Abide in Christ Daily Devotional

Whose Slave are You?

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 17:42:01 -0500

Free to serve God sounds like a paradox.

Only God is totally free. There is no such thing as absolute freedom for anyone other than God. No human being is absolutely free to do anything and everything he may want to do. Every individual is limited by or enslaved by someone or something. No one is autonomous.

We are either slaves in bondage to sin or servants of Jesus Christ. However, to be a slave of Jesus Christ is to enjoy true freedom.

This is why the apostle Paul argues in Romans 6:15-18 that it is impossible for true Christians to continue in sin (6:1, 15). We have been set free from the power and bondage of sin to become the instruments of righteousness. “We are no longer slaves to sin” (vv. 6-7).

Salvation by grace does not lead to a life of sin (6:1-2). It does exactly the opposite. Our identification with Christ gives us the goal to live a life that will please Him and glorify His life. We are saved by grace that we “might walk in newness of life” (v. 4). The implication of the verb is that we will “walk about, meaning our habitual character will be pleasing to God. We will live with Him in our daily life (v. 8). The life of grace leads to righteousness (6:11-14).

Since salvation by grace does not lead to sin, but freedom to live in the power of Christ, Paul goes on to argue that the Law as a means to righteousness is not possible. Freedom from the Law does not lead to sin either. The Christian who is saved by grace has been freed from the Law.

You Can Count on Me

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 22:47:20 -0500

Everything in the Christian life depends upon what Christ has done for us on the cross, and what He continues to do in and through us as He lives His life in us. Not only has He died for us, but also through a mystical union of the believer with Him we are “in Christ,” and He is “in you.”

The most important principle of sanctification is counting as true what God Himself has already done for us. We are to count as true what is, according to God's Word, true.

The key to our progressive sanctification is in knowing that God has taken us out of Adam and has joined us to Jesus Christ. We are no longer subject to the reign of sin and death, but are now transferred to the kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul says our responsibility is to “consider [reckon] yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). He uses an accounting term in the imperative tense. Be constantly counting upon the fact that you are dead to sin, but also alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The word translated "reckon" or "consider" is a key word in the apostle Paul's teaching on sanctification. He calls upon us to "count, reckon, impute" on certain facts. It is an accounting word that means to take into account, to calculate, to estimate. We are to impute or "to put to one's account" certain facts. The idea "to reckon" means "to put to one's account." It simply means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true in your life.

Paul is admonishing the believer in Christ to recognize something that is already an accomplished fact. Consider, and keep constantly before you, this truth about who you are in Christ. We are commanded to reckon as facts who we are in our relationship with Christ.

Sin in the Life of the Christian

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:12:44 -0500

Proof that a person knows Christ as his Savior is not found in sinless perfection. The Bible does, however demand a changed life as evidence that a person has received new spiritual life from God.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

There is the constant tension between the lust of the flesh and the desire to be under the control of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17). From the moment we are saved by grace through faith we are made a new creation in Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The old nature is not eradicated when we believe on Christ, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome sin and grow in Christ-likeness (3:26-29; 4:6; 5:22-26; 6:14).

The atoning work of Christ on the cross is entirely sufficient to save us from our sin and keep us saved (Rom. 8:31-39). All of our sins are under the blood of Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:29; I Jn. 1:6-9).

The fact is we are sinners who are saved by the grace of God. He has declared the believing sinner just in His sight based on the death of Jesus for our sins (Rom. 1:16-17; 3:20-30). In the death of Christ something was done in regard to every sin we have committed and will ever commit. God has dealt effectively and efficiently with every sin before they are committed (Rom. 5:6-11). That is the only means of salvation for any sinner. Jesus takes away the sin of the world. He is the propitiation of our sin (1 Jn. 2:2). In the death of Jesus God has forever swept away the condemnation of our sins. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 8:1; 5:1-2).

All Sufficient Sacrifice of Jesus Christ

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:50:24 -0500

The very same all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ that enabled God to save us is sufficient to keep us saved for all eternity.

Does sin have the power to set at naught the saving power of God? Is it possible for the power of sin to be more powerful than the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God?

The LORD God has effectively dealt with every sin that has ever been committed (Heb. 9:11-12; 10:10-14). The Son of God is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He was not just any person dying on a cross, but the sinless Son of God who was giving Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for all who would call upon His name.

When Jesus died on the cross, all of our sins were imputed to Him. They were charged to His account, like putting money in the bank. God treated Christ as though He had actually committed those sins (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jn. 3:5; Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 2:22, 24).

The result of the death of Christ was that all those sins have been paid for in full and God no longer holds them against us, because we have trusted Christ as our Savior. That is not all; the demands of God’s holy law have been fully met by Christ in His death once for all.

Those who believe will never have their sins imputed against them again (Ps. 32:1-2; Rom. 4:1-8). As far as their records are concerned, they share the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

The Day I Died

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:36:59 -0500

God takes sin seriously. Sin is a terrible thing in the Christian's life. That is why God did not overlook sin, but dealt with it in one complete stroke of judgment by sending Christ to die for us on the cross.

Now that we have been saved by grace can we live any way we so please? Can we sin it up now that our fire insurance has been paid in full?

The apostle Paul responded to that arrogant attitude saying, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2).

We died to sin. “Died” is in aorist past tense, indicating a once for all death in a judicial sense. We legally died (vv. 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 18). It refers to a single action that has taken place and has been completed in the past.

The idea of our death to sin is basic in this great chapter, and is essential to the sanctification of all believers.

“We died to sin.” When did you die?

The apostle Paul does not say we are going to die to sin, or we are presently dying to sin. He does not say we are continually to die to sin. The apostle has in mind a completed past action.

We “have died” to sin is already true of us if we have entered into a vital union with Christ. Charles Hodge notes, “it refers to a specific act in our past history.”

Unlimited Super Abounding Grace of God

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:34:10 -0500

Can we lose our salvation by sinning? Does God withhold His grace because of sin? Do we forfeit grace when we sin? Is it reduced because of our inability to keep from sinning?

Those are serious questions if we truly believe that God saves us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

“The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). “Where sin thus multiplied, grace immediately exceeded it” (NEB). “Though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God His grace is wider and deeper still” (Phillips). The flood of grace surpassed the flood of sin. No matter how great human sin becomes, God's grace overflows beyond it and abundantly exceeds it.

The apostle Paul pictures sin overflowing and reaching a high water mark as it sweeps away everything before it, but God in grace completely floods our lives with mercy and forgiveness because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Where the waters of sin multiplied, grace overflowed. Grace is never withheld because of sin. It overcomes the effects of sin and reigns victoriously.

Just when we think we are hopelessly overwhelmed by sin, the grace of God proves itself to be far greater.

The superabounding grace of God is never withheld or reduced because of sin. Sin has never been demonstrated to be stronger than God's grace. It is just the opposite. Light always penetrates and overcomes darkness. The believer has an unlimited supply of grace always available to him.

Have You Fallen from Grace?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:17:56 -0500

“Grace is neither withheld nor reduced because of sin.”

I have been asked many times if a born again believer can fall from the grace of God since Galatians 5:4 says, “you have fallen from grace.”

The context of that statement is Jewish teachers who emphasized that a person had to keep the Law of Moses to be saved had confuse the Christians in the church at Galatia. They were insisting that all non-Jews must be circumcised and become Jews first. The apostle Paul had taught them clearly that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ (Gal. 1:10; 2:16-21; 3:1-14, 22-29; 5:5-6). Paul wrote his letter to the church admonishing the believers to stand firm against the bondage of legalism. The immediate context states Paul’s conviction clearly, “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:2-4).

Paul is not saying, “You have lost your salvation.” What happens when you fall from grace? You fall into law observance. You become legalists. A. T. Robertson, writes, "'You left the sphere of grace in Christ and took your stand in the sphere of law’ as your hope of salvation. Paul does not mince words and carries the logic to the end of the course. He is not, of course, speaking of occasional sins, but he has in mind a far more serious matter, that of substituting law for Christ as the agent in salvation.”

Salvation by Grace Alone

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:26:17 -0500

Saved by grace. Those are the most beautiful words to a sinner's ears.

Grace is the sweet sovereign favor shown to someone who does not deserve any favor, but the exactly the very opposite.

It is in grace that God has worked to deliver us from eternal punishment and give us His very best in life.

God’s Sovereign Choice in Grace teaches us that God is sovereign in His election of sinful man. It demonstrates that man is a depraved sinner and there is nothing in man to merit or earn a right relationship with God.

God does not look ahead in time, see some good in us, and on that basis decide to save us. He does not look ahead in time and see that one day we will choose to believe on Christ and therefore elect to save us. What God sees is nothing but wickedness, sin, unbelief. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Grace does not depend on anything in man because it is all of God’s choosing. The source of our salvation is the grace of God alone (Eph. 2:8-10).

Pilate before the King of Kings

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:13:03 -0500

The King of kings was on a cross.

Let that statement sink in. The King of kings was hanging on a cross.

The troubling question for the Roman governor Pilate was, “Are You the King of the Jews?” (Matthew 27:11).

A harmony of the Gospels shows that Pilate tried four times to set Jesus free. First, he sent Jesus to Herod when he realized Jesus was from Galilee and under his political jurisdiction (Lk. 22.6-12). Second, Pilate offered to punish Jesus without putting Him to death (Lk. 23:16, 22). Third, he desperately asked the people to choose Barabbas, the insurrectionist and revolutionary in the place of Jesus (Matt. 27:20-26; Mk. 15:6-15; Jn. 18:38-40), and finally, he tried to stir the crowd's pity by reducing Jesus to a bloody pulp by scourging Him (Jn. 19:1-5).

“Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” (Jn. 18:39-40).

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Christ?” asked Pilate.

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” they shouted.

Peter in Heaven and Judas in Hell

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:22:46 -0500

Both Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They both denied their Lord and Master.

But why did one go to heaven, and one go to hell?

The Gospel writer Matthew is careful to compare and contrast the fall of Peter and Judas. Both men failed badly. The fall of Peter was temporary, while the fall of Judas was permanent. One is in heaven, and the other is in hell.

Both men confessed their sin and failure, but only one repented and put his faith in Christ.

Somewhere in Judas’ life, he took an evil turn that eventually resulted in rejection of Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior and eventual suicide. One bad attitude toward Jesus led to another, and a pattern of rejection and bitterness must have led to the ultimate rejection of Jesus.

In fact, it was prophesied in the Old Testament that a person close to Jesus would lift up his heel against Him (Psa. 41:9; Jn. 13:18; Acts 1:16). He was appointed to this end from the beginning (Jn. 17:12).

Are You the Christ, the Son of God?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:58:44 -0500

At the Jewish trial of Jesus, the high priest Caiaphas found himself in a dilemma. He was losing his case before the Roman governor Pilate. The evidence did not add up. The false witnesses did not agree with one another (Mark 14:59; Matt. 26:59-62).

The star witness did not show. According to Jewish law, Judas who arranged for the arrest of the offender had to be the person to make the formal legal accusation. Because Judas realized he had betrayed innocent blood he did not arrive at the hastily arranged trials and the Sanhedrine lost valuable time trying to come up with witnesses to sustain their accusations. By not being at the trial Judas was actually testifying the opposite that Jesus was innocent.

Pilate, knowing Jesus was innocent tried to set Him free.

Jesus had remained silent before His accusers, and this astonished Pilate, and frustrated the high priest.

Suddenly in desperation Caiaphas turned on Jesus and demanded, “I charge You under oath by the living God that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63).

The form of the question put to Jesus was brilliant. If Caiaphas had asked if Jesus were the Messiah, it would not have been a capital offense.

The Attitude of God toward the Saved

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:55:21 -0500

Was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross all-sufficient for God to save the sinner? Was His sacrifice sufficient for God to justly keep the sinner saved? Is God lacking in wisdom and power to fulfill His eternal purpose for the saved sinner?

Ultimately the question of eternal security is reduced to a question of the all-sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross.

If the person who has received eternal life by believing on Christ is ultimately lost then we must conclude that God is impotent and the sacrifice of Christ is not sufficient to save the depraved sinner. One would have to conclude that the Sovereign LORD God would have to submit to a power greater than Himself that He has created.

The eternal purpose of God for the sinner is that we be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:10; 1 Jn. 3:2). Could our great God and Savior be so careless as to what becomes of the person He has so loved and sent His Son to die for on the cross?

How can a Christian be Lost Again?

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:54:15 -0500

Can a person once saved ever be lost again?

Our question relates only to the person who is saved in the true Biblical sense.

Eternal life is the gift of God. If one has it, he has it for eternity.

The true child of God has received eternal life and is already a citizen of heaven. From the moment he is saved, he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and by Christ. He has been regenerated and sealed by the Spirit. He is a new creature by the recreative power of God.

At the heart of the question is the eternal purpose of God. In the eternal past the believer was in the thought and purpose of God. The born again believer was “chosen in Him before the foundation of the earth.” God the Father elects the believer. He is chosen in Christ (Eph. 1:4).

You in Me, and I in You

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:30:04 -0500

Jesus said to His disciples, “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20).

Jesus was speaking of His resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1-3). God the Father sent the Spirit so that the members of the body would be joined to their Head in a living union. The indwelling Holy Spirit today unites believers to Christ.

The greatest possible incentive to live the Christian life is to realize that you have a perfect standing with God in Christ Jesus. We no longer strive vainly to make ourselves acceptable to God. We have been “made acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” We are already “accepted in the Beloved” because of His death for us on the cross. We are now made the righteousness of God in Christ, and that right relationship with God will abide without change throughout eternity. Relying upon that great Biblical truth gives peace that is beyond all comprehension.

Jesus said, “You in Me, and I in you.” The believer is “in Christ.” The equivalent expression in the letters of the apostle Paul is “in Him.” It is the picture of an organic union with Christ; formed through the power of God the moment a person puts his faith in Christ for salvation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit when we are born spiritually. The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ.

What must I do to be Saved?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:11:44 -0500

Salvation is the work of God alone. It is comes from Him as a free gift. Salvation is of God, and man’s responsibility is only to receive it freely as a gift from His hand.

The salvation of man is the display of the power of God for His glory alone. No part of our salvation is dependent even in the slightest degree on human effort.

Only God can perform what He requires of man to be saved. We are blind to spiritual truths (2 Cor. 4:3-4). He requires a new creation because man is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-2). God requires a spiritual birth, which only He can perform (Jn. 3:3). We are powerless to bring about such a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

Moreover, because we are sinners, we cannot produce in our sinful nature a righteousness that is pleasing to God (Rom. 3:9-20). We cannot merit by our virtue a right relationship with God. The salvation God demands and provides is wrought for sinful man wholly apart from man’s efforts.

Salvation is provided only through the person and work of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). We cannot resolve our sin problem, but Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for our sins (Rom. 5:6, 8; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Why Did Jesus Die?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:36:55 -0500

It is an age-old question, but perhaps more important now than ever before.

The heart of the apostle Paul can be expressed with the words: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Jesus Christ was the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” “He bore our sins in His body on the tree.” “He was made sin for us.” “Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” “He is the propitiation for our sins.” “He tasted death for every man.”

All of these statements from the Scriptures describe the substitutionary nature of the death of Jesus Christ. Because of His death, the believing sinner is placed in God's estimation beyond his own execution, and the ground of condemnation is forever past (John 3:17-21). God sees us as having been punished for our sins in Christ's death. God removed through the death of Jesus every moral and spiritual hindrance to His righteousness in the believing sinner. Because of the atoning death of Christ, God can now exercise His love without reservation. Nothing now stands in the way to hinder it. God in grace reaches down to the sinner to save him for all eternity.

But not only does He forgive the guilty sinner, He places the sinner in eternal glory in the very image of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is the greatest thing God can possibly do in and for the believing sinner. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:17). “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20).

God's Problem

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:34:16 -0500

The greatest message God has ever delivered to sinful man is found in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the declaration of the righteousness of God, and a demonstration that God is both “just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

The proof of the steadfast righteousness of God was made in the cross of Jesus Christ. God had declared that He is righteous and holy (Isa. 6:3). He cannot and will not tolerate sin in His presence (Ezek. 18:4, 17-18, 20, 30, 32).

The greatest divine problem is how can God be just and at the same time love a sinner and allow him into His holy presence? The cross reveals God's holiness, righteousness and hatred of sin. It also demonstrates the depth of His love and integrity.

Sin must always be treated as sin, and the wages of sin is always death (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 3:23; 6:23). It cannot be treated otherwise. So how can God save the sinner and remain righteous? God cannot change His eternal attribute of righteousness.

God taught His people in the Old Testament to anticipate a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin. The blood of bulls and goats symbolized the blood that would one day be shed by the perfect “Lamb of God” who would lift up and take away our sins and the sins of the whole world. The blood of animals could never take away sin, but only point to the greater “Lamb of God.”

Infinite Love of God

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:09:29 -0500

The Lord God has chosen to fully reveal Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. He has done it in such a way that a finite mind might grasp the essential truth of God's infinite being (Rom. 1:19-20).

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:18). We have come to know God's love “because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9, 10). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

God declared His love in the cross of Jesus Christ, and we need never question it ever again. Jesus Christ “loved me and gave Himself for me.” We perceive and understand the love of God because Jesus laid down His life for us.

In eternity we will have “a ceaseless unfolding of that fathomless expression of boundless love,” says Lewis Chafer. “For God so loved the world that He gave . . .” The ultimate picture of the love of God is the cross of Jesus.

Why such a demonstration of love? “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). Every righteous judgment of God against sin was removed by Christ.

The Law and the Gospel

Fri, 29 May 2009 14:30:04 -0500

The highest motivation for living the Christian life is the result of God’s sacrificial love for us. If we love Him we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15). We want to please Him because He reached down in His grace and mercy to save us while we were sinners condemned by God’s just Law. Therefore, we want to love and please Him wholeheartedly.

Moreover, since we have been spiritually regenerated or born again by the Holy Spirit, we are now a changed people. You cannot be justified without out this spiritual birth taking place at the same time. The person who is saved by the grace of God will demonstrate it by a determination to pursue personal righteousness in his daily life. We will do good works because that is what we are destined to do (Eph. 1:4; 2:10).

The Law and the Gospel

Thu, 28 May 2009 17:55:27 -0500

The gospel of grace does not nullify God’s Law; it fulfills it. In fact, it is the only way the Law of God could possibly be fulfilled.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? . . . . It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. . . . For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Romans 6:1; Galatians 5:1, 13).

The highest motivation for living the Christian life is the result of God’s sacrificial love for us. If we love Him we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15).

Faith and the Bible

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:58:45 -0500

The Bible is God’s perfectly inspired word. The written Word testifies to God’s self-revelation in His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. All Scripture, both Old and New Testament, is a clear testimony to Jesus Christ. The Bible is not just a record of revelation of God, but it is revelation itself, and it is an infallible witness of God to men.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever" (Isa. 40:8). There is nothing like the abiding Word of God.

This is why it is so important for us to examine God’s Word and seek to understand it and its authority in the believer’s life. Our faith is defined by God's Word, and there cannot be any true saving faith without the Word of God.

"But I Don’t Have Enough Faith"

Mon, 25 May 2009 18:55:02 -0500

I often hear people say, “I am afraid I don’t know if I have enough faith.” How much faith do you need in order to be saved?

The Bible does not teach that you are justified because of your faith. Faith is not works.

Faith is nothing more than the instrument to receive our salvation. Nowhere in Scripture will you find that we are justified on account of our faith. The Scripture says that we are justified by faith or through faith. Faith is nothing but the the channel by which this righteousness of God in Christ becomes ours. It is not our faith that saves us.

The Redeeming Blood of Jesus

Sun, 24 May 2009 21:06:40 -0500

The most precious title of Christ is Redeemer.

It helps us to understand what it cost Him to get this salvation for us. It is the name specifically of the Christ of the cross. He is Christ our Redeemer.

Whenever we say "redeemer," the cross is flashed before our eyes and our hearts are filled with loving remembrance not only that Christ has given us salvation but the mighty price He paid for it.

During the first century slaves could be purchased out of the market place by payment of a price. It was also necessary to pay a price to free a prisoner.

Righteousness apart from the Law

Sat, 23 May 2009 20:36:21 -0500

Because we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, God gets all the glory.

Salvation is a free gift because it is a receiving of God’s righteousness apart from any human doing. Since we are saved by grace as a gift of God, all the glory goes to God alone. There will be no human praise in heaven.

Christianity is a unique religion because it is not man made. It is the revelation of God.

“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). The reason God does it that way is because it is impossible for sinners to save themselves, “for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (vv. 23-24).

Salvation by Faith in Christ

Fri, 22 May 2009 19:41:45 -0500

What is the most important thing you have ever learned?

The issues of eternity hang on the great truth that salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone in the saving work of Jesus Christ alone. God has provided His own righteousness for sinful men and women. The righteousness of God is all that God demands and approves. This righteousness of God is ultimately found in Christ alone because Christ met and fulfilled in our place every requirement of the Law. Christ has become our righteousness, and the righteousness of all who believe on Him.

The righteousness of God has been revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and God has made it available to us sinners. The righteousness that we need comes from God, and it is accounted to us by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

"Why Should I Let You into My Heaven?"

Thu, 21 May 2009 22:38:59 -0500

Let's suppose for a moment that you died today and stood before the Lord God and He asked you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say? What do you think you would say?

That is one of the most important questions you can ask a person regarding their salvation. James Kennedy got the idea from Donald Grey Barnhouse who asked the same questions in a slightly different wording. “What right do you have to come into God's heaven? What would be your answer?”

I like those questions because they force us to clarify our thoughts about salvation.

One thing is sure, one day you will die. You will be suddenly thrust into the face of God and He will ask the question, “Why should I let you come into My heaven?” “What right do you have to enter into the holy of holies?”

Your reply could be, “I am a religious person. I am trying to live a Christian life the best I can. I give to the poor, and try to help people in need. I an not a notorious sinner. I read religious books, my Bible, and I try to love people. I am serving God the best I can.” But no one will be justified before God on the basis of his good religious works. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). The apostle Paul said wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Justified Freely by God's Grace

Wed, 20 May 2009 20:42:40 -0500

Grace, how sweet the sound to our sinful hearts!

The Bible teaches that we are saved by the free sovereign grace of God in Jesus Christ. Neither will the grace of God ever be withheld, nor will it be lessened because of anything we have done, or will do.

The sweetest word in the English vocabulary is grace. It is a beautiful word containing the heart and soul of Christianity. It means the unmerited favor or kindness shown to people who are utterly undeserving. It is a free gift to all who deserve the exact opposite. To the hopeless and helpless God comes in grace to meet our need.

The Uniquely Unrepeatable Jesus Christ

Tue, 19 May 2009 21:31:44 -0500

Jesus is God.

Therefore, he is uniquely unrepeatable.

We often say that a person is unique; there is no one in the world like so and so. There will never be another person like that person because of their talents, personality, creativity, etc. We say when God made so and so he threw away the mold.

But Jesus Christ is uniquely different from any other person who has ever lived.

No one else can know God as God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2).

When Jesus spoke, God spoke (Heb. 1:1-3).

Clothed with Fig Leaves or Righteousness?

Mon, 18 May 2009 19:40:48 -0500

There are no secrets with God. Adam and Eve learned that the hard way. The apostle Paul reminds us, “God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom. 2:16). The writer of Hebrews says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).

God in His infinite wisdom and grace gave Adam and Eve a grand opportunity to have dominion over all of His creation (Genesis 2:15). And in love He “commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you shall surely die” (vv. 16-17).

We are all too familiar with the tragic events that followed. The God who sees and knows all things visited the Garden of Eden shortly after Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?' He said, 'I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself'” (Genesis 3:8-10).

How Shall We Escape?

Sun, 17 May 2009 23:39:00 -0500

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? (Hebrews 2:3)

This question floods the mind with other important questions. Who is being referred to by the pronoun we? How shall we escape what? What is in view in the expression so great salvation? What does it mean to neglect this great salvation?

The so great salvation that is proclaimed is the person and work of Jesus Christ. The great salvation is about the great Savior (Lk. 2:30; Jn. 4:22, 42; 14:6; Acts 4:12). Salvation is synonymous with the Savior. The context is speaking of the preaching of Jesus who is greater than the prophets and the angels who spoke with authority before His incarnation. God is speaking to us in His Son. Because He is the greater witness of the Father we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard (Heb. 2:11). Since the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (vv. 2-3a). Moreover, after the Lord spoke it was confirmed by those who heard it, and by God bearing witnesses with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will (v. 4).

Jesus Christ revealed God’s great plan of salvation. In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us (Eph. 1:7-8; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:21-26; 5:6-8; 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-9).

Constant, Conscious Communion with Christ

Sat, 16 May 2009 21:36:20 -0500

Christians are to live in constant, conscious communion with Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ literally lives within you if you have put your faith in Him as your personal Savior.

The heart of Christian living is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Christ lives in you (Col. 1:27). That is a fact that is true of every believer.

Jesus prayed for you and me when He prayed, “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me” (John 17:20-23).

“I in them and You in Me.” Because Jesus Christ lives in you, His strength works in and through you to bring glory to Him. Learn to trust Him moment by moment living in you.

The Son of God

Fri, 15 May 2009 20:16:02 -0500

Jesus Christ is God. He is one with the Father, and is the partaker of the Father’s own nature and being.

This is one of the deepest and most precious truths for nourishing the inner life of the believer.

Andrew Murray wrote, “Christ is God: The soul worships Him as the Almighty One, able to do a divine work in the power of divine omnipotence. Christ is God: even as God works in all nature from within, and in secret, so the soul trusts Christ as the everywhere present and the Indwelling One, doing His saving working in the hidden depths of its being. Christ is God: in Him we come into living contact with the person and life of God Himself . . . Christ is God.” (The Holiest of All, p. 55-56).

Backsliding

Thu, 14 May 2009 21:52:58 -0500

Have you ever temporarily lapsed into unbelief and sin after you became a Christian? The condition of backsliding results from spiritual apathy or disregard for the truth of God's Word. It results in a departure from a winsome confession of faith and Biblical ethical standards. Actions are affected by our attitudes toward God and His Word.

Jesus said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Backsliding is different from apostasy, which spurns the grace of God by renouncing the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-31). When a person renounces his faith in Christ that person was never a true child of God, and never was among the elect of God (John 3:18-21, 36; 5:24-29).

On the other hand, the elect individual, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and redeemed by God has been delivered once-for-all from the bondage of sin. Backsliding is not a “fall from grace” in the sense that a Christian once saved by grace can lose his eternal life in Christ. He is God's child forever, and He has placed His life in the believing sinner.

Crucified with Christ

Wed, 13 May 2009 22:02:26 -0500

When Christ died on the cross the work of salvation was completed and Christ provided access for all believers into God’s holy presence. Therefore, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

God is a real person and our relationship with Him can be cultivated as with any other relationship. We have been saved to live in fellowship with Him. We can enjoy the riches of the Christian life only as we grow in intimacy with Christ. The presence of our Lord in our lives brings this intimacy and these riches in glory with Him.

If there is no peace, joy, longsuffering, patience, live, etc., it may well be that we are out of fellowship with Him, or that we have not come into a living relationship with Him. We must spend time in His presence everyday.

Come with Boldness for Grace and Mercy

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:40:36 -0500

The main argument of the Epistle of Hebrews is that “we have a great High Priest” (Heb. 4:14; 1:3; 2:17f; 3:1; 4:14-12:3). Jesus has passed through the upper heavens to the throne of God (1:3). The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Aaron was a “high priest,” but Jesus Christ is “the great High Priest.” No Old Testament priest could ever assume that awesome title.

Jesus is great because He is both God and man. He is “Jesus, the Son of God.” He is the Savior who became flesh, and He is “the Son of God.” Jesus affirmed His humanity and His deity. As a great High Priest Jesus has “passed through the heavens” and ascended to the Father. He is enthroned. It is His “throne of grace” to which we go as believers.

On the Day of Atonement the high priest of Israel would go behind the veil and sprinkle blood on the “mercy seat” (Lev. 16). However, every believer in Jesus Christ is encouraged to “come boldly unto the throne of grace” where He ministers grace and mercy. We are invited to go to our High Priest at any time, in any circumstance, indeed daily, and find help in our need. There is no trial too great, or temptation too strong that our great High Priest cannot give us His grace and strength.

“Let us draw near” to our great High Priest “that we may receive mercy.” Where do you turn when you have a sense of sin and guilt and unworthiness? When we go to Jesus we receive mercy. Jesus did not give us what we deserve, but what we do not deserve. At the throne we experience and learn that God pardons, loves and accepts us in His grace.

Getting Near to God

Mon, 11 May 2009 18:16:54 -0500

The essential work of our great High priest is to bring us near to God. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us perfect confidence in drawing near to our heavenly Father. He has opened up and keeps open for us the blessed access into God’s presence and fellowship. Therefore, the Kingdom of God is a reality in the heart of every believer.

The measure of nearness to God is a good indication of our knowledge and intimacy of Jesus Christ. This confidence is what the Holy Spirit works in us as the inward participation in Christ’s entrance into the Father’s presence. He takes us by the hand and brings us into the presence of the Father (Eph. 2:18).

Our great High Priest has entered into heaven and there intercedes on our behalf. He understands us and our deepest needs because "we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NET).

The Infinite Glory of Jesus Christ

Sun, 10 May 2009 23:49:50 -0500

Our greatest need is to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and dwell in his holy presence.

In the presence of the Son of God all the glories of the old covenant fade into utter insignificance. The superiority of Christianity over Judaism and all other religions is the super abounding excellency of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Hold before Him any person or object and they all fade away. Even the glories of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration fades from view as Jesus was transfigured in an infinitely greater glory.

When we compare Jesus with the prophets, angels, Moses, Joshua, the Levitical priesthood, patriarchs, etc., each in turn fades away and we behold the glory of Jesus Christ alone. There is none to compare with Christ. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews gives seven wondrous glories of Jesus in the opening verses of chapter one.

Jesus Christ is the very Son of God. What greater glory can there be than that! God the Father on three occasions broke through time space and declared, “This is My beloved Son.” The Father never said that to an angel. It is through the living Son that God, entering into the heart and dwelling there, will speak to us.

Jesus Christ was “appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). It is a testimony of His “dignity and dominion.” In everyday life the heir is the successor to his father in all that his father has. In the relationships within the Trinity, the supreme sovereignty of the Father is by no means infringed upon the sovereignty of the Son, or visa versa. By the title “heir of all things” Jesus is the possessor and disposer of all things in His creation (Matt. 25:31-32; Rev. 22:1; Rom. 8:16-17).

God has Spoken!

Sat, 9 May 2009 19:17:24 -0500

The LORD God has not left us in the dark groping for answers to our eternal destiny and relationship with him. He has clearly revealed himself and his eternal purposes for his creation.

Man was created for fellowship with a loving God, but sin interrupted it. However, God in grace and mercy demonstrated his love for us by sending his Son to go to the cross and die for our sins so that our relationship with him could be restored. There is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

How do we know these facts to be true? Simply because God has spoken! Hebrews 1:1 says, “After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets” (NET). Yes, the LORD God spoke, not just once, but “in many portions and in many ways.” His revelation to man did not come in one big package, but bit-by-bit, so man could comprehend it. God progressively revealed himself throughout the Old Testament preparing man for his full, compete and perfect revelation of himself in his Son.

Partakers of Christ

Fri, 8 May 2009 19:42:39 -0500

How clearly and sweetly God speaks to us in the person of his Son Jesus Christ. He is the word incarnate who died in our place on the cross.

Our hearts become soft and tender when we receive God’s word into our heart, acknowledging our sin and the blood of Jesus Christ washes away all our sins.

How tragic when our hearts reject the grace of God and become hardened in unbelief. We are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ; we are lost through unbelief. Our heart is purified by faith in Christ, but it is hardened by unbelief. Faith in Christ brings us near to God, but unbelief separates us from him.

There is no sin that cannot be pardoned if the sinner believes on Christ.

A Tender Compassionate High Priest

Thu, 7 May 2009 19:15:45 -0500

The second greatest truth in the Bible is God became flesh and dwelt among men. The greatest is that God became man because he loved us so much that he would go to the cross and personally die for our sins.

Jesus Christ became like you and me. He sanctified life by assuming a full human nature without sin by means of his incarnation. He was fully human and fully God. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is man. The Bible puts these two great truths of full deity and full humanity together. He was the God-man. When we look to Jesus we see God himself. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” What makes Jesus so unique is he is the only one in whom you and I may see God.

Jesus fully experienced what it means to be a man. He experienced all that we experience with the one exception that he never sinned in thought or deed. This is why he can be our great high priest and intercessor.

What Does God See?

Wed, 6 May 2009 19:36:32 -0500

The apostle Paul gives us an excellent summary of the salvation God provides in Philippians 3:9. Here is the very heart of the Good News in Jesus Christ.

That I may “be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness” (NET).

In this summary the apostle tells us there are two kinds of righteousness. There is man’s self-righteousness, and there is the righteousness God provides in Jesus Christ.

The righteousness of God speaks of His character. The greatest example of the righteousness of God is seen in Jesus Christ. God’s personality is vibrant and alive in Christ. Jesus said, “And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do those things that please him” (John 8:29 NET).

"Christ Much and Christ More"

Tue, 5 May 2009 19:21:34 -0500

Have you ever thought what it would be like if you could not die? How terrible it would be if your body had wasted away with a terrible disease and you could not die. I have conducted many funerals when loved ones have reluctantly said the deceased was better off because he was no longer suffering.

On the other hand, Francis Bacon echoed the attitude of many when he said, “men fear death as children fear the dark.” Apart from an intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ no man is prepared for his encounter with death.

Moreover, death for the believer in Christ is presented in the Bible as an improvement over the very best in this life. How wonderful it would be if Jesus came for us on the very best day this life could offer when everything is going great. It would not be a terrible tragedy. The apostle Paul’s life was full and he could write, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 2:21 NET).

Bad News - Good News

Mon, 4 May 2009 18:52:51 -0500

One of the basic principles of sharing Christ with your friends is that you have to present some bad news before you can share the good news.

The Bible contains both bad news and good news. The bad news is that we have a very serious problem. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NET).

The word that catches our eye is “sinned.” “All have sinned.” You can ask grammar school students what sin is and they can tell you in the flash of an eye what sin is. We sin when we lie, cheat, steal, lust, hate, gossip, murder, etc. But it is more than that; it is anything that does not glorify a holy and righteous God in our lives.

A Life Worthy of the Gospel

Sun, 3 May 2009 21:45:01 -0500

The Bible always stresses a balance between the content of one’s beliefs and the resulting conduct in one’s life. A good example is found in Ephesians 4:1-3. “I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (NET).

Paul admonishes us to “live worthily of the calling with which you have been called.” He means that we must live a life worthy of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Our practice should equal the teachings of our doctrine. We should take great pains to see that our lives are lived in perfect balance.

How Bad is It?

Sat, 2 May 2009 20:47:52 -0500

When I go to my medical doctor with a physical complaint he will usually ask, “How bad is it?”

Romans chapter three summarizes the spiritual condition of every individual apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul states clearly: “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:10-11 NET).

What does that statement mean in practical terms? Every individual is unable to do a single thing to please, understand or seek after a righteous God. We may even be very religious, but you and I cannot in any way merit or earn a right relationship with God. If sinful man can be saved it must be according to God’s free, unmerited, unearned grace and mercy alone. This is what Bible scholars correctly call “total depravity.” It simply means you and I cannot in any way influence God in a positive manner to obtain a right relationship with him.

The Bible does not permit us to treat sin lightly. Religious persons especially have a hard time accepting this spiritual truth. It cuts across our religious pride. We really are radically depraved sinners.

God gives the sinner who puts his trust in Christ alone his righteousness, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He gives us what we need and cannot provide for ourselves. The all-sufficient righteousness of Jesus Christ is the only sufficient basis for our salvation.

Acceptable to God

Fri, 1 May 2009 19:21:37 -0500

How can a sinful person ever be acceptable to a holy God?

God takes sin seriously; it will be severely punished unless atonement is acceptable according to God’s standard.

Sin is a barrier that separates a person from God. In the Old Testament God dealt with man’s sin by substitution (Lev. 1:4; 4:20; 7:7; Lev. 16).

In the New Testament sin is still a serious problem because everyone has sinned and come short of God’s expectation (Rom. 3:23). Moreover, an eternal hell awaits all who sin (Mk. 9:43; Lk. 12:5; Rom. 6:23).

It is the will of God that everyone come to repentance and be saved from the wrath of God (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:9-10). Salvation is accomplished by what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). This reconciliation was accomplished by the death of Christ. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?” (Rom. 5:10 NET). The death of Christ is absolutely essential to our salvation. Only the death of Christ can save us from our sins and the eternal punishment we deserve.

No More Walls

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:59:12 -0500

The Jewish temple had a “no trespassing” sign that prevented all non-Jewish persons from going beyond a certain area. It was enforced on the punishment of death. The non-Jews could go only so far as the Court of the Gentiles, and the Jewish women could go only so far as the Court of the Women.

The temple was surrounded by courts that formed layers of separation from the inner shrine of the Holy of Holies. The innermost court was the Court of the Priests who constantly attended the daily sacrifices and led in the worship of Yahweh or the LORD God. Next was the Court of Israel into which only Jewish men could enter and worship. After this was the Court of the Women, which indicated, that Jewish women could go no further into the temple. The outer perimeter was the Court of the Gentiles with a five-foot barricade that went around the entire temple enclosure. At intervals on the wall separating the Jewish from the non-Jewish people were inscriptions warning that no non-Jewish persons were ever permitted to enter the Jewish enclosure upon the punishment of death.

Archaeologists found such a stone inscription in 1871 dating back to the Jewish temple. It read, “No foreigner is to enter within the banister and embankment around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his own death which follows.”

Carefully Read the Warning Label

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:05:32 -0500

Depravity.

That is not a beautiful word. It means that the corruption of sin has extended to all aspects of our nature, including our entire being. Because of that corruption there is nothing man can do to merit or influence in any way a saving relationship with a holy God.

The fallen person’s relation to a holy God has been radically affected. Because of the effects of the fall, man’s original relationship with God was broken and our entire nature was polluted. As a result of the Fall of man, no individual can do anything, even religious things, that will merit salvation, or eternal life, in God’s sight. There is nothing an individual can do to influence in a positive way a right relationship with God. No action that man does, no matter how good or religious can gain favor with God for salvation.

What was affected by the Fall? The mind (Rom. 1:28; Eph. 4:18), the conscience (Heb. 9:14), the heart or inner being were all corrupted spiritually (Jer. 17:9; Mk. 7:20-23).

Unanswered Prayers

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:50:08 -0500

What is your attitude toward unanswered prayer? What do think God is trying to teach you when He chooses not to answer your sincere prayers?

It is the mature Christian who wrestles with the burden of sincere, spiritual, yet unanswered prayers.

We see the depth of this spiritual problem in the life of the apostle Paul. It is in the context of his desire to exalt Christ in every occasion that he barely mentions the ultimate Christian experience and then only once after it took place fourteen years earlier. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

Paul prayed that God would take the “thorn in the flesh” away permanently. He prayed earnestly. He prayed repeatedly.

“Concerning this,” Paul says, “I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (v. 8). “Three times” is a Hebrew figure of speech indicating ceaselessly, continuously, over and over again praying, “that it might depart from me.”

Love is Extravagant!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:24:06 -0500

Tongues, prophesy, knowledge, absolute faith, philanthropy, martyrdom without God’s love in Christ results in nothing—absolute zero.

Go back and read again the greatest essay ever written on love. First Corinthians 13 always reminds me of the highest priority in the Christian’s life. “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).

Why is this chapter so important for the growing Christian? It is an awesome portrait of Jesus Christ. Read through this chapter again substituting the name Jesus Christ in place of the word “love” or “charity.” It is marvelous portrait of Christ who models for us perfect love.

Justified or Condemned

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:11:32 -0500

The Lord Jesus Christ makes it emphatically clear that death is not the end of personal existence. Your relationship to Him determines the kind of existence you enter into when you die physically. There are two forms of existence beyond death—one good and one horrible. You cannot avoid your eternal destiny; however, what you do with Jesus Christ determines where you will spend eternity.

Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:28-30).

The Perfect Righteousness of Christ

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:32:20 -0500

God has provided a perfect divine righteousness for the sinner who believes what God has revealed in His Word.

The believing sinner stands before God, not in his own self-righteousness which in reality is no righteousness, but in the very righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is utterly holy and without sin because He is God. He is intrinsically righteous. Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father (John 8:29b; 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). No one could ever prove Him guilty of unrighteousness (Jn. 8:46a). He is the one exception in history; He was absolutely sinless (Matt. 17:5; Jn. 12:28; 1 Pet. 2:22-23).

God's Saving Gospel

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:29:15 -0500

It is God's gospel! It is His good news to sinners that we have the privilege of proclaiming. It is God's good news because it is something He alone planned, announced beforehand and accomplished in His own perfect timing. It is His blessing to sinful men.

Those who were saved before Christ came in the flesh were saved by faith looking forward to His coming; just as we today are saved by faith as we look back upon His substitutionary death for our sins.

All of the prior revelations of God during the Old Testament times led up to and focused on the coming of His Son to redeem sinful man.

It is God's gospel; it is not ours. He is the author. The good news God has been announcing to sinful man from the beginning of the human race finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility “to believe all that the prophets have spoken” of Him. “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27). This is the key to our understanding the good news of God's saving grace. It is the only way you can understand the Old Testament. It is also the key to our understanding the New Testament.

The Conquering Love of Christ

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:42:23 -0500

Upon close examination there is only one way to explain the dramatic changes and resultant attitudes and motivations of the Jewish rabbi, Saul of Tarsus. He was a conquered man. He was in his own words, “a servant of Christ Jesus . . . and set apart for the gospel of God.” The most powerful, transforming force in his life was an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

He was in love with the risen Lord Jesus Christ whom he had met on the road to Damascus. He was a changed man. No longer was he striving to please God and earn salvation by striving to do good works. He was now resting in the finished saving work of God in Christ on the cross.

Jesus is Yahweh (Jehovah)

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:30:16 -0500

Jesus is Jehovah. Thomas confessed to the resurrected Christ, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus accepted that confession of faith in Him.

“No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). In deed, no one can become a Christian unless he confesses “with his mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9).

In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), the word kurios is the regular word used to translate the Hebrew name for God: Yahweh, Jehovah, or LORD. The word Lord (kurios) was the equivalent of the name of God. At least 150 times in the New Testament it is used of God. The Old and New

Do You See What I See?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:51:05 -0500

"Christ in you the hope of glory," wrote the apostle Paul. It is one of the greatest blessings of the Christian life that we share the image of Jesus Christ and go "from glory to glory."

"We all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18 NET).

Every believer has the privilege of entering into the holy of holies and enjoying an intimate communion with God.

Our Unlimited Resources in Christ

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:44 -0500

William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

Carey’s motto is similar to D. L. Moody’s, who listened to the challenge of a pastor who said, “The world has yet to see what God will do through one man fully surrendered to Him.” Moody’s response was, “By the grace of God I will be that man.”

In John 6:1-14 a great challenge confronted Philip and Andrew. Multitudes kept following Jesus because they were continually seeing the signs that He was continually performing on those who were sick (v. 2). Jesus went up on the mountainside and seeing the great multitude gathering asked His disciple Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” (v. 6). Unaware that he was in the presence of the all-sufficient Christ, he said, “We have a days wages worth of bread, but that is not sufficient for everyone of these to receive a little.”

God-breathed Scriptures

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:07:09 -0500

The Holy Spirit initiated and controlled the process of giving us the written revelation of God.

The Scriptures were not merely man’s own thoughts, nor divine thoughts in their own words, but “the words of God,” as the writers were impelled or “born along” by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit enlightened the mind and superintended for both the spoken and the written word (2 Peter 3:15; 1 Peter 1:3-25). Even the very language is “God breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). It “breathes out the Spirit.” It is the product of God’s creative breath. God breathed through man the words that make up the Scriptures.

The Purpose of the Scriptures

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:51:27 -0500

The primary purpose of the Scriptures is to point people to Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27, 32, 44-48).

"The Father who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me . . . . These are the Scriptures that testify about Me . . ." (John 5:37-39).

We can trust the Bible as the Word of God because God is the divine author. Yes, men wrote, but God stood behind the written word. Men used their own vocabulary and style of writing, but God guided over them in their choice of words. Men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Peter expressed this clearly, "No prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). It was not thought up by the prophets, but rather inspired by God.

The Purpose of Miracles

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:57:24 -0500

The more you know about Jesus and the longer you live with Him the more you know that no human category can contain Him. He is God with us.

Jesus said, “The very work that the Father has given Me to finish and which I am doing testifies that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).

The apostle John called miracles “signs” because they signified something. For example, the “sign of Jonah” was a token of the death and resurrection of Christ. They pointed to the presence and the work of God in Christ. Everything Jesus did was done to reveal the person and character of God. The miracles show us the nature of Christ. They demonstrate that God is with us.

All of Grace

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:49:56 -0500

Grace—what a sweet fragrance. It is the greatest theme in the Bible.

Abounding grace, wondrous grace, boundless grace, fountain of grace, unfailing grace, unmeasurable grace, electing grace, matchless grace, overflowing grace, redeeming grace, pardoning grace, plenteous grace, unfailing grace, fullness of grace, efficacious grace, magnified grace, refreshing grace, sovereign grace, salvation by grace, grace rich and free!

“Oh to grace, how great a debtor.”

God is exceedingly gracious to sinful man. Grace is the unmerited and undeserved favor of a holy God upon sinful depraved human beings. It is His kindness, love and nature to be gracious to humanity.

Behold the Glory of God

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:05:08 -0500

The apostle John literally says, “He pitched His tent among us.” He “tabernacled” Himself among men. John has in mind the Jewish tabernacle in the wilderness, or the portable “tent of meeting” which was the center of worship in the Hebrew nation.

The tent that housed the tabernacle was about 45 feet long and 15 feet wide, and was divided into two rooms, called the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant was the only piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies also called the Most Holy Place.

It is important to keep in mind that everything about the tabernacle centered on the worship of the LORD God. But it served a greater purpose of pointing to the coming of the Son of God who would pitch His tent among us so we could behold His glory and worship Him.

Charge it to My Account

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:31:07 -0500

“Charge it.” “Charge it to my account.” Those are words we hear every day in the business world.

But did you know that those words have eternal significance, too?

“Imputation” (logizomai) is a word the apostle Paul used meaning, “to reckon,” “to charge to one’s account.”

In Philemon 18 the apostle asked Philemon to have Onesimus’ debts transferred to Paul. “If he has wronged you,” Paul said, “charge that to my account.” One who has something imputed to him is accountable under the law.

Eternal Life -- the Gift

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:15:15 -0500

Eternal Life is God’s kind of life. It is eternal because He is eternal. Nothing will ever separate the believer in Christ from the One who loves us. He gave us His free gift of eternal life the very moment we were born spiritually, and it can never be lost (Jn. 3:15-16, 36; 6:47; 10:28). It is a life without end, and no one can ever take it from you. There are no final boundaries to eternal life.

We enter into that life transforming vital union with Him when we responded to His love and believed on Him (1 Jn. 5:11).

Perfect Atonement for Personal Sin

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:30:20 -0500

The most important day in the Jewish religious calendar is the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). It is to this day central to Judaism even though the sacrificial system came to an end with the destruction of the temple in A. D. 70. It is the highest holy day in Judaism.

On the day of Atonement the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle of the wilderness, and later the temple in Jerusalem, to make atonement for the sins of the people of Israel.

The word atonement means, “to cover” the sin, and thus to “wipe out,” “to erase,” “to cover.” In doing so the sacrifice “removed” the guilt of man’s sin before God. The removal of the sin accomplished reconciliation between men and God. Perhaps this is why the Jewish rabbis called it the “Day,” or the “Great Day.”

How do You Handle Tribulation?

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 17:52:27 -0500

Tribulation is something that all believer’s in the New Testament experienced. It includes persecution (1 Thess. 1:6), imprisonment (Acts 20:23), derision (Heb. 10:33), poverty (2 Cor. 8:13), sickness (Rev. 2:22), inner distress and sorrow (Phil. 1:17; 2 Cor. 2:4), etc.

In a more narrow sense the word “tribulation” refers to the hostile world’s reaction to the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said it is inevitable and unavoidable that persecutions and tribulations will be present when the gospel is preached and men are saved (Matt. 13:21).

What should the Christian’s response be to the ever present reality of tribulations and persecutions in life?

Blessed Assurance

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 16:21:33 -0500

God does not intend for His saved child to live the Christian life without the blessed assurance of eternal life.

The apostle Paul had a profound conviction that nothing will be able to separate the believer from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:31-39).

Jesus spoke of double assurance or security for the believer when He said to His disciples: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand . . . and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

Saving Faith

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 15:59:09 -0500

C. H. Spurgeon said faith has three essential ingredients: knowledge, belief and trust.

There must be “a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us.” We must have certain knowledge in which to anchor our faith. It is God’s revealed Word that gives us the essential knowledge of eternal life. What we need to know God has unveiled to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ.

What we need to know is that we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), and that salvation is not of works (v. 9). It is by grace that you are saved (v. 8). We have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (6:23). Because we are sinners, we are the objects of God’s wrath.

The Perfect Place of Mercy

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 17:01:58 -0500

The most important piece of furniture in the Tabernacle of Meeting in the wilderness and later the Jerusalem Temple was the Ark of the Covenant, and the lid of gold called the mercy seat or place of mercy (Exodus 25:10-22).

The ark was also called “the ark of the testimony” because it contained God’s testimony to the people of His covenant. In the ark chest were a pot of manna, Aaron’s budded rod, and the two stone tablets on which was written the Law of Moses (25:16, 33; Num. 17:10; Heb. 9:4).

The “mercy seat” was a slab of gold fitting over the top of the ark chest. Once a year the High Priest would enter into the Most Holy Place and make atonement for the sins of the people of Israel by sprinkling blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat (Lev. 16:2-16).

The Ascension of Christ

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 21:08:43 -0500

The Gospel of Luke describes the transference of the resurrected body of Jesus from the earth to heaven in Acts 1:9-11.

“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

The location of the ascension was east of Jerusalem near Bethany. Forty days after His physical resurrection Jesus “was taken up” and disappeared into a cloud.

Adopted Children of God

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 22:31:12 -0500

The term “Son of God” refers preeminently to Jesus Christ’s deity (Matt. 11:25-27; 16:16-17). He alone is one in substance and glory with God the Father. Believers in Christ, although “adopted” are never on a par with the uncreated, divine Son of God.

“Adoption” is the term the apostle Paul uses to describe the act of the Holy Spirit whereby the believing sinner becomes a member of God’s family, with all the privileges and obligations of family members.

We were “children of wrath” by nature (Eph. 2:3). However, those upon whom God bestows His saving grace become the “children of God.”

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 22:06:16 -0500

Jesus Christ is the supreme Sovereign of the universe.

Colossians 1:15-20 gives seven reasons why Christ is preeminent. These verses are at the heart of the epistle's main emphasis on the exaltation and preeminence of Christ.

Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). Jesus is supreme because of His relationship with God the Father. He is the perfect resemblance and representation of God. God is invisible and unknown except by self-revelation. In the person of Jesus Christ the unknowable God becomes known.. The very nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed in Christ. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Everyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, has thereby "seen" God indirectly. The apostle John who saw Jesus face to face wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son . . . has made Him known” (v. 18). Jesus Christ is the perfect visible representation and manifestation of the “invisible” God (1 Tim. 1:17). Jesus is the perfect image, likeness and glory of His Father. He is “the exact representation” of the Father's being (Heb. 1:3). The Son is in the “exact likeness” of His Father.

All that Jesus Continues to Do

Thu, 2 Apr 2009 18:36:04 -0500

"All that Jesus began to do and teach” He continues to do and teach today.

In Acts 1:1 the words “all that Jesus began to do and teach” are in the linear action. It is action still going on. The verb “began” is present infinitive, linear action. It is as if to say that Jesus is still carrying on from heaven the work and teachings which He started while on earth before His ascension.

Luke does not say “all that Jesus did and taught,” but “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” The Gospel of Luke tells us what Jesus began to do and teach, while Acts of the Apostles tells what He continues to do and teach by His Spirit through His special Body.

Good Works for God's Glory

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 23:14:42 -0500

Why should the believing sinner do good works?

Do we do good works so we can atone for our “temporal” sins after we were baptized? Are we to do good religious works in order to make satisfaction for our sins? Do we contribute to our salvation in some measure by good works? Are we to believe that one day we will stand before God listening to the judgment as He decides if we have had enough good works to outweigh our sins and condemnation?

The essential question is what is your motive for doing good works? Are these done in order to be saved, or are they done because we have been saved by grace through faith? The Bible is clear that we are not justified by faith plus good works, but works do follow justification by faith.

It is only natural that good works should flow out of the salvation already accomplished for us by Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is our Savor. He alone is the sinless Lamb of God who could make atonement for sins. Only His blood cleanses from sin. The only requirement of God is to repent and believe on Jesus Christ.

The only thing left for the sinner to do is accept the finished work of Christ. Have you trusted in His work alone to save you?

Before and After

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:24:48 -0500

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Whenever any person becomes a new creature in union with Christ, he or she becomes a new person altogether. There is a whole new creation whenever a person comes to be in Christ. The effect is the old life is passed away and a new life has begun. Everything becomes new in Christ. The person who is in Christ and has experienced the new birth is a part of the new creation.

We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. There has been a re-creation in which God has given us a new set of senses, values, and spiritual principles.

Before we were spiritually blind, now we see with spiritual eyes, and we see all things new.

Before we were spiritually deaf and we could not hear God's Word, and now we have a new set of spiritual eyes and we hear and respond to the Holy Spirit.

We were “dead in our trespasses and sins,” but now in Christ we are made alive and have been brought near through the blood of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:13).

Free Salvation

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:21:24 -0500

Free, but not cheap!

Your salvation is a gift freely given and received from God, but it is not cheap. It is the most expensive gift you will ever receive.

God comes and offers us free salvation. But He does not change His standard. He remains a righteous and holy God.

How could it be possible that Jesus Christ could die as a substitute for my penalty as a sinner? It is because He is the infinite God, not a sinful man, that He could die for an infinite number of sinners. Because He is God He could pay the eternal punishment for all of our sins.

Sweet Sovereign Saving Grace

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:59:20 -0500

Grace is something that is charming and beautiful. Once you have come under the strong grip of God’s saving grace you can never be the same person again. And neither can you ever be a base ingrate, either.

The apostle Paul was “dumbfounded,” absolutely astonished, that there were people who professed faith in Christ who were turning to a counterfeit gospel. They were “so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). They were turning to a teaching and philosophy that was “no gospel at all” (v. 7). They were changing their minds and deserting the message of grace in Christ. It is a strong word Paul uses meaning to desert or revolt in the military. They had changed their religion.

What they were being lead to believe was really no good news at all. It was a heresy, a cult of man’s making. It was diametrically opposed to the Good News in Christ.

Dressed for the New Life

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:21:02 -0500

Are you dressed in grave clothes or wedding garments?

Now that we have been saved by grace how then shall we live? How are we to walk in this new life?

The apostle Paul uses an illustration in terms of taking off one set of clothes and putting on another in Colossians 3:9-10. “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”

The verbs in this passage are in the past tense. “You have taken off your old self . . . and have put on the new.” The aorist tense indicates something that has already taken place. It has already happened, and not something to be done.

The action is to take off completely; to strip off one's self. If the old self really has been put off, one must not at a critical moment revert to the way one acted before his conversion. The plural describes the deeds, which characterized the former life.

A New Standard of Living

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:19:09 -0500

The world is not our standard for Christian living.

The apostle Paul stressed, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .” (Rom. 12:2). Again he writes, “put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24). In the verses that follow he gives five specific examples of the higher standard of Christian conduct.

We are to put off lying and speak the truth in love (v. 25). It is a habitual action that is to characterize the Christian life. Literally the believer is to put off “the lie” (v.25), and speak the truth. This is the same word the apostle John uses for the antichrist in 1 John 2:20-23. When a person puts his faith in Jesus Christ he is rejecting the lie, and embracing the Truth (Jn. 14:6).

What a profound significance this is for the person in Christ. “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another” (v. 25). Let it be a habitual action to tell the truth. Let it characterize your lifestyle.

Living Sacrifices

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:16:47 -0500

The apostle Paul gives an urgent plea to believers in Christ “to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1). Paul makes such a plea based upon “the mercies of God.”

We are objects of His saving grace; therefore we are to put our lives at His disposal. Paul uses the sacrificial word for the Jewish Levitical offering of sacrifices. The body of the believer is to be a “living sacrifice.”

How do you become a “living sacrifice”?

It begins in a once and for all being set apart to God. The Christian is set apart for God’s use in the sense of being for pure and righteous purposes.

Why such an urgent plea? The philosophy of the world system does not satisfy. The longer you life by the humanistic philosophy to emptier your inner person becomes.

However, the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect.

God"s Kind of Life

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:41:30 -0500

From God’s eternal perspective the believer in Christ is already a finished work. From our human perspective in time and space, He is continuing to work the truth deeper and deeper into our hearts so He can conform us to the image and likeness of Christ.

The tension is always there: perfect and yet not perfect, holy and yet sinners, righteous and yet, unrighteous.

Since the day we put our faith in Christ God sees us complete in Him (Col. 2:10). We are already holy in His presence (Col. 3:2). We are already perfect in His eyes (Heb. 10:14). We are His righteousness in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). There is nothing else to be done to achieve a right relationship with God.

Abundant Life

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:00:59 -0500

Abundant life as Jesus described it is the life of God Himself.

God places the new spiritual life within the individual the moment he responds to God’s grace and believes on Christ as his personal Savior.

That is the beginning of a new life for one who was spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.

Jesus said, “I am come that you may have life, and keep on having it in abundance” (John 10:10b). The abundant life is a growing thing. It is the increasingly abundant present life of the believer that is emphasized.

God plants His life in the person who hears the Word of God and believes.

Finished!

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:08:31 -0500

The apostle John saw what was happening at the cross when Jesus was crucified. He was an eyewitness to Jesus’ death. A few moments before His death Jesus declared, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It is one word in the Greek and can be translated, “Done!” “Finished!” or “Completed!” The entire redemptive work of Jesus Christ was finished. The Son gave His report to the Father in a loud voice so all mankind could hear it, and then He went home to the Father having completed the Father’s will.

Jesus did not say, “I am finished.” In essence He said, “It was finished and as a result it is forever done.” “It stands finished.” “Done.” The idea is that of perfection, accomplishment, relief, satisfaction, and victory.

Under God's Watchful Eye

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:24:22 -0500

What do you say to yourself when you are pressed in on every side by dangerous situations? What do you do when you face troubles?

Many times I have turned to Psalm 121 where I find a marvelous spirit of deep peace as the Psalmist turns his eyes to heaven and expresses his confidence in the LORD God. The weary pilgrim experiences God’s protection under His constant watchful eye.

Ancient roads in the Middle East consisted of only well-trodden paths across the valleys, along rivers and the mountain passes. Many a traveler sang this song to give himself hope and courage along his journey. Have you ever whistled or sang a hymn in the dark to remind yourself of God’s sustaining grace?

God is Able

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:00:50 -0500

What is your favorite doxology in the Bible? Mine is found in Ephesians 3:20-21.

The context is a prayer for God's high purposes for His redeemed people. Paul's prayer is that every believer “be filled up to all the fullness of God” (v. 19).

No Christian ever has to worry about having inadequate resources to live the Christian life. God wants us to experience His fullness. The means of this fullness is the Holy Spirit.

His prayer is that every believer may be strengthened internally through the Holy Spirit every day and in every circumstance (v. 16). He is our Comforter, Helper or Encourager, who is called along side to help in time of need. He helps us to do the right thing at the right time under all circumstances. He is our competence to live the Christian life.

From Despair to Hope

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:32:40 -0500

It is almost uncanny how the poet describes the abandonment of the sufferer by God to the scorn of evil people who mocked Him. The Hebrew poet-king wrote,

But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
“Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him” (Psalm 22:6-8).

The Forsaken and the Forgiven

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:24:47 -0500

The poignant, opening sentence in Psalm 22 reveals the disturbing fact of God’s servant crying out in God forsakenness.

How could one of the members of the Godhead turn His back on another member of the Trinity?

“God forsaken of God” was the price of our atonement. When Jesus Christ bore our sin on the cross He was forsaken of God the Father. He paid the full price for our atonement on the cross when He bore the penalty of the wrath of God against sin for us. This sacrificial act reveals how much God loves us.

Jesus Christ is the Great I AM

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:06:40 -0500

Jesus Christ claimed to be the “I AM.” It is the personal name of the God of the Old Testament (Exodus 3:13-14). On several occasions it is recorded that Jesus used the “I AM” formula in attesting to His deity. He claimed to be the LORD God, Jehovah, Yahweh.

The greatest of all the names for the Lord Jesus Christ is the “I AM.”

This is why the apostle Paul wrote: “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is Lord. The name that is above all other names is “Lord,” and it is equivalent to “Jehovah” or Yahweh. This is the exact equivalent to the words, “I AM.”

The name that is above all earthly and heavenly names is Yahweh, the great “I AM THAT I AM.”

Feasting on the Lamb

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:13:04 -0500

The same Passover lamb that was slain and its blood smeared on the doorpost and the lintel in the Jewish home was the lamb that the people ate for the journey out of Egypt (Ex. 12:11, 46).

Everything the people needed for life that night was provided by the substitutionary lamb. The blood of the lamb covered their sins. The lamb gave his blood to redeem them, and he gave his life for them to eat and be nourished for the journey (Ex. 12:1-14). They lived their redeemed life out of the life of the lamb. They lived in the strength provided by the lamb. The Passover lamb became their nourishment for the journey in the night.

The Christian life is lived on the life of the Lamb of God.

Lamb of God

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:38:17 -0500

The focus of the life and work of Jesus Christ is found in His death and resurrection. It is the fulfillment of the great message of the coming redeemer in the Old Testament.

The lamb was the principal animal of sacrifice among the Jewish people at the evening and morning sacrifice (Ex. 29:38-42; Num. 38:3-8), and specials days (Num. 28:11), the Passover (28:16-19), Pentecost (28:26f), Feast of the Trumpets (29:1, 2), the Day of Atonement (29:7, 8), and the Tabernacle (29:12-16). Other personal sacrifices included lambs (Lev. 12:6; 14:10-18, etc), such as the sin offerings (Lev. 4:32-35). Moreover, the Pascal sacrifice is basic to the whole sacrificial system (Ex. 12:13). Thus the figures in Isaiah 53:7 and Exodus 12:13 come together in the designation of the “Lamb of God.” They compliment each other.

Jesus Christ is God

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:50:32 -0500

Jesus Christ is Lord because He is God.

While on the earth Jesus did exactly what was apparently the impossible thing He said He would do. He taught on numerous occasions that He would be killed, buried for three days, and would rise from the dead. Obviously, if Jesus did not rise from the dead what He said was a lie and He was justly crucified for blasphemy.

However, since He was raised from the dead what He declared was not blasphemy because He truly was God. He was claiming that He was Yahweh, the LORD God, Jehovah, and the great I AM.

Christ Our Redeemer

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:36:29 -0500

The most significant word that describes the death of Christ for sinful man is redemption. It means, “buying again,” or “buying back.” In the Bible it is used especially of purchasing a slave with a view of setting him free. It signifies a release procured by the payment of a ransom price.

The Roman slave could purchase his own freedom if he could come up with enough money. The owner could also sell his slave to someone else who would pay the price and set him free.

Christ our Reconciliation

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:07:48 -0500

Adam enjoyed perfect fellowship and communion with God before he disobeyed Him in the Garden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God that fellowship was broken, and Adam tried to hide himself from God (Genesis 3:8-11).

That broken relationship with God needed to be restored or man would be eternally separated from God’s holy presence.

The apostle Paul tells us God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.

Christ our Propitiation

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:42:37 -0500

Please don’t let that title scare you off. That is a beautiful and profound word.

Christ’s death turns away the wrath of God. The apostle Paul said Christ is our propitiation. He is a propitiatory sacrifice. It refers to what Christ did on our behalf before God.

We are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (Romans 3:24-25).

Christ our Sacrifice

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:47:42 -0500

The Old Testament is full of sacrifices in which an innocent animal was killed. These were substitutionary sacrifices meaning that the death of the animal was in the place of someone else.

Why was there such an emphasis in the Jewish writings? The holiness of God reveals that everyone who has ever lived has sinned. We have all failed to live up to God's expectation of us. We have “all sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We have failed the test of God for a righteous person.

The penalty for breaking the laws of God is separation from Him throughout eternity. We deserve the death penalty. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). “The soul that sins will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). As a consequence of our sins we deserve to spend an eternity in hell.

Jesus Christ redeemed us from the law. He chose to die in our place. It was His free volitional choice. We deserved to die and He stepped in and voluntarily chose of His own free will to die in our place. Jesus took our death in His sacrifice for sin. He experienced both physical and spiritual death in our place on the cross as our substitute.

Who Am I?

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:07:32 -0500

Every born again believer in Jesus Christ has a new standing before the Lord God. This eternal position never changes. It does not depend upon changes, chances or our circumstances.

Romans chapters three through seven tells us who we are in Christ.

We have a new standing with God. By God's grace we have complete acceptance with God in Christ. We are at peace with God; God is at peace with us!

The Power of the Resurrection Life

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 18:34:09 -0500

Christianity is Christ.

It is centered in a historical person who lived, died and rose from the dead. This truth is the most important fact in history. It is essential because it demands a life saving response in faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10).

What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplish for us?

Because Christ rose from the dead all who are united to Him by faith are secure in their own resurrection and eternal life beyond the grave.

Infallibly Convincing Proofs

Sun, 8 Mar 2009 18:43:49 -0500

Matthew Arnold said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested fact in history.”

William Lyon Phelps of Yale wrote, “It may be said that the historical evidence for the resurrection is stronger than for any other miracle anywhere narrated.”

Some of the best books on the resurrection have been written by lawyers who set out with the goal of disproving it as a historical fact.

Sir Edward Clark wrote, “As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the first Easter. To me the evidence is conclusive, and...

Evidences of the Death of Christ

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 17:21:43 -0500

The eyewitness John keenly observed two unusual things that happen at the crucifixion of Jesus. These facts made a deep impression on him as he watched the crucifixion taking place.

The crucifixion took place on the day of preparation for the Passover festival that would begin at 6 p.m. The Jewish authorities felt an urgency to get the bodies off the crosses and buried before the sun went down.

“So that the bodies might not remain on the crosses on the Sabbath (for the Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31; cf. Deut. 21:22-23).

God Removed the Body

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 20:30:46 -0500

When Peter and John heard Mary Magdalene say, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him,” they took off running to the tomb of Jesus leaving Mary far behind (John 20:2-3).

They ran together for a distance and then John outran Peter and came to the tomb first (v. 4). The huge stone covering the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away. John did not enter the tomb, but just stood there outside the entranceway. He was stooping and looking in, and “he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself” (vv. 5-8).

John bent over to get a better look inside the tomb. When Peter arrived a little later, he did not hesitate, but went straight into the tomb.

Limiting Christ

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 16:42:12 -0500

Do you have trouble making the transition between the historical Christ of the New Testament and the living Christ of today?

In reality He is the same person. He changes not. The one whom we worship and serve today is the same one who walked the dusty roads of Galilee, was crucified and rose again.

We limit Christ when we say that He is able to do all that He said He would do in our lives, but we do not appropriate Him by faith today. The promises of Jesus are absolutely trustworthy. Do you believe all that is written in His Book?

We see Him walking on water, healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, making the deaf to hear, loosing the tongue-tied, restoring the crippled limbs, casting...

Lord of the Living and the Dead

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 16:54:48 -0500

Jesus Christ is “Lord of both the dead and the living,” declares the apostle Paul. Those who belong to Him now will still belong to Him in the future, even beyond death. They will belong to Him forever. This is true because Jesus died for us and purchased us with His own blood (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28). Jesus Christ owns us. If we have believed on Christ as our Savior He is our sovereign Lord.

There is a special lordship over us as His saved people. He has become our Lord by dying for us and rising again. He delivered us from our death penalty. He has set us free from the power of sin and its consequences. By His resurrection He has established an on going relationship with us until He calls us home to be with Him in heaven.

This extensive sovereign Lordship is expressed by Paul in these words: “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.

Satisfied Faith

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 23:18:23 -0500

Faith is simply taking God at His word and then acting on it.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29b). These words are for you and me because we have not seen Him in the days of His incarnation.

Jesus is not suggesting faith without the facts, but “a satisfied faith.” It is a faith that is satisfied with God's provisions and does not plead for visions, miracles or strange experiences as evidence of God's blessings.

Jesus is saying that a faith without these evidences is superior because it is a mature faith.

God's word is full of promises to those who by faith act on His truths. God blesses faith in the Triune God. The Bible teaches us to trust in Him, and not the living out of some spectacular experience. The blessings of God are for all believers, and are common to all who call upon the name of Christ as God and Savior.

Our Resurrection Hope

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:31:59 -0500

The resurrection of Christ gives us assurance that our loved ones who have died in Christ are currently safe in Christ and they shall live again. They will have their own identity in their own resurrected body. His resurrection assures us that these bodies buried in the grave shall rise again, not in corruption, but in incorruptible, perfect, glorified bodies like that of the resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 15).

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord” assures us of our vital union with Christ even in death. When Christ returns all those who believe in Him will come with Him. They will be raised up at His appearing. Jesus is the “Resurrection and the Life” and He gives His life to those who believe on Him.

From Doubt to Faith

Sun, 1 Mar 2009 10:04:09 -0500

Would you consider it a compliment if someone called you a “doubting Thomas”?

Doubting is a vital ingredient in all mature critical thinking. No one really respects a gullible person. The mature person weighs the facts and draws his conclusions based upon solid information.

Christ drew even closer to His disciples when they found it hard to believe. He did not push them away, or give up on them; He gave them space to think, ponder and meditate on the reality of spiritual truths.

His disciple Thomas doubted the witness of his fellow disciples when they sought him out and told him that Jesus was risen from the dead. Jesus did not jump in with a quick revelation. He let Thomas sweat it out for eight days (John 20:24-29).

Abiding in Christ

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:30:00 -0500

Jesus Christ offers every believer His life. It is like the life of a vine whereby the branches draw their life from the trailing plant. The believer shares in the life of the Vine.

The soul of the believer is in Christ and through our vital union with Him we receive spiritual nourishment. The Christian life is like the entwined vine with every fiber “like the ivy in an ancient wall.”

The Christian is permitted to enjoy “such ravishing tastes of heavenly joys” in Christ.

Wisdom for Trials

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:33:23 -0500

n the context of a discussion on trials in life the apostle James tells believers to ask God for wisdom to understand and use them for God’s glory.

Divine wisdom gives us the spiritual ability to view trials form God’s perspective. But not only does He help us to understand our suffering, He enables us to apply the wisdom to our trials.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

Sanctified in Christ

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:10:25 -0500

Just as we have been fully and completely justified, we have also been completely sanctified in Christ. The Bible says, “You are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.” “By one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified.” “You are washed and you are sanctified.” Yet, the apostle admonishes, “Let us go on unto perfection.”

How can we go on to perfection if we have already been perfected?

As a gift of grace, sanctification is conferred on each Christian as soon as he believes. But there is the sense that it is “hid with Christ in God.” It is “held on deposit.” We appropriate it through daily communion and gradual apprehension of Christ.

Appropriating Christ Daily

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:34:06 -0500

Our pardon is full and it is secure. God put the terms of salvation so high that we could never measure up to them, and therefore has saved us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore, the “title-deed” to our salvation is so high that we can never void it because “we are hidden with Christ in God.” God keeps the original copy of His eternal covenant with us in heaven with Himself. The Lord Jesus’ atoning sacrifice is our only reason for acceptance with God. Nothing can remove us from our standing with Him because the righteousness of Christ is upon us by our vital union with Him.

Accepted in the Beloved

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:47:45 -0500

How do we explain this tension in our daily lives between our practical sanctification and our eternal position and standing before God?

The believer’s positional standing before God never ever changes. No believer is less justified than another. You are either acquitted by God or you stand condemned. You are either a child of God by adoption or you are an enemy. You either have eternal life, or you are dead in trespasses and sins.

Our standing before God, once we are His child, does not change. Our sonship does not depend upon our fellowship with Him...>

Born Crucified, yet Alive in Christ

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:30:42 -0500

The Christian life is a daily putting off all that belonged to the unregenerate old self and constantly putting on all that belongs to the new life in Christ. The cross and the resurrection extend their power and influence over the believer’s entire life.

The Christian life is constantly producing new life. This new life in Christ through His Spirit must be daily replacing within the soul what our daily crucifixion of the flesh is taking away.

Baptized into Christ

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:20:25 -0500

The word Baptizo in Romans six means "the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition."

Paul is referring to the act of God when He introduces a believing sinner into a vital union with Jesus Christ. In this vital relationship the power of his sinful nature is broken and the divine nature implanted through his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection...

Believer's Baptism

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:42:09 -0500

The ordinance of the believer’s baptism is a marvelous picture of the Christian’s vital union, and identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

There is a “wet” baptism and a “dry” baptism. The “dry” baptism is without water and is the work of God the Holy Spirit placing the believer in Christ the moment he believes on Him as his Savior.

The “wet” baptism is the ordinance that Christ gave to the church.

Risen with Christ

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:41:21 -0500

“Death stung itself to death, when it stung Christ” –– Romaine.

The greatest event that has ever occurred in history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The work of Christ divides itself into what Christ accomplished as our Sinbearer, and what He did as our Life-giver. He not only bore our sins on the cross, but He gives us eternal life.

Dead to Sin

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:50:06 -0500

The apostle Paul wrote of Christ, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:10-11).

The believer’s “old man” or “old self” is what he was spiritually before he believed on Christ when he was still under sin, powerless, depraved, ungodly and even an enemy of God.

I Died

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:20:50 -0500

Christ died for me, and I died in Christ.

Pascal said, “Everything which happened to Christ should come to pass in the soul and in the body of each Christian.”

The apostle Paul declared, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Again, he wrote, “You died, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:2).

Who died? I died.

Christ Died for Me

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:06:53 -0500

Salvation is entirely apart from any self-help. We are not saved by imitation of the crucifixion or by Christ’s example, but as Luther concluded, “that high crucifying whereby sin, the devil, and death, are crucified in Christ and not in me.”

The Bible says, “The soul that sins will surely die.” Christ died that we may live. He paid our debt to the righteousness of God. Two thousand years ago Christ paid a moral debt that belonged to you and me. His death secured our freedom from the debt and stamped the receipt “paid in full.” His death released us from all obligation to pay our spiritual debt.

Yes, But God

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:49:11 -0500

We are totally depraved sinners who cannot earn or merit in any way, a right relationship with God. Before I became a Christian, I was “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). I “walked according to the course of this world, according to the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (v. 2). I too “lived in the lust of my flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind and was by nature a child of wrath, even as the rest” (v. 3).

That is an ugly picture, but it is true of my life before Christ conquered me.

"In Christ"

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:50:14 -0500

There are some inexplicable things that belong wholly unto God.

The deepest mysteries into the majestic things that belong only unto God are found in the words “in Christ.”

The recorded Word says that we were “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10), and “of Him are you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:30). We were chosen “in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). “And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 5:20).

No Condemnation!

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:32:31 -0500

God declares the believing sinner to have a right relationship with Him, but that does not make him righteous. A sinner does not have any righteousness of his own, and therefore cannot be innocent. However, God declares believers in Christ righteous on the grounds of Christ’s atonement.

The believing sinner is declared by God to be just by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Grace of God is the cause of our justification.

Are You in Adam or in Christ?

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:27:19 -0500

Charles Hodge asked a crucial question: “If God requires one thing, and we present another, how can we be saved? If He has revealed a method in which He can be just and yet justify the sinner, and if we reject that method and insist upon pursuing a different way, how can we hope to be accepted?”

The safest answer, of course, is in the Scriptures. What has God revealed?

The first man sinned, but not just once; Adam sinned many times. Before he sinned the first time he was righteous. His righteousness was of his own doing, as a created being. It was the righteousness of a man. However, Adam never had the righteousness of Jesus Christ upon him. What he lost was his own self righteousness.

The Imputed Righteousness of God

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:25:32 -0500

God imputes or accredits the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believing sinner while he is still in his sinning state.

God has manifested His righteousness apart from the Law “even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Rom. 3:21-22). The reason for this judicial standing before a righteous God is because we have “all sinned and come short of the glory of God” (v. 23). The foundation upon which God can justify the believing sinner who is still in his sinning state is because this justification is “a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (vv. 24-25).

Dying Daily and Our Life in Christ

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:41:13 -0500

Spiritual growth is making real in our daily experience what is already true for us in Christ.

Our progressive sanctification is an ever putting off all that belongs to the old man, and putting on all that belongs to the new man in Christ.

The old nature of man in Adam has not evolved better over the last two thousand years. Has the carnal mind with its urges become so good to the Holy Spirit that we no longer need to subject it to the Holy Spirit? Undisciplined self-gratification has never been compatible with strong, vibrant, mature spiritual growth. You cannot be a mature believer and live anyway you choose. You cannot give nature all that it desires without defrauding the grace of God.

Because Christ Lives

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:07:17 -0500

God supplies all of our spiritual needs through His infinite resources. The Holy Spirit indwells us with His power; therefore, as we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. As we are occupied with Christ, we are kept from sin and thus “saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

“He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). This permanent priesthood of Jesus gives Him the capacity to carry His saving work to completion. He can see them through every trial and difficulty right to the end of the road “because He always lives to intercede for them.” In saying this, the author reverted again to a truth he had already enunciated (4:14-16) where he had invited the readers to avail themselves boldly of the mercy and grace accessible to them through Jesus’ priesthood.

Saved by His Life

Mon, 9 Feb 2009 19:01:21 -0500

We shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

These words give us encouragement for difficult days when tempted by forces beyond ourselves, but let’s be clear as to what these words of the apostle Paul do not mean. “Saved by His life” does not imply that salvation comes from imitating the principles and godly character of our Lord Jesus Christ. Following or imitating the Lord Jesus Christ will not save anyone. No one has ever been saved by imitating the life of Christ. He alone lived a perfectly holy life. No one else can ever measure up.

Righteousness for the Ungodly

Sun, 8 Feb 2009 13:41:18 -0500

It is an ugly picture and it is one that most of us do not want to view about ourselves.

All are sinners. All have turned away from God. All are ungodly. All are helpless to safe themselves. All are unrighteous. “There is none that does good.”

That is the way the apostle Paul began the greatest book written on a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Now believe it or not, that is good news! We need to hear the bad news before we can receive the good news.

God Justifies the Ungodly

Sat, 7 Feb 2009 21:04:49 -0500

The infinitely holy righteous Jehovah God justifies ungodly sinners.

That is the best news I have ever received.

Does that mean that God pronounces the sinner righteous, or makes a sinner righteous?

Justification is a forensic term meaning that God declares a sinner to be righteous. It is sanctification by which God makes the sinner righteous.

Let us be careful not to put the cart before the horse. Justification comes first. God justifies the sinner who acknowledges to himself and God that he is ungodly and cannot make himself right with God.

The Unchanging Christ: The Same Forever

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 17:36:23 -0500

“When our Savior comes again,” wrote H. A. Ironside, “God is coming to take control of things in this world and the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in council in the past eternity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit working out our salvation here on earth; Father, Son and Holy Spirit bringing in the glory by and by when the long period of man’s trial is over, when the kingdom is fully established, and the Lord Jesus Christ abides forever the One in whom the Father and Spirit as well as the Son are fully displayed—for He is the image of the invisible God.”

The writer of Hebrews simply said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

The Unchanging Christ: The Same Yesterday

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:26:46 -0500

All of my life I have heard the plea for a relevant “new Christ for a new age.”

The truth is Jesus Christ is God’s final word to men in all ages. He is relevant for every age. He is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

The same Jesus sits today “on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). He is the same person as He was when here on the earth.

"Put on Christ"

Tue, 3 Feb 2009 21:53:55 -0500

Every Christian is in an all out war with Satan. God has equipped us with unsurpassed and incomparable spiritual armor for this battle. It is our responsibility to resist the devil. When you reject him with the power of the indwelling Christ, “he will flee from you.”

Christ gives us His mighty strength (kratei) to resist Satan’s strategies (Phil. 4:13). It is not I, but Christ in me that I have this overwhelming conquering power.

Our responsibility in this spiritual warfare is to “put on the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:11). You will never win in the spiritual war without it. By using the armor God has provided we “stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (v. 11). In this spiritual war (v. 12) we must “take up the full armor of God” so we can “resist” Satan and “stand firm” (v. 13). The apostle Paul makes an urgent appeal for the believer to take his “stand.”

Sanctified by the Word of God

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 18:18:01 -0500

The Holy Spirit uses the Word to do His work within the believer. Let’s distinguish between the sanctification by the Holy Spirit within us at the beginning of God’s work of salvation in our souls, and the everyday application of God’s word in the Christian’s life. We are in the need of daily sanctification by the truth of God’s Word. This is a progressive work that will go on in our lives until we are presented perfect in Christ at His second coming.

Sanctification is not the eradication of our sinful nature, or of the “old man” in a once and for all experience.

Our Eternal Sanctification by the Blood of Jesus

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 09:27:54 -0500

One of the most precious and beautiful themes in the Bible is our positional or absolute sanctification by the blood of Jesus Christ. This sanctification is an unchanging and unchangeable eternal position with God.

It is the result of the finished work of atonement Jesus accomplished to take away our sins on the cross. We are accepted in the Beloved. As He is, so are we. We are reckoned by God to be as Christ is in our new standing or position in Christ.

How can we make such a statement? Jesus suffered outside the gate “that He might sanctify the people through His own blood” (Heb. 13:12). The blood of Jesus Christ was shed and sprinkled upon the altar to cover all our sins...

Have You Received the First Blessing?

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:53:12 -0500

The Holy Spirit does a work within the believer whereby He sanctifies us. This is an experience within the Christian.

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “ . . . you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

The context tells us all the sins of these saints that were covered by the blood of Jesus. God chose the believer unto “salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13; cf. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16). Paul has in mind the ultimate goal, our final salvation.

Our Absolute and Progressive Sanctification

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:08:38 -0500

Can you imagine how chaotic the Christian life would be like if we believed on Christ to save us, but we had to keep ourselves saved by our own sinless life?

Because of false teachings most non-believers have the misunderstanding that Christians are to be “perfect” once they believe on Christ as their Savior. They are led to think that all Christians are hypocrites because they are not “perfect” in their daily life and practice. The truth is Christians are “saved sinners” who by the grace of God are striving to live a life that is pleasing to their Savior. Our goal is perfection, but it will not be reached in this life. We will be presented “complete,” “mature,” “perfect” before our heavenly Father in heaven at the end of this life on earth. Only then will we experience sinless perfection.

Living the Christian Life

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:17:54 -0500

There is only one person who can live the Christian life. Yes, it can be lived, but only by the Lord Jesus Christ.

To live the Christian life you must have the right one living it. The Christian life can be lived by Christ. It is His life, and it is exclusively His to be lived only by Him.

Have you found yourself ever trying to live the Christian life and feeling like a failure? The reason is it can only be lived in complete dependence upon Christ.

The Lord Over Death

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:29:21 -0500

When I was a teenager, I enjoyed watching the weekly TV program, “You Are There.” However, there was always one part of the program that I dreaded. Every one of the great men portrayed in history all died at the end of the program. There was always the view of the funeral procession. That view always brought fear and dread to my heart because I knew that one-day all die, including me.

However, Christianity gives me a totally different perspective of death. For me it is no longer a thing to be dreaded, but a marvelous moment of triumph. My physical death will be only a door that leads into life’s fullness in Christ.

The Lord of History

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:45:37 -0500

History moves toward a steady goal because God is in control of history. Jesus Christ is Lord of all including time, kings and kingdoms. He is the Lord of history.

The lordship of Jesus Christ includes every area of life. “The blessed hope” of history is the triumphant, visible return of Jesus Christ. It will be a “glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Jesus Christ will return in triumph to fulfill God’s eternal purpose with all of creation. Creation begins and ends with Christ...

Lordship of Christ and Our Sanctification

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:06:15 -0500

There is always a constant tension between the “now” and the “yet to be” in the Christian’s life.

When we submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ He changes our lives. We grow in our inner person as the Holy Spirit reveals areas of our lives that are not fully yielded to Christ. It takes a lifetime to affect big changes in our lives because God’s goal is a person like Christ.

Matthew 5:48 reads, “you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” God will never lower His standard to human level. He demands absolute perfection. We want to become more like Him because He loves us. What a tragedy if we lose the desire to become perfect in Christ.

Jesus is both Lord and Messiah

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:31:15 -0500

Jesus Christ is my Lord. That is the greatest confession of faith you can ever make. “Jesus is Lord.” He is not one of a variety of ways to get to heaven; He is the only way because He is the risen Lord. When we confess faith in Jesus we are saying Jesus is Lord because God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10).

Why do followers of Jesus Christ believe He is Lord? The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated beyond any doubt that He is Lord of all. Our faith is based on the clear historical evidence of His resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus proved the validity and reality of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross and His sovereign Lordship. Because Jesus is alive He is our Lord, and He invites us to join Him in the resurrection life.

The Problem of Evil and Suffering

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:21:13 -0500

The greatest theological challenge Christians face is the problem of evil and suffering. Never have we had a greater demand to think biblically. We must speak the truth with integrity when people are desperate to hear it and no one else seems to know where to look for honest answers.

There is not a day that goes by that we are constantly called upon to minister at senseless accidents, terrible disasters, crimes against innocence, or someone suffering from a devastating disease. People demand some enlightenment. Perhaps the most difficult situations are those when the innocent suffer at the sinful hands of others.

God Brings Good out of Evil

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:42:24 -0500

Evil in our world is a reality every thinking person must face, but it need not be fatal to the Christian.

The fact never changes: God is good. God is omnipotent, God is omniscient and He is omnipresent. We interpret the events of the day by the known truths, not the unknown. In fact, we interpret the unknown in the light of the known.

Augustine said, “God judged it better to bring good out of evil, than to suffer no evil to exist.”

Why Pain and Suffering?

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:45:15 -0500

Researchers recently asked a cross-section of adults: “If you could ask God only one question and you knew He would give you the answer, what would you ask?” The majority of the people responded, “Why is there pain and suffering in the world?”

That is not a new question. It is the age old question the patriarch Job asked in the oldest book in the Bible during his earth shaking tragedy (1:13-19). If you substitute in this passage the words “Sabeans” and “Chaldeans” with "terrorists,” and tornado or hurricane for the strong wind you have the headlines in today’s news.

Job asked the same question, “Why?” seven times in chapter three. “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” (v. 11) Repeatedly, he asked “Why?” People still ask, “Why did God allow this to happen?” “Where is God?” “Why didn’t God do something?”

New Life in Christ

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:17:05 -0500

The most basic work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the new birth.

All of the powers and wonders of the Christian life are centered on this essential miracle of Christianity. This miracle in the individual soul communicates new life in the individual.

A religious leader asked Jesus, “How can a man be born again?” (John 3:1-5) Jesus told him that he needed a spiritual birth. Yes, it was a miracle of the Holy Spirit of God giving life to the spiritually dead. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

A Good and Perfect Father

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:17:17 -0500

God the Father loves us just as much as He loves His Son, Jesus Christ.

Since that is a true statement can we ever have another anxious thought or rebellious attitude toward Him? Because our heavenly Father loves us with such love as He has for His Son He will not let us want for anything good in His divine will. He will take care of us in the very best possible manner (Psa. 23:1; Eph. 1:3). It is absolutely safe to put our trust in a perfect Father.

“Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:13-14).

Seated with Christ in Heaven

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:48:20 -0500

“We were made alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5).

The newness of life we received, as Christians is a spiritual life imparted through our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. This identification with Him in His death broke the power of indwelling sin. Moreover, our identification with Christ in His resurrection resulted in the impartation of divine life (Romans 6:34).

You have been completely saved by grace and the present result is that you are in a saved state of being.

Our One Supreme Passion

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:45:34 -0500

Authentic Christianity is God-centered because it loves the Lord God with all the heart, mind soul and strength. Evidence of a true knowledge of God is an obsession with the glory of God manifest in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The one consuming passion of the believer is the glory of God because he has witnessed the grandeur, majesty and excellence of the Lord God through the eyes of the Lord Jesus and he can never remain the same thereafter.

What will you do with Jesus Christ?

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:23:34 -0500

Our acceptance before God depends entirely on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and our response to Him.

The Bible makes it emphatically clear if you accept Jesus Christ, God will accept you. If you reject Jesus Christ, God will reject you.

“He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

How do You know when You are Spirit-filled?

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:01:47 -0500

The supreme mission of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. He glorifies the Son by unfolding clearly the meaning of His person and atoning work.

The work of the Spirit is Christocentric. He will glorify Christ and will never draw attention to Himself. He always declares the work of Christ.

The work of the Holy Spirit is always to glorify Christ. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, “He shall glorify Me” (John 16:14). When the Spirit came upon the 120 in the upper room at Pentecost they immediately began to proclaim, not the Holy Spirit, but Jesus Christ is Lord. And they never ceased doing that.

God Knows Me

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:24:52 -0500

God knows me, and He still wants to pursue a personal relationship with me. That is truly amazing. He knows everything about me, and still wants to enjoy my fellowship with Him.

What does it mean to know God? How do you come to an intimate personal knowledge of Him?

I am not thinking of intellectual knowledge or facts about Him, but the importance of knowing a close friend.

Do the Impossible

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:21:42 -0500

Jesus saw a thirty-eight year old man lying on his mat at the pool of water at Bethesda and approached him asking, “Do you wish to get well?” (John 5:5-6).

Christ told the man to do the impossible. “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

The apostle John tells us “And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk” (v. 9).

This man could not help himself. Only the divine power of Jesus Christ enabled the man to rise and walk. It was a miracle that Jesus performed at the pool of Bethesda.

Do You have Eternal Life?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:52:05 -0500

Life eternal is God's life in us produced by His Holy Spirit. It issues in a personal encounter with a holy God who in His grace forgives us of our sins based on the atoning death of Jesus Christ. No one can have His life and not be changed. God is holy and His Spirit makes us aware of our sinfulness and of our deep personal need of His grace. It is by His grace that we are turned to Christ who is our Savior. This knowledge occurs only where God’s Holy Spirit is at work beforehand to make it possible, and it always changes us, issuing in a heart response and true devotion to Him.

When we become aware of the true and living God we are confronted with our sinfulness and depravity as opposed to His holiness and righteousness. We are all together corrupt and He is altogether holy.

Are You One of the Elect of God?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:10:42 -0500

The answer to the question, are you one of the elect of God, is answered by another question: Have you believed on Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If you have responded to His free grace, and have believed on Him alone for salvation, you should know that you are one who was given to Jesus before the foundation of the world.

When Jesus was praying to the Father the night before His sacrificial death on the cross He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life” (John 17:1-2).

Have You Seen the Face of God?

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:24:04 -0500

The disciples of Jesus saw His glory. They gazed into His character, which is the character of God. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

When we see Jesus we see the Father. He “is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (v. 18).

The Old Testament speaks of the glory of God being so bright in radiance like the display of light that no man could approach it. The LORD is clothed with splendor and majesty. The face of Moses glowed...

The Glory of God in Jesus Christ

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 21:47:28 -0500

What do you think God the Son would say to God the Father during the night before He would lay down His life as atonement for the sin of the world?

Imagine for a moment with me what the divine communication between God the Father and God the Son must be like. I wonder what deep conversations must take place between the members of the Trinity. The communiqué between the Godhead must be too profound and unfathomable for us to comprehend. The LORD said to Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (55:8-9).

Saved by Grace!

Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:56:28 -0500

Saved by grace! There is no greater majestic theme for the Christian. It eliminates all grounds of boasting.

Salvation by God's sovereign grace gives a wonderful assurance. We have security in salvation because our sovereign God elected us in eternity, adopted us into His family, regenerated us, and sealed us with His Spirit.

To appreciate so great salvation we must understand our great need.

The bottom line of sin is selfishness and the way it affects every area of our lives, but more importantly because it makes it impossible for us to influence our salvation is any way.

Any discussion of sin and salvation always leads to the question of our depravity. How badly depraved are we? How far did man fall when he fell in the Garden of Eden? Did man fall upward, or did he fall down?

Behold, What Manner of Love

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 21:17:51 -0500

Jesus wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. The Jewish people who saw Him responded to one another, "Behold, how He loved him" (John 11:35-36).

C. H. Spurgeon said to his congregation in London, "Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in the tears, but in the precious blood that He so freely shed for us. . . . Behold how He loves us!"

Christ our Redeemer

Tue, 6 Jan 2009 18:21:04 -0500

We have been redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He paid an infinite price for our salvation. The price of redemption is the death of Jesus Christ. That is the inescapable fact in the Old and New Testament.

The idea of redemption comes from the ancient Greek marketplace. The word agorazo means "to buy," or "to buy in the marketplace." In the New Testament the word places the emphasis on the price Jesus paid to redeem us.

Do you have a Sense of God’s Presence?

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 21:41:41 -0500

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . .” (Ephesians 3:17).

A good friend asked me, “Do you fell you are adequately experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit?” That is a probing question every Christian should pause and consider.

I firmly believe that every born again believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but not every believer is yielded to His control. Our experience of His divine presence depends upon our yielding to Him moment by moment. If the Holy Spirit is to have a larger part of our lives we must make a deliberate choice and allow Him to take control.

Do you Seek a Deeper Life with God?

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 20:21:23 -0500

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “One’s will must always be abandoned to the divine will, that one’s own will must be given up, if the divine will is to be manifested.”

Of course, the key to everything in the Christian life is the "in Him." All that we might rightly expect from God, and ask Him for, is to be found in an intimate personal love relationship with Jesus Christ.

Are You A Saint?

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 20:04:12 -0500

Jesus was using the correct definition of the word saint. Jesus was setting Himself apart to the task of making atonement for our sins on the cross so we could become set apart for God. A saint is one who is “set apart” for God’s unique possession and purposes. The setting apart as a saint is something God does apart from human endeavor.

The person who believes on Jesus Christ is set apart when God reaches down in His grace and mercy...

Always in Abundant Supply

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 22:17:15 -0500

Jesus Christ is all-sufficient to meet our every need, but if He is going to meet our needs we must be wiling to recognize our needs and call upon Him. There must be a turning to Him for help. He can supply every spiritual need we face in life if we respond to His abiding presence.

At the feeding of the five thousand Jesus provided food in abundance, and it is always that way with God (Matt. 14:15-21; Mk. 6:33-44; Lk. 9:12-17; Jn. 6:1-15). The interesting thing is Jesus initiated the feeding of the people. He knew in advance that He was going to meet their need. He was interested in their welfare. He was able to do it.

Who Is Jesus Christ?

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 23:01:49 -0500

In a hot debate with a group of hostile religious leaders Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).

In their rush to react in emotional excitement they weren’t paying attention to what Jesus said so they concluded, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” (v. 57).

The Lord Will Provide

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:06:04 -0500

Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).
Jesus made a startling statement stressing the fact that the ancient Jewish patriarch Abraham placed his ultimate hope in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and he rejoiced in the thought of Christ’s coming.

Justified Freely by God's Grace

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:11:48 -0500

Grace is never set in the context of any supposed merit of our own, but always on the basis of Romans 1:18-3:20 which describes our utter ruin in sin. Grace must always be approached with that reality of personal sin in mind. Without the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit we do not understand our need for God’s saving grace.

The Amplified Bible on Romans 3:20 reads, “For no person will be justified—made righteous, acquitted and judged acceptable—in His sight by observing the words prescribed by the Law.

Why Christians Must be Holy

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:55:20 -0500

It is very clear in the teachings of the Scripture that no Christian is sinless (1 John 1:8-10), but it is also clear that God expects the true believer to not sin habitually. “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in Him, and he cannot practice sin because he is born of God” (3:9).

To “practice” sin is to sin as a way of life. An unsaved person lives a life of habitual sin. The sin of unbelief is a normal thing for the lost person. A true believer does not live in habitual sin. He may commit occasional sins but he will not make it a habitual practice.

The word “holy,” “holiness,” “saint” and “sanctify” comes from a Greek root meaning, “to set apart to God.” The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is set apart for God by the Holy Spirit. The “saint” is a person set apart for God, enjoying a holy standing before God in Christ Jesus, with the obligation of living a holy life (1 Pet. 1:15-16).

The evidence of the new birth is righteous behavior in the life of the believer. Sanctification is evident in a changed life. God changes us from the inside out (2 Cor. 5:17).

J. C. Ryle in his book on holiness gave eight reasons why holiness is necessary in the Christian's life (Holiness, pp. 40-44).

Secure Shelter in the Storms of Life

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:49:46 -0500

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

The Psalmist invites us to abide in the Father's shadow where we see only the face of the Almighty. The veil of the temple was torn in two making it possible for every believer to go into the presence of the LORD God anytime he desires. In deed, as the Psalmist said we can abide in His presence all the time.

The “shelter of the Almighty” implies His holy presence. In the “shadow of the Almighty” we find strength to live a holy life.

Has the Most High become your dwelling presence? The believer finds refuge and a secure place in the strong fortress of Yahweh. The LORD is “My refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust” (v. 2). Whoever trusts in the Most High finds security and protection in God's holy presence.

A New Life with a New Way

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:16:20 -0500

The apostle Paul revealed the very core of the Christian life when he wrote: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Paul testified that his life passion is to know Christ.

I count all thing loss that I might value the surpassing value of knowing by personal experience Christ Jesus my Lord. I count all my self-efforts a loss in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him. I want a righteousness that comes on the basis of faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. The passion of my life is “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead” (3:10-11).

Has Jesus Christ laid hold of you? Like a wrestler, the apostle Paul says, Christ got hold on me, and now I want to get a good grip on Him. Do you have that same passion of the apostle? I want Jesus Christ, and nothing else in life will satisfy once you get a taste of His life.

When you come to an intimate love relationship with Christ, you want to celebrate His glory at every opportunity. You long to see His face and hear His voice and feel His touch and walk hand in hand with Him.

He bides us, “Come and follow” and trust Him for every provision each step of the way.

Attitudes Toward the King

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:09:34 -0500

What is your attitude toward the coming of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of the world?

Mary the expectant mother of Jesus declared in song, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . .” (Luke 1:46-47).

Does your heart “make great the Lord”? Does your spirit rejoice in “God my Savior”?

Great is the mercy of the Lord upon us. Mary's heart filled to overflowing with thanksgiving for the privilege of serving the LORD God as a humble maiden.

Because we have been saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ we have the wonderful privilege and opportunity of magnifying the Lord with our lives. We have been saved to serve Him. Our hearts have been made new by the new birth and we rejoice in God our Savior.

The LORD God is great and is worthy of our worship. Mary proclaimed the greatness of Yahweh when she declared, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

With a joyful heart she enthusiastically shouted, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

Wise Men Worship the King

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:50:44 -0500

The longer I live the more I want to be around wise men.

“Wise men,” more properly, “Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem” looking for the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1-2).

Since Herod had all of the children less than two years of age murdered in Bethlehem, the Magi probably arrived after Jesus had already become a young child. The Magi didn’t find Mary and Jesus in the stable, but in a house.

The “star” that guided the Magi was possibly the appearance of the Shekinah glory that signified the presence of God and guided the Jewish people in their wilderness wanderings. The glory could have appeared and reappeared as needed to guide the wise men to Bethlehem on their long journey. The “star” “stopped over the place where the child was” (v. 9). It kept on going before them and then “came and stood over where the child was.”

We are not told how long the journey was, how many Magi were on the trip, or any details about the star. We do not know where they came from except for a general indication “from the east.” Probably the distant Persia was the beginning of their journey. The important thing for the Gospel writer was the fact that non-Jews made the long journey to come and worship the Jewish Messiah. He even concludes his Gospel reminding the church to take the good news of Jesus Christ to “all the nations.”

God's Christmas Tree

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:26:37 -0500

God's ultimate will is for every believer to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. The most powerful message of Christmas is the transforming grace of God in Jesus Christ.

God's Christmas tree is covered with the undefiled and sinless blood of His Son Jesus Christ. It is not the meek and mild “baby Jesus” that saves a lost humanity. It is His sacrificial, substitutionary, atoning death that deals with our human depravity and sin. Without that death we are eternally lost and judged to spend eternity in hell.

There is only one way to be made acceptable with a holy and righteous God. The grace of God in Jesus Christ alone saves the confessing and believing sinner.

Good works and religious activity at Christmas time will not save you. All of your human titles and achievements are absolutely of no spiritual value. We will enter into God's holy presence by depending on the death of Jesus Christ alone to save us. There is no other way (Acts 4:12). Our eternal salvation is by grace alone (Eph. 2:8-9). God transforms us by His grace. That is why even at Christmas time the only thing worth boasting about is the cross of Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14). Because of His great love for us, Jesus offered Himself as our substitutionary sacrifice. It was not because He saw anything in us, or anything we would do, but His majestic love. Everything we count as spiritually valuable is worthless in God's eyes. Only the substitutionary death of His Son on our behalf on His tree can satisfy God and save us.

When God Invaded History

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:43:55 -0500

The accounts of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth are fully historical. They describe the events when the supernatural invaded the normal flow of historical events.

The physician Luke tells us he thoroughly researched everything about the life of Jesus concerning His conception and birth (Luke 1:1-4). Luke must have gotten his details from Mary.

Matthew makes it very clear that God invaded history. He quotes Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Jesus is “God with us.” The Hebrew word Bethulah means an unblemished young woman of marriageable age. She was a virgin. Matthew used the word “virgin” to tell his readers that Jesus was conceived by God to the Holy Spirit apart from any human father.

Matthew states clearly and concisely: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18). A couple of verses later he adds, "But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).

The Genealogy of Jesus

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:36:38 -0500

Are you up-to-date on your genealogy? Lots of families have their own historian who wants to delve into their family history and genealogy.

The Jewish people through out the early years of their history kept up with their genealogy because every male child of King David was a potential Messiah. Down through Jewish history, the people looked forward to the coming of their Messiah. The genealogies would show them who might be a legitimate descendant of David to reign on the throne. Only when Jesus was born in Bethlehem did the long awaited king arrive.

“Joseph, son of David” (Matthew 1:20) is a quote from the genealogy of Jesus. “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?” (2:2) Jesus was no son of the illegitimate King Herod who ruled Judah (2:12-23). Herod was an Idumaean, and he did not have a drop of David's blood in him.

The angel said to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

Why do we have two genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels? I agree with a number of leading scholars who understand the two lines represent the lines of Joseph and Mary respectively.

He Will Save His People from Their Sins

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:53:32 -0500

“A kind of moral relativism has taken over. Nothing is really wrong. If I have a good reason to do it, it’s not sin.” That is the modern attitude toward the righteousness of God.

I get the impression that the church in our day avoids at all costs the idea of sin and guilt and therefore tries to entertain lost sinners into heaven.

However, there is no escaping the fact that when God became flesh so He could be with us He did so in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The angel appeared in the presence of Joseph who was engaged to be married to Mary and told him, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20).

Joseph did not ask why, but here is God's answer to the question. The angel continues, “And she will bear a son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (v. 21).

A Virgin, Immanuel and the Incarnation

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:34:37 -0500

Ahaz was faithless.

Neighboring countries of Syria and Israel banned together to fight the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Ahaz, the king of Judah, sent for the king of Assyria to come to his rescue.

The LORD God is sovereign in the affairs of the nations and He sent the Hebrew prophet Isaiah to counsel Ahaz. Isaiah said, “Take care, and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because the two stubs of smoldering firebrands . . .” (Isaiah 7:4). The two threatening countries are just burned up pieces of firewood. God said, “It shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass” (v. 7).

What would you have done if you were Ahaz? The pressure on Ahaz was intense, not just the threat of war, but the LORD was breathing down his neck as well. “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last” (v. 19). Ahaz, you are as good as gone yourself if you do not trust Me. If you trust Me I will deliver you from this smoke, but if you don’t you are through as a king. Moreover, trusting in the Assyrian army is not trusting in Yahweh.

Consequences of Unbelief

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:17:36 -0500

The gospel writer Luke described Zacharias and Elizabeth as an elderly couple, “both advanced in years,” and without children. “Elizabeth was barren.” Zechariah was a priest who married a woman of priestly descent. “They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).

Zacharias had the honor “to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (v. 9). “And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering” (v. 10).

It was a very special time for the elderly priest. He and his wife had prayed often and for many years for a son to carry on his family name, and to fill their lives with joy.

Imagine what it was like that day in the temple when “an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense” in the Holy Place (v. 11). “Fear gripped” Zacharias as he listened to the angel.

“Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you will give him the name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (vv. 13-14).

The Spirit of Free Grace

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:57:53 -0500

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us salvation is by the free grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” Salvation is by free grace.

The old way of legalism does not like that kind of salvation. The legalists do not like to hear the good news in Jesus Christ. True salvation is by grace of God through faith in Christ. There is no hope of salvation by the law because no sinner can ever live up to the righteous demands of God's holy law.

A Zeal for the Righteousness of God

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:44:22 -0500

The apostle Paul prayed to God for the salvation of those who “have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3).

The apostle Paul was making his plea to his own people who in their religious zeal had rejected God's provision of His own perfect righteousness for their own self-righteousness. They were intensely religious in their own eyes, but not with the true knowledge of God. They were running well but in the wrong direction. They labored to do good deeds, but for the wrong goal. They were religious, sincere, dedicated, but in their anxiety, they would miss their eternal reward.

“They have a zeal for God.” I meet people like that every day. In their religious zeal, they knock on your door, too. Like the apostle Paul, I am not against religious zeal or enthusiasm. However, they are zealous in their religious ceremonies, prayers, observances, holy days, fasts, visitation, teaching, etc., “but not in accordance with knowledge.” There is no use being zealous if you are zealous for the wrong reason. It will not help you if you are going in the wrong direction spiritually.

Grace

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:48:57 -0500

am convinced the most important message we can ever proclaim is the free grace of God that forgives us of all our sins and gives us a perfect relationship with God. We are justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-28; 4:5).

Let’s examine a simple acrostic of the word G-R-A-C-E.

GOD in holy love
RECONCILES ruined and rebellious sinners by His
ABUNDANT grace and
CHANGES ruined men from the inside out and gives
ETERNAL LIFE to all who believe on Jesus Christ.

GOD—is the Creator of the universe. His personal name is Jehovah or Yahweh. Most modern English translations use the name LORD, written with four small capital letters to translate the Hebrew word JHVH.

The Bible tells us He is the creator and sustainer of the universe (Gen. 1:1, 27; Psalm 14:1). He did not wind up the universe like a clock and then walk away. He is personally involved in His creation (Ps. 139).

Trinity

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:10:07 -0500

The Trinity is the theological term designating one God in three persons.

Even though the term is not used in the Bible, it is a correct designation for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The term simply means that within the one essence of the Godhead, we have to distinguish three persons who are neither three gods, nor three parts or modes of God. The three persons of the Godhead are coequal and coeternally God.

Everything for Nothing

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:18:35 -0500

The Hebrew prophet Isaiah offered a great invitation to everyone to come to the fountain of grace.

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isaiah 55:1).

The blessings of God are available “without cost.” Salvation is a free gift of God. This invitation is a picture of grace in the Old Testament. These blessings are gifts of divine grace, and they are also obtained by grace. They are received only by a sense of need and readiness to accept them.

Sin of Unbelief

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:48:22 -0500

We live in a day of tolerance.

But our problem is we tolerate the wrong things. The last virtue of the ungodly is tolerance. When the ungodly have abandoned all other moral standards, the cry of the ungodly is for more tolerance of their immorality and ungodliness.

One pastor remarked recently, “People do not want anybody to pass judgment while they are engaged in the most vile perversions and immoral ungodliness imaginable.”

One recent study in the United States demonstrated that almost all high school graduates are convinced there are no absolutes.

The truth still stands; there is one sin for which Christ never made atonement. The person who dies in unbelief can never be saved, no matter how religious he may be. There is no atonement for the person who does not believe on Jesus Christ as his Savior.

"Look Unto Me, and be Saved"

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:47:56 -0500

“Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22).

This is the verse the layman was preaching on the day C. H. Spurgeon placed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. “I stepped within the house of God, and sat there, afraid to look upward, lest I should be utterly cut off, and lest His fierce wrath should consume me.” The minister read the verse of Scripture and Spurgeon says, “I looked that moment; the grace of faith was vouchsafed to me in the self-same instant . . .” He looked upon the wounds of Christ and could say, “Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be until I die.” From that moment on for the rest of his life Spurgeon preached God's saving grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

God saves sinners by grace so that all may know, “I am God, and there is none other.” He is always removing our false securities and gods so we will put our trust in Him alone.

Every God-called minister of grace can identify with the godly pastor when he said, “We are made to see that the Lord is God, and that beside Him there is none else. Very frequently God teaches this to the minister, by leading him to see his own sinful nature. He will have such an insight into his own wicked and abominable heart, that he will feel as he comes up to the pulpit stairs that he does not deserve so much as to sit in his pew much less to preach to his fellows. Although we feel always joy in the declaration of God's Word, yet we have known what it is to totter on the pulpit steps, under a sense that the chief of sinners should scarcely be allowed to preach to others. Ah beloved, I do not think he will be very successful as a minister who is not taken into the depths and blackness of his own soul, and made to exclaim, ‘Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.’”

Blessings out of Sufferings

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:07:51 -0500

What is your response to suffering? There is no escape from intense pressures in this life, but it helps when we get God into the picture.

The apostle Peter wrote to a group of suffering Christians with words of encouragement. “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

“After you have suffered for a little,” says Peter. The suffering is temporary, in contrast and comparison to the eternal glory that is in store for the believer.

Before God blesses us there come times of trouble, distress, grief and pain. We can rejoice knowing the suffering is for a short time, but out of the suffering comes blessings that cannot be had any other way.

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our suffering is temporary, but it produces in us character that will last thought out eternity.

God equips believers for His service through suffering. He strengthens character in the fires of pressure.

Excuses, Excuses!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:44:43 -0500

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The apostle Paul and Silas responded to the jailor in the city of Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, and your household” (Acts 16:31).

The only road to heaven is by faith in Jesus Christ. Calling on any other name will not save you. There is salvation only in the atoning death of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). When we believe on Christ as Savior we trust or lean upon Him with our whole weight upon His cross. We cease to stand in our own religious strength, and cast ourselves wholly upon the Rock of Ages. Faith, belief and trust are synonyms for receiving Jesus Christ and the free gift of eternal life in Him.

Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all sinners who come to Him, take His word, and trust Him. Only believe. That is God's requirement for salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” The greatest sin in the entire world is unbelief. The object of saving faith is Jesus Christ.

R. G. Lee once said, “Excuses, excuses—rotten bridges over hell.” What are some excuses that will send you to an eternal hell?

Forgiveness According to the Riches of God's Grace

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 21:38:03 -0500

The greatest peace and joy in all the world is knowing all my sins have been forgiven according to the riches of God’s free grace in Jesus Christ. We are trophies of His grace both now and throughout eternity.

There is nothing like the free, full, sovereign, unconditional, eternal grace of God that deals with all our sins. The apostle sang “the praise of the glory of God's grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6-7).

There is no boundary to God's omniscience. There is no limit to His understanding, or of His grace. Just as He has knowledge of all our sins, so does His infinite grace comprehend all our sins.

How can a holy and just God forgive us of all our sins in one all encompassing declaration of acquittal? It is because the believing sinner is blood-bought. “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” The apostle John wrote, “To Him who loves us, and [once and for all] released us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5).

“When God forgives He draws the mark through every sin which the believer ever has committed, or ever will commit,” observed C. H. Spurgeon.

God's Everlasting Covenant of Grace

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 22:10:35 -0500

There is infinite value in the atoning blood of the Lamb of God.

The new covenant with the LORD God is ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 7:22; 8:6-10; 10:16-17; 12:24; 13:20; 2 Timothy 1:9).

We have peace with God “through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord.”

The “blood of the eternal covenant” with Jesus Christ stands over against “the blood of bulls and of goats” in the old covenant with Israel. Christ shed His precious blood in fulfillment of the stipulation of the everlasting covenant. Christ's atoning blood is the foundation of this covenant with God. The eternal salvation of sinful men and women is guaranteed by this eternal covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ.

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The everlasting guarantee of the covenant of grace is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is by His blood that all our sins are cancelled, justice of God was satisfied, and the law was honored. Christ has done everything that God can demand. The blood of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the debtor's side of the covenant. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the sinner's behalf, God is bound by His own covenant to show grace and mercy to all whom Christ redeemed by His blood.

Justification by Faith and Imputed Righteousness

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 23:09:23 -0500

God is a just God, and He is the justifier of the person who has faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:26).

That is one of those important truths that separate historical Biblical Christianity from the religious cults.

The believing sinner is “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (vv. 23-24).

God is a just God, and the justification of the sinner must be accomplished in perfect harmony with God's justice. Even in the justification of the sinner the holiness of God must be preserved and demonstrated. Every requirement of the law must be satisfied, and the infinitely holy character of God must be satisfied.

The law places a double demand on sinners because it requires their full obedience to its precepts, and their full endurance of its penalty when the law is broken.

How can anyone possibly meet this condition since it is a universal fact that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”? The only way is for God to provide what man cannot do. In grace God has already fulfilled these requirements, and paid in full the penalty by sending His Son “born under the law” (Gal. 4:4) to “became obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:8).

Sleepless Nights and Stressful Days

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 20:45:40 -0500

What do you do when the pressures of daily life assail and assault you?

Since the LORD God has saved you by His grace from beginning to end, why should you tremble before the lesser dangers of this life?

King David tells of an experience how he was able to lie down and sleep in the midst of a sudden danger occasioned by his son Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 15-16).

"My Cup Is Running Over"

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 23:36:07 -0500

God’s blessings are always a superabundance.

When the “LORD is my shepherd,” “my cup runs over” in superabundance.

We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to experience God’s banquet house. His overflowing grace is something we experience as Christians in this life. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10b). That is a cup running over with God’s grace. He does not just give us the gift of eternal life when we first believed, but He keeps on giving eternal life. The life He gives us is perisson, meaning, “to have a surplus,” “superabundance,” “till it overflows.”

God Justifies the Ungodly

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 22:22:06 -0500

Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

God justifies the ungodly.

The Bible says, “to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

Salvation is all of grace, meaning that it is free, gratis; it costs you nothing. That does not mean it is cheap because it cost God His Son. On the basis of His Son's atoning death, God has made it possible for the ungodly person to stand in a right relationship before Him.

God gives the sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ as his Savior full assurance that he is justified by faith in Christ, and He then treats the believing sinner as if he had been perfectly just, heir and joint heir with Christ.

Self-righteousness is always a delusion. It is self-deceptive. The Bible declares, “There is none righteous, no, not one.”

Faith Defined: Knowledge, Belief and Trust

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:25:29 -0500

“By grace you are saved, through faith” in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8).

The grace of God is the open fountain that saves the sinner. “By grace you are saved.”

The grace of God is an infinite attribute of God. The first and last moving cause of our salvation is God's grace. “No man comes to Me, except the Father which has sent Me draw him,” said Jesus. The effectual call of God is of grace. Even our faith is the result of a divine operation. Our salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

“In due time, Christ died for the ungodly.” God in His marvelous grace provided that sacrifice which covers all our sins.

Why is faith so important? Faith is the channel or conduit through which we receive God's free girt of salvation.

Let us make it very clear that you faith does not save you. We are saved by the grace of God. Faith is not an independent source of salvation. It is not how much faith we have as if we are to psych ourselves up to a certain level of faith. Salvation is received by “looking unto Jesus,” not by looking at our faith. Faith is not the power that saves. God saves us by His grace. The saving power of God is found in His grace, and not in our faith. Faith focuses our eyes upon Jesus Christ alone who died for our sins.

Faith's Results: Justification

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 00:50:58 -0500

The person who believes in Jesus Christ is not judged, however he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:8).

This powerful statement on salvation by faith in Jesus Christ indicates the unbeliever is in a continuing state of condemnation because he has not put his faith in Christ. He has refused to enter into a state of belief in Christ.

The person who puts his trust in Christ is not being judged. His judgment for the penalty of sin has already taken place. However, the person who is not believing has been judged already and is under judgment. The reason for this judgment is he has not put his trust in the name of the uniquely-begotten Son of God. He is in a state of unbelief.

Putting your trust in Jesus Christ removes condemnation because He takes our place and pays the penalty for sin for all who put their sin problem in His hands (Romans 8:32f).

Faith's Object: Jesus Christ

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 20:53:26 -0500

What is the object of my faith? What am I to believe in to receive the gift of eternal life and live with God in heaven? What must I do to be saved?

The object of faith for the sinner is Jesus Christ. We receive “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Romans 3:22). We are “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (v. 24).

Jesus Christ alone is the object of your faith for the forgiveness of sin. On nothing else can you trust to have all your sins pardoned.

God is a just God, and He must punish sin. God at the same time is merciful and wills to pardon and forgive those who believe on Jesus Christ. How can He be just and exact the penalty for sin? How can He be merciful and accept the sinner? How can He be just and at the same time justify the believing sinner?

Whose Side are You On?

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:35:35 -0500

Whose side are you on?

That is the question Psalm one asks as it paints two portraits: one is the picture of the wicked person, and the other is the portrait or the wise man.

“Who is the blessed man of whom the psalmist speaks?” asked Joseph Flacks. “This man never walked in the counsel of the wicked or stood in the way of sinners or sat in the seat of mockers. He was an absolutely sinless man.”

One Jewish man concluded, “The man of the first Psalm was Jesus of Nazareth.” He was the only sinless perfect person who has ever walked this earth. He knew no sin is the testimony of those who knew Him best.

Jesus Christ is the perfect man portrayed in the opening verses of Psalm one. He is the only person who has ever lived a perfect life as portrayed in this psalm. He is the “man” in Psalm one (1 Peter 2:21-25). Jesus Christ is the Righteous One who never experienced sin in his personal life. He is the only perfect man who ever lived, and there is none other like Him.

Life in Christ

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:27:16 -0500

There is life in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “You will not come to Me that you might have life.” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” “I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”

The life of the believing sinner is in Jesus Christ. We get life by appropriating the saving grace of God by faith in Christ. There is life by living in Him, trusting in Him, and believing in His grace and power.

There is legal life in Jesus Christ. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ you are acquitted based upon what Christ did for you on the cross. You are no longer under the sentence of death. “The wages of sin is death.” But Christ died as your substitute. Legally you are alive because of the death and resurrection of your substitute. We have a death sentence passed on to us because of Adam's sin, and our own personal experience of sin.

Our sins are pardoned because Christ suffered the punishment for them. We know that we can never be punished again for them because Christ suffered the punishment for our sins. Christ died for us, in our stead, and in that death we are now delivered.

Believer's Vital Union with Christ

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:54:32 -0500

The relationship between Christ and the believer “is the nearest, dearest, closest, most intense, and most enduring relationship that can be imagined,” said Spurgeon. We live because Christ lives, and our lives are hid with Christ in God. It is closer than a husband and wife, or children and their parents.

One of the greatest mysteries in the Bible is the believer's vital relationship to his Lord and Savior.

There are three great mystical unions in the Bible. The union of the three persons of the Godhead, being one God, called the doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible also teaches the union of the two natures of Jesus Christ in one person, and the vital union of the believer in Christ.

There is a close intimate union between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian. It is so intimate that it may be spoken of as one. “We are members of His body” (Ephesians 5:30). It is not a physical union, but an attachment of love. We are truly united with Him as truly as the parts of our bodies belong to the head. Charles Hodge said, “This might mean simply that we stand to Him in the same intimate and vital union that a man's body sustains to the man himself.”

The Church of Christ

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:47:31 -0500

All of us who are trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are members of the true church of Christ. We are members of His body. We have experienced the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace. “We are accepted in the Beloved,” and we are “redeemed through His blood.”

The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ we are born again, and at the same time placed in the body of Christ in a vital union with Him. The essence of saving faith is to rest upon Christ alone for eternal salvation. We trust in the atonement and the righteousness of Jesus Christ to save us. Saving faith is to trust in Jesus Christ and what He has done for your salvation.

Our justification is an instantaneous act from the moment we believed on Christ as our Savior. Justification is completed in one instant never to be repeated. It is complete the moment a sinner believes on the atoning death of Jesus Christ. In that moment is the remission of all our sins. In that moment we are made clean by the blood of Jesus.

What a gracious joy to know that in one single instant we are declared just, complete in Christ, without a sin, freed from all its condemning power, guilt and iniquity. In an instant a person is pardoned. Never again will the Christian ever be unjustified! “There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

How to Discern Cults and Sects

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:54:20 -0500

H. A. Ironside used to say, “Where there is light there are bugs!”

He was referring to the cults and sects that take a truth and go to the extreme or form their own exclusive groups.

The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). We are not to believe every spirit-controlled teacher! However, we know the Spirit of God is illuminating the teacher when they “confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,” “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (vv. 2-3).

I am convinced that the greatest need we have in our day is the gift of discernment. Many cults and sects claim to be biblically based Christian organizations. They will even use the historic Biblical Christian language, and even call themselves “the Church of Jesus Christ,” or “the Church of Christ,” but deny or redefine essential Christian doctrines to fit their eccentric teachings.

Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice!

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:26:16 -0500

Have you learned to rejoice in everything?

The Bible says, "Rejoice always" (1 Thessalonians 5:16). A couple of verses later it says, ". . . in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (v. 18). "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

Sometimes it is not easy to rejoice or to give praise to the Lord, but that does not change the command.

"It is God's will that we find joy in prayer in Christ Jesus in every condition of life," writes A. T. Robertson. There are no circumstances in the Christian's life where he cannot give thanks. God works everything together for good for those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).

"Rejoice . . . pray . . . give thanks" is God's will for every believer in every situation.

Nehemiah knew "the joy of the Lord is your strength" when he saw his workers weeping as they listened to the law read to them (Neh. 8:10).

Discipline: Train Yourself to be Godly

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:44:23 -0500

What will it take in the Christian’s life to overcome broken resolutions and commitments?

It will be a great benefit to realize that there is no such thing as instant godliness. There are no “one minute,” thirty days, or “three easy steps” to a life of righteousness that pleases God. That is not the way God planned for our sanctification.

We are justified instantly by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But justification and sanctification are completely different

Commitment to a Holy Life

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:57:03 -0500

Obedience.

It is a dirty word in our day. We are all like little children; no one wants to obey anyone else. The words “obedience” and “submission” are a constant reminder of our indwelling sin. But whether we like them or not, they get to the heart of our problem of living a holy life.

Jesus said, “If you love Me you will obey Me.” It is our responsibility to obey Him. We cannot obey Him unless we submit to His sovereignty. There can be no holiness in our lives if we do not obey Him. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him,” said Jesus in John 14:21.

Obedience is the road to holiness.

Over the years we have developed habitual patterns of disobedience. We have patterns of sin in our lives. Am I willing to give up these habits that keep me from being all that God wants me to be?

Everlasting Love

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:52:55 -0500

God is in love with you!

The LORD God says to every Christian believer, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I draw you” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Those words are a great encouragement for every believer. God's love for you is an eternal love. It is filled with unfailing care and mercy. He does not say, “I will love you,” but “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”

In New Testament terms the apostle John states the same wonderful truth. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

How do we know such an awesome fact is true? “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for my sins” (v. 10). There has never been a time, or even a moment, when He did not love you.

Justification and Indwelling Sin

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:55:15 -0500

John Brown observed, “Holiness…consists in thinking as God thinks and willing as God wills.” The true child of God knows the daily struggle against inward sin if he knows himself.

One seasoned pastor stressed, “The man who never strives against sin which dwells in him, who indeed is not conscious of any sin to strive against, that is the man who may begin to question whether he knows anything at all about the spiritual life. He who has no inward pain may well suspect that he is abiding in death, abiding therefore under constant condemnation; but that man who feels a daily striving after deliverance from evil, who is panting, and pining, and longing, and agonizing to become holy seen as God is holy, He is the justified man. The man to whom every sin is a misery, to whomever the thought of iniquity is intolerable, he is the man who may with confidence declare, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' Souls that sigh for holiness are not condemned to eternal death, for their sighing proves that they are in Christ Jesus” (C. H. Spurgeon).

The person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is “in Christ.”

Substitution Saves Sinners

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:10:57 -0500

I am saved! There is no ifs, ands or buts about that wonderful fact. There is nothing left for me to do to complete my salvation. Jesus Christ did it all on Calvary. The covenant of salvation by grace through faith has been written in His holy, unblemished blood.

The covenant in His blood guarantees all spiritual blessings are mine forever. Everything that was needed to guarantee my salvation was completed when Jesus shouted, “It is finished!”

Persevering Grace

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:24:24 -0500

If the grace of God were suddenly taken away from you, what would you be? If God removed all of His restraints of love and grace, what would you do?

Jude, in the last two verses of his postcard epistle, stated our need to preserve clearly. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24-25).

The Sinner God Accepts

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:44:06 -0500

I am clean through the blood of Jesus Christ. In deed, if the blood of Jesus does not cover my sin, I am eternally doomed.

What the Jewish sin offering taught by metaphor, Jesus Christ fulfilled in perfect reality.

The animal chosen for the sacrifice on all occasions was spotless, without blemish, and sinless.

The person offering the sacrifice placed his hands on the head of the animal and while pressing down confessed his sins symbolizing a transference of sin and guilt from the offender to the innocent substitute victim. It is as if he put the sin and its consequences on the head of the animal that was to die in his place.

The priest then took his knife and killed the victim that was entirely consumed by fire symbolizing God's judgment.

The LORD God made Jesus Christ an offering for sin. The moment we put our hands upon His head by faith and see Him being offered up on the cross for our guilt, we know that our sins have been transferred to Him, and we are free of our guilt. We are clean through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Come and Believe as Little Children

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:47:08 -0500

In one of my pastorates I brought a message on the death and resurrection to a close, and as I began to issue the invitation for all who would believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior a seventy-year-old man came running down the aisle. He had put his faith in Jesus Christ as the sermon was being presented, and he wanted everyone to know it.

Little did either of us know at the time, but several months later I would conduct his funeral.

As I spent time with he and his wife he shared with me his childhood experience of living across the street from a beautiful large church. On Sunday mornings he and his little brother would sit on the steps of their house and watched the people enter the building. They wanted to go to church so badly that they cried, but they had been told they did not have good enough clothes.

In disbelief I respectively listened and I turned to Mark 10:13-16 and read these words to this lovely couple. “They were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them” (Mark 10:13-16).

How Can a Person Please God?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:16:40 -0500

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

We can state the same truth by answering the question, how can man please God? The author of the Epistle of Hebrews in chapter eleven gives a list of people who did please God.

“By faith Able offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain . . .” (v. 4).

“By faith Enoch was take up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (v. 5).

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household” (v. 7).

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (v. 8).

“By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise . . . for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (vv. 9-10).

One Perfect Sacrifice for Sinners

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:20:54 -0500

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was completed at the cross when He shouted, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It was finished and as a result it is forever done. “It stands finished.” Nothing else needed to be done from the moment Christ died. It was a once-and-for-all completed sacrifice for sin.

It was in the shedding of His blood on the cross that Christ both ratified the New Testament and purchased the believer's redemption The prominent term used in reference to the atonement in the New Testament is the “blood.” The blood of Christ indicates the all-encompassing redemptive work of Christ on the cross.

Since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was completed on the cross at Calvary it is not correct to say that Christ offered His blood upon the heavenly mercy seat. Christ ascended into heaven because His work of atonement was finished, not in order to compete it. He did not need to present His blood in heaven because our redemption was already an accomplished fact (Hebrews 9:7-12, 24-25; 10:19; 13:12, 20; 1 John 2:2, etc). Christ did not have to make an offering for Himself like the Old Testament high priest did year after year on the Day of Atonement. He was already perfect in His relationship with the LORD God. There was no need for Christ to present blood in heaven for anything. He needed only to present Himself in heaven because He is the perfect High Priest.

Prayer of the Savior for All Believers

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:39:03 -0500

In John chapter seventeen we are received with our great High Priest into “the holiest of all.” “The prayer of the Savior (in John 17) rises as it proceeds… and now He reaches His crowning point – that they may be with Him where He is and behold His glory… that prayer is more after the divine pattern which, like a ladder rises round by round, until is looses itself in heaven.”

C. H. Spurgeon continues, “His prayer was in heaven, and He Himself was there in spirit. What a hint that gives to us! How readily may we quit the field of battle, and the place of agony, and rise into such fellowship with God, that we may think, and speak and act, as if we were already in possession of our eternal joy!” (Sermons Preached in 1881, Vol. XVII, p. 68-69).

In this great high priestly prayer of Jesus, we stand on holy ground as we go into the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

The great reformer and companion of Martin Luther said in his last lecture before he died, “There is no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, more fruitful, more sublime than the prayer offered up by the Son of God Himself.”

Joseph's Secret to Success

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:12:38 -0500

Tucked away in his father's blessing is an illustration that the blessings of the Lord are greater than anything we can imagine on this earth. One commentator has said, “It is the Old Testament equivalent to John 15:1-17 where Jesus taught His disciples to abide in the vine. Whether the Old or the New Testament, the secret of spiritual fruitfulness is union with the Lord God through Jesus Christ.”

“Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall” (Genesis 49:22 NIV). That is the testimony of the Bible. “The LORD was with Joseph… The LORD blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph… The LORD was with Joseph… The LORD was with him, and whatever he did, that the LORD made to prosper” (Genesis 39: 2, 5, 21).

The LORD God caused Joseph's vine to “climb over a wall” into Egypt, and God used him there. “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:52). “God has made me lord of all Egypt” (45:9).

Joseph was saying, “I saw God do it!” The LORD God was sovereign in his life, and it was His sovereign grace that delivered and sustained him during those long hard years in Egypt as a Hebrew slave.

The Carnal Mind and a New Mind

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:06:56 -0500

George Whitfield, the eighteenth century evangelist, was correct when he said, “If the unregenerate man could enter heaven, he would be so unhappy in heaven, that he would ask God to let him run down to hell for shelter.”

How could the enemies of God sit down at the banquet of the Lamb of God?

Universalism wants us to bury our heads in the sand.

The carnal mind is enmity against God all the time. So why would such a person ever want to be in God's holy presence? It is against everything God is for in His universe. It sets the world system and all it teaches in opposition to the LORD God.

The carnal mind is a “depraved spirit that is set on those things which are not proper” (Romans 1:28). How would you know one if you saw it? Romans 1:29-32 says, “Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

Our Old Carnal Sinful Nature

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:10:20 -0500

The Christian makes progress in sanctification in his daily life as he yields to the Holy Spirit. He is in perpetual war against the old nature or flesh. The greater power in the conflict is the Spirit of God who indwells the true believer. The indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit is the secret to our spiritual growth in the likeness of Christ.

The apostle Paul recognized the true believer’s battle with sin in Galatians 5:16-17. The flesh and the spirit are in continuous war. The human body is not evil per se, but we do have an old nature with its continuing tendency to sin and rebellion against God. It is this old flesh nature or self that wars with the Spirit.

The Call of God to Salvation

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:50:19 -0500

To those who are called of God, the good news in Jesus Christ is the power of God. If you are called of God, you know it. It is a matter of pure experience between you and the risen Christ. The true believer can declare, “Now I know in whom I have believed.”

C. H. Spurgeon said, “Ah! What a mercy it is that it is not your hold of Christ that saves you but His hold of you! What a sweet fact that it is not how you grasp His hand, but His grasp of yours that saves you! Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” "But we preach Christ crucified… to those who are called, both to Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23a, 24).

How to Produce Works of the Flesh

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 14:51:32 -0500

The desires of the flesh produce the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-21). The Bible admonishes us not to gratify or carry out the desire of the flesh (v.16).

How do you not fulfill the desire within your old nature that leads to evil behavior?

There are really two dynamics at work in Galatians 5:16-17. There is the promise that is realized in those who walk by the Holy Spirit. If you walk by the Spirit, you will definitely not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The person who walks by the Spirit will be able to resist the flesh in the end – in its wicked desire that is bent on your total domination. One dynamic spiritual principle leads to spiritual slavery. The end result is an evil lifestyle as described in vv.19-21. If you yield to the desire of the flesh, this is what your life will produce.

Keep on Walking by the Holy Spirit

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 22:38:34 -0500

The Holy Spirit suppresses the evil impulses of nature as the believer trusts Him to do so. As we cooperate with Him in the work of sanctification He enables us to be victorious in the Christian life.

It is the responsibility of every true believer to submit his life to the control of the Holy Spirit.

In the context of a church biting, devouring, and destroying Christian fellowship, the apostle Paul admonished Christians to “walk by the spirit.” Conduct yourself under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. Let the inward impulses of the Holy Spirit continue to control your behavior.

The Spirit is the source of all good and gracious impulses in your life. He works within the believer enabling with sanctifying power. The Spirit gives us wisdom and direction and by His help and power we live and overcome the inevitable temptations, sorrows and joys in life.

The present tense of the verb “to walk” (peripateite) indicates a continuing condition or need. Paul is encouraging the believers to keep on doing what they have been doing, i.e., “Keep on walking by the Spirit.” Keep in step; don’t fall out now.

A New Creation, Not Yet Perfect

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 19:52:37 -0500

“The believer is a new man, a new creation, but he is a new man not yet made perfect,” observes John Murray.

The born again believer still has to deal with indwelling sin. He still sins even though he is growing in Christ likeness and is the subject of the progressive sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

The believer is being transfigured into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

The emphasis the apostle Paul makes in Romans 6:14, 17, 18-20 is there has been a radical change in the believer's relationship to sin. It is true that the believer still sins, but he is no longer a slave to sin. Sin no longer reigns as in the condition of the old man, the unregenerate person. Romans 7:14-25 teaches us that sin still remains in the believer's mind, affections, and will. Slavery to sin is broken. But as Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:20-24, and Colossians 3:9-10 brings out the struggle in the heart of the very believer.

Parable of the Sower

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 23:34:16 -0500

The parable of the sower sheds great light on what happens in churches when individuals make public decisions to follow Jesus Christ and then drop out of sight. Our situation is not much different than in Jesus’ day when the masses of people had rejected Him (Matthew 11:16-24). They could not understand the deeper things about the kingdom of God. However, the disciples responded to His teaching and believed on Him.

It is at that point in His ministry that Jesus began to teach using parables, which are earthy stories with heavenly meanings. Jesus deliberately chose to withhold further truth about Himself and the kingdom from the masses. When the crowds heard the parables, it seemed to them little more than an interesting but pointless story that taught no profound spiritual truth.

On the other hand, the disciples heard Jesus teaching the parables and their powers of spiritual perception developed and Jesus' teachings on the kingdom became clearer to them.

Absolute Truth

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 17:45:39 -0500

Josh McDowell said recently that most evangelical Christian youth in the United States no longer believe in “absolute truth.”

“In 1991, 52 percent of our born again church kids said there is no absolute truth. In 1994, 62 percent said there is no absolute truth. In 1999, 78 percent of born again church kids said there is no absolute truth. In 2002, 91 percent of our born again church kids said there is no absolute truth.”

The cause of this problem is the influence of secular education and secular media since the 1960’s. This adverse effect upon moral authority is also reflected in the beliefs and attitudes of these teens’ parents.

The Lord's Supper

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 19:43:26 -0500

The observance of the Lord’s Supper is filled with great Biblical doctrine. Matthew writes, “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28).

No, the substance of the bread is not literally changed into the substance of the body of Jesus Christ. We do not literally handle the body of Jesus. On the other hand, neither is the unchanged substance of the bread united with the substance of Christ’s body. The bread is unchanged, and that was obvious to the disciples who saw Jesus break the bread.

Living with Others

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 20:39:16 -0500

The Bible is filled with admonitions on how to build better relationships and how to live with other people. A few years ago I read through the Bible marking all the passages that speak of personal relationships. I was amazed at the hundreds of passages that teach us how to live with one another. Here are a few glimpses at relationships in Romans 12-15.

God's Perfect Goal for You

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 14:44:30 -0500

C. S. Lewis said, “Our Lord . . . warned people to ‘count the cost’ before becoming Christians. Make no mistake,’ He says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you may push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through… I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect—until My Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with Me’” (Mere Christianity, pp. 157-58).

The apostle Paul wrote, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

What is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God? What is that “good work”?

Reasonable, Spiritual Service of Worship

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 23:27:09 -0500

God is looking for holy vessels that are dedicated for His use alone.

We have been bought with a price – the infinite precious blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we now belong to God. We no longer belong even to ourselves. We have been “separated” for God's use alone. Something that is “holy” is reserved and can be used only for that dedicated purpose.

The Temple of Jerusalem was “holy” in that it was to be used for only one purpose and that was in the worship of the LORD God of Israel. The priest was “holy” because he belonged to God. The animal sacrifices were “holy” because they no longer belonged to the one offering, but to God alone.

The Christian is to be a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your reasonable, spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).

Living, Holy and Acceptable Sacrifice to God

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:30:40 -0500

“The only problem with a living sacrifice is it wants to crawl off the altar.”

The Christian's sacrifice is to be a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God.

The apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).

These words in the New Testament give an urgent, earnest appeal to all believers in Christ. “I urge you” is an earnest exhortation and encouragement based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The apostle's urgent appeal is based on everything he has written in the first eleven chapters of Romans. Live constantly with the Gospel message you have heard and believed. Every born again believer is under obligation to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus Christ and live in a manner of life becoming to God's saving grace.

Living, Holy and Acceptable Sacrifice to God

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:43:19 -0500

“The only problem with a living sacrifice is it wants to crawl off the altar.”

The Christian’s sacrifice is to be a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God.

The apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).

These words in the New Testament give an urgent, earnest appeal to all believers in Christ.

The Attitude of Christ

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:42:03 -0500

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

The Christian faith of the first century of Christianity was centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The preeminence of Christ was the focus of the early preaching in the church. Christianity is Christ, and as in many other passages, Philippians 2:5-11 makes this emphatically clear.

Even before His incarnation, Jesus was in the form of God and was equal to God. Jesus Christ eternally possesses all of God’s attributes. He is God...

Do You Have Life's Greatest Satisfaction?

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:32:06 -0500

One of the most delightful books I have read was Surprised by Joy in which the brilliant Cambridge scholar C. S. Lewis tells how the “Hound of Heaven” tracked him down and brought him to his knees to surrender to Jesus Christ.

“I was going up Headington Hill on top of a bus. Without words and (I think) almost without images, a fact about myself was somehow presented to me. I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shifting shutting something out. Or, if you like, that I was wearing some stiff clothing, like corsets, or even a suit of armor, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being there and then given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armor or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as a duty; no threat or promise was attached to either, though I knew that to open the door or to take off the corset meant the incalculable. The choice appeared to be momentous but I was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desire or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say, ‘I chose, yet it did not really seem possible to do the opposite.’’

A short time later in his room at Magdalene College in Cambridge, England, he made a final personal commitment to Jesus Christ. “In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed: perhaps that night the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England” (Surprised by Joy, pp. 224, 228-29).

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

Eternal Consequences of Critical Choices

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:26:47 -0500

“The wages if sin is death.” Those are startling words.

The only wages sin pays results in death spiritually and eternally.

The wages of sin is death spiritually. That means spiritual eyes that cannot see God, spiritual ears that cannot hear His voice. It means a spiritual heart that is hardened to God and cannot respond to the atoning sacrifice of His Son.

"Dead in trespasses and sins" is the way the apostle Paul describes our problem in Ephesians 2:1.

The greater horror is that this spiritual death leads to eternal death, separated from God in hell, or what the Bible calls the "second death."

To die the "second death" is to end all possibility of ever receiving God's gift of eternal life and is the ultimate in sin.

Are You Saved?

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:28:28 -0500

Have you been saved? Have you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? It is a question that is almost exclusive to Christianity.

The word saved in the Bible had three tenses. We were saved from the penalty of sin the very moment we put our trust in Christ Jesus as our savior. We are now being saved from the power of sin by the process of progressive sanctification. Moreover, we shall be saved from the presence of sin at the coming of our Lord in His glory.

We were justified by faith in Christ, we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and we shall be glorified when Christ returns for us.

Do You Have the Mind of Christ?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:34:34 -0500

“Have you the mind of Christ?”

Do I see the beauty of a holy life as Jesus saw it? Do I see lost people through His eyes? Do I understand the eternal purpose of God with the same conviction that Jesus had?

The apostle Paul said, “We have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16). What are the implications of having that mind?

In contrast to the pagan false “wisdom” Paul sets forth the wisdom from God, “That is found in the righteousness and sanctification and wisdom of God in Christ. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

In God’s magnificent wisdom, He has been “well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe,” and the message preached is “Christ crucified.”

Speak Lord, for Your Servant Listens

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:29:26 -0500

It is difficult to listen to God speak to us. Drawing near to God is not only speaking to Him, but it is hearing God speak.

It is difficult to be silent before Him. We are a lot like the disciple Peter who in his anxiety before The Almighty was quick to speak and slow to be quiet and to sit silently in His presence (Matthew 17:4-5). We are quick to jump in and start babbling when we need to be quiet and “hear Him.” It is far more difficult to be silent before God than to speak to God. Most of us have forgotten how to sit in silence and listen for God.

We need to cultivate the silence of the soul. For most people it is frightening to be still and silent. Perhaps this is why our generation is quick to say God does not speak as in days of old.

“My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation” (Ps. 62:1). The Psalmist used a word meaning, “silence, still, repose, and still waiting.” The word connotes the silence of death. It is good for us to wait on God in silent repose.

Love Your Enemies

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:23:08 -0500

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-45). The Pharisees taught the people to hate the enemies of Israel. The implication was that this hatred was God's means of judging their enemies. Jesus taught the people just the opposite. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

The Christian is to love others as God loves them. This is God’s standard of love. God doesn’t have to love us. He loves us because He chooses to love; it’s only by His grace. He loves us while we were alienated from Him as His enemies. The sinful mind is hostile toward God.

Jesus Christ died for us while we were enemies. He died for us while we were helpless sinners (Romans 5:6-11; 5:8-9).

Christ died for the sinner, the enemy; that is the full measure of God’s infinite love. Have you come to know that love by experience? God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you on the cross.

Soul Prosperity

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:07:37 -0500

Are you as well off physically as you are spiritually?

“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).

The consistent message through out the Bible is that we are sinners and we need a transformed life. We cannot keep the Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount or any of the demands of a holy God. The Christian life begins with a confession of our failure to live up to God's holy demands, and our personal trust in Jesus Christ. It takes a new birth to make us right with God.

The apostle John sent greetings to a faithful servant of Christ named Gaius. His wish is for Gaius’ outward prosperity to correspond to the condition of his soul. Verses 2-6 demonstrate that he was an outstanding man in his church.

How would you like for your pastor, family and friends to pray for you with that request? “Lord bless Will and prosper him that he will be in good health just as his soul prospers.

Servants Have No Rights

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:41:17 -0500

We live in a day when everyone insists on his or her personal rights. The courts of law are full of people who feel their “rights” have been infringed upon grievously. It is the theme in every lawyer's office. “You have your rights,” the highway billboard shouts to passing passengers.

While pastoring in the U. S., I received phone calls from lawyers quite often saying they were “Christian lawyers” looking out for the “rights” of pastors and if I ever needed good legal counsel they were readily available.

That is the sad state of affairs in the world in which we live.

However, Jesus said servants have no rights. Read carefully His words to would be followers:

Prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:02:18 -0500

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).

These two jailbirds were beaten to a pulp, bruised and bleeding and there they were “praying and singing hymns of praise to God.” What a privilege in time of need to receive encouragement and comfort from God Himself.

True prayer is offered to God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Guidance of the Holy Spirit

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:17:40 -0500

The apostle Paul experienced the leading of the Holy Spirit in his daily life. He saw a great spiritual principle in the Christian life. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

How has God been leading you lately? Is the Spirit of God taking you deeper and deeper into the love of Christ? Has He illumined your mind and heart to a greater longing for God's righteousness? Has He led you to individuals hungering and thirsting for the righteousness of God? Has He brought into your life unbelievers with whom to share the saving grace of God?

It is the ministry of the Holy spirit to take sinners and sanctify them. He sets them apart for God's unique purpose.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of holiness and He can only lead and guide holy people. He can lead us into nothing else than the very holiness of God.

Surprised by God

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:08:49 -0500

Has the Holy Spirit caught you by surprise lately? Has He unveiled to you a deeper understanding of the person of Jesus Christ?

He always speaks through His inspired Word, the Scriptures. It is His desire to “guide us into all truth . . . He will show you things to come” (John 16:13).

Jesus Christ is the one great glorious theme of the Holy Spirit. He never speaks of Himself because the role of the Spirit of God is to bear witness to Jesus Christ alone. Jesus said, “He will glorify Me.”

The Witnessing Spirit

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:20:30 -0500

Bill Bright said, “Successful witnessing is simply sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Sprit and leaving the results to God.”

Jesus promised all His disciples the presence of the Holy Spirit to be effective witnesses. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses . . .” (Acts 1:8). And “when the day of Pentecost has come” they were all witnesses. Before the day was over “there was added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). That is what happens when a preacher is preaching from the overflow.

There is a sweet fragrance about the name of Jesus and those who emit the distinctive qualities that name signifies. He “manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved . . .” (2 Cor. 2:14-15).

That is what should happen in the daily lives of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Christian Perfection (11)

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:58:55 -0500

It is true that we will never be perfect in this life, but the perfections outlined by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are still those for which we should aim and that we should increasingly attain by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We are to aim at Christ-like character. Jesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

How good must a person be to stay saved?

Christian Perfection (I)

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:18:40 -0500

How good does a person have to be in order to be saved? Perhaps we can best answer that question by asking, how perfect is God?

Jesus said, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

The LORD God told the children of Israel, “You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2; cf. Deut. 18:13).

The Hebrew word tam or tamim means to be “without defect” or “without blemish.” The Hebrew sacrifices had to be “without blemish,” spotless and entirely without defect (Exodus 12:5; 29:1; 1 Pet. 1:19; Eph. 5:27). Another word shalem means “whole” or “complete.” That which is without defect or blemish is complete.

God’s righteous standard never changes because He does not change. God is the perfect standard or He would not be God.

A Christian Witness to the Whole World

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:37:49 -0500

I am involved in something that will still be worthwhile a million years from now because God has not revoked the great commission.

Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14).

Today the kingdom of God is realized as we proclaim the crucified, risen, and returning Lord Jesus Christ.

Fully Equipped with Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:44:18 -0500

When an individual is born into God’s family by faith in Jesus Christ, he is born with all that he needs to grow toward spiritual maturity.

How many believers fail to realize “you are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10)? You are complete in Christ for the only experience you need is the new birth. You do not have to look for something else, something new, something different, and something in addition to Christ.

What is needed in the Christian life is to continue to grow in what we received when we received Christ at the new birth. We have been fully equipped in Christ

Salvation by Grace through Faith in Christ

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:10:58 -0500

The work of Jesus Christ as Savior is the prominent theme in the Bible. He is the promised seed of woman who will conquer Satan (Gen. 3:15). He is the promised Servant of Yahweh who would bear the sins of the whole world (Isa. 53:4-6; Jn. 1:24). As the Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross and suffered the judgment of the sin of the whole world (I Cor. 15:3-4; II Cor. 5:19-21; I Pet. 1:18-19; I Jn. 2:2; Rev. 1:5).

The atoning substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the absolute guarantee of the believer's salvation (Rom. 8:34). The all-sufficient, sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ has been shed, and it is by that blood God has been propitiated (I Jn. 2:2). The divine penalty has been born by Christ (I Pet. 2:24; 3:18).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's seal upon the death of Jesus that guarantees the believer's resurrection and eternal life (Jn. 3:16; 10:28). The resurrection of Jesus proves that His substitutionary work on the cross is infinitely perfect in its all sufficiency.

The offer of salvation is to all who will repent and believe on Jesus Christ.

Salvation from Penalty, Presence of Power of Sin

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:16:13 -0500

The word “salvation” in the Old Testament has the idea of God delivering His people from circumstances in which they are powerless to rescue themselves and in which they are doomed to destruction without God’s help. Sometimes the context is physical deliverance from enemies, and at other times it is the rescue from sin and its consequences. "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness" (Psalm 51:14).

God rescues His people from situations in which nothing but God can rescue them. Salvation is God’s power to deliver and protect in this life and in the age to come.

Hope for Desperate People

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:21:01 -0500

There are no hopeless helpless cases with Jesus Christ.

Jesus always invites desperate, helpless, and seemingly hopeless people to come to Him. He issued the greatest invitation to all hopeless and helpless sinners when He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I wil give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “He looked over the multitudes and felt compassion for them because they were distressed and downcast” (9:36).

Do you feel harassed and thrown aside? To the weary and tired who are ready to give up Jesus says, “Come to Me.”

Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:24:17 -0500

The greatest need of the born again Christian is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are under the control of the Holy Spirit, we will always glorify Jesus Christ. He will be exalted in our speech and in our behavior.

The apostle Paul issued an imperative command when he wrote, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

It is our duty and responsibility to be under the constant influence and control of the Spirit of God.

Paul used a verb in the imperative and issued a command that every Christian believer to be “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Because the Christian life is a supernatural life, the only way to live it is by means of supernatural power. No one can live the Christian life in his or her own power and natural strength because we are dead in our trespasses and sins. God must empower us to live with His power. He brings us to life, and then He indwells us and enables us to live His kind of life. When we obey His command, He gives us His presence without limit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is His enabling.

The Bible and our Sanctification

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 20:17:49 -0500

Almost everything we do daily ultimately involves spiritual warfare. Are we depending on the human weapons, or the spiritual weapons God has provided?

Our battle is not with flesh and blood (Eph. 6:10ff; Matt. 16:18). No battle with the unseen is easy. We cannot fight such a spiritual battle with carnal weapons.

A Good Clear Conscience

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 21:42:01 -0500

One of the greatest blessings for the born again Christian is the deep sense of peace with God (Phil. 4:7, 9; Col. 3:15; John 14:27).

The apostle Paul wrote, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing joint-testimony with me in the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 9:1).

Paul takes a triple oath here because of deep convictions regarding the salvation of the Jewish people. He makes a strong, positive affirmation in Christ, a negative statement that he is not lying, and the appeal to his conscience as a co-witness “in the Holy Spirit.” Paul looked to Christ and rejoiced; he looked at the Jewish people lost in sin and wept. Paul was willing to go to hell for the sake of his lost Jewish friends.

The marvelous thing about the gospel is that “the blood of Christ” cleanses the conscience. The writer of Hebrews says, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14).

Living in the Spirit

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 21:14:28 -0500

Living in the Spirit is living a transparent life. It is a life of obedience to the LORD God, and it is the very life of Jesus Christ Himself given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Has God found in you a person who is willing to obey Him completely? Can He trust you with the pearl of greatest price?

If I am going to live in the Spirit I must say no to self. There are plenty of would be followers of Christ who would follow Him halfway, but not all the way. The other half of the problem is self. Am I willing to die to self?

The normal Christian life is one that is willing to follow the Holy Spirit in complete obedience, without reservation, and disown self. It means to commit yourself literally, utterly, completely in unreserved obedience to Him.

Obedience to the Holy Spirit means freedom.

The Spirit of Love

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 20:15:26 -0500

“God is love” (1 John 4:8). His love cannot change because He does not change. His love had no beginning and never will cease. Because God is infinite, His love is infinite. His love is pure and holy. In deed, His love is incomprehensible.

The apostle Paul wrote words of encouragement to believers saying, “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5; cf. Gal. 4:6).

The Holy Spirit makes the love of God so abundant in the believer's heart that it overflows (1 John 4:8, 16). He is the divine Agent who expresses the love of God to the believer.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). The apostle Paul gave eight aspects of that love. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be imitated. It comes from our abiding in Christ. As the Spirit of love abides in us He bears His fruit to the glory of God.

God’s kind of love is created and fulfilled in us by the Spirit of love.

Abide in the Holy Spirit

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 18:32:23 -0500

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come the disciples realized why Jesus ascended up into heaven. He left them in order that He might be with each one of them in a more intimate relationship.

The Holy Spirit came to fulfill the ministry of Jesus Christ. “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly,” Jesus said (John 10:10b). He indwells so that He can reproduce the character and likeness of Jesus Christ within the born again believer. He continues to do and teach all that Jesus began to do and teach when He was here on the earth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-17).

Abide in the Holy Spirit

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 19:52:55 -0500

The Spirit of Holiness

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 23:10:13 -0500

The God controlled person longs to see only the will of God done in and through him on earth. There can be no true holiness without being obedient to the will of God. It is His will that we be renewed in His own image by the His Spirit and become lovers of His holiness.

The work of the Third Person of the Trinity is to make God's holiness ours. The Spirit of God is pre-eminently “the Holy Spirit.” God is holy. Our Lord Jesus Christ was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). The Holy Spirit, being the Spirit of Christ, is the Spirit of holiness. Without holiness, no man shall see God (Heb. 12:14).

God is holy; His Son is holy; the Holy Spirit is holy. God's holiness stands apart, by itself, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible, and unobtainable to all of His creatures. That is God’s standard, and “in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

The Spirit of Truth

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 20:29:49 -0500

Whenever Jesus Christ is exalted the Third Person of the Trinity is at work. The Bible emphasizes different activities for each of the three members of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He always points us in the direction of the way, and the truth, and the life.

Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

It is through the person and work of Jesus Christ that we know the truth and are set free (John 8:32). Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). A couple of verses later He said to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (v. 9).

Moreover, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth.” He is the Spirit of Christ who is the truth. He exalts the truth and glorifies Christ.

The Divine Person of the Holy Spirit

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 22:36:27 -0500

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit is a person, and should be treated with the respect of a divine person. He is a member of the Trinity, equal to God the Father and God the Son.

I am not saying there are three gods, but three divine persons who are also one. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4).

The unbelieving world will not believe this great Biblical truth because it cannot. “It neither sees Him nor knows Him,” Jesus said. “But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:18). Jesus promised His disciples “another Comforter to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (v. 16). Another divine person was being sent to continue the work of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was not sending a thing, but another divine person, a member of the Godhead.

Get in the Boat with Jesus

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 23:41:05 -0500

The vital thing in discipleship is to actually follow Jesus Christ wherever He goes.

Have I left the lesser loyalties to follow the higher priorities of the Kingdom of God?

It is not enough to be impressed with His person, or what we can get from Him. Perhaps some of our evangelism and friendly “seeker services” are like the people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee seeking another amazing miracle. Perhaps like Carnival, we shout, “Throw me something mister!”

The crowds along the lakeside wanted more healings than teaching. Jesus got into a boat and headed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

The vital thing Jesus wants is for us to follow Him. Jesus still says to would be disciples, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury the dead” (Matthew 8:22). Jesus got in the boat “and His disciples followed Him” (v. 23).

Discipleship

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:14:23 -0500

The call to discipleship is on Christ's terms, not ours.

The cost of discipleship is determined by the Lord, and not by the servant.

In our desperate attempt to play the numbers game in today's churches we invite people to come and join without any regard to the cost of discipleship.

Jesus Christ is Lord; He is the only Lord.

Jesus reached out to touch a leper, and the leper was instantly cleansed. He is the Great Physician and Master over all kinds of sicknesses.

Jesus lay asleep in the stern of the fishing boat and when the disciples feared for their lives Jesus spoke and the storm departed. When Jesus spoke, God spoke. To defy the Lordship of Jesus Christ is to defy God. He spoke as God's authority and as God the Creator. He is the Lord of creation.

Healing in the Atonement

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:47:25 -0500

I believe in miracles. I believe that God heals.

One day all true believers in Christ will be perfectly healed.

Is there “healing in the atonement” so that every believer has the “right” to claim it for himself? There are sincere people who claim Matthew 8:17, quoting Isaiah 53:4 and 1 Peter 2:24 teach healing for everyone today.

Those who teach the faith-cure theory of atonement claim that the atonement of Christ includes spiritual healing as well as the provision for bodily healing. Faith healer campaigns are built around these passages.

God is not obliged to heal all sickness. These passages are not teaching that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in Isaiah on the cross but that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in His life. Jesus bore man's sicknesses and infirmities during His ministry on earth.

The apostle Paul applies the same truth to the forgiveness of our sins, which He bore on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

Be Imitators of God

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:34:26 -0500

“Be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1).

Those words are startling, upsetting, impossible. It is “the ultimate ideal.”

“Be imitators of God.” There can be no higher standard than that. The apostle Paul boldly tells us if we are to be like God we must imitate Him.

How is it possible for us depraved sinners to possibly imitate the sovereign LORD of the universe?

Once we get over the initial shock we realize that as children we are to imitate our parents. We should behave like them assuming they are godly role models.

Let it be clearly stated that “imitating God” has nothing to do with trying to merit eternal life. It has to do with our sanctification. We are to grow in godliness. The supreme example of this idea of imitating God is in the life of Jesus Christ.

What Does God Do With Our Sins?

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:19:59 -0500

There is no greater joy and peace for a sinner than knowing that he or she has been ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven of all his sins.

The Holy Spirit “witnesses with our spirit” giving this great assurance that all our sins are under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our great advocate in heaven pleading our case before the Father. He is not declaring our innocence, but our guilt, and the fact that we have accepted Him as our Substitute who died in our place on the cross.

The Holy Spirit is also our advocate working within us, pointing out our sinfulness and depravity, and giving assurance of the infinite benefits of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse and forgive. He helps us to trust entirely on Jesus Christ and His finished work. The inner advocate never points to Himself, but always to our Lord and Savior who gave Himself up for us.

Condemned!

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:04:48 -0500

Jesus Christ is the best gift God could ever give.

God so loved the sinful, lost, depraved world that He gave His very best.

Can you imagine what it would be like to reject what God considers to be His greatest gift?

The purpose of God giving His gift was to save men, not condemn them.

“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).

Who will be saved? Only those who believe on Christ will be saved.

What about those who will not believe?

God's Greatest Gift

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:57:11 -0500

God has provided salvation for you in Jesus Christ.

In simple, lucid language Jesus sums up the entire Gospel for Nicodemus and us in one beautiful sentence rich in content.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Martin Luther said these “words are able to make the sad happy, the dead alive, if only the heart believes them firmly.”

Jesus revealed what is in the heart of the LORD God. “For God so loved the world.” The very one who came down from heaven reveals the greatest revelation man could ever receive from the Creator.

In these words a holy God is saying to sinful man, “I love you.”

Anointed Preaching

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:58:10 -0500

Preaching is preaching only when the messenger is anointed with the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul tells how he arrived in the city of Corinth not dependent upon self-assurance, self-assertiveness, or a powerful personality, “but in demonstration of the Spirit and power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). In fact, Paul stresses the contrasting difference, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (vv. 2-5).

Only the anointing of the Holy Spirit can make great preaching. Paul was concerned that nothing distract from the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We live in a day that puts much of the emphasis on the attractiveness of the clever mind and entertainment.

Preaching with Power

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:40:01 -0500

Pentecost changed everything (Acts 2).

The disciples of Jesus Christ were powerless before Pentecost. And then things changed. Jesus promised, “You will receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). That was His promise to every believer.

There is no need for the Christian to be powerless today. The baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a climatic, demonstrative, once-for-all experience in the upper room in Jerusalem. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the baptism of the believer into Christ by which he becomes a member of the body of Christ...

Power to Obey

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:26:29 -0500

How many times have you herd the excuse, “But I am afraid I can’t live the Christian life”?

The badge of the true disciple of Jesus Christ is obedient faith.

Jesus told His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

He has commanded us to go and make disciples of every nation. And when we are obedient He gives us the power to obey His command (Acts 1:8).

He gives us Himself, and in the giving of Himself He gives us all that we need to obey Him.

The power we know we need to accomplish His will can be ours if we obey His Word. As we yield ourselves to Him He will fulfill His will in and through us. He does not ask us to do anything that He does not enable us to do.

Fellowship of the Holy Spirit

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:41:16 -0500

"The fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is a blessing for all believers in Christ (2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1).

We do not need any new baptism of the Holy Spirit to enjoy this blessing. All things are ours in the Christian life when we believed on Christ and received Him. The apostle Paul tells us we are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ. Every believer has received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the moment he believed on Christ. The baptism of the Spirit placed us in the body of Christ. We can now enjoy the communion of the Holy Spirit.

Trinitarian Benediction

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:24:16 -0500

The apostle Paul closes Second Corinthians with a beautiful benediction in adoration of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity. This verse has been correctly called “the New Testament Trinitarian benediction.”

The apostle Paul writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

This is the counterpart to the Old Testament benediction found in Numbers 6:24-26. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace’” (Numbers 6:22-26).

God exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet God is one. The Westminster Confession declares, “Three persons in the Godhead . . . the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”

Underneath His Everlasting Arms

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:23:59 -0500

His “everlasting arms” are always sufficient for our unknown future and unfathomable present needs.

What will happen tomorrow? How can we cope with the infinite mystery of the moment? What shall we do? Where shall we turn?

When we contemplate the unknown fear of the future, we discover as Moses did...

The Shield of Faith

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:39:05 -0500

Have you been under a spiritual attack lately? Have you been flamed by the evil one?

Have you had your mind filled with evil thoughts, perhaps even blasphemous thoughts? You were not thinking, idly doing nothing, and suddenly they filled your mind?

Have you been engaged in prayer and found yourself bombarded by thoughts, notions and ideas from every direction that interfere with your concentration on God, on worship, prayer, thanksgiving or adoration?

You Are The Temple of God

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:16:22 -0500

In the Old Testament the LORD God had a temple for His people; however, in the New Testament He has His people for a temple.

The apostle Paul taught, “You are the temple of God” (I Cor. 3:16). The reason he can say that is because we have been redeemed by the death of Jesus Christ. Because of redemption, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the redeemed.

In the old dispensation of the law, the tabernacle and later the temple were given over entirely to God for His sacred use. They were called “holy” because they were separated and used for His purpose and glory alone...

Let's Suppose

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:52:16 -0500

Do you often play the game Let’s Suppose? It goes like this: we imagine all the negative things that can possibly happen to us around a given set of circumstances in our lives. “Suppose I lose my job.” “Suppose I get cancer.” “Suppose I lose my mind.” “Suppose…” You get the idea.

The Hebrew prophet Habakkuk saw the events in his day as Babylonians came knocking on the front door of Jerusalem. Let’s suppose, “the fig tree does not bud” (3:17).

Prayer

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:02:21 -0500

How do you pray in the midst of bad times? How do you approach God when everything seems to you to be going from bad to worse? What is your attitude when God answers, but not in the manner in which you asked? What is your response when to your perspective God contradicts His own righteousness?

Welcome to Habakkuk, the Hebrew prophet in the seventh century B.C. God taught him how to trust Him when everything is filled with confusion and perplexities. Where is God? What is He doing? Why doesn’t He do something now? Habakkuk sounds like us when life begins to unravel and fall apart.

Living by Faith

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:00:16 -0500

The “proud one” is puffed up, swollen with pride. The Hebrew expression is figurative of pride and arrogant self-sufficiency.

This is the strong contrast the prophet is drawing out in this chapter. The wicked is puffed up and has no desire to do what is right in God’s sight. “He is greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied” (v. 5, NIV). Sheol or death is compared to a voracious appetite that can never be satisfied.

The other choice is living by faith in the one who keeps us, not only from the moment we first trust in Him as our Savior, but in every moment of every day of our lives. “But the righteous will live by faith.”

The Lord God Is My Strength

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:20:17 -0500

“We must interpret circumstances by God and not God by the circumstances,” wrote G. Campbell Morgan. “The peril of the hour is that men and women of faith may be trying to account for God by the circumstances of affliction.”

We see God in His activity. He has demonstrated His holiness, justice, and love at the cross. There is no reason why we should ever question His love because of the great manifestation of that love at Calvary. He sent His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 8:32). God does not change in His eternal attributes.

As You Have Received Christ

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:51:37 -0500

The only way you can live the Christian life is by divine provision. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

The apostle Paul wrote, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Colossians 2:6).

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord…”

How did you receive Him? There is only one way as taught in scripture. It is by grace through faith in Christ (Acts 4:12).

Christ Our Redemption

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:52:49 -0500

In the wisdom of God, the plan of salvation was fully accomplished by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Such wisdom is hidden from the wise and learned of the world, but it revealed to the humble believer of Christ.

Christ alone personified the wisdom of God. “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, NASB 1995).

Christ is our redemption. From the moment we put out faith in Jesus Christ alone to save us, we were “Sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

Christ Our Sanctification

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:31:29 -0500

The cross of Jesus Christ is a demonstration of the infinite wisdom of God.

Every philosophy of life is proven by what it ultimately produces in a person's life. God's wisdom produces perfect righteousness.

God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

God in His grace gives a believing sinner a right relationship with Him based on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Jesus died in the sinner's place. “The wages of sin is death,” and Jesus died that death for us. Christ is our righteousness and for all who trust in Him as their Savior.

The apostle Paul tells us not only that Jesus Christ is the wisdom and the righteousness of God, but He is also our sanctification. “By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, NASB 1995).

Christ Our Righteousness

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 21:40:05 -0500

One of the great majestic names of the LORD God is “The LORD Our Righteousness” (Jer. 33:16).

Jesus Christ is our righteousness (1Corinthians 1:30). We do not and cannot attain a right relationship with God in our own righteousness because our self-righteousness is as filthy rags. We are guilty sinners in the need of a perfect righteousness (Rom. 3:23; Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23).

When we speak of Christ our righteousness, we are using a great forensic term referring to our acquittal by God. All that we have as Christians we have received as a free gift of God through Jesus Christ. We are justified once and for all by grace through faith in Christ. It never has to be repeated because it is a non-repeatable event. When we are untied to Christ, we have a righteous and holy standing before God. We are “in Christ.” We have a vital union in Him. We enjoy a right relationship with God because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. Christ is the basis of our perfect acceptance with God (2 Cor. 5:21).

God has robed us with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. He is the basis of our acceptance with God.

Son of Man

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 18:18:40 -0500

Jesus referred to Himself a the Son of Man.

He deliberately chose this title to conceal and reveal eternal truths about Himself. No other title used by Jesus of Himself so clearly testifies to His messianic self-consciousness.

In Ezekiel the expression "Son of Man" is used more than ninety times by God addressing the prophet (Ezek. 2:1; 3:1, etc.). In this most basic usage it simply means an indefinite expression for "a man." The phrase brings out the humanity, weakness, and frailty of the prophet in contrast to the infinite glory, strength, and knowledge of the LORD God.

Sin and Salvation

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 19:30:37 -0500

“Whatever else man is, he is not what he was meant to be,” observed G. K. Chesterton.

Can you say that you have never desired to do any thing forbidden? How would you respond to a given situation if you had the opportunity to commit your favorite sin and no one would ever find out? What would you do if God did not deliver you from your favorite temptation?

Sin deceives because it begins with an attitude of the heart (Matt. 5:21-28). It takes God off His throne and enthrones sinful man. When we do this over a period of time our hearts become hardened against the things of God. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." It can no longer recognize God when He does speak through

The Kingdom of God Has Come

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 11:49:18 -0500

Jesus Christ has come; therefore, the kingdom of God has come to man.

It takes the supreme power of God to overcome the strong, but not omnipotent power of Satan.

Since Jesus came and drove out demons by the power of God, the kingdom of God has come. The King in the kingdom is Jesus Christ the Messiah.

Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28).

Overcoming Temptation Successfully

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 18:51:45 -0500

The successful method Jesus used in dealing with temptation was to submit every desire to the word and will of God and then obey the verdict found there. That is the only method that works.

In an intense inner agony of choice and decision, Jesus refused to compromise the will of God. He refused to compromise His own integrity. For Him everything in His life was completely subjected to the will of His Father

All Things in Christ

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 19:31:31 -0500

Do you want your life to count to the greatest degree imaginable for the glory of God? Years ago I decided that I wanted to live to the hilt of every situation that I believe to be the will of God. I want to experience the full measure of the blessings of Christ in my life and ministry.

Every spiritual blessing we enjoy comes in and through Jesus Christ. Every believer is an “heir of God and co-heir with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

IXOUS -The Fish

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:59:21 -0500

You see the symbol of the fish all the time on the rear of cars, trucks, briefcases, lapel pins, entrances to houses, logos on businesses, etc. Often the symbol contains five Greek letters, IXOUS. It is pronounced “ichthus.” What does the fish represent?

Because of intense persecution of believers in the early church, when two complete strangers met they would enter into a conversation, and after a few minutes one of them would take his foot and draw an arch on the ground. It would be the top or bottom half of the fish symbol. If the other person were a Christian, he would take his foot or finger and complete the other half of the symbol of the fish. Then...

What Does Jesus See?

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 18:35:41 -0500

Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, walked into the temple area, and thoroughly looked all around contemplating what He already knew. He observed all the facts before Him.

As Jesus looked about Him, He measured everything by divine standards. He saw everything through the eyes of God. He never looked at anything through the eyes of the world system’s convenience or selfishness.

What did Jesus see that day in the temple? Mark tells us in chapter eleven of his Gospel that Jesus saw religion commercialized. Religion had been made easy (Mark 11:15-17). He saw the family of the high priest selling sacrificial animals and moneychangers exchanging foreign coins for a profit.

The Song of Two Jail Birds

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 16:22:05 -0500

“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). It was a prayer and praise service going on in a Roman prison! The other prisoners were attentively listening to every word.

The effect of true Christianity is still the same since the first century A.D. These men “have turned the world upside down.” They were guilty of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 16:16-23). Those were the charges against them.

Jacob, Why Are You Limping?

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:12:39 -0500

Can you imagine a man wrestling with God and winning?

Before Jacob could cross the Jabbok River, a man attacked and fought with him. The fight was real, and it was physical. "Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak" (Genesis 32:22-24). They wrestled all night in a long decisive battle until daybreak. The man with whom Jacob wrestled refused to reveal Himself directly (v. 29). Probably if Jacob realized he would be fighting against God, he never would have engaged the Man.

The Place of Power in Preaching

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:29:07 -0500

I have had the privilege of preaching God’s word and seeing His presence move over and audience and hundreds of listeners respond to His word. I have also preached and in humility, emptied the house. I have watched people stand in the rain and listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and refuse to leave until the last word was said and the last prayer was prayed. I have also to my dismay waited for people to come to church while it was raining and hardly anyone arrived.

Waiting on the Lord

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:00:57 -0500

God works for those who love Him and wait upon Him. When we make ourselves available to Him, we are marveled by the things He does in and through us.

The apostle Paul saw that great truth put into practice in His life and ministry. "But just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The apostle is quoting Isaiah 64:4. God is at work all about us. What do you see Him doing today in your community, the school you attend, your family, and in your life?

In the Presence of Christ

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:35:44 -0500

God is absolutely free from all limitations of space and time. God’s essential nature is spirit.

It is with that truth in mind we would see Jesus with the apostle John in Revelation 1:17 ff. “God is spirit.” He cannot be imagined, and we cannot use anything to help our conception of Him. Nothing that can be made, seen, or touched can help us worship a spiritual and invisible God.

The LORD God dwells in unapproachable light, the very God of very God, even Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Why Christians Remain Babies

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:54:19 -0500

Why do most Christians remain spiritual babies? The author of Hebrews tells us it is because they choose not to go on to maturity in Christ Jesus.

The capacity for entering into deeper spiritual truths depends on the faithfulness with which the soul has been obedient in discerning good and evil in our daily lives.

Our fellowship with God depends upon our obedience to His Word, and our obedience determines how much spiritual maturity takes place in our lives.

Moral and Spiritual Discernment

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:15:49 -0500

The greatest crisis in the church today is the lack of moral and spiritual discernment. The power of moral discrimination is the mark of spiritual maturity in contrast to childhood. Poor judgment is exercised and lives are destroyed and testimonies ruined.

Every study reveals the same disparity between everyday life and Christian teaching. There is little difference between the professing Christian and the world. Talk to any spiritually mature pastor, and you hear the same lament. One pastor said recently, “One morning I am going to stand up and shout, “Grow up!”

Hebrews 5:11-14 deals with the same problem. "Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Living Faith in a Living God

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:55:03 -0500

Everything in the Christian life depends on the heart. It is with the heart that man believes unto salvation (Rom. 10:9-10). “The heart of every problem is a problem of the heart.” A “hard heart” results from an erring heart and a disbelieving heart. The “heart” is the center and seat of all spiritual life. It is the soul or mind, the fountain seat of our thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors; the seat of our intelligence, will and character” (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon).

Consider Jesus the Apostle and High Priest

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:55:30 -0500

The writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers to gaze upon Jesus and contemplate Him, therefore increasing our knowledge, devotion, and faith in Him. What does he wish for us to “consider?”

He wants us to see the significance and thoroughly weigh the evidence of Christ’s superiority over the prophets, angels, and the patriarchs of Israel. Because of the greatness of His person, the effectiveness of His redemptive work will be pleasing to God the Father.

The writer of Hebrews is addressing Christians calling them “holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling” (v.1).

Believers in Jesus Christ are saints. We are “holy brethren” in our standing with God because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ....

Search Me, O God

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:58:00 -0500

What shall be our response to the LORD God who knows everything about us all the time? How should we respond to His abiding presence that never leaves us? Because He is all-powerful, how then should we live our lives? Knowing that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent should make us want to please Him in everything we do.

The Psalmist David did not want to be influenced by evil persons. He did not love the sinner’s life-style. “O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies” (Psalm 139:19-22).

Custom Made by God

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:59:46 -0500

The Psalmist David observed that the LORD God “formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Our Creator not only created the first man Adam, but He continues to create. There is not another person on the face of this earth with the same genes, DNA, and chromosomes. I am a unique person, custom made by God for a specific purpose in history. No one else can fulfill that purpose in history; no one else can fulfill my purpose.

God’s dealings with you and me are not a duplicate of His dealings with anyone else in time and space. It is unique to me because I am unique. There is no one else like me. A person who wants to be something different from God’s purpose for him is like a cancer cell. We become like cancer cells in the body of Christ when we want to be like someone else and not what God wants us to be...

God Is An Eyewitness

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:59:42 -0500

The final words of Jesus just before He ascended into heaven are a constant encouragement in my ministry and should be for every Christian.

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

It is great reassurance to remind ourselves, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (v.20).

God's Perfect Knowledge of Us

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:16:18 -0500

A. W. Tozer wrote in Knowledge of the Holy, "God knows instantly and effortlessly all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every uttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell…"

The apostle Paul said, "Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!" (Rom 11:33)

Praise To the All-Knowing God

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:21:48 -0500

Do you long for an intimate love relationship with the LORD God? Here is a good place to begin. The Psalmist calls us to respond personally to an all-knowing, ever present, and all-powerful sovereign God who loves us intimately.

You might find it frightening, but I am deeply encouraged that the great God of the universe sees and knows everything exhaustively and perfectly. He definitely did not wind up the universe and walk away from His design. He is intimately involved in the details of His creation.

“O LORD, Thou has searched me and know me. Thou hast known when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thoughts from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.

What Is God Like?

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:03:36 -0500

The LORD God is an infinite person. We can come to know Him only as He has chosen to reveal Himself in nature and in His own Word. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse declaring the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1). God has chosen to reveal Himself in His creation (Col. 1:16-17; John 1:3; Rev. 4:11; Rom. 2:14-15). The Creator did not leave Himself without a witness to His grace and mercy. He reveals Himself to the world by His common grace (Acts 14:17; 17:24-29).

God has revealed Himself in His personal name. In Exodus 3:14 He revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush as “I AM WHO I AM.” “I AM” is the LORD, “the God of you fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (v.16).

This is the “four letter” name of God, called the Tetragrammaton. It has four consonants commonly spelled YHWH, YHVH or JHVH. The vowels are supplied and hence the spelling “Yahweh.” Several English translations of the Bible use the word LORD in all capital letters to signify Yahweh. Others use the name “Jehovah.” All of these are attempts to communicate the unpronounceable Name.

What Is Your Name?

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:38:23 -0500

What is your name?

“May I have your identification, please?”

Moses asked God His name as he stood before the burning bush. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He is the eternal “I AM,” the same yesterday, today, and forever who makes His covenant with His people. He is the God of salvation. As the God of grace, He becomes whatever is required to meet the needs of His people. He is “the Becoming One.”

Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus, was told that Mary “will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). His name means, “Yahweh is salvation” or “Jehovah saves.”

What is your name? How does the world identify you as a follower of Jesus Christ?

The Common Grace of God

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:25:44 -0500

God owes us nothing.

God owes us nothing, yet He has poured out His blessings on every man and woman.

The two aspects of grace are available to all humanity in general and special or saving grace.

Common grace is available to all human beings without discrimination. The first mention of grace is found in Genesis 6:8. "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." God extended His grace 120 years while Noah preached righteousness.

Either We Die or He Dies

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:08:04 -0500

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The Scriptures are very clear that the wrath of God is visited upon sinners or else that the Son of God dies for them. Either sinners are punished for their sins or else there takes place a substitution. Either the sinner dies or the substitute dies.

When Jesus Christ became “a curse for us” according to Galatians 3:13-14, He bore the full consequences of our sin. When God made Him sin that we might become “the righteousness of God,” then in some way He took upon Himself our sin and we bear it no more (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God made Jesus die as our substitute that death which is the wages of sin.

Christ died for us; He died that death of ours which is the wages of sin. In the death of Christ, God condemned our sins once and for all.

The Most Important Word in the Bible

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:59:15 -0500

The theologian Karl Barth was asked what was the most important word in the Bible. The great thinker replied, “Hyper.”

You might have thought he would have said, “love,” or agape, but he didn’t. He chose a Greek preposition used in the New Testament meaning “on behalf of,” or “in place of” another.

This is the most important word because it signifies that the death of Jesus was in our place and for us. He died so that we might not have to die spiritually and be eternally separated from God in hell.

Why is this word so important, and why should we remind ourselves of it often?

Jesus Christ died for me. He died on “behalf of” or “in place of” the believer.

Super Conquerors through Christ

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:52:28 -0500

Satan is a very dangerous enemy.

We are engaged in the spiritual battle of our lives.

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The odds in such a spiritual battle are not very good if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

There can never be an armistice or truce in our spiritual warfare. From the moment we became believers in Christ Jesus we were made targets of the world, the flesh and the devil. There is never a moment when that is not true.

Why does the apostle Paul consider the believers “more than conquerors” in the spiritual battles? “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Who Shall Separate Us From The Love Of Christ?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:34:31 -0500

The greatest lesson a Christian can learn is that nothing nor anyone can ever separate him from the love of Christ.

I have a missionary friend who had been in prison frequently. He was flogged severely, exposed to death again and again for the cause of Christ. He had been unmercifully beaten with a whip five times. Three times he had been beaten with rods, stoned once, shipwrecked three times and spent a night and day in the open sea before getting to shore. He had been is danger of swollen rivers, bandits along roads, in danger of both Jewish and non-Jewish government leaders, and traveled in dangerous areas in foreign countries. One day he said, “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked” (2 Cor. 11:23-29).

That amazing Christian also wrote, “Who shall separated us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8: 35) In effect he says, “None of the above or all of them together can separate us from the love of Christ.”

Who Is The One Who Condemns?

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:33:43 -0500

“Who is the one who condemns?” (Romans 8:34)

We know that Jesus Christ is pleading the case of the believing sinner in heaven. “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

Who condemns us? Quite often our own conscience accuses us. Our own thoughts and memories haunt us at times. People reinforce their own condemnation by trying to dull the conscience by the use of drugs and immoral behavior. But the truth is that one-day we will stand before God as Judge.

Satan accuses the Christian before God day and night (Rev. 12:10). Some of us really keep him busy. He just loves to rub God in the face with our sins. Every time we sin, he accuses us before God.

If you have never put your faith in the death of Jesus Christ to save you, you stand guilty before God (John 3:18-20).

Who Will Bring Charge Against God's Chosen?

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:39:07 -0500

“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” (Romans 8:33)

This is one of the most important questions a person can ask. It is important that we get God's answer to this “unanswerable question.”

Since God has justified us, no charge can be brought against those whom God has chosen. The reason is because the Supreme Judge of the universe has acquitted the believing sinner, and He has also clothed him with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).

“Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, and who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:33-34).

God Spared Not His Own Son for Us

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:50:38 -0500

Because God has done for our good the greatest that is conceivable, will He not therefore provide all the other blessings we need?

The apostle Paul enjoys arguing from the greater to the lesser in Romans 8:32. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

“He who did not spare His own Son.” God gave His very best for us while we were yet depraved sinners (Romans 5:8).

God the Father is the One who gave up His Son for sinners. “His own Son” means that there is no other person who stands in this same relationship to the Father. Jesus called “God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18; cf. 14:10).

How Can God Not Freely Give Us All Things?

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 23:24:13 -0500

Since God is for us, who then can possibly stand against us?

The Psalmist wrote, "In God I will trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalms 56:11)

The prophet Elisha demonstrated to his companion that God is for us and can be depended upon to take care of His people. The enemy sent an army with horses, and chariots circling the city. The servant was filled with panic. "What shall we do?" Elisha counseled, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Elisha prayed, "'O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' And the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17-18). God blinded the enemy and provided deliverance (v. 19).

The question that haunts many people I meet is not the fact that God is able, but is God really for us? Does He really care? Would He do the same thing for us? How can we know that the great sovereign God of the universe is actually on our side today?

Unanswerable Questions

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:08:52 -0500

“Who can be against us?”

This is the first of several unanswerable questions the apostle Paul asked in Romans 8:31-39.

To be very honest there are days when I don’t have to look very far over my shoulders to give you the answer. The Apostle Paul suggests a most violent opposition: tribulations, distress, persecutions, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, principalities, etc.

The devil himself, Satan, is a powerful enemy of every Christian. He is “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). At times, like in the Garden of Eden, he calls God a liar, and at other times he is like an angel of light with beautiful wisdom. He would even deceive the elect if he were permitted.

Glorification of the Christian

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 20:58:02 -0500

The Christian's glorification describes their ultimate and complete conformity to the image of Christ Jesus.

It is the final link in the great golden chain of salvation and it is so certain that it is going to happen that the apostle Paul refers to it as having already happened (Romans 8:30).

Another great promise is given to us in Philippians 1:6. “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God makes us like His Son. To be glorified is another way of saying the believer will be "conformed" to the character of Christ which is God’s ultimate purpose for the Christian. No longer will the Christian "fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Justification by Faith

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 20:36:39 -0500

The salvation of the true believer is so certain that God sees it as already done. The apostle Paul uses five verbs to outline what God has done in fulfilling His saving purpose. It is a golden chain of salvation that stretches from eternity past to eternity future.

God’s foreknowledge of the saved in Romans 8:29-30 is probably a reference to the election of the saved person. Believers are those God foreknew. Divine foreknowledge is a meaningful relation with a person based on God’s choice (Amos 3:2; Jer. 1:4-5). “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

This eternal choice and foreknowledge involves the goal or final end of that relationship. The Bible says those whom God foreknew, those He also “predestinated to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Romans 8:29). God determined beforehand the destiny of the believer. We will be conformed to the image of Christ (1 John 3:2). When all believers are made like Christ, our ultimate and complete sanctification, Christ will be “the Firstborn among many brothers.” As the ‘Firstborn’ He is in the highest position among others (cf. Col. 1:18).”

The Effectual Call of God

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 22:00:51 -0500

Have you responded to the effectual call of God to salvation?

In his effort to encourage suffering Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, “For whom He [God] foreknew, He also predestinated to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

This beautiful golden five-link chain of salvation demonstrates the awesome love and grace of God reaching down to poor, lost, depraved sinners and gives the assurance of eternal life.

The effectual call of God in salvation brings about regeneration, or spiritual birth in the person who is called. The effectual or specific call to salvation comes through the general call by means of the preaching of the good news in Jesus Christ to a lost world. It is through the preaching of the gospel that God calls sinners. As the Word of God is preached some seed falls on stony, shallow ground, and some on good soil. God prepares the soil and gives life. The seed that sprouts and takes up root in the good soil results in a spiritual harvest and people are saved.

Predestined to be Conformed to Christ

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 21:14:47 -0500

The second golden link in the chain of salvation is predestination.

Like foreknowledge, predestination is one of those Biblical doctrines that provokes many a discussion, but when accepted becomes a great source of assurance of salvation.

It may not seem like all things are working together when we look at our circumstances, but when we get eternity into the picture it all comes together and we see God at work. He is behind the scenes accomplishing His eternal purpose.

Charles Hodge said, “Believers are called in accordance with a settled plan and purpose of God, for whom He calls He had previously predestinated.” God is at work causing all things to work together for good to those who love God, for the plan of God cannot fail.

Five Golden Links in Salvation

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 22:11:00 -0500

God is at work in all the many detailed circumstances of our lives to accomplish His eternal purpose.

How much does God love us? Just let me count the many ways. Here are five to begin our quest. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

That is what God does for us out of His infinite love and grace. God foreknew. God predestined. God called. God justified. God glorified. God saves!

How does God cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose? The chain of divine action demonstrates how He accomplishes this “good.” What is this good purpose of God? God is saving a body of people who will be made like Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Purpose of God

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 22:01:51 -0500

Where is God at work in your life? Are you going through some deep hurt, pain or suffering? Could God perhaps be doing a special work through your present circumstances?

One of the greatest promises in the Bible is found in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes” (New International Version). The New American Standard Bible reads: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

There have been many times in my life when I have paused and stood back in amazement and reflected on how God works in all things of our good and His glory.

SELAH! Pause think reflect on God's Word for Today

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 17:49:22 -0500

Today's daily devotion from God's Word for the thinking person. Here is a one page reflection on practical contemporary Christian living.