This is a letter written by my Dad, J.R. Owen, Sr. to a man who was struggling physically and searching for spiritual answers. It presents so well just what we received with our salvation and how important knowing these truths are. | ||
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Letter to a Friend Dear Matt, * It was so good to speak to you the other night. I was amazed with what you have been through since March. But I was also encouraged by your attitude. The Lord is beginning to do a great work of changing your life. It is a work He has wanted to do for years. Isn't it good to know that He never gives up on us? But then, the Father can never give up on His children. Philippians 1:6 states: "Being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun good work in you will perform it (bring it to completion) until the day of Jesus Christ." It is all His work, not ours. Once we have placed all our plans, indeed everything and ourselves in His hands, so that we become His possession, then it is a matter of staying out of the way as He does His work in us. It is Christ's work to make us what He wants us to be: we need but to look to Him as "the author and finisher of our faith." (Heb. 12:2) As I have taught over the years, to the degree that we really understand our salvation, to that degree will we appreciate our salvation and our Savior. The reason the churches are filled with so many carnal Christians (ICor.3:1-2) whose lives are so spiritually weak is that they haven't a clue as to the extent of their wonderful salvation. As great as it is to know that I am saved and can never be lost, and that I will "go to Heaven" some day, our salvation is far more wonderful than that. Many Christians attempt to live godly lives and be faithful to God by some method or some discipline such as having a daily Quite Time, being a faithful church attendee, praying every day and other things such as these. They mean well and are very earnest, but experience so much failure as they struggle to be faithful in these areas. What they never seem to realize is that these so-called "disciplines" are not a burden (or discipline) to the one who is walking with the Lord Jesus; rather, they are as much a part of his spiritual life as eating, drinking and breathing is to one's physical life. These dear saints are putting the cart before the horse. They imagine that the Christian life is like a calculator: if they do the right things out will pop the results they have been looking for, a godly Christian life. Yet, after years of faithfully trying to do what they think should produce that kind of life they are worn out and seem no closer to their goal than they ever were. In all their striving they have substituted "disciplines" for Jesus Christ, the very answer to their longings. Until the reality of the indwelling life of Christ sinks in they will always treat Him like an outsider, One Who is sitting on His throne in Heaven waiting for the day when He will return. But, instead of Christ being far away, the Bible describes Christ and His relationship with the saints in a far different way. It says: "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one...' John 17:23; "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians. 1:27: "Christ is all, and in all." Colossians. 3:11; "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 *(name changed for publication) | ||||||
"The reason the churches are filled with so many carnal Christians (ICor.3:1-2) whose lives are so spiritually weak is that they haven't a clue as to the extent of their wonderful salvation." | ||||||
"In all their striving they have substituted "disciplines" for Jesus Christ, the very answer to their longings." | ||||||
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