Wilmington First Pentecostal Holiness

Shame on us for making righteouness basically theoretical.  In the New Testament, Paul the Apostle demands that righteousness produce tangible and practical results.  People around us should be able to see the righteousness of God at work in us.  At the root of our faith in God is transformation through salvation, but the Bible insists that this transformation should be followed up by obedience to God, the kind that originates from the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, producing the very things God intended from his people, but that the law could not produce, because it had no moral power.  The Holy Spirit provides a new moral power in those who believe in Jesus Christ and are saved.

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be assured that we will never be defeated?  If the Lord would just show us some guarantee that we are not going to fail, it would be the most tremendous encouragement in the world… wait a minute he has… right here is Roman chapter 8!

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What is the fundamental bedrock truth about God that every human being needs to know about God?  Is it that God is Love?  Indeed John tells us that.  No, it turns out that if we want to know God, have fellowship with him and walk with God, we must realize first, above all things, that God is Light.

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Congratulations on being a Christian.  However, understand that God expects us to strive after righteousness.  In fact God values persistent, faithful righteousness above just about anything else; that and uncompromising love!  We are not talking about legalism based or slavish obedience to the Old Testament law, but mature spirituality that follows after God through the power of a Spirit filled life, and that continues in faith in Jesus Christ until Jesus returns.

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Why is that so many of us argue for the right to do certain things that we have a nagging suspicion are probably not smiled at by God?  In our culture that puts pressure on people who are serious about morality, as though we are the weird ones or have two heads, it is easy to cave into the pressure to conform to the “little sins” all around us.  Indeed socially there is very little difference between the believer and unbeliever in America, very often.  That is not acceptable to Paul the Apostle, who argued with the Corinthians for a rigorous, thoroughgoing righteousness based upon the complete transformation of salvation and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

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It is clear that our culture is slipping down the steep slope of ungodliness.  We are moving away from righteousness, and morality.  We feel lost in a mass of wickedness and secretly feel that it will be an outside miracle if holiness ultimately prevails.  What assurances do we have that God knows who belongs to him in all of this chaotic mess we call America?

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In the end it is not what everyone else says about Jesus that counts, but what you say.  In the end whether or not you understand or experience salvation and everything else the Bible says God offers the Christian, depends on you personally making up your mind about Jesus.

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We think that the question about who Jesus is is a new question, as though in the past there was no real doubt in people’s minds.  The truth is people have been asking the question about who Jesus is for hundreds of years.  Even the people who knew Jesus personally were trying to figure out who Jesus reaslly was.  Do you know?

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Aren’t I already God’s?  I am a saint, I am saved already, so why do I need to put up with the preacher telling me to rededicate my life to God?  It is hard for us to realize that at times in our lives we need a fresh dedication to God if the Spirit of God is going to produce a new move of God.  We call up on God for revival, but we are often unprepared to reaffirm our commitment to God and to holiness. (Joshua 1)

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How strange is it that people will displine themsleves to do all kinds of things, but are slack and inconsistent about the things of God.  It seems that we cannot obey God, and that we cannot be involved and engaged with energy when it requires us to serve him consistently… but we never miss a night at the gym, or a ballgame, or a nightout with the boys!

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