RE: [TruthTalk] Narrow way not " loving"?

[ShieldsFamily]

I have been doing a little thinking about various aspects of my counseling ministry in view of the triune considerations.  And I see, almost daily, the value of the teaching.   In II Cor 5:21, we are told that Christ became sin  (assumed all sin) so that in Him, we might become righteous. Righteousness in II Cor is a gift of grace.    Such a statement parallels with Romans 4 and the claim that His faith (or "faith" -----  let's not argue on this) is exchanged for our righteousness.   The point being that we are made righteous by Another.   In Col 1:17ff,  we find the fact of reconciliation presented and the purpose of this reconciliation put forth.   We have been reconciled so that we might be holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight.   How can young people benefit from this teaching  --  the full presentation; the fact and the purpose?  Think about it:   if we do not approach the effort to holiness with the view in mind of securing our salvation;   if we understand that our salvation is secured by other influences   ---- then the purpose of holiness is for our own health, for our own good.   If we are not saved via holiness, what, then is the benefit?   Sanctification and spiritual maturity.  Our youth need to see the blessing of holy pursuits and the scandal of selfish impatience.    When Christian young people deliberately choose to indulge themselves with no concern for others  (and that is exactly what they are doing),  they make themselves no different in function from those who hate God and give Him no acclaim.   THAT is the scandal, as I see it.  It is the scandal in my life, for sure.   I was quite the sexual activist in my younger days   -----------------------   me a Christian and forever (it seemed) a leader within our youth group and at Christian college.   One day, I asked myself this question:   "how in the hell am I different from the atheists?     I mean, I  am doing these things ON PURPOSE,  deliberately IGNORING my own conscience, just because I don't want to wait.  I am insulting the very authority of God,  my loving and patient spiritual Father    ----------------    will He run out of patience with me?  Will he conclude that I am none of His BECAUSE THAT IS THE WAY I AM LIVING MY LIFE? "   Even a loving and patient father wonders these things when he sees his own destroying their lives and, after all is said and done, CANNOT STOP THEM. And so Christ stands over the city and weeps.   He CANNOT COMMAND FAITH.   Grace is free but not cheap and we all have to make that concept a truth in our lives.   Thinking out loud Jd JD, just when I’m about to give up on you, you come up with something as sane as this.  I don’t know if it came out of too many red beers or a moment of sobriety, but that’s good stuff. Izzy “And at present—in the distant outworkings of the Protestant Reformation, with its truly great and good message of salvation by faith alone—that long-accepted division has worked its way into the very heart of the gospel message. It is now understood to be a part of the “good news” that one does not have to be a life student of Jesus in order to be a Christian and receive forgiveness of sins. This gives a precise meaning to the phrase “cheap grace,” though it would be better described as “costly faithlessness.”  Dallas Willard