Category: God’s grace

Not in Vain

Saturday, September 8, 2012

“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain” (1 Thessalonians 2:1 KJV).

The believers in Thessalonica demonstrate that ministry work for the Lord is not done in vain.

Paul and Silas, on Paul’s second apostolic journey, arrive in Thessalonica in Acts 17:1. Here, there are Judaistic Jews and Greeks (verse 1), people who have some comprehension of the Old Testament and the one true God. However, there are also pagan Gentiles, individuals who later “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

The Lord through Paul and Silas preached the Gospel of God’s Grace to us in Christ (dispensational Bible study). By placing their faith in that message, the Thessalonians either progressed to further understand God’s Word (that is, how God was now revealing advanced information—the mystery program—not found in the Old Testament), and/or learned that the one true God, unlike the pagan gods they had worshipped as heathens, had come in the form a Man to die for their sins. After the Thessalonians trusted Christ, today’s Scripture and its context (1:3–2:1) describe how God used them to evangelize their neighbors!

Ever wonder, “Are our preaching the message of God’s grace and teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” After all, many—even professing Christians (!)—hate it. Too prideful and too attached to their religious tradition to admit that God’s message to us Gentiles is Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon), denominational Christians vehemently oppose and attempt to suppress dispensational Bible study… THAT is vain. For, though we are few in number, we Pauline dispensationalists “serve the living and true God,” and nothing God does is ever “in vain” (worthless, futile). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Again, “Are our preaching God’s grace and our teaching the King James Bible rightly divided, really worth it?” Today’s Scripture is a resounding, “Yes, it is worth it! It is ‘not in vain!’” 🙂

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #6

Monday, July 30, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

By God’s grace, we troublemakers can partake of the results of Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary.

From today’s Scripture to verse 20, God’s Word proved that we are all sinners, offensive to God’s righteous standards (particularly, the Ten Commandments). The Mosaic Law was given “that the offence might abound” (Romans 5:20a): the Law clearly identifies and condemns man’s sins. Israel mistakenly believed the Mosaic Law would prove their “righteousness” (Deuteronomy 6:24,25)—it proved their unrighteousness, as it does ours, and proved God’s righteousness!

Romans 3:21ff. teaches that today, in the Dispensation of Grace, God is not demanding we keep any laws to gain His acceptance or forgiveness: the Dispensation of Law demonstrated that we sinners cannot measure up to His righteousness. So, God nailed the Mosaic Law that condemned us, on Calvary’s cross (Colossians 2:14), and replaced Israel’s performance-based acceptance system (Law) with His Jesus-based acceptance system (Grace)! “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” (Romans 3:24).

Verses 26-28 conclude: “To declare, I say, at this time his [God’s] righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

We are justified by faith without works because Jesus Christ already worked for our salvation. We cannot boast that we worked for heaven; we can only brag that we could not work for heaven! Jesus Christ is well pleasing to God (Matthew 3:17), so when we trust His finished crosswork as the “propitiation,” the fully satisfying payment for our sins, God “accept[s] us in the beloved [in Christ]” (Ephesians 1:6). Our sins and our “righteousness” are not the issue: Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice for our sins and His righteousness are!

Indeed, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20b). 🙂

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #5

Sunday, July 29, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

The dispensational change from Law to Grace demonstrates our faithlessness and Christ’s faithfulness….

Verses 22-25a explain: “…[T]he righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood….”

We are all equally sinners, all “fallen short of the glory of God”—“there is no difference.” Accordingly, we can all be “made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21)—again, “there is no difference.” God can declare us righteous (positionally) in Christ. We can be justified “freely,” no cost to us, because God’s grace is what He did for us (we sinners can do nothing for Him)! What did He do for us? Christ’s shed blood paid for our sins in full (the “redemption” of Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14). God the Father set forth His Son Jesus Christ as “a propitiation,” literally “an appeasement,” a fully satisfying payment to mollify His wrath against our sins. “Jesus… by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

On Calvary’s cross, Father God made Christ’s “soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10). Christ was “made sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus “was made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). God forsook Christ and literally offered His soul (Psalm 22:1)!!! Oh, the spiritual, let alone physical, torment that Christ suffered on Calvary, we sinners should endure that forever in the lake of fire. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, suffered the eternal wrath of God His Father, for us sinful sons of Adam.

God looked down through time and saw us troublemakers, and in His grace, made a provision for our souls’ salvation: He offered His only begotten Son.

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #4

Saturday, July 28, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

The Apostle Paul delivered such awful news in verses 10-20, in order to present the good news, the Gospel of the Grace of God.

Our very nature, let alone our deeds, condemns us. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments prove our sins offend God (who cannot even look upon sin without exacting punishment at some point). Yes, all of mankind is worthy of God’s wrath, a terrifying everlasting lake of fire and brimstone. What horrible news! “But,” verses 21 and 22 are the first glance of the ray of hope, God’s grace: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

“The law and the prophets” “witnessed” that mankind could never measure up to God’s holy demands. The Law could never help mankind keep it; it could only demonstrate that he could not keep it. “But now,” in our Dispensation of Grace, God has provided us a way to obtain the righteousness the Mosaic Law demanded… without us having to keep the Law. We can be “made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of this dispensational change (Law to Grace), God is “manifesting” His righteousness (His standard of rightness) “without the law.”

By the “faith of (not ‘in’ as modern “bibles” suggest) Christ,” God is offering every single person (“unto all”) salvation from his or her sin and sins. But, this salvation is not imputed (applied) to that person until he or she trusts alone in Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary as the sufficient payment for their sins (“upon all them that believe”). Today, the horrible sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary demonstrates that we could never be fit for heaven through religious ceremonies or self-reformation.

It would take God Almighty to pay for our sins….

333’s 400th: Liberty to Publish God’s Word

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 KJV).

Today we commemorate the United States’ 236th anniversary and our 400th devotional.

Just as we Americans celebrate our nation’s birthday and independence today on this Fourth of July, we Christians worldwide reflect on the “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free [from sin, death, hell, and the condemnation of the Mosaic Law]” (Galatians 5:1).

Moreover, God our Father has entrusted us with the ministry of sharing with the lost world the spiritual freedom we have found exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our role in the Christian ambassadorship is to publish God’s pure (unadulterated) Word, the Holy Bible. Whether preaching and teaching it rightly divided, or translating and literally printing it, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11).

God, through His Son’s finished crosswork on Calvary, has freed us from the bondage of the Law and sin. Christ’s blood has “redeemed” us, and it is our responsibility to tell others of that “redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). The lost and dying souls of the world need to hear the words of Jesus Christ, the words that “are spirit and… [that] are life” (John 6:63b). They need to hear about the eternal life found only in Jesus Christ. They need to hear it from us, God’s people!

God’s grace has saved us, not so we could live any way we want (we were doing that before God’s grace saved us!). We should use our liberty in Christ to “by love serve one another” (today’s Scripture). God’s love motivates us to teach Holy Spirit-indwelt (but denominational) Christians Pauline dispensational Bible study, and to preach to the lost world God’s saving grace in Christ (Paul’s Gospel of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Saints, as we reach another milestone, we thank you for your continued prayer for this ministry. And, we thank our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us liberty to publish God’s Word….

Lord willing, on to #500. 🙂

You can also see our 2011 Fourth of July study “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” which can be watched here or read here.

An Overwhelmed Heart

Friday, June 22, 2012

“Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:1,2 KJV).

Sometimes, the circumstances of life can be overwhelming. To where does the psalmist (David) in today’s Scripture turn during these disheartening times?

King David continues, “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name” (verses 3-5). David had faith in the LORD: he knew that his God would always be there for him, even if no one else were.

Life in this sin-cursed world is not always easy, but let us remember, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

“And he [the Lord Jesus Christ] said unto me [Paul], My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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 12:9,10).

Just as King David could flee to God for peace and consolation, we can too! We can go to God’s Word rightly divided for comfort, and talk to God in prayer during disturbing times (Philippians 4:6,7). What a privilege!

David concluded the chapter of today’s Scripture with, “So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever…” (Psalm 61:8). Let us sing praise unto God’s name forever… even when we have an overwhelmed heart!

Take Heed to Thy Ministry

Saturday, June 16, 2012

“And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it” (Colossians 4:17 KJV).

Each of us members of the Church the Body of Christ has a role in what God is doing today. Are we willing to “fulfil” (complete) that ministry? Do we even realize we have it?

Archippus is only mentioned twice in God’s Word—in today’s Scripture, and in Philemon 2, where he is called Paul and Timothy’s “fellow-soldier.” While we do not know much else about Archippus, we gather that he resided in Colosse (perhaps someone who fellowshipped in the church who met in Philemon’s house?).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul instructed the Colossian believers to admonish Archippus to “take heed to the ministry which [he had] received in the Lord, that [he] fulfil it.” Exactly what opportunity this “ministry” was, we can only speculate (teaching Scripture? giving? leading the Colossian assembly as bishop?). Whatever this ministry was, it was of great importance (hence Paul’s warning to Archippus to “take heed [pay attention!]” to it and complete it. (Do not overlook your God-given responsibility, Archippus!!)

Paul could have written today’s Scripture to you and me as individuals. All of us Christians have been given “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). We are God’s ambassadors, His representatives in the earth, temporarily left here to declare His wonderful grace in Christ Jesus to this lost and dying world (verses 19-21)! We need to “take heed” to our ministry, to “fulfil” it.

As a Christian brother once stated, “God did not save us so we could sit on the stool of do-nothing, saying, ‘I shall not be moved!’” Brethren, let us exploit our resources to further the message of salvation found only in Jesus Christ. We do not have to all teach and preach, but we can pray for, give to, and help in local grace churches in whatever role we wish, as God’s Word instructs us. Time is precious, so let us not waste it on trivial (temporal) matters. “Take heed to [thy] ministry,” which will reap eternal benefits….

Ignoring the Creator #2

Friday, June 15, 2012

“Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 2:29 KJV).

In the context of today’s Scripture (verses 26-32), the nation Israel is guilty of ignoring her Maker, JEHOVAH (the LORD). Instead, she worships pagan idols as though they deserve her allegiance. This blasphemous activity still occurs today…. albeit worldwide.

Our world abounds with idols: money, education, sex, drugs and alcohol, statues, religious leaders, and unquestionably self! In the scientific world, the preeminent “god” is certainly not Jesus Christ: the emphasis concerning origins is not on our intelligent Creator, but on some mystical, impersonal, inanimate, random process known as organic evolution. (Scientists still cannot explain how non-life spontaneously developed into life.)

“[They] worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator [Jesus Christ], who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25b). Israel had reduced herself to such ignorance—praising wooden and stone idols as though they had given her life. God responded in judgment (the Babylonian captivity of 606 B.C.).

We live in the Dispensation of Grace, so God is extending grace, mercy, and peace. However, God’s wrath against pagan idolatry will not be postponed forever. As God cautioned rebellious Israel, “…but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble…” (verses 26-28).

In the day of God’s righteous wrath against idolatry (Tribulation), no idol will be able to deliver wicked mankind, just as Israel’s pagan gods could not save her from God’s chastisement (Babylonian and Assyrian captivities). All the silly idols man has reverenced and faithfully served these past 6,000 years will prove themselves to be totally worthless.

Why not worship the true and living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, “who loved and gave himself for you” (Galatians 2:20d), by trusting in His finished crosswork on Calvary as sufficient payment for your sins? Unlike pagan idols, Jesus Christ is your Creator, so He alone is worthy of your praise, love, and dedication. Do not ignore your Creator! 🙂

Be Not Content to Be Spiritually Impotent

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

“But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” (Luke 5:30 KJV).

The “goody-goody” scribes and Pharisees are at it again! How will our Lord respond to “put them in their place?”

In the context (verses 27-32; cf. Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:15-17), the Lord Jesus is eating in the house of Levi (later the Apostle Matthew; Matthew 9:9), a “publican” (as a tax collector, Levi was one of the most unpopular people at that time!). Many publicans and others are present with Jesus in Levi’s house.

The Pharisees and scribes notice the assembly, and like religious people today, piously exalt themselves. “We obey Moses—we fast, we pray, we circumcise, we keep the Sabbath…. But, look at those sinners ignoring Moses… the harlots, drunkards, and dishonest tax collectors… Oh, and Jesus and His disciples eat with them! Thank goodness we are not sinful!” These religionists proceed to ask Jesus’ disciples why they are eating and drinking with “publicans and sinners” (today’s Scripture).

“And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (verses 31,32).

Certainly, everyone in Levi’s house, except Jesus Christ, was a no-good sinner—even the (self-righteous) Pharisees and scribes (whom Jesus repeatedly called “hypocrites”). But, as Jesus explained, “Yes, they are sinners, but these are the very people I came to save! I am the doctor and I came to save the spiritually impotent!” (Ironically, these “godly” religious leaders of Israel—not the “sinful” people in Levi’s house—would later demand Christ’s crucifixion.)

There are millions upon millions who recognize their lost (hell-bound) state, but religious pride forces them to ignore it. Sadly, many will never trust Christ’s righteousness: like the Pharisees, they condemn “sinners,” but will never admit that their deeds are equally offensive to God. They will go out into a lost eternity, damned forever in hellfire, never to change their mind about salvation in Christ. Trust Christ today—be not content to be spiritually impotent….

The Children of God #1

Thursday, June 7, 2012

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28 KJV).

Is everyone “God’s child,” as often claimed? Who are “the children of God?” Today’s Scripture explains that… and more.

Who are “the children of God?” “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (today’s Scripture). Obviously, everyone is not God’s child. The only “children of God” are those who have trusted Christ Jesus alone as their personal Saviour.

Once, we were lost hell-bound sinners, children of the devil (John 8:44). We “were dead in our trespasses and sins,” following the evil world system (under Satan’s influence), doing our own thing and offending God’s righteousness (Ephesians 2:1-3).

There came a point in our lives when we (finally) threw up our hands in exhaustion. We (finally) realized that we were no-good wretches: all our “good” works displeased God. There, we (finally) acknowledged that we could never “measure up” to His righteous standards. There, we (finally) quit working for salvation, and trusted in the bloodshed, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). We received God’s salvation as a free gift, something we did not deserve (Ephesians 2:4-9)!

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Saints, we have total access to and peace with God through Christ Jesus our Lord. We are no longer separated from God because of sin. God’s righteous wrath against our sin and sins was poured out on His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, at Calvary’s cross. “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 1:7; cf. Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13).

Now, God, not Satan, is our Father (Romans 1:7 et al.). Now and forever, we are “the children of God!”