"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2Co 13:14
The Trinity is a topic of
extreme importance. It is not however easily understood. Not that I claim to
know how God works within himself, but I felt inspired to attempt to explain so
here it goes. My apologies in advance to those of you who are theology majors.
(I'm not)
Perhaps the best place to start is:
"And when Jesus was
baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were
opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to
rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased."" Mat 3:16-17
A clear distinction is made here.
Jesus is being baptized, the Holy Spirit is descending, the Father is expressing
joy in Jesus.
I want to attempt to explain this from the perspective of
Jesus' relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit.
"In the beginning
the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
existed in the beginning with God." Joh 1:1-2
"I and the Father are
one."" Joh 10:30
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He
existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation," Col
1:15
"For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ," Col
1:19
Now Jesus is God. He was the visible manifestation of all the Father
was and still is. I believe this is because Jesus obeyed the Father perfectly in
every matter.
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and
supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from
death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he
learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became
the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him," Heb 5:7-9
"But
Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." This
was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he
breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself
equal with God. So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can
do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For
whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise." Joh 5:17-19
"So
Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me." Joh
7:16
"So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but
speak just as the Father taught me." Joh 8:28
"Do you not believe that I
am in the Father and the Father is in me? The wordsher that I say to you I do
not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on
account of the works themselves." Joh 14:10-11
We can see that Jesus'
relationship with the Father was based off His obedience to the Father's will.
He obeyed completely in every matter presented before him. This was the basis of
Jesus saying the Father was in him and he in the Father. This was made possible
by the Holy Spirit.
So what about the Holy Spirit?
Now the Lord is
the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2
Corinthians 3:17 NIV)
trying to find out the time and circumstances to
which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings
of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. (1 Peter 1:11 NIV)
You,
however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9 NIV)
Now the
Apostles knew that the Lord and the Spirit were so closely knit together they
were
"For He is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God gives Him the
Spirit without limit." Joh 3:34
virtually inseparable. Just as Peter said of
the Holy Spirit and the Father in Acts 5. The Lord also had a working
relationship with the Spirit:
"One day when the crowds were being
baptized, Jesus Himself was baptized. As He was praying, the heavens opened, and
the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on Him like a dove. And a voice from
heaven said, "You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy. "" Luk
3:21-22
"Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan
River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness," Luk 4:1
"Then Jesus
returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about Him
spread quickly through the whole region." Luk 4:14
Jesus was limitless in
the Holy Spirit. God gave his Son the never ending flow of the Spirit. By this
relationship with the Spirit, Jesus was able to carry out perfect obedience to
the Father and perform completely every task set before him.
This I
believe is the basis for Paul's teaching that Jesus was the exact representation
of the Father on earth. The Father worked his works through Jesus as he willed.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were working together in perfect unison; the
Father leading Jesus, the Spirit empowering Jesus, Jesus glorifying the Father
through the Spirit. It was as if there were just one of them walking and talking
on earth, even though there were three distinct personalities.
Now I'm
sure I don't do this doctrine justice. I probably missed some scripture
references, but I feel this short synapsis captures the essence of the Holy
trinity. That three different and distinct persons can be so perfectly united in
thought, deed, and will that it is as if there were only one person.
I
also believe this model is meant for us too as believers, that Jesus gives us
the Spirit to empower us to serve and grant us adoption into the family of God
and we in turn take our marching orders from Jesus as revealed by the Spirit
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
What does the world really need?
Well the obvious answer is Jesus. But with a church on every street corner, a minister in every neighborhood, things are just not progressing as they should. Church attendance is down by and large, especially among younger generations, and and social standards are dropping at an alarming rate.
Can you imagine even 20 years ago that (in America at least) things would look as they do now? I highly doubt it. So that begs the question, what can we do to right the ship?
More messages won't do... I mean anyone can upload http://www.youtube.com/ and find a message about sin, grace, and Jesus...
More programs won't do... they can go into any secular organization for those and they would probably enjoy those more.
What about love? Hmmm now there's a thought. This word love is just a word without any action to it. Telling someone I love you while beating them down is just empty bellowing. A tree with leaves. A car without fuel. It's useless.
What does the scriptures say about love?
Love is from God, in fact... "God is love." 1 John 4:16 indeed we love only because He loved us first. 1 John 4:19
But what does Christlike love look like?
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Christlike love is God first, others second, myself last. Yes even I am behind my own enemies. Remember Jesus prayed for those who put Him on the cross and asked the Father to forgive them, He even kneeled at Judas' feet and washed them.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
It is the attitude that saysif I were hungry but unable to buy my own food, I would someone to give me something to eat. If I were thristy, I would want a cup of water. If I were naked or cold, I would want a coat or blanket. I get the sense Jesus taught this as one of His most profound teachings on the Judgement was this, as found in Matthew 25:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
[I]40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, [B]you did for me[/B].’[/I]
John, the disciple closest to Jesus, the one most in tune with His heart of compassion and love, explained this even in 1 John 3:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
There's that idea of sacrifice again. Others before myself. The world has people who give love and compassion on those who return the favor to them. Jesus told us we must go beyond that!
Luke 6:32-34
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
What the world needs is an exhibition of God's love. The love that conquers the coldest of hearts. There are many though who profess to love Jesus that you would be better off crossing a rattlesnake in the middle of the Sahara desert. Surely one who has God's love in them can do better than that.
We must do better. Not that all of us are that way. Indeed most who I converse with here seem that you would be very nice people to encounter. But when we see a fellow believer bad mouth someone, or mistreat them, or use them. Do we confront the sin? Or do we let it ride so we can keep a friend? We all are the body of Christ, we must do what is necessary for the mutual edification of the saints.
James would agree with this...
James 2:1-4
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
I have seen people walk into a church with street clothes on and (I kid you not) all 300 in the congregation gasped at the same time. Not one millosecond later that individual and his entourage walked right back out. That is not what Jesus wants from us!
Paul called it being a "living sacrifice". Dead to ourselves yet alive to God. Being alive to God means being alive to others.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Like the "T" of the cross, the vertical intersects with the horizontal. How we treat others is a direct reflection of how we love God.
1 John 4:20-21
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
The world needs love. Jesus' love. The love that is ours through the indwelling, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Now, I doubt many of us here have "big and important" ministries (whatever that means) I mean we are on CF. So what's the point?
A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.
Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.
As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.
The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference."
The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied,
"I made a huge difference to that one!"
Making a difference, no matter how small at first. Ripples in the water are always small when first struck, and yet notice how they grow! So perhaps one person doesn't make a big difference in the grand scheme of 7 billion people. But you never know, and just one to Jesus is the equivalent of the whole.
As you go throughout your daily routine, just ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone He can love on through you! Look for chances to show Christ's love. If He asks you to lay hands on someone, do it. If He asks you to give a dollar, or pound, or whatever, do it. If He asks you to sacrifice yourself for someone else, do it. Remember Jesus did for you. I will comply myself with this and together we can become what Jesus died to make the church, His very body here on Earth.
God bless you!
Can you imagine even 20 years ago that (in America at least) things would look as they do now? I highly doubt it. So that begs the question, what can we do to right the ship?
More messages won't do... I mean anyone can upload http://www.youtube.com/ and find a message about sin, grace, and Jesus...
More programs won't do... they can go into any secular organization for those and they would probably enjoy those more.
What about love? Hmmm now there's a thought. This word love is just a word without any action to it. Telling someone I love you while beating them down is just empty bellowing. A tree with leaves. A car without fuel. It's useless.
What does the scriptures say about love?
Love is from God, in fact... "God is love." 1 John 4:16 indeed we love only because He loved us first. 1 John 4:19
But what does Christlike love look like?
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Christlike love is God first, others second, myself last. Yes even I am behind my own enemies. Remember Jesus prayed for those who put Him on the cross and asked the Father to forgive them, He even kneeled at Judas' feet and washed them.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
It is the attitude that saysif I were hungry but unable to buy my own food, I would someone to give me something to eat. If I were thristy, I would want a cup of water. If I were naked or cold, I would want a coat or blanket. I get the sense Jesus taught this as one of His most profound teachings on the Judgement was this, as found in Matthew 25:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
[I]40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, [B]you did for me[/B].’[/I]
John, the disciple closest to Jesus, the one most in tune with His heart of compassion and love, explained this even in 1 John 3:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
There's that idea of sacrifice again. Others before myself. The world has people who give love and compassion on those who return the favor to them. Jesus told us we must go beyond that!
Luke 6:32-34
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
What the world needs is an exhibition of God's love. The love that conquers the coldest of hearts. There are many though who profess to love Jesus that you would be better off crossing a rattlesnake in the middle of the Sahara desert. Surely one who has God's love in them can do better than that.
We must do better. Not that all of us are that way. Indeed most who I converse with here seem that you would be very nice people to encounter. But when we see a fellow believer bad mouth someone, or mistreat them, or use them. Do we confront the sin? Or do we let it ride so we can keep a friend? We all are the body of Christ, we must do what is necessary for the mutual edification of the saints.
James would agree with this...
James 2:1-4
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
I have seen people walk into a church with street clothes on and (I kid you not) all 300 in the congregation gasped at the same time. Not one millosecond later that individual and his entourage walked right back out. That is not what Jesus wants from us!
Paul called it being a "living sacrifice". Dead to ourselves yet alive to God. Being alive to God means being alive to others.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Like the "T" of the cross, the vertical intersects with the horizontal. How we treat others is a direct reflection of how we love God.
1 John 4:20-21
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
The world needs love. Jesus' love. The love that is ours through the indwelling, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Now, I doubt many of us here have "big and important" ministries (whatever that means) I mean we are on CF. So what's the point?
A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.
Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.
As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.
The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference."
The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied,
"I made a huge difference to that one!"
Making a difference, no matter how small at first. Ripples in the water are always small when first struck, and yet notice how they grow! So perhaps one person doesn't make a big difference in the grand scheme of 7 billion people. But you never know, and just one to Jesus is the equivalent of the whole.
As you go throughout your daily routine, just ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone He can love on through you! Look for chances to show Christ's love. If He asks you to lay hands on someone, do it. If He asks you to give a dollar, or pound, or whatever, do it. If He asks you to sacrifice yourself for someone else, do it. Remember Jesus did for you. I will comply myself with this and together we can become what Jesus died to make the church, His very body here on Earth.
God bless you!
Where does guilt come from?
Where does the remembrance of sin along with guilt and shame come from?
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:10, 12 ESV)
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zechariah 3:1 ESV)
Satan clearly is the one that accuses us and reminds us of our sin.
God said He would never remember our sins again, completely forgiven.
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12 ESV)
Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. (Isaiah 38:17 ESV)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19 ESV)
When you are reminded of how sinful you are/were that is Satan coming at you... Not God making you feel bad for your past. God justified all who believe completely, set us free from our sins, imputed His righteousness to us in Jesus who lives in us. So we should not allow ourselves to dwell on our past and sin, but rather on our place in Christ. (Romans 8:5-8, 15-17; Col 3:1-3; Phil 4:8; 2 Cor 10:5)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:5, 6, 15-17 ESV)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:10, 12 ESV)
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zechariah 3:1 ESV)
Satan clearly is the one that accuses us and reminds us of our sin.
God said He would never remember our sins again, completely forgiven.
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12 ESV)
Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. (Isaiah 38:17 ESV)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19 ESV)
When you are reminded of how sinful you are/were that is Satan coming at you... Not God making you feel bad for your past. God justified all who believe completely, set us free from our sins, imputed His righteousness to us in Jesus who lives in us. So we should not allow ourselves to dwell on our past and sin, but rather on our place in Christ. (Romans 8:5-8, 15-17; Col 3:1-3; Phil 4:8; 2 Cor 10:5)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:5, 6, 15-17 ESV)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
What are you thinking about (2)?
Roman 6:11 NIV In the same way, count [logizomai] yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
logizomai: to reckon, to consider
Original Word: λογίζομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: logizomai
Phonetic Spelling: (log-id'-zom-ahee)
Short Definition: I reckon, count, decide
Definition: I reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose.
HELPS Word-studies
3049 logízomai (the root of the English terms "logic, logical") – properly, compute, "take into account"; reckon (come to a "bottom-line"), i.e. reason to a logical conclusion (decision).
What you say is reckoning (taken from Romans 6:11) is the Greek word logizomai (Greek 3049), which as shown above is a verb (ACTION) meaning to reason to a logical conclusion. In other words it's a thought process in which one person considers all the possible solutions and comes to the logical conclusion.
Romans 8:5-8
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Those who live in the flesh have their minds set on the flesh, those who live in the Spirit have their minds set on the Spirit and His desires.
Phil 4:8
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2 Cor 10:5
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Look at how many times Paul talks about the Christian thought process and how important it is to the actions of the believer. It's fact that what we dwell on affects our actions. Paul even tells us WHY we should set our minds and thoughts upon heavenly, Spiritual things...
Colo 3:1-3
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
For you died, died, as in past tense, already happened.... Hmmm now where does that sound familiar?
Romans 6:1-11
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count [reckon, logizomai] yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When we decided to follow Jesus and believed, we died instantly with Him. No longer slaves to sin, that has already happened...
It's like a person with a million dollars in their bank account but not knowing about it. They are millionaires even though they don't know it. What they need is the knowledge of what they have. Telling them how poor and miserable they are isn't going to help them see they have vast riches stored away just waiting on them to get it. Telling them how to go down to the bank to get what's theirs will.
That's what I'm saying, Christ has ALREADY gave us the victory. He has already set us free. If we are slaves to sin, it is a mental thing only. Not a physical reality! Paul gives us the means by which to free those in such a state. Satan's last means by which to keep believers enslaved is to make them believe they are slaves still and worst yet, must work their way to complete their salvation. I believe the Galatians were falling for this lie, and perhaps some here teach this heresy.
It is not complicated, but again that's a CF norm, complicated theology that makes individuals seem knowledgable and religious.
You can keep it. God says dwell on Him and what He desires and He will set all things as they should be. Let His love, power, and grace flow through your heart to your mind and through you as a person in your actions and words.... That is the "means" by which people are to be freed... but wait, they already have been. You merely have to set your mind on it....
To simple to be true right?
logizomai: to reckon, to consider
Original Word: λογίζομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: logizomai
Phonetic Spelling: (log-id'-zom-ahee)
Short Definition: I reckon, count, decide
Definition: I reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose.
HELPS Word-studies
3049 logízomai (the root of the English terms "logic, logical") – properly, compute, "take into account"; reckon (come to a "bottom-line"), i.e. reason to a logical conclusion (decision).
What you say is reckoning (taken from Romans 6:11) is the Greek word logizomai (Greek 3049), which as shown above is a verb (ACTION) meaning to reason to a logical conclusion. In other words it's a thought process in which one person considers all the possible solutions and comes to the logical conclusion.
Romans 8:5-8
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Those who live in the flesh have their minds set on the flesh, those who live in the Spirit have their minds set on the Spirit and His desires.
Phil 4:8
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2 Cor 10:5
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Look at how many times Paul talks about the Christian thought process and how important it is to the actions of the believer. It's fact that what we dwell on affects our actions. Paul even tells us WHY we should set our minds and thoughts upon heavenly, Spiritual things...
Colo 3:1-3
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
For you died, died, as in past tense, already happened.... Hmmm now where does that sound familiar?
Romans 6:1-11
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count [reckon, logizomai] yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When we decided to follow Jesus and believed, we died instantly with Him. No longer slaves to sin, that has already happened...
It's like a person with a million dollars in their bank account but not knowing about it. They are millionaires even though they don't know it. What they need is the knowledge of what they have. Telling them how poor and miserable they are isn't going to help them see they have vast riches stored away just waiting on them to get it. Telling them how to go down to the bank to get what's theirs will.
That's what I'm saying, Christ has ALREADY gave us the victory. He has already set us free. If we are slaves to sin, it is a mental thing only. Not a physical reality! Paul gives us the means by which to free those in such a state. Satan's last means by which to keep believers enslaved is to make them believe they are slaves still and worst yet, must work their way to complete their salvation. I believe the Galatians were falling for this lie, and perhaps some here teach this heresy.
It is not complicated, but again that's a CF norm, complicated theology that makes individuals seem knowledgable and religious.
You can keep it. God says dwell on Him and what He desires and He will set all things as they should be. Let His love, power, and grace flow through your heart to your mind and through you as a person in your actions and words.... That is the "means" by which people are to be freed... but wait, they already have been. You merely have to set your mind on it....
To simple to be true right?
You are gods!
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? (John 10:34-36 NIV)
Now the Son of God called the Jews "gods" because they had received the scriptures only, what is He talking about?
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11 NIV)
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-9, 11 NIV)
By the word of the Lord, the scriptures, comes a knowledge of righteousness and holiness. Don't misunderstand, these things do not come by the scriptures themselves only a knowledge of them. IOW, how we can be made holy and righteous.
So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, (Galatians 3:24-26 NIV)
Now we see Paul referring to the Law as a guardian that was designed to lead us to Christ who is himself our righteousness, means of holiness, and redeemer. (1 Cor 1:30) The law and scriptures were always designed to lead us to faith in God and His means of righteousness.
This is what Jesus is saying to us today; You are gods....
In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:17, 18 NIV)
“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10:33 NIV)
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13 NIV)
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:14-17 NIV)
Now scriptures are clear, all who believe in Jesus have the Spirit of adoption in them, making them children of God. If children then we too have the right to call God our Father and indeed we do and should for that's what He is. Like Jesus, if we claim God as our Father, then we too make ourselves equal to Him.
Indeed being "born again" we have the very Spirit and nature of God within us. That is why I say or rather repeat as Jesus did, you are gods. Because you are made in the very likeness of God your Father. Holy, Righteous, Redeemed....
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:4, 6, 7, 18, 22 NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
This new birth in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of adoption making us children of God leads us to the very nature of God. So when Jesus Himself says things like:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12 NIV)
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. (Mark 11:22, 23 NIV)
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8 NIV)
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17, 18 NIV)
HE REALLY MEANT IT! If you as a believer, a child of God, have doubted the power within, step out full of grace and power through the Spirit and walk in the fullness of the life God gave you.
What will it look like? Ask the Spirit to reveal His work to you...
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. By myself I can do nothing; (John 5:19, 20, 30 NIV)
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. (John 7:16 NIV)
“But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. (John 8:26-28 NIV)
but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” (John 10:32 NIV)
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:10 NIV)
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13 NIV)
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV)
To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:29 NIV)
What the Father works in me will not be what He works in you. Stop asking Him to be like someone else and be who He created you in Christ Jesus to be!
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,(1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV)
According to 1 Corinthians 12, God places us exactly where He wants us and we each have a different calling, but no one has any less power or anointing than the other.
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:18-20, 28, 29, 31 NIV)
This in fact is your reality as a child of God. He lives in you to work His purpose in you. If salvation began with Him and not you, and He revealed Jesus to you when He wanted to:
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. (Galatians 1:15, 16 NIV)
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” (John 6:37, 39, 44, 65 NIV)
Then surely the work He created you for (Eph 2:10) must wait until He reveals it and works it in you. Wait on Him! Let Him work His purpose in you! Indeed that's all we can do, Jesus said without Him we could do nothing!
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5 NIV)
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3 NIV)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14 NIV)
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1 NIV)
Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God. (Psalm 38:15 NIV)
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. (Psalm 37:7-9, 34 ESV)
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:24-26 NIV)
Oh Lord! I am yours and you are mine! I love you! I wait for you to fulfill your purpose in me! Thank you for putting your Spirit in me! For making me pure, holy, and righteousness! Not by my own works, but by your grace! I am nothing without you! Fulfill your good pleasure in me oh Lord!
Now the Son of God called the Jews "gods" because they had received the scriptures only, what is He talking about?
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11 NIV)
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-9, 11 NIV)
By the word of the Lord, the scriptures, comes a knowledge of righteousness and holiness. Don't misunderstand, these things do not come by the scriptures themselves only a knowledge of them. IOW, how we can be made holy and righteous.
So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, (Galatians 3:24-26 NIV)
Now we see Paul referring to the Law as a guardian that was designed to lead us to Christ who is himself our righteousness, means of holiness, and redeemer. (1 Cor 1:30) The law and scriptures were always designed to lead us to faith in God and His means of righteousness.
This is what Jesus is saying to us today; You are gods....
In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:17, 18 NIV)
“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10:33 NIV)
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13 NIV)
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:14-17 NIV)
Now scriptures are clear, all who believe in Jesus have the Spirit of adoption in them, making them children of God. If children then we too have the right to call God our Father and indeed we do and should for that's what He is. Like Jesus, if we claim God as our Father, then we too make ourselves equal to Him.
Indeed being "born again" we have the very Spirit and nature of God within us. That is why I say or rather repeat as Jesus did, you are gods. Because you are made in the very likeness of God your Father. Holy, Righteous, Redeemed....
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 NIV)
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:4, 6, 7, 18, 22 NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
This new birth in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of adoption making us children of God leads us to the very nature of God. So when Jesus Himself says things like:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12 NIV)
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. (Mark 11:22, 23 NIV)
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8 NIV)
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17, 18 NIV)
HE REALLY MEANT IT! If you as a believer, a child of God, have doubted the power within, step out full of grace and power through the Spirit and walk in the fullness of the life God gave you.
What will it look like? Ask the Spirit to reveal His work to you...
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. By myself I can do nothing; (John 5:19, 20, 30 NIV)
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. (John 7:16 NIV)
“But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. (John 8:26-28 NIV)
but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” (John 10:32 NIV)
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:10 NIV)
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13 NIV)
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV)
To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:29 NIV)
What the Father works in me will not be what He works in you. Stop asking Him to be like someone else and be who He created you in Christ Jesus to be!
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,(1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV)
According to 1 Corinthians 12, God places us exactly where He wants us and we each have a different calling, but no one has any less power or anointing than the other.
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:18-20, 28, 29, 31 NIV)
This in fact is your reality as a child of God. He lives in you to work His purpose in you. If salvation began with Him and not you, and He revealed Jesus to you when He wanted to:
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. (Galatians 1:15, 16 NIV)
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” (John 6:37, 39, 44, 65 NIV)
Then surely the work He created you for (Eph 2:10) must wait until He reveals it and works it in you. Wait on Him! Let Him work His purpose in you! Indeed that's all we can do, Jesus said without Him we could do nothing!
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5 NIV)
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3 NIV)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14 NIV)
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1 NIV)
Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God. (Psalm 38:15 NIV)
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. (Psalm 37:7-9, 34 ESV)
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:24-26 NIV)
Oh Lord! I am yours and you are mine! I love you! I wait for you to fulfill your purpose in me! Thank you for putting your Spirit in me! For making me pure, holy, and righteousness! Not by my own works, but by your grace! I am nothing without you! Fulfill your good pleasure in me oh Lord!
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Follow Jesus (the way of love)
Mar 1:17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Luk 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
1Co 14:1 Follow the way of love...
Jesus said for us to follow Him we must deny ourselves first then take up our cross. Sounds a lot like the Christlike love we are all to have:
Joh 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Joh 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Matt 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...
1Jn 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1Co 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (Deny yourself)
Jesus even told us the ultimate expression of love is to surrender one's life for someone else, just as He did.
Joh 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (Take up your cross)
Now Jesus in Mark 1:17 said to follow Him and He would make us fishers of men. He will make us fruitful in His service.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Abiding in Him/Following Him; what does that look like? We have already discussed love and it's application.
1Jn 3:23-24 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Believe and love. The two are virtually synonymous though, for love comes naturally from genuine belief.
Believe (Gr 4100 pisteuo, verb) is the action of faith (Gr 4102 pistis, noun). It is being like Jesus and living like Him: BE-LIVE/BELIEVE.
1Jn 4:16-17 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
1Jn 2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
To abide in Jesus, to follow Him and bear fruit, all one must do is believe. Love will flow naturally from that!
Joh 7:38-39 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Eph 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Col 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Lord yourself to us so that we know you better. Empower us to love others as you love us Jesus!
Luk 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
1Co 14:1 Follow the way of love...
Jesus said for us to follow Him we must deny ourselves first then take up our cross. Sounds a lot like the Christlike love we are all to have:
Joh 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Joh 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Matt 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...
1Jn 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1Co 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (Deny yourself)
Jesus even told us the ultimate expression of love is to surrender one's life for someone else, just as He did.
Joh 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (Take up your cross)
Now Jesus in Mark 1:17 said to follow Him and He would make us fishers of men. He will make us fruitful in His service.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Abiding in Him/Following Him; what does that look like? We have already discussed love and it's application.
1Jn 3:23-24 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Believe and love. The two are virtually synonymous though, for love comes naturally from genuine belief.
Believe (Gr 4100 pisteuo, verb) is the action of faith (Gr 4102 pistis, noun). It is being like Jesus and living like Him: BE-LIVE/BELIEVE.
1Jn 4:16-17 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
1Jn 2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
To abide in Jesus, to follow Him and bear fruit, all one must do is believe. Love will flow naturally from that!
Joh 7:38-39 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Eph 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Col 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
Gal 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Lord yourself to us so that we know you better. Empower us to love others as you love us Jesus!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
God hates you and will reject you! (NOT!!!)
Nah, I'm just playing with the title, but I got your attention didn't I? Well
going with the trend recently of condemning threads saying unless you are
completely perfect in thought, deed, and word you are damned forever, I thought
this would be appropriate...
19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Those are the words of Jesus in one of His most famous and well known parables (The Prodigal Son) as recorded in Luke 15, I cut most out for the sake of brevity. What is something we can learn from this parable? The boy made mistakes, and even in the midst of incredible transgression, his father was full of compassion for him. Not only was he compassionate towards him:
1.) he was LOOKING for him to return
2.) he ran towards the son, and didn't wait for the son to come to him
3.) he was AFFECTIONATE towards his son
He COMPLETELY took his son in.... His son was willing to relinquish his sonship just to have a place to stay, but the father would have NONE of it, choosing instead to reinstate his son to a position of honor in his house and celebrating! There is no condemnation there! The Father didn't say, Get out of my sight you have offended me, He said My son (my child) was lost, and now is found!
In another parable, in the SAME chapter (Luke 15), Jesus said He would search for His sheep that had wondered astray until He found them! So that none would be lost! Sounds eerily familiar with what Jesus said in John 6:39, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." Jesus is our Shepherd (John 10) after all right. We belong to Him and He said He would never lose us or cast us out! John 6:37 In fact Jesus made it incredibly simple to understand:
John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
Yes, sin grieves God's heart. It's not okay to live in unrighteousness... The punishment for doing so does not result in damnation as a child of God though. Paul himself described this in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 in that even if we have no works of righteousness to present to Jesus on that Day, we will be saved! Why? Because He can not deny Himself! (2 Tim 2:13) He placed His seal on us! Ephesians 1:13-14 A seal in ancient times secured the item of which it was fixed to until that item was in the possession of the individual it was addressed to.... Since we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who GUARANTEES our inheritance in Christ, we can not be lost, in the sense of being damned with the world....
Even Paul when describing the wrongful practice of the Lord's Supper in the Corinthian church said something profound in this sense in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. Paul says those who partake of communion unworthily are guilty of Christ's blood! Wow, talk about a sin among sins! BUT how does he finish the instruction to the carnal Corinthians?
Those who do partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner were disciplined by the Lord so that they would NOT be condemned with the world! So surely if those who were found guilty of Christ's blood and yet still considered in Christ could not be condemned, how in the world can any of us find a way to be expelled from the love of the Father? Romans 8:33-39 NOTHING can seperate you or me from God's love! Nothing, nothing nothing!
When you sin, confess your sin and receive forgiveness! 1 John 1:9
He won't remember your sins once He forgives them! (Isaiah 43:25) and He will seperate you from your sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) He does not hate you for sinning, He does not disown you because you make a mistake. Why oh why do those of you who spread such garbage doctrine think that is okay? When we were born again, born from above (John 3:3-7) we were given Christ's very nature! (Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 2:16) Does the old nature have power and rule over the new nature? NO!
It is written!
Greater is He that is IN you than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4)
EVERYONE born of God (who believes in Jesus 1 John 5:1) overcomes the world! (1 John 5:4)
Sure some struggle intensely with sin.... In fact some of you who spread such things have testified that you fought sin for years before you were freed. And yet you admit that you did not free yourself, but rather God freed you! So why in the world do you teach that we must free ourselves from sin, we must overcome as if it's something done in our own power.
Yes 1 John 5:18 says those born of God do not continue to sin... But if Paul can admit that he dealt with sin and was not yet perfect entirely (Romans 7; Philippians 3:13) then surely there is a great deal of discernment and spiritual understanding needed for such interpretation. I think John was speaking of those born of God being free from the power of sin, not being subject to obey sin because we have the power to overcome, because again, John starts his First Epistle by saying if we sin, confess and be forgiven! God loves His children with a love that none of us can completely understand! He wants us to depend ENTIRELY upon Him for all that we need and need to do.
I'll close with this prayer of Paul to the Ephesian church:
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Those are the words of Jesus in one of His most famous and well known parables (The Prodigal Son) as recorded in Luke 15, I cut most out for the sake of brevity. What is something we can learn from this parable? The boy made mistakes, and even in the midst of incredible transgression, his father was full of compassion for him. Not only was he compassionate towards him:
1.) he was LOOKING for him to return
2.) he ran towards the son, and didn't wait for the son to come to him
3.) he was AFFECTIONATE towards his son
He COMPLETELY took his son in.... His son was willing to relinquish his sonship just to have a place to stay, but the father would have NONE of it, choosing instead to reinstate his son to a position of honor in his house and celebrating! There is no condemnation there! The Father didn't say, Get out of my sight you have offended me, He said My son (my child) was lost, and now is found!
In another parable, in the SAME chapter (Luke 15), Jesus said He would search for His sheep that had wondered astray until He found them! So that none would be lost! Sounds eerily familiar with what Jesus said in John 6:39, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." Jesus is our Shepherd (John 10) after all right. We belong to Him and He said He would never lose us or cast us out! John 6:37 In fact Jesus made it incredibly simple to understand:
John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
Yes, sin grieves God's heart. It's not okay to live in unrighteousness... The punishment for doing so does not result in damnation as a child of God though. Paul himself described this in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 in that even if we have no works of righteousness to present to Jesus on that Day, we will be saved! Why? Because He can not deny Himself! (2 Tim 2:13) He placed His seal on us! Ephesians 1:13-14 A seal in ancient times secured the item of which it was fixed to until that item was in the possession of the individual it was addressed to.... Since we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who GUARANTEES our inheritance in Christ, we can not be lost, in the sense of being damned with the world....
Even Paul when describing the wrongful practice of the Lord's Supper in the Corinthian church said something profound in this sense in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. Paul says those who partake of communion unworthily are guilty of Christ's blood! Wow, talk about a sin among sins! BUT how does he finish the instruction to the carnal Corinthians?
Those who do partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner were disciplined by the Lord so that they would NOT be condemned with the world! So surely if those who were found guilty of Christ's blood and yet still considered in Christ could not be condemned, how in the world can any of us find a way to be expelled from the love of the Father? Romans 8:33-39 NOTHING can seperate you or me from God's love! Nothing, nothing nothing!
When you sin, confess your sin and receive forgiveness! 1 John 1:9
He won't remember your sins once He forgives them! (Isaiah 43:25) and He will seperate you from your sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) He does not hate you for sinning, He does not disown you because you make a mistake. Why oh why do those of you who spread such garbage doctrine think that is okay? When we were born again, born from above (John 3:3-7) we were given Christ's very nature! (Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 2:16) Does the old nature have power and rule over the new nature? NO!
It is written!
Greater is He that is IN you than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4)
EVERYONE born of God (who believes in Jesus 1 John 5:1) overcomes the world! (1 John 5:4)
Sure some struggle intensely with sin.... In fact some of you who spread such things have testified that you fought sin for years before you were freed. And yet you admit that you did not free yourself, but rather God freed you! So why in the world do you teach that we must free ourselves from sin, we must overcome as if it's something done in our own power.
Yes 1 John 5:18 says those born of God do not continue to sin... But if Paul can admit that he dealt with sin and was not yet perfect entirely (Romans 7; Philippians 3:13) then surely there is a great deal of discernment and spiritual understanding needed for such interpretation. I think John was speaking of those born of God being free from the power of sin, not being subject to obey sin because we have the power to overcome, because again, John starts his First Epistle by saying if we sin, confess and be forgiven! God loves His children with a love that none of us can completely understand! He wants us to depend ENTIRELY upon Him for all that we need and need to do.
I'll close with this prayer of Paul to the Ephesian church:
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
What is a watchman?
John 5:19, Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he SEES his Father doing, because whatever
the Father does the Son also does."
There's been A LOT of quibble here lately over exactly what a watchman is in the church and what there function should be. Now in line with my other thread about controversial church titles and ministries, I post this here for everyone's viewing and reading pleasure (or displeasure).
Jesus taught in several places in John about how He did only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19, 30, 6:38) and spoke what the Father told Him (John 5:30, 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:10)
Now Jesus in John 14:10 says to His disciples in the Upper Room:
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
This goes DIRECTLY in line with 1 John 3:24, "The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."
Those who keep God's commands, He lives in them as they live in Him. And what are God's commands? Well John answers that in verse 23, the previous verse:
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Now I've answered the love portion in other threads here much to the dismay of others. Pretty much in a nutshell, to keep this OP as short as possible, as you continue in your belief in Christ, you walk with Him, as you walk with Him you begin to mature in the fruit of the Spirit (John 15:4-6; 1 John 3:23-24; Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 5:16-25) So believe, walk, love.... Thus fulfilling the 2 commands of God in 1 John 3:23-24.
Back to John 14:10, Jesus said that His works verified His status in the Father and that the Father was in Him. Works that Jesus attested were only done as He saw them or words that were only spoken as He heard them.
Is this not what a watchman is? Someone who stands guard over others and looks out for events and listens for any noise. Perhaps this is the definition of a NT watchman, someone who watches for the Father to move and then moves along with Him and listens for the Father to speak and speaks what they hear.
Now perhaps some will take this and run with the sin message, I'm not going to whitewash all Christians as if we are all perfect, none of us are completely YET. But proclaiming sin sin sin is not what I'm speaking of.
How can the Father constantly bicker us about our sin when we are the very righteousness of Himself in Christ? That makes no sense at all!
He forgave all our sin in Christ (Colossians 2:13-14; Acts 13:38-39) and He told those in the OLD COVENANT, a covenant secured by the blood of goats, bulls, and lambs (Hebrews 10:1-11) that He would separate them from their sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and that He would cast their sin into the deepest sea (Micah 7:19) and would NEVER remember them (Isaiah 43:25), surely He would do more so for us, in the NEW COVENANT, a covenant secured and purchased FOREVER by the very blood of God Himself! Hallelujah!
Rather, I think a watchman can very well be a vague label for an evangelist, or an apostle, or even a prophet. Perhaps more so a prophet than the others going by Ezekiel's ministry in the OT, but the possibilities are there. But his duties I think are clear. To wait upon the Lord (Ps 62:1, 5; Ps 27:7-8, 14; Ps 37:7; Ps 25:3-5) and when He acts or speaks, we do as He does. That I believe is the calling and duties of a NT watchman.
There's been A LOT of quibble here lately over exactly what a watchman is in the church and what there function should be. Now in line with my other thread about controversial church titles and ministries, I post this here for everyone's viewing and reading pleasure (or displeasure).
Jesus taught in several places in John about how He did only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19, 30, 6:38) and spoke what the Father told Him (John 5:30, 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:10)
Now Jesus in John 14:10 says to His disciples in the Upper Room:
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
This goes DIRECTLY in line with 1 John 3:24, "The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."
Those who keep God's commands, He lives in them as they live in Him. And what are God's commands? Well John answers that in verse 23, the previous verse:
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Now I've answered the love portion in other threads here much to the dismay of others. Pretty much in a nutshell, to keep this OP as short as possible, as you continue in your belief in Christ, you walk with Him, as you walk with Him you begin to mature in the fruit of the Spirit (John 15:4-6; 1 John 3:23-24; Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 5:16-25) So believe, walk, love.... Thus fulfilling the 2 commands of God in 1 John 3:23-24.
Back to John 14:10, Jesus said that His works verified His status in the Father and that the Father was in Him. Works that Jesus attested were only done as He saw them or words that were only spoken as He heard them.
Is this not what a watchman is? Someone who stands guard over others and looks out for events and listens for any noise. Perhaps this is the definition of a NT watchman, someone who watches for the Father to move and then moves along with Him and listens for the Father to speak and speaks what they hear.
Now perhaps some will take this and run with the sin message, I'm not going to whitewash all Christians as if we are all perfect, none of us are completely YET. But proclaiming sin sin sin is not what I'm speaking of.
How can the Father constantly bicker us about our sin when we are the very righteousness of Himself in Christ? That makes no sense at all!
He forgave all our sin in Christ (Colossians 2:13-14; Acts 13:38-39) and He told those in the OLD COVENANT, a covenant secured by the blood of goats, bulls, and lambs (Hebrews 10:1-11) that He would separate them from their sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and that He would cast their sin into the deepest sea (Micah 7:19) and would NEVER remember them (Isaiah 43:25), surely He would do more so for us, in the NEW COVENANT, a covenant secured and purchased FOREVER by the very blood of God Himself! Hallelujah!
Rather, I think a watchman can very well be a vague label for an evangelist, or an apostle, or even a prophet. Perhaps more so a prophet than the others going by Ezekiel's ministry in the OT, but the possibilities are there. But his duties I think are clear. To wait upon the Lord (Ps 62:1, 5; Ps 27:7-8, 14; Ps 37:7; Ps 25:3-5) and when He acts or speaks, we do as He does. That I believe is the calling and duties of a NT watchman.
What is the New Nature?
The New Nature
(All scripture
quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted)
Romans 5:17-19
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Here Paul compares the old man and nature (that which is in Adam, in the flesh) to the new man and nature (that which is in Jesus, in the Spirit).
The old brings death, sin, and condemnation.
The new brings life, righteousness, and justification.
What is a nature though? Nature as defined by (Dictionary)
9. the instincts or inherent tendencies directing conduct: a man of good nature.
10. character, kind, or sort: two books of the same nature.
11. characteristic disposition; temperament: a self-willed nature; an evil nature.
Instincts, disposition, temperament, etc.
A lion kills because that is it's nature, it MUST kill to survive. No one calls a lion a murderer because it takes life, we know that nature dictates that a lion must take life. That is it's nature.
A light shines because that is it's nature! Lights can not give off darkness. Even when they are broke, lights don't shine darkness. Lights by nature shine and illuminate things.
When we were in our old nature, we were sinners, naturally. It's what we did!
Romans 7:18
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Romans 7:25
in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Psalm 51:5 NLT
For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Psalm 58:3
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward.
Job 14:4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
Because of our NATURE from the moment we were born, that which we inherited from Adam, we were dead, we were enemies of God because of our NATURE. You didn't have to think about sin, to sin, you were in sin just by nature.
Likewise once a person is in Christ, they have a NEW NATURE! They are no longer dead, filthy, or sinners. God declares them righteous by the blood of His Son, Jesus!
Romans 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
John 3:3-7
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Does the Holy Spirit give birth to imperfection?! If you preach that we as regenerated believers can fall from grace because of sin, then you do. That is the fact. We are given a new nature when we believe!
The new nature leads us to live in righteousness just as Jesus is righteous.
1 Corinthians 2:16
We have the mind of Christ
Colossians 1:27
Christ IN you, the hope of glory!
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
God put Himself in you when you believed! It was not a work of your flesh, it was not a reward for being righteous! (Ephesians 2:8-9) So how in the world can you work and perform anything to help God secure what He Himself has already done?! You can't! He secures those who by FAITH ALONE abide in Him. There is nothing that the flesh can do to help this!
John 6:63 NLT
The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing.
By the new nature that was birthed within you at the moment you believed, you resist sin. You died at that moment to your old nature! You were identified with Christ and His death so that you would be raised with Him to new life, the NEW NATURE!
Romans 6:3
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death
Romans 6:6-7
we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:14
sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:18
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Romans 6:22
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Do not look at this message as me proclaiming, once in Christ a person can sin freely. God forbid I should say that lest I be found sharing a false gospel. I am proclaiming to all who read this that in the New Nature I am incompatible with sin, I am no longer subject to my flesh and it's desires. I am dead to it! Completely unresponsive to that which at one time made me an enemy to the Most High.
Should I give in to my old nature at any point and commit transgression, my new nature does not cease to exist. The old is not more powerful than the new!
1 John 4:4
GREATER is He that is IN YOU, than he that is in the world!
HALLELUJAH! MY GOD IS GREATER!
Praise the Lord you are New in Him! You must accept this and believe! Only believe! That is ALL Jesus wants from us! To believe that He is able to do all things through us!
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.
1 John 3:23-24
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
John 6:28-29
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
The one who BELIEVES (no other stipulation there) HAS eternal life!
John 5:24
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Those who believe will NOT be judged but HAVE ALREADY (past tense, it's ALREADY happened) crossed from death to life!
Luke 7:36-38, 44-5036 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them... 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This story I want to use as an example. This woman was a known sinner, who by the Lord's own admission had committed MANY sins. If anyone in this room deserved condemnation it was her. Yet what did Jesus tell her? Her FAITH had saved her and led to her sins being forgiven.
Now note this, and please do not miss this: She had a work here in which she could claim was something to boast of. In fact, the work was done for Jesus Himself. She wiped His feet with her very hair, poured EXPENSIVE perfume all over His head, and yet Jesus makes NO MENTION of these works having anything at all to do with her salvation. Instead her faith had saved her.
These works she had done for Jesus were a natural out flowing of the love she had for Jesus because she was forgiven and knew it. She believed Jesus when He said "Your sins are forgiven." Perhaps she had heard Him say it before, I don't know, but she was forgiven before she entered that room for Jesus said her works were just an expression of her heart before Him; a natural out flowing of the love she had for Jesus because she knew she was a sinner who had been forgiven of much.
No doctrine there, no well this is what she had to do, it was an honest expression that Jesus noticed and yet still said that her faith alone was what saved her.
Just believe! Only believe! You must believe! It's what you were born for!
All glory to Him who loves us and had freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us! All glory, power, dominion and praise be to You Jesus forever and ever. Amen! HALLELUJAH!
Romans 5:17-19
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Here Paul compares the old man and nature (that which is in Adam, in the flesh) to the new man and nature (that which is in Jesus, in the Spirit).
The old brings death, sin, and condemnation.
The new brings life, righteousness, and justification.
What is a nature though? Nature as defined by (Dictionary)
9. the instincts or inherent tendencies directing conduct: a man of good nature.
10. character, kind, or sort: two books of the same nature.
11. characteristic disposition; temperament: a self-willed nature; an evil nature.
Instincts, disposition, temperament, etc.
A lion kills because that is it's nature, it MUST kill to survive. No one calls a lion a murderer because it takes life, we know that nature dictates that a lion must take life. That is it's nature.
A light shines because that is it's nature! Lights can not give off darkness. Even when they are broke, lights don't shine darkness. Lights by nature shine and illuminate things.
When we were in our old nature, we were sinners, naturally. It's what we did!
Romans 7:18
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Romans 7:25
in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Psalm 51:5 NLT
For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Psalm 58:3
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward.
Job 14:4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
Because of our NATURE from the moment we were born, that which we inherited from Adam, we were dead, we were enemies of God because of our NATURE. You didn't have to think about sin, to sin, you were in sin just by nature.
Likewise once a person is in Christ, they have a NEW NATURE! They are no longer dead, filthy, or sinners. God declares them righteous by the blood of His Son, Jesus!
Romans 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
John 3:3-7
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Does the Holy Spirit give birth to imperfection?! If you preach that we as regenerated believers can fall from grace because of sin, then you do. That is the fact. We are given a new nature when we believe!
The new nature leads us to live in righteousness just as Jesus is righteous.
1 Corinthians 2:16
We have the mind of Christ
Colossians 1:27
Christ IN you, the hope of glory!
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
God put Himself in you when you believed! It was not a work of your flesh, it was not a reward for being righteous! (Ephesians 2:8-9) So how in the world can you work and perform anything to help God secure what He Himself has already done?! You can't! He secures those who by FAITH ALONE abide in Him. There is nothing that the flesh can do to help this!
John 6:63 NLT
The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing.
By the new nature that was birthed within you at the moment you believed, you resist sin. You died at that moment to your old nature! You were identified with Christ and His death so that you would be raised with Him to new life, the NEW NATURE!
Romans 6:3
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death
Romans 6:6-7
we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:14
sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:18
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Romans 6:22
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Do not look at this message as me proclaiming, once in Christ a person can sin freely. God forbid I should say that lest I be found sharing a false gospel. I am proclaiming to all who read this that in the New Nature I am incompatible with sin, I am no longer subject to my flesh and it's desires. I am dead to it! Completely unresponsive to that which at one time made me an enemy to the Most High.
Should I give in to my old nature at any point and commit transgression, my new nature does not cease to exist. The old is not more powerful than the new!
1 John 4:4
GREATER is He that is IN YOU, than he that is in the world!
HALLELUJAH! MY GOD IS GREATER!
Praise the Lord you are New in Him! You must accept this and believe! Only believe! That is ALL Jesus wants from us! To believe that He is able to do all things through us!
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.
1 John 3:23-24
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
John 6:28-29
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
The one who BELIEVES (no other stipulation there) HAS eternal life!
John 5:24
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Those who believe will NOT be judged but HAVE ALREADY (past tense, it's ALREADY happened) crossed from death to life!
Luke 7:36-38, 44-5036 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them... 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This story I want to use as an example. This woman was a known sinner, who by the Lord's own admission had committed MANY sins. If anyone in this room deserved condemnation it was her. Yet what did Jesus tell her? Her FAITH had saved her and led to her sins being forgiven.
Now note this, and please do not miss this: She had a work here in which she could claim was something to boast of. In fact, the work was done for Jesus Himself. She wiped His feet with her very hair, poured EXPENSIVE perfume all over His head, and yet Jesus makes NO MENTION of these works having anything at all to do with her salvation. Instead her faith had saved her.
These works she had done for Jesus were a natural out flowing of the love she had for Jesus because she was forgiven and knew it. She believed Jesus when He said "Your sins are forgiven." Perhaps she had heard Him say it before, I don't know, but she was forgiven before she entered that room for Jesus said her works were just an expression of her heart before Him; a natural out flowing of the love she had for Jesus because she knew she was a sinner who had been forgiven of much.
No doctrine there, no well this is what she had to do, it was an honest expression that Jesus noticed and yet still said that her faith alone was what saved her.
Just believe! Only believe! You must believe! It's what you were born for!
All glory to Him who loves us and had freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us! All glory, power, dominion and praise be to You Jesus forever and ever. Amen! HALLELUJAH!
Can you improve your holiness by works?
Philippians 2:12 ESV
"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,"
Indeed with such a strict and conservative dictation, it would seem to support the idea that works are necessary for our salvation. Then you can go even farther and quote from James, James 2:14-26:
Verse 24, "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."
But what is the issue with interpreting these verses this way?
What was the Mosaic Law? A set of righteous decrees by God to Moses that were meant to be kept and obeyed.
Lev 18:5, "Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD." (Deut 4:1, Eze 20:11-13, Gal 3:12, Rom 10:5, Phil 3:9)
The problem with the Law was that NO ONE could of themselves keep every single decree, for even breaking just the smallest letter of the Law made a person guilty of it all.
James 2:10 NIV, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
Romans 8:3 NLT, "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature." (Rom 7:18, Heb 7:18)
Now I can hear some clamoring already about we are not talking about the Mosaic Law and needing to keep it but rather good works and deeds that the Apostles speak of... but let me digress:
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Now, I emphasized two portions of that scripture passage that we all know and perhaps quote often when witnessing. The one I want to focus on is God creating us in Christ to do good works.
Can someone tell me something that God made that is required to work to fulfill its purpose in creation?
The sun shines and doesn’t need to do anything extra, the moon orbits the Earth and the two govern the seasons, and yet they don’t work to do it. It is a natural action that God set within them to do. The beasts of the field do not have to work for their food and livelihood, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5 that God feeds them down to the last bird in the air. So we can see that even in the physical creation, those things which God made did not have to work in order to accomplish their purpose.
Indeed the next verse after Phil 2:12, one in which I never hear quoted along with Phil 2:12 says:
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:13)
God works in you so that you can work. Notice it doesn’t say in vv12-13: work out your own salvation for God expects you to will and act to fulfill His good pleasure. It says God works out His will and purpose in us.
Look at some of these other words of Paul concerning the same subject:
1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Colossians 1:29
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, THROUGH Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul confessed that everything he did, he did only through the grace of God. That nothing could be done outside of that! Even the author of Hebrews prayed that God would equip his audience with everything they needed to do His will and work in them to please God! Good works were NEVER intended to be performed or carried out outside of the realm of the grace and movement of God!
This is why I struggle here now with you who disagree with me when I say that the ONLY work that God requires of us is to believe! (John 6:28-29) This is why I say that by believing in Him you ABIDE in Him and walk in the Spirit. (John 15:4-6; Galatians 5:16-25) How can you abide in Christ in ANY OTHER WAY than that which you first were placed in Him?
Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
As you have received Christ, so walk in Him! You received Christ BY BELIEVING, and by no other means can you walk with Christ or His Spirit! That is scripture!
You see the funny thing about fruit is that it requires nothing to grow. The seed is planted and through natural processes of rain and sunshine the seed grows. Sure a person may come along and water it if they so desire, but that is not required. The seed being planted is all that is required. So when Paul says walk with the Spirit and you will NOT carry out the works of the flesh, but rather the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25), that fruit grows only by walking with the Spirit which is done only by believing!
You believe and receive the Spirit. You continue to believe and walk with the Spirit. You walk with the Spirit and the fruit begins to grow and multiply! That fruit is what leads to the good works that God desires to work through us. It is all a product of believing. Believe, believe, believe in Christ! Wait upon Him! Look to Him to fulfill His purpose in you.
You see Christ came so we could have rest from the things that caused us strife and grief. (Matthew 11:28-30) Surely this is what Paul spoke of in Romans 7 about how even when we want to do good we can not because our flesh is weak. Paul even wrote in Galatians that the Law is meant for doing and obeying and that NO work of the Spirit is done by works of the flesh, rather receiving the promise of eternal life and working in the Spirit are done only through believing. (Galatians 3) He even wrote in Romans 4:4-5 that those who do works, are rewarded just as a laborer is rewarded for what he does. So those who preach WE must do good works to complete our salvation, you are preaching that salvation is something to be earned, for a worker is worthy of their wages.
As you received Christ, so walk in Him! (Colossians 2:6-7) As you walk in Him, you will fulfill His entire purpose in you, free of your own working and struggling. Renew your mind each and every day and be full of the fact that you are in Christ only by faith and only by faith in Him will He work out His will and pleasure in you.
Now inevitably some will interpret what I'm saying as it is okay to live freely in sin. I never said that, in fact when I said you abide in Christ by believing, that very phrase implies that by a continual abiding, you will be free of sin! (John 8:36, Acts 13:38-39; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1, 13)
"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,"
Indeed with such a strict and conservative dictation, it would seem to support the idea that works are necessary for our salvation. Then you can go even farther and quote from James, James 2:14-26:
Verse 24, "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."
But what is the issue with interpreting these verses this way?
What was the Mosaic Law? A set of righteous decrees by God to Moses that were meant to be kept and obeyed.
Lev 18:5, "Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD." (Deut 4:1, Eze 20:11-13, Gal 3:12, Rom 10:5, Phil 3:9)
The problem with the Law was that NO ONE could of themselves keep every single decree, for even breaking just the smallest letter of the Law made a person guilty of it all.
James 2:10 NIV, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
Romans 8:3 NLT, "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature." (Rom 7:18, Heb 7:18)
Now I can hear some clamoring already about we are not talking about the Mosaic Law and needing to keep it but rather good works and deeds that the Apostles speak of... but let me digress:
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Now, I emphasized two portions of that scripture passage that we all know and perhaps quote often when witnessing. The one I want to focus on is God creating us in Christ to do good works.
Can someone tell me something that God made that is required to work to fulfill its purpose in creation?
The sun shines and doesn’t need to do anything extra, the moon orbits the Earth and the two govern the seasons, and yet they don’t work to do it. It is a natural action that God set within them to do. The beasts of the field do not have to work for their food and livelihood, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5 that God feeds them down to the last bird in the air. So we can see that even in the physical creation, those things which God made did not have to work in order to accomplish their purpose.
Indeed the next verse after Phil 2:12, one in which I never hear quoted along with Phil 2:12 says:
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:13)
God works in you so that you can work. Notice it doesn’t say in vv12-13: work out your own salvation for God expects you to will and act to fulfill His good pleasure. It says God works out His will and purpose in us.
Look at some of these other words of Paul concerning the same subject:
1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Colossians 1:29
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, THROUGH Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul confessed that everything he did, he did only through the grace of God. That nothing could be done outside of that! Even the author of Hebrews prayed that God would equip his audience with everything they needed to do His will and work in them to please God! Good works were NEVER intended to be performed or carried out outside of the realm of the grace and movement of God!
This is why I struggle here now with you who disagree with me when I say that the ONLY work that God requires of us is to believe! (John 6:28-29) This is why I say that by believing in Him you ABIDE in Him and walk in the Spirit. (John 15:4-6; Galatians 5:16-25) How can you abide in Christ in ANY OTHER WAY than that which you first were placed in Him?
Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
As you have received Christ, so walk in Him! You received Christ BY BELIEVING, and by no other means can you walk with Christ or His Spirit! That is scripture!
You see the funny thing about fruit is that it requires nothing to grow. The seed is planted and through natural processes of rain and sunshine the seed grows. Sure a person may come along and water it if they so desire, but that is not required. The seed being planted is all that is required. So when Paul says walk with the Spirit and you will NOT carry out the works of the flesh, but rather the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25), that fruit grows only by walking with the Spirit which is done only by believing!
You believe and receive the Spirit. You continue to believe and walk with the Spirit. You walk with the Spirit and the fruit begins to grow and multiply! That fruit is what leads to the good works that God desires to work through us. It is all a product of believing. Believe, believe, believe in Christ! Wait upon Him! Look to Him to fulfill His purpose in you.
You see Christ came so we could have rest from the things that caused us strife and grief. (Matthew 11:28-30) Surely this is what Paul spoke of in Romans 7 about how even when we want to do good we can not because our flesh is weak. Paul even wrote in Galatians that the Law is meant for doing and obeying and that NO work of the Spirit is done by works of the flesh, rather receiving the promise of eternal life and working in the Spirit are done only through believing. (Galatians 3) He even wrote in Romans 4:4-5 that those who do works, are rewarded just as a laborer is rewarded for what he does. So those who preach WE must do good works to complete our salvation, you are preaching that salvation is something to be earned, for a worker is worthy of their wages.
As you received Christ, so walk in Him! (Colossians 2:6-7) As you walk in Him, you will fulfill His entire purpose in you, free of your own working and struggling. Renew your mind each and every day and be full of the fact that you are in Christ only by faith and only by faith in Him will He work out His will and pleasure in you.
Now inevitably some will interpret what I'm saying as it is okay to live freely in sin. I never said that, in fact when I said you abide in Christ by believing, that very phrase implies that by a continual abiding, you will be free of sin! (John 8:36, Acts 13:38-39; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1, 13)
Jesus loves you as you are!
Romans 5:8 (NLT), "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ
to die for us while we were still sinners." Wow, God showed how much He
loved you by sending Jesus to die for you while you were still in sin! He didn't
wait for you to be good enough or to be holy enough, He loved you just as you
were. He still loves you! All He asks of us is that we love Him in return. What
does love for God look like? Jesus break this down into one very simple
statement:
John 14:15 (NET),“If you love Me (Jesus), you will obey
My commandments."
If you love God, you will obey His commandments. So what are His
commandments you ask? The Apostle John explains this for us in 1 John 3:23
(NLT), "And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us." So there
you have it, 2 very simple commands to prove you love God:
1) Believe in His Son Jesus Christ, meaning have faith in Him
for salvation.
-John 3:16 (NLT), "For God loved the world so much that he
gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish
but have eternal life."
-Acts 16:31 (NLT), "They replied, “Believe in the Lord
Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”
2) Love each other, just as He commanded us.
-John 13:34 (HCSB), "I give you a new commandment: love
one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another."
Jesus tells us here that we are to love each other just as He
loved us, meaning we should be willing to give our lives for each other in love,
if that is required of us!
-1 John 3:18 (NIV), "Dear children, let us not love with
words or speech but with actions and in truth."
This is what love to each other will look like. If you read the
precedeing verses of 1 John 3, you will see John compares this statement of love
in action with someone who knows their neighbor, family, or friends has need of
something, but instead of giving to them, they shut them out. We must act on our
love, and not merely hold it in. Imagine how better this world would be if all
of us, even if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus would practice this very
biblical truth: Love each other in action and deeds, not just in word.
So you may be asking right now, but what about the 10
commandments? Paul answers that question for me in Romans 13:8-10:
Romans 13:8-10 (NLT), "8 Owe nothing to anyone—except
for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will
fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not
commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.”
These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love
your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills
the requirements of God’s law."
Isn't it amazing how the Word of God ties itself together?
Loving one another fulfills the requirements of God's Law, the 10 commandments.
You even see Paul list 4 of them in this passage, and then says that all other
such commandments are summed up by love.
So friend, the question comes down to this. That God loves you
is without question, do you love God? He gave Himself for us all and even though
our sins nailed Jesus to the cross, He loved us and still loves us anyway. So
what will you do about this? If you are living for Him, and are honest in your
assessment of such, then you need do nothing but keep on keeping on. If you know
you can improve on your love for Him, how about getting on your knees right now
and asking Him to forgive you and enable you to live for Him. He withholds
nothing good from those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13) and He will give
you the strength to live for Him (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Philippians 4:13) God
loves you friend! He loves you! Let that sink into your head and heart, meditate
on that truth. Tell yourself: God, the creator of all being, time, and space
loves me (Insert your name).
It only takes one, it only takes you!
2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NIV), "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift
of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God
gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
We all know the qualities of fire. We know that fire is bright, it's contagious,
it destroys, and that it burns until it's source is exhausted, whether it be
oxygen or material, or until it's extinguished. Paul is telling Timothy, and
really all of us who are filled by the Holy Spirit of God, to "fan into flame
the gift of God." Our lives as Christians should resemble a bright, burning fire
at all times.
Have you ever lit a fire only to find that the fire isn't bright? Of course not, fire is bright! So how do we shine like a fire for the Lord? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14-16 that we are the light of the world! Have you ever lit a lamp, or turned on a light just to cover it? Of course not! Lights shine to dispel darkness! Darkness is even defined as the absence of light. When we live our lives so others see Christ through us, the forces of darkness have no choice but to flee! So how do we shine for Christ? Well Jesus answers that in Matthew 5:14-16 and Luke 12:35-48. In both passages the Lord says that by our good works (Matthew 5:16; Luke 12:35, 43) will we shine for Him. So if you feel overwhelmed by darkness lately, step out and do a good deed for someone in the name of the Lord Jesus. As your light begins to shine brighter and brighter, the darkness will get farther and farther away.
Have you ever noticed how when you light a fire it consumes all materials that it touches? For instance, if you set a fire on the floor in a building, that building will burn down right? So how do we become as contagious as fire? We follow the example the early church set out in Acts. Talk about a group of Christians that were contagious. How do I know they were contagious? Look at the statistics, they don't lie. When Jesus ascended to Heaven there were about 120 in the "church". We find that in Acts chapter 1. Well in Acts 2 we see the church becoming contagious for Christ. Thousands upon thousands believe in Christ and as a result, in roughly 30 years, from 30 A.D. to 60 A.D. the church grows from just over 100 believers to well into the thousands, maybe even eclipsing a million. All we know for certain is, the church in 30 A.D. was just a handful of people in Jerusalem, but by the time Acts comes to a close around 60 A.D. the church has spread to Africa and Europe, and even the Roman Emperor himself has heard about this new religious movement, known as Christianity. The church in Acts was a church led by and filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything they did was directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. They were united, they shared the same doctrine, they prayed, they hung out with each other (Acts 2:41-47, 4:32-35) How can we ever expect unbelievers to want what we have as Christians if we are always gossiping about each other? Stabbing each other in the back when the opportunity arises? Instead of being jealous when God exalts a brother or sister, let us praise Him for lifting them up and seek to assist them in their work. We are all commanded and exhorted to do everything in the spirit of love (John 13:34; Romans 12:10; 1 Corinthians 16:14) Go out of your way today to tell someone you love them and mean it.
Not only tell them, show them because words without actions are just empty promises (1 John 3:18)
Have you ever seen a piece of wood after it had been lit on fire? It is destroyed, good for nothing but ashes. Well we as Christians should allow the fire God placed within us to destroy the deeds of our flesh. As we see in Galatians 5:16-25, as we walk by the Spirit we will cease to live in the flesh. Our former life and it's desires are crucified with Christ and we no longer will resemble what we used to be. Instead God recreates you in His image and you are born again. That is really all that term means anyway. You come to Christ in repentance and belief, you nail your old life to the cross and allow God to give you new life through His Son. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20, 5:24 As a result of this new birth, you have destroyed your flesh and should never again live or walk according to its desire.
Have you ever noticed how hot a fire burns? Hopefully you've never experienced a fire on your bare flesh, but we all know that fire will burn you. The saying, If you play with fire you're going to get burned, is very true. If you have been burnt by fire, you know it leaves a mark on your skin to remind you of the damage done and pain inflicted. Well as Christians we need to burn so brightly for Jesus that we leave a mark on our society! In Acts 17:6, we see that the early church had left such a mark on the community they had the reputation for being world changers! What did those people say about Paul and his companions? These men who have turned the world upside down! Wow, what a tremendous thing to be said about a person or group. Have you been known as someone who turns your world upside down? Or has your church been known as a church that has turned it's world upside for Christ? As you continue in the basics of the Christian faith: Bible study (Joshua 1:8; Hosea 4:6, 6:3, 6; 2 Timothy 2:15) Prayer (1 Samuel 12:23; Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17) Good works (Matthew 5:16, 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 6:18; Titus 3:14; James 2:14-26) Fasting (Isaiah 58; Matthew 6:16-18, 9:14-17) Worship Attendance (Hebrews 10:25) You will begin to see others around you impacted, and very surely your fire will burn into the hearts of those around you and you will then be able to say, you flipped your world upside for Christ.
But, we must be careful in how we handle our fire. We all know that if dinner catches fire on the stove, we put a lid over the pot to put the fire out. Or you can grab a fire extinguisher. Well we can as Christians extinguish our fire, or put it out deliberately as well. Also, fire will die out if it is not continually fed.
So how does someone put out, or extinguish their fire? Well quite simply by rejecting the call and/or commands of God. Paul warns us all in Ephesians 4:30, not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Are there examples of this in scripture? I believe there is. King Saul was the man chosen as the first king of Israel. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, but repeatedly chose to do what he felt was best instead of what God had commanded of him. As a result, in 1 Samuel 16:14 we see that the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul. So disobedience is one way for the Spirit of God to be grieved. *One thing to note about this though is that King Saul didn't just disobey one time. He had a habit of disobeying God's commands. So do not think that one act of disobedience will constitute a punishment like what Saul received.* Sin is also a way to grieve the Holy Spirit. We see this through King David. We know that King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then to cover up his sin he had Uriah killed. Well if you read David's prayer of repentance (Psalm 51, noting v11) David prays that God would not take His Holy Spirit from him. Also Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, sinned against God by lying to Him about the money they had received from selling their possessions. So we see from scripture 2 ways of grieving, or upsetting, the Holy Spirit are continual disobedience and sinning.
In addition to extinguishing your fire, you can let your fire die out. How? Well simply by not continuing in the basics of the Christian faith as noted above: Prayer, Fasting, Good deeds, Bible study, and Worship Attendance. How do I know this? Well I'll use myself as an example. When I was weaker in my faith (although I'm not strong by any means) anytime I would miss one church service, for whatever reason, it was always easier to make an excuse to miss the next. Before I knew it, 1 missed service turned into 2, then 2 turned into 4, etc. When I miss reading my Bible and study time, it's so easy for me to come up with reasons to miss it again, same thing with prayer, with fasting and ministering/doing good deeds for others. All of these things if you miss once can be used by Satan to become a habitual problem. So over time, my once sharp axe of faith has now turned into a dull butter knife. I hope you understand where I'm going with this. All of us need a recharge. We are all commanded in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled meaning to be continually filled. I can not expect a one time encounter/Baptism/filling in the Holy Spirit to linger and be enough for me to be victorious in my Christian walk. I need to constantly build on the foundations of my faith to become stronger. Just like the athlete who trains daily in all aspects of his sport to become better, I must work on my faith and be in my faith daily in order to stay sharp and effective in the Lord's service. And so must we all.
What is the conclusion of all of this? Well as the theme of this blog is fire, I want to ask a question. How many matches does it take to start a fire? Well it could take many, but it can be done with one. So just as one match can start a fire that can burn down any structure or field and leave a noticeable impact on the landscape, so too does it only one Christian to start a revival where the LORD God Almighty is honored, praised, and worshiped as the Lord and Savior, as He so rightly deserves. You can be that one that the Lord uses to start His next great revival with, if you allow Him too, because it only takes one match to start a fire!
Have you ever lit a fire only to find that the fire isn't bright? Of course not, fire is bright! So how do we shine like a fire for the Lord? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14-16 that we are the light of the world! Have you ever lit a lamp, or turned on a light just to cover it? Of course not! Lights shine to dispel darkness! Darkness is even defined as the absence of light. When we live our lives so others see Christ through us, the forces of darkness have no choice but to flee! So how do we shine for Christ? Well Jesus answers that in Matthew 5:14-16 and Luke 12:35-48. In both passages the Lord says that by our good works (Matthew 5:16; Luke 12:35, 43) will we shine for Him. So if you feel overwhelmed by darkness lately, step out and do a good deed for someone in the name of the Lord Jesus. As your light begins to shine brighter and brighter, the darkness will get farther and farther away.
Have you ever noticed how when you light a fire it consumes all materials that it touches? For instance, if you set a fire on the floor in a building, that building will burn down right? So how do we become as contagious as fire? We follow the example the early church set out in Acts. Talk about a group of Christians that were contagious. How do I know they were contagious? Look at the statistics, they don't lie. When Jesus ascended to Heaven there were about 120 in the "church". We find that in Acts chapter 1. Well in Acts 2 we see the church becoming contagious for Christ. Thousands upon thousands believe in Christ and as a result, in roughly 30 years, from 30 A.D. to 60 A.D. the church grows from just over 100 believers to well into the thousands, maybe even eclipsing a million. All we know for certain is, the church in 30 A.D. was just a handful of people in Jerusalem, but by the time Acts comes to a close around 60 A.D. the church has spread to Africa and Europe, and even the Roman Emperor himself has heard about this new religious movement, known as Christianity. The church in Acts was a church led by and filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything they did was directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. They were united, they shared the same doctrine, they prayed, they hung out with each other (Acts 2:41-47, 4:32-35) How can we ever expect unbelievers to want what we have as Christians if we are always gossiping about each other? Stabbing each other in the back when the opportunity arises? Instead of being jealous when God exalts a brother or sister, let us praise Him for lifting them up and seek to assist them in their work. We are all commanded and exhorted to do everything in the spirit of love (John 13:34; Romans 12:10; 1 Corinthians 16:14) Go out of your way today to tell someone you love them and mean it.
Not only tell them, show them because words without actions are just empty promises (1 John 3:18)
Have you ever seen a piece of wood after it had been lit on fire? It is destroyed, good for nothing but ashes. Well we as Christians should allow the fire God placed within us to destroy the deeds of our flesh. As we see in Galatians 5:16-25, as we walk by the Spirit we will cease to live in the flesh. Our former life and it's desires are crucified with Christ and we no longer will resemble what we used to be. Instead God recreates you in His image and you are born again. That is really all that term means anyway. You come to Christ in repentance and belief, you nail your old life to the cross and allow God to give you new life through His Son. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20, 5:24 As a result of this new birth, you have destroyed your flesh and should never again live or walk according to its desire.
Have you ever noticed how hot a fire burns? Hopefully you've never experienced a fire on your bare flesh, but we all know that fire will burn you. The saying, If you play with fire you're going to get burned, is very true. If you have been burnt by fire, you know it leaves a mark on your skin to remind you of the damage done and pain inflicted. Well as Christians we need to burn so brightly for Jesus that we leave a mark on our society! In Acts 17:6, we see that the early church had left such a mark on the community they had the reputation for being world changers! What did those people say about Paul and his companions? These men who have turned the world upside down! Wow, what a tremendous thing to be said about a person or group. Have you been known as someone who turns your world upside down? Or has your church been known as a church that has turned it's world upside for Christ? As you continue in the basics of the Christian faith: Bible study (Joshua 1:8; Hosea 4:6, 6:3, 6; 2 Timothy 2:15) Prayer (1 Samuel 12:23; Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17) Good works (Matthew 5:16, 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 6:18; Titus 3:14; James 2:14-26) Fasting (Isaiah 58; Matthew 6:16-18, 9:14-17) Worship Attendance (Hebrews 10:25) You will begin to see others around you impacted, and very surely your fire will burn into the hearts of those around you and you will then be able to say, you flipped your world upside for Christ.
But, we must be careful in how we handle our fire. We all know that if dinner catches fire on the stove, we put a lid over the pot to put the fire out. Or you can grab a fire extinguisher. Well we can as Christians extinguish our fire, or put it out deliberately as well. Also, fire will die out if it is not continually fed.
So how does someone put out, or extinguish their fire? Well quite simply by rejecting the call and/or commands of God. Paul warns us all in Ephesians 4:30, not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Are there examples of this in scripture? I believe there is. King Saul was the man chosen as the first king of Israel. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, but repeatedly chose to do what he felt was best instead of what God had commanded of him. As a result, in 1 Samuel 16:14 we see that the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul. So disobedience is one way for the Spirit of God to be grieved. *One thing to note about this though is that King Saul didn't just disobey one time. He had a habit of disobeying God's commands. So do not think that one act of disobedience will constitute a punishment like what Saul received.* Sin is also a way to grieve the Holy Spirit. We see this through King David. We know that King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then to cover up his sin he had Uriah killed. Well if you read David's prayer of repentance (Psalm 51, noting v11) David prays that God would not take His Holy Spirit from him. Also Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, sinned against God by lying to Him about the money they had received from selling their possessions. So we see from scripture 2 ways of grieving, or upsetting, the Holy Spirit are continual disobedience and sinning.
In addition to extinguishing your fire, you can let your fire die out. How? Well simply by not continuing in the basics of the Christian faith as noted above: Prayer, Fasting, Good deeds, Bible study, and Worship Attendance. How do I know this? Well I'll use myself as an example. When I was weaker in my faith (although I'm not strong by any means) anytime I would miss one church service, for whatever reason, it was always easier to make an excuse to miss the next. Before I knew it, 1 missed service turned into 2, then 2 turned into 4, etc. When I miss reading my Bible and study time, it's so easy for me to come up with reasons to miss it again, same thing with prayer, with fasting and ministering/doing good deeds for others. All of these things if you miss once can be used by Satan to become a habitual problem. So over time, my once sharp axe of faith has now turned into a dull butter knife. I hope you understand where I'm going with this. All of us need a recharge. We are all commanded in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled meaning to be continually filled. I can not expect a one time encounter/Baptism/filling in the Holy Spirit to linger and be enough for me to be victorious in my Christian walk. I need to constantly build on the foundations of my faith to become stronger. Just like the athlete who trains daily in all aspects of his sport to become better, I must work on my faith and be in my faith daily in order to stay sharp and effective in the Lord's service. And so must we all.
What is the conclusion of all of this? Well as the theme of this blog is fire, I want to ask a question. How many matches does it take to start a fire? Well it could take many, but it can be done with one. So just as one match can start a fire that can burn down any structure or field and leave a noticeable impact on the landscape, so too does it only one Christian to start a revival where the LORD God Almighty is honored, praised, and worshiped as the Lord and Savior, as He so rightly deserves. You can be that one that the Lord uses to start His next great revival with, if you allow Him too, because it only takes one match to start a fire!
Love
John 15:12, (NIV) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you.” How many times are we guilty of “getting even” with those in our
fellowship? When they are the ones that we should “honor above ourselves”?
(Romans 12:9-21) We should all pursue and promote love within the church,
because as Jesus says: If we love Him, we’ll obey His commands (John 14:15) and
His command is to love each other (John 8:31; 14:23-24; 15:12, 17)
The point of this post is this: If you can’t love someone you worship with, how can you love someone who is not worshiping with you? Or even more importantly, how can you love God? You can’t! 1 John 4:7-21 emphasizes this very thing! In churches all over the country, people tend to get upset because someone has sat down in the pew or seat they sit in every worship service. We look at someone coming in services wearing worn out blue jeans, or a flannel shirt, or a guy wearing earrings with piercings and automatically think we are better than them because we have a suit coat and tie, or a nice dress that was just bought and never worn. We hear of someone doing a great deed for the Kingdom of God and get jealous that it wasn’t us, so we start to examine that person to find a reason to gossip about them and make ourselves feel better that if God can use such a horrible person, He can surely use me. Friends, this should not be! People in foreign countries, such as Iran, China, etc. don’t even have buildings to worship in and are grateful for the chance to worship God wherever they can meet and in whatever conditions they can meet in.
That passage referenced above (1 John 4:7-21) states that we are like Jesus in this world. Did you catch that? You are like Jesus in this world, if you are a child of God! When unbelievers come into our congregations genuinely looking for a chance to experience a touch from God and they see children of God fighting between each other, talking behind each others backs, how will that lead to those who are lost finding God? We represent Jesus because of who we are, even if you didn’t sign up for that there is no getting around the words of scripture in 1 John 4:17. If as representatives, ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) we are fighting between ourselves, what type of picture is that painting of our Lord? How are we showing the power and love of God by arguing and bickering when the world around us is watching? Your Christian witness goes way beyond what you say to others and in many cases how you live your life and conduct yourself will do so much more to show the love of Christ than anything else you can do.
The reason it’s so hard to forgive someone for a wrong committed is because of our pride. Pride will destroy a church and a believer! Peter tells us that God resists the proud but shows favor to the humble, (1 Peter 5:5) why? I’m sure you have heard of the cliché, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” Well let me shows you something about pride and humility. Pride happens to contain that ever famous letter ‘I’. When a person is proud, the only person they are concerned with is themselves! Things have to be done my way, people have to agree with what I say, people have to go along with what I want, etc. Pride will drive a person to believe they have all the answers, they have the ability to solve their problems, they don’t need anyone else to help them out and so ‘I’ becomes the first and most important letter in their vocabulary and alphabet. Now humility is different. We all know that and the Bible teaches that clearly. Look and what the word contains, the letter ‘U’. Humility pushes that dreaded ‘I’ back behind ‘U’ or you. A humble person is characterized and marked by a life lived for others. They know they don’t have all the answers, they know they need others to make it through life, they know that what pew they sit in at worship services makes little difference, they look for opportunities to help others. A humble person will put others before themselves and not themselves on a pedestal.
Now don’t get me wrong, acting out of love for a brother or sister in Christ does not mean if you know they are living erroneously and in sin that we keep our mouths shut so as to avoid a disagreement. If you saw a family member about to walk off the edge of a cliff, wouldn’t you say something to them to warn them? Of course you would! You wouldn’t worry that you may offend them because they were being distracted and knew what they were doing or where they were going, you would want them to be safe. Well when you warn someone about the dangers of something they are doing, there may be those times of friction, but if the person you warn really cares about their well-being they will eventually thank you for your insight into their situation. Love means acting for the best interest of others, not complying with their lifestyle for the sake of their joy. Silence is compliance.
I want to take a look at what the biblical standard of love is now. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 13.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
So many truths to glean from this passage of scripture but one thing I really want to point out is the list of definitions in v.4-8a. Love is in one statement: humility in action! Humility is the opposite of pride just as good is opposite of evil. Go through those verses and write down the words Paul uses to describe love and meditate on them. Memorize them! One thing you will notice about memorizing scripture is that as you commit scripture to memory, it will begin to change you! It becomes part of you! Psalm 119:9 (NIV), “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
So in conclusion, what are we going to decide to do about our relationships with others? God gives us all the ability to make our own decisions, do our own things in life and He holds us accountable for the decisions that we make. Search the scriptures for the answers to questions you may have concerning what you have been presented with in this post. Do not take my word for it, find out for yourself what the Lord has to say about this subject, but as always open your heart to the Lord and allow Him to speak His truth into you. Will you continue to allow pride ruin your witness for Christ? Or will you let love rule in your heart so that others around you can be blessed? You decide and God bless you!
The point of this post is this: If you can’t love someone you worship with, how can you love someone who is not worshiping with you? Or even more importantly, how can you love God? You can’t! 1 John 4:7-21 emphasizes this very thing! In churches all over the country, people tend to get upset because someone has sat down in the pew or seat they sit in every worship service. We look at someone coming in services wearing worn out blue jeans, or a flannel shirt, or a guy wearing earrings with piercings and automatically think we are better than them because we have a suit coat and tie, or a nice dress that was just bought and never worn. We hear of someone doing a great deed for the Kingdom of God and get jealous that it wasn’t us, so we start to examine that person to find a reason to gossip about them and make ourselves feel better that if God can use such a horrible person, He can surely use me. Friends, this should not be! People in foreign countries, such as Iran, China, etc. don’t even have buildings to worship in and are grateful for the chance to worship God wherever they can meet and in whatever conditions they can meet in.
That passage referenced above (1 John 4:7-21) states that we are like Jesus in this world. Did you catch that? You are like Jesus in this world, if you are a child of God! When unbelievers come into our congregations genuinely looking for a chance to experience a touch from God and they see children of God fighting between each other, talking behind each others backs, how will that lead to those who are lost finding God? We represent Jesus because of who we are, even if you didn’t sign up for that there is no getting around the words of scripture in 1 John 4:17. If as representatives, ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) we are fighting between ourselves, what type of picture is that painting of our Lord? How are we showing the power and love of God by arguing and bickering when the world around us is watching? Your Christian witness goes way beyond what you say to others and in many cases how you live your life and conduct yourself will do so much more to show the love of Christ than anything else you can do.
The reason it’s so hard to forgive someone for a wrong committed is because of our pride. Pride will destroy a church and a believer! Peter tells us that God resists the proud but shows favor to the humble, (1 Peter 5:5) why? I’m sure you have heard of the cliché, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” Well let me shows you something about pride and humility. Pride happens to contain that ever famous letter ‘I’. When a person is proud, the only person they are concerned with is themselves! Things have to be done my way, people have to agree with what I say, people have to go along with what I want, etc. Pride will drive a person to believe they have all the answers, they have the ability to solve their problems, they don’t need anyone else to help them out and so ‘I’ becomes the first and most important letter in their vocabulary and alphabet. Now humility is different. We all know that and the Bible teaches that clearly. Look and what the word contains, the letter ‘U’. Humility pushes that dreaded ‘I’ back behind ‘U’ or you. A humble person is characterized and marked by a life lived for others. They know they don’t have all the answers, they know they need others to make it through life, they know that what pew they sit in at worship services makes little difference, they look for opportunities to help others. A humble person will put others before themselves and not themselves on a pedestal.
Now don’t get me wrong, acting out of love for a brother or sister in Christ does not mean if you know they are living erroneously and in sin that we keep our mouths shut so as to avoid a disagreement. If you saw a family member about to walk off the edge of a cliff, wouldn’t you say something to them to warn them? Of course you would! You wouldn’t worry that you may offend them because they were being distracted and knew what they were doing or where they were going, you would want them to be safe. Well when you warn someone about the dangers of something they are doing, there may be those times of friction, but if the person you warn really cares about their well-being they will eventually thank you for your insight into their situation. Love means acting for the best interest of others, not complying with their lifestyle for the sake of their joy. Silence is compliance.
I want to take a look at what the biblical standard of love is now. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 13.
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
So many truths to glean from this passage of scripture but one thing I really want to point out is the list of definitions in v.4-8a. Love is in one statement: humility in action! Humility is the opposite of pride just as good is opposite of evil. Go through those verses and write down the words Paul uses to describe love and meditate on them. Memorize them! One thing you will notice about memorizing scripture is that as you commit scripture to memory, it will begin to change you! It becomes part of you! Psalm 119:9 (NIV), “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
So in conclusion, what are we going to decide to do about our relationships with others? God gives us all the ability to make our own decisions, do our own things in life and He holds us accountable for the decisions that we make. Search the scriptures for the answers to questions you may have concerning what you have been presented with in this post. Do not take my word for it, find out for yourself what the Lord has to say about this subject, but as always open your heart to the Lord and allow Him to speak His truth into you. Will you continue to allow pride ruin your witness for Christ? Or will you let love rule in your heart so that others around you can be blessed? You decide and God bless you!
How to seek the Lord
In 2 Chronicles 20 we have a tremendous story that I have never heard a message
preached on (though I myself have brought a message from a "sister passage" of
Exodus 14):
I pray the Word of God is taught here in such a way that brings edification to the saints.
2 Chronicles 20:1-22 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi). 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.' 10 And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy-- 11 behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." 13 Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." 18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. 19 And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever." 22 And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.
We have here a MOST tremendous story! May we learn well from it.
Jehoshaphat was king in Judah, and was nearing the end of his godly reign, when he received some quite distressing news. A massive army was heading his way to destroy his kingdom and Jerusalem. Fear began to set in for our godly king, when he fell back on the One he knew could not fail him, Yahweh.
In verse 3 of our text we read, Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. The thing King Jehoshaphat did, the only logical thing to do, was to set his face to seek the Lord. I believe Jehoshaphat was well versed in the Psalms, as we read there "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (Ps 105:4)" and more specifically this Psalm of David, 27:
Psalms 27:1-14 Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. 4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. 5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." 9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. 13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Seems David and Jehoshaphat were of the same heart and mind, when trouble rose, Yahweh could be depended upon for deliverance. They just needed to seek His face and be courageous as they waited for Him.
So we see 5 things from the text of 2 Chr 20 that are key to the principle of seeking the LORD continually:
1) Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast! (v3)
According to Isaiah 58:6-11, fasting according to the LORD's way will bring us answers to our prayers, healing, and satisfaction. Jesus said that as we fast in secret, our Father would reward us openly. Jehoshaphat knew this principle well and put it into practice as a key element in seeking the LORD.
2) Jehoshaphat and all Judah prayed! (vv5-12)
Prayer has always been one of the most, if not the most, essential elements to man's relationship with God. As Jehoshaphat decided to seek the face of Yahweh, he knew he had to bow to the earth before Yahweh and cry out from his heart before him. Great men and women of faith have always practiced this essential act of faith. Paul gave us one of the most profound teachings and statements on prayer in the Bible when he said to be anxious about nothing, but in all things with prayer and petition along with thanksgiving make our requests known to God and that His peace would guard our hearts and minds and that God is able to do above and beyond what we ask or even think! Jehoshaphat knew this principle well!
3) All Judah humbled themselves (v9, 12)
Jehoshaphat's statement in v12, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." would make most cringe if they heard their nation's leader(s) acknowledge this. Jehoshaphat though was more concerned with his heart attitude before Yahweh than about what some may have thought about his apparent ignorance to take care of the situation. He knew in his heart, way before Peter and James wrote, that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Unlike most of the monarchs of the divided kingdom he did not put his trust in horses and chariots, but his trust was in Yahweh, his God! (Ps 20:7)
4) As the king prayed, the entire assembly waited upon the Lord (v13)
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Ps 27:14) "none who wait for you shall be put to shame (Ps 25:3)" "Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. (Ps 25:5) "Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. (Ps 25:20-21) Jehoshaphat was well versed in the Psalms and prayers of David his father! Indeed even before Isaiah, Jehoshaphat knew that those who "wait for the Lord will renew their strength and mount with wings as eagles! (Is 40:31) Notice that the entire nation who had assembled before the Lord was in silence before Him, waiting in anticipation for Him to answer! And He did! Wow did He ever!
5) Jehoshaphat and all Judah praised and worshipped their God and King (vv18-21)
As they received their answer, their hearts flooded with joy and thanksgiving! Can you imagine, in one second, being in death's grip because you know you have no strength to make it through the coming storm, and in the next second the Creator of all things tells you that the disaster meant for you will instead befall those who are coming against you? Wow! What a word by a lonely priest who is not heard from again. But if you had to give a word of prophecy by the Spirit, make it count right? Wow, the battle is not yours, but the LORD's! Then they all did the only reasonable thing remaining to do, they worshipped the God of Israel and praised His holy name! As they praised, the Lord then set an ambush against the assailants and they were routed!
I believe He says this to us all today, the battles you face are not yours, but His! You must not strive in them any longer! Turn to the Lord, using this wonderful story from 2 Chr 20 as your guide, let the Lord show you His wonders as you seek His face and strength continually! Be blessed and may the God of all creation rest upon you! Amen!
I pray the Word of God is taught here in such a way that brings edification to the saints.
2 Chronicles 20:1-22 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi). 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.' 10 And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy-- 11 behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." 13 Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." 18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. 19 And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever." 22 And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.
We have here a MOST tremendous story! May we learn well from it.
Jehoshaphat was king in Judah, and was nearing the end of his godly reign, when he received some quite distressing news. A massive army was heading his way to destroy his kingdom and Jerusalem. Fear began to set in for our godly king, when he fell back on the One he knew could not fail him, Yahweh.
In verse 3 of our text we read, Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. The thing King Jehoshaphat did, the only logical thing to do, was to set his face to seek the Lord. I believe Jehoshaphat was well versed in the Psalms, as we read there "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (Ps 105:4)" and more specifically this Psalm of David, 27:
Psalms 27:1-14 Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. 4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. 5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." 9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. 12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. 13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Seems David and Jehoshaphat were of the same heart and mind, when trouble rose, Yahweh could be depended upon for deliverance. They just needed to seek His face and be courageous as they waited for Him.
So we see 5 things from the text of 2 Chr 20 that are key to the principle of seeking the LORD continually:
1) Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast! (v3)
According to Isaiah 58:6-11, fasting according to the LORD's way will bring us answers to our prayers, healing, and satisfaction. Jesus said that as we fast in secret, our Father would reward us openly. Jehoshaphat knew this principle well and put it into practice as a key element in seeking the LORD.
2) Jehoshaphat and all Judah prayed! (vv5-12)
Prayer has always been one of the most, if not the most, essential elements to man's relationship with God. As Jehoshaphat decided to seek the face of Yahweh, he knew he had to bow to the earth before Yahweh and cry out from his heart before him. Great men and women of faith have always practiced this essential act of faith. Paul gave us one of the most profound teachings and statements on prayer in the Bible when he said to be anxious about nothing, but in all things with prayer and petition along with thanksgiving make our requests known to God and that His peace would guard our hearts and minds and that God is able to do above and beyond what we ask or even think! Jehoshaphat knew this principle well!
3) All Judah humbled themselves (v9, 12)
Jehoshaphat's statement in v12, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." would make most cringe if they heard their nation's leader(s) acknowledge this. Jehoshaphat though was more concerned with his heart attitude before Yahweh than about what some may have thought about his apparent ignorance to take care of the situation. He knew in his heart, way before Peter and James wrote, that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Unlike most of the monarchs of the divided kingdom he did not put his trust in horses and chariots, but his trust was in Yahweh, his God! (Ps 20:7)
4) As the king prayed, the entire assembly waited upon the Lord (v13)
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Ps 27:14) "none who wait for you shall be put to shame (Ps 25:3)" "Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. (Ps 25:5) "Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. (Ps 25:20-21) Jehoshaphat was well versed in the Psalms and prayers of David his father! Indeed even before Isaiah, Jehoshaphat knew that those who "wait for the Lord will renew their strength and mount with wings as eagles! (Is 40:31) Notice that the entire nation who had assembled before the Lord was in silence before Him, waiting in anticipation for Him to answer! And He did! Wow did He ever!
5) Jehoshaphat and all Judah praised and worshipped their God and King (vv18-21)
As they received their answer, their hearts flooded with joy and thanksgiving! Can you imagine, in one second, being in death's grip because you know you have no strength to make it through the coming storm, and in the next second the Creator of all things tells you that the disaster meant for you will instead befall those who are coming against you? Wow! What a word by a lonely priest who is not heard from again. But if you had to give a word of prophecy by the Spirit, make it count right? Wow, the battle is not yours, but the LORD's! Then they all did the only reasonable thing remaining to do, they worshipped the God of Israel and praised His holy name! As they praised, the Lord then set an ambush against the assailants and they were routed!
I believe He says this to us all today, the battles you face are not yours, but His! You must not strive in them any longer! Turn to the Lord, using this wonderful story from 2 Chr 20 as your guide, let the Lord show you His wonders as you seek His face and strength continually! Be blessed and may the God of all creation rest upon you! Amen!
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