Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 8 . . . . Free-will? What Free-will? Part 2: “Little Jack Horner Christianity”
By admin On January 19th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 8
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Free-will? What Free-will? Part 2: “Little Jack Horner Christianity”
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Little Jack Horner
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Sat in the corner,
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Eating a Christmas pie;
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He put in his thumb,
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And pulled out a plum,
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And said ‘What a good boy am I!’
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This above nursery rhyme seems to be a good metaphor concerning Sal
vation by good works!
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In other words, there are many who are under the notion that they have merited Salvation by some good work! They did some good work, just like Little Jack Horner!
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But listen to what God 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.
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Here we see that Salvation is by grace alone, and nothing can be added to that grace!
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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OUR GOOD WORK MUST BE ADDED
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Nevertheless, we humans insist on a religion which requires some good work on our part.
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For some, it is the good work of water baptism.
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For others it is the good work of law-keeping, or starting some ministry, or living a moral life.
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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WHO CHOSE WHO?
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Now there are many who are led to believe that they first chose to follow Jesus.
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For these, it is the good work of choosing Jesus.
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And so, all such feel that they can boast that “I chose Jesus”.
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Of course, all this is complete and utter nonsense!
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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NOTHING GOOD IN MAN!
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After all, if there are some who chose Jesus and many others who didn’t choose Him, then this would have to be considered as some little spark of innate goodness within those who chose to serve Jesus!
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Think about it! There must be something in me that caused me to choose Jesus: some little spark of goodness that other people do not possess!
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But listen to Paul’s testimony… “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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WE’RE UTTERLY & HOPELESSLY WICKED!
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And listen again to Paul’s testimony… “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one…” Romans 3:9-18
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But for some reason, it is nearly impossible for us to give up the false notion that, “God sees something good in me!” And so, the Devil capitalizes on this false notion, and draws me into a counterfeit gospel which requires me to exercise “that little spark of goodness” which supposedly unlocks the doors of Salvation!
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And all who are under this erroneous notion are under a works/grace gospel, which is no gospel at all!
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This, in essence, is a Little Jack Horner religion! “I did that one good work! I signed on the dotted line! I have done something that others did not! Oh what a good boy am I!”
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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GOD CHOOSES US!
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Oh yes, God asks us to choose whom we will serve! The Bible makes that clear!
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But the fact is, nobody will choose to serve Christ!
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Listen… “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44
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So here it is made clear, that no man can come to Christ, except the Father draws him! We all love the darkness. Salvation is the total gift of God! It is only when His Holy Spirit indwells the human heart, that we then can choose to serve Him.
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But that is the work of God, by grace alone!
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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A TINY SPARK OF HUMAN GOODNESS?
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And so, according to this faulty theology, there are the Little Jack Horner Christians, and then there are all the rest, who refused to pull out the plum!
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Or there was no plum in their pie! Or they were just not lucky enough to find the plum! Or they did not have that little spark of goodness to even want to pull out the plum!
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And this kind of Little Jack Horner Christianity is embraced by many who have never become born again! They are still living by the flesh.
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Their hearts are still seeking after the things of the world!
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But Christ says… “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you,” John 15:16
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg