Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1
What more needs to said?
But I've been really bad! God has 'abundant mercy'. I'm going to die and I don't have much hope! You can be born again unto a lively hope, JESUS is raised from the dead!! But I have nothing to look forward to, my life is a mess, I lost my job, I'll never be rich! God has reserved an inheritance for us and it is not like earthly treasures, it will never be stolen, it can never get old, you can't mess it up or defile it, it won't fade with time, and it won't crash along with the stock market. Our inheritance is in heaven! But I'm not sure that I'll make it to the end. God will personally watch over you making sure that you will. He will use His power to keep you through faith. He is going to keep you until this salvation, this eternal inheritance, will be revealed! But life is really hard and I'm facing all kinds of trials. Well God won't take away all of your trials, in fact the trials are good for you, they test your faith and root out all of your impurities so that your faith will be glorious and honorable on the day when Jesus comes back. On that day you will stand before all the world and Jesus himself will praise your faith, and will talk about how glorious it is. Your faith, the one that God is keeping you in, will be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus. So rejoice, even though right now you're going through some trials, they will only be here for a season. But I have a terminal disease. Yes I know, but even that is only a season, your life is but a vapor. People hate me, they mock me, they criticize my walk with God. Rejoice! Rejoice, I know you haven't seen him yet, but HE's coming. Love HIM, rejoice in HIM, follow HIM, and REJOICE! The best is yet to come! Keep believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory! IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL! It's Jesus, rest assured, He'll come through, in fact He already has! He's coming soon and then all will be well. In the mean time rejoice!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Jesus made PEACE!
There is such a thing as subjective peace, something you feel in your heart. This is not the kind of peace that Jesus made. The peace that Jesus has made for us is first objective. It very well may result in a subjective peace, but that is not the focus at all! You see the problem with humanity is not that we don't have inward peace. It is not that we live in fear, anxiousness, and depression. The problem with humanity is that we don't have peace with God! We are God's enemies. That is the reason why Jesus having made peace for us is so significant! He didn't die to give us peace in our hearts, though we do get that as well, he died to give us peace with God. Let me show you what I am talking about.
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross,
Here it says that there was a point in time in which peace was made. This peace making took place way before you were even born! Obviously Jesus did not make peace in your heart before you even existed! Somehow there is this silly idea afloat that Jesus applied his blood to our hearts. This would not help us in the least! We have offended GOD, and the blood needs to be applied before the throne of GOD in order for there to be peace available to us.
by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Just a question. Who did we have need to be reconciled to?! The reconciliation that we are in need of, is with Jesus/God himself.
Some people 'feel' in their hearts that they are such good people that they just can't believe this. "I feel like I'm a good person, I can't be at enmity with God." But those feelings of yours are irrelevant! Lets read the next verse and see what God says about you and your good feelings.
Col 1:21 And you, (don't exclude yourself) that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
As far as God is concerned you are an alien! You have no part in the life of God. In fact you are not only separated from God, you are against him! God says that you are alien enemies! Why you say, "why is God my enemy, why does he count me as an alien??" Because of your wicked works! That is what the Bible says! Don't argue with me, argue with GOD! He is the one that said it.
Can you see by now that you are need of much more that a silly, emotional, subjective peace?! You need peace with GOD! And that my friend, is what makes the gospel such good news. God, whom you have offended and declared war on, has made peace with YOU! You don't make peace with HIM, HE makes peace with you!
So you know that you can have confidence in this salvation, after all it was made by Jesus.
But just how sure is it? "What if I'm not good enough? What if I am still to blame, and come short of all that God wants me to do?" Well, lets continue to read, Paul was not done.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Jesus has died so that you can have peace. It took him dying on a cross to save you. You were reconciled to God in the body of Jesus' flesh, through death! 'To what end,' you might ask? To the end that HE could present you, holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in GODS sight! That is the most amazing thing in this universe! Nothing else even comes close to it! No other religion would ever conceive something like this. God became a man, and shed his blood and died, so that HE could make peace with His enemies! Now not even in God's sight am I unholy, blameable, or reproveable!
That is PEACE!
In fact, I think I can even feel it right now!
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross,
Here it says that there was a point in time in which peace was made. This peace making took place way before you were even born! Obviously Jesus did not make peace in your heart before you even existed! Somehow there is this silly idea afloat that Jesus applied his blood to our hearts. This would not help us in the least! We have offended GOD, and the blood needs to be applied before the throne of GOD in order for there to be peace available to us.
by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Just a question. Who did we have need to be reconciled to?! The reconciliation that we are in need of, is with Jesus/God himself.
Some people 'feel' in their hearts that they are such good people that they just can't believe this. "I feel like I'm a good person, I can't be at enmity with God." But those feelings of yours are irrelevant! Lets read the next verse and see what God says about you and your good feelings.
Col 1:21 And you, (don't exclude yourself) that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
As far as God is concerned you are an alien! You have no part in the life of God. In fact you are not only separated from God, you are against him! God says that you are alien enemies! Why you say, "why is God my enemy, why does he count me as an alien??" Because of your wicked works! That is what the Bible says! Don't argue with me, argue with GOD! He is the one that said it.
Can you see by now that you are need of much more that a silly, emotional, subjective peace?! You need peace with GOD! And that my friend, is what makes the gospel such good news. God, whom you have offended and declared war on, has made peace with YOU! You don't make peace with HIM, HE makes peace with you!
So you know that you can have confidence in this salvation, after all it was made by Jesus.
But just how sure is it? "What if I'm not good enough? What if I am still to blame, and come short of all that God wants me to do?" Well, lets continue to read, Paul was not done.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Jesus has died so that you can have peace. It took him dying on a cross to save you. You were reconciled to God in the body of Jesus' flesh, through death! 'To what end,' you might ask? To the end that HE could present you, holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in GODS sight! That is the most amazing thing in this universe! Nothing else even comes close to it! No other religion would ever conceive something like this. God became a man, and shed his blood and died, so that HE could make peace with His enemies! Now not even in God's sight am I unholy, blameable, or reproveable!
That is PEACE!
In fact, I think I can even feel it right now!
Monday, April 6, 2009
I attempted to save myself!
Do you think yourself better than most? I did. Only I think I really was. I didn't curse, or drink, or smoke. I didn't get high, sleep around, or steal. I wasn't a fighter, a molester, or a queer.
I was good. I went to church every Sunday, I read the Bible everyday. I was kind to my friends and family. I loved my wife, worked hard, and gave money to the church. I prayed, and told others to respect God. I was an all around pretty good guy.
Were you that good? Most aren't. I told you I was better than most.
But, there was another thing that I was....I was deceived! God says in his Word that the most important command in all of the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, strength,and mind. I didn't do that.
I was guilty of not always putting God first and foremost in my life. It is easy to know if you love God with all of your heart, just ask yourself this question. What is it that takes up the majority of my time, energy, resources, talents, and thoughts? Is your answer that you have always spent all of these things on God? He is the one that has given you all of life after all! Clearly I was guilty of not loving God all of my heart! I lived with guilt for much of my life because I knew that I was not being as good as I should be. Do you ever feel this way? Do you live with regret over the things that you have done? Do you know that you should have done differently than you did?
If you have not loved God, how can you continue to live with yourself?! How can you go on with life, thinking that maybe everything is going to be o.k?! You have slighted God! You've robbed the God of heaven of the glory, attention, and affection that only he deserves! How, oh how can you go on with life normally!? Things are not o.k! You would think it was a bad thing if a man did not love his friends, and a very bad thing if he did not love his parents, but how much worse if he does not love the very God that gives him life and breath and all good things? We ought to be extremely ashamed of ourselves! How dare we enjoy life and God's goodness and not love him with all that we are? Shame on you!
This is the state that I found myself in a few years ago. I was ashamed, guilty, blameworthy, and according to God, hell deserving!
Many people have realized that this is their condition before a holy and righteous God, but have taken a man made religious approach at seeking to reconcile themselves back to God.
I found myself seeking to pray more fervently, crying more desperately, and striving to live righteously more earnestly. I continued to live in guilt. My God given conscience persisted in telling me that I was to blame! I sought peace with God through whatever means I knew. I confessed my sins, still the guilt returned, I prayed anxiously, consistently, but it would not be long after that I would sense God's displeasure with my life. I asked God to forgive my sins and Jesus to help me to live better, but the battle remained. It seemed as though God was very far away indeed. I had no confidence in a positive after life, I only hoped that God would see my feeble attempts at pleasing him and have mercy and pity on me. That was my attempt at saving myself. That is all of humanities approach at pleasing a perfect God.
According to the testimony of God himself, all of this so called 'righteousness' is like filthy menstrual rags! Isaiah 64:6. You say, that is disgusting language! I know, I was shocked to find out what God thought about all of my righteousness as well. God is not religious, he is holy.
The answer to this problem is not in man. Don't believe all of the garbage you here from the psycologists, or the modern 'christian' preacher (they are basically synonymous). You are not a good person living with a bad self esteem! You are a bad person living under the righteous condemnation of God. You are not alone! We all have this dilemna, the Bible says that all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.
In all false religion, hope for the sinner lies in the character, life, or religious duties of the sinner himself. This is entirely hopeless!
There is a division between God and man, there is enmity. Humanity is fighting against their creator and you are a part of it. The gap will not be bridged by efforts to reach God, this gap can only be crossed by God himself!
God comes to you, you don't go to him! God saves his enemies while they are still battling against him. Romans 5:1-11. No conscience will ever be cleared without full reconciliation being made, not without full penalty being made! This is exactly what God did for us.
We don't have a God that can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He became a man and walked among us. The Word (the second member of the Godhead) became flesh. He was tempted in every way that you and I are, yet he always loved God with all of his heart, he never sinned or offended God in any way. He was the perfect man!
He did this so that he could suffer and die to take away your and my sin. Jesus died on a cross, a long and extremely painful death. He took the mocking, the spitting, the torturing, and the pain of death willingly. He submitted himself to the cruelty of man's wickedness so that he could satisfy God's anger toward you!! He took upon himself the sins of the whole world and as 2 Cor.5 says, became sin for us, endured the wrath of almighty God for us, so that God could be just in accepting us! All of his blood was shed, so that yours need not be! He took your rightful place! And mine as well. We victimized God! We caused God to suffer on a cross! We killed the very God that we ought to have loved! The Bible says in Isaiah 53 that when God saw the travail of Jesus upon the cross that he was satisfied, it says that it actually pleased God to crush Jesus! Why? Because that is exactly what you and I deserve! Jesus did all of this in order to give room for God to put away your sin!
I attempted, in ignorance mind you, to save myself through offering to God my filthy rags, and I failed miserably. And I was better than most (tongue in cheek). Do you think you have what it takes to reach up to God and to save yourself? Please listen to me and stop trying. Obey the gospel. Accept the good news of God. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto HIMSELF! God did not make an attempt to save us, he made FULL provision for ALL! Behold, now is the day of salvation, today if your hear his voice, don't harden your heart! Turn to him in faith and believe on Jesus with all your heart and your sins will be blotted out and your conscience cleared of your guilt! Jesus said, 'IT IS FINISHED!', and so it is. Turn to Jesus for pardon and cleansing.
I was good. I went to church every Sunday, I read the Bible everyday. I was kind to my friends and family. I loved my wife, worked hard, and gave money to the church. I prayed, and told others to respect God. I was an all around pretty good guy.
Were you that good? Most aren't. I told you I was better than most.
But, there was another thing that I was....I was deceived! God says in his Word that the most important command in all of the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, strength,and mind. I didn't do that.
I was guilty of not always putting God first and foremost in my life. It is easy to know if you love God with all of your heart, just ask yourself this question. What is it that takes up the majority of my time, energy, resources, talents, and thoughts? Is your answer that you have always spent all of these things on God? He is the one that has given you all of life after all! Clearly I was guilty of not loving God all of my heart! I lived with guilt for much of my life because I knew that I was not being as good as I should be. Do you ever feel this way? Do you live with regret over the things that you have done? Do you know that you should have done differently than you did?
If you have not loved God, how can you continue to live with yourself?! How can you go on with life, thinking that maybe everything is going to be o.k?! You have slighted God! You've robbed the God of heaven of the glory, attention, and affection that only he deserves! How, oh how can you go on with life normally!? Things are not o.k! You would think it was a bad thing if a man did not love his friends, and a very bad thing if he did not love his parents, but how much worse if he does not love the very God that gives him life and breath and all good things? We ought to be extremely ashamed of ourselves! How dare we enjoy life and God's goodness and not love him with all that we are? Shame on you!
This is the state that I found myself in a few years ago. I was ashamed, guilty, blameworthy, and according to God, hell deserving!
Many people have realized that this is their condition before a holy and righteous God, but have taken a man made religious approach at seeking to reconcile themselves back to God.
I found myself seeking to pray more fervently, crying more desperately, and striving to live righteously more earnestly. I continued to live in guilt. My God given conscience persisted in telling me that I was to blame! I sought peace with God through whatever means I knew. I confessed my sins, still the guilt returned, I prayed anxiously, consistently, but it would not be long after that I would sense God's displeasure with my life. I asked God to forgive my sins and Jesus to help me to live better, but the battle remained. It seemed as though God was very far away indeed. I had no confidence in a positive after life, I only hoped that God would see my feeble attempts at pleasing him and have mercy and pity on me. That was my attempt at saving myself. That is all of humanities approach at pleasing a perfect God.
According to the testimony of God himself, all of this so called 'righteousness' is like filthy menstrual rags! Isaiah 64:6. You say, that is disgusting language! I know, I was shocked to find out what God thought about all of my righteousness as well. God is not religious, he is holy.
The answer to this problem is not in man. Don't believe all of the garbage you here from the psycologists, or the modern 'christian' preacher (they are basically synonymous). You are not a good person living with a bad self esteem! You are a bad person living under the righteous condemnation of God. You are not alone! We all have this dilemna, the Bible says that all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.
In all false religion, hope for the sinner lies in the character, life, or religious duties of the sinner himself. This is entirely hopeless!
There is a division between God and man, there is enmity. Humanity is fighting against their creator and you are a part of it. The gap will not be bridged by efforts to reach God, this gap can only be crossed by God himself!
God comes to you, you don't go to him! God saves his enemies while they are still battling against him. Romans 5:1-11. No conscience will ever be cleared without full reconciliation being made, not without full penalty being made! This is exactly what God did for us.
We don't have a God that can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He became a man and walked among us. The Word (the second member of the Godhead) became flesh. He was tempted in every way that you and I are, yet he always loved God with all of his heart, he never sinned or offended God in any way. He was the perfect man!
He did this so that he could suffer and die to take away your and my sin. Jesus died on a cross, a long and extremely painful death. He took the mocking, the spitting, the torturing, and the pain of death willingly. He submitted himself to the cruelty of man's wickedness so that he could satisfy God's anger toward you!! He took upon himself the sins of the whole world and as 2 Cor.5 says, became sin for us, endured the wrath of almighty God for us, so that God could be just in accepting us! All of his blood was shed, so that yours need not be! He took your rightful place! And mine as well. We victimized God! We caused God to suffer on a cross! We killed the very God that we ought to have loved! The Bible says in Isaiah 53 that when God saw the travail of Jesus upon the cross that he was satisfied, it says that it actually pleased God to crush Jesus! Why? Because that is exactly what you and I deserve! Jesus did all of this in order to give room for God to put away your sin!
I attempted, in ignorance mind you, to save myself through offering to God my filthy rags, and I failed miserably. And I was better than most (tongue in cheek). Do you think you have what it takes to reach up to God and to save yourself? Please listen to me and stop trying. Obey the gospel. Accept the good news of God. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto HIMSELF! God did not make an attempt to save us, he made FULL provision for ALL! Behold, now is the day of salvation, today if your hear his voice, don't harden your heart! Turn to him in faith and believe on Jesus with all your heart and your sins will be blotted out and your conscience cleared of your guilt! Jesus said, 'IT IS FINISHED!', and so it is. Turn to Jesus for pardon and cleansing.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
I AM the First and the Last
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Throughout the scriptures God tells us plenty of times that He alone is God, and that there is none before Him, nor will there be any after Him. He makes no apologies and expects all to reverence Him. Jehovah declares plainly that He is the King of Israel, that He is his redeemer, and that He is the First and the Last!
Isa 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Here again the LORD says that He is the first and the last. A thought of ‘before Him’ is not possible, and anything ‘after Him’ is inconceivable. He is the beginning and the end! This is the God that began all things, and the God that will bring all things to completion, His name is JEHOVAH!
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD (Jehovah), thy redeemer ( see also 44:6), and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;!
I love the attitude of our God! With authority He demands that all glory and honour be unto Him alone! He does not want us to get confused and start thinking that maybe there is another God somewhere. He does not want us to think that maybe He used a little help from someone else. Not only is He bold and confident, He seems a little jealous that none would rob Him of glory that rightfully belongs to Him alone. He created the earth alone and by Himself!
This is the God that has revealed Himself to the holy prophets and apostles. He has revealed Himself as ONE God that desires all praise, honour, and glory for Himself. He has no desire to share it.
To Pharoah, He proved that He was the only God when He defeated all of Egypt’s dumb idols with ten miraculous plagues. To Moses He revealed Himself as the great I AM! To the children of Israel He clearly revealed Himself as jealous, all powerful, and Holy. To the prophets He declared things to come, showing that He knows the beginning from the end, making it clear that there is none like Him, nor is there any beside Him! He, Jehovah, is clearly the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending!
He has revealed Himself to the rest of the world as a man called Jesus Christ. The Apostle speaks of this man Jesus as the ONE that created all things.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
The writer of the book of Hebrews has similar things to say of Jesus.
Heb 1:3 Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;!
The Apostle John, who was one of Jesus’ most loved disciples, also has something to say of Jesus being the creator, the first and the last.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
Clearly all things everywhere were created and are upheld by the word of Jesus’ power. Jesus is the creator God of the Old Testament, revealed to us in the flesh of a Man.
In the last book of the Bible God reveals Himself one last time in a book called the ‘Revelation of Jesus Christ’. In it Jehovah reveals Himself again as the First and the Last!
Re 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last... John the revelator sees the first and the last walking about as the Son of Man. He records his thoughts for us like this, Re 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last!
This Son of Man was so dreadful to look upon that the great Apostle fell over as though he were dead; but Jesus tells him that he doesn’t need to fear, for He is the first and the last! In the next verse He makes Himself very clear as to who exactly this Son of Man is.
Re 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
In chapter 2:8 He again makes Himself known as the first and the last when He says, ‘And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.’
Who is the ‘first and last’? He leaves absolutely no room to wonder! There is but one Son of Man that was dead and is now alive forevermore! He is our great God and saviour, Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with us), the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, JEHOVAH!
Re 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Re 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
In the end, when all the world stands before God they will all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they will all bow their knee to Him. He has given us a clear witness in His word and yet many reject this witness making God a liar. 1 John 5:10.
Surely the Apostle Paul was correct when he said that the mystery of godliness was very great, I don’t think there should be any controversy about it. The mystery of the Godhead is indeed very great! But it is in this very mystery that all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are hid! May we seek to understand this great mystery rather than dismiss it. God bless you.
Col 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
Col 2:3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Throughout the scriptures God tells us plenty of times that He alone is God, and that there is none before Him, nor will there be any after Him. He makes no apologies and expects all to reverence Him. Jehovah declares plainly that He is the King of Israel, that He is his redeemer, and that He is the First and the Last!
Isa 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Here again the LORD says that He is the first and the last. A thought of ‘before Him’ is not possible, and anything ‘after Him’ is inconceivable. He is the beginning and the end! This is the God that began all things, and the God that will bring all things to completion, His name is JEHOVAH!
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD (Jehovah), thy redeemer ( see also 44:6), and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;!
I love the attitude of our God! With authority He demands that all glory and honour be unto Him alone! He does not want us to get confused and start thinking that maybe there is another God somewhere. He does not want us to think that maybe He used a little help from someone else. Not only is He bold and confident, He seems a little jealous that none would rob Him of glory that rightfully belongs to Him alone. He created the earth alone and by Himself!
This is the God that has revealed Himself to the holy prophets and apostles. He has revealed Himself as ONE God that desires all praise, honour, and glory for Himself. He has no desire to share it.
To Pharoah, He proved that He was the only God when He defeated all of Egypt’s dumb idols with ten miraculous plagues. To Moses He revealed Himself as the great I AM! To the children of Israel He clearly revealed Himself as jealous, all powerful, and Holy. To the prophets He declared things to come, showing that He knows the beginning from the end, making it clear that there is none like Him, nor is there any beside Him! He, Jehovah, is clearly the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending!
He has revealed Himself to the rest of the world as a man called Jesus Christ. The Apostle speaks of this man Jesus as the ONE that created all things.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
The writer of the book of Hebrews has similar things to say of Jesus.
Heb 1:3 Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;!
The Apostle John, who was one of Jesus’ most loved disciples, also has something to say of Jesus being the creator, the first and the last.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
Clearly all things everywhere were created and are upheld by the word of Jesus’ power. Jesus is the creator God of the Old Testament, revealed to us in the flesh of a Man.
In the last book of the Bible God reveals Himself one last time in a book called the ‘Revelation of Jesus Christ’. In it Jehovah reveals Himself again as the First and the Last!
Re 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last... John the revelator sees the first and the last walking about as the Son of Man. He records his thoughts for us like this, Re 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last!
This Son of Man was so dreadful to look upon that the great Apostle fell over as though he were dead; but Jesus tells him that he doesn’t need to fear, for He is the first and the last! In the next verse He makes Himself very clear as to who exactly this Son of Man is.
Re 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
In chapter 2:8 He again makes Himself known as the first and the last when He says, ‘And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.’
Who is the ‘first and last’? He leaves absolutely no room to wonder! There is but one Son of Man that was dead and is now alive forevermore! He is our great God and saviour, Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with us), the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, JEHOVAH!
Re 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Re 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
In the end, when all the world stands before God they will all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they will all bow their knee to Him. He has given us a clear witness in His word and yet many reject this witness making God a liar. 1 John 5:10.
Surely the Apostle Paul was correct when he said that the mystery of godliness was very great, I don’t think there should be any controversy about it. The mystery of the Godhead is indeed very great! But it is in this very mystery that all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are hid! May we seek to understand this great mystery rather than dismiss it. God bless you.
Col 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
Col 2:3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Friday, January 9, 2009
God does not give you power to overcome sin!
God does not give you power to overcome sin!
As strange as that statement may sound to some, I believe it to be the teaching of the Bible. Now, before I go any further, I don’t believe that it would be right for me to leave you in suspense. I do believe that God has provided salvation from sin, not salvation in sin. So what do I mean by saying that God does not give you power to overcome sin?! I simply mean this, God does not empower sinful flesh to walk holy, rather he puts sinful flesh to death!! There is a vast difference between God giving you power, and Him putting you to death. The Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, and all other religions cry out to their gods for strength and power to be better people. Often their strong dedication to their god will help them to overcome in a certain area, but it is mere strength of will and dedication. Victory over sin in the life of a Christian is not based upon zeal, earnestness, surrender, or seeking God for the victory. It is based solely upon what Christ has already done for us two thousand years ago. Freedom from sin is gospel! It is not a formula to success. Only Christians can enjoy complete freedom from sin.
Paul says several times in Romans 6, Know ye not...?. He told the Christians in Rome that they ought to know certain truths about the gospel, and by believing or knowing this form of doctrine that was once delivered unto them, they were thereby freed from sin.
Sometimes I hear Christians talk about how they ‘got victory’ and it sounds very similar to any other religion. Their victory is established upon self abasement, strong determination, and trying to look to God for help and grace. Well I have news for you, according to Romans 6, Collosians 3, and many other portions of scripture, ALL Christians are already freed from sin! This freedom was given to them at the moment that they believed in Jesus for salvation. The idea of someone ‘praying through’ to finally get the victory, puts the responsibility of overcoming on the believer. If this were the case then Christ’s ‘attempt’ at freeing us from the power of sin was vain! Can’t you see that Jesus died! Do you think that He would die just to give you a program to closely follow in order to be free?! NO! Jesus died so that you would be free from the power of sin! The reason He came to his earth was to set his people free from the bondage of sin.
Ok then, what has Jesus done? How can I be free from sin?
When Jesus died he took every single believer along with Him to the cross, taking care of our sin problem. God’s solution to our sin problem was to put us to death with Christ, we were then buried together with Him, we were raised at the same time that He was raised, and when He ascended to the Father we ascended to the Father with Him! That is how we became free from the power of sin. Victory over sin is something that God did outside of your experience, it is something that He did to you in Jesus.
This is the reality, this is what God has done for us! The battle for a Christian is a battle of believing God, and walking in light of Gods reality and not our own. In other words, the just shall live by faith. You need to believe what God says, rather than what you see, hear, feel, taste or smell. You ARE free from sin! Jesus broke the chain of sin and set you free! From now on when sin is real and Gods word seems distant, you need to believe, reckon, count Gods word to be true over your own experience and you will see deliverance!
Most so called Christian Churches teach that you cannot stop sinning. There are other Churches that teach that after years of being faithful to God you will graduate to being an ‘elite’ Christian and from that point you will never sin again. Clearly both of these views are unscriptural. The Bible says that ALL Christians are freed from sin! And that is because they were ALL put to death on the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes believers will experience a new found freedom and they will say that they became free from sin after so and so many years of trying. This again is a false concept. You do not become free from sin on the day that you see it in your experience, you became free from sin when Jesus died and rose again!
‘But’, some might object at this point, ‘there are still a good many Christians that are struggling and often failing to overcome sin’. Good observation. You need to stop seeing experience as the test of whether or not something is true! Don’t bring the Word of God down to your experience, rise up to the Word of God! The word of God is truth, let it be your guide. The Word of God says that we are overcomers. It is time you believed God.
There is an illustration that is quite suitable to this. When the American slave trade was abolished in 1865, all slaves were pronounced free. A good many slaves however, especially those that were in more remote locations did not know about the abolition of the slave trade. Therefore many slaves continued serving and slaving under their masters rule. In some cases it took several years before the news of the abolition came to their ears and freedom actually became their experience. Nevertheless, ALL slaves were officially made free in 1865! The fact that some slaves were ignorant of their freedom, did not make the abolition less effectual. Whether or not the slaves actually took their liberty to begin their lives afresh did not change their standing with the United States government. ALL slaves were made free at the point of Abraham Lincoln signing the abolition of the slave trade. As far as the officials in Washington were concerned, ALL slaves were free to do as they pleased from that moment on.
Paul took to himself the responsibility of letting ALL Christians know that they were made free from sin at the point that Jesus resolved the conflict between the slave trader (the flesh), and the slave (you). When Jesus went to the cross He not only paid your debt to God, providing you with forgiveness of sins, and giving you perfect standing with Him through His own right doing, He also put to death your slave master (flesh), thereby providing freedom from the power of sin. Please note that God did not empower you to overcome your slave master. He did not give you strength to over power your flesh. Instead He put you to death, and raised you again to new life in Christ Jesus!
Why death?
Humanity had become so corrupt that God had no choice but to demand the death penalty be executed upon us. The wages of sin is death! We were ALL left without hope...unless...? Unless God became a man and took upon Himself the form of a servant, unless God became flesh! That is exactly what happened. God knew that no one would never be able to succeed, so He did it for us. Jesus was tempted in every point like as we are and was always obedient to God. Having never sinned in His life, the death sentence did not came upon Him. Since He was eternal God He could offer Himself as an eternal sacrifice to the Father. This would give God the legal right to forgive us. Jesus took our death! But God knew that just forgiving us would not take care of the issue of sin in our daily lives. What good would it have done if God would have forgiven us our sins only to leave us as slaves to sin and our flesh? The answer is that He most certainly did not!
Romans 6 is the most descriptive, detailed text in the Bible in regards to Christians being free from sin. It’s a shame that it has been so misunderstood. Lets go through the chapter together and try to actually believe what it says. The reason it has been so misunderstood is simply because it seems hard to believe.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Paul is asking this question with the discussion of chapter 5 in mind. The answer is, yes grace would abound for a Christian if sin continued to abound. Righteousness would continue to be imputed, and sin would still not be imputed! Surely we could all agree, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound!)
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ( God forbid! This is the strongest negative in the Greek language. However Paul does not say, God forbid. We would lose our salvation if we did. That should never be our motivation. Our motivation for overcoming sin is Christ work and our participation in His death. He doesn’t say, should we continue in sin! He says how shall we, how can we that are dead to sin live any longer therein!? Paul would obviously think it to be absurd for a dead person to continue in sin.)
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ( Here is where Paul begins to reinform the Christians of something that they should have already known. The baptism that Paul is talking about here clearly is not water baptism, he is talking about us being baptized by the Spirit of God into Jesus’ body. Paul says that, so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death. No Christians were missing during this operation, we were ALL baptized into Jesus. Why would us being baptized into Jesus’ death be significant? He will answer that question in the next verse.)
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (In the same way that Jesus was raised from the dead and now walks in newness of life, we too have been raised from the dead and should walk in newness of life. Walk as though you are alive from the dead, even though your actual resurrection is yet future. We will see more of this in the next verse.)
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Paul is assuming that you knew that we were planted together in the likeness of Jesus’ death! Didn’t you know this? In the same way that Jesus died, you also died. So, if this is fact, then you can be confident that you will also be resurrected in the same manner as Jesus. It is important to note that the tense that Paul uses here is future, ‘we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection’. Our victory over sin is based upon something that God did for us in Jesus and it hinges upon a future hope of being resurrected in a new and glorified body. God wants us to live ‘as though’ this is already a fact. As you believe God’s word, over your own daily experience, you will see actual freedom from the power of sin!)
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Again Paul talks about knowing something. This is something that all Christians should know. Our old man, the flesh, the mortal body, the body of sin, the thing that leads all people down the path of sin, was destroyed when Jesus died! Why? So that we should stop serving sin.)
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. (This should be wonderfully good news by now! When Jesus died, you died, and we know that dead men don’t sin! ALL believers are dead and freed from sin.)
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:(Once again, notice the future tense. Paul says that we shall also live with Christ.)
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (This should really be the point of rejoicing for us. Since Jesus died and was raised in a new immortal body, he no longer has death reigning over Him. Now if we were baptized into Jesus’ death, then we also are free from the dominion of death.)
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Here is where many people get things wrong. Somehow they turn this ‘reckon’ into a work that we need to accomplish. The word reckon simply means to count. The instruction from Paul is this, Since Jesus is dead to the dominion of sin and death by His own death and resurrection, in the same way you should now also count (reckon, impute, account) yourself to be dead, resurrected, and in a new body and therefore free from sin and death.)
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Based upon something that is not tangible at all, in fact, based upon something that will yet take place, DO NOT let sin reign in your mortal body anymore! Do not obey the lusts of your mortal body any longer. Notice that he did not say that it is impossible that you could let sin reign, rather he said, let not sin therefore reign. The slave trade has ended, it is over, you can now go free and live in holiness. Your flesh is dead, along with the lusts thereof, now walk as though you are dead to sin and alive unto God.)
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members (members in the Bible are simply eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, sex organs and so on) as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Live as though you are already dead and resurrected in an immortal body, sin and death being a thing of the past!)
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (This is a strong statement that Paul makes here. He boldly says that sin will not have dominion over a Christian! He is confident that living in faith of Christ’s death and resurrection, our participation with Him, and living in hope of a future resurrection where all this will really come to pass, is enough to keep a believer living above the dominion of sin, even in this life!)
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (Here Paul says that by obeying a form of doctrine, they became free from being the servants to sin. Most people believe that victory over sin lies is in their humility, or self denial, but Paul says that it was by simply believing a doctrine. Freedom from sin is as much a free gift as forgiveness of sins is a free gift. Just like there is nothing you can do to save yourself from the penalty of sin, even so there is nothing you can do to save yourself from the power of sin.
Freedom from sin is not you stopping your sin, freedom from sin is God putting your flesh to death in Christ Jesus. Freedom from sin is not you living a life of holiness, although freedom from sin will result in holiness. Freedom from sin is God taking your mortal body and baptizing it into His Son, crucifying your flesh, and then raising you again in an immortal body, never to die again.)
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Not only did God set you free from sin, He also thereby made you the servant of righteousness. You now have the ability not only to stop sinning, but also to do righteousness!)
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ( The key to victory over sin is eternal life. Life forever with Jesus in an immortal body. That is where victory lies. Sin brought death, Jesus brought life. That is our cure. There is no other. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If you are in Christ then full provision for victory over sin has been made for you. You have been given eternal life!)
I hope this has been helpful to some of you. I know that there is a lot of confusion over this passage and the subject of freedom from sin. I believe this to be the straight forward gospel approach to it. Any other ‘formula’ would not be gospel. The message of Romans 6 is good news. It means that all those that don’t have the will power to deny themselves, those that never were good at being religious, now have the freedom to walk above sin in a way that religion could never produce in a person. You can walk as someone that is alive from the dead and you don’t have to be super human to do it. The answer is simple, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him. If you believe this good news, thank God for what He has done for you in Jesus, and then walk in the liberty whereby Christ has made you free!
As strange as that statement may sound to some, I believe it to be the teaching of the Bible. Now, before I go any further, I don’t believe that it would be right for me to leave you in suspense. I do believe that God has provided salvation from sin, not salvation in sin. So what do I mean by saying that God does not give you power to overcome sin?! I simply mean this, God does not empower sinful flesh to walk holy, rather he puts sinful flesh to death!! There is a vast difference between God giving you power, and Him putting you to death. The Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, and all other religions cry out to their gods for strength and power to be better people. Often their strong dedication to their god will help them to overcome in a certain area, but it is mere strength of will and dedication. Victory over sin in the life of a Christian is not based upon zeal, earnestness, surrender, or seeking God for the victory. It is based solely upon what Christ has already done for us two thousand years ago. Freedom from sin is gospel! It is not a formula to success. Only Christians can enjoy complete freedom from sin.
Paul says several times in Romans 6, Know ye not...?. He told the Christians in Rome that they ought to know certain truths about the gospel, and by believing or knowing this form of doctrine that was once delivered unto them, they were thereby freed from sin.
Sometimes I hear Christians talk about how they ‘got victory’ and it sounds very similar to any other religion. Their victory is established upon self abasement, strong determination, and trying to look to God for help and grace. Well I have news for you, according to Romans 6, Collosians 3, and many other portions of scripture, ALL Christians are already freed from sin! This freedom was given to them at the moment that they believed in Jesus for salvation. The idea of someone ‘praying through’ to finally get the victory, puts the responsibility of overcoming on the believer. If this were the case then Christ’s ‘attempt’ at freeing us from the power of sin was vain! Can’t you see that Jesus died! Do you think that He would die just to give you a program to closely follow in order to be free?! NO! Jesus died so that you would be free from the power of sin! The reason He came to his earth was to set his people free from the bondage of sin.
Ok then, what has Jesus done? How can I be free from sin?
When Jesus died he took every single believer along with Him to the cross, taking care of our sin problem. God’s solution to our sin problem was to put us to death with Christ, we were then buried together with Him, we were raised at the same time that He was raised, and when He ascended to the Father we ascended to the Father with Him! That is how we became free from the power of sin. Victory over sin is something that God did outside of your experience, it is something that He did to you in Jesus.
This is the reality, this is what God has done for us! The battle for a Christian is a battle of believing God, and walking in light of Gods reality and not our own. In other words, the just shall live by faith. You need to believe what God says, rather than what you see, hear, feel, taste or smell. You ARE free from sin! Jesus broke the chain of sin and set you free! From now on when sin is real and Gods word seems distant, you need to believe, reckon, count Gods word to be true over your own experience and you will see deliverance!
Most so called Christian Churches teach that you cannot stop sinning. There are other Churches that teach that after years of being faithful to God you will graduate to being an ‘elite’ Christian and from that point you will never sin again. Clearly both of these views are unscriptural. The Bible says that ALL Christians are freed from sin! And that is because they were ALL put to death on the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes believers will experience a new found freedom and they will say that they became free from sin after so and so many years of trying. This again is a false concept. You do not become free from sin on the day that you see it in your experience, you became free from sin when Jesus died and rose again!
‘But’, some might object at this point, ‘there are still a good many Christians that are struggling and often failing to overcome sin’. Good observation. You need to stop seeing experience as the test of whether or not something is true! Don’t bring the Word of God down to your experience, rise up to the Word of God! The word of God is truth, let it be your guide. The Word of God says that we are overcomers. It is time you believed God.
There is an illustration that is quite suitable to this. When the American slave trade was abolished in 1865, all slaves were pronounced free. A good many slaves however, especially those that were in more remote locations did not know about the abolition of the slave trade. Therefore many slaves continued serving and slaving under their masters rule. In some cases it took several years before the news of the abolition came to their ears and freedom actually became their experience. Nevertheless, ALL slaves were officially made free in 1865! The fact that some slaves were ignorant of their freedom, did not make the abolition less effectual. Whether or not the slaves actually took their liberty to begin their lives afresh did not change their standing with the United States government. ALL slaves were made free at the point of Abraham Lincoln signing the abolition of the slave trade. As far as the officials in Washington were concerned, ALL slaves were free to do as they pleased from that moment on.
Paul took to himself the responsibility of letting ALL Christians know that they were made free from sin at the point that Jesus resolved the conflict between the slave trader (the flesh), and the slave (you). When Jesus went to the cross He not only paid your debt to God, providing you with forgiveness of sins, and giving you perfect standing with Him through His own right doing, He also put to death your slave master (flesh), thereby providing freedom from the power of sin. Please note that God did not empower you to overcome your slave master. He did not give you strength to over power your flesh. Instead He put you to death, and raised you again to new life in Christ Jesus!
Why death?
Humanity had become so corrupt that God had no choice but to demand the death penalty be executed upon us. The wages of sin is death! We were ALL left without hope...unless...? Unless God became a man and took upon Himself the form of a servant, unless God became flesh! That is exactly what happened. God knew that no one would never be able to succeed, so He did it for us. Jesus was tempted in every point like as we are and was always obedient to God. Having never sinned in His life, the death sentence did not came upon Him. Since He was eternal God He could offer Himself as an eternal sacrifice to the Father. This would give God the legal right to forgive us. Jesus took our death! But God knew that just forgiving us would not take care of the issue of sin in our daily lives. What good would it have done if God would have forgiven us our sins only to leave us as slaves to sin and our flesh? The answer is that He most certainly did not!
Romans 6 is the most descriptive, detailed text in the Bible in regards to Christians being free from sin. It’s a shame that it has been so misunderstood. Lets go through the chapter together and try to actually believe what it says. The reason it has been so misunderstood is simply because it seems hard to believe.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Paul is asking this question with the discussion of chapter 5 in mind. The answer is, yes grace would abound for a Christian if sin continued to abound. Righteousness would continue to be imputed, and sin would still not be imputed! Surely we could all agree, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound!)
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ( God forbid! This is the strongest negative in the Greek language. However Paul does not say, God forbid. We would lose our salvation if we did. That should never be our motivation. Our motivation for overcoming sin is Christ work and our participation in His death. He doesn’t say, should we continue in sin! He says how shall we, how can we that are dead to sin live any longer therein!? Paul would obviously think it to be absurd for a dead person to continue in sin.)
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ( Here is where Paul begins to reinform the Christians of something that they should have already known. The baptism that Paul is talking about here clearly is not water baptism, he is talking about us being baptized by the Spirit of God into Jesus’ body. Paul says that, so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death. No Christians were missing during this operation, we were ALL baptized into Jesus. Why would us being baptized into Jesus’ death be significant? He will answer that question in the next verse.)
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (In the same way that Jesus was raised from the dead and now walks in newness of life, we too have been raised from the dead and should walk in newness of life. Walk as though you are alive from the dead, even though your actual resurrection is yet future. We will see more of this in the next verse.)
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Paul is assuming that you knew that we were planted together in the likeness of Jesus’ death! Didn’t you know this? In the same way that Jesus died, you also died. So, if this is fact, then you can be confident that you will also be resurrected in the same manner as Jesus. It is important to note that the tense that Paul uses here is future, ‘we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection’. Our victory over sin is based upon something that God did for us in Jesus and it hinges upon a future hope of being resurrected in a new and glorified body. God wants us to live ‘as though’ this is already a fact. As you believe God’s word, over your own daily experience, you will see actual freedom from the power of sin!)
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Again Paul talks about knowing something. This is something that all Christians should know. Our old man, the flesh, the mortal body, the body of sin, the thing that leads all people down the path of sin, was destroyed when Jesus died! Why? So that we should stop serving sin.)
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. (This should be wonderfully good news by now! When Jesus died, you died, and we know that dead men don’t sin! ALL believers are dead and freed from sin.)
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:(Once again, notice the future tense. Paul says that we shall also live with Christ.)
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (This should really be the point of rejoicing for us. Since Jesus died and was raised in a new immortal body, he no longer has death reigning over Him. Now if we were baptized into Jesus’ death, then we also are free from the dominion of death.)
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Here is where many people get things wrong. Somehow they turn this ‘reckon’ into a work that we need to accomplish. The word reckon simply means to count. The instruction from Paul is this, Since Jesus is dead to the dominion of sin and death by His own death and resurrection, in the same way you should now also count (reckon, impute, account) yourself to be dead, resurrected, and in a new body and therefore free from sin and death.)
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Based upon something that is not tangible at all, in fact, based upon something that will yet take place, DO NOT let sin reign in your mortal body anymore! Do not obey the lusts of your mortal body any longer. Notice that he did not say that it is impossible that you could let sin reign, rather he said, let not sin therefore reign. The slave trade has ended, it is over, you can now go free and live in holiness. Your flesh is dead, along with the lusts thereof, now walk as though you are dead to sin and alive unto God.)
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members (members in the Bible are simply eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, sex organs and so on) as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Live as though you are already dead and resurrected in an immortal body, sin and death being a thing of the past!)
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (This is a strong statement that Paul makes here. He boldly says that sin will not have dominion over a Christian! He is confident that living in faith of Christ’s death and resurrection, our participation with Him, and living in hope of a future resurrection where all this will really come to pass, is enough to keep a believer living above the dominion of sin, even in this life!)
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (Here Paul says that by obeying a form of doctrine, they became free from being the servants to sin. Most people believe that victory over sin lies is in their humility, or self denial, but Paul says that it was by simply believing a doctrine. Freedom from sin is as much a free gift as forgiveness of sins is a free gift. Just like there is nothing you can do to save yourself from the penalty of sin, even so there is nothing you can do to save yourself from the power of sin.
Freedom from sin is not you stopping your sin, freedom from sin is God putting your flesh to death in Christ Jesus. Freedom from sin is not you living a life of holiness, although freedom from sin will result in holiness. Freedom from sin is God taking your mortal body and baptizing it into His Son, crucifying your flesh, and then raising you again in an immortal body, never to die again.)
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Not only did God set you free from sin, He also thereby made you the servant of righteousness. You now have the ability not only to stop sinning, but also to do righteousness!)
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ( The key to victory over sin is eternal life. Life forever with Jesus in an immortal body. That is where victory lies. Sin brought death, Jesus brought life. That is our cure. There is no other. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If you are in Christ then full provision for victory over sin has been made for you. You have been given eternal life!)
I hope this has been helpful to some of you. I know that there is a lot of confusion over this passage and the subject of freedom from sin. I believe this to be the straight forward gospel approach to it. Any other ‘formula’ would not be gospel. The message of Romans 6 is good news. It means that all those that don’t have the will power to deny themselves, those that never were good at being religious, now have the freedom to walk above sin in a way that religion could never produce in a person. You can walk as someone that is alive from the dead and you don’t have to be super human to do it. The answer is simple, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him. If you believe this good news, thank God for what He has done for you in Jesus, and then walk in the liberty whereby Christ has made you free!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Jesus is the LORD (jehovah)
There are plenty of people today that are questioning the deity of Jesus Christ. Their questions come in the same manner as the question that the serpent asked in the garden, 'has God really said...'? Although they do have a group of verses that they stand on, I believe that their understanding of those verses is wrong. The only reason that they view those verses in the way that they do is because of their false understanding of who Jesus is. They fail to recognize that as a man God limited himself in certain respects.
There are a few passages of scripture that give us very clear definitions of who Jesus is, and who he was before his coming to the earth. 1 John 1, says 'that which was from the beginning...the word of life!'. The gospel of John chapter 1, says 'in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.....and the word was made flesh.'. These passages state very plainly that before being manifested in the flesh, Jesus was the Word of God. Notice that it was not the Son of God that was manifested, rather it was the Word of God that was manifested as the Son of God. There was a point in time that he became the Son of God(psalm 2), but he has always been the Word of God and always will be the Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
These same verses, along with scores of others, also prove that Jesus' existence is prior to him coming to the earth as a baby. They say that he is from the beginning, that he is the creator that made all things. Col 1:15, states concerning Jesus,... Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. These verses tell us that before there were stars and planets, the Word of God was. Before there was a single thought, before there was time, space, and matter, Jesus existed as the Word of God. It says that, just as an artist may paint a picture by himself and for himself, even so Jesus, as the Word of God, created all things, visible and invisible, for himself and by himself! He wanted everything to consist by him! Hebrews 1 says that Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power! Everything from the smallest atom, to the invisible spirit, to the most vast galaxy, all of it is upheld and consists by Jesus.
Anyway, I feel like I may have been drifting from my topic a bit there, and yet, not really. My point in this article is to show you that Jesus is JEHOVAH of the Old Testament. He is the one that created the heavens and the earth and destroyed it again in days of Noah. He is the one that spoke to Abraham of the land of Canaan and promised it to him and his descendants forever. He revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush and brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Jesus is Jehovah, the one that parted the red sea and made Israel great! On and on we could go about all the great things that Jehovah has done in times past. It is not very often that we think of these things as being done by Jesus, but that is who it was.
In Isaiah 45 Jehovah is making things very plain to the children of Israel. He wants them to know that HE is God and that there is none other! Five times in this one chapter God feels the need to state that there is 'none else', four times he says there is 'none besides me'. In verse 18 he states, For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. This verse already sounds very similar to the ones that we went through earlier about Jesus in the New Testament, doesn't it? He goes on from there continuing to make it clear that he is God and that there is not another one, and then in verse 22-23 he states that salvation and judgment will come through him, he says, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Did you catch that? Jehovah says that unto him, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear!! Does that ring a bell at all? Isn't there another passage somewhere that says something very similar to that in regards to Jesus? Yes there is, Philippians chapter 2 says, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. How could every knee bow, and every tongue confess that both Jesus and Jehovah are LORD unless they are the same person?
There is another passage in Zechariah 12:1 that says, The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Here the LORD again makes it exceedingly clear that he is the one that made the heavens and the earth! He continues in this passage to speak in a personal sort of way, saying, 'I will smite..I will make..I shall seek', and so on. There is no doubt whatsoever who is doing the talking in this passage, it is the LORD GOD JEHOVAH. Now if you go down to verse 10, Jehovah says to the children of Israel in prophecy, '... and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. It is amazing to me that with a prophecy like this the children of Israel still pierced Jesus, but they did, and they gave it little thought. But the day is coming when Jerusalem will be surrounded by the nations of the earth, and Jesus will come down upon the mount of olives riding a white horse, and the children of Israel will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn at their cruel dealings with their LORD and Savior Jesus Christ or Jehovah! (Zech. 12-14, Rev. 19).
There are many other prophecies in the Old Testament where Jehovah refers to himself, but the fulfillment is found in Jesus. I won't go through them all right now, but I wanted to give you a little taste of this truth in these two passages.
I love the doctrine of the deity of Jesus! It gives me great confidence to know that God was manifested in the flesh, became the perfect man, and the perfect substitute sacrifice for our sins!
So the next time you consider the Old Testament and see the Lord God Jehovah at work, remember that he is also the man that was born to a virgin, lived a perfect life, gave himself as a ransom for all, died, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven! He is the man that is sitting at the right hand of the father right now, the one that ever lives to make intercession for us. You can count on his work being effectual for you today! You need not doubt whether your salvation is for sure or not, the same God that created all things is the same God that became a man and secured your salvation for you. The same deity that destroyed Egypt with ten amazing plagues, is the same God that went to the cross and spoiled the devil and his servants. God, who formed you, has also recreated you through Jesus' work on the cross.
Be confident of this one thing, there is one God, beside him there is not another one, and this one God came into human history in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of being our savior, that he might have the preeminence and be before all things! HALLELUJAH!
There are a few passages of scripture that give us very clear definitions of who Jesus is, and who he was before his coming to the earth. 1 John 1, says 'that which was from the beginning...the word of life!'. The gospel of John chapter 1, says 'in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.....and the word was made flesh.'. These passages state very plainly that before being manifested in the flesh, Jesus was the Word of God. Notice that it was not the Son of God that was manifested, rather it was the Word of God that was manifested as the Son of God. There was a point in time that he became the Son of God(psalm 2), but he has always been the Word of God and always will be the Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
These same verses, along with scores of others, also prove that Jesus' existence is prior to him coming to the earth as a baby. They say that he is from the beginning, that he is the creator that made all things. Col 1:15, states concerning Jesus,... Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. These verses tell us that before there were stars and planets, the Word of God was. Before there was a single thought, before there was time, space, and matter, Jesus existed as the Word of God. It says that, just as an artist may paint a picture by himself and for himself, even so Jesus, as the Word of God, created all things, visible and invisible, for himself and by himself! He wanted everything to consist by him! Hebrews 1 says that Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power! Everything from the smallest atom, to the invisible spirit, to the most vast galaxy, all of it is upheld and consists by Jesus.
Anyway, I feel like I may have been drifting from my topic a bit there, and yet, not really. My point in this article is to show you that Jesus is JEHOVAH of the Old Testament. He is the one that created the heavens and the earth and destroyed it again in days of Noah. He is the one that spoke to Abraham of the land of Canaan and promised it to him and his descendants forever. He revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush and brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Jesus is Jehovah, the one that parted the red sea and made Israel great! On and on we could go about all the great things that Jehovah has done in times past. It is not very often that we think of these things as being done by Jesus, but that is who it was.
In Isaiah 45 Jehovah is making things very plain to the children of Israel. He wants them to know that HE is God and that there is none other! Five times in this one chapter God feels the need to state that there is 'none else', four times he says there is 'none besides me'. In verse 18 he states, For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. This verse already sounds very similar to the ones that we went through earlier about Jesus in the New Testament, doesn't it? He goes on from there continuing to make it clear that he is God and that there is not another one, and then in verse 22-23 he states that salvation and judgment will come through him, he says, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Did you catch that? Jehovah says that unto him, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear!! Does that ring a bell at all? Isn't there another passage somewhere that says something very similar to that in regards to Jesus? Yes there is, Philippians chapter 2 says, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. How could every knee bow, and every tongue confess that both Jesus and Jehovah are LORD unless they are the same person?
There is another passage in Zechariah 12:1 that says, The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Here the LORD again makes it exceedingly clear that he is the one that made the heavens and the earth! He continues in this passage to speak in a personal sort of way, saying, 'I will smite..I will make..I shall seek', and so on. There is no doubt whatsoever who is doing the talking in this passage, it is the LORD GOD JEHOVAH. Now if you go down to verse 10, Jehovah says to the children of Israel in prophecy, '... and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. It is amazing to me that with a prophecy like this the children of Israel still pierced Jesus, but they did, and they gave it little thought. But the day is coming when Jerusalem will be surrounded by the nations of the earth, and Jesus will come down upon the mount of olives riding a white horse, and the children of Israel will look upon him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn at their cruel dealings with their LORD and Savior Jesus Christ or Jehovah! (Zech. 12-14, Rev. 19).
There are many other prophecies in the Old Testament where Jehovah refers to himself, but the fulfillment is found in Jesus. I won't go through them all right now, but I wanted to give you a little taste of this truth in these two passages.
I love the doctrine of the deity of Jesus! It gives me great confidence to know that God was manifested in the flesh, became the perfect man, and the perfect substitute sacrifice for our sins!
So the next time you consider the Old Testament and see the Lord God Jehovah at work, remember that he is also the man that was born to a virgin, lived a perfect life, gave himself as a ransom for all, died, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven! He is the man that is sitting at the right hand of the father right now, the one that ever lives to make intercession for us. You can count on his work being effectual for you today! You need not doubt whether your salvation is for sure or not, the same God that created all things is the same God that became a man and secured your salvation for you. The same deity that destroyed Egypt with ten amazing plagues, is the same God that went to the cross and spoiled the devil and his servants. God, who formed you, has also recreated you through Jesus' work on the cross.
Be confident of this one thing, there is one God, beside him there is not another one, and this one God came into human history in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of being our savior, that he might have the preeminence and be before all things! HALLELUJAH!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Have you heard the good news?!
ATTENTION, child molesters, porn addicts, liars, queers, hypocrites, rebels, fornicators, thieves, murderers, adulterers and adulteresses, and all other selfish people.
There is good news for one and all. It is found in the Word of God, the Bible! The news is simply this, wicked people can now be accepted by God! You heard correctly, wicked, sinful, ungodly people can be made righteous and have good standing with God.
This is the biggest contradiction of all time! It is not in God's Holy nature to let sinners go. Sinners must be punished. The Bible says that God is angry at the wicked everyday (Ps. 7:11), and that he hates all workers of ininquity (Ps,5:5). How is it possible that God could clear the record of the guilty?! How could God take the worst of the worst and accept them, call them His children, and declare them to be righteous??
Here is how. God made Jesus to be SIN! Jesus that holy man, Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, Jesus, the man that never sinned in his life, Jesus, the one that raised the dead and gave sight to the blind, Jesus, there was no guile found in his mouth, Jesus, the only overcoming man, ever, Jesus, the man that spent his life in ministry to others, Jesus! Do you know HIM?! He was the only person ever to walk on this earth that always, in every way, pleased God! He was the perfect man!
Did you know that God made Jesus to be sin? Well according to 2 Cor.5:21, God did just that. You might ask, 'Why would God do that?'.
Here is why. So that he could take you, evil, wicked, dirty, you, and make you the very righteousness of God! Can you believe it?! You, sinful and selfish, you, the one that has lived for yourself, you, the person that has lied and cheated for the benefit of none other than yourself, you, the one that has taken freely of all of Gods goodness in nature and rarely stopped to even consider Him. You, rotten, filthy, you.
That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. God takes the ungodly with all their sin and misery and calls them His children. Please read Romans 4 and 5.
Do you want to know how you can be called Gods child? The Bible says that God justifies those that believe on His Son Jesus Christ. He took your sin and was put to death in your place, so that you can take HIS righteousness, and have life in HIS place.
You do not deserve a bit of it, and the only way you can be saved is if you accept this salvation as a gift. God wants to give you eternal life and there is only one condition.... you can't do anything to receive it. Thats it. God has done it all, and He simply wants you to believe HIM.
If you believe this good news, thank God, get a Bible (preferably King James), and begin to live for HIM rather than for yourself. Then go find someone else you can talk to about JESUS.
There is good news for one and all. It is found in the Word of God, the Bible! The news is simply this, wicked people can now be accepted by God! You heard correctly, wicked, sinful, ungodly people can be made righteous and have good standing with God.
This is the biggest contradiction of all time! It is not in God's Holy nature to let sinners go. Sinners must be punished. The Bible says that God is angry at the wicked everyday (Ps. 7:11), and that he hates all workers of ininquity (Ps,5:5). How is it possible that God could clear the record of the guilty?! How could God take the worst of the worst and accept them, call them His children, and declare them to be righteous??
Here is how. God made Jesus to be SIN! Jesus that holy man, Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, Jesus, the man that never sinned in his life, Jesus, the one that raised the dead and gave sight to the blind, Jesus, there was no guile found in his mouth, Jesus, the only overcoming man, ever, Jesus, the man that spent his life in ministry to others, Jesus! Do you know HIM?! He was the only person ever to walk on this earth that always, in every way, pleased God! He was the perfect man!
Did you know that God made Jesus to be sin? Well according to 2 Cor.5:21, God did just that. You might ask, 'Why would God do that?'.
Here is why. So that he could take you, evil, wicked, dirty, you, and make you the very righteousness of God! Can you believe it?! You, sinful and selfish, you, the one that has lived for yourself, you, the person that has lied and cheated for the benefit of none other than yourself, you, the one that has taken freely of all of Gods goodness in nature and rarely stopped to even consider Him. You, rotten, filthy, you.
That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. God takes the ungodly with all their sin and misery and calls them His children. Please read Romans 4 and 5.
Do you want to know how you can be called Gods child? The Bible says that God justifies those that believe on His Son Jesus Christ. He took your sin and was put to death in your place, so that you can take HIS righteousness, and have life in HIS place.
You do not deserve a bit of it, and the only way you can be saved is if you accept this salvation as a gift. God wants to give you eternal life and there is only one condition.... you can't do anything to receive it. Thats it. God has done it all, and He simply wants you to believe HIM.
If you believe this good news, thank God, get a Bible (preferably King James), and begin to live for HIM rather than for yourself. Then go find someone else you can talk to about JESUS.
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