Category: reversion of the saint

Who Is a Saint? #6

Saturday, August 31, 2013

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Through faith in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork alone as sufficient payment for our sins, we are dead to our old Adamic nature (sin’s dominion): “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6). We have been raised again with Christ to “walk in newness of life” (verse 4). Just as our Adamic nature produces sins, that new nature/life we have in Christ generates good works (Galatians 5:22-26; Ephesians 4:20-32; Philippians 1:11; Colossians 3:1-17). God has made us “saints” for this purpose!

Paul explained practical sanctification in 2 Timothy 2:19-21: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7). The Christian is to take God’s Word, study and believe it rightly divided, and will thus be “perfect [mature], throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Remember, one is not a saint based on his or her performance, but because of his or her identity in Christ. Still, our positional sanctification (in Jesus Christ) should be reflected on a daily basis (practical sanctification by Jesus Christ). A sinner is a sinner not because he sins—he sins because he is a sinner in Adam (his very nature causes those sins). Likewise, a saint, although leading an imperfect life, is still a “saint” (“sanctified;” today’s Scripture) in God’s eyes because of that person’s identity in Jesus Christ.

This earthly Christian life is a preview of that which is to come….

Good Riddance! #3

Thursday, April 11, 2013

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13 KJV).

God’s people have never been welcome here in “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) because He has never been welcome here. In short, if lost people could utter two words to us Christians after we have been raptured out, it would be, “Good riddance!”

Our sinful world despises absolute standards concerning morals and ethics (it does demand them regarding finances). Christians preaching and teaching sound Bible doctrine are a dam that holds back Satan from having complete control over every person. While the devil has fooled much of the world with all sorts of carnal and religious errors, unfortunately for him, those Christians who are King James Pauline dispensational Bible students are not so easily persuaded. Satan can only rule over ignorant people. Thankfully, we are well aware of what is occurring in this world. Man thinks he is on the rise (in actuality, his thinking is upside-down!).

For nearly 20 centuries, both the professing church (Christendom) and (sadly) the genuine, Holy Spirit-indwelt Church the Body of Christ, have allowed the errors of the world to creep into their assemblies, desensitizing them to ungodliness. This is to be expected when sound Bible doctrine is willfully ignored. What is the hallmark of lukewarm Christianity? The member of the average “Christian” church is just as “godly” as the average heathen of the evil world system, resulting in “Christians” siding with and defending the heathen and his social preferences! The heathen and the phony Christian alike hate the true Christian (today’s Scripture)—he, his God the Lord Jesus Christ, and his Holy Bible, are threats to “progress.”

Indeed, we Christians are viewed as “hindrances to progress.” Young earth Bible creationism, monogamous heterosexual marriages, owning weapons for self-defense, having a job, and driving a fossil-fueling-burning vehicle are respective threats to foolish pagan philosophical evolutionary theory, sexually-perverted lifestyles, pacifism, slothfulness, and “mother earth.” In this world, it seems like every belief is to be “tolerated”—except anything from God’s Holy Bible! As the context of today’s Scripture will demonstrate, this was true in the past, and it will be true in the future….

Aid Not the Sinner in His Cause

Saturday, October 27, 2012

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief” (Exodus 32:21,22 KJV).

While we are to speak out against the world’s sins, let us make sure we are not aiding them to commit those sins.

For the past 40 days, Moses has been on Mount Sinai, receiving the Law from the LORD. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt” (verses 7,8).

So, Moses descends from Sinai, holding the tables of stone on which the LORD engraved His Law. “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh [near] unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it” (verses 19,20).

Today’s Scripture describes the next event. Aaron was left in charge of Israel while Moses was away, so Moses demands of his brother why he allowed Israel to indulge in this pagan idolatry. Aaron confesses that when Israel wanted an idol, he took Israel’s gold, “cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf” (verse 24). Ridiculous—Aaron claims the idol just “magically” appeared! In today’s Scripture, notice how Aaron blames Israel’s wickedness, when he was ultimately to blame!

Saints, let us not encourage others to sin, as Aaron misled Israel. Church leaders should be especially cautious in that regard.

Walking in the Spirit #1

Thursday, October 4, 2012

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24,25 KJV).

Now that we have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, we have a new identity, which should impact our lifestyles for God’s glory.

Saints, from conception, we had an identity in Adam. Imagine, when we were still forming in our mothers’ wombs, God exclaimed, “They look so cute and innocent, but I know better!” As King David wrote, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). This identity in Adam caused us to sin, and thus we lived in rebellion against God and His will for our lives. We could not help but sin, for it was our very nature.

So, on Calvary’s cross, when Jesus Christ died, we died to sin, too. “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20a). Today’s Scripture explains that, as Christians, we “have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” The “flesh” here is the old sin nature, our old identity in Adam, and it was put to death at Calvary: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin [our Adamic nature] might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6).

But, God did not leave us dead. When He resurrected Christ, He also raised us: “that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (verses 4b,5). We have a new identity in Christ, and this new identity will produce “newness of life.” “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh [physical body] I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Saints, we do not have to serve sin: we can walk by faith in our identity in Christ, and let Christ live in and through us. 🙂

The Remaining Two-Thirds

Saturday, September 29, 2012

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34 KJV).

On average, you will spend one-third of your life sleeping. Of what will the remaining two-thirds of your earthly life consist?

In the context of today’s Scripture, it is noontime, and Jesus is tired from traveling, so He rests in Samaria by sitting on Jacob’s well (verses 5,6). His disciples have gone into nearby Sychar to buy food, and while He waits for their return, He speaks with a Samaritan woman who comes to draw water from the well (verses 7-26). (The Samaritans are not full-blooded Jews, so they and Israel usually do not associate with each other; see verse 9.)

As their conversation proceeds, the Samaritan woman learns that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah (verses 25,26). She quickly goes to the city to tell them of Jesus, and she comes back to Jesus with additional Samaritans (verses 28-30). Before they come to Jesus, His disciples finally return, and urge Him to eat (verse 31). The Lord replies, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of” (verse 32). His disciples then ask in verse 33: “Hath any man brought him aught to eat?”

Today’s Scripture is our Lord’s answer. The very thing for which He lives is not physical food: “My meat is to do the will of him [God the Father] that sent me, and to finish His work.” Our Lord has in mind the salvation of these Samaritans: “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (verse 35). Essentially, He is saying, “Look at the harvest of those souls!” (cf. Matthew 9:36,37). Later, many Samaritans believe on Christ, and He dwells with them two days (verses 39-43).

Saints, our Lord was consumed with fulfilling the work to which His heavenly Father had appointed Him. Can we say that about the remaining two-thirds of our lives? Are we walking by faith in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, allowing God to fulfill His will in us? Or, are we spiritually sleeping, doing nothing (Ephesians 5:14)?

Lest Satan Should Get an Advantage of Us

Saturday, August 4, 2012

“To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:10,11 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, we learn that the Corinthians and the Apostle Paul had forgiven someone. Who was this individual, and why was it necessary for the Christian brethren to forgive him? Grace brethren, be on guard, for Satan employs the oldest military strategy—“divide and conquer.”

When Paul wrote the epistle of First Corinthians, he addressed nearly a dozen issues that disrupted Christian fellowship and hindered spiritual growth in Corinth. The problem associated with today’s Scripture is described in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5. A Christian brother in Corinth was having sexual relations with his father’s wife, an act that not even the pagan Gentiles committed! Unfortunately, the Corinthians were bragging of this sin, making light of it, and Paul’s solution was to temporarily cast out the man from fellowship, which would hopefully bring him to his senses, and cause him to change his lifestyle (verses 9-11).

Now, in today’s Scripture, a year or so has passed since the penning of First Corinthians. Evidently, the Corinthians had heeded Paul’s instructions by having nothing to do with the fornicator (2 Corinthians 2:6). Paul now writes to the Corinthians, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him” (verses 7,8). This brother had now straightened up, so the Corinthians were to forgive him, accept him, and show their love toward him, lest Satan would use bitterness and strife to further divide these Christians.

Saints, we must never be ignorant of Satan’s “devices,” tactics he uses to thwart the ministry of the local grace church (today’s Scripture). May we forgive, and not “give place to the devil” by holding grudges or being bitter (Ephesians 4:25-32). Satan is our enemy, not our grace brethren.

If Sinners Entice Thee, Consent Thou Not

Monday, May 14, 2012

“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” (Proverbs 1:10 KJV).

This world is filled with temptations. Sinful individuals surround us, and they encourage us to sin with them. Today’s Scripture says, “Consent thou not!” Ignore the negative peer pressure!

Saints, even though we are members of the Church the Body of Christ, we still sin. On a daily basis, our new nature in Christ wars against our old nature we inherited from Adam: “the flesh lusteth against the [indwelling Holy] Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth against the flesh” (Galatians 5:17a). But, we have victory over sin when we walk, by faith, in our identity in Christ!

In today’s Scripture (and the verses following it), King Solomon shares God’s wisdom with us: “If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood [murder], let us lurk privily [secretly] for the innocent without cause: let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: we shall find all precious substance [loot], we shall fill our houses with spoil: cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse” (Proverbs 1:11-14).

What is God’s response? Verses 15-19: “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”

When someone encourages you to be partaker of their “killing and stealing,” or any action that does not agree with God’s Holy Word rightly divided, “walk not thou in the way of them.” In Christ, God has saved us from that lifestyle and its resulting death: we have no need to return to them. “Walk in the Spirit [by faith in our new identity in Christ], and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh [sin]” (Galatians 5:16).

A Double Promise, A Triple Failure, A Second Chance

Friday, May 4, 2012

“And Peter went out, and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62 KJV).

Why is Peter weeping bitterly in today’s Scripture?

Moments from His arrest, trial, and ultimate crucifixion, our Lord Jesus tells His eleven apostles: “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written [Zechariah 13:7], I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee” (Matthew 26:31,32).

Jesus knows that He is about to be arrested. He explains to His apostles that they will be ashamed of Him and they will abandon Him when the soldiers come to capture Him. “Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended” (verse 33).

The Lord Jesus then replies, “Verily, I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice [three times]” (verse 34). Peter argues, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee” (verse 35). In fact, all of the disciples agree they will not abandon Jesus Christ (verse 35).

Once Jesus is arrested, Peter goes to the palace to watch Jesus’ trial from a distance. On three separate occasions, Peter is recognized as a follower of Jesus, and all three times he denies he is a disciple of Christ (Matthew 27:69-74; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:16-18,25-27); then, the rooster crows.

What a heartbreaking verse: “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice” (Luke 22:61). Then today’s Scripture says, “And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.”

Peter miserably failed the Lord—thrice—despite his double promise not to. We too are sinners: oftentimes, we miserably fail the Lord, even when we doubly promise not to. But, just as Jesus Christ forgave Peter and gave him another chance (John 21:15-17), we are thankful that our gracious God has forgiven us in Christ (Colossians 2:13) and that He gives us second chances too! 🙂

We Do Not Want to Be Different Anymore!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:4,5 KJV).

In the context of today’s Scripture, for the past 500 years, Moses, Joshua, and several judges (rulers) have led Israel (Acts 13:17-20). Here, Samuel, Israel’s prophet-judge, is old and his sons are too wicked to lead the nation in God’s ways (1 Samuel 8:1-3). Furthermore, Israel is tired of being different. Sadly, they want a king so they can be like “all the nations.”

Read the two verses following today’s Scripture: “But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (verses 6,7). S-A-D!

Israel is tired of being God’s “peculiar” (unique; Exodus 19:5) people! They want to be like everyone else (pagans!). By rejecting God’s prophet Samuel, Israel is rejecting God. God instructed Samuel to “protest solemnly” with Israel (verse 9). So, Samuel fervently complained to Israel regarding the disadvantages of a monarchy (1 Samuel 8:10-18). “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations” (verses 19,20). Amazingly, God foretold their cry for a king in Deuteronomy 17:14… 500 years earlier!

After everything God did for them, ungrateful, sinful Israel argues with Him and rejects Him. Yet, how many today share Israel’s attitude? Despite everything that God did for them at Calvary, they reject Him. Or, think of the Christians, who are tired of being outcasts—like Israel, some compromise with the world to “fit in.” Thankfully, as God in His grace tolerated Israel, so He tolerates us when “we do not want to be different anymore!”

God’s Grace on Parade

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

“…But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20 KJV).

Today, especially here in southern Louisiana, the Catholic festival of Mardi Gras takes advantage of God’s grace. God’s grace abounds even when drunkenness, lasciviousness, and gluttony are committed overtly on our streets for religion. Because we live in the Dispensation of the Grace of God, they can flaunt their sin without being consumed by fire from heaven!

“Mardi Gras,” French for “Fat Tuesday,” is a day when religious people—professing “Christians”—lose self-control (excess alcohol, food, and partying). The following day, Ash Wednesday, they promise to live “holy” for the next 40 days (Lent). A priest will then place ashes on their foreheads proving that God forgave them for that riotous living. Blasphemy!

Regardless of all its biblical allusions (illusions!), Mardi Gras is still evil and anti-God. It was never Christian, originating from pagan Roman festivals, Saturnalia and Lupercalia (interestingly known for riots, drunkenness, gluttony, and fornication, and subsequent repentance).

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostles Peter and Paul, was clearly against Mardi Gras reveling and drunkenness (Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3). So why do professing Christians engage in the very activities that God the Holy Spirit condemned?! As Christians, we should “deny” the activities of Mardi Gras (Romans 6:11-15; Titus 2:11-15).

If I appear offended, I am. Mardi Gras, despite its godly façade, is offensive to the great God and my Saviour Jesus Christ! God’s grace continues to tolerate such foolishness from mankind. Man parades his sin, and God parades His grace, holding back wrath.

Are you a Mardi Gras reveler? I declare unto you the wonderful Gospel of the Grace of God. God did for you at Calvary what you could never do: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus Christ shed His sinless blood and died to put away all of your sins, Mardi Gras revelry included.

If you rest in Christ Jesus alone as your Saviour, God will save you forever, make a trophy of His grace, and then YOUR life will be God’s grace on parade!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.