I had a real urge to continue on this marvelous subject and continue delving into the bible truth that there is nothing left for us (Christians) to improve on, in referring to the flesh because of what God did in Christ for us and to us in baptizing us into Christ, crucifying the flesh, and raising us with Him in glorious victory and seating us with Him in heavenly places! The only struggle we have is to believe God.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:10 And ye (that is us) are complete in Him which is the head of all principalities and powers.
That is AWESOME! You see that friend? We are complete in Him. How do you improve on that? Everything we need, we have in Christ. Where then does that leave "getting broken", or striving against sin, or dying to self? I am done striving against sin. I no longer struggle with the devil or sin because Jesus has slain the enmity and has come and preached peace to me (Ephesians 2:16)! This does not mean that we no longer have temptation. Nothing in our reality changes, we just live in faith that what God's word says, is true. Every time temptation looms I just pray "thank you Lord for killing my flesh and freeing me from ever having to sin again, in Jesus name, amen." Friend it works every time, and all the time and it works for everything like, pornography, lust of the flesh, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, anger, depression whatever it may be. I just believe, reckon myself to be dead indeed unto sin, and yield myself to God and there is no work in that (Romans ch4-8). I just summed up what the whole Christian life ought to be in one sentence. Here is some more proof that we are dead.
Colossians 3:3 For ye are DEAD, and your life is hid in Christ in God.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.
Friend you think that is plain enough? YE ARE DEAD! What a great passage pertaining to our flesh (old man) and that our life is hid in Christ, just like I used to wrap myself in my mother's dress when I was a child. What confidence this gives me that my life is hid in Jesus and He is in God. Who will separate me from that?
Now let us look at some more wonderful scripture, paying close attention to the tense (past, present, future) and you will see that everything that we need to inherit eternal life and to live the Christian life has already been done to us in Christ.
Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which HATH made us meet (worthy) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Colossians 1:13 Who HATH delivered us from the power of darkness, and HATH translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son:
Can you comprehend that! God has made us worthy! You have not made yourself worthy of a single thing! To God be all the glory! I am saddened that in churches these days we hear mostly of how we should be made perfect in the flesh and very little about living by faith. The second verse there tells us that God has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son! I can't tell you how comforting it is to know that I have already been translated into His Kingdom. This brings me such peace and assurance that just as sure as Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father so am I.
Ephesians 2:4 But God who is rich in mercy wherewith He loved us,
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, HATH quickened (made alive) us together with Christ (by grace are ye saved)
Ephesians 2:6 And HATH raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
That is Fantastic! There is not a word to describe how awesome that is! It makes me want to shout for joy! But for the sake of those asleep I will not.
You see that in our reality we do not see these things yet, and if we did then we would not be living by faith and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) so we live in the light of God's promises knowing with complete assurance that He cannot lie and He will not repent of the promises and what He did to us in Christ.
Hebrews 11:13 These (Abraham, Sara, Noah, Abel) all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.
These people died in what? In FAITH. So again, I cannot stress this enough how then shall we live?
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore recieved Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.
Colossians 2:7 Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the FAITH, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
How did we recieve Jesus? By faith of course. Where does this leave the cares and worries of this world? If you are stressed out over everything in your present life then dare I say that you are not believing God? So this is exactly then how we ought to live, believing what God has done in Christ on the cross by His precious shed blood and embracing the hope that is set before us that one day soon the Lord Jesus will come again to gather all of us that believed and obeyed His gospel, and we will be rid of this dead body and spend eternity with Him who died for us. I would rather, as Paul said be absent from this body and present with the Lord but I wait with patience for His imminent return, and while I wait I live by faith. Amen? AMEN.
Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
It's a FREE GIFT. Dwell on that, FREE GIFT! You cannot do anything to earn it and and the only people the gift is offered to, is THE UNGODLY! This means YOU! This is wonderful news and you don't have to DO ANYTHING, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
WHAT WE HAVE IN CHRIST!
This is definitely a favourite topic of mine. Out of this subject, flows my whole life experience. This is what every Christian ought to know because without any knowledge of this topic, I do not see how any person could live in faith. The just shall live by faith. How do we as Christians live by faith? Well, we are going to see the marvelous truth of God's word revealed, and how faith, and what we have in Christ, go hand in hand.
All saving faith stems from the promises of God. When God gives us a promise it stirs up faith in us, because we know that God cannot lie. We look at Abraham and how God told him that he was presently the father of a great nation. Abraham had no children so you friend might say, how can this be? Amazingly, for twenty-five years Abraham believed God, that he was the father of a great nation, and he had no children! On a side note in the twenty-five years Abraham did not keep a sabbath, keep any holy days, go to church, feed the poor, cloth the naked or any other substantial thing, he just BELIEVED God. And God said "Abraham, since you believed the promise I made to you, I'm going to count it to you for righteousness." In the same way when we believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, He counts or imputes His own righteousness to us, making us the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. Wow! Did that just blow your mind? I can then say that I am as righteous as Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
If you think I am bragging, you are right. I am bragging about my Saviour and what God did to me in Christ, some two thousand years ago. Now friend, I might have you really confused, but stay with me. See, the moment you believed, God circumcised (cut) away your flesh and baptised you (not by water) by The Spirit into the body of Christ. This means that you are now flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone (Ephesians 5:30). That means that Jesus's history now becomes your history. Therefore if you friend view yourself apart from Jesus Christ then you got nothing. You were crucified, buried, and rose again with Christ, and your flesh (old man) was crucified and is now DEAD. You might say how can this be? I still walk around in my flesh, this cannot be true. Remember Abraham? Let's look at some scripture to back this up.
Romans 6:3 Know ye not that as many as were baptized into the body of Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death?
Romans 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 we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
Romans 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.
and again,
Galations 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; yet not I but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Look at Romans 4:17. God calls those things that are not as though they were. He calls me an ungodly sinner, justified. That means that He has gone through my records and found me completely innocent. See friend, I choose to believe God's reality rather than my own, just like Abraham. So we see that what the bible says is that God has already done everything to me and for me in Christ Jesus on the cross. That includes salvation and sanctification. And it just requires faith.
He calls me a son and an heir of God.
Galations 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son than an heir of God through Christ.
Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
It's a FREE GIFT. Dwell on that, FREE GIFT! You cannot do anything to earn it and and the only people the gift is offered to, is THE UNGODLY! This means YOU! This is wonderful news and you don't have to DO ANYTHING, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.
All saving faith stems from the promises of God. When God gives us a promise it stirs up faith in us, because we know that God cannot lie. We look at Abraham and how God told him that he was presently the father of a great nation. Abraham had no children so you friend might say, how can this be? Amazingly, for twenty-five years Abraham believed God, that he was the father of a great nation, and he had no children! On a side note in the twenty-five years Abraham did not keep a sabbath, keep any holy days, go to church, feed the poor, cloth the naked or any other substantial thing, he just BELIEVED God. And God said "Abraham, since you believed the promise I made to you, I'm going to count it to you for righteousness." In the same way when we believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, He counts or imputes His own righteousness to us, making us the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. Wow! Did that just blow your mind? I can then say that I am as righteous as Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
If you think I am bragging, you are right. I am bragging about my Saviour and what God did to me in Christ, some two thousand years ago. Now friend, I might have you really confused, but stay with me. See, the moment you believed, God circumcised (cut) away your flesh and baptised you (not by water) by The Spirit into the body of Christ. This means that you are now flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone (Ephesians 5:30). That means that Jesus's history now becomes your history. Therefore if you friend view yourself apart from Jesus Christ then you got nothing. You were crucified, buried, and rose again with Christ, and your flesh (old man) was crucified and is now DEAD. You might say how can this be? I still walk around in my flesh, this cannot be true. Remember Abraham? Let's look at some scripture to back this up.
Romans 6:3 Know ye not that as many as were baptized into the body of Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death?
Romans 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 we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
Romans 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.
and again,
Galations 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; yet not I but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Look at Romans 4:17. God calls those things that are not as though they were. He calls me an ungodly sinner, justified. That means that He has gone through my records and found me completely innocent. See friend, I choose to believe God's reality rather than my own, just like Abraham. So we see that what the bible says is that God has already done everything to me and for me in Christ Jesus on the cross. That includes salvation and sanctification. And it just requires faith.
He calls me a son and an heir of God.
Galations 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son than an heir of God through Christ.
The Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26), a High Priest that was one of us has gone on before and makes intercessions for us,
Hebrews 7:24 But this man (Jesus) because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercessions for them.
Jesus says He is not ashamed to call me a brother,
Hebrews 2:11 For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
and God says that He has forever perfected me,
Hebrews 10: For by one offering He hath forever perfected them that are sanctified.
Friend, if your saved today then that is you and me! I love this stuff! I can not read these promises enough and every time I read them I am refilled with the peace of God, knowing that He has done it all in Christ. I hope you see reader that everything that God has done to us in Christ is in the past and all that is left to do is BELIEVE GOD. Oh I hope you believe Him. Since I came upon these truths and started living by faith it has radically changed my life and I am sure with the help of the Holy Spirit you will see it in all its glorious wisdom that could only come from a wonderful and loving God. I could put a lot more scripture down especially from the book of Colossians but maybe I will leave that for part two. This might all be strange to you because rarely is it taught in churches today but I beg you friend to at least to study on it. It is too important to just let go and forget about.
Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
It's a FREE GIFT. Dwell on that, FREE GIFT! You cannot do anything to earn it and and the only people the gift is offered to, is THE UNGODLY! This means YOU! This is wonderful news and you don't have to DO ANYTHING, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Wrath Of God
You may wonder dear reader why I would write on such a frightening topic such as this. The truth is if I thought for a second that I would face this terrible wrath one day, I would not give it one ounce of my time, avoiding even the mere thought of it. My reason for writing this is simply to warn the unsaved of what they will most certainly face if they remain at enmity with God. Nevertheless I am extremely wary going forward because I realise that I can hardly start to understand how horrible it will be to those at the receiving end of His fierce wrath.
Lets look at what the wrath of God is. Perhaps the best way to explain it is as an action and a reaction, like crime and punishment, they go hand in hand. Where sin abounds, the wrath also abounds to those who know not God. Some people might be under an illusion that God is just angry for no good reason, like we sometimes are when we get moody, but we see throughout the bible, that His wrath is always justified. An example from the bible is as follows:
Numbers 25:1 And Isreal abode in Stittim and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Numbers 25:2 And they (daughters of Moab) called the people (Isreal) unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
Numbers 25:3 And Isreal joined himself unto Baalpoer (a false god): and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Isreal.
Numbers 25:4 And the LORD said unto Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up, before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Isreal.
So here is a graphic and frightening example of the anger of the LORD in response to the sins of the people against Him. Maybe friend you are thinking, how could God be so mean to kill all those people? Well I suppose the proper question is, how could such a righteous and holy God be so patient, longsuffering and loving towards a people that continuously shake their fist at Him and disobey His commands. In this instance the LORD speaks of Himself in the third person to show that if they will do immediately as He says, then His fierce anger will and can be turned away. But we also see that there is punishment for sin, just as sure as the law of gravity, and because of the people's sins, 24000 people died because of fornication and idol worship. Now dear reader lets jump over to the new testament and see what it says.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadest thee to repentance?
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
To sum up these verses Paul is saying that the only reason God has not destroyed all of us and sent us to eternal damnation (hell) is because of "The riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering." He is giving us time (longsuffering) to turn to Him and see His goodness (Free Gift of Salvation). But if you ignore His goodness you are storing up for yourself wrath, and we will see in the next verse that it is a fearful looking forward to the reckoning.
2Thessalonians 1:7 And you who are troubled rest with us(those in Christ Jesus), when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
2Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presense of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
2Thessalonians 1:10 When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
There is no beating around the bush here friend, this is a frightful thing. I would not want to be on the wrong end of that, and these next verses are no less frightening.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse; and He (Jesus) that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He himself.
Rev 19:13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in white linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God.
Rev 19:16 And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourself together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and His army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat on the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
This is wonderful news and you don't have to do anything, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.
Lets look at what the wrath of God is. Perhaps the best way to explain it is as an action and a reaction, like crime and punishment, they go hand in hand. Where sin abounds, the wrath also abounds to those who know not God. Some people might be under an illusion that God is just angry for no good reason, like we sometimes are when we get moody, but we see throughout the bible, that His wrath is always justified. An example from the bible is as follows:
Numbers 25:1 And Isreal abode in Stittim and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Numbers 25:2 And they (daughters of Moab) called the people (Isreal) unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
Numbers 25:3 And Isreal joined himself unto Baalpoer (a false god): and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Isreal.
Numbers 25:4 And the LORD said unto Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up, before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Isreal.
So here is a graphic and frightening example of the anger of the LORD in response to the sins of the people against Him. Maybe friend you are thinking, how could God be so mean to kill all those people? Well I suppose the proper question is, how could such a righteous and holy God be so patient, longsuffering and loving towards a people that continuously shake their fist at Him and disobey His commands. In this instance the LORD speaks of Himself in the third person to show that if they will do immediately as He says, then His fierce anger will and can be turned away. But we also see that there is punishment for sin, just as sure as the law of gravity, and because of the people's sins, 24000 people died because of fornication and idol worship. Now dear reader lets jump over to the new testament and see what it says.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
This is speaking about all people at one point in time, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If you friend are not saved today, do you know that you hold the truth in unrighteousness? Deep down you know that you are not at peace with God and you know you have His wrath abiding on you, as well that there must be a coming judgment. Maybe you think that compared to other people you're not so bad, that you don't do half the things those other wicked people do. The problem is that God does not compare you to other people. The curse of death fell upon all men because Adam and Eve disobeyed God once. Maybe this will shed some light on the seriousness of sin.
Romans 2:3 And thinking thou this, o man, that judgest them which do such things (sin), and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadest thee to repentance?
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
To sum up these verses Paul is saying that the only reason God has not destroyed all of us and sent us to eternal damnation (hell) is because of "The riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering." He is giving us time (longsuffering) to turn to Him and see His goodness (Free Gift of Salvation). But if you ignore His goodness you are storing up for yourself wrath, and we will see in the next verse that it is a fearful looking forward to the reckoning.
2Thessalonians 1:7 And you who are troubled rest with us(those in Christ Jesus), when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
2Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presense of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
2Thessalonians 1:10 When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
There is no beating around the bush here friend, this is a frightful thing. I would not want to be on the wrong end of that, and these next verses are no less frightening.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse; and He (Jesus) that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He himself.
Rev 19:13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in white linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God.
Rev 19:16 And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourself together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and His army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat on the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
All those that received the mark of the beast and the people the Lord Jesus will smite, will be those that rejected Him, and believed not that God came down in the flesh, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, died on a cross, paid the penalty for our sins and rose again. They will spend eternity in HELL . Friend, I hope you won't be one of them. You know if you're not saved today and you wonder if there is not more to this life and the life after, I'm telling you today that there is! Do you want peace and joy that comes only in knowing your eternal salvation is secure? Look to Jesus and believe what He did for you and He will deliver you from the power of darkness and translate you into His Kingdom! You cannot do anything to earn it, it is a FREE GIFT, just believe that He earned it for you. Then perhaps find a quiet place and thank Him for His blood.
Romans 4:5 To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Jesus died for the UNGODLY! Friend, that is you and me!
This is wonderful news and you don't have to do anything, just believe. It's not what you do my friend, it's what He has done... Tetelesti. It is finished.
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