Naked and Guilty

What should I do?

There is pain shooting through my arms from being pushed to the ground for the…I can’t even remember how many times…and now my clothes are being torn from my body. I am naked and guilty before my accusers; I have no defense to offer. I was found in the very act of committing the crime for which I am accused. I am being lifted up and pushed along towards the judges that will pass sentence on me for my crime. I know the sentence for my crime is death; my only hope is to cry for mercy. I am still being pushed down; I fall many times. I am cut and bruised as I try to cover my nakedness to keep what little remains of my dignity and now I arrive before my judges as my accusers report my crime. I sink to the ground and cover myself the best I can as I await the inevitable outcome of my trial: death by stoning. Again I am being pulled to my feet and pushed along to another place where they say I am to meet my judge and pay for my crime. I see a crowd gathered ahead of me and they are forcing me to the center of them where I come face to face with my final judge. “What is her crime?” I hear the man ask my accusers. “She is guilty of adultery caught in the very act and the law requires her death by stoning.” I then hear one of the Priests say, “What do you say Rabbi?” I know now that I am going to die as I hide my face from this man. I am afraid to look Him in the eye yet somehow He is very different and I don’t know why. “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” I wait fearfully with my eyes closed praying for God to show me mercy on judgment day. Suddenly I hear the man say to me, “Woman where are your accusers?” I look around and see only my judge standing before me. “They are gone.” I say. “And I will not condemn you; leave and sin no more.” I see a clean white garment lying beside me to cover my nakedness and I pick it up, quickly putting it on. Then I truly look into the eyes of my judge and see LOVE like I have never seen before. As I turn and walk away I wonder, “Who could He be?” The next day, while still feeling clean, joyful and most of all grateful, I seek to find the man who forgave me. I am told He is Jesus; the One called Christ by His followers of which I am now one.

Most of us recognize this story from the book of John, chapter eight and marvel at how Jesus disperses the crowd and saves the woman. We are all that woman brought before a sinless God naked and guilty and it is by His compassion and kindness that we are not condemned, for all of us have sinned. When the Spirit of God drags us before the cross we can choose to accept His payment for our sins or face Him as our Righteous Judge.

Rom 3:23 Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory.
Rom 3:24 They receive God's approval freely by an act of his kindness through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free from sin.
Eph 2:8 God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God.
Rom 8:1 So those who are believers in Christ Jesus can no longer be condemned.
Rom 8:2 The standards of the Spirit, who gives life through Christ Jesus, have set you free from the standards of sin and death.
If you are willing to accept this free gift then please do so now because you are not promised another chance or another day. This is your day of salvation; there are no “tomorrows”, only the here and now.

Act 2:37 When the people heard this, they were deeply upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"
Act 2:38 Peter answered them, "All of you must turn to God and change the way you think and act, and each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

If you have decided to accept your free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, please leave a comment or send us an email so that we may rejoice with you.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep you, Amen.

So Great Our Salvation 3

How Will I Endure?

Before we explore this subject, I would first like to take this opportunity to apologize for not posting as I had been before but I thank you for understanding and I pray you continue to read our postings on this website.

All of us want to grow in Christ, or at least I hope that is our goal, so how do we do this and how does it personally affect our lives? Well first of all, God has a plan for every life, and every life is lived according to this plan. So, you ask, how do I understand God’s plan for my life? This is a question asked by many Christians so hopefully the answers will be provided here as I briefly cover the following: the life surrendered to Jesus Christ and the life lived for Him.

1 Pet 2:2 Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation.
1 Pet 2:3 Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good! (GW)

All children must eat to grow. When a child is hungry, they fuss until someone feeds them. If a child is not fed then eventually he or she will die. If we are children of God, truly seeking Him then we must seek Him where He can be found which is in His Word given to us from ages past. Everything that is needed to learn the character of Jesus Christ is found in the Bible. All of the “how to do” and “what to do” are in these pages.

Mat 7:7 “Ask and you will receive. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you.
Mat 7:8 Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

So now that you know where to find the information and how to get it, you’re probably wondering how you will grow in Jesus Christ and endure to the end. The answer is so simple that we often overlook the obvious, therefore never getting the revelation. The following short sentence is something I learned from a Christian brother named Chip Brogden and it ties in with what I’m trying to convey:

John 3:30 He (Christ Jesus) must increase in importance, while I (insert your name) must decrease in importance.

So how do I do that, you ask? As stated before, the answer is right in your Bible and because of its simplicity we read past it and never get it.

Eph 1:7 Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.
Eph 1:8 He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight
Eph 1:9 when he revealed the mystery of his plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ.
Eph 1:10 He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth.

Because of the blood of Jesus we are set free from our sins and given a new life. The Good News is that God did it ALL. How do you grow in Christ? God made provision by giving us every wisdom and insight to understand His Word because He wants us to know Him personally. It is the will of God that His mystery and His plan will be carried out through Christ; all of history finds its meaning in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus is the head of all things. In summation, He (Jesus) must increase and we must decrease. By His kindness, God has poured out His wisdom and understanding by Christ, through Christ and in Christ so that HE is the head of all things.

May our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless and keep you all.

So Great Our Salvation 2

To whom have you trusted your salvation?

Since the answer to this question will determine our eternal destination, either Heaven or Hell, it should be the most important thing in our lives. For the purposes of this study, we will look at this question from two perspectives: (1) We maintain our salvation by what we do; or (2) God maintains our salvation by the price already paid (by what He did).

1Pe 1:4 We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can't be destroyed or corrupted and can't fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 since you are guarded by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time. (GW)

Heb 12:2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God. (GW)

You may be wondering why I didn’t include more verses. Well, the bottom line is that I want to keep these posts at a length that will keep your attention.

My inheritance, (my salvation) is kept in heaven for me. How could I go to heaven to get it out, and by what power can I take it away from God?... Now, here was the kicker for me, that really changed my way of thinking: If it is not true that God guards my salvation, then the Word is not true, and God is a liar… I will not call God a liar!

Rom 3:3 What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God's faithfulness?
Rom 3:4 That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says, "So you hand down justice when you speak, and you win your case in court." (GW)

My salvation is guarded by God’s power through faith. Faith causes us to act on what we believe. Therefore, if I believe that Jesus holds my salvation in His hand, I should not be concerned about my eternal destination. Rather, I should seek to serve Jesus who already has me in His hand. If I am in Christ Jesus, then I live where He lives.

Now, let’s consider the other side of the coin: I somehow maintain my salvation by my deeds… After I am saved from the law of sin and death, I now somehow save myself by what I do or don’t do. If that is the case, then the Blood of Jesus isn’t enough to cover all of my sins! When have I done enough deeds? Am I doing the correct deeds? Does God accept these deeds? Maybe I’m not saved? Satan works over time to get us to believe this line of thinking because he knows that we will never measure up. When will I be “good enough” to serve Christ? Quite simply, never! That is why the full price has to be paid by Christ. We serve with a clear conscience knowing our sins are forgiven. We confess our faults, surrender to Jesus, and move forward toward the goal.

The answer to the initial question, “to whom have you trusted your salvation” should be easy to figure out. I fully trust Jesus to hold me securely in His hand. The work He has begun in me, He will see through to the end… Even when I fall short of the mark, He remains faithful.

Gal 2:19 When I tried to obey the law's standards, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. I have been crucified with Christ.
Gal 2:20 I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by believing in God's Son, who loved me and took the punishment for my sins.
Gal 2:21 I don't reject God's kindness. If we receive God's approval by obeying laws, then Christ's death was pointless.

Heb 12:2a We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.

May God richly bless you all through Jesus Christ our LORD.

So Great Our Salvation

This is going to be a short introduction that I plan on adding to in the up coming weeks. How often have we spoken of, or have been spoken to concerning our salvation. A few questions are in order to gain some in sight into the subject before we start.

In what have we based our salvation?

In whom do we trust our salvation?

How on earth will we endure to the end?

To start us out I want to make it very clear that I do not intend this to be my opinion, but truly God’s opinion; since it will be to God, through Jesus Christ, that we will give our ultimate
answer.

Gal 1:8 Whoever tells you good news that is different from the Good News we gave you should be condemned to hell, even if he is one of us or an angel from heaven.
Gal 1:9 I'm now telling you again what we've told you in the past: If anyone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you received, that person should be condemned to hell.

This is very strong language from Paul warning us of not teaching a different Good News, only the Good News already delivered to God’s family.

Jud 1:3 Dear friends, I had intended to write to you about the salvation we share. But something has come up. It demands that I write to you and encourage you to continue your fight for the Christian faith that was entrusted to God's holy people once for all time.

Jude exhorts us to continue our fight for the Good News, we are God’s sacred people set aside to be a light in this world of darkness.

For this week we will deal with question number one. The answer is the Bible it is from the Bible we get our witness to the truth of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.

1Co 15:1 Brothers and sisters, I'm making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based.
1Co 15:2 In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over.
1Co 15:3 I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received: Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted.
1Co 15:4 He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted.

Without the Bible we would not know the truth of Jesus Christ, His death to pay the price His resurrection to give us a new life. If Christ is not alive today how can we be alive in Christ?

1Co 15:14 If Christ hasn't come back to life, our message has no meaning and your faith also has no meaning.

So in closing believing the witness of the Bible and knowing the Bible is the authoritative Word of God we have our answer to question number one.

May God richly bless you all.

Sacrifice

Rom 12:1 – Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. (GW)

Why do we misinterpret this scripture so often in most theology today?

Before going any further, I must first say that not all people misconstrue this scripture but I do hear many say or think they still need or can please God with a sacrifice. The ultimate and last sacrifice made for everything was done by our Lord Jesus when he died on the cross. To try and add anything else to this final act would be like going to heaven and bringing Christ back down; in other words putting something on the cross for us to offer to God as a sacrifice for His approval.

Heb 9:26 – Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the world was created. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once to remove sin by his sacrifice. (GW)

When we seek God’s approval through actions, whether it be giving money, adding standards and calling them our holiness, or anything that is based on the “I can do” premise, it diminishes what Jesus did on the cross. Before long we are adding new things to the cross so that WE can sacrifice for something to gain God’s approval. We already have God’s approval because of the blood shed by Jesus Christ and there is NOTHING more that we can add to this sacrifice. We have been made righteous, holy, and sanctified by His blood.

Be sacrificed to Jesus, which is the same as saying surrender yourself to Christ; accept the free gift given to us by God through His son Jesus.

Col 1:22 – But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in his physical body. He did this so that you could come into God's presence without sin, fault, or blame. (GW)

What more can we do than what has already been done?

God Bless and Keep You

Amazing Grace

Grace is a word that has had an amazing effect upon the children of God. To some, the word “grace” means “unmerited favor of God” and for others, the word “grace” takes on a distorted meaning of “my merits earn the favor of God.” Since the word “grace” cannot be both, we will examine each definition and come to the only conclusion in Jesus’ eyes, HE being the Word and the Truth of everything.

Eph 2:8: God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. (God’s Word Translation)
Eph 2:8-9: For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (NET)

The word “grace” taken from the God’s Word translation means “kindness.” Since the word “kindness” is used more often in today’s society than the word “grace”, I will use it to expound upon. The definition of “grace” in today’s society means:

1. Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
2. A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.
3. A sense of fitness or propriety.
4. a. A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill. b. Mercy; clemency.
5. A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.
6. A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.

These definitions were taken from www.dictionary.com.

Now let’s look at the word “kindness”:
n 1: the quality of being warm-hearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic [ant: unkindness] 2: tendency to be kind and forgiving [syn: forgivingness] 3: a kind act [syn: benignity]

In today’s society the word “kindness” is more understood by unbelievers than the word “grace.” It is my hope that unbelievers will read this blog and gain an understanding of the nature of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“Kindness” is an attribute of Jesus Christ; we can neither gain nor lose His kindness. As an unbeliever, if I am mean to Jesus, I may cause Him to become angry with me but He is still kind, always willing to forgive.

For an unkind person (Satan), I can do all types of good deeds and he will still be unkind. I may think I’ve earned some type of merit because of the work(s) I do or have done but I would never receive love or kindness from him because he would not have any to give. He causes harm to anyone who places their trust in him because by nature he is a liar, a thief, and a destroyer; in other words, an “unkind” person whose only reward is everlasting life with him in a lake of fire.

In closing, I will add these last thoughts: we are saved as an act of God’s kindness not because of something we have done to merit His favor. Jesus died on the cross to earn our favor with God not because of something we have done or will do. Our favor in God’s eyes comes through Jesus Christ as a free gift from God. After we are saved, the gift is what saves us - not what we do.

May God Bless and Keep You.

The Bible

When we hear someone say that they are reading the Bible, immediately what vision comes to mind? Do we automatically assume they are reading the Bible, the story of God, or could they be reading the bible on "how to fix plumbing in their house?" The word "Bible" has been described as the authoritative and definitive source book for a given subject; therefore, if we truly want to find out about God we must first reference His source book, the Holy Bible.

Can the Bible be trusted? There have been an abundance of excellent books written about the Bible and its validity. One author who I have thoroughly enjoyed reading concerning this subject has been Josh McDowell. His book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Volume Two, covers the topics from volume one and includes up-to-date information. The Bible can, without a doubt, be proven to be the best kept book of all time, as well as the best seller of all time.

We, at the Church of the Living Word, believe the Bible is the definitive, authoritative, and final Word of the Living God. When we are asked, "What do you believe," our answer is simply "the Bible." When we are asked, "What is your statement of faith," again our answer is simply "Jesus Christ." As we continue with our written and audio Bible lessons, I truly hope that those who are lost will be found and that those who believe will be edified.

Keeping our eyes focused on Jesus Christ, the source and goal of our faith.

May the Lord Keep You and Bless You.