Category: Salvation

God’s Offer to the Nations

Sunday, September 11, 2016

“…[T]hat 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).

Today’s Scripture is God’s offer to all the nations of the world today.

September 11, 2001 was a day that changed our nation forever. It was the worst terrorist attack in our two-century national history. Afterward, many Americans began to talk about “God Bless America” and “God Save the United States.” These phrases are not as commonplace as they used to be.

In the 15 years that have passed since that awful day, it is a sad commentary that “God” is now the least of our nation’s concerns. With the redefining of marriage, controversial political arena, moral decay, skyrocketing national debt, and the uncertainty as to what constitutes a human life and what does not, obviously, the God of the Bible has been largely pushed out… until we need His help, and then we cry out to Him. Unless we need Him, we rather not think about anything He has to say.

While many argue that God is judging America today for its sins, the Bible does not support such an idea. Certainly, God dealt with Israel in that manner—“Do good and I will bless, but disobey and I will curse” (Leviticus chapter 26; Deuteronomy chapter 28)—but we have no relation to that Old Covenant of Law.

For the last 20 centuries, God has offered His grace to all the world’s nations, to have a right standing before Him by trusting Jesus Christ. People still die and go to hell, but today’s Scripture says that God is not judging nations for their sins. Through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, God offers reconciliation to sinners, whether here or around the world. However, that grace is exhaustible, and one day, it will be replaced with His wrath (Romans 2:1-16). Still, we believers are not appointed to God’s wrath; we are saved from all wrath through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9).

The only hope for America—yea, for any nation—is faith in Jesus Christ alone!

*You can also see our 2011 Bible study commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It can watched here or read here.

How to Paddle Upstream!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1,2 KJV).

Will you let the course of the evil world system sweep you away?

River-water finds the shortest, quickest route (course) to the lowest elevation. So, to reach higher ground via a rowboat, you must do some mighty fast paddling! Without constant effort, you will be swept downstream. Now, think about Christian living.

Positionally, we have been justified (declared righteous) in Christ. Furthermore, we did not make ourselves holy. Father God sanctified us when we trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. We share His identity (chapters 3-8). Now, will our practice (daily living) match our position? Our choice! We can act like who we are in Christ (only logical). Or, we can act like who we were in Adam (ridiculous, since we are no longer in Adam!).

Most people today are in Adam. Dead in their trespasses and sins, they are alienated from God’s life (Ephesians 4:17-19). They do not have eternal life; they cannot live like God because they do not have God’s life in them. The course of this world is to flow toward Satan—his thinking, behavior, goals, et cetera. As Christians, we are instructed to “paddle” the other way, applying sound Bible doctrine so our identity in Christ becomes real in our life. The Holy Spirit will work in us if we believe sound Bible doctrine. If ever we are distracted from that doctrine, focusing on the course of this world, we will drift backward, away from “the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:11). “Going with the flow” is much easier, so most Christians give in—living more like Satan and less like God intended. Absurd!

After all Father God has done for us (previous eight chapters), friends, we should honor Him to the fullest extent. We follow today’s Scripture by faith—allowing His Word to transform how we think, rather than letting the world conform us to its course! 🙂

Weep As Grace Saints Sleep

Monday, September 5, 2016

“(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” (Philippians 3:18,19 KJV)

Why was Paul “weeping” here?

After leaving a life of many years in false religion, a lady observed an assembly of supposed “grace” people. She noted they acted “silly,” using grace as a license to sin. All was forgiven, so they did literally whatever they wanted at the expense of every lost and saved person watching them! Sadly, they gave ammunition to those who whine, “Pauline dispensationalists use grace as a license to sin!” This dear Christian, trying to grow in the Bible after several years of confusion, stumbled. Just what would the “grace of God” profit her? People in her denomination, although lost, at least behaved decently. These “grace” people, who supposedly “had the truth,” habitually misbehaved and spoke inappropriately. Shame!

Dear friends, if we claim to know God’s grace in truth, and yet we “live like the Devil,” we have no business even talking about “God’s grace!” Why? We have no idea what “grace” really is! In today’s Scripture, Paul confessed that he was “weeping.” There were Christians, not lost people, who were “enemies of the cross of Christ.” They lived contrary to Christ’s cross (“dead to sin, alive unto God”—Romans 6:1-23). Their “God” (idol) was their own set of desires/appetites. They acted selfishly. They boasted “in their shame.” Thoroughly carnal, worldly-minded, they had completely forgotten about their “conversation [which] is in heaven” (verse 20). While they would be saved into heaven, their spiritual edification (growth and advancement) would be “destroyed” (today’s Scripture).

Titus 2:11-14 says: “[T]he grace of God… teach[es] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; … the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

This is the grace of God—learn it and believe it BEFORE you preach it!

Know the Human Heart

Friday, September 2, 2016

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9,10 KJV).

Who knows the human heart?

Today’s Scripture says the human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” The Holy Spirit asks the rhetorical question, “Who can know it?” In other words, who has intimate awareness of the human soul? Verse 10 tells us: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins….” JEHOVAH God tries, tests, evaluates the hearts of men.

We cannot see people’s hearts; we can only see their actions. But their actions can be faked—“good works” can be phony, a feigned “show.” What really matters is their heart attitude underlying their works. The heart attitude cannot be faked. God can see right through any and all hypocrisy. He can see beyond their actions to observe their attitude.

Notice our Lord Jesus Christ’s commentary on Jeremiah 17:9: “[20] And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. [21] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, [22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: [23] All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:20-23). The LORD who “search[eth] the heart” and “tr[ieth] the reins [innermost being]” has found a most horrid reality!

What is amazing is God can see the very depths of the human heart, such great evil it is and what great evil it generates. Yet, He still chose (and chooses) to associate with us. After Adam and Eve sinned, knowing all the rebellion that would follow, it would have been ever so easy for God to completely wipe out the human race and start over. Why did He not? His mercy and His grace! Mercy kept Him from utterly consuming mankind and grace motivated Him to promise a Redeemer. While God knows the evil human heart, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, we know the loving heart of God. 🙂

Lost, Now Found

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

“Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:13,14 KJV).

Once lost, now found!

Recently, I stood near a store’s customer-service desk. The lady in front of me suddenly gasped and exclaimed, “Thank you, Jesus!” Puzzled, I watched a store clerk exiting the “lost-and-found” room with a purse in her hand. That lady had left her purse in a shopping cart. Thankfully, some honest customer had turned it in! She rummaged through her bag and was relieved to find everything there. Amazingly, of all the evil people into whose hands it could have fallen, an honest person found it instead!

The above stories are always nice to hear in this world abounding with bad news—stealing, killing, raping, vandalizing, abusing, et cetera. While the world is a very dangerous place physically, it is more important to realize it is a very dangerous place spiritually. It is truly a miracle when, despite all the false gospels out there, we can still find the pure Gospel of Grace being preached if we look for it. It is truly a miracle when, despite all the false systems out there, we can still find the pure Word of God (rightly divided) being taught. It is truly a miracle that God’s truth survives intact in this world of so many spiritual lies.

While it is no enjoyable time to have a purse or wallet stolen, this is the least of our concerns if some false religious system has stolen our trust and our soul! Rather than uttering the swear-phrase “Thank you, Jesus!” because we found missing material wealth, we should say “Thank You, Jesus!” because He came looking for us who were dead in trespasses and sins. We can always replace a wallet or purse, but we can never replace our soul once it is lost in hell. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36,37).

“Thank You, Jesus! Once lost, we are now found (in You)!” 🙂

Brief

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-15 KJV).

Here today—gone tomorrow!

Earlier this week, I learned that one of my high school classmates was tragically killed in an automobile accident. He was my age—28! His adult life had barely begun; it ended in the blink of an eye! I can only wonder if this “religious” man had a testimony of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Friends, we truly do not know how long we have to live on earth. Even if we live to 100, life will pass very quickly. A dear, elderly Christian, over four times my age, once told me, “Time may be flying by for you, but when you reach my age, it really flies!”

Most unfortunately, some who hear about Jesus Christ refuse to trust Him because they assume they have “plenty of time.” Before they “give it all up for Jesus,” they want to have a “good time in sin.” Young people especially need to realize this mentality is extremely foolish. Their souls are dangling over the hell’s eternal flames. Life is fragile. One small threat can end it. The thin line that holds them could snap at any time! It will happen so quickly they will be unable to stop it. And there, where eternity finds them, it keeps them!

Those who go to hell have absolutely no one to blame but themselves. God did everything He could to keep them from going to that awful place. They chose to remain dead in their trespasses and sins. They rejected Jesus Christ, the most valuable Person in the entire universe! Dear friend, if you have not already done so, trust Jesus Christ alone as your personal Saviour right now. Before you know it, you just may wake up alive and trapped in hell forever!

Hiding Thyself

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

“Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again” (Deuteronomy 22:4 KJV).

What does today’s Scripture reveal about human nature?

The Mitzvot are the 613 commandments of the Law of Moses (Exodus through Deuteronomy). JEHOVAH God meticulously instructed Israel about literally hundreds of behaviors. Why? God gave Israel the Law not only so they would learn about Him, but also that they would learn about themselves.

In those laws, not only can we see God’s mind and heart, we can see our human mind and heart. All people are descended from Adam, so they share his sinful identity. Israel had to learn this lesson via the Law. Remember, “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” (Romans 3:20).

Consider today’s Scripture. Why would God tell the Jews not to “hide” when they saw their brother’s livestock fallen down? The implication is that human nature is to “hide” when others need help. Unless we can gain something out of it, we will not bother to help others. That is the awful sin nature we all have from Adam!

Read the verses prior to today’s Scripture: “[1] Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. [2] And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. [3] In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.”

Contrary to our human nature of hiding when others need help, God’s selfless nature (depicted in the Law) was further disclosed when He left heaven’s glory. He revealed Himself, to die on Calvary’s cross, and to save us who were wandering in sin!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Does God give us ‘points’ for trying to be good?”

C.R.I.B.S.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

“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 KJV).

A classic Protestant Bible text, expounded quite neatly using five simple points!

  1. Circumcised: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:11,12).
  2. Regenerated: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
  3. Indwelt: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9).
  4. Baptized: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3,4).
  5. Sealed: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13,14).

Notice, the above verses highlight what God did to save us from our sins and give us a place in heaven. God circumcised us, cut us off from Adam. God made us alive. God gave us His indwelling Spirit. God baptized us (placed us) into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). God preserved us! We trusted Jesus Christ, and God did the work. Faith is not we doing anything because we can do nothing. Faith is relying on the Person who can do what is necessary to get us into heaven. Unlike religion, Bible Christianity has no boasting! 🙂

When All You Have is Christ Jesus

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4 KJV).

When all you have is Christ Jesus, then you realize He is all you need!

Here in southern Louisiana, significant rainfall and extensive flooding have caused tremendous destruction these last several days. One grace Christian I spoke with via phone said his house had over four feet (1.2+ meters) of water in it! Thankfully, he and his wife escaped with their dog. They lost all their other possessions.

I reminded that brother that God’s grace is sufficient for them. He and his wife can still rejoice in being alive. I reminded him they were going to lose those possessions at death anyway. Scripture calls our material goods “uncertain” (1 Timothy 6:17). At any moment, we can lose them to various events. If our identity is found in our things, and we lose our things to disaster, then we lose our identity. That is the danger of materialism, exalting riches as a god. The Bible calls this “mammon,” material riches worshipped as a deity (Luke 16:13).

However, as Bible believers, we know that our identity is in Jesus Christ. Fellow saint, that identity is the only thing that cannot be taken from you. You can lose your house, job, family, vehicle, and even your physical life, but you can never lose your eternal life in Jesus Christ. God freely gave it to you forever! With that identity in Christ, Father God has promised us comfort, abounding security. He provides us with spiritual stamina, fortitude, to endure all of life’s troubles (Philippians 4:11-13).

Paul, in the context of today’s Scripture, was very depressed because of violent opposition in Ephesus (verses 3-10; cf. Acts chapter 19 and 1 Corinthians 16:8,9). Yet, Father God gave him victory over that enormous burden. He was thus able to comfort others. When we suffer, let us rely on God’s grace too, that we may comfort others with, “When all you have is Christ Jesus, He is all you need!” 🙂

333’s 1900th – The Greatness of God’s Grace

Friday, August 12, 2016

“[The word of the truth of the gospel] Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6 KJV).

Dear friends, solely by God’s grace, devotional #1900 is here! Here is a “behind-the-scenes” look at “333 Words of Grace.”

The most common question received these past five years concerns the number “333.” (One fearful person inquired if it was related to “666!”) Actually, “333” is the approximate word limit for each study, excluding the words in the main Scripture text. This safeguards me from rambling, and it protects you the readers from being overwhelmed. From day 1, we have always aimed to communicate the dispensational truths of God’s Word (King James Bible) as clearly and concisely as possible!

Inspiration for studies comes from various sources—events in my life, Bible questions people recently asked, snippets from counseling sessions with others, questions raised in my own personal Bible study, news stories, science articles, et cetera. Each study is described as: topical (particular theme), and/or expository (specific verse, passage, or book), and/or exhortation (encouragement). Some devotionals were written in a matter of minutes. Others literally involved years of study and writing before you read them! (I still have dozens of unfinished ones from five years ago when we first started this blog!) At least 1500 new devotionals are planned.

Our studies are designed not only to explain how the Christian life operates, but also clarify how God’s other people in the Bible—the nation Israel—functions. We study all of the Bible, for it is all God’s Word. However, we always recognize and respect its dispensational layout, lest we wind up confused like the rest of professing “Christianity!”

When the Gospel of God’s Grace is preached to the lost, and the Message of God’s Grace is preached to the Christians, it brings forth fruit (today’s Scripture). Lost souls will be saved from hell, and Christian souls will be saved from religious bondage! These last 1900 days have demonstrated that in all our lives. Onward in Christ we go to devotional #2000! 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What were the ‘stones’ of Matthew 3:9?”