Month: January 2020

Justification is the one time process of being “justified” or saved unto eternal life, which happens during our lifetime here on earth by our own free will choice. After we get to heaven God will free us from the presence of sin, which we call “glorification”. Justification and glorification are both actions taken by God for which we have no part.

Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Sanctification is the lifetime process of becoming more spiritually mature and emulating Christ over time. This is the period from our salvation to our death. While sanctification is still a process accomplished by God, this time we are required to participate.

Romans 8:29 – From all eternity God’s plan was for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

We become sanctified through relying on the Holy Spirit and exercising spiritual disciplines such as prayer, worship, Bible study, memorization of Scripture, giving and serving. We will never be able to quit sinning this side of heaven but we can sin less.  As we humbly walk through this life with our God our goal is to sin as little as possible and when we do sin to immediately ask God to forgive us, which Scripture says He will do.

John 15:5 – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Our spiritual growth is empowered by the Holy Spirit but we must “show up” for God. We present ourselves before the Lord when we exercise spiritual discipline. We must initiate the sanctification process by giving God something to work with. If you do nothing to gain knowledge, understanding and wisdom you disobey God and you will remain on spiritual milk and not much use to God down here on earth. Disobedience equals lack of reward in heaven. The choice is yours.

All Christians should know well the three step process of salvation referred to as justification, sanctification and glorification. The heart of the gospel message is that we can be saved through faith in Christ. God saves us by His grace through our faith alone. This is a free gift of God that can’t be earned. Jesus Christ died a substitutionary and atoning death on the cross in our place and on our behalf.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The moment we believe in Jesus and place our trust in Him to be our Lord and Savior our eternal destination changes from hell to heaven. This is what we call “justification”. Through the spiritual truth of imputation the sins of all men were transferred, or imputed, onto Christ while He hung on the cross. Jesus bore the wrath of God for our sins.

Romans 5:1 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Once we are freed from the penalty of sin, eternal death, we are regenerated by our new birth in Christ. We are “born again”. Justification is a one time instantaneous event through which we are saved. At that point our walk with God is just beginning.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

In return, Jesus Christ, the sinless one, the Son of God, imputed, or transferred, His righteousness onto us so that when God looks upon us He sees only the righteousness of His beloved Son. Our sins have been wiped clean. We have a God that loves us that much.

A recurring theme in the Bible is that we should always look back and remember what God has done for us in the past. Looking back on God’s fulfilled promises gives us confidence that God will be faithful to us now and in the future. We can count on God to keep His promises and to do what is right and perfect. Looking at what God has done will tell you what God will do because God never changes.

Malachi 3:6 – I am the Lord, I do not change.

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Psalm 102.27 – But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.

James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

It would be a mistake to focus only on the New Testament and ignore or gloss over the Old Testament as outdated because we are under the new blood covenant of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is part of God’s Word and is relevant and everlasting. Omit it at your peril. The Old Testament was validated in its entirety by Jesus during His ministry.

Matthew 5:17 – Do not think that I came to destroy the Law of the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Matthew 5:18 – For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass away from the law till all is fulfilled.

While the Israelites were wandering in the desert of Sinai for forty years God gave them food from heaven each day (manna) so that the Israelites would learn to depend on Him for their daily physical sustenance.  God also wants us to learn to depend on Him, not for His benefit, but ours. Christians today are to lean on God for our daily spiritual sustenance through the Holy Spirit, the Bible and prayer. God is all we need!

John 6:32 – Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread of heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:33 – For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

John 6:35 – I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:41 – I am the bread which came down from heaven.

John 6:48 – I am the bread of life.

The Bible uses bread as a metaphor for life; complete nourishment your body needs to remain healthy, but in a spiritual context. Remember what I said earlier about the Bible. If God repeats anything in His Word it’s important for us to know.  The more God repeats a spiritual truth the more important it is. Five times within 16 verses of the book of John God tells us He is the bread of life which is all we need. That’s like God screaming at the top of His lungs and pointing His finger at something we should take note of.

If you know God’s Word then you’ve read Revelation so you know what’s coming. If you watch a lot of cable TV like I do you can start to panic a little bit because the airwaves are filled with evil run rampant and the world seems to be falling apart. Just step back a minute and take a deep breath. Try to relax. God’s got this.  God is sovereign and He is in complete control of His planet. Everything that is happening around us is foretold in the Bible and is unfolding according to God’s will. God tells us repeatedly in the Bible not to worry.  As believers we belong to God and our destiny is in heaven so nothing of any eternal consequence can befall us here on earth. Each of is appointed a time to die and we have no control over that. What we can control is our attitude and keeping our focus on God. We are simply to persevere in our walk with God, do the works God has planned for us to do and offer continuous praise and worship to God in heaven until we’re called home.

Micah 6:8 – What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Phil. 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Phil. 4:11 – I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Isaiah 43:13 – From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do.

When it comes to matters related to God and your faith never blindly take anyone’s opinion. Always verify any truth with God’s Word or discard it. If there are still skeptics who don’t think God loves them enough to pursue them may I suggest they read the following:

Romans 8:11 – But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:16 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:31-33 – What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34-36 – Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intersession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Romans 8:37-39 – Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For those of you who were saved at a young age and then drifted away from your faith as you grew older you may see yourself in this blog. I was saved at age twelve and drifted away from God for the next forty years before I returned to God. It’s important you understand this truth. Once you are in God’s hands you belong to Him and He will never ever let you go.  God will pursue you to the ends of the earth for the rest of your life trying to restore the broken fellowship between you and God. God won’t get tired; God won’t get angry; God won’t stop loving you.

Once you are a marked man God will hunt you down and stalk you to the point you begin to notice it. You can feel it on the back of your neck. You know it to be true in your soul because the Holy Spirit within you makes your spirit aware the Father searches for His lost child.  How do I know this? My personal testimony is that it happened to me just as I’ve described. The only difference is I thought God was pursuing me to save me and I realized later I was already saved and God was chasing me to restore my fellowship with Him.  It wasn’t until I immersed myself in God’s Word that I knew the truth.

Romans 11:29 – For the gift and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Hebrews 13:5 – I will never leave you nor forsake you.

John 6:37 – All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

Many men throughout history have claimed to be God and that will never change. But only one man, Jesus Christ, has satisfied the tests of “reason and history”. Only Jesus was pre-announced. Only Jesus had his birth, life and death prophesied. Only Jesus fulfilled every prophecy made about him. I’ve previously listed 36 prophecies Jesus fulfilled during his life but there are many more.  Only Jesus Christ came into the world and made such an impact that history was divided into two periods: one before his coming (BC), and the other after it (AD). Only Jesus came into the world to specifically die in our place on the cross and thus save mankind. Only Jesus came into the world to teach us and establish his church (Christianity).  All the other people in history who started world religions died and were buried somewhere. Only Jesus died, was buried and rose from the dead. Only the grave of Jesus is empty, because He sits at the right hand of God. Only Jesus was God in the flesh.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8:32 – And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Fake religions have things in common. Their gods are invisible, impersonal and cannot be known. Their gods do not love you or speak to you. Their gods require you to earn your way into heaven and you never know if you’ve done enough to get there. Only Jehovah God does just the opposite of all these things so that you will know He is the one true God and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:5 – I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God.

Isaiah 43:11 – I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior.

Isaiah 43:13 – From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do.

Isaiah 45:22 – Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Everyone reading the Bible has the, “aha moment,”  when it suddenly dawns on them they’re holding in their hands a written communication from the God of the universe meant for them. No power on earth can stand against God’s Word.  It’s the sword of the Spirit and it’s at our disposal. It changes you forever to realize you are an immortal being and your destiny is to live in heaven forever with your Father. Oh, what a revelation! Praise God!  Once you know this it changes your perspective on everything. Everything else in life become insignificant, small potatoes, when compared with our relationship with God. Normal life events become a series of things that interrupt my walk with God which I find myself resenting.

While our citizenship is in heaven, God is leaving us here for a purpose. We have one foot in heaven and one foot on the earth and we must all learn how to balance the two in our walk with God.  Find your spiritual gift from God and it will lead you to the plan God has for your life.  There are many ways an unbeliever can find God. They can be convicted of their sin by the Holy Spirit listening to a preacher at church or on television. Unbelievers can find God through a personal witness or in a Bible study group. The best way for an unbeliever to find God is by reading the Holy Bible, God’s revelation to man, so that he may know God.  Read the entire Bible, stating with the book of John, then the other gospels. Read the rest of the New Testament before reading the Old Testament. Then repeat. Read your Bible every day to keep your faith strong and encourage others to do the same.  I suggest reading the entire Bible once a year to keep it fresh in your mind.

Many unbelievers think Christians are not all that bright and believe in God only through blind faith when nothing could be further from the truth. We have used our reasoning skills and intelligence to evaluate the facts to come to the conclusion there is one God (Jehovah) and salvation unto eternal life is through belief in His Son Jesus Christ and no other. Know what you believe and why so you can respond adequately when your faith is challenged.  There are numerous verses in the Bible that confirm you cannot miss God if you earnestly seek Him and my personal experience verifies it. God will meet you and touch you if you meet Him half way. God will rekindle your spiritual fire through the power of the gospel. You will know when this happens because you’ll experience an unquenchable thirst for God and His Word. In previous blogs I’ve mentioned my thirst for God which is my personal testimony.

Proverbs 8:17 – I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me.

Proverb 30:5 – Every word of God is pure, He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 119:89 – Forever, O Lord, your Word is settled in heaven.