By: Gabriela Yareliz
PART II
So this piece is a bit long; I understand. Time runs short these days, but I encourage you, if you are interested in these topics of peace, philosophy and belief, to read it. I wouldn’t spend time typing this out if I didn’t think this was important.
I have divided the themes into seperate sections so you can read them at your convenience at your own pace if you can’t read it all in one go.
In the end, I think all of our souls are restless and seeking. We are all looking for peace and Truth. I am an inquirer who is walking along the journey; so walk with me.
A TRUE CHANGE IN CHARACTER
Nothing we do can make us look “better” in God’s eyes. In most religions there is something one must do. One must bring a sacrifice to God, whether it be food, jewelry, incense, plants-whatever. It is a constant search to please whatever is out there. Sometimes out of fear.
Yet in God’s Word it is taught that God has made a sarifice, and He offers it to you so you will accept it. God sacrificed Himself and offers Himself you. He is the offering and the offerer.
As we seek to have true peace in God, it is imperative that we seek change. If your belief does not change you from the inside out, then what is it worth? Is it a comfortable belief system so you will not feel a need to change? Is it something shallow? Where does sanctification and emptying oneself of pride and selfishness so God can fill us and mold our characters like him, where does this come into play?
“The sanctification now gaining notice in the religious world carries a spirit of self-exaltation and disregard for the law of God that identify it as foreign to the Bible. Those who teach it claim that sanctification happens instantly, and by this means, through “faith alone,” they profess holiness. “Only believe,” they say, “and the blessing is yours.” No further effort is supposed to be required from the receiver. At the same time they deny the authority of God’s law, claiming that they are released from any obligation to keep the commandments. But is it possible to be holy without coming into harmony with the principles that express God’s nature and will?
The word of God testifies against this traplike doctrine of faith without works. It is not faith that claims God’s favor without complying with conditions on which He grants mercy. It is presumption. (James 2:14-24) (GH 48-49)
“Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.”
TRUE REFORMATION
What happens when God speaks to us? We are truly convicted; this does not leave us the same.
“The ‘light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world’ illumined the secret chambers of their [our] souls, and the hidden things of darkness were made manifest. Deep conviction took hold upon their minds and hearts. They were convinced of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come. They had a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and felt the terror of appearing, in their guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. In anguish they cried out: “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” As the cross of Calvary, with its infinite sacrifice for the sins of men, was revealed, they saw that nothing but the merits of Christ could suffice to atone for their transgressions; this alone could reconcile man to God. With faith and humility they accepted the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Through the blood of Jesus they had ‘remission of sins that are past.’
These souls brought forth fruit meet for repentance. They believed and were baptized, and rose to walk in newness of life–new creatures in Christ Jesus; not to fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by the faith of the Son of God to follow in His steps, to reflect His character, and to purify themselves even as He is pure.
The things they once hated they now loved, and the things they once loved they hated. The proud and self-assertive became meek and lowly of heart. The vain and supercilious became serious and unobtrusive. The profane became reverent, the drunken sober, and the profligate pure. The vain fashions of the world were laid aside.”
When we are convicted, we change from the inside out. We are not left the same.
“Christians sought not the “outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but . . . the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 1 Peter 3:3, 4.” (Great Controversy, pg. 462)
GABRIELA YARELIZ 