Category: blood of Christ

Consider Your Ways, Saints! #1

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59 KJV).

Oftentimes, the Christian is apathetic to JEHOVAH’S desire to build a temple… using him or her….

The Bible makes it very clear in Ephesians 1:9,10 that God the Father’s overall purpose and plan for creation is to make the heaven and the earth operate in unison in bringing praise and glory to His Son, Jesus Christ. How God will accomplish this plan is summarized in 1 Timothy 2:4: “[God our Saviour] who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Jesus Christ suffered, shed His precious and sinless blood, and died on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), He was buried to put away those sins, and He was raised again the third day to give us a right standing before God (Romans 4:25), proving that He conquered Satan and sin (otherwise, death would have held Him; Acts 2:24; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14). When we trust alone in this finished crosswork of Jesus Christ as the fully-satisfying payment (propitiation) for our sins, we are “saved” from those sins, hell, death, the lake of fire, and Satan’s power (Colossians 1:13).

Howbeit, God’s will involves much more than people receiving salvation from their sins and receiving a place in heaven. He also wants those who do get saved—the Christians—to understand why He saved them and what He will do with them in the ages to come. This spiritual edification and maturity is what the Bible calls “coming to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:25).

How disturbing and extremely sad it is to see many Christians with very little to no understanding of God’s will for their lives. Using counterfeit modern “bibles,” being completely engulfed by religious tradition and denominational thinking, and neglecting personal Bible study are the three primary reasons for this dire state of affairs within Christendom.

Before we Christians can have the Lord Jesus Christ’s mindset, we must first learn it ourselves through the study of the rightly divided Scriptures….

One Heartbeat Away from Eternity

Saturday, August 24, 2013

“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1 KJV).

How true, Job, how true!

Earlier this week, just hours after returning from my mom’s aunt’s out-of-state funeral, my family received news that my dad’s younger brother had had a “minor” heart attack but that CPR saved him. We were relieved. Minutes later, we received a second phone call: we learned it was a massive heart attack and his soul likely slipped away into eternity before help arrived.

I was the one who had to tell the news to his 86-year-old mother, my grandmother. There really was no easy way to tell her, and as I gently spoke those words that no mother ever wants to hear, the poor soul sat speechless. As she wept, she told me she never expected to bury a child. Actually, none of us expected that it would be my 61-year-old uncle to die next in the family, and that he would die without any warning—no one in the family was able to tell him goodbye. My poor dear grandmother never did receive her phone call from him that she had been awaiting.

At the funeral Thursday, the most heart-wrenching sight I had ever seen, I was reminded of today’s Scripture. Dear readers, we never do appreciate the frailty of our lives until death comes. Quite frankly, any one of us may literally be just a heartbeat from eternity. As Job stated, we have been given but “few days” on earth (today’s Scripture). We just do not know how “few” those days “full of trouble” really are. That is why the Bible says to be ready to leave today; death gives little to no warning!

We do not have to go to hell. May we not teeter on the edge of a lost eternity! Jesus Christ died for our sins, His perfect blood paid for those sins, His burial put away those sins, and His resurrection gives us new life and justification in Him (Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Trust alone in that Gospel of the Grace of God, and when that final heartbeat comes, you will be prepared!

Who Is a Sinner? #6

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

Behold, God’s standard of righteousness, of which we all fall short!

Returning to our earlier comments, religious people, whether they know it or not, have set themselves up for misery and disappointment (not including that which will come in eternity). The Bible so clearly declares in Galatians 3:10-13: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written [Deuteronomy 27:26], Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith [Habakkuk 2:4]. And the law is not of faith: but [Leviticus 18:5], The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written [Deuteronomy 21:23], Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

By virtue of the Mosaic Law, we are all “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). No matter how hard we try, we cannot bring God praise by our performance, and we can never measure up to His glory. The Law “was weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3): our flesh (that is, we in our resources and strength) cannot obey every single rule that demonstrates God’s holiness. The Law only condemns; it saves no one!

However, the good news is that Jesus Christ died on our behalf; He suffered God’s wrath against our sin by becoming “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ took God’s curse on us sinners, and He bore its weight on Calvary’s cross! When we trust alone in the shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that perfect sacrifice reunites us with God, and we are declared “the righteousness of God” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). As sinners, we qualify for God’s plan of salvation available only to sinners. By God’s abounding grace, we can be saved from the curse that our performance generates….

Judge Not? #4

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1 KJV).

Today’s Scripture, often used against the Bible believer who exposes sin for what it is, is not teaching what it is often assumed to assert.

Clearly, Jesus, in today’s Scripture, was not teaching we should be silent about exposing sin (He merely forbade hypocritical judging; verses 2-5).

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul preached against sin in order to show lost people they needed to be saved from those sins through the finished crosswork of Jesus Christ (Acts 13:26-41; Acts 14:11-18; Acts 17:16-31; Acts 24:25; et cetera). Notice the Holy Spirit’s references to specific sins which gender His righteous wrath—murder, envy, pride, homosexuality, drunkenness, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, disobedience to parents, theft, hatred, gossiping, cruelty, lying, and so on (Romans 1:21-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9,10; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 1:9,10; 1 Peter 4:1-5). Notice Paul’s divinely-inspired instructions about having no relations with Christians who are fornicators, covetous, extortionists, idolaters, railers, and drunkards (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).

Christ declared, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). God in His Word has already declared what is and what is not sin. Technically, we are not judging the world; God’s Word does that when we believe it and preach it! Remember, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:15,16).

Dearly beloved in Christ, let us be bold to speak out against sin by sharing God’s Word with others, but let us do it in meekness and love (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Our goal is not to be unkind to lost people, but to tell them the answer to their sin problem is only found through the shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ! By preaching this Gospel of Grace, we remind ourselves we were once where they are.

Israel, Stand Still! #12

Saturday, July 20, 2013

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

Israel must stand still and do nothing in order to see her God work mightily on her behalf!

Quoting Psalm 40:7,8, Hebrews 10:9-12 says: “Then said he [Jesus Christ], Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first [covenant], that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

God will use Jesus Christ’s shed blood offered 2,000 years ago to ratify the New Covenant at Christ’s Second Coming (just as the Old Covenant was instituted with animals’ blood in Exodus chapter 24). Quoting Isaiah 59:20,21, the Apostle Paul penned: “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:26,27; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 3:19; Hebrews 8:8-13; Hebrews 10:14-25).

Recall what Moses told Israel at the Red Sea: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day:…. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:13,14).

As in Egypt, Israel cannot save herself: she is enslaved to sin and Satan, as she was captive in Egypt. As in Egypt, God sends a Deliverer for Israel: Moses led them from physical captivity and Jesus Christ will lead them from spiritual captivity. This time, they will enter the Promised Land, fully forgiven and free forever (the context of today’s Scripture)—not because of their works, but because of Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork at Calvary.

The whole world will see redeemed Israel glorified in her earthly kingdom, and JEHOVAH will be exalted forever!

~FINIS!~ 🙂

Israel, Stand Still! #11

Friday, July 19, 2013

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

Israel must stand still and do nothing in order to see her God work mightily on her behalf!

God’s nation in the earth, Israel, was ruined. For over 15 centuries, she repeatedly broke His covenant with her by ignoring His laws, especially by worshipping pagan idols (Judges 2:10-20; 1 Kings 11:1-43; 2 Chronicles 36:14-21; Nehemiah 9:6-38; Isaiah 40:18-20; Jeremiah 44:1-30; Ezekiel 5:5-17; Daniel 9:3-19; Hosea 2:2-9; Malachi 2:1-17; et al.). Legally, she could not be God’s people, for she was now under Satan’s control.

And so, God’s plan, devised in eternity past, was implemented. The Scriptures unfolded that plan over a period of centuries. The seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15, man’s Redeemer, became the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob, and the seed of David. That seed is Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), God manifest in human flesh (John 1:1,14), the fulfiller of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the means whereby salvation would flow through Israel to the Gentiles.

That Messiah-Redeemer Jesus would save Israel from her sins first (Matthew 1:21). Then, and only then, those redeemed Jews would bring salvation to the Gentiles (Exodus 19:3-6; Isaiah 61:6; Zechariah 8:20-23; et cetera). When Jesus Christ offered Himself to Israel as their King, they demanded His crucifixion: “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:14,15; Acts 3:13). (Without Israel’s cooperation, how would salvation go to the Gentiles now? God’s solution to that dilemma was to raise up Saul of Tarsus and make him Paul the Apostle sent to us Gentiles without Israel [Romans 11:11-13]).

JEHOVAH God the Son let them nail Him to that awful cross of Calvary, and His blood poured out. Without that shed blood of Jesus Christ, Israel (and actually, all people) would be hopelessly lost forever. Little did Israel know, that by killing their Messiah, He could then save them with that shed blood—that was God’s wise plan all along! Israel could now be saved by that marvelous work He did for them (and us) at Calvary….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #15

Monday, July 1, 2013

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

At Calvary’s cross, Jesus Christ suffered God’s wrath against all of the world’s sins (today’s Scripture). In this the Dispensation of Grace, mankind is currently (but temporarily) being offered an opportunity to be reconciled to his Creator forever. Jesus Christ died to pay for mankind’s sins, but until an individual trusts that alone for eternal salvation, that finished crosswork is of no help to the person. Jesus Christ’s righteousness manifested at Calvary must be imputed (applied, credited) to one’s account if God’s wrath, hell and the everlasting lake of fire, is to be avoided.

Before they trusted Christ, Paul urged the pagan Corinthians to “receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Grace is everything that God can do for you through the finished crosswork of Jesus Christ. God expects you to trust that! If you do not trust it, you are receiving God’s grace “in vain” (to no purpose).

Romans 3:24,25: “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, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” You can be “justified” (declared righteous in God’s sight) freely—without any cost to you—by faith in Jesus Christ, who shed His sinless blood to pay for your sins, who died your death, and suffered God’s wrath on your behalf.

Soul salvation is not to be taken flippantly: “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2, quoting Isaiah 49:8).

Will you trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your personal Saviour today? Or, will you receive the grace of God in vain?

~FINIS!~ 🙂

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #13

Saturday, June 29, 2013

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Let us summarize the mechanics of soul salvation:

  • SEPARATION – Sin separates man from God: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
  • GRACE – Everything God can do for you—not what you can do for God—through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
  • RECONCILIATION #1 (God’s work) – The Gospel of God’s Grace declares He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for man’s sins, to suffer His wrath against man’s wickedness: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (today’s Scripture).
  • RECONCILIATION #2 (man’s faith) – Each individual should trust Jesus Christ’s performance at Calvary as sufficient payment for his or her sins (PROPITIATION; Romans 3:25); otherwise, the individual will continue on his or her way to eternal hellfire (DAMNATION; Romans 2:8-11). “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20b).
  • REDEMPTION and FORGIVENESS – Jesus Christ’s blood pays the price to free the Christian from sin’s power and penalty. “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7ab).
  • IMPUTATION – By faith, Jesus Christ’s righteousness is applied to the believer’s account. “But for us also, to whom it [righteousness] shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4:24).
  • JUSTIFICATION – One who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone as personal Saviour is now “made the righteousness of God in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:21b).
  • SALVATION – The Christian’s deliverance from sin, death, hell, and the lake of fire: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Let us begin to conclude this devotionals arc….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #12

Friday, June 28, 2013

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

“The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:22). God’s righteousness is available “unto all,” but it is only “upon [imputed to] all them that believe.” “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). Jesus Christ died to save all, but only those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork at Calvary, are “the children of God”—justified, “made the righteousness of God in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ first committed unto the Apostle Paul—and now to us Christians—this Gospel of Grace. When the ascended Lord Jesus Christ saved wicked Saul (Acts chapter 9), He declared: “Delivering thee from the people [Israel], and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:17,18).

Jesus Christ first entrusted the “word of reconciliation” (today’s Scripture) to Paul. Acts 26:18 affirms Paul had to preach to the Gentiles so they could receive forgiveness—they did not receive forgiveness until they believed the Gospel of the Grace of God that Paul preached. Forgiveness must be imputed by faith: every verse in which Paul mentioned forgiveness, it involved God forgiving Christians, or Christians forgiving Christians—“the world” is absent from Romans 4:7; 2 Corinthians 2:7,10; 2 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13; and Colossians 3:13.

Beware! “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (today’s Scripture) and forgiveness IN Christ are indeed separate issues: the heretical dogma of universalism—that all will make it to heaven eventually—is obviously unscriptural.

Now, let us begin to summarize soul salvation….

Reconciliation, Imputation, and Salvation #11

Thursday, June 27, 2013

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV).

Soul salvation from everlasting hellfire is the Holy Bible’s most important doctrine, so let us be particularly careful with today’s Scripture.

Romans 3:20-28 best explains justification: “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. 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: 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, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his 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.”

Man cannot be made right in God’s sight (justified) through his so-called “Law-keeping,” but the Bible says, “his faith [in Jesus Christ’s righteousness] is counted [imputed] for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

Forgiveness and righteousness are offered to all through the Lord Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary, but those merits are of no benefit to an individual unless he or she trusts that Gospel of the Grace of God. Paul never wrote that the whole world is forgiven—“reconciled” (today’s Scripture) and “forgiven” are different. Only believers are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:13). Once an individual hears that Jesus Christ offers to pay for and forgive his or her sins, that person is expected to trust it unto forgiveness and justification….