Grace and Truth

[Christsfreeservant]

Jesus Christ, God the Son – creator of the universe and all that has the breath of life in them given them by God – left his throne in heaven, humbled himself, took on human form, and suffered like we suffer. He was also tempted like we are tempted, yet without sin.

While he lived on this earth he healed the sick and afflicted, raised the dead, cast out demons, performed many miracles, fed the hungry and comforted the sorrowful. He also preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and that we must leave our former lives of sin behind us and come and follow (obey) him if we want to be one of his disciples (followers).

But, he was hated by the religious leaders of the people, for they were jealous of him and his popularity among the people, and they feared that their own positions of power and influence were at risk (were threatened). They also did not like the things he did or what he stood for or the words that he spoke, for he confronted them with their sin boldly and honestly. They also hated him because he claimed to be God, which is who he is.

So, they plotted his death, and they were able to carry it out with the help of the Roman authorities. But, it was God’s will that Jesus should suffer in this way, for in his death he put our sin to death, and via his resurrection from the dead, he triumphed (was victorious) over sin and death, on our behalf. Because he died, we can die to sin, and because he lives, we can live to his righteousness and have eternal life with God in heaven.

John 1:9-13 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.​

Jesus Christ is the true Light which gives light (truth, revelation, the gospel) to everyone, which is what he did when he lived on the earth, and it is what he has continued to do through his written word and via his servants and witnesses (believers in Jesus) since he left this earth nearly 2,000 years ago.

Even though the prophets of old prophesied concerning Jesus’ coming, and the religious leaders in the temple knew these prophecies, and they most likely taught them to the people, too, still very few people truly recognized Jesus for who he truly is. Even those who really knew the scriptures and who taught them to others did not receive him for who he is.

But, have things changed all that much since then? How much of the world today truly knows who Jesus Christ is? And, how many of those who say they are Christians truly receive him into their lives on a daily basis? And, how many of us even know what it means to truly receive Jesus?

To receive Jesus is to believe in him, and to believe in him is not a mere formality. For, even the demons believe and they shudder. So, to receive and to believe in Jesus means to be divinely persuaded as to his holiness and his righteousness and of the necessity that we must die with him to sin and that we must live with him to righteousness, for this is why he died.

But, it is also to include him in our daily lives, but more than just include him, but to make him Lord of our lives, for that is who he is. So, to receive him means to embrace him as the ruler and the one who is in charge of our lives, and that he is the one to lead us and guide us in the way that we should go, and not us, ourselves, or other human beings.

So, receiving Jesus is not something we do through a mere prayer we pray one time, but it is daily that we invite him into our lives to have Lordship over our lives as we daily yield control of our lives over him and follow his lead. We inquire of him regarding decisions we have to make which are critically important, and we seek his counsel, and we follow what he says.

But, if we don’t do that, and we continue to run our own lives and make all our own decisions, and we go our own way, and continue in sinful practices, then we have done the same as these who did not receive him when he lived on this earth. We have rejected him, because we have rejected his Lordship over our lives and his commands and the very purpose for why he died.

John 1:14-18 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.​

Jesus was full of grace and truth. But, his grace is not what a lot of people say it is. His grace to us is not cheap. He paid his life’s blood for that grace. And, it is not mere forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven when we die. For, his grace, which brings salvation, instructs us that we must say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and that we must live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for his return (Tit. 2:11-14).

God’s grace to us is that he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness – all in his power and strength at work within us. His grace provided the way out from under temptation to sin, so that we can walk by faith according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to the ways of our sinful flesh. For, his grace delivered us from our slavery to sin. It does not coddle us in our sin.

The truth is that our salvation is not guaranteed us based on some past belief or on some decision we made at an altar or some sinner’s prayer we may have prayed at one point in our lives. Romans 8 makes it quite clear that the recipients of eternal life are those who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And, this is repeated over and over again throughout the New Testament.

And, yet so many people are buying into this cheap grace gospel which they feel gives them the liberty to live however they want and to continue on in their sinful addictions while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. But, what they are believing is a lie, not the truth, and if they continue that way, one day they will hear “Depart from me! I never knew you!”

So, why do I keep teaching this same message day after day after day? For one, because that is what the Bible teaches book after book and chapter after chapter, and I am teaching what it teaches. But, also because so many, many people have bought into the lies, and the truth has to go out, for many people are under the false assumption that they are saved when they are not, and my heart is burdened for them that they hear the truth.

Basically, people’s lives are at risk here because there are so many liars and deceivers out there leading people astray, even those who profess the name of Jesus. So, we all need to dig into the Word of God and see what it teaches, and then we need to follow the truth and not the lies. For, none of us knows if he has tomorrow, and today may be it for us.

So, please take this seriously. And, please make sure that the faith that you have is genuine faith that dies with Christ daily to sin and that lives with Christ to his righteousness, and which follows Jesus Christ wherever he leads you, for this is why Jesus died, and this is the essence of the gospel, and this is what the Christian life is really all about.

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Jesus Christ, God the Son – creator of the universe and all that has the breath of life in them given them by God – left his throne in heaven, humbled himself, took on human form, and suffered like we suffer. He was also tempted like we are tempted, yet without sin.

While he lived on this earth he healed the sick and afflicted, raised the dead, cast out demons, performed many miracles, fed the hungry and comforted the sorrowful. He also preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and that we must leave our former lives of sin behind us and come and follow (obey) him if we want to be one of his disciples (followers).

But, he was hated by the religious leaders of the people, for they were jealous of him and his popularity among the people, and they feared that their own positions of power and influence were at risk (were threatened). They also did not like the things he did or what he stood for or the words that he spoke, for he confronted them with their sin boldly and honestly. They also hated him because he claimed to be God, which is who he is.

So, they plotted his death, and they were able to carry it out with the help of the Roman authorities. But, it was God’s will that Jesus should suffer in this way, for in his death he put our sin to death, and via his resurrection from the dead, he triumphed (was victorious) over sin and death, on our behalf. Because he died, we can die to sin, and because he lives, we can live to his righteousness and have eternal life with God in heaven.

John 1:9-13 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.​

Jesus Christ is the true Light which gives light (truth, revelation, the gospel) to everyone, which is what he did when he lived on the earth, and it is what he has continued to do through his written word and via his servants and witnesses (believers in Jesus) since he left this earth nearly 2,000 years ago.

Even though the prophets of old prophesied concerning Jesus’ coming, and the religious leaders in the temple knew these prophecies, and they most likely taught them to the people, too, still very few people truly recognized Jesus for who he truly is. Even those who really knew the scriptures and who taught them to others did not receive him for who he is.

But, have things changed all that much since then? How much of the world today truly knows who Jesus Christ is? And, how many of those who say they are Christians truly receive him into their lives on a daily basis? And, how many of us even know what it means to truly receive Jesus?

To receive Jesus is to believe in him, and to believe in him is not a mere formality. For, even the demons believe and they shudder. So, to receive and to believe in Jesus means to be divinely persuaded as to his holiness and his righteousness and of the necessity that we must die with him to sin and that we must live with him to righteousness, for this is why he died.

But, it is also to include him in our daily lives, but more than just include him, but to make him Lord of our lives, for that is who he is. So, to receive him means to embrace him as the ruler and the one who is in charge of our lives, and that he is the one to lead us and guide us in the way that we should go, and not us, ourselves, or other human beings.

So, receiving Jesus is not something we do through a mere prayer we pray one time, but it is daily that we invite him into our lives to have Lordship over our lives as we daily yield control of our lives over him and follow his lead. We inquire of him regarding decisions we have to make which are critically important, and we seek his counsel, and we follow what he says.

But, if we don’t do that, and we continue to run our own lives and make all our own decisions, and we go our own way, and continue in sinful practices, then we have done the same as these who did not receive him when he lived on this earth. We have rejected him, because we have rejected his Lordship over our lives and his commands and the very purpose for why he died.

John 1:14-18 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.​

Jesus was full of grace and truth. But, his grace is not what a lot of people say it is. His grace to us is not cheap. He paid his life’s blood for that grace. And, it is not mere forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven when we die. For, his grace, which brings salvation, instructs us that we must say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and that we must live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for his return (Tit. 2:11-14).

God’s grace to us is that he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness – all in his power and strength at work within us. His grace provided the way out from under temptation to sin, so that we can walk by faith according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to the ways of our sinful flesh. For, his grace delivered us from our slavery to sin. It does not coddle us in our sin.

The truth is that our salvation is not guaranteed us based on some past belief or on some decision we made at an altar or some sinner’s prayer we may have prayed at one point in our lives. Romans 8 makes it quite clear that the recipients of eternal life are those who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And, this is repeated over and over again throughout the New Testament.

And, yet so many people are buying into this cheap grace gospel which they feel gives them the liberty to live however they want and to continue on in their sinful addictions while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. But, what they are believing is a lie, not the truth, and if they continue that way, one day they will hear “Depart from me! I never knew you!”

So, why do I keep teaching this same message day after day after day? For one, because that is what the Bible teaches book after book and chapter after chapter, and I am teaching what it teaches. But, also because so many, many people have bought into the lies, and the truth has to go out, for many people are under the false assumption that they are saved when they are not, and my heart is burdened for them that they hear the truth.

Basically, people’s lives are at risk here because there are so many liars and deceivers out there leading people astray, even those who profess the name of Jesus. So, we all need to dig into the Word of God and see what it teaches, and then we need to follow the truth and not the lies. For, none of us knows if he has tomorrow, and today may be it for us.

So, please take this seriously. And, please make sure that the faith that you have is genuine faith that dies with Christ daily to sin and that lives with Christ to his righteousness, and which follows Jesus Christ wherever he leads you, for this is why Jesus died, and this is the essence of the gospel, and this is what the Christian life is really all about.

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

If faithful believers fully represented Jesus how He should be represented with the preaching of the kingdom of God accompanied by healing, signs and wonders, most religious leaders in our denominational churches would reject them and do what they could to slander and discredit them.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

If faithful believers fully represented Jesus how He should be represented with the preaching of the kingdom of God accompanied by healing, signs and wonders, most religious leaders in our denominational churches would reject them and do what they could to slander and discredit them.

If any of us truly represent him, especially with regard to what he taught, we are rejected by the masses.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

If any of us truly represent him, especially with regard to what he taught, we are rejected by the masses.

Actually Jesus was totally accepted by the masses. It was the religious leaders who rejected him, and it is the same today with anyone who truly represents Jesus. I have prayed with a number of folk with medical conditions, and not one non-Christian has ever rejected my offer!

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Actually Jesus was totally accepted by the masses. It was the religious leaders who rejected him, and it is the same today with anyone who truly represents Jesus. I have prayed with a number of folk with medical conditions, and not one non-Christian has ever rejected my offer!

I would not say that Jesus was totally accepted by the masses. He did have large crowds following him, but when his messages got tougher, most deserted him. Few actually totally accepted him for who he truly was. Yes, they were shouting hosannas at him one day, but then a few days later they were shouting "Crucify Him." But, yes, it was the religious leaders who hated him and wanted him dead, and they were able to persuade and to incite the crowds (the masses) to call for his death, too.