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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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In Whom Will You Trust? A man by the name of
George Gordon Liddy was the mastermind behind the first break-in of the
Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in
1972. Because of his role in this, Liddy served 4 ˝ years in prison.
Once he was released from prison, he made the following statement: "I have
found within myself all I need and all I ever shall need. I am a man of
great faith, but my faith is in George Gordon Liddy. I have never failed
me." As
Paul was writing the book of Romans, he was trying to get his listeners
to understand that both Jew and Gentile have sinned (Ch. 1-3), that they
could not keep the law adequately to be considered righteous (Ch. 7),
and without God, they were lost in sin (3:21-23). Therefore, they had
nothing to boast about in themselves (3:27; 4:2; 5:2, 3, 11; 11:18).
They had not done, and could not do, anything that could earn their
salvation. They could only be saved because of God's wonderful kindness
and grace. George Liddy may believe that he can find everything he needs within himself and that he has never failed himself. But there is at least one area he has already failed: Providing his OWN Salvation! George
Liddy simply cannot save himself spiritually.
Nor can we... Salvation
is NOT something that we EARN! If we received what we earned, we
would all receive DEATH (Romans 6:23). Let's make sure we keep our
arrogance in check. We CANNOT save ourselves. We all desperately
need God's help. Let's always remember the humbling truth that we simply
cannot do enough or be good enough to deserve salvation from God, but
that out of His goodness and grace, He has blessed those who believe Him
and follow His commands. * “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5). Because of His love
and mercy, God sent Jesus into the WORLD and to the CROSS to die for our
sins so that we may have salvation (Ephesians 1:7). God has promised to
save those who will: place their faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts
16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance
(2 Peter 3:9), confess
Christ before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into
Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). When it comes to your
salvation, don’t trust YOURSELF! Place
your trust in CHRIST through your faithful obedience. Won’t YOU? David
A. Sargent, Minister Church
of Christ at Creekwood * Adapted from “GEORGE
GORDON LIDDY” by Brett Petrillo in Daily
Bread, an e-mail publication of the Bear Valley Church of Christ in
Denver, CO. Brett serves as Intern Youth Minister for the Bear Valley
Church. See http://www.bearvalleycofc.org/ To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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