Category: legalism

Eternal Life or Folly Forever

Thursday, September 25, 2014

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3 KJV).

Like the Galatians, many today are “foolish,” not thinking clearly, assuming our salvation unto eternal life is gained or enhanced by our frail efforts!

Organized religion always urges us to do something to “enhance” our Christian life—tongue talking, aisle walking, sin confession, holy-day obligation, prayer recitation, generous donation, water rites, visits to holy sites. To varying degrees, every group pushes external activities, either to gain your salvation, to prove your salvation, or to keep your salvation. Undeniably, to arrive at such conclusions, they had to completely ignore the six Bible chapters, 149 verses, and 3,098 words known as “the book of Galatians.” As 1 Timothy 1:7 says, these works-religion people have no idea what they are saying or what they are insisting.

Friends, to corrupt the grace of God into a works-message is the most damnable of all teachings. It is strong language, but here is the plain truth. Either Jesus Christ paid for all our sins at Calvary’s cross, or He did not; either His performance was and is enough, or it was and is not ( He should have stayed in heaven then!).

To put our dirty, sinful fingers around God’s holy collar and demand He give us a place in heaven because we did a few “good” works is utterly silly; Jesus Christ did more than a few good works, and, unlike us, He was no sinner. On Calvary’s cross, He suffered your second death, the pain so deserving us in hellfire. What would take you eternity to do, He satisfied God’s righteousness in just a fraction of a day! God does not want reformation of deeds; He wants Jesus Christ to be in you to do good works (Galatians 2:20,21). We need a new nature, not just a change in lifestyle.

If our dear religious family members and friends could grasp these simple Bible truths, it would literally save them an eternity of regret! Jesus Christ’s shed blood paid the price, and His resurrection gives us new life. We can trust in Him alone, and He will do the rest! (Or we can continue in our folly.)

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Does God intervene in my life? If so, how?”

Canker

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

“And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus” (2 Timothy 2:17 KJV).

Exactly what is a “canker” anyway?

Today’s Scripture confirms that our King James Bible abounds with various and sundry unique terms. We rarely use the word “canker,” but we see in it “cancer” (“canker” is related to the Latin, cancer). As some interesting side-notes, that Greek word is only used once in our King James, and it is gaggraina (from a Greek word meaning “to gnaw”). When pronounced, you can almost hear “gangrene,” and that is exactly what a “canker” is. Medically, “gangrene” is the death of a large amount of living tissue, due to obstructed circulation or a bacterial infection. But the Bible is using “canker” figuratively in today’s Scripture, not literally.

The “canker” of today’s Scripture is, “a malign and corrupting influence that is difficult to eradicate.” As a canker attacks healthy physical tissue, so false doctrine will eat away at a Christian’s soul. The person once alive with Jesus Christ’s life (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:4) is now shriveling spiritually; they are still saved and on their way to heaven, but they have been distracted from the grace doctrines that describe the Christian life. They, having lost sight of their identity in Christ, are now operating in the flesh, on their own, on human viewpoint, cut off from the life-giving words of God.

Just prior to today’s Scripture, the Holy Ghost through Paul wrote, “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (verse 16). Notice how the canker not only spreads, but it also consumes more and more. Once a little false teaching creeps in, the whole lump will eventually be leavened, corrupted (Galatians 5:9)—damage difficult to undo. Immediately before Paul wrote 2 Timothy 2:16, he wrote, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (verse 15).

Verse 18 says that Hymenaeus and Philetus were not using the Scriptures dispensationally, and they were misleading Christians regarding the timing of the Rapture (sound familiar?). Yea, “rightly dividing the word of truth” is a matter of life or death, for it keeps out a life-threatening canker!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Were there people ‘in Christ’ before Paul?”

The Serpent’s Subtilty #6

Friday, September 19, 2014

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV).

The Serpent is “subtil,” so the saint must be sagacious!

“Subtil” (“subtle”) means, “very intelligent, sneaky, ingenious;” a synonym is “sagacious.” In order to foresee Satan’s schemes and survive his attacks on our minds, we must recognize and remember the simplicity in Jesus Christ, those precious grace doctrines we learn from God’s Word rightly divided (today’s Scripture and its succeeding verse, verse 4).

Let us re-read verse 4: “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Paul feared that the Corinthians would accept a false teacher, for a false teacher always quotes some Scripture to appear righteous (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)—Satan quoted just a few words of Scripture to appear good to Eve (Genesis 3:1) and Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10-11).

Beloved, someone quoting Scripture does not automatically mean that Jesus Christ is leading or speaking through that individual. The Apostle Paul wrote, “If any man think himself to be a prophet [speaking on God’s behalf], or spiritual [led by God’s Spirit], let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). If every professing Christian congregation actually believed that Paul is God’s spokesman to us, over 95 percent of the world’s pulpits would be vacated, the pastors and priests fired for fulfilling 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, exposed as “destitute of the truth” (1 Timothy 6:5)!!

Yea, even today, our Lord Jesus Christ is jealous over us. He wants us doctrinally pure, undefiled by (false) religion, false “gospels,” false “Jesuses,” false “spirits,” false “ministers,” false “bibles,” et cetera. Satan’s tactics have worked so well he has never changed them. As he did with Eve, he still counterfeits the truth. May we never abandon our King James Bible; our Saviour-Head, Jesus Christ; Paul, our Apostle; and 1 Corinthians 15:3,4, our Gospel, the Gospel of the Grace of God. What sagaciousness!

The Serpent’s Subtilty #4

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV).

The Serpent is “subtil,” so the saint must be sagacious!

Some of Paul’s converts in Corinth, Greece, were questioning his apostleship, doubting that Jesus Christ had really sent him to them. False teachers had caused them to become anti-Paul, and thus, anti-Jesus Christ: they rejected Jesus Christ speaking through the Apostle Paul. That is the context of today’s Scripture. We want to focus on verse 4 now, particularly the phrase, “another spirit:” “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

Paul feared someone would “receive another spirit, which ye have not received.” What does that mean? Paul preached God’s Grace, not His Law. Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Paul preached, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Unlike Peter, James, and John (Matthew 5:17-19; Acts 10:35; James 2:8-26; 1 John 2:3; 1 John 3:22; 1 John 5:2), Paul never preached law, commandment-keeping. To learn about the spirit that Paul preached, we must read Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

We have not received the spirit of bondage, law keeping, to please God; we are pleasing to God in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). God’s grace, not His law, teaches us how to live (Titus 2:11-15). “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18).

Unfortunately, there is so much emphasis on God’s Law (whether Mosaic Law or Messianic Law) in most churches today, that few ever realize that Jesus Christ revealed additional information to Paul years later, special doctrine found nowhere else in Scripture. Like Eve, Satan has deceived them; they are misapplying, misquoting, and watering down Scripture, denying the contexts of Israel’s verses, et cetera. Satan’s relentless attack on God’s Word continues….

He Took My Sins Away #3

Friday, August 22, 2014

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 KJV).

The third verse of Margaret Jenkins Harris’ classic 1903 hymn “He Took My Sins Away” highlights today’s Scripture.

“No condemnation have I in my heart,
He took my sins away, He took my sins away.
His perfect peace He did to me impart,
He took my sins away.”

Sin produces guilt, and guilt weighs heavy on the sinner’s heart and mind. Many people go to bed at night feeling so horrible because of their actions earlier that day. They beat themselves up over and over—as if the rigid religionists at the local church do not knock them “black-and-blue” enough on Sunday mornings!

Yea, many Christians lay their heads on their pillow wondering if God really loves them, if He really is for them, and if He really has forgiven them in Jesus Christ. They feel so rotten, so “sorry” (?) for their sins, that they promise to change, but despite all the remorse, they wake up the next morning and wind up repeating their mistakes of the previous day. It would behoove them to read and believe the first eight chapters of the book of Romans, and if they would apply those verses by faith, they would literally see a whole new life. They would be released from such misery, self-pity, guilt, and failure.

If you have relied exclusively on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork at Calvary for the complete payment for your sins, you are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). You be loved in Christ! The most important barrier in your life—sin, separation from God—has been dealt with in full. Today’s Scripture says that you are “justified” (made right before God) and you have “peace with God” through Jesus Christ. God is not mad at you, saint, He loves you in Jesus Christ; He has completely paid for your sins, and that sin is hidden in His tomb forever. If God is not bringing them up, why are you? Because of Calvary, we can talk to Him in prayer, and have His peace to enjoy despite our failures.

Yea, He annulled our sin debt….

He Took My Sins Away #2

Thursday, August 21, 2014

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

The second verse of Margaret Jenkins Harris’ classic 1903 hymn “He Took My Sins Away” highlights today’s Scripture.

“The load of sin was more than I could bear.
He took my sins away, He took my sins away.
And now on Him I roll my ev’ry care,
He took my sins away.”

While many assume that the Mosaic Law was given to help us get to heaven, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul starkly disagreed (see today’s Scripture). The Law was given to codify sin, to clearly delineate what actions God accepts and what actions He hates. In fact, the Law has often been likened unto a mirror: it shows you your faults and blemishes, but it has no power to help you correct them.

In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul wrote, “the law… was added because of transgressions” (3:19). Did JEHOVAH give Israel the Mosaic Law because they were so obedient? NAY! Because they were such lovely people who delighted in serving Him by faith? NAY! Because He wanted to show them how good they were? NAY! God gave the Law to show Israel, yea all the world (Romans 3:19), that they were sinners in denial, and they needed a system to thoroughly demonstrate to them that they would repeatedly “cross the line” when God said not to (the word “transgress” [“go across”] conveys that concept). The Law was irrefutable proof that Israel could only be God’s people because of His grace, not because of their performance—the Law only generated His wrath (Romans 4:15).

Jesus Christ came and kept the Law, the Law we repeatedly broke. Now we can come by faith in Him and receive the peace with God and peace of God. In Christ, God is not mad at us anymore. He is satisfied with us because we are in Christ, the only One in whom He is satisfied. The Person who always did His Father’s will with the humblest attitude.

Yea, He nullified our sin debt….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is the ‘that which is perfect is come’ in 1 Corinthians 13:10?”

When the Church Confers

Friday, July 18, 2014

“…[G]ive attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13).

Having attended a grace Bible conference via the internet these last six days, I devote today’s devotional to reflecting upon it.

Anytime we meet with like-minded believers in Jesus Christ, it should be the most enjoyable experience this side of heaven. Moreover, when two-dozen Holy-Spirit-filled, knowledgeable yet humble, preachers of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ, teach from the King James Bible rightly divided, the lost will hear the Gospel of Grace many times over, and the saints will be greatly edified many times over.

The conference was a very refreshing time for people who were confused about soul salvation unto justification and eternal life, and an equally encouraging time for Christians who needed either establishment or stabilization in sound Bible doctrine. No one went home without hearing the Gospel of God’s Grace (Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for our sins), no one went home without hearing about proper Bible study (Paul’s apostleship to us), and no one went home without having heard about the infallibility and reliability of the King James Bible. What they do with that information is their decision, not ours.

In accordance with today’s Scripture, attendance was indeed given to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. Attendance to “study[ing]… rightly dividing the word of truth” was certainly given (2 Timothy 2:15); attendance to believing those verses, however, that is the hearer’s prerogative. Those who did trust the Gospel presented, they passed from death to life; those who believed the sound Bible doctrine presented, they were liberated from denominational yokes and prisons, and Bible perversions. Yea, some heard more sound Bible doctrine in six days, than they heard in all their lives in “church!”

Such a conference of sound Bible doctrine redounds to the Lord Jesus Christ’s glory alone, it resounds throughout the heavenly places, and it abounds in the hearts of us who believe. O, the manifold grace of God to all mankind! O, the manifold grace of God that enables us in Christ to tell all of lost mankind about that manifold grace of God to them! 🙂

NOTE: I highly recommend the 2014 Grace School of the Bible Summer Family Bible Conference to you. You may access its archived videos and MP3’s here.

Heart Service #15

Saturday, May 10, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Christendom’s various false –isms—asceticism, ritualism, denominationalism, legalism, formalism, et cetera—are religion’s methods of reforming outward behavior (ceremonies, rites, and rituals are sin-maintenance activities). Yet, there is no change in nature, in the heart (cf. Matthew 23:25-28).

We trusted the Gospel of Grace, “we obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered [us].” Thankfully, in God’s mind, today’s Scripture says we “were the servants of sin”—past tense. God gave us a new nature: He took us out of Adam and He placed us into Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus, He does not see us in Christ as sinners; God sees us in Christ as saints, set apart unto His purpose and will (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; et al.). Father God does not consider us servants of sin, so does it make sense for us Christians to now serve sin? The answer is unequivocally, “NO!” (The renewed mind of Romans 12:1,2. It is not “reasonable” [logical] to serve sin; it is only “reasonable” to let our identity in Jesus Christ impact our daily living, for He alone deserves praise!)

Literally everything Father God could ever give us—including a new identity/nature—He already gave it all to us, in Jesus Christ! “Ye are complete in him” (Colossians 2:10; cf. Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:3). Dear saint, may you never, ever, EVER let the various –isms in religion deceive you and rob you of your spiritual wealth in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:4,8,18).

Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “That Christ may dwell in [their] hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17). May we read, study, and believe Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, to the end the indwelling Holy Spirit works mightily in the hearts of us who believe those Scriptures, that the very life of Jesus Christ becomes more evident in ours!

So, dear saint, will you “obey from the heart [this] form of doctrine which was delivered you?”

FINIS! 🙂

Heart Service #12

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Carefully consider Galatians 3:1-3, Paul’s rebuke of the churches in Galatia who had trusted Christ, and then abandoned God’s grace for performance-based acceptance (false teachers misled them with works-religion): “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

The moment we each trusted Jesus as our personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit placed us into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Instantly, we were “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Everything that God could ever give us, He gave us in Christ, and we have it all now in Christ! What can we weaklings possibly do in religion to “enhance” our Christian life, that will improve upon what the Almighty Holy Spirit did?! “O foolish Christendom, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?!”

Colossians 2:6,7 amplifies today’s Scripture and Galatians 3:1-3: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” How did we become Christians? Our efforts? Nay, “[our] faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:5)—our faith, not our works (Romans 4:5). Christ’s works, not ours. The Bible says the Christian life will operate likewise. The same Holy Spirit who made us righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) will take the sound (rightly divided) Bible doctrine we study, are “taught,” and most importantly believe (trust), and He will work in us (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

But, the Holy Spirit will not work in us until we learn the Bible doctrine He wants to apply to our lives…

Heart Service #11

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is the key to being delivered from and guarded against today’s apostate Christendom.

Christendom’s greatest blunder has been to willfully disregard Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, and prefer other Bible books and/or extra-Biblical church tradition. Beloved, once we abandon Paul’s epistles, we have nothing but the Bible’s legalistic (Law-keeping) passages—almsgiving, food restrictions, water baptism, fasting, tithing, prosperity prayer promises, confession of sins, Sabbath-day and feast-day observances, et cetera—the very practices and ceremonies Christendom loves. No wonder Christendom avoids Paul—the doctrine God revealed through him does not profit their denominations (yea, that doctrine would literally bankrupt their systems instead)!

In the books of Romans through Philemon, Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), tells us what the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ has to say to us on this side of Calvary’s cross (not in the Old Testament); in this, the Dispensation of Grace (not the Dispensation of Law); as members of this, the Church the Body of Christ (not the nation Israel); in this, the mystery program (not the prophetic program); and in this, God’s heavenly plan (not His earthly plan). Dispensational Bible study—“rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)—allows us to recognize the passages that describe how the Christian life operates today.

Just as we trusted Paul’s Gospel—Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the fully-satisfying payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—to be saved from everlasting hellfire, so we trust in it to be saved from daily sins. When Jesus Christ resurrected, He was raised to give us new life, eternal life (Romans 6:1-23, the context of today’s Scripture), life “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11). We are righteous before God in Christ; by Jesus Christ’s resurrection life, God will produce fruit in our lives to reflect that identity. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the Person who (literally!) “brings to life” the life of Jesus Christ in our lives….