The Resurrection of Christ, Jesus – The Act And The Power Thereof
In the series The Sacrifices of God Are A Broken spirit: A Broken And A Contrite Heart, we have looked at Conviction – Empowerment To See The Spirituality of God’s Law. Where we saw that Spiritual truth cannot provide Spiritual liveliness to a mind that is dead to righteousness; as such the mind is unable to capture the essence of the truth and similarly, Spiritual truth cannot make an unregenerate will to believe.
We have also looked at Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real. We saw that saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God: That it is faith that propels one to take the next step past simply having knowledge of Christ and believing in the facts presented. We then examined Repentance – Empowerment for a yielded will to turn away from sin to God. Where we saw that Repentance is an act by which we realise we have offended an Holy and righteous God; this act is characterised by a deliberate turn away from the sinful act(s) in question, begging for God’s forgiveness and turning to him and his ways, We also looked at The Eternal Value of A Sound Conscience where we saw that Our conscience is like a moral nerve for our soul. That it is possible for man to sear his/her conscience and be rendered capable of doing the most terrible things without being aware of the fact that they are doing it any longer. THE CONSIENCE IS SEARED; and this can go on until THERE IS NO MORE HUMAN FEELING. We also looked at Confession – Its Power to Remove The Sting of Sin. Where saw the importance of having a grasp of the fact that every sin is essentially unforgivable if it is not confessed. We also looked at Circumcision of A Regenerated Heart. Here we saw that as the Jewish circumcision is primarily a covenant with God but also aimed at dealing with the hygiene problem of dirt on the foreskin; spiritual circumcision is primarily about how the work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary deals with the inordinate activities of the soul which necessitates the need to divide between the spirit and the soul – this task essentially done by the Word of God.
The last topic we looked at was Dead To Sin – Empowerment to overcome indwelling sin where we saw that we used to be united to Adam; so when he sinned, we sinned. But because of our union with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, what has happened to Him has happened to us. So now that we are united to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, what He has done; we have done also.
In this presentation we will now have a look at: The Resurrection of Christ, Jesus: The Act And The Power Thereof
Jesus has died and saved His people from sin and death, and He will return to raise us to new life in the resurrection. The resurrection is the new life that Jesus offers to the woman at the well; it is the living water that quenches thirst forever. In the face of the world’s hopelessness and darkness, Jesus has broken into the world so that all who believe might be saved through Him.
“Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
In The Resurrection of Christ, Jesus: The Act And The PowerThereof, we look at:
Evidence of His resurrection:
The Witnesses of Jesus.
Jesus’ prediction his death, burial, and resurrection; as well as those of the prophets of the Old Testament.
The Tomb Really was Empty.
Jesus was seen and interacted with after He came back to life by friends and enemies.
The Christian church exists.
Witnesses transformed by what they saw and heard
Why Is It Essential That We Believe That He Literarily Physically Rose Up From The Dead: In His Body: Leaving An Empty Grave????? “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?”
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. (1 Corinthians 15:19-26)
The empty grave– which shows the purpose of His death and of His dying which is to deal with our sin is accomplished.
The plan of The Master Planner – Can The Son of God die? And Remain dead? Our Total Redemption – It is a guaranty of the coming of the eternal Kingdom
Prayers:
AND WE CONTINUALLY PRAY:
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will fill us with the knowledge of your will through all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may be able to see deep down in the inner recesses of our heart; our union with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will fill us with the knowledge of your will through all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may be able to recon ourselves to be alive unto You through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Heavenly Father, that You will empower us to seek to be connected to the Holy Spirit that we may be surrendered to your Revealer, that we may be totally consumed by the revelation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection, His position, His authority, His power, His compassion, His mind, His conscience, His desire – all that He is.
Heavenly Father, we bind the inner man of each and every one of us to a loving relationship with the Holy Spirit. Give us the grace to know that, ‘to seek you through knowledge about you without seeking a relationship with the Holy Spirit
ends up in confusion and unbalance in our perception of You.
Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be empowered to actively seek the marvellous truth taught in Your Word, that there is a way out of our guilt, a way out of our alienation, that we no longer need to be far off from you.
Heavenly Father, for the grace to come to that point where we realise the true place of the Holy Spirit, that His entire work is to lead our souls into union with the our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, and the knowledge of you our Father in heaven whilst He Himself directs, and works in the background.
Give us the grace to confess our sins, forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness for you are faithful and just. By the cleansing power of the Blood of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, bring the spirit of each and every one of us into union with Christ, For he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in the Spirit. Let each and everyone’s spirit actively dominate him / her in full co-operation with the Holy Spirit.
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”. (1 Peter 3:15)
Sabaoth SUMMER 2019
FORESIGHT OF THE MASTER PLANNER – The Eternal Purpose
PLAN A2, BACK ON TRACK – Transformation: The proving of Faith and The Glory of God
Click on Image for presentation
Our Freedom From Sin Section D – The Law and Our Pursuit of The Perfection of Christ Jesus
The Law, Faith and Repentance In Sanctification
Just as when the X-ray has revealed the problem of an injury (or not); its work is finished: AS IT CAN NEVER BE THE CURE OF THE PROBLEM
So does the law reveal sin: But then have to get out of the way for THE GRACE THAT COMES FROM THE RULING OUT OF THE OLD CREATION BY THE CROSS OF CHRIST, and THE ENTIRELY NEW CREATION BROUGHT IN BY HIS RESURRECTION to deal with the root of sin
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
Just also as men transact our own business in money terms – GOD’S HARD CURRENCY IS THE STATE OF MAN’S HEART
GOD IS NOT FOOLED
Our salvation and Sanctification are from the gift of Christ and all gifts of Christ are communicated to us and given to us by the Spirit of Christ – The Holy Spirit.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN HEART OF MANKIND BASED ON THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY & ITS BENEFITS FOR MANKIND
Part of the outworking of our regeneration by God through the acts of the Holy Spirit is our sanctification.
Regeneration means to be renewed, reformed, or reconstituted; to have a spiritual rebirth (be spiritually reborn) “Born Again”; to cause to be completely reformed or improved and to grow anew (a part to replace one hurt or lost).
Sanctification as had been set in motion from the foundation of the earth and FINISHED by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary, spans the entirety of our being: from the moment of our spiritual birth to the point of our entry into glory.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10-14).
At rebirth, Positional Sanctification is automatically made available to us (through an entirely work of God) as a result of justification; as a believer (at salvation) we are justified and declared righteous in conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4).
Then when ‘the rubber hits the road’, we discover that we have to deal with the negative pull from the corrupt world we live in; a world that is well set up to pull us back into its sinful fold – here is where the experiential phase of our sanctification plays out.
Experiential sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit works in us (believer) to set us apart from sin; it is a progressive work aimed at spiritual maturity, a progressive work of separating us from the world. Quite opposite to what obtains in the world where maturity means independence from anyone; but spiritual maturity means TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON GOD.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)
For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. (Hebrews 7:19)
Not only are we freed from sin, as Paul points out, but we are freed from the Law as well. The Law does its work (condemns us), but we are no longer under Law if we are resting in Christ. Therefore, the Law does not serve any useful purpose in delivering us from sin apart from flashing the search light on it (sin) and drive us back to Christ Jesus.
What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another]. (Romans 7:7, 8 Amp.)
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
We are moving briefly (if I may say so) to align some of our posts from our previous webpage with this topic we are dealing with, Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God. we hope to do this in order to show the links of the book of Romans with the centrality of the Christian faith – The Cross of Jesus at Calvary. We Think that a good understanding or grasp of these resources on the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity for one to be a able understand what we will be discussing in the book of Romans. These resources can be found on this site and also at SAB21st or FACEBOOK
A. THE BOOK OF ROMANS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
In my own Christian walk, I have found that the Book of Romans is one of the most relevant books of the bible because of it’s relevance to our world today. It is also that part of the New Testament that brings to reality, the life and the finished work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in our everyday living. That life and work which brings down the barrier between God and man; and brings the only solution to the innumerable problems caused by man’s pride of thinking “I can go it all the way”without God”; as it demonstrates the effects of God’s truth upon mankind. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is that solution.
Paul is the author of Romans but he did not write it himself as seen in Rom.16:22. “I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord”. This is the only mention of Tertius in scripture. He actually wrote the book of Romans from the Apostle Paul’s dictation. This letter was written in commercial bustling city of Corinth, Greece (The London or New York of that time); and sent between A.D. 55 and 58. Paul was at the tail end of his third missionary journey at the time of its writing.
Although Paul had never personally been to Rome before, he wrote this letter to the saints in Rome (1:7) whom he had never met, which informs his longing to visit them (1:11). He was also not the founder of this church, so he definitely had written the letter through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The keywords and phrases to get familiar with in Romans include; Law, sins, Sin, Blood of Jesus, Cross, grace, repentance, faith, justice, flesh, spirit, justification, sanctification, eternal purpose, Glory of God etc.
B. WHEN AND WHY WAS IT WRITTEN
Paul wrote the letter to introduce himself and communicate his love for them and his desire to visit them (1:9-12). He hoped to go eventually to Spain and wanted to first fellowship and minister to them in Rome, with the hope that they will assist him in his ministry in Spain. For the present he must return to Jerusalem for he is taking gifts for the relief of the poor brethren there. Toward this end, he desires their prayers for God’s blessings (15:23-32).
We can see the fearlessness of the writing as guided by the Holy Spirit as he was forthright with issues he picked up with the Romans despite the fact that he already knew that he was going to need their help for his ministry in Spain.
C. NOTABLE THEMES AND TESTIMONIES OF THE BOOK
1. TRUTHFULNESS OF CHRISTIANITY.Augustus, a philosopher and teacher who lived between the fourth and fifth centuries came under conviction concerning the truthfulness of Christianity. He like the scientist or well off bankers of his day (even today as you will see in our cities) as he described in the 8th book of his “confession” similar to “Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile” by Geraint Anderson which describes life within the square mile of the city of London – the bankers’ haven. Despite these bouts of conviction from the Holy Spirit He kept putting off the chance of confessing, renouncing and turning away from his sinful ways. So one day while he was in Milan Italy he heard a child singing in Italian
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”.
This was the beginning of the ministry of St Augustine as he was later known. After this experience he wrote in 8th book of his “confession”: “No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended—by a light, as it were, of security infused into my heart—all the gloom of doubt vanished away.” “take, Read” “take, Read”. As he had never had a song like that before he taught this could be a message from God (how so religious of him!!): So he rushed to the nearest copy of the bible he could lay his hands on and opened at random. The first words that met his gaze were in Romans13:13-14:
“Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”(Romans 13:13-14)
2. FUNDAMENTALITY OF “RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH” TO CHRISTIANITY
This letter to the Romans, just as it deals with the morally deficient individual, so does it deal with the morally astute person, it deals very much with those who want to please God by their own works. This was the case with Martin Luther, the father of the protestant reformation; for Luther, instead of growing closer to God – He felt further away. Instead of getting to love God more – He hated Him more for requiring apparently impossible standard of righteousness in him as a believer and all human beings in general. He gradually developed a secret anger against God. In his desperation, by grace he found the book of Romans and in chapter 1 verse 17 Luther read:
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith”.
By reading this Luther realised that it was not his own righteousness that God was looking for, but the righteousness of Christ that is available to anyone who cares to ask for it. He discovered that we do not have any righteousness of our own to bring to God because we are bankrupt sinners. We receive God’s righteousness, not through any works of our own, but by faith alone in the finished work of Christ. When we put our faith in Christ, we take God at His word and believe what He says about us and His saving grace in Christ. Luther said:
I had no love for that holy and just God who punished sinners. I was filled with secret anger against Him. I hated Him. . . . But when I learned how the justification of the sinner proceeds from the free mercy of our Lord through faith, then I felt born again like a new man.
Luther, like Paul, discovered that Christianity is Jesus Christ, that it is not about the philosophy of men, like Paul said in his letter to Timothy:
“As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” (1 Timothy 1:3-5)
Like the first and most important commandment tells us:
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND
So;
Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you love Him with all your heart?
Do you love Him with all your being?
Does He occupy your thoughts?
Is He the centre of your attention?
Do you speak often of Him?
There is nothing like being conquered by His love. It lifts you out of the “shallow and selfish, constantly shifting ebbs and flows of cultural sands” of our day. May our very person, like the “man in Christ,” be filled with more and more of Him
Paul was in love with Christ, and that is the only way you can explain him. He had been conquered and captivated by the living Lord Jesus Christ. I believe with all my heart that when He has conquered our hearts, we will love Him the same way and then and only then will our contemporaries say of us, “There is a man, or there is a woman, or there is a young person in Christ.”
The question now is;
Is this ancient writing now relevant in our 21st century jet set, Internet propelled, Godless, greedy, self righteous society drenched in human blood?
How does this apply to our very existence or survival- can we expect this letter to meet our needs today?
The answer to this is yes and I say again yes
because as JM Boice puts it:
“Christianity has been the most powerful, transforming force in human history – and the book of Romans is the most basic, most comprehensive statement of true Christianity”
Looking at the Political background at the time Paul wrote the letter; the first century church was under Roman rule. God used Roman rule (epitomised by the world political, economic and religious set-up of today) to protect, to consolidate, to extend, and to test His young church. The city itself was prosperous and growing. Working class, slaves (just like the employment laws of today that guarantees maximum profit for the employer often to the detriment of employees and their families) and also aristocracy lived in Rome. Economic subsidies, wealth, poverty, entertainment, government, public buildings, parks, famous people, military, and intrigue filled the city.
Nero was the emperor at this time. He ruled from A.D. 54-68. He became the emperor at age 17 and committed suicide at age 31. Just like today (especially in the western world) There was a reasonable decent standard of living (for some, more that enough for them and generations of their children) which tends to make a man think that he is self sufficient and able to “go it” all the way without God, a gradual move to the situation Paul describes in chapter 1 verses 28-32:
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
D. OVERVIEW OF ROMANS
Book of Romans demonstrates the effects of God’s truth upon mankind. The heart of this letter is the barrier between God and man and the solution to this problem.
The gospel message is that God’s righteousness is offered to mankind based on the death and resurrection of Christ; man receives God’s righteousness by faith in Christ alone. So in the course of our study of the book of Romans we will be looking at God’s truth in these categories:
Eternal Purpose: Greeting and introduction:
Christ as the theme, God’s righteousness and man’s unrighteousness, (Romans 1-3).
God gives His righteousness through faith alone, (Romans 4-5).
The gospel:
We Can Live the Normal everyday Christian Life? (Romans 6-8).
Universality / Outworking of Christianity in individual and national life:
God’s Plan for Israel, (Romans 9-11). Day to Day Christian Living, (Romans 12-16).
In our next post we will have a look at
GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE – Foresight of The Master Planner
Most Importantly!!!!!
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about?” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. It is Jesus, after all, who is the source of life’s greatest high.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17).
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You could pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
In this series we have been looking at the first stanza of the hymn, Trust and Obey by John Henry Sammis as part of our mini-series “Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God” In previous posts we have looked at God’s good will, His original plan of His eternal purpose Ultimately being, PLAN A – The Glory of God – We saw that it is safe to say that His good will, His eternal purpose, is a plan to ultimately, bring us to His Glory, with provision made for perceived blunders we will make along the way –The Gospel of Christ Jesus.We then started on this Journey of Regeneration– God’s Provisions & Man’s Acts. We then looked at Propitiation – It Is Finished; before that, Redemption then Justification as part of God’s Regeneration of man.
We then stopped to have a look at the work of the Holy Spirit in this eternal purpose of God especially the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of man. We looked at this from the perspective of the specific activities of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of man – His activities in the eternal Purpose of God and His in bringing life to man’s deadened conscience through quickening of the human spirit.
The Holy Spirit & Regeneration of Man. How God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit:
Part 1 – Confirms Man As A Sinner The Components of Man (Body, Soul & Spirit); Heart of Man; SELF & The Heart of Man; Conviction in unregenerate Man; What is the law? (At Salvation); The law & Grace?
Part 2a – Removes His Sins and Their ConsequencesThe purpose conviction of sin is CHANGE OF HEART; CHANGE OF HEART! in unregenerate man as a result of conviction?; Product of conviction in an un-regenerated man; The purpose of conviction of sin is to change the heart; Grace From Cross At Calvary; Regeneration of the spirit (Quickening); A Quickened Heart (At Salvation)
We are now here;
Repentance In Christian Conversion
Introduction
Knowing And Approving Does Not Equate To Salvation
The Assurance of Salvation
The Regeneration Before The Conversion Process – QUICKENING
The Conversion Process
Repentance
Heart of Man -A Free & Wholesome Conscience For Repentance
In our last post we saw that regeneration of the spirit (Quickening) is entirely an act of consistent, instantaneous, unperceived work of the Grace (unmerited favour) of God. MAN HAS NO PART TO PLAY IN IT;
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
We saw that Quickening is made possible through the work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at Calvary:
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”. (1 Corinthians 15:45)
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” (John 5:21)
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)
Knowing And Approving Does Not Equate To Salvation
The fact that one has even been able to read or hear about God’s plan of salvation does not in mean itself that the person is converted.
Regeneration (even after the quickening of the Holy Spirit) does not automatically translate into conversion. The quickening is meant to trigger an earnest seeking of the kingdom of God. Earnest Seeking through repentance towards God and faith in Jesus IS A MUST to move ahead:
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD; FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 20:21)
How ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. (1 Thessalonians 1:9b)
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12b-13)
.We can see example of knowledge without conversion in the case of king Agrippa :
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. (But then)Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. (Acts 26:27-28 emphasis added)
In fact, Familiarity Breeds Contempt!!!
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (But then)Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:1-3 emphasis added)
Knowledge & Approval Can Even Breed Hostility
Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. (But then)They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. (John 9:32-34 emhasis added)
FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD (JESUS) SHALL BE SAVED (Romans 10:13)
IF YOU believe IN Jesus AND repentant OF YOUR SINS THEN you are saved. Believe in Jesus Christ: To be the son of God; died and rose up again, and that His finished work on the Cross is more than enough to set you free. To Repent means: Being sincerely sorry for your sins and bringing them before God (between you and Him); with the aim of not going back to them.
The Assurance of Salvation
Have you ever found yourself asking: Am I Now A Christian? Saved????? Is Jesus really now in my life????? If I die now, I don’t even know if I will end up in heaven or hell?????
Have you also ever found yourself thinking: “I don’t feel any different” How can I be sure Jesus has come into my life? “I guess God didn’t really forgive me” my life? “I didn’t get that ‘emotional feeling’ my friends said they felt when they got saved.”
You may have just recently received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and you are still not sure of what happened: You still have doubts about your salvation and do lack the assurance of your relationship with God – or even worse still, have been saved for years and still struggling with these doubts:
If you were to die today, are you absolutely sure beyond a shadow of doubt that you would go to heaven?
IF YOU believe IN Jesus AND repentant OF YOUR SINS THEN you are saved. Believe in Jesus Christ: To be the son of God; died and rose up again, and that His finished work on the Cross is more than enough to set you free. To Repent means: Being sincerely sorry for your sins and bringing them before God (between you and Him); with the aim of not going back to them.
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3)
The heart (of a saved person) is: Body (Physical Functions); Soul (Functions of Will, Intellect & Emotions); Spirit (Functions of Regenerated Conscience, Intuition and Communion). The soul (being saved) is now reflecting the purity of the heart; meaning that the effect on the soul of the functions of a liberated conscience, intuition and communion with God is demonstrated; even if and when these are the “substance of things we hope for; and evidence of things we cannot see”
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
So, if to receive God’s love and forgiveness ; is to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and:
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)
The soul being saved should reflect the purity of the heart; meaning that the effect of the functions of a liberated conscience, intuition and communion with God is demonstrated by the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (that we cannot physically see) and the conviction of the reality (perceiving as real what is not revealed to the senses) of this fact being made real to us by our seeing ourselves hidden in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God.
Then, at this point of being saved and having a regenerated heart, the soul [(Functions of Will, Intellect & Emotions) now being controlled by the spirit (Functions of a liberated conscience, intuition and communion with God ) that is in turn now also under the control of the Holy Spirit] SHOULD BE COMMITTED SOLELY TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST AND ENABLED TO COMPREHEND THE SOLID BIBLICAL AND HISTORICAL FACTS THAT CHRISTIANITY IS BUILT ON.
The Regeneration Before The Conversion Process – QUICKENING
Regeneration means that one has been born again or born from above. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:3-8)
The new birth is the work of God, so that all those who are born again are “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8); and the means God uses to grant such new life is the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3);
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)
Regeneration or being born again is a supernatural birth. Just as we cannot do anything to be born physically—it just happens to us!—so too we cannot do anything to cause our spiritual rebirth. Only the quickening of the Holy Spirit can set in motion, this spiritual rebirth. As we have seen in The Holy Spirit & The Salvation of Man (Part 2a)
This quickening must be followed by earnest seeking through repentance towards God and faith in Jesus which is MUST to move ahead as seen in acts 20:21:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:36-42)
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. (Acts 16:30-34)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9- 10)
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. (Acts 14:15-16)
Repentance
Greek: Metanoeó– to change one’s mind or purpose. I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent:
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. (Ephesians 3:16)
Hebrew: Nahum – to lament, to grieve. This word is describing the emotions that are aroused when motivated to take a different course of action.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
Shub – to turn back, return. This word expresses a radical change of mind toward sin and implies a conscious moral separation from sin and a decision to forsake it and agree with God.
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)
It is not repentance that leads to God’s Kindness but; it is God’s kindness that triggers repentance.
Like we touched on earlier while looking at how intuition and communion are made available through the regeneration of the spirit (direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit at salvation). The aspects of the regeneration of the spirit being:
(Quickening) The activation of Intuition and Communion in the human spirit (this we have looked at) and:
(The Circumcision of the heart) Release of the conscience from the control of the soul (as it is the only function of the spirit in the unregenerate heart)
The Bible tells us:
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent. (Acts 17:30)
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. (Acts 8:22)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:7)
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5)
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22)
Man’s intellect picks up these messages:
Informing and Changing of the INTELLECT (Mind) – informing and changing of the way our thoughts, ideas, concepts, reasons, understanding, knowledge etc. are processed so that they are focused on God.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. (Colossians 1:21)
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
The fact that the intellect of man in its ‘natural’ state cannot comprehend the operations of God, as they are beyond its scope:
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
There needs to be an ‘upgrade’ facilitated by The Holy Spirit. This ‘upgrade’ is what brings the intellect of man from its natural form to become the intuition.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)
‘life of nature’ exchanged for ‘spiritual’ life
Godly Sorrow
As the Emotion is the function of our soul that deals with feelings; one of which is sorrow that comes from both the ‘nature’ (canal) or ‘spirit’ side of man; one important feeling that is necessary for repentance or perhaps the trigger for repentance is sorrow – GODLY SORROW or ‘godly grief’. It is an acute sense of sadness we experience as a result of the sins we have committed:
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
Unlike worldly sorrow, which comes from our ‘nature’ (canal being) and is a feeling triggered by knowing that one has been caught, and thus the need or attempts to cover up: which leads to guilt, mental distress, a temporary resolve to do better by dealing with the symptoms and ultimately death and eternal separation from God.
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. (Hosea 6:4).
Godly sorrow leads to repentance and life eternal
Will of man actively working in conjunction with the Holy Spirit
To yield result of eternal value
NEXT:
We will have a look at: Christian Conversion GOOD CONSCIENCE; USEFUL HEART Then look out for FAITH
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about?” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need. We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin? In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind. In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. It is Jesus, after all, who is the source of life’s greatest high.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17).
What must a person do to accept this gift? Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life.
You might pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
The Gospel of Christ – JUSTIFICATION – You’re Not Guilty!! Says God
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
We are continuing with our look at the first stanza of the hymn, Trust and Obey by John Henry Sammis as part of our mini series “Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God” In previous posts we have looked at God’s good will, His original plan of His eternal purpose Ultimately being,PLAN A – The Glory of God – We saw that it is safe to say that His good will, His eternal purpose, is a plan to ultimately, bring us to His Glory, with provision made for perceived blunders we will make along the way.
In our last post we looked at Redemption: Before that, Propitiation as part of God’s Regeneration of man. We saw redemption as being the act of buying something back; or an act by which the original or prospective owner of a thing pays a price to return that thing from a present owner (back) to his/her possession.
In this post we will continue with our look at this provision He has made for our blunders, Now in our mortal bodies: as we saw inPLAN A1- The Gospel of Christ – where we started looking at regeneration as part of GOD‘S FULL SALVATION. Here we saw regeneration as the act by which God justifies us through propitiation by Christ Jesus and regenerates us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit; that it involves: Redemption, Sanctification (positional 1 Pet. 1:2; 1Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation. We will now look at Justification
Justification
Justification is a doctrine that is a legal matter to the core; as the word infers, It describes a sinner under trial before the tribunal of a God who is:
Life – He is the essence of the breathe of life
Spirit – It is impossible to see Him with human eyes, but through the eye of the spirit
Omnipotence – He has the ultimate power to do whatever He wills.
Omnipresence – He fills the whole of creation which makes it possible for Him to be present everywhere at once
Omniscience – He knows all things that can be known in the past, present, future, so nothing can escape His knowledge
Infinity – He is, if I may say, interwoven into all things.
Nature of Love– God’s love for us is just as His attribute of being immutable, it cannot change
Immutability – God cannot change because He is the beginning and end ‘Alpha & Omega’
“If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, …who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3).
“There is none righteous, no, not one….” (Romans 3:10).
The dictionary Says of Justification:
A good reason or explanation for something
So in other words, Justification is:
The Act or a good reason or explanation for Making Man Right with God by grace through faith In Jesus Christ.
Justification is the “Act of God” by which (according to His promise) He approves us based on His own standard of righteousness. This He can legally do without compromising His divine righteousness because of the finished redemptive work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary. This justification can only be obtained through the grace of God and not by our works.
Aspects of Justification
There are two distinct aspects of justification:
Forgiveness
This is God‘s act of pardoning and releasing us from our mistakes or wrongdoings and actually ‗wiping them off the slate‘. (Jeremiah 31:34; John 3:18; 5:24; Acts 10:43; 26:18; Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).
Imputation
This is the application of the righteousness of Jesus Christ to us in our sinful state. (Romans 4:4-6; 5:1, 19; 8:1; 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:8-9)
We have:
Imputation for Positional Sanctification
Thank God
Imputation for Experiential Sanctification
Imputation for Perfection (Christian Liberty)
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” (Galatians 5:13) “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1) “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
In our next post please look out for Faith (Hebrews1:1) the 4th component of Regeneration.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like thisREPENTANTLY (Having taken time to bring your sins before God with a determination to completely turn away from them):
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek. 36:26–27)
I want to start this look at Redemption by taking us back to some of what we looked at the beginning of this mini- series Trust and Obey, especially where we asked the questions – What is God’s good will? And What provisions has He made for us to take hold of this good will?The answer for the first question being that God’s good will is the pursuit of His eternal purpose. The answer to the second question The Gospel of Christis what we are now looking at.
In our look at The Gospel of Christ, we saw that it is the singularly most important communication of God to man. We saw that in Jesus, who is God the Son, we have the revelation of God‘s love and sacrifice that saves us from Gods righteous judgment upon sinners. We then started our look at this GOD‘S FULL SALVATION which comprises of Regeneration, Transformation and Consummation.
REGENERATION•
God justifies us through propitiation by Christ Jesus and regenerates us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit. It involves: Propitiation, Redemption, Justification, Forgiveness, Imputation, Sanctification (Positional), Sanctification (Experiential), Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Reconciliation to God
TRANSFORMATION•
This is the process of our freedom from the dominion of indwelling sin. It involves: Freedom from Sin, Sanctification (mainly dispositional Roman 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up and maturing.
CONSUMMATION•
Redemption of our corrupted body (Roman 8:23) and transfiguring into Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21). This is the inheritance of God’s Kingdom and participation in Jesus’ Kingship.
a. Deliverance or rescue from sin through the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Christ
b. Atonement for guilt
3. An act or process of redeeming or atoning for a fault or mistake, or the state of being redeemed.
Redeem – gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.
Compensatory – Providing, effecting, or aiming at compensation, in particular. (Of a payment) Intended to recompense someone who has experienced loss, suffering, or injury.
Retrieve – Get (something) back; regain possession of.
Regain – Obtain possession or use of (something, typically something
abstract) again after losing it.
Reach – (a place, position, or thing) again; get back to.
Reclaim – Retrieve or recover (something previously lost, given, or
paid); obtain the return of. The action or process of
reclaiming or being reclaimed: “beyond reclaim”.
Repossess – Retake possession of (something)
Redemption is the act of buying something back; or an act by which the original or prospective owner of a thing pays a price to return that thing from a present owner (back) to his/her possession.
Three of the Greek words that point to redemption in the Bible are – ‘agorazo’, ‘exagorazo’ and ‘lutroo’.
In our next post please look out for Justification (Romans 5:8-10) the Third component of Regeneration.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like thisREPENTANTLY (Having brought your sins before God with a determination to completely turn away from them):
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek. 36:26–27)
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, by his blood, to shew his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins one aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the shewing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
Click on Image to see presentation on Propitiation
Propitiation and Atonement
In our look at this very important core of our Christian witness – propitiation, I will like to first of all clarify the relationship between propitiation and atonement as it seems that the two are sometimes being taken to be the same. Using atonement in place of propitiation as seen in some modern versions of the bible renders the death of Christ a perpetual sacrifice which it is not. Propitiation was a one time event.
Propitiate: to conciliate, appease. Propitiation:
The act of propitiating. Latin propitius, a disposition of favour (one can think pro-pity, a setting forth of pity or mercy). The Greek word translated propitiation in the New Testament is hilasmos, which is a means of appeasing, a conciliation.
To appease: to bring peace or calm, to satisfy or relieve.
To atone: to make amends or reparations for an injury or wrongdoing, to expiate.
In layman’s terms, atonement is the bringing together of two parties that were initially at odds, and propitiation is the idea of making correction for something that may have caused the two to be at odds.
Let us take for example, at the case of a man whose wife empties out his savings and runs away. After a period of separation they decide to settle their disagreement (propitiation) and get back together as one (atonement). In this scenario, bringing the wife and husband together is atonement (reconciliation) and the provision for taking care (appeasement) of the sinful act of the wife (or husband) – the “money problem” is propitiation. I guess one of the first questions here would be “how much of the money has she got left”? And for that question to be asked, the husband and wife have to come together one way or the other.
Depending on the state of mind of the husband (or how broke he is), the person resolving this conflict will first of all have to be very well sure that the “money problem” is resolved (Holy God: righteousness, truth and justice) who provided (lamb slain from the foundation of the earth). A comprehensive package that addresses the covetousness of the wife (or as the case may be, the stinginess of the husband and/or other factors that might have caused the situation to occur) must be put in place – these (man’s debt from his sinful nature) are what the Gospel of Jesus Christ addresses through His death, burial, and resurrection. The whole idea here is that, Jesus makes atonement for us by bringing us into fellowship (atonement) with His Father through providing propitiation, which was done by Him dying on the cross to pay the ransom price that our sin demands and that caused us to be at odds with Him who is absolutely righteous.
ATONEMENT
Obsolete : reconciliation
The reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
“That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
To supply satisfaction for:
Expiate – to put an end to; to extinguish the guilt incurred by.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures”. (James 1:17-18)
Atonement is a concept in which obstacles to reconciliation with God are removed; through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Ephesians 2:14-16)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1:19-22)
Atonement (Before Jesus Came)
Man is (at default) separated from God due to the sin committed by the first man Adam and he (man) have had to contend with the consequences of Adam’s actions:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:28-32)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
In the old testament days, the Ark of the Covenant was the place where the Lord had the sacrificial blood poured out, for the forgiveness of Israel’s sins. The blood was sprinkled on the atonement cover.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:17-22)
This was blood of animals which had to be sacrificed time after time
Atonement (At Calvary)
Man was reconciled to God at Calvary. This was made possible by God sacrificing His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (once and for all) unlike the continual sacrifices made in the old testament.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1:19-22)
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17)
When Jesus made Himself a sacrifice at Calvary, He paved the way, cleared out all the impediments – all the blockages that kept man away from God. He then signified the end of this task when He:
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-4).
He did not just ‘cover’ our sins, He totally removed them:
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
One of the strategies of Satan is to make sure that at least he can rob us of our joy if he is unable to steal our salvation by reminding us of our past sins; we will always do ourselves a lot of good to have it in mind that Jesus did not only forgive our “small sins” but “ALL sins”.
PROPITIATION
Propitiation points to what God has received from the death of Christ, whether or not a sinner trusts Jesus Christ. The Holy, Justice, Righteous nature of God has to be completely satisfied and this was done on the cross.
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
“This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:6-7)
Propitiate: to conciliate, appease.
Propitiation:The act of propitiating.
Latin propitius, a disposition of favour (one can think pro-pity, a setting forth of pity or mercy). The Greek word translated propitiation in the New Testament is hilasmos, which is a means of appeasing, a conciliation.
To appease: to bring peace or calm, to satisfy or relieve.
To atone: to make amends or reparations for an injury or wrongdoing, to expiate.
“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)
Propitiation is the work Jesus did on the cross to appease and satisfy God’s wrath so He would be able to pardon sinners who trust in Christ. It is God’s way of making amends for our sins. This He does by a process in which the guilt or innocence is transferred from one person (Jesus) to another (man). The guilt or the bad actions of one person is attributed or imputed to another. So that when it comes to punishment, the person who is the substitute bears the brunt, and that the person substituted goes away free. This way God made reparations for our sins by transferring them to Christ’s account as He hung on the cross at Calvary. The absolute sinless life of Jesus Christ makes this transaction possible as His innocence is transferred to those who believe and follow Him.
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” (Hebrews 9:14-17)
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)
“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 2:14)
In our next post please look out for Redemption (Ezekiel 36:25-27) the second component of Regeneration.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind. The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”. If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,And with all who will trust and obey.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
We are continuing with our look at the first stanza of the hymn, Trust and Obey by John Henry Sammis as part of our mini series “Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God” In our last post we started with our look at God’s good will, we stopped at the original plan of His eternal purpose Ultimately, PLAN A – The Glory of God – We saw that it is safe to say that His good will, His eternal purpose, is a plan to ultimately, bring us to His Glory, with provision made for perceived blunders we will make along the way.
In this post we will have a look at this provision He has made for our blunders, Now in our mortal bodies: PLAN A1- The Gospel of Christ. which we have in fact delved into already in the last post and also in –Part 1 ALL HAVE SINNED
Where we addressed the reason for plan A1 in answer to a very valid question asked about the use of the phrases Plan A or Plan A1 – “What Plan B!? Like I said then, it was always plan A from the get go!” (I Used Plan B before making it A1); maybe I had been watching too much of the confusing political debates – oh!! Modern day politics – the more you hear; the less you understand (abracadabra politics). We have also in the same post looked at His plan for us and how we have (through Adam) “temporarily deviated” from the path of this plan and the consequences of Adam’s original sin.
We also in First Begotten Son is God Part 1looked at the consequences of Adam’s choice to develop the functions of his will, intellect and emotions “APART FROM GOD” at the expense of developing the functions of his conscience, intuition and communion with God; this (now) being the state of the unregenerate man, who does not know God. (We will examine this further when we have a comprehensive look at Romans 5)
We will now continue with the first stanza of the hymn by looking at this presentation called: Gospel of Christ Jesus
The gospel of Christ Jesus is the singularly most important communication of God to man. In Jesus, who is God the Son, we have the revelation of God‘s love and sacrifice that saves us from Gods righteous judgment upon sinners.
GOD‘S FULL SALVATION
REGENERATION•
God justifies us through propitiation by Christ Jesus and regenerates us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit. It involves: Redemption, Sanctification (positional 1 Pet. 1:2; 1Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation and regeneration
TRANSFORMATION•
This is the process of our freedom from the dominion of indwelling sin. It involves: Freedom from Sin, Sanctification (mainly dispositional Roman 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up and maturing.
CONSUMMATION•
Redemption of our corrupted body (Roman 8:23) and transfiguring into Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21). This is the inheritance of God’s Kingdom and participation in Jesus’ Kingship.
In the next post we will be examining Regeneration when one believes in Jesus Christ.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this God you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”. If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
The book of Romans is the most basic, comprehensive statement of true Christianity. This page explores the relevance of Romans to our world today. As it deals with the morally deficient individual (as illustrated in Cityboy Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile-Geraint Anderson which describes life within the square mile of the city of London, the bankers haven), so does it deal with the morally astute person; who wants to please God by their own works. Travel with us on this interesting highway.
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