I Was Tired

I was tired......

I was drug into the kingdom by enticement

but found I was never changed.

John 3:3

I was drug into the kingdom by guilt

but found the guilt remained.

Romans 8:1

I was drug into the kingdom by God's sovereignty

but found I questioned my election.

2 Peter 1:10

I was drug into the kingdom by service

but found I was soon exhausted.

Acts 17:24-28

But then

You drew me into the Kingdom by Your Love

and I found Abundant Life, Peace,

Security and Rest therein.

Matthew 10:25-30

......And You gave me rest for my weary soul.

Christ in you, the hope of glory!

SHECHINAH GLORY AND THE WILDERNESS

How about adding a new word to your vocabulary? Would you like to try ‘Shechinah’? It means ‘presence’ or ‘residence.’ Sound insignificant? Maybe, but knowing it can mean stability and comfort for any trial or crisis you experience in life.

Let me explain. When the Israelites were stomping around in the wilderness they had a strange leader. No, I’m not talking about Moses, I’m talking about the Pillar. A pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire during the night to lead and protect them was called the Shechinah Glory and signified the presence or residence of God.

This pillar provided guidance and protection for them while wandering in the wilderness. The Israelites moved when the pillar move. When it stopped, they stopped. When the Israelites were threatened from the back, the pillar moved to the rear to protect them. When something stopped them from moving forward, God took it out of the way or stood between them and the danger. When they were hungry, God fed them. When thirsty, He gave them drink. God was always there. His residence, the Shechinah, was always in their midst.

Did you know we have something better than the Israelites did? Something much, much better! The Shechinah Glory was in their midst, or external from them. Through Christ the believers have the Shechinah Glory dwelling within. God dwells within the believer to give protection, guidance, and sustenance with the same power He demonstrated for the Israelites. Therein lies the difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’ (Heb. 11:40).  They were used by God as a picture of His residence but now we are the reality, the substance. And, WOW, is it ever a BIG difference!

They had to follow only by the use of their physical eyes, by their physical senses. They saw with their eyes the power of God in guiding and protecting them. Unfortunately, they saw only to the end of their noses. God had performed many miracles in their midst but when it came to trusting Him to provide further for them, the end of their noses stopped and they could see no further for they were still in the flesh. This is what it is to trust only that which we can see with our physical eyes.

God brought them out of Egypt in order to being them to the Promised land but because they were only in the physical, the old Adam, they could not trust Him to do so and that whole generation perished in the wilderness. Only two of the old generation actually could see with spiritual eyes and entered the land. As external guidance didn’t get the Israelites into the promised land, external guidance will get us nowhere near the spiritual land.

For us, since Christ, we have the Shechinah glory dwelling with us. It is guiding and protecting from inside of us instead of external from us. When we are regenerated (conception) by the sovereign power of God He gives our dead ‘in Adam’ spirits newness of life. Because we have that new spiritual life then when we hear the Gospel, the Good News, that Christ died for our sins we become believers (conversion). When that happens we start living in the spiritual promised land.  We begin seeing with spiritual eyes rather than physical eyes.

(Eph 1:11-14 KJV) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,) which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

We can now see with spiritual eyes and know that the inheritance is ours. When our past pops up to condemn us the Shechinah glory within us stands between us and our past because Christ died for all our sins. When thoughts of the future brings fear the Shechinah glory stands between us and the fear of the future because we are already seated in Christ in the heavenly promised land. “ (Eph 2:4-7 KJV) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” When we see through spiritual eyes and not according to the eyes of the flesh we can see that He brought us out of Egypt (picture of our sins) and has brought us into the promised land (picture of eternal life). We have something much, much better than the Israelites did stomping around in this wilderness place called earth. Now all we have to do is learn daily to see and trust the Lord through seeing with spiritual eyes the very Presence (Shechinah) of Him dwelling within us as He has taken up His residence within us and know that He is faithful to guide and protect.

Know that the Shechinah Glory has taken up His residence within you to sustain and guide. Nothing from your past can condemn you because the Shechinah is between you and your past. Nothing in the future can threated you because the Shechinah is before and has already cleared the way.  Not only has he cleared the way, He has already taken us beyond our physical future. Eph. 2:1-7, Col. 2:1-3

Of Faith Toward God

(Heb 6:1 KJV) Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Hebrews 6:1 contains a phrase which is probably the most difficult phrase in the Bible to comprehend. I have read and heard volumes on the rest of the list in Heb 6:1-4 but nothing on the phrase "leaving.....faith toward God". I have read every commentary I can get my hands on concerning this passage but NONE of them have had any comment on this phrase. Since every word of scripture (in original) is inspired by God they are all important. This phrase has been put here for a reason but it seems no one wants to look it in the face and attempt to understand what it means.

There have been many times I have brought up this phrase in debates and conversations about the scripture with the question, “What does this mean?” No one has of yet given an answer and most ignore it or try to dance around it with meaningless gibber. I have my ideas and will share them here. Whether it be right or wrong – God knows, but at least I have not run away from the phrase but have looked it in the face to attempt to gain understanding, to gain awareness of what God is telling us through His inspired word.

I am not a psychologist but I have worked with children and families. I know that it is a bad sign when a child clings to his mother. This is a sign that they are insecure and will not leave mom's side because of fear of abandonment or receiving conditional love based upon the child’s actions. The child’s action is what determines whether or not the mother loves him. When the actions are bad, love is withheld, when good, it is given. This conditional love creates a life long conditioning and sets in motion the addiction to approval and acceptance.

Everyone knows children flourish under love and will have healthy lives which mature at the rate they should. Those nurtured with unconditional love will never question their parents love for them and are free to be themselves, to learn from their mistakes and become responsible for those mistakes. They are able to leave mom's side and go off and play or work, whatever, all the while knowing mom always loves and accepts them for who they are and not because of what they do. They are able to experience life to the fullest. The spirit of unconditional love gives life.

Those who are under strict laws and punishment which sometimes leads to abuse may grow up looking like they are successful, etc, but much of their life is motivated by fear and guilt which was instilled in them by their rigid parents. Some live their entire lives trying to please their parents and earn love by being good. Sometimes those parents control the children even from their graves and the adult children never do become free from the demanding influence of the parents. Then they begin demanding compliance to their control and power hunger and distributing or withholding love based on the actions of those around them. This is done to the same strictness they were under and it goes on and on and on, throughout generations. Legalistic conditions on loving are the result of one thing - the thirst for power and control. The spirit of conditional love through the law of power and control kills and creates tyrants and dictators.

Any child psychologist will tell you that when a child is insecure in his parents love he will constantly be clinging to them, hoovering around them wanting to gain approval. In the long run he becomes addicted to approval and lives a big part of his life needing approval in order to be happy - to get his fix. Part of that 'fix' is power and control. Either that or they will go to the opposite end and become involved in rebellion which includes abuses of all types – from drug abuse to people abuse. This rebellion is often interpreted as rebellion against God when in reality it is rebellion against their parents for not loving them unconditionally and inwardly killing them with the poison of their parents addiction to power and control.

A child who is secure in his parents love and have been given freedom from which he learns responsibility is not clingy because he knows they will not abandon him. Does he screw up? Of course, he is a child but wise parents will discipline him with love not demand obedience to their false perceived control issues of power.

However, on the other hand, the feelings of conditional love might be in the mind only of the child and not a reality. It may be the child is receiving unconditional love but misinterprets that love as being conditional. However, this is usually not the case.

How does this example show us a picture of God's unconditional love for us?

The sacrificial system in the OT led to insecurity and feeling of abandonment by God. "If" they sacrificed like they should and always did what was right, God would accept them. If they didn't, He wouldn't. The Hebrews to whom this book was written had just been told in the previous 5 chapters about Jesus Christ. Heb. 1 - God's FINAL revelation of Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. Heb. 2 - Instruction to GIVE HEED to what God is really like as He shows Himself through His Son. Heb 3 - Jesus as our High Priest, a priest not like the humans priests of the Old Cov but as a Son who died for our sins which is the complete, final picture of unconditional love and represents us before His Father. Heb 4 - The rest we can have if we believe the final revelation of God through His Son. Heb 5 - Jesus the high Priest who became perfect through suffering and IS the source of eternal life and freedom from trying to gain acceptance from God through our actions.

It is through this knowledge and trust of Him who is the final revelation of God and who gave His life for us that we can leave (stop clinging to) God because He loves us unconditionally. We don't have to remain insecure in temporary sacrifices or fear of not always doing the right thing for we have the One and Only sacrifice in Christ who kept the Law perfectly as our representative before God. We can go forth in the freedom of that and treat others the same way God through Christ Jesus has treated us and not insist on having to have power plays and controlling others. We don’t have to become addicted to power and control in order to gain approval and acceptance from God because as believers we already have it in Jesus Christ who laid His life down and died for all our sins. KNOWING this gives us the freedom to leave God as Christ left His godhood for us and laid His life down for us, to do that for others, to accept others, to love others because we know we are loved by God. We cannot do this if we are not secure in God's love for us displayed in Jesus Christ. If we refuse this we are dead in sin and in bondage to sin and death. To refuse this knowledge of God in Christ makes us turn 1 Jn. 4:19 around making it say God will love us IF we love instead of the truth that “we love BECAUSE He first loved us.”

(1 John 4:18 KJV) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

(1 John 4:19 KJV) We love him, because he first loved us.

To understand is life, truth, and freedom.
(John 8:32 KJV) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Stones of Righteousness

I spent all last week moving stones. In the back of our house between the drive way and the house is an area @ 10x20 feet. It was cement that had started to break up so I decided to take it out. I was thinking it was only a thin layer of cement and I started by taking out the pieces which were already broken. This area was higher than the area of the sidewalk and large retaining blocks were at the end. As I progressed I discovered that underneath the cement were huge limestone rocks cut into 1 sq ft blocks and 1x2' blocks by 6" deep. It was one of those things where you start something and you can't stop. All week I dug out and removed 63 of these limestone blocks. After that layer was about 3" of fill sand. What I want is a place to plant some bushes and flowers, so the sand had to go. Then came the process of removing sand and have finally gotten down to the good old dirt. Now I'll have to get fresh fill dirt to bring it back up to the level of the drive way.

My mind always seems to take from something physical and makes a spiritual application out of it. This morning I began to see the fruit of my labor and the spiritual significance of that physical labor became clear.

This, along with reading the Book Job, I can see spiritual significance of stones. From the stones being removed one after another from the religious temple to our heart of stone being removed by God. The cement when it was first poured was clean, smooth, and perfect but after time and things outside of it's control it began to erode and crack. I can see this is the way we are, starting with Adam who was made perfect but after time external influence came in and the perfect became imperfect. First with a small fissure then with a full blown crack. The cracks are sin and unrighteousness in our lives but when they begin they are hardly noticeable. Even as time goes on and the cracks get bigger we still have the rest of the hard cement we rely on to keep us righteous. Cracks keep coming but the cement remains in place and as long as they are in place even though cracked we still consider ourselves innocent and righteous.

God in making our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh begins His work. First He starts removing the small pieces of cracked cement and as he removes more and more of them the less cement of our own righteousness we have. He keeps chipping away at the sin (self-righteousness) in our lives with pounding of the sledge hammer and the digging out of pieces until finally the surface righteousness is removed. The covering we have protected ourselves with is gone and we are vulnerable. But this cement was only the righteousness which was visible to both us and to other people.

God doesn't stop at surface righteousness. He digs deeper and begins to chip away and remove the huge boulders deep within our hearts that we have trusted upon to keep us righteous. These boulders have been hidden deep in our hearts and have not been exposed for years upon years. One by one the stones of our religious temple and perceived innocence are removed. More and more our hardness and protection is stripped away by His competent hands until all the stones are destroyed. Then comes the fill sand. Those itty bitty pieces of stones which remain which we still trust to keep us righteous are scraped away until nothing is left. There is nothing left we can trust to keep us covered in righteousness, we are stripped bare of everything we hoped would make us righteous until there is nothing left but dirt! God completes every job he starts until every stone has been removed, even down to the last tiny bit of sand. (Phil 1:6 KJV) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Job and everyone whom God is making into the image of His Son goes through this stripping by God. Everything that happens to us is a constant removing of either protective surface cement, the deep and hidden huge boulders, or small bits of sand until we, like Job, repent in dust and ashes because there is nothing left we can trust to protect our righteousness or, rather, to protect the righteousness we thought we had. The digging process is complete and nothing but dirt is left.

Finally the fresh dirt is exposed which was hidden deep underneath all the protective righteousness of cement, stones and sand. But God doesn't leave us there. He brings in fill dirt! All our righteousness has been stripped away and he brings in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and fills our hearts with flesh and we become the temple of His dwelling being built upon the cornerstone of Christ's righteousness. As with Job, He restores what He has taken away but with someone and something much better. Something we could not provide for ourselves and could not even see because of the barrier of cement, stones, and sand - Jesus Christ.

(Eph 2:19 KJV) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

(Eph 2:20 KJV) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Lord, I am so sorry!

I have experienced a huge reality check in my spiritual walk with the Lord. I have, in my ignorance, been calling Him a false prophet and a deceptive liar.

The beginning of my trek out of error began with an in depth online Bible study through the Book of Hebrews. Many of my convictions of spiritual truths were made stronger which often happens when I debate scripture. Many of the ones on this study were pastors and teachers and the debate got rather heated at times which is OK because iron sharpens iron and fire refines and removes the dross. I often blame my fiery attitude on being a red headed Irish person but the real reason is that I am a highly committed person to Christ and the doctrinal truths revealed to us in scripture. Or, so I thought.

Heated debates through the first 9 chapters brought me closer to and more convinced of the truths scripture reveals of our Lord and Saviour. Then the bomb when off and I was totally undone. The awesome power of the Word of God exploded in my mind and heart completely destroying a hermeneutic theology I had held tightly to for 25 years. All it took was looking intently at one verse in scripture.

(Heb 10:29 KJV) Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

It is a sad thing when people undermine the power of the written Word of God for through it God transforms us from faith to faith into the image of His Son. I don’t think this reality of truth would have happened to me if it were not for this study of His Word. It tears away at the error in our minds which we have when we listen only to other peoples interpretation of scripture or even to the error we have in our minds about what we ‘think’ the scripture says to us.

The hermeneutic theology I spoke about is Dispensationalism, or for those who are not familiar with this word, it is the theory (and it is a theory) of the Last Days and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Even when caught up in dispensationalism there was always a question in my mind, one of those ‘something is not right here but I can’t put my finger on it’ type of things. Well, this study revealed to me what that ‘something’ was. My question was, “Why would God set up another temple and sacrificial system in the Millennium?” I found the answer – He won’t! According to this verse in 10:29 that would be anathema and blaspheme to Him, it would be trampling underfoot the Son of God and the blood of the New Covenant and insult Him.

After I was regenerated (born again) I read completely though the Bible and discovered the wise men were not at the birth of Christ. I had been lied to. This made me wonder how many other times I had been lied to and spurred me into a study of the Bible which took 6 to 8 hours a day for 6 years. I found amazing things during that study. This one verse in Hebrews did the same thing. For the next years I studied scripture and everything I could get my hands on to help me see the truth about dispensationalism and I found amazing things.

In my study I was confronted with the many verses which Jesus talked about ‘this generation.’ I found He was, indeed, talking about THAT generation, not THIS generation 2000 years in the future. Wow, a generation in scripture is 40 years and by no stretch of the imagination can we make it mean a generation of 2000+ years. DING, DING was going off in my head.

Then came these verses where Jesus is talking to His disciples:

Matthew 10:23 (NKJV) "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Matthew 16:27-28 (NKJV) "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Matthew 24:34 (NKJV) "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

Either we have almost 2000 year old disciples still going through the cities of Israel or Jesus did exactly what He said He would do in THAT generation.

But what made me realize I had been calling Jesus a false prophet and liar (unintentionally) was this quote I found by C S Lewis:

"Say what you like,” we shall be told, “the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’ And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.”

It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible.

C.S. Lewis, The World's Last Night: And Other Essays, p.97

This caused me to repent and change my mind about dispensationalism. Other things as well, such as realizing that dispensational theology hinges upon two things – The late date of the book of Revelation and the literal rendering of the millennium in that book. I found the late dating of Revelation (96AD) which is accepted as gospel truth all went back to one man, Irenaeus . Because of the writing of one man most everyone believes Rev. was written in 96AD. Kind of like most everyone believes in evolution because of one man, Darwin. I found there is much internal and external evidence (historical writings) that Rev. was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70AD. Once I got this figured out all the verses which I had to force to fall in place before simply began falling in place without my forcing them to.

The main thing Dispensationalism prides itself on is its literal interpretation of scripture. But they don’t do this, they don’t take literally the words of Christ and they have to take out of context and twist many, many scriptures in order to make them fit their theory. They take many prophecies of the Old Testament and twist them to make them prophecies for this age. Prophecies which were fulfilled in the Old Testament they take and make them apply to today. That is wrong.

In my studies I have evaluated all the eschatology theories such as Dispensationalism, Amillennium, Historicist, and Preterist. I have come to the conclusion that Preterism is the most faithful to the scriptures. I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but I will. I don’t really know for sure if I fall into the Full Preterist or Partial Preterist camp but that will come.

All I know at this point is I would rather ditch everything I believe about the Last Days than continue to make Jesus Christ into a false prophet and deceptive liar.

Lord, I am so sorry I ever did this!

From Streams In The Desert

In The Heavenly Places

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6).

This is our rightful place, to be "seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and to "sit still" there. But how few there are who make it their actual experience! How few, indeed think even that it is possible for them to "sit still" in these "heavenly places" in the everyday life of a world so full of turmoil as this.

We may believe perhaps that to pay a little visit to these heavenly places on Sundays, or now and then in times of spiritual exaltation, may be within the range of possibility; but to be actually "seated" there every day and all day long is altogether another matter; and yet it is very plain that it is for Sundays and week-days as well.

A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety.

There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, "All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent." The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power.
--Hannah Whitall Smith

***

"There is a point of rest
At the great center of the cyclone's force,
A silence at its secret source;
A little child might slumber undisturbed,
Without the ruffle of one fair curl,
In that strange, central calm, amid the mighty whirl."

***

It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God in every situation.

Grace

Saved by Grace
Study By: Charles T. Buntin


1. Salvation is 100 percent a work of God--we are unable, because of our bondage to sin and rebellion, to do anything meriting God’s favor.

2. God reaches down to save people--He conceived the plan, He sent His Son to accomplish the plan--He does 100% of the work.

3. When we experience what the Bible calls the New Birth (John 3:3-8), we are then SAVED, we pass from death to life (Eph 2:1-6; John 5:24; 6:40; 6:47).

4. As a part of the gift of Salvation, we become adopted children of God (Gal 3:26-4:7).

5. When we sin, God deals with us as a Father to a child (Heb 12:4-8).

6. God’s Grace and actions are the determining factors in our salvation, even to include His working in our lives to develop a lifestyle consistent with salvation. (Eph 2:8-10; Phil. 2:12-13)

The Grace of God is so simple, yet so profound that it is beyond the greatest minds to fully understand. It stands in opposition to the ideas that most of us have about earning our way in the world, about people getting what they deserve, about “fairness,” and about the independence of human beings. The best simple definition this writer has ever heard for Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

The meaning of Grace behind that simple explanation is one of the most hated teachings in the world because it so totally undermines and removes all traces of human pride. The Doctrine of Grace teaches that we are totally unable to save ourselves, to help in our salvation, to do anything to merit all or any part of our salvation, or to keep our salvation. We are saved totally as an act of God’s will, and we do not deserve it in any way. Indeed, those that are saved are equally (if not more) deserving of Hell as those who actually go there! This is the most important first principle in understanding Grace--no one in the entire human race deserves any consideration from God, we are all rebels and sinners, and we all deserve Hell. Except for His own redemption plan, God could rightfully have sent the entire human race to eternal punishment long ago! The description Paul gives of believers before salvation fits the entire human race if they are without Christ:

Ephesians 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (NIV)

In spite of our fitness for wrath, however, God has exercised His Grace toward us in Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-10 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

What is the meaning of Grace? We were dead spiritually; we were fit for nothing but wrath; we were rebels and in bondage to sin and Satan. In the midst of that condition, God saved us. We exercised faith, which is itself a gift of God (John 6:44-47), and God blessed us with the greatest possible gift--eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! (John 5:24; 6:37-40). What is more, we can add nothing to Grace. Before we were saved, we had nothing to contribute to the process ( Rom 3:10-11; 1 Cor 2:14; Job 14:4; Jer. 13:23), and During the New Birth experience, we add nothing to it. The Bible makes plain that the mysterious supernatural experience called the New Birth is an act of God.

John 3:3-8 “In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (NIV)

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (NIV)

You might ask, “If this is all a work of God, where do I fit in the process?” The answer is you must believe, you must exercise faith in Christ for salvation. (Rom 10:9-13; Acts 16:30-31). This exercise is not a work, however, because is involves no ability on our part and no effort on our part. That is the hard thing to understand about faith--it is not an action, it is a surrender, a throwing up of the hands and saying, “I can do nothing in myself.”
Justification by Faith

What does the term “Justified” mean? The Bible meaning of the word is to be totally blameless and totally guiltless--to be able to stand before God clean and pure in every way. A play on the word helps us to understand its meaning. If I am Justified, it is Just-as-if-I’d never sinned, and Just-as-if-I’d always been holy and done the right things. Remember our helpless position before God--as “children of Wrath,” we are unable to satisfy God--all His lovely and perfect Law can do is condemn us:

Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (NIV)

Our Father, however, has devised a plan and made a way for us to stand righteous before Him. He has sent His own Son as a Sacrifice on our behalf, (Chapter 5) and those who believe in Him shall have everlasting life, and shall be seen as righteous in God’s sight.

Romans 3:21-24 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (NIV)

This righteousness we receive is imputed righteousness--that is a theological term which means it is put to our account, just like a deposit put in our bank account by someone else. God legally declares us to be righteous, and puts that on our record in Heaven.

Romans 4:1-5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-- but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (NIV)

The illustration below shows a ledger, an account book. In order for you to understand the principle, do the following things:

1. Write your name by the words “Account Holder.”

2. Using a black or blue pen, under the column labeled “Sins on Account,” write some of your known sins--don’t be bashful, put several in. Then imagine how many pages the real account is!

3. You can’t put anything in the column that says “Good Works Done,” because you have none (Isa. 64:6).

4. Now take a different pen--a bright RED one, and across the “Sins on Account” column, write in large letters, “Paid for by Christ’s Blood!”

5. Under the “Good Works Done” column, write again in RED, “Supplied by the Righteousness of Christ.”

ETERNAL ACCOUNT
Account Holder:


This is Justification, to stand before God with all accounts paid, and clothed in the righteousness of His only Son, Jesus Christ. To be able know that you have “peace with God”--there is no more war between you and the Almighty. (Rom 5:1). Taken together, the concepts of Grace and Justification by Faith show the uniqueness of the Christian doctrine of Salvation. It is like the exclamation of Jonah--”Salvation is of the LORD!” (Jonah 2:9, KJV). The message of Grace is God Saves Sinners. It is His Plan, it was His Son who died and rose again, it is His Spirit who enlivens the preaching and witness of believers to awaken sinners to their need of salvation and lead them to faith in Christ.

Three of the watchwords of the revival of Biblical preaching known as the Reformation were: Sola Fide (Faith alone), Sola Gratia (Grace alone), and Sola Christi (Christ alone). These Latin terms describe God’s salvation plan in a nutshell--He has done it all, and we can claim no credit for ourselves. The result of this wonderful outpouring of His love is our salvation, and that results further in the fourth watchword: Soli Deo Gloria (The Glory to God alone).

Bouncing Between Light and Darkness

Do Christians really have two natures and bounce back and forth between light and darkness, goodness and evil? I have been on many Christian discussion forums and this error consistently seems to surface. It is like we have two different forces dwelling within us which are battling for control and what we do or do not do is what will decide which one wins in the long run. It seems there is a misconception on how the outcome is determined. If we do nothing the evil, dark side wins. In order to counteract the evil, dark side we strive to work to make ourselves good. As Christians we set ourselves to study the Bible more, pray more, go to church more, be more charitable, confess our sins more and all this is done with a zeal which makes us think the good side is winning over the evil side. For some Christians their whole life is consumed with their misconceived method with which they try to guarantee the good side wins. This mindset puts one under a performance and works centered religion rather than center on Christ and what He has done for us for if righteousness comes by the law or our performance of doing good then Christ is dead in vain – Gal. 3:21

I’ve heard this illustration of the black dog and the white dog fighting to win a battle. The black dog is the nature we have received from the first Adam. We are born dead in sin because we have the nature of Adam passed down to us. That is our old nature. The new nature we have been given by Christ’s finished work on the cross is the white dog which is all good. These two dogs are bitter enemies and are constantly fighting each other. When we are involved in what we consider sin or worldly things we are feeding the black dog. When we are involved in spiritual things we are feeding the white dog and whichever one we feed the most will win out in the long run. When this mindset of having two natures gets a foothold in our lives its end result is always focused inward. If we let the evil, dark side take control we end up condemning ourselves and if the good, light side takes control through our efforts to be good then self-righteousness and pride sets in.

Another illustration, which I’m sure you have all heard, is the devil is sitting on one shoulder and God on the other with both whispering in our ears and whichever one we listed to will win us.

But is this what scripture teaches? Is this actually the truth that we have two natures in us and we bounce back and forth between the two, back and forth between darkness and light, evil and good?

Consider the following verses:
(2 Cor 5:17 KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Through belief in Christ we have;
spiritual death removed - Rom. 5:12; 6:23; Jn. 5:24
wrath removed - Jn. 3:36; Rom. 5:9-10; Eph. 2:3; 5:6
spiritual blindness removed - 2 Cor. 4:3-4
spiritual alienation removed - Eph. 2:12-15, 19; Rom. 5:6
enmity removed - Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21; Eph. 2:15-16
condemnation removed - Rom. 8:1-3; 5:16-18
unrighteousness removed - Rom. 3:10, 22-24; 10:10

We are, at the moment of salvation;
transferred from spiritual darkness - Col. 1:13-14; Eph. 5:8; Acts 26:18
freed from the curse of the law - Gal. 3:10-13; Rom. 10:4
freed from the slave market of sin - Gal. 4:7; 5:1, 13; Rom. 6:6-9, 17-20; Jn. 8:34-36
have natural man status changed - 1 Cor. 2:12-14; 15:45-46; Jude 19
perishing status changed - Jn. 3:16; 10:28; 1 Cor. 1:18; 15:17-18; 2 Cor. 2:15; 4:3-4
sinner status changed - Rom. 5:8, 12, 19; 1 Tim. 1:15

I believe these scripture, and many more, show that we are not dwelling with two natures battling for victory in us. You are either in the darkness, lost in the old Adam, or in the light, saved by Christ and given His nature, but you can’t be both at the same time.

(Col 1:12-13 KJV) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: {13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
You can’t be in two different kingdoms at the same time. You are in either one or the other. If you believe you have two natures, one evil and one good, then you are living in unbelief of the truth of Christ and His written word.

Only Two Religions

tworeligions