Lack is abundance....

1Peter 1:3-9 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

What makes anyone think that life in this planet should be easy? That is, life as a believer in Jesus Christ; a true believer. What kind of preacher, or teacher, or church, or brother for that matter, will tell you that your life should be filled with comfort and easiness, and with success and abundance? Who in their right doctrinal mind will even suggest that you don't have enough faith because you are experiencing trying circumstances, or because you can't find work, or because you're sick or poor?

I'll tell you who; the one who dares to say this kind of thing to a real believer is someone who is completely in the dark in regards to who God is, and who you are. It is somebody who is completely ignorant, and not only that, but is also stupid; this is the kind of person who talks without knowing what he is talking about, a vain, grossly prideful and ignorant individual; a cloud without rain, as Jude says.

The truth; the absolute truth, the bible, is clear about this; if you are indwelt by the Spirit of God, you will suffer in this world; you will have all kinds of trials and problems, and suffering; you will experience financial difficulties, health problems, relational problems with other people, you will have depression sometimes, you will feel lonely, and down, and cast out, and people will step all over you sometimes; many times life will not make any sense, you will be rejected, offended, cursed, antagonized, criticized, judged and railed and abandoned even by those of the same faith and sometimes even your household, just to name a few of the things you will without a doubt go through for sure. The world will hate you. But God will never leave you nor forsake you.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Financial abundance, while it is a sign of blessing, is not promised to anyone in the kingdom; otherwise all Christians would be rich; the fact is that there are more poor ones than rich ones; so it is evident that experience indicates lack rather than abundance; but experience is not all that proves the point; scripture is more valid in this case:

Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 7:22 And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

John 12:8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

I am not advocating poverty, and I am not saying that is bad to have abundance either; what I am saying is that those who are poor are blessed in ways that are not common to those who have an abundance of money or things in this world.

Luke 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

2Ti 3:2-5 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Heb 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

The poor and needy are the rich in faith, and according to Peter, faith is much more precious than gold that perishes; but being poor does not qualify you to be rich in faith; he is writing to the 'elect', the chosen ones, the ones that have been chosen before the foundation of the world to be placed into the family of God (Eph 1:3-6) the King of Heaven and Earth; the children of God who have been elected according to His foreknowledge; His election is what qualifies you to be rich in faith, not your poverty.

The object of Peter's doxology in the first few verses of his letter, is to bring these elect strangers to the realization that God has prepared for them an inheritance that is, as he says, incorruptible, and undefiled and that does not fade away like the bank accounts they did not have. And that is exactly what he reminds me of, and it should also remind you, that we are destined for glory.

We are rich beyond measure, we are co-heirs with Christ of all that the Father possesses; which is the whole universe and everything in it. If that is not enough, we also have a deposit of that inheritance: Eph 1:11-14 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

We have been given the down payment of the full inheritance: God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit; until we acquire possession of it, Paul says; if this doesn't make you jump up and down from joy, I don't know what will. I hate to think that some brothers will celebrate their next paycheck more than what they already have in Christ, but that is the sad reality of things; and this is due to the lack of spiritual discernment, the lack of wisdom, the lack of doctrine; until the paycheck disappears.

The only way that we learn is to be in need; it is when we are in some kind of trial and tribulation when the Lord teaches the deeper truths of His love and His grace, and His mercy for us sinners saved by grace; and even when there is an abundance of material things and money, God will not let us be consumed with the distractions that wealth and health provide; He will take them away just to make a point and to remind us that He reigns absolute.

The church in America has a bad image throughout the world, it is from this lovely place that all kinds of garbage flow and inundate the world; like the prosperity gospel, the name-it-and-claim-it heresy; and the 'you best life now' heresy. In places like China and Korea our brothers and sisters risk their lives everyday just to have a few pages of the bible, some of them have to bury their books in fear of being discovered by the thought police; while in this country of ours people have the privilege of having bibles galore, and instead of reading and studying and meditating on the absolute truth, and having delight in knowing our King, we rather watch TV or be entertained. Whatever.

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. Try telling those brothers in China that this is their 'best life now' and that God wants them to be successful and at ease and see what they say; they'd probably tell you that you are crazy and that you need to read the real bible, not the one you imagined and interpreted to suit your greed.

But who am I? I'm not the Holy Spirit, and God is in control of all things, here and in China and Korea, that's for sure. He is so in control that He is keeping us by His power through faith unto salvation, Peters says; so think about that. Faith, the power of God. How can anyone read these words and still believe that we have the power to believe on our own? It's amazing.

Peter makes the same point in his second epistle: 2Pe 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I hope you can see what I see here; this faith that Peter talks about; the faith that is a gift from God (Eph.2:8-9), is faith that we have obtained; we didn't have it; "we have obtained it through the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ our Saviour". This completely eliminates the argument that faith is a human work, that everyone is capable of making a commitment to believe, just in case Paul wasn't clear enough. And how did we obtain it? Through the righteousness of God and Jesus, who is God, and that was imputed to us when He caused us to be born again.

Peter sounds very much like Paul in Ephesians 1:3-4 doesn't he? Why is that? Why does he brake forth in praise of God like that? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has caused us to be born again"; "begotten us again"; "to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". And Paul: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ; according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love".

Sounds like they went to the same school; the school of Jesus. One blesses God for our new birth; the other for our election. One praises the Father for our future, the other for our past. One for His mercy; the other for His grace. One for our hope; the other for His love. One for our resurrection; the other for our holiness; one for our present state, the other for our future glory, and both of them for life in Christ and for Him doing the work.

According to Peter, God has begotten us again to a lively hope through Jesus' resurrection, to an inheritance that is eternal, and that has been reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith; this is the most significant issue here in this verses because these 'elect strangers' are going through a hard time in their lives; that have been inflicted with' manifold temptations', many trials, so that the testing our their faith might show to praise of God. He wants them to not loose the heavenly perspective of their lives, he wants to remind them that God has already finished the work and they will be there with Him.

Jesus will appear again, and when He does, our faith will be all we have to offer as praise and honor and glory to Him. It is as we stand today, that all we have to offer to God is what He has given us in the first place; our faith. This is the treasure, the sacrifice, the offering unto God Almighty, the faith He gave us and by which He is keeping us unto that day.

This is the power of God in action in us; this is the effectual working of His mighty power in us who believe; Eph. 1:19-20, Col 1:11; the same kind of power He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, Paul says. We don't have an idea of His greatness working in us, we can't even imagine what He is doing, and still we fix our eyes on the lack our lives reflect in the physical realm, we get distracted.

In his second letter, Peter reminds us again, grace and peace will be multiplied to us through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue"; so not only grace and peace come from knowing God in Jesus, but also godliness; the godliness that is necessary to face God; that is why godliness with contentment is great gain 1Tim 6:5.

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust"; so Peter says that we have been elected, chosen; and that we have obtained faith through God's righteousness, how? By imputation, by our justification; we are justified by faith, Rom 5:1; not only have we been given faith, but the righteousness of Christ Himself; and He called us by the effectual working of His mighty power that is at work in us who believe; it's beautiful, it's mind blowing, it's grace amazing.

Partakers of the divine nature? Really? How? By His exceeding great and precious promises; that's it? His promises? What does that mean? Where are these promises, and what are they? They are in His word, the bible, and they are great and precious, like "we shall see Him as He is"; like "I will never leave you nor forsake you"; like "I will not leave you as orphans"; like "He shall wipe all the tears from their eyes"; like "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished"; like " I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments"; like "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved"; and "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked"; and this one "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence"; and this other one "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness".

Should I keep going? Should I stop? Do you realize what God is saying here? Think! Every time that you read His word, every time you are led to open the book and you do it, and you read, and you meditate, and think, and ponder, and abide, and become one with the Word, you are partaking of His divine nature; you are thinking God's thoughts, and they are infinitely divine and wonderful and beautiful and powerful; and therein lies your faith and His power working in you.

So just like Peter says; we now rejoice even if our faith has to be tested, because the day is coming; one more earthquake in Chile; it's coming; look at the signs, it's coming; we will be redeemed completely; we shall have the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

I need some coffee......

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For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit....

Philippians 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Sometimes I wonder why is it so hard for some people to accept the fact that God's grace is sovereign grace; the reality of God's absolute control over the whole of creation and the thoughts and actions of men is irrefutable; evidenced by just taking a simple look at His word.

I think the root problem is, and always has been, the pride and arrogance of the human heart. The human mind, the heart as the bible calls it, the seat of the emotions and the thoughts; is always opposed to being ruled; its wickedness and sinfulness is so absolutely deceiving that when it hears that God is the one working in it it refuses the thought with all its might.

The idea of being born of God, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13) is diametrically opposed to the heart's self-rule. Everyone admits that the work of God's Spirit in the heart is absolute; but when they hear that their choice had nothing to do with their conversion, then their heart, by nature, opposes the thought because it wants to continue to rule over its decisions.

The same way, for a man, or a woman, who has been indoctrinated for 20 years in the Arminian notion that God is 'helping' those who help themselves; that they had to exert their wills to become born of God; that their standing as adopted children in the household of faith was induced by their ability to make a choice; the doctrine of sovereign grace is a pride shattering and self demolishing concept; they cannot bear it; it is too much for their intellect's pride.

Why write about these things anymore? Sometimes I don't really see the point, but then as I read the word of God and meditate upon what it says, I am forced; I cannot contain it or prevent it, so here I am again babbling away, contending for the faith. Maybe someone will listen and maybe it will propagate; or maybe nobody cares anymore; maybe all the King's men have already been brainwashed without remedy, maybe not.

We can analyze the word of God all day long; we can brake it apart and chop it into little pieces and look at the original languages and so on, but if we are not consumed in awe of the Writer; and if it all doesn't prompt us to adore the infinite perfections of the Creator of life, it profits us nothing. If we don't discover grace in its original purpose, we will always be lost in the mediocrity of a life without joy and peace.

But God is at work; He has always been at work in the minds and hearts of His people, sometimes we miss it, but He never ceases to amaze me; and He will be glorified regardless of the seemingly dark circumstances of my life, or yours.

It is the midst of chaos, and darkness, and apparent lack of resources that His glory is revealed, and it is the midst of weakness that His grace is made evident; His grace remains sufficient for our needs; His strength is made perfect in weakness, He said to Paul; and that is what is saying to me and to you, 'look I know that nothing makes sense sometimes, and I know what you need, but just trust me, I AM in control of all things'. That is the point of grace. It is at this point where the heart rebels; it wants to remain active in the decision making process, but it is not possible, God will not share His glory with anyone; pride shatters, it has to. It hurts at the center of the heart, of the being.

We either humble ourselves in the sight of the Almighty, or we continue to exercise self determination, which is a contradiction since there is only one person who is self determining in the universe, and out of the universe: God; we don't have another choice.

Like I said before; the problem will always be the human heart's pride and lusting after the things of the flesh. Rom 7:22-23 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Gal 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Why is Paul saying that you cannot do the things that you would? There is a war inside of us between the Spirit and the flesh; between the heart and the Spirit. It's not really that our bodies are sinful but that our heart and mind is sinful, corrupted; there is really nothing wrong with your hands, they are just flesh and bones, where the problem comes from is the brain and what the brain is telling the hand to do; where is the brain getting it's ideas from? From the sin that dwells within it.

There is really nothing wrong with your mouth, the problem is that it speaks perverse things, foolish talking, coarse jesting, cursing, lust, fornication, lies, envy, murder and all kinds of abominations, and those things come from the heart:

Mat 15:7-20 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

The teaching of the commandments of man as doctrine, the worship of the mouth while the heart is removed from it, equates to blindness and it leads into a ditch; thinking that your actions are pure and noble while your heart remains removed, prideful and arrogant; these are characteristic of those who have not been 'planted' by the Father; they are the norm for those who are religious and are not part of the sheep; and there is nothing they can do to be planted; they cannot become sheep on their own, by their actions, by their religion. But they are so blind that they can't see it; they have no choice but to walk in the flesh, it is their lot in life.

But you are not in the flesh:

Rom 8:9-11 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. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

It is at this point, when you are finally getting close to understanding how the grace of God is at work in your life, that the Pharisee, the Galatian, slams his fist on the table and gets up and interrupts your blessing: "I don't agree", he says raging; "you have to try, you have to perform; that sounds like Calvinism, I don't believe in predestination, I don't care what Ephesians one says, I have my list of goals, darn it!"

Yeah, you heard that right, alright. But that is what the modern Galatians think; that you have to perform, it is either works of righteousness, or random acts of kindness, as they put it. But that doesn't work dude, at least not in regards to grace. Why doesn't it work? It is very simple; you try to be pleasing to God by exerting your 'strength' and the affections of your heart, and what happens is that you constantly fail to meet the standard; and frustration comes upon you as a flood, and the standard that was supposed to protect you falls on you, no, it slams you, and it becomes oppression.

Mat 7:16-27 "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity".

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock".

"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it".

'So what is your point'? My point is that we don't pay attention to what God says. What makes a good tree good? Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil?. Do you see what I see?

"Didn't we have our list of goals?" "Didn't we try hard all the days of our lives?" "Didn't we do outreaches and neglected the sheep for the sake of the wicked?" "Didn't we prophesied in your name and do all kinds of wonderful works?" What is Jesus response? "I never knew you; you were doing iniquity" "All your works, all your wonderful works were works of iniquity"; Ouch.

You can try all day long to make your thoughts pure, and your actions and your fruit good and lovely, and you will fail without remedy; and you can try your religion and your righteousness, your filth, to change you, to no avail; if you are a grape vine, no matter how hard you try you will never produce peaches, even if you like peaches more than grapes; if you are a lemon tree, with all your sourness and all, you will never give grapes. God has to do that for you; He has to uproot you our of your bitter world and graft you in to the vine, there is no other way about it.

"Anyone who hears these saying of mine and does them..."; do you see the impossibility of these words of Jesus? We can't do them; God has to do them through His Spirit working in you; and when that happens you will be called a wise man who built his house on the rock.

There is one passage of scripture that I think illustrates what I'm saying, and what Paul is saying in Philippians 2:12-13. In 2 Chronicles, King Hezekiah, who is only twenty five years old when he begins to reign in Jerusalem, sends letters to the people of Israel to come and celebrate the passover and he says to them:

2Ch 30:7-9 "Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."

His request is simple; yield yourself to the Lord and come, return to God for He is gracious and merciful; come on, do not be faithless and stiff-necked; and what happens? They laughed him and his letters to scorn, and mocked them. They couldn't stop being faithless and just laughed; they couldn't yield.

2Ch 30:11 However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

But some of them, just some of them, humbled themselves and came; well, that is weird. Why just some of them? What, not all of them could humble themselves to come? Not all of them could stop being faithless and stiff-necked? What's happening? Are some better than others, are some more spiritual than others? More dedicated? Only some were able to make a commitment? Only some made the right choice? Only some were Arminians? Only some had a list and tried hard?

Not really; but that is the spin that the modern Galatian will put on this passage of scripture; they will tell you something like: "See? These men made the right choice; they heard the command and they acted upon it; they made a commitment to follow God, they exercised their faith". But commitment has nothing to do with it; God moved Hezekiah; God moved the people, God prepared everything (2Ch 29:36); the only one making a commitment is God, He made a covenant, and He will keep it.

2Ch 30:12-14 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. v.13 And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly. v.14 They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley.

That is what I'm talking about; and the bible is full of this kind of thing, it is everywhere; the hand of God was on them to give them a heart to do what the king commanded by the word of God. That is what grace is; it is God doing whatever needs to be done. It might appear as if the decision to go to Jerusalem was their own decision, and it was; but it was God who made them take action; it is YHWH who gives them, and us the heart to do what He wants, He works in you to will and to perform of His good pleasure.

The difference between the fleshly minded individual and the spirit minded one, is that the first thinks that he can do what God says by his own efforts, the latter one knows he can't do it and depends on God for the grace to do it.

"They set to work..." When God moves in you, you set to work; it is not the other way: you set to work and see if God moves; that is nonsense and it robs God of His glory.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
3:18 (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:
3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Who is He that began the work? God. Who is He that will finish it? God. Who will change our vile bodies? God. Who is working? God. Who supplies all our need? God.

After all the babbling, the question remains, floating there as in the air, in the center of our minds, and it needs to be answered:

Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?


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Justified...

Some things need to be said more than once; some others more than twice, but some need to be said constantly; every single day. Sometimes some things need to be proclaimed, just as the heavens declare the glory of God; at every turning of the earth, at all sun rises, at all sunsets.

One of those things that need to be said constantly, mostly in the church today, is doctrine; and more specifically the doctrine of justification by faith, among others.

Justification by faith is the essence of the gospel; the essence of grace; but ask anyone you know what justification is and they will probably answer with a blank stare, some will tell you the definition but do not really understand it; and then some others will tell you that "you should let the pastors and teachers worry about those things"; I don't think so, I think you should worry about those things, the things of doctrine, because you might be in danger; clear and present danger of wasting your life, and eternal danger.

"What are you saying that I'm going to hell because I don't know what justification is?"; not really, what I'm saying is that you might be believing in a different gospel, and if you do, you are under a curse: Gal 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

How can an accursed thing be in heaven at the end? it is a contradiction to say that we believe in a different gospel and yet we have access to heaven and eternal life, is it not?

The main problem Paul is addressing in the book of Galatians is the addition of extra works to the work of redemption accomplished by Jesus in His coming, dying on the cross and rising from the dead for our justification. It is important because the Galatians were being deceived into believing that the cross and the resurrection were not enough; the judaizers were saying that they needed to be circumcised in addition to having faith in Christ. Act 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, 'Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved'.

In a few words, the gospel they were being preached was another gospel, it was not the original gospel that Paul had preached when he was there; not that there could be another gospel, he says "which is not another", Gal 1:6-7 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

That is what happens when anything is added to the pure gospel, it troubles the individual by placing guilt on his shoulders and in his heart so that the whole of the Christian life becomes a perversion, instead of freedom it becomes bondage; bondage to rules and regulations.

Anything else than grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, is a perversion of the true gospel; in fact Paul says, any other message than what we preached to you removes you from Christ (v 6); and, he goes on to say, even if (if it was at all possible this could happen) an angel comes down from heaven and preaches another message to you, let him be accursed; those are some very strong words to pronounce against a messenger from heaven, I think.

Was Paul a little adamant in regards to his gospel? He was, the gospel had been given to him not by other men, or through other apostles, no one preached it to him, but it was given to him by Jesus Himself and God the Father (Gal 1:1, 11-12).

What is the big deal, man? The big deal, dude, is that there is another reality that we cannot see right now, it is called eternity; it is a big deal, it is an eternal deal, that means forever and ever, and ever. People are not thinking about eternity everyday; but they should. With the excuse that "some people spiritualize everything", they dismiss the truth of their lives; we must die someday and the day is coming soon, but they rather think about their little universes as worlds with no end; they read things like " set your minds above where Christ is and not on the things of the world" Col. 3:1-2; but soon forget about it because it is no fun; they rather play the guitar or sit under the spotlight; now that's fun, and idolatrous...

That is the big deal; but not only that, the greatest deal is the glory of God expressed in the face of Jesus Christ: 2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; and if we don't get this deal straight we are not going to get anything straight, including eternity. Just like the T.V show; it is deal or no deal.

Why did God shine His light in our hearts to give us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus? Because His glory is what matters; His glory expressed in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the glory we must know; this is the knowledge Jesus refers to when He says: John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Man is not righteous; our state in the eyes of God is that of a dirty scum bucket thing, of a loathsome pestilence; putrid and full of worms and decay, we stinketh before the holiness of God; the stench of our sin rises up to the very nostrils of the Son of God in heaven: Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Ecc 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

The fact is that the best we can gather from our actions, our words, our thoughts and our motives, falls short of the standard of God's righteousness; that is precisely Paul's argument and a key proposition in the gospel message. We need to be just; we must be holy and righteous in the sight of the Almighty and we are not; so God solves the problem by making us just, righteous, holy and without blame before Him, by imputing Jesus' righteousness unto us, and by imputing our sin and wretchedness unto Christ and having Him pay for it by dying on the cross. It is in this "great exchange" of righteousness for sin, and sin for righteousness that justification comes to us by faith; the faith that God by His grace places in our hearts (Eph. 2:8-10).

In the book of Romans, the expanded edition of the gospel; Paul declares: Rom 4:20-25 He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Paul says that this imputation of righteousness was put on record for our sakes; so that we realize that the work is divine, not human.

The problem is that what is being preached in these modern times, is that the faith that Abraham had, they make it appear to be innate faith; as if he was born with it, as if all men were born with it, or as if it were inside of him somewhere in his heart, dormant; they tell you that now it is your responsibility to gather your faith and exercise it so that you can believe and thus be justified; you have to make a commitment, make a choice to believe, as if it all was just an intellectual exercise, and making the believing your complete responsibility.

But this is contradictory to what the scriptures teach; no one has faith and no one is righteous, that is the problem, this is the insurmountable obstacle that divides and separates us from God; we are at enmity with God, we are destined to perish unless He does something to bring the wall of iniquity down; and that is exactly what Jesus did.

Eph 2:14-16 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:.

Look at the following scriptures and see the progression; and I will let the bible do the talking:

Rom 8:5-9 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 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.

Col 1:21-22 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

Eph 2:1-5 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Rom 5:9-11 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Rom 8:28-30 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Rom 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Eph 2:8-10 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

This is it: you and I, that were sometime alienated and enemies; were carnally minded, dead in trespasses and sins and could not be subject to the law of God by nature, are made alive and holy and unblameable and unreproveable; being now justified by his blood we are saved from wrath through Him; we were reconciled to God; we have now received the atonement; we were called according to his purpose; if called, then also justified: and if justified, then also glorified. We are justified by faith; by faith we have access into this grace; by grace are ye saved through faith; it is the gift of God: Not of works, we have been created in Christ Jesus for His glory.

Let me put it in simpler terms, or a little different scope: we were dead in sin; were dead enemies of God and we have been raised with Christ; reconciled to God and through Jesus, by God, Jesus, becoming a man and shedding His blood and dying in our place; making us holy and without blame; by atoning for us. Justifying us by His Blood, then He has called us and justified us by grace and through faith, thus we have been glorified in His sight; all of this is the gift of God and there are no actions on our part that can add or make His gift better or more effective; we are out of the equation, and all the glory belongs to Him alone.

I'm making it more complicated than what it really is...but when you look at the whole of scripture and see how many times God repeats the same thing with different words and sometimes with the same words, then it is, I think, impossible to miss it.

Justification is a legal term that declares an accused man guiltless; the teachers say it means to be just, "just as if you never sinned"; but I think that misses the meaning a bit; it means more than that, it means that you have been declared righteous. It not only removes the guilt but imputes righteousness by faith. In other words; not only is sin and transgression covered, but they are taken away, rendering the sinner righteous, just as if he never broke any commandments. I know, it is the same thing. But you get my point.

The standard is the law; and the law was given because of transgressions, Paul says; so that where there is no law, there is no transgression; that is the law was given to make sin evident and utterly sinful; but Jesus did not annul the law, He fulfilled the law for us, so that the righteousness that would be possible by keeping the law (though it was impossible for us to keep it) would be imputed unto us to declare us righteous.

Rom 4:3-8 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Psa 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

Psa 32:1-2 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Anyway; countless books have been written about this, and in fact the center of the whole reformation movement 500 years ago was about justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, etc, etc. I'm not trying to write a book, maybe I should, but the point is that when you hear anybody saying that you need to do something, or make a commitment, or make a decision and so forth and so on; it should make a little red sign start flashing in your brain with the words 'danger: another gospel'.

I am not advocating libertinism but I am neither advocating antinomianism; or saying that we should not excel in our striving for holiness and good works, it has nothing to do with that; what I am trying to make a point about, is that justification has not been fully comprehended because it is not preached and taught correctly in the church today; the lack of doctrinal precision has given place to all kinds of practical aberrations; the gospel has been diluted to the point of accepting anything else but grace.

Just one more thing and then I'm done; why is God doing all this? Why justify us wretched worms? The answer runs throughout the bible; so that we can have fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ; and why does He want us to have fellowship with Him? So that we can give Him glory, it is that simple, for His glory; for the sake of the glory of His name and of the glory of His grace.

I really need a burrito now....

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Jonathan Edwards

The bible is without a doubt the most exciting book of all books ever written; it is the best selling religious book of the history of mankind; it has been preserved for thousands of years in the same form, and it contains the rule for all life and godliness.

Many people over the years, thousands of years, have made and written commentaries on the different books of the bible; and now, by divine providence, we have the privilege of being able to read them and study them, and to read many different versions of the word of God; I have in my possession at least 10 different bibles, from plain bibles to study bibles, in Spanish and in English, and in Greek and Hebrew; I am a blessed man.

God has, throughout the centuries, made a long list of godly men that have had a deep understanding of the things written in the book of books; I like reading their thoughts and insights. Most of the men I read are already dead, unfortunately; but their writings are still alive and available for all to read. There are many other men of God who are still alive and deserve a listening ear and a reading eye; and of course there are a lot of men that call themselves godly but teach a lot of crap.

It is for me at least, a real privilege to be able to handle the book in my hands, to open it, flip the pages and read it; but the most awesome thing is when God speaks to me through the book; that is what I call amazing.

I am saying all this because I want to share this: Jonathan Edwards; the American Theologian. Everybody knows Edwards from his sermon 'sinners in he hands of an angry God'; but that is just a small sample of what he preached; he wrote numerous books and sermons, he was a missionary to the American Indians in the 1700's and he was used by God to bring about one of the greatest revivals in American history; his works really deserve a look into.

Anyway; Yale University has put together a collection of all his works and they are available for free here: http://edwards.yale.edu/; if the link doesn't work, just copy and paste it into your browser address line.

Here is a sample: "Live every day as much according to the rules of Gods Word, as if you were assured it was your last. If this rule were observed, almost all sorts of men would live very differently, from what they now do. They do abundance of things, day after day that dare not do if they knew they should die tomorrow.

The observing of this rule is the way not to be afraid of death. And to meet that king of terrors without when the time of departure was at hand. Trembling and to be able to say as the apostle did, when the time of his departure was at hand, 2 Tim. 4:7 and 8, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, [I have kept the faith:] Henceforth there is Laid up for me a crown of righteousness [which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.]

Enjoy.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Amazing Grace...

Grace. Amazing grace.

I would like to remind you that I don't really expect anybody to agree with what I say; you can always express your disagreement and we can talk about it; but if no-one says anything, I will assume that at least I made you think; and that is a good thing.

The only possible reason that I can think of, by which people have a hard time understanding grace; and the gospel for that matter; is pride. The real killer of humanity, the real terminator; is pride. Self-determination, self-assurance, self-assertion; everything nowadays is about self, the media pushes it to our faces everyday, gee they even have a magazine called Self.

If you ask any Christian the reason why they are one; you can get all kinds of answers, all related to self and self-determination; where did this come from? Not from the bible, that's for sure.

We hear about free will, about self will, the answer always begins with "I"; "I repented", "I accepted Jesus", "I prayed", "I humbled myself", "I was forgiven", etc, etc. That is what I'm talking about. Even when all these answers are ultimately true, they are not correct.

Paul calls the gospel the gospel of grace: Act 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

So in a sense, grace is the gospel; what has been taught over the years is that grace is unmerited favor, what we don't deserve, without doing anything for it, or earning it; but in fact, regarding the gospel I am going to venture and say that we didn't even ask for it; it was just given to us by God when He decided to do it; grace is completely independent of all human activity. Mercy on the other side, as we know, is not obtaining, or not receiving what we deserve, which is this case is the wrath of God; hell; this also independent of any input on our part.

Even with this understanding of the definition, I guess the evangelical definition, of grace; the focus remains on ourselves; we remain the center of God's plan, we remain the center of our little universes; we are in our eyes the most valuable thing in the whole of creation; we continue to be the objects of divine grace and mercy and therefore we must be all important, right?

The fundamental problem in this misunderstanding of what grace is, is that we really haven't grasped the depths and the extent of the depravity of the human heart. The pervasive thought in modern times is that humans are basically good, and that we still possess the power of self determination, (free will, if you will) and that we can create our own worlds and circumstances; and not that we are deceitful and depraved above all things. The belief is that we can do well on our own, we just need a little help from our friends; and God is our friend, isn't He? Remember the Beatles song?

Reality is, according to the bible; that the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17:9-10; in fact, Jeremiah says that not even us can understand it; only God knows how wicked we really are. Paul the apostle states it this way: Rom 8:5-8 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

So, the human heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked and it is opposed to God's law and His word; we are enemies of God by nature; we love self and hate holiness, we love to sin, we delight in it and in the unrighteousness of the system, and the bottom line is that it is impossible for us to submit or come to God or to desire Him or His holiness and glory. Our deceitful heart deceives us into believing that we are good at heart, and our human pride doesn't like it; we don't want to hear that we are corrupt, we want to hear people say how good we are, we seek the glory that doesn't come from God, John 5:44; we want to be liked and accepted, so we care more about what other people think than about what God thinks.

What is it that God thinks? Isa 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

And is not His word the reflection of His thoughts? God speaks His thoughts, and His thoughts are written as His words; and His words are therefore higher than our words. Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psa 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. Psa 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

What does He think about us, the humans? Let's see: Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Psa 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. Psa 94:11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. And so on and so forth.....

Now, in view of what God thinks, and what man is, we can see that it is true that there is a dividing chasm between us and the Almighty, but there is nothing we can do about it; the problem is that we think we can do something, and we deceive ourselves.

If man is depraved by nature, and in love with sin, and his mind is opposed to God and His word, and he cannot be subject to Him because of natural inability; what can man do? This is where they tell you that you need to make a commitment, that you need to use your free will and come to God, come as you are; but again, the problem is that you cannot come as you are because you really don't want to come, you think you are okay and you don't need God for anything; you want to remain in charge and be self sufficient.

This is the problem that grace solves; this is what the gospel is all about; God doesn't force anybody, He drags you to Jesus. John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. To draw: G1670 helkuo. helko.
hel-koo'-o, hel'-ko Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): - draw. Compare G1667. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries.

You and I would never come unless the Father draw us to Jesus; He has to intervene and make it possible; that is what grace is, that is what the gospel is. The revelation of the gospel of grace comes to man through the Spirit of God and He gives the man a new heart, a heart that is now alive, not dead in sin; a heart that now sees the good news as really good news and not as foolishness or a as a stumbling block.

Grace gives us a new nature; a nature that is free from the bondage of self and the will; we now have a will that is indeed free to choose what is right and holy and righteous and spiritual, we can now choose what is pleasing to God, so that when we are presented with the gospel we see it as the most beautiful thing in the universe, we see our condition as God sees our condition, we suddenly realize we are sinners in need of a savior.

By grace, God is the one who initiates our redemption and that of the universe; God had the initiative to create in the first place, and it was Him who chose to take the necessary steps to redeem all things to Himself. God acts motivated by the purpose of His will without asking anybody's opinion about what to do or how to do it; He doesn't wait for anybody to do anything so that He can act and accomplish what He wants; He is the only Being ever known to man that is self-sufficient and self-determining; and everything He does is always in perfect harmony with His justice, His glory and power, and His love.

To know grace is to know God; and the first thing we know about anybody is their name; so what is God's name? His name is I AM, His name, as He proclaims it to Moses is this: Exodus 33:18-19 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

That is what it means to be God, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious"; that is the prerogative of God the Almighty, He reigns supreme over all things and beings; He is stating it there, it is up to Him to be gracious and show mercy to whom He wills; He is not coerced or enticed by any factors outside of Himself; His choice resides in the secret counsel of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

And; Exodus 34:5-7 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

The name of the Lord is gracious, merciful, patient, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin; and by no means clearing the guilty. Who are the guilty? Everyone is the guilty, so who can be the beneficiary to His mercy and grace? Without Him choosing some, there would be no survivors, no one would be saved.

Moses, the man of God, continues to declare: Deuteronomy 7:6-10 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

According to the bible, God chose the children of Israel because He loved them; that is the only reason; not because they were special or better than other people, but because God just wanted it that way, period. Before God chose Abraham, all people in the earth were in the same position; all were gentiles and children of wrath by nature, in fact Abraham was a pagan, he was called out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, so he was not any more special than anyone else.

The purpose of this choosing is God's purpose of blessing all the nations through His people for the sake of His glory, the glory of His name; whether He chose Abraham or Moctezuma, it makes no difference because the choice wasn't based on any particulars on the individual; it was not based on any of Abraham's future acts (works) or anything in Him, not his faith, not his righteousness, not anything.

From the earthly perspective, as soon as God chooses Abraham, then all the nations stand outside of the promises, and out of the covenant that God made, meaning that all people become gentiles and Abraham becomes the chosen one, the father of the faithful; from the divine perspective, the time has come to fulfill God's purpose and choice, which He made before the foundation of the earth, before time began.

The Lord Yahweh is the God of the covenants, and so He made a covenant with Abraham, a covenant to multiply him and to bless him and to bless all the nations of the earth through him; a covenant to eliminate the enmity between God and men; a ratification of the covenant made at the beginning of time, first to Adam and then to Noah.

Man is an enemy of God by nature; Psa 14:1-3 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

In the original the words "there is" are not there; so this is the way the beginning of this psalm reads: "the fool has said in his heart: no God"; it is not really that the fool does not believe that there is no God, but that he rejects God; he would not have God in his life, no God, 'I don't want God'; his heart is at enmity with God, he hates God and His righteousness, he hates the accountability he has before the Creator of the universe, he has altogether become filthy; there are no thoughts of God in his mind (Psalm 10:4).

Everyone is a fool like that without grace; that is the message; but not only that, the fool who stays in his rebellion will die, and the problem is that he doesn't see it; he doesn't want it, he is going to perish forever and he has no desire for eternal life and for the person who can offer it; he would rather say in his heart: 'no God'.

Grace is God doing the saving; grace is the expression of God's love and mercy upon the sinner, grace is being justified by God's putting forth Jesus as a propitiation for our sins; grace is the great exchange of righteousness between Christ and His people; He was imputed with our sins and we were imputed with His righteousness; other terms can be used here such as justification, but at the end everything is due to the grace of God.

The most important thing, at least in my mind, is that our salvation is not grounded on our distinctives or our actions, past, present or future; but it is grounded on the mercy and love God has for His people.

Rom 3:21-28 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

It is clear, the ones who are justified are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, it is by His grace, as a gift; not earned or worked for, not even expected.

Most importantly; God demonstrates His righteousness; "because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins"; and doing that He appeared unrighteous before the universe. It is as if everyone was saying; 'God is not just, He doesn't really punish those who hate Him to their faces, He passes over sins, and doesn't deal with them'; then Christ was sent to bear those faults, the transgressions of His people; He was the propitiation of God to Himself.

To maximize the message, God says: Hab 2:4 "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Rom 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

The righteous shall not die, but shall live by faith; he shall live a life of faith and shall be saved through faith; and who is the righteous when there is no one righteous, no, not one? The one who has faith in Jesus; the one who has been given grace and faith to believe, that is the one who is righteous. Exo 33:19 And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. God decides who the righteous shall be; He chooses whom to have mercy upon and whom to harden, and it is so; it's that simple.

Like I said in other posts; salvation begins and ends with God; for the sake of the glory of His name, and for the praise of the glory of His grace. It is all about Him, not about us. He shall be magnified and praised and adored and worshiped, whether the fool wants it or not because God is the one who transforms the fool into the wise for His glory.

1Co 1:27-31 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. 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.

God has chosen; but of Him you are in Christ, so if you are going to glory, glory in the Lord and not in the faith that you received or in the things that you did or will do.

So then, the next time someone asks you why are you a Christian; you can say with complete confidence "God made me one"; why did He? He did it because He chose to do it. What is amazing to me is that nobody asks the question, and this is because, as I said in the beginning, people think they had something to do with it; this is the problem today as has been for hundreds of years: make a commitment, the ball is on your court, you need to respond to the invitation and make the choice to be a Christian.

Rom 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

I should stop rambling now, I stop in awe of God's grace; this amazing grace in which we stand.




















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The Gospel

The gospel is not for beginners. There is today this pervading misunderstanding of what the gospel really is; it is like a plague that spreads through out the population and there is only one remedy to stop it: the gospel itself.

For many years, I dare say hundreds of years; people have been deceived in believing that the gospel is performance, a list of things one must do to keep on being accepted by God in His favor; a constant push to try harder, to make a commitment, to make a decision; that is what is being preached; try harder, you can do it if you just try a little harder, if you just would make a real commitment to act and think better, then you will be pleasing to God.

In this era of financial deficits and bankruptcies, an age of employment loss and whole families living from unemployment check to unemployment check; a period of history where the world is experiencing the pangs of death and pain and full blown entropy and decay; there is a greater deficit, a truth deficit, and this deficit has everything to do with the lack of understanding of what the gospel is, it gives way to all kinds of aberrations and legalistic behaviors, and a life of struggle for the professors of religion.

In the middle of the turmoil of life, and the pile of bills that never seem to get smaller; in the midst of pain and agony, and terrifying back pain and deterioration, and sickness, and brittle bones, and foreclosures, and brain tumors, and checking accounts with red numbers, and nights without sleep because of good children doing bad things; stands the man of faith, the Christian man (or woman), a believer of the message that all his debt, the debt that really matters, has been paid forever; the believer's budget has been balanced with no passive accounts, once and for all time; His God owns the bank.

It is a peculiar thing to see, I must say it is a glorious thing to experience; a man or woman of faith standing in the middle of the storms of life firmly planted upon a rock, unmovable, unshakable, not being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, not moved by anything this world and the flesh throws at him or her, but solid as a granite mountain; the only anchor being the truth. The gospel of Jesus Christ.

The personal knowledge (and understanding) of the gospel causes a man to rejoice in the most dire circumstances; the knowledge, the feeling, the conviction, the passion of this faith causes a believer to fall on his knees in humility and at the same time causes him to deeply worship the God who made him. The knowledge of the truth sets one free; and it is a grateful freedom.

The message is simple enough to be foolish to the wise and a stumbling block to the religious; but for those who are being saved it is the power of God, the power to save us from wrath, from eternal destruction, from sin and self.

That's what the message says, the evangel; we have sinned, fallen short of God's glory, and are going to die forever, but God became a man and took our sin upon Him and payed the penalty, all for free; not based on anything we had done but because of His mercy; He is the God who justifies the ungodly. By grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, period. Is that too simplistic?

But that is the essence of the message, the grace of God and His redemptive love. Eph. 2:8-9. You have been saved by grace through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast.

It is the gift of God; what is it? The grace or the faith or the salvation? It's all of Him, the grace, the faith, the salvation, all of it is a gift; yes even your faith is the work of God. No one, no man, woman or child, can believe the message except through the working of God's Spirit in the mind and in the heart.

That is what the truth says; you don't have to be a theologian or a scholar, or a pastor or teacher to know this; the bible is clear, God is sovereign, He reigns; and He determines and chooses whom to save; that some are not chosen is evident by the sheer number of people who die everyday without faith; some even die cursing God.

But election is not all, it's just part of it; one of the most important points, at least in my mind, is that we have been delivered from the wrath to come; we have peace with God by His justification; He declared me righteous, just, pure and holy, just as if I have never sinned; but not only that, at the same time He imputed Christ's righteousness to me so He no longer sees me as an enemy but as a son, adopted into His family, no need to perform anymore, no need to make a list, no need for commitments or for trying harder, it is finished.

Ah the joy of peace! Peace with God the Almighty, Jehovah, the creator of heaven and earth, the Ancient of Days! But it doesn't stop there, not at all, that is just the beginning; the whole thing just keeps escalating from one degree of glory to another. The gospel begins with God and ends with God, He is the beginning and the end.

God saves; He saves us from His wrath, from our sin, from our selves, from condemnation, from fear of death, but why? Why does He do that? So that He can be praised, so that He can be admired and magnified in the universe and in all realms; that is the end of all things, the praise of the glory of His grace.

God doesn't leave things in the hands of men, if He did, the plan wouldn't work. He initiates everything and He ends everything to demonstrate, not only His power and glory, but also His awesome grace and love; He is perfect in all His ways, He does all things well.

Like I said before, it doesn't stop there. The gospel creates joy inexpressible in the midst of any trial, when it is rightly understood; I say this because God will take His children there to that point of glorifying Him forever, when they enjoy Him and are completely satisfied in Him. That is the purpose of all trials and tribulations, that is the reason why we experience pain and suffering, so that we can discover the satisfying grace of God, and in that grace to be set free from all pain and sorrow.

The gospel is all about grace; the grace of God expressed in the work of Jesus and the cross of His death, and the joy of His resurrection; that is what needs to be preached, that is what we need to be reminded of everyday of our lives: God's grace and the gift of Himself.

The distortion of the gospel comes when we think that salvation is about us, about the human physical and emotional needs; when the message has turned from "the glory of God" to the "satisfaction of man"; when Jesus is preached and presented as the "useful" God that wants to fix all your problems, and fulfill all your desires; the distortion comes from placing the looking glass on man and not on God.

God gave His Son; in fact He gave Himself, so He is the gift, not what He can provide. Eternal life, salvation from wrath, is only worth anything when the purpose and the end of it is God Himself. God did not save me so that I can be happy forever and enjoy my life forever in my own little world, He saved me so that I can live with Him forever and enjoy Him forever; if the focus is not Him, then it all looses it's worth.

Therefore, the gospel is not for beginners; it is for everyone, for everyday of every life; the gospel is God Himself giving Himself to us so that we can praise Him, eternal life is designed to be lived with God and for God. He is the beginning and the end. That is why we have no joy sometimes, all our attention is fixed on our tiny little miserable lives, we want to be important, we want to be significant, we want attention, we want compassion and pity and "poor you", and "how great you are"; but that is not what God wants; He wants praise and worship and adoration and to be our treasure, what we value most, and "How Great You Are".

Christ died and rose again, the gospel, so that He can bring us to God, why? Because He is worthy to be with; because He is worthy to be treasured, and to be desired above all things; what else? We will live forever in His presence, where there is fullness of Joy forever; everything else is worthless. Heaven without Jesus is nothing more than hell.

Have a nice day.

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Speaking in tongues and the religious affections

I had a conversation with Eutychus last night about the gifts of the Spirit; in particular the admonition of Paul to seek these gifts:

1Co 12:27-31 Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.
And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?
But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

Paul then goes on to explain why love is the most excellent way. In chapter 14 and in the same vain, he makes another admonition, perhaps a stronger one, that the Corinthians would and should pursue love, and at the same time he now compares love to speaking in tongues and gives the advantages of love.

By the reading of the previous and following chapters I can tell that these Corinthian Christians were almost boastful of their speaking in tongues; in fact you have to read the whole book to discover that their tongue-speaking boast was not their only problem; it reminds me of some churches I've been to.

It is a problem when one seeks to speak in tongues for personal edification, since no one else gets edified, unless someones interprets, and the sole purpose of seeking and obtaining spiritual gifts is for the edifying of the body ( 1Cor 14:4-5, etc.). Actually, the only purpose that God gives any gifts is for the edifying of the body; and even then, the only purpose of the edification of the body is the glory of God.

I don't have any problems regarding people speaking in tongues, as long as they do it at home, unless they have an interpreter they can use to edify the body with their praying; God is not a god of confusion, says Paul, and besides that he also says that tongues are a sign for non-believers, but prophesying is for the believers; prophesying here refers to the interpretation of the scriptures, not foretelling future events. At the end of the chapter he says not to prevent someone from doing it, but when that happens, to do it in order.

Anyway, the reason I'm thinking about all this is that, besides our conversation, I have never spoken in tongues and I really don't desire to speak in tongues, I am not interested in it at all for some reason; I have learned, or discovered, that one can get edified just by studying the word of God, or during worship.

For a long time I have thought that God wants me to be engaged in the worship of Him, in everything I do (I fail all the time, maybe I'm getting better); what I mean is that He not only desires my intellect to be engaged but also my emotions; all my affections. In fact I believe that the word of God is especially designed to engage my affections; I see the same thing in worship.

Why am I now referring to affections when I was talking about speaking in tongues? Well, because some people seek the speaking in tongues for the affections it produces, or it might produce; I can only assume that speaking in an unknown language must produce all kinds of affections, at least the feeling of being edified or getting stronger in the knowledge of God, or getting closer to Him; maybe I'm using the wrong words; maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, maybe I'm speaking in tongues.

Whatever the case might be, one thing is sure: God wants all of me to bring Him glory and He will get glory whether I like it or not; and one thing is for sure, God will engage both, my intellect and my emotions, to glorify Himself in me.

I really like Jonathan Edwards; some say that he is the greatest theologian America has ever produced, I say God produced him, but anyway, I have been reading one of his books: The Religious Affections and in this book he talks about that same thing; this is some of it (it is lengthy but worthy to read):

"They who condemn high affections in others, are certainly not likely to have high affections themselves. And let it be considered, that they who have but little religious affection, have certainly but little religion. And they who condemn others for their religious affections, and have none themselves, have no religion.

There are false affections, and there are true. A man's having much affection, don't prove that he has any true religion: but if he has no affection, it proves that he has no true religion. The right way, is not to reject all affections, nor to approve all; but to distinguish between affections, approving some, and rejecting others; separating between the wheat and the chaff, the gold and the dross, the precious and the vile.

If it be so, that true religion lies much in the affections, hence we may infer, that such means are to be desired, as have much of a tendency to move the affections. Such books, and such a way of preaching the Word, and administration of ordinances, and such a way of worshiping God in prayer, and singing praises, is much to be desired, as has a tendency deeply to affect the hearts of those who attend these means.

Such a kind of means, would formerly have been highly approved of and applauded by the generality of the people of the land, as the most excellent and profitable, and having the greatest tendency to promote the ends of the means of grace. But the prevailing taste seems of late strangely to be altered: that pathetical manner of praying and preaching, which would formerly have been admired and extolled, and that for this reason, because it had such a tendency to move the affections, now, in great multitudes, immediately excites disgust, and moves no other affections, than those of displeasure and contempt.

Perhaps, formerly the generality (at least of the common people) were in the extreme, of looking too much to an affectionate address, in public performances: but now, a very great part of the people, seem to have gone far into a contrary extreme. Indeed there may be such means, as may have a great tendency to stir up the passions of weak and ignorant persons, and yet have no great tendency to benefit their souls.

For though they may have a tendency to excite affections, they may have little or none to excite gracious affections, or any affections tending to grace. But undoubtedly, if the things of religion, in the means used, are treated according to their nature, and exhibited truly, so as tends to convey just apprehensions, and a right judgment of them; the more they have a tendency to move the affections, the better.

If true religion lies much in the affections, hence we may learn, what great cause we have to be ashamed and confounded before God, that we are no more affected with the great things of religion. It appears from what has been said, that this arises from our having so little true religion.

God has given to mankind affections, for the same purpose which he has given all the faculties and principles of the human soul for, viz. that they might be subservient to man's chief end, and the great business for which God has created him, that is the business of religion.

And yet how common is it among mankind, that their affections are much more exercised and engaged in other matters, than in religion! In things which concern men's worldly interest, their outward delights, their honor and reputation, and their natural relations, they have their desires eager, their appetites vehement, their love warm and affectionate, their zeal ardent; in these things their hearts are tender and sensible, easily moved, deeply impressed, much concerned, very sensibly affected, and greatly engaged; much depressed with grief at worldly losses, and highly raised with joy at worldly successes and prosperity.

But how insensible and unmoved are most men, about the great things of another world! How dull are their affections! How heavy and hard their hearts in these matters! Here their love is cold, their desires languid, their zeal low, and their gratitude small.

How they can sit and hear of the infinite height and depth and length and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus, of his giving his infinitely dear Son, to be offered up a sacrifice for the sins of men, and of the unparalleled love of the innocent, holy and tender Lamb of God, manifested in his dying agonies, his bloody sweat, his loud and bitter cries, and bleeding heart, and all this for enemies, to redeem them from deserved, eternal burnings, and to bring to unspeakable and everlasting joy and glory; and yet be cold, and heavy, insensible, and regardless!

Where are the exercises of our affections proper, if not here? What is it that does more require them? And what can be a fit occasion of their lively and vigorous exercise, if not such an one as this? Can anything be set in our view, greater and more important? Anything more wonderful and surprising? Or more nearly concerning our interest? Can we suppose the wise Creator implanted such principles in the human nature as the affections, to be of use to us, and to be exercised on certain proper occasions, but to lie still on such an occasion as this? Can any Christian, who believes the truth of these things, entertain such thoughts?

If we ought ever to exercise our affections at all, and if the Creator han't unwisely constituted the human nature, in making these principles a part of it, when they are vain and useless; then they ought to be exercised about those objects which are most worthy of them.

But is there anything, which Christians can find in heaven or earth, so worthy to be the objects of their admiration and love, their earnest and longing desires, their hope, and their rejoicing, and their fervent zeal, as those things that are held forth to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ? In which, not only are things declared most worthy to affect us, but they are exhibited in the most affecting manner.

The glory and beauty of the blessed Jehovah, which is most worthy in itself, to be the object of our admiration and love, is there exhibited in the most affecting manner that can be conceived of, as it appears shining in all its luster, in the face of an incarnate, infinitely loving, meek, compassionate, dying Redeemer.

All the virtues of the Lamb of God, his humility, patience, meekness, submission, obedience, love and compassion, are exhibited to our view, in a manner the most tending to move our affections, of any that can be imagined; as they all had their greatest trial, and their highest exercise, and so their brightest manifestation, when he was in the most affecting circumstances; even when he was under his last sufferings, those unutterable and unparalleled sufferings, he endured, from his tender love and pity to us.

There also, the hateful nature of our sins is manifested in the most affecting manner possible; as we see the dreadful effects of them, in what our Redeemer, who undertook to answer for us, suffered for them. And there we have the most affecting manifestations of God's hatred of sin, and his wrath and justice in punishing it; as we see his justice in the strictness and inflexibleness of it, and his wrath in its terribleness, in so dreadfully punishing our sins, in One who was infinitely dear to him, and loving to us.

So has God disposed things, in the affair of our redemption, and in his glorious dispensations, revealed to us in the gospel, as though everything were purposely contrived in such a manner, as to have the greatest, possible tendency to reach our hearts in the most tender part, and move our affections most sensibly and strongly. How great cause have we therefore to be humbled to the dust, that we are no more affected!

Jonathan Edwards [1754], Religious Affections (WJE Online Vol. 2) , Ed. Paul Ramsey

Have a nice day....




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Jesus, I love Thy charming name

I had to post this. I said it before but I will say it again, Spurgeon is one of my favorite teachers. Anyone can get this in the form of an email from The Blue Letter Bible, in fact you can read all of his sermons there; I think everybody should.

Is the name of our King so sweet to you?

Charles H. Spurgeon
February 8, 2010 Morning Reading

Thou shalt call his name Jesus.--Matthew 1:21 When a person is dear, everything connected with him becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers, that everything about Him they consider to be inestimable beyond all price.

"All Thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia," said David, as if the very vestments of the Saviour were so sweetened by His person that he could not but love them. Certain it is, that there is not a spot where that hallowed foot hath trodden--there is not a word which those blessed lips have uttered--nor a thought which His loving Word has revealed--which is not to us precious beyond all price.

And this is true of the names of Christ--they are all sweet in the believer's ear. Whether He be called the Husband of the Church, her Bridegroom, her Friend; whether He be styled the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world--the King, the Prophet, or the Priest--every title of our Master--Shiloh, Emmanuel, Wonderful, the Mighty Counsellor-- every name is like the honeycomb dropping with honey, and luscious are the drops that distil from it.

But if there be one name sweeter than another in the believer's ear, it is the name of Jesus. Jesus! it is the name which moves the harps of heaven to melody. Jesus! the life of all our joys.

If there be one name more charming, more precious than another, it is this name. It is woven into the very warp and woof of our psalmody. Many of our hymns begin with it, and scarcely any, that are good for anything, end without it. It is the sum total of all delights. It is the music with which the bells of heaven ring; a song in a word; an ocean for comprehension, although a drop for brevity; a matchless oratorio in two syllables; a gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters.

"Jesus, I love Thy charming name, 'Tis music to mine ear."


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