from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church http://bit.ly/2WvmY8p
via IFTTT "I am of " is a dangerous phrase if it ends in anything but Jesus. I am Catholic. I am Baptist. I am Lutheran. I am Episcopalian. I am ... The list is long and distinguished. Why does man feel the need to identify with individuals and organizations of his own making? Is this not the sin first indulged in back within the garden. "I will become good MY way". The "forbidden fruit" that makes one wise, like God. Sound extreme? Well, what does Paul say? Was Paul crucified? Martin Luther? John the Baptist? Mary? The Pope? That favorite TV preacher? Of course not. Only Jesus. THE church is HIS church. The people involved are nothing. Jesus is everything. If He is everything, EVERY thing.... Then there is nothing left to share in the glory. It's all Him. We need to keep our favorite personality or group in the proper perspective. Don't let pride and judgementalism allow us to create idols of man. No preacher, no group can take any credit for... Well... Anything. If all good is from God, if none are good but God, then how can we raise anyone above anyone else? How can we identify with anyone but Jesus? In fact, that is the question raised in this scripture. Where is your identity? Is it your career? Is it your school? Is it your church? STOP! All of that is nothing, filthy rags of imperfection. We find our true value in Christ and Him alone. Our identity is in Him. After all, WE died and HE lives in us. Our prior identity was rooted in man and man's organizations, but as a new creature in Christ, we live in and through Him. Who are you? A child of God, washed in the blood of Jesus, baptized into His name, who happens to attend xyz church. Where you go to church has no bearing on your salvation (or the lack there of). Did the church "save you"? Did the church conquer evil and pay the price for your sins? Of course not. It is nothing in respect to your salvation. Nothing. It's all about Jesus and only Jesus. Any group, church or secular, that claims to own you, or that claims they have the only path to heaven, or claims any measure of control over your salvation, is flat wrong. They have become evil by placing themselves on the place of saviour. They have cheapened the marvelous work of the cross and resurrection by inserting themselves into the path between you and God. You are not saved because you go to xyz church , you go there because you are saved and looking to serve. Let us keep in perspective the value of the cross and empty tomb. We are not "of" anything but Christ.
