Category: sin

Myriads of Itching Ears #1

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4 KJV).

Beware of the megachurches, for they teach mega error!

Lately, I read a news article about megachurches, churches that have a weekly attendance of at least 2,000 people. According to the reporter, “Americans have less faith in religion than any time in the last three decades, but megachurches are on the rise.” Megachurches in the United States have multiplied from only 350 in 1990 to over 1,200 today!

According to the sociology researcher who contributed to the article, megachurch members feel a sense of “belonging.” These dear souls, most probably sincere, literally get so excited when they see thousands “worshiping” “God” that they have to join them. These members then often form smaller groups based on nonreligious activities and hobbies (knitting, fishing, cooking, et cetera). In addition to their “social club” atmosphere, megachurches are appealing because of their charismatic (charming) preachers and their feel-good messages. Megachurches capitalize less on sound Bible study and more on entertainment, which our sinful flesh gravitates toward.

Yes, megachurches read Bible verses and they shout, “Praise Jesus!,” but these activities are not necessarily godly. Satan quoted the Bible to Jesus (Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10,11), so preaching Bible verses is not necessarily of God. Crying “Jesus is Lord” and someone speaking about God with their lips is not necessarily godly, either. Before Jesus Christ will cast lost people into hell, they will call Him “Lord, Lord” and He will declare they work “iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). He also mentioned people who “draw nigh unto [him] with their mouth, and honoureth [him] with their lips, but their heart is far from [him]” (Matthew 15:8).

When the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write today’s Scripture, He undoubtedly foresaw and foretold of our day, when megachurches and their damnable doctrines would arise, and the clarity of the Bible would be further complicated. Heed the warning!!!

Why Animals Fear Man

Saturday, August 18, 2012

“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered” (Genesis 9:2 KJV).

Today’s Scripture explains why animals flee from and/or attack encroaching humans.

In the beginning humans and animals lived together harmoniously. Actually, God brought to Adam all the fowls of the air and all the beasts of the field so that he could name them (Genesis 2:19,20)—yes, that would include dinosaurs! Humans and animals were originally herbivores, meaning their diets consisted strictly of plants (herbs, nuts/seeds, fruits, vegetables, et cetera), not flesh (Genesis 1:29,30).

But, once Adam sinned, the diet of man and animals changed. Here, in today’s Scripture, Noah and his family have survived the Great Flood, and they are now exiting the ark. God’s instructions are: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 9:1). This is basically what God told Adam and Eve some 1,600 years earlier (Genesis 1:28), but now God adds a stipulation: Noah can eat flesh.

The LORD tells Noah in Genesis 9:3: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Mankind can now eat any creature: he has to first catch or trap it! But, to make it fair, God instilled within animals the mechanism to flee from us humans, and to attack us when we invade their habitats. Here is one example of where science disagrees with the Bible: scientists (wrongly) classify man as a “higher evolved animal,” whereas God’s Word differentiates between humans and animals.

Today, we do not observe Israel’s kosher food laws (Colossians 2:16). We can eat any animal we choose: “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4,5). You can eat any and every animal, but first you must catch it! 🙂

The Promised Land Seen Only From Afar

Thursday, August 16, 2012

“And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession” (Deuteronomy 32:49 KJV).

Moses did see the Promised Land, but he never did enter it. Why?

The LORD continues telling Moses: “And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the water of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel” (verses 50-52).

Numbers 20:1-13 explains why God disallowed Moses and Aaron from entering the Promised Land. They were to be spiritual examples to Israel, but when Israel complained for lack of water, Moses and Aaron grew upset. When God instructed Moses to speak to the rock to provide water for Israel (verse 8), Moses in an unbelieving fit of rage struck the rock twice (verses 10,11).

Verse 12 amplifies: “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

By verse 28, Aaron is dead, and about two years later, we find the context of today’s Scripture, where Moses will now stand on Mount Nebo to see the Promised Land from a high vantage point, but he cannot enter, and will die shortly, just before Joshua leads them in. (Prophetically, Moses and Aaron will be resurrected and they will enter the Promised Land someday!; Revelation 20:6)

Why this “strict” punishment? The rock symbolized Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4), and unbelieving Moses disrespected Jesus Christ by striking Him when God had said to speak to Him.

Why the Blood Sacrifices?

Friday, August 10, 2012

“But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:4 KJV).

Do you ever wonder why God demands blood sacrifices for man’s sin?

Firstly, “…And without shedding of blood is no remission [forgiveness]” (Hebrews 9:22b). Blood must be shed if man is to be forgiven of his sins. This is transdispensational: it is true for every dispensation, no matter where you are in the Bible. It was true of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), it is true today (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14), and it will be true even beyond our dispensation (Hebrews 9:11,12). But, what is so special about blood?

Sin causes death: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). As today’s Scripture teaches, blood is the source of life. God told Israel in the Mosaic Law: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul…  Blood… For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off” (Leviticus 17:11,14). And Deuteronomy 12:23: “…eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.”

The above verses explain why God demands blood for sins. What is the answer to death? Life! What is the answer to sin? Blood! Blood is the solution to sin because life is the answer to death. The sacrificial blood would give new life—it would atone, or “make man at one with God.” The Old Testament animals’ blood sacrifices could not take away sins: they were only temporary (Hebrews 10:2-12). Those blood sacrifices were a “type”/“picture”/preview of the perfect blood of Jesus Christ that provides total and permanent forgiveness, and more importantly: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).

To Be (For All Eternity)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

“Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 KJV).

As I celebrate my 24th birthday today, we remember that the axiom, “You only live once,” is true… eternally true….

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). According to this verse, we humans have a visible physical body, made of the elements of the earth’s crust, and an invisible spiritual body.

Our soul and spirit—the “real” us—cannot be seen, but they reside in a visible tabernacle (tent), our physical bodies. The soul is our will, our emotions, and our heart (not the muscle of flesh, but our innermost being, what we use to believe God’s Word; see Romans 10:10). “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24a), so He communicates with and educates us by means of His indwelling Holy Spirit connecting with our spirit, our mind, and enlightening us once we meditate on His Word (1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 4:23).

In today’s Scripture, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul explains that we believers, upon physical death, still exist: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Physical death is not the end—the human soul and spirit continue, saved and lost alike. When we who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, physically die, our souls and spirits go to be with the Lord in the third heaven, and we remain there until the rapture, when we all receive new glorified physical bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). However, when those who do not trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, physically die, their soul and spirit literally wake up in hell’s torments, and eventually the everlasting lake of fire (Luke 16:22b,23).

Saved, or lost, you only live once… and that life is for all eternity….

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.

The Detail of the World’s Chief-of-State #2

Friday, August 3, 2012

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 KJV).

At His First Advent, Jesus Christ did not fight back, nor did the angels rescue Him from enduring Calvary’s cross. Now, at His Second Coming, the World’s Chief of State returns to earth…. with the angelic armies!

In hindsight, we understand that the Old Testament spoke of two comings of Christ, as 1 Peter 1:11 delineates: “the sufferings of Christ” (His First Coming in meekness to die) and “the glory that should follow” (His Second Coming in wrath to reign). Jesus Christ, had He asked His heavenly Father, would have been rescued by tens of thousands of angels (today’s Scripture). Nevertheless, He permitted His arrest, and crucifixion on Calvary, because the Old Testament prophecies regarding His suffering had to be fulfilled first. Now, the prophecies concerning His majestic return to earth to reign are awaiting fulfillment (see Zechariah 14:1-21).

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels…” (Psalm 68:17; Psalm 68 deals much with Christ’s Second Coming in wrath). “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels…” (Matthew 16:27a). “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31). “And the armies which were in heaven followed him [Jesus Christ] upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14).

The prophet Enoch lived over 5,000 years ago (Genesis 5:18-24), but we only read of the (interesting) message he preached, in Jude 14,15: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these [the wicked], saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints [“holy” angels], to execute judgment upon all, and to convince them that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against.”

Rest assured, those angels mentioned in today’s Scripture will come and fight!

Sound, But No Sound Doctrine

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

“And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me” (Acts 22:9 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is giving his testimony to Israel, yet according to Bible critics, this verse “contradicts” another verse. Rather than “correcting” the Bible, as some modern translators have done, we let the Bible correct us… and it will teach us a valuable doctrine!

Today’s Scripture explains that those traveling to Damascus with Paul (at that time Saul) did not hear the voice of Jesus Christ, who appeared to Saul in Acts chapter 9. Yet, when we read Acts 9:7, the Bible seems to say the opposite: “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.” Well, which is it? Did they hear (Acts 9:7), or did they not hear (Acts 22:9)? A lost person once tried to use this very argument against me in a desperate (and unsuccessful) attempt to discredit the Bible because it challenged his denomination!

Certainly, God’s Word has no mistakes (otherwise, He would be a liar!). If we consider John 12:28,29, resolving this apparent discrepancy actually teaches us something: “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.” Here, Jesus, standing on earth, is speaking to His Father in heaven. Notice that His Father gave an intelligent response: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Yet, some of the audience heard thunder, a mere noise: they did not hear anything intelligent.

So, those traveling with Saul did hear the sound of Jesus’ voice, but they did not hear the actual words (that is, understand what was spoken). Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9 really complement one another, teaching us that people can hear God’s Word being read or spoken, but they are willingly too blinded by sin to hear His actual words with understanding (Isaiah 6:9,10; Matthew 13:13-15; Acts 28:24-27).

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.