Faith does not save you

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Rom 11:6)


Just previous to this profound verse, Paul writes another declarative statement saying, “so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.

We must be careful not to read Romans 10:17 as an order of salvation, because then it would place all the responsibility on faith and hearing. The proper order should be as follows;
God had mercy(in eternities past) on you, by giving grace to you, in order that you would be saved. By the quickening of your dead heart to hear the gospel, He lavished faith on you as a gift by which you became saved.

Faith does not save you. Jesus does.

Faith in itself can be produced from within as an act of works, but this is not saving faith. Saving faith come by hearing, because of grace that has opened the blockage in your ears to hear, that has made you become alive &
softened your heart to receive, and now equips you with the ability to act (faith).

Do you have the Word in you? (John 8:36)

I know you are the offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill Me because My words find no place in you.

Salvation comes through the offspring of Abraham, but since the Jews were so full of unbelief and hardness of heart, God offered the Gentiles salvation in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy. Eventually, the veil will be removed once and for all, and they will be grafted back into the fold (Romans 9-11) but until that happens, it is as if they still kill Jesus(place Him back on the cross) because of their unbelief.

It is interesting that I have never met a Jew who was willing to talk about or accept Jesus as their Messiah. How sad that their hearts are no diff today than they were two millenniums ago.

Practically speaking, a good salvific test would be to ask yourself if the Word lived inside of you? You may be able to answer that question by taking a survey of your everyday life. How is your devotional life? How do you treat others when wrongly assaulted? How do you handle malice or gossip? What flows out of your mouth? What interests you, and how many hours per day do you spend doing those things?

Taking an honest look at your actions and behavior should tell you enough about where the Word stands in your heart presently.

Today, be honest with yourself and take the survey. Make the necessary adjustments, and get on board with living in mission with Jesus.

The inner place behind the curtain (Hebrews 6:6-20)

This entire portion of Hebrews 6:9-20 is off the charts, literally. The salvific nature of the texts bleeds assurance for those who are heirs of the promise.

God is ever-present, always taking notes on our service to Him. We are encouraged to press hard into faith and patience in order to obtain the promise.
The fact that God swore to Himself that He alone would redeem the Elect and bring them to heaven becomes that inward hope, that pushes us closer to Him. It is that sure and steadfast anchor, that is immovable and is settled deep down into the inner place behind the curtain of our soul.

The secret place of our being that is ours. That part of our lives where we will be forced to answer to, and visit someday.The ambiguity and disturbing wonder of death, will become known and understood by all.

There Jesus traveled alone, underneath the dark shadows of sheol, and He conquered it’s power, released it’s grip, and tore the veil, ushering in heavens light to the heirs of promise.

Now standing with arms stretched wide with love and victory His invitations declares, “come and enter into the joy of thy salvation”!!

Jesus indeed paid it all.. all to Him I owe. Sin has left it’s crimson stain.. He washes white as snow! Amen.

Naked and ashamed

In his letters to the Romans, Paul told his readers that not all Israel was Israel. We have a perfect example of this with the seven sons of Sceva. Their dad was a Jewish high priest, who certainly knew all of the Jewish customs and practices which he had set himself apart to do unto God.

They watched Dad’s life, his duty and position throughout their entire childhood and most likely, his life became apart of their every day routine. His lifestyle literally should have had become the fabric of who they were going to be, but as we read, it was just the opposite.

These sons of Sceva were no different than the two sons of Eli, the high priest in the book of Samuel.

They all grew up having an outward appearance of a relationship with God, but knew Him not.

These “magnificent seven gunslingers” thought they had the know withal to cast out demons, and they were quick to the draw. But on this day, it had backfired on them. Not only did this demon leap upon all seven of Sceva’s boys, but it overpowered them and forced them to tap out naked. What a funny sight this may have been to witness as it literally ripped off all of their outward cloths of righteousness and left them running down the street with only their holsters on.

Talk about getting spurred in the old keaster.
One man calls this smoking tennis shoes!!

We can have all the signs of Christianity adorned in our lives. The right speech, Christian hair, a professing mouth, and still not be saved.

Had these boys been truly regenerated, they would have known better to never be involved with private exorcisms, because God calls us to preach the Word , not wrestle with demons, (even though our battle is not against flesh and blood), for a hobby.

Who’s to blame? Perhaps Sceva. Like Eli, he too gave up the influence of the Lord to his sons who eventually decided to go and run a muck.

Religion before relationship, will have this effect every time.

I love what John Piper once tweeted. he said this,
“no parents have the luxury of teaching their children nothing, while they wait for their regeneration”

In Sceva’s case, his boys went down into history as the seven moons over Miami..

The good new was that God had used this event to clean house, and we read that the people burned their books of magic and sorcery and astrology, and the Lord continued to increase the disciples.

God’s wisdom in suffering Hebrews 2

One of the ways God helps us to not neglect our salvation is through suffering.

As children of God, we all partake of the same source. (heb 2:11) As Jesus suffered, the Bible states that He was made perfect through His suffering. But If Jesus was already sinless why was it, that He needed to be made perfect again? The answer to that, is that while in His divinity, He was already perfect, it was in His humanity, He needed to learn as we do, (through the process of obedience and suffering)in order to be that faithful and merciful High Priest, who could make propitiation for our sins..

Jesus was tested by the testing’s we go through, and was perfect in them. On the other hand, when we go through trials, we struggle and grow weary, we doubt, or become angry and most often fail, at first. However, the more the hammer beats against the anvil, the better shape we become. This process keeps us true to our calling. How can we neglect such a great salvation, when we are in constant reminder of it?? It is all the more difficult to do, especially, when we are no longer hating the instrument God is using to shape us by.

As a life long welder, I have learned the ability to almost fashion anything I want to make out of carbon steel, with heat and a hammer. The steel always becomes the easiest to work with when the temperatures exceeds 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. The rest involves skill.

Jesus is the captain of our souls, our master- crafter, shaping us into the image of the Son. Every stroke of His hand is by divine design, and has enough love invested in it, to see you right on through to heaven.

Impossible

“and how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation” (heb 2:3)

The author of Hebrews uses terms like ‘escape’ and ‘drift away’ in order to get the readers attention, however, the greater word used here is ‘neglect’. How can you neglect, or rather, not exercise your salvific obligation to grow in Christ, if indeed you have been given the keys to understanding? The great responsibility is upon your shoulders now that you have come to the knowledge of truth in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit of God.

We are never called to just believe, and then become lazy-
Our belief will be productive, and, if we are producing, the outcome will be that we are not neglecting, but if we do drift, the Holy spirit will realign our hearts with His.
Salvation happens for a believer in eternity’s past, and is presently occurring as we speak, because if we are truly saved, then part of the production will be that we are working out our salvation,(whatever that may be) daily. (phil 1:12)

We can trick others, but we cannot fool God, because He knows our hearts.

To understand that He will hold us accountable to what we now know,is by this truth alone, why we shall not escape. This is enough information for us to echo the same sentiment as the Author when he asks, ‘How shall we escape‘? Good question. The answer is ..we will not! Impossible.

Christology (pt.1)

1.Virgin Birth
Why was the virgin birth significant?

a. The miracle confirms salvations comes from the Lord, and not man

b. It declares the hypo-static union of God.
1. Jesus was fully God and fully man

c. Jesus did not inherit mans sins. The line of Adam was interrupted.

Sometimes, we must rest our faith on others

So take heart men, I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.(Acts 27:25)

Paul already had warned the Pilot, Centurion, and crew members not to sail to Crete, but they failed to listen. The consequences became devastating, so much so, that all was lost except lives.
At this point in the narrative, Paul is not able to visit synagogues, nor is he able to stir up any Jewish assembly with the truth. One might think that he is in some kind of limbo state of ministry, sitting instead of preaching, resting instead of laboring. Not so however. Just because there are times of pause, it does not mean that God is not moving on your behalf. Paul the evangelist, preacher, testifier, now becomes a prophet, foretelling the dangers ahead with divine wisdom.

It takes great faith to walk with the Jesus. It takes a perpetual faith. A faith that has the potential to move mountains, uproot trees, heal the sick, sustain us in darkness and give to others when fear and doubt abound.

R Kent Hughes tells the story of not having the faith once to continue with what God had asked him and his family to do. He had become nearly paralyzed by his circumstances; and felt as if he could go no further. Whatever had been going on in their lives had taken a hard toll on this man of God, and, in his fragile state, he began to doubt.
Then his wonderful bride, a woman of substance and grace spoke to him in that moment of desperation saying, “Hold on to my faith-we will get through this!”
Mrs. Hughes had just enough faith to keep them sustained. Certainly, it was not her faith that was humanly produced or manufactured, but a gift given to her at the precise moment of time, and, she was able to share the gift with her husband.

First call out to the Lord and He will save you- trust in His Word, and not on any person, place, or object. While this process is taking place, find a brother or sister whom you can link arms with, who just may have enough sustainable strength for the both of you, and together you can share your dependency upon God ‘side by side’. You will make it to Heaven. This is true Christian community at it’s best.

Held by providential design (Acts 24: 23-27)

The Holy Spirit had warned this once freed man, that going to Jerusalem would be full of adversity. He had great privileges of travel and fellowship, encouraging the saints and being led by the Spirit. The brethren begged him to remain with them, but he refused.
As expected, he was captured, beaten and held, and escorted by soldiers, in order to escape death. Now, he has become locked up and held by providential design.

On many occasions however, he had been able to share with the Governor about faith, righteousness, self-control, and judgment.
Paul did not talk about Faith in Faith- but Faith in Christ having identified our need to live by Faith (Romans 1 ). He also needed to explain why Jesus was the one to have Faith in. This would take a careful examination of Jesus and His Tri-une nature.
Now once the deity of God is explained, then, Paul explains His righteousness being imputed upon sinful, unworthy people whom come when they are called.

The evidence of Justification and righteous imputation brings forth a self-control aided by the Holy Spirit. A self-control that cannot be mastered in this life but rather perfected by the Master in His righteousness. Now that we’ve covered all the essentials, we can now discuss penal substitution that allows the righteous to be freed from the impending judgment of a holy God. For those whose sins are not covered are commissioned to death and hell.

A perfectly orchestrated message for his audience which alarmed Felix the Governor. For two years Paul neither wooed or persuaded Felix or his wife into the Kingdom of God. Paul knew it must be the work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish that, because He alone is our deposit unto Salvation.

Paul planted, and worked along with his companions for just two people for two years.

And sometimes we think we are not effective unless we have a great audience.

I confess I have become guilty of this, Have you?