Month: November 2022

Christ did not come to give us Disease Control, but rather disease eradication…

1 John 3:8b
Expanded Bible

“…The Son of God ·came [was revealed; appeared] for this purpose: to destroy (all) the devil’s works [Matt. 4:1–11; 12:25–29; Luke 10:18; John 12:31; Rev. 12:7–12; 20:1–3]” – Including sickness and disease!

There cannot be any disease in God’s presence.

Disease entered into the world as a result of Adam and Eve’s high treason against God.

God had already instructed Adam that, “You must not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen 2:17).

God had originally given to Adam Dominion in this world

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

It was here that God made Adam the god (small g) of this world.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, after Eve was tempted of the devil, it was at that point that Eve and then Adam committed high treason against the Lord.

Mind you though it says in 1 Timothy 2:14 that, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

So if Adam was not deceived, the question is why did he follow Eve in this mortal sin?

I believe it was because of his love for Eve and his not wanting to be without her.

And that is the exact same reason why Christ came to redeem us, out of love for His bride the church.

Nevertheless, it was at this point, after having gotten Adam and Eve to disobey God’s command, that Satan came in and usurped Adam’s position and Satan then became the god (small g) of this world.

But Christ reversed all that at Calvary’s Cross:

Colossians 2:13-15

13 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (Jesus) has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.

And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

In the Book of Revelation we are told,

John Speaking: “Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “do not be afraid.

I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!

And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17b-18)

When it comes to sickness and disease in the world, that has never been God’s will for His Covenant children.

How do we know that?

Because the Bible tells us, in no uncertain terms, that Jesus paid in full for our healing, through the 39 lashes, from a cat of nine tails, on His back; also Jesus disfigurement was owed to the fact that he was beaten to a pulp, to the point He didn’t even look human anymore.

Also the Bible tells us that when Jesus hung on the cross He bore ALL the sicknesses and diseases of the world in His body, so the question IS, if He bore it why would He want us to bear it too?

Matthew 8:16-17

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Matthew 8 was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Jesus:

Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:1-4
New Living Translation

The Lord’s Suffering Servant
13 See, my servant will prosper;
he will be highly exalted.

14 But many were amazed when they saw him.

His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,
and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.

15 And he will startle many nations.
Kings will stand speechless in his presence.

For they will see what they had not been told;
they will understand what they had not heard about.

53:1 Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?

2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.

3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care.

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!

5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped (with 39 lashes on his back) so we could be healed.

And Peter re-emphasizes this point in 1 Peter 2:24, wherein quoting Isaiah 53:5, he says by his stripes we have already (past tense) been healed.

In other words, our healing has already been bought and paid for, so why wouldn’t God want us to have it?

In 1 John 5:14-15, we are told,

14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask ANYTHING according to His will, He hears us.

15 And if we know that He hears us, WHATEVER we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
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In order for us to avail ourselves of these Covenant benefits, which we already have been given in Jesus, pursuant to His propitious sacrifice and shed blood on Calvary’s Cross, it’s necessary as an act of our will, through our faith, that after having been born-again, that although we are living on the world, we are no longer living in the world.

The good news of the gospel tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and so it’s up to us now to change our address from living in the world, to living in God’s Kingdom.

This happens as we receive Christ and are born-again, and so each morning as we get up we underscore that decision by giving Jesus permission to sit on the throne of our lives, recognizing that because of the Cross of Calvary our lives no longer belong to us, but we’ve been bought with a price.

By reckoning this to be true each day, we are taking ourselves out of the realm of Satan’s domain (this sin-ridden, corrupt World System where disease and sickness exist), and instead we recognize our position in Christ, seated in Heavenly places with Him.

Ephesians 2:4-6
The Message

He Tore Down the Wall
2 1-6 “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin.

You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live.

You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience.

We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat.

It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.

Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us.

He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.

He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.”

So whatever the hold is that Satan has had over our lives from the past, that may have given entree of sickness and disease in our life, we repent and renounce those things and leave them in the past.

This frees us up to live in the very presence of God, and coming into the Secret Place of the Most High, as we are invited to do in Psalm 91.

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Jesus is inviting you, today, to come follow Him…

You may ask how do I do that and what does it mean to be a Christian?

The word Christian comes from the Greek word christianos which is derived from the word christos or Christ, which means “anointed one,” (Heb: Messiah).

The first use of the word “Christian” in the Bible is found in Acts 11:26,

“And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

It is found only twice more in Acts 26:28 and 1 Pet. 4:16.

A Christian, then, is someone who is a follower of Christ.

Many people think they must behave a certain way to become a Christian. The Bible explains that becoming a Christian is not about behavior, but about responding to Jesus’ offer of forgiveness.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it”
(Ephesians 2:8,9, NLT).

However, people behave differently after becoming a Christian because their relationship with God changes them. People do good things for many reasons, but a Christian is motivated to do good things because they love God.

A Christian is a man, woman, or child who has experienced a spiritual new birth through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

That new birth is a gift of God, through Jesus Christ, given by the grace He freely offers to all.

Some believe you can be born into a faith.

For example, a child born to Muslim parents is considered a Muslim by many people.

A son or daughter born to a Jewish mother is typically considered to be Jewish, and someone born into a Christian family is often assumed to be a Christian.

No one, however, is ever automatically a Christian by birth.

To be a Christian, you must make a conscious choice to turn from your sins–that’s repentance–and by faith believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who loved us, paid the price of our sins on Calvary’s cross, shed His blood and died, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day.

The Bible says, “This is how God showed His love among us:

“He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).

The Bible also says that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

The moment we do so, the Holy Spirit makes us alive in Christ, imparting the gift of eternal life, and making us entirely new creatures in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

How do we tell if it’s real in our lives?

The Bible says, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.

“The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands, … the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4).

A Christian, then, is a person who is born again by the Spirit of God as he or she wholeheartedly trusts in Jesus Christ and seeks to follow Him in obedience.

There is no other way to the Father, no other way to be a Christian, than through personal faith in the Son of God.

“I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Christianity teaches that there is ONLY one God in all existence, that God is a Trinity, that Jesus Christ is God in flesh, that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, that Jesus died on the cross, and that Jesus rose from the dead in a glorified, physical body.

Being a Christian does not mean merely believing in our head that Christ died for us.

It means “being constrained” by that reality.

The truth presses in on us; it grips and holds; it impels and controls.

It surrounds us and won’t let us run from it. It cages us into joy.

But how does it do that?

Paul says that the love of Christ for him constrains him because of a judgment that he formed about that death. “. . . having made this judgment, that one died for all therefore all died.”

Paul became a Christian not when he decided that Christ died for sinners, but when he made the sober judgment that the death of Christ was also the death of all for whom He died.

In other words, becoming a Christian is coming to believe not only that Christ died for all His people, but that all His people died when He died.

Becoming a Christian is, first, asking the question:

Am I ready to be persuaded that Christ died for me and I died in him?

Am I ready to die that I might live?

Then, secondly, becoming a Christian means answering, Yes, from the heart.

The love of Christ constrains us to answer, Yes.

We feel so much love flowing to us from Christ’s death that we discover in His death our death — our death to all other competing allegiances.

We are so overwhelmed (“constrained”) by the love of Christ that the world fades, as before dying eyes.

A Christian is a person living under the constraint of Christ’s love.

Christianity is not merely believing a set of ideas about Christ’s love.

It is an experience of being constrained by that love.

Paul put it this way,

Galatians 2:20-21
The Message

19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work.

So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man.

Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it.

I identified myself completely with him.

Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ.

My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God.

Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

21 Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God?

I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace.

If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
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The point is, none of us were made to live this life apart from God.

The Bible says that we were made for God’s pleasure, and to have 24/7 communion and fellowship with Him.

We each need Him and without that vertical connection with Him, we all are like fish flopping around on the shores of life, looking for our way back home.

God has given to each of us the free will to choose how we will spend our life?

He desires that we spend it on Him, but that’s entirely our choice.

So how about it, do you want to have your sins forgiven and be reconciled back into God’s family?

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Wednesday, Nov 9
The Winning Walk
by Dr Ed Young

THE HYPOCRITE OBJECTION

“Christians are not perfect,” a popular bumper sticker reads, “just forgiven.”

Christians are also the excuse many non-Christians give for not following Christ.

The unbeliever’s standard of performance for those who profess Christ is often nothing short of perfection.

You’ve heard the charge when a Christian misses the mark: “What a hypocrite! If that’s what it means to believe… count me out!”

But that is unfair on two fronts.

First, it represents an inaccurate understanding of what it means to enter into the Christian life.

Authentic Christians have made the decision to follow Christ, to turn away from their willful disobedience and rebellion against God, and to accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for their sins.

They have accepted God’s leadership in their lives and begun the journey of walking under His management.

But they have not arrived at a sinless state- nor will they in this life.

Second, the true hypocrite is not someone who falls short of his or others’ expectations, but one who consciously and knowingly wears a mask.

Follow me for a day, and I will disappoint you.

Although I love my wife deeply, I fail daily in being the husband I’m supposed to be.

I love my children, too, but I have made mistakes in parenting.

I love God and urge others to do the same, but I remain a sinner who struggles with sin and sometimes loses.

The good news is that authentic Christianity does not demand perfection-it depends on grace.

I am thankful that Jesus is the real issue, not the imperfections of those who love and follow Him.
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God often allows challenges, difficulties and suffering in the lives of His people in order to get their attention…

One thing you will note, in this chapter where God’s covenant children were being challenged by the enemies of the Lord, is that the king and all the people (from the top on down) fasted and prayed, and humbled themselves before the Lord.

The same applies to us, in that the miracle that we need to see happen in America is, first of all, not a political miracle, nor is it economic; but we need to see grassroots repentance all across our land, and this repentance starts with God’s people, not the unbelievers.

1 Peter 4:17
The Voice

“For the time for judgment has come, and it is beginning with the household of God. If it is starting with us, what will happen to those who have rejected God’s good news?”

God without question puts the onus of responsibility first upon the Christians (those who are already in Covenant relationship with Him) to affect this change:

2 Chronicles 7:14
New Living Translation

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

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Let us strive for Unity in the Spirit …

Read Ephesus 4

As a Christian, living for Jesus involves our dying to self daily and allowing Jesus to live His life through us, by daily submitting to the Holy Spirit’s leading an instruction, through God’s Word, in our life…

Living like the person you have become means incorporating a formidable list of specific actions into your daily life.

First we are to stop lying.

To be taught the truth in Jesus (v. 21) means to make truth telling a habit of life.

We cannot attempt to fool or deceive one another as pagans do.

We must create unity in the body with one truth because we are members of one another.

Sometimes a Christian may legitimately become angry.

Jesus became angry at times. In those times we must be extra careful how we act, for anger gives no excuse to sin.

Sinning in anger would include things such as saying unkind things or acting in harmful ways toward others.

We may not always be able to keep from getting angry, but we can keep from sinning when we do.

When we do get angry, we should deal with it before the day is through.

When we allow our anger to become sin or when we allow ourselves to keep our anger for more than a day, it gives the devil an opportunity to gain control over our attitudes, our actions, and our relationships.

It gives him a foothold to lead us into greater anger and more sin.

Christians are not to steal.

Stealing, in its most obvious form is, either by deception or force, taking the possession of someone else.

In all civilizations, stealing is considered wrong. It is a timeless and universal value.

Inherently, no one wants his possessions taken from him.

We have no difficulty understanding or agreeing with this command at its most obvious level.

Rather than steal, we are to work. Work has benefits.

(1) It is good. It allows a person to meet his own needs and the needs of his family.

It allows him to do something meaningful with his time and to make a contribution to society.

(2) Work allows a person to be able to give something to others who have needs.

Rather than steal from others, work allows a person to give something to others.

(3) Work allows a person to support financially the advancement of the kingdom of God.

Working is thus a sign of Christian faithfulness, maturity, and unity.

This is the Bible’s version of, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

We are to speak only words that build up and encourage others.

This one passage, if consistently obeyed, would eliminate the overwhelming majority of life’s conflicts.

Words of a mature Christian seek to help the listener, not harm him.

Thus the ministerial gifts of Christ’s grace achieve their purposes, and the unity of the body of Christ is preserved and enhanced.

Not to limit speech to wholesome, helpful words makes the Holy Spirit feel grief because of our behavior.

We are not saying that you can never say anything negative.

Sometimes we are forced to talk about unpleasant things, particularly in solving problems in which people are involved.

Teachers, ministers, employers, coaches, lawyers, police, and so on, all find it necessary to tell the truth about someone even if it is unpleasant.

Whether you are solving a problem or not, you avoid speaking unwholesome words.

Your intent is to build up, not tear down, to unify, not divide.
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Is your attitude toward other believers marked by love, humility, patience, and gentleness?

Paul encouraged us to display unity in the body of Christ and accept one another in love.

If you’re not doing that, check your attitudes.

Your spiritual gifts and talents should help bring the body of Christ together.

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
____________________________

Monday, Nov 7
God Calling
by Two Listeners

SELF KILLS POWER

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
— Ephesians 4:30

Dwelling with Me, desiring only My Will and to do My work,

My Spirit cannot fail to pass through the channel of your life into the lives of others.

Many think it is humility to say they do little, and are of little value to My world. To think that is pride.

What if the pipe were to say, “I do so little, I wish I could be of more use.”

The reply would be “It is not you, but the water that passes through you, that saves and blesses.

All you have to do is to see there is nothing to block the way so that the water cannot flow through.

”The only block there can be in your channel is self.

Keep that out, and know that My Spirit is flowing through.

Therefore all must be the better for coming in contact with both of you, because you are channels.

See this, and you will think it natural to know they are being helped, not by you, but by My Spirit flowing through you as a channel.

Now unto Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25
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The Bible says very clearly that “The wages of sin is death…

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

If you look at the footnote in your Bible, you’ll find that Romans 6:23 takes you back to Genesis 2:16-17, which is where…

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

So the penalty for sin is death, meaning eternal estrangement and separation from God, who is the Source and Author of each one of our lives.

Whereas this temporary “tent’ (as Paul describes our flesh and blood bodies in 1 Cor 5:1) will eventually expire and return to the dust from which it came, the essence of our being is Spirit – created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) – and so our spirit-man will live for eternity, either with God (in eternal fellowship with Him) or we will live eternally separated from Him, depending on whether we obey the gospel message and receive Jesus as both our Lord and Savior.

Matthews 7:13-14 tells us to,

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

In other words, only a few will ever find the narrow road that leads to life as many have willfully chosen death due to their love of sin and evil doing.

And the reason few are on the narrow path is because unlike the wide gate, the narrow way is not as accommodating as the broad way is, as you just can’t do as you please or live however you want.

And for all those who either ignore or reject the gospel message and Jesus’ propitious sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross for the remission of our sins, they will have to stand before the White Throne Judgment of God without the benefit of a Savior.

This is the gospel message in a nutshell:

So in summary, this is the situation that every human being is facing, that we only have from the time we first are born into this world, and the time when we depart it to make this decision about Jesus.

God is not going to force on anyone, in eternity, what they have rejected all of their lives, and so if you die separated from Jesus, then that decision will be set in stone for eternity.

So this window of opportunity for each individual gets more narrow with the passing of each day, and the truth of the matter is tomorrow is not guaranteed to any man, as every breath we take and every beat of our heart is only by God’s grace; and so there is a sense of urgency here that you should not put off for another day.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are told,

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; and behold, all things have become new.

At this point we become disciples (followers) of Jesus and we enter into the School of the Holy Spirit, where we learn to walk as Jesus walked.

1 John 2:6

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

In Luke 9:62, we’re told, “And having set our hand to the plow, don’t look back.”

What applies to us individually also applies to us as a nation.

And the one thing, more than anything else, that will guarantee our Liberty, as a nation, has nothing to do with politics or the economy, but it has everything to do with our covenant relationship with God.

This is why we need to pray, more than anything, for individual and national repentance!

In the following scripture, God tells us how to respond when our nation is going to hell in a handbasket:

2 Chronicles 7:14
The Message

“If my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.”

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Monday, Nov 7
Worthy Brief

DON’T LOOK BACK!

“Remember Lot’s wife.”
— Luke 17:32

When Yeshua (Jesus) was describing the societal atmosphere of His return, he said these peculiar words … “Remember Lot’s Wife.”

It was a warning … especially to the generation of believers just before His return.

In Genesis 19, we read of God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and specifically of how Lot’s wife turned to look at the destruction and was turned into a pillar of salt. [Genesis 19:26]

She turned around … and the warning to us is … don’t look back!

While traveling in the States, we’re in the midst of election season once again, remembering President Trump’s theme in the 2016 election, “Make America Great Again.”

This powerful slogan, reminding many Americans of the nation’s dramatic decline since their youth, inspired them to vote in hope of witnessing a restoration of former glory.

For some, this was a nostalgic longing; for others, a passion for something that seemed almost irretrievably lost.

However, one recalls or defines it, America’s greatness does seem to be irrevocably fading, and our view is that looking back and longing for its recovery is looking in the wrong direction.

While some call this nation modern “Babylon” or even “Sodom,” what we see is a nation of paradox, full of tremendous blessings and, sadly, real wickedness.

But however you view her, we believe it is unwise and even dangerous to look back to America’s past in hope of that kind of restoration.

Since the “Days of Noah” are again upon us, we’re not expecting or focused on political solutions but looking toward the Kingdom that is soon coming!

When I worked for the Christian coalition, I began to realize that the real issues America faces could not be remedied by politics.

Political realities simply reflect a nation’s and its people’s internal moral and cultural climate.

In their drive for power, most politicians are simply responding to or manipulating the current passions of the populace.

Laws can be changed, but they will reflect the mores of the people, shaped by media, music, art, and culture.

Those influences reveal a nation’s true soul.

While some leaders are morally superior to others and may seem to offer hope, the real problems which plague society are internal and reflect the deeply rooted sin in human nature.

The Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the only path and hope for any degree of national restoration.

Anyone who has studied revivals can see this.

So nostalgically looking at the past with a view toward political transformation might not turn you into a pillar of salt but may seriously deflect us from the real hope and task of transformation: the Gospel, which points to the coming Kingdom and the coming King.

Any reclamation of greatness, individual or national, will depend utterly on the transforming power of the Messiah and the profound inner work of His Holy Spirit.

Let us not look back as Lot’s wife did toward whatever the “good life” was in Sodom or America; [Luke 9:62].

Any “greatness” that’s worth regaining will come from looking UP, not back!

Our calling is to make disciples, anticipating the coming Kingdom where politics will not be “as usual” but everlasting righteousness in the presence of our King Yeshua.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Going to Christian College in Dallas, Texas)
Melbourne, Florida
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Read Romans chapter 3

WHAT IS FAITH?

Romans 1:17
The Message

16-17 Paul speaking: “It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!

God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along:

‘The person in right standing before God by trusting Him really lives.’ “
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Faith is a word with many meanings. It can mean faithfulness (Matthew 24:45).

It can mean absolute trust, as shown by some of the people who came to Jesus for healing (Luke 7:2-10).

It can mean confident hope (Hebrews 11:1).

Or, as James points out, it can even mean a barren belief that does not result in good deeds (James 2:14-26).

What does Paul mean when, in Romans, he speaks of saving faith?

We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul intends because he ties faith so closely to salvation.

It is not something we must have in order to earn salvation—if that were true, then having faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us (Galatians 2:16).

Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 “For by GRACE (unmerited favor) you have been saved through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. “

It is God’s grace, not our faith, that saves us.

In His mercy, however, when He saves us, He gives us faith and a relationship with His Son that helps us become like Him.

Through the faith He gives us, He carries us from death into life (John 5:24).

Hebrews 11:6
J.B. Phillips Translation

“And without faith it is impossible to please him. The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man’s while to try to find God.”

The Basis and Terms of the Gospel (3:21–31):

3:21 We now come to the heart of the Letter to the Romans, when Paul answers the question:

According to the gospel, how can ungodly sinners be justified by a holy God?

He begins by saying that the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law.

This means that a plan or program has been revealed by which God can righteously save unrighteous sinners, and that it is not by requiring men to keep the law.

Because God is holy, He cannot condone sin or overlook it or wink at it.

He must punish it. And the punishment for sin is death (eternal separation from God).

Yet God loves the sinner and wants to save him; there is the dilemma.

God’s righteousness demands the sinner’s death, but His love desires the sinner’s eternal happiness.

The gospel reveals how God can save sinners without compromising His righteousness.

This righteous plan is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.

It was foretold in the types and shadows of the sacrificial system that required the shedding of blood for atonement.

And it was foretold by direct prophecies (see, e.g., Isa. 51:5, 6, 8; 56:1; Dan. 9:24).

3:22 Verse 21 told us that this righteous salvation is not obtained on the basis of law-keeping.

Now the apostle tells us how it is obtained—through faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith here means utter reliance on the living Lord Jesus Christ as one’s only Savior from sin and one’s only hope for heaven.

It is based on the revelation of the Person and work of Christ as found in the Bible.

Faith is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence, and finds it in the infallible word of God.

Faith is not illogical or unreasonable.

What is more reasonable than that the creature should trust his Creator?

Faith is not a meritorious work by which a man earns or deserves salvation.

A man cannot boast because he has believed the Lord; he would be a fool not to believe Him.

Faith is not an attempt to earn salvation, but is the simple acceptance of the salvation which God offers as a free gift.

Paul goes on to tell us that this salvation is to all and on all who believe.

It is to all in the sense that it is available to all, offered to all, and sufficient for all.

But it is only on those who believe; that is, it is effective only in the lives of those who accept the Lord Jesus by a definite act of faith.

The pardon is for all, but it becomes valid in an individual’s life only when he accepts it.

When Paul says that salvation is available to all, he includes Gentiles as well as Jews, because now there is no difference.

The Jew has no special privilege and the Gentile is at no disadvantage.

3:23 The availability of the gospel is as universal as the need.

And the need is universal because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Everybody sinned in Adam; when he sinned, he acted as the representative for all his descendants.

But men are not only sinners by nature; they are also sinners by practice. They fall short, in themselves, of the glory of God.

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Sunday, Nov 6
The Winning Walk
by Dr Ed Young

WHO NEEDS SAVING?

Imagine you are a sales representative with a big presentation to make.

You’ve prepared. You look your best.

You have all your ammunition ready. Landing this account could mean the difference between success and failure for your fledgling company.

Before you arrive in your potential client’s office, you make one last check in the restroom, only to discover an ink stain the size of a Frisbee on your crisp, white shirt.

Water won’t remove it. You don’t have another shirt. You try to hide it with your tie, but to no avail.

You are hopelessly, horribly stained, and there is nothing you can do to remove the mark.

Every single man and woman alive is sin-stained.

We are not able to remove the blot of sin on our lives, no matter what method we try.

But many people resist the idea that they need to be saved from sin.

“Saving” is for other people-people whose marks are more obvious than their own.

But the Bible says all of us have sinned, and fallen short of the mark of perfection required by a holy God.

There are four realities that sinners like you and me need to know.

First, the stain of sin is permanent. It will not improve on its own, nor be removed by human effort.

Second, inspection day is coming. You have an appointment with the Lord God Almighty who judges sin, and there is no escaping that appointment.

Third, there is only One who can remove the stain of sin. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God is equipped to cleanse it.

Finally-and best of all-Jesus is in the cleaning business! Jesus’ clean-up procedure is called salvation, and it takes place when a man by faith receives Jesus Christ into his life.

“Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe. Sin had left its crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”

Memory Verse

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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Come join the Adventure!

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Give Me Jesus…

Jesus says “Come to Me and learn with Me:

Matthew 11:28-30
The Message

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
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Jesus says it is the narrow Gate AND the narrow Path that leads to Life, and only a few will find it.

There is a Path that you must walk, and the Path is a process that Jesus calls “discipleship.”

Discipleship is not an optional extra to people who are already born-again.

I don’t believe that you can make Jesus your Savior, and later on, at your discretion and at your convenience, make Him Lord.

I believe He must be Lord OF all, or He isn’t Lord AT all.

In Luke 6:46, Jesus said to His disciples “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Matthew 7:21-23
New Living Translation

True Disciples
21 Jesus speaking: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

ONLY those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’

23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
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Many people just want to trust in Jesus to save them from their sins and take them to heaven when they die, but they don’t want the process of discipleship.

They are willing to enter into the Gate, but they are not willing to walk the Path.

That’s what it amounts to. Many Christians have entered the Gate, but very few of them are actually walking the Path.

There they are, sitting just inside the Gate, rejoicing in a future hope, rejoicing in a future heaven, rejoicing in a future reward, but they don’t realize that being a disciple of Jesus does not simply mean praying a prayer or believing something or joining something.

It is a process. It is the Path, in fact, that leads you to Life.

The Gate does not lead you anywhere – it is only the beginning of the journey, it is not the destination.

1 John 2:4-6
New Living Translation

4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.

5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.

6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
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“God does many many miracles but the greatest miracle that He does is to change a human being— and that happens as we study His Word and get to know Him!”
— Joyce Meyers

Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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