Tag Archives: blood of christ

Precious Purity

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PRECIOUS PURITY

I am pricked because the blessed fellowship of the Lord is reserved for the pure in heart and this generation has not had the gospel preached to them by the authority of Christ; God cannot abide with darkness and so many in this generation will never know the fellowship of God because they walk in darkness.  Jesus said that “if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).

When God comes and makes His abode in You there is something far beyond describing that happens.  It is as if a corpse suddenly springs to life and for the first time opens his eyes to the beauty of the world around him- he lives the rest of his life in praise and adoration of the one who gave him life!  And it is a terrifying thing because when he opens his eyes he becomes perspicaciously aware of the splendor and might of the God who is greater than himself and the insignificance and diminutively inferior presence of the man that is himself.

But Jesus says this about those whom God choses to make His abode with, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

If you think that you can live an impure life with God, you have been deceived.  If a pastor has stood up before you and made an excuse for the flesh to sin and thereby lulled you into being comfortable with your sin, then a false teacher has deceived you.

John writes in 1st John 3:6-10,

“Whoever abides in Him does not sin.  Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.  Little children, let no one deceive you.  He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.  He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.  In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

The children of God are called according to His purpose just as Paul said,

“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor” (1st Thessalonians 4:1-4).

Your purity is incorruptible because it does not come from yourself but from God and it is a most precious gift because it is the will of God for you!

If you’ve been born again then you’ve been born of an incorruptible seed and your life is new; it is not a life of impurity and unrighteousness, but it is a life filled with real and wonderful purity and righteousness!  You are being sanctified by God and that is His will for you!

DRAW NEAR TO GOD

James 4:8

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

What are you setting yourself about to do?  Do you find your hands are taking up evil as their tasks?  Is your work to commit various form of sexual immorality?  Are you setting your hands to steal, cheat, or defraud people?  Has the sole enterprise of your labor been to gain and accumulate money for yourself?  “Cleanse your hands, you sinners”!

James 4:8

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Do you render your praise and give approval to the Word of God and the things of Truth which He has spoken and then go out and delight yourself in the wickedness of this world and find pleasure in the various lies and deceits that this world has propagated?  Are you worshipping God one day and befriending the world the next?  “…purify your hearts, you double-minded”!

If you are busying your hands with unrighteous tasks and being double-minded in your thoughts, giving approval to righteousness on one hand and sin on the other, then you are dwelling far from God!

Through Christ the way has been opened and revealed for you to draw near to God.  Come through Jesus to cleanse your hands of their evil pursuits and purify your heart from your double-mindedness.

RECEIVE PURITY

And this God’s message to us:

1st John 1:5-2:6

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.  My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word; truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

You who have been born again walk in fellowship with one another and are cleansed by the blood of Jesus His Son from all sin.  You no longer live in denial of your sin but confess it and walk, now, in Truth.

Blessed brethren, for as many as you are coheirs with Christ by faith, may the Grace and Peace of Christ be with you as you walk in purity by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (1st Peter 1:2), Amen.

Christmas Gifts

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With Christmas Trees all decked in splendor, houses lit from tip to top, and Santa coming soon, what are the many gifts of Christmas?  Well, I assure you, as jolly a demeanor as good ole Saint Nicholas portrays, the toys for all the little “tots” he bears are, indeed, not the many gifts of Christmas.

 

Not by glorious sleigh, but in a humble manger

ISAIAH 53:1-3

1 Who has believed our message? and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 

Who will believe this message, that our gift is Christ the savior Himself?  Born of the fullness of God’s grace and shinning as a Light out of the darkness, resonating the Truth to every ear that would hear.  Indeed, He came in a dry and parched land, void of all royal majesty, though He Himself was the fullness of God’s deity, and endured sorrows and grief as He was despised and forsaken by all men.

 

The Scarlet Robe

MATTHEW 27:27-29

 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Just as the earthly tabernacle was adorned with scarlet, so Jesus was adorned with scarlet; as the priests wore scarlet, so also Jesus wore scarlet; so even the veil had scarlet, therefore Jesus was veiled in scarlet (Exodus 35, 36, & 38).
But this scarlet is more than a sign: it was our gift- for, according to the Law, all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).
Hebrews 9:14
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Therefore we are cleansed by the scarlet blood of Christ.  He took upon Himself the scarlet robe, a sign of shame in the eyes of those who mocked Him, but a sign of redemption unto the world!

gifts of suffering and death unto fellowship

And if there has been bloodshed, there also has been suffering and death.

ISAISH 53:4-6

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed  for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

So we are receiving, this Christmas, the gift of suffering from our Lord Jesus Christ; because it is by His suffering that we were healed.  When His blood was shed, and His body broken- laid to rest in a tomb for 3 days- He then took back His life and was raised again by the resurrection of the Spirit.
PHILIPPIANS 3:10
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
Now we also have received His sufferings so that we may also receive His death and resurrection!  Knowing that the death He died, He died to the flesh, and the life He lives, He lives to the Spirit- therefore, if we also join Him in this way, then we too will live with Him eternally by the Spirit!

a helper forever

John 14:16-17
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know HIm because He abides with you and will be in you. 
And it is because our resurrection will take place by the Spirit that He will give us the Holy Spirit- the Helper, by whom we’re guided into Truth.
Though we cannot see the Spirit of Truth, we know HIm because He abides with us and in us.  And this is the gift of Christ because He has gone into the Heavenly tabernacle to minister for us in the presence of God!
So, even as we are oppressed and persecuted, we’re not abandoned nor forsaken because He, the Spirit of Truth is with us forever.  He testifies of the hope that we have in the glory of Christ’s return, that we are the children of God, and therefore, heirs and coheirs with Christ.  So that at the return of Christ we will glory in Him and we will be joined with our Brother- if indeed we have been made like Him through His death and resurrection!

Inheritance to come

Because of Christ Jesus, the Lord who was born a little lower than the angels for a short while- even resting in a manger- we have an inheritance stored up for us and preserved in Heaven, an inheritance that will come with Christ Jesus when He returns to receive to Himself those that are His!

Namely, those who are called children of God- that those who have believed in Him and partaken in His death and resurrection, will likewise share in His inheritance by His grace and love.

And this inheritance is so great that we cannot even speak of it while we are yet still on Earth!  For we cannot perceive yet what is to come, though it has been revealed in Christ- it is beyond us still.

That is why it is called hope and faith; because we know what we have in Christ Jesus while still not having obtained it yet.  So, for a little while we still have not obtained it but are persevering towards it!

 

Therefore, this Christmas, we must rejoice in what we have been given by Jesus Christ- not the empty perishing things of this world, which are not even worthy to have, but of the things that we have set our minds on- Heavenly things at the right hand of God.

Be blessed in receiving these gifts- knowing that if you have them, the are once and forever, AMEN!

Sin & Lawlessness: So That You May Not Sin

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SO THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN

Peter was clear that we are waging warfare against the sin that tries to entangle and destroy our souls.

Now we will see that John is clear when he re-declares the message of Christ that God is utterly and profoundly intolerant of sin.  That sin leads to every kind of death and there cannot be sin or death in the one born of the Seed of God.

1 John 1-3

Chapter 1

         1      What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—
2      and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3      what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4      These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

5      This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6      If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth;
7      but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8      If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9      If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10      If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Chapter 2

         1      My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2      and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
3      By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4      The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5      but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6      the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
7      Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
8      On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.
9      The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.
10      The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11      But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12      I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13      I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14      I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

15      Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16      For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17      The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
18      Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19      They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
20      But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21      I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22      Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23      Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24      As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

25      This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
26      These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
27      As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
28      Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
29      If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.


Chapter 3

         1      See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2      Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
3      And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4      Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
5      You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
6      No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.
7      Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
8      the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
9      No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10      By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
11      For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
12      not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13      Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.
14      We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
15      Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16      We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17      But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18      Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
19      We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him
20      in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21      Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22      and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23      This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24      The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. [i]

1:1

This is exceptionally important to understand that this is the message that has been heard from Jesus since the beginning: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all”.

I love the simplicity of the gospel.  For those who disobey, they stumble upon the rock of stumbling and stone of offense, but for those who believe with faith, it reveals the path that leads to glory and eternal life.  And there can be no other path besides this, and the reasons why have been made known to us!

“The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘the Lord knows those who are His’, and ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness’”

(2 Timothy 2:19)

Where is the one that loves the Lord?

He is to be found departing from the way of iniquity.

1:3

John proclaimed this message because he loved the children of God and wanted them to have fellowship with the body of Christ and God the Father Himself.

Entire churches build themselves around the “draw” of fellowship while ignoring the true principle of fellowship.  There is no darkness to be found in the temple of God where we may have fellowship, and we are the temple of God!

1:5-9

The simple summary is that those who claim they have fellowship with God and still walk in the darkness are liars and they have not been purified in obedience to the Truth.  Either they do not know the Truth, or they have rejected the Truth and become its enemy.

It’s those who walk in the light that have true fellowship with one another and are cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness.

I hope this does not escape us; we are cleansed from sin.  It is removed.  Not covered and not ignored, but removed.  If we stand strong in Him, and hold fast to the promises of Jesus Christ, and persevere in these dark times, never giving up, but holding securely to the hope of our confession, then sin has no power over us and we are cleansed from it completely.

Jesus did not leave us swimming out in the ocean of sin, He removes everyone that will reach up and take His hand.

Neither can any man claim that he does not sin.  Every man sins and falls (eternally) short of God.  But it was Jesus Christ that came so that the way would be made known and proclaimed to every tongue, tribe, and nation.

And we know the way that is revealed in Jesus Christ; it is the way of confession and repentance that leads to the turning away from sin, the cleansing from unclean deeds, and the renewal of mind and soul.

Who is the one that is trapped in sin?

He is the one that has not been born again and refuses to obey Christ.

Not that you have not done something good, but that you have not obeyed with faith the Word that Christ has spoken to you; indeed to all mankind.

If you had known the Truth, then the Truth would set you free: “it was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Severe the limb that causes you to sin; is it a lust that you have found to entangle you?  Expose it in the Light and I assure you that it will wilt.  Persevere in the sanctification of the Spirit and learn from the discipline of your Father.

Though the weight of His hand can be heavy, if you so desire the Truth that it brings, you will endure and find yourself renewed and refreshed in the Sabbath rest of God.

2:1-5

In Christ the way to follow is made known so that we will not sin.  And He is our advocate with the Father, who is patient and willing to see us repent and turn from our sins.

I would ask why it is so difficult for Christians to believe that there is powerful and undeniable power in Christ to overcome sin and turn from it?  Is it because we have not seen brethren among us living under this power in such a long time?

But there are brethren living among us, though few, “who have not soiled their garments; and they walk with Me [Jesus] in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of Life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:4-6).

If we cannot believe this, attested to us in the Holy Word, demonstrated to us by the forerunners of our faith, and shown to us now, if even by a few, in these final hours, how can we believe in Jesus Christ and God the Father whom we do not see with our eyes?

And even though we cannot see Him, if we keep His commandments, we know Him.  Those whom we see that do not keep His commandments do not know Him, nor have they seen Him (for who in this age has seen Him, though some know Him?).

I want my brothers in this generation to know that it is in those who keep the commandments of Christ that the Love of God has been perfected; that is, they are the ones who have accepted the love and been changed by it.  It is in them that His love is made known to the world and in them that the testimony of His gospel remains.

2:15-18

If the Love of Christ is perfected in us, those who believe in Him and are sanctified in obedience to the Truth, then how can the love of the world remain?  For what is the world except darkness?

Doesn’t the Word declare to us that we are in the throne-room of Satan?

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, rather, these things are perishing; they are not lasting!

Have you heard that it is the last hour?

With a resounding “yes”, I say that it is now the last minute.  If many antichrists have come since the beginning, then we must know that many more have come now!

2:25-29

I think there are many that are trying to deceive us; many that would lull us into a deep sleep and great apathy, but we must remember the gift that has been entrusted to us and be ready for action to guard what has been given to the Church!

We have an anointing that is from Heaven and we must learn from this anointing, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, so that we will not be ashamed when Christ returns!

Every soul will see the return of Christ, one way or another, and when they do, how many will be able to deny that He is righteous?

How many will step boldly before Him knowing that they have swam in the oceans of sin?

“IF YOU KNOW THAT HE IS RIGHTEOUS, YOU KNOW THAT EVERYONE ALSO WHO PRACTICES RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BORN OF HIM” (2:29)

Do not sell the righteousness of Christ for the wretched treasures of the world; and command the one that comes to you pointing to something of this world, whether material or deed, and declares it to be righteous to depart from your side!

I can see many who do not know what righteousness is because they have listened to the very teachers that deny the Words of Christ!

To the Point

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called the children of God?  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies Himself just as He is pure.

 

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.  You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is NO SIN.  No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

 

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

 

The Son of God appeared for this purposes, to destroy the works of the devil.

 

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in Him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Those Whom I love, I reprove and discipline

(Revelation 3:19)

Those who are in the darkness hate and fear the light- but only in the Light can we find the power to remove the sin we find in our life.

I have felt the reproof of my Father upon me many times, and by it I have been disciplined, always leading to righteousness, never to death!  The discipline of God is not wrath; to those who love Him, it is treasure.

I can have no other word of advice for one than one I have shared here today.  Satan tries to sow seeds of ungodly guilt when our Father in Heaven disciplines us.  So we must be sure, all the more, that God is patient with those whom He disciplines because He knows the end from the beginning.

But for those who will not receive His discipline, for those who will not turn away and despise the grace of God by lapping from the cesspools of sin, a great day of reckoning awaits them when the judgment of God will come forward and a great many will be consumed by an eternal fire.

Conclusion

In this short series we’ve looked at the overwhelming command of Christ; depart from iniquity.

When we sin, we know that we have a mediator in Heaven; Jesus is not blind, nor will He suffer long the Holy Spirit on someone who refuses to repent (turn from sin).

Though we face a great adversary, and we know that he lays many traps for us, the power of the Spirit that dwells within us, and the grace of God is fully sufficient to see us through when we fall.

Where many are deceived is in taking advantage of the Grace of God and wallowing long in sin.  Instead of departing, they ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning sin and judgment, and continue in their path of unrighteousness.

What we have seen here is that this is not the attitude of a Christian; it’s the attitude of the rebellious.

[i] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Jn 1–3:24). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation

Sin & Lawlessness: Introduction

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opening questions

Can a Christian have a cavalier attitude toward sin and lawlessness?  Does the sacrifice Jesus made prohibit His followers from dwelling in sin?  There are very serious rebukes for the Church that wallows long in sin and tolerates immorality (Revelation 1-3).

Introduction

This study is the beginning point of a series regarding sin and lawlessness.  We should listen to the Word of the Lord concerning sin.

I also want to put to test the validity of what people are teaching about “the tolerant Christ” so often preached today; is this “tolerant Christ” the one that we had preached first to us by the Apostles?

In the modern assembly tolerance has been cultivated towards sin under the mask of “love” and “peace”.  I realize the intent is to reach more lost souls, but we want to consider if tolerating the very thing that Jesus came to free us from truly “saves more lost souls”.   I believe the result of this has been utterly devastating on the Body of Christ in more ways than have been recounted.  I think we’ve lost faith that “sin leads to death”.

Using the passage “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), many have preached that we should, therefore, go on sinning and that God must be very tolerant towards our sin; the attitude present in some teachings of this even make it sound like God doesn’t even care (at all) if we sin anymore.

We’re going to look at what God said towards sin and the power of His gospel that allows us to persevere in overcoming sin.  I encourage you to accept these things from the Lord.

to swim in raging waters?

In order to simplify, let’s ask ourselves this question, “would I try to teach my drowning friend how to swim in the raging waters, or would I toss him a life-line and pull him out of the water to safety?”

According to the gospel in Christ, we have been totally removed from darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Light (Col 1:13); so why do we hear churches trying to teach people to swim in the vast ocean of sin.

We’re responsible for the souls we teach and lead; so let’s consider this with all seriousness as we realize that mishandling this can mislead souls by teaching them to swim in sin rather than pointing to the life-line that has been thrown to them by Christ.  If they take that life-line, He will pull them out of the raging waters of sin and place them securely into the ark of His covenant.  In these last hours, the Lord is not willing that His Church be condemned, rather, that she cut away those who are disobedient to Him so that they may be made shown as unfaithful.

Luke 13:27

“27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’”

In plain terms, those who walked the “wide path” of sin will forever depart from Jesus because they did evil in His sight.

The designs of man are insufficient to lead us to Christ; you can not “design your own path” to righteousness.

Simply stated, your end will be in death unless something miraculous happens.

Gospel: Simplicity & Power

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Gospel: Simplicity & Power

The gospel is not complex.  It’s very simple and capable of reaching into the depths of the human soul.

The gospel is full.  It is abundant.  It is a vast message that stretches its wings so far because it has a focused and simple message.

You may examine the gospel, as we have done here, and find that there is always more to discover.  In prayer and revelation you yourself may have been taken deeper than this introductory study dared to go; that is the power of the gospel, the ability to reveal Christ to man and utterly change his soul through revealing the steadfast and eternal Christ.

What we have looked at so far, the salvation, love, and commission of the gospel, are some reverberations of the gospel message.

The Gospel Message: plain & simple

I don’t want to teach in vain only to have the message stolen away, so I’m going to return and rest securely on simplicity for our final word on the Gospel from me.

There is only one gospel message; there are many effects of the gospel, many ways in which the gospel reveals Christ to us, but all in all, there is just one message.  Anyone who would add to this message disarms the gospel of its simplicity and power and preaches another gospel that is not worthy of being preached.

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:5-9

What can be simpler than this message?

God is the father of Light and in Him is no darkness; His children do not walk in the darkness, or else they become liars, but instead, they walk in Light, repenting of their sins and receiving in themselves forgiveness of their sins, purification from all sin, and instruction, which leads to true righteousness.

For my outline-oriented brethren, consider it as such:

1. God is Light & in Him is no darkness, at all.

2. Fellowship is found in those who walk in the Light, not the darkness.

3. No man is sinless, but those who repent of their sins are cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ.

I think many are masking this message, but I want to examine it in plain light.

This message does not say that God will turn a blind eye to our darkness; He is incompatible with darkness.  Any message that would teach us that God turns a blind eye and does not lead us from the darkness is not the Truth; such a message denies the power of the Gospel entirely.

The gospel exposes the sins of all men and the reality that there is only one way to be saved from the ramifications of sins.

We’re taught the way of the narrow path that must be followed to escape impending destruction.  The gospel teaches men to deny ungodliness and confess their sins and turn from them.  All in all, this sounds like a message that teaches us about true cleansing from all unrighteousness.

We should pay attention to that underlined phrase; the promise of Christ is to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He does not wrap us like a dead corpse in clean linen, rather, He removes the filth and decay from us and restores our original natures (…in the image of God).

For simplicity’s sake, look at he Oxford Dictionary, which defines “cleanse” as “being thoroughly cleaned” with a sub-definition of “being rid of” something and “free from” something.

Humanity is unambiguously declared guilty of sin and the clear remedy is readily made known to us as Christ; it is clearly taught that the mission of Christ was to bring liberty to the captives of sin, not just figuratively, but realistically.

At some point we were all children of darkness; born of the seeds of Adam. Therefore we are now born again of the Seed of Christ (John 3:1-16).

Like the birth process, there is a period of building and growth inside the womb, and then the painful entry into the world; followed by growing pains which will last into maturity.

We all were entangled in sin and must fight to overcome.  James said, “7Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.” (James 4:7-8)

Simply stated, the gospel declares the way in which we can cleanse ourselves and submit to God.  

So, what did John’s message tell us?

  1. 1.     If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
  2. 2.     but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another,
  3. 3.     and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
  4. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

The gospel teaches us the Truth that Jesus made know to us and shows us how to walk the path that He walked.

Christ’s love leads us in obedience and submission to the Father; into freedom from sin and the cleansing of His blood from all sin and unrighteousness.

“Cease to walk in the darkness, for the time to repent is short and judgment is approaching for those who continue to walk in their sins.“

In the words of our Master, Jesus:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:15

Conclusions

There is hope for the sinner; real hope.  You can be free from the sins that destroyed your life!  You have hope, if you will endure and persevere.

No one among us is sinless,  yet, who among the brethren walks in Darkness?

No one and no one.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all whom the Spirit has raised in newness of life are the Children of God.

We are made to persevere through temptations and trials; a skillful adversary opposes us, looking to devour as many as he can, therefore the salvation that has been offered to us is equally mighty.

I suggest that one not allow guilt or fear to hinder oneself from accepting the Truths here in the gospel; you can receive victory over your sin in Christ if you are willing to endure and persevere.  To be reborn.

The Gospel: Salvation and Hope

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The Gospel Declared

The gospel has been heralded for many ages in God’s Word and it has been the summation of His revealed will since the beginning.  With extreme specificity God declared through His prophet Micah His word saying,

“‘But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (lower Bethlehem), Too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.’”

Micah 5:2

A prophecy that came 500 years before Christ was born declared to us exactly what would happen, just as it did.

God cast the first shadow of prophecy at the fall of man when he said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her seed and your seed; He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15).

Even more specific is the shadow of prophecy given when God declared through Isaiah, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourges we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused our iniquity to fall upon Him!” and “By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities”

Isaiah 53:4-6 and 11

Making Known the Way of Repentance, Faith, & Reconciliation

At the summation of the age, Jesus brought one central message to the people:

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Mark 1:14-15

This message of repentance had been proclaimed by the prophets of old since early times and rejected by most, much to the demise of the men of old, because “their hearts were always far from God” (Isaiah 29:3), but the people failed to receive reconciliation because of their cold hearts.

But God declared through His prophet Jeremiah that, “‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Therefore, Christ came to make every provision to man so that reconciliation could be made (through Him) in the hearts of God’s people.  By His provision Paul declared “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16).

Knowing the victory at hand and the judgment to come, Christ declared “repent and believe, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” so that reconciliation might be had.

The Light of our Reconciliation

“Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason, also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11


At the great cost of emptying Himself of all majesty and humbling Himself, Jesus forged and authored the path into the Kingdom for us; now He has been exalted and is the victorious King.  Before Him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.  This is inextricably intertwined within the gospel; the gospel cannot be separated from this message.  And this is a good thing, for our King is the victor!

So we, as His followers, servants, and brothers, should also have this attitude in ourselves that we would humble ourselves to the point of death in anticipation that we will be seated in the Heavenly places with Christ Jesus the Lord.

In this way God has broken the barrier that separated man from Him.  God has endured humility, emptiness, agony, and death itself for a short time so that He could descend to man because man could not ascend to Him.

The Great Love of God

We should see clearly so that no one being surrounded by darkness, trial, and despair would despair to the point of losing hope and therefore doubt the love of God!

What man is innocent of insulting and scorning God?  Who has not spat in His face?

Have you ever tried to exploit the grace of God, gloried in the glory of God for yourself, or boasted in the flesh that is not yours to boast in?

But all of this is for the glory of God so that His love might be known to abound all the more!  Even as we were cruel and spat upon His gift (that gift is a perfect and innocent Son who endured ridicule and death for our sake), He Himself would be shown to be just and merciful when He forgives us our debts and reconciled us into His presence!

Like a parent that feels the scorn of a child that turns away to follow after a life that is dishonorable and disgraceful to the parent, so we have insulted God.  Like children that declare “you are not my father. Rather, your enemy is my father”, so all the world has done when we turn away from God to follow after Satan.

Like a parent that feels the deep pain of seeing his children fight and destroy one another, being consumed by greed and bitterness, so God has endured these things as a patient Father to restore His children in proper love.

“There is no one that is righteous; not even one.  No one understands God or seeks Him. They have all turned aside and become dead” (Issaih 55:8-9; Romans 3:10ff).

Perfect love God has demonstrated to us with patience as He has worked to bring restoration, reconciliation, salvation, and hope to His children.

Therefore, “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:3).

God’s act of love endured such great darkness, trial, and hostility so that we would not grow weary and lose heart!  He perfected our faith so that we would not lose faith.  To God be praise and glory forever and ever, AMEN!

A Gospel of Salvation and Hope

Reconciliation in Christ goes beyond “touch not, taste not, and handle not”.  It becomes a real, firm, and powerful liberation that reconciles the hearts of God’s people to Him and changes them inside out.

God said that he would place reverence in our hearts (Jeremiah 32:40) and seal us with the Spirit as the sign of His covenant (2 Corinthians 1:22) so that we would become living testimonies for Him (2 Corinthians 3:3).  When we see the witness of the scriptures declaring the out-pouring of the gospel and do not see this growth in our own life we should pay attention to this warning sign so that we can repent before the Day of Judgment comes.

So what is the way to this reconciliation?  This grand message of reconciliation and redemption is the gospel of salvation and hope.

What is our salvation?

In short, Jesus Christ lifted the veil of human flesh and saved us from three dooms: sin (Romans 3:23), death (Gen 2:17), and the eternal punishment of hell (Luke 16).

No matter who you are, living in a sinful world is not pleasant.  We have been conditioned to deal with sin, in fact, to even expect and anticipate it.  However, the doom of sin becomes apparent to every person that has been betrayed by a spouse, cheated and ruined by greed and envy, been caught in a perilous cycle of addiction and pain that has ravaged their life and relationships and left them utterly empty and void.

The doom of death is terrifying to anyone that has been faced with it, whether or not you have lost loved ones and been totally and utterly shaken, or you are approaching this fate yourself and must come to grips with the limitless uncertainty that is facing you.  The sting of death was sin (1 Cor. 15:56), and ever since that first sting, death was laying hold of all mortal flesh without mercy or exception until Jesus Christ.  Those who have been sealed in Christ are patiently waiting as death is the last enemy to be overcome (1 Cor. 15:26).

Hell and its doom, whether or not you believe in it, exist as the ultimate destiny of doom.  Reserved for the punishment of sin and the continuation of death (which represents the absence of life), this destruction is, perhaps, the most bitter of them all to man.

The efforts of Satan have tried to do away with sin and hell.  Through various methods, we have many people who count sin as a finished element that is no longer imputed (on anyone) and they teach that Hell either does not exist or is not an eternal location for human beings.

I defer to Jesus in Matthew 24:50 and Luke 16, and to Paul in Romans 6, Galatians 5 regarding these issues.

For the sake of brevity in this post, I will simply say that removing these elements from the gospel is a shameful and wicked practice that is done to falsely weaken the gospel in an attempt to render it irrelevant to the modern age.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’”

Romans 1:16-17

The power of the gospel is the power of Christ to “rescue us from the domain of darkness and transfer us into the Kingdom of Christ” (Col 1:13) and to effect salvation from sin, death, and hell.

And what is our hope?

The hope in Christ that sustains us is in His complete victory and return. Without His victory, we are doomed and our salvation is null and void.  Without His return, we are stuck in limbo waiting for a salvation that will never come.

Jesus destroyed the works of Satan and took back the keys of death and hades (Revelations 1:17-18, 1 John 3:8).  He cast the enemy down from Heaven and claimed all authority (Revelation 12:12). Although Satan is real and works with fury and wrath in these final hours to consume anyone that lets his or her guard down (1 Peter 5:8), our hope is in Christ to sustain us so that we will not despair to the point of hopelessness.

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”

Hebrews 9:27

“‘And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 24:30 & 50b

Summary

Jesus Christ came and sent out His disciples to offer repentance and forgiveness of sins to all people (Mark 1:14-15, 1 John 1:5-9).  He suffered death and rose again conquering sin and death and taking the keys of hades (Revelation 1:17-18).  He destroyed the works of Satan (1 John 3:8) by bringing redemption to His people and “transferring us into the Kingdom of light” (Ephesians 1:7 & Colossians 1:13).  By His death and resurrection we have become new creations, born again by the water and the spirit and set free from the bondage of sin (John 3:3-5; Romans 6:8-11; Galatians 3 & 5).

Because of Christ it is said, “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

Knowing that, “after death comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin for those who eagerly await Him”

Hebrews 9:27-28


It is our hope that Christ will return and uphold His salvation in us!  That when that fearful and awful day comes, when all the world will be judged, our judgment will be made without reference to our sin because of the total sacrifice offered by Christ on our behalf!

Take it Further

  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 14-17, 20-29, & 42-49
  • Jeremiah 6:16
  • Revelation 12:12