Many of our New Testament letters deal with churches in crisis over the faith.  Some group or another sought to change the minds of believers with some falsehood.  One method was in trying to add something to the truths of the gospel.  Another approach was to make Jesus into something He wasn't.  Those men serving as apostles take heroic action to combat such deceit.  Those problems would become the source for our great theology.  What is said is that we still deal with similar issues today.  Recent musings lead me to conclude that some try to create their own faith.  It is not about being radically wrong.  It is about having that facade of real faith while missing out on the core elements.  


We talked last Sunday morning about the crucial role of the cross in our lives.  Much more goes into this than wood or nails.  It is all about who Jesus is the day of His dying.  God enters our world to offer salvation yet is rejected in violent fashion in what appears to be the end.  There are about six occasions when Jesus will tell us to carry our cross while following Him.  Our lot as disciples is to constantly discover God's method for dealing with our sin.  Some churchgoers seem to bypass the cross in their journey.  It still matters when they become believers but is conveniently ignored after that.  God knows no better way to deal with our resistance and rebellion other than the raw power of the cross.  You just cannot be a healthy disciple without knowing this.


Today we picked up on our crisis with grace.  Baptists sing and talk a lot about this subject but do not fair as well in application.  We eagerly depend on divine grace yet we see so little of it in relationships.  Grace means our sin does not have to be last word.  God acts in Jesus to make us new creations.  His mercy and kindness transform our very nature into one of His making.  Our failure is in trying to carry on in our faith without daily grace.  We are told of God's intent of us being witnesses.  You will not be able to give away grace if you do not receive it on a consistent basis.  You cannot truly sing about amazing grace if it remains optional in your world.  It is essential to surviving in a sinful society.


Perhaps the question is whether or not it really is faith should we leave these two parts out of the equation?  Living with these ideas would not go over well in those early Christian communities.  Writers such as Paul would point out our theological failure as well as the impact on our spiritual life.  Faith is mediocre at best without grace or the cross.  It says we believe more in our abilities than in God's action.  It is a faith that really trusts nothing but self.  No wonder our spiritual mood is far from divine.  Can't we do better than this?


Bro. Trey