JESUS CAME TO MAKE US COMPLETE IN CHRIST ALONE

" I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live ; but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God ; who loved me and gave himself for me ". Galatians 2 : 20 .

Assumptions abound about how to "identify" a "complete and true Christian".
There are diverse good-intentioned counsels and preaching , about how to live "a full and sanctified Christian life" and numerous man-made doctrines and criteria for measuring the Believer's "level" in his/her walk with God.
These criteria include how you talk , look or even walk! How many times you pray, how long and how loud your prayers are; what you wear: how long your skirts and sleeves are, how high your necklines are and how much or how often you give to the poor and your church records. Even, where you work, who your friends are and your marital status are considered in the "holiness and sanctification" package.
You flout even one of these "laws" and you are deemed "unacceptable" to God by some man-made laws..
No wonder, some people are very careful to look stone-faced, sad, pious, respectable, humble and very gentle in their manner and speech, especially in public.
All in the bid to impress their fellow men and to be "completely acceptable" to God.

The new convert is often confused and burdened with this load of "dos and don'ts" in some churches. This demand for "holiness by appearance and works" tend to contradict the message of the Bible which says:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God;
Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
There are NO contradiction or confusion in the Holy Bible . What causes confusion and contradictions is the human attempts at manipulating the Word of God.
Inadvertently, man tries to shift the focus from God to himself, as "Saviour"; by attempting and failing to set up his own system of righteousness and holiness.
The Eternal Truth is that Man did not and does not have the ability to take away his own sins or another man's sins.
Thieves ,whores and other deviants are often advised to "get a job" or "get married as soon as possible! Do this, do that!".
But does that solve the underlining Spiritual Problem ,which is refusal to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

The futility and foolishness of trying to solve spiritual problems with carnal solutions are evident around us.
Getting a job or becoming rich would not stop a person who has a spiritual problem from being a thief or a prostitute or both.
Why would someone with valid credit cards and store cards and a wallet stuffed with hundreds of pounds be caught again and again, shoplifting ridiculous items like a tie or a pair of panty hose costing £4.99 only?
When a multi-millionaire is appointed into a government office , one would assume that he/she would not be tempted to embezzle huge sums of public funds. But is this the reality?
Why are some educated and talented men and women engaged in prostitution,even while in full-time, well-paying jobs?
In all human societies, marriage is desirable . Sadly, there is proof that getting married for some people ,has not brought the desired cure for promiscuity and sexual depravity; nor is it a guarantee for maintaining a life of holiness.
Despite all the edifying marriage seminars, preachings, teachings ,books and DVDs on marriage, the situation in some marriages are scandalous. Many married men and women engage in extra-marital affairs.
What or who, except the conviction of the Holy Spirit, can transform a heart where big and small lies and evil schemes are fabricated, non-stop?
Many youths from decent Christian homes have become "Children of Sorrow" and thorns in the flesh of their parents!
Why do people hate and murder people,just for the fun of it?
Why have physical punishments and imprisonment not deterred habitual offenders?
The answer is that until we, as individuals, surrender our whole lives to Christ, and until we have a PERSONAL relationship ( not a church or group relationship) with him trusting in his righteousness, not in ours, we would not get it right.

YOU ARE COMPLETE IN CHRIST .
We have to get this truth in all its ramifications, into our mind and soul:
Salvation , by faith , is complete. It is an unmerited gift given by the grace of the merciful God .
There is NOTHING ELSE for us to do or for anyone to do on our behalf to add our salvation. God's word says that "It is Finished!" and it is finished indeed.
"And of his fullness have all we received ,and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses , but truth and grace came by Jesus Christ" . John 1:16 .
If our salvation depended on our own efforts and "good works", then the life, death and resurrection of Christ would be meaningless.
Then there would be no difference between the Christian and the Unbeliever who believes that his or her salvation depends on some "judgement by scale" which weighs a person's "good and holy" deeds against their "evil" deeds to determine whether they are "qualified" or not to enter Heaven!
In spite of God's word that Salvation is by grace and NOT by works (Romans 11:6,and Ephesians 2:7), mankind have decided to "help" God by making salvation " MORE complete"!
Sadly, to complicate and confuse issues further for a new-comer in church, some Christians have brought in "old wives tales", man-made doctrines and their local customs and traditions into the church , upholding them as Bible doctrines!
A lot of time is expended and wasted in hair-splitting arguments and numerous scriptures are quoted to support these unChristian doctrines and teachings!
The Bible counsels that we should beware of the tricks of our adversary , the Devil, which shift our focus from Christ and which make us depend on our own righteousness.
" Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."Colossians 2:7-8
Look unto Jesus , who began a good work in us and he is able to accomplish it.
In moments of confusion , when we are being bombarded with diverse "dos" and "don'ts", remember that we do not stand by our strength alone. We have power divine living in us . Do not be bewildered or swayed by diverse doctrines of men.
Believe God and believe his word that you are loved and you are accepted by God BECAUSE of Jesus Christ.
When God looks at us , he doesn't see our filthy righteousness but he sees Christ in us , our hope of Glory.
The fullness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ we have received by faith . Christ dwells in us , expressing through us , making us complete in Him.
Jesus lives in and transforms the Christian inside out; perfecting all that concerns us.
Daily , we should appreciate this truth and rejoice in it; not be burdened by our guilt, doubts or failed attempts to be "holy"!
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:9- 10.

Distractions by Perversions

Galatians 2:21

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Righteousness  also known as uprightness, justice, blamelessness, is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.

The Old Testament tells us that because of the sin of Adam, we, his descendants, have inherited his sinful nature.
The laws of God were clearly listed in the Ten Commandments as the standards to be met in order to be upright before God.
The Bible details in the Pentateuch , which is made up of the first 5 books of the Old Testament , especially in the book of Leviticus the long list of divine  laws and rules regarding the appropriate preparations necessary for the cleansing and atoning rituals for  sin, diseases , foods and drinks, clothing , family  and community relationships and inter-racial relations and so on.  
In this section of the Bible, the word sets out the divine rules and guidelines which must be met to qualify a person to become "righteous" before God and which God's people had to adhere to , strictly..

These laws show the standards required about prayer , worship , cleansing, making right , atoning , restoring, sanctification, reconciliation.

The main reason for  God's  people's quest for righteousness is to please God enough for God to regard them as blameless .
Therefore people strive  to please God by keeping His commandments .
 But it is these same commandments  which show us how far we fall short of God's very high standards.
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
 (Romans 3:20, NIV).

Man's efforts to qualify to ascend to God's presence by works of self-righteousness, can be likened to Man's attempt to build the Tower of Babel .Genesis 11:4-9

Whenever humans attempt to set up physical and spiritual practices which are preached and practised as the " proper and acceptable " divine paths , or ladders ,ways and means to attain " God's righteousness" in order to gain qualifications to become acceptable to God,such attempts are efforts in futility and they have ended and will end , always , in chaos , failures and super-mega crashes .

The Bible clearly states that human beings cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts.
All mortal attempts to set up man-made standards for " God's righteousness" cannot endure because they are based on perversions of the infallible word of Almighty God.
What are God's standards to be met by Man in order to attain righteousness before God?

God set up a system in Old Testament times whereby people sacrificed animals to atone for their sins through the shedding of the blood of animals .
When Jesus entered the world, things changed.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10 : 4

Salvation through this crediting of righteousness is a free gift, which is the doctrine of  Grace .
 Salvation by grace , through faith in Jesus is the essence of Christianity. No other religion offers grace. They all require some type of works on behalf of their participants.

Efforts by Man to work out man's righteousness are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God .
These distractions are ploys by Satan  to shift mankind's focus from the Lord Jesus and instead to focus attention on man's ability to save himself by setting up a "sanctification system" which is completely different from God's Salvation Plan.
What does God say pleases Him ?
"He [ God] shall see the trail of His soul and shall be SATISFIED :
by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for He shall bear their iniquities ". Isaiah 53 : 11.
Christ's cruxificion and resurrection satisfied God's justice.
Christ's shed blood not only atones for (covers ) humanity's sins, His blood was shed for the remission of our sins .This means His blood blotted away, washed and erased completely , every record of our sins .
No more sacrifices or works are required by any man .
As a Believer , what are your convictions about attaining God's righteousness ?
Beware of man-made standards which are the perversions of the word of God .
These are fallacies coated craftily with suitable scriptural references which are preached and upheld as "the God-given qualifications for men and women to become righteous ".
They are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God , which is the substance to make people to focus on self-righteousness which is the shadow.
The only solution to these distractions by perversions of the word of God is to accept AND believe God's plan of Salvation.
People , even some Christians who are the heirs of salvation through faith in Christ , have succumbed to all forms of distractions by attempting and then failing to reach God's standard of righteous through "self-help sanctification " methods forged from man-made doctrines about how to please God by saying , doing and thinking Godly stuff and trying to put up other forms of Godliness.

Could be you are thumping your chests because you know you are " not like those other sinful men and women " because you think you can pray, fast , preach and give offerings , tithes and alms more than other people.
Maybe you are in the church daily and you are even meticulous in keeping ALL the 10 commandments and many more other religious laws .
" Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to MY righteousness, According to the cleanness of MY hands in His sight. " Psalm 18:24. ( Emphasis mine )
Passages like this are not only found in the Bible but they are expressed by millions of people today as their right to be qualified for justification before God because of their works and their offerings.

God's heart is accessed through faith in the gift of God expressed in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world.
People receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Christ, the sinless Son of God, took humanity's sin upon himself and became the willing, perfect sacrifice, suffering the punishment mankind deserved.

All we need do to please God is to comprehend , to believe and to live by the scriptures which teaches that :
" For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast ". Ephesians 2: 8, 9.
What this passage means is that no amount of works are enough to please God to make any man justified before God .
Our self-righteousness is not enough and would not get us to the place of acceptance by God.
" But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" Isaiah 64:6.

God-pleasing Faith is accepting , believing in and confessing God's standards for righteousness .

Pertaining to qualifications necessary for receiving the righteousness of God , faith in God coupled with working out that faith are the necessary factors.
The truth is that Faith in words cannot exist in isolation.
" For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" James 2: 26..
It is this aspect of "working out faith" which has made  people to embrace the perception that the "proper" ways to express faith in God are  by doing , saying or thinking of  things which meet up with God's standard of righteousness

Brethren, if all we need to do as Christians to enter heaven is to set up doctrinal standards of "righteous and sanctified works "; then what is the difference between us and Unbelievers ? 

Then, of what importance is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ? 

^{" 20} Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 

²¹ “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”  which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 

²³ These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.  Colossians 2 : 20-23  .

Faith is , simply, believing whatever God has said about Himself and what He said about anything even without seeing the physical manifestation / evidence . Hebrew 11: 1-3.
Faith bestows the grace and the righteousness of God upon any man who believes in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
"Without Faith it is impossible to please God ". Hebrew 11:6
God bless you as you accept and believe His word. Amen