"Not By Works of the Law"

“Not By Works of the Law”

 

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,  because by works of the law no one will be justified        Galatians 2:16

 

In some of my witnessing experiences, on a one to one encounter, whenever I would ask someone the question:  “In your opinion, what do you think it takes for a person to get to Heaven?  Some would say; “Keeping the Ten Commandments.”  Now, while this is an admirable TASK, and that is ALL it is, a TASK, because NO one can keep ALL of the TEN COMMANDMENTS.  This would be considered the “WORKS of the LAW. 

 

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8&9 that it is, “by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH.  And this is NOT your OWN doing; it is the GIFT of God, NOT a result of works, so that NO ONE can boast.” 

 

In our verse, today, it says that, we are NOT JUSTIFIED by WORKS of the Law.  To be JUSTIFIED, means to be made RIGHTEOUS. This is something that WE cannot do, on our OWN.  JUSTIFICATION comes ONLY through FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.  If you are THINKING or BELIEVING that you are going to get to HEAVEN, when you leave this world, because you KEPT the TEN COMMANDMENTS, which is IMPOSSIBLE to do, you are SADLY MISTAKEN. 

 

The TEN COMMANDMENTS are guidelines for us to live our lives by.  It is NOT the WAY to HEAVEN.  No matter how GOOD a person you are, you still won’t make it.  There is ONLY ONE WAY to be JUSTIFIED in God’s eyes.  And that is ACCEPTING by FAITH JESUS CHRIST as your SAVIOR and LORD. 

 

The way to do that is to TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURN TO God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  Then you MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You then, MUST BELIEVE with ALL your HEART that, JESUS DIED for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and BE JUSTIFIED before God, NOT by WORKS of the LAW, but by FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

 

"Two Types of People"

“Two Types of People”

 

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.   The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.   The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.          Romans 8:5-8

 

There are TWO distinct types of people in this world: 

Those who live according to the FLESH, with their minds set on FLESHLY DESIRES.  The MIND that is GOVERNED by the FLESH will bring about a SPIRITUAL DEATH.  It is HOSTILE to God and His will. It will NOT submit to God’s Law, because it CANNOT do so.  Those who have NOT given their HEART and LIFE to God are living in the REALM of the FLESH and they CANNOT PLEASE God.  They are DESTINED to spend ALL of ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL of its HORRORS, with NO WAY of ESCAPE.  They are SLAVES to their SINS and are without HOPE for their ETERNAL FUTURE.

 

Those who live according to the Spirit of the Living God, have their minds set on what the SPIRIT DESIRES.  And they are destined to spend ALL of ETERNITY in HEAVEN, with PEACE that passes ALL UNDERSTANDING and JOY UNSPEAKABLE.  Verse ten tells us that, if Christ is in them, even though they die a PHYSICAL DEATH, the SPIRIT of God gives them SPIRITUAL LIFE because of RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is given to them at the time of their conversion.  They are part of God’s Family for ALL of ETERNITY.   Verse eleven, tells us that, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in them, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give LIFE to their MORTAL BODIES because of His Spirit who lives in them.  This is the HOPE of EVERY TRUE Child of the Living God.

 

Which group are you a part of?  If you are living in the realm of the FLESH, and living according to FLESHLY DESIRES, and you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God.  Then the ONLY ETERNAL FUTURE you are destined for is an ETERNITY in HELL, the place of ETERNAL HORRORS. If you feel a tug at your HEART and feel guilt and shame for your sinful lifestyle, you can be set FREE from the GUILT and SHAME, and you can ESCAPE an ETERNITY in HELL by, TURNING AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURNING TO God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS. Then BELIEVE with ALL your HEART that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in HEAVEN, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION and become a part of those who LIVE according to the SPIRIT of the Living God, and inherit an ETERNITY of PEACE and JOY UNSPEAKABLE, in HEAVEN.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

"A Slave to Sin"

“A Slave to Sin”

 

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do---this I keep on doing.

Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.                                                  Romans 7:19, 25

 

Every TRUE BELIEVER of the Lord Jesus Christ, has a war raging inside them.  It is a CONTINUOUS BATTLE between the Law of God and the law of SIN.  The Apostle Paul gives us a pretty clear picture of this BATTLE.

 

Paul tells us of the BATTLE for the MIND of the BELIEVER.  He states that, he does not do the GOOD that he WANTS to do, but the EVIL that he really doesn’t want to do---that is what he KEEPS on doing.  And it stems from the SINFUL NATURE that he is born with.  Therefore, making him a slave to the law of sin.   This is TRUE of EVERY person. 

 

In verse 24, Paul cries out: “What a WRETCHED man I am!  Who will RESCUE me from this body that is subject to death?”  The Apostle recognized that as long as he was in his HUMAN BODY, he would have this RAGING BATTLE inside him. He also KNEW that SIN working in the human body will bring SPIRITUAL DEATH.  And he KNEW that under his OWN strength, he would be DEFEATED.  But he also KNEW that GOD would DELIEVER him, through the REDEMPTIVE WORK of JESUS CHRIST on the old, rugged cross, Paul could be the VICTOR over his SIN.  He could FINALLY be FREE from being a SLAVE to SIN.  Are you living a DEFEATED LIFE?  Are you a SLAVE to SIN?  DOOMED to spend ALL of ETERNITY in Hell?

 

You are, if you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God.  In order to change your DESTINATION from HELL to HEAVEN, you MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and you MUST TURN TO God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  Then you MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART that, Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  You MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and like the Apostle Paul, become FREE from the BONDAGE of your SIN, and receive HEAVEN as your ETERNAL HOME.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

"Living a New Life"

“Living a New Life”

 

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives He lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.                                             Romans 6:4, 10-12

 

After a person comes to Christ for the SALVATION of their soul, they need to follow Him in Believer’s Baptism.  The act of Baptism, is the OUTWARD expression of an INWARD change.  It shows that the TRUE BELIEVER is BURIED with Christ, which is the immersion of the BELIEVER into the water, and then they are RAISED from the dead, which is the process of bringing them UP out of the water to a NEW LIFE in Christ Jesus.    What a glorious moment that is!

 

The death of Jesus Christ, was very IMPORTANT in the plan of SALVATION.  He was our SACRIFICE, and He who KNEW NO sin, became sin, on the cross.  He took on the sins of ALL mankind, and shed His precious blood for ALL that will come to Him for their SALVATION.  He did this ONCE and for ALL, and that was ALL that was NEEDED to FREE mankind from their OLD, WRETCHED, GUILT-RIDDEN, SINFUL LIFE, and to give them a NEW LIFE with a NEW ETERNAL FUTURE.

 

The Apostle Paul, encourages the BELIEVERS in Rome, to count themselves DEAD to SIN, but ALIVE TO God in Christ Jesus.  And in doing this, they are to NOT LET SIN REIGN in their MORTAL BODY nor to OBEY its evil desires.  But they are to LIVE a NEW LIFE in Christ Jesus.  They can accomplish this through the work of GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT, which indwells them.  It is a FRESH, NEW LIFE, without SIN and its CONSEQUENCES.

 

If you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God, then you are headed to an ETERNITY in Hell with ALL of its HORRORS, and NO WAY of ESCAPE.  In order to have a FRESH, NEW LIFE without SIN and its CONSEQUENCES, you MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURN TO God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART, CONFESSING your sins to Him, and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE with ALL your Heart that, Jesus died for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and start LIVING A NEW LIFE, with HEAVEN as your ETERNAL HOME.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

 

 

"Condemnation Because of Disobedience, Justification Because of Obedience"

“Condemnation Because of Disobedience, Justification Because of Obedience”

 

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.   For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.       Romans 5:18-19

 

DISOBEDIENCE entered the HEART of the one man Adam, and SIN was born.  Because of that FIRST ACT of DISOBEDIENCE, mankind is born with a SIN NATURE, or the desire to sin.  And along with DISOBEDIENCE against God and His laws, mankind comes under CONDEMNATION, and is DOOMED to an ETERNITY in Hell.  Mankind is therefore in a state of WRETCHEDNESS, and DESPAIR, without HOPE.

 

But because of God’s ABUNDANT provision of GRACE and His gift of RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is provided through the OBEDIENCE of the One Man, Jesus Christ, who went to an old rugged cross and gave up His life, in order for mankind to receive JUSTIFICATION and RIGHTEOUSNESS.  Jesus SACRIFICED His LIFE so the ones, who will come to God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART might receive His gift of SALVATION, and be BLESSED with the HOPE of an ETERNITY in Heaven.

 

In order to be RELEASED from the CONDEMNATION and brought to JUSTIFICATION, you MUST come from DISOBEDIENCE to OBEDIENCE to God and His laws.  You MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURN TO God with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  Then you MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and receive JUSTIFICATION and RIGHTEOUSNESS along with your ETERNAL HOME, HEAVEN.   Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

"The Promise and the Hope"

“The Promise and the Hope”

 

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”                                                                               Romans 4:13, 18

 

The Apostle Paul uses Abraham’s HOPE in God’s PROMISE, as an example to the TRUE BELIEVERS in Rome.  God had made a PROMISE to Abraham that he would be the HEIR of the WORLD.  This PROMISE to Abraham and his offspring was NOT given because Abraham kept the LAW, but it came to Abraham because of his RIGHTEOUSNESS that came through his FAITH.

 

It was probably evident to Abraham and Sarah that they would remain “childless” at the ages they were.  At least in HUMAN reasoning, but God had made them a PROMISE, and ONE thing about the God we serve, He KEEPS His PROMISES.   Abraham, in HOPE, BELIEVED in God’s PROMISE and PRAISED GOD for His ability to KEEP His PROMISE.  So Abraham, at the age of 100 and Sarah at 90, became the recipients of the CHILD OF PROMISE, and this began the PROMISE of Abraham becoming the Heir of the World. 

 

God has made a PROMISE to those whose FAITH is like that of Abraham’s.  And just like the PROMISE He made to Abraham, God will KEEP this PROMISE that comes to the TRUE BELIEVER, through their RIGHTEOUSNESS, which comes by FAITH, which is POSSIBLE ONLY, through the PLAN of SALVATION that is accomplished by the LORD JESUS CHRIST.  This PROMISE is ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN, and God WILL KEEP this PROMISE also. 

 

However, if you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God, then you are headed for an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL of its HORRORS, and NO WAY of ESCAPE.  This too is a PROMISE that God will KEEP.  He is giving you the opportunity NOW, to ESCAPE HELL and to GAIN HEAVEN.  To do this, you MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURN TO God, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  Then you MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and RECEIVE the PROMISE, God has made to EVERY TRUE BELIEVER, which is an ETERNAL LIFE in HEAVEN, and like Abraham, PRESS ON, KEEPING the FAITH, until He returns.   Do it NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!

 

 

"The Sacrifice of Atonement"

“The Sacrifice of Atonement”

 

God presented Christ as a Sacrifice of Atonement, through the shedding of His blood---to be received by faith.  He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished---He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.          Romans 3:25-26

 

The term “SACRIFICE” has been in the news a lot here lately. This word means: a giving up of one thing for another.  I know of a man who TRULY SACRIFICED His life for another, that person is the LORD JESUS CHRIST.  He gave up His WHOLE LIFE.  He left ALL the RICHES of Heaven, to be born to a family of meager means.  He, who is KING of KINGS left EVERYTHING, and came into this world, in order to be BETRAYED by one of His own disciples, to be spat upon, ridiculed, tormented, and SEVERELY BEATEN, beyond recognition, then NAILED to an OLD RUGGED CROSS, to DIE, like a common criminal.  And He did this so that MANKIND could be SAVED from their sins.  This is what “SACRIFICE” TRULY MEANS.

 

The Almighty God GAVE His ONLY Son as the SACRIFICE of ATONEMENT, to be RECEIVED by FAITH, through the shedding of His blood.  The purpose was to SAVE a LOST and DYING world from their sins.  He did this by demonstrating His RIGHTEOUSNESS, because of His FORBEARANCE or His “holding back” or delaying of UNPUNISHED SINS in past times.  It is indicated here, that the delay was because of God’s PLAN of SALVATION.  He KNEW of His provision for taking care of sins through the DEATH of Jesus Christ.  It is His desire that NONE perish, but that ALL come to a “SAVING KNOWLEDGE” and ACCEPTANCE of the SACRIFICE of ATONEMENT.  This act of FORBEARANCE was evidence of God’s AMAZING GRACE.

 

Have you come to the “SAVING KNOWLEDGE” and ACCEPTANCE of the SACRIFICE of ATONEMENT?  If you have NOT, given your HEART and LIFE to God, then you have NOT come to that place.  And you are on your way to an ETERNITY in Hell with ALL of its HORRORS.  To be able to come to a “SAVING KNOWLEDGE and ACCEPTANCE” of the SACRIFICE of ATONEMENT, you MUST TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle and TURN TO GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  Then you MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and receive Heaven as your ETERNAL HOME.  Do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!