Ephesians 1:1-6

“Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful (trustworthy, sure, true) in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted (highly favored) in the beloved.

Hebrews 6: 1-12

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God; of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away, (apostatize, defect, desert, recant, retreat, turn, renounce) to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessings from God. But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected (unapproved, worthless, castaway, reprobate) and is near unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteousness to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered, to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you shows the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

We see from reading these two passages of scripture that it is possible for those who have been accepted in Christ to be rejected by Christ. Nevertheless, in the latter scripture we also see that the authors are persuaded “better things” of their audience, and “things that accompany salvation, though they thus speak.” Why? “Because God is not unrighteous to forget their work and labor of love, which they have showed toward His name, in that they have ministered to the saints and do minister.” And then the authors go on to encourage their audience to “show the same diligence.” Why? “In order to have the full assurance of hope to the end. That they be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” It is also important that we take note of the fact that the glowing address to the Church in Ephesus, quoted in the former scriptures, was written to the faithful in Christ, not to those who had expressed a faith in Christ at some point in their lives and later turned their backs on Him and the Church through cowardliness and unbelief. I believe the likes of these would be those Paul refers to in other scriptures as, “the sons of disobedience.”

In speaking on this subject, let me be clear on a couple of points. A backslider could be defined as a spiritually immature or spiritually mature person, who, after having faith in Christ for his salvation, for some reason or another began behaving inappropriately in keeping with his profession of faith by returning to his former sinful lifestyle. This person may have never officially renounced Christ publicly or privately in word, even though he has done so to one extent or another in deed.

Now, the definition of an “apostate” is different. An “apostate” could be defined as someone who has come to a level of profound maturity in God through faith in Christ Jesus and experienced an abundance of His grace (i.e. those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come) and then for some reason or another made a conscious choice to renounce, reject, and/or refute Christ and their faith in Him. This could have been done privately and/or publicly, in both word and deed. Such as these have turned away from Christ and the salvation that He offers by turning from faith in Him, back to their former posture and position of unbelief.

For a former atheist, who had come to faith in Christ Jesus for salvation, this would require renouncing faith in Christ Jesus for the imputation and impartation of God’s righteousness (right standing with God) on his behalf, and returning back to believing that there is no God, much less one who justifies the ungodly through faith.

For former followers of Judaism, who had come to faith in Christ Jesus for salvation, it would require a renouncing of faith in Christ Jesus for the imputation and impartation of God’s righteousness on their behalf, and a turning back to believing that God does not justify the ungodly through faith in Jesus Christ. Such as these would return to the Law of Moses in a futile attempt to be justified through adherence to the Law. In this act they would, in essence, be saying that Christ is not “the end of the Law for righteousness for everyone who believes.” This was the case of those being spoken about in chapter six in the letter to the Hebrew believers.

It must also be noted that the apostates are not only those who, after having come to a mature faith in Christ for their position of right standing (righteousness) with God, choose to renounce that position through falling away from the faith and rejecting Jesus Christ in both word and deed, but it is also those who reject Jesus Christ’s claim of being the only legitimate way to the Father and attempt to replace Him with some other person, religion, or ideology. This is spiritual adultery at its worst, a subject that I will address in greater detail later on in this teaching.

Now, whereas there are obvious similarities between the backslider and the apostate, there are also obvious differences. The differences are pointed out in a scripture found in one of Paul’s letters to his “son in the faith,” Timothy.

“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us: If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2: 11-13

In God’s eyes there’s a big difference between losing faith in Christ for a season (due to infirmities and iniquities of the soul or situations and circumstances in this life) than there is to, after having received Christ and reached a level of spiritual maturity (through specific divine spiritual experiences), become faithless to Christ to the point of renouncing Him as the justifier of their souls either privately and/or publicly in both word and deed!

Again, the difference between the backslider and the apostate is explained thusly, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us (apostate). If we believe not, yet He abides faithful, He cannot deny Himself.” (Backslider) Whereas Peter, while under duress, denied that he “knew” Jesus, He never renounced Him in his heart as his means to achieving “right standing with God.” You see my point? I hope you see that the difference between the backslider and the apostate is a matter of one’s actions based on believing or not believing in Jesus Christ for one’s justification. Thus, in the eyes of God, apostasy is a more serious sin than backsliding.

Now, even though this may be true, backsliding is still a very dangerous business, and it is to be resisted and discouraged with all of one’s energy and with all of God’s grace, knowing that if the pattern is continued in without repentance, it could most assuredly lead to apostasy and Hell, or, at the very least, certain loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Nevertheless, there is still hope for the backslider during this present dispensation through the hope of renewed repentance and faith towards God, but according to the scripture, there is no such hope for the apostate. Why? Because “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.”

This apparent loophole, of course, should not be a license to sin for the backslider because, “We must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, to be judged for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” And “If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord shall judge his people.” “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now, the causes that lead to a sincere mature Christian believer becoming apostate or reprobate are difficult to imagine. The consequences that follow such behavior are extremely severe, because their condition stems from a soul that was at one time open and receptive to Christ and His purposes and experienced every gift that Christ had to offer of Himself in this life, most especially revelation knowledge revealing who Christ is, what He has done, and what it has cost Him to do it. And yet, the apostate still made a choice to deny Him!

Jesus told His disciples, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” James warned, “Be not many teachers, knowing that you will receive the greater condemnation.”

So we see that in God’s economy, with great privilege comes great responsibility. The archangel Lucifer is the perfect example of the apostate and reprobate, and we know that he is far beyond redemption. It is extremely sobering to realize that the scriptures teach that this same fate is possible for those who were once sincere mature Christian believers and then became reprobate and apostate.

Now, one of the reasons for me writing on this difficult subject is because the Apostle Paul warned, “Let no man deceive you by any means, that day (the day of the Lord, the second coming of Christ) shall not come, except there come a falling away (apostasy) first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (the anti-Christ).” Prior to his revealing there will be what Jesus called the “beginning of sorrows” and with this “revealing,” there will come great persecution against the elect of God. The scriptures point to that persecution and suffering of God’s people at the hands of the anti-Christ as being synonymous with a falling away from the faith. The faithful followers of Christ are not appointed to experience God’s wrath, but through our prayers will be instrumental in releasing it! In keeping with this, we will most assuredly experience the wrath of Satan during the Great Tribulation, and we will do so because we will choose to remain faithful to Jesus Christ instead of selling out our allegiance to the anti-Christ who will require all souls to worship him as God. Again, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:

It is high time for the Church of the living God to “wake up and strengthen the things that remain” because we are already in the beginning of sorrows, and we are quickly approaching the Great Tribulation.

In the parable of the sower, recorded in Matthew 13:3-8 and explained in Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus points out three reasons that the seed that was sown did not bear fruit, and they are all interconnected. For this lesson’s purposes, I would like to focus on all of them because I believe that understanding them is extremely important during these latter days in order for Christians to avoid becoming apostates. The seed that was sown on the path is represented as the heart of a believer who hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand it. The Bible teaches, “We enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation.” There are many Christian believers who have been taught that we will escape the Great Tribulation through a secret rapture prior to Christ’s second coming. There will most assuredly be a rapture of the church, but it will be at the end of the Great Tribulation, not prior to it. Many Christians who find themselves in the middle of the Great Tribulation will have already had the seed of God’s word snatched from their hearts by Satan through embracing this false teaching, and through their disappointment, confusion, despair, and despondency, they will become fruitless in their service to God.

The seed that was sown among thorns is what I believe to be the most accurate description of the Christian believer in the U.S.A. and the West in general. “This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” This unfruitfulness, in itself is bad enough, but I believe it could be a predecessor to the other example of unfruitfulness mentioned by Jesus, which leads to the believers “falling away.” “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.”

In a sentence, if we are not living fully for Jesus now because we are either living in ignorance through having embraced a false eschatological doctrine, or we are living with regard to the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, we will most likely deny Christ and fall away from the faith when threatened with tribulation and persecution on account of the Word.

As Christian believers we can avoid this pitfall now by rightly handling the Word of Truth, by becoming and remaining faithful to Jesus Christ, and by living a sanctified life in obedience to God’s will and word, as we “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who is working in us, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” Let us work diligently now, “For the hour cometh when no man can work.” After all, the Holy Spirit has been sent by Christ to “lead us into all truth.” Let us follow His lead and not “the dictates of the flesh,” “deceiving spirits,” and “doctrines of devils.”

Speaking of deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils, there will be many professing Christians (apostates) in the latter days that embrace a one world religion under the deception of the False Prophet. They will do this for the sake of peace and unity with other religions. In doing so they will have sacrificed their allegiance to Jesus Christ who came to bring a sword of division between the enlightened and the deceived, or if you will, the believing and the unbelieving. (Please see Matthew 10:34-39) These will also persecute the lovers of the Truth and deem them as evil doers. They will think that they are doing God a service in persecuting and killing the faithful believers in Christ, because they will see us as evil does and trouble makers, and as those who reject their humanistic religion of “unity, peace, and justice” for all human beings. (John 16:2)

Now, the Greek word for adultery is “moicheia,” pronounced moy-khi’-ah. Webster’s – English – “adultery: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse.” The figurative Greek word for apostate is “moichos” - moy-khos’ and it means adulterer! In the same way that God requires faithfulness in the marriage covenant between a husband and wife, He requires faithfulness in the new covenant between Jesus Christ and the Christian believer.

The seventh commandment proclaims, “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14. Jesus Christ proclaimed, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, you shall not commit adultery; But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye offends you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell. And if your right hand offends you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell.” Matthew 5: 27-30.

According to the teachings of Paul the un-confessed and un-forsaken sin of adultery, among other sins, will keep a Christian believer from inheriting the kingdom of God.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealously, fits of anger, rage, and wrath, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

Now, Paul also proclaimed, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” He also said that one of “the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.” The others are love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

If we are to remain faithful to Christ now, and especially during the Great Tribulation, we must be born of the Spirit, baptized with the Spirit, live in the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit. This can only be accomplished by being continuously filled with the Spirit through praying in the Spirit, worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth, and speaking to ourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to the Lord. And remember, Jesus Christ said, “My words are Spirit and they are life.” May we be faithful to Him through a life in the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit!

I will end this exhortation with the words of our Lord, that sum up the essence of the teaching quite well.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this you bear much fruit and prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love as no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another.” John 15:1-17

What good is it, my brothers; if a man claims to have faith but has no works (of faith)? Can such faith save him? Faith by itself, if not accompanied by works (of faith), is dead. But someone will say; you have faith; I have works. Show me your faith without your works (of faith), and I will show you my faith by my works (of faith.) You see that a person is justified by works (of faith) and not by faith alone. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works (of faith) is dead also.” James 2:14,18,24, 26.


Phillip Malanchthon said, “It is faith alone that saves, but faith that saves is not alone.”


The other night, Mike Huckabee ended his television show with these words, “More importantly live your faith.” Bob Dylan wrote, “You talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to live it.” Once the Lord spoke to me saying, “Personalize your revelations.” Another way of saying this is, “practice what you preach” or, “do what you know to do.” As Christian believers it is not enough to profess that we know the Truth; we must also practice the Truth we know! We must learn to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in all things, and at all times. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has been sent by Christ in order to “lead us into all Truth!” It is equally important that we trust and obey the Holy Scriptures. Why, because “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work! Furthermore, “they are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Therefore, we must train ourselves around God’s Word and in His Spirit to practice the Truth we profess! Saint Francis de Sales put it this way, “Live Jesus, Live Jesus!”


It is not enough to have good intentions, because “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Our “good intentions” and “professed faith” must be backed up with good actions, not inaction, or, if you will, with “sins of omission.” Remember, “faith without works (of faith) is dead.” In like manner, neither should our professed faith be accompanied by wicked behavior, or if you will, “sins of commission,” such as “sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealously, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like.” Paul charged, “I warn you again as I warned you before, they that practice these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Dear reader, do you profess to be a Christian and still practice any of these things? If so, I beg you, repent, lest you lose out on your inheritance in Christ that has been obtained by grace through faith. Again, Paul proclaimed, “They that practice these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God!” He called activities like the ones mentioned above, “the works of the flesh.” He instructed Christian believers to walk in the Spirit and promised that if the did so they would not fulfill the works of the flesh. Walking in the Spirit means being led by the Holy Spirit. This is accomplished through yielding one’s will in trusting obedience to the Holy Spirit’s directives instead of yielding one’s will to the dictates of the flesh. If we are to ever over come self, Satan, and sin, like Jesus did, we must get real good at doing this daily.


Christian believers have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. Even though this is the essence and foundation of our Christian faith, we must also practice “doing righteously even as Christ is righteous.” Paul spoke of “the obedience of faith.” There is a first out resurrection that we must attain to because we don’t want to be a part of the second resurrection when the slothful, sleeping, and dead church will be judged along with all sinners and unbelievers. “He that has this hope (of the first resurrection) purifies himself, even as He is pure.” Those who pursue this purification, by grace through faith, have the “hope of righteousness.” Those who live in willful and deliberate defiance to the Word, and Will of God should not deceive themselves into thinking that they have this hope. We must not think in terms of happiness now and holiness later, but we should embrace the concept of holiness now and happiness later! Better yet, we should realize and remember the wise words of John Wesley, “holiness is happiness!”


“We are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works (of law) lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works (of faith) that God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Through predestination, our position in Christ is secure, for we have obtained an inheritance being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Nevertheless, the actual possession of our eternal inheritance is not yet accomplished because Christian believers are “waiting for the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.” Jesus said, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things,” and “not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” As Christian believers, our inheritance is relegated to us but not fully delegated to us yet, because “many are called but few are chosen.” The chosen “delegates,” or, if you will, “the elect of God” are those who by grace through faith overcome self, Satan, and sin through “the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.” These Spirit baptized witnesses
(martyrs) of God will accomplish the latter, (loving not their lives unto death) even as Jesus did, by first being baptized in the Holy Spirit and then remaining filled with the Holy Spirit, and also by living and walking in the Holy Spirit and thereby, doing the will of God, instead of their own will. These are the ones who will share in the rule of Christ’s millennial kingdom with Him, and in the eternal kingdom of Heaven, the New Jerusalem that is coming to a new earth (wherein dwells righteousness) in the near future! Jesus said, “If you seek to gain your life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, you will gain eternal life. And what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his eternal soul?”


So what shall be said about those professing Christians that reject the requirement that Christ made of those who would be His disciples? “If you would be my disciples indeed, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow Me. Jesus said, “Broad is the road that leads to perdition and many go that way, but narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus proclaimed, “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Only those who begin in Christ, continue in Christ, and finish in Christ through faith in Him, (which also results in faithfulness to do His Father’s will) shall inherit the kingdom of Heaven. We must, by the mercies of God, be willing and enabled by the Holy Spirit to daily surrender our lives, (spirit, soul, and body) unto God upon His altar of sacrifice.

Now, let’s see how all of this pertains to our relationship with our fellow human beings? Or, if you will, in the words of Steve Taylor, “Will we live to forgive?”


Jesus taught His disciples, “Bless those who curse you, do good to those who do you harm, and pray for those who despitefully use you. If a man ask for your coat, give him your cloak also. If he compels you to go a mile with him, go two miles. If anyone strikes you on one cheek, offer him the other also.” He went on to say “Be holy because your heavenly Father is holy. He gives the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, and He causes the sun to shine on the righteous and on the unrighteous alike.” We are to do likewise with our possessions. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “If your enemy hungers, give him something to eat; if he thirsts, give him something to drink, for in so doing you will heap coals of fire upon his head.” In other words, you will share your fire with him! We are to “Return no evil for evil, but overcome evil with good.”


The other day I said to a Christian friend and co-worker of mine who was being offended by one of our unbelieving co-workers, “If a blind man stumbles into you and knocks you down causing you pain and injury, your initial reaction may be hurt and anger. But once you realize that he is blind, it would be difficult and even unreasonable for you to bear anger and resentment in your heart against him. Right?” He agreed!


This is the way that Christian believers are to react toward non-believers. But what about those Christians who act wickedly towards other Christians? How are we to respond to those who know right from wrong, and those who know the Light and claim to walk in the Light, and yet still do “dark things,” and thereby cause us pain and injury. The same way we react towards the “lost,” is the way we are to react towards the “found!” Why? Because Jesus said, “The disciple is not greater than his Master, but he shall be like his Master.” In keeping with this thought, “Jesus was wounded in the congregation of His friends.” He was forsaken by His disciples, and even denied by one of the three who was closest to Him. He was despised and rejected by those He loved and came to save! His responses to all of these was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”


So you see my brothers and sisters, I'm going to say it again. It is one thing to profess to know the Truth and an entirely different thing to practice the truth we know! It is in knowing the Truth that we are justified, but it is in the doing the Truth that we are just, and thereby known of God. To have been justified by grace through faith and to still do unjustly at times is the great dilemma and disparagement of those striving to live the Christian life. This is why we must understand that “if we live in the Spirit,” we must learn to “walk in the Spirit.” In doing so “we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” Once we have believed in Christ for our salvation, we must learn to both live and walk in the goodness of that salvation. The following scriptures point to how this is possible. “If we were saved by His death, how much more shall we be saved through His life.” “In Him we live and move and have our being.” “Christ ever lives to make intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” “The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.” “Those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” “Therefore, mortify the misdeeds of the body through the Spirit.”


The basis of our covenant relation with God through Christ, and our redemption in Him is to be found in the exchanged life. He took our sins upon Himself on the cross and in exchange offered us the free gift of His righteousness. We must learn to settle down into and be not removed from Christ and the righteousness found in Him, even as branches abide in the vine and bear much fruit, we must learn to abide in Christ so that we might do likewise. Our sin nature, or, if you will, who we were, was condemned in Christ’s body on the cross and thereby His righteousness was imputed (stored up) unto us. Now through communion with Him around His Word and in His Spirit, his very righteousness is imparted unto us to the glory of God as we are made brand new creations in Him. “If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new!”


Now, none of us have learned to live and walk in this perfectly. Even the great Apostle Paul proclaimed that he had not attained to the perfection of Christ (the first out resurrection from the dead), but he said that he “followed after” and “pressed towards” this great goal. As a matter of fact, he said that those who are “perfect” are the souls who are doing likewise. So, my fellow Christian believers, be sure to forgive unbelievers for their offenses against you, because they have been blinded by Satan, and led captive by him at his will. Therefore pray for them, bless them, and do good to them. If you do so, it will be the most convincing sermon that you will ever preach! Also, be patient and forgiving of yourselves and each other. All of you give each other a lot of slack and “bear one another’s burdens (moral shortcomings) and thus fulfill the law of Christ” as you continue to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” And remember the exhortation of Jesus Christ, “If you forgive others their trespasses against you, your heavenly Father will forgive yours; But, if you don’t forgive others their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive yours.”

At different times in my Christian life and ministerial career I have been led of the Lord to sit under the teachings of two separate ministers. The first is an Englishman named Colin Urquart, who is solidly Calvinist in his theological beliefs. The second is an Englishman named David Pawson, a dyed in the wool Arminian. Both Calvinism and Arminianism have five points of doctrine, but the main and most basic difference between these two persuasions, according to John Wesley, is on the point of irresistible grace.

The Calvinists believe that God’s saving grace cannot be resisted by the human will. The Arminians believe that God’s saving grace can be resisted by the human will. Whereas I am inclined to believe the Arminian view, I hope with all of my heart that the Calvinist view is correct. In my personal experience I have discovered that both views are potentially true to one extent or another. In other words, I have found that, at times, I seem to have been capable of resisting God’s saving grace through my own rebellious human will. At other times I have discovered that I seem to have been incapable of resisting His grace through His divine intervention in my life. The source of this quandary could be a matter of semantics, or more specifically, a question of spiritual dynamics at play in my life as a Christian and in my human experience in general. Ultimately, however, neither the Calvinist view nor the Arminian view will be discovered as being accurate or inaccurate until we all stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

Whereas I hope that the Calvinist persuasion is correct, it would be extremely foolish on my part, and yours, dear reader, to discount the possibilities and probabilities of the Arminian persuasion being correct. The same could be said of the Calvinist persuasion, in that being under confident of our salvation in Christ could diminish our spiritual growth in the grace of God leading to spiritual discouragement and a legalistic approach to our salvation, resulting in self-righteous religion. Conversely, to be overconfident of our salvation in Christ could diminish our spiritual growth in the grace of God, leading Christian believers into a license to sin through unrighteous rebellion. I have found in my employment experience that both under-confidence and overconfidence have, at times, lead to humiliating and embarrassing errors. For me to be successful in my work as a professional television camera operator, it has been necessary to achieve a balance in my attitude between the two. In reality, a confident assurance of my abilities and a humble assessment of my potential for failure, has proven the best course of action for me to take.

At one time, I was given a vision from the Lord of a swinging pendulum. On one side of the pendulum was unrighteous rebellion leading to a license to sin, and on the other side was self-righteous religion leading to legalism in an attempt to deter sin. In the center, where the pendulum was beginning to totter and come to rest, was righteousness and deliverance from sin through a relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ, the living Lord.

To be a disciple of Christ and a sheep of His pasture, given to Him by God and therefore incapable of being snatched out of His Father’s hands, requires three significant tell-tail signs. The first and foremost requirement is to be known by the Good Shepherd and to also know Him. The second and third requirements are to hear His voice and follow His lead. If this has been, is, and continues to be the pattern of our lives, then we can rest assured of our salvation in Christ. If however, this is not the pattern of our lives, then we must examine ourselves to see if we are still in faith. If we discover that we are not in faith, we must repent of our sin, have faith towards God, and be restored, renewed, and revived.

Regarding salvation, I have heard it said by a Calvinist preacher encouraging the concept of the “eternal security” of the Christian believer, “Born once, die twice, born twice die once.” This implies that all that is required to experience salvation in Christ is to have come to a place of faith in Christ at some point in one’s life, resulting in one’s rebirth in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is accomplished through believing in the name of Jesus and receiving Him as Savior and Lord.

“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:11-13

It must be noted however, that the word, “received” means, “to settle down into and be not removed from Christ.” Concerning our rebirth in Christ, Peter speaks of a present continuing process, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:23). And Paul speaks of a future salvation. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Romans 13:11

All of these scriptures point to the Arminian view of salvation in Christ, namely, that our salvation in Christ requires a beginning in Christ through faith, a continuing in Christ through faith, and a finishing in Christ through faith. Of course we must also understand and come to believe that, in keeping with the Calvinist view of sanctification, “Faithful is He that calls you who will also do it.” He will do it in us, to us, and through us, but not without our cooperation. Thus Paul’s exhortation, in keeping with the Arminian view, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12

While touring Northern Ireland as an itinerant minister in the early nineteen nineties, I kept coming across the books of Colin Urquart in the houses of fellow Christians where I was staying. As I read his books, I started feeling that he had something in his spirit that I desperately needed. After attending a meeting of his in Bangor, N. Ireland, I was deeply impressed of the Lord to leave the mission field and take my family to Horsham, East Sussex, England, and attend Kingdom Faith Bible College which he founded, and where he lived and taught. I did this for a semester and graduated with a certificate of completion for one of the many ministerial courses offered there. During that time, through his ministry, I came to a greater understanding of Christ’s accomplished work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead, as well as a greater revelation of what it meant to be “in Christ.”

After having returned to the U.S.A. I was working in television production for Turner Entertainment in the late nineteen nineties. At that time I was becoming interested in the International House of Prayer Ministries founded by Mike Bickle. One night I went to his ministry website, and as I researched it, I discovered a conference being advertised which was dealing with the subject of the end times. The keynote speaker for this ministry was a man named David Pawson. As I looked at a picture of him, and read about his ministry, the Lord spoke clearly to my spirit saying, “Go and hear him.” I signed up for the conference and booked a flight to Kansas City. For one week I sat under his ministry and every time I heard him teach, I received a confirmation from the Holy Spirit of the truth that he was speaking. In essence, everything that he said was exactly what the Lord had been saying to me throughout my entire Christian life and ministry. I bought four of his books and read them thoroughly again and again. My life and ministry have been greatly enriched by his teachings.

In conclusion let me say, I know in my heart of hearts through the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the faithfulness of God, that I have been saved, that I am being saved, and that I will be saved. I also know, through the exhortations of the Holy Scriptures, that I must “be careful if I think I stand lest I fall.” Regarding the different points of doctrine between Calvinism and Arminianism, let me say in agreement with the revealed Word of God, “Now, we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, we will know even as we are known.”

In honor of my two mentors, Colin Urquart, a Calvinist, and David Pawson, an Arminian, I would like to recommend two of their books for your edification. “The Truth That Makes You Free,” by Colin Urquart. (KingdomFaithMinistries.com), and “Once Saved Always Saved?” by David Pawson (DavidPawson. com). May the God of all wisdom and grace bless you as he has blessed me through both these great men of God and their respective ministries.

My people perish for a lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6

I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
Philippines 3:8

This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the works of the flesh.
Gelatins 5:16

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Matthew 6:10

Accept - verb - To receive willingly. (the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord)

Acknowledge - verb - 1) To admit the reality or truth of. a. To express recognition of. b. To express gratitude for. c. To report the receipt of. (the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord)

Acquire - verb - 1) To secure possession of. 2) To come to have. (the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord)

Appropriate - verb - 1) To set apart for a particular use. 2) To take or use often, without permission. (the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord)

Apply - verb - 1) To put to a special use. 2) To give one self or one's efforts to. (the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord)

Human beings are triune beings. We are spirits, we have souls, and we live in bodies. We were created in God's image and likeness who is also a triune being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity.

“The knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord” incorporates the Christian believer’s past justification in Christ (which took place when we first believed the gospel message), present sanctification in Christ (which takes place as we continue to believe the gospel message and follow the directives of the Holy Spirit instead of the dictates of the flesh), and future glorification in Christ (which will take place when we finish the course, having kept the faith).

Believing the gospel message results in the salvation of the human spirit through translation, the human soul through transformation, and the human body through transfiguration. This great salvation that incorporates the past, present and future; the spirit, soul, and body; translation, transformation, and transfiguration; or, if you will, justification, sanctification, and glorification, is provided through Jesus Christ’s past death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, His present intercession in Heaven for the saints, and the on going work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. This great salvation will be finalized in the future at Jesus Christ’s second coming, when He will rapture His church (the dead in Christ from Paradise and those who are alive in Christ from the earth) and establish His millennial rule on the earth. At the time of the rapture (the first out resurrection), the redeemed of the Lord will receive immortal and incorruptible bodies. There will be 1,000 years of peace on earth because the earth will be ruled by Christ and His saints.

Preceding this, the earth will experience the "beginning of sorrows," (chaos among nations and disasters in the earth.) There will be manifestations of false teachers and false Christ. The wrath of God will be poured out on the earth. There will be dictatorship in the Middle East, led by the anti-Christ and False Prophet. There will be a falling away in the church. The anti-Christ will stand in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem a declare himself to be God. He will require the whole world to worship him and to receive his mark (666) in order to buy and sell goods. Those who receive the mark of the Beast will experience God's wrath in it's fulness. Many who refuse the mark will be beheaded for their faithfulness to Christ, but they will not taste of the second death, which is Hell. There will be great persecution and martyrdom of the elect of God. There will be Trouble like the world has never seen before or will ever see again. If those days were not shorten, even the very elect would be deceived, if possible.

At the end of this Great Tribulation Period (3.5 years), and at Christ's second coming, (in the eastern skies of Jerusalem with His fiery angels and redeemed saints) the anti-Christ and False Prophet will be defeated along with their armies by Christ at the battle of Armageddon. He will cast those two buggers into the Lake of Fire. Satan will be bound with a great chain and cast into a bottomless pit by a large angel.

At the end of Christ’s millennial reign Satan will be loosed from his chain and pit for a season and lead a final rebellion against Christ and His saints. Christ will quickly defeat him and his followers. There will be a second out resurrection of the dead from Hades as Hell's inhabitants receive immortal bodies. (Prior to this they where disembodied human spirits held captive and awaiting God's final judgment.) Christ will judge both saints and sinners at the Judgment Seat of Christ and The Great White Throne Judgment. He will judge the saints for their works, both good and bad. Some will receive rewards and some will suffer loss. Every faithful believer in Christ will be saved, however, for some, it will be as those barely escaping through the flames. Unrepentant sinners and "Christian" backsliders will be judged and condemned to Hell for having rejected and denied Christ in both word and deed. Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with Hell and its inhabitants, the hypocritical and heretical, the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable and murderers, the whoremongers and sorcerers, the idolaters and all liars, along with those who practice adultery, fornication, sexual immorality, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition's, heresies, envying, drunkenness, reveling and things such as this. The overcoming saints who have walked in the Spirit, and have thereby cultivated the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, will be preserved by God as the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire.

Thus says the Lord, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be His God, and he shall be My son.” Jesus said to His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, and this is that which overcomes the world, even your faith.” God will create “a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.” The Holy City of God will descend from Heaven and rest upon the new earth. There will be the marriage supper of the Lamb. The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray will have been answered. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

When an individual human being believes on the name of Jesus Christ, and Christ is received into his heart by faith, he is forgiven of his past sins inherited through Adam’s transgression, and propagated through his own ignorance and/or rebellion. He is thereby “born again, not of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of the will of God.” According to the words of Jesus Christ, in order to see the kingdom of Heaven, we must be born again of the Holy Spirit.

“No man can come to the Father unless the Spirit draws him.”

This revelation knowledge or, if you will, this wisdom from above which is the grace of the Holy Spirit in bringing saving faith to a human being through leading him to believe in and receive Jesus Christ for his justification, is further accomplished through the provisions of God by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who comes to reside within the Christian believer’s born again human spirit at the moment he becomes justified (innocent) through faith in Jesus Christ. Again, this residency of the Holy Spirit takes place when an individual believes the gospel message and is born again of the Holy Spirit. This residency is increased and enhanced when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit and receives power from on high to be a witness of Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. Being born of God’s Spirit and being baptized in God’s Spirit are two separate and distinct experiences of grace made available to the Christian believer, and therefore required by God for the believer’s initiation into Christ. These two experiences of grace walk hand in hand with two other experiences of grace, which are repentance from dead works, and water baptism in the name of Jesus.

But God has established and ordained even more than these great enterprises and sacraments to assure our salvation by grace through faith. He has instructed us to remain filled with the Holy Spirit, to live in the Holy Spirit, to walk in the Holy Spirit, to be led by the Holy Spirit, to pray without ceasing in the Holy Spirit, and to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth! He has given us these instructions through the written word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Jesus testified, “My words are Spirit and they are life.”

He has also given “some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

In order for us to benefit from this revelation knowledge which is the truth expressed in the Holy Scriptures and revealed to our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, and brought to our attention by the five fold ministry gifts mentioned above, we must accept, acknowledge, acquire, appropriate, and apply this knowledge of the Son of God by exercising a living faith in Him. Remember, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

Consider these words of the Apostle Paul that were given to him through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life that I now live in the body, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul was granted a revelation that an exchange had taken place. This exchange incorporated Christ’s life of righteousness imputed unto him through the redemptive power of faith in His Blood, and imparted unto him through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. This grace resulted in his justification and sanctification in Christ through faith. This saving grace was exchanged for his life of self-righteous religion and unrighteous rebellion. Thus, he came to realize that he was totally dependent upon a relationship and fellowship with Christ through His Blood, His Word, and His Holy Spirit in order for his salvation to be attained to by faith. Through faith in the accomplished work of Christ, and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit, he was enabled to account himself dead indeed to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He encouraged the church to receive, live in, and walk in this revelation also, by walking in the Holy Spirit! “If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creation, old things have past away, behold, all things have become new,” and “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.” We are to “mortify the misdeeds of the body through the Holy Spirit.”

Paul accepted this truth by faith, and thereby consistently acknowledged it. By consistently acknowledging this truth, he acquired it, and having acquired it, he was enabled to appropriate it. In appropriating the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of God, the knowledge of Christ by faith, he continually applied it in every situation and circumstance that he faced throughout his difficult and challenging life of faithful service to Christ, His church, and the world. This was all accomplished through his relationship with the Holy Spirit. He testified, “The same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead now dwells in us to quicken our mortal bodies.”

This revelation knowledge imparted to him by the Holy Spirit led him into a lifestyle and lifetime of faith and faithfulness to Christ, or, if you will, “the obedience of faith.” Towards the end of his life he testified, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Timothy 6-8.

The grace of God is the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:1-14.

Let us also consider this proverb. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

We cannot experience the salvation that God has provided for us in Christ by leaning on our own understanding or looking to ourselves. We can only experience it by trusting in God with all of our heart, because “without faith, it is impossible to please God. They that come to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” “All things that pertain to life and godliness have been provided for us in Christ.” “But of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That according as it is written, ‘He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.’ ” “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” “The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” And again, “The life that I now live in the body, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Jesus promised, “I will not leave you alone, I will send the Holy Spirit, and when He is come He will lead you into all truth. He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.”

“Now abide faith, hope, and love, these three.” All three of these godly qualities and character traits (faith, hope, and love) have been provided for us through Jesus Christ, but in order for us to benefit from them, we must accept, acknowledge, acquire, appropriate, and apply them consistently and continuously in every situation and circumstance in our lives. This, of course, is a learning process, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us to do so. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who has been sent by Christ to lead us into all truth. May we learn to follow His lead! As we learn to obediently follow the leading of the Holy Spirit more closely, our spirit man, the hidden man of the heart, will begin to gain the ascendancy over our souls and bodies, instead of our souls and bodies having the ascendancy over our spirit man. When our spirit man, in submission to the Spirit of God, has the ascendancy in our lives, it leads to true spirituality and eternal life. This results in us receiving our inheritance in Christ, which is an abundant entrance into the kingdom of Heaven starting now and continuing for all eternity. When our flesh (sin nature) is given the ascendancy in our lives, it leads to carnality and eternal death, which is Hell. In our spirit man we have the unlimited knowledge of God, the unlimited faith of God, the unlimited hope of God, the unlimited righteousness of God, and the unlimited love of God. “We have the mind of Christ” for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” In our souls we only have a limited understanding regarding the things of God, which is, in essence, a lack of knowledge. If we choose to live by our own limited understanding, we will perish, but if we live in, and walk in the grace of the Holy Spirit, through faith in the knowledge of the Son of God, we will experience eternal life both now and forevermore.

To be spiritually minded is life and peace, but to be carnally minded is death. The spiritually minded man accounts himself dead indeed to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He knows that sin shall not have dominion over him because he is not under the law, but under grace. He makes every effort to be found in Christ without spot or blemish, but his efforts are not only in trying to do right through following the commandments of Christ, but also in making every effort to grasp a better understanding, a greater revelation, of the fact that he has been made the righteousness of God in Christ. In other words, he does not get the cart before the horse by merely trying to do right, but he does right because of the revelation of the Word, the Blood, and the Spirit, that he has been made the righteousness of God in Christ. All of our righteousness apart from His gift of righteousness is as filthy rags. The operative phrase for us to contemplate is “In Christ.” The spiritually minded man recognizes that any good that comes from him is a result of him coming to Christ and continuing in Christ, and ultimately finishing his spiritual course in Christ. For it is "in Him that we live and move and have our being." If we are struggling with sins, strongholds, and curses in our lives and being overcome by them, we must examine ourselves to see if we are still in faith. If we are not, we must repent and return to our first love, and do the first works again. God has granted us the grace to do so. May we not receive His grace in vain.

I will leave you with a few scriptures to contemplate.

“This day I have placed life and death, blessings and curses before you. Choose life that you and your children may live.”

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not profitable to me.”

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, 'if you continue in my words, then you are my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. If any man is overcome by a sin, he is the slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever. A son abides forever, therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.' ”

“It is for freedom that Christ has made us free.”

May we learn to walk in the Holy Spirit and thereby accept, acknowledge, acquire, appropriate, and apply God’s amazing grace (which is the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord) in every area of our lives. (Spiritually, mentally, physically, financially, and socially) May we also continue in His words, the Holy Scriptures, “which are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen!

Having been ordained by God as an exhorter in the church, and being a proponent of the Arminian theological persuasion, I have had a propensity throughout my ministry to both encourage and warn myself and other Christian believers to pursue and perfect holiness in reverence of God. I have consistently and continuously written on the benefits of doing this and the dangerous and devastating consequences of failing to do so. Namely, death, Hell, and every negative thing in between. I believe my exhortations are in keeping with the teachings found in the scriptures, therefore, they are necessary and essential to a vital and valid spiritual life in Christ. Nevertheless, in this approach, there is the danger of focusing more on our sins, instead of focusing on Christ and His atonement for our sins! In my attempts to deter my readers from giving license to their sins, my exhortations could be construed as a legalistic approach to sanctification. God forbid!

Religious legalism is grossly lacking and devoid of the benefits of the revelation of grace through faith because no human flesh can be justified in God's eyes through adhering to a set of rules, regulations, or laws. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for every one who believes." The flesh (sin nature) has been judged and crucified through the cross of Christ, therefore we must not try to justify or save it through works of law. Instead, we must reckon it dead! To attempt to reform the flesh through imposing laws upon it would be the equivalent of putting the cart before the horse. Good works follow a living faith in God, not the other way around. “Show me your faith without your works (of faith), and I will show you my faith by my works (of faith.)” “It is faith alone that saves, but faith that saves is not alone." Therefore, to get this wrong by attempting to justify oneself through adhering to rules, regulations, and/or laws, as opposed to exercising a living faith in the living God, would lead only to frustration. It would also lead to religious pride and therefore would seriously hamper our progress on the road leading to peace with God. “God gives grace to the humble but resist the proud.”


Peace with God is not available to human beings through giving them a license to sin, nor is it available through imposing legalism on them in an attempt to deter their sins. Peace with God is only available by grace through faith based on trusting God's promises and obeying His commandments. As the old hymn of the church rightly proclaims, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, we must trust and obey." Nevertheless, to encourage obedience to Christ's commandments without equally encouraging a trust in His promises could result in an imbalanced emphasis on sound Christian doctrine and distort the full council of God.


So, I’m concerned that in my efforts to encourage faithfulness to God’s commandments regarding the pursuit and perfecting of holiness, I may have inadvertently diminished my readers’ faith in Christ’s accomplished work on the cross by consistently pointing out the dangers of continuing in our persistent, willful, deliberate, highhanded, and rebellious sins.


"Now abide faith, hope, and love, these three!" We must not neglect the importance of our hope in Christ regardless of our moral failings and sins. The revelation that we need to abide in is "Christ in us the hope of glory." And this must be trusted in because of and in spite of our sins!


This essential revelation also incorporates the fact that our old man was executed with Christ at His crucifixion, and our sins were judged in His broken and bruised flesh. Now, through His resurrection from the dead, we have been granted a new life of righteousness in Him. In other words, we were made innocent of our past transgressions and actually made new creations in Christ Jesus. To neglect this great truth, while only focusing on our need to pursue and perfect holiness, would be a terrible oversight indeed. The reason that this is true is because our faith in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross is the very means to our sanctification in Him! The revelation that accompanies our faith in Christ’s redemptive work that not only grants us forgiveness for our sins, but also deliverance from them, is the very revelation that gives us the power “not to let sin dwell in our mortal bodies that we should obey it in the lust, thereof.”


If I am guilty of neglecting this fundamental truth or not emphasizing it sufficiently, please know that it was not my intention to do so. I hope to balance out this potential oversight through this teaching. I pray that in doing so, I will become more accurate in rightly dividing the word of truth, by not only warning Christian believers to obey Christ's commandments, but also by encouraging them to completely trust in His great and precious promises. We must know that the essence of our Christian faith is a trust and reliance upon Christ for salvation.


In other words, in order for us to have peace with God, we must learn not to focus on our sins, but to focus on God’s faithfulness to "perfect that which concerns us." We must know that, "He is faithful to complete the work that He began." We must learn to trust in His faithfulness to, "sanctify us wholly, spirit, soul, and body unto the coming of the Lord." "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace."

On the cross, "Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus testified of Himself, "As the serpent was lifted up on a pole in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. For if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."

In the wilderness, God brought forth His judgment against the Hebrew people because of their complaining against Him and His servant, Moses. This judgment was executed through the manifesting of deadly serpents in the camp. Many of the people were dying from the bites of these poisonous serpents. When the people repented of their sins, God in His mercy commanded Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and place it on a pole. When the people gazed upon the serpent on the pole, they were healed of the deadly bites that they had received and lived.

MERCY REJOICES AGAINST JUDGMENT

Jesus identified Himself with the serpent on the pole when He, the sinless Son of God, allowed Himself to become sin on the cross on our behalf and in our stead. He, Himself partook of death and Hell on the cross, which are the just judgments for our sins so that we would not have to! "Mercy rejoices against judgment."

As Christian believers, we must keep our eyes and minds stayed on the accomplished work of Christ on the cross, instead of focusing on our sins if we want to have peace with God. For "He was wounded for or transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by his stripes we are healed."

"Therefore, being justified (made innocent) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Paul addressed many of the churches, with these words of encouragement; "Grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ." He also said, "The kingdom of Heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Regardless of our many failings on a multitude of human levels, we must not focus on them beyond our confessing and forsaking them. We must rather keep our eyes on the Prize if we are to have peace with God, because we have this promise, "I will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Me."

The Holy Spirit will convict us of our sins leading us to godly sorrow, repentance, and faith towards God. Satan will accuse us of our sins and seek to cause us to feel condemned for them. If we allow him to do this, it will drive us further and further from God. We must not give him any place in our hearts and minds. We must protect ourselves against the wiles of the devil through putting on the breastplate of righteousness (the free gift of right standing with God) and the helmet of salvation. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!" "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Christian believers are saved (justified), are being saved (sanctified), and will be saved (glorified) through the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is through His grace and faithfulness that we are saved.
Thus says the Lord,"My arm is not short that I cannot save." “Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all of His benefits, who forgives all your sins, and who heals all your diseases.”

Again, it is only through beholding Him and His accomplished work on the cross, as opposed to focusing on our sins, that we can have peace with God. This does not mean that we are not responsible to acknowledge, confess, and forsake our sins when convicted of the Holy Spirit. It simply means that we are not to focus on them, but rather to gaze intently upon Christ and His atonement which covers our past, present, and future sins with His own blood.

"They turned their faces unto Him and were radiant, and their faces did not blush with shame."

Following are lyrics from a song that the Lord gave me. I think it would be a good way to sum up this lesson.

I Look Away To You
© 1994 Rob Johnson

I look away to You,
and I see my righteousness,
I look away to You,
and I see my holiness,
I look away to You,
and I see my innocence,
In you O God, in you my God.

I look away to You,
and I see my joyfulness,
I look away to You,
and I see my peacefulness,
I look away to You,
and I see my healthiness,
In You O God, in You my God.

I will be satisfied
when I awake in His likeness.
I travail again in birth,
till Christ is formed in you.
When He returns,
we will see Him as He is,
for we’ll be like Him,
we’re going to be just like Him!

But now I look away to You,
and I see my righteousness,
I look away to You,
and I see my holiness,
I look away to You,
and I see my innocence,
In You O God, in You my God.

We must learn to look away to Him in faith, not focus on our failures and faults, if we are going to have peace with God.

The other day, an unbelieving associate of mine, who I had witnessed to in the past, pointed out something that he had observed in my life that was not, in his estimation, in keeping with my Christian testimony and witness. He had actually done this kind of thing before on more than one occasion by pointing out what he perceived to be a couple of my shortcomings that were not in keeping with his understanding of the Christian message that I claimed to follow. Regrettably, this dear fellow appears to be possessed of a judgmental and critical spirit and is full of humanistic pride. He is a very accomplished, intelligent, and self-disciplined individual and apparently quite proud of it. We have discussed his humanistic leanings on more than one occasion and I have pointed out to him the scriptural reality that, “pride goes before a fall.” He has also told me that he has a problem with the claims of Christ to be the only way to the Father and seems to have a greater problem with folks like me who believe this and preach it.

On the particular day mentioned, he and I, as well as a couple of other guys that we work with, were going out to lunch. He accused me of the sin of vanity because I didn’t want to ride in a convertible and mess up my hair. I had long hair at the time, and the weather was hot and humid. We were going to be working with some top executives in our company later that day, and I wanted to keep as neat as possible instead of looking like a porcupine! He was incensed and outraged at my concern about my appearance and called me “Sally” in front of my fellow associates! We all had a good laugh at that snide remark, especially me.

Later, while we were all at lunch, he asked me if vanity was in keeping with my Christian witness. I quickly agreed with him on his assessment of my being vain, and then I said, "Hey buddy, I’m full of sins, thank God for Jesus!" God’s peace was upon me, and my associates, including this dear fellow, were notably impacted by my loving, honest, humble, and faith filled response. Rather than allowing him, or myself, to focus on my perceived “shortcoming,” I turned our attention to the goodness of Christ and His accomplished work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead!

The moral of this lesson is, let’s keep our eyes on the Lord’s victory and not on our defeats, because the battle is the Lord’s, and the victory is ours!


"His strength is made perfect in weakness and His grace is more than sufficient for our salvation."

The Arminian theological view, that arose out of sixteenth century reformed theology and was opposed by the Calvinists, is founded on sound Christian doctrine because it is based on the Pauline revelation that, “we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works [of law] lest any man should boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works [of faith] that God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them.” We must know that good works based on adherence to the “law of Moses” cannot get us into the kingdom of Heaven. But we must also know that wicked works, or no works at all, that are in direct defiance to the “law of Christ,” “the perfect law of liberty whereby we will all be judged,” “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ,” “the law of faith,” or, if you will, “the doctrine of Christ,” are defining tell tail signs, distinguishing marks of dead faith, and dead faith can save no one! Paul and James are in perfect agreement on these points. So, good behavior cannot save us, but wicked behavior, or a dead and dormant faith resulting in no works of faith can keep us from receiving our eternal inheritance in Christ, which is the kingdom of Heaven. “It is faith alone that saves, but faith that save is not alone.” A living faith in God will be accompanied by corresponding faithful actions.

Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit which is the kingdom of Heaven, are available to us right now because “the kingdom of Heaven is within,” and a tangible kingdom, the Holy City of God, where there is no more sickness, death, poverty, sorrow, sadness, or tears, is available to us in the future when Christ returns. There is a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun. This inheritance, this realm and rule of eternal happiness, can only be appropriated by grace through faith in trusting and obeying the gospel of the kingdom. Faith in, and faithfulness to, the will and Word of God are required to inherit this wonderful everlasting kingdom. In other words, a trust and reliance upon Christ’s promises (resulting in our justification) as well as a lifestyle of obedience to His commandments (leading to our sanctification) are required for us to enter into the glory of His kingdom.

I am concerned that our eternal inheritance in Christ is seriously jeopardized when we conduct ourselves in a manner that is unpleasing to God and not in keeping with His will. His will is our sanctification and only those who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps this is why I am constantly warning myself and other Christian believers that we must conduct ourselves “in a manner worthy of the vocation to which we are called,” and “pursue holiness without which no man will see the Lord.”

Now, being a father of three lovely children, I have come to realize that it is important to warn them of the consequences of their bad behavior and chasten them for their defiance. It is equally important to affirm, encourage, and reward them when they do well. When they do righteously, I am pleased, but when they do wrong, I am grieved. I don’t love them any more when they do what is pleasing to me, or any less when they do what is unpleasing to me. I don’t love them for who they are or for what they do. I love them for whose they are, and they are mine. This is the way God relates to His children! Having said that, when they do right, I also know that they will be rewarded by life, and when they do wrong, life will punish them, for we will reap what we sow, God is not mocked. “If we sow to the flesh, we will from the flesh reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will from the Spirit reap life everlasting.” This is another reason for my disciplining them through restricting their freedoms when they do wrong, and rewarding them with acts of affirmation when they do right. Understanding that there is both a consequence for wrongdoing and a benefit for right doing is essential to our spiritual maturity and well-being. It is extremely important that we remember to affirm our children for their good behavior and not just punish them when they do wrong. It is equally important for us to affirm ourselves and each other in the same manner that God affirms us for our works of faith, and not just beat our selves up or brow beat each other when we fail to please Him by performing works of unrighteousness. I am afraid that I have been more prone to warn, rebuke, and discipline than I have been to reward, affirm, and encourage. Good works have their present and eternal benefits as bad works have their present and eternal consequences, “for we must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” But to focus more on one while neglecting the other is dangerous and will have undesirable results. I pray that in the future I will be more balanced in this important matter.

“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.” To be Christ’s requires repentance from works that lead to death and faith towards God. This is true of the unregenerate sinner as well as the backsliding Christian, those who profess Christ but don’t practice His doctrine. Paul, speaking to the sons of obedience said, “For you have obeyed from your hearts the manner of doctrine that was delivered unto you.”

I have already mentioned some of the benefits of being a practicing Christian, namely “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” By grace through faith (faithfulness) we are also saved from sickness, sin, and poverty, “for sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law but under grace.” “We have been given authority to tread on scorpions and serpents (demonic powers) and no works of the enemy shall harm us.” More importantly, “our names are written in the Book of Life” and “our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west. He remembers our transgressions no more.” “We are made more than conquerors through Christ who loved us and gave Himself for our sins.” “We are always caused to triumph in Christ Jesus.” “He ever lives to make intersession for the saints according to the will of God.” “He is our High Priest unto God.” Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” “And this is that which overcomes the world, even your faith.” And let us remember the affirming words of Paul, “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” and “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, and at all times having all that you need, you shall abound in every good work.”

As Christian believers, we can only come to God and remain in Christ when we come to the end of ourselves. When we come to the end of ourselves, we find the sanctifying cross of Christ. An emissary of Satan was sent to buffet Paul. He referred to it as a thorn in his flesh. When Paul prayed for deliverance from this thing, God told Him, “My grace is sufficient for you because My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” Worrying, fretting, and being anxious over our faults, failures, infirmities, and sins is based on our lack of faith in Him. It is a sign of our independence from Him when we do this. It is a practice in direct opposition to our dependence on Him. This is because He is faithful to do the saving and sanctifying work in us that He has promised to do. He will do this through bringing us to the end of our own self-reliant efforts. Our only effort is to abide in Him, and this is where we will find our strength in Him alone, through faith. This is the labor that enters into rest because “He that has ceased from his own labors has entered into His rest.” We can only stand uprightly by learning to lean completely on Him. “Therefore, be careful for nothing, but in all things through prayers and supplications, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

If you are worried about your iniquities and infirmities, take Christ into them with you by patiently trusting in His grace which is available to you for your total deliverance in the midst of your weaknesses, temptations, tests, and trials. “Count it all joy when you fall into different temptations, tests, and trials, knowing that the trying of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men freely and does not withhold. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like the sea tossed to and fro. Let not him that wavers think that he shall receive any thing from the Lord, for he is double-minded and un-stable in all his ways.” We must discipline our minds by “casting all of our cares upon Him for he cares for us.” “He was tempted on all points, yet without sin. Therefore, he is able to nurture us when we are tempted.” “No temptation is overtaken you that is not common to man, but God will not allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able to bear, but will with the temptation make a way of escape.”

"Mercy rejoices against judgment, and His mercies are new every morning." "Great is Your faithfulness!" "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

For those of us who believe in Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and desire His will to be done in earth as it is in Heaven, “salvation” involves beginning in faith (justification), continuing in faith (sanctification), and finishing in faith (glorification). Justification happens the moment we repent of our sins and exercise faith in God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Another phrase for this experience is “regeneration of the Spirit.” It is at this very moment in time when we believe in Jesus Christ for our salvation that our “spirit man,” “the hidden man of the heart,” is translated (powerfully removed) from “the power of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.” Through receiving Christ and believing on His name, we are “born again, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.” This union, leading to communion with God, for which we were created, was lost to humankind through Adam’s transgression, but is now regained through Christ’s obedience and our faith in Him. Again, we can only enter into this reunion experience through believing in, and receiving Jesus Christ through faith. Once this is accomplished, we are justified (made innocent of our past transgressions) through faith in Jesus Christ’s accomplished work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead. “If we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Now, whereas justification happens in a moment of time, sanctification requires a lifetime of believing in the promises of God to sanctify us wholly spirit, soul, and body, unto the coming of the Lord, to perfect that which concerns us, and to complete the work that He began. A phrase for this experience of continuing in Christ is “transformation of the soul.” This transformation takes place as we learn to consistently yield our human wills in obedience to God’s divine will by following the leading of the Holy Spirit instead of the dictates of the flesh (the old sin nature). It also requires that, “by the mercies of God, we present our bodies, living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our spiritual service, and be not conformed to the world, but be transformed through the renewing of our minds that we might prove (demonstrate) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Our hope is in the risen Christ, and “He that has this hope purifies himself, even as He is pure.”

The end result of this process of transformation is the transfiguration of our bodies, which will take place at the rapture of the church, also called “the first out resurrection of the dead in Christ.” This transfiguring glorification of our bodies will be the experience of those who have died in Christ as well as of those who are alive in Christ at His second coming. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

The present process of our transformation (change) in Christ takes place in our souls and leads to the perfecting of our moral character in conformity to the character of Christ, as opposed to conforming ourselves to the sin nature inherited through Adam’s transgression. This requires our consecration unto Christ. Our sanctification is God’s business, and it has been accomplished through the work of Christ’s cross, and it is also being accomplished presently through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whereas our sanctification in Christ is God’s business, consecration in Christ is our business, and this is accomplished through our working with God in yielding the members of our bodies as servants of righteousness as opposed to slaves to sin. Thus the exhortation, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” As we continue in Christ and His words continue in us, we come to know the truth, and the truth makes us free from sin. So we understand that God is working in us leading to our sanctification through the Spirit as we work with Him through our willing consecration unto Christ.

Paul referred to this perfecting process, or if you will, this finishing work that God is actively involved with in our lives (even as we are actively involved with Him through faithfulness to His directives) with the following proclamation, “I press toward the mark (goal) for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my on righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brothers, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press for the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Philippians 3: 7-15

God has not, and will not, leave us alone in the processes of perfecting us or in the finishing of our moral character in order for us to be able to share in the glories of His kingdom. “Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith.” He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him; but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:15-17

Paul writes, “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13

We are made innocent of our transgressions through faith in Christ Jesus. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. He is made unto us redemption, wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. We will be made perfect by the same grace through faith.

I will conclude this teaching with a quote from the book of Hebrews.

“You are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect; And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel; See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth (Moses), much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks from Heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:22-29

We see that our salvation involves the past work of Christ, whereby we were justified by grace through faith, and the present workings of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are being sanctified by grace through faith, as well as our continuing works of faith born of His grace, whereby we shall be glorified by grace through faith. Thus, “You are saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works (of law) lest any man should boast. For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works (of faith) that God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Our works of faith that validate our faith in Christ as being a living faith in the living God (a faith that saves), come forth out of a relationship, a fellowship, and a communion with Him. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” The scriptures declare, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” Our salvation in Christ is a result of our utter dependence on Him, which is the opposite of independence from Him. Independence from Him is the very nature of sin. Dependence on Him is the very nature of the faith that saves. Self-righteous religion whereby one attempts to save oneself through his own efforts, and unrighteous rebellion whereby one rejects Christ and His doctrine of holiness are one in the same. They are just different sides of the same coin because they are based on human pride. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the might hand of God that He might exalt you in due season. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Let us reject self-righteous religion born of legalism and un-righteous rebellion born of license to sin, and let us receive eternal life through a relationship and fellowship with Christ, around His Word and in His Holy Spirit. Amen?

“We are not saved through works of law, but by grace through faith,” and “faith works through love.” “It is faith alone that saves, but faith that saves is not alone.” “Faith without works (of faith) is dead.” Neither works of law nor dead faith can save us, therefore works of faith born of God’s love for us and respectively and responsively our love returned to Him through walking in obedience to the leadings of His Holy Spirit are essential for our complete salvation to be realized. This incorporates our justification, sanctification, and glorification in Him. “We love Him because He first loved us,” and made us innocent of our past transgressions. He is presently working in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure resulting in our sanctification unto Him and our separation from our willful and habitual sins. If this is what we are pursuing and pressing towards when He returns, we will be glorified (raptured) even as He is glorified.

Concerning Christian believers, at this time, during this present dispensation of grace, there must be corresponding actions accompanying our faith in Christ for saving faith in Christ to be validated. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” Our transformation (sanctification) comes through the mercies of God allowing us time and unction to present our bodies living sacrifices holy and acceptable unto Him. This is to be accomplished through the renewing of our minds to the will of God, not by our conformity to the world. We are to “put off the old man who is corrupt according to the sinful nature and put on the new man who is created in righteousness and true holiness according to the new nature.” This new nature has been imputed to us and is imparted to us through faith in Christ’s accomplished work on the cross and His Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in our hearts.

We cannot help but live in the fear of God’s righteous judgments and punishments against unrighteous behavior when we allow ourselves to live outside of obedience to His will. Those who live outside of God’s will shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, only those who do the will of God shall inherit His kingdom. And again, God’s will is that we present our bodies pure and holy and renew our minds through hearing His word and doing His will instead of conforming ourselves to the world. This is how we are to prove what is His good, acceptable, and perfect will, which is our separation from sin through our consecration unto Him resulting in an appropriation of His sanctifying grace that has already been provided for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Therefore we must, “Come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing; and I will be your God and you will be my people, and I will walk in the midst of you,’ says the Lord.”

“It is for freedom that Christ has made us free.” Christ has made us free from sin, not free to sin! Why, then, do we sin? Because “sin is pleasurable for a season,” but we must realize that, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, “If you continue in my words, then are you my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. He that sins is a slave to sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever; but a son abides forever, therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” He also said, “If you would be my disciples indeed, you must deny your self, take up your own cross daily and follow Me. For he that seeks to gain his life will lose it, but he that loses his life for my sake will gain eternal life. And what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his eternal soul?”

“In the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” If we love the pleasures of sin more than God, we have left our first love, and we must repent, or our names will be blotted out of the Book of Life.

In other words we have a choice to make, to continue in Christ on the narrow path leading to holiness and eternal life, or to continue in the pleasures of our highhanded and persistent sins that will lead us down the rocky road to death and the broad slippery path to Hell.

It would do us all well to contemplate and meditate the following two scriptures. “It is for freedom that Christ has made us free,” and, “Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men.” The gospel of the kingdom of God is good news for those who believe, but it is bad news for those who refuse to believe and thereby continue in and/or return to their former sins instead of continuing in Him. Question: Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a freedom fighter or a terrorist? Answer, for those of us who continue in Him, He is a freedom fighter, but for those of us who continue in the pleasures of our un-confessed and un-forsaken sins, He is a terror, indeed! We must not allow ourselves or anyone else to convince us otherwise, for if we do so, we do it at our own peril.

There are far too many of us professing Christians who are bound by strongholds of our own making, and curses of our fathers’ making. This is the result of us and/or our fathers persistently yielding to the Tempter’s voice and following his lead instead of yielding to the voice of God and following the leading of His Holy Spirit through whom we now have the opportunity and ability to become practicing Christians and thereby freed up from entangling sins.

I will leave you with a few more scriptures to meditate on. May God grant us a revelation of these truths and a change of heart and soul leading us to a life changing experience of freedom from our sins and an abundant experience of liberty in Him. May this happen as we cry out in faith to our faithful Savior and Lord, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!” May it also happen as we exercise our authority in Christ and “tread on the scorpions and serpents” (demonic powers) that have tempted us and imprisoned us through our rebellious yielding to them.

“There is no temptation that has overtaken us that is not common to man. But God will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able to bear, but will with the temptation, make a way to escape.” 1 Cor. 10:12-13) I might point out that trusting God’s promises and obeying His commandments is the way of escape because, according to the words of Jesus, “I am the Way.”

“The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”(2 Cor. 10:4-5) We are told to put on God’s whole armor and take up His weapons that incorporate truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, the preparation of the gospel of peace, and the Word of God in order to stand against the wiles of the devil and having done all to stand.

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land he swore to give your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deut. 30:19-20)

“From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after the other.” (John 1:16)

“Jesus became a curse so that we might be delivered from the curse of the Law; For it is written, cursed is every man that hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles.” Gal. 3:13

In closing let me exhort you with a final word from the Holy Scriptures. More often than not, in overcoming demonic strongholds and curses in our lives, it is important - no, it is essential that we seek the assistance of a faithful prayer partner or partners; a confessor and a confidante who will keep our confessions to themselves and stand with us (not for us) in faith. It must be someone who we know is spiritually mature and therefore can be depended on and fully trusted in, not to condemn us for our sins or self-righteously judge us un-righteously. We must know that they will daily lay down their lives for us through their prayers and intercessions before our faithful God, as we humble ourselves and pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways. Christ ever lives to make intercession for the saints, and we are called to join ourselves with Him in His intercession for each other.

“Confess your faults, (sins) one to another, and pray for one another that you may be healed.” James 5:16

“Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” Matthew 18: 18-20

“This then is the message that we have heard of Him and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness (unacknowledged and hidden sins), we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, (by failing to confess our sins to Him and to each other) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just 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 unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate from the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 1:5-10 and 1 John 2: 1-2.

“If your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart and knows all things; if your heart (conscience) condemns you not, then you have confidence towards God. He that fears has not been made perfect in love. Fear has torment (of judgment) but perfect love cast out fear.”

If I were soon to depart this tabernacle and be with my Savior and Lord, there is one spiritual exhortation that I would leave with my wife, children, and my extended family, as well as with the church at large. Never do anything that causes your conscience shame or leaves you with a fear of eternal divine retribution for sinful acts committed. And then I would add, if you do, be quick to confess your sins to the Lord and, by faith, receive His forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. He has promised to do this for us! Also be quick to repent (utterly forsake) the performance and/or practice of your sinful behavior. “For he who confesses his sins and forsakes them shall find mercy from the Lord.”

“The greatest commandment of the Law is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is like the first, that you would love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “He that loves Me keeps my commandments.” Paul said, “The righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” He also said, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the works of the flesh.” And, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Jesus said, “My words are Spirit, and they are life.” When we obey His commandments, we walk in His Spirit, and the works of the flesh (sin nature) are not fulfilled in us. When we keep His commandments, the love of God is fulfilled in us and expressed through us.

Along with the exhortation to be quick to confess and receive forgiveness for our sins and quick to repent of them, I would add, be quick to forgive others for their sins against you. “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will forgive your sins, but if you don’t forgive others, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.”

The cross has both a vertical plane and a horizontal plane. The vertical plane represents the relationship between God and man. The horizontal plane represents the relationship between man and man. Both are of equal importance to God in His Son’s redemptive work of reconciliation on the cross, as well as His Holy Spirit’s continual sanctifying work in our hearts and lives. Therefore, concerning our sins, let us keep short accounts between God and ourselves, as well as between ourselves and others. Again, let us be quick to forgive, quick to receive forgiveness, and quick to repent. Let us always remember the words of our Lord to His disciples, “Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God.” And let us not forget the exhortation of the Apostle Paul, “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord.”

These scriptural exhortations, if received, performed, and practiced are able to make us “wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” “For the kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” I will leave you with some confirming scripture verses from James.

“Who is wise and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. For where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” James 3:13-18

God is love, mercy, and compassion. If there is one thing that I can say about God based on my own personal experience, it is that He has been faithful to be just that to me throughout my entire life and especially since my rebirth in Christ. I also have a strong belief base on a personal divine revelation, and, of course, on the authority of the Holy Scriptures, He will be thusly to me for all eternity. Of all the other sound and true claims about God revealed in the Bible (such as His righteous anger, His holy wrath, His severe judgments against evil doers and the reason for me, as a disciple of His, to fear Him who is able to both kill my body and cast my eternal soul in to Hell), love is still the one characteristic that stands out the most in my mind and heart when I think about Him and who He is, has been, and will be towards me. Now this does not mean that I have not experienced His hard hand of correction, His displeasure because of my sinful behavior, or the horrible consequences of willfully breaking His commandments and in so doing mocking Him. On the contrary, I, for one, have experienced all of these in abundance, and I pray that I will have to experience them less and less as time goes by. All the same, there is nothing that can convince me that God is not love because as I said before, I have been the constant recipient of his love from the start of my life to this present hour and as I also said before, I fully trust that I will continue to be a recipient of His love for all eternity.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of His love for me is realized in His patience towards me, and His willingness to be there for me, especially after my many failings on a multitude of human levels. He could have and should have consumed me in His justified anger on many, many occasions - but He didn’t! It is His goodness that has been, is, and will continue to lead me to repentance, and it is the grace of His goodness that is causing me to make spiritual progress along the path of His righteousness. I pray that we will all come to know God in His love towards us in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ and in the power of His Holy Spirit.

God loves the hard cases. If you don’t believe it, look at the life of King David who was guilty of murder and adultery, or the Apostle Paul, who, before his conversion to Christ, was called Saul of Tarsus. He had the infamous reputation of being a radical religious terrorist because of his fanatical practice of methodically and systematically killing Christian believers. I used to think that God loved and saved us in spite of our sins, but the truth is, He loves and saves us because of our sins! This is because “our God is in the overcoming evil with good business,” and this is how we are to behave towards those who sin against us by “returning no evil for evil, but overcoming evil with good.”


Our God saw sin enter the world through Adam’s transgression and got after it like white on rice! Even on our best days, our righteousness apart from His gift of righteousness is as filthy rags. But there’s Good News! God is in the business of dealing with our unrighteous rebellion and our self-righteous religion by offering us genuine righteousness through a relationship and fellowship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit. He is in the business of dealing with self, Satan, and sin and overcoming them through the love and passion of His Son’s cross. Yes, He accomplished this great “overcoming evil with good business” by the gift (grace) of His Son, whom He gave for the forgiveness of and deliverance from our sins. We receive this grace through repentance from dead works, faith towards God, and baptism in water in the name of Jesus. He continues to accomplish this great “overcoming evil with good business” in us through the gift (grace) of the indwelling Holy Spirit whom we are to receive by faith through the baptism with the Holy Spirit and Fire.

Baptism in water in the name of Jesus is a sacrament representing our death to the old life of self, sin, and the dominion of Satan and our rebirth in Christ the righteous One. Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is an additional experience of grace available to Christian believers, actualizes our death to the old sin nature and actually imparts the power of Christ to us in order to be His witnesses in the earth. Living and walking in the Spirit causes us to fully possess what Christ has purchased for us. It is the Holy Spirit in whom we live, walk, pray, sing, and remain filled and, thereby, overcome sin in our lives. Therefore, we discover that where sin abounded, grace much more abounded (through the Son), and where sin abounds, grace much more abounds (through the Holy Spirit). Does this mean that we should sin so that grace may abound? No, God forbid! Nevertheless, when we do sin, grace does abound because our God is in the overcoming evil with good business. As a matter of fact, “it is the goodness of the Lord that leads us to repentance.”

The ultimate spiritual reality that so many of us seem to have difficulty getting our minds around is that sin has been judged in the flesh of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the old sin nature of the Christian believer has been executed with Him. He is the spotless sacrificial Lamb of God who became our substitute. Jesus experienced the wrath of God for us so that we wouldn’t have to. Because of His great love for the Father and His creation, Jesus Christ willingly took our sins and the judgment for them upon Himself. As our scapegoat He allowed Himself to be carried outside the camp and crucified on Golgotha’s cross for our redemption. Therefore, we are instructed not to sin because such a great price has been paid for our forgiveness, and sin leads to spiritual bondage and enslavement. “It was for freedom that Christ has made us free,” and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Jesus said to His disciples, “If you continue in my words you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” and “if anyone practices sin, he is the slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever. But a son abides forever, therefore if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” We are commanded to account ourselves dead indeed to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord because, again, in reality our old sin nature was crucified with Christ in His death, and a new divine (righteous) nature was imputed (stored up) unto us when He was raised from the dead. Now, through the mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit, the very righteousness of God is imparted unto us. As we live and walk yielded to the Holy Spirit’s directives instead of the dictates of the flesh, we grow in grace and in the knowledge of God as the Holy Spirit leads us into all Truth (the character of Christ). “If we sow to the flesh, we will from the flesh reap corruption; but if we sow to the Spirit, we will from the Spirit reap life everlasting.” We are, therefore, instructed to “mortify the misdeeds of the body, through the Spirit.”

As Christian believers we were foreknown of God before the world was framed. He has also predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He might be the first born among many brothers. Whom He predestined, them He also called; whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them he also glorified.

We Christian believers must not deliberately go on sinning after having been justified by grace through faith, in having come to the knowledge of the Truth in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we do, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but only an expectation of God’s righteous judgment that will devour the adversaries. After experiencing enlightenment and tasting the heavenly gift, and after having shared in the Holy Spirit as well as partaking of the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if a Christian believer falls away from the faith and denies Christ in both word and deed, it is impossible to renew him again to repentance because he has done despite unto the Spirit of grace and tread Jesus Christ under foot, counting the blood whereby he was sanctified a common thing. Many professing Christians, and more and more as the end times approach, will be guilty of this very thing and become reprobate to the faith through the spirit of apostasy - the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. Don’t be part and parcel with them!

Nevertheless, those who are in Christ by faith and are striving against sin by submitting themselves to God and resisting the devil are given this great hope. “I write to you so that you sin not, but if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is married to the backslider, therefore, if we lose faith, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself, but if we deny Him, He will deny us. Therefore, I exhort you, don’t do it! There is soon coming a time when professing Christians are going to be faced with the choice of taking upon their flesh the mark of the Beast, 666, which is the number of man, or refusing to take it and remain faithful to Christ. Those who take it will be allowed to buy and sell goods; those who refuse it will not. Many faithful souls who refuse the mark will also be rounded up and beheaded for their faith. Jesus Christ testified that those martyred souls will not partake of the second death which is Hell. Those who deny Christ by taking the mark will experience the wrath of God in its fullness. Jesus told His disciples, “Do not fear him who can kill the body and then have no more power over you, but rather fear Him who, after having killed the body, has the power to throw your souls into Hell. Yes, I say unto you, fear Him!” If we as Christian believers don’t truly love and fear God now, we won’t love and fear Him when it’s a matter of life and death; therefore let us truly love and fear God now so we will be able to do so when the Great Trouble comes.

Because Jesus overcame sin, we can too, and again this is accomplished through repentance from dead works and faith towards God, baptism in water in the name of Jesus, baptism in the Holy Spirit with whom we are to remain filled. We must also learn and practice a continuous and consistent trusting and obedient yielding to the Holy Spirit’s directives instead of following the dictates and rudiments of the flesh or, if you will, the old sin nature.

Repentance means turning from our sins and utterly forsaking them in much the same way that God turned His back on Jesus when He became sin on the cross for us. On the cross Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” I’m looking forward to, and expecting the day when my sins cry out to me, “my Rob, my Rob, why have you forsaken me?” It is important to realize that Christian repentance is not just the practice of daily turning from our sins, but it is also the practice of daily turning towards our God in faith (trust) and faithfulness (obedience). Jesus said, “If you would be My disciples indeed, you must deny yourselves, take up your cross daily and follow Me.”

Again, it is the goodness of the Lord that leads us to repentance, and it is His longsuffering patience with us that gives us the opportunity, as well as the ability, to turn from our sins and utterly forsake them through His overcoming love and power. So, let’s do it! Let’s no longer be overcome with evil, but let’s overcome evil with good. We can do this by grace through faith because our God is in the “overcoming evil with good business.” “Greater is He (God) that is within in you than he (Satan) who is in the world.” “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

Jesus became sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He became poor, that we might be made rich. By His wounds we are healed. Through His death we experience life. Through His burial we are hidden with Him in God. Through His resurrection we have power over sin. Through His ascension we are seated with Him in heavenly places. Through His intercession we are made more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. God always causes us to triumph through Christ Jesus. His Holy Spirit makes us faithful witnesses (martyrs) unto Him in the earth. Because of this we can bless those who curse us, do good to those who do us harm, and pray for those who despitefully use and abuse us. We can love the unlovely and be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good as we understand and cry out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” “In killing you, they think that they are doing God a service!” What they don’t know is that you are already dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, and seated with Christ in heavenly places and that your life as a Christian witness of God’s love, as well as your death as martyrs who choose to remain faithful to Christ even unto death, is the strongest witness to the world that a Christian believer can offer. Paul said, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

As forerunners of Jesus Christ’s second coming we must preach and live in forgiveness and unconditional love, and this is what we must be preparing others to do. Begin relating to those individuals in your life now who are the most difficult to deal with as if God were allowing you to be tested by giving you the opportunity to love them unconditionally with the same love that God loves you. They are truly in your life so that you will learn to love the unlovely and develop the character of Christ in your character through yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of Love. Begin to look at the temptations to sin as an opportunity to overcome sin through the resurrected power of Christ in your life. Yes, even those old besetting sins that have kept you bound and caused you to live beneath your privileges in Christ are to be resisted, and overcome in this hour through the power of the Holy Spirit. Begin to look at the difficult circumstances in your life as opportunities to persevere and endure hardships as a good solider of the cross while remaining faithful to Him in the midst of them. Begin to visit, live, and minister in the mission fields of underdeveloped countries with the grace that God provides because before Christ returns, the whole world will be a third world mission field. It is time that we remove ourselves from our comfort zones because our comfort zones are going to be removing themselves from us as the end times approach. Our only comfort will be found through an intimate relationship with God around His Word and in His Spirit, and this is how it should be! “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” We must also learn to live and die in faith, giving no place to vengeance for, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, thus says the Lord.” We are commanded to pray for our enemies forgiveness and salvation!

Above all we must learn to return no evil for evil, but overcome evil with good, because our God is in the “overcoming evil with good business!” God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt any man, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed; when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and when sin has had it’s way, it brings forth death. The first Adam yielded to the Tempter’s voice in the person of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were deceived by the Serpent through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. This resulted in their sinning against the will of God, and the results of that sin led to their death. Every human being born of Adam has now inherited a sin nature that leads to death. The good news is that Jesus Christ, the second Adam, did not yield to the Tempter’s voice, but rather yielded his will to God in perfect obedience and faith. Therefore, those who receive Him by faith are born again, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they are born of the will of God. We thereby receive a divine nature that has the power over lust, sin, and death if we will just learn to appropriate it by faith. Thereby, we become partakers of His divine nature because He has not imputed our sins unto us, but rather He has imputed His righteousness unto us. Let’s live and walk in the goodness of that revelation, and let us lead others into it through our thoughts, words, actions and reactions. Let’s do this for both our friends and our enemies alike, because our God is in the “overcoming of evil with good business.” Amen?

The title of this lesson expresses three aspects of the grace of God, and all three aspects are instrumental in our ultimate salvation, which incorporates our justification, sanctification, and glorification in Christ Jesus. To neglect or ignore any one of these three aspects of God’s grace will cause us to live far beneath our privileges in Christ and could bring our ultimate salvation into question. Therefore, they must all work together in tandem for our conscience to remain clear from the fear of eternal judgment and for our blessed assurance of salvation in Christ to be just that, a blessed assurance!

Paul said, “We are saved by grace through faith, not of works [of law] lest any man should boast for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works [of faith] that God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them.” James said, “Faith without works [of faith] is dead.” He went on to ask a rather pointed question, “Can faith without works [of faith] save you?”

Christian believers are justified (made innocent of our past transgressions) by grace through faith, and this is because of God’s unmerited favor extended to us through Christ’s passion, which incorporates His sinless life, brutal beating, death on the cross, burial, resurrection, ascension, and eternal intercession.

We can do no “works of law” to earn our salvation, thus our justification in Christ is based on a childlike faith in God’s “unmerited favor” found in Jesus Christ’s accomplished work on the cross and the Holy Spirit’s continuing work in our hearts. If we could have earned our salvation through “works of law,” there would have been no reason for Christ to fulfill His passion, and there would be plenty of reason for us to boast in our arrogant satanically inspired religious pride.

Unmerited favor, found only through faith in Jesus Christ, is God’s free gift offered to a world of helpless sinners in need of salvation. The only thing unbelieving sinners need do to experience justification, is repent of their sins and unbelief, believe in, and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (It should be noted that, scripturally speaking, our full initiation into Christ incorporates repentance from works that lead to death and faith towards God, baptism in water in the name of Jesus and baptism in the Holy Spirit. The other two rudimentary doctrines of the church are “the laying on of hands” [for ordination and healing] and eternal judgment.)

Secondly, we are being sanctified by grace through faith in God’s divine influence upon our hearts and it’s reflection in our lives as we allow ourselves to be influenced to the point of resolute obedience to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s directives. It will be greatly beneficial to our cause if we will make daily choices to yield ourselves to the disciplined practice of meditating in God’s holy scriptures, so that we might receive “correction, reproof, and instructions in righteousness in order to be a mature people of God, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.”

The Christian believers’ responsibility concerning sanctification is to continue and remain in a posture of faith and faithfulness to the divine influence of God, so that His grace will be reflected in our lives to His glory and good pleasure. A good word for this state of being is consecration, which is a condition brought about by our choosing to know and do God’s will instead of our own will. Again, this will require daily discipline on our part around God’s Word and in His Spirit. Discipline is the root word for disciple. Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, “If you continue in My words, then you are my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free [from sin.]”

In other words, to be free from sin we must choose to discipline ourselves to continue in His Word and allow ourselves to be influenced by His Holy Spirit. If we choose to do so, we will be vessels of honor, sanctified, set apart, and prepared for the Master’s use. If we choose not to, we will be vessels of dishonor. If we choose to be consecrated unto God appropriating His sanctification by faith and faithfulness, we will be sons of God led by, and walking in the Spirit of God, and we will not fulfill the works of the flesh. If we choose not to be consecrated unto God, we will be sons of disobedience. It would do us well to remember, “the wrath of God abides on the sons of disobedience.” This is true because they are in the business of fulfilling the desires of the sin nature inherited through Adam’s transgression. Paul warned that those who practice the works of the flesh will in no way enter the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus also told his disciples that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Scribes and Pharisees, they would not enter the kingdom of Heaven. The sin of the Scribes and Pharisees was hypocrisy, being hearers and teachers of the scriptures but not doers of the word. James also warned Christian believers against such behavior. It is important that we think long and hard about these warnings, and if necessary, repent and return to our first love and do the first works again!

We have been created in the image and likeness of God. We have been given a free will. We are not puppets on a string. Our responsibility is to use that free will to conform ourselves (through the power of the Holy Spirit) to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection by being transformed through the renewing of our minds in order to prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. His will for us is our sanctification now and our glorification at His second coming and the rapture of the church. Both of these are available and possible for the Christian believer who has been justified by grace through faith.

My brothers and sisters, be encouraged in the Lord, and remember: “Faithful is He who calls you who will also do it.” “Christ in you the hope of glory.” “He will perfect that which concerns you.” “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.” “I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.” Amen.

Jesus told His disciple, “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” “Watch and pray,” simply means to keep awake and draw near to God.

Doing this in a disciplined way will result in our fulfilling the five action verb instructions found in the Gospel of John. These will lead us into an overcoming, victorious, and triumphant life in Christ. In other words, keeping awake and drawing near to God in a disciplined manner will cause us to be less likely to fall into temptation and sinful behavior. The five action verb instructions that Jesus spoke of found in the Gospel of John are, “Abide in Me,” “Dwell in Me,” “Keep My commandments,” “Continue in My words,” and “Follow Me.”

Here are some more scriptural action verb instructions that lead to victorious living in Christ which are my present goals and aspirations in God, as well as my request of God when I keep awake and draw near to Him in prayer.

1) That “by the mercies of God I will present my body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is my spiritual service and be not conformed to this world, but transformed through the renewing of my mind, that I might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

2) That I will “keep my body under all subjection lest after I have preached to others, I myself would be a castaway.”

3) That “through the mighty weapons of God I will pull down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”.

4) That I will “deny myself, take up my own cross daily and follow Him. For he who seeks to gain his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will gain eternal life. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”

5) That I will “submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from me. That I would draw near to God so that He would draw near to me.”

6) That “the God of peace will sanctify me wholly spirit, soul, and body unto the coming of the Lord. Faithful is He who calls me who will also do it.”

7) That I will “love my wife as Christ loves the Church” - unconditionally, committedly, caringly, caressingly, and consistently.

8) That I will “love my children and not rebuke them harshly provoking them to anger” or “damaging their spirits,” but rather bring them up in the nurture and admonition (gentle reproof) of the Lord.”

9) That “the righteous requirement of the law (which is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength, and that you would love your neighbor as yourself), would be fulfilled in me as I walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”

10) That God’s divine destiny, anointing, call, and choosing of my family and me would be fulfilled in our lives both individually and corporately to His good pleasure and glory.

Jesus said, “Satan has come to kill, to steal, and to destroy. But I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Paul said, “If we were saved by Christ’s death, how much more shall we be saved through His life.” Jesus also said to the Jewish leaders of His day, “You search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, but you won’t come to me that you might have life.” Could we be guilty of the same erroneous behavior? Our eternal life is to be found through communing prayer with God. It is a relationship and fellowship with Him around His Word and in His Spirit. It is where His very life, love, faith, hope, power, beauty, strength, righteousness, peace, joy, justification, sanctification, and glorification which have been imputed to us in Christ Jesus is imparted to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is where we gain the triumphant victory over self, Satan, sin, sickness, poverty, and death. Let us therefore keep awake and draw near to God so that we might experience the abundant life, the victorious life, the triumphant life in Christ who is indeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

The Definitive Answer To Every Temptation, Test, and Trial

At one time while Jesus was ministering, He asked a rather thought provoking and somewhat disturbing question, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” Now, we know from other scriptures that the answer to that question is an affirming yes, but the very fact that He had to ask it gives us reason to pause and ponder, does it not?

Jesus faced every temptation that came His way with undaunted faith. When the powerful storms of life blew, when the overwhelmingly negative circumstances where desperately pressing in and trying His faith, when He found Himself in times of great testing, He always met every situation with a strong faith in His Heavenly Father by standing on the solid rock of God’s unfailing word through hearing His voice, trusting His promises, and obeying His commandments. After all, He was the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, right?

Authors note: I received inspiration for the following teaching from a chapter in the book entitled Rules of Engagement written by the late great Derek Prince and published by Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. The chapter to which I owe my inspiration is chapter seven, and it is entitled "Denying the 'Old Man.' " I highly recommend this book as I do all of this great minister's works of literature and recorded teachings. He has left the church a legacy of unmatched value through over forty years of faithful and doctrinally sound Christian teaching and hands-on ministry.

For much of my life and ministry I have been consumed with the idea of pursuing holiness and exhorting others to do the same. Holiness, in its ultimate and optimum sense, is the total absence of sin. It is the nature and character of Jehovah God, His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessed Holy Spirit. However, I must admit that regrettably, remorsefully, and hopefully repentantly, attaining to and maintaining a genuine posture of holiness seems to have been as elusive and evaporative for me as paper thin ice in the noonday desert sun. Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul tells us that as Christian believers, we are to be pressing towards, and perfecting holiness, in reverence of God. He defines Christian maturity as having this attitude, mind-set, and purpose. Of course, as Christian believers, we must come to fully realize and understand that both righteousness and holiness are graces of God that cannot be "worked up," but having already received them, and having actually been made them, through faith in Christ, they must still be "worked out" by appropriating God's grace through an abiding faith on a daily basis. In other words, a deposit of all things that pertain to life and godliness has already been made in the Christian believer's spirit through faith in Christ, but we must still learn to draw upon it by faith, daily. Righteousness has been imputed (stored up) for us in Christ, and as we draw upon it through faith, righteousness and true holiness are imparted (delivered) to us through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Again, this transformed life is the result of faith in Christ's accomplished work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead.

“After everything is said and done, there’s a lot more said than done.” Regrettably, I know this statement is true for me and my life and ministry. How about yours? Jesus said that it is the ones who do the will of God who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And “He who loves Me, keeps My commandments.” God’s will is revealed in the law of Christ, the law of faith. This doctrine of Christ is recorded, among other places, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapters five through seven. Please take the time to read what Jesus had to say in these chapters. “Meditate in them day and night so that you may observe to do all that is written in it.” If you do that and teach others to do it, you will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven, but if you diminish one of the least of Christ’s commandments and teach others to do so, you will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. We will be blessed if we hear Christ’s law, and do Christ’s law, and teach Christ’s law, but if we hear it and teach it without doing it, we will be like the Pharisees who heard God’s law, and taught God’s law that was given to them by Moses, but did not do what was important and essential in that law. As a matter of fact, there are many in the church today who are doing the same thing with Christ’s law. Jesus said that unless our righteousness (right standing with God by grace through faith, resulting in right doing towards God and others) exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we will in no way enter the kingdom of Heaven. He also said that those who hear and do His sayings will be like a man who builds his house on a solid rock foundation, which results in his protection from whatever life can throw at it, as well as rewards on the Day of Judgment. But those who hear His sayings, but do not practice doing them, will be like a man who builds his house on sinking sand. It will not stand up under what life is going to throw at it, neither will the one living in that house stand without loss on the Day of Judgment. (Paraphrased).

In His Dealings With Our Iniquities and Infirmities

Pride goes before a fall. Lucifer found that out in spades. The apostle Paul was transported to the highest heaven and saw things that he could not speak of. He testified that he was given a buffeter from Satan, a thorn in the flesh lest he become puffed up with pride beyond measure. He went on to say that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. So, we understand that spiritual authority and revelation knowledge are both important in God’s economy, but they carry a danger of spiritual pride with them.

Christmas Day, 2006

The Bible claims that, “Jesus Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.” John the Baptist made reference to Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Whereas these are true, righteous, and accurate proclamations, we must ask ourselves, if this is the case, why haven’t we experienced these realities more in their fullness? There is plenty of sinfulness abounding, and the works of the devil seem to be increasing all around us, even within us, not only in the world, but also in the church! This condition was predicted by Paul in his exhortations to the church regarding the end times. He called them perilous times in which the spirit of apostasy would be increasing, the love of many would wax cold, and men would be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Just as in the past, the present and future are going to require the patient endurance of the saints.

The original sin of spiritual pride that was discovered in the archangel Lucifer resulted in Adam’s transgression when he, in rebellion against the will of God, yielded to Eve’s suggestion and partook of her infamous culinary offering. This, of course, took place after she, in satanic deception, yielded to the Tempter’s voice in the Garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit found on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam’s act of disobedient rebellion against the will of God caused all human beings to inherit a condition of spiritual, mental, and physical disorder that has resulted in social disorders of every kind. But it is not only original sin that is the problem, because since Adam’s transgression, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

“Salvation,” which incorporates our justification, sanctification, and glorification through faith in Christ Jesus (the second Adam), offers all human beings an opportunity to be forgiven and delivered from our sins that are the result of our fallen condition. We are justified (made innocent of our transgressions) when we believe in and receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. We are being sanctified as we walk in the Holy Spirit and live a life of trusting obedience to the Word and will of God. We will be glorified when Christ returns to this earth, and we are caught up to be with Him in the air. This is the first out resurrection (rapture), and it is reserved for the justified souls who have died in Christ (who are presently, at this time, disembodied human spirits living in Paradise) and for the justified souls who are still alive in Christ on earth at His second coming.

Both the dead and the living in Christ will receive new immortal and incorruptible bodies in a moment “in the twinkling of an eye” as they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Prior to this, the believers will experience “the beginning of sorrows” and “the Great Tribulation,” the likes of which the world has never seen, nor will ever see again. This is because, “Satan has come down with great wrath, knowing that his time is short.” There will be apostasy in the church and the wrath of God will abide upon the son’s of disobedience. The wrath of God will also be poured out on the world in judgment against sinners, but the faithful in Christ will be spared this because God has not appointed them to His wrath. In much the same way that God spared the children of Israel in the land of Goshen during His judgments on Pharos’s Egypt, He will also spare the saints from His wrath.

Immediately after the rapture, the immortal and incorruptible saints of God will return to this old wrath filled, ravaged, ransacked, and darkened world along with Christ and His fiery angels. Christ will fight and win the battle of Armageddon against the anti-Christ, False Prophet, and their armies who will have been ruling the world as totalitarian political and religious dictators from Jerusalem, Israel. During that time, they will have been waging a fierce three and one half year campaign of persecution and mass martyrdom against the elect of God. After Christ’s triumphant and victorious return, the saints will rule the nations with Him in His millennial kingdom.

At the beginning of Christ’s reign Satan will be bound with a chain by a large angel and cast into a bottomless pit, and the anti-Christ and False Prophet will be cast into the Lake of Fire. The rule and order of God will be established and promoted during this one thousand year period, and there will be divine peace on the earth during Christ’s reign. At the end of this one thousand year period Satan will be loosed from his chain for a season and lead a final rebellion against Christ. He will be quickly defeated by Christ and cast into the Lake of Fire. There will be a second out resurrection of the dead, (the unredeemed, disembodied human spirits who are presently held captive in Hades awaiting judgment), and they will receive immortal bodies and be judged by Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment. The saints will be judged also at the Judgment Seat of Christ for the things done in their bodies while on earth, both good and bad. Some will receive rewards and some will suffer loss, but all will be saved, yet some as those barely escaping through the flames.

Regarding the believer’s salvation, the Bible teaches, “They overcame Satan, the accuser of the brethren, by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.” These are those faithful souls who have taken, and do take Jesus at His word, “Fear not him that can kill the body and after that have no more power over you. But fear Him that after He has killed the body, has the power to throw your souls into Hell. I say unto you, ‘Fear Him.’ ” The Word declares, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murders, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

The saints will be preserved as the earth and the heavens are destroyed by a great blast and fire. God will create “new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness, and the Holy City of God, the New Jerusalem will descend from Heaven and rest upon the new earth like a Bride adorned for her Husband.” There will be the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. God will rule from His throne from that Holy City, and the overcoming believers will live there forever with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the holy angels of God and each other as Christ’s holy Bride. The redeemed of the Lord will also have total access to the new heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness. The prayer that Christ taught His disciples to pray will have been answer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Authors note: Dear reader, what I have just expressed to you in the last few paragraphs of this exhortation is the Christian classical pre-millennialism eschatological view, which also incorporates the Christian apocalyptic view of history. Of the several different views regarding Christian eschatology and history, I believe this one to be the most scripturally accurate.


“God’s will for the Christian believers is our sanctification.” Paul said to the church at Thessalonica, “May the God of peace sanctify you wholly, spirit, soul, and body unto the coming of the Lord. Faithful is He who calls you who will also do it.” This is a great promise for us to put our trust in, but we must understand that even though He is faithful to sanctify us wholly, He will not do it without us. He will do it within us and through us. In other words, our co-operation is required. Thus, “we are co-laborers with God in Christ” in this great quest towards our sanctification and glorification that is found only through faith in Him. “God’s responsibility is to sanctify us; our responsibility is to consecrate ourselves unto Him.” (Oswald Chambers)

We must choose to begin in Christ, to continue in Christ, and to finish in Christ. This requires us to “deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him. For he who seeks to gain his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will gain eternal life. And what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” Jesus said, “Wide is the path that leads to destruction and many go that way, but narrow is the path that leads to life, and only a few find it. We must ask ourselves, “Are we ‘of the many,’ or are we ‘of the few?’ ” Paul tells us, “Examine yourselves, to see if you are still in faith.”

To assure ourselves that we are “of the faithful few and not of the unfaithful many,” Paul begs us “by the mercies of God to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God which is our spiritual service, and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Remember, God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will is our sanctification found only through a relationship and fellowship with Him around his Word and in His Holy Spirit.

God has always desired a holy people (a remnant) separated unto Himself for His plans, purposes, and pursuits. Therefore, He declares, “Come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing, and I will be your God and you will be my people, and I will walk in the midst of you. And you will be my sons and daughters and I will be your Father. And you will be My own dear children and I will be your Daddy!” Paul exhorts us to be “vessels of honor, sanctified, set apart, and prepared for the Master’s use.” He warned, “I keep my body under all subjection, lest after I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away,” and “be careful if you think you stand, lest you fall.”

Again, he proclaimed, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” (Phil. 3:7-15)

One of the main aspects of Paul’s spiritual “pressing,” both for himself and for the churches for which he had the oversight, was travailing prayer. “I travail again in prayer until Christ be formed in you.” When a woman gives birth to a child and brings forth a new life, she does not do so without labor. As a matter of fact the doctor or mid-wife tells the woman to push (press) as the contractions become stronger in order to bring forth the child. Years ago the Lord spoke to me, “Mid-wife the church.” There have been times in my life during intercessory prayer that the praying became so intense, it progressed into traveling prayer. “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered.” “Christ ever lives to make intercession for the church.” Let us join with Him in this labor of love so that His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Availing and travailing prayer is also essential so that we be led not into temptation, but delivered from the evil one. “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

If we will consistently and continuously make ourselves available to God as consecrated instruments of Spirit-led and Christ-centered prayer, the sanctification that He alone has provided for us will be appropriated in our lives and in the lives of those for whom we pray. “Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray anointing him with oil; and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise Him up; if he has committed any sins, they will be forgiven him.” This, of course, is one of the main ways that God has ordained for the multitude of human disorders that we have all inherited through Adam’s transgression to be displaced, dispelled, and replaced by the divine order of spiritual, mental, physical, and social health found through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Amen.

From Prophets, Priests, and Kings

I, like many others, have always tried to do the best I can with what I have received from God regarding my Christian life and Christian ministry. Nevertheless, in my opinion, I have failed Him on many occasions and on many human levels. I say this with an understanding of the regretful reality that I have not learned to receive or, if you will, appropriate everything that He has for me regarding my manifest victory over sickness, sin, and poverty.

Do you ever feel like Isaiah who said, “I am a man of unclean lips, in the midst of a people of unclean lips?” Or can your relate to the disciple’s of Christ whom He rebuked for their lack of faith? Or can you identify with that generation of folks that Jesus called “perverse?” Paul prophesied that the end times would be perilous times, and that men would be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. He went on to say, “from such turn away.” I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I qualify to one degree or another in all of those unseemly categories.

The Apostle Paul tells us that the righteous requirement of God’s law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh (sin nature) but after the Spirit. So we see that in order to experience God’s law fulfilled in our lives requires a continual and consistent communion with God around His Word and in His Spirit, so that we might be enabled and influenced to yield to God’s leading at any given time in order to see His purposes, plans, and pursuits fulfilled in us and through us. Now, God has made this possible by writing His laws on our hearts by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The end of all this is to experience His will fulfilled in us on behalf of others. In essence we become Christ’s willing hands and feet (His body) carrying good things to those in need. This, of course, is the heart of both evangelistic and mercy ministries which, if done in the Spirit of Christ, are one in the same. As we yield to the Holy Spirit’s unction to sacrifice ourselves for God and others, we receive the great reward of the overcoming faithful which is the kingdom of Heaven here and now realized through righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and this is our inheritance and present reward regardless of the hardships associated with dedicated service. This appropriated grace that enables us to remain faithful in dedicated service to God and others will also result in our inheritance of a future tangible eternal kingdom of God to be received at Jesus Christ’s second coming.

This begs the question, do we really love God with everything we are and with everything we have, and do we truly love our neighbors as ourselves or are we just kidding ourselves in professing to do so while practicing something altogether different?

Now, the love of money is the root of all evil, so we should be giving as much of our money away to others in need as often as we possibly can in order to avoid the temptation of serving Mammon, the god of materialism. The willing, sacrificial, lavish, and disciplined giving of our finances is also necessary in order to meet both the spiritual (eternal) and physical (temporal) needs of others. Are we doing this? If the answer is yes, that’s good. Let’s encourage ourselves to increase in this good practice. But if the answer is no, we had better correct the error! Let us make every effort to be rich towards God in making for ourselves purses that don’t wax old and riches that don’t rust like gold or silver and can't be stolen by thieves. May we strengthen the things that remain by sowing the seeds of our finances and everything else we have into God’s eternal kingdom. This can, and must be accomplished through the giving of our lives and our means into the hands of those who are dedicated to fulfilling God’s eternal purposes through having adopted His eternal perspectives. This of course, would be His body, the true church of the living God in the earth today. If we won’t give to those who are in the business of giving, (churches and Christian ministries) then our profession of Christ is a big joke, and we are only kidding ourselves if we claim to be His. Amen?

Why don’t we believe the warnings of Christ Jesus and his apostles when they clearly tell us about the severe consequences for our willful and deliberate sins? How is it that we can so easily seek to justify ourselves for our behavior that we know is an offense to God? Perhaps, it is not that we are even in the business of trying to justify ourselves because we believe so strongly that we are already justified by the Lord’s redemptive work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead. Far be it from me to try and diminish that work of grace or that strong belief in it, but let me add that our continuing in willful and deliberate sins after having received the knowledge of the truth is the equivalent of receiving the grace of God in vain. The Bible teaches that if we do this, there will be a price to pay, not only in this life, but also in the life to come! My fellow Christian believers, Christ has provided both salvation and sanctification from our sins for us on the cross, but there is a clear and present danger of experiencing devastating consequences if we misappropriate that grace as it pertains to achieving and maintaining holiness unto God. Remember, holiness is to be both pursued and perfected, attained and maintained, in reverence of God. This of course requires, as my spiritual mentor David Pawson says, "enthusiasm, energy, and effort on our part.”

It is high time to trade in the pen, the pulpit, and the podium for the prayer closet. A genuine spiritual revival proceeded by genuine spiritual repentance and restoration is the only hope for this nation and this old world. Wise men and women know this to be true. Preaching and politics both fall short in accomplishing the necessary healing that we as individuals and a nation need to rise above the maddening fray of twenty first century existence. I have been privileged to know a few men, women, and ministries that came to this conclusion years ago. As a result, they have been successfully pursuing and practicing a life of intercessory prayer as their number one priority in life as a means to fixing what is wrong with this world. Nations have been changed and turned towards God by the efforts of these mighty prayer warriors.

The cost of these accomplishments have been as great or greater than that of any and every solider that has ever been engaged in battle for their own lives, the lives of their fellow soldiers, and the existence of their countries. The only difference is that there are fewer souls willing to pay this price for spiritual revival than there are for those brave soldiers that are willing to lay down their lives in defense of their respective nations. The price of effectual prayer is so great because it requires a total denial of self and a total resistance of the multitude of distractions that exist to keep them from their goal. These souls have had to press against great internal and external pressures to continue and succeed in this discipline. Prayer warriors of this caliber are exceptions to the rule. In order to carry on, they have had to consistently draw upon the very power of God. One of the many benefits of this lifestyle is that they have been transformed closer and closer into Christ’s character and likeness in the process. May God raise up more devout souls like these, who are both willing and able to pay the price for the salvation of humankind and for the healing of the nations. May it be said of them, “It is for a time such as this that they have come into the kingdom.”

The Need of This Hour


Hebrews 6:10&11 “For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”


My fellow Christian believers, the Bible teaches that there is a warfare being waged in our members. This warfare is between the flesh (sin nature) and the Spirit (divine nature). The Bible also teaches that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of this age, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It also states that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

There are many people in the world who profess and practice faith in a deity or a system of religious beliefs and practitioners of religion who are erroneous in what they believe, because what they are putting their faith in is, regrettably, false. Even the atheist, the agnostic, the humanist, the secular humanist, the communist and others who do not believe in God or a God who can be known still profess and practice some kind of faith, even if it’s a faith in the fact that they don’t believe in God. They have faith in their unbelief. Even those who profess to be Christians can potentially be in error on certain points of sound biblical doctrine because of deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils. This, of course, is not the case, generally speaking, of professing and practicing Christians who are born of, baptized in, live in, walk in, and remain filled with the Holy Spirit because “you have no need that anyone teach you because the anointing that is within you teaches you all things,” and “the Spirit will lead you into all Truth.” Even then, there are always exceptions to the rules because of the deceptive power of Satan and human falibility. We must understand that human faith by its very nature can be somewhat arbitrary and, therefore, misdirected. In other words, human faith is not necessarily a product of God’s divine grace. The good news is that there is a divine faith that is a product of divine grace, and this is what the Bible calls “the faith of the Son of God,” which is both a fruit of the Spirit and a gift of the Spirit.

It has been said that true Christianity is more of a relationship and fellowship with the Living God, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, than a religion simply based on the letter of law. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone who believes.” “What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Jesus Christ said, “I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” That is what He did over two thousand ago in his human body by the power of God, and that is what He is doing presently in His universal body (the church) through the power and divine influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives. By the way, the righteous requirement of the law is “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.”


Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” He went on to say, “My words are Spirit, and they are life.” The law of faith, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, the law (doctrine) of Christ, and the law of liberty are based on a relationship and a fellowship with God around His Word and in His Spirit. All of these divine “laws” are decidedly different from the letter of the law delivered to Moses for the Hebrew's because that law did not only serve as a reminder of their inability to keep it perfectly, it also served as a tutor for them until Christ came and died on the cross and rose from the dead in order to redeem those who where under the curse of the law. This dichotomy was both the frustration of Paul (recorded in Romans 7) and the relief of Paul (expressed in Romans 8).

I have for many years read and heard the phrase, “walk in the Spirit.” Along with this phrase comes the promise “and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” For some reason I have had a hard time knowing what the phrase, “walk in the Spirit,” actually means. It always seemed somewhat ethereal and ambiguous to me. Well, despite my spiritual thickness and stupidity on the subject, I believe that the Lord has recently given me some insights that I would like to share with you in this lesson.

To walk in the Spirit simply means to hear God’s voice and follow His lead. Jesus said, “I know My sheep, and they know Me; they hear My voice, and they follow Me; and another they will not follow.” It was said of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, that he, being a man baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, evangelized the whole country of Ireland by simply praying to God, hearing His directions, and obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit. Thousands of souls where converted from paganism to God by brother Patrick simply praying, hearing God’s voice, and obeying the Lord’s instructions and directions.

On a personal level as it pertains to our sanctification and consecration in God, we too can be saved from the sins that so easily beset us by doing likewise. Praying and obeying God leads to the crucifixition and mortification of the misdeeds of the body. It is through this discipline that those exercised thereby can legitimately testify, “They who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts” because they know and have experienced that “the misdeeds of the body are mortified through the Spirit.”

Jesus told His disciples, “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The solution to this problem of “weak flesh” is found through communing prayer around God’s Word and in His Spirit because our spirits are strengthened and our flesh is crucified and mortified when we wait on the Lord. This allows us to hear His voice and follow His lead. Apart from the vital disciplines of watching and praying we will remain dominated by the flesh and easily led into temptation.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” To draw near to God requires both a desire and a discipline. It requires a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. Hungry and thirsty men will press through extraordinary circumstances, obstacles, and barriers to have their hunger relieved and their thirst quenched. Therefore, desire is necessary to have our initial needs met, but it alone is not enough. If we want to keep food and drink on our tables, we must exercise the disciplines necessary in order to put food on our tables daily. (Some have called this a strong work ethic.) This is also necessary concerning spiritual things. In order to continue to meet our spiritual needs, we must be industrious and diligent in the spiritual disciples ordained of God to bring us into spiritual strength, prosperity, and health.

Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven allows pressure, and those who press into it, take it by force.” Paul said, “I press for the mark of the prize of the high call of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.” He also said, “wake up and strengthen the things that remain,” or, if you will, put energy and effort into the things of eternal value, or the things that are of eternal significance.

Jesus promised his followers that those who practice the disciplines of Spirit led covert prayer, fasting, and giving will be rewarded openly by their heavenly Father. So we see that spiritual progress, heavenly rewards, and victory over our sins require a diligent and disciplined spiritual work ethic on our part. This is why Paul tells us “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” Let’s get with it and stick with it, my brothers and sisters, until we win a decisive victory over the sins that so easily beset us. “Let us therefore labor that we may enter into rest.” “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” but remember, “if a man does not work he should not eat.” Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Our work is to consistently and continuously come to and remain in Him. If we will learn to do so in a disciplined way, it will result in a divine rest from the burden of our sins and a great overcoming victory in Him. The grace of God surely teaches us this. Amen!

1) He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2) I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. 3) Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. 4) He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5) You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; 6) Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7) A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. 8) Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9) Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation, 10) there shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. 11) For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12) They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13) You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet. 14) Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high because he has known My Name.
15) He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. 16) With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.

“Where you live determines how you live.”
(George Miller, Reconciliation Ministries International)

It has been said where Christians are concerned that the only failure is prayer failure. In other words, many, if not most, of the moral failures, fractures, and defeats in our lives are based on our own failure to pray effectively.

Pastor Dennis Rouse of Victory World Church says, "Communing prayer is where we contact God, and where God contacts us."

“If we were saved by His death, how much more shall we be saved through His life.” It is through communing prayer around His Word and in His Spirit that we receive the life of God which is eternal life starting now! To commune with God is to abide in God, to dwell in God, to continue in God, to follow God, and to keep in step with God. Jesus promised, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments, and My Father and I will come and make Our abode with you.” Wow!

Jesus also said, “I am the true Vine, and you are the branches. Abide in Me, for apart from Me you can do nothing; just like a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.” Jesus went on to say, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be given unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.” Paul tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.” If we want the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our lives, we must discipline ourselves to abide in the true Vine. This will require the discipline of putting off certain demands, distractions, and determents of the flesh and putting on Christ daily. Paul also instructs, “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and be clothed in the armor of light.”

John tells us, “as many as received Christ, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe on His name, who were born again, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.” This word translated “receive” in English comes from a Greek word that means, “to settle down into and be not removed from Christ,” and the word “believe” translated from the original Greek language to English is used here in the present continuous tense which means to believe on the name of Jesus and to keep believing.

Paul also said “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” This means that we need to experience the presence of God and practice the presence of God in our daily lives through the discipline of communing prayer. In so doing, we will not fulfill the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit, and they are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Paul goes on to warn us that they which do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

It is also written, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” This implies a continuing relationship and fellowship with Him, which also means to “pray without ceasing.” Paul recognized his need to continue in Christ to the degree that he was able to testify, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He also said to the Church at Corinth, “I thank God that I pray in tongues (with the spirit) more than you all.” It is obvious that this great transformation was realized in his life through communing prayer. Wouldn’t it be great if you and I could make that same confession with truthful conviction? Well, my brothers and sisters, that is exactly what God is requiring of us if we are going to live victorious over the sins that so easily beset us.

We must learn to commune with God and stay in prayerful communion with Him around His Word and in His Spirit if we are going to be victorious over the enemies of our souls. James tells us, “God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud.” The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the enemies of our souls. “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Lust brings forth sin, and sin brings forth death.” Lustful human pride is what causes us to attempt to live independently from God, void of prayer, and full of prayerlessness, or, if you will, void of God and full of ourselves.

Dependence upon God is true humility, and it finds its perfect expression through communing prayer. May we “humble ourselves therefore under His mighty hand so that He might exalt us in due season.” “If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, I will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

This is the simplicity of the gospel. Mike Bickle points out that simplicity is single mindedness. Let us be single minded, energetic, and enthusiastic in this effort of communing prayer with our loving God, and thereby win a decisive victory over self, Satan, and sin. James said, “Let not a double minded man think that he will receive any thing from the Lord. He is unstable in all his ways.”

Paul exhorts, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.”

The effort of consistent, continuing, communing prayer is indeed the need of the hour. Let us, therefore, occupy ourselves with the commissioned work of our precious heavenly Father as obedient children of our faithful God, because apart from Him, we can do nothing. The good news is that “all things are possible for him that believes,” and “the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and if we have committed any sins they will be forgiven us.”

Amen!

The Apostle Paul, formerly called the Pharisee Saul said, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Here was a man that had an encounter with the risen Lord while on the road to Damascus that both temporarily blinded him physically, but also opened his eyes spiritually, for all eternity. This divine encounter completely changed his life, consumed his being, and charted his eternal destiny. For all intents and purposes this experience began for Paul a life of complete dedication and absolute devotion to Christ and His cause. Through this divine meeting with the risen Lord, Paul became Christ-centered instead of self, Satan, and sin-centered. Even his name was changed from the haughty, blaspheming, insolent Pharisee Saul (persecutor of Christ) to the humble, devout, faithful, obedient, loving Apostle Paul (martyr for Christ)! Perhaps we need to pray for such an encounter with the risen Christ for ourselves and for those we hope to effectively evangelize. Could this kind of experience help our resolute conviction and their spiritual conversion as it did Saul’s? Whereas these divine encounters with the Lord are in His hands, and at His discretion, should we not pray for Him to perform more of them on behalf of others and ourselves? I say that we should. It couldn’t hurt! Believe it or not, there are some professing and practicing Christians today that have had conversion experiences even more dramatic than Paul’s. These brief encounters with the Lord have absolutely changed the recipients’ lives, and also won them over for Christ and His purposes. I’m reminded of one Indian man whose co-worker I met while on a mission in Africa. He told me that his boss had been a radical Hindu who was actively involved in persecuting Christian believers in India until Jesus appeared to Him and transformed his life. He is now a Christian evangelist based in Houston, Texas, and from there he has been conducting worldwide evangelistic gospel crusade meetings for Christ! Thousands are being saved in each meeting! There are, of course, many that have had less dramatic conversion experiences and yet, their dedication and devotion to Christ is still very great. After all, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” Nevertheless, I have often prayed while witnessing of Christ to hardened radical Muslims that God would grant them a “Damascus Road” experience. Paul was a hardened radical Hebrew Pharisee, and it sure helped in converting him. I recently read an article written by Ken Walker in the December 2008 edition of Charisma magazine entitled, “When Muslims Find Jesus.” The article reported that there have been thousands of Muslims in the Middle East within the last few years who have come to faith in Christ through divine dreams and visions.
Having said that, my own experiences in relationship with the risen Lord through the power of His Holy Spirit have, at times, been through visions. To name just a few, at the age of nineteen I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior by faith, and walked with Him for a few years before backsliding, because at the time, I had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, nor discipled by mature saints. After a couple of years of serious backsliding, having become frustrated by my apparent lack of ability to live the Christian life the way I felt Christ required of me, I was thus summarily deceived by Satan into embracing the Buddhist religion in a futile attempt to seek and find a measure of relief from my frustrated condition.

Not long after that, I unknowingly became intimately involved with a practicing witch who seduced me and cast a number of spells on me, which led me down the slippery path of unseemly sensual pleasures and lawless sexual sins. At a certain point after having become completely addicted to her seductions, she began to withdraw her affections from me and share them with another. It almost goes without saying that when this sinful relationship, which was “pleasurable for a season,” was taken away from me, I was led into spiritual, emotional, and physical withdrawals. This resulted in an experience of extreme and desperate bondage, as well as a state of dire suffering in the grip of demonic spirits.

In a sentence, I had been seduced into allowing her to “share her powers with me,” and when she decided to remove herself from me and no longer be emotionally and sexually exclusive with me, it put me on the deck. I could not get out of bed or eat for a week!

Now, being a practicing Buddhist at the time, I shared my experience with a Christian friend, and parroted to him Buddha’s phrase, “Desire is the cause of all suffering.” He looked at me and said, “Rob, sin is the cause of all suffering.” This hit be like a brick right between the eyes. It was my wake up call!


I knew from my past relationship with the Lord that the only way to deal with sin (the cause of my suffering) was through faith in Jesus Christ. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” My rationale was, “If I want to be rid of this suffering, I’d best be rid of this sin.” It was in this wretched and painful condition that I found myself once again calling on the name of the Lord for deliverance from my sins. He miraculously restored my life and rescued me from the powers of darkness. This was the result, in no small measure, of the prayers of my Christian mother and sister and their prayer partners who had been recruited by them on my behalf to offer supplications unto God for my deliverance.


I offered my prayer to God with desperate, heartfelt and sincere confession of and repentance from my sins, while I was crying out in faith for Jesus Christ’s mercy. Suddenly, I had an open vision!

For those of you who have never had one, it is like you are watching a movie, but not from your seat in a theater or from your armchair in your family room. You are actually in the scene, and are playing an active role in the drama. In this vision, I was actually playing the lead role. But it was no plaything; it was a real open vision. For all intents and purposes, I was there. In this vision, God was showing me my spiritual condition at the time.

The Vision

I was struggling to walk through a waste deep quagmire swamp. The humidity was 110%, and the heavy air was weighing down on me, making it very difficult to breath. There were several ashen white, dead, barren, and leafless trees lining the edges of the swamp. As I struggled to make my way through the swamp, there were several ugly poisonous vipers slithering on top of the murky water hitting at me. “I was afraid I was gonna get hit.” In this horrible place and in this desperate condition I cried out upon the name of the Lord. I heard the name “Jesus” come out of my heart (chest), resounding and echoing through the caverns of the swamp. As soon as His name cleared my being, I was out of the swamp and standing on top of a high mountain. The air was fresh and clear, and a gentle breeze was blowing through my hair. All the oppression, bondage, and sin had been removed from me. I was washed clean, and I was high and dry in the Lord. Jesus had delivered me once again. All praise and glory to His holy name!

Not long after that blessed experience, Jesus manifested Himself to me in the pure light of His absolute compassion, eye to Eye or spirit to Spirit, if you will. I was soon to be speaking in “the tongues of men and angels,” having received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Not long after that He called me and anointed me into Christian service and ministry. “His mercies are new every morning; great is His faithfulness!”

Anyway, back to Paul. This brother, after conversion, spent all of his time, resources, and strength in an effort to know Christ better, to offer Him to others, and present to Christ a pure and holy church, zealous for good works. Jesus said that He would show Paul the things that he must suffer for His name, and indeed He did! As an apostle, it was required of Paul to embrace Christ’s sufferings and be conformed to His death. He wrote many of his letters to the churches that he had established from prison cells. Because of his love for Christ, His church, and the Gentile world, he was beaten with rods and whips, stoned, shipwrecked, starved, made homeless, despised of his Jewish brothers, abandoned by his Christian brothers, imprisoned, and the list goes on and on. He did not fear suffering for Christ. Rather, he embraced it.

In these latter times, as in the former days, the same will be required of many, if not most, sincere Christian believers. The good news is that those who bravely choose to do God’s will and not deny Him, even to the point of “resisting sin to the shedding of blood,” shall not partake of the second death (Hell), but will share in the first out resurrection from the dead, and become citizens of God’s tangible eternal kingdom on earth!

It should be noted that Christian believers shall not fear persecution or martyrdom at the hands of their enemies, provided they are living in the spiritual revelation and practical reality that they are already dead, buried, and risen with Him, “seated with Christ in heavenly places” right now! In other words, those who live like, and “reckon (account) themselves dead to sin (their sins) and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” will not fear persecution or physical death as martyrs for Christ, but they will, as Paul did, be enabled to embrace death and consider it gain! Because they truly fear God, they will not fear what man can do to them. “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Quoting again from the previously mentioned Charisma article: “Three new converts (to Christ) in Egypt recently told Janssen that Christians in America should pray “with” them not “for” them.” “If you pray for us, you will pray for our safety, and the persecution will stop,” they told him. “If you pray with us, we can be sure the persecution will increase. Pray we will see millions come to Christ. We know there will be backlash. Pray we will be faithful, even if it costs us our lives.” Amazing!

Regrettably, this will not be the stance of the unrepentant backsliding Christian or the reprobate, apostate Church now or during the Great Tribulation. The likes of these will easily be deceived and embrace the False Prophet and anti-Christ, and they will gladly receive the mark of the Beast in order to save their lives and the lives of their loved ones. God forbid, but it is true. Remember, Paul prophesied a great falling away from the faith in the latter days.

Towards the end of Paul’s life, just before his martyrdom, he testified that he had “run the race and finished the course, having kept the faith.” He was soon to receive his “eternal crown and reward!” He proclaimed, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

I ask myself, am I running the race and staying the course that God has ordained for me? Is Christ my reason for living? Could I consider death in the cause of Christ, gain?



In reality, I am a man that has had a propensity in the past to get off course through both internal pressures and external distractions. In other words there have been sins in my personal life that I, through rebellion against God, have allowed to exist, as well as circumstances orchestrated by Satan that I have allowed to throw me off of God’s course and His purpose for my life. My greatest obstacles to doing the will of God have been self, Satan, and sin in their many forms. Nevertheless, by the grace of the Father, I keep getting back on course, but alas, only to be distracted again!

Now this is particularly concerning to me because God has ordained me to bring healing to hurting bodies and souls, as well as to bring salvation to lost sinners in the name of His Son Jesus. This, of course, involves my chosen consecration unto Him (spirit, soul, and body) and my willing separation from those sins that so easily entangle me, namely, “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.” After all, “He that is wise wins souls.” And, “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

As I see it, at this time, the majority of the Church, or if you will, professing Christians in the United States of America are represented by “the seeds that fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.” Jesus speaks of these as “those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

Having said that, I, for one, am once again “in pursuit of holiness” in the hope of “perfecting holiness in reverence of God,” through an appointed season of separation unto Him. It is my hope, through repentance and faith towards God, to make an effort to accomplish my consecration unto Him by His grace through faith coupled with my resolute will beginning on January 1, 2009. I made a similar effort twice in 2008 only to be quickly distracted upon my return from cloistered life to “civilization” and “modern society.” Having said that, cloistered life is not designed as a retreat from evil. It is designed to be a time to face evil and overcome it by God’s grace. There have been times in my life when I have been successful at this, and other times when I have failed. I believe that my lack of success in the past has been due to a failure of my human will, at the point of temptation, to appropriate God's grace through faith, in order to resist the temptation effectively. My proper response to this lack of success is to "rejoice, knowing that the trying of my faith produces patience, and to allow patience to have its perfect work that I might be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." After all, "it is through faith and patience that we inherit God's promises," and "He has promised to be faithful to sanctify us wholly, sprit, soul and body until the coming of the Lord." If the truth be told, our success in resisting temptation is dependent upon our ability to draw upon the presence of God's grace on a moment-to-moment, hour-to-hour, and day-by-day basis. So, whether one is living a cloistered life or a life in the world, the world and the things of it have no dominion over you but, you "reign in life by Christ Jesus."

Dear Heavenly Father, in the name of your holy child Jesus, may Your will be done this time concerning this matter of my change from a life motivated by self, Satan, and sin to a lifestyle of holy consecration, communion, and sanctification in Christ. May I learn to practice your presence and appropriate Your righteousness through repentance from all my sins and faith towards You. Amen!

I must ask myself these questions. Is my wife my life, or is Christ my life? Are my children my life, or is Christ my life? Is my career my life, or is Christ my life? Are my natural and carnal pleasures my life, or is Christ my life? Are my appetites, addictions, and emotions my life or is Christ my life? Are “Mammon,” materialism, and money my life, or is Christ my life? Will I ever be able to say, as Paul said, and mean it, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain?” I pray that this will be the case for all of us. Why? Because if we won’t learn to live for Christ every day by denying self, taking up our own cross, and following Him, we will never be able to think, as Paul did, of dying as gain!

If we won’t live for Him now, we won’t die for Him later, and if we won’t take a stand and die for Him when the time of Great Tribulation comes, we will easily deny Him to save our own skins. And, “If we deny Him, He will deny us.” This means the second death (Hell) for all those who do so.

Jesus said, “If you seek to gain your life, you will lose it. But, if you lose your life for My sake, you will gain eternal life; and what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”

I know that there are many things that God is leading me to do, and there are also many things that He is leading me not to do.

These can be summed up in a sentence or two, “To cast off the works of darkness and be clothed in the armor of light.” “To put off the old man and put on the new man who is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

My spiritual mentor, David Pawson, has recently said, “Jesus didn’t just come to save us from Hell. That’s just a bonus; He came to save us from our sins!” And I might add, any sinful thought, word, action, or re-action that we allow to exist in our lives or deliberately continue in, robs us of our holiness unto God, and, therefore, robs us of our happiness in Christ. Most of us don’t want to be saved from our sins, because they are pleasurable to our sin nature. This sin nature was crucified with Christ upon His death, but we must account ourselves dead to it by faith in Christ’s accomplished work on our behalf, and thereby, not “allow sin to dwell in our mortal bodies that we should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

The kingdom of God is the realm of eternal happiness, and “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you His kingdom.” Let us not be like Esau and sell our inheritance for a brief moment of natural or carnal satisfaction. May we not sell our inheritance of God’s eternal kingdom within for the fleeting pleasures of sin!

“For sin is pleasurable for a season, but the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

May we appropriate God’s grace and mercy, by faith and faithfulness to do His will, which is our sanctification from sin, to Him, and thereby enjoy the life of holiness and happiness, the gift of righteousness that Christ has purchased for us through the shedding of His own precious blood. May He once again grant us repentance from all our sins!

Now, “God will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able to bear, but will with the temptation make a way of escape.” This scripture points to the fact that if we, as Christian believers, yield ourselves and give in to Satan’s temptations, we are without excuse, because the way of our escape from sinful behavior has been provided in Christ.

The way out of yielding ourselves to evil temptations is to abide in, dwell in, and continue in Christ, by keeping His commandments and following His Spirit’s leadings, and by following the example of Christ’s life as a human being while living here on this old earth as the Son of Man. Jesus Christ was a man of covert prayer, covert fasting, covert communion with God, and the constant covert consecrated giving of Himself to God in His service to others. Therefore, He was a man of the Spirit. In our Lord’s life, doing His heavenly Father’s will was always of paramount importance to Him, instead of following the dictates of self, Satan, and sin. Jesus testified, “My sustenance is to do the will of My Father who sent me and to finish His work.” On the cross Jesus cried, “It is finished, and He gave up the ghost.”

May sin be finished in us also, as we covertly fast and pray and read our Bibles every day, as well as follow the leading of the Holy Spirit at all times, in every situation and every circumstance. May we thus become empowered to hear Christ’s voice, follow Christ’s lead, and do Christ’s will instead of our own. After all, our way of escape is Jesus Christ who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” Let us therefore, “reckon ourselves dead indeed to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Let us “come out from among them and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing.” Let us “be in the world but not of the world.” Let us be quick to forgive others their sins against us, and quick to receive forgiveness for our sins against God and others, and quick to repent, confess, turn from, and forsake all of our sins against God, ourselves, and our fellow human beings. Amen!

But, someone might ask, what if there are iniquities and infirmities in my life that I would like to repent of, and be rid of, but I don’t seem to be able to? We must get real with ourselves and with our God. Paul said, “In the latter days men would be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” He added, “From such turn away.” Jesus said, “He who loves Me keeps My commandments.”

We must ask ourselves, are there sinful pleasures in our lives, sins of commission that we are continuing in even though we know they are not pleasing to God? If so, we must repent, and train ourselves in His righteousness, as we trust Him for the grace to utterly forsake them. Let us ask ourselves when tempted to do something that we know God will not be pleased with, “Do I love this sin more than I love my Lord and Savior or do I love my Lord and Savior more than this sin?”

If we truly love God more than we love the sin, or anything else in the world, we will make a resolute decision to prove our love by abstaining from the sin so that we might please God! “It’s a kind of diet of the mind.” This is the nature of Christian discipline and discipleship. The same is true of sins of omission (good things we should be doing but neglect to do). But, back to sins of commission (bad things we should not be doing, but do anyway), there are many pleasures and luxuries of the flesh that self, Satan, and sin cry out for to be satisfied. However, these are pleasures and luxuries that we Christian believers cannot afford to partake of if we want to inherit the eternal kingdom of God, which is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” We cannot afford the luxury of being unforgiving, bitter, or resentful. We cannot afford the luxury of anger, rage, and wrath. We cannot afford the luxury of being slothful or gluttons. We cannot afford the luxury of sexual immorality or impurity. We cannot afford the luxury of greed and selfish ambition. We cannot afford the luxury of envy, jealously, slander, and covetousness. We cannot afford the luxury of being cowardly and unbelieving. Well, the list goes on and on of what we can’t afford to do as professing and practicing Christian believers. Fill in the your own blanks.

Jesus calls us to be His disciples, and tells us that in being such, we must “deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him.” The fruit of the Spirit is self-control and if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Lord God, fill us with your Holy Spirit, and cause us to remain filled, so that we might live in your Spirit, and walk in your Spirit, being led by your Spirit and enjoy the fruit of your Spirit which is self-control. Amen.

Now for those struggling with sins and strongholds that you can’t seem to forsake, realize that Jesus promised, “All things are possible for him that believes.” Place your faith in God and patiently wait for His deliverance.

“Ask, and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.”

“Believe you receive when you pray and you will have what you prayed for.”

“Follow after those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God.”

And remember this, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.”

And don’t forget to, “Count it all joy when you fall into different temptations, tests, and trial, knowing that the trying if your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work that you might be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.”

Jesus promised, “Continue in my words, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.” (Free from our sins).

And remember, “We walk by faith, not by sight, calling those thing which be not as though they were.”

“We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”

We must appropriate that righteousness through “repentance from works that lead to death and faith towards God.”

“Do not let sin therefore dwell in your mortal bodies, that you should obey it in the lust thereof.”

And this is possible because “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”

Question: What is this grace we are under, and what does this grace do for us in allowing no sin to have dominion over us?

Answer. The grace of God teaches us. Let us be good students and learn!

“For the grace of God has appeared to all men, teaching us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself and people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.”


I will close with some final scriptures for your meditation and edification.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death therefore your members that are on the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you, too, once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with its practices and have put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:1-17

Let us say yes to Jesus, and no to self, Satan, and sin throughout this New Year. May it be said, “Jesus is mine in 2009” so that we will be able to shout the victory and sincerely proclaim in 2010, “we win!” Amen, Amen, and Amen!

And let us remember, we have not yet attained to the character of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, but becoming like Him is our goal, and the expression of His character in thought, word, action, and reaction, is what we, as His disciples, are all aiming for.

In this quest, may we all be blessed!

Christ is the Healer, and "it is the sick that need a physician." Iniquity (sin) and infirmity (weakness) walk hand in hand down the corridors of the human spirit, soul, and body. Without Christ the entire human race is under the curse of the law of sin and death inherited through Adam’s transgression of God’s will and commandment issued to him in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ, the second Adam, has come to set us free from the curse of the law of sin and death, being made a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” He has hung on a tree as the perfect, sinless, Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world as the substitute for our sins, inherited through Adam and continued in through our own volition. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “If any man says that he is without sin, he is a liar and the truth is not in him.” Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed. Sin carries with it the burdens of guilt and shame and the devastating consequences of individual ship wrecked lives, damaged families, distorted societies, and a world of corruption. Therefore, as Christian believers, those who have been set free from the law of sin and death through faith in the accomplished substitutionary work of Christ on the cross on our behalf and in our stead, must learn to appropriate this grace through faith and be quick to forgive, as we have been forgiven, quick to receive forgiveness through faith in the shed blood of Christ for our cleansing, and quick to repent, by turning from our sins and doing right in the eyes of God. “Beloved, I write unto you that you sin not, but if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It is also true that "sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law but under grace." "Therefore reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." "With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation" and "from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." We must lean to embrace the grace of God as it pertains to our forgiveness from our past transgressions with our hearts and confess our innocence with our mouths. Let the sick believe with His heart and confess with his mouth, “By His stripes, I am healed.” Let the poor, believe in his heart and confess with his mouth, “He was made poor that I might be made rich.” Let the sinner believe in His heart and confess with His mouth, “I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ.” If any man be in Christ Jesus, old things have passed away, behold, all things have been made new!

When we do things that are harmful or hurtful to ourselves and/or others, it harms and hurts God, too. When King David lusted after Bathsheba and set her husband up for certain death on the battlefield, the prophet Samuel exposed him for his sins. After David was exposed for committing adultery and murder, his prayer of confession to God was, “Against you alone have I sinned.”

There are several responses that we can have when we hurt God, ourselves, and/or others, but there is only one response that leads to genuine repentance. On the darker side, we can be happy and relish in our sins, or we can be completely indifferent to and/or willingly ignorant of them. On the brighter side we can be regretful for our sins and/or even remorseful over them. The latter response is better than the former, but even this response will not always lead us to exchange our destructive behavior for healthy behavior.

The Apostle Paul realized this fact and exhorted his flock with these words of wisdom. “Godly sorrow leads to repentance.” Godly sorrow is produced when God Himself shows us the nature of our self centered and satanically inspired sins and the consequences of harm and hurt that they have caused Him, others, and ourselves.

When Godly sorrow is granted to us, repentance for our sins is also granted unto us, and we are supernaturally changed in our spirits, souls, and bodies for the better.

It must also be understood that our highhanded, deliberate, and habitual sins have a hardening and callusing effect on our hearts and minds. More often than not, for us to even come to a place of Godly sorrow leading to repentance, God has to replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.

Only intercessory prayer can accomplish this. Good news! “Christ ever lives to make intercession for us.” “The Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.” The church, being bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, and being filled with His Holy Spirit, are also called to make intercession according to the will of God. “God’s will for us is our sanctification.”

So let us become very resolute about our intercession and “pray without ceasing” that God will replace our stony hearts brought on by willful, deliberate, highhanded, and habitual sins with “hearts of flesh, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers,” and that He will grant us Godly sorrow leading to repentance. Amen?

NOTE: The foundation of this teaching was inspired by an article called, "Dealing With Sin Which Dwells In Us," by Kay Williams of Total Life Ministries (www.totallifeministries.org), as well as Romans 6. For your greater edification I encourage you to read both before reading mine.

Perhaps one of my, if not my greatest errors to date in preaching and teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been a somewhat limited focus and emphasis on the accomplished work of Jesus Christ in His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead as it pertains to the Christian believer’s victory over sin, sickness, poverty, and death. In this article, I hope to correct that error.

When Jesus was executed, the body of sin (the sin principle that indwells every human being including Christian believers) was executed with Him. When He was buried, every Christian believer (past, present, and future) was buried with Him and their lives are hidden with Christ in God. When He was raised from the dead every Christian believer was raised with Him to newness of life. Water baptism in the name of Jesus is representative of this. We are to enter into this truth by revelation knowledge brought to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God who has been left here with us by Christ in order to lead us into all truth. As we receive this revelation knowledge, we are to account it as true and act on it as factual by faith, as opposed to basing our perception and opinion of ourselves and others on what we see with our natural eyes.

None of us would disagree that one plus one equals two. Why do we refuse to acknowledge, account, and act on this great spiritual revelation that the sin principle that indwells every human being born of Adam has been executed in Christ (in that through Christ’s death, God was reconciling the world unto Himself), and that the imputed righteousness that indwells every human being born again of the Spirit of God (through believing in and receiving Jesus Christ) has been imputed (stored up) unto us in Christ and imparted (released) unto us through the Holy Spirit, as surly as one plus one equals two?

I believe that the reason we have such a difficult time acknowledging, accounting, and acting on this great liberating revelation (which results in us yielding the member’s of our bodies unto God as instruments of righteousness instead of as slaves to sin), is because it has not been sufficiently taught to us from our youth with the same diligence as one plus one equals two. If it had been, I believe that there would be a greater degree of sanctification experienced by individual Christian believers and a greater degree of consecration of the church unto God in the earth today.

Throughout the spiritual teachings found in the Bible we are encouraged to walk by faith (in the knowledge of this revelation), not by sight. We are admonished to know ourselves as well as each other after the Spirit (of this revelation). We are instructed to live and walk in the Spirit (of this revelation), and in doing so, we are promised that the works of the flesh will not be fulfilled in us. We are told to continue in Christ who incorporates this revelation so that we might know the truth and that the truth will make us free from sin! We are commanded to mortify the misdeeds of the body through the Spirit (of this revelation). Again, this revelation is that our old man (the one subject to the principal and power of sin) was executed with Christ on the cross, and that the new man, created in righteousness and true holiness, was imputed unto us when Christ was resurrected from the dead and shed His Spirit abroad into our hearts. Furthermore, the mortification of the old nature and the revival of the new nature, which is imputed righteousness, is imparted unto the Christian believer as he continues in the Word of God, and lives as well as walks in the Holy Spirit.

Apart from this great revelation we are hopeless in our efforts to appropriate both the righteousness and holiness of God that is found through faith in Christ. But if we will learn to live and move and have our being in Christ through the practice and discipline of acknowledging, accounting, and acting on this revelation, we will begin to experience a genuine victory over sin which is holiness unto God. We must daily renew our minds to this revelation knowledge expressed in the Holy Bible.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are, in essence, the revealed knowledge of absolute truth, and the absolute truth is found in the gospel message revealed through the apostles of Christ for the edification of the church. Perhaps the greatest teaching of this great revelation is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Let us be encouraged to meditate in the chapters and verses of this great book of Christian doctrine called “The Book of Romans,” for it teaches us to live by the law of faith, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

If we are going to make present progress in our pursuit and perfecting of holiness, and if we are going to experience a future state of glory, it will not be done without continuously reflecting on the past accomplished work of Christ on the cross as it pertains to our justification, sanctification, and glorification in Him, as well as the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in leading us into all truth. Jesus cried out with His last breath from the cross before giving up His Spirit, “It is finished.” Let the fact of our victory over sin be a finished matter as well. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace!” Let’s acknowledge this, account this, and act on this truth in spite of and in the midst of ours and other’s moral failings, and thereby bear one another’s shortcomings, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. In so doing, let us win a decisive triumphant victory over sin and its consequences of doubt, fear, and shame through faith in Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

When a Christian believer attends a fellow Christian believer’s funeral, he must choose to view the event with the eyes of faith, as opposed to with his natural eyes. If he does so successfully, it will result in a time of great joy and rejoicing, but if he fails to do so, it will be a time of despair and despairing just like those who have no hope in God’s gracious provision found through faith in Christ for those who die in Him. If we are able to attend a fellow Christian believer’s funeral and rejoice in faith, we should also be able to rejoice by faith in every aspect of our life in Christ, regardless of our faults, failures, and fractures. In other words we may be flawed by a sin nature inherited through Adam’s transgression, but we are also forgiven our sins through the righteousness of God in Christ, and ultimately, through Christ’s great provision, delivered from sin through His accomplished work on the cross on our behalf and in our stead. It will help us to realize this if we will focus on the fact that nothing in life or death will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Thus, faith works through love.

I have attended funerals directed by Christian believers for other Christian believers, and even though there is natural grief over the loss of a loved one, there is greater rejoicing over his or her Homecoming. “For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Let us, therefore, learn to live and die in faith with a heart full of continual joy and rejoicing over Christ’s sublime provision of grace for the living and the dead in Him.

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” “They that come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The atonement for our sins provided by Christ’s shed blood also incorporates our salvation and deliverance from disease involving healing for our souls (intellect, will and emotions), and our bodies. We as Christian believers “must not allow sin to dwell in our mortal bodies that we should obey it in the lust thereof.” “Anything that is not of faith is sin.” In like manner we must not allow sickness and disease to dominate us. Both sin and sickness must be dispelled from us through faith in Christ’s accomplished work on the cross. This is achieved by lining up our will with God’s will, and our words with His Word. The appropriation of grace through faith begins within our hearts (spirits), with which we believe, and with our mouths with which we confess God’s Word, "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation." Thus, in the great scheme of God’s provision of atonement, sickness and sin and poverty shall not have dominion over me for I am not under the law, but under grace.

To acknowledge, account, act on and appropriate this grace through faith requires a daily meditation in the Word of God. "Your Words have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You." "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night so that you might observe to do all that is written therein, then you shall make your way prosperous, and then shall you have success." If we have become negligent in reading, studying and meditating the Word of God in our personal, daily devotions, we will have a dormant faith, and works of unrighteousness will be the end result. If this is the case, we must repent of our slothfulness in this area and begin to be renewed and revived to the Word of God (the Holy Scriptures). If we will do so in a disciplined fashion, we will begin to experience the salvation of our souls, and healing for our bodies. If we do not repent from our slothfulness in this area, our souls and bodies will perish along with the unbelieving. God forbid! The Church today stands in need of a Christian revival. This revival will come as we rededicate ourselves to following the leading of the Holy Spirit, continue in the Word of God, and use the name of Jesus appropriately in our prayers, requests, and supplications unto God.

"Let everyone who names the name of Jesus depart from iniquity."

Jesus Christ, our example declared, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word the proceeds from the mouth of God." This was His response to Satan when tempted to turn rocks into bread and eat after having fasted all food and water in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. When further tempted, He refuted Satan with the following response, “It is written." This must become our response as well, when we are tempted to do our old sinful nature's will instead of God’s will. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ lived a complete and perfectly consecrated life unto God. Regular seasons of prayer and fasting helped Him to do so. He was thereby empowered to deny self, Satan, and sin. He chose to know what was written in the Holy Scriptures and to act on that knowledge when tempted. Thus He lived a sinless life and died a vicarious death as the spotless Lamb of God, who was ordained of God to bear our sins upon Himself on the cross, and to carry our diseases. In place of our sin and sickness He now offers us the free gift of righteousness, healing, and health. “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes (wounds from the whip), we are healed!”

We enter into these great provisions through the faith of the Son of God, which is faith in the accomplished work of Christ on the cross. We walk in the abundance of this grace and gain a victory over sin, sickness, poverty, and death as we learn to respond to temptations in the same way that Jesus did, “It is written.” When the temptation to sin comes knocking at our door, we respond with the Word of God in resisting it, “I am crucified to the old sin nature, and I'm alive unto righteousness through the faith of Jesus Christ.” “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.” It is written, “God’s will for me is sanctification spirit, soul, and body, and faithful is He who calls me who will also do it,” therefore “get thee behind me Satan.” When we are tempted with sickness, our response should be, “It is written, ‘By His stripes I am healed.’ ” and “Bless the Lord who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.” When tempted with poverty and lack, our response should be, “He became poor so that I might be made rich.” “Beloved, I desire that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.” “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” When death comes knocking at our door, we can respond, “It is written, 'He that lives and believes in Me shall never die.' ”

Now, “If we sow to the flesh, we will from the flesh reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will from the Spirit reap life everlasting. God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”

Since we were in Christ when He was raised from the dead, we can “serve Him in newness of life.” We are presently “seated with God in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” “If we were saved by His death, how much more shall we be saved through His life.” "Christ in you the hope of glory.” “Greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world.” We can “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who is working within you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” We are co-laborers with Christ in this life and walk of faith. He is working in us, and we are to be working with Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing, but “if we abide in Him and His Word abides in us, we can ask what we will, and it shall be given unto us. Herein is the Father glorified, that we bear much fruit.”

In summary, we see through Paul’s revelation that “it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for me.” As we exercise faith in the fact that the kingdom of Heaven (where God the Father and God the Son live) is within us now through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and as we learn to yield in faith to His power, purity, wisdom and strength of character instead of our own weak abilities, we will gain a victory over the sin, sickness, poverty, and death that so easily beset us. Let us, therefore, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might as “He Himself crushes Satan under our feet.” “For you will tread on scorpions and serpents, and no work of the enemy shall by any means harm you.”

We will only be able to stand uprightly as we learn to lean completely on Him. "His strength is made perfect in weakness." Thus, we become "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might," not ourselves.

Human pride is what produces Independence from Him, which is sin, but dependance on Him instead of oneself produces true humility. This will result in His power being released in our lives to the glory of God. "God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud."

There is an old hymn of the church that declares, "I'm learning to lean, I'm learning to lean. I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I'm finding more power than I ever dreamed, learning to lean on Jesus." Let's do likewise and win a decisive victory over sin, sickness, poverty, and death through faith in the accomplished work of Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and intercession that God ordained for all Christian believers' total victory through faith in Him.

A prayer of faith.

Heavenly Father, In the name of Jesus Christ I repent of my unbelief. I have allowed sin to dwell in my mortal body. I have also allowed myself to be dominated by sickness, disease, lack, and poverty. From this moment forward by grace through faith in knowledge of Christ's accomplished work on the cross I refuse to allow sin to dwell in my mortal body that I should obey it in the lust thereof. I renounce all sickness and disease in my body and soul, and I reject all material lack or poverty that would attach itself to my life. I also pray this for my wife and children, for my extended family members, my friends and associates, and the church at large. Amen.

I recently had a close Christian relative over for dinner, and in the course of one of our conversations, I was politely told that he didn't want to hear any more about sin. In retrospect, why should we dwell on sin? After all, Jesus Christ has dealt with our sins in the atonement, and we are forgiven. But the full council of God does not only incorporate atonement for sin; it also commands the pursuit and perfecting of holiness. Granted, it will do us only harm and prove completely counter productive if we get the horse before the cart. In other words, the first and foremost practical revelation that we must learn to live and walk in is the continuous appropriation of our forgiveness and right standing (imputed righteousness) in God through a living faith in Jesus Christ's accomplished work of grace on the cross on our behalf and in our stead.

It is my prayer that all people and all people groups, all nations, all ethnic groups, every religious observer, every atheist and agnostic will come to the knowledge of the truth found by grace through faith in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. May all be born again by the will of God through believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. May all repent of their sins, have faith towards God, be baptized in water in the name of the Lord, and receive the mighty baptism with the Holy Spirit and Fire. May all humankind and every human being be translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. It is my prayer that all who are will be transformed into the likeness of Christ, and transfigured, (immortal and incorruptible) at His second coming to the glory of God. It is also my prayer, supplication, and request to God that all people, in all places, will be justified, sanctified, and glorified through faith in God’s amazing grace and that Christ's church, the community of Christian believers worldwide, will learn how to live in God's Spirit and walk in God's Spirit, cultivate the fruit of God's Spirit and not fulfill the works of the flesh. May we all partake of the present eternal kingdom of Heaven within through sanctification of spirit, soul, and body unto the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we all meet Him in the air at the rapture of the church. May we all be granted an entrance into Christ's millennial kingdom on this old earth, as well as an abundant entrance into God's eternal kingdom of Heaven, that will rest on a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. This is my prayer for my friends and enemies alike. May we all, this day, find unity under the banner of Christ's unfathomable love. I make this prayer request to You my Heavenly Father Jehovah God, in the name of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. May it be accomplished according to Your will and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, knowing that it is not Your will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. There is a promise in the book of Isaiah that gives me great hope. "And the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Amen.

It has been brought to my attention by the Lord that the two great enemies of the truth are hypocrisy and heresy. The Pharisees were a powerful and prospering Judaic denomination during the time of Jesus Christ’s three year public ministry on earth, and they constantly opposed Him at every turn. Jesus Christ endorsed the teachings of the Pharisees because, "they sit in the seat of Moses," so He told His followers to do as they say, but not as they do, saying, “Beware the leaven (sins) of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.” So, it could be accurately stated that the theology of the Pharisees was sound, but their behavior was unsound. Hypocrisy is acting one way in public and another way in private, something we are all guilty of, wouldn't you agree? But the hypocrisy of the Pharisees went beyond that because they acted one way in public and another way in private all the while, self-righteously and mercilessly condemning others who were not living up to the standards of the Law of Moses and the traditions of Jewish religion. It would not have been so bad had they not been guilty of the same or similar sins! " Jesus said, to the religious leaders who were going to stone a woman caught in adultery; "He among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." Not one in the group could do it. Jesus also said, "mercy rejoices against judgment," and when judgment is dispensed by fallible human beings in religious, political, or any other positions of authority, it must be done from a posture of heavenly wisdom, grace, and mercy for in to be truly just and for the end results to bring about justice in the society. The latter is what Jesus and His apostles referred to as "righteous judgment" as opposed to what the Pharisees were up to. By the way, Jesus told His disciples that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Scribes and Pharisees, they would in no way enter the kingdom of Heaven.

“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.”

The Bible declares that as Christian believers, “Christ is made unto us wisdom,” and if there is one thing that this old world needs, it is more wise men and fewer wise guys, wouldn’t you agree? Foolishness is the antithesis of wisdom. As a matter of fact, the scriptures tell us that there is an earthly wisdom that is from beneath, that is sensual and devilish, and there is heavenly wisdom from above that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy.

A Christian Exhortation To The Church On Chaplain Rob Johnson's 54th Birthday, October 6, 2006

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure."

"And this is God’s will for you, even your sanctification."


My fellow Christian believers, love is a choice; holiness is a choice; and ultimately eternal life is a choice. Therefore, let us choose to walk in love, holiness and the new life that is offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ so that we might truly inherit "eternal life."

"This day I have placed life and death before you, choose life so that you may live."

One Size Fits All!


As of late, I have been experiencing a gift from God that may be somewhat in keeping with one of the few benefits of becoming middle aged. (One of the other benefits is the sports car!) I have been realizing that I don’t have anything to prove to anyone in that I am no longer as "self-serious" or as "self-conscious" as I once was in my adolescence and throughout most of my life as a young adult. I believe that being overly "self-serious" is the result of having a "huge ego" and that being overly self-conscious is the result of having "low self esteem" or "a bad self image." Now, these two conditions, a "huge ego," and "low self esteem," coexisting in the same being, at first glance seems to be a bit paradoxical. (In much the same way the phrase manic depression, bipolar, or schizophrenic define two opposite and extreme emotional conditions operating in the same brain.) Think about it, mania is the opposite of depressed, right? I'm sure that one could point to their parents or a dysfunctional childhood as the blame for such conditions, and to some extent this is probably true, but in reality, both of these infirmities and/or iniquities, as well as all others, are ultimately the results of Adam and Eve's fall from grace. The consequences of their rebellion were played out soon thereafter in the lives of Cain and Abel, and then eventually throughout history with the rest of affected and infected humanity to one extent or the other. As a matter of fact, all of the madness being played out on the world stage and being reported by the mass media today, and the historians tomorrow, is nothing more than the results of the first Adam's transgression. The good news is that God sent a second Adam, in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, who did not transgress the will or law of God like the first Adam did, and therefore, He is the only one in the world or the universe qualified to take away the sins of the world. Whosoever believes in Him and receives Him will not perish but have everlasting life!