Category: reproof

Zealous of G(o)od(’s) Works

Monday, October 13, 2014

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14 KJV).

Many people are passionate about many things, but we Christians should be zealous about “God’s works!”

On one hand, religion emphasizes religious works needed to please God, and thus pushes aside faith in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork (the only work that is pleasing in Father God’s sight). On the other hand, these religionists will criticize us grace believers as being anti-good works. No, we are not anti-good works; they are anti-grace (and anti-faith). “And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Romans 11:6). “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace…” (Romans 4:16a). Faith is the only thing grace will accept!

Ephesians 2:8-10 says God does not save us unto eternal life on the basis of our works; after we trust Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, the eternal life Father God gives us by grace through faith is a life to be filled with good works, the works He does in and through us: “[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” It is “his working which worketh in [us] mightily” (Colossians 1:29), and our laboring together with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9).

What are the good works that Jesus Christ will do in us? Read Romans chapter 12, Ephesians chapter 4, and Colossians chapter 3 for starters. These are not good works we do to make Him happy with us; these are His works manifested in our lives! Let us be zealous in allowing God’s Holy Spirit to empower us to daily live the life He already gave us in Christ!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Could you compare and contrast Peter’s ministry and Paul’s ministry?”

 

Glorious Freedom #5

Thursday, October 9, 2014

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1 KJV).

The chorus of Haldor Lillenas’ classic 1917 hymn “Glorious Freedom” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Glorious freedom! Wonderful freedom!
No more in chains of sin I repine!
Jesus the glorious Emancipator—
Now and forever He shall be mine.”

Would God save us by grace through faith in Christ without Law-keeping (without our works) to only then demand that we must keep the Law to merit His fellowship and blessings? Preposterous! While a religionist preaches some sense of “grace,” you can be sure that a works-message will immediately follow in the same breath! “God is saving (?) you by His grace, but now you better get water baptized, give a tithe, and confess your sins, or your Christian life will be displeasing to Him and He will withhold His blessings.” Ridiculous!

Romans 6:14,15 confirms: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” If we want sin to rule our lives, Law-keeping is the answer. If we want holiness (Christ’s life) to dominate our lives, grace is the answer (Titus 2:11-15)! Grace is Jesus Christ’s performance on our behalf; He never fails. When Christ lives, and not us, we will not wallow and complain in sin’s chains; we will be free from that bondage, defeat, and misery!

One frequent objection is, “Preaching grace will cause people to live in sin!” Nay, beloved. Actually, people (naturally) “live in sin” already, having never known one trace of God’s grace. Every child of Adam lives in sin, so God does not take us out of Adam and put us into Christ just so we could continue “living in sin;” God put us into Christ to give us a new nature, a holy nature, that sin not dominate us. He gave us His grace, not His law, that sin not dominate us; His grace produces Christ’s life in us.

Jesus Christ freed us from sin, that, “Now and forever we will be His,” and “Now and forever He shall be ours!” 🙂

Glorious Freedom #4

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24,25 KJV).

The fourth verse of Haldor Lillenas’ classic 1917 hymn “Glorious Freedom” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Freedom from fear with all of its torments;
Freedom from care with all of its pain;
Freedom in Christ, my blessèd Redeemer—
He Who has rent my fetters in twain.”

Our Apostle, Paul, was no “super-human;” just as human as we are, he worried, he struggled with sin, he grew exhausted when he attempted to live the Christian life. As we Christians often do today, he would forget the glorious doctrines of grace living in Romans chapter 6—our death to sin and our resurrection unto life for God’s glory—and he would lapse back into a performance-based acceptance system.

Before Paul was saved, as Saul of Tarsus, he was “a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5), people whom Jesus repeatedly condemned for emphasizing outward performance and ignoring inward faith in God’s Word. Like we who abandoned legalistic religions or denominations would do today, Paul (now saved) would return to that old thinking, that old lifestyle of legalism (Law-keeping), and he would wind up defeated (today’s Scripture). He would ignore Jesus’ finished crosswork at Calvary as the power to save him from being defeated by daily sins.

We are free from fear with all of its torments, for our future is secure in Christ because of His performance and not ours (2 Timothy 1:12; Romans 8:35-39). We are free from care with all of its pains, for when we pray to Father God in light of His Word to us (Paul’s epistles), He gives us His peace (Philippians 4:6,7)—even in the midst of trouble (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Philippians 4:11-13). We are free in Christ, for we function in Him as His (and our) Heavenly Father designed us, by faith allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to work mightily in us to produce in us the Christian life (Romans chapter 8). Yea, Jesus Christ, our wonderful Redeemer, has freed us from Satan and sin! 🙂

Glorious Freedom #3

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Romans 6:12 KJV).

The third verse of Haldor Lillenas’ classic 1917 hymn “Glorious Freedom” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Freedom from pride and all sinful follies;
Freedom from love and glitter of gold;
Freedom from evil temper and anger;
Glorious freedom, rapture untold!”

Once, when we were lost, under the control of the Adversary, separated from the Creator God, on our merry way to eternal hellfire, we “were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past [we] walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:1-3). What a description!

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [given us life and power to function in life] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (verses 4,5). Now, we are dead with Christ and raised with Christ (Romans 6:3-11). Today’s Scripture says that we do not have to serve sin anymore; sin does not have to reign as a king over us anymore. We can choose to walk by faith in our new identity in Christ.

We are freed from pride (Philippians 2:5-11), for it is not us, but Christ living in us (Galatians 2:20). We are freed from foolishness (Ephesians 5:3,4; Titus 3:3), for we have Christ’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16). We are freed from materialism, for “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10; cf. 1 Timothy 6:6). We are freed from unrighteous anger; we are to be “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven [us]” (Ephesians 4:26,32).

Freedom, not to serve self, but to serve others! Inexpressible delight indeed! 🙂

Glorious Freedom #1

Sunday, October 5, 2014

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7 KJV).

The first verse of Haldor Lillenas’ classic 1917 hymn “Glorious Freedom” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Once I was bound by sin’s galling fetters;
Chained like a slave, I struggled in vain.
But I received a glorious freedom,
When Jesus broke my fetters in twain.”

Prior to becoming a saint by faith alone in Jesus Christ, the sinner was “bound by sin’s galling fetters;” sin’s chains or shackles held the individual to the point of chafing or irritation. Once religiosity (religious works) and secularism (worldly works) were exposed as equally filthy in God’s sight, the sinner understood that they had nothing to pay to free themselves from their sins of the spirit and their sins of the flesh.

Whether struggling in a religious system (faithful giving, water baptism, prayers, church attendance, confessions, et cetera) attempting to gain God’s acceptance; or engaging in drunkenness, fornication, swearing, theft, and lying attempting to gain the world’s acceptance; one must perform to receive favor. The sinner finally realizes they know that the ultimate blessing is to be freed from such bondage, liberated from such a system of failure and misery, for they can neither fully gain God’s acceptance nor the world’s acceptance.

In John 8:34-36, Jesus told the Pharisees: “[34] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. [35] And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. [36] If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” The Pharisees needed to be freed from their sins, especially their hypocrisy and works-religion!

By the riches of God’s grace (His work on our behalf), through faith alone in Jesus Christ’s shed blood, we can be crucified with Christ and “redeemed” (set free; today’s Scripture), for “he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:7). Verse 18 says, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” We are alive and free in Christ—not to live for ourselves, but to choose to live as the living dead people we are, saints alive with Jesus Christ’s resurrection life!

Words for Weary and Wounded Warriors

Friday, October 3, 2014

“Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” (Luke 6:22,23).

Although spoken to Israel’s believing remnant, our Lord Jesus’ words still comfort us weary or wounded Christian ambassadors.

A little brother in Christ recently telephoned me (and we later continued our conversation face-to-face). He was despondent because of the disrespectful way lost people—and even professing Christians—treated him. I told him that I could identify with that “coldshouldering” and assured him that he must not let it bother him; God has made provisions for us in Christ to withstand all of the Adversary’s darts (and occasional cannonballs!) aimed at us. Denominational divisions run ever so deep between professing Christians. The greatest spiritual division of all is between children of Father God and children of the Devil. The Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh experienced it, and the early Christians knew it, too.

Before dying, Jesus reminded His disciples, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Later, the Apostle John amplified those words by recounting the story of Cain killing his righteous brother Abel, concluding with, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13). The Apostle Peter wrote to his Jewish readers who abandoned their lost lifestyles, “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you” (1 Peter 4:4). Beloved, people hated Jesus Christ living in His flesh; they equally hate Him living in us!

While quality Christian friends are very rare, hold them close once you find those few. We do pray for those who persecute us, that they step out spiritual darkness and into the light of God’s grace to us in Christ; still, we will not let their shunning of us, bother us! 🙂

Upside Down and Right-Side Up

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

“And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus” (Acts 17:6,7 KJV).

We find ourselves in a similar “trial” today!

When the Holy Spirit first preached the Gospel of Grace through the Apostle Paul and his ministry coworkers, the pagans said Jesus Christ’s ministers had turned the whole world “upside down” (today’s Scripture)—technically, right-side up! The Gospel of Christ had rippled through the cultures of the Roman Empire. Untold hundreds had abandoned heathen beliefs, practices, and temples, and were now rejoicing in God’s grace to them in Jesus Christ.

Today, since the last few decades, but particularly the last 10 years, the dominant Christian voice has become increasingly suppressed here in our beloved United States of America. Nowadays, pagan culture is infiltrating us—the reverse of the first century. What was right-side up because of Christianity is now returning to upside-down (pagan religion and culture).

Bible-believing Christians, we should be concerned, but let us not lose hope. If the Word of God prospered in a pagan world as it did throughout the book of Acts, it will surely prosper here as our culture slips into paganism. Despite all the persecution—the imprisonment, torturing, and execution—of believers, we read, “And the word of God increased…” (Acts 6:7). “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:24). “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:20). No matter what happens, God’s Word will never return to Him void/empty; it will prosper wherever He sends it (Isaiah 55:11).

While my generation and younger ones are distracted in the world, we should still proclaim the King James Bible rightly divided, for it contains the solutions to the problems they will face in the coming decades. As long as we get God’s Word out there, it will take care of itself (it has for 2,000 years). Let us be faithful stewards of God’s precious words now, that the future faithful remnant perpetuate them (2 Timothy 2:2).

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Could you please explain Romans 2:14?”

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….