February 2009

01.23.2009

ne Parson’s Opinion


I have just finished reviewing the Wednesday study on Integrity out of Proverbs. Integrity is to be a quality of every Christian. Pagans are still surprised by someone who claims to be a Christian and yet is not a person of integrity.

I remember seeing Warren Buffet on TV (the United States’ richest man) speaking to an MBA class at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He said the number one characteristic that employers are looking for is integrity. He followed this up by asking, “If you knew a fellow student cheated on a test, would you hire him?” Of course, the answer given by the students was “no.”

So let me ask you - How are you doing with your personal integrity? Are you known as a person of integrity? Do you maintain your integrity even when others do not understand? Integrity sometimes means standing alone, and sometimes not telling all you know.

Integrity means telling the truth and living the truth. Integrity means letting your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”

I beg the previous question: How are you doing with your personal integrity? The answer to the question is probably akin to the answer I would give, which would go something like this: “I am not the person of integrity I want to be, but I am making progress. I am better than I was!”

This describes the process of the Christian life, doesn’t it?!

Honestly, I still have a long way to go, and so do you, but we really are making progress. Jesus is changing me, and He is changing you, too!

But thanks be to God, our salvation is not based on our integrity; it is based on Jesus’ integrity. It was His work on the cross that purchased our salvation.

Our sin debt to God for our lack of integrity was paid for by Jesus. In addition, Jesus is presently working in us to make us people of integrity.

This Christianity really is pretty good stuff—it’s all about grace! You think about that.

See you on the Lord’s Day!
Jim

Posted by arbc at 10:29 AM