Category: sin

Something in Which to Glory!

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

“As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:12-14 KJV).

In what shall we glory? About what shall we boast? In what shall we find value?

Religion produces people who enjoy bragging all about their “dedication to God.” “Look what I did—the ceremonies in which I have participated, the many prayers I faithfully recited daily, how much I put in the collection plate, see how many pleasures I gave up to please God! Come, see how much I love Him!” Dear friends, the Apostle Paul found great value in something—but that something was not what he did. All that human flesh can accomplish pales in comparison to the work in today’s Scripture.

As Lent begins, the time when religionists temporarily (a mere 40 days) relinquish some pleasant food or activity, let us remember that our performance is often non-performance. Once we place ourselves on that treadmill of “do, do, do,” we are guaranteed to fail at some point. Human flesh is simply too weak to maintain 100 percent—that is sin! Even concerning one rule, we cannot keep it perfectly. We mess up eventually.

If ever we believe that our puny works are worth bragging about, let us remember the words of the Apostle Paul in today’s Scripture. While some boast in their religiosity (in the passage, the Judaizers applauding their rite of physical circumcision), and such denominationalists today urge us to obey their church’s instructions so they too may boast in our ability, let us eschew such foolishness. Being imperfect, all their works do not measure up to Christ’s finished crosswork. At Calvary, we find the only sacrifice that will ever please the God of the Bible. If we must boast, let us brag that He did what we could never, ever do!

See our archived Bible Q&A: “Should Christians observe Lent?”

God’s Grace on Parade

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

“…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.

You may also see our archived Bible study Q&A, “Should Christians celebrate Mardi Gras?”

Bible Q&As #929 and #930: “Can you explain ‘inditing?’” and “What does ‘minish’ mean?”

Something Not Worth Losing

Sunday, February 13, 2022

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 KJV).

Super Bowl Sunday comes annually in the United States. Teams fuel the intense passions in the athletic world by vying for a corruptible trophy. Howbeit, the competition in today’s Scripture is spiritual, is worldwide, never has a halftime, and involves the eternal souls of men!

The human soul is most zealous about religion, politics, and sports. These areas are most personal, so they generate many heated debates and conflicts. However, believe it or not, there are worse outcomes than losing a church member, losing an election, and losing a game. Losing your eternal soul is the greatest of all losses!

In the context of today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ told His Jewish disciples to “take up [their] cross, and follow [him]” (verse 24). “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (verse 25). They should not fear losing their earthly lives for His sake. What is most important is that they not lose their souls!

Jesus Christ declared there is more to life than this physical world and its temporal possessions. There is a spiritual world—an afterlife—to consider. In today’s Scripture, He asks them, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Does it make sense to emphasize this temporary world and its corruptible goods, to the point of ignoring your eternal soul, and wind up losing it in hellfire forever and ever?

Dear reader, there is more to you than just your physical body. Your inner man—your soul, your spiritual body—is everlasting. To ignore Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for your sins, is to remain dead in those sins, resulting in you spending eternity suffering God’s wrath in the lake of fire literally as a nameless, hopeless, disfigured creature.

Your soul is not worth losing! Trust Christ as your personal Saviour today!

Israel: The Miracle Nation #10

Saturday, February 12, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

According to the Bible, Romans 7:12: “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The Law of Moses is definitely God’s Word. It expresses His righteousness and our failure to be perfect. No one in his or her own strength can become God’s child or do His will. Nearly 2,000 years of Jewish history—our Old Testament Scriptures—bear record of that fact. If we choose a performance-based acceptance system, we will receive nothing but curses from God. Yet, sin deceives us, and we assume we can perform to get the blessing. Human flesh always seeks to brag, but God’s grace will never accept it!

Romans chapter 4: “[1] What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh [human efforts], hath found? [2] For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. [3] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. [4] Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. [5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” The Apostle Paul reaches back to Genesis 15:5, centuries before the Law of Moses was ever ratified. Here is God’s grace!

Human works, religious works, never delivered anyone from sin. The Law of Moses never saved anyone. All the Law can do is condemn, or show us we cannot do enough. It can impart no power to us to keep its rules and regulations! If sinners are to become God’s people—whether the nation Israel or the Church the Body of Christ—it will be entirely what God does on their behalf (grace!). Ultimately, it is Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork (His work, that which perfectly satisfies the Law’s righteous demands!) applied to their account as sufficient payment for their sins. The nation Israel has yet to learn this, but God will see to it that she does. In the meantime, friends, may we not be stubborn and learn it.

Israel: The Miracle Nation #9

Friday, February 11, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

The Holy Spirit details how Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork will deliver the nation Israel in the ages to come. Consider the New Covenant in Hebrews 8:8-13: “For finding fault with them [law!], he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant [grace!] with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt [law!]; because they continued not in my covenant [law!], and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant [grace!] that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will [grace!] put my laws into their mind, and [I will] [grace!] write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will [grace!!!!] be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I [grace!!!!] remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34, written 600 years before Christ, is now interpreted in light of Calvary. Israel’s sins committed under the Old Covenant—the Law of Moses—are now cancelled with the ratification of the New Covenant at Christ’s Second Coming (Hebrews 9:11-28; cf. Acts 3:19-21; Romans 11:25-29). “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;…. For by one offering he hath [grace!!!!] perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10-12,14).

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #8

Thursday, February 10, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them [the Jews] who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 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 3:19,20). The Law of Moses was given, not to save anyone from sin, but to clearly define sin. If the “best” nation, Israel, is condemned, what hope do the world’s nations have in ever attaining God’s standard of righteousness? None! Hence, grace, not law, was the LORD’S original covenant with Israel. The Law was to teach stubborn Israel they needed a Saviour, for they could not save themselves.

Galatians chapter 3: “[18] For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. [19] Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. [20] Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. [21] Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law…. [24] Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

Likewise, having used the Law to realize our need for the Saviour, we now receive by faith God’s blessings via His grace (what He can do for us through Christ’s finished crosswork). “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30,31). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:…” (Ephesians 1:3).

Israel will finally learn that yet future….

One More Night with the Frogs! #3

Monday, January 31, 2022

“And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God” (Exodus 8:10 KJV).

Who has replied with, “To morrow,” and why has he answered thusly?

Before we dismiss today’s Scripture and its context as mere “fairytales told around ancient Jewish campfires,” we would do well to see the modern parallel. Whenever an unsaved person responds to the Gospel of Grace with, “Let me have fun in the world first, and then I will become a Christian,” he or she is following in Pharaoh’s footsteps. “I just want to live in sin one more day, before I submit to my Creator’s will.” Whenever a believer in Christ responds to the Gospel of Grace with, “Let me have fun in the world first, and then I will behave like a Christian,” he or she is also following in Pharaoh’s footsteps.

Overall, Pharaoh was both deceived and deceptive. When he noticed the plague of frogs ending, he saw no reason to keep his word. He still refused to free Israel! “[12] And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. [13] And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. [14] And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. [15] But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.” After another eight devastating plagues, Pharaoh desperately forced Israel out of his land—only to ultimately fight them with his army and drown with all his troops in the Red Sea!

Friends, may we not be foolish or proud. If we are suffering “frogs” today—the ill effects of our sin—may we not be willing to spend one more night with them. Rather, let us trust Paul’s Gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised again for our justification (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Herein is deliverance from the penalty of sin (Hell and the Lake of Fire) and the power of sin (worldly living).

Our two latest Bible Q&As: “How can there be ‘eleven’ Apostles if both Judas Iscariot and Thomas are absent?” and “Was Apollos at fault in 1 Corinthians 16:12?”

The Accursed Thing! #8

Friday, January 21, 2022

“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1 KJV).

Just what is this “accursed thing?” How will it affect the Israelites here in “time past?” What does this say about their fate in “the ages to come?”

Recall Achan’s sin was judged in “the Valley of Achor [trouble]” (verses 24,26), an area due south of Jericho, roughly halfway between the city and the Dead Sea. This area is significant in prophecy, for it is one of the regions to which Israel’s believing remnant will flee as they escape the Antichrist. Whereas the nation Israel was steeped in idolatry in the Old Testament and will be even more so with the Antichrist, there is a group of saints within the nation who will be preserved from Satan’s policy of evil. Achor will not only be a place of judgment and trouble, but also one of salvation and hope.

Hosea chapter 2: “[14] Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. [15] And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. [16] And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi [‘husband’]; and shalt call me no more Baali [‘lord’]. [17] For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.” Also, Isaiah 65:10: “And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.”

Here, Israel is purged of pagan idolatry, including Baal worship, and is triumphant over all Satan’s policy of evil, ready to become God’s kingdom of priests in God’s land at Jesus Christ’s Second Coming to meet them!

The Accursed Thing! #7

Thursday, January 20, 2022

“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1 KJV).

Just what is this “accursed thing?” How will it affect the Israelites here in “time past?” What does this say about their fate in “the ages to come?”

In Scripture, Babylon (near modern Baghdad, Iraq) is notable for its pagan idolatry. “…Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground” (Isaiah 21:9). “Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel [Babylonian deity] is confounded, Merodach [another Babylonian deity] is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces” (Jeremiah 50:2). “Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her” (Jeremiah 51:47).

Dear friends, never should we see the Bible as “dead history,” things of the past, events never to be repeated. These passages of Scripture are not only historical, they are also prophetic. What happened then loops forward to what will transpire in the future. While these Old Testament Prophets were foretelling the short-term destruction of ancient Babylon by Persian King Cyrus the Great in 536 B.C. (Daniel 5:30-31), they were also providing a glimpse of the long-term destruction of new Babylon under the Antichrist beyond our day. You can read about future Babylon in Revelation 14:8, Revelation 16:19, and Revelation chapters 17–18. Satan’s monstrous political-religious system will finally and permanently be annihilated at Christ’s Second Coming!

Also, consider the evil religion and devils in Zechariah 5:5-11, with “the land of the Shinar” (verse 11) being the site of Babylon and the Tower of Babel (cf. Genesis 10:10; Daniel 1:1,2)—this is the Whore of Babylon and all her attendant spiritual harlot “daughters” (religions, cults, denominations) corrupting Israel and the nations. Thankfully, for believing Israel, however, the Valley of Achor will provide an escape….

Our two latest Bible Q&As: “What does ‘All hail’ mean in Matthew 28:9?” and “Can you explain ‘God speed’ in 2 John?”

NOTE: Happy 42nd Spiritual Birthday to my Mom, who will no doubt read this!

The Accursed Thing! #6

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1 KJV).

Just what is this “accursed thing?” How will it affect the Israelites here in “time past?” What does this say about their fate in “the ages to come?”

Achan aligned himself with Babylonian religion, what the ancient Canaanites (including Jericho) had been practicing in the Promised Land between the time of Genesis chapter 11 (scattering from Babel) and the Book of Joshua (Israel’s entrance into Canaan). The Old Testament references to Baal worship and Molech worship describe such devilish activities. In Egypt, Israel was constantly exposed to these heathen gods and goddesses; hence, the Law of Moses repeatedly warned the Jews not to adopt these religious systems.

Alas, Israel was re-infected with this satanic mindset via Achan, who corrupted his family with the theft of the “goodly Babylonish garment” from Jericho (Joshua 7:20-26). While Scripture never tells us exactly what he intended to do with the stolen gold and silver, we do know it had been reserved for the LORD’S treasury (Joshua 6:19) before Achan took it along with that Babylonish garment (object of heathen religion). The precious metals were likely destined to be fashioned into idols—whether for Jerichoites or Israelites.

Even after Achan was judged for his sin, the Israelites constantly dabbled in pagan religion throughout the rest of the Old Testament and even into Acts. It was Judaism corrupted by these heathen religious systems, that Jesus Christ and His Apostles fought continuously. While the “purest” form of ancient Babylonian religion is today’s Roman Catholicism, traces of it pollute all world religions, leading to another international rebellion against the one true God yet future.

Ancient Babylonian religion will reach its pinnacle during Daniel’s 70th Week, when the Antichrist builds a city and a tower (religion) in Babylon (Revelation 17–18). What sinful man began in Genesis chapters 10–11—but was prevented from finishing—God now lets it resume to achieve their damnable end during the Tribulation period. As with Achan millennia ago, Israel will again be ensnared, but (as before) there is hope….