1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Heb.12:6 For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives."{Proverbs 3:11-12}

Grace is the key; grace take the power away from our flesh, a person cannot boast in grace in their flesh, they cannot enslave another person if they are in grace and have the power of grace in their own life. Our flesh is not found in grace, grace is beyond the redemption of our flesh, grace is of the Spirit, the flesh redemption is another Good News not of Christ. However, such teaching of flesh are not new at all it is the same old flesh created from the first lie. A simple lie, at that, that mankind could be separate from God by his own power and goodness and have eternal life that is not the grace at all!

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:4 My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

1 Corinthians 2:5 that your faith wouldn't stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Ultimately, that is what was being taught once we strip our brothers and sisters of the gift of grace we have nothing left by salvation by works we do. It is that gift of grace, which is, the gift of God's love, the greatest gift of all, the life of his own Son Christ Jesus that is unmerited kindness, the grace of God that we cannot earn on earth by any human effort.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.

2 Corinthians 12:9 He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.

Ephesians 1:19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might .

It is the life of Christ that all the gifts of God come too us from, when we mixed those gifts into the spirit of our fallen flesh, all we can do is perfunctory works, buy our efforts, and mundane redundancy in actions to earn gifts that are freely given us by the grace of God. This is the starting point of Paul's letter, the foundation stone all other truth stands upon. But were these brothers and sisters going to be that honest with themselves, were they going to love the light, that is, come to the light so they works be reproved in God's wisdom, Christ Jesus? Or rather be like the Jews whom flesh was proud in works of law, thinking the they had made themselves right with God by their own good efforts? Nevertheless, rather understood or not they were the house of God that out come is predeterminer!

1Cor. 3:15 If any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. 3:16 Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you?
3:17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, which you are.

The faucet of the waters of life does not exist on earth in the wisdom of men, in the wisdom of our flesh. No! Those waters are death dealing waters although sweet and loved by our flesh, and worshiped in this world. The faucet of waters of life must come from the gifts of God, to shut off God's water for gifts of the flesh thinking those gifts are the gifts of the Spirit is exactly the first lie that brought with it death. Dead works are not works of life, half gifts from the spirit of flesh are just that from the spirit of the flesh, not the life giving Spirit of God found in Jesus Christ.

John 6:63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.

Satan was created as a perfect son of God, but when did he start doing dead works? Stop and think? You see, works produce something, they take real time, energy, effort, on our part, sometime much education. Yes, many of these Paul spoke to were putting out great efforts in knowledge in gifts found in the talent of mankind's flesh. But the question was? When, and at what point did Satan start doing dead works?

When he went out of God's mind into his own mind and started thinking he was the creator of his own eternal life by his own efforts. Dead works! Yes, works not of God, but of self, labeled by; tagging them with words from God. The kingdom of God is not in words alone, but in the power of God, do we grasp that meaning? The flesh uses words, but they are not the power of God. The power of God comes too us in Holy Spirit from the source of Holy Spirit for us, and that is, in Christ life the temple of the living God.

2 Peter 1:3 seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;

The power of God is first of all a gift, not a obligation, or a work of law, or something we mus muster in ourselves by human efforts, it is a gift freely given us by faith. The flesh steal that glory, it lust for that glory it takes what is rightfully God's, his freely given gifts of his love and makes it about self, just as Satan the Devil did. There is nothing for nothing in the flesh, but the Spirit set us free.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

If these brothers and sisters went beyond grace they would be in the same old wisdom of this world, what is the wisdom of this world? It is the flesh of men, some of those men highly influenced by the power of wicked spirit force in heavenly places. The world rejects grace, it does not know God's gift of unmerited kindness, because it does not exist in our flesh, it can't, if it exist only in words written on paper and not in our hearts of God's anointed by the power of God; then divisions of self-importance would permeate the unleavened bread of Christ who is God's grace a rare hard to find pearl on this earth.

Matt.3:44 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
13:45 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,
13:46 who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

See also: www.nu-truth.com