Category: God’s grace

Israel: The Miracle Nation #6

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

Escaping Egypt, the Israelites knew they were free only because the LORD God had broken Pharaoh’s power, overridden Satan’s authority, overcome sin’s influence, and vanquished the world’s dominance. They voiced their gratitude by singing the Song of Moses (Exodus chapter 15). Repeatedly, from chapter 14 to the end of chapter 18, JEHOVAH God worked and Israel received the blessings. Over and over and over again, grace was shown to be infinitesimally superior, whereas the flesh was proven totally helpless and utterly useless. Whatever Israel needed to become God’s people in the Earth, God had supplied, God was furnishing, and God would provide.

After witnessing the all-sufficiency of God’s grace and the all-futility of their efforts, the Israelites must make a solemn decision at Mount Sinai. Exodus chapter 19 again: “[5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: [6] And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. [7] And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. [8] And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

Oh, dear friends, what a terrible, foolish answer Israel gave in verse 8! “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do [works-religion!!!!].” Having thrown aside grace, they desire law. They prefer to become God’s nation in their own strength—and that arrangement was doomed before they ever uttered such nonsense. Not only had they not been able to do “all” God’s will prior, they had already outright disobeyed Him in chapter 16 (see verses 4,19-28)! Now, sin has deceived them. They actually believe they can work to get God’s blessings—the very blessings God already promised them through Abraham (apart from their works!!!), their very works that could never be perfect!!!! Moreover, billions are equally confused today….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #5

Monday, February 7, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all learned the nation descending from them would originate and become God’s people only because of His grace. Man’s efforts could never accomplish the Abrahamic Covenant. Their performance was irrelevant—for they could all do nothing to accomplish God’s will.

Leaving Genesis and coming into Exodus, we find Israel in Egypt, suffering slavery and genocide under a malicious Pharaoh. It takes the LORD God’s power to free Israel, for she is unable to save herself. “The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he [grace!] cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea” (Exodus 15:3,4). “And because he [grace!] loved thy fathers, therefore he [grace!] chose their seed after them, and [He] [grace!] brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt…” (Deuteronomy 4:37).

Having delivered them through the Red Sea (Exodus chapter 14), God also provides the Jews with potable water in the desert (chapter 15), feeds them with manna/bread (chapter 16), supplies them with more water and even military victory over the Amalekites (chapter 17), and finally imparts wisdom to the Jewish leaders (chapter 18). Here are six instances of God’s grace furnishing Israel with everything she needs—but could not provide for herself.

In chapter 19, at Mount Sinai, God makes an offer: “[3] And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; [4] Ye have seen what I did [grace!] unto the Egyptians, and how I bare [grace!] you on eagles’ wings, and [I] [grace!] brought you unto myself. [5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed [law!], and keep my covenant [law!], then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: [6] And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

Let us see Israel’s choice….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #4

Sunday, February 6, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

With Jacob fleeing from his older twin brother (unbelieving, violent) Esau, he leaves Canaan and travels far to the northeast to the home of their mother’s family. Once at Padanaram, Jacob is to meet with his uncle Laban, his mother Rebekah’s brother, and seek out a wife (Genesis 28:1-5). Jacob, spending 21 years working for his dishonest uncle (chapter 29), is delivered from repeated scams only because the LORD is on his side (see Genesis 28:15).

Read chapter 31: “[4] And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah [his two wives, daughters of Laban] to the field unto his flock, [5] And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. [6] And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. [7] And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.”

In chapters 29–30, Jacob’s four wives (Leah, Rachel, and their two servant girls, Zilpah and Bilhah) bear him 12 children—11 sons and one daughter. Benjamin will be conceived later (chapter 35). These 12 sons of Jacob become the heads of Israel’s 12 tribes. Notice how God regulates these births: “[29:31] And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. [32] And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. [33] And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also:…. [30:17] And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. [18] And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband…. [22] And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb…. [24] And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.”

Again, Israel is God’s miracle nation….

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Israel: The Miracle Nation #3

Saturday, February 5, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

At age 100 years, Abraham finally saw the birth of Isaac, the son God freely promised him (Genesis 21:5). Sarah was 90. The writer of Hebrews penned the following commentary: “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Hebrews 11:11,12).

However, Ishmael (the product of Abraham’s flesh) clashed with his younger half-brother Isaac (the result of God’s grace). With teenager Ishmael teasing little Isaac—the conflict between Hagar and Sarah now transferred to their respective sons—Abraham is forced to evict Hagar and Ishmael so Isaac can grow up in peace (Genesis 21:8-13; cf. Galatians 4:21-31). Again, works-religion (man’s efforts) and grace (God’s efforts) cannot coexist. The situation of Ishmael and Isaac is clear proof of this transdispensational (across the Bible timeline) truth. Had the LORD not enabled Abraham’s elderly body to produce seed, and Sarah’s aged womb to use that seed to bear a child, there would be no Isaac… and, thus, no Israel. Israel is God’s miracle nation.

Let us fast-forward several decades. Isaac is now 60 years old (Genesis 25:26), and he and his wife Rebekah have been childless for 20 years. (Does this not sound familiar?!) “And Isaac intreated [asked, pled] the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:21). Yet, something is noticeably different here: Isaac did not repeat his parents’ folly. Whereas Abraham and Sarah connived, Isaac prayed because he depended on God’s grace! The LORD works, and twins Esau and Jacob are born to Isaac and Rebekah (verses 22-26), Jacob becoming the next heir of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 28:10-15). Jacob is the latest patriarch of Israel, and he too must learn Israel will result from God’s work not his own….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #2

Friday, February 4, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

Taking matters into their own hands, Abram and Sarai schemed to “help” God do what He apparently failed to do! Using Hagar as a surrogate mother for Abram’s son seemed like a good idea—until they all began suffering the complicated problems resulting from their sin. Firstly, pregnant Hagar fought most bitterly with childless Sarai (Genesis 16:4-11). Abram fathering Ishmael meant Abram could still work in his flesh, perform and strive—and this system of law conflicted with God’s grace. Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, is not God’s promised child and not the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.

In chapter 17, some 13 years later, Abram is now 99 years old (verse 1). Having waited at least 25 years (but possibly as many as 50 years!) for the promise, Abram (like Sarai) is now unable to reproduce. Will this be a difficulty for the LORD? Of course not! Here, the LORD appears to him with a message. Abram is renamed “Abraham:” he was “high/exalted father,” but now he is “father of a multitude” (verses 4,5). God orders him to be physically circumcised, signifying his righteousness he has had by faith since chapter 12, and also denoting his cutting off from his flesh or abilities to “help” God (see Genesis 17:6-14; cf. Romans 4:9-22; Galatians 4:21-31).

With Sarai barren, and Abraham sterile, neither party can “assist” the LORD now! Having intentionally delayed until they are reproductively powerless, God in His grace intervenes (Genesis chapter 17): “[15] And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. [16] And I will [grace!] bless her, and [I will] [grace!] give thee a son also of her: yea, I will [grace!] bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her…. [19] And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will [grace!] establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.”

Yet, Abraham’s flesh will again disrupt God’s plan for him….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #1

Thursday, February 3, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

The Bible says in chapter 12 of Genesis, verses 1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Sometime back in chapter 11, God had directed Abram to leave his homeland (Ur of the Chaldees; cf. Genesis 11:27-32; Acts 7:2-4).

We want to carefully note how emphatically the first-person singular pronoun appears during the ratification of the Abrahamic Covenant. Almighty God speaks: “…a land I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and [I will] make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and [I will] curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” At the heart of the Abrahamic Covenant is what the LORD God will do for Abram—not what Abram will do for the LORD God. Again, the issue is grace (God’s efforts) as opposed to law (man’s efforts). Be quite sure to understand that.

Via the Abrahamic Covenant, God (!!!!) will form a “great nation” through Abram. Of course, this is the origin of Israel. The LORD claimed Abram would father a multitude of people, but there is one glaring problem. Abram’s wife Sarai is “barren” and childless—not only without offspring but physically unable to have them (today’s Scripture). After waiting for at least a decade, Sarai and Abram gave up on God’s promise. In chapter 16, Sarai decided and encouraged Abram to use her slave girl, Hagar, as her surrogate. Relying on human wisdom (secular advice, not Divine revelation!!!!), and performing in his flesh (law!!!!), Abram fathered Ishmael. Grace has been forced aside in favor of law….

On the Run!

Friday, January 28, 2022

“But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:10-12 KJV).

Read this sobering statement from a Christian living in the Middle East: “Because we don’t have a church building to gather in, we have to keep our groups small, not more than five or six people. We constantly change days, times, and locations to avoid getting caught.” These are current affairs, friends, reminiscent of the days when the early churches had to hide from Roman authorities or risk death!

Although anti-Christian voices have greatly multiplied and increased in volume in recent years here in the United States, we still have our constitutional rights that protect spiritual liberty… for now. Compared to what Christians are undergoing in other countries, we Americans have it good. Dear friends, never take the Holy Scriptures for granted. Be appreciative of them—especially thankful for those saints who died through the centuries just to make sure we had a copy. This cannot be emphasized enough!

It is so tragic we who have the greatest “religious freedom” in the world are usually the ones most spoiled to the non-spiritual. We bicker about the stupidest matters on social media, sit in front of our television and computer screens several hours a day for amusement, and talk and text message and play games on our smartphones the rest of the time. Meanwhile, Christians in other nations are literally being hunted down, imprisoned, tortured, and executed for God’s Book that sits on our shelf collecting dust. Oh, it is a terrible commentary regarding our beloved nation, but it shows just how shallow in the Scriptures we have been all these centuries. Now, our corporate attitude can no longer be hidden because the culture behind the façade has bulldozed through its shell.

Dear saints, if you are suffering for Jesus Christ’s sake today, remember, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). God’s grace is sufficient—even when you are “on the run!” 🙂

A Saviour Who Will Save

Sunday, January 2, 2022

“…Jesus Christ of Nazareth… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10,12 KJV).

Today’s Scripture tells us who alone can save man from the everlasting hellfire he deserves!

A frequent objection made against Christianity is that every religion has “good” members, and to ignore them and limit heaven to a few Christians is unfair. This is a defected notion. How does one arrive at a definite conclusion when there is no one standard to gauge everyone’s “goodness?” They are “good” according to whom, according to what standard? Remember, relative morality actually does not help the sinner—he may be a “better” sinner than another, but he is also a “worse” sinner than yet another, and whether “better” or “worse,” he is still a sinner!

The God of the Bible has a simple method for determining righteousness. Today, He sees two types of people—saints and lost people. While both groups were born in sins (Ephesians 2:1-3), “shapen in iniquity [in the womb]” (Psalm 51:5), and “condemned already” (John 3:18), only the saints have come to realize their lost state. Job asked in Job 9:2, “How should a man be just [righteous, acceptable] with God?” Saints have come to the acknowledgement that they needed God’s righteousness, that they had a massive sin debt that they could never satisfy, that their “righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), that they could never possibly make themselves right before a holy God (He is the standard; Romans 3:23). The lost people, however, do not realize they are lost, for they believe their religious works “score points” with God and make up for their sinful deeds (2 Corinthians 4:3,4). They ignore the finished crosswork of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for their sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

Saints have come by faith to Jesus Christ, whose name literally means, “Anointed Saviour” (cf. Psalm 2:2; Matthew 1:21). As the writer of the book of Hebrews said, “[Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (7:25). Literally, no world religion has such a “Saviour” as Jesus Christ!

The Misunderstood Messiah #5

Thursday, December 30, 2021

“Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41 KJV).

Did you ever notice the magnitude of the insult put forth toward Jesus Christ in today’s Scripture?

Once Christ replied with sound doctrine (verses 42-47), Israel’s religious leaders simply resorted to name-calling again (verse 48): “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” A Samaritan was half-Jew/half-Gentile, and “the Jews [had] no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Notice Jesus was insulted twice more—they called Him a “Samaritan” and “devil possessed.” Throughout the rest of John chapter 8, Israel’s religious leaders continue arguing with Jesus and nearly stone Him to death (verse 59)!

Why did Jesus not simply “zap” these religionists and instantly throw them into hellfire? They belittled and blasphemed Him several times in this one account, and then attempted to murder Him, but rather than Jesus killing them with His spoken word (which would have been justified), He only conversed with them. Why?

Remember, when the Apostles James and John saw how the Samaritans refused to accommodate Jesus, they asked Him if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven and consume those sinners, He replied, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55,56). This First Coming of Christ was His “meek and lowly” coming: He did not come to judge man’s sins, but to die for them!

Even today, God is still not pouring out His wrath on wicked mankind (2 Corinthians 5:19), creatures who still snicker at Jesus Christ, deceive others in His name, persecute His saints, ignore His Word, and “rub His nose” in their sins. Lost mankind is wasting God’s grace and mercy that He is offering so freely. When His grace is finally exhausted, the undiluted wrath that has accumulated will finally be poured out (His Second Coming). May we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now so we have our sins forgiven now, lest we face that angry, righteous God in judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)!

For more information, you may also see our archived Bible Q&A: “Did God ‘rape’ Mary?”

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing #5

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!”

Religion has done an excellent job (wrongly) teaching us that God likes to rehabilitate humans—that He wants to make us quit doing certain things (“fleshly”) and make us start doing other things (“churchy”). What a very shallow, and actually a false, perception. God wants to do much more than what we could ever do by ourselves.

For good works to reign in our lives, God has to kill us! As sinners, in Adam, we are dead in our trespasses and sins, no life in ourselves (see today’s Scripture). Nothing we can do in our own strength will ever change our (sinful) nature in Adam. However, God offers us death to Adam and a new identity through Christ at Calvary. When we trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins, in God’s mind, we died to sin, too. Christ did not simply die for us but as us. Romans chapters 5 through 8 describe the victory is in Christ, not in Adam or in ourselves. Success is by the power of the Holy Ghost working with the grace doctrines we study and believe, not in our struggles to do right. And so, “Christ [is] formed in [us]” (Galatians 4:19).

Something about which the angels cannot sing, but we can, should, and do! 🙂