
Be Ye Kind One to Another, Tenderhearted, Forgiving One Another [podcast]
“We pray earnestly, O God, that we may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Thy voice.” AW Tozer
WHEN we choose to condemn another unwisely we should remember that we are not going to stand in the Supreme Court of the Universe before God to give account for anyone else’s sins except our own. We are not going to stand before the Almighty to be judged for someone else’s sins but only our own.
We must have mercy on others as we ourselves are utterly in need of divine mercy.
Truth: Any person who dies in the sin of un-forgiveness will burn in hell irrevocably, eternally (Matthew 18:21-35; Mark 9:43-49; 11:25-26; James 2:13). Memorize Ephesians 4:32 today. KJB.
Leveling with God…. Dear heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, and ask You to wash afresh the most unworthy person alive on the earth, me. No one needs You more than I do LORD. There is no good thing that dwells in me except You LORD Jesus. Please have mercy upon me afresh and make me one with You dear LORD and fill my heart and life afresh with Your love, mercy, and compassion. Grant that this heart be an heart of flesh. Please take away the stony places. I love You LORD Jesus. I love You Father. In Jesus’ name.
If you don’t believe in forgiving all others, God doesn’t believe in and will not forgive you.
WHAT are the 3 commands/instructions in this verse?
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32
Commands found in Ephesians 4:32:
1. Be “kind” to others knowing God has and is showing you mercy based only on Christ’s merit, not your own.
2. Be “tenderhearted” for the same reason as above. You and I merit nothing but divine wrath outside of Jesus – period – so get off that high horse beloved before God knocks you off of it.
3. Be “Forgiving” of others based on the truth that God has forgiven you but only on the basis of Christ and His perfect sacrifice.
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 4:32
“Be ye kind one to another – Γινεσθε – χρηστοι· Be kind and obliging to each other; study good breeding and gentleness of manners. A Christian cannot be a savage, and he need not be a boor. Never put any person to needless pain.
Tender-hearted – Ευσπλαγχνοι· Compassionate; having the bowels easily moved (as the word implies) to commiserate the state of the wretched and distressed.
Forgiving one another – Should you receive any injury from a brother, or from any man, be as ready to forgive him, on his repentance and acknowledgment, as God was, for Christ’s sake, to forgive you when you repented of your sins, and took refuge in his mercy.”
WHY are we to Forgive?
“…even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32
Your own forgiveness from God came on behalf of the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross! Now read that portion of Ephesians 4:32 above again with this in mind.
We must show mercy as you and I have been shown mercy by God through Christ Jesus and not due to any merit of our own because we only merit His holy wrath for our sin (Isaiah 64:6). God is not willing that ANY perish and so while we/they are still alive and have breath, there is hope and the privilege of repenting and confessing sins and receiving His forgiveness. Meditate on the thief on the cross and how Jesus so mercifully dealt with Him, receiving him into His eternal abode.
The LORD has been abundantly merciful to us through Jesus Christ and He requires that we show mercy to others in our attitudes and actions. Is this work of grace and of a heart of flesh being done in your life? Memorize Ephesians 4:32. Live it. If you don’t what’s going to happen?
IF you don’t forgive all, Jesus says that you will not be forgiven and are going to hell.
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25-26
Like it or not, your own forgiveness is contingent upon your forgiving others.
IF you will not forgive as you’ve been freely forgiven, you are no longer forgiven! Nothing could be clearer from Scripture. Hell is full of tormented souls who have all eternity to regret their refusal to forgive as God provided the ultimate sacrifice of His Son to forgive them. Un-forgiveness will damn your soul and hell is an irrevocable sentence. There are no do-overs.
“And forgive us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:12
Someone may be saying…. “Wow, you have no idea what that person did to me! I simply can’t find it in myself to forgive them!”
It’s only when Christ is truly reigning in our hearts that His divine love will fill us to forgive. And, Christ will reign in no life where there is no cross. Forgiveness is found in God for us and all others (1 John 4:7-8, 16-18).
All of the divine instructions given in Holy Scripture will be fulfilled in us through the cross life – where Christ is raising us upward in His resurrection grace as we consent to daily dying, the crucified life (2 Corinthians 4:10-12).
Dishing it Out to Others Exactly as You Want it Coming Back to You
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (give out), it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
OVER THE LAST YEARS IN PARTICULAR, I HAVE WITNESSED SOME RENEGADE “WATCHMEN” WHO GOT A BIT TOO BIG FOR THEIR BRITCHES, WERE FILLED WITH PRIDE, AND WENT ABOUT SLANDERING OTHER CHRISTIANS, SOWING DISCORD AMONG THE BRETHREN (PROVERBS 6:19). GOD HAS AND IS JUDGING THEM HARSHLY ACCORDING TO THE MERCILESS MEASURE OF RULE THEY METED OR GAVE OUT TO OTHERS. IN THESE PARTICULAR CASES, THESE MEN WILLINGLY REFUSED TO FOLLOW CHRIST’S COMMANDS ON CORRECTING OTHERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST AND THEREFORE CAUSED DIVISIONS CONTRARY TO THOSE TEACHINGS (MATTHEW 18:15-17; ROMANS 16:17-18; GALATIANS 6:1-2). GOD IS REWARDING US ACCORDING TO HOW WE TREAT OTHERS, BEGINNING WITH OUR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS TOWARD THEM.
As we remain in God’s Word, the divine mirror, we continue to see just how sinful we are outside of Christ’s present saving grace (James 1:19-25; Romans 7:18). In this posture of heart, we shall never put our filthy hands of judgment around the necks of others who’ve wronged us (Matthew 18:21-35). Instead we will freely forgive them as we’ve been freely forgiven (Matthew 5:7; 10:8; Ephesians 4:32).
“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (mirror): 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:19-25
Do We Desire Mercy from God? If So We Must Show it to Others
“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” James 2:13
Years ago, one particular fellow who maligned and attacked me for something I didn’t even do, rendered a judgment upon me. He said that my ministry is over. I sent him packing due to his continual, unprovoked, unwarranted attacks (which was also the consensus of several other mutual friends in Christ). Then, I went home and got in prayer with our Father and said “LORD, if You want my ‘ministry’ to be over, I praise You for it and for whatever You want to do with this life (mine) that You have given.” In other words, I was saying, “LORD, I don’t want to do so-called ‘ministry’ if you aren’t in it all the way anyway. I have no ministry – You do Father, and if You want to use me in whatever way You see fit, praise You for whatever way that might be. I am but Your mere servant and just want to be in Your perfect will. So, if I ever really had been used in ministry that glorified You, it was only due to YOU and nothing of me, for I am ‘altogether vanity’ according to Your Word, even in my very ‘best state.’” (Psalms 139:4-5)
Well, I’ve personally seen wicked imposters, counterfeits try to end the work of God in others only to be ruined, to be turn over to Satan themselves (Psalms 7, 9, 35; Matthew 7:2-5, etc.). Those they condemn usually go on to prosper!
You see, those who wrongly judge and condemn us make the deliberate choice to refuse to render aid (the mercy needed to restore) even as they have received aid from God (Galatians 6:1-2; Ephesians 4:32; 2 Timothy 2:24-26, etc.). In the blindness of their own heart due to their own sin and refusal to truly repent, they project that guilt on others in their condemnations (Romans 2:1-3; Hebrews 3:12-14). Unlike the Good Samaritan, they, like the merciless, hell bound religionists, pass by mercy and take hold of a judgment that belongs only to the Judge of all of our souls. Read afresh Luke 10:25-37.
The sins that should concern us most are our own sins!
Why then do we wrongly judge others in our attitudes when the one who needs Jesus most is us?
“But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?” Job 19:28
When we truly humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, we will be bowed down low before Him and have nothing in us to wrongly cast stones at others. No, instead, we will be so smitten with our own darkness and the infinite, present need we ourselves have for His present mercy, that we will have no stone in our hand to throw at anyone. If we do, that person we would stone or chasten would be we ourselves!
What sin is not forgivable by God (other than the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost)? Name it please. Go ahead and tell us all exactly what sin you are condemning another for that can’t be forgiven by the blood of Jesus. …. Waiting…..
Woman Taken in the Act of Adultery Forgiven!
“So when they (the self-righteous) continued asking him (Jesus), he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John 8:7-11
First Jesus forgives this woman and then tells her to “go, and sin no more.” The order is essential here in this transaction. Jesus came to heal, bless, deliver, forgive, and restore and not to condemn (Luke 4:18; 9:56; John 3:17).
If you have no need for divine mercy, stone those around you when they stumble. If you do realize your own infinite need for God’s mercy, throw God’s mercy at others! Restore! Bless! Love them with God’s love and help them – even your enemies! (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:17-21; Galatians 6:1-2)
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Matthew 5:44
WHEN you witness a brother or sister becoming weak, having a fault, or committing sin, GOD’s call for you is to help them be restored to Him and not to run them through with the rusty sword of your own self-righteous judgment (Galatians 6:1-2; James 1:20; Romans 8:33-34).
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2
“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20
Message to those Condemned by Others
To those reading this who have been harshly condemned by other mere men for sins in your past or just false accusation, you should know that God has a place of refuge for you (Job 5:21; Psalms 31:20). Firstly, He alone is your judge and your sentence or state – your standing with Him – is in His holy hands ultimately (Psalms 17:2). He sees and knows you have confessed and repented.
“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:33-34
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come before You in and through Jesus Christ alone. I have no right or privilege to approach You outside of Him. Based on His precious blood, shed for my many sins and utter sinfulness, I come before Thee my God, broken and in desperate need of Your present and saving, sheer mercy. I now realize that it’s ME that needs to repent and I am the one in the greatest need of Your undeserved mercy. God, please forgive my sins, cleanse me now heavenly Father with Jesus’ blood. Forgive my hardened heart toward You and others. I beg You now to break me Father and make my heart very tender and restorative of others. Grant me the heart of flesh You ordained me to have. Father, in Jesus’ name, please use me to bring hurting, lost, fallen sheep back to Your bless-ed fold. I love You Jesus! LORD, please fill me with Your love today Jesus! According to Your parable of the prodigal son, I will rejoice with You and Your angels at the prospect of others being restored and brought home to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Articles
Grounded in Grace [podcast]

“What a powerful message! Life changing for sure. It truly blessed me. Every believer should listen to this video! But God! Two little words that I missed. And found this phrase used at least 44 times in the KJB. Those little words takes the focus off us! If it wasn’t for God coming to save our wicked souls we would be doomed forever to burn in hell. Psalm 49:15 “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me. Selah.” We are saved by the grace of God and kept by the power and grace of God. To which none of us can boost! (Ephesians 2:8, 1 Peter 1:5).” Karen Cochran | Grounded in Grace [podcast]
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 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: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:4-10
Satan continues to pick off people with the same exact law-keeping deception he snared the Galatians with. They become in unbelief about Christ’s perfect sacrifice and begin to add law to salvation’s equation. This is deadly. Having begun in faith, in the Spirit, they fall away from the faith by trying to help God save them through self-effort, law-keeping (Galatians 3:3; 5:4). Many of those snared are seduced into this by way of the sabbath keeping deception, foolishness.
Being established in the saving grace of God is the only defense against the many deceptions creeping in among God’s people.
When the self-righteous legalist hears someone preach that Christians are saved by grace and not under the old testament law, they react – because they are still trusting self and have not truly repented/surrendered and putting their whole faith in christ. Law and grace don’t mix! You MUST choose! (John 1:17) Either you are saved by Jesus or your own law keeping works. There’s no in-between! It’s time to get into God’s Word, asking Him to give you a NEW Testament clue!
Especially with the upsurge of Judaizers and the law-keeping doctrines they perpetrate, every true born-again believer should pray, seek out, and study to be grounded in God’s saving grace in Christ.
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.
To the Galatians, when Paul said “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”, he was saying that trying to mix even “a little” law keeping into the equation of salvation Christ alone 100% earned for us, ruins your whole relationship with God (Galatians 5:9). In fact, you don’t have one if you don’t 100% trust Jesus Christ!
Remember when Jesus saved you? He found and saved our wretched soul alllll by Himself!!!!! Right? Please pause and let that soak in. …. In light of this reality, this sheer mercy, how is it that we still strive in the flesh, thinking we are going to earn divine forgiveness, merit His blessings, etc. – “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5)
“But God”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,” Ephesians 2:4
After hanging the backdrop (vv. 1-3), reviewing our alienation, our past life of trespasses and sin, how we are now found and rescued—brought back to life from our dead state—by the LORD, the writer now transitions upward.
Of Ephesians 2:4, William MacDonald writes:
“The words, But God, form one of the most significant, eloquent, and inspiring transitions in all literature. They indicate that a stupendous (astonishing, stunning) change has taken place. It is a change from the doom and despair of the valley of death to the unspeakable delights of the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
The Author of the change is God Himself. No one else could have done it, and no one else would have done it.
“One characteristic of this blessed One is that He is rich in mercy. He shows mercy to us by not treating us the way we deserved to be treated (Psalm 103:10). ‘Though it has been expended by Him for six millennia, and myriads and myriads have been partakers of it, it is still an unexhausted mine of wealth, as Eadie remarks.’
The reason for His intervention is given in the words, for his great love wherewith he loved us. His love is great because He is its source. Just as the greatness of a giver casts an aura of greatness on his gift, so the surpassing excellence of God adds superlative luster to His love. It is greater to be loved by the mighty Sovereign of the universe, for instance, than by a fellow human being. God’s love is great because of the price He paid. Love sent the Lord Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, to die for us in agony at Calvary. God’s love is great because of the unsearchable riches it showers on its object.” William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1917
Satan attempts to make God out to be an unloving Father. Only mankind is created in God’s image, and He loves us beyond words (Ephesians 2:4-9). He loves us so much so that He gave His only begotten Son to die a horrible yet redeeming death on the cross, raising Him from the dead three days later to fully, completely justify us (John 3:16). God still has a remnant who trust Him and not self (Romans 5:6-8).
Justification
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) You have called Him a liar! (Galatians 2:21) 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 stupid, ridiculous, laughable religious fig leaves which are a sham at best! 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 in the biblical word “antichrist” 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!
Revelation 2:8 “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.”
Revelation 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
William MacDonald writes:
“His kindness toward us (2:7)
“His grace in His kindness toward us (2:7)
“The riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
“The exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
“Now it follows that if God will be disclosing this throughout eternity, then we will be learning throughout eternity, then we will be learning forever and ever. Heaven will be our school. God will be our Teacher. His grace will be the subject. We will be the students. And the school term will be eternity.
“This should deliver us from the idea that we will know everything when we get to Heaven. Only God knows everything, and we will never be equal with Him.
“It also raises the interesting question: How much will we know when we get to Heaven? And it suggests the possibility that we can prepare for the heavenly university by majoring in the Bible right now.
“2:8 The next three verses present as clear a statement of the simple plan of salvation as we can find in the Bible.
“It all originates with the grace of God; He takes the initiative in providing it. Salvation is given to those who are utterly unworthy of it, on the basis of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“It is given as a present possession. Those who are saved can know it. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said, ‘are ye saved.’ He knew it, and they knew it.
“The way we receive the gift of eternal life is through faith. Faith means that man takes his place as a lost, guilty sinner, and receives the Lord Jesus as his only hope of salvation. True saving faith is the commitment of a person to a Person (Christ).
“Any idea that man can earn or deserve salvation is forever exploded by the words, ‘and that not of yourselves.’ (2:9) Dead people can do nothing, and sinners deserve nothing but punishment.
“‘It is the gift of God.’ A gift, of course, is free …. The gift of God is salvation by grace and through faith. It is offered to all people everywhere.
“2:9 It is not of works, that is, it is not something a person can earn through supposedly meritorious deeds. It cannot be earned, for instance, by:
Confirmation
Baptism
Church membership
Church attendance
Holy communion
Trying to keep the Ten Commandments
Living by the Sermon on the Mount
Giving to charity
Being a good neighbor
Living a moral, respectable life
“People are not saved by works. And they are not saved by faith plus works. They are saved through faith alone. The minute you add works of any kind or in any amount as a means of gaining eternal life, salvation is no longer by grace (Rom. 11:6). One reason that works are positively excluded is to prevent human boasting. If anyone could be saved by his works, then he would have reason to boast before God. This is impossible (Rom 3:27).
“If anyone could be saved by his own good works, then the death of Christ was unnecessary (Gal 2:21). But we know that the reason He died was because there was no other way by which guilty sinners could be saved.
“If anyone could be saved by his own good works, then he would be his own savior, and could worship himself. But this would be idolatry, and God forbid it (Exod. 20:3).
“Even if someone could be saved through faith in Christ plus his own good works you would have the impossible situation of two saviors – Jesus and the sinner. Christ would then have to share the saviorhood with another, and this He will not do (Is. 42:8).
“Finally, if anyone could contribute to his salvation by works, then God would owe it to him. This, too, is impossible. God cannot be indebted to anyone (Rom 11:35).
“In contrast to works, faith excludes boasting (Rom 3:27), because it is non-meritorious. A man has no reason to be proud that he has trusted the Lord. Faith in Him is the most sane, rational, sensible thing a person can do. To trust one’s Creator and Redeemer is only logical and reasonable. If we cannot trust Him, whom can we trust?
“2:10 The result of salvation is that we are His workmanship – the handiwork of God, not of ourselves. A born again believer is a masterpiece of God. When we think of the raw materials He has to work with, His achievement is all the more remarkable. Indeed, this masterpiece is nothing less than an new creation through union with Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passes away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17).
“And the object of this new creation is found in the phrase, for good works. While it is true that we are not saved by good works, it is equally true that we are saved for good works. Good works are not the root but the fruit. We do not work in order to be saved, but because we are saved.
“This is the aspect of the truth that is emphasized in James 2:14-26. When James says that ‘faith without works is dead,’ he does not mean that we are saved by faith plus works, but by the kind of faith that results in a life of good works. Works prove the reality of our faith. Paul heartedly agrees: ‘we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’ (2:10)
“God’s order then is this:
“Faith->Salvation->Good Works->Reward
“Faith leads to salvation. Salvation results in good works. Good works will be rewarded by Him.
“But the question arises: What kind of good works am I expected to do? Paul answers, Good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. In other words, God has a blueprint for every life. Before our conversion He mapped out a spiritual career for us. Our responsibility is to find His will for us and then obey it. We do not have to work out a plan for our lives, but only accept the plan which He has drawn up for us. This delivers us from fret and frenzy, and insures that our lives will be of maximum glory to Him, of most blessing to others, and of greatest reward to ourselves.
“In order to find out the good works He has planned for our individual lives, we should: (1) Confess and forsake sin as soon as we are conscious of it in our lives; (2) be continually and unconditionally yielded to him; (3) study the Word of God to discern His will, and then do whatever He tells us to do; (4) spend time in prayer each day; (5) seize opportunities of service as they arise; (6) cultivate the fellowship and counsel of other Christians. God prepares us for good works. He prepares good works for us to perform. Then He rewards us when we perform them. Such is His grace!” William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1918
“Riches” appears five times in Ephesians
Ephesians 1:7 – “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Ephesians 1:18 – “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”
Ephesians 2:7 – “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:8 – “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”
Ephesians 3:16 – “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
Ephesians 2:1-10
WHAT GRACE HAS DONE by FB Meyer
“Evidently dead men may walk; that is, they may be dead to the eternal world but alive to this world, which is moving past like the films of a moving picture. The death of the spirit is compatible with much active interest in the course of this world. Behind the shifting scenes of the material is the great enemy of souls. As the Spirit of God works in the obedient, so does the evil spirit work in the disobedient. Note this trinity of evil-the course of this world, the lusts of our flesh, and the prince of the power of the air. If we desire to save men, we must be in living union with the all-conquering Spirit of Christ.
Notice, also, the past tense which describes the finality of Christ’s work, Eph_2:5-6. In the purpose of God we have been raised from the grave of sin and are seated with the risen Lord in the place of acceptance and victory. We were one with Christ when He lay in the grave and arose. In God’s thought we have already taken our seat with the glorified Christ upon the throne; only the pity is that we do not believe this or act as if we had done so. All this is the gift of God’s unmerited love. By grace have we been brought into this position, and by grace are we maintained in it. We are of God’s “making;” such is the Greek word for workmanship, Eph_2:10. We have been created for good works; they have been planned for us and we have only to walk in them.”



Abiding
5 Soul Damning Sins Named! Learning from History! [podcast]

THE 5 SINS THAT KEPT ISRAEL (God’s own covenant people) OUT OF THEIR PROMISED LAND OF BLESSINGS and will keep us out if not relinquished. Friend, please read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 with all your might. Make this text your meat.
The world seeks to romance sin but if God says it’s sin, that’s what it is. Toning down the terms changes nothing. Judgment Day is on the way.
We are fighting the good fight of faith, “striving against sin” and “more than conquerors” over sin through Jesus who loves us and bought us with His own blood! (1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 12:4; 13:12; Acts 20:28; Romans 8:37)
There are the 5 sins listed here that kept God’s people out of His blessings. We all need to L.I.F.T.M. up to the LORD in repentance and for His perfect forgiveness and cleansing. God the Holy Spirit warns us here through Paul’s pen (1 Cor. 10:1-13), that Israel and these sins are “examples” (vv. 6, 11) to all NT believers. God destroys those who go back on Him after knowing Him (transgressors – Ps. 68:21; 73:28; 125:5, etc.). If not ridden out of our lives, any one of these 5 sins WILL keep us out of our promised land. God is holy (Heb. 12:14). As taken in order from 1 Cor. 10:6-10, here are those 5 sins:
Lust
Idolatry
Fornication
Tempting Christ
Murmuring
This simple acronym should help us to remember these sins and remain separate from them as we grow today to know and love our Savior more fervently. “Keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22).
Committing the sin is one thing (1 John 1:8-10, right) and refusing to repent of it is yet another. Refusing to acknowledge, repent, confess, and cease is what snares the soul and ousts us from Christ (Proverbs 28:13).
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
If the Holy Spirit has quickened any offences of your heart, simply L.I.F.T.M. up to Christ the Redeemer, Forgiver, Cleanser, and Transformer of lives.
WHATEVER it takes – those who choose to get real with God will sever themselves from anything and anyone who causes them to sin. This is what Jesus says about sin and hell:
“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” Mark 9:43-50
NOTICE: When a believer or group of believers backslides, they no longer separate from the transgressors who are unrepentant:
Fornication Defiles
“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have (Gr. possessed and wouldn’t repent) his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
1 Corinthians 10 completely destroys the OSAS / eternal security argument.
Notice the word “OUR” in verses 6 and 11. This is directly spoken to warn NEW Testament saints that they are going to hell if they live and die in sin.
Case closed.
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were OUR examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also LUSTED.
7 Neither be ye IDOLATERS, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8 Neither let us commit FORNICATION, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9 Neither let us TEMPT CHRIST, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither MURMUR ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Eternal security is a false teaching. 1 sin separated Adam and Eve from God and “The wages of sin is (still) death” because God is Holy (Rom 6:23, etc.). Moral coward counterfeits hate, despise the Gospel essential of the cross, the crucified life. They want Jesus to save them to Heaven but not from sin. These are the sin-justifying, grace-perverting “ungodly men” Jude warned us about (Jude 4).
The divine declaration that “The wages of sin is death” which means separation from God, appears throughout Scripture (Romans 6:23).
“He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.” Proverbs 19:16
Die or death always means separation.
OSAS/eternal security is a lie from hell. OSAS was Satan’s first lie and so it’s blasphemy to teach this doctrine of devils and claim it’s part of the Gospel. You are attributing Satan’s lie to the LORD Jesus. Repent now sinner. See Genesis 2:17; 3:4; Romans 11:20-22; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:6, 12-14; 10:26-39; 2 Peter 2:20-21; Jude 4, etc..
The concept of an un-conditional eternal security is not established in Scripture … Except for it being Satan’s first teaching, His first lie – the “Ye shall NOT surely die” lie (Genesis 2:17; 3:4).
Eternal Security/Once saved always saved is a lie from hell.
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Abiding
“The Unalterable Basis of an Open Heaven is a Grave” [podcast]

Concerning the raising up process of the Gospel of God, T. Austin-Sparks wrote:
“The unalterable basis of an open heaven is a grave, and a crisis at which you come to an end of your own self-life. It is the crisis of real experiential identification with Christ in His death.”
Though we entered into His death upon initial salvation, accepting and experiencing that death is still a daily choice, an individual decision to be made on an ongoing basis. One’s choice to continue to persevere, following Christ as He clearly prescribed, will determine his eternal destination (Luke 9:62; 19:13; 21:19; Romans 6:16; Galatians 6:7-9).
The insidious circumventing of the cross can come in many clandestine ways that are masked with pious outer garb. Today, while refusing to utter the full counsel of the One they claim tobe representing, smiling and charismatic men stand in sheep’s clothing, promising heavenly life to those who live in sin. They only prosper due to the volitional biblical illiteracy of the masses. Ignorance of the truth is a choice with eternal consequences (Hosea 4:6; Matthew 22:29; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:24-25
Of seeds, one source notes:
“Seeds do not technically ‘die’ when planted; rather, they germinate, transforming from a dormant state into an active, growing plant. While the outer shell breaks and the original form changes, the embryo inside remains alive.”
Just as nothing in hell could have held Jesus in that grave, NOTHING in hell can hold down the crucified saint! The divinely volcanic resurrection life of Christ bursting forth in the life of the crucified consenting disciple will be utterly unstoppable!
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive, raise up) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11
The true disciple is always “delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:11). He has “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). He is daily putting to death “the deeds of the body” and being “raised up” by the power of the same Holy Spirit “that raised up Christ from the dead” (Romans 8:11, 13). He rejoices in “Christ Jesus” and has “no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
“I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31)
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake … that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you” 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12.
The disciple who is dead and buried with Christ is “dead to sin” (Romans 6:2). There are tell-tale symptoms in one whose self life has not been terminated, put to death. When we justify the sinful things we do, and call those who point them out “legalistic,” it is symptomatic of a life that is not crucified with Christ. The Bible says, “Lie not against the truth” (James. 3:14). If we argue against the truth when we are shown it, we are manifesting rebellion. The “corn of wheat” must be planted and remain planted in order to bud and bring forth new life. The one whose life is laid down does not make excuses when he realizes that he harbors sin. No, instead he rejoices to be yet more sanctified and dwelling in the place of blessing and holiness with the One He delights to please and serve.
Prayer: LORD Jesus, I am crucified with You. I am dead and my life is hidden with Christ in God. Here and now I lay my life in Your holy hands, this moment. Please use me now and here forward in the Father’s business of the Great Commission as we eagerly look for Your soon return. I love You LORD Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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