“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (atoning sacrifice) through FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” Romans 3:25
Could the price of redemption have been paid without Jesus coming in the flesh, bodily? No.
“We preach Christ,” yes and Who is Christ? (1 Corinthians 1:23)
Mankind’s dilemma. God’s solution.
“Faith in His Blood”! (Romans 3:25)
Justification by grace is the biblical doctrine wherein God freely declares sinners righteous, not based on their own merits, goodness, or works, but through faith in Jesus Christ’s redeeming work (Romans 3:21-28). It is an undeserved act of God’s love (grace) that forgives sins, reconciles believers to God, and imparts new spiritual life – and it’s all based upon, sourced in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ the perfect Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins on the cross of calvary.
No sinful man qualified to be offered for the sins of the world. See Ezekiel 22:30. Under the old covenant, blood had to be shed to cleanse the sins of the people and this depicted, prophetically foreshadowed the coming perfect, spotless, sinless blood of the prophesied Messiah who is Jesus Christ. No one qualified but Jesus. the sinless Son of God (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22; Matthew 1:21; John 1:29) … Every man born after Adam had sin-contaminated blood and so could not, did not qualify to be sacrificed for his own sins and that of the whole world. Only the perfect sinless blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, satisfy the claims of the Father’s justice to redeem, to forgive His fallen face, mankind. Read Isaiah 53 which is all about Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for our sins. We owe a debt we cannot pay. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe. The Just one died in place of the unjust (us). See 1 Peter 3:18 and 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21. Jesus was forsaken but for a moment, that we might be forgiven forever (Matthew 27:46). The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the highest display of God’s love and only time in His-story where the Hero died for the villains (Romans 5:6-8). “He is risen” (Matthew 28:6-7).
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
7 Questions on Justification
- How is fallen mankind made righteous, justified in the eyes of a holy God? (Romans 3:21-28; Galatians 2:16)
- What law makes New Testament believers “free from the law of sin and death”? (Romans 8:2)
- What could the law not do? (Romans 8:3-4)
- What is fulfilled in the life of the born again, Spirit-led New Testament follower of Christ? (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4)
- How does the Law apply to saints? How does it apply to sinners? (1 Timothy 1:9-11)
- Can anyone be justified by the works of the law, by law-keeping? Become intimately familiar with Galatians 2:4-5, 16; 3:1-3; 5:4.
- What is the over-arching divine revelation of Hebrews 8-10?
We owe a debt we cannot pay.
He paid a debt He did not owe!
Anyone who gets saved and then doesn’t drill down into the doctrinal letters and epistles and get grounded in grace through faith justification and living, will be susceptible to being deceived by the antichrist judaizers in our midst. It will cost many of them their eternal souls. There will be not 1 law-keeping judaizing snake in Heaven. If you don’t know that, you are biblically illiterate. Romans. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. Hebrews.
ANY PERSON who teaches that blood-bought NEW Testament saints, saved by grace through faith, are under the law of Moses is an antichrist! Run!
“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:1-3
MANY who have refused to study and get grounded in the NEW Testament revelation of the saving grace of God in Christ, have now departed from the faith into the hell bound heresy of law keeping!
“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (Christ) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39
When Jesus told us the law would not pass away, He was in no way contradicting Himself by saying that one must keep the law to be saved (Matthew 5:17-18). That is a heresy. Paul picks this up in 1 Timothy 1 when he tells us that the law, law keeping is NOT for the righteous – “Knowing this, that THE LAW IS NOTTT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers…” (1 Timothy 1:9)
Dear law-keeper who thinks you can earn your own justification …. There is no justification in the law as pertains to fallen mankind and he cannot possibly fulfill it, and has broken it (Romans 3:10, 23, 28). Works mean nothing until one is first justified by faith in Christ alone and not the vain attempt to keep the whole law perfectly – which no one except Jesus did!
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
ANY person who is trying to be justified by laughable law-keeping, is 100% a vile Christ-rejecting antichrist lost soul. As He died, shedding His precious blood on that cross for the sins of the world, Jesus Christ the only Messiah declared “It IS finished” which means simply “Paid in FULL.” (John 19:30) Law-keeping devils call Christ a liar, pretending that their own obedience and futile attempt to keep the law is needed for them to be saved – as they declare that Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough, was not sufficient. Blasphemy!
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23
“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Acts 15:11
Gary Nygard writes:
“Trying to keep ONE IOTA of the law (to be righteous); ala, tithing, sabbath keeping, etc puts you under the bondage of the ENTIRE law and makes the Righteousness of God/GRACE completely and totally ineffective to you!
What you think enhances your walk with God actually DESECRATES it!
The works of the law are the arch enemies of GRACE!
The law worketh WRATH!
Romans 4:15
Because the law worketh wrath!
It makes those who attempt to keep it self righteous religious zealots like Apostle Paul BEFORE he got saved!
He warned the Galatian Church that they were like he was and they better take heed “lest they bite and devour one another.”
And we wonder why our churches have become a dysfunctional self righteous mess?!?”
It’s pride in the hearts of self-righteous men who want to believe THEY are meriting their own salvation by their own works! Nonsense! Read Romans 3-5 over and over and over again!
SAINTS, we are saved by the LORD Himself, by His grace and not our own works. People who are still self-righteous, thinking THEY are earning their own justification, get very uneasy when the saving grace of God is preached. They are not yet students of NEW Testament truth. WE MUST have an ever-deepening biblical revelation of God’s justification by grace and faith! Please begin by memorizing Romans 5:1-2. AND, please read Romans chapters 3-5 prayerfully and over and over, this week.
The highest insult to a holy God is to say that the sacrifice of his only begotten Son is insufficient! Is Christ dead in vain? Did He come for nothing? WHY did Jesus even bother coming if men could be justified by their own futile attempt at law keeping or trying to keep the whole law? James 2:10 anybody?
“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21
IF the law was sufficient, why did God replace it with an infinitely superior covenant, paid for, ratified in the blood of His only begotten Son? (Hebrews 8-10) WHY O WHY did Jesus come and die if the law was sufficient? (Galatians 2:21) Are you denying Christ and don’t realize it – by saying you can personally keep the law while despising His perfect sacrifice as He nailed the law to the cross and took it out of the way in His death? (Colossians 2:14-19) If you name the name of Christ, you’d better study until you understand this – biblical justification! We are saved and overcome by grace and not law – the law simply magnifies sin. Only JESUS can save! Read Romans 6-8 over and over and over, prayerfully.
One is justified immediately upon believing, true saving faith (John 6:47). Then, as that person chooses to abide, to continue with Christ, good fruit will be produced including obedience and yet, those things do not save, they are only the proof that such a person has been saved and is enduring to the end, abiding, continuing in Christ (John 8:31-32; 15:1-6, etc.). Attempting to add the law and keeping it to the NEW Testament message of Christ and His apostles is a gross, insidious addition to the original Gospel. The Old Covenant was infinitely inferior and had to and was replaced by the infinitely superior NEW Covenant which was ratified by the very blood of the one the old merely foreshadowed (Hebrews 8-10, etc.).
Obedience as an expression of our relationship with and love for our Savior – not to save us. We know that saving faith will always result in good works, good fruit (Ephesians 2:8-10, etc.).
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The law is not completely removed but rather present to convict, magnify the sin, and bring sinners to the Savior (Galatians 3:24).
“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not…” 1 John 3:4-6
And we keep the “law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” we is impossible without the saving grace of God and Holy Spirit (Rom 3:31; 8:2-4). New Testament believers are the only ones able to fulfill the law as did the Savior perfectly. The law demands perfection which it does not provide the divine, saving, enabling grace to fulfill. –“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
ARE YOU justified by sinful self or the Savior? Good luck flashing those “filthy rags” at the Throne of the Almighty who sent His only begotten Son to die for you! (Isaiah 64:6) Righteousness comes from knowing and trusting the only One to ever keep the law perfectly and not from trying to keep the law (Galatians 2:16). Though the law be righteous, there is NO righteousness in the law other than repenting of your own efforts and putting your full trust in the only One who ever kept the law! (Romans 10:4) You deserve judgment and hell – you have nothing to offer God except a deeply repentant, honest, contrite, humble heart! (Psalms 34:18; 51:17; Matthew 5:3) You are a guilty sinner and must trash your religious fig leaves which are a sham at best!
“The aprons of fig leaves speak of man’s attempt to save himself by a bloodless religion of good works.” William MacDonald
True NEW Testament saints are dead to the law (Romans 7:1-4). Law keepers, do-gooders, and moralists are completely self-righteous antichrists who’ve put themselves in place of Jesus Christ as their own savior – denying Christ that place while vainly believing they can earn their own justification before a holy God and Judge of their eternal soul (James 2:10). Anti means “in place of.” Selah (meditate on that) God doesn’t want His children trying to keep the old law but rather to choose to worship, love, trust, and obey Him who is the only One to keep it and then nailed it to the cross and took it out of the way!
Are you under the law or under Christ? Can’t be both (John 19:30). The law for righteousness is over and to deny such is to deny Christ, to deny that His one sacrifice satisfied the righteousness of the law, that the law of Moses demanded, and the claims of the Father’s justice to redeem fallen man (Romans 8:2-4; 10:4).
The law is still in force for the unbeliever and for those who backslide (1 Timothy 1:9-11). Yet Believers are not under the law – the law convicted them and they ran to the foot of the cross, falling prostate upon the mercy of God poured out to us in the blood of Jesus (John 19:30; Romans 5:6-9; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21). Jesus’ New Testament saints are under the law of Christ who fulfilled the law perfectly and nailed it to the cross and took it out of our way (Colossians 2:14-19). It’s all about JESUS to true New Testament believers, not law.
MAKE NO MISTAKE: The vain attempt of law-keeping for righteousness is the highest insult to the Almighty who sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins! (Galatians 2:21) Torah-Keeping Judaizing Devils Busted and Exposed as Hell Bound Frauds!!!
The “circumcision” Lives to Deny Christ and Destroy Souls!
Titus 1:10-11
“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.”
One thing we should take heed from James is:
Acts 15:19-21
“Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”
Galatians 2:1-10
STAND FIRM FOR TRUTH by FB Meyer
The great controversy in Paul’s career was over the initial rite of Judaism. It would have been comparatively calm, if he had been willing to admit that Christianity was a sect of Judaism, and that men must become Jews before becoming Christians. His contention was that the ceremonial aspect of the Law did not apply to converts from heathendom. Gentile sinners had the right to go directly to Jesus Christ for salvation, without traveling around the circuitous route of Judaism. When men insisted on the outward rite, he resisted it with all the fiery vehemence of his nature, Gal 2:3; Gal 2:12. But when his opponents were willing to admit that circumcision was not essential, he administered it to one of Jewish blood, as a concession to the weak and uninstructed, Acts 16:3.
Galatians 3:1-10
RIGHTEOUSNESS BASED ON FAITH by Life in the Spirit Study Bible
The strong tendency of the Galatian Christians to depend upon ceremonies or upon legal obedience, in addition to their faith in Christ, elicits in this chapter a magnificent demonstration of the simplicity and sufficiency of faith alone.
Faith had underlain the commencement of their Christian life, Gal_3:1-5. They had found peace with God through faith. Through faith they had received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As they had begun, so let them finish!
Faith had been the means, too, of Abraham’s acceptance with God, Gal_3:6-10. From the first the gospel of faith had been proclaimed to him by the divine Spirit. Long before he had become a Jew by the initial rite of Judaism, he had been a humble believer in God’s promise, on the basis of which he was reckoned righteous. Simple faith was the only condition that he had fulfilled, and the promise that all flesh should be blessed through him had been given when he was still a believing Gentile. Surely what had sufficed for the father of the faithful was good enough for his children! Let each reader see to it that he does not merely believe about Christ, but believes in Him, so as to be no longer under the curse, but within the blessing.
Justification | Judaizing Devils Busted and Exposed
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Abiding
The Flesh will Never be Reformed it Must be Crucified [podcast]
The Divine Prescription is Clear and there are No Shortcuts
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24
The law brings repentance, salvation while thereafter the crucified life, the cross keeps us from that sin which once separated us from the LORD, who now has saved us (Psalms 19:7; Romans 6).
There are lots of people peddling the lie of “self care” which is ultimately nothing more than absolute selfishness. Pure evil. We need SAVIOR care! Such “self-care” only perpetuates the prey, the victim, in their misery. The only way to deal with the wicked iniquitous nature, is to crucify it, not pamper it (Luke 9:23-24). It’s your time to get into God’s Word and follow Jesus (KJB). Repent, deny yourself, lay down your life and serve God and others, not yourself. Loving your wicked self IS your problem and so all “self care” is accomplishing is to make your problem bigger, to fortify the evil within (Galatians 5:16-24). Crucifying that evil by the power of the Holy Spirit who is then raising your upward in His grace, glory, and power, is the divine prescription (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:3, etc.). Read Philippians 2:3-5 each morning this week. Jesus commands you to love God. Worship God. Obey God (Matthew 22:37-39).
All whom Jesus has saved make a decision every day, including this day. All who were initially saved and yet aren’t searching out and taking up the cross daily, prove they do not love Him, even though they may claim such. Each of us prove who we really love by who reigns in our lives, and by who dies. See Matthew 6:24.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16
WHO we yield ourselves to today, proves who we truly love – either the Savior or self.
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:” 2 Corinthians 1:9
We must declare and establish “the sentence of death in ourselves” so that our trust is in God who raised Christ from the dead and raises up all of His saints as they are crucified with Christ.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Tired of sinful self and wanting it out of your way? Here’s the divine prescription: “But I keep under (subdue) my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
The fact that Jesus is coming back for a church, a people who are holy, let us peer into what the Bible tells us concerning overcoming the flesh, sin (Romans 6-8).
Jesus never said to try or try harder. no, Jesus says you must die to follow Him (Luke 9:23-24; John 12:23-25, etc.).
Jesus is sanctifying and cleansing by His Word a people, a church “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Times of fasting and prayer are doing yourself a favor and not God. Yes. You are crucifying self, getting self out of God’s way so that Christ is reigning in your life in place of sinful self! This should be viewed with absolute delight! (See Psalms 37:4; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13, etc..) You are crying, you are driving a stake in the ground and declaring: “LORD, You must increase but I must decrease!” (See John 3:30.) That’s the “daily” operation of the cross God has ordained to be transpiring in our lives (Luke 9:23-24; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20, etc.).
What’s your plan for a special time of fasting and prayer this week? There’s no mystery – you will not overcome the flesh, sin, without being crucified with Christ and there’s no better way than fasting and prayer. It’s the most direct route to being dead, buried, and raised up in the victory Christ alone can grant. Lay it all down, now. Memorize Colossians 3:3 and walk it out.
We simply can’t know just how deep we are buried in pride until we begin to obey God in fasting and prayer. Isaiah 58
Overcoming the flesh, walking in victory requires continually delighting in the LORD, worshipping Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
HOW many of us know that the flesh is never going to behave itself, never going to be tamed …. until it’s slain by the cross, crucified?
The flesh IS going to rage, be bent toward and do evil. That’s a given (Romans 7). This is why the cross, the crucifying of the “old man” and putting on “the new man” are essential to God bringing the victory in our lives! (Romans 6-8; Ephesians 4:23-25; Colossians 3:5-10, etc.)
Doesn’t the fact that our flesh does not like the cross, only confirm the need for it? What are the “works of the flesh” that will separate a once saved Christian from God? (Galatians 5:16-21) Though it’s never heard in the apostate modern church world, Jesus commanded the cross in the life of each and every person who would follow Him (Luke 9:23-24). The fact that our flesh hates the cross in no way changes God and what He said concerning the severity in which we are to deal with the flesh, with sin – and the eternal damnation that awaits all who don’t crucify the deeds of the body (Mark 9:42-49; Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Revelation 21:8, 27, etc.). When’s the last time you read the words of Jesus recorded in Mark 9:42-49 and took Jesus at His Word? IF you truly love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15).
God fully expects for His people to induce, to participate in the crucifixion of our flesh, putting the self-life to death (Isaiah 58; Matthew 6:16; 1 Corinthians 9:27; Galatians 2:20, etc.).
Holiness is not the way to Christ but rather Christ is the way to holiness. Abiding in Christ IS abiding holy – in the divine definition of holy. The key is that holiness is NOT the way to God but rather Christ is the way to holiness, His way, His definition – which is the daily cross (Luke 9:23-24). Abiding fellowship with Christ, on HIS terms, is holiness – being set apart to the LORD, in the LORD (Psalms 4:3; John 15).
Sin is man’s master until Christ is man’s Master (Matthew 6:24).
No one overcomes by accident. Those who love the LORD, truly, not just in mere profession, will seek Him diligently and obey Him and therefore are brought into His victory by Him (Matthew 7:21; 22:37-39; Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:3-6; Revelation 2-3, etc.). The disciple must truly repent and cease all excuses for the sin that displeases God and walk as “MORE than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:1, 5-6, 13-14; 37, etc.).
Jesus came from Heaven to earth and successfully confronted evil, sin, death, and the devil by going to the cross and defeating them! Read Colossians 2:14-15; Hebrews 2:14-15 and 1 John 3:8. In Christ, with Christ, we defeat death by dying, laying down our lives (Hebrews 2:14-15). And Jesus, who conquered death, hell, sin, Satan, and the grave, sends us to the cross – co-death with Him to defeat all of our sin and Satan also (Luke 9:23-24; Romans 6; 8:29, 37; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, etc.). His precious blood alone atoned for our sins positionally, and yet to enforce that victory in defeating sin and Satan in our daily lives, Jesus prescribed to us the cross life (the practical).
The only thing we can do about this reality – about the iniquitous fleshly nature – is to crucify it (Galatians 5:16-24). There can be no negotiation.
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:11
The one way to master sin is bow to Heaven’s Master and let Him master sin! The cross.
BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST ROSE AGAIN, ALL WHO ARE BORN AGAIN IN HIM ARE RAISED UP SPIRITUALLY IN THIS LIFE TO OVERCOME ALL SIN, SATAN, AND THE WORLD, AND WILL SOON be RAISED UP INTO ETERNAL GLORY WITH HEAVEN’S KING.
Rhetorical Question: What’s your fasting and prayer plan beloved? Your answer to this important, prompting question is before you and your LORD….
“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.” Romans 12:1-2
You are not serious about overcoming sin if you’re not yet setting apart regular times of fasting and prayer. The fact that you don’t want to fast is the clear proof that you need to fast. Currently, your flesh is in control! Once you are broken, you will delight in, you will look forward to those times of regular fasting! Read Isaiah 58. | The Amazing Benefits of Fasting and Prayer
Times of Fasting and prayer get YOU out of the way so Jesus can reign supreme! Isaiah 58
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:13-14
“He must increase but I must decrease.” John 3:30
FASTING IS STARVING THE FLESH AND FEEDING THE SPIRIT IN ORDER TO BE BROUGHT BY THE LORD INTO FULL ONENESS WITH HIM AND THE FATHER, AND INTO THE COMPLETE VICTORY AND FRUITFULNESS HE’S ORDAINED YOU TO WALK IN (ISAIAH 58).
Read Romans 6-8.
I am not a good person. Neither are you. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Admit it. The Bible and our own failing experience in this life clearly reveal such to be the case. The sooner we become HONEST with that which is more than obvious, announcing freely and transparently that there is “no good thing” in us except CHRIST, the sooner God will begin a fresh, deeper work in us! See Romans 7:18, 24—the cross!
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;” Colossians 3:9
The SINNER, the vile wretch I must first and foremost confront, is myself! See Job 19:28; Rom 7:18, 24; Ps 39:4-5 and Eccl 7:20. It’s essential to begin to understand the flesh, the fallen man, the iniquitous old man, in order to realize what we’ve been saved from and what must be crucified daily. The cross is God’s solution, His prescription to “put off the old man with his deeds.”
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;” Ephesians 4:22
The cross subdues the flesh, it separates us from being held captive to the dictates of the old man, the carnal fallen nature.
The Root of the Matter is in Me! | The Daily Cross
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Articles
Gospel Preached at Funeral of a Decorated United States Marine Officer in Mexico [podcast]
This past Sunday, here in beautiful Mexico, a saint’s temporal body was laid to rest. Brother Mark and I were given the opportunity, asked to speak to the whole group.
Our LORD Jesus’ Gospel was preached and everyone there was invited to repent and receive Christ before it’s too late—because Jesus died for them to be forgiven and receive eternal life, and that hell is forever (Revelation 22:17). Oh, the funeral attendees were also informed that “purgatory” is a lie, and that when they die, they will be going to Heaven or hell.
After a bit, an interpreter helped, joined in, and so every attendee heard the Gospel in their language—Spanish or English.
Trevor and Trish are the couple’s names. The way brother Mark met Trish, the now widow was 100% a miracle. Two weeks ago, we were invited to this couple’s home and spent the afternoon with them. Little did we know that the husband would pass shortly thereafter. God knew and orchestrated the events according to His perfect will.
Saints, thank you for your prayers for sister Trish.
After the people disbanded, several came and asked us about further fellowship. The preaching of God’s Word ignited them. A breakfast group fellowship had recently already begun to form, so they were invited.
Life springs out of death – “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die” (1 Corinthians 15:36).
Christ’s economy is a cross economy. Here we see that very thing where out of one of His saint’s death and burial, the life of Jesus is at work, raising up others. Life springs out of death (2 Corinthians 4:10-12).
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Psalms 116:15
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Revelation 14:13
God is so very good, saints. See Psalm 86.
Here’s comfort from “the God of all comfort” for each of you, concerning losing loved ones, namely born again loved ones! You can be assured that they are with Christ and the Father and protected from ANY and ALL danger, forever! See 2 Corinthians 1:2-5, also Revelation 21:4.
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:1-2
Interestingly, the LORD brought together 4 United States Marines/Marine vets in Mexico to bring this to pass….
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Revelation 16:15
The Brevity of Life in this World
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14
We all face death and judgment, and the Good News is that Christ’s perfect sacrifice, as we humbly appropriate it, means we are forgiven and will avert the judgment of eternal damnation.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Hebrews 9:27
Our Prayer with Isaiah for God to Prepare and Send Us
It’s the “Here am I; send me” LORD prayer in action! (Isaiah 6:8)
Child of God, are you ready, today, to lift your heart and hands to your Maker and dare to declare this prayer to Him? – “Here am I; send me!”
If you dare to freshly surrender the life God gave you and cry out to Him, get ready beloved for the fruit-bearing adventure of your life! Remember that Abraham was in Haran (means barren, dry, fruit-less) until he was instructed by God to get up and leave. That’s when the promised blessings began to unfold in his life. See the end of Genesis 11 and thereafter.
When you cry out to Him with the prophet Isaiah, the LORD is going to hear, answer, and do things that are utterly miraculous.
“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27
Just “Go” and watch God! (Mark 16:15). Your life is never more richly blessed by God than when you live by faith, when you surrender afresh and ask Him to take all of you, to prepare and use you.
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Articles
The High Treason of False Leaders [podcast]
PWT = Preach, WARN, Teach
“Whom we PREACH, WARNING every man, and TEACHING every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” Colossians 1:28
Did you catch what the apostle Paul did to prepare the church to meet Christ?
- Preach
- WARN
- Teach
Letting God Speak for Himself
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:15
Bible truths/words you never hear from wolves: Repent, obedience, the cross – crucified life, holiness, judgment, eternal Hell, the lake of fire, being spotless and ready for Christ’s return, etc..
Many today preach the crown but not the cross, the promise without the condition. They perpetually peddle half truths as they use words like “soar” and “rise up” and “elevation,” a going upward but never the essential non-negotiable condition of going downward before God will raise one upward (Isaiah 37:31; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12). Their misleading cross-less messages are “another gospel” and we know that because there is no cross, no mention of dying downward, no crucified life (2 Corinthians 11:2-5; Galatians 1:6-9; Philippians 3:18-19). The LORD will raise no one upward who doesn’t first humbly bow downward before His Majestic holiness (Luke 9:23-24; James 4:6-10). | Myth of Elevation without the Cross
“MANY pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.” Jeremiah 12:10-11
Were we not warned repeatedly to beware of those who would spoil us (ruin us eternally)?
This “famine” is here and has been induced by the “MANY false prophets” Jesus and His apostles foretold (Amos 8:11; Matthew 24:11; Isaiah 9:16; 2 Peter 2:1-3, etc.).
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:” Amos 8:11
Self-induced “famine”: Those rebels who refuse to repent and get into God’s Word for themselves are starved out and deceived by the false gospel of the apostate modern church world. In contrast, every true disciple will study God’s Word diligently for themselves and feast in the midst of this prophesied “famine” for the Word of God.
“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
PAUL GAVE LITTLE PLACE TO FALSE LEADERS (GALATIANS 2:4-5). THEY ARE TO BE IDENTIFIED, REBUKED, REJECTED, AND MARKED UNLESS THEY REPENT (ROMANS 16:17-18; TITUS 1:13).
Jesus warned:
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (devouring) wolves.” Matthew 7:15
The false leaders Christ speaks of here would have all the trappings of a true Christian leader so as not to be detected. But the true remnant cling to Christ and therefore His Word and are thereby able to discern (Ezekiel 44:23).
“The majority has always believed the lies, gone the wrong way, never changed, and suffered great devastation. The pattern is repeated every third or fourth generation. People warning them are always considered alarmist or fools (conspiracy theorists). But God ordains faithful people. They will not cease to warn them until repentance is no longer an option.” C.
Paul Speaking to the Ephesians
“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Acts 20:27-32
God’s Word informs us that Christ’s true servant-elders WILL TEACH God’s people to discern by weighing all against the standard of the Word of God (Ezekiel 44:23; Acts 17:10-11; 1 John 4:1, etc.). Therefore we know that any man in leadership not teaching people to discern between the holy and profane, between true and false, is himself a wolf!
“Even the very elect! We need to be guarding our hearts every moment because the devil loves an idle mind.” Charles Pray
“DISCERN”
“And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Ezekiel 44:23
For a moment, let’s explore what true ministry is so that we can see what is not true ministry. Perhaps one good definition of what true ministry is would be: Giving people God’s Word in order to endear them to Him by His very own words. Is not the divine Person of the Holy Spirit integrally involved in that exchange? Did He not orchestrate it?
Watch closely at what the elders of Israel did when they stood before the people:
“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly (directly, literally), and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” Nehemiah 8:8
Truly God-fearing servants of Christ get people into HIS Word so that they follow Him and not them – mere men. Note that in this important passage in Nehemiah 8, we see the principle for leadership: Leading the souls of men to Christ, not to self.
Those who flatter you by refusing to preach the absolute necessity of repenting, taking up the cross daily and following Jesus…. Are setting you up for the kill …. You may vainly believe that it’s all fun and games now but judgment is coming if you don’t repent and diligently study and adhere to the whole counsel of God’s Word. When you do truly repent, you will no long put yourself under a smooth talking wolf who refuses to preach the whole counsel of the original Gospel of Christ (Isaiah 30:9-10; 2 Timothy 4:2-4).
“A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.” Proverbs 29:5
All ministers who soft peddle and do not endeavor to unapologetically declare the whole counsel of God’s Word, are deceivers. Run.
JUST because a preacher has a few good quotes does NOT at all mean he’s not a false teacher. If he has one false doctrine, he is false. Speaking of false doctrine, Paul wrote: “A little leaveneth the WHOLE lump” (Galatians 5:9). Example: There are many teachers/pastors of old who left behind good quotes and yet were false teachers. Examples would include the often quoted wolf C.S. Lewis, the diabolical monstrostity John Calvin, and the vile legalist Charles Finney. Also, there are many today who say a lot of good things and yet, then you find out they believe calvinism or the lie of eternal security/OSAS. Run.
One minister of Christ declared:
“People think that because I skin the brethren alive when I preach, that I’m not showing any love. That’s because they’ve been brainwashed by the glass toilet (the TV), and they respond to the tone of my voice much as my German Shepherd would. But I do love the brethren. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t preach against their sins. I would preach on coping and sharing and family values and let them hit a bonfire at the Judgment Seat of Christ.”
Think about how many people are promoting THEIR ministries and how much money is wasted on such trash.
“For THE LEADERS of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.” Isaiah 9:16
Leaders who betray the LORD and His people.
Remember that according to the record of the Gospels, it was the wicked religious leaders, the Jews of Christ’s day, who betrayed the Son of God their KING to the Roman authorities, calling out for His crucifixion (Matthew 27; John 19, etc.).
The kingdom of God is not about mere men’s ministries or churches or church organizations. Reading the history of Israel and the New Testament plainly reveals that false leaders have done inestimable damage – they have done so very much to oust Christ right out of the hearts and minds of the people they are misleading while posing as those who are leading them in the ways of the LORD (Isaiah 9:16).
“And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer (true worship); but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Matthew 21:13
Today is no different – In fact we are told it will get even worse in these final days at the hands of deceivers (2 Timothy 3:13). Like the wolves of old who were constantly exposed by Israel’s prophets, modern beguilers are intercepting the heart affections and resources of those they have misled. Listen to God’s prophet Ezekiel:
“There is a conspiracy of her prophets (false leaders) in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening (devouring) the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening (devouring) the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.” Ezekiel 22:25-27
Ready to Magnify Christ?
“O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalms 34:3
The eternal kingdom of God is all about KING Jesus.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil (ruin) you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power … Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Colossians 2:6-10, 18, 19
Most men in ministry are “not holding the Head” of the body – Christ – and therefore have intercepted the affections of the people in order to exploit them to build their own ministry business.
Any leader who is not constantly doing every possible thing he can to get YOU into God’s Word for yourself, is an absolute wolf of the worst kind.
Revelation: People don’t need you and me – they need the LORD – and He reveals Himself through His Word.
Christ must be magnified, not mere men – “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6).
IT’S SO very important not to over aggrandize any mere man. We must rid our hearts of all idols (Ezekiel 14:3). The personality cults must be seen for what they really are and shunned by Christ’s true remnant. Think about the personalities so many (most) modern popular ministries are built upon? Think about the ingratiating, manipulative, and flamboyant personalities of circus clowns like Jesse Duplantis, Joel Osteen, and Joyce Meyer, Rick Warren, and a host of other false leaders who have built their enterprises/empires on THEIR own personalities and telling people what THEIR unrepentant hearts want to hear instead of what God says in the full counsel of His Holy Word (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Others we could name are more subtle and yet nevertheless draw people to THEMSELVES, not Christ! This is robbery – robbing Christ of the glory due only to Himself.
The great apostle went out of his way – he made sure and steadfast provision – to never draw or entice the affections of men’s hearts to himself. That would be theft – high treason against Heaven. In the holy fear of God, Paul took great precaution not to endear the hearts of men to himself, a mere man, but rather he espoused them to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2-5). Listen to him:
“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
Have you memorized the above verse yet?
“I Have Espoused You to … Christ”
Let’s again listen closely to the heart of Paul to the people of God, Christ’s messenger/apostle:
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. 7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?” 2 Corinthians 11:2-7
Paul espoused those he oversaw to Jesus, not to himself. He caused them to trust Christ through His blessed Word and invited others to compare what he taught to the Holy Scriptures (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17). Is this what your pastor is doing?
In a recent conversation with my friend Tim, he was edified to hear the encouragement that every time he gets someone into the Word of God for themselves, he is doing much more than most pastors or “Christian” authors who make people dependent upon them – so that they get repeat customers for their business.
Are you in the Word daily friend?
How can God’s Word get into you if you don’t get into it?
Are you drawing and remaining close to the Savior in this late hour like the wise virgins who kept the oil of His presence in the lamp of their lives and were therefore ready when He returned? (Matthew 25:1-13)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (abundantly) in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16
Listen to this audio message: Esteeming the Words of His Mouth | Colossians 1:28 PWT Preach Warn Teach
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