Only By Grace
January 30, 2005 A.D.
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| Old Testament Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:3 – 8 (NASB) |
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Gen 6:3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
Gen 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Gen 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Gen 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. |
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| New Testament Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3:10 – 18 (NASB) |
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2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2 Pet 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2 Pet 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
2 Pet 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
2 Pet 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
2 Pet 3:15 and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
2 Pet 3:16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
2 Pet 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness,
2 Pet 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. |
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Transforming Power Statements:
#1) There are only two views of the world; Man’s view and the biblical view. Each of us hold one of these as our own and it determines the foundation of what we believe about every crucial matter in our lives.
#2) The biblical view of the world teaches us that since “the fall of man”; mankind has been on a downward spiral in route to judgment and destruction and will only get worse & worse as time goes on; and that mankind can only be saved “Only by Grace” from self-destruction and the wrath of God; where as man’s view is the opposite; in that he thinks mankind is progressing and is getting better & better, and therefore, man is going to be able to save himself from the impending destruction through his own abilities.
#3) The position of where we individually stand on this issue alone sets the status of our present state, the course of our future and ultimately our eternal position with God who has given immeasurable grace through His Only-begotten Son Jesus the Christ! |
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