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The
Deceptiveness of the Altar Call
One
of the most deceptive
practices across
many
denominations is what is commonly known as ‘The Altar Call’. I can remember
several years back when an elderly friend of mine (we’ll call her Martha)
told me about her ‘conversion’ story
that had occurred in a local but very popular assembly in the South Jersey
area. Although I was told the pastor preached what sounded like a solid
salvation message, I grew suspicious about what I heard next. Apparently, a
friend of Martha’s had now prodded her to take part in an ‘outward
profession of her faith’ in Jesus Christ. From what my friend innocently
told me, I surmised that there was a ‘secret requirement’ mandated to all
new believers in this particular church (as there is in other churches).
 There
was a point in the service where the church leaders paused and allowed
people to come forward to ‘publicly’ profess their new faith in Christ. In
Martha’s case, she noticed the pastor nod to the deacon, who nodded to her
friend. The next thing Martha knew, she was responding to the altar call! As
a believer in the “the grace of God according to the revelation of the
mystery”, I talked to Martha and wanted to be sure that she indeed
understood that simply believing in Jesus Christ did not save us. Just
believing that He is the Son of God does not save us friends (as it did in
God’s past dealings with mankind – RICK).
I wanted to be sure she knew that Jesus Christ’s death, burial and
resurrection for our sins (her sin and my sin….) provided salvation
for those who would just “simply believe” by taking God The Father at His
Word concerning the completed and finished work of His Son! Martha told me
that she believed that and I only confirmed I had a new sister in Christ!
Where and when she truly embraced the truth is not as important as the
fact that she did. However, I was still troubled by the circumstances that I
described above.
The
more I study the grace of God, the more burdened I become because of the
realization of the ‘poison’ that is being preached today.
Knowingly and unknowingly, pastors, leaders and teachers are
reinforcing a Satanic, works-based, false gospel by infusing the requirement
of the altar call to someone’s salvation.
“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.” – Romans 4:4,5
There
is not a shred of biblical, dispensational evidence that suggests that we
are to make some type of outward profession testifying of our faith in
Christ’s finished work. To suggest that a public profession (like water
baptism) is required to substantiate someone’s faith flies in the face of
the message and doctrine of grace. This belief is a lie and only confuses
believers. The thrust of this article is about my concern for people who
think they are saved by trusting in the fact that they made the altar call
(just ask them and you’ll be surprised at what you hear)! Friends, only God knows
who is truly saved but our responsibility is to simply communicate to
people "the ministry of reconciliation" as ambassadors for Christ.
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea,
though
 we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new. And
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye
reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Corinthians
5:16-21
We
only encourage confusion and doubt by trying to push believers into
some ‘outward expression of faith’. Our ‘expression of faith’ today under
grace is Jesus Christ! Edifying, equipping and counseling believers to trust
in the sufficiency of Christ glorifies God. We must yield to the Holy Spirit
as we teach and instruct people from a dispensational perspective. This
means we are to make clear that since the beginning of man’s existence; God
has dealt with man differently due to man’s rebellion. Today and in
effect since the risen Christ’s revelation to Paul commencing on the road to
Damascus, we are being dealt with under God’s grace. Suggesting that Paul
was the 13th apostle or an extension of the ministry of the 12
apostles mixes law and grace! This confusion is the reason why there are so
many denominations (and independent, fundamentalists..) claiming they
are right.
...."Knowingly and unknowingly, pastors, leaders and teachers are
reinforcing a Satanic, works-based, false gospel by infusing the requirement
of the altar call to someone’s salvation...."
It would appear that
we are heading down a rabbit-trail but we are not. The altar call is an
‘expression of faith’. Under the law, ‘expressions of faith’ in and of
themselves never saved, but they were required by man in his
response to God:
“By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not
found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he
had
this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible
to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world,
and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” – Hebrews
11:4-7
We see in the above verses that:
-Abel
offered unto God
-Enoch’s testimony pleased God
-Noah moved with fear being warned of God.
Had any of these men not responded to God, they would have all
perished (eternally) by identifying themselves with the unbelievers
around them! It is this point where many church leaders and teachers
attempt to minimize the abundant grace that we have in this amazing age
by assuming that there was as much grace hundreds of years ago as there
is today. Tell me friend, is man getting better or worse? If we both
know the answer, then would mankind need more or less of God's grace? It is taught by most leaders that without a public display
of faith that salvation may not have truly occurred, but under God’s
abundant, dispensing of grace our ‘expression of faith’ is through
Christ as evidenced by the power of the Holy Sprit and our yielding to
Him in our lives! But unfortunately, (just ask the Corinthian church) we
don’t yield to God the way we should and we don’t ‘look’ saved so no one
should be expecting anything out of anybody.
"We
only encourage confusion and doubt by trying to push believers into some
‘outward expression of faith’. Our ‘expression of faith’ today under
grace is Jesus Christ! Edifying, equipping and counseling believers to
trust in the sufficiency of Christ glorifies God."
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On broken wings I’ve fallen.
The
crisis of faith attributed to unanswered prayer.....
"On broken wings I’m falling and it won’t be
long;
The skin on me is burning
By the fires of the sun
On skinned knees I’m bleeding and it won’t be long;
I’ve got to find that meaning, I'll search for so long....." -
Alter Bridge
The above lyrics from a popular album
testify of someone who appears to be having some type of crisis with
their faith. The phrase describing the "skinned knees" was of particular
interest to me as grace believers and non-believers alike struggle with
what is usually referred to as 'unanswered prayer'. It is commonly
believed that when we pray to God, he will answer our prayers in one of
several ways:
This
issue came to light again as I discussed the topic of unanswered prayer
with someone I love. The ironic thing about the topic of
unanswered prayer is that you can usually see the burden in other people
when discussing core issues of life. These issues can cause depression
due to
sickness, distress, disease or even death to themselves or someone they
know. Most people feel that God is disinterested since their prayer went
unnoticed or unanswered due to the fact that the situation didn't change
or in some instances got worse!
The
fact of the matter is this; prayer itself is a dispensational
issue! You may now be saying, "What does that mean?!?" It means
that over time and eternity, God has dispensed instructions for man to
follow
(for more on this click here - RICK).
Due to man's rebellion and sin, God in His love and mercy judges man
(before he annihilates himself) and dispenses a new set of
instructions. As an example, under the dispensing of 'The Law' believers
were either Jews (as part of The Nation of Israel) or Gentiles who
embraced Judaism. The following passages describe what Jesus Christ had
to say about prayer during this dispensation as he proclaimed the gospel
of the kingdom:
Matthew
21:21,22 Jesus answered and
said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not,
ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the
sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Many
teachers will erroneously instruct believers that their lack of
faith is the issue in response to unanswered prayer. The reasoning
is (it is thought) that since Christ Himself said all things,
whatever we ask in prayer believing, you shall receive! And all of us
know that things that we have prayed for did not come to
fruition. Does this mean that God is wrong or that He is going back on
His word? Not a chance friend! In Christ's earthly ministry to Israel,
He wanted to prove Himself as the very Son of God. One of the things
that He used were miracles including
 the
ability to allow people to see physical manifestations of His power
through prayer. His dispensed instructions for prayer back then are
quite different from His dispensed instructions for prayer today under
grace. What Jesus dispensed through the apostle Paul about prayer
centers on changing the believers mind in regards to the situation at
hand! Many people think if they rally church members to a specific
day or if they send enough e-mails (at least 10), they will be able to
change God's mind. Let's search the scripture here to investigate a
little further:
Romans 8:25-27
But if we hope for that we see not,
then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities: for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the
hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The
bible says in the above verses, that we don't know what to pray for! I
don't know about you, but I believe that set of verses is more in line
with what folks struggle with today.
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and
again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The
Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in
every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Friends, how can the distinct differences of these verses in Matthew
be reconciled with the verses in Romans and Philippians? Worse, how can
church leaders teach that these instructions can somehow be applied
as our doctrine today?!? It's clear that the issue of what we can
expect of God concerning prayer has changed. We know that the bible is
not wrong so we must point to man's inability to understand scripture as
he ought. If man has failed every one of God's dispensings in time past,
why should we marvel at the fact he has also failed to understand the
dispensing of grace and its uniqueness? This my friend is the
base reason for the lack of understanding concerning prayer! Unanswered
prayer in and of itself is a microcosm of a bigger issue. Man in his
dullness and sin, does not understand how God is dealing with him.
Moreover, he doesn't really care.
Psalms 14: 1-3
The fool hath said in
his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven
upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand,
and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become
filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Even
more surprisingly is the fact that most believers do not understand how
God is dealing with them today under this marvelous, abundant
dispensing of grace. They mix law and grace and rarely divide the word
of God. Most Christian circles are more worried about prophecy or
programs within the church. In this present evil age, believers
are more concerned with the amount of years they have been saved rather
than admit they have been wrong in their doctrine. This lack of
knowledge within the Body of Christ only further propagates man's lost
condition as the Holy Spirit is grieved concerning the absence of sound
doctrine and teaching and cannot utilize the Body as needed to reach the
lost!
It is my prayer that this ministry will
yield to the Holy Spirit and be the lighthouse of grace in a dark world.
 It
is my hope that as they are convicted, man will admit his failures and
embrace the message of grace of God that the risen Christ revealed to
the apostle Paul according to the revelation of the mystery on our
behalf.
Special note:
On the 4-year anniversary of this ministry, I want to personally
thank Brothers Bruce Watson and Pete Bruno for forsaking their 25 years
of "Christianity" and in turn, embracing the truth of God! They humbled
themselves but were bold enough to share the message of grace with a
pastor so entrenched in law that he had his children read scripture
before opening Christmas presents. I thank the Lord for being patient
with me and allowing me to come to the end of myself in my futile
attempt to please God without realizing I was already pleasing in Him
through Christ Jesus. I now thank God for His unspeakable
gift!
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Today's World News
Rome -
An important message to mothers
everywhere!
Paul the apostle had become imprisoned for the second time and as
the Lord Jesus Christ continued His special, abundant revelations to His
servant, the ambassador of
grace
realized his time was coming to a close. These circumstances played a
significant role in what would later be known as the 'prison epistles'.
How ironic that in the worst of Paul's physical and emotional
times, he would bring us doctrine which would encourage
believers 2,000 years later in the comfort of their homes! In addition,
Paul would carve out his letters to Timothy and Titus who would lead the
Body of Christ through the establishment of local assemblies and their
battles of legalism, apostasy and other trials. In these pastoral
letters, the "apostle to the Gentiles" would also provide comfort to
fathers, mothers and children in respect of how they should
respond to the message of grace.
Even so must their wives (of the deacons)
be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Paul tells us
that wives (of deacons) should have a character that is respected or
honored. They should not falsely accuse or slander others but instead
should be faithful in all (types of) things. In my humble experience in
'churchianity' today, 'moms' have been demoted to a sub-human level of
unimportance. It is believed that staying home and taking care of the
children is not as pleasing to God as regular service attendance. The truth of the matter is
this; mothers who do not frequent assemblies as much are not pleasing to the
pastor. Let's search the scriptures on this issue:
But speak thou
the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be
sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The
aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not
false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
That they may teach the young women to be sober,
to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste,
keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of
God be not blasphemed. - Titus 2:1-5
Beloved, why is it not God-honoring to
follow the bible? Why is it wrong for Christian women to be
discreet,
chaste, keepers at home,
good and
obedient to their husbands? I believe that disobedient Christian
women put unbearable pressure on the women who God would find
"approved". After all, it is hard work for a mother to stay at home and
attend to the family without the visible accolades received from man at church. The bible tells us that a woman who is discreet is
"sane
and able to curb one's desires and impulses while being self-controlled
and temperate". Its easy to understand why there are many women in the
Body of Christ today who wrestle with their
identity and roles within the church. They unknowingly are rejecting the
counsel of the Holy Spirit. They know that their kids need them but are
pressured (by deacons / pastor's wives, the pastor and other 'core'
members) to attend services and studies throughout the week to 'prove'
their love for God. Friends, it is certainly not an accident that Paul used
these words to describe what Jesus Christ revealed to him. Women
are instructed to be modest, pure and clean from a doctrinal viewpoint.
They are to be honored for their character. In several instances of church
division that I have been aware of, its the women who usually spearhead trouble when they are in a
position to positively influence their husbands! The apostle places emphasis on
Christ's instructions for women to be keepers at home and of household
affairs. They should be happy, cheerful and distinguished. That is not
to say there won't be ups and downs when diapers need to be changed and
the sink overflows friends. But I am convinced that when a man and women
embrace and agree on the role of the mother and her priorities under
this dispensing of grace, she will serve God more effectively,
cheerfully fervently and without guilt! Notice that Paul closes these
instructions with "so that the word of God is not blasphemed".
It has been my experience to observe that husbands sometimes think that
their wives are on vacations during the day. I
 challenge
men to even attempt to do the things their wives do during the day in
order to see how long they can maintain their sanity!
It is my hope and prayer that husbands
would "love their wives as Christ loved the church" and that they would
not be bitter against them. I pray that men of God would rise up and
encourage and support their wives in this present evil age.
(CON'T; ALTAR
CALL)
“Do ye
look on things after the outward appearance? if any man trust to himself
that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is
Christ's, even so are we Christ's.
For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord
hath given us for edification, and not for your
destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would
terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and
powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when
we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.
For we dare not make ourselves of the number,
or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they
measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among
themselves, are not wise.” – 2 Corinthians 10:7-12
In summary, making 'the altar call’ a requirement for people causes
confusion and may actually be a silent, spiritual killer as folks walk
away from an event thinking that their actions, not Christ’s
action at Calvary, saved them! It encourages an ‘expression of faith’
that is works-based (for the lost) while promoting self-righteousness for those who
have at
least embraced salvation. It also allows church leaders to pull
out their calculators and total their convert numbers for the church
board in order to substantiate their ministries. Search the
scriptures for yourself and you will see that there is no evidence
suggesting this practice in Paul’s epistles. Any association or
reference in the bible that would suggest this practice (responding to
an altar call) is law-based.
“Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” –Galatians
3:24-26
Book of the Month
ROMANS 1: 1 through 5
The
Witness to the Gentiles
In verse 1 we read that Paul is a servant
of Jesus Christ (GK – doulos) or one who gives himself to another's will whose
service is used of Christ. It also means that one will be devoted to another
while disregarding one’s own interest. This is interesting terminology when you
think about it because in order to be where we are today, we had to "renew our
mind" in regards to what God says about things! In essence, we had to "disregard
our own interests" in exchange for the truth.
The bible says that Paul is called to be an apostle; a
messenger, delegate or one sent forth with orders separated unto
the “gospel of God”.
In verses 2 through 5, Paul testifies of
the lineage of Christ as was promised before by the prophets of God. Opponents
of the "grace message" and those who would refer to us as
"ultra-dispensationalists" or "hyper-dispensationalists" would argue this verse
as saying that "the mystery" was spoken of by the prophets
 of
God in the Old Testament. However, this is not what Paul was testifying to.
Instead he was speaking of Jesus Christ; who was promised before by His
prophets in the holy scriptures concerning His incarnation through the
lineage of David who is declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead!
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COFFEE CORNER
The real meaning of the impending
perilous times
and last days of 2 Timothy! - Part II
(CLICK
HERE FOR PART I)
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses,
and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts, Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the
truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no
further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also
was. But thou hast fully known
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, Persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what
persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.-
2 Timothy 3:1-17
In part two of this study, we will
continue to dissect what Paul wrote to young pastor Timothy in regards
to the real meaning of the last days. As in all instances when we
read and understand scripture, we must study verses in their context.
Words and phrases such as church, prayer, the coming of Christ and
salvation can take on different meanings depending upon how they are
used with other words. In particular and in this study, we will define
what Paul received from Jesus Christ concerning the real meaning of the
last days. This topic has been
 butchered
by many bible scholars and teachers. What frustrates me is that I used
to think along the same lines as many of these teachers but thankfully I
have embraced the message of grace. I have done this because I have
recognized my error and worthlessness in regards to dispensational bible
study. I have been completely and thoroughly overwhelmed at the amount
of proof that describes Paul's distinct message of grace and how it
differs from the teaching of the 12 apostles. Why others can't admit
their failures along with me still surprises me to this day.
Previously, we discussed the lack of what Paul calls
"natural affection" which only magnifies the failures of today's families.
The result of this is shown in the increasing violence across our high
schools as more and more shootings are reported each year. From a more global, social perspective
Paul writes of a time when mankind will be truce breakers. This
brings to remembrance the definition of the word 'free'. Tell me
friends other than salvation what is truly free? Whether it's
cars, phone service or other items, free usually means a hidden charge
the consumer incurs at a later time!
We left off last time breaking down the
meaning of the word 'accuser'. Keith Blades in his book 'SATAN and
his PLAN OF EVIL' accurately broke down the Greek word for 'devil'.
The following definition may fit perfectly with someone you know that
has discredited you concerning your faith according "to the revelation
of the mystery". The word 'devil' means:
-
one who lays charges or makes
accusations against you
-
one who seeks to malign your character
with maliciousness
-
one who attempts to mar your
reputation or name in an effort to belittle you or your message
-
slanderer or accuser
Friends, most Christians think that Satan
and his minions make their attacks in the 'combat zones' of the world.
They believe he is in the 'sin dens' of the world, the pornographic
palaces and gambling halls. But honestly, he doesn't have to go there
because man does a good enough job on his own. Beloved, Satan is in the
churches across the world! He is attacking the word of God and causing
great confusion within the Body of Christ as it fights itself over which
song to play or what colors the walls should be. Most men in power
positions within the local assembly do not even understand the mystery
or proper division of God's word. Yes it is inside local ministries that
our Adversary is doing his best work!
Further in verse 3, Paul tells us n
these last days, men will become incontinent or unable to control
themselves. When a pastor falls into adultery, in most cases he has
truly convinced himself that his church attendance, bible study,
accountability meets and the like will keep him from falling. The
problem is that he has found his sufficiency outside of Christ. It is
during this time he is most vulnerable whether known or not. As a
younger man talking with a pastor about my own struggles in this
sensual world, he informed me that I was still a babe in Christ and that
the more mature I became in Christ, the easier it would become. No more
than 15 months later, I found out that at the time he was counseling me
about my struggles, he himself was in the midst of an affair that would
soon be found out. Men are incontinent because it is in their sin
nature. They cannot find hope in a Promise Keepers weekend retreat or a
Purpose Driven Seminar. But instead, they will find hope as they learn
about their completeness in Christ in Colossians, Ephesians and Romans.
I am weary of the books about 'The Book' and the plans of man rather
than understanding the gospel of the grace of God, right division of
God's word and God's plan for man according to the revelation of the
mystery!
My personal experiences over the present
spiritual warfare against grace only helps me validate what Paul told
Timothy about those who would fiercely oppose its glorious message of
reconciliation apart from works or an outward expression. I have known
men who vehemently deny the truth of the gospel of grace. Worse, they
oppose the goodness of men who do good. In fact, these men are despising
God as they despise the messenger and as a result reject the counsel of
the Holy Spirit. These signs are the
true indications of the downside of the message of grace for this time! In verse 4, Paul continues
to tell us that man is getting worse friends not better! He describes
men as betrayers or those who would be reckless in their approach to
life and its circumstances. Further men will become conceited. Friends,
do these descriptions accurately describe the plight of mankind? I do
not feel as if I am above these accusations beloved since the bible also
tells us that we all are continuing to fall short of the bar of
God ( Romans 3:23). The next phrase of verse 4 is very
interesting friends. Paul tells us that men would be lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God. Any believer may ask themselves how such a
thing could be possible. In other cases, many teachers think that these
verses apply to unbelievers. But this is not true, since Paul is writing
to Timothy and members of Christ's Body! Automatically, it may
seem that the phrase "loves of pleasures" implies some type of sensual
sin. This is part partially true. The things that appeal to the flesh
can be things that appear to be spiritual. For instance, if
I do not understand that God is dealing with me though the riches of His
grace, I may expect Him to do something that He will most assuredly not
do.
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