Good morning, brothers and sisters, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you!<\/p>\n
A Shared Belief<\/strong><\/p>\n Faith (Greek\u00a0pistis<\/em>) can also be translated as \u201ctruth\u201d, which can be further elaborated as one\u2019s convictions based on truth, one\u2019s beliefs, or the substance of one\u2019s faith.\u00a0 Paul said to Timothy:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that\u00a0Christ Jesus came into the world to\u00a0save sinners, among whom\u00a0I am foremost\u00a0of all. (1 Tim 1:15)<\/em><\/p>\n In this verse, Paul speaks of a very concrete belief: \u201cChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners.\u201d He also expresses his approval of this belief: \u201cIt is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance.\u201d\u00a0 And he gives his own personal experience of this belief: \u201c\u2026to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.\u201d\u00a0 Many \u201cChristians\u201d do not \u201cshare\u201d (koinoneo<\/em>) the truths of the gospel.\u00a0 On the contrary, they believe in other claims:<\/p>\n There are other things that people say about their \u201cbeliefs\u201d, for example:\u00a0 when you come to the States, you have to believe in the God of the United States (Jesus).\u00a0 Your relatives are Christians, do you want to get along with them, or reunite with your dead relatives? This pastor or Christian has helped me so much, and they really want me to believe in Jesus, I guess I should just \u201cbelieve\u201d so as not to make them feel bad. \u2026\u00a0 To be fair, the people who say these things are probably well-meaning without any ill intentions.\u00a0 However, what they do not realize is that they have distorted the gospel and misled others.\u00a0 Those who \u201cbelieve\u201d in these false assurances will have these common traits:\u00a0 they have not repented of their sins, nor have they submitted to Christ.\u00a0 Perhaps they acknowledge Jesus as Savior, but they do not confess Jesus as Lord.\u00a0 They are religious people, not Christ-believers.<\/p>\n The gospel encompasses the following three core beliefs:<\/p>\n Jesus came to earth to save sinners, those who are lost.\u00a0 Jesus called sinners to repent and believe in the gospel.\u00a0 The apostles also called people to repentance.<\/p>\n For\u00a0the Son of Man has come to seek and to save\u00a0that which was lost<\/u>. (Lk 19:10) True believers in Christ must admit they are sinners and repent from their sins.\u00a0 To admit \u201cI am a sinner\u201d is to see myself for what I truly am in the presence of a holy God.\u00a0 I am not just imperfect (everyone is imperfect, so to admit one\u2019s imperfection is really to admit nothing at all), but I am a sinner.\u00a0 To repent means to return to God.\u00a0 We should be like the tax collector whom Jesus spoke about.\u00a0 He was truly repentant and said, \u201cGod, be\u00a0merciful to me, the sinner!\u201d (Lk 18:13)\u00a0 To repent is to turn to God, and the fruit of repentance is obedience.\u00a0 In the past, we walked our own ways, but today we belong to Jesus and follow in His steps (1 Pet 2:21).\u00a0 It is indeed very puzzling when we see Christians who do whatever they please.\u00a0 Well, if you just want to continue walking your own ways, then why not keep being yourself?\u00a0 Why do you want to become Christian?<\/p>\n The gospel tells us that we are saved by God\u2019s grace, not by our own works.\u00a0 Salvation can only be received and cannot be earned.\u00a0 The saved can only give thanks; they cannot boast.\u00a0 The believers can only be humble; they cannot be prideful.\u00a0 In the presence of God, we are all recipients of His grace, everyone the same, without distinction.<\/p>\n For of His\u00a0fullness\u00a0we have all received, and\u00a0grace<\/u>\u00a0upon grace. (Jn 1:16) The core of the gospel is Jesus.\u00a0 The content of the gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.\u00a0 The Son of God became man, and gave His body on the cross to pay the redemption price for sinners.\u00a0 He was resurrected on the third day, so that anyone who believes in Him will be justified freely and receive the gift of salvation.\u00a0 The book of Acts records the journeys of the apostles as they preached the gospel after Jesus was taken up into heaven.\u00a0 These apostles testified about the risen Christ, preached about the cross, and called people to believe and trust in Christ.\u00a0 God was with them as they faithfully spread the gospel even through many hardships and difficulties.\u00a0 As a result, many came to Christ because of their witness for the Lord.<\/p>\n This Jesus\u00a0God raised up again<\/u><\/em>, to which we are all\u00a0witnesses. (Acts 2:32) Those who have trusted in Christ have admitted and repented of their sin, received God\u2019s grace, believed in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and believed in His resurrection.\u00a0 Religious people have yet to do so.\u00a0 Go ask them, and you will find them stumbling for words as they are unable to share any real salvation testimonies.\u00a0 If you have not repented of your sin, then you will still hold on to worldly values and life philosophies.\u00a0 The meaning of the cross is lost on you, and you would rather look elsewhere for help than look to God\u2019s grace on the cross.\u00a0 You believe in Jesus half-heartedly, and are more interested in other people\u2019s testimonies.\u00a0 You find it hard to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead.\u00a0 Christ-believers and religious people do not share common beliefs about the three core aspects of the gospel, which are sin, grace, and Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It is impossible for them to walk together in unity.\u00a0 Only those who are in\u00a0koinonia<\/em>\u00a0have truly repented of their sin, received God\u2019s grace, trusted in Christ, and follow in His steps.\u00a0 Dear brothers and sisters, \u201cThis is the way, walk in it!\u201d\u00a0 (Is 30:21)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning, brothers and sisters, may the grace and peace of our Lord be with you! A Shared Belief Faith (Greek\u00a0pistis) can also be translated as \u201ctruth\u201d, which can be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,57,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotionals","category-koinonia","category-pastor-warren-wang"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1961,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions\/1961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
I)\u00a0 Sin<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>Now after John had been\u00a0taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee,\u00a0preaching the gospel of God,\u00a0and saying,\u00a0\u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God\u00a0is at hand;\u00a0repent\u00a0<\/u>and\u00a0believe in the gospel.\u201d (Mk 1:14-15)
\n<\/em>Peter\u00a0said\u00a0to them, \u201cRepent<\/u>, and each of you be\u00a0baptized in the name of Jesus Christ\u00a0for the forgiveness of your sins<\/u>; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
\n<\/em>You know that He\u00a0appeared\u00a0in order to\u00a0take away sins<\/u>; and\u00a0in Him there is no sin. ( 1 Jn 3:5)
\n<\/em>\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, \u201cBehold,\u00a0the Lamb of God\u00a0who\u00a0takes away (or takes on) the sin of the world<\/u>! (Jn 1:29)<\/em><\/p>\nII)\u00a0 Grace<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>For who regards you as superior?\u00a0What do you have that you did not receive<\/u>? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Cor 4:7)
\n<\/em>For all\u00a0have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>being justified as a gift\u00a0by His\u00a0grace\u00a0<\/u>through\u00a0the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:23-24)
\n<\/em>But\u00a0if it is by\u00a0grace<\/u>, it is no longer\u00a0on the basis of works, otherwise\u00a0grace\u00a0<\/u>is no longer\u00a0grace<\/u>. (Rom 11:6)
\n<\/em>In\u00a0Him we have\u00a0redemption\u00a0through His blood, the\u00a0forgiveness of our trespasses, according to\u00a0the riches of His\u00a0grace<\/u>. (Eph 1:7)<\/em><\/p>\nIII)\u00a0 Jesus Christ and Him crucified<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>Therefore let all the\u00a0house of Israel know for certain that\u00a0God has made Him both\u00a0Lord and\u00a0Christ<\/u>\u2014this Jesus\u00a0whom you crucified. (Acts 2:36)
\n<\/em>For indeed\u00a0Jews ask for\u00a0signs and Greeks search for wisdom;\u00a0but we preach\u00a0Christ crucified<\/u>,\u00a0to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles\u00a0foolishness,\u00a0but to those who are\u00a0the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ\u00a0the power of God and\u00a0the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:22-24)<\/em><\/p>\n