The Will of Satan for You

The Will of the Devil For You by Brother Paul Garcia

(2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, {25} In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; {26} And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Paul wrote to Timothy how to restore saved ones who are opposing themselves, living contrary to who God has made them to be in Christ. The way to recover such a person is to instruct them in meekness the sound doctrine that we learned from the Apostle Paul. Sound doctrine is what God will use to grant them repentance, a changing of the mind, to recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.

Satan has a will for your life: to hold you captive so your life will not reflect the godliness that you have in Christ.

Satan wants to be like the most High, the possessor of heaven and earth. God has a plan for the heaven and earth (Eph 1:10 ; Col 1:16-18). Satan wants to take over what God has planned.

In Isaiah 14:13-14 we learn of Satan’s plan and in Ezekiel 28 what he does with the plan.

(Ezekiel 28:1-6 KJV) The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {2} Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: {3} Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: {4} With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: {5} By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: {6} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

(Ezekiel 28:14-15 KJV) Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. {15} Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Satan was the wisest, most beautiful creature God created. God gave him creativity and beauty in order to lead creation into the worship of God. However, instead of appreciation toward God, Satan turned his focus on himself; he becomes lifted up by pride and thinks that creation ought to worship him not God. He devises a plan to take over.

(Ezekiel 28:16-19 KJV) By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. {17} Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. {18} Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. {19} All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Then Satan took his plan and went out to the other angels and began to sell the idea that he can do it better than God. He convinces them to take over and undermine God’s authority. Rev 12 says that a third of the angels joined Satan in his plan.

God created hell to stop the rebellion (Matthew 25:41). He created a judgment of wrath that was so terrifying that it brought the rebellion to a screeching halt. He covered the universe in darkness (Gen 1:2). Then He creates light so they can see what He is going to do. He sets the earth up there and gets it functioning again. Then He puts somebody on the earth, something like the angels never seen before.

(Genesis 1:26-27 KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. {27} So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Those angels watched what God was doing; they never saw anything like it before

(Genesis 1:28 KJV) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God’s response to what Satan did was to create man on the earth in the midst of the Satanic realm to be used by God in the thwarting and defeating of Satan’s plan. God put man on the planet for the purpose of restoring the earth back under His dominion, to take back the authority that Satan usurped.

The first thing Satan did was go and enlist man over to his side. (Genesis 3) Satan sold his plan to man and immediately man sided with Satan.

(Genesis 3:4-6 KJV) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: {5} For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. {6} And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

All of the heavenly host was watching. Satan sold Adam and Eve the same bill of goods that he sold to the angels: you can be as gods.

(Romans 1:21-23 KJV) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. {22} Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, {23} And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Man believed the lie that they can becomes as gods. Satan thought he outsmarted God; when Adam and Eve belived the lie, Satan became the undisputed king and ruler.

(Luke 4:5-7 KJV) And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. {6} And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. {7} If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Satan tempted Christ by saying, ‘If you will make me God then I will give you the planet.” Satan understood Christ came to reclaim the earth. Satan said, “I will give it to you, if you will worship me.” The Lord Jesus Christ does not dispute that it was given to Satan. Why not? Because the fact that Satan had the crown on his head was true.

(Ephesians 2:2 KJV) 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:

Paul calls Satan the prince of the power of the air: chief ruler of the air, the invisible realm. Satan is prince of the heavenly realm just as he is prince of the earthly realm. These two titles describe him in relation of his usurpation of the territory.

In Genesis 3, when Satan took the crown from Adam for the earth God made a promise in response to what Adam did:

(Genesis 3:15 KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This promise tells us that God had a plan in response to Satan’s usurpation of authority. We see God’s wisdom working here.

Bruising of the head = 1st coming of Christ
Crushing of the head – 2nd coming of Christ

God gives the promise of the seed of woman; it is through this seed that God will set up a kingdom to restore His rule over the earth.This seed line is vested in the nation Israel. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham, which becomes the seed of David, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ that Israel will reign and establish that kingdom.

In prophecy, the purpose is the restoration of God’s authority over this planet earth through the instrumentality of a kingdom given to the nation Israel. This kingdom and God’s use of Israel with Christ as their Messiah is how God will restore his headship over the planet and destroy all other kingdoms and have just His kingdom reign. This is the goal of prophecy.

(Daniel 2:44 KJV) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

God of heaven will set up a kingdom, a.k.a. as the kingdom of heaven. It can also be called the kingdom of God because the God of heaven set it up. Now, this is not talking about a kingdom in heaven but the kingdom of heaven that God sets up down here on the earth and it will stand forever. One day God is going to establish His kingdom and dominion on the earth over this planet and He will use the nation Israel to do that.

(Zechariah 14:9 KJV) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
The issue of the kingdom is man’s purpose to restore the earth and subdue it. However, man failed and joined the satanic rebellion and turned over the planet to Satan.

Since man failed to do what God intended for him to do God gives a promise that He will do it for man. God will accomplish plan to restore the earth through the nation Israel. This is why Satan opposes Israel so intensely.

Why would Satan have offered the kingdom to Jesus Christ? If Christ came to get the planet, then why would Satan give it to Him? The reason is if the kingdoms were taken away from Satan then Satan would lose his stronghold in the heavens also. The goal of prophecy is to restore the earth.

(Ephesians 1:9 KJV) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

God made known to us the mystery of His will. His revealed will was to restore the earth. However, His will also had a secret. God had a secret purpose from before the foundation of the world. Not only was God’s purpose in prophecy revealed but now He has made known to us a secret, something that He had always planned to do.

(Ephesians 1:10 KJV) That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

God’s plan is to gather all things in heaven and earth in one in Christ. Satan’s plan was to take the heaven and the earth. From Genesis until Paul, it was only God’s revealed will to restore earth through Israel. But now we know that He will restore the heavens also.

We, as members of the body of Christ, are a heavenly people. It is through the members of the body of Christ that God will restore the heavens.

(Colossians 1:16-20 KJV) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: {17} And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. {18} And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. {19} For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; {20} And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Here we see what the “all things” are: thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. These are governmental authorities, all created in Christ and for Him. The blood of the cross is the means in which He will restore these things unto Himself.

In verse 18, we read that Christ is the head of the body. Why is this important? The Lord Jesus Christ is head of Israel: King of kings and Lord of lords over all the earth. He is made the head of the body so He might have preeminence in all things. If He were to be just head of things on the earth, He would not be head of all, all positions of rank and authority.

God will use Israel to restore the earth and the church, the body of Christ, to restore the heavenly places. God has a two-fold purpose that is really one purpose: to make the Lord Jesus Christ restore His headship over all things.

(Ephesians 3:9-10 KJV) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: {10} To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Notice this is all being done to the intent those in heaven would know the manifold wisdom of God. You know what Satan wants to do with this? 2 Corinthians 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” Satan cannot overcome so he will try to hide what God has done.

Satan’s will for your life is to keep you from understanding God’s purpose is for you to restore God’s rule and authority in the heavenly places. He is most successful in doing this by selling you the lie that all of God’s promises and blessings to Israel (things pertaining to the earth) belong to you. His goal is to get you to follow the wrong set of instruction so that the manifold wisdom of God will not be known unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places.

Have You Believed In Vain?

An incredible read by dear brother in Christ Scott Clark. I beseech you take time to read it and consider what he says.

Victory Over Sin Under Grace Alone

In Romans 4 Paul is not focusing on David as an example of justification by faith without works.

Ro 4:6-8 KJV: “Even as David also describeth THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE MAN, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

David did NOT understand how it came about; he did not understand the Gospel of Grace, but he did know something about the JOY of the FORGIVENESS OF SINS. That word, “blessedness” means “happy.”

In Romans 4:4-6 we have Paul quoting David from Psalm 32:1-2. Here we find David talking about the joy, the happiness of a man who has his sins forgiven. David did not know about the Cross nor the finished work of Christ, but in this verse he does know his sins are forgiven. He does not understand why, but he knows they are forgiven because Nathan told him (2Sam 12).

So David said in Psalms 32:1-2 as Paul quoted it in Romans.

Ps 32:1-2 KJV: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”

If you go back to Psalms 32, you will see that David is not really saying everything Paul explains him to be saying. That is because Paul has NOW explained TO US things that David did NOT understand.

David lived under the law and under the law they had a “short account system.” When you sinned under that system, you had to immediately go and get forgiveness by confessing your sin and bring the proper sacrifice [ i.e. works = doing something ]. They had to keep “short accounts” with God. They had to maintain a constant, daily fellowship with God through their many sin offerings because they had no conscious knowledge of total forgiveness for their sins. Christ hadn’t yet come and died on the Cross at that point in time. In TIME PAST their “short account system” kept them in fellowship with God and that is what David was dealing with in Psalms 32 – the daily maintenance of the covenant relationship he had with God UNDER THE LAW.

Paul uses that in Romans 4 to describe the issue of TOTAL FORGIVENESS. Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. [Iniquity] (Romans 4:7-8) God will not write the sin down to your account. In David’s case it was a particular sin, but Paul is using this to describe the BLESSEDNESS of people who understand the Gospel of Grace; people who understand that God imputes righteousness to us WITHOUT WORKS. He tells us that David talked about the JOY, the thrill, of NOT having God impute sin to your account.

To impute something is to WRITE IT DOWN, TO CHARGE IT TO YOUR ACCOUNT. Paul said God will NOT write your sin down. When God imputes righteousness to your account the Lord will not impute sin – look at verse six:

Ro 4:6 KJV: “Even as David also DESCRIBETH the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”

And,

Ro 4:7 KJV: “…Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”

And,

Ro 4:8 KJV: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN.”

Imputing righteousness in the passage is EQUAL TO not imputing sin. When God imputes righteousness to your account, he not only ERASES ALL YOUR SINS but he also writes RIGHTEOUSNESS to your account. When God writes “Righteouss” across your account, then there is NO WAY to come along and WRITE DOWN sin. God is not up in heaven writing down every sin you commit. The short account system is over with. That was worked under the law principle, but we walk and work under grace where we have absolute, TOTAL FORGIVENESS which means that God forgave the past, the present and the future sins with equal effectiveness. And we know about it. David did NOT know about it.

It is important that you understand that THE ISSUE OF TOTAL FORGIVENESS IS A BASIC TRUTH OF GRACE.

You are NOT properly oriented to the GRACE of God and to the Gospel of the grace of God UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND this issue of absolute, total forgiveness, and the fact that we DO NOT work under a “short account system” as they did under the law.

I realize a lot of people don’t believe that, but it is because they work under the principle of the LAW. You have to be properly oriented to grace in order to function effectively and expediently as a believer. Paul is dealing in Romans 4 with grace.

Q: What is GRACE?

A: It is all that God is free to do for us because of Calvary.

Imputing righteousness is EQUAL TO not imputing sin. If all I am imputing is “rightness” then I can’t come alone and impute “wrongness.”

The two principles of Grace and Law and how they work, you need to grasp. They oppose one another. They are two DIFFERENT systems.

Ro 6:14 KJV: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but UNDER GRACE.”

Why does the verse say that sin shall not have dominion over you? “For ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Because you will never have victory over the dominion of sin until you are properly oriented to the assets you have under grace. Those two principles of law and grace are opposites.

The law principle is what we call, the “If then,” principle. It means: IF you do this, then I will do that. IF this happens then that will happen. The LAW SAYS, “if you perform this, you will get a blessing; if you don’t do that you get a curse.” The LAW is a performance system.

On the other hand, GRACE SAYS, “Here,” and hands you the blessing. Grace is all that God is free to do for you through the Cross. Grace gives you a blessing freely. Turn to Galatians 5 where we will SEE WHY this is important to understand.

Paul writes…

Ga 5:16, 18 KJV: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye SHALL NOT fulfil the lust of the flesh. [18] But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

If you walk in the Spirit, if you are led of the Spirit, you are NOT OPERATING UNDER THE LAW. The old sin nature works on the basis of the law. It’s your old sin nature that tries to work on the basis of reactionary legalism. It’s your old sin nature that tries to work on the basis of developing a lifestyle that seeks to RESIST God’s efforts to show you that you ARE a sinner and to manifest his love and his grace to you through Christ and Christ alone. The old sin nature works on the basis of performing, working, DOING for acceptance.

If you WALK IN THE FLESH, you are going to work under the LAW principle.

If you WALK IN THE SPIRIT you walk under the GRACE principle.

Walking and being led by the Spirit DOES NOT have anything to do with the Spirit of God taking control of you and leading you by the hand. Being led by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit means that you walk IN LINE WITH WHAT GOD SAYS HE IS DOING TODAY. When you are filled with and walk under the principles of grace, THEN you are “walking in the Spirit.” If you walk under the principles of the law – the “if, then” principle – THEN you are “walking in the flesh.”

The law is a performance/fear syndrome which means IF you perform THEN you get the blessing; IF you don’t perform, you get a curse. That system uses fear as motivation and the result of that is a GUILT COMPLEX when you fail to perform.

Look at this verse from TIME PAST …

Ex 19:5 KJV: “Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”

Notice the IF and THEN principle. The issue in this passage is KEEPING THE LAW. The law says, perform and I’ll bless you. They said they would do all that the Lord tells them. They found out they could not perform. Notice in the next passage that the motivation is fear.

Ex 20:19-20 KJV: “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. [20] And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his FEAR may be before your faces, THAT YE SIN NOT.”

In TIME PAST, under the LAW, fear of punishment was to motivate them to perform and get the blessing. Fear of what would happen to them IF they did NOT perform was to be their motivation to perform. If you did not do what was required to get the blessing, you would get the curse. Fear of the curse was designed for motivation in TIME PAST (Read Deuteronomy 4:10; 6:24; 10:12).

When we fear punishment there is an EMOTIONAL REACTION. In other words, punishment creates an emotion and that is FEAR – shame and hostility. When a man, operating under the law, violates the commandment he expects to be punished by God. He begins to have feelings of shame and rejection, reproach and low self-esteem. He feels worthless because he failed to measure up through PERFORMANCE. If he becomes physically sick with an illness he thinks God has punished him with bad health. Personal tragedies bring out feelings of failure and fear of punishment. Fear of rejection – the silent treatment from God. They may have been told they are temporarily out of fellowship with God. That kind of teaching, that doctrine is LEGALISM. It is the “short account system” of the law and is what brings out shame, and it’s what brings us into BONDAGE (Study the book of Galatians).

Legalism produces psychological guilt which is a subjective feelings of fear, shame and rejection. Those are SINFUL EMOTIONS that are authored by THE OLD SIN NATURE and do NOT promote spiritual growth nor holy living. They promote bondage!!!

We call this return to bondage REVERSIONISM. Reversionism is the condition of a believer that is negative toward Paul’s grace doctrine and as a result has stopped growing spiritually. It is failure to follow God’s plan of executing the Christian Way of Life. The reversionist is a believer in perpetual carnality, begging for God forgiveness, and completely out of step with grace principles, thus controlled by their old sin nature.

The reversionist is said to be “an enemy of God,” “an enemy of the Cross,” “a child of the devil,” double-minded” and “unstable in all his ways.” He does not abide in Christ’s heavenly teachings given only to apostle Paul. Instead, this believer deludes himself, this believer lacks faith, this believer faints in his mind, this believer is a prisoner to sin, this believer has fallen short of the grace of God, because their MIND is in bondage to the LAW, which results in them being tortured emotionally. This miserable mental state makes it very difficult and often times impossible for a believer to FOCUS on a full-time ministry.

When you put yourself under that performance system of the law, (performing to get a blessing), that WILL produce a FALSE GUILT, a guilt complex that makes you fearful and worthless, and you will not be motivated.

Under the Mosaic Law there was a “short account system” set up to take care of that guilt. They had to confess their sin and offer the prescribed sacrifice and God forgave them. In Psalm 51:5-8 that guilt feeling was compared to the breaking of bones. And in Psalm 51:9, 14 it is described as “bloodguiltiness.” Talk about shame and rejection! Talk about misery! That guy had it. That is what the law is designed to do. It produces that kind of guilt; the subjective inner feelings of fear, shame and rejection. Their “short account system” was designed to take care of THAT. In TIME PAST IT WAS the way to get the victory over it. They had a way to have their sin problem taken care of. It took care of that psychological guilt created by the law principle. They confessed their sins, acknowledged them before God, and brought the appropriate sacrifice and God said they were THEN FORGIVEN. David said it was blessedness and joy to come out of that black hole and be established on the Rock.

BUT NOW, today, under the GRACE PRINCIPLE there is no “short account system” because there is no law principle. God is doing something entirely different TODAY.

What is the grace principle? What does Paul say in Romans 3:24?

Ro 3:24 KJV: “Being JUSTIFIED FREELY by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

Grace has given it to you FREELY. In Chapter 5 Paul talks about the GIFT of grace, the GIFT of righteousness. The Grace principle is FREELY handing you the blessing. Now what is the blessing in this context? Chapter 4:7 and 8 …

Ro 4:7-8 KJV: “Saying, Blessed are they whose INIQUITIES ARE FORGIVEN, and whose SINS ARE COVERED. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN.”

THAT is Grace – not performance; not the law and fear program – it is a free gift for us to abide in and continue with for our furtherance and joy of faith.

The motivation is LOVE.

Eph 1:3 KJV: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS in heavenly places IN Christ:”

ALL spiritual blessings IN Christ Jesus. We have an absolute, perfect standing IN Christ.

Col 2:10 KJV: “And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:”

In Christ we have a perfect position by God’s grace.

Now … what about your WALK, your daily life?

Ro 5:1-2 KJV: “Therefore being justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ: [2] By whom also WE HAVE ACCESS by faith into this GRACE wherein WE STAND, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

It is BY FAITH we have access into GRACE. In our lives day in and day out we are to RECOGNIZE the merits of the finished work of Christ – to REALIZE what that means. We are then BY FAITH to appropriate those things because they BELONG TO US. We are to SEE ALL that Christ has done through Calvary. We are to REALIZE that all Christ DID there “is mine.”

How do you find out about all these things God has done for you? You discover them in the word of God. Romans through Philemon tells you all that he has done for you in Christ. You read it and study it, then, by faith, you say, “that’s mine! It’s mine because I AM IN CHRIST JESUS!”

Paul says in Ephesians 6:10, “be strong IN THE LORD.” He is not saying to let the Lord strengthen you. He is saying to BE STRONG in the position you ALREADY HAVE IN CHRIST. Take your stand where God put you – IN CHRIST.

If something comes along and tries to make you feel rejection and punishment, you say: Lord, I have been made the righteousness of God in HIM. Ephesians 1:6 – I’ve been made “accepted in the beloved.” In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7) Do you see the grace principle there – that everything is GIVEN to you IN Christ?

The MOTIVATION of the grace principle is LOVE. It is GRATITUDE. God GAVE IT ALL to us. The motivation for service is our gratitude to God. Do you remember what Romans 12:1-2 says?

Ro 12:1-2 KJV: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Here’s another great passage!

Tit 3:7-8 KJV: “That being justified BY HIS GRACE, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [8] This is a faithful saying, and these things I will THAT THOU AFFIRM CONSTANTLY, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”

Paul said, Titus, teach these things about God’s GRACE; explain to them and exhort them about God’s GRACE all the time. Why? “that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.” THAT IS GRACE MOTIVATION. To maintain our motivation for good works as a believer, we MUST constantly REMIND ourselves and the brethren GRACE principles.

2Co 5:14a KJV: “ For the love of Christ constraineth us;”

Paul doesn’t say, “MY love for Christ makes me serve him.” It is Christ – HIS love for me. When I see all that Christ has done FOR ME at Calvary and see the marvelous, manifold riches of HIS GRACE, it is what causes my heart to RESPOND in gratitude. Grace motivation is the motivation of love, of gratitude.

What do we do when we sin? Instead of producing a false or psychological guilt, grace produces real guilt. What does that mean?

Sometimes people get the idea that the issue of total forgiveness means that sin doesn’t matter. But, God did not save you just so you could go live any way you want to live. You were living THAT WAY BEFORE God saved you. He could have left you in the condition of a lost, hell-bound sinner. But, God saved you by his GRACE – not by your works. Now, that doesn’t mean that works and your life don’t matter. God set you free SO YOU COULD THEN SERVE HIM. You could not do that before you were saved.

Ga 5:13 KJV: “For, brethren, ye have been CALLED UNTO LIBERTY; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

LOVE is the motivation of grace – not the fear motivation of the performance system of the law, but “by love” – by grace motivation – “serve one another.” The only way to serve God EFFECTIVELY TODAY is on the basis of his grace, motivated by your GRATITUDE.

Total forgiveness does not mean that your sins do not have an effect. Sin does a lot of thing in your life. Sin interferes with your best personal adjustment. It interferes with your ability to function properly as a member of the body of Christ and it will cause you to be unhappy personally. You will lose your joy. It damages the lives of other people, especially those that are closest to you. It messes up your testimony and your effectiveness as an ambassador for Christ is weakened. Other people will look at you and think/say, “If that is a Christian count me out.” That is why personal holiness is so important rather than self-indulgence. Sin will cause you to lose heavenly rewards that you could have received at the judgment seat of Christ. The ultimate natural consequences of sin in our lives is physical death. You can hasten your physical death by constant intemperance in sin because it tears down and the natural consequences of sin come into play. So sin DOES have an effect.

However, when we sin as believers LIVING UNDER GRACE, the Holy Spirit seeks to bring us, not under a system of condemnation, but to bring us under a system of discipline. God, the Holy Spirit uses his word to bring us to discipline regarding what we are doing so that we will think soberly about what we are doing. God knowing that if we ever THINK SOBERLY about WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST, we will once again be motivated to act like it. He knows that IF we can be brought back to SOUND reasoning and thinking—sound doctrine—recovering ourselves from the snare of the devil, we will realize WHO WE REALLY ARE IN CHRIST. We aren’t that old dead sinner in Adam, but a LIVE SAINT in Christ. Those assets can motivate us to SERVE him.

And, we keep GRACE DOCTRINE IN MEMORY by reading and studying God’s words to us, while avoiding those who teach things that are contrary to grace doctrine and principles.

2Ti 2:15-16 KJV: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [16] But SHUN profane and vain BABBLINGS: for they WILL INCREASE unto more ungodliness.”

1Th 2:12-13 KJV: “That ye would WALK WORTHY of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. [13] For this cause also THANK WE GOD WITHOUT CEASING, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, YE RECEIVED IT not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH EFFECTUALLY WORKETH ALSO IN YOU THAT BELIEVE.”

~Grace School of the Bible, Romans 103 class
GSB Website: http://goo.gl/jPLbcq

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The Rapture not the 2nd Coming

Denial of the Rapture – when the members of the Body of Christ are caught up to meet Him in the air – is a quick tip that a person fails to rightly divide Scripture and is at best confused and misled at worst likely not even be saved!

Anyone who thinks they have to go through or endure the Tribulation because they believe they are Israel; they aren’t, we’re the Body of Christ and  have already received the atonement  –
Romans 5:11 KJV — “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom  we have now received the atonement.” –
does not understand the gospel that saves today (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and they can’t really believe what they don’t understand so they need to get saved.

The rapture ends the dispensation of grace and is one of the mysteries revealed to Paul by the glorified, risen Christ so cannot be found or connected to anything outside of Romans thru Philemon. Sorry, but it’s not in Matthew 24, Isaiah, Daniel, Luke, or Revelation.  Believe me, there was a dark period before I found the key when I was ready to sell everything find a cave in the deepest wilderness and learn to survive on berries, tree bark and those weird meals you justvadd water to when I tried like mad to find it there with no luck.  You can’t find what isn’t there, so I began to think maybe the people saying we had to go through the Tribulation had it right.  Praise God though my husband in his study of the Bible – no teachers, no preachers, just him and God’s word and the Holy Spirit – began to see right division and share it with me.  One day it clicked and Praise the Lord I saw things right!!  All the confusion, doubt, fear, and worry was gone because I realized who I was, I was complete in Christ and set free from sin, dead to it and the reason I couldn’t find the rapture in the red letters or prophets was cause it wasn’t there. 

But what I did find through pouring over God’s word rightly divided was the division between the Rapture and the Second Coming I had missed.  I hadn’t realized that the Tribulation is the divider between the two events.  The Rapture occurs, then the Tribulation begins at some point after the Body is caught up, the Tribulation then ends with Christ’s Second Coming.  Below is a summary of the key differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming that right division makes glaringly obvious. 

The Rapture:
• Occurs before the Tribulation period (1 Thes 1:10)
• Is a message of grace, joy and peace (1 Thes 1:1, 10; 2 Tim 4:8; Titus 2:13)
• Believers are to look for Christ, not signs (Phil 3:20-21)
• Believers have “comfort” and “rest” (1 Thes 4:18; 5:11; 2 Thes 1:7;2:16,17)
• Results in LIFE as Members of the Body of Christ are raised from the dead (1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thes 4:16)
• Marks the end of the Dispensation of Grace (Rom 11:25; 1 Cor 15:51-52)
• “Blessed Hope” for Body of Christ (1 Thes 4:14)
• Believers burden is to reach others for Christ so they are not left behind to go into the Tribulation (1 Thes 5:4-8)
• Unrevealed until the risen Christ told Paul about it (1 Cor 15:51)

The Second Coming:
•  Takes place after the Tribulation (Matt 24:29)
• Is about judgment, vengeance and wrath (Psa 50:3; Joel 3:9-16; Rev 19:11-21)
• Israel is to look for the signs of Christ’s Second Coming (Matt 24:3,15,33; Luke 21:28)
• The earth will “mourn” and great fear (Zech 12:10; Matt 24:30; Rev 1:7)
• Results in DEATH, carcasses from Armageddon cover the ground (Psa 110:5-6; Zech 14:12; Matt 24:28; Rev 19:17-18)
• Marks the end of the Tribulation (Matt 24:3)
• Believers in Jesus as Israel’s Messiah MUST endure till the end to be saved by the Second Coming (Matt 10:22; 24:13; John 20:31)
• The burden of Israel will be God’s vengeance poured out on their enemies (Psa 5; 58; 59; 79)
• Predicted in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Hebrew epistles (Isa 64:1-2; 66:15-18; Mark 13:24-26; Jude 14, 15)

God Said It All In His Word

People often say God shows them things or signs, they think they see signs everywhere, whether it is in the sky above them or the ground beneath them, some even claim to see them in their food. For instance I recently have seen several people claiming to have seen God’s hands in the clouds. But this is just not what Scripture tells us is happening today. Christ tells us in 2 Corinthians that we are to walk by faith not sight, that means we are to trust what God’s word says and have faith that it is true not be looking for physical, visible signs.

It’s true that in times past God did sometimes speak to certain people and give them visible signs in both the heavens and on Earth. For instance he gave Moses many signs as he brought Israel as a nation out of Egypt and through the wilderness. Then later he spoke to and gave his prophets signs for the nation of Israel as well. Jesus in his earthly ministry and Peter on the day of Pentecost both talked about signs in the heavens that would occur during the last days leading up to and during Daniels 70th week as well.

But all of these signs and messages have one thing in common, they are all to do with the nation of Israel – they are signs to Israel that confirm prophecies or things spoken to them by God. They are never random messages or signs that only make sense much later in retrospect. All through Scripture when these signs and messages occur they are to for and about Israel and have to do with God’s promises to them, they are never to the gentiles and nation’s or about them although occasionally a gentile or nation may see or be used to deliver a message to God’s chosen nation Israel.

“For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:” — 1 Corinthians 1:22 KJV

The one time anything related to Gentiles was seen in heaven was when the glorified risen Christ shined down on a Jewish Pharisee named Saul, who became known as Paul, and saved him by grace alone on that Damascus Road one day. But that was much more than just a sign in the sky, that was God Almighty pouring out his glorious grace on the world apart from the nation of Israel by saving a Jewish man who was also a Roman citizen – the perfect man for what God was about to do.

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:” — Acts 9:3 KJV

Israel and her promised Kingdom was put on hold and God revealed the secret he had kept hidden in himself since before the world began. Before “Let there be light.” God had cooked up the most amazing plan ever to reconcile both heaven (which was already unclean in His sight) and Earth in Christ. The Earth through Israel which was spoken of ever since the world began starting in Genesis and will be fulfilled in the future beginning with the promised Davidic kingdom of Christ on Earth. The heavens though, they get restored in Christ through the Body of Christ which God is forming of all who trust Christ for their salvation today and are made members of his body.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” — Ephesians 2:11-13 KJV

Each and every person today who believes that Christ died for their sins, was buried and rose again for their justification before God is instantly and eternally saved. Then they are sealed by the Holy Spirit into Christ, made a new creature in him, a member of his body. It is a gift of grace by God and all we have to do is accept that Jesus Christ did it all, paid it all and it is finished. In that instant we are saved, sealed and seated in Christ. It’s by grace through faith.

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” — 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” — Ephesians 1:7 KJV

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” — Ephesians 1:13 KJV

God will pick back up with Israel after the body of Christ is caught up and Daniels 70th week begins in the future. At that time salvation by grace through faith alone for all will end and salvation will once again be of the Jew on a faith plus works basis such as we see in Acts 2:38 and 3:19. Unlike today when God is dealing with men individually and saving us one by one, in the future salvation will be through Israel and the only way for Gentiles to be saved will be for them to become a Jew or to bless Israel in some way. And since the Jew requires a sign then God will begin giving them what they require, signs and wonders.

Today we have no signs and wonders occurring. Scripture is very clear that today we walk by faith and not by sight. We are to lean upon the word of God as our means of interpreting the world around us and knowing God’s will for our lives. We are to study to understand what he is doing by rightly dividing the word of truth. All of Scripture is true, it is all God’s word, but it isn’t all in effect at every moment. Salvation is always by faith and the shed blood of Christ but the means of showing that faith and obtaining access to that salvation changes.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” — 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

For instance Noah had a salvation plan given to him – build an ark. Abraham was told to leave his father’s land, trust God and wait for a child then to sacrifice that child. All through out the Old Testament we see how God gave different instructions to each person along the way and how the action required to show their faith is different. Israel as a nation had to do certain things such as get water baptized and confess their sins of rejecting God, killing their Messiah and blaspheming the Holidays Spirit to be saved and enter their future kingdom. Their program will again be filled with signs that verify and prove all the prophecies that God gave that have yet to be fulfilled.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” — 1 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV

But today God’s will is that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth by grace alone through faith alone. We don’t get signs, wonders or miracles. For a time while Paul was receiving from Christ the revelations that would become and compete our Scriptures their were signs and miracles occuring such as tongues (actual foreign languages not nonsensical babbling like some teach today), prophecies (confirmation of revelations given to confirm what was Scripture and what was faked lies), and healings (signs done by Paul to counter those by Peter and the 11 to provoke the Jew to jealousy and believing the gospel of the grace of God and becoming a member of the body of Christ. The signs and wonders done at the beginning of the age of grace ceased though in time. By the time the last book of Scripture, 2 Timothy, is penned by Paul the signs and miracles have ceased because that which is perfect – the completed word of God, the Bible – was come. That’s why Paul told Timothy to take wine medicinally and why he left Trophimus sick in Miletum instead of just healing them.

“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” — 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 KJV

Because we have the completed word of God today we don’t need to look for signs in the earth or the sky or listen and seek for a word from God. He has already given us all the words he wants us to have in the Bible. If you speak English they are found in the King James Bible and that is our final authority, where we go to know what God is doing and what we need to do. We have faith that it is enough and we walk in that faith and assurance. We don’t look for signs or for God to show us things (notice those things are only clear in retrospect when in Scripture they are clear immediately and do not have to be made to fit a situation) we read His word and walk by faith in it. The reading is our sight and if we want to hear God speak read it aloud.

Grace and peace.

The Greatest Love Story

Has anyone ever told you just how much God loves you?

He does. So much so that He did something so amazing for you, something you yourself could never ever do. He died for you, a jacked up lost sinner.

See we are all sinners by birth because of Adam’s sin, it’s just who we are. And God well, He’s perfect, just, holy and he can’t be a part of or around sin. That’s a problem see because God created man to be in fellowship with Him, and we crave that connection because at our core it’s the only thing that completes us. But like I said we’re a jacked up mess and we’ll we blew it. We sin and sin and sin and that separates us from God.

Romans 3:23 KJV — For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 5:12 KJV — Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 6:23 KJV — For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But did you notice that last verse. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is the greatest love story the world has ever seen. That God the creator of all things, perfect holy and just put meat on and became a man, Jesus Christ, then did what we as just regular man never could – lived a sin free life for over 30 years. Then
He went to the cross and died, was buried and rose from the tomb the third day. I know your like what, how’d that fix my problem with God? God became man and died How’s that fix my problem?

This is how:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Christ, God in the flesh, died for our sins, was buried and rose the third day for our justification before God and eternal life. He died but he didn’t stay dead! Let that soak in. He’s alive! And because he’s alive when we believe that he is who he said and did what he did and it accomplished what it accomplished then we are saved! Saved from those wages of sin mentioned before, saved from death and eternal hell because God himself paid the price for us, the price we can’t pay, because He loves us.

Romans 5:15 KJV — But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Romans 4:4-5 KJV “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.”

Ephesians 1:7 & 13 KJV “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;… In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV

He loves us and wants us with Him to be in fellowship with us and that is why He did what He did and all he asks is that you trust Him by believing he did for you. What you never could or would. Do you?

And that my friend is the greatest love story the world has ever seen!

The Real Gift of God

I tend to marvel this time of year  over the way God orchestrated putting on meat and becoming man  and dwelling among us, with us, as one of us – but perfect, sinless, as God.  From the incarnation of God in flesh at the conception in a virgin in late December to using a pagan heathen king and his whims to get Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem the following September during the Feast of Trumpets to fullfil prophecies given hundreds of years earlier that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.  A birth that was basically normal, albeit it was God in the flesh in the form of an infant, it wasn’t the real miracle. The real miracle is that God put meat on and became man at all.  That he humbled himself to be one of us in all that entails from conception to the Cross he lived it all. God put on our humanity, that thought amazes me and he did it at the conception not the birth.  A conception that has nothing to do with what we call Christmas today with the trees and gifts and hustle and bustle and everything to do with what God would do one day when he went to the Cross and died to pay for the sins of the world.  All we have to do is accept that payment by believing that Christ, God the Son, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and rose the third day according to the Scriptures for our justification before God the Father. The instant we believe completely, trust completely and solely in Christ’s death burial and resurrection for our salvation we are saved, sealed by the Holy Spirit into Christ and seated with Him spiritually in heavenly places.  That’s what I celebrate not just in late December when the conception occurred but every single day.

So to all of you my prayer today and everyday is that you but your trust in Christ, God in the flesh and believe that his death burial and resurrection alone is all that God requires and be saved.  Then rest in that salvation knowing that you are saved eternally – you can’t loose it or give it up because you did nothing but to earn it, God did it all in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ His Son and he made you a member of the Body of Christ. Let that truth grip your heart and soul and live in it. Live knowing that the Creator of the universe now lives in you, let that lead and guide you as you study his word in the King James Bible and begin to understand it His way. By letting it say what it says, look at who is speaking to whom and when and why they are speaking.  Realize that God has a magnifying plan for you as a member of Christ’s body a plan only found in the parts of the Bible about the Body of Christ – Romans through Philemon.  You’re His Ambassador on Earth now, you represent Him so learn what He would have you to do and then do it. Live in and for and by Christ and share the gift of His grace with others.  It’s the real gift, the only gift that matters eternally.

Grace and peace today and everyday, and remember Jesus loves you so much He died for you. Just trust Him.

Romans 3:23 KJV — For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 5:12 KJV — Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 6:23 KJV — For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:15 KJV — But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Romans 4:4-5 KJV “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.”

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you ❗the gospel ❗which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,❗ how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”❗

Ephesians 1:7 & 13 KJV “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;... In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ❗ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”❗

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV

Repent = Change of Mind

In the over 100 occurrences of some form of the word “repent” it ALWAYS means a change of mind in scripture and it never means to stop sinning. In fact God himself repents more than anyone else, I stopped counting at 12 times so if repent means to stop sinning then God is the worst sinner of all! It’s true that often sorrow, grief and pain occur with a change of mind but that is the consequence or result of changing or repenting not the act of it.

Before you say I’m crazy let’s just use God’s own definition of the words repent, repented, repentance and repenting by looking at the first occurrence of each to see the meaning given them. This is the rule of first mention and is the main meaning or way in which any given word is used in Scripture.

“Repent ”
Exodus 13:17 KJV — “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:”
👉Israel might have changed their mind and returned to Egypt out of fear.

“Repented”
Genesis 6:6 KJV — “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
👉God changed his mind about making man.

” Repentance”
Hosea 13:14 KJV — “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”
👉They will not be able to change their mind or ways and escape their fate.

Jeremiah 15:6 KJV — “Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.”
👉This is the only occurrence it does not mean sinning as it is God who is speaking and God cannot sin.

So telling a lost sinner to repent by stopping sinning is kinda pointless. First off, that’s not what the word even means and secondly lost sinners can’t stop sinning. Let’s let God explain through his word why it is impossible for dead sinners to stop being who they are. Let’s just see what God tells us:

Romans 5:12 KJV — “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and👉 death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”👈

Romans 6:23 KJV — “👉For the wages of sin is death👈; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Ephesians 2:1-10 KJV — “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;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 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.”

A lost person is dead in the sins they live in until they change their mind about God and believe that Christ paid the debt they owe God when He went to the cross. It is belief that Christ Jesus’ death to pay for their sins, his burial to remove them and his resurrection for their justification before God that saves them. Believing that He did what they couldn’t do they are instantly, eternally sealed into Christ, baptized spiritually into His death, His burial and His resurrection. Their life, as every other saved person today’s life, is then hid in Christ. They live in Him and therefore they aren’t slaves to their desires of the flesh and sin because they aren’t dead in sin but alive in Christ whom they have believed on.

They are saved by his grace and they live in his grace, it is their strength to overcome sin when He is who they rest in. In his grace, his strength, his faith and not their own. When they walk in Him, in His spirit then they will seek to do his will, and they find that by studying their Bible (KJV) learning what God says to them and they are more than conquerors.

Romans 8:37 KJV — “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

We find that in the books written to for and about us today, Romans through Philemon, given to the Apostle Paul by the glorified risen Christ from heaven; these 13 books are the completion of Scripture and record the final instructions of God to his people ever recorded. In them we find out about the mystery God had been hiding in himself since before the world began, the mystery of what exactly was accomplished by the cross. We also learn about other mysteries God had kept secret like the body of Christ and it’s catching away to the heavenlies with him one day. We learn who we are and what Gods purpose in forming us, Christ’s body, is. Which then let’s us fully understand what God was doing and revealing through all the rest of the Bible with the nation of Israel spoken of since the world began. We fully understand His two fold plan to restore both heaven and Earth back under his government in Christ.

Ephesians 1:10 KJV — “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

As we begin to understand more about what Gods doing and who we now are in his Son we are changed from the inside out and that old sin nature starts dieing and our spirit grows as we become rooted and grounded in the truths of sound doctrine, preparing for eternity.

Titus 2:1 KJV — “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:”

That is why we MUST be careful to pay attention to how God uses words like “repent” and not give them man’s meanings. Because telling a lost souls to repent and stop sinning in order to be saved today is useless, it can’t save or keep them saved because they are trusting in what they are doing not what Christ did, and sadly their still just as lost as a golf ball in high weeds. They’re still lost but they are now trusting a false hope and don’t realize it, a false hope that makes it so very hard for them to see the truth of the Gospel of God’s grace after that and truly be saved. Hell is full of those who said they were Christian but never really trusted Christ to save them.

Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV — “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.”

They never believed that Christ died for their sins, his death paid the price for all of them past, present, and future (at that time all our sins today we’re yet future after all); his burial to remove them and his resurrection for their justification before God.

Have you?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV — “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

You Are Not Alone, Grace Believer

My friend LeighAnn Mycko wrote this and it is so true and just hit me right in the feels tonight. Some days being a grace believer is lonely but we truly are not alone!

Each one of us, before we were saved and came to the knowledge of the truth, was in darkness.

Each one of us, before we were saved and came to the knowledge of the truth, believed lies.

Each one of us, before we were saved and came to the knowledge of the truth, was a fool.

All of us grace believers came from a place of unbelief.

All of us grace believers were once consumed with our own vain imaginings.

All of us grace believers were once children of disobedience.

We failed to give God the glory.

We failed to be thankful to God.

We failed to worship and serve the Creator more than the creature.

But now, we know we are justified by his blood, saved from wrath, and that we shall live with him.

But now, we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

But now, our conversation is in heaven as we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Change doesn’t happen over night.

Studying rightly divided takes time and effort.

Sometimes life gets in the way and slows down that progress.

It happens to us all at one time or another.

Keep going anyhow.

Don’t ever stop believing.

Don’t ever stop studying.

Stick to sound doctrine, because when everyone leaves you, sound doctrine won’t!

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God Said What He Meant

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV — “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

It’s the one verse in all of scripture that tells us how we are to study God’s word. We’re told to rightly divide the word of truth. Yet the vast majority of the church the body of Christ rejects what the last few words of this verse command us to do today. Rather than just taking the final phrase of the verse in context, at face value they wring and twist it like a dish rag trying to make it mean something different; because apparently they don’t believe God says what he means and means what he says. They run to obscure meanings of the original Greek words as defined by man in a lexicon or Greek dictionary such as the one found in the Strong’s Concordance (written by James Strong who also helped pen the Revised Standard Version) and then water that down to mean anything other than what a litteral reading would. But what does that verse mean if we just read it plainly, giving the words the plain obvious meaning.

“rightly dividing the word of truth”

“Rightly” means correctly
“Dividing” means to separate or separating
(The) “word ” (of) means God’s word the KJV Bible
“Truth ” means a fact or reality that is indisputable.

So a litteral reading say: correctly separating the Bible truth from truth. In other words since we know the Bible is the word of God and therefore ALL of it is true we must separate the truths correctly. This is done by reading literally and in context any given passage then believing it means what it says.

It’s simply giving each word and phrase the plain common sense or meaning by looking at who is speaking to whom, when and where they are speaking and referring and why and how. The same who, what, where, when, why and how any grade school child knows from their reading comprehension studies. When you do that then it becomes obvious that there are distinctions in how God has dealt with man and thus differences are found in different portions of his word which is truth. For example we know the book of James is written to the nation of Israel that is scattered throughout the earth. How do we know, a plain reading of the first verse tells us :

James 1:1 KJV — “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, 👉to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, 👈greeting.”

Since I’m not a member of any of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel I know that the book of James is not written to me. It’s for my knowledge and understanding of what God’s two-fold plan is but it’s not about me and neither are the doctrines or truths contained in it. When I read it I understand that it’s written to the 12 tribes scattered around the world during Daniels 70th week, explaining to them what God expects of them.

Thus when I go to Paul’s Epistles and read this:

Romans 11:13 KJV — “👉For I speak to you Gentiles👈, inasmuch as 👉I am the apostle of the Gentiles👈, I magnify mine office:”

I see that Paul (I, the who) in this verse wrote to me ” you Gentiles” because he is the apostle of the Gentiles to magnify his office. That’s about as plain. When I read the full context I see that he is telling about the fall of Israel and how through her fall salvation was brought to the world without her but through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection alone.

By just reading what God says and believing he means it I can understand what God is doing today and what my role in that as a member of the body of Christ is. I couldn’t though until I began to obey God’s command in 2 Timothy 2:15 by rightly dividing truth for me a Gentile from truth for Israel. When I did, well we serve one amazingly glorious awesome God and I am just thankful he made a way through the death of his precious Son for me to have a part however small of that plan of His:

Ephesians 1:10 KJV — “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”