Table of Contents

TITLE Page No.

Acknowledgment...................................................................................1
Introduction...........................................................................................2
Welcome Aboard....................................................................................8
The Belief System In Christ Jesus.........................................................14
The Animal Sacrifice.............................................................................18
Everyone: Recipient of God’s Eternal Love...........................................26

PART I – God’s Grace Goes Beyond Mercy and Forgiveness................31

Jesus: The Predestined Savior................................................................32
Ephesians 1:11-12................................................................................32
Assurance of Forgiveness......................................................................35
All Forgiven Or Not At All...................................................................38
You Are Blameless In Christ ................................................................44
Your Security Is Jesus............................................................................46

PART II – God’s Grace Qualifies The Unqualified...............................49

Jesus Already Shed His Blood...............................................................50
You Are As Clean As Jesus....................................................................52
Your Sins Have Been Put Away............................................................55
You Have Been Declared Holy.............................................................58
Cute and Attractive..............................................................................61

PART III – God’s Grace is the Only Refuge

for the Sinner and Be Justified..........................................65
You Are as Righteous and Holy as God................................................66
Be Perfect: Keep the Law Out of Reach................................................68
Magnify Your Justification in the Eye of a Needle.................................71
Sin Dissolved Once And For All...........................................................74
Jesus Will Not Drink the Cup of Sin Again..........................................76

PART IV – God’s Grace, the Gospel Will Stand Forever......................79

Jesus Has Confessed You to the Father.................................................80
Your Salvation is Eternally Secured in Jesus..........................................82
No Christian Believer Can Ever Blaspheme the Holy Spirit..................85
Reject the Ministry of Death and Condemnation.................................89
No Judgment On Your Past..................................................................91

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 Table of Contents
TITLE Page No.

PART V – God’s Grace Will Keep You Forever.....................................95

Double Protection for All Eternity.......................................................96
You Are Not Numbered With the Chosen Few....................................99
The Revelation of God’s Righteousness...............................................102
Be At Par With The Gospel................................................................105
Jesus’ Righteousness, the Will of the Father........................................108
PART VI – God’s Grace is Perfectly Strong
That It Cannot Be Reversed.............................................111
Grace: Where Jesus is Effective...........................................................112
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Grace.........................................................115
Grace: The True Report......................................................................118
Grace: The Saving Arm of God..........................................................121
God’s Grace, Available in Darkest Times............................................123
Grace Ground: Right Place for the Church........................................126
PART VII – God’s Grace Gives Everything that Pertains to Life.........129
You Are A New Creation....................................................................130
Perfect Standing Before God..............................................................132
You Can Do All of God’s Will Too.....................................................134
All is Yours in the House....................................................................137
You Are as Rich as Jesus......................................................................139
You are Always Worthy to Jesus..........................................................143
You Can Never Lose Your Salvation....................................................145
Work Out Your Salvation...................................................................148
PART VIII – God’s Grace Empowers You to Reign in Life.................151
You Reign In Christ Jesus...................................................................152
God is on the Hunt for the One Righteous........................................155
The Righteousness of Jesus Compels You To Do Good.......................158
PART IX – God’s Grace Supplies Faith to Believe..............................161
Be in the Hall of Faith........................................................................162
Little Faith Will Grant You Entry.......................................................165
Your Little Faith Is What Matters.......................................................168
Grace Is Easier to Declare...................................................................171
Speak Out Your Faith.........................................................................174
By Every Word of God Shall We Live.................................................177

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 Table of Contents
TITLE Page No.

PART X – God’s Grace Paves the Way for Blessings to Flow...............179

Jesus is Where the Blessing Flow........................................................180
The Marks of Loving Jesus..................................................................183
The Fruit of Jesus You Bear.................................................................186
The Struggles of Jesus Today...............................................................190
The Seventh Day Is a Day of Rest.......................................................193
Jesus Is Coming Back.........................................................................196

PART XI – God’s Grace Enforces the Truth.......................................199

Convicted by the Holy Spirit..............................................................200
Walk in the Spirit...............................................................................203
The Witness Who Cannot Lie............................................................206
The Holy Spirit Finds Joy in Grace.....................................................209
Holy Spirit: The Guarantor................................................................212
The Spirit Makes You Ready...............................................................215

PART XII – God’s Grace is the Author of Cheerful Giving................219

Giving by Grace.................................................................................220
Be a Giver Not a Pauper.....................................................................223
More Blessed to Give..........................................................................226
The Right Reason for Giving..............................................................228
God Owes Nothing from Anyone......................................................231
You Cannot Test God.........................................................................232

PART XIII – God’s Grace Ends All Human Efforts...........................235

Fight the Good Fight .........................................................................236
The Weapons of Supremacy................................................................239
Let the Devil Flee...............................................................................242

PART XIV – God’s Grace Makes You Worthy to Him.......................245

Walk Worthy of the Lord...................................................................246
Behold the Lord in Your Heart...........................................................249
Don’t Walk the Way the World Walks................................................252
God’s Right Hand is With You...........................................................255
You Are Not A Fool............................................................................257

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 Table of Contents
TITLE Page No.

PART XV – God’s Grace Makes Your Unpleasant Past No More........259

Things of the Past...............................................................................260
Wrath No More, Eternal Life Remains...............................................262
No More Curses.................................................................................264
Jesus Have Visited Iniquity and Transgression and Sin........................268
The Enjoyment of God On You.........................................................272

PART XVI – God’s Grace Gives All the Good Things of Heaven.......277
Get Ready for God’s Blessing..............................................................278
His Arms Are Open Wide To Love.....................................................281
His Favor and Joy Is On You..............................................................284
Don’t Aspire to be Last, It’s Not for You.............................................286
God Calls You Blessed........................................................................288

PART XVII – God’s Grace Will Always Keep Your Focus on Jesus.....291
Guide Your Heart To Where Your Treasure Is.....................................292
Jesus Keeps the Law for You...............................................................297
Never Look At God Through The Law...............................................300

PART XVIII – God’s Grace is the Highest Love-Sacrifice...................303

Jesus the High Priest is God’s Satisfaction...........................................304
Jesus’ Sacrifice Makes a Perfect Conscience.........................................307
Atonement for Sins............................................................................310
Jesus Christ is Our High Priest...........................................................313

PART XIX – God’s Grace Unleash the Best of Heaven.......................315

Prayer According to God’s Will..........................................................316
Fervent Prayer....................................................................................319
So Be It, Lord.....................................................................................323

Parting Words...................................................................................326

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 Acknowledgment

The completion of this book was made possible because of the concerted
efforts from several individuals who shared their resources, time, talents,
values, and inspirational encouragements in its final compilation. The
following individuals must receive their due share of joy for having this
book come out into your hands:
To my wife Bernadette, for having the first to listen and react to new-found
revelations from the Holy Spirit;
To the stars of the house; Christopher, Aaron, and Krystel, the two boys who
were very expectant of the completion and outcome of this project, and the
princess, who joyfully conduct musical concerts whenever my eyes get tired from
the computer screen;
To my brother Simon, who shared the vision of grace that lifted me up from
the toxic mixture of law and grace;
To my brother Jess, who patiently read the draft for comments;
To my sister-in-law Cecille, for her encouragement to compile my writings into
a book and volunteered as a runner for whatever is physically needed;
To Pastor Ulysses, for his critique, arranged the topics for systematic flow to
better understanding;
To my nephew Joel, for the intricate design of the book cover;
To our family-friends and individuals from our work place who diligently
share the word of God in our Bible study sessions;
To my long-time friends Pastor Danny F, my kuya Simon and sister-in-law
Alma, Freddie, Pastor Ricky, Danny C, Lea D and the ever emotionally caring
Dr. Leo D, which in times of fellowship, ideas and thoughts come out which
some are filtered in this book; and

Finally, you who are holding this in your hands, I owe you acknowledgment.

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 INTRODUCTION

In a country where scarcity of physical material resources is, one has to

make use of everything that is available around to bring out the most.
This book is prepared in a place where the Scripture in hard bound form
is as rare as rain in the desert. Worship services are made in secret; big
spiritual gatherings are conducted far away in the crevices of uninhabited
locations to evade the prowling eyes of the religious conservatives. To
shout the name of Jesus at the housetop is a crime, and Christian believers
are considered outcasts. Yet the gospel survives and is preserved in the
hearts of those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Never can it be
suppressed nor stopped.

The topics discussed in its contents are mostly highlights of sermon topics,
Bible study subjects, answers to questions, personal scripture meditation,
and new-found revelations from the Holy Spirit. There are myriads
of information floating in cyber space that can be accessed through
the internet, but the Bible cannot be replaced and is an indispensable
necessity. Even the electronic Bible cannot match the hard-bound. Sermon
preparations and small group-gathering topics are done with the Bible
opened up and studied in a careful and diligent fashion, waiting for the
leading of the Holy Spirit.
At a time when the people were grumbling for water, even Moses made
a mistake of misrepresenting God. The people were thirsty and God told
Moses to speak to the rock before the eyes of the people so that water will
come out for all the people and their animals to drink. However, Moses
did not speak to the rock but in his anger he struck it twice with the rod
in his hand and water gushed out. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron saying, “Because you did not believe Me, to hollow Me in the eyes
of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into
the land which I have given them (Numbers 20:12).” Just like Moses who
led the people, all ministers do represent God. There are joyful, angry,
cool, restless, restful, happy, confused, and others are full of guilt and
condemnation that some of them have already committed suicide.
The land they were going to possess will give them rest from their
wandering. Moses, in misrepresenting God to the people, cost him the

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promise land. He was not allowed to set his feet in the land flowing with
milk and honey. Though how much Moses pleaded with God to dwell in
the land and see Lebanon and the pleasant mountains, instead, the Lord
was angry with him and would not listen to his prayers. God did not want
to hear Moses pleading his case and need no further discussion on this
particular issue (see Deuteronomy 3:25-26). There was only one reason
for this; Moses did not represent who really God is to the people; He
didn’t believe but portrayed God as one who is angry.
Today, there are many teachings and some are misrepresenting God. He is
holy and God will always be holy in all that He does. He is holy in all His
judgment. But what is His holy judgment on you today even when you
have your spiritual lapses? Under the New Covenant where you are in, He
is always joyful and smiling at you. The only reason why He is joyful and
can smile at you is because you are in Christ Jesus who paid all your sins
from the day you were born until your last consciousness of life or until
His return whichever comes first. In Christ, God cannot be angry with
you anymore. Take note of the two powerful words: in Christ.
But we have a default program to have a bigger faith in sin and its effects
than what Jesus has done with it; and have a bigger negative faith of God
seeing His impending judgment which judgment will never come to those
who are in Christ. Jesus destroyed sin once and for all, yet we are always
on the look-out for sin or conscious of sin thinking that we can be holy
and righteous in this manner. In Christ, every believer is always righteous
and holy because these are imputed and not earned. There is no way that
man can be holy and righteous except by imputation.

We need to have faith (right believing that is) in Jesus Christ and His
finished works. Faith is not to believe so that it will happen. God never
plays catch-up but the devil plays catch-up with the Father. The Bible
says, “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 53:5-6).” All the actions of God are in the past tenses,
completed once and for all and that makes the devil always plays catch-
up. In the area of health, when the devil brings you pain, you are not the
sick but the healed one resisting the symptom of disease. Even salvation

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is a done deal before you have faith, and when you receive it, the devil is
playing catch-up to take its effects and benefits away from you.

It is the purpose of this book to magnify the completed works of Jesus

Christ before He ascended on high and no intention whatsoever has been
developed to magnify the sinfulness of man. There are other resources
where the sinfulness of man is amplified and magnified. The devil has
been doing the amplification and magnification of sin, something that
has been put away. The devil wants us to see our sinfulness bigger than
Christ and the love of God so that we will always be conscious of our
worst status. If you are a believer, God sees you as someone who had
been formatted in the likeness of Christ Jesus in true righteousness and
holiness. The Holy Spirit came to glorify the works of Jesus on the cross
and this is the objective of this paperback to aid readers to give glory to
Him.

But here is a caveat: you need to understand that this book is not perfect.
It will fall short of addressing all your needs, curiosities, questions, queries,
and concerns. You may get bored while reading. You may even become
adamant to some of its contents and hate the writer in the process. When
you are in such situations, it is highly recommended that you go back to
the one and only perfect book that can address your longings and desire
for spiritual truths – the Bible. From there, you will find your friend Jesus
who will be always ready and available to satisfy and address all your needs.

There are some situations and examples that were used to bring out and
magnify the truth and perhaps you may find yourself in the piece of action.
Don’t get slighted but meditate on the truth and never to ponder on yourself
because in doing so, you will extract a lot of dead bones. This writer has a lot
of dead bones too, and it will never help anyone if we are to look for dead
bones. Focus on the truth that gives life to dead bones. The dead has been
set free unto life because of the grace and truth in Christ Jesus.

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly.” That is the assurance of Jesus for you today. He came to this
world to pasture His sheep. He did not come that His sheep may have
life and may have life more abundantly in heaven. He came that believers
may have more abundant life here in this world while they are doing their
daily chores. Believers in Christ can only experience more abundant life

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in this planet because in heaven there will be no “more abundant life.”
Comparison of adjectives will be abolished because God will deal with
all His children in the same fashion. What you have, others will have too.
How God loves you, others will experience the same intensity, level, and
degree of His love.

Adam and Eve lost and banished from the garden. Since then, cursed was
the ground that brings forth food and scarcity took over so that man has
to toil and sweat to earn his living. Disobedience has alienated him from
his Creator who provided everything for him not only to live but to rule
over all of creation. Outside of the garden, man started to deteriorate,
stress and pain is on the upswing and death finally takes over.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me (John 14:6).” Obviously, Jesus knows what
man wanted most – to come to the Father for truth and life which was lost
in the garden when the great grandparents believed in the lies of the devil.
Jesus is the only way. There is no truth and abundant life in the flesh, in
human strength, even in holy deeds with all piety and humility. Truth and
life are reserved only in the Father through Jesus Christ. Therefore, if you
are looking for truth and life, you need to take the right path.

John wrote in his book, “And of His fullness we have all received, and
grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17).” Grace and truth are one and
the same and is finally come with the birth of Jesus. The angel said to
the shepherds tending their flocks, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people (Luke 2:10).”
Grace and truth is the good tidings of great joy that was announced by
the angel. In a fallen world, there is no hope except in the good tidings
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His passion started in a garden where His sweat was mingled with blood.
The moment Jesus’ sweat dropped off the ground, the curse of the ground
seen by God in Genesis 3:17 has come to the end of its journey. Restless
toil has been averted. All of us had been redeemed from the curse of
human efforts (Galatians 3:13). On His back were the wounds of forty
lashes which carried all our diseases. As a believer, your body is healed
long before you were born. When Jesus was finally crucified carrying all

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our sins saying, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken Me,” God
turned His back on His Son because He took our position so that we can
call God our Father who will never forsake His children. Jesus finally died
taking our death that we may live – our death in return for His life. Grace
has finally revealed in its fullness.

It is the grace and truth that has inspired the writing of this book. Grace
is all that we need to unveil the truth for we cannot have grace without
truth and vice versa. Believers need to be on grace to be able to see and
know the truth. There is no truth of God’s favor in the law. The only truth
about the law is to multiply our sin and will condemn (Romans 3:20;
5:20 & 1 Corinthians 15:56). The law and its religious rituals put “You”
in the center and make Jesus take the back seat. Grace points all the glory
to Jesus and will melt down the glory of man. This grace, the word of
the Lord, the gospel that was preached to you will live and abides forever
(1 Peter 1:20-25). The law will not abide forever. Imagine Jesus Christ
preaching in heaven, “Thou shall not steal.” No, He will not be preaching
along that line because all is freely given, all is yours in the house that no
one needed to steal.

Some of us who are saved by grace have greater propensity to go back to

ritualistic law-keeping (human efforts) rather than to embrace grace. We
mix “Christian laws” with the grace of God which is no grace at all. The
Galatian believers fell into this trap. Christian law is anything the believer
does and practices that takes out the glory of Jesus Christ. It is for God’s
sake (not for our sake) that we have been saved. For His glory, as a believer,
you have been refined and His robe of righteousness is on you and your
sandals is on your feet that you may walk worthy with the Lord after
you have come from the pigpen (Luke 15:22). Christian laws are good
but these are not our entry pass to our acceptance to God, Jesus is. To
put Christian laws in the forefront and let Jesus take the back seat or put
Him on the sidelines make believers self-righteous and self-righteousness is
a grievous sin of idolatry.

Time and time again, the works of Jesus on the cross, His righteousness on
you, His holiness you have, your position after Jesus died, the goodness of
God, all these shall you be reading repeatedly in this paperback. Repetition
had been deliberately made for these are easily forgotten because every one of us

6
is easier to do something with human efforts and practical ideas when it comes
to the things of God. We tend to put God first, doing things for Him as
we wake up in the morning in order to receive His grace and acceptance.
But God do it in reverse; in Christ you have been favored, accepted all
the time, supplying all the grace you need then respond in right believing
(faith that is) doing holy things you didn’t do before.

For God so loved you at a time when you didn’t love Him. He sent Jesus
His Beloved Son, the darling of heaven to die for you even when you
didn’t ask for Him. He didn’t even ask you to believe Him, yet He gave
up everything so that you may believe. He didn’t want you to perish that
He longed to give you His eternal life. All these are first and foremost in
the mind of God. We can never put God first because He already put
Himself ahead of everything that we do.

But in Christ Jesus you have been favored by God so that you can follow
and obey. May grace and truth be yours as you go through in your daily
walk of right believing and be obedient to rest fully on the grace of God.

Amen.

7
 Welcome Aboard

One of the purposes of this book is to help you glorify God and love Him
more. With that, may I introduce you to the captain of my soul, the One
and Righteous Jesus Christ. He knows all the pitfalls the devil had made
for you that you may be trapped. Knowing where all the pitfalls of the
devil are, these will become useless and of no benefit by the one who made
them. Proverbs 6:5 says, “Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of
the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler (NKJV).” Taking
Jesus Christ to be the captain of your soul shall you then be delivered.

The devil is the hunter and the fowler and the idea of Proverbs 6:5 is you
have been trapped and he has you in his hands. With his snares he has
catch you, meaning he has a tight grip and you have become helpless. But
you can be delivered because the writer of this proverb is commanding
you to deliver yourself. The devil is a stubborn foe and he has all the tricks
of this world not to let you go. But you have a friend to whom you can
always lean on. Call on the name of your friend who will deliver you from
the hands of the hunter and the fowler.

In Proverbs 18:24 is written, “A man who has friends must himself be

friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Jesus the
Savior of the world is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is
a friend of sinners, harlots and prostitutes, adulterers, drunkards, the tax
collectors, the outcasts, the thief, the murderers like Paul before he became
an apostle, and the sick. If your status is any of the above, you can be sure
you have a friend by the name of Jesus. In fact, He wants you that He be
your elder brother that you may dwell in the house of the Father, forever.
Come to the hand of your friend where you can have freedom and liberty,
to Jesus who defeated the devil long time ago.

Jesus came to deliver you from the devil to take you to the Father. But you
need to believe and accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior. Invite
Him into your life. With that, you can say and pray these words to Him:
“Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I am trapped and the devil got me. I cannot pay the
price of my freedom and liberty which is death. But I thank you because You
came as a friend to pay the price so that I may be delivered. You died on the cross
for me. I receive your death as the death requirement for my sin. I receive your

8
resurrection, the evidence and receipt that all my sin is fully paid. You took my
death that I may receive your eternal life. I thank you that by right believing
in faith, You have become my wisdom from God, You are my righteousness and
sanctification and justification. I pray this in Your name, Amen.”
John 1:11-12 says, “He came to His own but His own (people) did not
receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God (to be His people), to those who believe in His
name (NKJV).” You are now a child of God by grace through faith the
moment you prayed and asked Jesus to come into your life. Jesus, His
name is Deliverance has delivered you from the hunter and the fowler. He
has released you from the power and the kingdom of darkness and you
have been redeemed through His blood, and forgave all your past, present,
and future sins once and for all (Colossians 2:13-14). God is not bounded
by time and He does not live a segmented life so that He saw all the sins
of your life and nailed them at Jesus’ cross.

You are now a part of God’s household and God sees you as holy and
righteous in His eyes. Just in case you didn’t get that right, may I repeat:
As a child of God, He sees you as holy and righteous in His eyes. Because
you are now in Christ Jesus, He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will
quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah
3:17). He is always smiling at you and never will He be angry at you
anymore because all His wrath and anger has been poured out on the body
of Jesus Christ when He bore all yours sins on the cross. He can never be
angry at you for the same sin that Jesus carried and suffered for. Jesus took
away the sin of the world and that include yours (John 1:29).

Cautiously, the devil who has been defeated and has loosed his grips on
you will never surrender. Before you are saved, you can’t free yourself
because he has you in his hands. Now that you are a child of God, he
wants your mind to confuse you. When you were in the hands of the
hunter and fowler the devil, he told you lies that God doesn’t love you. But
when God showed you His ultimate love through Jesus Christ by dying
on the cross, the devil tells you that God is angry at you because you fail,
you sin, you didn’t do this, you didn’t do that, and so many “did not’s.”
Though how good you are, the devil will always tell you of your failures
and shortcomings initiating a psychological warfare on your mind.

9
The devil plays mind games from the moment he has loosened his grips on
you until you come face to face with your Savior, Jesus Christ. “Therefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon
the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as
in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in
all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter
1:13-16, NKJV).” You are an obedient child of God if you rest fully on
the grace that is brought to you by Jesus Christ. In Christ, you have been
declared holy by God.

Don’t lose to the devil by default. Engage his game plan. You are of better
breed than the devil. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he
may instruct Him? But you have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians
2:16). The first part of 1 Corinthians 2:16 is actually quoted by Paul from
Isaiah 40:13 which, in the preceding passages is the announcement of the
coming Savior Jesus Christ. Because the Savior has come, Israel’s iniquity
is pardoned, comfort has come to His people and peace will surround
Jerusalem. All loveliness of man and his glory and his efforts to please
God will come to end because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. The
breath of the Lord is the gospel, the word of God that will stand forever
(see also 1 Peter 1:22-25). That gospel, your salvation is foremost in the
mind of Christ.

The Lord has declared. Zion will bring good tidings to the cities of Judah
so that all people will hear. The Lord will come with a strong arm to rule,
to reward, to gather His flock, to carry them and to lead them. The Lord
has declared all these and to give assurance to the people that these will
happen, He showed His people how mighty He is that He can do things
the human mind can’t fathom (Isaiah 40:12-14). Because you are now a
child of God, you have the mind of Christ which is complete in all aspect
to bring down strongholds, casting out arguments. To beat the devil is to
argue with him the name of Jesus and what Jesus had done for you on
the cross, no more, no less. Never argue with the devil how good you are,
what you did, and what you can do for God because with these, the devil
will surely get you.

Fix the borders of your mind and be sober. Rest your hope fully upon
the grace that has been brought to you by Jesus Christ who has revealed

10
Himself. As a new born babe, a child receives all the graces from his
parents. When he pees, hungry, cries out loud, the parents can only do
what they have to do; to tender care for the baby with all cost, barring any
anger and hurt feelings, sacrificing personal interests. Parents can’t throw
that baby out of the window when he does his things. Grace is all that
you need to live the life eternal Jesus has given. His grace will never allow
you to be thrown out from His kingdom when you fail. There is no list of
“you did not do” or “you have not done yet” in the house of God. All that
you can see in the house posted all over the place is: GRACE: DONE BY
JESUS CHRIST for you to rest your hope fully.

You are a child of God and do not conform to your former lust in which
you were ignorant. Many argue that the former lust is your sins because
they fail to read the succeeding words of 1 Peter 1:14 which says, “as in
your ignorance.” You were not ignorant of your sins when you committed
them even when you were not yet saved in Christ. You knew you did not
do right. But you were ignorant of the fact that keeping the list of “did
not” and obey them is your way of pleasing God. That was true under the
Old Covenant. Not anymore because even the prophets and angels were
eager to look into the things and what manner of time will the sufferings
of Christ and the glories that would follow will come. These came even
before our time.

Prophets in the Old Testament surface sometimes as prophets of doom.

They bring to people the judgment of God and bring sin to remembrance.
On the other hand, angels may either bring good tidings or judgment that
when angels appear to people, fear is the first that they experience so that
angels who bring good tidings declare the assurance, “do not be afraid.”
The prophets and the angels become weary of executing judgment and
were looking for the coming of the Christ to put an end to the judgment
of God. After Jesus rose from the dead, whenever angels appear to man,
no more will they say the customary greetings, “do not fear” or “do not be
afraid” in reference of themselves and their message (see John 20:11-13,
Acts 10:1-7; 12:7-8).

You can see an account after Jesus rose from the dead where an angel said
to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, “do not be afraid.” But this is not
the same address angels do before Jesus died on the cross. The context of
this is that the two Mary’s came looking for Jesus in the tomb. Knowing

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that they may be afraid to see that Jesus is no more in the tomb, the angel
greeted them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place
where the Lord lay (Matthew 28:5-6; Mark 16:6).
The sufferings of Christ has come and you are now in the glories that
follow that you can see only good things for His children. The list of “do’s
and don’ts” the devil wants you to do is a thing of the past. God does not
deal with you anymore on the basis of “do’s and don’ts” but He deals with
you on the obedience of Jesus Christ and you are in Him. Because you are
now a believer, what Jesus is doing for you today is imputed to you and
the Father sees.

Jesus has made you and is making you righteous and holy all the time
so that in all your conduct you are holy and will do things holy (1 Peter
1:15). Your holiness is not of gradual progression but have it in an instant
when you are saved by Jesus. With what Jesus has done and is doing for
you, God is able to declare to you, “Be holy for I am holy.” That is the
grace of God on you.

Every child of God is set apart to do good works. That is our testimony
that we have been born of God; righteous and holy. But our obedience to
the list of “do’s and don’ts” is no longer the ways and means to merit our
acceptance to God. There is only one work of God that we need to do to
merit His acceptance; to believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:28-29). In
Jesus, you are always accepted and pleasing and in Him you have the inner
strength to avoid the “do not” and say no to ungodliness. With Jesus as
your identity, you are now more aware of the right things you have to do
than before you received Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

But that is easier said than done because grace is easily forgotten. Man
has the built-in propensity to veer away from the grace of God and take it
to himself what seems right but in the end is the way of death. The fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was pleasant to the eyes,
desirable to make one wise, and saw that it was good for food so that
Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree. It brought forth death. Even today,
the law (knowledge of good and evil) of do’s and don’ts seem pleasant to
make one become holy but no way can it make anyone holy. The law is
the way of death (2 Corinthians 3:7)!

12
What you are going to read will help you establish your faith and
relationship to your Savior and to the God of heaven. You will observe
that most description of God is of His good nature. If you are looking
for a God that will bring judgment to people, you will be dismayed for
you will not see that in this book. It is because never will you establish a
strong relationship and right belief to someone who is always angry and
ready to unleash his wrath on you. Under the New Covenant where you
are in, God’s wrath is no more. In fact, God is not imputing sin so that
the world will be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:19). Never will
there be reconciliation with a God who counts your sin and is always
angry at you and ready to unleash His wrath and judgment anytime at His
convenience. That will not make you licentious but knowing it will make
you fall in love more with your Savior.

For by grace you have been saved, you are in Christ Jesus. You are a child
of God. In Him you are always righteous and holy. It is grace that saved
you, and grace will take you home with the Father.

Welcome aboard and never shall you settle for less. Come to where the
favor is, to Jesus Christ the Son of God.

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 THE BELIEF SYSTEM IN CHRIST JESUS

The people in the Old Testament walked by faith to the finished work
while those in the New Testament walk in the finished work by faith.
The likes of Abraham, Moses, David, and all the prophets looked forward
to the time when the sufferings of Jesus Christ comes (1 Peter 1:10-11).
Under the New Covenant, we look back to the finished work of Jesus
Christ. Everything is completely well-done. If you are in Christ, your
justification is an effortless finished product, your forgiveness of sin is
once and for all, and your righteousness and holiness is divinely processed
commodities given as gift inherent in your salvation (Ephesians 4:20-24).
Jesus Christ perfected all these on the cross for you and took effect the
very moment you received Him as your personal Lord and Savior.

However, confusion occurs if you take your faith in the Old Testament
belief system that as if the finished work of Jesus Christ is something to
occur in the future. You know you have been saved but still thinking you
need to be in pursuit of that “elusive” holiness. Holy means separated from
unto and in Christ you are already separated and holy. Yet, you cannot
believe you are still the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus especially
when you have done something really stupid.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not encouraging sin but I want you to know a
universal truth: being a Christian believer will not stop you from sinning
and you will still commit stupid things, but your being the righteousness
of God in Christ is irreversible. The New Covenant believer became
righteous not because of his good works but the works of Jesus Christ on
the cross (Romans 5:17-19). If you are in Christ, your righteousness is

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divinely established and you are the righteousness of God in Christ forever
and ever (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Your being the righteousness of God is not based on your behavior,

otherwise, no believer will ever become the righteousness of God in Christ
because from time to time all believers sin. Righteousness is based on the
believers’ identity with God through Jesus. Every believer is a child of
God. Behavior changes but it cannot unwind or alter the identity of a
child. The child’s consciousness of his identity will eventually affect his
behavior for the better. I believe that this is the reason why in all his
epistles, the Apostle Paul always greets his readers with their true identity
in Christ calling them saints, brethren, the church, a beloved son before
the behavioral messages. Their true identity will lead them to grow in
appropriate behavior. But our instinct is to put the behavior first before
the identity so that if we have sinned, even the identity in Christ is gone.
With that, the believer is no longer the righteousness of God in Christ.

Faith is not to believe so that it will happen but it is believing to what

has been completed; something that have been said and done by the One
Holy and Righteous. You believe in salvation that had been given in the
past through the death of Jesus Christ. It is available to all; for the good
and the bad. Though how good you are in your own estimation, in Christ
you align to the goodness of God and forsake your goodness.

You are under the New Covenant. Look back to the final sacrifice, always.
This is one of the purposes and intention of the Apostle Paul when he
wrote to the Hebrews about sacrifices. He compared the sacrifices under
the Old Covenant that though the blood of bulls and goats can cover the
sin of Israel for one year, it can never take away sin. But in those sacrifices
which they continually offer year after year cannot make the worshipers
perfect in their conscience, but in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of
sins every year (see Hebrews 10:1-4).

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down
at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made
His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are
being sanctified (Hebrews 10:12-14).” Jesus did one sacrifice that will last
forever and will never be repeated. His offering perfected those who are
being sanctified once and for all. Having done the one sacrifice that made

15
perfect those who are being sanctified, He sat down because the work
is completely finished. But if we take our faith under the old system of
belief, we think that we need to sacrifice moment by moment, day after
day that the efficacy of the royal blood of Jesus, His eternal blood that was
shed on Calvary lasts only until our next sin.

In that sense, we have trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the
blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified a common thing, and
insulted the Spirit of grace. Many of us have downgraded the quality of
the blood of Jesus Christ not even to the level of the blood of bulls and
goats, because at least the sprinkling of animal blood on the altar can
cover the sin of Israel for one year (Leviticus 16:34) but the blood of Jesus
cannot even last for one day. We need to offer again and again through
our confession of sin not knowing we are reminding something that God
had forgotten long time ago that even the Holy Spirit took the witness
stand to testify sin is no more and is blotted out once and for all in God’s
memory for those who are being sanctified by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews
10:15-17).

If we check Thayer’s definition of “no more” as used in Hebrews 10:17,

it means “never, certainly not, not at all, by no means” while Strong’s
definition means “double negative strengthening the denial.” God used
strong words to show sin is no more in His memory bank, but we don’t
want to believe His strong words of guarantee; we want our way out by
bringing sin into our hands and remind Him time and time again through
our confession. If God has forgotten all our sin, better to forget them
also, thanking Jesus for His sacrifice, not thanking ourselves after our
confession how good our memory of sin is.

The Apostle Paul emphasized that in contrast to the reminder of sins

through the blood of bulls and goats, the blood of Jesus removed sin once
and for all. Going back therefore to the temple and make sacrifices of bulls
and goats after the Hebrews received the knowledge of truth is sinning
willfully. Even if they go back to the temple and sacrifice bulls and goats,
there is no longer remain a sacrifice for sins because the final sacrifice has
already been offered once and for all (Hebrews 10:26). Today, denying
the once and for all sacrifice for sins will bring forth fearful expectation of
judgment and fiery indignation when we commit sin. We will even come

16
to believe that we have committed the unpardonable sin of blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit.

You are under the New Covenant. Know for certain that all you need
today are already provided on the cross of Jesus. Take His grace that points
all the glory to Him in order for you to walk in the finish work by faith.

Shalom!

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 THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE

Image Source:  https://www.google.com.sa/search?sourceid=chrome-
psyapi2&ion=1&espv=&ie=UTF-8&q=old%20testament%20sacrificial%20
lamb%20with%20pictures

After the great escape from Egypt, the people of Israel arrived at the foot
of Mount Sinai. Just before the book of Exodus ended, Moses had finished
the work and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle that Moses could
not enter the tent of meeting. The people are about to start a new way
of life on how Israel can relate with a holy God. Thus, in the first five
chapters of Leviticus, God instructed them to bring their offerings to the
Lord so that they will be accepted.

The Ten Commandments have been given at Mount Sinai but it is

interesting to note that their obedience is not the way for the people’s
acceptance. Again, don’t put that in the wrong perspective, because
believers should not go and break the law. But through the offerings,
and only through the sacrifices, the people will be accepted before the
Lord. There are five offerings that God had instructed them to do and
four required innocent animals to be sacrificed. The other one is a grain
offering. The purpose of the grain offering is to show honor and respect to

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God in worship; its significance, acknowledge that all we have belongs to
God and Christ is the perfect man, who gave all of Himself to God and
others.

As to the other four sacrifices, the one who sinned will take a lamb without
blemish from the flock and present it to the priest. The priest typifying the
eyes of God shall examine and inspect the lamb to determine if acceptable
or not. Once the priest has inspected the lamb and was found without
blemish, the one who sinned will lay his hand on the head of the innocent
animal. The laying on of hand is necessary so that there will be divine
exchange that will happen. The punishment, guilt, and condemnation of
sin of the person who have sinned will be transferred to the lamb while
the innocence of the lamb shall be transferred to the one who have sinned.

After the laying on of hand on the forehead of the animal sacrifice, the
offender shall kill the lamb and the priest will sprinkle the blood of the
offering. The priest shall arrange the offering in order on the wood that is
on the fire of the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
Once the offering is burnt and the sweet aroma went up to heaven, the
sinner has become innocent of sin and is accepted before the Lord and the
blessing of God awaits him.

The offerings under the Old Covenant are pictures of the final sacrifice,
Jesus, the Lamb of God who came as a man with flesh and blood. He was
tested even by Satan and found to have no sin, no blemish. His body was
crushed for our wholeness and His blood was shed for the remittance of
our sins. He is the once and for all sacrifice for sin that put an end to the
killing of innocent animals. His sacrifice, the eternal sweet aroma went up
to heaven and appeased the wrath of God on sin once and for all. Having
said that, God never plays catch-up even in the forgiveness of sins that
whenever you have committed sin He will not say, “Oh, I need to forgive
the sin of this dear child again.”

Under the New Covenant, Jesus the Lamb of God is our offering. He
has no sin and He is the perfect sacrifice. When He hanged on the cross,
He confessed all our sins saying, “it is finished.” His death is our death
so that no one may suffer the penalty, the guilt, and the condemnation
of sin anymore. He is the full payment for all the transgressions of the
whole world. His sacrifice is the only acceptable sacrifice for all eternity.

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The animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant cannot come close to the
quality, efficacy, and effectiveness to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God that
the sin of the world has been washed and is no more in the eyes of a holy
God. The sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ is the only sin that is standing in
between heaven and earth today (see John 15:22-24; 16:8-9).

Many of us are confused because we cannot see the relationship of the

sacrifice to our daily living. We have switched places with Jesus. We are
the sacrifice that bears the guilt, the punishment, and the condemnation
of sin. We serve as the eyes of God doing the examination for blemishes
of the sacrifice, ourselves. We are the high priest who does the confession
of sin to appease God’s wrath. We have become the do-it-all savior of
our lives. Even under the Old Covenant, the work of the high priest was
what appeased God’s wrath. Today, our confession of our sins is not what
appease God’s wrath, it’s the sweet aroma of Jesus that was offered once
and for all.

As you go through, it will help you live a peaceful and restful Christian life
if you give back the role and title of Jesus Christ in your daily living. He
is your acceptable sacrifice. He is the one being examined for blemishes.
He appeased God’s wrath once and for all that you don’t have to live a life
of installment appeasement through confession of sin. Jesus did all of that
on the cross for you. He is your daily Savior. Always look unto Jesus, your
perfect sacrifice, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). He
is the author, and as Thayer defines it, He is the chief leader, the One that
takes the lead in anything and thus affords an example, a predecessor in
a matter, a pioneer. Everything is completely finished because our Father
does not know how to play catch-up.

Now, enjoy walking in Him!

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21
In the middle of the garden where God put the first couple, we can see the
distinct demarcation line already. The clear division of the word of God
has been evident from the book of Genesis. The tree of life and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil were planted side by side in the midst of
the garden (Genesis 2:9). God allowed Adam and Eve to eat freely from
every tree even from the tree of life, except from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil which is not good for man to partake (Genesis 2:16-17).

However, according to man, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good

and evil is good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and makes one wise, but
after eating, to his surprise, it turned out to be a poison (Genesis 3:6-7).
The tree of life is grace while the tree of knowledge of good and evil is
nothing but the law. Grace and law have been in the midst of man since
the beginning. The tree of life has been bearing its fruits for the taking, but
never did Adam take part of it. Instead, he dipped his hands on the fruit
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He chose death for life. The law
is a way that seems right to man as the way for his righteousness, for his
holiness, for his right standing before God, but its end is the way of death
(Proverbs 14:12, 2 Corinthians 3:7).

Thank be to Adam and Eve who did not immediately eat also from the
tree of life because it was planted alongside the tree of knowledge of good
and evil. Should they have eaten from the tree, man would have to live
forever with good and evil, God and Satan. In that sense, Satan shall be
with man forever also. God is gracious and His grace is more than what
Adam committed that He drove out the man from the garden so that he
cannot eat from the tree of life and live forever in the same state (Genesis
3:22-24).

Even from the beginning, God is against mixture so that He drove out
the man from the garden and in Revelation 3:15, Jesus made it very clear
that mixture is not His taste. You cannot mix grace and law, the New
Covenant promises of God’s goodness with the Old Covenant realities of
judgment and punishment. Jesus wants you to either be clinging on to
God’s promises of good and godly life in Him or hanging on to God’s
judgment and punishment for sin. When you choose the latter and after a
while you can’t bear it anymore, you will look for a Savior. Jesus will always
be waiting for that very moment when you look for Him to save you.

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The Apostle Paul knew that grace and law cannot go together when it
comes to your justification and sanctification that he charged young
Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker
who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God (2
Timothy 2:15).” A worker approved to God is the one who rightly divide
the word. Dividing the word is simply separating grace and law, the New
Covenant from that of the Old Covenant. A worker who labor under
the New Covenant of grace need not be ashamed to God, but let the
worker who does not rightly divide (living in mixture) the New Covenant
promises with Old Covenant realities be ashamed unto Him, because
he is diluting God’s grace incorporating the Old Covenant realities of
righteousness through human performance with that of the righteousness
that can be found only in Christ Jesus. Seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, only.

When Jesus came, He made the demarcation line more evident. The law
is fading away while grace is on the rise. He put to rest the Old Covenant
realities of judgment and punishment for absorbing all the wages of
sin; death. He satisfied all God’s wrath and holy indignation to sin that
God cannot be angry with those in Christ anymore. Judgment and
punishment has been settled and is now a thing of the past. The goodness
and righteousness of God has come to shine, brought forth light showing
the way that leads you home. Finally, upon your arrival, His arms He
wrapped all over you welcoming you with His hugs and kisses, rejoicing
over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Trumpeting judgment and punishment for sin today will never please
God. After His baptism, God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).” When the people sinned under the Old
Covenant, God is not even pleased with judgment and punishment for their
sins. Whenever judgment is executed, He cried and His heart is broken.
Only Jesus can please God. Under the Old Covenant, God is pleased with
the sacrifices and offerings, the picture of the true Lamb of God, then He
bless the people (see Exodus 20:24). While ministering to God, therefore, if
we want to please Him, lift up Jesus and all His goodness.

Never believe in heresy. If you keep the law (ingrained in good doing) as
a way to please God so that you become acceptable to Him, your belief is

23
heretical under the New Covenant. Just in case you didn’t get that right,
let me make it clear. I am not saying you don’t need to keep the law.
What I am saying is, law-keeping is no longer a way to please God and
be accepted to Him. To be in Christ is the only way to be pleasing and
be acceptable to God. You are in Christ and you are always pleasing and
accepted. If we lift up Jesus but on the peripherals are our human efforts,
God’s wrath, judgment and punishment, then, we are living in adultery
with grace and law, and God will never be pleased.

Grace is the only ground whereby we can find salvation; for by grace we
have been saved through faith. Only on grace ground can Jesus justify
a sinner and the Apostle Paul knew about this when he said, “You have
become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you
have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).” That was written to the Galatian
believers and not to unbelievers. Surely, when you are looking for your daily
justification through law-keeping (though how Christianized that law is),
you have been alienated from Christ. Only those who have been saved
by grace will fall. It means that only believers will fall from grace to law, not
unbelievers. The good news is, if you are in Christ and have fallen from
grace to law-keeping for your daily justification, you will still find yourself
in heaven after your last breath of life.

The law is no longer the way for God’s people to take. It doesn’t mean
however, that God’s people will go on feasting of breaking the law. They
have to abide by it but no longer a means for their daily justification and
acceptance to God. Paul reminded young Timothy saying, “But we know
that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is
not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers
of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for
sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:8-10, NKJV).” God’s
people are saints obedient to the law, not sinners who are disobedient
so that we don’t need to preach to believers about the law. Never teach
obedience to the obedient, that is reserved only for the disobedient!

Even the people in the Old Testament were justified only by grace.
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

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David was justified by the grace of God and he did not die for his sins; the
son that he bore to Bathsheba did die – a picture of the innocent Lamb
of God who came to die even for the sins of the fathers. Rahab, though
she grew to be a harlot as a believer, was justified in believing. Ruth the
Moabitess cannot enter the congregation of Israel but she did because
she believed the God of Noemi (Ruth 1:16-17). There are many more
examples of Old Testament characters who were justified by the grace of
God (Hebrews 11).

The cross of Jesus changed everything. Under the law, sin is contagious
and will spoil everyone like the disobedience of the 10 spies that the whole
congregation was barred in entering the promise land. But when Jesus died
on the cross, God cannot see and remember sins anymore; imputation of
sin has come to an end because all sin have been imputed to the account
of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:19, 21).

Under the New Covenant that you are in, judgment and punishment for
sin has been shelved and archived because of the death of Jesus.

Seek therefore the approval of God by taking part in exalting the name of
Jesus and His righteousness, only.

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Everyone: Recipient of God’s Eternal Love
John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
16

whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

After the passage of a law on same sex marriage in the state of California,
there had been many articles condemning homosexuals. I even read a blog
from a pastor-friend on Facebook saying that God will judge America like
Sodom and Gomorrah because of the law, but the irony is, the one who
wrote that blog chose to stay put in California, U.S.A. while he can run
away to his home country in the Philippines to avoid what he calls an
impending judgment. By his decision of not leaving the U.S., perhaps he is
taking God’s judgment lightly. Or, is judgment has become a by-word that
comes out from our lips to show how righteous we are?

The pastor of a church having the most number of attendees in the

United States of America was not spared from criticisms and tirades of
the self-righteous believers because of his comment that homosexuals
will find their way to heaven. Obviously, the self-righteous has closed
the door of heaven for the homosexuals. Precisely, the door of heaven
is open to homosexuals also; they only need to believe and accept Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and Savior (1 Corinthians 6:11). From the
article criticizing the pastor, the self-righteous portray themselves as the
decision makers to determine who will go to heaven. Certainly, there will
be countless of homosexuals here on earth who will be in heaven because
they believed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior before they
lost consciousness of life. Also, no judgment will come to America because
God had judged all sin (including the sin of homo) in the body of Jesus
Christ 2,000 years ago. God cannot judge sin twice.

From my experience, many Christians have the idea that God loves those
who are righteous but He hates the unrighteous like the homosexuals, the
corrupt, the adulterers, the idolaters, among other kind of sinners. That
is very incoherent to the word of God because the fact is, God loves the
unrighteous and they are the target of His love. I don’t have to explain
that all Christian believers were unrighteous at one point before they came
to put their trust in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It means that

26
God’s first love is the unrighteous not the righteous. If you are a believer,
you are only an extension of God’s love. Unfortunately, many of us have
reversed the order that God loves the righteous while the unrighteous
are left out from the love of God. They will be loved by Him when they
become righteously believing Christians.
That counter to the purpose of God. He is still the same yesterday, today
and tomorrow that Jesus said, “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 NKJV).” God sent His Son at a time
when no one asked Him for a Savior because everyone was busy sinning.
While many of us have forgotten how God poured out His love for all
of us, perhaps it is good to refresh our minds to set up God’s love in our
spiritual system.
God’s love is Supreme.
The word FOR is the first proof. In many translations, John 3:16 start with
“For.” It can start with “GOD” like in other versions of the Bible but the
word “for” gives a wider space for the message of love. In the Webster’s
Comprehensive Dictionary, “for” is defined as “in the interest or behalf of ”
or “to the extent of.” It is the interest of God that He has gone a long way of
following sinners to love them. In Luke 5:32, God came down from heaven
in bodily form in the person of Jesus Christ to call sinners to repentance;
people who have gone astray like sheep without a shepherd (Isaiah 53:6). To
that extent, from heaven to earth is a long way for God to come and love
sinners including the righteous by their own estimation.
The second proof is GOD. The whole creation is seen groaning or crying
out for help (Romans 8:22). Man is wasting away; sin has brought in
sickness, poverty, pain, sorrows, grief, stress, and finally death. Typhoons,
earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes, global warming, and all kinds
of natural calamities are being experienced not because God sent them but
the devil brought them with him when he deceived Adam and Eve. Because of
God’s love and compassion, He does not want His creation to perish away.
He will not just sit out and see His creation destroyed. He sent His Son Jesus
Christ to take away the sin of the world and its effects including sickness,
poverty, lack, sorrow, stress, pain, and death. God judged sin in the body of
Jesus only to spare man from punishment. God’s big heart did that.

27
Another proof is SO. Webster’s dictionary defines it as “to an extreme
degree, extremely, or very.” When God does things, He always does it in
the highest divine superlative degree. John 3:16 can be written as “For God
loved the world” and it will give a complete sense of His love. But Jesus
added the adjective “so” to show a higher level. God’s love is immeasurable.
In Psalm 103:11 is written, “For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him (NKJV).” Because God
is supreme He loves supremely that no one can fathom. The intensity of
His love can break through stone-hardened hearts.

LOVED is another word to look at. The word “loved” is past tense
which is an action word that happened in the past but also a continuing
work of God. It was conceived in the past denoting that the love of God
began from time immemorial. His love is unending. We don’t know the
beginning and the end. But God’s love originated from His heart that He
is always in love with us. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow
to anger, abounding in love. Compassion has a root word “compasses”
which is a transitive verb. It is to go around, make a circuit, to surround,
encompass, to grasp mentally, to comprehend, to plot or scheme, to
attain or accomplish, to achieve. Compassion is “pity for suffering with
desire to help or to spare.” God has compassion; it is He who is always
on the move, thinking about us, scheming and planning the best thing
for us; He always desire us to get out of our sufferings to accomplish the
giving of quality life.

The One who loved has The WORLD in His hands. The heavens and the
earth are central of God’s universal creation but to earth has God put in
more time and attention as compared to the heavens in Genesis 1. God
decorated and beautified the earth with everything that moves including
vegetation. He spent six days to make the earth complete to become very
good in His eyes. Good is used as an adjective in the widest sense and the
creation of the earth was never a complete art until man was created; it
was then that God’s art work was very good. The earth which comprises
the world was given too much time from God. Time is an evidence of
God’s love that even up to now, God is still patient to the world not
wanting that anyone should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

God’s Love is Sincere and THAT has moved the Supreme love into action.

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His sincere love is what HE GAVE HIS SON. Every 7:00 AM on my travel
to work in the 1990’s to early 2000’s, I tune in to radio frequency 702
kHz, DZAS. At the end of his airtime, Dr. Harold Sala always concluded
his program with a quotation saying, “you can give without loving, but you
cannot love without giving.” The sinner is precious to the Father’s heart
contrary to what I use to think that man in his sin is not that precious to
God. Man is a damaged goods and full of filth. But though how filthy and
damaged a goods maybe, love will change everything; outlook and value.
God gave up Jesus His precious one in place of the filthy and damaged
goods – sinner. God loved sinners that He has given up Jesus for the
world. His sincere love elevated the filthy and damaged goods at par with
His Son. Because of supreme love, the believer is now as “good” as Jesus
in God’s estimation.

THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN JESUS may respond to be able to see

the glory, the height, the depth, the width, the length, and substance of
God’s sincere love. “Whoever” includes the homosexuals, the murderers,
the idolaters, the sexually immoral, the drug addicts, and all sinners of
its kind. There is no doubt God loves all of the enumerated; all of us.
Unfortunately, there are many who are complaining that God does not
love them anymore. Though a person believes in Jesus or not, he is still
in God’s love. Nothing can break God’s love to man. God never change.
He gave up His Son to every sinner but only those who will respond will
experience the supreme and sincere love of God.

There is no favoritism. God’s love is for everyone. Whoever believes in

Jesus shall not perish (John 3:15). I like translations that use the word shall
instead of will. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish. Shall and will
both point to a future action to be fulfilled but they differ in usage. Will
is used as a stand-alone conviction without requisite from the other party.
Shall is commonly used in contractual agreements and lawyers choose
“shall” instead of “will” in drafting contractual provisions. The action word
preceded by shall become effective only when the parties have delivered
their obligations. And once the obligations are fulfilled, the agreement
will become irrevocable. In John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that
He gave His son.” That is God’s obligation in the Second Covenant while
man’s obligation is to believe. Shall not perish but have everlasting life is the

29
outcome of the obligations delivered by both parties that is irrevocable
and irreversible. If you believe in Jesus, your eternal life, your salvation is
irrevocable and irreversible.

His love is eternal.

Eternal life is the life of the One who is eternal, God. The proof that
God’s love is eternal is He gives His life as a gift to the one who believes.
A homosexual, sexually immoral, murderer like Saul who became the
apostle Paul, rapist, whoremonger, adulterer, idolater, if he believes
in Jesus shall he receive eternal life. Once God gives eternal life to
any sinner for believing in His Son Jesus Christ, He cannot take it
back because taking it back at His convenience is against His being
holy. When Hannah prayed, she exalted the holy One because of God’s
salvation (1 Samuel 2:1-2). Salvation is holy that God cannot play
around with it. However, many of us are playing with salvation in our
minds believing that we could lose it because of sin. If sin can take
away our salvation, it would not have been given at all by God who
loves us. Salvation came because of sin!

The moment THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES, immediately has the gift

of the eternal life of God. Eternal life is eternal and it does not last only
for a moment, or a day, or a week, or a year or until our next sin. Nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and
that includes the unrighteous because if there is something that separates
God’s love from the unrighteous, no one, may I repeat, no one would
have ever been saved at all. Though the self-righteous has separated the
unrighteous from God’s love, yet in quality, in focus, in purpose, and
intensity, His love never changes.

Thank God He sent His Son Jesus Christ to the unrighteous that if the
unrighteous believes, he shall never perish!

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 PART I

God’s Grace
Goes Beyond
Mercy and Forgiveness

31
Jesus: The Predestined Savior
Ephesians 1:11-12

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the

11

plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose
of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ,
might be for the praise of his glory (NIV).
The first time I heard a sermon preached about predestination, I was
amazed to know that God planned in advance that some will go to heaven
while others will not. At least this was the first understanding I learned
about this subject matter. I thought then that because I came to know
Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I may have been predestined to be
in heaven with Him while others are destined to go to hell. But it was a
guessing game whether I have been chosen or not because from time to
time I commit sin and in my early years in the Christian life there was no
solid foundation to anchor my belief and be unshakeable.

Someone who calls himself a pastor believes that he had been predestined
and I took his word for that without raising any question. But I was
shocked to know the foundation of his being predestined and chosen to
go to heaven; that he is attending worship services thanking the Lord that
he is not like those who have no interest of going to church. Being a pastor
as he claimed he is, that leaves a very big question mark because the basis
of his being predestined and chosen is his good doing.

Others say that because you have been saved, you are chosen to go to
heaven while the unbelievers are predestined not to make it. But at one
point in time, all were unbelievers. We were all sinners not because we
have sinned but because our first father sinned (see Romans 5:18-19).
With that there is no one really predestined to go to heaven. Another
explanation I have encountered is God had His choice on at random
basis and He knows who will go to heaven and those who cannot make
it because He is all-knowing. God is kind to a number of people while
He is not to others. He is happy to save some and never mind the others.
Then, if you have been chosen to go to eternal damnation, God cannot do
anything to save you anymore and the death of Jesus was never meant for
you, though He came to die for the world.

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I believe that the above are not what God meant about the subject we
call pre-destination because there is no hope for anyone and has become
a guessing game. God does not play around with His creation but deals
with sincerity for all His intents and purposes. He did not create man to
play games with him. Mind games do not come from God but comes
from the devil and sometimes perpetuated even by well-meaning believers
and ministers. Most church goers do not study the word of God but are
dependent from ministers for understanding the Scriptures. This is where
the ministers are given weightier responsibility. I always presumed before
that all well-meaning ministers knew all things pertaining to the word
of God when they stand behind the pulpit so that what I heard every
Sunday was nothing but the truth not bothering to study what they have
preached.

God did not prepare hell for some men but is prepared for the devil and
his angels and is a sure place for them to go (Matthew 25:41). On the
other hand, heaven is where God dwells and since He wants man to be
His eternal companion and friend, He created man for Himself to bless
him. When Adam sinned, God was not shocked at what he did because
before God created the world, He has already designed a way out for the
Lamb of God has been slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation
13:8). God has seen the finished work since then. He loves us despite of
our sins and He is patient towards us because He doesn’t want anyone to
perish in hell (see 2 Peter 3:9).

Jesus was predestined to take the role of doing away with sin and become
the Savior of the world (see 1 Peter 1:19-20, Revelation 13:8, Acts 4:12).
Before creation, Jesus’ role to save sinners is already well planned, well
organized after an intense discussion in the Godhead. When man sinned,
God was not caught off-handed of what to do next because everything has
been in place. God’s structure of saving sinner; that is all men, is available
to all before the creation of the world. In Revelation 3:5 says that Jesus will
not blot out your name from the Book of Life if you overcome. It means
then that all names are originally entered into the Book of Life but some
names will not be found for they have been blotted out by no other than
Jesus because they did not believe Him before they pass out of this life
(Revelation 20:15).

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Therefore, all born on this planet are predestined to be saved but all are
required to be saved through the One and Only predestined Savior, Jesus
Christ (Acts 4:12). Unfortunately, many don’t want to pass through the
predestined Savior so that their names are blotted out when they die
without believing Jesus. They want to do it their own way that they are
not as blessed as those who believed in the saving structure that God has
predestined and has put in place. The doctrine of pre-destination revolves
around Jesus and not on man. Jesus has been predestined as the Savior
and man has to be saved through Him, only, that there is no other means
to be saved. It is not the “saved person” that was predestined but the One
who saved him. The believing person is blessed because he responded in
believing to the One who is predestined to save. This is one of the reasons
why believers are tasked to evangelize (Matthew 28:19). If you have gone
through the predestined Savior then you are chosen in Him – ready for
the task of telling others that they can be saved through the predestined
Savior.

Praise be to God that even before we were born we have a predestined

Savior who took away all our sins – Jesus Christ, that by believing in Him
we have eternal life.

Otherwise, we are heading to nowhere, which God did not predestine for
us to go!

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Assurance of Forgiveness
Ephesians 1:7
7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace (NJKV).

After worship services on Sundays, we used to attend interaction classes

for further instructions and discussions. For example, if you just came to
worship for the first time and you are not yet a believer, you are directed
to a new comer’s class where somebody will explain about salvation. When
you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, someone
will usher you the next Sunday to be with the new believer’s class where
you will receive a warm welcome. Depending on your attendance and
how fast can you finish all the lessons of the new believer’s class, you
will then be ushered into another class level where you can find everyone
in the circle contributing his understanding of the topic being presented
for discussion. The interaction class will help you grow spiritually mature
until you will be elevated as a leader or a worker.

The new believer’s class belong the subject on assurances where we learned
about assurance of salvation, assurance of forgiveness, and other teachings
on assurances. We memorized verses that fit in to a specific assurance
subject. On the subject of forgiveness, we were guided to memorize 1
John 1:9 and other passages. We recited time and time again so as not to
slip away from our memory system. When you know you have assurance
of forgiveness, the moment you commit sin, right away you confess your
sin and God is faithful to forgive you and will cleanse you from sin and
all unrighteousness.

From hindsight, I understood forgiveness as an “on and off” cycle after

confession of sins to a God who is always faithful. With that understanding,
I thought God was also “on and off” when it comes to forgiveness. In other
words, God has forgiven me today but His forgiveness is off if I sin the
next day and is on again once I did my confession of sins; the forgiveness
of God for my sins depends on the confession I made. If I have missed
confessing my sin, I will never be forgiven from that particular sin. Since
I learned that, I may have had the most of confessions as compared to the
other class attendants who seemed to have become holy and righteous by

35
their posture that I had to take refuge in silence so as not to show that I
was not progressing to a less-sin or sinless status.

Forgiveness of sin means our sins had been blotted out or washed away.
God gave a picture of forgiveness in the Old Testament saying, “Come
now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). We have a Father who can help reason
out for our sins. The forgiveness of God through the blood of Jesus leaves
no trace of sin and God sees us washed and become as white as snow
and can’t see and feel any scar that we are as fine as wool. Under the
New Covenant, we have a God who is no longer interested to know
our stupidities that He remember not a single trace of sin we have; past,
present, and future (Jeremiah 31:34).

Every believer in Jesus had been forgiven once and for all for all sins as part
of the redemption act. In other words, total forgiveness is an integral part
and cannot be separated in the package of the redemption price paid. The
payment is the life of Jesus and without His death there is no redemption.
It means that in the asset ledger of God, because we are redeemed, our
value to Him is like the value of Jesus. It looks like too good to be true
but that is how God values believers. If we look at the act of redemption,
no one can redeem the object of redemption with a lesser value in return.
In the same manner that no one will redeem an object without value (or
increasing in value) with a price tag that is very costly. The payment must
be at least equal with the assessed value of the object to be redeemed.

On the part of the redeemer who wants to return back his property, he
pays the equal amount for the price of redemption but deep inside him the
price paid is nothing compared to the object of redemption. To him there
is a hidden value that will appreciate so that the value of his property will
at least be at par or more than the price tag paid over time. As a believer
you have been redeemed and Jesus has seen your value will appreciate over
time because He has cleansed and washed away your sin that has kept you
deteriorating.

In Jesus you have redemption and forgiveness of sin according to the

riches of His grace. You have been deteriorating but because of His grace,
your value is appreciating in the asset ledger of God. Your once and for

36
all forgiveness of sin inherent in your redemption will last and come to an
end only if the supply of the grace of God ceases.

That is the believer’s true assurance of forgiveness!

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All Forgiven Or Not At All
1 John 1:9
9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (NKJV).

Confession of sin is necessary for unbelievers before they can have true
fellowship with the believers, the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ
(1 John 1:3). Once and for all, the unbeliever who confess and agree with
God of sin then acknowledge Jesus as his Savior shall be forgiven and
cleansed from all unrighteousness by the God who is faithful. Time and
time again, the new believer may sin but the blood of Jesus will cleanse
him continually (1 John 1:7). Whenever he fails, he has Jesus as the
propitiation for his sin and will advocate for him with the Father (1 John
2:1-2). Forgiveness of sin is once and for all.

Today, asking for forgiveness through confession of sin has become a ritual
that many worship leaders stand to invite the congregation to “search out
their hearts” for sins committed and make confession the propitiation for
sin. They mean it well because they wanted to be as holy as they can be.
This is a widely accepted practice and anyone who believes that confession
of sin is not a requirement for your acceptance under the New Covenant
when you are in Christ is deemed to be a spiritual drift. But if the worship
leaders are faithful and true and not lying unto the Spirit, they cannot
start worship services because they should be confessing their sins until
sundown. Confession is admission of sin with the intent of appeasing a
deity not to deal with the transgressor according to the payment of his
lawless acts. With that, those who believe in confession to seek forgiveness
and appease the Deity should be doing it almost 24 hours.

Before we delve deeper into that, let us see some incidents where confession
is not a requirement to forgiveness and acceptance to God, faith is. In
Luke 5:1-11, Jesus, upon seeing the fishermen washing their nets who
caught nothing approached them and then got into the boat of Peter and
teach the people. After His discourse, Jesus told Peter and company to let
down the nets into deep waters. Simon Peter, an experienced fisherman
without a catch the whole night did not waiver to follow the instructions

38
of Jesus. From that brief exhortation of Jesus, Peter had a good opinion
of and that made him believed Jesus. Peter had already his faith in Him
before he pushed his boat forward and let down the net.

Upon seeing the net-breaking catch, Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees saying
“depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Never in the passage is
found to have Jesus told Peter about searching out his soul for forgiveness
of sins because the moment Peter had faith in Jesus he was accepted.
Also in Matthew 9:2, Jesus had forgiven the paralytic without hearing
any confession from the sick person. Jesus pronounced forgiveness to the
paralytic because of his faith that brought him for healing.

In another occasion recorded in Luke 7:36-50, Jesus was invited by a

Pharisee to dine in his house. Upon hearing that Jesus is in the vicinity, a
sinful woman, probably a prostitute gate-crushed the party. She came to
anoint Jesus not minding of her sinfulness, verses 37-38. This woman, like
Simon Peter had a good opinion of Jesus that He is worthy of worship,
thus, she worshipped Jesus despite whatever sin she had as the Pharisee
observed about her social status (Luke 7:39). Jesus never asked her to
confess her sins first before worshipping. On the contrary Jesus said, “your
faith has saved you. Go in peace” because He saw the woman’s faith.

Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side (Mark
4:35).” With that assurance, they will be able to reach the other side and
the boat will not sink at all. Yet when the windstorm arose and the waves
beat into the boat, so that it was already filling, the disciples were fearful
and lost faith that Jesus said after calming the storm, “Why are you so
fearful? How is it that you have no faith (Mark 4:40).” Without faith that
led them to fear is sin, yet we cannot see confession of the disciples of their
sins before Jesus calmed the storm.

Confession of sin was never taught by Jesus. The other authors did not
teach about confession of sin except for Apostle John which is the first
recorded confession of sin in the New Testament. James had it in his book
but it is confession of sin one to another and it is not confession of sin
directed to God. 1 John 1:9 is a requisite for unbelievers to confess their
sins so that they will have true fellowship with the believers because some
of the people were saying that they have no sin and don’t believe in sin (1
John 1:8). But after they become believers and they are already in Jesus

39
Christ, they are being washed from sin continuously by His blood (1 John
1:7). He will not wait for the believer to confess his sin before He does
what He has to do. With that, Jesus alone will be acclaimed all the glory.

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” How many times
will God cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness? Is it once and for all, is
it two times; first when you were baptized and second when you take
your communion, or many times whenever you sin? You can have your
own choice but Jesus’ choice and is the choice of the Godhead is once
and for all, something that cannot be repeated. You can cling on to your
choice but my friend, it will never work. To believe God will forgive you
only after your confession is believing He is always in catch-up with the devil
who instigate sin. God never plays catch-up, never!

Let us look closely on the three passages of 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9, and 1
John 2:1-2. If you are in Christ Jesus, His blood continuously keeps you
clean and you don’t need 1 John 1:9 primarily because you are clean all the
time and there will be no sin to confess because even before you confess,
the washing by the blood of Jesus has cleansed it away. Jesus doesn’t need
you to ask forgiveness mainly because He will always cleanse your sin and
advocate for you with the Father. All glory belongs to Him even when you
commit sin. Think deeply, if God forgives you based on your confession,
then you are sharing the glory. In fact the first share of glory belongs to the
confessor, not the one who forgives. I hope you get that right.

In 1 John 2:1-2, when you sin, Jesus will immediately step in as your
righteous advocate and be the propitiation for your sin. Make Jesus the
propitiation for your sin and not you through your confession. When you
became a believer, Jesus has taken over all your sins even the sin that you
will still be committing in the future but while you were still an unbeliever,
you need to acknowledge your sin and need to confess (agree with God of
sin) you have sinned. Some of the audience of John didn’t believe in sin;
they didn’t acknowledge they are sinner so that he used the editorial “we”
in 1 John 1:6-10 in order not to embarrass them. Acknowledge to God
you are a sinner so that He will come to you as the faithful One forgiving
your sins and cleansing all your unrighteousness once and for all because
Jesus died once and for all for all your sins.

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If you still believe that confession is a requisite for your forgiveness, let
me tell you then that your confession should be every moment in 24/7
because you are sinning continually transgressing His commandments
every moment of your life. How? In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus said, “And you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind, and with all your strength. And the second, like it, is this: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater
than these.” The word love is agapaõ and from Strong’s definition, it comes
from agan (much) and is comparative to a primitive root word in Hebrew
‘âgab which means to breath after, that is, to love. Therefore, if you really
love God, then you should love Him in every successive breath you take.

Try to say “I love you Lord” ten times in a row even only in your heart
and it will be hard for you. Taking for granted that you can do that, the
passage is requiring you to love God with all your breath. For the sake of
argument you can do that also, but how about the quality of your love
to God? Strong’s definition of the word “all” in the passage comes from a
primary word; “whole” or “all”, that is, complete (in extent, amount, time
or degree), especially (neuter) as noun or adverb: - all, altogether, every
whit, + throughout, whole. The definition of “whit” from the dictionary
means it is the smallest part or particle imaginable. If you love God, He
wants you to love Him with all your breath and with the smallest particle
imaginable with your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. Have
you really loved God and will love Him the way Jesus commanded in
Mark 12:30 the rest of your life? If you can’t, you should be confessing
your sin in every breath you take from now on until your last gasp of
consciousness.

How about your relationship with your neighbor and others? Jesus said that
you have to love your neighbor the way you love yourself. I don’t want to
elaborate further on how you love yourself. But to love your neighbor the
way you love yourself may be the remotest possibility ever since you came
into contact with your consciousness on emotions. If you have a spouse,
you cannot even love your husband or your wife the way you love yourself.
Never mind your sin against the first commandment, but with your sin on
the second commandment alone because you cannot love your neighbor the
way you love yourself, you should have been confessing your sins the whole
of your life. All of us are sinning 24/7 with the two greatest commandments!

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Yet, I still have to hear a Christian believer confessing 24/7 even those who
believe in forgiveness of sin through confession.

Let us see the complication of this. Mark 12:30-31 is a summary of the Ten
Commandments which is divided in two. The first half is our obligation
to God while the second half is commandments on how we live with our
neighbors. Jesus wanted His hearers to understand the law that He made a
summary of the Ten Commandments. If we want to fulfill the law, we must
live with it in a bunch of bundle because if we keep the 9 but failed in 1, we
are guilty of all (James 2:10). With this, we need to live with the first and
second commandments in Mark 12:30-31 simultaneously, not one at a time
so that we will be obedient to its requirements. Therefore, when Jesus said
love God with all your breath, you need to love your neighbor as yourself in
the same breath and time that you love God. No one can do that!

God had designed the law in a way that we cannot fulfill so that we will not
worship and glorify ourselves. We need somebody to fulfill that for us and
Jesus came to save us from all these complications (see Matthew 5:17). He
satisfied all the requirements and complications of the law so that we can live
a life that is easy and enjoyable because confessing sin every moment 24/7 is
hard and bar us from the enjoyment of life. Easy life through the grace of God
does not mean cheap because Jesus paid it with His life.

The problem with many of us is, we confess only the small sins like stealing,
idolatry, adultery, greed, cheating, lying or dishonesty, drunkenness,
fornication, having filthy thoughts, among others. These are minor sins!
Jesus said that there is no greater commandment than the first and second.
Disobeying therefore the first and second commandments will yield the
greatest sin of all. Christian believers who cling in confession of sins so that
God will forgive their sins are like the Pharisees who have lowered the standard
of the law to where they could manage to obey. They have forgotten to confess
the biggest sin by transgressing the first and second greatest commandments
God has given.

These commandments had Jesus fulfilled so that we don’t need to duplicate

what He has done for us. He has confessed our sins and paid it once and
for all including our failure to obey Mark 12:30-31. Having said that, as
a believer when you sin, thank Jesus that He already died for all your sin
and that God cannot impute sin on you anymore (see 2 Corinthians 5:19,

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Romans 4:6-8). He had done the imputation of all your sin on the body of
Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, including your failure to obey Mark 12:30-31.
Jesus will not come to die again for your sins. Living in the work of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sin is complete humility. Never take pride
in your confession of sin because God doesn’t want you to share the glory.
As a child of God, the blood of Jesus and His life is what God requires in
forgiveness, not your confession, so that Jesus Christ His Son will get all the
glory.

My friend, it’s either you are in Christ or not. You are either forgiven or not
at all. You are either confessing your sins or resting on the unmerited favor of
God for your forgiveness. Remember that God is knowledgeable of all your sins
and he has forgiven you based on His knowledge, not on your knowledge of your
sin. Do not live with a spirit of pride thinking that you know all your sins and
confess them. And after confessing some of them (some because you forget
the others or don’t know about it especially your sins on the first and second
greatest commandments), you feel good, feeling forgiven and feeling spiritual
again. That is not faith but are only feel good factors. You can never love
God and your neighbor the way God had planned it to be.

But Jesus had confessed all your past, present, and future sins.

Now, you don’t need to duplicate the confession Jesus did, but, may there
be confession of thanks to Him the rest of your life because through Jesus,
God has forgiven, cleansed, and forgotten all of your sins including your
transgression against the first and second commandments once and for all.

Praise the Lord!

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You Are Blameless In Christ
1 Corinthians 1:8

who also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
8

Christ (NASB).
I love the writing style of the Apostle Paul. Aided by the Holy Spirit, the
Word of God first pronounced the security of the Corinthian believers
and according to this verse, are confirmed and blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ. “Confirm” is to make firm, establish, make sure, while
Thayer defines the word “blameless” which is that cannot be called into
to account, unreproveable, unaccused. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and all
the days to come after that is called the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
other words, the Corinthian believers are fully established to be blameless
forever that they cannot be called into to account for something wrong in
the past. The believers are holy, blameless, and above reproach in God’s
eyes.
One of the natures of God is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9). Faithful as
defined by Webster is “true or trustworthy in the performance of duty
especially in the fulfillment of promises, obligations, vows, and the like;
true in detail; accurate in correspondence, or exact in description. When
the Holy Spirit says you are blameless, you are indeed blameless and don’t
believe anything to the contrary. And that is true to all those who are in
Christ Jesus like the Corinthians who were declared blameless.
Immediately after God’s assurance of their innocence in the day of Jesus
Christ, the Apostle Paul checked all the stupidities that were prevalent
in the Corinthian church. He tackled immediately about division in the
church (chapter 1:10 - chapter 3), they have become arrogant (chapter
4), unequaled immorality that a believer has his father’s wife (chapter
5:1), misunderstanding that led them to lawsuits and sexual perversion
(chapter 6), ignorance of marriage vows leading to rampant divorce
(chapter 7).
Some have become stumbling blocks to others (chapter 8), unsupportive
for the cause of the gospel that Paul has to make a living as tent maker
(chapter 9), misuse of freedom in Christ (chapter 10), inappropriate
worship that even the spirit of the Lord’s Supper has been compromised
(chapter 11), subdivisions in the church because of different understanding
of spiritual gifts (chapter 12), neglect of love in their service (chapter 13)

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in-orderly worship (chapter 14), bad company leading them to continue
in sin (chapter 15:34).
But after mentioning all their stupid deeds, Paul assured them that they
will all be changed when Jesus will come (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).
Despite their shortcomings and weaknesses, the Spirit has said in advance,
“that you were enriched in everything in all utterance and all knowledge
(chapter 1:5) only because of the grace of God given them in Christ Jesus
(1 Corinthians 1:4).
Under God’s grace, you are accepted in Christ Jesus despite all your
idiosyncrasies. God’s grace qualifies the unqualified. But hardly, we cannot
accept people with idiosyncrasies and failed at some points. But thank
be to God because that is not how He treats believers. By His grace the
believer is sanctified in Christ Jesus and become holy (1 Corinthians
1:2), enriched in every way (1 Corinthians 1:5), not lacking any spiritual
gift (1 Corinthians 1:7), keeping him strong in the day of Jesus (1
Corinthians 1:8), and called him into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus
Christ (1 Corinthians 1:9). These took place despite the believers’ sins and
wickedness.
Is this advocating sin? By no means! You are sinning every day and you
don’t have to read something that seems to be advocating sin before you
commit your next sin. The good news is that God has dealt all the sins
of the Corinthians with His Son Jesus and He is doing that also for you.
Praise God that the opinion and understanding of others is not the
yardstick of the believer’s acceptance to a holy God. Praise God that the
wisdom and knowledge of man, or the church today is not the appointed
herald to make believers blameless and innocent of their guilt.
Praise God for Jesus – the grace of God who sanctified sinners and made
them holy and righteous!

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Your Security Is Jesus
Matthew 10:22

You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has
22

endured to the end will be saved (NASB).

The beauty of the Word of God is everyone can have access to it and we
can open anytime we want and study whatever subject we may have in our
mind. The Bible has it all; romance and love stories, violence, war, musical,
prophecy, and horror. As regards to horror under the New Covenant, these
are mostly produced by misguided elements in the Christian community
whose zeal for the Lord are misplaced. There are many stories told by Jesus
that has been perverted and brought fear to people and Matthew 10:22
is one of them. Some of us make horrifying scenes the way we deliver its
message. Jesus never brought fear in this world for His favorite phrase is
“fear not” but many of us had gone out ministering spiritual horror, fear,
and bondage to people.

I have heard Matthew 10:22 quoted many times and the message is that
salvation is something that Christian believers should keep with their
good works and human efforts. Once they run out of good works, their
salvation had become shaky and deemed to have lost it. This understanding
is prevalent today mainly because man was programmed to easily embrace
negative faith than the assurance of Jesus. More often than not, we the
average believers do not scrutinize what we have heard from others
especially from ministers but accept them all as they are. It’s good also to
examine what we have heard to see if the message is focused on Jesus and
brought glory to His name. On the other hand, fear, bondage, and self-
righteousness come from fleshly spirits. When it comes to the things of
God, self-righteousness is always instigated by the evil one and can never
be an entry pass to the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

In the story told by Jesus, He sent out His twelve disciples to preach the
kingdom of heaven. In order for the people to whom they preach may
believe, and to show that the kingdom of God has come in their midst,
Jesus gave the disciples power to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to cast
out demons, and to raise the dead (Matthew 10:7-8). But in those days,
the people knew only the law that was given by Moses and for them there

46
is nothing to be preached except what they knew: the law. But Jesus came
and introduced a better one that the people were amazed of a new teaching
(Mark 1:27). When the disciples preached about the grace of God that
Jesus brought, the synagogue rulers, teachers, and councilors may bring
them in and throw a lot of questions on them. In such a scenario, Jesus
assured them that the Holy Spirit will come to aid them how they should
defend the kingdom of heaven and show the people the source of their
authority.

When Jesus is preached, many people may believe Him while others may
not. Because of Jesus, even households were divided that the unbelieving
family members may deliver the believing members to death as punishment
in forsaking their religion (Matthew 10:21). This is how well entrenched
religion has become in the lives of the people during the time of Jesus.
Even today, many perceive someone who is not a member of their sect an
enemy. Religious fanatics kill and murder even their own family members.
They cannot co-exist with others whose faith they don’t share with. This
type of danger Jesus gave the disciples protection through the Holy Spirit.
Today, the same Holy Spirit is at work in those who believe.

Because of the work of Jesus, the disciples who went out preaching the
kingdom of heaven were hated by those who don’t believe their message.
Even today, everywhere you go, that is still true. If you live for Jesus
while people around you don’t, they feel insecure and find themselves not
attuned to your lifestyle. Sooner or later they will shun away as if you have
something they cannot bear and no doubt it is Jesus they see. With that
they chose to go their own way rather than turning to Jesus for what they
need most; salvation.

It is this salvation that Jesus wanted to bring to all men even to those who
hate Him so that He said, “….but it is the one who endures to the end will
be saved.” This portion of the passage has wrought havoc and confusion
to many. They think that after they are saved, they need to maintain their
salvation with their good works to the end. They have made attending
worship services their obligation and doing all kinds of ministries to score
points with God. At the end, they get discouraged. The portion “but it is
the one who endures to the end will be saved” is not for believers because they
are already saved. It is the unending hope given by Jesus for unbelievers

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that they can be saved even to the end. Once Jesus saved you, no one and
nothing can take your salvation away from Him who keeps it!

“Endures” as used is to stay under (behind), that is, remain. The disciples
went preaching the kingdom of heaven and their authority is Jesus who
commissioned them (Matthew 10:5). But Jesus knew that not all those
to whom the disciples preach the kingdom of heaven will believe and
get saved but only those who will believe their message and take refuge
in Him. There is hope for everyone to be saved from the day he heard
the kingdom of heaven preached that though the hearer may not believe
at once, yet, the hope of salvation will stay with him to the end. Even
someone who didn’t believe Jesus the first time, second time, or the Nth
time he heard about Him if that someone choose to stay under (endures)
the saving grace of Jesus at the end of his life like that of the thief who was
crucified with Him, he will be saved. The saving grace of Jesus will stay to
the end of anyone’s life. All unbelievers have hopes to be saved to the end
until their last gasp of consciousness.

When someone is saved, Jesus does not expect him to keep his salvation
because Jesus is the keeper and no one can touch or detach salvation away
from Him. Jesus Himself cannot even detach your salvation because He
is holily trustworthy and is His covenant with the Father. Therefore, live
your life free from stress of doing to please and score points with God so
that you will do things enjoyably and peacefully. For then whatever you
do, you will be doing it for the glory of Jesus because your salvation is
secured in Him.

In Christ Jesus you can breathe freely because you are eternally secured in
Him!

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 PART II

God’s Grace
Qualifies
The Unqualified

49
Jesus Already Shed His Blood
Hebrews 12:4

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin (NKJV).
4

I have heard sermons and read articles referring to this verse insinuating that
believers should fight sin to the point of shedding blood. But if you look and
inspect very well the skins of those who teach along this line, not a single
scar is left on their bodies to show they have resisted sins to the point of
bloodshed. Their skins are smooth and no traces of wounds and sufferings.
They may have shed their blood striving against sin but already healed and
plastic surgery may have taken over the scars. Or maybe they may not have
fight sin at all that there was not a single droplet of blood loosed from them.
But to fight sin that way is a far-fetched reality in this planet.

Thank God we don’t have to strive against sin and shed blood because He
sent his Son Jesus Christ to suffer once and for all. He shed His blood so
that all our sin will be washed away for all time and eternity. Because of
what Jesus has done on the cross, we don’t need to strive and shed our
blood. For what man can do to strive against sin? My friend, think for a
moment, no human means is available and no man can ever strive against
sin and overcome it. That is the reason why Jesus came; to deal with sin.
But if you have the means, I would be glad to know how it is to do with
human strength.

Victory over sin does not mean you do not sin. To defeat sin means
to take out its pangs in such a manner that it will not condemn you
anymore. Avoiding sin now and afterwards you commit it anyway is not
victory. When sin can no longer bother you, meaning it cannot bring
to your life its intended purpose, the purpose of which is to bring guilt
and condemn you, then you have the victory. In that way you can live
peacefully. Jesus was already condemned for your sins and has purged
sin in His body so that you and I will be blameless in the eyes of God
(Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is the only Man who triumphed over sin. He did it
not for Himself but for you and me. His victory is our victory!

But you may say that why is the author seems insinuating that we should
be shedding blood in resisting against sin? It may look that way if you

50
don’t connect it with Hebrews 12:3 which says, “For consider Him who
endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become
weary and discouraged in your souls.” What opposition from sinful men
did Jesus endure? You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against
sin but Jesus did. Now, consider Him who shed His blood and died for
your sin and do not even think to shed your blood to fight against sin. In
that you are making rivalry with Jesus making yourself a Savior. To think
that you have to shed blood for your sin is a grievous sin of idolatry. Even
if you sin you need to fix your eyes unto Jesus who strived against sin to
the point of bloodshed. Don’t ever think that you need to shed blood for
sin that has beset you.

Jesus offered one sacrifice of shedding His blood for sins forever and then
sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 1:3, 10:12). I don’t believe
we should copy what Jesus has done on the cross for us. To duplicate
shedding blood as Jesus did is a waste of energy. Much more, it is an insult
to Jesus and God the Father. If we shed blood striving against sin, we are
saying that Jesus’ shedding of His blood to death is not complete and He
suffered for nothing. We insult Jesus and God the Father that He is not
satisfied with what Jesus has remitted for sin on our behalf. We are saying
that our effort is the finishing touches and the missing ingredient that
God wants as a final solution to our sin.

For those who believe that shedding blood to resist sin is a way of life,
I believe you want to live peaceably. Try to go and resist sin and shed
your blood. In that way you will add agony and more agony after agony.
Because you cannot strive against sin and be victorious, you will then
grow weary and lose heart, and in the end you will be living a defeated
life. You will end up heaping for yourself guilt and condemnation. Then
tell me if you are living peacefully.

There is only one way you can have victory over sin and live peaceably and
that is to believe that Jesus has defeated sin on the cross by shedding His
blood once and for all and for all time and eternity. He overcame sin on
the cross for you.

Through Him, you have become an overcomer!

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You Are As Clean As Jesus
1 Corinthians 6:11
11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
by the Spirit of our God.

A good preacher of the word when invited to speak to a congregation will

first scan his schedule, think about his resources, consider many other
things, and most importantly about the theme that he is going to deliver.
If the invited is given the choice of subject, the last thing he will do is to
ask for the background of the majority in the church he is going to preach.
Paul who wrote more than half of the New Testament is the best preacher
aside from Jesus. He is more than a crime investigator that he knew the
background of some of the notorious criminals of the church.

Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves,

covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners are people who will not
inherit the kingdom of God if they don’t repent and accept Jesus as Lord
and Savior of their lives (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Some of the Corinthian
believers engaged in these type of crimes that Paul clearly pointed out
their backgrounds saying, “and that is what some of you were.” In the area
of sexual immorality, this was committed in the Corinthian church and is
more than what the Gentiles do because a man had his father’s wife and
they glory in this action (1 Corinthians 5:1&6). They cheat others and
do what is not acceptable in the church (1 Corinthians 6:7-8). Yet Paul
addressed them saints (1 Corinthians 1:3) and saying further, “we shall
all be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).” What good thing happened to
these criminals?

They were washed, they were sanctified, and they were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. This, Paul preached to
people deem not fit for the kingdom of God.

Washing is putting away or separating the dirt by an agent and flushing

it out. Washed is apolouō (ap-ol-oo’-o) which means to wash fully, that
is, have remitted. The shed blood cleansed them from all sin and Jesus
continuously sprinkles His blood on them. God has washed them fully

52
that their feature is now holy and righteous, and as to crimes committed
against the Holy One, they have been purified as white as snow because
all their sins have been remitted. That is how God sees them in Christ that
they didn’t settle for less.
Sanctified is to make holy and that is, purified or consecrated, to venerate.
The Corinthian believers were set apart as holy. When they were sanctified
in Christ Jesus, they were called to be saints (1 Corinthians 1:3). One of
the definitions given by Webster’s dictionary for saint is “any one of the
blessed in heaven.” Every believer is blessed with a seat with Christ in
the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Venerate as defined is “to look upon
or regard with respect and deference; revere.” The Corinthian believers
were sanctified and God regard them with respect and admiration that
He smiles at them because of what Jesus had done and they are in Him.

Justified as defined by Strong is to render (that is, show or regard as) just or
innocent: - free, justify (-ier), be righteous. Justification is dikaiōma and
defined by Thayer “that which has been deemed right so as to have force
of law; a righteous act or deed.” The English Thesaurus put the word just
as “correct, moral, ethical, good, appropriate, proper, right, fitting.” The
Corinthian believers committed grievous sins, but through justification,
they are found by God to be right and correct in form and substance,
ethically pleasing in behavior, appropriate for the kingdom of heaven,
proper to be with Christ, right in their standing, and fitting for the robe
of righteousness.

The action words “washed, sanctified, and justified” are of past

tenses and they are preceded by “are” or “were” depending on which
translation. It means that these acts were done once and for all and
the effect is continuing to the present and the future. These were
not done based on good behavior otherwise the Corinthian believers
were never washed, sanctified, and justified. The washing, the
sanctification, and justification are not free of charge but these were
done on a heavy price tag.

It is for the account of the Lord Jesus Christ that they were washed,
sanctified, and justified. The expensive payment was paid for by Jesus
Christ in return for His life and the phrase “in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ” attests to the fully paid services. That is what had been done for

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the people called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2). Today, if you are a saint,
you have experienced a personal service of washing, sanctification, and
justification by no other than the Spirit of God.
You are no longer a sinner but saint serviced by the Holy Spirit and you
are now as clean as Jesus Christ in the eyes of the Father!

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Your Sins Have Been Put Away
John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold!
29

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (NKJV).

From the lips of John the Baptist, it gives us the idea that the nation of
Israel was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come when he said, “Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” They were looking
for a day when man’s problem of sin will be given a final solution. No
doubt John the Baptist knew the prophetic messages where God promised
Israel of a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) that when he saw Jesus, the
day they were waiting for has come to Israel. The Messiah walked on earth
2,000 years ago and Jesus has finally resolved the sin of the world once and
for all. From that day on, sin is no longer a problem because the Lamb of
God has come as the final sacrifice and put an end to animal sacrifices and
other human rituals.

God sent His Son to put away sin once and for all (see Colossians 2:13-
14, Hebrews 10:8-17), that He said, “their sins and lawless acts I will
remember no more.” According to Strong’s definition of “no more”, it
is a double negative strengthening the denial. God in His incomparable
wisdom, intellect, power and greatness cannot remember sin anymore
because of the final sacrifice as opposed to the yearly sacrifices under the
Old Covenant that reminded Him of sins (Hebrews 10:1-3). But though
God has said that He cannot remember sins and lawless deeds anymore,
unbelief to this promise has become the greatest challenge in the church
today because many of us are reminding God of sins whenever we come
for worship. But thank be to God that though how many reminders, the
same that He cannot remember sin anymore because God not remembering
sin is not contingent on what His people do and believe but what He had
promised!

You may ask, “why is it that I still sin?” Better believe this reality: when you
accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, God did not transform
you into an angel, a celestial being with perfect behavior and does no sin.
God knows that you will continue on sinning until you come face to face
with Jesus. How do I know? Because the Holy Spirit says, the blood of

55
Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and the word “cleanses” is present
progressive (see also 1 John 2:1-2). If you think you instantly become an
angel who does no sin, you don’t need Jesus anymore. But Fantasy Island
does not exist even in the Christian life. With the continuous cleansing,
no sin will be ever evident in God’s holy eyes.

Abraham, the friend of God who lived by grace has a record of lying twice
by saying Sarah is his sister because she was beautiful that his life maybe
endangered. Two kings were attracted to the beauty of Abraham’s wife
that they took her to their harems. Instead of Abraham being chastised
for telling lies to these kings, the innocent heads of state were chastised by
God. It means only that when you are under grace, God cannot see and
He does not record sin so that in the hall of faith no sin was ever found in
the life of Abraham (see Romans 4:7-8, Hebrews 11:8-18). Many believe
this is a license to sin but Abraham did not continue on lying but God
continued to walk with him calling him, “My friend.” The grace of God is
not a license to sin but it is the other way around because it teaches us to
say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-13). It will make us fall in love with our
Savior more and more. It is safest to believe to what God has said than to
believe on what others are saying about grace.

The will of the Father is to establish the Second Covenant in order to

take away sin (Hebrews 10:9-10). The first covenant which is the law
ministered death and condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:7-9). The law is the
power of sin that brings death and arouse sinful passions (1 Corinthians
15:56, Romans 7:5). Believers can now overcome sin because Jesus came
to put out its power by fulfilling the requirements of the law and nailed it
on the cross. Thus, the law has been set aside as the means to be accepted
to God. Jesus is the new way.

As the law has been set aside, sin that is powered by the law has no more
dominion (see 1 Corinthians 15:56). Accordingly, each and every believer
can now have the victory over sin. Yet many of us today have no victory
and are always living in defeat by something that is now powerless. This is
because the second covenant is not yet established in our hearts but still pre-
occupied by the first covenant whose requirement is constant performance
to righteousness. We are now in the era where we can be forever righteous
by the imputation of Jesus’ righteousness. Self-righteousness through law-

56
keeping (including Christianized laws) breeds more sin because the flesh
cannot bear anything good.

It is through the grace and truth that came by Jesus (John 1:17) that the
power of sin to dominate be taken away. Live and breathe freely and look
up to Jesus even when you have done something really stupid because He
has put away all your sin.

Instead of believing on what you can do for sin, believe and have faith in
what Jesus Christ did on the cross!

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You Have Been Declared Holy
1 Peter 1:15-16
15
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it
is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (NIV).

Many of us are doing our best to be as righteous and holy as we can

be. We are very careful in our daily walk lest we sin and our “holiness
and righteousness” immediately vanishes away. To walk carefully is
commendable and there is nothing wrong with that. But trying to
walk without sin is not holiness and righteous living, but a walk to self-
righteousness because never would we be without sin. This is what the
devil wants to inculcate into the minds of the believers when we come
across 1 Peter 1:15-16. We understand it as a commandment to become
holy that can be achieved by doing the right thing through human efforts.
I tried this route based on my old understanding to holiness but it led me
to more unrighteous deeds. I failed.

There are two ways by which the passage is being understood. For those
who are saved by faith but believing in their human efforts of good doing
to please God perceive 1 Peter 1:15-16 to be a command to holiness.
Thus, they try to be always good in their daily walk and nothing is wrong
with that. In fact good doing is what everyone is looking for. But the
test will come when they fail thinking that they are no longer pleasing to
the Father, feeling very bad and guilt takes over, beating their breasts to
show piety. After beating their breasts, they feel good, righteous, holy, and
are again acceptable to God. They have all the feel good factors but not
believing by faith.

The person who is saved by grace and walk daily by grace through faith
understands it the other way around. When God says “Be holy,” it is not
a command to do good works to achieve holiness and become righteous.
To him who is always under grace, no amount of good works, though how
holy and righteous that good works may be, can ever make him holy. He
is already holy and righteous that his understanding on the passage in 1
Peter 1:15-16 is not an encouragement to become holy but a state of being.

”Be thou holy” is a declaration of the One and holy God to those who believed
in the grace He provides that Peter put emphasis on grace to the children

58
of God to exert power in tightening and holding it in their minds resting
their hope fully on the grace of God (1 Peter 1:13). Grace cannot be
separated from the finished work of His Son so that the moment that you
believed in Jesus as your Savior and His finished works on the cross as
your justification, “BE THOU HOLY” has been declared unto you by the
highest authority in heaven, God the holy One who cannot lie.

Therefore, you are already holy when God has made His declaration
because of your faith in His Son Jesus Christ. And how holy are you in
Christ? You are as holy and righteous as God Himself (See Ephesians 4:21ff).
By this, you can now be holy in all you do abiding in the intents of 1 Peter
1:15 saying “be holy in all you do.” You can never “be holy in all that
you do” if you begin from “zero holiness” and climb up to gain holiness
gradually by your good doing. From a life of “zero holiness,” there is a
period by which you are not being holy in all you do and with that you
can never abide with the intent of 1 Peter 1:15; not at all. Through the
declaration of God in Christ, you begin from holiness to holiness and
from righteousness to righteousness without fail. God’s holiness and His
righteousness will enable you to do good works that you can now fulfill 1
Peter 1:15 doing all things holy in all your conduct.

Whether you believe that or not will not change what God has declared.
It is like the day on 11 September 1972 when Ferdinand Marcos declared
martial law in his capacity as the lawful President of the Republic of
the Philippines, that though there were many who were against its
declaration, martial law was the fiat under which the Philippines was
operating from the moment of its declaration. Filipinos then did things
under “martial rule” of law. That example may be short of emphasis to
what God has declared unto you but at least the idea has come across
your system.

The same is true with God. The word of the King of Kings remains true to
its form and substance and can never be altered by anyone not even by the
King Himself because He is righteous and perfectly holy. The efficacy of
God’s declaration that “BE THOU HOLY” is not contingent on how you
believe it, but it is contingent on God’s authority to declare the moment
you believed in His Son Jesus Christ. Even in the Old Testament, God
made the people holy by declaring, “I am the Lord, who makes you holy
(Leviticus 20:8 & 21:23).” It was not the efforts of the people of Israel that

59
made them holy but God. Because God is holy, He has all the authority to
declare a person in Christ “be thou holy.”

When you believe that you are already holy because of God’s declaration on
you through Jesus Christ, you are holy in all your conduct in God’s sight.
Even unbelievers can do holy things like prayer, worship, evangelizing,
studying the Scriptures, give offerings and praises, but only those to
whom God declared holiness shall things be done holy. Doing holy things
is good but doing things holy is perfect that even the routine work of eating
and drinking can be done for the glory of God (see 1 Corinthians 10:31).

You are in Christ Jesus saved by grace alone. Therefore, stop thinking
that the way to “Be Thou Holy” is good doing and doing the right thing
through human efforts. You have been declared “be thou holy” by the holy
God because of Jesus’ work on the cross and that is not for a time being
but for all eternity. Holiness is a gift from God and by receiving it you are
holy in all that you do.

Hallelujah!

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Cute and Attractive
1 John 2:1, 2
1
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.
And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. 2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not
for ours only but also for the whole world (NKJV).

This passage is inundated with many truths that the believer should take
it to heart. First, the Holy Spirit who is the author of the Bible calls those
who are in Christ “My little children.” Little children are cute and they
attract attention. When you are in Christ, you will always be a child
of God, cute and attractive and you will attract His attention, always.
Whether you believe that or not doesn’t matter and will not change God’s
attention on you and who you are in His eyes.

He wrote things for your sake that you may not sin. But God knows that
you will sin later, tomorrow, and the days to come that He provided a
way out. Now that you are a child of His household, He will not leave
you empty handed when you fail but gave an Advocate or supporter and
your Advocate is no other than Jesus Christ the righteous who is with the
Father. But many of us today are taking all things into our hands even
advocating for ourselves to God competing for the position of the true
Advocate.

What is our Advocate doing? He is with the Father as the propitiation

for our sins. Propitiation is atonement and is defined in the dictionary as
the reconciliation of God and man through the sacrificial death of Jesus
Christ and reparation for an offense or injury. He is always with the Father
as a propitiation for our sins because every now and then we fail. He is
also the propitiation of sin for the whole world and that means God and
the world has no more in between except Jesus and is only a matter of
time when the people of the world will recognize this truth that a Savior
is waiting for them.

What do you think will happen if Jesus leaves His post as an Advocate
with the Father even only for a moment? All of us will be consumed by
the Father’s holy eyes. But thank be to Jesus Christ who is with the Father

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for all time and eternity. Propitiation is also translated as expiator and
its definition is to extinguish the guilt incurred by [sin]. When we sin as
believers, there comes an immediate expiator – One who takes away the
guilt. In other words, where and when there is an Advocate, believers in
Christ will never be found guilty of an offense!

Unfortunately, many in the church today could hardly see the truths of
this passage. It is easier for them to live and believe otherwise seeking to
advocate for themselves when they fail. They could easily see the act of
confession of sin in 1 John 1:9 than the actions of Jesus in 1 John 2:1-2 and
1 John 1:7. Because of the misuse of 1 John 1:9 by many, most believers
are making confession the propitiation for sins and the Lord Jesus Christ
who is the true propitiation for sins has been taking the sidelines for long.
Confession of sin has been almost always a religious ritual in the church.
You have confessed, agreed with God you are a sinner and He is faithful
that He forgave you and cleansed you from all your unrighteousness once
and for all. Never will you become unrighteous again because of sin.

Let’s look carefully 1 John 1:9 and 1 John 2:1-2. Can you see that these two
passages cannot go together at the same time in the same place? In other
words they cannot go together in one shot. If you confess your sin and God
has forgiven you and has cleansed you, there is no more need of 1 John 2:1-
2. On the other hand, if Jesus Christ your Advocate is with the Father and
steps in when you sin, 1 John 1:9 is no longer necessary, right? The other
passage will go first over the other depending on a given situation. Because
you are now a child of God, 1 John 2:1-2 is yours to live with every day
because 1 John 1:9 is already fulfilled once and for all.

Though you are now a child of God, you sometimes fail and the sin that
you have committed doesn’t unwind your being a child of God or your
forgiveness been recalled that you became unrighteous again. My children
though they fail sometimes are always secured at home and they will
always be forgiven even though they will not confess their failures. As
their father, I will always be thinking of their well-being and their future.
Don’t you think that God is more than an earthly father? God is good
much more, far greater than how we think He is.

Your being a child of God, your spiritual security, your being forgiven and
your righteousness will never be at stake because these depend on Him

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who saved you. You are always secured and your security is not only for a
moment but for all time and eternity because you have an Advocate, Jesus
Christ the eternal and righteous One.

You are now a child of God in Christ Jesus and you will always be what
you are in His sight; cute and attractive!

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 PART III

God’s Grace
is the Only Refuge
for the
Sinner and Be Justified

65
You Are as Righteous and Holy as God
Ephesians 4:24

And that you put on the new man which was created according to
24

God, in true righteousness and holiness (NKJV).

I once had a neighbor who came to work abroad and used the name of
his relative as his identity instead of his. I don’t know the reason behind
but perhaps his name is tainted with something that may bar him from
travelling abroad. He may have a bad record that he is concealing from
the prowling eyes of the judiciary as evidenced by how he swindled a huge
amount of money from one of his officemates and other acquaintances.
Not only my neighbor did that but also a so called “brother” changed his
true identity so that he can work in a car dealership abroad.

Believers had tainted identities that bars them to enter heaven so that
they are commanded to put on a new identity and put off the old man
(Ephesians 4:22). In general, as man grows older, the corruption of sin
grows that as he advances in years, the more sin he commits. When the
Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery, they asked Jesus what shall
be done to the adulteress (John 8:3-11). Jesus answered them that the one
without sin shall cast the first stone. Immediately, the older ones were the
first to flee from Jesus’ presence. It only means that as you gain more years
in life, the more sin you have committed as compared to younger ones!

We have a critical path to curb which is the growth of corruption and the
only way out is to put off the old self and put on the new man. Put off is
like putting off a lighted candle and put on the new light. The new man was
created, not out of, but according to God in true righteousness and holiness.
It means that all the true righteousness and holiness of God is in the new
man. When you put on the new man Jesus Christ, you have the complete
righteousness and holiness of God. Since you are in Christ Jesus, you have a
new identity and Jesus is shining in your life. In the eyes of a holy God, the
old you that had been put off is no longer what He sees but the new identity
you are in, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Without your new identity, God
cannot see you on His radar screen.

Therefore, with the new identity you are in, your righteousness and your
holiness is like the righteousness and holiness of God Himself. You are

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as righteous and holy as God because of Jesus. You have been imputed
God’s true righteousness and holiness (see also 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Today, God is making an inventory of righteousness and holiness on
you and not counting sin and unrighteousness against you.
God does not count sin and unrighteousness anymore because Jesus
paid them all and you are being washed continuously by His blood
(2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:2, 1 John 1:7). With the imputation of
God’s true holiness and righteousness, you can never become unrighteous.
I shared this to one of my pastor-friends but unfortunately, he cannot
accept the fact that he is as righteous and holy as God in Christ. But
though he didn’t believe it, he is still righteous and holy according to
God because of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But you may say, I don’t feel that I am as righteous and holy as God.
My friend, the kingdom of God is not about feelings but is about
faith. You cannot please God by your feelings; faith is (Hebrews 11:6).
It is not how you see God but how He sees you. It is not how you
understand Him but how He understands you. It is not what you do
or what you have done, whether good or bad, but what Jesus had done.
Believers still do stupid things but that cannot chip off a bit of their
righteousness and holiness because these are imputed on them by God.
Nothing can chip off or make even a dent to Jesus’ righteousness and
holiness!

Now that you know you are as righteous and holy as God, you effortlessly
speak the truth; you will know where to place anger; and corrupt words
that are destructive will be curtailed from your mouth. You will be looking
for ways to gladden or bring joy to the Holy Spirit by imparting grace
for the edification of the brethren. Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil
speaking, and all malice will be things of the past; you will grow to be
tenderhearted and forgiving. Above all, you are effortlessly and restfully
imitating God as His dear child (Ephesians 4:25 – 5:1).

All these you can because of the righteousness and holiness of Jesus in you!

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Be Perfect: Keep the Law Out of Reach
Matthew 5:48

Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect

48

(NKJV).

When I took a course in evangelism, we used to quote this verse to

people that we prospect to share the good news of salvation. I really didn’t
understand this verse in its context before but I shared it anyway; meaning
that though I didn’t understand perfection, it was not my knowledge that
drew people to Christ since many came to receive Christ as their personal
Lord and Savior. My colleagues who were taking the same course may not
have understood Matthew 5:48 in the way that Jesus taught about it, but
the same effect that many people were saved through the preaching of the
gospel. I believe that it’s also good to know the understanding of Jesus as
regards to perfection He taught on this passage.

Don’t you think that you can be as perfect as your Father in heaven the
way Jesus have taught it in this passage? Many will say yes but some
may have doubts in their hearts and I have met believers that they
are not sure of their perfection. In fact, some of them are not even
sure of their salvation if they are really saved or not. There are others
who believe that perfection will take place only in heaven. But that
is not what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5:48. He is referring to
perfection of believers in the life at present while living on this planet,
not perfection in heaven.

The whole Scripture was not yet written when Jesus was teaching about
perfection in Matthew 5:48 and in order for us to understand it, we need
to look at its context. Is perfection really attainable? What I know is, Jesus
will not teach things which are impossible and improbable for man to
have. Accordingly, when Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just
as your Father in heaven is perfect” means you can be perfect as God in
the context of what Jesus was teaching His disciples. Jesus is not talking
nonsense and He never will.

You may ask, how can I be perfect? Will I become perfect if I will pluck
out my right eye after I lusted with a woman (Matthew 5:29)? Or if I cut
my right hand because I have stolen something with it (Matthew 5:30),

68
will I then become perfect and enter heaven? Or, if somebody slaps me
on the right cheek and turn the other (Matthew 5:39) also, is this the way
to become perfect? Again, if somebody wants my tunic and also give up
my cloak to him (Matthew 5:40), is this the way Jesus is teaching about
perfection? Or if I have prayed for my enemies which pictures the idea of
loving them (Matthew 5:44), am I now a perfect person?

If these are what Jesus is talking about, then most if not all the men in the
church would have lost one of their eyes while many will have only their
left hands hanging on their shoulders. Slapping someone will be a normal
scene while others with all piety will be continuously praying for their
enemies through the day. No, that’s not what perfection Jesus is referring
to. If I pluck out my right eye and cut off my right arm, then you will
call me stupid. If somebody slaps me on the right cheek and then turn
my left cheek also, then I will be commended for false humility. To let go
my tunic which is one of my most valuable asset and give up my cloak as
well all at the same time, then you can see how self-righteous I am. But
to pray for my enemies and ask the blessing of God to pour out on them
is a noble task.

To become perfect on what Jesus was teaching His disciples is not about
plucking out the eyes, or cutting off the right arm, or slapping cheeks, etc.
To be perfect is not an achievement through our own doing and efforts.
It is putting the law to its proper place knowing that no one can fulfill it
except the One whom God sent and believing that its fulfillment by Jesus
is ours. To become perfect is simply believing Jesus and His works which
the phrase (and its variance) “but I say to you” (found in Matthew 5:28, 32,
34, 39 & 44) is all about and that is in contrast to the phrases “you have
heard” or “it has been said” in reference to the law (found in Matthew
5:27, 31, 33, 38 & 43) that the people heard from of old.

Let us not take the law into our hands as a measurement of our everyday
life but rather live above its reach by believing Jesus of what He has done
to the law for us because never can we fulfill it. Jesus claims in Matthew
5:17 that He is the only fulfillment of the law. The sad thing however is,
many of us wants to fulfill it despite of what Jesus has said. He knows that
no one can fulfill the law so that He came to fulfill it for us and redeem all
of us from the curse of the law. Hence, He died.

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The law is good and perfect but can’t make man perfect. The purpose of the
law is to expose man’s imperfections and shortcomings (Romans 3:19-20;
5:20) so that man will look for a Savior who is perfect. Therefore, when
we dip our hands into the law, which is in today’s context ingrained in self-
righteousness and constant performance to be acceptable to God, all our
shortcomings will become evident. Know that all our imperfections have
been carried by Jesus to the cross that we are no longer imperfect before
God though we are imperfect in the eyes of our friends, relatives, brothers,
and sisters.

How can you live beyond the reach of the law? Live above it which I
believe is what Jesus means when He used the phrase “But I say to you”
and that is translated “believe Me.” He wants you to believe in Him and
His complete work on the cross (see also Romans 10:4). He conquered
law and He gives the trophy to you because you are more than conqueror.
In Galatians 5:4, there is a place of spiritual prominence called grace; yes,
grace ground where God only can operate under the New Covenant. Jesus
fulfilling the law for you is God’s grace. The verse says, “You have become
estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have
fallen from grace.”

Grace is higher than the law. When you fall from grace, there is only
one landing place – the law. By then, you have stopped believing in
Jesus and forgotten the phrase “but I say unto you” and started to
believe on what “you have heard” performing your way out to God.
You have been alienated from Christ and start to condemn others and
yourself because of guilty conscience (see also Revelation 2:5). You are
being eaten up by the demands of the law which law you can never
fulfill. You will start to reach out to God and you will be living in stress
developing a number of diseases that will literally lead you to “pluck
out your eyes or cutting off your right arm;” untimely death that is.

Stay restful on grace ground through Jesus’ words “but I say to you” lest
you fall and keep on believing in Jesus who fulfilled “what you have heard.”

Jesus who is your perfection made you perfect as your Father in heaven!

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Magnify Your Justification in the Eye of a Needle
Mark 10:25

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
25

man to enter the kingdom of God (NKJV).

For the first time that I became conscious of this verse after reading it,
I was wondering and questioning Jesus if truly a camel can go through
the eye of a needle. I didn’t get an answer to my question but I was left
wondering through the years with the same question. Whenever I read
this passage, the same question lingers in my mind. Time and time again
I have to go back to discover what could have been in store to what Jesus
has said to His disciples that a camel can go through the eye of a needle
easier than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. At the end, I had
to settle for the easiest understanding, “With men it is impossible, but not
with God; for with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27).”

But I saw it inconsistent with my question because Mark 10:27 is an

answer of Jesus to His disciples asking “who then can be saved?” The
answer about the camel that can go through the eye of a needle is not yet
settled and I was still puzzled and confused if really an animal can pass
through a tiny hole. If Jesus said, “it is easier for Me to let a camel go
through the eye of a needle,” no doubt it will be done because with Him
all things are possible.

Jesus can expand the eye of the needle so that the camel can easily go
through. However, we see in Mark 10:25 that the camel shall go through
the needle’s eye without God’s miraculous intervention. Is Jesus talking
nonsense making improbable comparisons which do not exist? But Jesus
will not play around with His disciples who longed to know the truth. The
disciples left all they have and followed Jesus thinking to hear from Him
the words of eternal life that will settle their hearts (John 6:68). There
must be a good explanation which Jesus wants us to understand.

“Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the
kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:24-25).” The
word “hard” means generally impracticable; with difficulty. Therefore, it is

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impractical for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God and
is more practicable (easier) for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
From Strong’s Hebrew and Greek dictionary, camel as used in the Old and
New Testament means “in the sense of labor or burden bearing.”
The rich young man came running, knelt before Jesus then asked Him
what shall he do to inherit eternal life. Jesus pointed out the law to
him which according to the young man he kept from his youth. This
young man was commendable for obeying the commandments but
he lacked one thing. He did not actually keep the law because he had
broken the first commandment making riches his god. The first of the
Ten Commandments God said, “You shall have no other gods before
Me (Exodus 20:3).” Jesus loved him and pointed to him he did not
really keep and obey the commandments from his youth that he needed
a savior.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of God. Even in tiny holes, the idea of performance
as a way of entry pass to heaven easily goes through and can be easily
seen just like the idea of the rich man before he asked Jesus what must
he do that he kept the law from his youth. It is always easier for man to
see his goodness (sense of labor or burden bearing) as entry pass to enter
the kingdom of God than the goodness of God embodied in Jesus. Even
without magnifying glass, small holes will help someone focus to see an
object clearly though how dim your eyes may be. What the rich young
man saw from his youth was his sense of labor and burden-bearing in
following and keeping the commandments as his way of life to enter the
kingdom of God.

The practical thing to see through the eye of a needle about the
commandments is the role of the law in man’s life which was given so offense
may abound and that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God that through the law no one can be justified
before Him (Romans 3:19-20; 5:20). Magnifying the truth that no one
can be justified through obedience to the law, you will then look for a way
out from the impending condemnation how you can be justified through a
practicable route. Jesus came to be condemned to fulfill all the requirements
of the law completing the route for everyone’s justification.

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The rich young man failed to focus on the practicality of making Jesus
his Savior thinking he had all the laws kept from his youth that may
justify him. After Jesus told him to sell all what he has, He went his
way sorrowful not minding anymore about the eternal life he longed to
have. He treasured his possessions more than eternal life that he failed to
magnify his need for a Savior and be justified.

By grace through faith, your justification in Jesus also can be magnified

even in tiny holes!

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Sin Dissolved Once And For All
1 John 3:8
8
[But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes
his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the
divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made
manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works
of the devil [has done] (The Amplified Bible).

There are glaring things about sin that we need to understand. Sin is of the
devil. It is his works for he had violated the divine law. The devil cannot
do anything other than sin and that is what he is doing even from the
beginning; he was the first and originator of all sin. He is pre-occupied and
scheming with sin all the time. Since Satan is a spirit and he is invisible,
his works are also invisible. But because of his scheming, he uses man to
manifest his actions so that sin has become visible. There is now a heap of
pile of his works scattered all over the place.

Sin has become a noun. The dictionary defines noun as the name of a
thing, quality, or action existing or conceived by the mind; a substantive.
Sin has a substance and can be counted that God had made an inventory
out of it. Sin had put man into bondage, imprisoned, and enslaved him.
But Jesus the Son of God was made manifest has come and destroyed the
works of the devil. He separated the works of the devil from the visible
man because He carried all the inventory of all sins of the world to the
Mount of Crucifixion (John 1:29). At the cross, Jesus, the God in visible
form has dissolved the devil’s works in heap of piles.

Jesus has completely destroyed, loosened, and dissolved sin. With that, sin
is no longer visible in the eyes of God. If God can still see the works of the
devil, then Jesus miserably failed. But Jesus did not fail; He completely
and triumphantly wiped out what the devil has compiled. Since the works
of the devil had been destroyed once and for all, no one can have the
means and ways to redo and assemble. Not even the devil can reconstruct
what has been destroyed by Jesus because no way the devil can be greater
than the Son of God.

Sin is already dissolved in God’s eyes and you are in Christ Jesus, therefore,
no more sin that can put a dent on you. If you think that sin can still

74
put a dent, know for certain that it has to put a dent on Christ first
because you are in Him. “No one abides in Him [who lives and remains
in communion with and in obedience to Him – deliberately, knowingly,
and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has
either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him,
or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him]. Boys (lads), let no
one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is
upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action,
living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous
(1 John 3:6, 7 The Amplified).”

However, even we Christians concoct the idea that the devil is far greater
than Jesus. We believe that sin, the works of the devil is still a problem
that we are giving time and efforts for its resolution, something that Jesus
has resolved once and for all. We cannot believe that the pile of heap the
devil has worked through us are already dissolved, flushed out, and gone
for all eternity. We are still pre-occupied how we can flush sin out from
our lives, something that has been resolved 2000 years ago when Jesus
died on the cross.

You have been born of God and you are no longer of the devil. You
have been transferred into the kingdom of Jesus Christ the Son of God
(Colossians 1:13). You are a documented, legitimate child of God, a
citizen of heaven so that there is no way that the devil can take you and
transfer you again in his kingdom of darkness. In the kingdom of God,
you are walking in the light that you now have a directed life. Gone are the
days when you are confused, groping in the dark. You are being cleansed
continually and do not act as if you are still dusty. Act as a child of God
the way He sees you; righteous, holy, sanctified, justified, innocent from
any crime, cleansed and forever purified. Never walk how the devil sees
you, someone who is always dusty and full of filth, because you don’t
have a relationship with him and he is no longer your father. You are now
forever free from the works of the devil.

From now on, stand tall in Christ and confess your thanks (not sin) to
Him every time because in God’s holy eyes, sin that has put you in bondage
and fear has been destroyed, dissolved, and flushed out once and for all.

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Jesus Will Not Drink the Cup of Sin Again
Luke 22:42

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but
42

yours be done (NIV).

In Hebrews 10, Jesus came to set aside the First Covenant and establish the
Covenant of Grace for our acceptance to God. Grace is the ground where
God treats us as if we never committed any wrongdoing. It is the heart of
God that loves and gives every good thing that man doesn’t deserve; even
eternal life which is the very life of God so that all the glory belongs to
Jesus. The First Covenant required animal sacrifices to remind sins of the
people while the Second Covenant washed and take away sins so that God
cannot remember them anymore (Hebrews 10:10-18). By the Second, the
believer is made holy and perfect forever in Christ; perfected in conscience
that is. Perfection of conscience comes only when Jesus Christ and His
righteousness and holiness fill in one’s conscience and no room for guilt
and sin. That is when the second has been established (Hebrews 10:9).

Jesus came as the final sacrifice so that guilty conscience will be done away
with to enable us to worship God boldly (Hebrews 10:2). “To search out our
hearts for sins” before worshiping God is not coming boldly to Him because
sin consciousness had not been done away with. That phrase typifies the
sacrifices of bulls and goats under the Old Covenant as reminder of sins.
Jesus and sin cannot dwell together in the same conscience. If Jesus can
dwell with sin in our consciences, He would not have suffered and died to
take out the sin of the world. Today, as a believer, you can either be “son-
conscious” or “sin-conscious.”

God says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more”
(Hebrews 10:17). In Christ, God did not just forget our sins but “no more”
because there was a time when God remembered all our sins. He did not
just forgive but Jesus was punished for our sins. God filled in the cup
with all our sins in which Jesus drank to fulfill the will of God when He
said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will
but yours be done.” After that we see Jesus carrying the cross to the place
called Skull where He was crucified, crucifying with Him all our sins,

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bearing all sorrows and grief. We are crucified with Him; His crucifixion
is our crucifixion and His life our life (Galatians 2:20).

Jesus will not drink that cup again; never to bear sins anymore (Hebrews
9:28). Unfortunately, many of us believe that the cup should be filled
again and again, day after day, moment by moment and offer them to
God. Long time ago God filled the cup with all our sins and Jesus drank it
once and for all. It is interesting to note that man did not fill the cup but
God did. Today, many of us are taking the role of God filling the cup and
offer it to Jesus to let Him drink again and again.

When Jesus drank the cup of sins, all men are forgiven of their sins
technically so that He can reconcile the world to Himself (see 2 Corinthians
5:18-19). If sin is still in the heart of God today, meaning, He didn’t
forgive the sin of the world, there is no way He could make reconciliation
with a sinner. But only those who put their trust in Jesus are saved and
reconciled to God and have the experience of divine forgiveness.

In Christ you have the gift of forgiveness once and for all that no more
cup to fill again!

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 PART IV

God’s Grace, the Gospel

Will Stand
Forever

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Jesus Has Confessed You to the Father
Matthew 10:32-33

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess

32

before My Father who is in heaven. 33But whoever denies Me before

men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven (NKJV).

This is a passage that has brought fear, bondage and self-righteousness to

many Christian believers because of the horrifying message that can be
drawn from it. With the aid of electronic communications, sometimes
well-meaning Christians will send you awesome spiritual messages and
at the end they put Matthew 10:33 as parting words which suggests you
have to send it to anyone of your acquaintances otherwise you will face
denial from Jesus. Because you don’t want Jesus to deny you to the Father,
you will comply in fear to what has been suggested. There is nothing
wrong in your compliance but if you did it out of fear, you have just gone
into bondage and the evil one has got you. When you pass that message
to others, you multiply fears in people which the devil wanted you to do
contrary to Jesus’ message of “do not fear” in Matthew 10:31.

Even when the passage is read alone, sometimes we sense a spirit of fear if
we don’t understand its entirety because we may fail to comply in one of
these days and Jesus will deny us to the Father. Everyone, even those who
don’t believe in Jesus would like to be with the Father, forever. Man has a
built-in spirit longing to be with a Deity that even those who didn’t hear
anything about Jesus will develop a religious ritual to please a god they do
not know. The hardest and most notorious atheist when he comes face to
face with Jesus would like to be with the Father.

Jesus came to take out fear that we may have boldness to approach the
throne of God (Hebrews 4:16). Therefore, to develop a sense of fear in
His word is contrary to the reason of His coming. Yet we develop fear in
His word if we don’t understand the total picture of what God wanted
us to know. The word of God has been given for our understanding but
not everything is written to us. Matthew 10:32-33 has its context of
preaching the kingdom of heaven that people are divided because of His
sword (Matthew 10:34). The sword of Jesus always described as the word
of God (Ephesians 6:17).

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The sword of Jesus divides people. Those who have been pierced by His
sword to the heart will embrace and believe Him. Having believed and
counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven, to those who believed, Jesus
gives them His righteousness (Matthew 6:33, Romans 3:20-22). On the
other hand, there are those who will reject the sword of Jesus and fight
back with their own weapons of self-righteousness. Such kind of arrogance
would be a slap on the face of the One who is offering His righteousness
to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 10:32 is written to those who have embraced and believed Jesus.
Verse 33 begins with “but” which means that if you have embraced and
believed Jesus, it is no longer for you. It is a warning for those who have
rejected Jesus as their means of righteousness to enter the kingdom of
heaven, having rejected the gospel that was preached to them. Peter denied
Jesus three times but never did Jesus deny him to the Father. If someone
rejects Jesus until he dies, there is no way that Jesus will present him to
the Father but he will be denied entry to the kingdom of God. Those who
have Jesus as Savior, He had presented them to the Father already the
moment they believed so that all believers are seated at the right hand of
God with Jesus in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6, Hebrews 1:3). The
right hand of God is where the blessed go (Matthew 25:33-34). As far as
God is concerned, the believers are always at His right hand with Jesus
where all the good things of heaven flow.

You have confessed Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and in return
you have been confessed by Him to the Father and never can He deny
you anymore because there is no way He can change or reverse His mind
(Numbers 23:19-20). In Jesus, you are now immovable; you are steadfastly
seated at the Father’s right hand enjoying His presence.

Only because of the favorable confession of Jesus to the Father for your
sake!

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Your Salvation is Eternally Secured in Jesus
Leviticus 16:34

This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the
34

children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year. And he did as the Lord
commanded Moses (NKJV).

It was during the time of Moses that God gave the law (the Ten
Commandments) and from that day on, immediately the people trembled,
terrified, run away from God and stood afar off (Exodus 20:18). Why?
Because God now sees them through the law that punishment is imminent
once they transgressed God’s commandments (Exodus 20:5). They are
now into constant performance that if they want to be right with God, it
depends on their goodness and no longer through the goodness of God
that covered Abraham and his descendants on their journey from Egypt
until the event in Exodus 19:21 in which the people can no longer come
near to God because prior to that they boasted on their own righteousness
in Exodus 19:8. Immediately after that, God gave the law.

But God knew that if Israel will earn their blessings by their good
performance, the outpouring of blessing will be as rare as a stream in
the desert. Since God is good, He gave a way out to bless them and it is
through the avenue of sacrifices of burnt offerings and peace offerings. The
Ten Commandment never promised a blessing except for the honoring of
parents. Through the Ten Commandments, God’s name will never be at
the center and not recorded because it is “YOU” that occupies the center
stage. But in the sacrifices and offerings of animals, His name will be
recorded and God will come to the people and will bless them (see Exodus
20:24). It is through the sacrifices and not through their obedience to the
commandments that God will bless the people.

Even in the Old Testament, it was not through the Ten Commandment
(the law) that God wanted His people to live by and be blessed. If you
know that some rules will ruin the lives of your beloved children, you will
never tell them go and take those rules as a measurement of their everyday
lives. God knows best. The Ten Commandments that were engraved on
stones (Exodus 31:18; 32:16 & 34:28) is defined by the Holy Spirit as
the ministry of death and condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:7-9, 1 Samuel

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6:19). A ministry is an agency that administers a prescribed task or
program. Therefore, if you want to die slowly and surely, take the tablets
of stone and keep them for yourself which keeping will never produce
righteousness. You need to have the righteousness of Jesus first before you
can abide with the inscriptions in the tablets of stone.

How did the children of Israel live acceptably to God? He encouraged

them to keep His statutes/ordinances (see Leviticus 16:34, Malachi 3:7).
Statute in Hebrew is appointed, custom, ordinance, an enactment. The
appointed customs with enactment that God wanted His people to
reckon are the festivals, the sacrifices, and offerings they have to make
on their altars, the reason every priest in the Old Testament stands daily
(Hebrews 10:11). The sacrifices of animals had a shadow and enactment
of the coming Savior who will finally be offered and sacrificed for sin once
and for all. The blessings flow to Israel through the shadow of the true
offering and God wanted them to live by it. He cannot wait to bless His
people through the law!

Their greatest blessing was their salvation. When their high priest made
the atoning sacrifice on the Day of Atonement and comes out alive from
the Holy of Holies, their salvation is secured. In Leviticus 16:34, all their
sins are covered and the effect of which is for the next twelve months.
There was an advance covering of the people for one year. With their
yearly atonement sacrifice, God cannot see their sins for the next twelve
months. What God see is the covering of blood that their salvation and
blessing is guaranteed for one year. The Ten Commandments cannot
appease God’s wrath, cannot cover their sins, and cannot bring salvation
unto them. The law was never meant to become the yardstick for man’s
acceptance to God and be blessed. But it doesn’t mean that you can go and
break the Ten Commandment.

The very substance of the ancient sacrifices and offerings has come 2000
years ago and in Christ, you are one of the recipients. Jesus Christ the
substance of the offerings had taken away and carried all your sins without
you asking for it (John 1:29). If the blood of animals can cover the sins of
Israel for one year, the blood of Jesus does not cover but washed away all
your sins once and for all. Through Him, God has forgotten all your sins
for all eternity. If God remembers one sin of anyone of us in heaven today,

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it will nullify altogether the work of Jesus on the cross and there will be
chaos in heaven because God will see to it that Somebody has to come and
die again for sin!

God is also reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Never can He attain the end result of reconciliation if there is a reminder
of sin in His heart. There will always be heartache and no reconciliation at
all if God finds any grudges with the one to whom He wants to reconcile
with. God doesn’t hold grudges and never will He record sin anymore.
These He do only to gain man’s confidence and trust.

When the high priest comes alive from making the atonement sacrifice,
the children of Israel are secured for one year through the blood of bulls
and goats. Many Israelites may not have believed it but were secured for
one year anyway. Their covering was not contingent on whether they
believe or not, but once they sacrificed the atonement offering, the reality
of what God has said is done. Jesus, the final sacrifice has purchased your
eternal salvation and your security is not only for one year but for all
eternity. Your salvation is secured forever though you don’t believe that
because your security is not based on what you do but it is through the
sufferings of the one Man, Jesus Christ.

Because you are eternally secured in Jesus, you can now abide with the law
through Him!

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No Christian Believer Can Ever Blaspheme the Holy
Spirit
Mark 3:29
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,
29

but is subject to eternal condemnation (NKJV).

I have read a book long before and in one of its topic the author explained
about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Reading between the lines,
I was so expectant of a clear explanation thinking that I will have a better
understanding of this sin but going through the author’s explanation, I didn’t
have the assurance or a way out how I can avoid the sin of blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit and be secured from eternal punishment. In explaining this
sin, the author of the book quoted another passage in 1 John 5:15-17 but
the explanation stirred up more confusion and anxieties so that I was kept
in limbo thinking if I have committed the unforgivable sin of “blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit” or not. Commentaries that I have read do not give
explanations of how this sin can be avoided but offered more confusions
and complications.

For nearly a decade, I thought that I have committed the unforgivable sin
of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But of course, I didn’t share it to
anybody; it was a secret that even my wife didn’t know about my struggles.
I don’t want someone think that I was on my way to hell without any
recourse. I still found my way to church, join worship services and employ
in Christian works such as evangelism, preaching, and the conduct of
Bible studies. To believe I have committed this sin, my mind did dwell
on many filthy things about God, even cursing Him in thoughts, not
only once, but it’s more than I could imagine. The more I struggled of
eradicating curses to God from my mind, the stronger it cleaves on my
thoughts and the more curses I did. The same testimonies I heard from
those who believe they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

There are many believers who are frightened with this passage, and I must
submit that before, I also was very much in fear. In fact I was avoiding
reading Mark 3 so as not to remind me that I have committed the
unforgivable sin. But thank God that while I was on my way to office one
day, this “eternal sin” crossed my mind. And almost simultaneously the

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Holy Spirit revealed what this “blasphemy” is all about. Out of my belly
came the word that explains everything about this sin. I was very much
excited on my way home in the afternoon to cross check the Scriptures
for its meaning and praise the Lord, no believer will ever commit the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

To understand this, it helps draw out its meaning by studying its context
and the two chapters before Mark 3. Chapter 1 shows the baptism of
Jesus and we can see the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and rested on
Him. God the Father revealed and announced to the world that Jesus is
the Son in whom He loves. Then Jesus’ ministry started proclaiming the
kingdom of God and healing all kinds of diseases and casting out demons
and evil spirits that found their residence in the physical. Demons are not
supposed to reside in man that the Lord Jesus Christ had to expel them.
Chapter 2 continues on more accounts of miracles, the calling of disciples
and showing Jesus is Lord. Since the Pharisees and scribes made the
Sabbath a religious ritual, they did not recognize the Lord of the Sabbath
has come in their midst.

In chapter 3, while Jesus was teaching in the synagogue He saw a man

with a withered hand. Luke 6:6 describe it was the man’s right hand so
that his livelihood earning capacity was very much affected that providing
for his family might have been a big struggle because he cannot utilize
his right hand to work for a decent living. With compassion in His heart,
Jesus asked the people if it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do
evil, to save life or to kill. But the Pharisees who were supposed to know
the works of the coming Savior remained silent that Jesus looked at them
with anger. To be silent if you know the truth is tantamount of hardening
your heart; an act of disobedience. Despite their silence Jesus healed the
man with a withered hand.

Jesus healed many with diseases and drove out evil spirits in the very
naked eyes of the people (Mark 3:10-12). Wherever Jesus go, the
people were crowding at Him, the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law included, that He and His disciples could not even eat (Mark
3:20). The teachers of the law came to Jesus not because they want to
witness miracles and give praises to God but they were finding a way
to accuse and kill Him. One of their accusations is that Jesus is driving
out demons by the prince of demons. They thought that Jesus was

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demon possessed so that even His own family was convinced He was
out of His mind (Mark 3:21).

Jesus defended His ministry against the accusations of the scribes that
it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that He cast out demons and not
by Beelzebub (Mark 3:23-29). In their accusations, the scribes had easily
forgotten that even the demons declared that Jesus is the Holy One of God
(Mark 1:24-25). Jesus doesn’t need demons to participate in proclaiming
His glory that He rebuked them to keep silent and come out from where
they found their residence. In His defense against the scribes, Jesus closed
the parable on the divided kingdom of Satan with the blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit; the eternal and unforgivable sin that man may commit.

The miracles of Jesus on earth were all done in the power of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus is God even when He walked on earth that He was enabled
by the Spirit of God. The crowd together with the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law were all witnesses to every miracle Jesus did. Instead of
believing Jesus and witness the power of the Holy Spirit, they plotted with
the Herodians how they might kill Him. They chose to live in unbelief
and wanted to preserve their religion by not doing even that which is
something good on the Sabbath. They were unbelieving of Jesus despite
the miracles performed in their presence. The prime reason why the Holy
Spirit came is to convict the world of the sin of unbelief (see John 16:8-9).

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not a complicated theological sin

that only those who studied theology and graduated from seminaries can
understand. The Holy Spirit can explain this to anybody. It is a simple sin of
unbelief in Jesus and His works. Unbelief was the word given by the Holy
Spirit and it is the only sin that can take anyone to eternal punishment.
All other sins have been carried by Jesus to the cross and nailed them there
so that all sins and whatever blasphemies will be forgiven. Mark 3:28 was
quoted by Jesus in the future tense (will) because He was not yet crucified
when He said the parable of the divided kingdom of Satan.

After the crucifixion, there is only one sin that has to be dealt with which
is the sin of unbelief in Jesus that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict the
world of this kind of sin. The Holy Spirit has no business in other kind
of sin because all have been dealt with by Jesus through His blood that
washed away all sin. Even the trespasses of the world God cannot impute

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to unbelievers because Jesus paid them all (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). But
for the unbeliever, he needs to believe Jesus as his Savior and Lord before
he is justified once and for all from all his sin.

If someone passes away and die without believing in Jesus will be guilty
of only one sin - the sin of unbelief. Despite of what they have witnessed,
the Pharisees accused Jesus of driving out demons by Beelzebub which is
a declaration of their unbelief. The Pharisees did not believe Jesus as the
Holy One of God who came to be their Messiah. If one is guilty of the sin
of unbelief in Jesus then passes away without repentance from this kind
of sin, he has lost his opportunity to avoid eternal condemnation (Luke
16:25-31).

Since you are still alive and kicking you still have the chance to believe in
Jesus; believe His death your death, His resurrection your resurrection,
His holiness your holiness, His righteousness your righteousness. These
are yours only and only if you receive Him as your personal Lord and
Savior.

Then, no longer can you commit the sin of blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit!

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Reject the Ministry of Death and Condemnation
2 Corinthians 3:7
7
But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was
glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the
face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was
passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

Surprisingly, the Bible calls the Ten Commandments that were engraved
on stones the ministry of death and condemnation. Ministry is defined
by the International Edition of Webster Comprehensive Dictionary as
“the body of officials in charge of administration of the department of a
government” of a specific task. To simplify, a ministry is the administration
of services to the people by a specific office of the government tasked
to do a particular job. The Ten Commandments administers death and
condemnation with glory.

The people of Israel came out from the land of Egypt grumbling and
complaining to Moses when experiencing minor discomforts telling him
it should have been better for them to stay behind in Egypt. The world
renowned grace preacher of today, the senior pastor of New Creation
Church in Singapore puts it this way that “during the travel of the people
of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai with grumbling and murmurings,
there is no record of someone who died on the way.” However, after the
law was given, their situation totally changed. When they sin by breaking
the first commandment sculpturing a calf out of gold, three thousand of
the people died at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:28). Even the sin
of murmuring and grumbling had been met with deaths and judgment
(Numbers 11:1-3).

The Ten Commandments are righteously holy but never can a person be
made righteous and holy by its observance. The purpose of the law is for
sin to multiply and to point out what is lacking in a person and to become
guilty before God (Romans 5:20, Luke 18:22, Romans 3:19). Because no
one can be justified by keeping the law, man will see the need for a Savior.
Jesus came to fulfill the law for man and to point out the righteousness
and holiness of God. Since it has been fulfilled by Jesus, man has no more
business of fulfilling the law for his acceptance. Through Jesus, a believer

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can now receive the true righteousness and holiness and come to God
boldly. The self-righteous Pharisees and the teachers of the law never were
made righteous and holy because the grace of God cannot operate to
those who are under the law, people who are looking for righteousness
and holiness through sheer obedience.

It doesn’t mean that because you are now in Christ, you can go on feasting
of breaking the law and commit all kinds of sin. The law which brought
death and condemnation has been set aside through Jesus’ obedience
and is no longer the requirement for you to earn your righteousness and
holiness. Jesus had been condemned and faced the death sentence which
is the ultimate fulfillment of the law. He did not do it for Himself but for
the whole world so that through Him, you can obey the law and through
His death you are living above it for the law has no more claims on anyone
who died to the law.

Through the graciousness of God, pastors and teachers had been made
sufficient and competent ministers of the New Covenant that gives life
through the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6). Under a better covenant, grace
has been ushered by Jesus that people are saved and given life and the
grace they received will teach them to be obedient to God (Titus 2:11-
14). Through the preaching of grace, the church will effortlessly obey and
live godly lives. On the other hand, to teach people about obedience will
there be multiplication of sin and disobedience that will bring forth guilt
and condemnation. Parents who always “nag” with their children about
obedience mean only one thing; nobody in the house is obedient. And never
will there be through the avenue of nagging.

Ministers are either under the ministry of death and condemnation or

Spirit life-giving. On the other hand, the church can either have a minister
of death or a minister of life. The glory of keeping the law has come to the
end of its journey when death and condemnation had been administered
on the body of Jesus. There is now a more glorious ministry of the Spirit
under the New Covenant that brings forth life. No doubt you know which
is best.

If you are now a child of God in Christ, choose to reject the ministry of
death and condemnation and be on grace ground where the Spirit gives
life!

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No Judgment On Your Past
Joshua 6:22
22
But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country,
“Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and
all that she has, as you swore to her” (NKJV).

What we want to know with all our resources is the truth and nothing but
the truth that sets us free. In any crime committed that is being litigated in
the court of justice, the state spends much time and resources to bring out
the truth before a judgment is pronounced. In the spiritual reality, every
believer, and, more so ministers of the word would like to announce the
truth and sans errors about the God they preach, teach, and represent. In
the process, however, there is a miscarriage of justice to the God of heaven
and unfortunately, some amplify this injustice.

What is being announced by some of us is the wrath and judgment of

God that people cannot see the other side though we sing with teary
eyes the song that resembles the truth, “God is good all the time…” The
problem comes when we sing that song by Don Moen but after that we
preach a harsh and judging God who sees us only in our sins and failures
like a policeman hiding somewhere and then come out to catch us when
we break the law is like talking from two contradicting tongues like the
devil. No one can see the goodness of God in judgment and punishment.
When we say God is good all the time means God is good all the time and
not God is good all the time with a big BUT in the middle.

Let’s take a look at the life of Rahab the harlot. But before we do that, you
need to understand that I am against sin and prostitution and if only I have
the power to put to jail all those who are operating prostitution dens that
would have been done years ago. What I want you to see is God’s goodness
and Rahab is a prime specimen. Forty years before the children of Israel
conquered Jericho, Rahab was already a believer in the God of salvation and
her faith went into work by hiding the two spies (see Joshua 2:8-13).

This woman forty years ago may have been in her early years of ten or
maybe a teenager of thirteen because she had discernment already. After
she believed God, she grew to be a harlot. For the sake of clarity, a harlot

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is someone who consents to have sex with any human male specie for
an agreed price. If the price is right, Rahab will go for it and that was
her bread and butter. Arguably, let’s take the age of Rahab which is ten
years. By then when the spies came to lodge in her house, she was already
a fifty year-old woman running her own prostitution den; in her house,
with herself as the commodity. She had been a believer for forty years but
when the time came to work for a living, she became a prostitute. But her
beauty had not abated that she married Salmon perhaps in her mid-fifties
(Matthew 1:5).

Because of her occupation, she would have been very famous among
strangers that when the two spies came fulfilling their mission, they lodged
into the house of the famous name; Rahab. There may have other places to
lodge for the night but being famous as she was because of her occupation,
the two spies came to knock at her door. Not that they went to buy sexual
satisfaction but to mark out her house because that is what they came for;
to spare Rahab from the impending judgment of the land of Jericho.

After several days of preparation, the people crossed the river of Jordan to
conquer the land. A week of marching around the city of Jericho ensued
and on the seventh day, the Lord smashed the city wall wide open and
gave the land to the children of Israel. But before all that was in the city
be utterly destroyed by the children of Israel, Joshua commanded the
two spies to secure Rahab and all that she had (Joshua 6:21-22). The
assignment the two spies received from their commander in chief was to
guard the prostitute with all that belonged to her. Security of Rahab was
first observed before the destruction of the city.

You see, the life of Rahab was no good in the eyes of the self-righteous. Yet
in the eyes of the God of heaven whom she believed and had faith in, she
was spared from the utter destruction of the city. Should God have judged
Rahab and her occupation for years as a believer, He would have delivered
her into the hands of Israel to be destroyed. But God who is righteous
and good all the time, Rahab was the focus of extreme security ordered by
Joshua so that the oath that was pronounced on her by the two spies will
be honored and fulfilled. Otherwise, vengeance from heaven will befall on
the children of Israel. That’s how precious Rahab the prostitute was in the
eyes of God.

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How come God was lenient on Rahab despite her status and the occupation
she upheld in the society she lived in? My friend, it has something to do
with the law. There was no law governing against prostitutes in the land of
Jericho. The law was given some forty years ago through Moses at Mount
Sinai but only to the children of Israel. It was not given to the people of
Jericho and its surrounding communities. Rahab was not from Israel and
had she been, she would have been stoned to death years ago.

Rahab lived in a land where the grace of God was flowing in abundance
and she took refuge in it. The grace of God was available to all the people
of Jericho but only Rahab responded in faith. That was the reason why
Joshua had sent out the spies to spy out the land of Jericho because there
is one to be spared. She became a recipient of the grace by faith and all her
relatives were included in the saving act.

God always hunt down for the one righteous. God saw Rahab in her faith
that she was given a place in the hall of faith (Hebrews 11:31). To the eyes
of a Holy God, she was “sanctified” (separated from unto) despite her
occupation. She was accepted in believing the God of heaven.

When you respond in the grace of God in faith, there will be no judgment
hanging over your head because the Lord Jesus Christ took all the judgment
for all your sins. His death appeased God’s wrath to its dregs that no more
wrath is left for you. That is what grace is all about and Jesus made this
possible when He died and rose again.

Jesus Christ the grace of God is what makes you righteous, gives you
acceptance and qualifies you to be a child of God despite your dark past
like Rahab the prostitute!

Thought to ponder: Rahab’s past and yours has no difference and both deserve
judgment but Jesus carried God’s judgment for all.

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 PART V

God’s Grace
Will Keep You
Forever

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Double Protection for All Eternity
John 10:28

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
28

anyone snatch them out of My hand (NKJV).

Many have heard the gospel of grace and numerous people had seen the
miracles of Jesus with their bare eyes yet they never believed Him (John
10:25-26). Believe in the original text is pisteuõ (pist-yoo-ò); to have faith,
that is credit, by implication to entrust especially one’s spiritual well-being
to Christ. Jesus does miracles and speaks the gospel with the view that those
who may hear and see will entrust their spiritual and physical well-being
unto Him because no one in this universe can ever take care of man like
Jesus. He came so that those who entrust their spirit, soul, and body will be
taken care of by Jesus like a shepherd to his sheep.

The distinction of His sheep is believing (John 10:26). He speaks (audible

voice) for His sheep to know because those who believe Him distinguishes
the voice of Jesus (John 10:27). Distinguish is to process in the mind;
to detect the distinct characteristics of the modulation or frequency of
the sound if it is Jesus’ then the sheep will follow. Even animals have the
wisdom to distinguish the distinct voice of their masters. Animals like the
dog of your neighbor will not mind obeying you even if you use the same
name and tricks his master is using on him, mainly because he cannot
recognize the voice modulation of his master on you.

Those who heard and believe are given eternal life from the moment they
believe throughout eternity. Forever they will not perish because no one
can snatch them out of Jesus’ hand. As if not satisfied with that assurance,
Jesus promised double assurance that no one can snatch His sheep out
of the Father’s hand (John 10:29). Those who are in Christ are given full
protection from Jesus’ and the Father’s hands. Why the double assurance
of protection? Because many believers are in doubt of their security and
Jesus wants every believer to know that he is eternally secured; both in
Him and in the eternal hands of the Father.

Despite the two layers of protection and assurances, many of us believe

that our salvation lasts only for a moment; that is until our next sin. Why

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is that so? There are many contributory to such an idea:

• Wrong concept of eternal life. Eternal means eternal that when God
gives eternal life He will not take it back. Eternal life is forever lively,
the very life of God He shares to those who believe;
• Denying the truth. When Jesus said, they shall never perish, we better
believe it! Jesus used “shall” that once the parties involved have fulfilled
the conditions set forth, the covenant has been sealed and will become
irrevocable. Because of the sealed covenant, the giver is obliged to
fulfill all the stipulated benefits while the recipient is only to receive in
awe what has been promised. Jesus’ obligation is to protect at all cost
and the word perish cannot gain ground in His hands because if His
sheep perishes means that Jesus will perish first. Should Jesus perish,
still the Father has to perish before a believer is snatched out. But Jesus
will never perish and that gives us a secured place already; and

• Hearing the wrong voice. God is light and Jesus is the Lion of Judah
(see 1 John 1:5, Hosea 5:14). Satan masquerades as an angel of light
and he imitates (that is, he is like but in reality is not) the roaring of
a lion, (see 2 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Peter 5:8). Determine what you
hear by going to the word of God if it’s Jesus’ voice (or works) or it’s
just an imitated roar.

How will we know that we have the abovementioned? Knowing the

truth sets us free and lies will bound anyone to slavery (John 8:32).
The freedom Jesus gives is not the freedom to sin but to be free from
the bondage of sin and slavery so that we can worship Him boldly. Sin
and Satan can bind believers if they don’t know the truth that should
be theirs. In the area of sin, cheer up because the truth is, in Christ all
are forgiven and forgotten by God (Hebrews 10:17). Satan is already
condemned and never can he condemn anyone, never (John 16:11).
If you believe that no one can condemn you and sin is no more, you
are free indeed.

Any belief and teaching that brings fear, bondage, and self-righteousness
are not on the side of the truth (Jesus is the truth) and is never anointed
by the Holy Spirit but a lie coming from the evil one. Lie brings fear
and bondage and when you have these two, you believe that you are no

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longer fully doubly protected but alone in the wilderness thinking that
your salvation is lost and you need to find it again so that the first thing
you will do is to go back to where your salvation is lost; groping around
hoping to take hold of it once more. Unfortunately, after ten minutes or
so you lost it again because you sinned. Then you will go back to where
you lost it trying to find it again. You have become tired of going to and
fro and how frustrating would that be for Jesus because you are telling
Him you are never secured in Him. His assurance is demeaning and your
effort of securing your salvation is more than the security that Jesus’ and
the Father’s hands provide.

Many have lost their sanity because they believe they have lost their
salvation. When you are in Christ, breath and move forward boldly and
freely without fear and hesitation because you will never be lost even for
just a moment but you are doubly fully protected in Jesus and in the
Father’s hand, not only for now and until your next sin but for all time
and eternity.

All because you are in the hands of Jesus and the Father!

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You Are Not Numbered With the Chosen Few
Matthew 22:14

For many are called, but few are chosen (NASB).

14

The first time I heard this passage preached in the church made me
wondering if I was really chosen to go to heaven. The pastor while preaching
behind the pulpit in front of the congregation said with audacity, “many
who are in this place will not make it to heaven because many are called but
few are chosen.” With the church building full of believers, only a few will
make it to heaven according to what was preached. While walking home
after the worship service, I had a very heavy heart thinking of what the
pastor preached. I was talking to myself inwardly if I am one of those
who will go to heaven or someone who will not make it. I don’t know
about the others if they have the same feeling because according to the
message, there are only few who are chosen and a bigger chunk of those
who attended the worship service will go to hell. In retrospect, I wonder
if the pastor counted himself with those who cannot make it to heaven.

Many at times I heard this passage quoted by old time believers and they
can quote it from their heart in memory. But the way it was quoted gives
a feeling of insecurity and fear that though there are many who claim to
be Christians today, there will be very few who will eventually end up
in heaven. With that doctrine, it will lead anyone to become fearful and
live in bondage lest he will not make it to heaven. For me, I had to be
conscious to constantly outperform anyone with all efforts to please God
every time in every way. But I failed time and time again that it was a
better guess not to be counted with the chosen few who will make it to
heaven.

Though how spiritual and scriptural our understanding of a passage can

be if it brings fear, bondage, and slavery comes not from the Holy Spirit
but from the evil one. I believe that the message of the pastor when I first
heard this passage preached was instigated by the wisdom of the devil
who always want to bring fear and bondage. Knowledge of the truth (that
is Jesus and His finished work on the cross) gives us freedom, joy, hope,
and peace that set us free. Satan knows exactly the opposite; lies bring
fear, bondage, and slavery that eventually lead to self-consciousness and

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self-righteousness. The lies of Satan grab our attention away from the
knowledge of the truth.

Thank God that the teachings I heard earlier from pastors and other old
time believers quoting “For many are called but few are chosen” is not
the truth. More than a number of decades had passed after hearing that
sermon, I came across to study this passage and I am deeply convinced
that the pastor was not led by the Holy Spirit. In the parable of Matthew
22:1-14, Jesus is telling a story that a king arranged a marriage for his son.
The father sent out his servants to hand out invitation but the invited
were not willing to come to the wedding banquet. Because the king’s
invitation was turned down by those who were earlier invited, the father
of the bridegroom sent out his other servants to invite again those that
were earlier invited but they made light of it and each went to his own
business while some of them were pissed off that they seized and killed the
other servants. Those who refused the king’s invitation had just declared
that they are unworthy to the wedding banquet that was prepared for the
bridegroom.

The dinner has been prepared, the oxen and the fatted cattle are killed and
all things are ready. The wedding hall must be filled with wedding guests
that the king ordered his servants to go into the highways and gather
everyone whom they found. The wedding hall was filled with all kinds of
people; the good and the bad. The marriage of the son must take place.
Those who filled the wedding hall are expected to wear their wedding
garments.

But when the king came to meet the guests, he saw and confronted a
man without his wedding garment. Because the man was without the
acceptable dress code, the king ordered him that he be bounded and cast
out to darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then
Jesus closed the story of the wedding banquet with, “For many are called,
but few are chosen.”

Jesus is the Son the Father has arranged for marriage. Jesus died for His
bride the church.

God did not send His own Son to die for a losing battle; that at the end of
the day more people will be languishing in hell while lesser people will be

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in heaven enjoying the vast glory of God. In the parable, Jesus showed us
exactly the reverse that many will be in the “wedding hall and banqueting
table” and only one was cast out. Many are called and the wedding hall
was filled up with good and the bad but one representing the few has been
chosen to be cast out because he did not put on his wedding garment. It
was about the wedding garment and not about being good or bad that one
of the guests was cast out.

Few will be found out not suitable for the wedding banquet because they
didn’t put on the righteousness of Jesus but instead, they wore their self-
propagated righteousness. When a man is in Christ, he has his wedding
garment put on him. He is ready to be in the banqueting table the King
has prepared for the marriage of His Son. Arise and rejoice because you are
in Christ Jesus and you are clothed with the wedding dress code of God’s
righteousness and holiness (see Ephesians 4:20-24, Hebrews 12:14) that
you are ready to partake in the banqueting table enjoying the wedding
bells and the bountiful feast of the Son.

Remember, in Christ Jesus you will never be cast out because you are not
numbered with the chosen few!

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The Revelation of God’s Righteousness
Romans 1:17
17
For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (NKJV).

The first time I learned about the gospel, Romans 1:16 is very much
given emphasis and we have reason for that; we evangelize knowing that
the gospel will open up the eyes of the unbelieving to the salvation of
Jesus Christ. As much as the opportunity arises, we share the gospel to
everyone we know who have no relationship yet with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that is the strength of the evangelical community that
many have come to know Christ through the preaching of the gospel
of salvation.

We have been saved through faith, and to the evangelicals we know about
forgiveness of sin, sanctification, justification and many other doctrines.
We have forgiveness of sins and 1 John 1:9 was strongly taught to have
the assurance of forgiveness whenever we confess our sins. However, as
far as I know, there are sins we forgot to confess and we were not taught
what had happened to those sins whether forgiven or not. But the way
forgiveness of sins was taught, those that were not confessed are not
forgiven.

We were taught that we have been justified and sanctified. But with the
common concept of confession of sin, to my understanding, it follows that
justification of sin will take place only upon confession. Along that line,
sanctification is a progressive process until such time that you are fully
sanctified. There is a graduated progress in sanctification and justification
to attain perfection. With that, there are “holier” and “more sanctified”
people with the way they act and project their image.

The way I understood justification and sanctification got me stuck in my

works trying to figure out what I can do for God to be fully justified and
sanctified. There were hardly new-found revelations from the Scriptures
that came along. Because these became performance based, instead
of God’s righteousness publicized, man’s righteousness is revealed. The
preaching of the gospel which should have been the vehicle in bringing

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out all the good things that Jesus had done for us on the cross was stymied.
The revelation of God’s righteousness had been limited to salvation of
having eternal life.

Since good works had been a part of pleasing God, I was not living by
faith to the righteousness of Jesus contrary to what Romans 1:17 which
says, “….The just shall live by faith.” Instead of the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith, it is the righteousness of man that was
revealed from time to time. After being saved by grace through faith, good
works has become a do-it-all activity to have faith grow and the process of
justification and sanctification starts to gain its momentum. But the Bible
says our sanctification is the person of Jesus Christ and that is apart from
works (1 Corinthians 1:30).

When the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, people

will effortlessly change for the better and good doing will be the result,
extricating themselves from drunkenness, drug addiction, and from any
kind of destructive vices. The Apostle Paul had the insight of the Holy
Spirit when he wrote, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).” In Christ, the believer has the true
righteousness and holiness that leads to good works.

But many of us have it in reverse; doing good before having righteousness

and holiness. But though one can do good 24/7 the rest of his life living
without any semblance of sin in thoughts and deeds, there is no way he can
become righteous and holy according to God’s righteousness and holiness. That
kind of righteousness and holiness will be in accordance to good works.
It’s only by putting on the new man; having to be in Christ Jesus that
someone can have the true righteousness and holiness according to God. All
other righteousness and holiness apart from what is imputed by Jesus is
counterfeit.

The last part of Romans 1:17 which says “The just shall live by faith” is
quoted from Habakkuk 2:4 and the whole verse is written, “Behold the
proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith”
(NKJV). When you put up your own works of righteousness to please
God, behold you are proud in His eyes and your soul is not upright.
Someone who is not upright is like coming to God walking with his head

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down below. That is how God sees someone in his works of righteousness
as a way of pleasing Him.

If the righteousness of God is not revealed, the righteousness of man

considered as ungodliness and unrighteousness is revealed. This is the idea
being conveyed in the context of Romans 1:18 that anything not of faith
is ungodliness and unrighteousness of man for which the wrath of God is
revealed. Many people will come to Jesus presenting works they have done
in His name as gate pass to the kingdom of heaven but they will be denied
calling them evildoers (Matthew 7:21-23). Righteousness by good works is
the worst deterrent to God.

When there is no revelation that Jesus Christ is your righteousness and

holiness, what will be revealed is the wrath of God, divine judgment,
God’s vengeance and His punishment on you. But all the righteousness
of God is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ that in Him there is no more
wrath, judgment, and vengeance from the God of heaven.

That is the gospel revealing the righteousness of God under the New
Covenant that you are in!

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Be At Par With The Gospel
Romans 2:16

in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ,
16

according to my gospel (NKJV).

The gospel by which Paul is referring to is the glorious gospel of the blessed
God which was committed to his trust (1 Timothy 1:11). To be precise,
the gospel according to Paul is Jesus Christ and His complete work on the
cross. That is the favor of God; favor so that we may receive all the good
things we don’t deserve foremost of which is eternal life, which is the life
of the Eternal One, God. It’s only by grace through faith (right believing)
that we are saved and receive eternal life and no amount of good doing
will exact payment for it (Ephesians 2:8 & 9).

The gospel of grace was entrusted to Paul and thus he preached. In all his
epistles he opened up with the customary greeting of grace except in the
book of Hebrews. Bible scholars believe that Paul is the author of the book
of Hebrews and I believe that too. Not that I am a Bible scholar but how the
books from Romans to Hebrews are presented. Romans opened up with the
customary greeting of grace and closed with the secret mystery made known
through Jesus Christ while all his epistles in between Romans and Hebrews
opened up and closed with grace. Hebrews opened up with the mystery
spoken by His Son Jesus Christ and closed with grace.

In Romans 2:6 is written, “who will render to each one according to his
deeds”: (with semicolon, NKJV). Semi-colon connects closely related
ideas, used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are
closely related in thought that are given equal position or rank. This means
that the succeeding information is the same or clarifying and explaining
further the thought of the preceding idea. The Apostle Paul clarified further
the deeds that are to be rendered giving more explanations focusing on the
righteous judgment of God that will takes place in Romans 2:16 in the
day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ in accordance
with the gospel.

The judgment will be in accordance with the Gospel. What does this
means? It means that God will “spread” out the gospel in-front and take

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your “secrets” out and “measure” them with the gospel to see whether your
“secrets” are up to the gospel or the measurement of which is the same as
the gospel. If after the calibration rod to each of your secrets is applied
and the measurement has been determined and they are up to the gospel,
meaning your secrets complied with the measurement and standards of
the gospel, then, these are found to be at par. However, if your secrets are
not up to the gospel, then they are below par. That will be good only in
the golf course.

If we judge (or properly to distinguish as used) someone using other means

other than the gospel, then we are passing judgment of condemnation
to ourselves; we will always be below par with the gospel (Romans 2:1).
To avoid that, we need not show or sow contempt for the riches of His
kindness, tolerance and patience - abbreviated grace; for God’s grace leads
people to repentance (Romans 2:4, Titus 2:11-12). But if we are stubborn
and with unrepentant heart sow and show contempt to the grace of God,
Romans 2:5 will come into effect.

In the same manner, that, if we embrace the grace of God, we will be

honored by Him (Romans 2:7-11), because God will give to each person
according to what he has done (Romans 2:6). You can have your secrets
by sowing and showing contempt or embrace, preach and teach the gospel
of grace. This gospel that Jesus brought will transform people of the world
so that they will receive good things from God like eternal life, health,
wealth, joy, peace, His love, and every good thing from heaven.

The Roman believers are the recipient of Paul’s letter (Romans 1:7). They
are saved and he calls them saints. But there were believers who were
passing judgment apart from the gospel. Today, you pass judgment to
others when you teach ten steps to powerful prayer, three tips to please
God, five secrets to holiness, etc. It means that on the area of prayer,
you have more powerful prayers while those to whom you are preaching
have weak prayers. On the other hand, if people didn’t follow your tips to
please God, you are pleasing to God while they are not. You are sowing
contempt to the grace of God because you are telling Him you can do
something to become more powerful in prayer, more pleasing to Him
apart from what His Son Jesus Christ had done on the cross.

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Unfortunately, there is no good news to steps to powerful prayer, tips to
please God, secrets to holiness but are self-righteous impositions and holier-
than-thou institutions that were introduced and accepted human norms.
You have just passed judgment on people and heap up condemnation for
yourself (Romans 2:1). You can have a powerful prayer only if you pray
and know you are righteous by faith through Jesus because the prayer of
a righteous man avails much (James 5:26). You are pleasing to God not
because of man-imposed measurements but because you are in Christ –
nothing less, nothing more.

What then is the righteous “judgment” that we teach people? It is only the
message of God’s kindness, His tolerance and patience through the work
of Jesus that will stand on the day God will judge each man’s work by Jesus
Christ according to the good news (gospel).

You will never lose anything if you always point out to people the finished
work of Jesus, the gospel of grace – the distinguishing mark and measuring
rod that God will use for each of man’s secrets.

Be at par with the gospel and you will be a winner!

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Jesus’ Righteousness, the Will of the Father
Matthew 7:21-23
21
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22Many will
say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?” 23And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (NKJV).
I heard this passage preached by a pastor and the outcome of the message was
awful and very much disappointing because the pastor didn’t understand
what he preached. In concluding his sermon, he was very convinced that
the will of the Father in this context is good doing announcing the same
trap the Lord Jesus Christ has rejected in acknowledging those who will
come to Him with their accomplishments. It is very clear in the passage
that the people presenting their good works of righteousness as passes to
enter the kingdom of God were rejected though those were things done
in the name of Jesus.
I am not against good doing and as far as I can, I will do good things and
avoid sin. But these have their proper places in the spirit realm and in the
kingdom of heaven so that we need to put them in proper perspective.
I am not saying that if these are in their proper places there will be no
obstacles as you walk in the kingdom of heaven but sure there will be as
you are yet in the flesh. Frictions in relationships even among believers
will be ever present. But if we know where each of the pieces belongs
especially in the area of good doing, then we won’t be confused in the
direction of our walk.
A time will come when all people will appear before the Lord Jesus Christ
and all knees will bow and say “Lord, Lord” to Him. You may not have
believed Him, criticized His person and mockingly questioned Him as
Savior. Despite all of your unbelief in the purpose of His coming, you
will come before Him to pay tribute to His being LORD of all. By the
time you are in His presence you know that He is the Lord who screens
everyone and there will be people who will be barred from entering the
kingdom of heaven because they didn’t do the will of the Father.
If you were in the audience of Jesus and the whole Bible was not yet
written at that time, how do you understand the will of the Father? Today,

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the whole Scripture has been written for our benefit and we can scan from
other passages the will of the Father such as in Hebrews 10:9 where one
has to establish the Second Covenant of grace. There is also John 6:28-29
that to do the work of God is to believe Jesus; and many other passages.
But if you don’t know other passages and you want to find out the will
of the Father in the context of Matthew 7 we need to understand the
preceding messages Jesus preached.
The original manuscripts of the Bible do not bear chapters and verses
so that in our study of the passages, we should not think that the Bible
was originally divided with chapters, verses and subtitles. In several Bible
translations, we can see the words spoken by Jesus printed in red and this
will help us where to confine our study, analysis and thoughts. Jesus said,
“Therefore by their fruits you will know them (Matthew 7:20).” What
fruit Jesus is looking for?
Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). His righteousness
is what matters in the kingdom of God, not righteousness through good
doing. If you come bragging to God what you have done even if these were
done in the name of Jesus, you will always be rejected. With that idea,
self-righteousness is idolatry and the worst deterrent unto God. Oswald
Chambers once said, “the most dangerous idolatry is thinking that we can
do something for a God who cannot be served by human hands.” What
matters in the kingdom of God is His righteousness so that you will be
granted entry. With His righteousness in you, you will bear fruit to good
doing without being introspective of doing good.
You are in Christ and you have the righteousness of Jesus which the Fathers
seeks that you are allowed entry into the kingdom of heaven.

That is the will of the Father!

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 PART VI

God’s Grace
is Perfectly Strong;
it Cannot Be Reversed

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Grace: Where Jesus is Effective
Galatians 5:4
4
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified
by law; you have fallen from grace (NKJV).

A lady was given a bed-rest prescription by her physician because of her

sensitive pregnancy. Several weeks after her diagnosed pregnancy, she
suffered from blood discharge which is a danger sign for the growing
fetus. We prayed for her healing and I believed she was healed because
of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The news that we heard after that,
her bleeding stopped and she was already in stable condition. But I was
surprised to see the couple in church the next worship service defying
the bed-rest prescription. The wife testified that they need to be in the
church for worship for that is the will of God. Knowing how sensitive
her reproductive system having lost her first baby after defying the same
bed-rest prescription, I was bothered to hear her testimony. At that point
I knew she will lose her baby.

God’s will for a sensitive pregnancy is to take care of the baby at all cost
and not to travel because even a little bumpy ride and taking the stairs are
dangerous prerogatives for the growing baby. For a pregnant lady with
such condition, the will of God is not to join the congregation for worship
with dancing and leaping. God’s will is to stay bed-rest and let the baby
grow to be strong. Anyone can worship God even when lying down. God
gave the baby and He will not take it back. He is not like a man who gives
a lollipop to a child and takes it back anytime at His convenience.

The baby was lost because the devil intervened and it was easy for him
to do that because the couple fell from grace. Never can the devil touch
believers who are standing on grace ground because the devil can never set
his foot on grace. On the other hand, Jesus can never be effective to those
who have fallen unto law – doing good works to please God. I believe that
if this couple invokes their rights to the blessing of a baby on grace ground
and not through the works of the law, Jesus can operate in their lives that
even a baby can still be one of their blessings.

For by grace through faith you have been saved and received eternal life. If
the most treasured blessing, the life of God is given by grace, the smaller

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blessings also comes by grace and not through good works because the
Holy Spirit says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him ALSO FREELY GIVE us all
things? (Romans 8:32).” Eternal life is free so with the smaller blessings of
health, wealth, a baby and all the good things of life. But we are trying to
get these through the works of law-keeping.

Grace is the ground by which Christ can operate. It is the place where we
receive all the good things of God, things we are not supposed to have so
that Jesus is glorified. We are supposed to receive death and punishment
but because of the grace of God, eternal life was given instead. We deserve
all the sicknesses because of sin but Jesus came to carry them all for us
to have healthy bodies (see Isaiah 53:4-5). We don’t deserve to be rich
but Jesus became poor to the point of nakedness so that through His
poverty we may become rich (see 2 Corinthians 8:9). God has elevated
His children through Christ in all aspects; spiritual and physical. He is
able to do more than we can ask or imagine according to the power that
works in us. By grace we have the access to the power of God. With all
these the Christian should be standing on grace ground.

According to the Apostle Paul however, there are believers who are fallen
from grace and this was prevalent with the Galatians. They did not fall
because they sinned but they fell when they set Christ aside putting
forward their efforts to be justified and be made righteous in God’s sight.
The Galatians had replaced the works of Jesus Christ on the cross with
their human efforts for their justification. God doesn’t need human efforts
because the stress, the strength, the sacrifices, and the work of Jesus are
more than sufficient for our justification. Many of us always equate “fallen
from grace” as having sinned but it is not. The way by which a child of
God falls from grace is when he is helping himself to look good to the
Father in addition to what Christ has done for him on the cross.
As a believer in Christ, stay put on grace lest you fall. Those who fall from
grace come only from the family of God, not from unbelieving people!
If you are a Christian believer, you have two choices: stay put on grace
where Christ can operate and you will reign through Him or go down
beyond the reach of Jesus’ hands that you will become an easy prey to the
devil. If you fell from grace as a believer, the good news is that you are still

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saved and you will be in heaven after you finished your life here on earth.
But if you have fallen from grace, you will always be confused believing
that even the bad things of life like diseases, accidents, poverty, losing a
baby, a burnt house is the will of God in your life. Once you fall unto law,
you start to believe wrong and live wrong.
But for sure you want to live right and experience the abundant life that
Jesus brought with Him (John 10:10).

Then, you need to stay back to where Jesus can operate: on grace ground!

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Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Grace
Colossians 2:9

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (NIV).
9

When someone asked how safe the “Titanic” was, the builder said, “Not
even God can sink this ship.” That dialog was captured in the movie “The
Titanic” and spread like wildfire through electronic communications after
the success of the film in the box office. The Titanic dialog of “mocking
of God” and other bad circumstances like the disbanding of the Beatles
because they claimed they are more famous than Jesus; a guy who puffed
up a smoke in the air saying “God that is for you” and the one who said
it was choked with his cigarette smoke; a teenage girl who went with her
drunken friends while her mother was very concerned until she heard the
news that her daughter died in an accident with her friends and not a
single egg placed in the trunk of the car was broken; all these circulated in
emails after the unprecedented success of the movie “The Titanic.”

There is only one message of the emails that circulated and it was
communicating to readers not to mock God or else those who do will
end up like one of those that suffered in the Titanic, the Beatles, and the
others who “mocked” God. Those who formulated those email messages
want to warn everyone that God will mess up anyone’s life who mocks
Him. The Titanic mocking-of-God was also used as an illustration by a
preacher in one of his sermons in the church that if you mock God, you
can be sure judgment is imminent. Mocking God is a sin that never should
anyone dare to do!

But if you meditate about God, did He really bring disaster to prove the
Titanic was sinkable and when all those who sailed with it were trying to
save their lives, God was leaping in euphoric jubilation about the outcome
because He has proven to the world and to the builder of the Titanic that
indeed the biggest ship is sinkable? Did God bring death to the 1,514
people as judgment to what the Titanic builder said in mockery? Was God
elated and ecstatic to see and show the world that not a single egg was
broken while all the teenage boys and girls in the car died in an instant?
Is God more interested to protect eggs than the lives of the young men
and women? Has God choked the guy with the smoke from his cigarette?

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Does God have to prove that Jesus is more famous than the Beatles? Is
God childish? Did He bring all those tragedies only to tell us “Don’t mess
with Me!”?

When the people came to arrest Jesus, right then and there He was
mocked, treated like He should never be in this world. They brought Him
to the High Priest who made fun of Him. They flogged and beat Him,
scourged Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, let Him carry the cross
and stripped Him of His clothes. Finally, they nailed Him to death. Those
who saw Him on the cross while passing by coming from the temple after
their worship mocked Him. While they were nailing Him on the cross
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing” (Luke 23:34). Compare all these to what the Titanic builder said
and all the mockeries of the Beatles and the young men and women and
see which should deserve instant punishment.

There is something wrong with our belief system!

Your sins and my sins and all of our mockeries are what nailed Jesus on the
cross! Two thousand years ago, God unleashed all His wrath on the body
of His Son He loves only to exact payment for all our sins and mockeries.
God has no more claims of justice to crimes and sins that have been fully
paid for by Jesus. Even the Titanic builder’s challenge to God and the
Beatles mocking claim, Jesus exacted all payments and God received them
in full. God who is just cannot claim payment for sins twice!

Christ came so that we can see, behold and experience all the fullness, the
goodness, the thinking, the character, the nature and every attributes of what
God is all about (my version of Colossians 2:9). Jesus did not even open
His mouth when He was mocked, scourged, flogged and beaten. The
Titanic happened on 15 April 1912 and if Jesus is the exact representation
of God, has He changed after Jesus died and rose from the dead that if
He hears a “mockery” from anyone, punishment is ready and executed
in precision like what others think of what had happened to the Titanic?

If we believe the true God which Jesus came to reveal in Colossians 2:9, our
Father did not bring disasters and He never will. To be precise, the devil
jumped into the Titanic “mockery“ so that people will blame God for its
sinking and in return they will have a negative and slavish fear of God as

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opposed to Romans 8:15 where we can cry out, “Abba, Father.” The devil
choked the guy with the cigarette smoke so that people will never see God
as loving and forgiving. It was the devil who led to death of the teenage boys
and girls while holding intact the tray of eggs on the car trunk making a
“counterfeit” miracle to put God’s hands on the trail. The Beatles disbanded
because the devil’s hand was at work in them.

Do you see Jesus as the One punished for all your wrong doings and
stupidities or do you see God like a policeman waiting to punish you
when you have done or said something stupid? If you believe the latter,
your eyes of faith are blurred and don’t know the heart of God. You really
don’t understand yet the ministry of Jesus under the New Covenant of
Grace that He came to bear all judgment for all your sins and gives all the
good things you don’t deserve. You are still holding on and invoking the
Covenant of Law that Jesus fulfilled long time ago.

Through Jesus, the Father is rich in mercy (see Ephesians 2:4). Mercy is
the hand of God that takes away all the bad things that come along our
way. Though we have done something wrong, there are no more curses
because Jesus took all the curses that we deserve for our sins. On the
other hand, He lavishes us with abundance of grace so that His blessing
will continue to flow unto us.

That is happening because Jesus is saying the miracle words “mercy, mercy,
mercy, grace, grace and more grace” to the Father for all our sins including
all our stupid beliefs that has mocked Him to His face!

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Grace: The True Report
Numbers 14:9
9
Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for
they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the
Lord is with us. Do not fear them (NKJV).

Recently, a blog was circulating in the internet saying that one of the
famous boxers of the time who is a believer was blessed with a victory in
his last fight in April 2014 after two bitter defeats. His victory is a blessing
after going through a rigorous testing from the Lord. That was a very
bad report and tarnished the reputation of the Father misrepresenting His
goodness. The reason a believer is blessed by the Father today is because he
is in Christ and there is no other reason (Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3). The
blessings of God are free in Christ that never can man earn it after going
through a rigorous testing. The reality is that, God the Father will not test
any of His children because He knows what they are made of. The devil
always does the testing.

Bad reports and misrepresentations about the Father make believers

wondering and wandering away in the wilderness and they cannot enter
the promise land to enjoy their divine inheritance. Many believe that God
will bless them only if they have done good enough after a thorough testing.
They see a God who can be pleased by good works despite of what He has
said that man’s righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Many think that
God is testing His children with defeat, sickness, poverty, childlessness and
all kinds of negative modes in life. God is grossly misrepresented in all these
because of bad reports made by many about Him. They cannot see the
Father blessing them and smiling at them always for only one reason; they
are in Christ.

Moses sent spies to mark out the land promised to them by God to
possess. God specifically and clearly declared that He is giving the land
to the children of Israel (Numbers 13:2). On their way to spying out the
promise-land, the twelve spies believed that they are going to possess the
land because of what God had promised. After 40 days of trekking the
winding and intricate courses, they returned to the camp with some of
the produce of the land as testimony that where they were going to live

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is really good. The people saw the harvest and tasted the goodness of the
land. However, some of the spies forgot the gracious promise of God to
them.

Ten of the spies came back with a bad report while Caleb and Joshua did
the good reporting of their mission (Numbers 13:30). The ten reported
that they cannot take the land because they saw stronger people and forget
altogether that God was on their side (Numbers 13:31). Caleb and Joshua
saw the divine promise and strengthened their beliefs that God had given
them the land. They saw the inhabitants exposed without protection and
they could easily go and possess it knowing that the Lord is with them
(Numbers 14:9). But because of number games, the ten who made bad
report influenced the majority of the people while Joshua and Caleb were
exposed to danger because the congregation were about to stone them but
God came to their rescue (Numbers 14:10). The people rebelled against
God because of bad reporting by the ten.

Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years to bear the guilt and
consequences of their disobedience. They didn’t believe God is able to
drive out the inhabitants of the land of promise but took to heart the bad
report of the ten spies. They didn’t believe on the first-hand information
of God to give them the land for which reason Moses was sent to lead
them out of Egypt, a terrible place for the people of God that He called
it an iron furnace (1 Kings 8:51). They were tormented by the Egyptians
with force labor and slavery, yet after tasted the produce of the land and
heard the wrong report, they longed to return to Egypt (Numbers 13:27
& 14:4).

Today, the Christian believer’s promise land is the cross of Jesus Christ
which changed everything. The law that required the people of Israel to
observe, which law cannot be fully satisfied by anyone had come to an
end when Jesus gave up His life on the cross because death is the ultimate
requirement so that righteousness will come to those who believe (Romans
10:4). If you are in Christ, righteousness has been brought forth and you
are always righteous in God’s eyes. Your Father has delivered up His Son
for you and freely give you all things (Romans 8:32). Freely means you
don’t have to go through a rigorous testing before God gives freely. The
rigorous stresses, pains, and labor of Jesus on the cross are more than
enough for God to bless and He doesn’t need yours. Ever since a believer

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is in Christ, the Father is always smiling at him and never shall He subject
His children to testing. Therefore, don’t mistake God for the devil.

Ten spies did a bad report and misrepresented the goodness of God that
they died in the wilderness. Even Joshua and Caleb who made a good
report of the land suffered because they waited 40 more years to enjoy their
inheritance. Today, there are many bad reports and misrepresentations of
God that make believers shun away from their blessing. They are not able
to possess and enjoy the good life in Christ but wandering away trying to
get their blessing through human efforts. The only true and good report
after the cross is grace: God giving all the good things in life to His children
to have a restful and abundant life so that all glory belongs to Jesus who
paid everything on our behalf.

All these because Jesus came to report the truth of how gracious the
Father is!

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Grace: The Saving Arm of God
Ephesians 2:8-9
8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9not by works, so that no one can
boast.

Man has become a fallen creature when he ate from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil unknowingly bowed his knees to Satan. He squandered
everything he had; his position as the ruler of God’s creation, his closeness
to God because he was banished from the garden. The moment he ate from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, death was also unto him. The
life that God had breathed on him is supposed to be eternal but had been
cut short because he chose death than life. He was brought down from his
lofty position as a ruler of the whole earth to a mere inhabitant. While in the
garden, he did not have to work for his food because all kind of fruits were
all around him. He can be satisfied at his convenience but in toil he shall eat
all the days of his life outside of the garden where he was banished. Death
reigns and man lost his closeness to God.

Though how much he wanted to be with God the way he had in the
garden, man had been separated and he had no way to bridge the gap in
between him and his Creator. But God is gracious that He had to extend
His right hand for man to be with Him again. Through Jesus, the grace
of God came. Man would have been wandering away and nowhere to
go if not for God’s grace. It is by His grace that man has been as near to
God more than the way he had in the garden. God came to live with us
and in us, at least for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
the believer is seated with Christ in the heavenly places at the right hand
of God. That is how near God is to His children and only by grace has
brought His children by His side.

Grace is the means by which God opens an access to all the good things
that man don’t deserve. It is on grace ground that we have now access to
the power of God. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone
who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Romans 1:16).” The
power of God to salvation is the gospel of Christ. The gospel which is the

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power of God is readily available only on grace ground and there is no
other place where one can access God’s power. The interesting truth is that
there are only two places the Scripture describes where believers can be:
law or grace. You are either on grace ground or an individual fallen unto
law (see Galatians 5:4 & Revelation 2:4-5). You need to understand that
there is no place in between.
When you believe Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are saved, you are
accepted through Him. Jesus is not only your Savior from eternal
punishment, but He is your Savior in your daily living. He saves you from
sickness, calamities, dangers, fear, poverty and lack. If you are sick, He
is your healer. In calamities, He is your refuge. When danger is looming
over the horizon, He covers you. His favorite phrase is “fear not.” He is
the richest being in the universe and can turn your poverty and lack into
abundance. Jesus is the do-it-all Savior of your daily life.
By grace you are saved and is a gift from God to those who believe by faith
and receive His Son Jesus Christ in their lives (John 1:12). Receiving Jesus
is receiving Him as your new identity. The old you had been done away
with and you are living in a new identity. Jesus, your new identification is
joyfully facing all your daily challenges and concerns. With that He gives
you all the spoils.
Jesus saved you once and for all and you’re safe in His kingdom forever
(Colossians 1:13). But many believe otherwise thinking that if they fail for
some reason, they are separated from God. Believing you were separated
from Him, you become depressed and fearful and you will try everything
to be with God again. When God says nothing can separate you from Him
(see Romans 8:38-39), don’t think of something; that is but rebellion because
you don’t want what God has said. Believe of what God has said though you
can’t feel it because if He has said it, it is divinely trustworthy. That is faith;
right believing that takes away fear, bondage, guilt, and even depression.
Remember that God has saved you and you will never be separated from
Him because He wanted you to be so close to Him and give you back
everything that sin has squandered: all the good things that He has in His
possession even to eat from the tree of life.
That has become possible because of Christ Jesus and His grace!

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God’s Grace, Available in Darkest Times
Genesis 6:8

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

8

Whenever I read the account of Noah and the flood before, Genesis 6:9 will
glaringly come as first and foremost the conclusive reason that God spared
him from judgment which says, “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was
a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” With that, I
used to believe that God has already chosen Noah to be saved even before
God was planning to destroy man whom He had created because he was
a just and perfect man. Not until one night when having our Bible Study
that the Holy Spirit showed me something I didn’t know before. Genesis
6:7 says, ‘So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds
of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them”.’ Certainly, Noah for that
reason was numbered with “THEM” whom God was going to destroy. He
was among those from whom the LORD saw great wickedness because
every intent of the thoughts of everyone was only evil continually (see
Genesis 6:5).

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. To God, your genealogy
begins when you take refuge in His grace (Ephesians 2:8, John 1:12).
That was the turning point. I don’t know about you but grace is only for
those who are wicked and despite man’s great wickedness, the grace of the
LORD God was abounding all around and all over them, to those who are
doing great wickedness. No one deserves grace but God makes it available
to all anyway.

Noah was numbered with the people whose intent of the heart was always
evil continually. But in the midst of great wickedness Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. In case you don’t know, the righteous always comes
from the unrighteous and God justifies the wicked. He will never justify
the so called “righteous.” By the grace that Noah found, he was spared from
judgment though he had (in the past) the heart full of evil continually.
After he found grace, then came the account of Noah’s genealogy and was
found to be a just man, perfect in his generation. Grace that he found in
the eyes of the Lord changed everything.

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Because of what he found, he walked with God. He was not declared
righteous and blameless because of his own doing. The grace of God that
he found is what transformed him. If grace is what made Noah a just and
perfect man in his generation, even today, grace is what makes you a just
and perfect man. Grace is what transforms people from wickedness to
righteousness (see Titus 2:11-13). Because of the grace of God, he became
a preacher of righteousness to those who perished in the flood (2 Peter
2:5).

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And by that alone,
judgment is waiting. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He
is the God that dealt with man at the time of Noah and He is still the God
who deals with us and our sins today. He did not change and He never
will. He is still the God who is just and punishes sin. However, today, the
punishment of sin is different. He punished all our sins in the body of
Jesus Christ and never a doubt all have been paid for with the blood that
was shed. God has no more sin to punish otherwise He is doing injustice
to Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all sin. Jesus died once and for all
and never can that action be repeated time and time again. His death was
perfectly perfect and has completely appeased God’s wrath once and for all
and for all eternity. Grace is finally revealed at its fullest.

Sin has been punished but if you sin today, there are consequences. If you
steal something and the police catch you, you will bear its consequences
and you may go to jail. If you make sex with a woman other than your
wife, you may have a baby and it will be an added burden to you and your
family for the temporary sexual satisfaction the woman consented to give.
Or you may contract sexually transmitted diseases with somebody whom
you do not know. You will bear its consequences but not punishment from
God. What do you think will the punishment of sin from God be? You
easily forget. It’s death! You should die for your sin! That is the payment
God requires for sin and you should have died by now but Jesus died and
paid it all in advance, even long before you came to this world.

Today, despite sin and wickedness, the grace of God is abundant and is
all around. The Scripture says, “Moreover the law entered that the offense
might abound. But where (location) sin abounded, grace abounded much
more (Romans 5:20).” That is what the Lord did at the time of Noah. His
grace was more than sufficient for all the wickedness and lawlessness of

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Noah and his contemporaries. God had given the people second chance
by unleashing His unmerited favor that Noah found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. The grace of God was not only for Noah that God looked upon
the earth (see Genesis 6:12). With eyes full of grace that Noah found, God
looked upon the people though how much corrupted they were. God was
so patient that even the time Noah was building the ark, God’s grace was
all over the face of the earth. While building the ark, Noah preached to the
people about righteousness of God by grace (2 Peter 2:5). The flood would
not have come if the people saw the grace of God in His eyes.

My friend, though how wicked and sinful your relatives, your friends, or
your neighbor in your own estimation, God’s favor and grace will abound
more and more on them. Grace is the only life saver provided in the midst
of a perverted generation. There is abundant grace flowing in Christ Jesus
that will save the most-wicked. By grace you become perfect, righteous
and blameless like Noah in the eyes of God.

Grace in Him be yours for your perfection because God willingly provides
especially in darkest times!

Amen.

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Grace Ground: Right Place for the Church
Revelation 2:5
5
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first
works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand
from its place-unless you repent (NKJV).

This passage had been mistakenly understood by many that they could
lose their salvation and their relationship with Jesus. Even a pastor took
this as his reference that his salvation can be reversed. To cast away fears,
I was compelled to study this passage because I don’t believe that it
will contradict other clear passages which Jesus pronounced that never
will salvation be lost by a Christian believer. The same Jesus declared to
the Jews that he who believe in Him is given eternal life and he shall
never perish because no one can snatch His sheep out from His hand
and the Father’s hand (John 10:24-31). The security of the believer is
systematically designed and arranged doubly secured by the highest
authority in heaven.

Even in correcting the church, Jesus is gracious. He first commended

the good things the church is doing, then Jesus presented the thing
He is against with; they have left their first love (Revelation 2:4). Their
first love is where they were before they fell. How did they leave their
first love? They have fallen from a higher plane where they belong
(Revelation 2:5). Many always equate the word “fallen” as a believer who
had committed sin. This passage is not talking about sin because Jesus
Himself is commending the church for their works, their patience, that
they cannot bear those who are evil. They test the spirit of those who call
themselves apostles and found them to be liars. They didn’t grow weary
in doing good (Revelation 2:2-3). Jesus didn’t see sin of the people, yet
they were addressed the fallen church.

The church is redeemed and saved through the blood and was raised
together with Jesus. With that, God has designed a lofty position for
the church and each believer is seated with Christ in the heavenly places
beholding His glory (Ephesians 2:6). In beholding the glory of the Majesty,
the believer is being transformed moment by moment. A believer who
is well seated, immovable, resting on Jesus’ glory is the believer who will

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walk worthy of his calling as a result of his transformation (Ephesians
4:1-2). How well a believer walks depends on how well he is rested. A
believer who is not well-rested cannot walk worthy of his calling.

The first love of the church of Ephesus is the place where Jesus walks
and effective (Revelation 2:1). There is a place where Jesus cannot be
effective where some believers are today and it says, “Christ is become
of NO EFFECT unto you, whosoever of you are justified by law, ye are
fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4, KJV).” Instead of sitting together with
Christ, the church stood up to do something for their transformation,
doing things seemingly good for Jesus. In His commendation to the
works of the church of Ephesus, Jesus put emphasis on the words “you”
and “your” thinking they could be justified and pleasing to Him that
they labored for Jesus’ name (Revelation 2:2-3). They were doing much
on their own. Laboring for Jesus’ name is not always equated in making
a believer pleasing to Him (see also Matthew 7:21-23). Jesus can only
be pleased if He found you sitting down beholding His glory and the
moment a believer stand up to do something to please Him, he has fallen
and alienated from Christ.

Since the church of Ephesus was uprooted from their lofty position of
doing to please God, Jesus will come to rescue them quickly to pull them
out from the wrong place where the lampstand has fallen. The lampstand
is the church (Revelation 1:20). He will not come to the church of
Ephesus to take their salvation away from them as many believe is the
intent of Jesus when He said, “I will come to you quickly and remove your
lampstand from its place – unless you repent (Revelation 2:5b).” Jesus will
come quickly to remove the lampstand from its place – the place where it
has fallen, to take it back to the place of their first love because He doesn’t
want the church to be laboring in vain missing beholding His glory that
transforms each and every believer. My friend, Jesus missed blessing you if
you fall from your place of prominence because He cannot bless someone
who has become restless of doing.

Jesus wants to manifest Himself that He wanted you to be in His grace.

But if you have fallen from your place of prominence on grace ground,
you will miss His glory that transforms you to walk worthy. By then you
will be transformed by the glory of your deeds that fades away thinking

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that even your salvation is gone with the fading of your transformation
because you are living with a defeated life.

Therefore, position yourself well with Christ and fasten your seatbelt so
that you won’t fall!

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 PART VII

God’s Grace
Gives Everything
that
Pertains to Life

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You Are A New Creation
2 Corinthians 5:16-17

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though

16

we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if

anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come (NIV).

I use to memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17 because most Christians have this in

their memory system that I have to include this also in my memory verses.
But I didn’t grasp the whole idea then and failed to see its significance that
though I can memorize, it puffs up without any meaning. This sometimes
happens when we memorize a concluding verse without knowing the basis
of the conclusion. The good thing, however, is I have memorized the verse
and know where I have to go and scan it whenever is needed.

“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even
though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know
Him thus no longer (2 Corinthians 5:16).” The preceding verse will help
us treasure more about our being a new creation in verse 17. How does a
believer become a new creation? To become a new creation means there
must be something to begin with and that is when the old “man” is put
to death. The old and the new cannot occupy the same place of existence,
thus, the old has to go for the new “man” to take over. The new is always
better in quality and is formatted to adapt to the new environment.

The spirit of the old “man” died and is a prelude for the new creature to
take over (2 Corinthians 5:14). All died and the design by which God has
planned it to be is that all men must also turn into new creation. But the
new creation takes place only if one considers the death of Jesus as the
abounding grace sown with the good Seed to sprout. Jesus is the Seed of
the woman and the Seed of Abraham (Genesis 3:15 & Galatians 2:16).
He is the seed to sprout from the old into a new creation; the new self that
is created according to God in true righteousness and holiness that each
and every one need to put on (see also Ephesians 4:24).

Jesus Christ is the Seed that has been promised long time ago and has
come to quicken the spirit-man so that the new life may grow. “So when

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Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing
His head, He gave up His spirit (John 19:30).” On the cross, Jesus took
your dead spirit and gave up His spirit for you to live forever. All the bad
things that Jesus suffered have divine exchange for you and me, and that
happened on the cross. He did not come only to make alive the spirit-
man but Jesus is the source of life of the new creation. When people were
looking for Jesus after they ate from the miraculous banquet, they came
to look for Him not for miracles but because they ate the loaves and were
satisfied. Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life (see John 6:26, 35).”

Therefore, from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view

because there is hope for all in the death of Jesus, the hope to rise from
death unto salvation and newness of life. Regarding someone from a
worldly point of view is to see a person having no hope and no part in the
death of Jesus. You may have seen somebody who is continuing in sin or
someone who had converted and joined another religion, in that alone,
never to judge him for he has not lost hope in the saving death of Jesus. You
cannot limit the power of God to save just because you see someone doing
grievous sins or changed his religion. Whether a person believes in Him or
not, Jesus came to die for all and not only for those who had believed. A
person may not yet be a Christian believer but God has included him in
the death of Jesus. Therefore, regard no one from a worldly point but take
the view by which God has purposed in His heart that everyone has hope
in Christ Jesus for salvation to become a new creation.

If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ taking His righteousness
as your righteousness, His life as your life, His holiness as your holiness,
His death as your death, His resurrection as your resurrection, you are
indeed a new creation. You became a new creation once and for all the
moment Jesus took over your life. The new creation will never die that
believing otherwise is saying that Jesus Christ is not eternal and failed in
His mission.

You are in Christ Jesus who saves. Thank God you are in His point of view
because in Christ you have become a new creation!

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Perfect Standing Before God
Colossians 2:13-14
13
When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your
sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our
sins, 14having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was
against us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross (NIV).

One of the passages I love to share most during Bible studies especially for
new converts is Colossians 2:13-14. It gives them full assurance, brings
them joy, peace, freedom, and hope that comes from the heart of a loving
God. There is joy because they have been made alive; peace because all
their past, present, and future sins are forgiven that whether they believe
it or not will not unwind their forgiveness because they are in Christ. God
cannot see their sins anymore because there is no more written code by
which transgression can be lodged against them; that though Satan will
exert all his efforts to make them look bad, there is no more effect because
his weapon, the written code has been forever cancelled. Hope because
they are now living triumphantly over sin with Christ and death is now
behind them. And these are full assurances coming from a holy God.

A pastor who doesn’t believe that all his sins are forgiven asked me where in
the Scriptures I can find all his sins (past, present and future) are forgiven.
I quoted this passage explaining that all his sins are future when Jesus
shouted out loud on the cross, “It is finished!.” I know for a fact that the
pastor was not born before Jesus died 2000 years ago so that all his sins
are future when Jesus was crucified. After Jesus had provided purification
for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews
1:3). He has perfectly finished the work and Jesus will not deal with sin
problem anymore. Now, you can also sit down and rest on the finished
work on the cross and never to stand up to deal what Jesus has resolved
once and for all.

How is it to be alive with Christ? It means that you died with Christ and
risen with Him in His resurrection and is your life giver that God wants
you to be conscious of the source of life. But the devil wants you to be
pre-occupied with self and sin so that he can easily defeat you. He doesn’t
want you to be conscious of Jesus and His finished work that he tells you

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all kinds of lies just to frustrate you and in the process forget that you are
alive with Christ forever. Certainly the devil cannot frustrate a believer
who always takes refuge in Jesus and His finished work but can easily
sweep away those who think they can do something for God to look good
unto Him. Do you know the common reason why the Israelites were
taken captives by their enemies in the Old Testament? It is because of the
works of their hands that even what they have crafted they worshiped.
They didn’t see the works of God. Therefore, always focus on the works of
Jesus on the cross especially when you have sinned so that you will not be
taken captive by the devil.

How about forgiven? You know that you are forgiven when peace resides
in your heart despite the fact that you sometimes fail (see Hebrews 9:9-
14 & 10:8-12). I believe that when you committed your life to Jesus and
received Him as your personal Lord and Savior, God did not promise you
will no longer sin. God knows that you will continue to sin until Jesus
comes again because you are still housed in the flesh. But God wants you
to know that in Christ all your sin are forgiven and the written codes
opposed to you had been cancelled and cannot condemn you and God
cannot remember your sins anymore (Hebrews 8:12 & 10:17).

He took your sins (past, present, and future) away (John 1:29) and
together with the written codes nailed them at the cross and Jesus will
never be nailed to a cross again. The written code is the armory of the devil
but Jesus disarmed him (Colossians 2:15). Don’t open up the armory of
the devil anymore. Let your sins and the written code stay nailed so that
Satan will have nothing to accuse you to your conscience. Never give back
his armor so that he will have nothing to poke to your head.

Barring any accusations from the devil, be bold therefore, because despite
of all your idiosyncrasies and failures, in Christ Jesus you always have a
perfect standing before a holy God!

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You Can Do All of God’s Will Too
Acts 13:22
22
And when He had removed him (Saul), He raised up for them David
as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will’
(NKJV).

In the preaching of the Apostle Paul at a synagogue in Antioch, it is amazing

to know that the Lord has given a testimony saying, “I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all my will.” Paul
did not give that testimony but the God of heaven who knows everything
in this world. David’s testimony is from portions of two passages and the
first is from Psalm 89:20 saying, “I have found My servant David; with My
holy oil I have anointed him,” and the second is from 1 Samuel 13:14 to
read, “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for
Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to
be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord
commanded you.”

The last part of Acts 13:22 saying “who will do all My will” is not found
in any of the two passages from the Old Testament. Nevertheless, when
the Apostle Paul preached in the synagogue of Antioch in the presence of
the Jews, the last portion was included in his quotation claiming that it is
God’s testimony to David. As a Pharisee of Pharisees, Paul is a scholar of
the Torah and the Law and he knew by heart who David is and what he
did. From hindsight, did David really do all the will of the Father? Let’s
look at the life of David and see for ourselves if he did all the will of God.

David the man after God’s own heart has records of things that broke the
heart of the Lord. During his tenure as a king, he abused his power by
taking a married woman to have sexual intercourse with her. When king
David sent someone to invite her to the palace, it may have been against
the will of Bathsheba to have sexual intercourse, but she cannot object to
the whim of the highest person of the land. David committed adultery
with her and she conceived a son from that very brief encounter. As a king,
he can do anything to his subject that before someone could recognize the
growing baby, David murdered Uriah the husband through the sword of

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the enemy to legitimize taking the woman as his wife. But the thing that
David had done displeased the Lord (2 Samuel 11:27).

David was able to cover up his acts of adultery and the murder of Uriah
in the eyes of his people but he forgot to look up and consider the God
of heaven who saw everything he did. With that, the Lord sent His word
to David through the prophet Nathan and uncovered his transgression
saying, “Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in
His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken
his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of
Ammon (2 Samuel 12:9).”

David conspired to commit adultery and murder of a family he sworn to

serve and protect. His action was a grievous sin in the eyes of God. When
the Apostle Paul preached the testimony of God to David saying, “who
will do all His will,” did he overlooked what David did to Bathsheba and
Uriah? Paul did not only knew the Torah and the law but he lived with
it by heart that he was once a persecutor of those who were not of his
religion (Acts 9:1-5). As a Pharisee, he knew very well and had read many
times the account of David committing adultery with Bathsheba and the
murder of Uriah, the legal husband.

The other account of David’s recorded sin is when he commanded to take

a census of the people of Israel in 2 Samuel 24. God was not pleased of his
action of numbering the people. David even failed to establish the reign
over his household which was in quandary; his children are enemies to
one another. Never a doubt he did grievous sins in his life, but what was
in the mind of Paul and the dictates of the Holy Spirit when he quoted, “I
have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all
My will?” Having seen the dark side of David’s life, did he live according
to God’s testimony that he did all of God’s will as the Apostle Paul had
preached?

As per the Holy Spirit’s recognition of king David that was preached by
the Apostle Paul, he did “all of God’s will.” When David sinned he did
not invoke the provisions of the Covenant of Law which he was under and
should he chose to, he would have been executed immediately because
adultery alone is punishable by death (Leviticus 20:10). David lived above
the law that God did not allow him to face the death sentence (2 Samuel

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12:13). Above the law is God’s tender mercies, loving kindness, and His
righteousness, and David lived with these that he said, “Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the
multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions…..Purge
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow. Make me hear joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may
rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities (see
Psalm 51:1, 7-9ff).

The will of God is hesêd (mercy, loving kindness, and tender mercies which
is revealed by Jesus as grace) and not the law (requiring death). Jesus came
to establish grace, the will of the Father (Hebrews 10:9). Judgment was
never God’s will to man. Sin brought judgment and death is the only exact
payment. But even that, God, through His Son Jesus Christ provided
death as the payment for the requirement of sin. David looked forward to
the grace of God that will be revealed to the coming of the Son of God.
Today, when you sin, the will of the Father is His abounding grace all
over you so that you will not fall into judgment. That is what David did,
recognizing God’s grace and tender mercies that the Holy Spirit testified
he did all of God’s will. You can do all of God’s will too by living on God’s
grace.

All because grace that Jesus brought to this world is where all the will of
God the Father towards man reside!

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All is Yours in the House
Luke 15:29
29
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving
for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a
young goat so I could celebrate with my friends’ (NIV)

When the younger brother asked his inheritance from his father, he finally
left his family to a distant land. He squandered all the wealth he had
inherited in wild living until he ran out of money and nothing left for him
to survive. He went hungry without food for no one gave him something
to eat. Hunger, not repentance of his sins, gave him a wise decision to
return back to where the food is abundant; his father’s house. This time,
he wanted to enslave himself just to feed himself. However, he came back
not as a slave but a lost son reinstated with all his benefits, much more,
to his home of abundance. Celebration was the instinct of the father who
gained back his long lost son.

While celebration in the house is at the top of his father’s agenda, the older
brother is out in the field working the whole day sweating out to win the
approval of his father (Luke 15:25, 29). His steps are carefully planned
and executed with precision for fear that he may not please his father.
Because of his efforts that he deemed are wasted, the older brother did not
want to join the celebration hosted by the father for his returning brother.
To him, the father welcoming his younger son who banished himself away
is as good as setting aside all the younger brother’s sins while his daily
enslaving efforts, obeying orders, and doing everything for his father were
never recognized and paid back.

By this time, the older brother had the opportunity to talk back to his
father and claim for what he thought was his wages in return for all the
sweat and blood of laboring in the field – a young goat to celebrate with
his friends. Poor old brother was laboring for what has been legally his for
the father had earlier divided the estate for him and his younger brother
(Luke 15:12, 31). In all his years the older brother is living short-sighted
of his inheritance and the benevolence of his father. He was working hard
for what is already his, all that the father has (Luke 15:31).

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The challenge of many of us today is the older brother mentality. The
older brothers talk back to their father out of jealousy because of the lavish
giving and total forgiveness of sins to the younger brothers. They go to
work the “field” thinking of pleasing the Father because in their mind
they are not pleasing to Him if they don’t go to work the field, though
they are His children. They have become short-sighted that when a person
is in Christ he is for all-time and eternity pleasing to the Father. “Older
brothers” chose to be poor and always laboring for “nothing” because the
Father has given everything. The older brother was doing hard labor in his
inheritance as the estate had been divided earlier by the father.

And this is the most unfortunate thoughts of the older brother – to at least
celebrate with friends out there. What is there to celebrate? To celebrate
is, there should be a very special occasion to make merry. Unfortunately,
there was no special occasion for the older brother to celebrate. I don’t
know how he read the mind of the father but the older brother should
have hosted “festivals” (feasting) and not “celebration” because everything
is his. Celebration is only for a moment but festival (see festivals in the
Old Testament) is for days and more extravagant. He forgot that he is
richer than his returning brother because as the first born, he owns two
thirds of the estate but perhaps he was thinking that to use up his wealth
the father has already given is a way of “disobeying” orders.

Don’t labor for what is already yours. When Jesus died on the cross, He
paid everything good that you may live; wholeness of body, health and
wealth, prosperity, comfort, joy, peace, hope, a baby, a restful life, all that
you need that Jesus said, “Come unto me…. and I will give you rest.” You
are always pleasing to God because of Jesus and you don’t need to labor
for God’s blessing and acceptance. You are in Christ and you have been
ransomed and paid by His royal blood that you don’t need to become
good first to earn God’s favor. God has set His eyes on you when you
were a sinner. Now that you are in Christ, you are always and forever be
favorable to God.

Be the “older brother” with the “younger brother” mentality because all is
yours in the house!

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You Are as Rich as Jesus
Mark 10:21
21
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing
you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up your cross, and
follow Me (NKJV).”

I heard third party testimonies of rich people who have sold everything
they had and gave to the church forsaking their riches and possessions
because of sermons about this passage. Since these are third-party
testimonies, I don’t know if what I heard is true or not. If it is true that
they sold everything they had, those people may not have understood the
message correctly or the analysis of the text of the passage by the preacher
is offline that resulted to wrong living by his hearers. On the other hand, if
the testimonies are not true and they did not sell all what they have, they
did the very right thing.

In Mark 10:17, someone is rushing to Jesus, knelt down before Him, and
asked Him what must he do to inherit eternal life. The Jews try their best
to memorize the five books of Moses from their boyhood and with that
this young man knew very well the Ten Commandments and can recite
the law with precision. With this, Jesus pointed to him the law which the
young man kept from his youth thinking that he lived his life straight and
did not transgressed the commandments at all. Having all the knowledge
and his religious keeping of the law, in his mind, he can have what he
came to ask for – eternal life.

Looking forward to Mark 10:22, this young man had great possessions.
Having that status, he may have been living in a mansion with many
servants looking after his needs. He may be famous in the city and being
rich at a young age, he may have many friends and relatives that loved
him. Everything is provided and he lacked nothing in this world. As to
his religious standing, he was excellent in keeping the law in his own
estimation. Knowing how religious he was, Jesus looked at him and told
him that there is one thing this young man lacked in his life.

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Though the young man can memorize the law, he didn’t understand
the message that he was found lacking. In the same way for us today,
memorization of passages does not guarantee right understanding. There
is nothing wrong with being rich in this world. In fact, only a few people
on this planet don’t want to get rich and with deep conviction I don’t want
to be numbered with them. If I wanted to stay poor, I should not have
gone to school and studied electrical engineering trying to understand
and figure out theories, formula, the characteristics and flow of electricity
that have confused me most of my years in the university. But my being
an electrical engineer is the conduit by which Jesus has blessed me beyond
my imagination if I compare myself during my days as a farmer.

I have real properties in the metropolis and some valuable items the
common person wants to have. With that, I don’t believe that Jesus wanted
me to sell whatever I have acquired and give everything to the poor. To help
the poor, yes, but to sell all that I have? No! That is not what Jesus wants
me to do with my possessions. The rich young man is very religious but
he has no relationship with Jesus; I have. He does not possess eternal life
so that he came to Jesus asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life; I
have. His great possessions had become his god and Jesus wanted to put
that hindrance in its proper place because though he knew the law, he has
transgressed the first commandment which is “You shall have no other gods
before Me” (Exodus 20:3). He has to set aside that false “god’ in between so
that he can see the true God who gives eternal life and true riches.

You have relationship with Jesus and you have eternal life and Mark 10:17-
23 does not apply to you. If you have great possessions, that is good, and
don’t sell everything and give to the poor. Stay rich in this world so that
you can always help the needy. Do not elevate the status of the poor by
selling all your possessions and give everything to them and in the process
you become a pauper. That is a wrong belief and it is not what Jesus
wanted you to do. He wants you to become rich, not only spiritually but
also financially so that you can be a blessing to someone who is in need.
With your riches you can expand the kingdom of God to the four corners
of the earth.

The rich young man was not a believer and Jesus wanted him to have faith
and trust in the true God and not on his treasure. God has all the riches in

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heaven which no one can imagine. The young man had great possessions
but when it comes to true riches, he has seen nothing yet. But if you are
in Jesus, you have riches in heaven and the possessions you have on earth
are extension of God’s riches stored for you. You are commissioned to
expand and expose the gospel to the four corners of the earth and great
resources are needed to accomplish this. The rich young man came asking
for eternal life only but Jesus wanted to give him all that is in heaven
where eternal life is part of it.

Where there is eternal life, there is the kingdom of God and those who
have received it will have all the resources of heaven as Jesus promised.
But many understand this as Jesus doesn’t want believers to become rich
here on earth because they have already their riches in heaven. No doubt
many churches today are poor and bankrupt and their pastors are always
in want and living in poverty. The salaries they receive cannot last until the
next pay day and they call that holy living. That is not the testimony God
wants you to have in this world. He wants you to live as the child of the
richest Being in the universe. But to be precise, I am not against anyone
who is in Christ who chose to live in poverty.

Jesus came to extend the kingdom of God from heaven to earth. If you
think that Jesus will give you treasure in heaven to be used in heaven, think
over again. Where in heaven will you use treasures? Trading will be the
first to be scrapped because everything will be free. You will be walking on
streets of gold and the most expensive stones will be seen on the wayside
and no one will dare pick them up for keeps. In this passage alone, Jesus
is talking about the poor also and do you think that Jesus wanted the
poor to be elevated to “rich status” and leave the rich young man a pauper
while on this earth? No! The possessions of the young man gained through
sweat and blood of hard labor is nothing compared to the riches of God.
Jesus wanted him to become truly rich, the God given riches paid for by
Jesus that is well kept in heaven for believers to enjoy here on earth. That
testifies the kingdom of heaven have been truly extended here on earth.
Poverty is a curse. The true gospel had brought riches.

You have eternal life and you are in Christ Jesus so that you can now claim
your rights to the riches of heaven for the purpose of holy and wholly
living here on earth. You don’t need to live as a pauper because He has

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given you all the treasures in heaven for your enjoyment and that includes
the enjoyable task of expanding the kingdom of God to all the earth,
which requires great riches.

This you can do because being a joint heir with Him, you are as rich as
Jesus!

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You are Always Worthy to Jesus
Matthew 10:38

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy
38

of Me (NKJV).
I thought before that the words of Jesus bring enlightenment only. The
truth of the word of God brings more than that because you can experience
His presence, hugs, kisses, and anointing. When the explanation of the
word brings glory to Jesus and brings enlightenment, rejoice for you have
the truth that sets you free, making your life easy, giving you boldness to
approach the God of heaven.
The first time I heard the explanation of Matthew 10:38 encouraged me
to perform well, do good, make sacrifices, live a life that is pleasing to God
because the cross is about doing good works for us to become acceptable.
These are good and indeed very commendable and to think that you are
pleasing to God will give you a feeling of security and enlightenment.
But then, it brought me confusions, a heavy heart, and depressed feelings
because there are times I failed. In those times, it means that I am no more
pleasing to God and acceptable to Him so that I have to do good crawling
back on my way to Him. After that, I feel worthy to worship and give
praise to Jesus again. That was how I understand the message of the cross.
Cross in the Greek is stauros (stow-ros’) and Strong’s definition is a
stake or post (as set upright) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital
punishment); figuratively an exposure to death; that is self-denial; by
implication the atonement of Christ. To simplify, the self-denial of Jesus
that lead to His death on the cross is the capital punishment for our
sins required by God in order to set up the believer’s uprightness and
righteousness to stand before Him because the blood of Christ has washed
away sins. Christ made believers pleasing and acceptable to the Father.
To take up the cross in the days of Jesus on earth is to literally going to
die. Carrying the cross therefore, is not actually good works because if one
does that in those days, he was found guilty of an offense that requires
capital punishment. Those who carry the cross didn’t do good works like
the two thieves who were crucified. In the time of Jesus, when a person
believes in Him, he must be ready to become an outcast and die (see John
9:22-23). If you were in those days and believe Jesus, you are a religious
enemy that even your family you need to forsake them (Matthew 10:34-

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36). Jesus was perceived to be a criminal because He didn’t observe the law
as the Pharisees and scribes did that He carried the cross to be crucified.

Once you believe in Jesus, in God’s eyes, you have actually carried the
cross and died with Him and in Him. Good works is alright but is never
the starting point to your righteousness and holy living; believing Jesus is.
Good works is your testimony that you believed and are saved. By right
believing, you are set apart for God to do good works, and not do good
works to be set apart for God (see Ephesians 2:9-10). Setting apart comes
first before doing good and living right. But many are doing it in reverse
that when they failed, they think that they are no longer set apart for God
but have been set apart from God.

No one is unworthy to Jesus because He came to die for all human kind,
even the worst of sinners which the Apostle Paul claims he is. The Pharisees,
the Sadducees, and the scribes who were self- proclaimed enemies of Jesus
were worthy to Him also that He preached, “love your enemies and do
good to them.” Yet the Pharisees were unworthy of Jesus, but they are
worthy to Him for He came to die also for them. Sin is not what makes
you unworthy of Him and to Him. If sin is what makes you unworthy to
Him, He would not have come at all to save you. Jesus cannot fully express
His love and be your Savior if you did not sin. You become unworthy of
Jesus (not unworthy to Jesus) if you don’t believe in Him. Your believing
is what makes you worthy of Him.

On the other hand, not believing in Him is exactly unwillingness to carry

your cross. You are not willing to follow and die with Him and in Him. In
so doing, you have just made yourself unworthy of Jesus.

But you are in Christ and carried your cross that you are worthy of Him!

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You Can Never Lose Your Salvation
Revelation 2:16

Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and I will fight against them
16

with the sword of My mouth (NKJV).

In one of our discussions during a Bible study session, I was sharing that
never can those who are in Christ lose their salvation. The group including
the pastor that I was sharing to was very convinced that they can lose their
salvation at any point in time. I surmise that when they commit sin they
will lose their salvation. The amazing thing of losing salvation mentality
is, those who believe that idea don’t want a better foundation; to become
established and unshakable in their faith. They want to stay put in their
negative belief and fight to the end that they will lose their salvation.
In the process, they become fearful, restless because they become service
oriented believers. Don’t get it wrong, doing services is good.

For the moment that I was defending believers including them that no way
salvation can be reversed, I used the illustration of a father-son relationship
that even when the son had disobeyed the father, he is still and remains the
son in the house. He is still the son and will be a son forever. Disobedience
will not cut off the father-son relationship. If your sin is a cause for losing
your salvation, then you would not have been saved at all in the first
place, never! Salvation is for people who have sinned and continue to sin
from time to time like me. Therefore, if you are in Christ, sin is not your
problem, it is His problem for having carried all your sins to the Mount of
Crucifixion. But you owe your Savior thanksgiving. Your biggest problem
is you are putting and magnifying sin in front of Jesus so that you cannot
see Him. Try to magnify Christ in front of your sin instead, and never
reverse that position then tell me how that situation works for you.

There are many passages that can show believers they will never lose their
salvation. In John 10:27-30, Jesus’ assurance is you will never perish
because no one can snatch you out of His hand and the Father’s. Another
passage is found in Matthew 28:10 where Jesus will always be with the
believer even to the end of the age, while Hebrews 13:5 say that God will
never leave nor forsake the believer. Romans 8:32-37 speaks that nothing
can separate believers from the love of God and many other passages

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securing the believer’s eternal status with Him. I still have to come across
a passage in the Scripture which contradicts God’s assurances. Salvation
is a relationship and is not a program of life that can be altered anytime,
anywhere, anyhow and by anyone. God the Father, who is the author
of your salvation cannot even undo that because He is perfectly holy.
Whatever God has done for you has its efficacy forever. You are a finished
product.

Unfortunately, despite explanations, I found out that they are not

convinced of the fact that as believers in Christ, they cannot lose their
salvation. More than anything else, they want “to lose” their salvation
in a sense rather than to believe they are secured forever in Christ Jesus.
They have a bigger negative faith of losing salvation than the positive
established result of the work of Jesus on the cross. With their belief, they
wanted to guard and protect their salvation with human efforts of good
doing ignorant of the fact that Jesus is the One keeping their salvation that
they cannot protect it, all because it is heavenly and divinely made. They
cannot accept it is a complete work of Jesus and is a gift and nothing can
be added to it that the pastor asked me about Revelation 2:5 and 2:16
which I think are his basis of losing his salvation.

Jesus had few things against the church of Pergamos because some of
the church goers were holding on to the teachings of Balaam and the
Nicolaitans. Balaam put a stumbling block to Israel and was noted for
divination that he was hired by Balak to curse Israel (Revelation 2:14,
Numbers 22:7). As regards to the Nicolaitans, Rick Renner, in one of
his articles traced the Nicolaitans to be the descendants (or relatives) of a
proselyte named Nicolas from Antioch (Acts 6:5). Nicolas was converted
from paganism to Christianism. Being of pagan origin, his roots have
deep seated involvement in pagan practices such as the occult and the like
which things Jesus hates.

Let’s zero in on Revelation 2:16 which I think has become problematic

to many. The verse says “Repent, or else I will come to YOU quickly and
I will fight against THEM with the sword of My mouth (NKJV). From
what we have read on the preceding paragraph and the underlined words
of verse 16, it has become clearer. Jesus will come to fight THOSE who are
holding on to the teachings of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans

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which Jesus hates. He will not come and take out the salvation of the
church. In fact, the verse is in the positive mode because Jesus will come
and fight against “the false teachings” with the sword of His mouth which
is the gospel. He will come to right those who are believing in wrong
doctrines that were prevalent in the church of Pergamos.

The sad thing is that, even some pastors believe they can lose their salvation.
What if the pastor while climbing up the podium to the pulpit had lost
his salvation? Those to whom he is preaching to do not know that their
pastor is no longer saved so that he has no business of standing in front
of believers teaching them about spiritual things. He has lost his identity
with those who didn’t lose their salvation and they don’t have common
denominator to have fellowship so to speak. It’s very unfortunate that they
don’t know they are eternally secured in Jesus’ hands that if you ask them
what are the symptoms of someone who had lost his salvation, they can never
figure out what to tell you.

Now, in Christ you believe right. You are eternally secured because of His
sword.

Put His sword into good use!

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Work Out Your Salvation
Philippians 2:12
12
Therefore, my beloved, as you always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling (NKJV).
The problem with those who believe they can lose their salvation is they
have many scripture references to pull out from their sleeves to defend what
they believe. While discussing Revelation 2, the group is not convinced
of the positive aspirations of God. Trying further to defend of losing their
salvation, somebody quoted Philippians 2:12 claiming that they need
to work out for their salvation claiming that they could maintain their
salvation by doing good. To do good is alright and commendable but to
maintain your salvation is an error.
They missed the point of the message of Philippians 2:12 because they
contend to work for their salvation which is already a direct contradiction
of Ephesians 2:8 that salvation is a gift. Philippians 2:12 is a concluding
verse so that we need to check the preceding passages to have a better
understanding. Jesus came as a servant in the likeness of man. He became
obedient even to death on a cross that God exalted Him above every
name. On the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue
should confess that He is Lord to give glory to God.
It is the believers’ goal to glorify God that Paul encouraged the Philippians
to work out their salvation. Even in his absence, they work out what is
intact in them; their being saved – giving glory to God. They have salvation
in them to work out – inside out. They cannot work out something that
they don’t have inside. The Amplified version gives a more practical image
of Philippians 2:12, “Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my
suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my
presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out
to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe
and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience,
watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might
offend God and discredit the name of Christ).”
Because your salvation is intact in you then God is able to work in you
both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God
cannot work in you if you don’t have salvation in you. As God is working

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in you, your salvation comes out naturally resulting into good work,
giving glory to God which your Father will impute to your account. In
that, you will fear and tremble of the outcome. According to a Malaysian
Christian blogger on Facebook, fear and trembling is merely a Hebrew
way of saying “in awe.” You are in awe of what happened because of God
working in you. Fear and trembling can be further understood from other
passages like Jeremiah 33:9, Mark 5:33, and Luke 8:47. The people of the
earth shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that
the Lord provides and as to the woman who touched Jesus for her healing
she experienced fear and trembling because she was finally healed. The
goodness of God makes believers fear and tremble.
The good news is that though you believe you can lose your salvation but
you are in Christ, never have you lost it at any point in time because the
Lord Jesus Christ keeps your salvation intact, not you keeping it. If Jesus,
the keeper of your salvation is lost, you can be sure you have lost your
salvation already, but certainly, Jesus will never be lost. Perhaps you have
just fall from grace unto law that you are very introspective of what you
can do for God and when you failed to do something for Him, you think
you have lost your salvation already. But though you have fallen from
grace as a believer, Jesus will always keep you in His grace that you will still
find yourself in heaven after you finish your life here on earth. Stand up
therefore and be on grace depending solely on the finished works of Jesus.
By this time, you can now breathe freely because you don’t need to work
for your salvation. It is a gift that you need not earn with your good works.
Because you already received the gift of salvation from Jesus, you will
automatically do what is good and acceptable, that, even you are in awe
of what you are doing.

In Christ, you are actually working out your (not for your) salvation!

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 PART VIII

God’s Grace
Empowers You
to Reign
in Life

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You Reign In Christ Jesus
Romans 5:17
17
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,
much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (NASB).

It was in the first month of my college days that I received Jesus as my

personal Lord and Savior and from then on I am in Him. I had the idea
then that if I am in Him, I need not go into intense struggle over challenges
in life because Christ is with me. Unfortunately, I experienced the opposite
and I was suspecting that if I am in Christ I have more struggles compared
to when I was not in Him because these are the things I heard from other
believers also who were old timers and to think they were ahead of me in
the Christian faith, I believed them and what I believed manifested in me
also.

We learned to overcome the world by doing the right thing. I tried right
doing but no gain. We are in this fallen world and from time to time we
are in our unguarded moments that we fail and the things of this world
we do. To my understanding, we have to avoid sexual desires and this is
very commendable. But sexual desire is inherent to all even to the so called
third and fourth genders. If you have no sexual desires in your system,
I suspect you are somebody else. You may be living in another planet
but fantasy world never exists. I believe that some had gone extreme that
instead of teaching avoid sexual sins, they teach about sexual desires that
brought confusion.

How I wish I would have learned earlier what I know now and rewind my
past and apply the things that I believe will work for a victorious Christian
life. But that would be unnecessary because the past is gone and whatever
stupid things I have done will never be pulled out as witness against me
because heaven does not and will not record sins of the believers. What a
peaceful thought that sin cannot enter heaven; we cannot bring our faults
with us that God will reprimand us when we are there with Him then
lessens what we are entitled to receive. In heaven, many will be surprised
when God will pull out His ledger full of the believers’ righteousness
imputed through His grace that had been effortlessly translated into good

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doing (Matthew 25:34-40). There will be no record of any wrongdoing
because God does not and will not keep a ledger of sin and unrighteousness.

The way to a victorious life is not to be conscious of sin, fighting it out with
right doing, and when you are defeated, confess it. You lose and then make
another try believing that you will progress a little bit this time because
you know now the pitfall of the devil. But then you lose again and go
on to the next round with the same strategy thinking that somehow you
will overcome. This time the result is very disappointing that you are now
considering not attending the worship service this coming Sunday thinking
of a good excuse when your pastor comes to visit you in the afternoon.

Before you consider about quitting, there is a tested and positive way to
overcome. Death reigned through the sin of Adam that all died. No dead
person can reign in life and that is an absolute truth. Neither can you reign
if you take the strategy of a dead person and use it for your advantage
thinking you will reign. The dead people of the world use their five senses
against spiritual battles. They believe in what they see, feel, hear from the
same dead people how to fight sin. Some use dead people’s strategy in the
things of God.

Through the One man Jesus Christ, you will overcome and reign in life
by receiving abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. Jesus
said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).” My friend, you don’t need
to seek righteousness from other means but receive His righteousness as
a gift. Having His righteousness in you, believing by faith, you won’t go
wrong. Even when you fail or have committed sin, there is abundance of
grace all around because where sin abounded, grace abounded much more
(Romans 5:20).

The grace of Jesus always makes you look good to God even when you are
at your worst. Grace is the ground by which God treats you as if you did
not do any wrong doing. Take refuge in His grace. God is not in the hunt
for righteousness sourced through other means but His righteousness you
received that makes you the righteousness of God in Christ for all eternity.

Many of us have rejected grace and replace it with right doing thinking that
grace is a license to sin and right doing is the antidote of sin. We thought

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that good doing is the gateway to grace, meaning, do good first then God’s
grace will be on you. But you know by now and have experienced it yourself
that right doing will not give you the power to overcome sin. Grace is the
teacher that empowers you to say no to ungodliness and live a godly life
(Titus 2:11-13). You reign in life only through the receiving of abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness that Jesus brings. In Christ, you are
always righteous and you can always receive grace in abundance.

All these because Jesus wants you to reign in life!

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God is on the Hunt for the One Righteous
Joshua 2:1
1
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy
secretly, saying “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went,
and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there
(NKJV).

Joshua sent spies, this time only two and not twelve, to secretly view the
land. In the appointed mission, he made special mention of Jericho. Why
did Joshua send two spies when he himself went to spy out the land and
being a military genius, he knew the “ins” to the land? The two spies don’t
have to map “way-outs” because they are going to possess the land and stay
there forever (Numbers 13:1,8 &16). The secret mission was for the city
of Jericho because the two spies after staying for a night returned back to
Acacia Grove and reported all that they know about the people without
any record of going to other places to which they will conquer and possess
(Joshua 2:24).

One of the meanings of “view” in the original text is “mark.” In other

words, Joshua sent the two spies to mark out a certain place in the city.
So they went to lodge in the house of Rahab the prostitute. Upon hearing
that they came to spy out the land, the king of Jericho went to inquire
from their lodging place. Rahab hid the spies for the night at the rooftop
and with a line of scarlet cord tied on the window, the two spies escaped
from the arresting armies of Jericho (Joshua 2:18). The same scarlet cord
was left hanging that served as a mark to save Rahab and her household
from the sword of death. Her house had been marked out to be spared
from the impending judgment of the city.

God is always on the hunt for the one righteous and never will have a
quest for unrighteousness. He is not like a policeman hiding somewhere
and come to catch you if you fail. In the case of Rahab, He did not allow
her to perish with her unbelieving people despite of her being a prostitute.
God was on the quest for her righteousness by faith. Rahab has become a
believer long before Joshua sent out the two spies. She had been a believer
for forty years before Israel entered to conquer Jericho (Joshua 2:8-13).
Her faith compelled her to hide the two spies. God puts priority for

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the one righteous over all other good and perfect plans. He has marked
out and hunted Rahab through the two spies to be separated from her
unbelieving people.

The name Rahab is proud in Hebrew. She was a beautiful lady among
the Canaanites and can go along with anybody she wished that she was
reported a prostitute. When she first heard the parting of the Red Sea
and the exploits of Israel against the Amorites, her age may have been in
between 10 to 13 years because by the mere hearing of it, her heart with
all the peoples’ hearts melted away (Joshua 2:10, 11). By the time Joshua
sent the 2 spies to view the land, 40 years had gone and she may have
been in her early 50’s. When she became a believer, Rahab cannot be in
her 20’s or early 30’s for she would have passed childbearing age by the
time she married. She had a son by the name of Boaz after she joined the
congregation of Israel (Matthew 1:5).

At an early age she had faith, turned her back to the gods of the people,
and became a believer to the God of Salvation. Yet when she grew up to
be a gorgeous lady, she chose a career in the entertainment industry that
to the eyes of the self-righteous she is deemed good only for judgment and
destruction. The way to the prostitution den was her bread and butter and
her name has become famous in the land that it was easy for the two spies
to locate her house.

The invading armies of Israel utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both
man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge
of the sword except for Rahab and all that was in her household (Joshua
6:20-23). By then she became a part of the congregation of Israel. Did the
people of Israel know that Rahab was a prostitute that the congregation
may be defiled? It was well addressed of her occupation that Joshua said,
“Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who
are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her
in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent (Joshua 6:17,
22).” The spies went to Jericho only to deliver the harlot from destruction
(Joshua 2:18).

Rahab entered the congregation of Israel by grace through faith and not
through the law. Should had she been under the law, the people would
have stoned her to death. Rahab’s beauty did not fade as she advanced in

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years despite her occupation. She may have been in her mid-fifties when
one of the great grandchildren of Tamar by the name of Salmon laid eyes
on her that she took her and became his wife (Matthew 1:5). Her family’s
business was blessed exceedingly by the Lord that her son Boaz was called
in his days, a man of great wealth (Ruth 2:1).

The law cannot be applied to those who are under God’s grace. Grace
is always higher than the law. The grace of God yielded faith on Rahab.
It was this grace that separated and sanctified the great sinner from her
unbelieving people. She was kept safe from her youth and was given a
family of her own despite her past. She and her family experienced the
lavishness of the God of Salvation that she lived as one of the wealthiest
in Bethlemeh evidenced by her son, Boaz. God has no record of her dark
past but of her righteousness by faith (Hebrews 11:31).

Only because God is always on the hunt for righteousness by faith!

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The Righteousness of Jesus Compels You To Do Good
Matthew 25:40
40
The King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the
extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of
them, you did it to Me (NASB).

Remembering the time when I was in third grade, we were taught on

the subject of religion. The topic taught on the first day is still vivid in
my mind. As a young boy at the age of 8, I didn’t know the source of the
lesson discussed on that particular day but now I know that it came from
Matthew 25. The discussion was about doing good like the sheep that
were separated from the goats and you can imagine the teacher teaching us
with all piety. It was good that elementary students were taught to become
good children for God.

After discussing about good doing, the religion teacher took out one of
her visual aide and it is about a sick person lying in bed in his dying
moments waiting for his last breath. Perhaps, the religion teacher wanted
us to prepare how to face death. On the visual aide are two angels beside
the dying person positioned on the right and on the left. The good angel is
on the right whispering him good things so that he will go to heaven while
the one on the left is the black angel trying to convince the dying person
turn his attention to him so that he will not hear the things the good angel
is whispering. To listen to the angel on the left is the way to hell.

As a child, I thought for a while and reasoned out to myself that if I will be
on my dying moments waiting for my last breathe to puff up, better to lie
down side-ways facing right because the good angel is on the right side of
the bed so that I will go to heaven. While I will be facing the good angel, I
will not hear the whisper of the angel on the left side of the bed. But who
wants to hear the angel on the left in his dying moments? By hearing the
whisper of the good angel, I will then be assured of my destiny in heaven.
That’s how simple a good boy thinks.

The way the Bible teaches is not about the whispering angel on the right
that will determine our way to heaven. Rather it is about the righteousness
of the One man, Jesus Christ. The King is looking for righteousness that

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He divided the nations as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
The sheep has inherent meekness and “righteous-looking” conduct. Its
horn does not sharpen because it usually grows curly that it is not a
good weapon to trust in times of atrocities. On the other hand, the goat
resembles a sturdy breed that can stand alone by himself and you could
hardly see a goat’s horn growing curly but straight and pointed. They love
to wander and hip-hop even on rocky and steep altitudes.

Many want to be with the “sheep” or like the sheep for that purpose.
People are very conscious to do the good they have to do. They give
food to the hungry and water to those who are thirsty. They give out
clothing, welcoming strangers and visiting those in prison. These are
noble things to do and very commendable. But it was the King who
separated the sheep from the goats that there was no luxury of choice for
the sheep or the goat to choose places but to comply with the directive
of segregation. You cannot see in the story that each of the sheep or the
goat choose to be where they think they should be according to what
they have done. Those on the right cannot go to the left through their
own volition.

When those on the right side were given the commendation, they were
surprised if they have done good things to the King. They didn’t know
they were workers of good and in fact they have forgotten the good
things they did. But the King reminded them of the goodness they have
done to others. They were surprised to know that they have done good
deeds in their lives. The same reaction came from the people on the
other side when the King reminded them that they didn’t do anything
good for Him.

The right side is where the blessed and righteous go. Jesus made the righteous
sit with Him in the heavenly places at the right hand of God, and is a
present reality for every believer today. When you have the righteousness
of Jesus, doing good is not something that you are introspective about.
You don’t need to be aware of every good thing you have to do thinking
that you are a believer of Jesus. But the moment you see there is a need
for something good to be done, you do it anyway not thinking of any
reward that you may receive from your actions. The righteousness of Jesus
compels you to do good.

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The Spirit says, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor
of love which you have shown toward His name, and that you have
ministered to the saints, and do minister (Hebrews 6:10). If God has
forgotten your work and labor of love then He is unjust. You may have
forgotten but He will not forget any of your good deeds because He is just.
When you come face to face with Him, not a single sin will He remember
but God will remind you of all the good things you have done through
Jesus’ righteousness.

Then Jesus will openly say, “Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”!

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 PART IX

God’s Grace
Supplies
Faith to Believe

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Be in the Hall of Faith
Hebrews 12:1
1
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us (NKJV).

In the 1988 Olympic Games, Ben Johnson posted a world record in the
100 meter dash. He erased all records available at that time for the same
distance in only 9.79 seconds. With all the applause he received from
the Olympic stadium and the world that watched him through television
and other communication media, he was declared the fastest man ever
to run the race. Unfortunately, he was dethroned by default from that
position when he was found to have used a chemical substance banned in
the sports. He lost his trophy, and the world record he set in the Olympic
was declared null and void for the breaking by other athletes competing
in the 100 meter dash.

From the comments I read from critics, they say that many if not most of
the sprinters and other athletes for that matter are using banned substances
only that some got detected and disqualified while others are not. It seems
then that the performance enhancing substance is very alluring to the
sporting world.

In the Christian life, the Bible says that we are surrounded by so great
cloud of witnesses while in the race. These witnesses are enjoying the sight
that we are in. They see the way we perform so that the writer to the
Hebrews encouraged each and every believer to lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares. They know of the appealing stuff believers
want to take with them in the race that increases their weight and the sin
that easily ensnares. What weights and sin would these be?

I heard it said by others that it is the “pet” sin or the sin that you easily
commit. Pet sin or petty sin according to what they call it is something
stupid that an individual is fond of doing though he knows it is sin but
he does it anyway. If that is so, it means that pet sin differs from person
to person and we have to guess what pet sin a person has over the others.

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How about the sins that are not petty, are they not included in the sin that
easily entangles us? I believe that God does not want us to play guessing
games about what weights and sin we are going to throw off from the list of
many before we run the race marked out for us. God has revealed everything
in His word for us to believe right and to live right. Chapter 12 concludes all
that has been said before that it begins with the word “Therefore.”

Looking at the flow of events, Hebrews 9 describes how the sacrifice of

Jesus create perfect conscience; son-consciousness that is, while Hebrews
10 talks about Jesus coming to do the will of God that made us holy (see
Hebrews 10:9, 10) cleansing all our sins that God can no longer remember
them and even the Holy Spirit took the witness stand to testify that sin is
no more (Hebrews 10:15-17). The Holy Spirit went on further saying that
the just shall live by faith and God will not be pleased for everyone who
will shrink back (Hebrews 10:38-39). In Hebrews 11, the Spirit defined
faith and gives examples of people who are in the hall of faith, also as
witnesses to the goodness of God that sin is no more. Then Hebrews 12:1
makes a conclusion of all that has been said and written previously.

In order for us to determine the sin that easily entangles, we need to go

back and find out from the previous passages the weights and sin that
easily entangles. With the foregoing, we can see that the weights are sin-
consciousness as opposed to Son-consciousness. Sin-consciousness leads
to more sins and more condemnation forgetting the works of Jesus. The
sin that easily entangles is not the sin that you sometimes do because later
on you will sin. But rather, it is the loss of faith – doing things the way the
world does instead of believing in what God has said because the just shall
live by faith (or live by right believing).

The world says you need to be sin-conscious as a way to your holiness

when God says you need to be Son-conscious. The world also says do good
first before Jesus will cleanse your sin, that God is ready to punish you
because your sin is still in His mind, but He already said loud and clear the
opposite that He remember sin no more and that the witness who cannot
lie even took the witness stand (Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17). Human beings
are creatures of sight and become easily distracted or entangled to live by
sight and feelings. They wander away from the faith of Jesus believing in
their own efforts. Many believers are wandering away from what Jesus

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did, living out of synch to what God has said and promised and what the
Spirit are telling them to believe. They have lost faith not like those who
are enumerated in Hebrews 11 that they lived by right believing.

Now you know what to throw off to get into the race: the first is sin-
consciousness that breeds guilt and condemnation and the second is the
loss of faith, not looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews
12:2). Looking to Jesus always especially when you have sinned, you can
now synchronize your steps and be in the thick of pack avoiding being left
out struggling alone on the runway to come to the finish line to receive
your prize. Throw off every baggage and weights when going into the race
so that you will not grow weary and tired that may inspire you to quit and
disqualify yourself.

Be in the hall of faith (and not in the corridors of seeing and feeling)
where the running is easy and everything is going smoothly!

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Little Faith Will Grant You Entry
Matthew 7:23

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me,
23

you who practice lawlessness! (NKJV)

The context of this passage is in verses 21-22 where Jesus said that everyone
will come imploring and requesting Him that they be allowed entry to the
kingdom of heaven. You might have heard some people who don’t believe
a Deity but in that day when everyone will face Jesus, all will believe that
He is the Lord and even those who didn’t believe in Him would like to
enter heaven. They may not believe Him now but they will at that very
moment. Unfortunately, it will be too late because the Lord Jesus is about
to pronounce the inevitable to those who didn’t believe Him after they
pass away from this planet.

Everyone will go to Jesus and bid Him Lord, Lord. Many will be entering
the kingdom of heaven while some will be left and cast out. Those who
are denied entry are the ones who did not do the will of the Father in
heaven. In the context of what Jesus is saying in Matthew 7, the will of
the Father is the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus to those who
believe; the only righteousness that counts for the kingdom of God (see
Matthew 6:33). These are likened to the good trees that bear good fruit.
Any good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
The quality of the fruit defines its origin from where it is coming. Even so,
fruit trees produce fruit of its kind and cannot alter its system to produce
otherwise.

The good tree finds its sustenance to where it is planted. For the good tree
to bear good fruit it must be planted to where life is; quality life that is.
There are counterfeits that Jesus warned His hearers to avoid and shun
false prophets (Matthew 7:15). This warning means that there will be false
prophets anywhere and they will water down any tree within their reach
trees that produce good fruit. These trees cannot endure the good fruit
bearing trees that they will look for ways and means to exterminate the
good trees just like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that seek to
kill Jesus.

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Because the good tree is planted where life is, it grows to be strong taking
sustenance from the ground. The good tree is on grace ground where every
good and acceptable thing abound (Matthew 7:7-11). They seek to enjoy
the goodness of the heavenly Father who knows every good gift to give
to their needs and bear fruit. Asking, seeking (means readily available
to find) and knocking are destined only on grace ground that gives joy
and make the heavenly Father smile. Self-efforts give the heavenly Father
exactly the opposite.

But the good trees have this in common, “little faith,” as the Lord Jesus
Christ calls it (Matthew 6:30). The good trees do things by their “little
faith” that if you spread that “little faith” out from what the Lord Jesus
said in Matthew 6:31 – 7:16 will be like this:

• You of little faith do not worry, saying…….

• You of little faith do not seek what the Gentiles seek……

• You of little faith seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness…..

• You of little faith do not worry about tomorrow………

• You of little faith judge not……

• You of little faith do not be a hypocrite……

• You of little faith do not give what is holy to the dogs….

• You of little faith ask…...seek….and knock….

• You of little faith enter by the narrow gate….

• You of little faith beware of false prophets….

• You of little faith you will know them by their fruits…

It is impossible to please God without faith, right believing that is, because
there is also wrong believing which is the reason many believers are not
living right. To have faith in the Lord Jesus and His word is the will of
the Father. The church of Philadelphia is the only church in Bible history
where the Lord Jesus Christ found no negative mode because they have

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little strength, kept His word and not denied His name (Revelation 3:8).
They have little strength that depended on God’s strength, His word was
their guide and His name their true identity.

You of little faith is the good tree bearing good fruit and you are known by
the Father because you are doing His will of believing His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ (see also John 6:28-29). When everyone will come to bid
Lord, Lord to Jesus, the door of heaven will open wide for you who have
done the will of the Father in heaven by faith.

Christ Jesus will welcome you because of your little faith!

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Your Little Faith Is What Matters
Matthew 14:28-29
28
And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me
to come to You on the water.” 29So He said, “Come.” And when Peter
had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
(NKJV).

When the disciples saw someone walking on the water, they perceived it was a
ghost and they cried out in fear. It seems the disciples have heard and read too
much of ghost stories whose intent is to inflict death on people. The disciples
were like the actors of a horror movie with much loud screaming trying to
evade the evil character. Too bad, they have nowhere to run for cover but
only to scream their lungs out until Jesus spoke to them saying, “Be of good
cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Jesus had to speak louder (!) than the disciples’
screams so that they could hear Him (Matthew 14:27). It is only through
the sweet and gracious voice of Jesus by which the disciples could distinguish
their Master for it is on the fourth watch of the night.

The other disciples believed the voice of Jesus but Peter didn’t believe that
he had to make sure it was Jesus’, saying, “Lord, if it is You, command me to
come to you on the water.” Peter who was screaming earlier for fear has now
the boldness to talk sensibly. His only assurance that his Master is in their
midst is if he is commanded to come to the water. Peter came out of the boat
and did the supernatural. At last, his fears died down for there is nothing to
fear at all.

Peter who had been with Jesus for quite sometimes was still far behind
in recognizing that his Master came with grace. His default thinking was
still steep on the law and the commandments. Peter saw his Master as one
who loves to command and watch what he will do. Jesus came to show the
fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). God is not interested in issuing
commandments anymore for it is no longer in the era of commandments but
grace. The commandments under the Old Covenant were given because man
prided over to himself that all that the Lord has spoken he will do (Exodus
19:8). They forget that they could not really obey God’s commandments even
to be at rest from their toiling (Exodus 16:26-28). Yet after that, they brag to
God they could do everything the Lord has spoken.

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The commandments and the law were given with 100% hurdle rate. What
God did is He gave the commandments but never did He lift even His little
finger to help the people fulfill what was commanded of them to do. If the
people fail, judgment and punishment are coming, which are inherent in the
commandments. The level of obedience that God seek cannot be lowered a
little bit and 99.99% is a failure with guaranteed punishment. Though no
one can fulfill the law, still man has the audacity to ask for more. And Peter
was not spared from that repetitive failure of man by asking a command from
Jesus, saying, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come. . .”

The Lord Jesus did not command Peter. Being a Savior that He is full of
grace and truth, He said to Peter, “come.” Had Peter was commanded, Jesus
would have said, “walk” and that would have satisfied the desire of Peter
to walk on water. But “walk” and “come” are two different types. “Walk”
is a command while “come” is an invitation. A command is to be done
alone by the commanded and if he fails, no one will help him out. Jesus is
already walking on the water and is more appropriate for Him to invite Peter.
Nevertheless, Jesus could have issued a command if He wanted to. But Jesus
did not come to issue commandments. He came to show how things should
be done and own the things He did. Peter have seen Jesus how and owned
walking on the water.

Jesus has gone ahead of everybody. He walks on the way of man’s salvation
and is walking above every circumstances of life. Jesus does not command
anyone to walk and look for his salvation, He invites. After a man heeds His
invitation and got saved, He will not command the saved to walk alone and
achieve righteousness and holiness by himself. To anyone who is saved, He
imputes righteousness and holiness outright so that he can walk with Him
side by side. Jesus will not let the saved one does the things deem fit to do. He
will always be alongside to help and lift those who fall.

Peter wasn’t perfect in his knowledge of his Lord. He feared and doubted
despite of Jesus’ assurance of good cheers showing him how to walk on water
in the midst of the boisterous waves. Peter cannot focus his eyes on Jesus that
he was distracted with the waves and was afraid. Then, he began to sink. The
Lord Jesus knows you can’t focus on Him all the time and He is not expecting
you to be better than Peter. But one thing Jesus knows; you will fail anytime
and He will always be there to raise you up from where you have failed. Let

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Jesus reach and lift you up by focusing on Him, otherwise, you will go on
swimming with your own efforts against the wind and the boisterous waves.

His only commandment to Peter is, “do not be afraid.” This is one of the areas
by which Jesus cannot help anyone. He cannot do the “do not be afraid” for
Peter. Peter alone can do the “do not be afraid,” thus the commandment.
Today, even if Jesus is in you and with you every moment, He cannot do the
“do not be afraid” for you. But cheer up because just like Peter, though you
fail in this commandment, you can be sure that there is no judgment and
punishment waiting for you. Instead, the outstretched arms of Jesus will be
there waiting to save and lift you up. He is the Savior that never a moment
will forsake you though you break His commandment.

If for any reason you have broken His commandment, you will receive a
gracious reminder of the Savior saying, “O you of little faith, why did you
doubt?” Jesus is saying, you don’t need a big faith as huge as the mountain
which is immovable, but you only need a little faith so that you will not
doubt Him and be afraid even when you failed. You are in Him and have
little faith in Christ Jesus that can let you walk hand in hand with Him over
your circumstances.

Cheer up and don’t be afraid for your little faith in Christ Jesus will never let
you sink in!

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Grace Is Easier to Declare
Matthew 9:5
5
For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise
and walk’? (NKJV).

There are many instances when Jesus healed the sick and after that He
restrains the person from telling anyone of the thing that happened.
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed
Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if
you are willing, You can make me clean.” Upon the declaration of healing
by Jesus, immediately the leper was cleansed (Matthew 8:1-5). After that,
He told the leper not to tell anyone. With the multitude following Him,
I believe that many have seen the leper healed. I can’t imagine the joy and
euphoric jubilation of the healed person in his heart to make known to
others that his leprosy is gone. After that exciting moment, however, Jesus
told him not to tell anyone but to show himself to the priest and offer gift
that Moses had commanded as a testimony.

In Bethsaida, they brought to Jesus someone who is blind and begged Him
to touch the eyes of the blind man. So He took him by the hand and led
him out of the town. I wonder what gracious words Jesus said to this blind
man while walking out of the town. When He had spit on his eyes and
put His hands on him, Jesus asked him if he saw anything. And he looked
up and said, “I saw men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on
his eyes again and made him look up. Then his eyes were restored and saw
everyone clearly and He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go
into the town, nor tell anyone in the town (Mark 8:22-26).” There were
so many people around when Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man and
these people will tell others about what had happened. But Jesus restrained
him to tell about the miracle he experienced.

Jairus came begging Jesus to come to his house because his twelve years
old daughter was dying. When He came into the house, He permitted no
one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of
the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her, but He said, “Do not weep,
she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that
she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and

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called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose
immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. The
parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had
happened (Luke 8:41-56).
Those miracles can’t evade the newsmakers to proclaim to one another
because they are big events that cannot be concealed. Yet Jesus restrained
the recipients of healing to tell the good news. There are other passages that
kept me wandering in astonishment and one of them is what Jesus said in a
healing session for the paralytic in Matthew 9:2-7 when He said, “For which
is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk”?

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good
cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” It is easier for Jesus to give what He
brought with Him. Isn’t forgiveness the grace that Jesus brought with
Him? “Your sins are forgiven you” is longer than “Arise and walk” and
the latter should be easier to say. But for Jesus, it is easier for Him to say
the gracious words of forgiveness than to issue commands. When there
is total forgiveness, having died to sin, living the righteousness of Jesus,
knowing sin cannot condemn anymore, healing flows (1 Peter 2:24).
On the other hand, guilt and condemnation are good attractions and
ascendancy of diseases.

Arise and walk is a commandment and Jesus did not come to issue
commandments. He came to impart grace to the undeserving.
Commandments came long time ago before Jesus walked on earth in the
flesh.

After giving grace to the paralytic and knowing that he was forgiven
of all his sins, Jesus knew that the paralytic is ready to abide by the
commandments. Without believing all your sins are forgiven, you cannot
walk in obedience to commandments. Obedience to commandments is
a proof of total forgiveness that Jesus said, “But that you may know that
the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins – then He said to
the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house (Matthew
9:6).” And he arose and departed to his house. The paralytic after he was
forgiven, having received the grace of healing had the power to abide and
follow commandments.

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You may not have been a paralytic before you became a believer, but now
as a child of God in the house, Jesus has healed your paralyzed soul because
of sin. That though you may be restrained to tell others of what happened,
you are now a walking testimony of what Jesus did to you having His
power on you to abide by His commandments.

All because of the impartation of grace on you by Jesus!

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Speak Out Your Faith
Matthew 21:21
21
Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith
and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree,
but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the
sea,’ it will happen (NASB).

I have heard many sermons about this passage and the messages allude to
the “mountain” as obstacles and problems in life. From Strong’s dictionary,
mountain as used is oros (or’-os), to rise or “rear” and similar to lift, take
up or away, figuratively to raise, keep in suspense; a mountain lifting itself
above the plain. I believe that Jesus is talking about challenges in life that
has blocked our eyes of faith to see our goals plainly and not the bluish
mountains around us otherwise there would be no more forests if we have
the faith to move mountains and cast into the sea but most would have
been denuded plains. Much of the sea would have been reclaimed.

The context of this passage is when Jesus cursed the fig tree by the roadside.
Jesus was hungry and seeing a fig tree, He went to look for fruit. Seeing
nothing to satisfy His hunger, He pronounced judgment that no fruit will
ever grow on it again. Immediately the fig tree withered and died so that
the judgment that no fruit will grow ever again will come true. This is the
first and last judgment that Jesus pronounced in His 33 years on earth.
The next judgment will be on trees (typifying people) who didn’t believe
that He bore and was judged for their sins.

Reading the account of the fig tree, many believe that if you have no
“fruit” Jesus will curse you. Thanks to some teachings we heard so that
many believers are on the lookout for fruits. Fear of having “no fruit”
preoccupies many believers today. And who doesn’t want to have fruit
anyway? Because of misunderstanding many are scrambling for “fruit” out
of their own efforts. I believe this is not the message of the cursing of the
fig tree because if the fruit is gained out of fear that Jesus will curse you if
“no fruit,” then fear is the driving force to your “fruitfulness.” And guess
what fruit will that be? Fear will bear fruit to fear, of course!

Jesus will not curse anyone even those who don’t have the perceived
“fruit” as many believers call it fruit. If Jesus curses anyone, it will

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then contradict His mission for He Himself said, “For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved (see John 3:17).” He should have
cursed the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the rulers of the
synagogues who vehemently and continually rejected Him. He should
have cursed to death those who nailed Him on the cross also. Instead,
He asked forgiveness for those who were nailing Him saying, “Father
forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” Which is more
grievous, to reject and nail Jesus on the cross or “no fruit” as a believer?
My friend, the difference in comparison is too wide to make.

Fruitfulness is not through efforts. If you look at the fruit that God desires,
it is in Galatians 5:22-23. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. May I repeat:
it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not your fruit. God is a Spirit and He
is after the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in you and when you
depend solely on Him, the fruit of the Holy Spirit will automatically come
out. If you want to see your fruit that comes out through your effort and
fears, these are not edible at all, and they are in Galatians 5:19-21, and
to mention a few, these are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
idolatry, sorcery, etc. These are the works of the flesh.

The first mention of fig leaves in the Bible is when Adam and his wife
sinned. After realizing they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together and
made themselves coverings (Genesis 3:7). Knowing that they cannot cover
their shame, God made tunics of skin and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
God was the first to sacrifice animals to cloth those who have sinned
against Him. The fig leaves are the works of human hands that can never
cover man’s sinfulness. Because of the blood that was shed, the skin tunics
did what man’s work can’t.

The fig tree on the road side has nothing but leaves. Jesus wanted the
fruit to satisfy His hunger. The fig leaves typify the works of man’s hands.
In Jesus’ reply saying “if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not
only do what was done to the fig tree, but also…………” The word “if ”
presupposes a condition. Read it again. If you have faith, the first that will
be done to you is not to curse the fig tree but what was done to the fig tree.

Let’s see what was done to the fig tree: it was cursed, it withered, and it died.
To have faith in Jesus is actually a curse to human efforts, let alone that

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human effort wither and finally die because no way it can bear fruit for God.
Faith will automatically drop off the fig leaves. Then by faith, you can say
to the impossible with human efforts (mountain), “Be removed and be cast
into the sea, it will be done.” In addition, whatever things you ask in prayer,
believing because you have faith, you will receive. As you ask and received,
you bear much fruit and the Father is glorified (see John 15:7-8).

Fig leaves grow in the absence of faith but once faith takes over, it can
outgrow the fig leaves. As the fig leaves drop, you will then learn to speak
out your faith. Faith is actually speaking out what you believe and want done
through the Holy Spirit. If you have a symptom of sickness, speak healing
to your body because Jesus has carried all your diseases long before you were
born (Isaiah 53:5). If you want financial breakthrough, speak out your rich
resources in Christ because Jesus took your poverty that you might become
rich. He is your inexhaustible banker. All the good thing in heaven foremost
of which is eternal life can be yours through faith. By faith, you can command
“mountains” that were immovable when the fig leaves were around.

I read some comments of Christians to an article on Facebook that to have

a strong faith, God will put you to test and when you have passed the
testing, your faith grows. One comment even says that “God sometimes
will even break your strongest bones.” How cruel is a god like that! They
base their belief on 1 Corinthians 10:13. But if you check that verse,
a portion says, “but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be
tempted….” The one who will not allow you to be tested is a third party,
right? Therefore, God is the third party and not the one giving the testing
but the devil does. Self-righteous Christians receive and treasure negative
miracles to increase their faith. That is very incoherent to the word of God.

When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, Jesus told them to
speak it out and issue commands (see Luke 17:5-6). At your commands,
the mountains shall be up-rooted and planted in the sea. Then you receive
the fruit of your desire and God is glorified (John 15:7-8). The miracles
of Jesus increase your faith, like those who came to Jesus for healing and
received miracles of good things then went on to announce their faith in
Him, not their testing.

Speak out your faith and see miracles that will increase your faith in Christ
Jesus!

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By Every Word of God Shall We Live
Matthew 4:4
4
”But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’
(NKJV).”

Many people are going to church to feed on the word of God because of
this passage. Aside from bread, they want to feed also on the word and
those who go to church with this intention is commendable. We need the
word of God to live in this life. If we look intently on the reply of Jesus
to the devil, He was not saying “man shall not live by bread alone but he
also need to feed on the word of God.” Let’s read it again, “Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.” In other words, “Man can live by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God, alone.”

Can man literally live alone by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God? Isn’t it that we need physical food because we cannot live without
it for a period of time? Or shall we understand this as something spiritual?
Matthew 4:4 cannot be understood only in the spiritual reality because
the context is that the devil knew Jesus was hungry after fasting 40 days
and 40 nights and needed to literally feed on something that satisfy His
physical hunger. Thus, the devil tempted Jesus to command the stones to
become bread that He may eat (Matthew 4:3).

Many believers once they meditate on the word of God will be refreshed
and do not feel hungry and need not eat something. Others, after studying
and meditating on the word of God can psyche themselves not to eat
something and can even go further by fasting hours and days. But can
they live without food say for a number of months or years? Can man live
by the word of God alone?

The devil knows how to understand the language of Jesus that alone man
can live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If Jesus
was talking nonsense, meaning, man cannot live literally by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God, the devil should have protested
right then and there. But Satan acknowledged the reply of Jesus that man

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can live alone by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God that
he never protested nor engaged Jesus into further discussions about the
subject.

Now you may ask, how can God make us literally live by His word alone?
Is it really possible? When Jesus replied the devil’s temptation that it
is written, it is possible that man can live alone by every word of God,
literally. Jesus will never talk nonsense to the devil even though how evil
the devil is.

In Psalm 50:10-11, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle
on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild
beasts of the field are mine.” And in Psalm 104:14 is written, “He causes
the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man,
that he may bring forth food from the earth (see also Psalm 104:10-13).”
And from His vast resources, the Lord will command (word) the blessing
on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and
He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you
(Deuteronomy 28:8). By the word of God all the things you need for life
is provided.
Can man live alone by every word of God that proceeds from His mouth?
Absolutely yes! By God’s word the plants grow to produce their fruits and
vegetation for man to eat. By His word the beasts, the animals, birds of
the air, the fishes and all moving things came into being. These are the
resources of God by which man can feed on and live with – satisfying his
hunger and fill in his empty stomach.
When you eat your next meal, believe that God has commanded the food
to come to your table because by His word (command) alone shall you
eat and live!

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 PART X

God’s Grace
Paves the Way
for
Blessings to Flow

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Jesus is Where the Blessing Flow
Ephesians 1:3
3
Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (NIV).

The Apostle Paul gave the reason to praise God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ and this is because He has blessed us. God give every blessing
that we don’t deserve so that praise will be on our lips. He even gave up
His only begotten Son from which eternal life flows. The blessings of the
Lord will make people praise and worship Him – in that order. Some go
to church for praise and worship as an obligation while others do it as
fulfillment of their vows while some do it for the right reason because
they have been blessed and in love with the Lord. But for some reason or
another, the bottom line why many people go to church is because they
want the blessing of God.

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us to praise Him for His
goodness. The blessing of God opens the lips of men to praise Him in
the heavenly places. Jesus is foremost of all the blessings of God (Romans
8:32) and there is no other reason to praise Him other than for what He
has given. Going to church for praise and worship, doing pious works are
not the requirements for the outpouring of blessing from God. Never will
God work contrary to what has been orderly set by the Holy Spirit. He is
the God of order that He has given all His benefits first to His children so
that all praises, glory, and honor will be rendered to Him.

The question “How will God bless me?” lingers in the mind of believers
and many at times I encounter many with this dilemma. The Apostle
Paul gave the answer in Ephesians 1:2 saying “Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” There are two places
where you can find the children of God today; a place where peace and
blessing are, and the place where you can find just the opposite; curse
and confusion. Paul has clearly explained that you are alienated from
Christ when you are fallen from grace. It is the same thought declared
by Jesus (Revelation 2:4-5). Your first love is God’s grace that saved you
by right believing.

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Grace is where the blessing is and the only place where God can operate.
You were saved on that ground and on that ground Jesus has redeemed
you from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Falling from grace thereby
will you find yourself wallowing on the law by yourself because Christ has
become of no effect unto you (see Galatians 5:4, KJV). You may have been
saved but have fallen to Christian law-keeping and even how Christianized
that law is will negate your faith. Be steadfast therefore and fasten your
seatbelt on the solid and immovable anchor of your faith, Jesus Christ and
His finished work. Someone who is strongly fastened will never fall even
when he slips or somebody pulls him down.

Some of my friends are overflowing with life because they believe in the
grace of God. One who was suffering from psoriasis commanded his
sickness to be blotted out from its roots in the name of Jesus. Now, you
could hardly see the scars. Another friend claims that because of the grace
of God, he is blessed materially and financially beyond his imagination.
Because he believes God is blessing him, he is happy with his relationship
with the Lord that he is in love with Jesus. That helped him learn to give
his tithes and offering.

Another friend who went to Canada with his family believes in the grace of
God and is very much blessed compared to other Christian believers who
also migrated in that place. He didn’t sweat, anticipating dates of going
to that place because God opened up the door for him and his family. He
was offered a lucrative job that he didn’t have to look for employment
unlike many others who chose to settle in the same place sweating out
and doubtful of landing a job. There are other friends who were blessed
beyond their imagination because they stay put on the grace of God.

Inherent with Jesus is God’s abundant blessing of healing, protection,

prosperity, peace, joy, and all the good things of life. You can only have
these if you hang around on grace ground whereby Jesus can operate.

The blessing of God flows where Christ is effective. God does not bless
you because you are good, praying three times or more every day, reading
the Bible many chapters before going to bed and confessing all your sins.
Don’t get me wrong. I pray, read and study the Bible and do good as far
as I can. But these are not the reasons why God blesses me. He blesses His
children because of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. He is the reason for

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all the blessings we receive. Jesus said that “no one comes to the Father
but through me (John 14:6).” As in going to the Father through Jesus, the
same is through for whatever comes from the Father will be channeled
down through Jesus.
There are many books and reading materials that suggest the ways to
blessings. I don’t believe in those suggestions, but I know where the
blessing is and I am blessed by staying on grace ground where Jesus is of
effect on me. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus
(Matthew 28:18). He has all the authority to bless and He determines
every blessing. Since God knows all my needs, at my request, He classifies
the best. And because God is a generous giver (Malachi 3:10-12) I don’t
expect “trickle” blessings but outpouring ones through the grace of God.
You can have that too.

Remember that there are many children of God languishing on where

they have fallen. But you are a special child to Him because you are on
grace ground. Expect from Jesus bigger blessings from now on.

By then you can shout hallelujah, praise the Lord, and glory to His name!

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The Marks of Loving Jesus
John 14:15

If you love me, you will keep my commandments (NASB).

15

The word “keep” in the original text is to guard from loss or injury. If
someone loves Jesus, he has to guard the commandments of Jesus to
himself so that there will be no “injury” to His commandments. Therefore,
to bring in to safety the commandments is foremost in the mind of Jesus
when He said “keep my commandments.” It is something that one has to
carry as part of his life. To keep is to put it in the innermost and what is in
the “innermost” will not get lost or injured and is the last to be touched in
times of danger, calamities, and atrocities.

Let us put the passage in the negative mode without injuring the word of
God so that we can see the other side of it. The negative mode will be like
this: “If you don’t love Me, you will not keep My commandments.” On
the positive mode, to love Jesus is to keep His commandments and to keep
His commandments is to love Jesus. But what are these commandments
because there are many commandments that we can see before Jesus said
this to Apostle Philip. When Jesus said this, was He referring to all the
commandments beforehand or are there only specific commandments
that Jesus wants us to keep in relation to His reply to Philip’s request?

Frankly, do we have to keep all the commandments that Jesus issued?

Many will say an immediate big YES. But to keep all the commandments
that Jesus said would be a disaster to our Christian lives. When Jesus said
to a lawyer “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:35-38)” can we really
keep it? To love the Lord that way is saying we have to lay down our lives
for Him. All the people in the Old Testament failed and the Apostle Peter
tried to keep it but ended up denying Jesus with a curse (see Matthew
26:33-34, 69-74; Luke 22:33-34, 55-61). If you are of better breed than
the Apostle Peter, maybe you can make a try.

If you are still convinced that every Christian believer should keep all that
Jesus has commanded, maybe you need to memorize Matthew 5:28-30
when Jesus said, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for

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her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye
causes you to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for
you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into
hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you;
for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your
whole body to be cast into hell.” Even those who preach along this line will
not bother to cut their arms or pluck their eyes out when they commit sin
with those parts of their bodies. I hope you are convinced that there is no
one (none at all) who can keep Jesus’ commandments if all those issued
were to be kept.

If Jesus is not referring to all His commandments, what then are these
commandments that Jesus told Philip in John 14:15 as a testimony that
we are in love with Him? I believe that Jesus doesn’t want us to wander and
wonder where to get these commandments. When Philip said to Jesus,
“Lord show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us,” He expounded the
commandments that the disciples have to keep for their sufficiency which
are found in His reply to Philip in John 14:9-14. Observe carefully the
request of Philip is for the disciples’ sufficiency. Therefore, if a believer
keeps these specific commandments of Jesus, he will have sufficiency in
everything and he loves Jesus.

Jesus said in John 14:11, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father
in Me….” My friend, when Jesus said “believe Me” I don’t know about
you but that is a commandment to me. Believe in the relationship of Jesus
to the Father. Just in case Philip didn’t get it right, Jesus repeated it again
in John 14:12 saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me,
the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do,
because I go to My Father.” Then Jesus continued by saying, “And whatever
you ask in My name, that I will do…..” Don’t you think that “you ask in My
name” is a commandment too? And the final commandment Jesus said,
“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14).” “I will do it”
is a command in Himself which can be translated as a commandment for
you as to “receive what you have asked for” (see also Mark 11:24).

To summarize, the commandments that Jesus issued for the disciples to

be sufficient in everything are these: Believe, Ask and Receive. Therefore,
when you want to be sufficient in everything and love Jesus, don’t look

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for any other commandments like the Ten Commandments and other
ceremonial laws for your sufficiency. He said, believe in Me, ask in My
name and receive because He will surely and will certainly do it. By these
commandments the Father is glorified. When you find your sufficiency in
Christ Jesus, you are actually glorifying God the Father. Jesus loves seeing
you sufficient in Him for everything.

By this, you are keeping His commandments and you are in love with
Him!

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The Fruit of Jesus You Bear
John 15:2
2
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every
branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear much fruit (NKJV).

There are two action words in this passage that make believers rely on their
efforts and enslave themselves to work for their salvation and acceptance
to a holy God. These words and phrases are “takes away” and “prunes” that
drive them into self-righteousness trying to gain leverage so as to maintain
and strengthen their relationship with God. But in other translations like
the New International Version of the Bible, it uses “cuts off” instead of
“takes away” which is more severe but they have the same meaning. No
believer in his right mind would like to be cut off. And because of this
understanding, many are trying their best not to be cut off by scrambling
for fruit.

I attended a church anniversary service and the pastor preached this

message and he gave the idea that if you bear no fruit you will be cut
off as if to cut you off and throw you away. You will wither and the
next idea of withered branches and leaves is fit only for burning. And
if you are fit for the fire, where else will that be? The believer’s fruit
is very much emphasized that if there is none, better watch out. The
pastor tried to project that believer should bear fruit at all cost and
manage to bring that fruit out. That was not the only time I heard
the same interpretation which means to say that in the Christian
circle the fearful concept of being cut off, wither, and thrown away
if no fruit bearing out is an accepted and common understanding of
John 15:2.

But that is not the idea that Jesus is conveying to His hearers when
preaching this particular passage. That is the idea of the devil that he had
inculcated into the minds and understanding of self-righteous individuals
and promulgated by some ministers that makes the people live in fear and
bondage. Sadly, interpretation of passages leading to human efforts, self-
righteousness, and multiplication of fears spreads easily like wildfire. And
we can blame some misguided ministers on this.

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Jesus likened the believers as branches. God is the One who prunes the
branches. Jesus said clearly, I am the vine you are the branches (John
15:5). Pruning is not cutting away the branches just in case you do not
know; it is taking away excess leaves. Now you know that pruning is not
cutting away the branches and that gives you a big relief already. If you as
the branch are abiding in Jesus (means you are in Him) you will never be
cut off and burned, but your excess leaves shall have to go.

God the vinedresser “takes away” the branches that bear no fruit. Takes
away in the original text is to lift, by implication to take up or away;
figuratively to raise, keep in suspense; specifically to sail away (that is weigh
anchor). The vine is designed to be lifted up suspending in the air to bear
fruit that the vinedresser has to make an artificial elevated see-through
platform properly and firmly anchored for the vine to grow and suspended
in the air. I believe you have not yet seen a grape vine bearing its fruits
when lying on the ground. I have never seen one. A grape vine that bears
fruit is always when hanging in the air!

On our way to Bakersfield, California with my friend, we passed by a

vast plantation of grapevines and I did not see any fruit but leaves. It is
because the vine dropped off on the ground from the elevated platform.
When the vine is near the ground, there is no way it will bear fruit but
you will observe that more leaves will grow. When this happens, what
the vinedresser will do is to lift up the branch back on the see-through
platform and prunes the excess leaves that grew over time. In so doing, the
vinedresser “takes away” the branch from where it dropped off and lifted
it up. He will not cut it off from the vine but takes the branches out from
the place where it dropped off. That is why if you observe your KJV and
NKJV, there is a footnote that says “Or lifts up” referring to “takes away”
in John 15:2; lifting up the vine that dropped off from the ground to the
elevated see-through platform so that it will bear fruit. God will not cut
you off and be withered away as stated in John 15:6 which is a declarative
statement of Jesus that if anyone does not abide in Him will be cast out
as branches. John 15:6 is in reference to unbelievers but you are a believer
and you are abiding in Him and this verse is not for you. Therefore, if you
are in Christ Jesus do not fear about John 15:6 because it is a warning to
those who are not in Christ.

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As the message I heard goes, pruning the pastor said is referring to trials
that come along the way. Trials or temptations do not come from God
but from the evil one. Temptations (or trials) will come like in James 1:2
but God did not send them. The verse says, “Count it all joy when you
fall into various trials.” When you fall, God did not pull you down. The
word trial or temptation means a putting to proof, (by experiment [of good],
experience [of evil], solicitation or provocation); by implication, adversity.
God knows what you are made of and He does not need to prove you but
the evil one does that. The devil wants to prove he is of better breed than
you that he brings trials and temptations to convince you are inferior to
him. But you are in Christ and there is no way the devil is of better breed
than you. Therefore, don’t succumb when he tells you that you are of low
quality. Even when you fail believe that you are still of better breed than
the devil. You are still the righteousness of God in Christ.

If trials are means of pruning as many of us understand it, then the pruning
is being done by the devil and not the Father who is the vinedresser. Jesus
made it clear that the Father is the one who makes the pruning, not the
devil. But you may tell me that God will use trials as means of pruning
the believers. To believe that is directly telling God that He has an unholy
alliance with the devil. God cannot partner with the devil by any means!

How does Jesus describe pruning? It is literally cleansing. He muddled the

words prune and clean that Jesus said in John 15:3, “You are already clean
(pruned, ready to bear fruit) because of the word which I have spoken to
you.” The believers are cleansed through the words of Jesus and the same
words will bring forth fruit through the believers. Note carefully that the
fruit is of Jesus, not your fruit; you only bear it. You cannot compel a
believer to make fruit. Fruit comes not from the branches but from the
vine. The branches only bring out and carry the fruit. Because you are a
believer (and I don’t need to emphasize that all believers are abiding in
Christ Jesus) and as long as you are in Him you are being cleansed and
fruit will come forth naturally as a result.

Many if not all believers want to bear fruit. But because of wrong
understanding that resulted in wrong believing, no wonder many choose
trials and temptations rather than to study the word of God for cleansing
and pruning hooks. They want to get into trials that when they overcome
trials along the way they feel being pruned and cleansed. In that instance

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they actually did the “pruning” themselves and not the Father. Again, my
friend, Jesus said it very plainly that the Father, the vinedresser does the
pruning, not you or the devil.

There are three requisites to fruitfulness. If you abide in Me, and My words
abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7,
NASB). Whatever (fruit) you wish, when that wish has been asked, surely
it will be done because you are abiding in Him and His word is abiding in
you. The Father is glorified because you bear much fruit of Jesus. I hope
you can see the connection of desire and fruit in John 15:7-8. Fruit comes
from asking, not from trials and temptations.

God will not cut you off and will not let you wither away but on the
contrary He wants you to bear Jesus’ fruit. He doesn’t want you to undergo
temptations and trials although these will surely come because the devil
will bring them to you but our loving Father will always be there with you.
He will turn your trials and temptations into something that will make
your fruit sweet and juicy because Jesus is the One that forms the fruit
which comes out of the branches. Know for certain that it is only through
Jesus that you bear fruit and no amount of human efforts can add to the
bearing of fruit.

You are a believer and abiding in Jesus and He will produce the fruit in
you, the branches!

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The Struggles of Jesus Today
Revelation 3:15

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you
15

were cold or hot (NKJV).

In one of my provincial sortie with my friend approximately three decades

ago, I heard a message on this passage from one preacher saying that as
believers we must be hot for Jesus in our service to Him. We need to
preach with boldness, do holy things and involve ourselves in church
services and other curricular activities. We should not let our arms down
in doing things for Jesus but always vibrant, ecstatic and exuberant in all
our services lest Jesus will spew us out of His mouth if we grow a little bit
cold. According to the message, these are how we can be hot for Jesus and
I was very much convinced at that time that his explanation was the right
understanding of the passage.

But how about the cold portion because Jesus desires us to be cold also if
we are not hot? If hot for Jesus is preaching boldly and continued service
and involvement in the church, it means that if we are cold which Jesus
wanted us to be if we are not hot, is, we don’t have to do anything and
let our hands down doing nothing for Him. In that sense as compared to
the explanation of hot above means we can even forego to attend worship
services and in that we are right in our understanding of cold. If that be the
case, isn’t it better to be lukewarm because we are at least doing something
rather than doing nothing at all? Following that understanding, to be
lukewarm would be at least accomplishing something for Jesus, right?

I believe that what I heard about this passage is not about preaching
Jesus boldly or continued services in the church and do ministry with
all boldness so that you will be pleasing to His taste but rather it has
something to do with the Covenants that God had given. All of God’s
actions and words have to do with His covenants. Though how sovereign
God is, He cannot just declare anything to anyone but has to have a basis
and that is with His established covenants.

Under the Old Covenant of Law which has been replaced with the New
Covenant of Grace, God sees man and judge him based on the stipulations

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of the Law. Because the Law says that you need to perform with all your
might to become righteous and acceptable to Him, then failure to abide
and falling short of righteousness and holiness to an acceptable level based
on what the Law says means judgment and punishment is coming. Since
then, the law of performance has been ingrained in man’s system of belief.
But because no man can fulfill what the Law says, Jesus came to fulfill it
for you and me (Matthew 5:17).

The Covenant of Law have been set aside as a means of man’s righteousness,
holiness and acceptance to a holy God (Hebrews 10:8-9). Upon fulfilling
all the stipulations of the Covenant of Law, the New Covenant of Grace
has come into effect. The acceptable righteousness and holiness is no
longer based on man’s performance but the performance on the cross
of the One Man, Jesus Christ. Since then, God assess everyone through
Jesus Christ and not on man’s performance. If Jesus is always pleasing and
accepted to God, accordingly, if you are in Him, you are always pleasing
and accepted to Him.

But many have mixed up the two covenants altogether. They are saved by
grace but to become pleasing to God, one should perform righteous acts
before Him to be acceptable. Not anymore! When you are saved by grace,
you are already pleasing to God by grace, no ifs and no buts. You are either
pleasing to God or not at all; and in the same manner, you are either saved
by grace or not at all. You cannot be saved by grace through faith and then
try to bring in your efforts to please God. You are saved by grace and you
are pleasing only through His grace, Jesus Christ.

If you roll back your Bible to Exodus 20, God gave the substance of the
Covenant of Law in verses 1-23. But because God in His infinite wisdom
knew that man cannot fulfill that Covenant, right after the declaration
of the Law, He gave the shadow of the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ
in Exodus 20:24-26 for man to live by it. Under the Old Covenant, God
wanted man to live by the shadow of the offering and not on the substance
of the Law if man wants to receive God’s blessing because intrinsic in the
Law is curse and judgment.

If God wanted man to live by the shadow of the offering under the Law,
how much more now with the substance!

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Are you saved by grace through faith but believing you are accepted to
God only when you have done something good and righteous? Are you
a believer who is finding a way to please God with your services? You
are acutely lukewarm. You are neither cold nor hot, that today, Jesus is
struggling with you trying to figure out if you are hot or cold and is ready
to vomit you out. Live with the substance of the offering, the pure grace of
God who is your acceptance, your sanctification, your righteousness, and
holiness. Under the New Covenant, God assess you based on His Son’s
performance, only.

Today, if you mix up self-efforts and grace for your daily relationship with
Jesus, He can’t determine your temperature and He is confused with you.
He is struggling with you because He loves you but He can’t do anything
of your being lukewarm but to vomit you out. Grace that Jesus brought
into the world is never intended to be adulterated. Unadulterated grace
makes you hot with Jesus.

Live by grace and by grace alone and don’t let Jesus go into that painful
experience of struggling again!

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The Seventh Day Is a Day of Rest
Genesis 2:3
3
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He
rested from all His work which God had created and made (NKJV).

The question was asked during a Bible study why God created man and
the usual answer is for man to worship God. It’s very glaring to see that
our usual answer to questions like this is what we should do for God. It is
always man to God; man that is always conscious of service to a deity. Our
default thinking about God is someone who needs something from us.
But if we examine the Scriptures very carefully, it is the other way around;
God is always thinking what man needs, always. He serves and gives to
man all that He has. Even His only Son Jesus Christ, God gave though no
one asked for Him. The reason why God created man is for the purpose
of blessing him.

After man was created in God’s image, He put him in a garden. Long
before man was created, all the blessing is already in place because God
first set all that man need for him to live peacefully (Genesis 1:2-25). The
most valuable blessing is the Spirit of God that moved. There is no way
man will be here today if the Spirit didn’t move. Man was created to enjoy
God’s blessing and experience the full glory of His creation. The blessing
of God is not for sale that we don’t need to pay for by our strength and
services.

Some of God’s pronounced blessings are: (a) quality life. Since man was
created in God’s image, quality life has come with it that will make man
fruitful and increase in number. Man cannot multiply if he is sickly and
decrepit, lousy and down; (b) Man to rule God’s creation. God gave man
a special position; higher than those of other creation. All of God’s trust
was in man. He was placed as a small god in all of God’s properties; and,
(c) Receiver of good things on earth. God gave everything to man for
his consumption and enjoyment that nothing has been withheld except
one; the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In that sense
God doesn’t want man to receive knowledge of good and evil which is
technically the law. The tree of life was not withheld so that man can eat
from it. The tree of life typifies the grace of God.

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After creation and the giving of blessing, God saw that it was very good
and there was a feeling of elation and satisfaction in the heart of God. It is
very good for God to see you having quality life enjoying everything He
has. It is very good for Him to see you rule over what He has created and
not to be enslaved by it. It is very good for God to see you receiving the
good things He planned to give in advance for God has finished all the
work since the creation of the world (Hebrews 4:3).

Man was made a little god to all creation by ruling the earth but when he
disobeyed God and bowed down his knees to Satan, he surrendered his
position to the devil as a little god. Now the devil is somehow ruling the
earth running the affairs of the world and man has forfeited his blessing
(see 1 John 5:19). The finished work of creation started to deteriorate.
The first destruction is the plucking off fig leaves Adam and Eve used to
cover their shame. Since then the devil has brought in everything evil in
this world; stress, diseases, poverty, natural calamities, accidents, global
warming, politics, and death. The sixth-day blessing was totally in disarray.

There is a second blessing and this is the seventh-day blessing when God
rested from all His works. He not only blessed the seventh day but made
it holy because on it He rested from all His work which He had done (see
Genesis 2:2-3). Though man has forfeited his blessing, the seventh day is
good news for God’s people. The seventh day is at hand. Thank God for
the seventh day because it has come when Jesus died and rose again and
after He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus sat down because all of
God’s work has been completed even providing death for man as payment
for the requirements of the law for sin.

Now, there is rest for God’s people ceasing from performing the daily
sacrifices when Jesus was crucified and risen (Hebrews 4:9-10). This is the
Sabbath-day and it does not refer to a particular day of the week. God’s
rest is where the blessing is today. All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Jesus; even authority to bless. Those whom He blessed
are made to sit together with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3,
2:4-6). Rest in Him and His finished work. He has invited you to come
unto Him you who are weary and of heavy laden. Anything contrary to a
restful believing life is actually disobedience.

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The blessing of God is not for sale. The smaller blessings are inherent and
freely given in Christ (Romans 8:32). Therefore doing something for God
first so that He will bless you is not His idea. If you think you have to do
something to receive a blessing from God; that is not a blessing but wages
for your good works. Servants work for wages but you are a child of God
in the house because Jesus Christ your elder brother died for you and paid
every good thing for you to enjoy. You are on the Seventh-day and Jesus
is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven and you are in Him.
You are a child of God and you have a better position than what Adam
had in the garden.

Be at rest and receive God’s blessing of health and wealth, and every good
thing in life through Christ Jesus!

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Jesus Is Coming Back
Matthew 1:3-6
3
Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar,…………5Salmon begot Boaz
by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse 6and Jesse begot
David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the
wife (Bathsheba) of Uriah (NKJV).”

Jesus is called the Lion of Judah (Hosea 5:14). His lineage came from one
of the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah. In the genealogy of Jesus, four women
are recorded before Mary was found to have conceived a Child by the
Holy Spirit. Interestingly, these four women are deemed to be outcasts,
yet they found themselves in the lineage of Jesus. There is hope and good
news though how gloom your past is because of Jesus.

Tamar was the cunning daughter-in-law of Judah who was widowed early
without offspring. After her first husband died, she married her brother-in-
law but because Onan did not act the way he should have been as a husband,
he died also at an early age without an offspring. Since the other brother-in-
law next in line has the responsibility to give her an offspring, Tamar waited
for Shelah, but was never fulfilled by her father-in-law, Judah. Shelah means
“a petition” a thing asked for and Tamar may have asked for Shelah from her
father-in-law to have offspring and Judah may have consented to give but it
was a promise that was never fulfilled.

When Tamar saw that her father-in-law broke his promise, she did what
she had to do. After Judah became a widower, Tamar disguised herself
as a prostitute waylaying on the road side waiting for her father-in-law
to buy sexual satisfaction. By this time as a widower, Judah had become
uncontrollable in his sexual desires. Though he had nothing to pay the
one he thought was a prostitute, he had something to pledge in return
for sexual intercourse. Tamar’s disguise was purposely made to get an
offspring from the lineage of her husband. And she got what she wanted
because she became pregnant by her father-in-law.

After many generations, one of the great grand-children of Tamar

married a lady from Jericho named Rahab. If Tamar disguised herself as a
prostitute, prostitution was Rahab’s bread and butter. She was of Gentile

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origin but became a citizen of Israel by faith. Before she met the two spies
that spied out the land of Jericho, Rahab was already a believer when she
heard the parting of the Red Sea (see Joshua 2:8-13). Her faith compelled
her to hide the two spies and when the walls of Jericho fell down all the
inhabitants were put to death except for the household of the famous
prostitute of the land.

In Deuteronomy 23:3, “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into

the congregation of the Lord, even to their tenth generation shall they
not enter into the congregation of the Lord (see also Nehemiah 13:1).”
But another Gentile woman came into the lineage of Jesus defying
the law. Ruth, the Moabitess who became a widow without offspring
cannot enter the congregation of Israel under the law, but she came to
the congregation of the Lord by faith (above the 10) when she declared
to her mother-in-law, “Your people shall be my people, and your God,
my God (Ruth 1:6b).” After a while in the congregation of Israel,
she married the man of great wealth living in Bethlehem, the son of
Rahab, his name is Boaz. Her marriage with Boaz happened not before
a bitter experience in marriage because her first husband who was of
Hebrew origin died at an early age.

The wife of Uriah, her name is Bathsheba, is the fourth woman in Jesus
lineage and she hailed from the nation of Israel. This woman seemed not
to care for feminine dignity that she took a bath in an “obscure place”
not minding that someone might be peeping on her. King David had the
chance and he was attracted to her beauty. Upon David’s invitation to lie
down with him, Bathsheba went to the invitation of the king though she
was already married to a valiant warrior, Uriah. After Uriah died in battle,
David took her as his wife and begot King Solomon.

Two Gentile women are in the genealogy of Jesus and they are in between
Tamar and Bathsheba who are both Hebrew women. Then the last woman
recorded in the genealogy account is Mary the husband of Joseph and
thus, the birth of Jesus.

Isn’t it interesting to know that the lineage of Jesus includes the Gentile
nation? Jesus first came to Israel but because He was rejected by His
brothers He is now with the Gentiles which is the major composition of
the church today. He came for His brothers and the Gentiles as well. Two

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thousand years is about to be finished when Jesus first stepped into the
Gentile world.

In the genealogy account, after the two Gentile women, Jesus will be
carried again by a Hebrew woman until His long awaited birth. Ever
since God declared the coming Seed in Genesis 3:15, women were very
expectant of the birth of the One who will finally crash the head of the
serpent. The One has come to save and had crashed the head of the serpent
and now though he can still accuse you of sin, there is no way can Satan
condemn anyone anymore because Jesus had judged him and is now a
defeated enemy (see John 16:11).

That is the good news about Jesus and is now being preached to His
brothers, the nation of Israel. The gospel is now returning to His own
country where in one of these days, all His brothers will recognize Him
and be saved (see Romans 11:26-27). And in that final moment, the glory
of the Messiah will be proclaimed by the Hebrews and His return will be
seen both by the Jews and the Gentiles who carried Him into this world.

While reading this, the fourth woman is taking her place. The fifth woman
is on her way and Jesus is coming back!

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 PART XI

God’s Grace
Enforces
the Truth

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Convicted by the Holy Spirit
John 16:8-9
8
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: 9of sin, because they do not believe in
Me (NKJV).

Many years before, whenever I sin, I thought that the Holy Spirit was
convicting me of my spiritual lapses that I feel the hands of God was heavy
on me. Thanks to messages and testimonies I heard from older believers
having been in the church longer than I had been. If you are a new
believer and you hear something from the so called matured, the messages
they deliver are almost always an authentic doctrine that everyone in the
church should follow and practice. Much more, when you have been in
the church for long, you must teach the same message, otherwise, you will
be branded as one who have been lost. It was not God’s hands that were
heavy on me whenever I sinned but the devil’s accusations.

As what I heard, whenever a believer commits sin, right then and there,
the Holy Spirit is convicting him of his sin and left him. If the Holy Spirit
has left the believer, how can He convict the one who sinned? Think. And,
others say, if the Holy Spirit has been late or did not convict you at all the
whole day, you need to remember all your sins and confess them before
you go to bed. Otherwise, if you sleep and did not wake up the morning
after without confessing all your sins before bedtime, you will be sure you
will not be in heaven but will be languishing in hell for the rest of eternity.
How can you confess sins you can’t remember? Think again.

Jesus said of the promised Holy Spirit, “And when he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John
16:8, KJV).” Reprove in the Greek is elegchõ (el-eng’-kho) and Strong’s
definition is to confute, admonish: - convicts, convince, tell a fault, rebuke.
In other translation of the Bible, the word convict is used. The Holy Spirit
is convincing the world that sin is no more except the sin of unbelief in
Jesus. He is telling the world that all other sin have met its match on the
cross when Jesus died. The Holy Spirit is telling the world to believe in
Jesus who bore the penalty of the crime committed.

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Sin is punishable only by death (see Romans 6:23). Sin cannot be
overlooked by God either, that all sins must be met out with due
punishment. But even if you die for your sins for example, God will not
accept you in heaven because the only punishment of sin acceptable to
God is the death of Jesus who is without sin, not anybody’s death. All the
sin of the world was imputed on the body of Jesus and judgment came on
Him on the cross. Jesus will not come and die again because He died for
sin once and for all (1 Peter 3:18, see also Hebrews 10:11-17). Then Jesus
rose from the dead which is a testimony that all crimes have been paid for
and freedom from sin granted.

Unfortunately, many of us cannot see the punishment of sin and the full
payment Jesus made once and for all. We see the sin but cannot recognize
the advance payment so that we try to reach out for a God who finally
became a distant through our confession, penance and sacrifices. The eyes
of our faith are blurred and can’t see the go-in-between as the Holy Spirit
promised in 1 John 2:1-2 that Jesus is the propitiation for sins. Confession
of sin has become the propitiation that after our self-righteous action, we
are spiritually psyched and in that moment we feel our sins have been
forgiven. All our sins have been carried by Jesus to the cross long before
we committed them.

Jesus had been convicted and suffered the punishment and the Holy Spirit
will not convict you for the same sin that Jesus had paid for. Neither will
the Holy Spirit remind you of your sins. But if you are not yet a believer
in Christ, He will convict you of the sin of unbelief in Jesus, no more, no
less. When you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit will always convict you of the
righteousness of Jesus imputed on you (John 16:10). Why will the Holy
Spirit convict you of your righteousness in Christ? Because in the flesh,
it is easier for you to see sin and have the guilt feelings than to see you
are righteous in Christ, the propitiation for your sins. The Holy Spirit also
convicts you while in this world that the ruler of this world is already judged
that Satan can no longer stand before God to accuse you and condemn you.

Unbelieving in Jesus Christ is the real problem under the New Covenant.
That is the only sin-barrier that is held in between heaven and earth today.
The sin of unbelief can only be resolved by believing that Jesus Christ
has put away all sins, His punishment is your punishment, His death is

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your death, His resurrection is your resurrection, His righteousness is your
righteousness, His holiness your holiness and His name your identity. For
all these, the Holy Spirit has come convincing the world for.

As a believer, you have been convicted to believe Jesus Christ as your

personal Lord and Savior.

Give thanks to the ministry of the Holy Spirit!

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Walk in the Spirit
Galatians 5:16
16
So I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh (NKJV).

I read an illustration of a book that the Christian life is with a white and
black dog inside the believer that are always fighting and overpowering each
other. They are the worst of enemies that if you feed one over the other,
the one that was starving will be defeated by the one with a full stomach.
Hence, you need to always starve the black dog that resembles the sinful
nature if you want to be victorious. Either way, you have two pets inside.

Those teachings encouraged me that I can get rid of the sinful nature by
doing what is right. That was the only practical way that I knew how to
starve my black dog. There is nothing wrong of doing the right thing and
with that I had believed that by doing right, the black dog will die and I
will eventually get over the sinful nature or the lust of the flesh. Therefore,
I strived to get rid of the lust of the flesh or the sinful nature by starving my
black dog to death by my good doing. I had peace with myself whenever
I was doing right but it soon vanished away when I did something wrong.
With that, yes, applying what I have read, I have just fed the black dog
in me and it overpowered my white dog. But poor white dog, he didn’t
become strong and killed the black dog when he was starving. Feed the
black dog even with a little bread crumb and he will overpower the white
dog fed even for 100 days. White dogs never get stronger!

Those two dogs were what I learned from a book written based on the
author’s understandings of Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. Because
I wanted to please God, I believed all that I have read and applied them
thinking that I become an over-comer and spend the days pleasing God.
Unfortunately, I cannot be good all the time. As I take a closer look at the
sinful nature today, no one and nobody can get rid of it because it is that
part of our whole being that gets tired easily, the one who wants to flare
up at the slightest provocation, and the one who wants all the glory the
world can ever give.

In Galatians 5:16–18, the desire of the sinful nature is not to commit sin

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but is deeper than that. Sin is only the superficial result that we want to
take out. We need to eradicate the root if we want to be victorious over
sin. The lust of the flesh or the sinful nature is not the root of sin. “For
the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these
are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you
wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Galatians
5:17-18).” The lust of the flesh or the sinful nature always wanted to be
under the law and shun away the Spirit. The law is the strength of sin and
don’t take it as your daily guide but be led by the Spirit if you want to
overcome sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). The sinful passions are aroused by
the law (Romans 7:5).

The flesh lusts to be always under the law and law-keeping has become
the pattern of this world. Sin is not the pattern of this world contrary
to what I heard many times from others. In the previous chapter before
Romans 12, Israel failed to have the righteousness from God because they
did it according to the law. With this the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
12:2 saying, “And do not be conformed to this world (the world of law-
keeping), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The law
cannot renew your mind because it is by sight, but the righteous shall live
by faith. The Holy Spirit is consistent that in Galatians 5:16–18, it is very
clear that the sinful nature or the flesh desires to be under the law which
is contrary to the Spirit.

When law is discussed, we always think of the Ten Commandments given

in Exodus 20 and the sacrifices of animals and other ceremonial laws like
washing of the feet, etc. We are no longer in that era but the law today is
ingrained in our natural being having the desire for constant performance
to please God; to attain at least a feeling of being holy and righteous to
God if our performance is good enough in our own estimation. Contrary
to that will produce a feeling and vision that God is angry at us and the
Holy Spirit has left us and will come back again after we have done a
religious ritual of confessing our wrong doing. We are “on” and “off” with
the Holy Spirit under a ritualistic belief.

Live by the Spirit and leave behind the desires of being under the law
or the pattern of this world, which pattern is a constant performance to

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please God. What is living by the Spirit? The Spirit was sent to glorify Jesus
and He came primarily for this purpose (John 16:7-11). He did not come
to glorify and point out the works of man. He came to point out your
righteousness in Christ because Jesus has gone to the Father and He is no
longer visible to point out your righteousness in Him. Jesus never pointed
out the sins of His disciples even when Peter cut off the ear of the high
priest servant in the very eyes of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit came
also to witness to us that our sins and lawless deeds God will remember
no more (Hebrews 10:15-17). That is in contrast to what the Accuser of
the Brethren is doing always wanting to bring our sins to remembrance
and we think that if we remember our sins the Holy Spirit is at work in us.

Living by the Spirit is to always look up to Jesus Christ and His cross as
your only acceptance to God in all circumstances. If you fail, look up to
Jesus and not of self, thanking Him of having remitted all your wrong
doings and nothing left out for you to worry about. The Bible says all your
sins are forgiven (see Colossians 2:13-14, Hebrews 8:12 & 10:17); that if
you are in Christ there is no sin left out for you to confess. Even under the
Old Covenant, the people do not confess their sins but the high priest did
so that the sins of Israel will be no more (see Leviticus 16:21). Today, Jesus
Christ our High Priest has confessed all our sins when He cried out, “It is
finished”! And the effect of His confession is for all eternity.

The flesh will look down to self but it takes the wisdom of the Holy Spirit
to look up to Jesus for your acceptance to God. Walk in the Spirit and
get rid of what is contrary, your law-keeping to become pleasing and
acceptable.

Only then can you overcome and will not fulfill the lust of the flesh!

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The Witness Who Cannot Lie
Hebrews 10:15

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
15

(NKJV).

Many have suffered for crimes they didn’t commit and languished in
prison only because of erring witnesses who didn’t tell the court the truth
that happened. These witnesses put a stain on the lives of the innocents
who lost their dignity and became social outcasts. Though one day the
prisoners may be released from their jail term, already, scars have been
imprinted in their person something that they will bear the rest of their
lives. They will never be the same person as they were before they faced
their false witnesses.

When they came to arrest Jesus, the Roman soldiers together with the chief
priests and elders of the people dragged Him to court to be litigated for
alleged crimes. But it was not for crime committed but of envy that they put
Jesus on the witness stand to put Him to death. Many false witnesses came
forward to accuse Jesus but their testimonies did not collaborate (Matthew
26:59-61, Mark 14:55-59). Nevertheless, He was put to death and thanks
to the false witnesses who came forward to testify against Him that put scars
on His body. The senior pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore said,
“The only man-made that will last for all eternity are the scars He wears in
His body.” We will see the holes in His hands and feet in heaven throughout
eternity. Jesus knows how it is to face false witnesses that He sent the Holy
Spirit of truth to testify for the believers. He was given false witnesses that
believers might have the true witness who cannot lie, the Holy Spirit.

However, many Christians and I even met some church leaders who find
it hard to believe in the witness of the Holy Spirit. They rather believe
easily in the witness of the devil who communicates constant lies. A
conglomerate that is into Paper, Radio and Television media uses all
its resources to communicate lies and half-truths if they wish to take
advantage of the weaknesses of the people so that it looks like what is
being constantly communicated will turn out to be the truth. Anything
to the contrary will then become very hard to unwind because the people
have believed the opposite of the truth.

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The devil is a constant communicator of lies and his native language is
falsehood (John 8:44). He tells lies every time he opens his mouth to speak.
This is his strategy so that what he constantly communicates will become
the truth that may become the language of the day. This is the technique
of the devil and if the truth from the Word of God is not unveiled, the
devil’s lies will be founded even in our belief system.

When the Holy Spirit testifies that God will make a new covenant by
forgiving and forgetting all our wickedness and sins, God wants that
covenant to be established in our hearts (Hebrews 10:9-10, 15-17, Jeremiah
31:29-34). The foundation of the New Covenant is God’s laws stored in
the mind and written in the heart. The time has come when people love
the laws of God and that is when the New Covenant is established. People
will just love God more and more when they experience grace and they
boldly come near Him. On the contrary, the Ten Commandments which
is the monument of the Old Covenant were written on tablets of stones
that brought curse and condemnation which made the people very much
afraid to come near to God (Exodus 20:18-19). And that is the handwriting
of God which the devil took advantage of to make it his armory but was
abolished by Jesus on the cross (Colossians 2:14-15).

The Holy Spirit came to testify and witness to the believers that God has
written His word in their minds and hearts (Hebrews 10:16). If you are
led by the Spirit, you will find joy in reading the word. The Spirit also
testifies that sin and lawless deeds of the believers God will remember no
more (Hebrews 10:17). No more because God has remembered all sins
including that of the world on the day Jesus was crucified on the cross.
There was something divine that happened to God’s memory about sin
when the blood of Jesus was shed. He can’t remember sin anymore.

When you hear a believer, a preacher, a minister, or a pastor preaching a

message reminding sin, you can be sure it is not from the Holy Spirit but
from the evil one. Believing anything that is contrary to the witness of the
Holy Spirit is a form of rebellion and disobedience. The Holy Spirit came
to glorify the work of Jesus on the cross and Jesus can’t find glory from
believers who are reminding sins, then perform a ritual forgetting to look
up fully to the cross and consider the blood of Jesus that purged all sins
and lawless deeds.

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Therefore, don’t give glory to yourself and the devil but live a life that is
glorifying to Jesus because your past, present, and future sins had been
forgiven and forgotten once and for all. Let there be confession of thanks
to Him therefore, instead of confession of sin. The Spirit who cannot lie is
testifying to you that you may believe and that sin is no more. Even those
in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11 are witnesses that sin is no more having
faith to what the Holy Spirit has testified.

Believe in the true Witness who cannot lie!

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The Holy Spirit Finds Joy in Grace
Ephesians 4:30
30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were called for
the day of redemption (NKJV).

In my early days as a believer, I understood from what I heard that

Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit when they sin. What happens when
I grieve the Holy Spirit? From a common point of view, the Holy Spirit
will shun away and has left me. That’s why whenever I had a bad thought,
said something or hurt somebody, I believed that I have grieved the Holy
Spirit and left me for sure. Since no one in his right mind wants to be left
out by the Holy Spirit, I always tried my best to live a life without sin to at
least please the Holy Spirit. But then again, I failed and the more I craved
for a sinless life, the more sin it brings. Accordingly, I grieved the Holy
Spirit more often.

But thank be to God because sin is not what grieves the Holy Spirit.
That is not encouraging sin but it’s good to know the truth about the
Holy Spirit. If sin will grieve the Holy Spirit, He would have never come at
all but would have stayed somewhere beyond His reach of humanity because
long before He was sent by Jesus the world is already sinning and the Holy
Spirit would have been grieving every moment in time. Practically with the
billions of people in this world, maybe one thousands of them will sin at
00:01:01, the other set at 00:01:02 and so forth and some who sinned at
00:01:01 may sin again at 00:01:59 that sin goes on and on. If we talk
only about believers in Christ, the same that countless of us are sinning
every now and then. There is only one Holy Spirit and He would have
been grieving all the time and never can He minister to people but always
crying with His eyes out.

The Holy Spirit will not back out where there is sin. In other words, the
Holy Spirit cannot be contaminated with sin and will not shun away from
people who have sinned. Long before Jesus came into the world, there has
been an intense discussion in the Godhead as regards to sin. Jesus came
to die for all sins on the cross. The only sin that is being tackled by the
Godhead today is the sin of unbelief, the very reason why the Holy Spirit
came. This is the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit. He has no business

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in other kind of sin because Jesus had put away the sin of the world. In
fact all are forgiven in Christ but not all are saved. It is when a person
responds to the forgiveness of Jesus and His finished work on the cross
that he is saved and is reconciled to God. Primarily, the Holy Spirit is
grieved when a man rejects Jesus.

In the Christian community, what grieves the Holy Spirit? The Apostle
Paul wrote, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what
is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers
(Ephesians 4:29 NKJV).” What grieve the Holy Spirit are words that do
not impart grace for edification and for the building up of the hearer.
These are corrupted and defiled words that destroy when spoken because
words that do not impart grace are corrupt and defiled. The bottom line
will be discords and divisions. The Holy Spirit came to unite to have peace
with everyone (Ephesians 4:3).

In our daily walk of life, we are faced with many instances where we are
caught unaware to what we utter is no grace at all. When you are in a
rushing mood and happened to ride on a jeepney whose driver waits for
all prospective passengers which is beyond the reach of its blowing horn,
you will almost always think and say silently all the negative description of
the driver. If you are driving in a dangerous highway where most drivers
will not give you a space to maneuver, more often than not, you complain
with the harshest words that describe the drivers around you. When
somebody commits a mistake from a very simple procedure, it’s very easy
to condemn the person than to encourage him with gracious words. We
corrupt ourselves and the hearers. Even the way we say things to others,
there are times something unpleasant is present.

Jesus made grace practical. When He went into the house of a Pharisee
to eat bread, He reminded those of the house about grace actions saying,
“When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your
brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back,
and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed,
the lame, the blind (Luke 14:12-13).” Those who have no means are left
out but to wait for the gracious hands that give to them. The Pharisees
who were able never impart grace to the poor, the maimed, the lame,
and the blind (see also Mark 3:2-5). In fact when they saw the man with

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the withered hand restored, they plotted to kill Jesus. There was no grace
found on their speech and on their person.

A woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years could not raise
herself up. But when Jesus saw her in that status, He called to her and
commanded her infirmity from her body and immediately her body
was made straight and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue
answered with indignation because Jesus healed the woman on the
Sabbath saying that there are six days on which men ought to work and
anyone with infirmity should come and be healed on those days and not
on the Sabbath day (Luke 13:10-14). To the ruler, if you are sick on the
Sabbath, stay sick though you have the opportunity to get well. He didn’t
see the grace of Jesus.

In the same manner that if we fail to see the grace of Jesus, never can we
impart grace but we will always respond with our own instinct. It takes the
Holy Spirit to learn about grace to glorify the works of Jesus. Never too
late to learn and gladden the Holy Spirit.

Amazing grace is all that we need!

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Holy Spirit: The Guarantor
Ephesians 1:14

Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption

14

of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory (NIV).

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The heavens
came into complete form after creation but the earth was without form,
void, and darkness was on the face of the big mass of water. There was
no life found and nothing moved until the Spirit of God came hovering
over the face of the waters. The word hovering comes from a root word
“to brood” which resembles a hen with her chicks covered, taking refuge
under her wings. The Spirit of God was first to move protecting creation
then we see the earth forming into shape with the flash of the light that
overcame the darkness. The waters gathered together into its place and
the land appeared for vegetation. Plants and animals came into being and
God made man to elevate the beauty of His creation that it was very good
in His eyes.

There was nothing to add to the complete creation of God that He

rested on the seventh day. Even the first man and woman were restful
enjoying the beauty of creation with the company of the Creator, the
birds, beasts, animals, and everything that moved. But man followed
the wiles of the devil that sin came into contact with God’s creation and
destruction of the complete beauty started. The first to go were the fig
leaves to cover their shame (Genesis 3:7). In the sewing of the fig leaves
together, Adam and Eve did it in haste with their eyes on the leaves but
looking around from the corner of their eyes lest God comes to them
by surprise.

They started to experience stress that came from negative fear of God
because of their transgression. Toilsome work and increased pain in child
birth became prevalent that their bodies began to deteriorate and were
wasting away. Since they bowed their knees to an outlaw spirit, they lost
everything that God had given them. They were banished away from
the garden where everything they need were provided. The devil gained
ground that he introduced everything that destroys God’s creation. They
lost the garden, and they gave up their position as the ruler of the earth.

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But God had recovered everything man has squandered. Through Jesus
we have obtained an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11). Since we are God’s
children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans
8:17). Christ paid a big price to what we have inherited in God and the
payment was His life. He was beaten, flogged and died. It was not His
crime that He paid for but the crime of us all. He suffered because He
wanted to take back what man had surrendered to the devil. He had taken
back and we now have more than what Adam had. He had only the garden
but we are now joint heirs of the whole universe with Jesus.

What is the proof of our inheritance? The Holy Spirit was made to be the
guarantor of our inheritance. A guarantor is a person who stands in place
of a promise so that he will do the obligation to deliver the goods should
the one who made the promise fails to perform his obligation. Does it
mean God will fail to perform? By no means! A guarantor is also a person
of witness so that the other party will believe. Inasmuch as man is hard to
believe even to the God of this universe, God has to have a guarantor only
to win our belief in Him. He wanted us to believe Him.

The Holy Spirit is a deposit. When someone makes a deposit, a transaction

has been made and completed, only that the other party has some conditions
to fulfill before the final transaction is consummated. God has made a
deposit and in Him the transaction has been fulfilled. We are waiting for the
final close to what has been transacted. But we are now enjoying the fruit
of the transaction which is our inheritance of righteousness and holiness in
Christ. Through Christ, God brings all His goodness to us until the final
redemption appears; when we see Jesus face to face.

Under a transaction, usually, a deposit is given in exchange for something.

God has entered into a transaction though He was on the losing side.
What did God get in exchange for His deposit? He first lost His Son
by drinking the cup of our sins (Luke 22:41). We gave him all the bad
things of our lives in exchange for the One who is good (Matthew 19:17).
But the deepest truth for God to take the losing side is because of divine
redemption. Redemption takes place because God, the real property
owner wanted to take back what was lost. He had you back for eternal
safekeeping (John 10:28-30). He now has you on His side because you are
seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

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During the time of redemption, the value of the object to be redeemed
is much more valuable than the price of redemption. If the cost of the
object for redemption is more valuable than the value of the object to be
redeemed, you can be sure that no redemption will ever takes place in
history. But there was a time that we are more valuable to God than his
Son Jesus Christ when the act of redemption was taking place because
all of our sins had been carried by Jesus Christ on His body. God forsake
His Son that Jesus said, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken Me?
(Matthew 27:46).”

Now, you can breathe freely. Why? Because you have been redeemed for
keeps and the Holy Spirit has been deposited for you and in you only for
God to make sure that your inheritance is in place – for now and eternity!

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The Spirit Makes You Ready
Matthew 25:13

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or hour (NIV).
13

Ten virgins came waiting for the coming of the bridegroom eager to enter
into the wedding hall for the celebration. They came together at the waiting
area expectant of the final hour when the door opens so that they will enter
the royal wedding that will take place which was announced in advance.
After sometime, at last, the bridegroom is coming and the ten virgins arose
and trimmed their lamps but five came without oil that their lamps grew
out of synch. The story is about Jesus’ guaranteed coming for His bride the
church who is prepared to be with Him in the wedding celebration.

“Virgins” as used in Matthew 25:1 is parthenos (par-then’-os) referring to

an unmarried daughter; it is not a single woman who is not yet married.
There are women already matured in years yet chose to stay single. The
unmarried daughter is that she is under the care of her parents, supervised,
and well instructed with good morals and feminine behavior. Five were
foolish and the others were wise. The wise came with their lamps and oil
while the foolish came to wait expectantly with only their lamps without
oil. The moment the bridegroom came, they trimmed their lamps and
when the door swing open, those who brought oil with them went in to
celebrate with the bridegroom. Five of the virgins is a type of the church.

In the story of Jesus, expectancy is not readiness or preparedness. All the

virgins were waiting and expecting for the hour to come holding on to
their lamps. Lamp or flambeau comes from a primary verb to beam, that
is, radiate brilliancy. The foolish virgins came along with the wise. As the
night deepens into the dark, the lamps must takeover to bring brilliance
to the surroundings. It is easy to imagine what a lamp could bring without
oil in its vessel. The lamp without oil cannot take over to give light into
the darkness. The five foolish virgins came expecting to be on their way to
the wedding hall only to stay back looking for oil.

The other five virgins were wise having their lamps filled with oil in their
vessels. Oil is referred to as olive oil and is used to light the lampstand
coming from the offerings of the people to the Lord (Exodus 35:8). The

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oil is what made the five virgins ready and prepared to meet the royal
bridegroom. Oil is also used for anointing (1 Samuel 10:1 and 16:1, 13)
typifying the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God comes in power to those
who are anointed (1 Samuel 11:6; 16:18; 17:36-37). It is the Holy Spirit
that made the five virgins glowing until the royal wedding ensued which
wedding they waited for long.

The foolish virgins were expectant and also prepared to be in the wedding
hall but they came short of their preparation. Today, if you have received
Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit have found His
residence in you with a heavy buy-out price plus much more blessing than
you can ask or imagine because you are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19). You
have the Spirit and you are ready anytime to go in to the wedding hall
when the door swings open.

But many of us have grown to become foolish that as if we are not ready.
I know of a pastor who thinks he is not ready. That is what he thinks
but the reality is because he received Jesus and is a believer, he is ready
anytime. His feeling is not ready but the Holy Spirit is always ready that
any moment Jesus comes in His return, that pastor will be in the air with
Jesus and with the innumerable angels praising and worshiping God.
Feeling has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit and the return of Jesus,
faith is. Feelings are very deceptive because these are on and off but the
Holy Spirit never changes.

But how can we prepare ourselves to be expectant (feelings and

emotions) and be ready? Jesus went on to continue His discourse
showing the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country
who invested his goods with his servants (Matthew 25:14-30). Those
to whom the talents were given went to trade with those who received
the same talent. But one of them who was given one talent did not
trade with the other talented servants but went and hid in the ground
the talent he received. Ground as used is contracted from a primary
word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the
terrene globe (including the occupants in each application): - country,
earth (-ly), ground, land, world. The servant who received one talent
went on to trade his talent with the world other than those who have
been given the same talents. The world (system of sight, feeling, law-
keeping as opposed to living by faith – anything that takes Jesus out of

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the center is the world) corrupted his talent that he grew to be fearful
of his master (Matthew 25:25).
Go and trade with those who have been given the talent and wisdom of
the Holy Spirit and you will receive and multiply the same. What have
been traded will gain profit of its kind. The Spirit came to glorify only the
name of Jesus. Trade what is glorifying to Jesus. Shun away from traders
that give glory to man because at the end of the day, you will profit stress,
condemnation, bondage and slavery that will make you fearful of God.
Speak therefore and trade with others His complete work on the cross
which is abbreviated grace, the gospel that Paul preached in all his epistles,
the gospel that glorify the name of Jesus, the word of God that will endure
forever (1 Peter 1:25).
The Spirit says “let us come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.” But many of us come to God
fearful for the reason that the profit that we have gained from the trading
floor did not glorify Jesus. We did and centered our business with our sins,
with our weaknesses, with our failures, with our self-righteousness and not
the goodness, the righteousness, the love, the sincerity, the faithfulness of
God in Christ Jesus. There was an old way, the fearful way of performance
that the priest stands daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifice,
which can never take away sins (Hebrews 10:11) But today, we come to
God, entering the holiest with boldness through the blood of Jesus, that
the more we come to Him the more lively we become (Hebrews 10:19-
20).
Go and seek where the grace of God is traded every day and never trade
and exchange your talents for counterfeits.

Only then will you enter boldly with the bridegroom into the royal wedding!

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 PART XII

God’s Grace
is the Author
of
Cheerful Giving

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Giving by Grace
Luke 11:42

Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of mint, rue and
42

all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of
God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former
undone.

Many still believe that giving the tithe is a commandment under the
New Covenant. Because of this belief, many teach compelling sermons to
oblige their members to give the tithe. If only they have the right to gang
up on the people and rob them (like a hold-up on a busy metropolitan
street) because their compelling sermon is short of its objective, they will
do it. One pastor quoted Luke 11:42 as basis for his belief and I suppose
this passage is the basis of those who believe that tithing is commanded
under the New Covenant.

Though tithing was observed even before the law as Abraham practiced,
giving of the tithe has become part of the law under the Old Covenant.
Jesus will not re-issue a law something that has been given but a reminder,
that under the law, when you fulfill the others but failed in one, you are
guilty to all the laws (James 2:10). This is what Jesus pointed out when
He said, “You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former
undone.” The Pharisees who were under the law in Jesus’ time cannot
choose only the laws they wanted to obey and forget the others. They give
their tithes but forget justice and mercy. Because the Pharisees rejected
Jesus, they have to keep all the laws to be justified.

To have a better understanding of this passage, the audience of Jesus is the

Pharisees. Reading from the lips of Jesus, the Pharisees love to be praised
by men and they have to step their best foot forward, however, inside them
are greed and wickedness (Luke 11:39). They were lovers of money (Luke
16:14). Their giving of the tithe is a show off to the people that they are
religiously observing the law of tithing, but denying justice and love of God
which are part of the law.

I believe the Pharisees are rich financially. The rich people of this world
get most of their riches from the poor. The Pharisees have acquired riches

220
through greed by wrong teaching and by their “showing of ” (outward
action) including the giving of the tithes, that by their giving, all they
have will become clean (see Mark 12:40, Luke 11:41). To them it’s alright
to break the other laws for as long as they give their tithes. But Jesus
corrected their malpractices and showed the Pharisees how they should
live under the law. The Pharisees authored indulgences being practiced in
the synagogue.

Luke 11:42 was used by Jesus to correct the practices of the Pharisees who
had forgotten justice and the love of God. Jesus needed not to command
them about tithing for they are Pharisees who knew the law very well. But
because the Pharisees practiced only the laws that were convenient for
them to obey, they faced rebuke from Jesus. The people fear the Pharisees
who are scholars of the Torah and the Law that nobody dare question
them. But Jesus who is the author and writer of the law rebuked them for
their lack of consistency in their teachings making tithing a show.

Tithing was not commanded by Jesus under the New Covenant because it
was already part of the law that was given to Moses. Jesus only reminded
the Pharisees and scribes to observe the whole law because they chose
to live under the law than to put their trust on Him who came to fulfill
the law for all people including those who were opposing Him like the
Pharisees and the scribes. It doesn’t mean that because Jesus came to
fulfill the law, then you can break the law. No! It means that even if you
fail to obey and adhere to the requirements of the law, you are still the
righteousness of God in Christ and there is no more condemnation on
you because Jesus have been condemned and have put an end to the curse
of the law and you are in Him (Galatians 3:13).

The key therefore to see people having the right attitude of tithing in
the church is not the compelling sermons and obligatory teachings
frightening people with curses and more curses as if God has disowned
those who didn’t give their tithes. But rather, it is unveiling to the people
the love of Jesus; His sacrifices and His finished work. On the cross, He
embraced man’s poverty that we might become rich. Those who crucified
Him even gambled for His clothes while on the cross hanging naked. He
took in His body all nakedness so that man may be clothed with His robe
of righteousness. Zaccheus after knowing the gracious Jesus gave up, not

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only tenth of his wealth, but much more than required of him. If believers
know how much Jesus loves them, they will effortlessly give their tithes
and offerings and no compelling sermons and obligatory commandments
are issued for people to give.
Under the New Covenant where you are in, God does not delight in
lawful giving but graceful giving!

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Be a Giver Not a Pauper
Mark 12:44

For they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty
44

put in all that she had, her whole livelihood (NKJV).

Many at times I hear this passage being quoted in the church especially before
the giving of the tithes and offerings. There is even a song on this passage and
a portion of the lyrics and the tune I know, “…give like the widow who gave
her last dime…” I don’t know why that song is often times rendered before
passing the offering plates, but it may be a way to increase collection from an
already wearied congregation in abject poverty. Leaders seem to open the eyes
of the people to mimic the poor widow who gave all her possessions even her
whole livelihood as Jesus had noticed. To get all what the widow had was like
stripping off her life naked in the interest of giving.

I still have to see someone who can really mimic the action of the widow in
this passage - to give ALL that he has. All means, to your last penny and you
don’t have anything after your giving. If you have a car, give it because it’s part
of the all of your whole livelihood. You use your car to go to work to earn a
living. Practically, if you want to mimic the giving of the widow, all of your
livelihood should go with your giving. But those who are tasked to encourage
people to give their tithes and offerings citing the example of the poor widow
will never figure out how to give all that they have, their whole livelihood. At
the end of the worship service, we can see some of them jumping in a taxi or a
car heading their way back home meaning they spared the bigger chunk from
their livelihood. They didn’t really give like the poor widow. The pastors and
leaders can still go to an expensive restaurant after the worship service to dine
the best food in town which shows that they are not really living up to what
they preach of giving all they have. What a lie and a pretense!

If we look at the context of this passage, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue
where all the Pharisees and the scribes flock together with the people for
worship. Jesus knew very well the pretentious actions of the scribes that in
Mark 12:38-40, He warned the people against the teachings and pretentious
actions of the scribes. In verse 40, Jesus said the scribes devour widows’ houses.
The poor woman that Jesus noticed may have been a widow for sometimes
which the scribes love to devour.

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To give like the widow is not what Jesus taught the people. After His
discourse, He went to sit calling His disciples opposite the treasury and saw
how the people put money into it. Jesus did not teach the disciples to give
to the treasury like the way the widow did. The widow gave everything she
had because of the teaching of the scribes who cannot even sacrifice half their
wealth to put into the treasury. But being a poor widow who had no one to
guide her, she fell an easy prey to the heretical teachings of the scribes (see
Mark 12:40). The teachings she heard made her even poorer because of the
scribes’ greed and false doctrines. While Jesus sat opposite the treasury, He
showed to His disciples the error of the scribes’ teaching.

Furthermore, Jesus never gave approval to the action of the widow. The
rich put in much but not all their possessions (verse 41). The statement
of comparison of Jesus that the widow gave more than all the rich people
put together in the treasury is not an approval or an encouragement to give
everything. While the poor widow gave all her possessions and her livelihood,
Jesus showed the disciples the weight of what the widow gave in proportion
to the impact in her life that she had nothing left to live another day. The rich
people still have something left to live on for the days to come. Jesus does not
delight in “who gives more.”

What do you think, is the One who said, “No one shall take a handmill or
an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge (see
Deuteronomy 24:6)” can now contradict Himself? A few passages before Jesus
saw the people giving to the treasury said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s
and to God what is God’s (Mark 12:17) will now overlook that statement
when it comes to giving in the synagogue? If you believe the widow’s giving
is right in the eyes of Jesus, better think over again. Jesus used the example of
the widow to expose the false teachings and character of the scribes in Mark
12:38-40, not an example of good giving.

But don’t get me wrong, I am not against anyone giving all that he has. You
can give all your possessions and live like that of the widow and I have no
problem with that. If that is how you understand about giving, fine. For
as long as you have joy in giving all that you have including your whole
livelihood, do it. But if you end up in bitterness after giving everything and
come wandering and wondering how you will live the next day, better not
to give at all. If there is no revelation in your heart, withhold everything you

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have and don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t be compelled to give just because your
neighbor gave or your pastor tells you to give. There must be a revelation to
your giving.

To use the example of the poor widow in encouraging people to give will
make you a plain hypocrite. The hypocrisy of the scribes is what Jesus wanted
to expose and inculcate in the minds of His disciples and shun their teachings.
After all, when you use this passage the next time you encourage believers to
give, assuredly I say unto you that it will be a pure act of hypocrisy on your
part because never will you figure out to give everything that you have like
what the poor widow did.

Instead of taking the account of the poor widow which will ultimately
redound to hypocrisy, I believe we can get a better lesson from the Apostle
Paul who encouraged the Corinthian believers to give because of what Jesus
did. They can give to the ministry because of the grace of Jesus that though
He was rich, yet for their sakes He became poor, that through His poverty the
Corinthians might become rich (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-9). The grace of God
has made you rich so that you can give.

Abject poverty is a curse. Learn to invoke your right to riches and receive the
grace of God that made His children rich.

Only then can you become a giver and not a pauper!

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More Blessed to Give
Acts 20:35
35
I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must
support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He
said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (NKJV).

Many Christians think that giving is the secret of receiving more blessings
from God. This idea comes from their understanding of Acts 20:35
thinking that “the more they give, the more they receive.” They perceive
God as someone who acts only when “something” is given. Nothing is
further from the idea of some who is working in the government waiting
for people to bribe their way out.

Satan wants us to think that we should always make the first move to
reach out to God so that God will bless us. Unfortunately, many of us
believe Satan that we go back to observe the law of constant performance
of “I shall do this” and “I must do that and do more” for God so that
I will get His attention and blessing. Satan always sees to it that we are
not resting on the finished work of Jesus. And if we are not restful, stress
develops in our bodies and we will be a sure target of sicknesses that Satan
can easily inflict.

Christ has already redeemed us by His blood and redeemed us even from
the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13); that is God made the first move.
Christ has blessed us before we give just as Abraham was blessed by God
before he gave his tithe (Genesis 14:18-20). Those who “observe the law”
understand it that one has to give more to be blessed more. But since you
are now under grace because of Jesus (the Blesser), you are now blessed
beyond your imagination so that you could give like Abraham.
To have a better understanding of Acts 20:35, Jesus came to die for your
sins. Realizing this makes you blessed and you are elevated to a better
place. The word “blessed” is comparative, meaning Jesus lifted you up
over others who don’t believe and has not accepted Him as their personal
Lord and Savior. But because Jesus is not satisfied where you were (only
“blessed”) the moment you trusted Him as your personal Lord and Savior,
He added more blessings (John 10:10) such as healing, wellness of body
(Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24), economic prosperity, peace and lifted you higher

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over others with your identity in Christ. Now, you are “more blessed” (see
Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3).
When Jesus said that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” He is
simply saying, “It is you, the ‘more blessed’ over others to give than to
receive.” You can now support the weak as the Apostle Paul encouraged the
believers in Ephesus. The more blessed gives to the less blessed contrary to
the pattern of this world where the poor makes the rich become richer. The
rich of this world get their riches from the poor that the gap in economic
status is getting wider by the day. But Jesus has closed that gap to those
who are in Him.

Are you still waiting for the “promised” blessing in return to your giving?
It will never come! Because it was already given to you by grace (but you
are trying to get it by good deeds) and has been paid for by Jesus on the
cross by making you “more blessed.”

Now, you can give!

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The Right Reason for Giving
Malachi 3:8-9
8
Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what
way have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. 9You are cursed with
a curse, for you have robbed Me. Even this whole nation (NKJV).

I read a debated discussion on Facebook about giving of the tithes and

offerings by members of a church together with the pastor and leaders.
There seems to be a member who doesn’t believe in giving of the tithes
that the pastor has to give his side of the story so as to compel his member
to give. The way I understood from the flow of conversation, his member
gives in accordance to his conviction and faith, but not the ten percent the
pastor seemingly requires. One comment says those who are not giving
their tithes and offerings are robbing God or simply put, thieves (italicized
mine). They are taking something that doesn’t belong to them. Explaining
his understanding about the subject, the pastor went on to drop the bomb
along this line; that if you don’t give your tithes and offerings, you will be
cursed.

I also heard a pastor who says that it’s better to give the tithe than to
have all the 100% with a curse. I am not against giving the tithes and
offerings. To be precise, I usually don’t spend a piece of dime from my
well-earned salary if the tenth portion is not separated as holy that I
have to segregate the crispy and clean bills for the Lord. I want this to
be clear before I get into further discussions about the passage some
pastors and leaders use to frighten people in order to collect more funds
when passing the offering plates. They coerce their members using the
Scripture out of context rather than encouraging them to give by faith
(by right believing).

Using Malachi 3:8-9 to frighten people in the church to give is like the
strategy of a hooligan along the busy and narrow street corners of a crowded
metropolitan city taking money and valuables of innocent passers-by with
a gun poked on the head. The passer-by has no option but to hand-over
his hard-earned money and valuables just to save his life. Anyway, the
money he lost can be replenished over time but if he lost his life, never
can it be recovered. Believers may give but they give for the wrong reason.

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They want to spare themselves thinking that if they don’t give in to the
frightening messages, they will reap a harvest of curse.

When pastors use this passage, they are in the church for worship along with
those to whom they prospect to collect the tithes and offerings. The location
and the activity of the believers when pastors and leaders encourage people
to give are necessary to point out in order to have a better understanding of
the setting and context of Malachi 3:8-9. The Levites were chosen to serve
in the congregation of Israel and they shall keep the charge of the tabernacle
of testimony. No other tribe was chosen to do this particular task. They had
no inheritance given to them for they were serving full time in the sanctuary.
The tithes of Israel are their inheritance in return for the work which they
perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting (Numbers 18:21-24). If the
people will not bring in the tithes and offerings to the Lord, there is no way
the Levites will be supported.

The tithes and offerings of the people to the Lord are vital to the existence
of the Levites. When the portion of the Levites are not given, they have
to look for some other means to survive and they will go back to the field
to work and the temple neglected that even the sacrifices will cease to be
offered (Nehemiah 13:10-11). If there are no sacrifices to be offered, no
pleasing aroma will go up to heaven. In such a scenario under the Old
Covenant, the people will resort to worship other gods so that wrath will
be on the congregation of Israel. Once they return the tithes and offerings,
the Levites will be supported and the temple worship restored that the
people will not resort to worship other gods, thus, the return of God to
them because of the pleasing aroma offered in the temple (Malachi 3:7).

Failing therefore on the part of Israel to bring in the tithes and offerings
to the storehouse, they are robbing God of the pleasing aroma. Doing
such is tantamount of inviting curse because without the pleasing aroma
that goes up to heaven, no blessing shall be poured out to the people
but the curse of the law. Note that it’s not God’s curse. On the other
hand, when the people bring in their tithes and offerings, the Levites were
given their portions and the tabernacle of testimony not neglected and the
continuous pleasing aroma of animal sacrifices that goes up will open the
windows of heaven to pour out blessing that there will be no room enough
to receive it (Malachi 3:10).

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You are under the New Covenant era. When the offering plate is passed
in front of you, surely you are in the church and have not neglected the
worship of God. As believers gathered together for worship, the sanctuary
is not neglected and your offering is always a pleasing aroma to the Lord
because your offering is no longer animal blood and other valuables but
Jesus who is in heaven in whom the Father is well pleased. And you are in
Him. There is no more curse because Jesus the Son of God has redeemed
all of us from the curse of the law; the law of tithes and offerings included
(Galatians 3:13). Therefore, if somebody frightens you next time with a
curse coercing you to give your tithes and offerings, know for sure that
never will a curse befall you because you have been redeemed from the
curse of the law. You are in Christ and before curse penetrates you, it has
to pass through Jesus first.

My friend, you cannot take Malachi 3:8-9 with a setting under the Old
Covenant and frighten people of the New Covenant in order for them to
give in compulsion. Does it mean that we don’t give the tithes and offerings
anymore? Believers are encouraged to give and give for the right reason.
Returning the tithes and offerings is honoring God for His goodness of
blessing you. You give by faith; in accordance to your faith shall you give.
If the revelation of your faith to give is this much, give without any doubt.
If there is no revelation in your heart, don’t give. But I encourage that all
believers to give the tithe cheerfully and not out of compulsion.

Whether you give or not, you are still pleasing to God because you are
in Christ. Though you may not give your tithes and offerings, no way
can you rob God of the pleasing aroma because Jesus your offering is the
eternal pleasing aroma seated at the right hand of the Father. But now that
you know you are under grace and always pleasing to God through the
sacrificial work of Jesus, you now have the best reason to give your tithes
and offerings so that you can partner in expanding the word of God to the
four corners of the earth. The full time workers whose source of living is
preaching the word of God will be supported and will lack no provision.

Now, you give for the right reason and not out of fear and compulsion!

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God Owes Nothing from Anyone
Romans 11:35
Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?
35

The cliché “the more you give the more you receive” is being taught by
many and is an acceptable doctrine when it comes to giving of the tithes
and offerings. This cliché leaves a bad taste in the mouth and those who
preach along that phrase should know better through real life situation.
Anybody who clings on this doctrine has already developed the same idea
in his mind thinking that “the more I give the more I receive” when the
offering plate passes in front of him. They should try to open their eyes
that many who believe in this teaching don’t have enough. You can see
some of them laden with debt. Where then is the promise of “the more
you give the more you receive”?
It is a sad situation to see believers holding on to a teaching that is not
Scriptural. “The more you give the more you receive” is a deceiving tactic
of the devil. The devil wants you to believe that your God who owns
everything in this universe wants you to give first so that He will bless
you in return. My friend, you cannot twist the arms of God to bless you
through the giving of your tithes and offerings.
The truth of the matter is you can give your tithes and offerings because
God has first blessed you. In Romans 11:35, God said he has no one
to repay and better believe it because God has said so. This passage is
quoted from Job 41:11 and the preceding verses of the same chapter. God
answered Job telling him that a man cannot even control a leviathan –
perhaps the biggest creature that ever lived in this earth. God is bigger
than a leviathan and even much bigger than this universe. If you cannot
even control a leviathan, how much more can you twist the arms of God
to pour out blessing just because you give your tithes and offerings?
My friend, though you give all that you have, you have no claims to the
God of heaven that He should repay you. “The more you give the more
you receive” contradicts God’s wisdom and what Jesus has done on the
cross taking all the bad things and paying all the good things so that God
can bless you.
God gave everything for you even his One and Only Son that He has no
one to repay to because He owes nothing from anyone!

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You Cannot Test God
Malachi 3:10
10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in
my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not
throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that
you will not have room enough for it.

I have heard testimonies, sermons, and read books about this passage
but the usage is very unfortunate thinking that believers can test God by
giving their tithes so that in return the Lord will bless them or had blessed
them already because of their giving. Let me prove to you that you cannot
test God in your giving the tithe so that by your giving God will return
back with the blessing in His hands. No human being can test God the
way others understand it.

The tithe is one tenth of the total blessing. I don’t need to discuss that all
blessing come from God. Say for example John is a believer and is thinking
that God will bless him if he gives his tithes and offerings. On the first
worship day of the month and the week before that, God did not bless John
and he received nothing from the Lord. Simply, he has nothing to give for
his tithe and offering on that particular day. One year, ten years after, fifty
years after that, then in his eighties, no blessing ever flowed to him until his
death. Because there was no blessing from God where the tithe comes from,
John never had the opportunity to give his tithe the whole of his life. Poor
John, he died without having the opportunity to test God by his giving.

“Test” as used in verse 10 is bâchan (pronounced baw-khan’) in Hebrew,

meaning to investigate. The context of verse 10 is that the people of God
were tempted to turn their backs to God, Malachi 3:7. What could have
been the Israelites’ motive of turning their backs to God? They were
tempted to worship other gods by prostituting themselves in joining the
surrounding nations thinking that they have better lives. In so doing,
the temple worship was neglected because there are no more tithes and
offering coming to the store room that supported the Levites.

By turning to other gods; however, they became poor. But because the
Lord does not change, He is still the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

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(before the law – when God’s grace and goodness is their acceptance)
that the Israelites did not perish (Malachi 3:6). Because of their extreme
poverty they have even used up what should be brought to the temple;
their tithes and offerings. In their present predicament, God encouraged
them to return to Him where the blessing is for they cannot find a better
life away from Him.

Once they return and offer the sacrifices and pleasing aroma, they can
investigate that God is the owner of the warehouse of blessing and as the
owner He has the key to open up the flood gates, Malachi 3:10. In Him,
the Israelites will experience abundant life. The phrase “Return to me and
I will return to you” in Malachi 3:7 is not returning the tithes for what
will they return to God? They didn’t have the blessing from where the
tithes would have come from because the gods they worshiped were not
able to bless them. They have used up everything they have even the tithes
because of poverty the god they worshiped brought to them.

Giving your tithes and offerings is not the secret to abundant blessing.
Rather, it is a proof of your abundance coming from God. Tithe is part
of the blessing. Tithing is a proof that you are blessed and not a way of
blessing you. But God knows how to return the favor that He bless you
more when you honor Him with your tithes and offerings. You cannot
mock God or simply stated, you cannot twist the arms of God through
the giving of your tithe. Without God blessing you there is no tithe that
you can give.

Therefore, stop thinking about testing God by your giving of the tithe
but start glorifying by going to Him and experience the vastness of His
blessing.

By now, you can return the tithe due Him!

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 PART XIII

God’s Grace
Ends
All Human Efforts

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Fight the Good Fight
1 Timothy 1:19

holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these

19

and have shipwrecked their faith (NIV).

According to Timothy Bradley highlighted in a Yahoo news approximately

2 years before they fought together in July 2012, Manny Pacquiao is
the best out there when it comes to boxing. He said that Manny has all
the tricks of the trade. The latter commands millions of dollars in fight
revenue that many boxers wanted to follow the “Manny Trail” (money-
trail) wishing to fight the best. Timothy Bradley at that time cannot hide
his desire to fight Manny Pacquiao that he said he wants to fight him as a
measure of how good he is, that is, in reference to himself.

In the Christian life, there is a good fight waiting every day. It is not
the fight against sin or the devil or his cohorts. Unfortunately, many are
always on the look-out for these foes, sweating out in fighting them. In
the end, they get tired and weary and finally surrender because no way can
these be defeated by human discipline and strength. The Christian today
does not have to fight sin and the devil but “let them fly” because sin has
already been destroyed and met its match on the cross (see 1 John 3:8,
Hebrews 9:28). The devil was defeated once and for all by Jesus. The devil
instigates sin every day but he is already condemned that he has no more
access, power, and capacity to condemn anyone (John 16:11).

A condemned person may still be lurking over the horizon but his
testimony cannot hold ground even though he witnessed a crime in his
very naked eyes. That is the status of the devil today. He saw you sinned
and, yes, he will see you sin again tomorrow and the days to come, but
never can he come before God to accuse you of your sins. His testimony
will account for nothing though he may shout at the top of his voice to
protest against God about your sin and the next. Your Father in heaven
will never look at his protests because there is no trace of sin on you for the
blood of Jesus keeps cleansing you (1 John 1:7). With that, though how
much protest the devil makes because of the truth that he saw you sinned,
he is always found to be a liar.

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Does this mean that you just let sin pierce through? A Christian cannot
just roll over to sin. I believe that all true believers don’t want to commit
sin but avoid them as much as possible. I spent most of my boyhood and
“teen” years as a farmer and my late skinny mother was the one doing the
laundry. I put on my clean clothes going to farm early morning but never
did she complain when I get home late afternoon why my clothes were
dirty and dusty. I never said, “Mom, sorry, for the clothes you washed last
week are now dusty and dirty.”

Christians are like farmers going to the field every day to work out. In the
process, the dust climbs up to their feet and sometimes to their faces. At
the end of the day, the farmer goes home without being conscious of the
dust that clung unto him for they could be washed. You can never be an
effective farmer if you are always on the look-out for dust and dirt that
may touch you.

The Christian life does not mean “dust” will no longer touch you. There
is a beautiful passage in the Bible which speaks of the ministry of Jesus in
John 13. After a day’s walk, Jesus began to wash His disciples’ feet. What
is the “washing” for? It is to take away the dust. Dust is the “food’ of the
devil (see Genesis 3:14). If one is dusty, he is a primary target of the devil.
Jesus keeps washing your “dust” away so that the devil has no appetite on
you. Therefore, count not yourself as dusty because behaving as one will
attract the attention of the devil.

You cannot do anything to remove “spiritual dusts” but only through the
blood of Jesus, therefore, there is no point of struggling to wash it out.
Paul trusted in the abundance of grace of the Lord Jesus though he is a
chief sinner (1 Timothy 1:14-15). Continue working and walking in this
“dusty” world and though the dust may cling unto your feet, it is but a
normal part of your Christian walk. Come on, you cannot see anyone
even your “super Christian idol” that you know and will not get dusty.
The blood of Jesus is effective where sin is. I am not encouraging sin but just
showing you the blood of Jesus works where sin is.

The only fight that Jesus left for us to wrestle with is to hold on to faith
(believing right) and a good conscience. You are being washed by Jesus’
blood and you need to believe that by faith. In Him, you are always clean.
And this may be hard to believe: if you have sinned thank Jesus that the

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sin you have just committed has already been paid for at the cross and
washed by His blood and is no more. God treats you in Christ as if you
did not do anything wrong. There is no amount of penance or human
sacrifice to blot it out. That is faith; right believing.
Unfortunately, it is easier to believe that you are only washed from the sins
you have paid with penance and confession. Your future sins are not yet
forgiven and forgotten.

Every day the devil wants to snatch you out from the faith; to focus on
yourself, what you feel and what you did not do for God. He wants to take
away your right believing so that he can stir you up in consciousness of self
and circumstances. At that very moment, you have just lost the good fight.
Fight the good fight of faith (of right believing) by focusing on Jesus, what
He has done for you on the cross, and what He is doing for you at the
right hand of God as your mediator, representative, advocate, and many
more roles. Keep believing that in Him, you are all forgiven, all holy,
all righteous, completely perfect, always acceptable, completely healed,
all prosperous, and all-time saved. That will give you a good (perfect)
conscience (see also Hebrews 10:14).

You win not by struggling with yourself, with your efforts, and what you
think you can do to please God, but only by believing in the finished work
of your advocate, Jesus Christ.

Now, you can engage in the good fight of faith!

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The Weapons of Supremacy
Ephesians 6:17

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
17

word of God.

Christians sing the hymn “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to

war…..” It pictures they are always on the go for a scheduled battle loaded
with all kinds of weapons and killing machines to strike the enemy with
the assurance that they will always come out the victor. The reality is that
believers are always on the battlefield of spiritual warfare. As we wake up
in the morning, war is already declared in our midst and the fighting rages
on as the sun rises to its going down. Sometimes even in our sleep the fight
continues and there is no let-up in the battle for supremacy.

God is on our side that we always have the supremacy against the enemy
because the devil is fighting a battle already lost in the past. His only
purpose of engaging into a fight is to inflict slight bruises and put a dent
on you, if that would be possible. He has no more sting that can do
damage as Jesus has defeated him on the cross. Though he roars like a
lion, he is no lion at all because there is only One who has that title, the
Lion of Judah who defanged him. You may sometimes get surprises from
the devil but that is the most that he can do. He cannot touch you for you
are continuously covered with the blood, the robe of righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the armor of God.

The assurance of your victory comes from your weapons’ supremacy

against a defeated and severely wounded foe. But though the enemy is
already defeated by Jesus your Elder Brother, he still has some tricks to pull
out from his sleeves. But God has given you all the gadgets you need to use
any time in any form of battle. You can stand against the devil because of
the full armor; not your armor, but the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13).
Your armory is not man-made. God’s armor has been fully tested by Jesus
(Matthew 4:1-11) and therefore, reliability is not a question and there is
no chance you are going to lose when the armor is in good use.

Unfortunately, many of us lost the battle. And most often than not, we lost
by default. Though the Christian is fully protected, he may lose because he

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doesn’t know how to use to his advantage the weapons God has given him.
The weapon the believer can use to attack is the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). All other gadgets are protective and
stabilizing equipment. But the word of God is being used easily by the
devil to his advantage especially believers who read it but in the end will
trust in themselves rather than what God has said. Human efforts have no
place in spiritual warfare but only the works of Jesus Christ that counts.

The most potent weapon of the Christian that can be found in the word
of God is Jesus’ sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins once and for all.
In Christ, the believer is justified from all things (Acts 13:38-39) and with
that never think that there is still a crime left out that God did not justify
you from. You are justified once and for all; past, present, and future
crimes. When the Christian believes he is justified from all things, he is
immovable from anything the devil will throw at him.

The common attack of the devil that is most potent to defeat you is the sin
that have committed by throwing it back to you. When you catch what
he throws back, you automatically put off what you are holding on to.
Once you catch what he throws on you, he has the last laugh. Long before
he throws your sin back to you, know for certain that the Godhead have
already discussed your sin for the Lamb of God has been slain from the
foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). But many don’t believe this,
instead, they catch what the devil throws back at them. In the process they
put off the truth that they should hold on to and the truth is that sin has
already met its match on the cross of Jesus.

Believing Jesus is the only match to your sin that all are forgiven and
forgotten. When you believe that, the devil can no longer use your sin to
attack you. He will always be on the defensive end while you are marching
forward defeating him in all areas. That is victory. But because many doubt
the truth, instead of marching forward, they engage the devil taking the
defensive end in the battle line catching what the devil throws at them
until they run to the Father asking forgiveness for something that had
been taken away and forgotten once and for all. These are believers who
are confused and most likely the first to die in battle. My friend, focus on
what Jesus has done for you on the cross because you cannot focus on two
things at the same time especially when the battle is raging hot.

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There is no doubt that the Christian is fully equipped with supreme
weapons; the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18). When a believer is
inside the armor, never will the devil recognize who is wearing it; whether
a weak, skinny, small or strong Christian he can’t see but the armor. You
have the full armor of God. That is not a deterrent that you will no longer
sin; you will still sin. But stand tall and marches forward because though
the devil will throw your sins back to you, these will land on the full armor
of God, not on you. You are girded with the truth on your waist that
sin is no more in the eyes and memory of God (see Jeremiah 31:31-34;
Hebrews 8:10-12 and 10:15-17).

Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, though the devil sees you
have sinned, the breastplate of righteousness will always be intact. You are
still the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Having shod
your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, then, though how
much the devil accuses you of wrong doing, you will always be peaceful
standing on grace – the gospel of peace. By taking the shield of faith, the
fiery darts from the wicked one will be quenched with pure water of the
word. Put on the helmet of salvation in place on your head so that though
the devil throws his accusations on you, you will not be confused but will
be fully stable. With the sword of the Spirit on your mouth, pronounce,
declare, and claim all kinds of God’s promises and not your promises to
God. All these you have in Christ. Put them to good use then you will see
the devil running around like a dog with its tail cleft on its ass.

By then, onward you Christian marching with the hymn of victory in

Christ!

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Let the Devil Flee
James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
7

Many have quoted this verse from memory believing it’s an effective
weapon to fight the enemy. The mere utterance of the word of God will
make the devil tight-lipped. This was what happened in Matthew 4:1-
11 when the devil tried to bring Jesus down after forty days and forty
nights of fasting. Never did the devil gain momentum when Jesus used
the word of God to shield off the fiery darts of the enemy. When you
use and believe in the word of God, it means that you submit yourself
to its authority.

Submit is to “be under obedience.” Doing good and doing the right
thing are not what it calls to “be under obedience” rather these are
things you do for your account having done them through the grace of
God. If you are not standing on grace ground, though how much you
do good, doing all the holy things that you can think of, the devil is still
following you wherever you go and when he has the chance, he takes
over and leads you to sin. He actually did not flee from you. Flee as used
in James 4:7 is to run away, by implication, “to shun” and by analogy
“to vanish or escape.”

The idea of James 4:7 is “the devil runs away, shuns and vanishes” at your
mere presence if you submit to God. In other words if you submit; that is
to be under obedience to God you don’t feel the presence of the devil and
not struggling against him – thoughts and deeds. How can we submit to
God? James 4:7 is a concluding verse because of the word “therefore” and
we need to look at the preceding verses to know how to submit to God or
be under obedience to God.

In James 4:6 is written, “But God gives more grace. Therefore He says:
God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” To submit or to be
under obedience to God is not praying three times a day, going to Bible
study every week, attending church worship every Sunday and resisting
the devil, but don’t get me wrong, these are holy things to do. But to
submit to God or to be under obedience to God as used in James 4:6-7 is
to receive more grace (see also 1 Peter 1:13-14).

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In other words, to be under obedience to God is, if you did not do the
right thing; that is you failed to pray three times because you did not pray
at all, you did not go to the Bible study, or did not attend worship service
this week, you need to take refuge and receive more grace. Grace does not
depend on what you do or not done but what Jesus did and done. If you
did not do the right thing but failed in one point, believe that the grace of
God is all over you and is sufficient for you. You don’t need to amend for
your failures but believe you are still righteous in the eyes of a holy God
because the work of Jesus completed your righteousness, holiness, and
acceptance and you are in Him. Grace is the ground by which God treats
you as if you never failed, not even once.

But you find it hard to believe that you are still righteous when you failed
and done something stupid. In times of failure, it is easier for you to
believe you are a sinner and has become unrighteous that you need to do
something to become righteous. That is why in James 4:6, God concluded
that He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The proud are
people who make their way out to God especially when they fail, when
they are in their worst status. Being in your worst status and you believe
you can still do something for yourself to look good to God is the highest form
of pride and worst kind of self-righteousness. You are like a soldier severely
wounded who cannot move hands and feet then comes your commander-
in-chief to shield you but you told him you can still make it to safety.

If you read James 4:6 carefully, proud is someone who resists grace and
because God operates only by grace, He resists grace unto the proud. On
the other hand a humble person is not someone trying his best to be
humble that he doesn’t even laugh at good jokes because to him all jokes
are evil. But a humble person is someone who receives grace and the more
grace he receives the more his humility shines unto God. Grace gives all
the glory to Jesus and none of self.

The word “resist” in James 4:7 has a root word “anti” which means
opposite, instead or because of. When you resist the devil, you are actually
on the opposite side which is “to be under obedience” to God and is
actually receiving grace and more grace. When grace is all over you, the
devil cannot do anything but to run and shun away from you. Write this
somewhere and it will bless you: “the devil cannot set his feet on grace

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ground that I must stand on grace all the time.” Therefore, stay on and
don’t fall from grace ground (see Galatians 5:4) and you will see Satan
fleeing away from you.

If grace is all over you, the devil knows that even if you fail, he cannot
operate because grace always gives you the right standing before God. By
grace, you can always draw near to the throne of heaven without hesitation
knowing that you are always righteous before Him even when you failed.
God draws closer to those who receive grace and more grace (see James
4:8a, Romans 5:17) but He cannot and will never draw near those who
think they have to do something first before they can receive grace because
God hates adultery; that is adulterated grace. Those who do something
good to receive grace are actually proud people and they are the primary
targets of the devil. Be sober to receive grace, be vigilant to have grace all
over you; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8, italicized are mine). Let the
devil seek whom he may devour but not in your house.

Do not resist God’s grace when you fail but receive grace for grace (John
1:16) and believe what grace brings unto you - your right standing before
God that is apart from your efforts and good works.

Grace is all that you need for the devil to run and flee away from you!

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 PART XIV

God’s Grace
Makes You
Worthy to Him

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Walk Worthy of the Lord
Colossians 1:10
10
That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God
(NKJV).

The first time I read this passage, the thing that came to my mind is to
make myself worthy to walk with God so that I will be pleasing to Him.
When I have pleased Him, I will become fruitful in every good work and
increase in knowledge. I have seen many believers who can quote many
passages in the Scripture and be able to interact with the so called matured
and I was envious thinking that they are walking worthy with God. While
seeing believers like this and compare myself with them, I then found out
that I haven’t attained yet to the level of their maturity. I thought that only
those who are “matured” can walk worthy with God and pleasing to Him.

The passage does not say “that you may walk worthy with the Lord….”,
but, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord.” There is a big difference
between “walk worthy of” and “walk worthy with.” One word can make
everything upside down. The word “of ” is defined as coming from;
originating at or from; associated or connected with; located at, while
the word “with” is in the company of; as a member or associate of. Your
walking worthy comes from and its origin is from the Lord; not from you.

To “walk worthy of…” is not a walk to become righteous and holy that
we are very careful 24/7 lest we stumble and sin and become unworthy
displeasing God. To watch every step trying to figure out where to land
our feet the next time we move will make us paranoid. We will become
obsessed of our good manners and right conduct all the time and there is
nothing wrong with that. But in mind, in action, and in speech we will
stumble in one of these days. We will deem ourselves then not walking
worthy of the Lord. When in this flesh, there will always be unguarded
moments and we fail sometimes.

I am not advocating sin but I am telling you something that is universal

in reality, in substance, and in form. Even the apostle of the apostles that
ever lived, his name is Paul, had his own struggles in the flesh (Romans 7).

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If man can guard himself and pleasing to God 24/7, Jesus would not have
come as our representative. He was the only One who walked on this side
of heaven that had lived in the flesh who had overcome sin and the evil
one. Jesus is always pleasing that during His baptism the Father said, “This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (see Matthew 3:17). All
others who have witnessed the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river were
not pleasing including John the Baptist who was baptizing people at that
time, but only Jesus is pleasing to God.

But if you are a believer, you are in Christ Jesus. God no longer sees you
in the flesh but He sees you in Christ in another form and substance. You
have been formatted in the likeness of Jesus once and for all and for all
time and eternity. Jesus made you pleasing to God that the Apostle John
claims this very succinctly: “Love has been perfected among us in this:
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are
we in this world” (1 John 4:17). God’s love has been perfected that He has
formatted you in the likeness of His Son.

Therefore when you walk worthy of the Lord, know for certain that you
are walking worthy all the time because your worthiness is not of self
through your goodness but through the righteousness of Jesus. You are in
Him and this makes your walk worthy of the Lord. It is not what you do
that makes you worthy but it is the person of Jesus that makes you fully
worthy and pleasing to God.

As to being fruitful in every good work, remember that you are in Him
and the fruit of every good work is not your fruit. As Jesus put it in John
15:4, the fruit comes from the vine and not from the branches and as long
as you are in the vine, fruit comes forth. The branches effortlessly bear
fruit. Jesus is the source of the fruit and certainly you will bear fruit in
Him. Perhaps you can’t see it but God sees your fruit of believing in Jesus.

And how about increasing in the knowledge of God? You need to take
note that it is not knowledge about God. It is the knowledge of God (His
knowledge) that increases as you walk worthy and pleasing in Him. The
Apostle Paul put it this way that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians
2:16). Jesus Christ revolves around the will of the Father which will Jesus
came to fulfill. The mind of the Father revolves around the work of Jesus
and He does only what the Father is doing (John 5:19-20). When you

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have the mind of Christ, you will surely be established in the will of the
Father which is all about the work and exaltation of His Son, Jesus Christ.
In other words, when you have the mind of Christ, you are exalting Him
above anything and everything.
Stop thinking of what you can do for God and for Jesus. You can never
increase in the knowledge of God by thinking of what you can do for
Him. But start to meditate, understand and know who He is and what
Jesus did, has done, and is doing for you. In this way the Holy Spirit can
show you new and deep things of God that you didn’t know before. These
things will empower you to go and bring forth fruit, compels you to do
good without struggling.

By then, you will have an enjoyable experience of walking worthy of the

Lord!

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Behold the Lord in Your Heart
Psalm 66:18-19

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. 19But certainly
18

God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer (NKJV).

I heard Psalm 66:18 preached many times to encourage people live right;
that believers will abstain from sin so that there will be no obstacles to the
answers to prayers. This is one of the references we were studying when
we were in our interaction classes discussing the assurance of answered
prayers when I was new in the church. All the attendees were required to
memorize this verse in class on Sunday but of course not all of us took that
to heart that some can memorize while others can’t.

With the messages I heard on this passage, I concluded with the

understanding (not necessarily a general rule for others) that if I wanted
God to hear my prayers I should not commit sin; live a sinless life that is. I
tried time and time again to avoid sin and live a sinless life so that when I
pray to the Lord He will hear me. I wanted the ears of God to be attentive
to my prayers that if I did right before I prayed I had high expectations
that God will answer my requests. I was in the university and I wanted to
get good grades so that in those days I tried to be a good boy to please God
so that when I pray, I will receive favorable answers to my request. Finally,
I finished my course not with flying colors but dark ones, yet through the
grace of God I was blessed to work in one of the biggest power company
in the country.

Recently, while I was reading Psalm 68, my attention was focused on verse
18 and I was reviewing what I have believed if I had it right. I didn’t.

First, no one, even if he is a religiously devoted Christian believer can

avoid sin and live a sinless life. Though he lives the whole of his life doing
preaching, evangelizing, bible studies, and all the so called holy things that
man can do, he cannot live a sinless life. There is always iniquity in every
person though how careful he lives in this world. He may not sin for a
couple of days but on the third day he does; that is not a sinless life and
one or two days may be too exaggerated for sin not to be committed, in
thoughts and deeds.

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Second, the basis of answered prayer was of good works. No one can oblige
the God of heaven to pour out His blessing after doing a great sacrifice
of penance. The best of our good doing cannot merit the attention of
God on us. Isaiah the prophet clearly pointed this out by saying, “But
we are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags;
we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, has taken us away
(Isaiah 64:6, NKJV).” Man’s righteousness before God, not his sin, is like
filthy rags. Though how many righteous deeds man does are like filthy
rags in His eyes. To have done good then expect attention from God is
like trading filthy rags for the good things of God. To Him is His goodness
for your divine goodness, His holiness for your divine holiness, and His
righteousness for your divine righteousness. Thank God Jesus came. He is
your divine goodness, divine righteousness, and your divine holiness. All
these are imputed by Him; you didn’t earn them. Now, you can trade with
God because of Jesus at the forefront.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” The word
“regard” as used in the passage is “to see” literally or figuratively: advise
self, appear, approve, behold, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have
experience, gaze, take, heed. Regard iniquity in heart means a heart that is
iniquity conscious. Because man sins from time to time and that includes
even devout Christian believers, consciousness of iniquity in the heart will
eventually leads you to prayerlessness. When you regard iniquity in the
heart, even if you pray, your first focus of prayer will be for your sin. Jesus
came to settle sin once and for all so that God cannot and will not hear
anything with regards to your sin though how sincerely you bring them
up to His ears. He will not mind to hear something that had been settled
by Jesus.

As you may know by now, through your experience, you cannot live a
sinless life and God knows about that. David knew about this when he
said, “O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden
from You (Psalm 69:5).” The sins of David were not hidden from God
because Jesus did not yet shed His blood at that time. But when David
prayed he was very sure that the Lord has heard him for the God of heaven
has attended to his prayer. God answered his prayer that he got what he
prayed for because he blessed God who did not turn away his prayer nor
His mercy from him (Psalm 66:19-20). What was his secret?

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David never focused his heart on iniquity. He said, “Come and hear, all
you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. I
cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue.” He
had high regards to what God had done for him that brought his feet to
worship and his arms to praise the Lord. Psalm 66:16-17 comes before
Psalm 66:18 which if you want to write it in your imagination, you can
re-write it in this way, “If I behold the Lord and His goodness in my heart,
He will hear.” David’s secret was his consciousness of the goodness of God
but not before he went to the house of God with burnt offerings and
burnt sacrifices of fat animals (Psalm 66:13-15).

He approached God through the blood and death of animals and he was
heard and accepted. You are approaching God with the eternal blood and
the once and for all sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. You have
the final offering that blotted out sin from the memory of God (Hebrews
8:12; 10:17; 1 John 3:8). Today, you have a better sacrifice than what
David had; the Lamb of God who is always pleasing to God. Jesus is not
only your sacrifice; He is your representative mediating for you. Jesus is
the One who brings all your requests and petitions to the Father full of
grace and truth. In Him, there are no more obstacles to your prayers,
praise, and worship to the ears of the Father. Surely He will hear and will
not turn away your requests. His mercy and grace He will give you.

All these because you are beholding in your heart the Lamb of God and
His finished works; the goodness of the Father to you!

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Don’t Walk the Way the World Walks
1 John 2:15, 16
15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world
– the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of
the Father but is of the world.

Early in my Christian life I memorized these verses hoping to live by

it and avoid worldly passions. I heard many teachings on this passage
that as I look back on what I heard about the lust of the flesh, preachers
were telling us about no touch on sexual immorality, pre-marital sex,
lasciviousness, greed, and all kinds of passionate moves, not even to think
about these. I believe that Christians should be off limits and never should
touch these evil deeds but flee and run away from them.

Regarding lust of the eyes, we were taught that we should not even
appreciate good things in life or look at them intently like as if you want
to have them. Example of these are beautiful dress, nice cars, deluxe
houses, and all man made things that bring attention to the eyes because
these things are earthly and not heavenly. Much more, if you have seen
a beautiful lady walking on the isle, don’t look at her twice or you will
commit lust of the eyes and sin in your heart.

On the other hand, pride of life they say is you should not show to the
world what you have or never think about riches that if you get rich it may
overtake you and destroy your life. If you are poor, stay in poverty and be
humble. If you are a believer, you should not aspire to become rich and in
that, pride will never creep into your system that as if poverty brings you
humility. But it is very sneaky that all individuals want to become rich and
have pride to some extent and I don’t know how they balance it with what
I have heard preached.

In my understanding, these are not what the passage is all about.

Christians still have their brains and sometimes millions of thoughts
about anything cross our minds. I deserve to have a beautiful wife that I
had to look for a dazzling lady, not only twice but more than that. Jesus
became poor that we might become rich and in God’s eyes I am rich

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(2 Corinthians 8:9). Believers have to be rich in this life according to
the standard of the world to enable the grace of God to be preached in
the four corners of the earth. But many believers were programmed to
embrace poverty which is an insult to the richest Being of the universe,
our Father.

Sexual immorality and all evil deeds are the “works of the flesh” (spelled
sins) and not “lust of the flesh.” There is a big difference between the
two (see Galatians 5:16-21). The lust of the flesh craves for constant
performance based on the law as the world dictates. When you are under
the law, the works of the flesh will become evident (Galatians 5:18-21).
Law in today’s translation is ingrained in constant performance of doing
if you want to be good and become righteous. But righteousness is a gift
apart from works. If you touch the law, you will empower sin to operate (1
Corinthians 15:56, Romans 7:5) which brings out the works of the flesh
in Galatians 5:18-21.

Therefore, when the Apostle John through the Holy Spirit wrote about the
lust of the flesh in 1 John 2:16, he is telling us that we should not crave
for law-keeping to become good and acceptable to God. You are a believer
and God calls you my little child whose sin have been forgiven; a father
who had known Him; a young man who had overcome the evil one (1
John 2:12-14). You are a believer in the house of God and never will you
be cast out, and to Him, you are always good and acceptable. If you are
led by the Spirit, He leads you to grace for He came to glorify the works of
Jesus. The Spirit will never lead you to law-keeping for your holiness and
acceptance because grace is all that you need, the teacher that will teach
you to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-12). The law and the Spirit are
against each other as basis for your godliness (Galatians 5:16-18). Then
brace yourself not to fall from grace unto law (Galatians 5:4), so that sin
will not become attractive.

How about the lust of the eyes? Man is a creature of sight and it’s easy to
believe what can be seen and felt. If you have no money, the world says
you are poor while God says and sees you are rich in Christ and He has
lavished you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places where you
are seated with Christ (see Ephesians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 8:9 and 2 Peter
1:3). When pain is in your neck, the world says you are sick but God see

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and say you have been healed by Jesus’ stripes (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24).
You are the healed of the Lord resisting the symptom and disease. That
is faith and without faith it is impossible to please Him. Faith is not to
believe so that it will happen but believing what God did and said in
advance. Living by faith is flowing in with the finished work of Christ that
God see you the finished product.

Lust of the eyes does not mean you need not appreciate good things but
rather it is not to live by sight because the righteous shall live by faith
(Romans 1:17). It is by faith and believing in Jesus Christ that you can
fulfill the work that God requires of you (John 6:28-29). The world system
of seeing, feeling, law-keeping negates faith and will block your vision the
way God see things in His proper perspective. God wants you to live by
believing and not to live by sight as the world dictates by its system.

Pride in the Greek is braggadocio meaning self-confidence. Your

acceptance to the Father is not through your prayers, your confession of
sins, your good doing or giving alms to the poor, not even going to church
but only (one and only) through the shed blood of Jesus (see Hebrews
10:14). When you accepted Jesus and His finished work for your sins, you
have been accepted to the Father for all time and eternity. Unfortunately,
the world says, you must do this and do more so that God’s favor and
grace shall be upon you. The world is relying on self-confidence and many
believers are on this side of “good doing” to gain God’s favor not realizing
this is pride of life. In Christ, you have been favored by God.

What is of the Father is faith. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life contradict believing by faith. Therefore overcome
the “lusts” and forsake your law-keeping that empowers sin to operate (1
Corinthians 15:56, Romans 7:5) and look beyond your eyes in believing
(Hebrews 11:6) then rely on the eternal confidence the blood of Jesus
brings for your acceptance to the Father (Romans 3:25, Colossians 2:14,
Hebrews 9:14).

Only then can you have what is of the Father’s and can say that you don’t
love the world!

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God’s Right Hand is With You
Matthew 5:30
30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from
you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish,
than for your whole body to be cast into hell (NKJV).

I saw a pastor with only his left hand because his right hand is missing.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not his palms that are missing but from the
shoulder down the finger tips. And the marvelous thing is that he can play
the guitar with ease. Marvelous because there are many who still have two
hands hanging on their shoulders like me but can’t play the guitar.

You see, even if only one hand like that of the pastor can live a normal
life. I missed to ask how he lost one of his upper tentacles. You may be
thinking that because he is a pastor who knows Matthew 5:30, he may
have cut his right arm after doing something stupid. But I overheard from
one of his colleagues that he lose it in some other way and not because of
what Matthew 5:30 is demanding.

Jesus said that if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it
from you. Did Jesus really mean to cut off the hand that committed sin
or is He referring to something else? I believe that when you sin with
your right hand that is not the direction that Jesus wants you to take.
Otherwise, all churches today should have amputated most of the right
arms of their members and have only their left hands hanging on their
shoulders. The church would have been an organization of inefficient left
handed amputees.

At a time when the Pharisees together with the officers came to arrest
Jesus, Peter the war freak among the apostles drew a sword and cut off
the right ear of the high priest’s servant, Malchus. I believe that Peter
was a right handed person but after the incident, Jesus did not tell him
to cut off his right hand but commanded him to put back the sword
into the sheath (John 18:10-11). Peter just committed a horrible sin in
front of the One who said, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it
off.” If Matthew 5:30 is all about the cutting of the right hand when it
committed something stupid, Peter being a disciple would have been a

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good specimen to what Jesus have quoted. But that is not the point Jesus
was driving at.

The Pharisees, teachers, and the scribes of the synagogue lowered the
law to a level where they could manage to obey and comply. Yes, they
have complied in their own estimation. But Jesus used Matthew 5:29-
30 to elevate the right place of the law that no one can obey it so that
man would be frustrated and look for a Savior to save him. As believers,
Matthew 5:29-30 should be understood in the light of what Jesus has
done. The law will curse anyone who cannot obey but thank be to God,
Jesus fulfilled it for us (Matthew 5:17). He actually received the curse of
the law which should have fallen on us which law includes cutting off the
right hand when it did something wrong. Jesus went further than cutting
off the right hand because He provided death for our sins and redeemed
all of us from the curse of human efforts to please God.

Thank God that when Jesus was crucified, He fulfilled all the requirement
of the law with death as the ultimate end. In Jesus, you don’t need to cut
off your right hand and present yourself to God and enter heaven because
Jesus your Savior went further in providing you the final requirement of
the law which is death on a cross.

In Him you can enter heaven with both left and right hands still intact
together because of the One who is seated at the right hand of God!

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You Are Not A Fool
Proverbs 14:9
9
Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favour
(KJV).

The moment you received Jesus into your heart He instantly transformed
you to be righteous and favor (grace) is all over you. Your former status
which is unrighteous in God’s eyes had been changed into divinely
righteous state by the blood of Jesus. Live by faith and see yourself the
way God sees you because never will God remember your unrighteous
state anymore but He will always be reminded about the favor (grace) that
He should lavish on you every day.

The fools make a mock at sin. “Mock” as Strong’s dictionary puts it is lûts
(pronounced loots) and the general meaning of which is to “intercede” as
an ambassador. Intercede is to intervene, mediate, plead, ask on somebody’s
behalf, negotiate or arbitrate. The NIV made it clearer by saying, “Fools
mock at making amend for sin.” The word “amend” used in the NIV is to
alter, adjust, modify, makes changes or improvement. In a legal contract,
amend means to supersede a provision and introduce the new and final
resolution to be adopted by both parties. Man can never make amend for
sin, never. If man could, then the provisions of the New Covenant would
not have been as it is that Jesus the Savior of the world would not have come!

There is a prevailing practice in the body of Christ that before we start our
worship services, we “come together to make amend of our sins.” I believe
this is well meaning and of good intention for believers to prepare them
for worship and do away with sins committed. Before, I believed that, so
whenever I have committed a sin, I had to confess because of the teachings
I heard based on 1 John 1:9. However, I have sins that I forgot somewhere
along the way that I failed to confess them. Also, the sins already confessed
long time ago if they come across my mind will surely have their turn to
be confessed again. I didn’t believe I have been forgiven when I confessed
earlier because they came to my thoughts again.

If you claim (or say) to be without sin, then you are telling God you don’t
need Jesus to save you because you have no sin. Such is the claim of John’s

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audience (1 John 1:8). They didn’t believe in sin that they don’t need Jesus
to save them so that God cannot cleanse them from their unrighteousness.
But all men have sinned (Romans 3:23). Having denied the truth, the
audience of John need to confess (to agree with God of sin) which becomes
a necessity for Jesus to become their savior, to be forgiven, to be cleansed
of all unrighteousness. Jesus cannot save someone who will not agree with
God of sin. Once a person agrees with God of sin, which is confession, sin
has been done away with once and for all and for all eternity, and the one
who agreed with God of sin has been cleansed from all unrighteousness. It
means that he has become righteous forever. Confession in the context of
1 John 1:9 is once and for all.

If you have not agreed with God of sin and didn’t receive Jesus yet,
you are still with those who are in 1 John 1:8, and 1 John 1:9 is for
you. But the moment you received Jesus and believe Him, these verses
are already a passé and you are now in 1 John 2:1-2 that you are
addressed, little children. As a child of God, you now have Jesus the
righteous as your Advocate with the Father and He is the propitiation
for sins whenever you fail. Propitiation as defined in the dictionary is
synonymous to atonement, expiation, reconciliation, satisfaction.

If you sin as a child of God, Jesus is the atonement, making the

reconciliation, satisfying the Father’s heart for you. Because Jesus the
Son of God is always pleasing to the Father, His making amends for all
your sins are always a done deal. He is the only qualified mediator and
He is the only satisfaction to the Father. Don’t ever think therefore to
mediate to the Father for your sin because that is the expertise of your
Advocate and you don’t need to meddle and compete with Him. But
you owe your Advocate thanksgiving and praise.

God’s covenant with you is to be righteous by imputation as a gift through

Jesus. The imputed righteousness compels you to good doing and not
good doing as a way of becoming righteous. To amend the provision of
God by achieving righteousness through your confessions is rejecting
Jesus. In so doing, you are mocking at sin. But the man who is righteous
by God’s imputation is favored. And you are not a fool but are numbered
among the righteous where there is God’s favor.

Then why mock at sin?!

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 PART XV

God’s Grace
Makes
Your Unpleasant Past
No More

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Things of the Past
Psalm 6:1

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

1

Most of my Christian walks from the time I prayed unto Jesus to receive
Him as my personal Lord and Savior were filled with anxiety and stress.
That is because I learned that whenever I commit a sin, the Lord will not
be pleased and will be angry with me and that He may rebuke me in His
anger or put me under His wrath. Since nobody in his right mind wants to
be under God’s wrath, I must confess that Christian life was not enjoyable
but a burden lest God’s anger and His wrath fall on me.

One day, I heard someone teach something that revolutionized my belief.

I was amazed at his understanding of the word of God that he was able to
present the subject in simple way that arouse my interest. The same topic
I heard preached by others but the presentation was different in impact.
He knows the dividing line of grace and law. The good news of the word
was unveiled because of the emphasis of the grace of God through Jesus
Christ. It is the grace of God that gives believers restful life as compared
to the never ending performance-based righteousness I learned before.
This performance-based righteousness has brought complications to the
Christian life under the New Covenant, mixing law and grace.

The life of the believers should be easy to live contrary to the notion of
others that being a believer has made their lives uneasy and miserable.
The grace of God makes the Christian life easy and enjoyable. It does not
mean that grace has become a cheap commodity. But grace is all that man
needs. Grace is not a cheap spiritual product because the payment that
was remitted is the blood of Jesus. He lost His life so that believers can
live the Christian life without stress. In fact easy life was the vision of God
for his children (John 10:10) that He sent his Son to die on the cross. If
someone died for your sin and you tell me is not a restful and easy life, I
don’t know how you classify it. Yet many are making the Christian life a
complex activity. It is a relationship and many Christian believers know
about it, but in the end they turn it into a religious service which becomes
stressful, confusing, and full of anxieties because it will be an obligation-
filled life of pleasing God so that His anger will not flare up.

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As a believer, the death that Jesus died is for you, and you need not
face the death sentence which the law requires. On the cross, all your
unrighteousness has been transferred to Him and His righteousness
transferred to you. Your righteousness in Christ is what makes you pleasing
to God and not the fulfillment of any spiritual obligation that you have
formed in your mind. Because all your sins Jesus bore in His body, God’s
judgment and holy indignation on your sins has been poured out once
and for all on His Son on the cross. Because you are a believer in Christ,
never will God be angry with you ever again. He cannot judge and be
angry on the same sin that Jesus suffered for.

What does it mean then when you come across a passage in the Old
Testament like that in Psalm 6:1? God’s anger and wrath are already things
of the past. Praise God! There was a day when God poured out His anger
and wrath to Someone who carried all your sins in His body and then
God punished every sin in that person – the Lord Jesus Christ. All of
God’s anger and wrath had been poured out that not a single drop is left
and reserved for you and me. God is faithful to his word; He is righteous
and just that He cannot lie and that would be a great assurance to His
being trustworthy. If God be angry with you again, Jesus died for nothing!

Therefore, whenever you read similar passages imploring God’s anger and
wrath, rest assured that it does not refer to those in Christ. This is true
so that you can enjoy your ministry and the life Jesus has given you: the
life eternal. The finished work of Jesus on the cross is your eternal security
from the wrath of God and while on this life Jesus gives you the freedom
to enjoy all the spoils of what He paid for with His blood including all the
good things in life and to name the things you need most which are health
and wealth that you may reign in your ministry. Jesus made the Christian
walk so easy and enjoyably and restful (Matthew 11:28).

All because God’s anger and wrath are now things of the past!

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Wrath No More, Eternal Life Remains
John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the
36

Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

The grace of God is always available to all but only those who are in Christ
Jesus and receive abundance of grace can fully have the experience. To those
who are in Christ the wrath of God has been cleared out and withdrawn
from above their heads the moment they believed. Since all have sinned,
everyone has been under God’s wrath but the good news is, grace abounds
that if anyone see the grace of God and takes refuge on it, God’s wrath is
immediately withdrawn just like when Noah found grace (Genesis 6:6-9).
When a person is in Christ, only the abundant grace remains. Then all the
good things from God that man doesn’t deserve will flow foremost of which
is eternal life. That person will then have access to God.

The devil with all his skills can destroy the life of an unbelieving person.
Yet the power of God can twist the flaming arrows of the devil even to
unbelieving people. But to those in Christ the devil is off limits and is
more than afraid to come near because they are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
To those who are not in Christ, the wrath of God is still hanging over their
heads but His mercy takes away the bad things the devil may bring on
them. That’s how merciful God is.

The wrath of God does not aid Satan of his plans in the lives of the
unbelieving person. God does not have any alliance with the devil. Though
a person does not believe in Christ, the mercy of God is there to protect.
His mercy keeps at bay the bad things man deserves for Jesus was not sent to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. That
is why when good things come to unbelieving people, they mispronounce
“mercy” with “lucky.” There are no troubles brought on them by the One
and Holy God for in so doing will be a total opposition to His good nature
and mission (John 3:17). What then is the wrath for? It is reserved for those
who will continue to reject Jesus until their last gasp of consciousness and
die without Him.

Grace has paved the way for God’s blessings to flow. The Son of Man has
been lifted up that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have

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eternal life and this is because of God’s love for the world (John 3:14-16).
To whoever believes, the wrath of God is taken out of the way once and
for all. Eternal life has come. What a blessed thought that no more wrath
hanging over your head so that grace may abound more and more. As a
dear child of God, you need abundance of grace because from time to
time you fail. It is only by grace through the obedience of Christ that God
will take hold of you even when you fail. It is not through your penance
that makes the Father smile at you but only through the obedience of
Christ where you have taken refuge.

God has set aside His wrath to those in Christ once and for all and for
all time and eternity and He will never be angry with the believer ever
again (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Every believer has eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Eternal life refers to vitality of life in its fullness. The eternal life in Christ
is planned by God that believers will also experience its fullness even as
they live here on earth.

However, many of us believe that we will experience the effects of eternal

life only when we go to heaven thinking that we will be prosperous,
healthy, and all the comforts from God will be ours in abundance. In
heaven, the standard of life is prosperity where we will be walking on
streets of gold and you will not find someone who will be lousy and sickly.
We need health, wealth, and a good life here on earth so that we can reign
in life. Jesus said clearly, “….I have come that they may have life, and
that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).” The moment Jesus
came, life is already oozing with abundance.

Abundance of the eternal life includes all the good things that Christ paid.
Think of all the good things and Jesus paid them all. Let your mind dwell
on the goodness of Jesus and the good things He brought to you. You
are destined to reign by the abundance of grace that Christ has given you
wellness of body for you cannot reign while you are always sickly. God
made believers prosperous so that they can command as kings and extend
the kingdom of God. Eternal life and all the smaller blessings are given
freely (Romans 8:32). If there is something that God withholds, then that
is more precious than His Son Jesus Christ. But there is none.

Believe with open arms to receive blessings through Jesus even the fullness
of eternal life here on earth from now on!

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No More Curses
Malachi 4:6
6
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts
of the children to their fathers, lest I will come and strike the earth with
a curse (NKJV).

The Lord has commanded the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:5 saying,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.” Love is the fulfillment of the law but man
has miserably failed. For more than 1,500 years, no one in Israel has ever
fulfilled that which is required of them under the law. Even Moses who
talked with God many times and David the man after God’s own heart,
these two whom we know the best of them failed to obey. Since the law
curses anyone who fails, everyone was under the curse of the law. We need
to understand that the curse of the law is not a curse from God and never
has He cursed anyone but the law had done it time and time again.

The Old Testament is about to end and the day is coming; that is the
coming of the Lord whom the people seek (see Malachi 4:1 & 3:1). He
will come to His temple for the Lord of hosts has said so. And He has
come to His much awaited temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). With the New
Covenant in His hands, He has turn away the curses of the law. And
love, the root of obedience which is the fulfillment of the law has come.
It was fulfilled for us with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves
the Father by fulfilling the Father’s will to save man from sin. Jesus said,
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not my
will, but Yours, be done (Luke 22:42).” Thanks for His nevertheless because
it is the cup that God filled up with our sins that Jesus drank.

When Jesus came to Israel, there was a monstrous number of sick people
and demon possessed. God did not send sicknesses to the people contrary
to the belief of many. God has no sickness to give because only what He
has He can give. Sickness and diseases are the instruments of Satan and
sometimes his cohorts will possess people to manifest their evil intent in
the physical. All these happened because through the curse of the law, all
those predicaments of the people came as a result of their failure to fulfill
and obey the law to its standard. The law is the armory where the devil

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gets his weapons and strength (Colossians 2:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:56).
Being under the law thereby, which law can never be fulfilled by man gave
Satan easy access to the lives of people bringing in what he wanted, hence,
the numerous sick people and demon-possessed.
But the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness has arisen with
healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2). At one time in Galilee, the whole city
was gathered together at the door of Jesus, and they brought to Him all
who were sick and those who were demon possessed and they got healed
(Mark 1:32-34). No sick person was left behind without being healed.
Their health were restored and they grew fat like stall-fed calves; a picture
of a restful life in the Lord. On the day of the Lord’s coming, healing is
not a result of obedience to the law but rather will come from the tender
heart of a gracious God. The Lord’s hand has reached out to the people
and provided their needs so that they came to seek and hear from Him
(Mark 1:36-37).

The Old Testament is coming to a close when the Lord said, “Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5).” The verse before this is about
remembering the Law of Moses which I believe God is not talking about
obedience of the people to the law but something that was never seen
in Israel. He knew nobody was obedient and to talk about obedience to
the same people who were stiff necked is like talking to someone who
has no ears. But the Lord was declaring to Israel to pay attention to the
coming of the Lord because the law is coming to the end of its journey
and righteousness based on man’s obedience will cease to exist.

Elijah had come to prepare the way of the Lord (Mark 1:2-5, Matthew
17:12). Also, the great and dreadful day of the Lord has come and we
are no longer on the waiting with apprehensions. In the prophecy of Joel
2:31-32 is written, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved…..” The prophets Joel and Malachi have seen the day of the Lord
coming and the great and awesome day that they have seen is none other
than when Jesus died on the cross in obedience to the requirements of the
Law of Moses.

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Finally, in its closing, the Old Testament writes, “And he will turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Under the law, even
families have been shattered but when the Sun of Righteousness came,
God has turned the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of
the children to their fathers. Isn’t that love which is the fulfillment of the
law? Yes, it is now possible to love because Jesus the Sun of Righteousness
has arisen and in His wings there is healing, not only in diseases but even
in emotions for the love that was broken.

Righteousness is happening because God has said it clearly by declaring

“lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” The word lest in Strong’s
definition is “properly removal.” The North American English Encarta
Dictionary translates it “in case” which is defined as “in order to prevent
something happening, especially something causing fear.” The last
sentence of the Old Testament can be more understood as “The Lord
will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of
the children to their fathers in order to prevent something happening,
especially something causing fear which is curse.” Curse is properly
removed when the Sun of Righteousness has arisen with healing in His
wings.

God never cursed anyone because He cannot and He will not. In Genesis
3:14-19 where we can see God declaring what the serpent, the woman,
and the man deserved for what they have done, God did not give the
curse. He only did the declaration of judgment for their action being
the universal judge. Because of what the serpent did, he is cursed more
than all cattle. God saw the curse in the serpent because he deceived the
woman. In other words, the serpent brought in curse to himself. The same
is true in Genesis 3:17 that God saw the curse in the ground because
Adam heeded the voice of his wife and ate the fruit of the knowledge of
good and evil.

Now you may point on the last phrase of the Old Testament where the
idea is that He can. If you look at the context in Malachi 4:4, the Law of
Moses was still in place. Failing to obey was tantamount of inviting the
curse of the law. God saw it fit that the law will not continue so that the
earth will not be stricken with curse. And in this, He sent Jesus and never

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shall the law bring curses again because He redeemed all of us from the
curse of the law.

Today, fear not, for the curse of the law of Moses has come to an end when
the great and awesome day of the Lord has come. The curse of the Old
Covenant has been removed because the Sun of Righteousness, the Lord
Jesus Christ has finally come.

Hallelujah!

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Jesus Have Visited Iniquity and Transgression and Sin
Exodus 34:7
7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and
fourth generation (NKJV).

The first time I heard this passage preached, the minister was preaching
that God will bring judgment and curses because of the sins of the fathers,
the grandfathers and the great grandfathers. Many have heard the same
message based on their reply to my questions on how they understand
Exodus 34:7. Their answers are what they have heard preached about
curses and judgments for sin of the fathers that will come to the children.
We believed wrongly and we lived with this passage on the negative side
of the fence. This was so because we have eyes that could easily see the
negative of the positive aspirations of God. Man’s default thinking is
God’s wrath, His judgment and punishment rather than on His goodwill
to men.

We have become shortsighted. We have put the magnifying glass of our

understanding on the phrases “by no means clearing the guilty, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to
the third and fourth generation” on the negative mode. And with that we
blow the trumpets of curses and judgments to people who are innocent
of sins of the fathers, the grandfathers, and the great grandfathers. We did
not even include the sins of the mothers, the grandmothers, and the great
grandmothers. If those sins were included, double curses and judgments
would have been pronounced to the innocents. They would have carried
much more guilt and condemnation only because of wrong belief and
understanding.

I believe with all convictions that the negative message that we heard on
Exodus 34:7 is not a message from the Holy Spirit but a message from
fleshly spirits looking for curses and judgments from God to spread fear
on people. They have seen the sins of others but not theirs so that when
they stand in front of the people whom they think are not as righteous as
they are they pronounce the impending judgments of God on them. If

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you are a teacher turned-prophet-of-doom, you may shout judgment after
judgment, curses after curses until your ears will become red, but what
can the innocent children do with the sins of their fathers and their grand
fathers and their great grandfathers? May the teachers turned-prophets-of
doom know how helpless the children are with the sins of their ancestors.

To have a clear understanding of this passage, a review of what the Lord

and Moses were discussing will help. They were discussing the goodness
of God. Because Moses found favor and grace in the sight of God, the
Lord shall go with them in their journey and an additional request from
Moses was also given. That request is for God to show all His glory and
goodness to Moses. God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered
his face and only the back parts of God did he see. The back parts of God
were sufficient for Moses to see all of God’s goodness and glory (Exodus
33:18-23).

After that, Moses and the Lord continue discussing God’s goodness.
Moses was commanded to cut two tablets of stone to inscribe the words
that was on the first set of tablets. Never did God reprimand Moses for
breaking the first two sets of stone tablets. When Moses came to Mount
Sinai, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and
Moses proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means
clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”

There are two problematic phrases of Exodus 34:7 that have clouded our
understanding and it helps discussing them one at a time. The first is
“by no means clearing the guilty.” The Scripture does not say, “God will
not clear the guilty” but God forgives iniquity and transgression and sin.
God clears the guilty by no means except through His forgiveness because of
His great mercy (see Numbers 14:18-20). No sinner can clear his guilt,
no way. God has declared that by no means clearing the guilty but by
His forgiveness alone. Receive His forgiveness and you shall be cleared
of iniquity and transgression and sin. My friend, you can’t find any other
means to clear your wrongdoing but God have the way out.

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The second that have clouded our minds is “visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and
fourth generation.” Let us see Strong’s definition of “visiting”: to visit
(with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy to oversee, muster, charge,
care for, miss, deposit, etc.: - appoint, X at all, avenge, bestow, (appoint to
have the, give a) charge, commit, count, deliver to keep, be empty, enjoin,
go see, hurt, do judgment, lack, lay up look, make X by any means, miss,
number, officer, (make) overseer have (the) oversight, punish, reckon, (call
to) remember (-brance), set (over), sum, X surely, visit, want. Now, we can
argue with these definitions.

Because God and Moses are discussing about God’s glory and goodness,
therefore, to visit in this passage is “with friendly intent.” Never take and
use the definition that has “hostile intent” because there is no goodness
and glory of God in judgment. You can never see the goodness of God in
curses and punishment unless you believe otherwise. With that, “visiting
the iniquity of the fathers” means God will visit to care for, to empty the
iniquity of the fathers and the grand fathers and the great grandfathers to
the third and fourth generation.

The Lord God of Israel has visited and redeemed His people and has raised
up a horn of salvation in the house of His servant David (Luke 1:68-69).
Isn’t it wonderful then that when Jesus came, He carried all the sin of the
world and that includes all the generations that has come to live in this
planet. All kind of sin except the sin of unbelief was no more in the eyes of
God (see John 15:22-24 and 16:8-9). That is why only those who believe
in His name and His finished work on the cross shall be saved.

The word “fourth” generation is very striking. “Fourth” originates from

râba’ and its definition is to square, be squared. Some of Strong’s definitions:
properly to be four (sided); to be quadrate or quadratic. Another striking
word is the “third” generation. The word “third” is shillêsh which is great
grandchild but it originates from shâlash meaning, a) [Piel] to do a third
time, do three times, divide in three parts, b) [Pual] to be three years
of age, be three fold (30x). If you are a mathematician, you can derive
the quadratic equation of the fourth, the third, and the other generations
mentioned in Exodus 34:7 and solve for the value of x then substitute
the value of x in your quadratic equation and you will be amazed that the

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number of generations that God has visited to care for and empty sins will
be enormous. Your generation is included. God did not miss any of the
generations of this planet; past, present, and future.

We have missed the goodness and the glory of God and exchanged it
with curses and judgments. By now we know that never can the goodness
and the glory of God be exchanged with curses and judgment. Why? The
evidence is, there has been no curse and judgment that have ever come to
you for the sins of your fathers and great ancestors though you believed in
the common understanding of many about Exodus 34:7 that curses and
judgment be passed on to children’s children. Yes, the child Jesus was born
and at age 33 after many generations from the time of Moses, all iniquities
had passed through and were emptied on Him.

Now, you believe rightly. You have been cleared of guilt. You are forgiven.
No curse and judgment will come because Jesus has absorbed all the curses
and judgments for sins even to your “third” and “fourth” generations.

Praise the Lord. Amen!

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The Enjoyment of God On You
Hebrews 12:5-6
5
And you have forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you
as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not
lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he
loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (NIV).

A pastor said that if you are a true believer, God will discipline and punishes
you the way they are applied the common way and his reference is the
passage above. I was stunned with his belief. Because I cannot imagine
God will discipline and punish His children that I took time to sit down
and study the passage he quoted in the book of Hebrews. I cannot believe
that God is cruel to His children.

Disciplines or chasteneth used in the King James Version is originally

written paideuò (pronounced pahee-dyoò-o) in Greek and it is a variety
of train up a child, educate, instruct, learn and teach. It also implies
discipline by punishment. Athletes are disciplined people punishing their
bodies through rigid practice so that they could endure when the real
battle gets going.

During the tenure of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He trained up his disciples

by walking side by side with them. Disciple and discipline are closely
knit together. Disciple refers to a learner, a pupil, one that needs training,
education and instruction. Training a son is teaching him what to do,
showing him how to do it and then doing it with him then letting him do
it with close supervision. Then slowly and surely he will be able to stand
up with his own feet from what he has learned. Jesus trained His disciples
to be able to stand up to what they have been trained for, to expand the
grace of God in the world. Never did Jesus discipline His disciples even
when they sinned.

Rebuke in the Greek is elechò (pronounced el-eng-kho) meaning to

confute (to prove to be in the wrong), admonish, tell a fault. To prove to
be in the wrong or to tell a fault is a positive action. It is simply telling
the opposite of the correct procedure or taking someone to the right place
when he happened to be in the wrong post. When God proves you are in
the wrong place, He takes you to the right spot.

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Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loves He chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (KJV).” As a child of God what
will He punish me for? He will punish me for nothing because every
punishment of my wrongdoings had been in Jesus’ body that my focus
should be in Hebrews 12:2 saying, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author
and perfecter of our faith…” Once I take out my focus on Jesus and on
what He has done on the cross for me, my understanding of the word of
God will go to a wrong direction – I will then focus my eyes on how the
world understands discipline, rebuke, and punishment.

If we don’t understand Hebrews 12:5-6 in the light of what Jesus has

done on the cross, we develop a negative understanding of the word
especially the last part of verse 6 saying, “……and He scourges every son
whom He receives (NASB).” The world understands that there is a direct
mandatory punishment to the one He calls as son. The punishment of
Jesus (indirect) paved the way for believers to become sons and daughters
of God. He will be unjust to punish His children with the sins that Jesus
has borne on the cross. God is holy and just and He cannot punish sin
twice, once in the body of Jesus and again on the body of His children. As
a Christian believer, look always to Jesus, the author and finisher of your
faith (Hebrews 12:2).

God does not delight in punishing His children because all His delight
in punishment of sin had been fully exhausted (to its dregs) when Jesus
cried out loud, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? Jesus
was forsaken so that you will never be forsaken. Jesus has embraced all the
punishment for sins and all your sins have been nailed to the cross. And
when Jesus shouted, “It is finished”, no punishment for sin from God will
ever follow!

The last part of Hebrews 12:6 is “…and He scourges every son whom he
receives.” The Greek word for scourges is mastigoõ taken from the word
mastix and the base word is massaomai (pronounced mas-sah’-om-ahee)
with a primary word massõ meaning to handle or squeeze, to chew: gnaw
– to wear away by persistent and pleasurable biting or nibbling just like a
dog biting a bone trying to extract all that he could get from it.

When God “scourgeth” you as son, He is simply getting and squeezing the
best out of you doing it with pleasure. In other words, as His child, He

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enjoys your company. He rejoices over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
Isn’t it very beautiful to know God is singing over you rather than having
the idea of discipline and punishment the way the world understands it?

Many believe and think of negative things of God. They think that God
is a disciplinarian when they commit stupid things. This idea will drive
them out to become self-righteous. That is the way the devil wants the
believer think about God; it is a worldly thought. Those who have negative
perception of God will always be following God in fear and they cannot
walk side by side with Him. They cannot go along with other believers
who are walking holding hands with God calling Him, “Abba, Father.”

The devil is the father of lies and he wants you to think that God is
someone who hates you when you have done something wrong and loves
you only if you have done what is right. If God loves you only when you
have done right, there is no way that He loved you in the beginning so
to speak. But God gave His only begotten Son at a time that you didn’t
love Him at all. If God loved you at a time that He didn’t see any love from
you, how much more now that you have surrendered your life to Jesus and
you are now His child? God loves you every time. May I repeat: God loves
you as His child all the time even when you have done something stupid
because God loved you when you were still a sinner. Now, you are no
longer a sinner but saint. The devil wants you to believe God does not love
you anymore when you have sinned and that He has left you. But nothing
is farther from the truth. A saint who sinned is still a child loved by God.

God is good all the time. It means that there is no gap in God’s goodness,
not even a 1/1 millionth of a second. All God’s attributes are for the benefit
of His children. Therefore, fix your eyes on Jesus, the human revelation
of God of all His attributes, and to the finished work of Jesus on the cross
which is the ultimate goodness of God. You have been saved by the grace
of Jesus through faith and that is not by your works. And you will go
home with the Lord by grace, not through your “self-righteous” walk with
discipline and punishment along the way.

Do not look at what dwindles. Your love for God dwindles. Your service
to God is not constant. Your feelings change. Your friends and all around
you change. But God does not change and His love is constant – for all
eternity. If God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, believe it.

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When He says, “your sins are forgiven and forgotten”, rejoice and sing
hallelujah. Otherwise the devil will come and tell you the opposite and
bring to your consciousness God is ready to punish you.

I cannot even memorize correctly the verse which says “Love the Lord
your God with all your heart” that sometimes I jumble the words and mix
them up. Though I can memorize and recite 24/7, God knows I cannot
live with it constantly. Knowing of their zealousness for God, nobody in
Israel had fulfilled that specific commandment in the law. I don’t mind
how I love God. But one thing I mind of and is always my focus; for all
eternity God loves me with all His heart, with all His soul, with all His
mind and with all His strength through his Son Jesus Christ, the author
and finisher of my faith.

That’s how God enjoys me as His son!

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 PART XVI

God’s Grace
Gives
All the Good Things
of Heaven

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Get Ready for God’s Blessing
Exodus 20:24

Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings

24

and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. Wherever I
cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you (NIV).

All the books of the Bible have their central focus in the person of Jesus
and many have been mistaken for taking the Ten Commandments as the
central message of Exodus 20. The focus of the Ten Commandments is
about “you” and what “you should do” that it never gives a portrait of
the coming Jesus Christ. The message of the law which is about constant
performance makes it easier for man to grasp for something that he can do
for God rather than a recipient of what God had done.

The Ten Commandments is hard to memorize and to obey is foremost

to impossible. Though how much we can memorize and recite the Ten
Commandments by heart, never can it makes man holy. I surmise that our
memorization is an extension of pride showing that we can obey. There are
many other subject matters where we can learn about the goodness of God
but we were ushered to see the curse and judgment of the law because the
Ten Commandments never promise God’s love and mercy.

Neither the Ten Commandments give way for any blessing to flow except
for the middle commandment which is the honoring of parents. This is
so because the parents are the guardians and ambassadors of goodwill to
their children and if the children will obey and follow the good examples
and guidance of their parents, they will surely go a long way in life. No
parents in their right minds will ever teach their children the opposite of
goodwill in life. They will always want to see their children become assets
of the society they live in rather than becoming liabilities and a source of
shame and grief in the future.

The theme and focus of Exodus 20 is not about the Ten Commandments
but it’s about the offerings that portray the coming Savior so that God
can bless His people (Exodus 20:24). The very reason God created man
is to bless him and this is still the overwhelming desire of God today (see
Genesis 1:26-28). He did not create man to make him a servant. In Mark

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10:45, God doesn’t need man serving Him but through Jesus He came to
serve (bless). Unfortunately, many want to become servants of God, but
God will have none of it. A servant can never enjoy and experience the
full value of his master’s well-being. What God wants is for men to be His
children enjoying His full value and blessing and then see His children
telling others of His goodness.

The Ten Commandments is a constant performance for you and only for
yourself. If you obey the commandments, you are a good person. God will
not become good or a little bit of holiness can be added to Him as a result
of your obedience. He is forever good and completely holy. The law makes
you a servant to yourself, not servant to God because if you perform, that
is to your advantage, not to God’s advantage. The Ten Commandments
after it was given produced fear that made the people tremble and put a
distance from God (Exodus 20:18). Therefore, the Ten Commandments
are actually deterrent for the people to come boldly to God.

God gave the substance of the first covenant of Law in Exodus 20:1-
23. But in His infinite wisdom, He knew that man cannot fulfill that
covenant, so that right after the Law was given He gave the shadow of the
offering of the Lord Jesus Christ for man to live by it so that He can bless;
He can’t wait to bless (Exodus 20:24-26). In other words, God wanted
man to live by the shadow of the offering and not on the substance of the
Law if man wanted to receive God’s blessing because intrinsic in the Law
is curse and judgment. The sacrifices of burnt offerings and fellowship
offerings is the very centerpiece of Exodus 20 and this is what God
required from His people so that He can bless them and not through the
Ten Commandments as many have gone out believing.

The substance of the offering had been given almost 2000 years ago and
all the stipulations of the Law have been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ
for us. The first had been set aside and has been replaced by a second
covenant through His offering (Hebrews 10:9). Yet the shadow of the
law is still lingering around in man’s spiritual system thinking that self-
righteous performance is the way God will bless His people. Under the
Old Covenant, God wanted man to live on the shadow of the offering and
not under the substance of the Law so that His blessings will flow. Under
the New Covenant, the substance of the offering, Jesus Christ, has come

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but unfortunately, man chose to live under the shadow of the Law which
comes in the guise of performance-based righteousness and holiness rather
than to live with the substance of the offering. If God wanted man to live
by the shadow of the offering under the Old Covenant, how much more
now with the substance under the New Covenant!

The final sacrifice, Jesus Christ the Son of God has been offered on our
behalf. Let us believe in the finished work of God’s sacrificial Lamb,
Jesus Christ, who paved the way for all the goodness of God foremost of
which is eternal life and get ready, not to perform, but to receive other
blessings inherent in the cross of Jesus; health and wealth, joy, peace, hope,
protection, freedom, and all the good things from God.

That is so because His name is recorded in you through the One and
acceptable sacrifice, Jesus Christ the righteous who has fulfilled the law
for you!

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His Arms Are Open Wide To Love
Matthew 26:28
28
For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
forgiveness of sins (NASB).

When God was about to deliver His people from the hands of the
Egyptians, the people were commanded that they shall take a lamb one
year old without blemish. The offering is called Passover lamb and can be
taken from the sheep or from the goats. The Passover lamb shall be killed
at twilight and roasted with fire and the people will eat the roasted lamb
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The first Passover was observed.

The Passover lamb was to secure the people of Israel from the angel
of death that will visit all the families in Egypt, the families of Israel
included. The children of Israel, however, shall take some of the blood
and apply it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of their houses so
that when the angel of death comes, he will know that the first-born has
already died. The Passover lamb is a picture of the first-born Jesus Christ.
To avoid the messenger of death, no one shall go outside the door of his
house until morning. The night was intended to bring destruction and
death to every family where all the firstborn must die because of Pharaoh’s
disobedience and hardening his heart. The people of Egypt suffered not
for their disobedience but of their leader, Pharaoh. Death passed-over the
people of Israel.

Jesus and His disciples went to eat the last Passover meal which was a roasted
lamb. While they were eating, Jesus took bread and the cup, and they ate
and drank together (Mark 14:16-23). The celebration of the Passover was on
the night He was betrayed and Judas the betrayer was there sitting alongside
with the other disciples taking part in the celebration (Matthew 26:20). The
sin of betrayal is very significant when the Lord’s Supper is mentioned (see
also 1 Corinthians 11:23) which means that the blood that was shed is of
innocent blood. The innocent animal in the Old Testament is a type of the
final sacrifice. The sacrifices of animals came to a halt on the night of the
Passover but the breaking of bread and drinking of the cup is continuously
observed until Jesus comes.

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Jesus explained the bread which is His body and the cup which is the
blood of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-28). His body was broken
that we might become whole. The blood was shed for the remission of sins
of the world even the sin of Judas. During the celebration of the bread and
the wine, Jesus gave Judas the access to partake and he was still there when
Jesus gave the assurance that He will drink anew the fruit of the vine with
His disciples in the Father’s kingdom (see Matthew 26:29). Jesus’ death
was also intended for Judas’ sin of betrayal.

Jesus did not condemn Judas of betraying Him, for God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved (John 3:17). Jesus cannot condemn anybody even
Judas, because it would have been against His mission to save. But a
warning was issued (Matthew 26:24) to everyone who betrays Jesus. There
are many who believe that Judas was already condemned even from the
beginning; from his birth. If that understanding is right, then God made
Judas fit only to be condemned. God excluded him in the beginning from
the coverage of Jesus’ death on the cross should he have not hang himself
ahead of Jesus’ crucifixion. There is no way the sin of Judas can be greater
than Jesus and His finished work on the cross.

Jesus carried the sin of the world including the sin of betrayal.
Unfortunately, Judas focused so much on his consciousness of sin. He
became remorseful which ultimately led him to hang himself and died
before Jesus was sacrificed on the cross (Matthew 27:3-5). He failed
to see the love on the face of Jesus unlike Peter who denied Jesus three
times but saw the love on Jesus’ face after the denial (Luke 22:61). That
led Peter to be remorseful and wept because even though he denied the
Son of God, Jesus is still in love with him. The sins of Peter and Judas
are the same.

Thank be to God because the Bible says that the blood of the covenant was
shed for the sins of many, even the sin of betrayal. There was no sin left
behind when Jesus carried the sin of the world to the cross. Judas would
have been set free after he betrayed Jesus should he looked into the eyes of
his master to see the love and righteousness of his Savior. Peter did it and
he was restored (Luke 22:61) but Judas was looking down on himself that
eventually led him to his death ahead of Jesus’ sacrifice.

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There is no sin greater than the love of Jesus. But if anyone fails to see
that reality, they will end up like Judas who saw his self-righteousness as
payment for sin that he even hanged himself. Because of his choice, Judas
died without seeing the effects of the true sacrifice for sin. Just like in the
first Passover, the eating of the roasted lamb did not save the people but
in their obedience to the instructions given to put blood on the lintel and
doorposts and not to get out of the house until morning. If the people of
Israel went out of the door after eating the Passover lamb, their firstborn
would have met the angel of death. Just after the Lord’s Supper, Judas
went out to meet his death.

Though how great your sin is in your own estimation the sacrifice of Jesus
is greater than all your sins combined.

Come to Jesus who opened His arms on the cross because He loves you
so much!

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His Favor and Joy Is On You
Psalm 30:5
5
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may
endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (NKJV).

I heard this passage quoted many years ago by a minister and I was
impressed on the message delivered from the pulpit. God is good but
there are times when His anger flares up but only for a moment and
after that the favor comes. God will not always contend with us. There
will be weeping for sure but may last only for a night and the coming of
the morning will guarantee rejoicing. Very enlightening message indeed
because though we may weep yet will not last long because God is there to
console us so that the weeping will turn into rejoicing.

I love the intention and purpose of this psalm. The Psalmist sang this
song prophesying and pointing out to the One who will come up from
the grave that will never see decay and live forever more (Psalm 30:3). The
passage speaks of what will happen in the future while King David was
singing this song to the Lord. He experienced the anointing of God while
having this psalm in his lips that he encouraged every saint to sing praises
to the Lord and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

The reason for giving thanks to the Lord is because His anger is but for
a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy
comes in the morning. Even the reason for thanking the Lord is focused
on the One who is to come in the human form, the Son of God. King
David saw what will happen to the Lord Jesus Christ from His death to
resurrection and there will be weeping for a night but His death is the
ultimate victory of the saints today. Thus, he encouraged to sing praises
to the Lord.

In David’s time, the people were under the covenant of law and God’s
anger will flare up when the people sin. To David, he experienced the
chastisement of God when he committed adultery and murder. But today
under the New Covenant, God’s anger has been put aside once and for all
by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament when the
priests sacrificed the animal offerings, as soon as the aroma of the burnt

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animal reached the throne of God, His anger is appeased. And animal
sacrifices the Old Testament priests do repeatedly because of sin. The Lord
Jesus Christ who is the final sacrifice was offered once and for all that as
soon as His aroma has reached the throne of heaven God’s wrath was
appeased, also, one and for all. As you are in Christ, He cannot be angry
with you anymore. God will never deal with your sin on you otherwise
you are now a foregone history if He does that. He always deals with
you and to whatever you do whether good or bad through His Son Jesus
Christ.
The focus of David’s psalm/s is the Messiah; the Savior Jesus Christ. His
anger is but for a moment and weeping may endure for a night. This
happened when Jesus Christ was hung on the cross recorded in Matthew
27:45-46 to read, “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there
was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out
with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, la-ma’ sa-bach’thani?’ that is, “My God, My
God, why have you forsaken Me?’” (see also Luke 23:44-45). The Father
turned His back to the Son He loves.
God’s holy anger lasted for that span of time when darkness engulfed the
whole earth. That was the time when God punished sin once and for all
in the body of His Son Jesus Christ, unleashing all anger, judgment, and
holy indignation against sin. Because He loves His Son very much that
while Jesus Christ bore all the sin of the world, He turned His face away
from His Son weeping. His anger is gone and the span of darkness that
turned the whole earth into a night of His weeping has passed.
Today, instead of anger, favor flows from God and that favor brings life
because sin that brought death has been dealt with once and for all. The
proof that sin has been dealt with and has been paid is fully recognized when
Jesus Christ raised from the dead that even death He paid in full. When
He had risen from the dead, all sins, all iniquity, all sicknesses, all grief,
all confusion, and all the bad things were left covered in the grave. As the
Father see your debt fully paid with the once and for all sacrifice, there is joy
in His heart because never will there be any more anger. And that began in
His resurrection. If you are in Christ, God is joyfully smiling at you, always.
His anger is now a thing of the past because His favor that brings life has
come with joy upon you since Jesus rose from the grave one early morning!

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Don’t Aspire to be Last, It’s Not for You
Matthew 19:30
But many who are first will be last, and the last first (NKJV).
30

In one of our Bible Studies, someone asked the question if this passage
is related to humility because that is what he heard from the pastor of
his church. I also heard the same explanation from others. When you
hear verses and passages quoted by ministers, pastors, teachers, and church
leaders trying to apply them to certain situations, you will almost always be
convinced that they are right in their usage. To take the virtue of humility
applying Matthew 19:30 in certain situations and don’t haggle and let
others finish off a task ahead of you when you have the opportunity to
come out first I believe is an offline understanding.
There is nothing wrong with believers giving up their rights to others or
taking all things easy so that they will take the last stand. But to take the
last stand in a queue though you have the opportunity to come up first
because you are thinking that you are living with what Jesus said in the
passage is a deep spiritual farce. Matthew 19:30 does not teach about
humility but about eternal life and the kingdom of God.
When Jesus taught this passage, He had just witnessed to a certain rich
young man and a self-righteous individual trying to become perfect to
enter the kingdom of God through his obedience to the law (Matthew
19:16-24). To become perfect and enter the kingdom of God is to look on
to Jesus for perfection (Matthew 19:21). But before someone can look on
to Jesus, one has to forsake what the world offers for “seeming perfection”
- the law, which Jesus came to fulfill (Matthew 5:17; Matthew 19:18 – 19,
see also 2 Cor. 3:7-9, 14). Then you can see your riches in Christ that you
can now forsake the riches of the world (Matthew 19:21).
After the incident with the rich young man, the disciples were shocked
that even they who saw the “incredible hardship” of entering the kingdom
of God said, “Who then can be saved? (Matthew 19:25).” Jesus’ assurance
came unto them that they will inherit eternal life and be sitting on thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel because they put Jesus first before their
families and their worldly riches (Matthew 19:28-29). Then Jesus said,
“But many who are first will be last. For the kingdom of heaven is like

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a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his
vineyard….” (see Matthew 19:30 and 20:1ff).
Jesus was fully focused on the kingdom of God having a limited time of
three years to fulfill His ministry in bodily form. He came to Israel, to
His own people but for 33 years of His stay, Israel failed to recognize their
elder brother. Jesus was rejected and they even mistaken Him as the prince
of demons. To show Jesus their utter rejection of Him, they connived with
the Gentiles through Pilate to crucify Him. Jesus died a horrible death in
the hands of Roman soldiers. Thanks to the people of Israel represented
by their high priest.
Israel’s rejection of Jesus paved the way for the Gentiles to share in the
salvation of the Jews. In fact the first two believers recorded when Jesus
was crucified were Gentiles. The first is the thief who was crucified with
Him (Luke 23:43). I believe the thief was a Gentile for the law of Israel
does not crucify robbers but if found guilty of stealing, the thief shall
restore what he has stolen from the owner two times (Exodus 22:7, see
also Luke 19:8). The second believer is the centurion who supervised the
crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23:47). Thus, the record shows that the Gentiles
were the first to believe to the crucified Christ.
For two thousand years, we the Gentiles have our own share in the
salvation of the Lord. Thanks to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. The
gospel has gone across continents and is now returning back to where it
originated, to the Jews. One day, all the Jews will recognize their elder
brother and they will find salvation in Him. Jesus came the first time to
bring salvation to the Jews but He was rejected. Should they embraced
Jesus the first time, the Jews should have been sending out missionaries to
the Gentiles. But now, it’s the other way around; the Gentiles sending out
missionaries to the Jews.
My friend, “but many who are first will be last, and the first last” is not
about embracing the virtue of humility. The Jews who should have been
the first partakers of God’s salvation will now take the last plane out while
the Gentiles are entering the kingdom of God ahead of them.
Because you are not a Jew but a Gentile, you have been marked out to be the
first. Come to the kingdom of God before the last file on the queue enters.
Amen!

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God Calls You Blessed
Isaiah 65:15-16
15
You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; for the Lord God
will slay you, and call His servants by another name; 16So that he who
blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and
he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the
former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My
eyes (NKJV).
God who made the universe came into a small portion of His handiwork
to have friendship with its people. He walked around in this small planet
appreciating its beauty but the inhabitants never acknowledged Him as
the owner. He came to His brothers thinking that He will be received
with warm welcome, kisses, and hugs but they did not recognize Him
and treated Him as an outcast. Jesus came into His own but never was
accorded the glory and majesty (John 1:10-11). He longed to be with
His brothers to gather them under His wings for they have been scattered
and needed a Savior, but even that He was rejected and expelled.
The Lord came to His people to be near them and to keep them holy.
But He was rebuked with these words, “Keep to yourself, do not come near
me, for I am holier than you! (Isaiah 65:5).” So Jesus went to a nation that
was not called by His name saying ‘here I am, here I am.’ At last, glory
is accorded to Him because He was sought by those who did not ask
for Him and was found by those who did not seek Him (Isaiah 65:1).
In contrast to His people who are “holier than thou,” He made His new
people holy, righteous, and blameless in God’s eyes.
The Lord’s new found friends calling them “My servants” shall eat and will be
satisfied while Israel shall go hungry. His servants will drink and be merry but
the descendants of Jacob will thirst and shame is on their heads. Those who
did not ask for Him but seek Him shall sing for joy because of the new wine
but His own brothers who rejected Him will cry out their hearts in sorrow
and wail with a broken spirit. While the name of His servants is a blessing to
Him, the name of those who did not receive Him has become a curse and the
Lord God has scattered them from their land (Isaiah 65:13-15).
The Lord has reserved a new wine full of blessing for His new nation and

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new found friends. These, His servants shall bring forth the new wine to
His own brothers, the descendants of Jacob. The blessing of the new wine
that will come to His brothers shall make them a fold of flocks plain and
straightened up (Sharon) even the Valley of Achor (which means trouble,
disturbance) will be a place for them to lie down but they shall not be
moved (Isaiah 65:8-10). All these are, because of the new wine that the
Lord’s servants had brought to the descendants of Jacob. The new wine is
the New Covenant that Israel will eventually embrace and its message is
none other than the grace of God. Jesus Christ their elder brother whom
they have rejected and expelled shall they recognize as their Savior.
For a moment, the Lord God had called His new nation “My servants”
but a time has come that no more shall He call them servants for a new
and another name shall they be called (Isaiah 65:15). That new name will
reverberate in the canopies of heaven and into God’s ears shall be holy
sounds and musical tunes on account of their new name. Certainly, the
new name that God will call His servants is inevitably more beautiful,
more glorious, and more pleasing. What is that new name that the Lord
God has reserved for them?
The Lord God says, “So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless
himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by
the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because
they are hidden from My eyes (Isaiah 65:16).” His servants are no longer
called “My servants” but they are the “Blessed” of the Lord God. Nothing
will hamper the outpouring of blessing on them because their former
troubles are forgotten and God cannot remember troubles of His people
for all time and eternity. Their trouble God shall not find them because
these are hidden in His eyes forever more.
The time is at hand and has come because Jesus Christ is in the world today
seeking and finding you, not to make you a servant because He came not
to be served but to serve even to face death for you. He gives the power to
make you a child of God when you receive and believe in His name; the
only name given under heaven for salvation to flow. When you are in Christ
Jesus, your troubles are forgotten and hidden forever from the holy eyes of
the highest Authority in heaven, that God calls you, “My blessed child.”
You are in Christ and all His blessings flow that God sees you and calls
you “Blessed”!

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 PART XVII

God’s Grace
Will Always Keep
Your Focus on Jesus

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Guide Your Heart To Where Your Treasure Is
Matthew 6:19-21
19
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also (NKJV).

When this passage is read, many understand that they need not invest
on earthly treasures claiming that these are not eternal possessions. I read
a blog on Facebook by a pastor saying that we don’t have to work for
earthly treasures. But the irony is, the one who wrote that is working and
enslaving for a hard earned salary. He left his family so as to earn a living.
As of the writing on his blog, he is trekking the other side of the world
employed full time working overseas for more than 8 hours a day for at
least 5 days a week trying to make both ends meet so that he could buy
the things of this earth for his family’s needs. Salaries in the form of money
are earthly treasures.

They say that what is eternal is our relationship with God that we have to
invest in it and we don’t have to invest in earthly things because they are
temporary. I agree that in Christ our relationship with God is eternal. He
will reward believers. But to invest for the maintenance of our relationship
with God is a different story. Never can we maintain our relationship
with any kind of investment because its payment had been paid for by
the blood and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. What Jesus has done needs
no maintenance because never will there be any decay or deterioration to
whatever He has established. If you are in Christ, your relationship with
God is completely and perfectly intact and no one can touch it. And as
you worship Him, you will be rewarded openly along the way that you
generate treasure (Matthew 6:18). Reward is a form of treasure.

I encourage all believers to invest in this life and acquire good things of
this world which are temporary. My friend, I need a house to keep my
family safe from the heat of the sun and the cool of the night. Whether
it is registered in my name or only a rented one is a good investment. My
family should be secured from the bad elements of the society so that I

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have to make sure my house is fully tight to the best of my ability so that
it’s hard for anyone to break in. I need to spend money for all these and I
have to work to generate an income.

What then is the “storing treasures on earth and storing treasures in

heaven” mean? Jesus gave the explanation in Matthew 6:16-18 before
He declared the imperative “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal
(Matthew 6:19).” He warned the disciples not to be like the hypocrites,
the scribes and the Pharisees because they disfigure their faces when they
fast and when they pray they want to be seen by men. Even how they
put in their tithe may have attracted too much attention from the people
(Matthew 23:23). The hypocrites love to announce what they do, not
only in words but also in actions. In so doing, they have just allowed their
treasures to be stolen by rust, moth and thieves. These hypocrites loved to
be rewarded by men and they have that in full. They treasure the praises of
men that last only for a moment and vanish away in an instant.

On the other hand, Jesus taught His disciples the true worship that they
have to anoint their head and wash their faces when they fast. They don’t
have to announce to men what they do in their worship to God. Barring
the praises of men, they receive honor from God and He rewards them
openly for that.

Now, God, the Keeper and Owner of all treasures had put all these on
earth; the gold, rubies, diamonds, and all things of value. All these He put
on this earth for His children to enjoy and there is nothing wrong with
that. What is wrong is if His children will become greedy and go after the
treasure instead of the treasure Owner. Jesus said, “For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).” Let me explain: Who is
the Owner of all treasures? God is. All your treasures are in Him (see the
phrase “where your treasure is”), then, there (location of the treasure, not
the object) will your heart be also. Your heart is with God where all your
treasure is well kept.

You are in Christ Jesus and your treasure is well kept in Him. Then guide
your heart to where your treasure is!

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Detour To The Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:13-14
13
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is
broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through
it. 14For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and
there are few who find it (NASB).

Many messages and teachings alluded to the narrow gate as the road that
leads to heaven while the wide gate is the way to hell. In the passage, more
people are walking through the wide gate while there are few who are on
the narrow way. If the narrow way is the way that leads to heaven and the
wide gate is the way to hell, then there are many who will be languishing
in the place of eternal punishment than in heaven. In the end, Jesus came
to die for a losing battle because more ended in hell than in heaven and
the vision of the Apostle John of a great multitude in heaven which no one
can number recorded in Revelation 7:9 is a farce.

The theological concept that there are more people on their way to
hell does not come from the lips of Jesus. This idea comes from man’s
understanding of the passage so that the church today is confused and
frightened. I read a blog from someone who is a preacher saying that the
Sermon on the Mount is a very difficult task to fulfill that to become
a true Christian is a difficult prerogative. If that be the case, then Jesus
came to make the lives of Christians difficult and miserable. With that, it
should have been better not to be a Christian believer because the former
life is better off in terms of difficulties and miseries. Matthew 7:11-13 is
a continuation of Jesus’ discourse of the Sermon on the Mount.

They say that the wide gate is the sinful way: adultery, drunkenness,
gluttony, greed, idolatry, etc. Think of all the sins and that belongs to the
wide gate, they say. Are the sins enumerated above refers to the wide gate?
In the preceding passages Jesus did not enumerate any kind of sin before
saying, “Enter the narrow gate…”, and therefore, the wide gate does not
pertain to sin. Those on the narrow gate they say are church goers and
because the church buildings you see around in your vicinity are not filled
up to the brim, they concoct the idea that many are waylaying on the
outside on their way to eternal punishment.

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To begin with, understanding the wide and the narrow gates must have
to be in context. The audience of Jesus when He delivered the Sermon on
the Mount is the disciples. These disciples are Jewish believers who know
the Law and the Prophets because every Israelite was trained to study the
five books of Moses from their youth. From the words of Jesus, He came
to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). The law is the first
covenant and to do away with it, the stipulations thereof must first be
fulfilled so that the second covenant will be established (Hebrews 10:9).
Because man can never fulfill the law, Jesus came to fulfill it, not for Him
but for you and me. The fulfillment of the first opened up the door for
the New Covenant of Grace to come. To fulfill the Sermon on the Mount
would be impossible for man to do but if you understand it in the light of
Jesus fulfilling it for you, you would be living a restful Christian life and
not a difficult, confusing and miserable one.

I believe that when Jesus was discussing the wide and narrow gates with
His disciples, He confined and focused His thoughts on the topic being
discussed that we need not go anywhere else around the Bible to look for
the meaning of the two gates. If you study the way Jesus was discussing,
just after He mentioned the Law and the Prophets in verse 12, He
immediately interjected “Enter by the narrow gate; for (translated because
– referring to something that has been said before) wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it
(NKJV).” Now, a contrast exists between the narrow and the wide gate
when Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate.”

The wide gate is the Law and the Prophets and even believers are walking
this lane of life. If you are to fulfill the law and the prophets, you will wear
your body out because of the huge demand from both the doer and the
recipient of the act (Matthew 7:12). In the Old Testament, the priests
stands ministering daily offering repeatedly the same sacrifices and they
never sit down because their work is not over (see Hebrews 10:11). If
there was a sacrifice that worked perfectly, the priests would have stopped
sacrificing. The law is a non-stop performance to please the God of heaven
and no one can do that. On the other hand, the prophets bring your sin
to remembrance (1 Kings 17:18, 2 Samuel 12:1-14). They also surface to
pronounce the judgment of God.

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Fulfilling the demands and the agenda of the law and on the other hand
you have someone reminding you of your sins and judgment of God,
you will surely live a life that is weary some and stressful – a difficult and
miserable life that is. If you encounter this scenario day in and day out,
there is no doubt that you are on the way that leads to the destruction of
your soul and body, not your spirit. The world system is “the law and the
prophets” that many people are walking in it even Christian believers.
They thought that to fulfill the Law and the Prophets is the way to be
accepted and pleasing to God (Matthew 7:12).

There is no other way to be pleasing to God but by believing in the One

God sent. Without believing (faith) it is impossible to please God. There
is only one good work that you have to do and is found in John 6:28-29.
If your work to become acceptable to God is other than what has been
declared by Jesus, be sure that you are on the wide gate of stress, guilt, and
condemnation.

Stay away from the wide gate but get into the narrow way of believing
(see Matthew 7:7-11). Jesus said, come to Me you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Jesus wants you not
laboring for God for He already labored for you, hence, His invitation.
Live a life of believing and coming to Him for it is the way of rest. Even
in prayer, focus and be conscious of His Fatherhood to you because as a
good Father, He knows what you need and He classifies the best for you
and that would be a restful life (see Matthew 7:11).

Few find the restful life in the narrow way of believing. My friend, in
Christ you are saved forever and have been blessed that you need to check
out in which way you are walking.

The narrow way is the one envisioned by Jesus for you!

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Jesus Keeps the Law for You
Deuteronomy 10:5
5
Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in
the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded
me (NASB).

Man could hardly learn from his past. This is what happened to the people
of Israel when they presume with their own righteousness that they could
keep all that God says. They have easily forgotten that they cannot obey
God and this is clearly seen when God gave them bread from heaven and
send quail to their camp that the Lord had specifically commanded them
to rest on the Sabbath. Nevertheless, some of the people went out on
the seventh day to gather, but they found none (Exodus 16:23-28). Even
in the day that man should rest, he cannot obey. Several days after that,
they boasted on their self-righteousness and in unison, the people said to
Moses that they will do everything the Lord has said (Exodus 19:8). After
that, God gave the ten major laws with many other ceremonial laws to
observe (Exodus 20:1 – 31:18).

When Moses came down the mountain with the two tablets of stones
where the ten major laws were inscribed, the people have already broken
the first commandment by making a golden calf as the object of their
worship (Exodus 32:1-8). They have forgotten the true God who rescued
them from slavery in Egypt, opened up the Red Sea, made the water
sweet, rained down manna from heaven, and sent quail for their appetites
by prostituting themselves to worship another god which is no god at
all. It only means that man cannot keep God’s commandments based on
his own doing and righteousness. When Moses saw the revelry and the
golden calf, he broke the stone tablets where the Ten Commandments
were inscribed (Exodus 32:19).

God seemed to have given approval of its breaking because there is no

record Moses was chastised by God of what he did. If the two tablets were
to stay in the camp as the measurement of their everyday lives, scores of
death would have plagued the people because the law is the ministry of
death and condemnation and God would not allow His people to perish
despite their grievous sin of idolatry (see 2 Corinthians 3:7-9). That’s how

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gracious God is. When the people of Beth Shemesh opened the ark to see
what is inside, which is the law, fifty thousand and seventy people died (1
Samuel 6:19). Imagine then if the two tablets of stone has been displayed
in the camp and be the means of their daily righteousness!
In Deuteronomy 10, God commanded Moses to cut two tablets of stones
for the laws to be inscribed as replacement of the first two tablets. In the first
writing of the commandments, there was no depository that was made for
the stone tablets. I believe that is the reason God allowed Moses to break
the first two stone tablets. Nowhere could fit the tablets of stones; it was
not fit for the people. In the second writing of the law, there is a provision
God gave Moses that he has to make an ark of wood overlaid with gold and
deposit the stone tablets in it. Nobody except Moses has touched the stone
tablets (Deuteronomy 10:1-5) but the people saw the ark where the stone
tablets were deposited. It is enough for the people to see the ark in their
everyday journey but not the stone tablets.

The law was not designed for man to live by it because man can never
fulfill it. The law was given that the offense might abound (Romans
5:20, Romans 3:19) so that man will look for a Savior. After the Ten
Commandments were given in Exodus 20, immediately, God gave a
provision in Exodus 20:24 which is a picture of the coming Messiah that
man may live by it and be blessed. The offering was the yardstick of their
acceptance and never was their obedience to the Ten Commandments,
primarily because they cannot fulfill the requirements but God wants
them under His wings, hence, the altar of earth to be made.

The ark of wood overlaid with pure gold is a type of Jesus, the Son of
God, who took the form of a man. When Jesus walked on earth in the
human form He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the
Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).”

Fulfill as used in the original text is plěroõ (play-rò-o) which means to

make replete (that is literally to cram as a net) and is synonymous to full
up as opposed to hunger. After Jesus died and rose again, the law has been
crammed. It means that the ministry of condemnation has come to an end
that there no longer reminder of sins that bring guilt and condemnation.
Instead, there is a reminder of God’s goodness – the gospel. But many

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teach just the opposite that righteousness and holiness is achieved by
reminding man’s sinfulness which is no gospel at all.

Today, as you walk and live your life, believe that there is no more
condemnation your sin may bring to you (Romans 8:1) because the
purpose of the Law has been fulfilled and satisfied in the body of Jesus.
And if you think that your sin is still remembered, reckon that all your
sins have been remembered on the day Jesus hanged on the cross and God
punished all your sins on the body of Jesus when He cried out loud, “It
is finished.”

The Law has been deposited in the ark since its writing and never was
shown to people. Likewise, the law has been concealed in the body of
Jesus and never be the spiritual yardstick for everyday life (see Romans
10:4). Don’t bring out the Law from the ark as a means of your acceptance
to God nor live by it for your perfection, righteousness, and holiness.
The people of Israel saw only the ark and not the deadly stone tablets.
Remember the people of Beth Shemesh who were slaughtered. It is not
based on a given law that you become righteous and acceptable to God,
but by beholding His glory and holding on to Jesus’ righteousness imputed
on you (see also Romans 5:19).

Jesus kept the law for you so that you don’t have to burden yourself any
longer from something that you cannot carry out and fulfill!

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Never Look At God Through The Law
Joshua 7:24-25
24
Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the
silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen,
his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought
them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, 25“Why have you troubled
us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with
stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with
stones” (NKJV).

When Israel entered the land promised to Abraham and his descendants
and started conquering territories, they first destroyed the kings of the
Amorites then crossed the Jordan river on dry ground. In a span of seven
days, they successfully dislodged the king of Jericho and its people with
the sword except for Rahab and her family and all that belonged to
her. Approaching the kingdom of Ai with a smaller number of warriors
compared to the other kings they conquered, Joshua sent a smaller number
of army but they were defeated and chased by their enemies inflicting a
number of casualties. There is one reason for their defeat.

The children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed thing,

for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the
tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned
against the children of Israel (Joshua 7:1). The sin of one man is the sin
of the whole nation and that is how God sees it that He said, “Israel has
sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded
them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have
both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff
(Joshua 7:11).” Under the law, the sin of one man contaminates all the
people. With the sin of Achan, all the people were required to sanctify
themselves.

The law was very severe on the people. It has no flexibility to offenders.
The people had to stand in uprightness all the days of their lives if they
want to be declared righteous. Otherwise, those who are not will suffer at
the hands of the twin brothers of the law – judgment and punishment.
Never can the law be tempered with mercy and kindness. If the law is

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applied straight forward, punishment is a guaranteed option and that is
the only way to fulfill the requirements of a broken law.

There is a law on devoted things Joshua reminded the people to

abstain from them before they utterly destroyed the people of Jericho
(Deuteronomy 7:25-26, Joshua 6:18). Nevertheless, Achan took some
of the accursed or devoted things and hid them under the roof of his
tent. He did it in secret while the people of Israel were exposed to danger
and annihilation from their enemies. His people suffered from defeat
and even his family, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, all he had
and the devoted things he had stolen were burned and covered with a
great heap of stones.

Under the law, sin and wickedness is contagious including its punishment.
Achan which means “troublesome” brought trouble to Israel, and wrought
havoc to his sons and daughters, and all that he had. Someone has to
sacrifice and bear the punishment so that the requirement of the law will
be fulfilled and the fierce anger of the Lord will turn away from the people
(Joshua 7:26). At times when Israel were taken captive, not all of them
sinned, nevertheless, the whole community banish into captivity. When
there was sin, punishment is guaranteed.

A blog written recently by a pastor says that God will unleash His
judgment to the wicked because of the grievous sins committed. With
all the grievous and great wickedness happening all around, no judgment
has ever come to the wicked after that blog. That is because a lone man
bore all the punishment for all the sin and wickedness of the world and
God unleashed all His holy indignation against sin and wickedness. Not
a single sin escaped its punishment on the cross. Now, the God of heaven
who deals with the world through Jesus is ready to reconcile even the
most and greatest wicked person. Jesus can now start His mission to save
and not to condemn (John 3:17). Don’t get me wrong because sin has
its consequences like imprisonment, sickness, disease, poverty, sorrow,
among other things. Remember that judgment for sin is death just in case
you have already forgotten. Even that, Jesus provided the death payment!

Today, God does not deal with people through the law but by grace.
Because of His love, all your sins have been punished long before you
came into this world. Jesus Christ received all your punishment almost

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2000 years before you were conceived. In Christ, you have died to sin and
in Him you came out alive through His resurrection leaving behind all
your sin on the grave eternally buried in extinction. With that, don’t be
a graveyard digger excavating what have been buried forever then make a
presentation to God of what you have excavated as a way to your holiness.
You have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly you
also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, holy and righteous to God
forever and ever (Romans 6:5).

My friend, don’t look at God through the law or you will see His wrath,
His judgment, His punishment, and His indignation because of sin. That
will be a big mistake and a wicked misrepresentation of God today. But
look at Him through Jesus, the grace of God, that in Him all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily dwells and you are complete in Him (Colossians
2:9-10).

You are in Christ that the Father sees you today with no blemish, no
judgment, no punishment, but forever perfect!

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 PART XVIII

God’s Grace
is the Highest
Love-Sacrifice

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Jesus the High Priest is God’s Satisfaction
Leviticus 17:3-4
3
Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or
outside of it 4instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting
to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the
Lord – that man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed
blood and must be cut off from his people.

I believe that there are no insignificant words and passages in the Scriptures
and all the theme of the books of the Bible points out to Jesus Christ
(Hebrews 10:7). The Bible is all about Jesus and His ministry but because
many have brought out religious rituals into the word of God, the people
focused on themselves and what they can do for God. It’s all about them
doing good while Jesus is left out on the sidelines. Subconsciously, people
formulated laws upon themselves and missed the centerpiece of Jesus and
the complete work He had done on the cross. The focus of the Word of
God is all about Jesus and what He had done and not what man can do
for God. When man sees the good things in Jesus, he starts to respond and
worship Him and do godly things effortlessly for God.

In Leviticus 17:1ff, the Lord commanded that anyone who sacrifices an

animal outside of the prescribed venue will be guilty of bloodshed and
must be cut off from his people. In other words, he shall be judged for
the killing of an animal. The animal has become as valuable as the life of
the person in the eyes of God if the animal is sacrificed with the wrong
prescription so that the man who made the sacrifice shall die. Location of
animal sacrifices was an important ordinance to observe for the people of
Israel that they could not just get an animal sacrifice and do the offering
anywhere as they wish.

On the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16, Aaron the High Priest shall
sprinkle blood for the atonement of sins for all the children of Israel,
himself included. He is to lay both his hands on the head of the scapegoat
and then confess all the wickedness (or sins) and rebellion of Israel. The
escape goat will carry on itself Israel’s sin to a solitary place so that their
sins will be no more (Leviticus 16:20-22). On the other hand, the blood
of the sin offering will be brought to the Holy Place to make atonement.

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With this, Israel’s sin will be covered in the eyes of God for the next twelve
months (Leviticus 16:30 & 34). After the twelve-month period is over, the
children of Israel will do the same sacrifice on the anniversary of the Day
of Atonement. This has become a religious statute year after year.
Then Leviticus 17 follows which forbids slaughtering any acceptable
animal for sacrifices outside of the camp. The high priest under the Old
Covenant was the only one authorized by God to sprinkle blood on the
mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat seven times (Leviticus
16:14). Seven times is the idea of perfection, completion, and acceptable
sacrifice of the high priest. This shows that anyone other than the high
priest cannot sprinkle blood and do confession of sins, thus forbidding
anyone of sacrificing animals outside of the prescribed venue.

When during the Atonement Day the sacrifices of bulls and goats are
accepted by God and the high priest comes out alive, the children of Israel
enjoyed their salvation for the next twelve (12) months. The eyes of a
holy God cannot see their sins for the one-year period because the animal
blood covering has been applied. Though many of the people may have
committed sin just after the atonement sacrifice had been completed, God
did not bring them judgment because God is holy and just in honoring
the covenant of sacrificing animal blood.

Today, we are no longer under the Old Covenant and in Christ we have
a New and better Covenant (see Hebrews 7:12, 22). The efficacy of our
sacrifice under the New Covenant does not last for hours, days, weeks or
years but for all eternity (Hebrews 9:12-14). The High Priest in the order
of Melchizedek who represents us before God is Jesus the Son of God who
died on the cross for us and is living on the basis of an indestructible life
(Hebrews 7:16). He died once and for all; complete and perfect for our sins.
Yes, Jesus died but not before confessing all our sins when He cried out on
the cross, “It is finished!” That is for all eternity and not until our next sin.

Now, you don’t need to perform what Jesus has done on the cross for you,
but only to believe that you have eternal forgiveness of all your wickedness
because Jesus had done the final confession of all your sins on the cross.
Don’t disqualify yourself from the grace of God by performing what Jesus
Christ had performed for you already. Let the grace of God nourishes you
especially when you have done something stupid. That is what grace is all

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about; unmerited favor at a time when you are most undeserving, in your
worst status. Sin makes you undeserving of God’s favor but grace came
to make the undeserving of God’s goodness deserving. You can’t make an
alternative sacrifice which God forbids the people of Israel to do.
Grace is nullified when you think you deserve the favor of God after a
facelift of penance and self-sacrifice. You deserve the favor of God only
because Christ has satisfied the full value of what is required. Never believe
on yourself and what you can do but believe God’s favor through the
sufferings of Jesus Christ once and for all.

It’s time to look up to God’s only satisfaction, Jesus Christ the High Priest
that lives forever and ever!

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Jesus’ Sacrifice Makes a Perfect Conscience
Hebrews 10:2
2
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers,
once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins (NKJV).

The people of Israel offered numerous animal sacrifices and they did it
year after year but those sacrifices never gave a complete solution to take
away sin out from their conscience. In fact, there is a reminder of sins in
those sacrifices. Those events were only a hint of the good things which will
provide a complete solution to wipe away sin once and for all. Everyone
has to die once, even the Lord Jesus died and His death was also a one-time
event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when He
next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet Him is precisely, salvation.

It is the salvation that Jesus Christ provided to the world that He wants His
people to be conscious of. Through His blood, Jesus brought perfection to
His believers with regards to their conscience to enable them to come to
God boldly in worship (Hebrews 10:19). The more His people come to
God boldly through His blood, the more they live; their bodies become
healthy, more restful, more prosperous, not only in terms of finances and
material prosperity but more so their soul prospers. The old way was a
deadly route that if the high priest is not fully prepared, he will die in the
Holy of Holies; his death is a sign that there will be curses and judgment
that will come to the people of Israel. But through the blood of Jesus, all
God’s judgment has been fully satisfied and the worshipper made perfect
and acceptable; the reason you can now come boldly to the Holiest.

The devil always wants you to have the opposite and be always conscious
of his tricks. The most common of these is he wants you overlook what
Jesus has done in shedding His blood for you. The devil always wanted
to bring in to your consciousness the requirements of the law for you to
live by, though you have already fulfilled all the stipulations of the law
through Christ. He wants you to repeat time and time again what Jesus
has accomplished for you.

In contrast to what Christ has done in washing away your sins once and
for all, the devil wants you to see your sins are washed away one by one

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through your penance and confession which is a reminder of sin typifying
the daily sacrifices of the priests under the Old Covenant. Many Christians
have mistakenly believe that it is the Holy Spirit reminding them of their
sins, hence, searching out their hearts for sin confessing them one after the
other which confession can never be completed. This has become a way
of life for many believers thinking that the more they are conscious of sin,
the holier they become to live the Christian life.

The reality, however, is, consciousness of sin will lead you to more
grievous sin. If you have seen someone who is adulterous making love with
his mistress and become conscious of that sin, the picture will get in to your
sub-consciousness. You will soon wandering and wondering away looking for
some easy-to-get-chickens on your way to a bargain hotel. But if you declare
you are still the righteousness of God in Christ before you are lured into
deeper sinful thoughts, His righteousness will occupy and shine forth in
your conscience. The attractiveness of sin will fade away when you are
conscious that you have the righteousness of Christ in you.

God never planned that sin consciousness shall form part of your life. To
take away sin consciousness is one of the reasons why Jesus came. The
law can never take away sins but reminded people of their sins from year
to year (Hebrews 10:3). While every priest stands ministering daily, sin
consciousness still lingers in their conscience, hence the need for the final
sacrifice which will take away sin once and for all; even in your conscience.
When Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right
hand of God, a picture of a complete and finished work and nothing can
be added to it; not even confession of sin (Hebrews 10:12). As a child of
God, you can now be Son-conscious and not sin-conscious.

Jesus’ offering has perfected forever those who are sanctified (Hebrews 9:14
& 10:14). Perfected forever does not refer to perfect behavior so that
you will no longer commit sin. Neither perfect in lifestyle that you walk
very carefully everyday trying to look holy and righteous. Rather, it refers
to perfect in conscience which means sin is no longer resident in your
conscience where the Son of God has taken His place of residence. If you
sin, your perfect conscience will guide you to look up and thank Jesus
Christ seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven who paid for all
your sins. He is your true righteousness and holiness. You don’t need to

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look consciously on your sin and look for a way to blot it out thinking
that you can be righteous and holy in that manner. My friend, only the
blood of Jesus can wash sin away, not your being sin-conscious.

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and you are in Him, you are now conscious of
Him and His finished work!

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Atonement for Sins
Leviticus 4:24

He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place
24

where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin

offering.

I love to eat goat’s meat especially its entrails and other internal organs
cooked into a delicacy that is famous in the Philippines’ northern region.
But never to slaughter one because I can’t stand to see an animal struggling
for his life; I was not trained for that. The holy people of God in the Old
Testament were trained to be good slaughters. They should be, otherwise,
there would have been no way by which God accepts and bless them. They
need to slaughter their offerings before the Lord so as to appease God’s
wrath of their sins.

Not only God’s holy people need to be trained slaughters, but also, they
should be good in raising the flocks. They need to have many herds and is
perhaps in thousands or hundreds of thousands because if an individual
has committed a sin, he was required to offer an animal as a sin offering
to the Lord. Other offerings like burnt offerings (Leviticus 1), fellowship
offerings (Leviticus 3) and guilt offerings (Leviticus 5) required an
abundant number of animals to be offered too.

They should also know how to take good care of their flocks so that their
animals will not be sickly or injured but will grow with no blemishes
because the requirement in Leviticus 4:23 is an animal offering without
defects. In other words, the animal offering must come from the best
breed. The shepherds must also know the birthdays of all the animals
groomed for offering because there is an age limit required (Exodus 12:5).
With that they should know which birthday of which from their flocks
now mingled all together, great and small, young and old.

Praise be to God because we need not undergo that rigorous ritual of

offering animals anymore. There was a day when all animal sacrifices came
to a halt. It ceased to be observed when the One and Only perfect Man
and perfect God took all our sins and bore them in His body and carried
them all the way to the Mount of Crucifixion. His name is Jesus who takes

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away the sin of the world and is the only perfect sacrifice that God accepts
(John 1:29).

The offerings in the Old Testament are pictures of the sacrifices of Jesus
recorded in the four gospels. The laying on of hands on the animal’s
forehead is necessary so that there will be transference of innocence of the
animal to the guilty person and the person’s guilt and sin to the innocent
animal. Jesus as the sacrificial lamb fulfilled that requirement of God (2
Corinthians 5:21). He took all our guilt and sin while His perfections and
righteousness are transferred to the believer. There was a divine exchange
that happened on the cross and can be yours once and for all the moment
you believe Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

What is amazing in the offering and the sinner who brought the animal
is that the sinner was never the focus of examination for blemishes. If
the person is being examined for blemishes, obviously, he has all the
blemishes, the defects, and all the imperfections the world could offer.
That will disqualify him to be presentable to God. But what is inspected,
examined, and scrutinized for blemishes and defects is the animal he was
taking for his offering. Once the priest who examined the animal passed
the standards set forth, the sacrifice will then be slaughtered and offered.
In place of the person who sinned against the Lord is the animal offering
carrying the person’s sin to its death, the ultimate requirement of the law.

Our one and only sacrifice Jesus Christ was thoroughly examined and
found to be perfect and without blemish. Satan even tested Jesus if He
is the perfect Son of God. When he found Jesus to be the true Son of
God, he left Him without conducting further tests (Matthew 4:11). Jesus
was more than the atonement price for all our sins and God was fully
satisfied that no more wrath is left for yours and mine. This is the spiritual
reality under the New Covenant, yet many Christians believe that they
are being examined by God of their sins every day that they fall into the
trap of good doing for their acceptance, as if they are offering themselves
without blemish. Your offering is Jesus Christ who is always acceptable to
the Father. If Jesus is rejected, then all believers will be rejected but Jesus
will never be rejected as He is always pleasing to God.

Believer, you are always accepted apart from your good doing because
your acceptance is based on the work done by Jesus Christ who purged

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and washed away all your sins by His blood. He died once and for all sins
and never will Jesus come to die for you again.

That’s how perfect your sin sacrifice is!

Thought to ponder: Never switch sacrifices with yourself for Jesus.

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Jesus Christ is Our High Priest
Hebrews 8:1
1
The point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest,
who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven
(NIV).

Aaron was the first high priest of Israel appointed by God. The high
priest comes from the people who have experienced all the circumstances
they went through and Aaron fit for that office. The Senior Pastor of
New Creation Church in Singapore, Joseph Prince said that Moses was
disqualified from the office of the high priest because when he was growing
up he was in the palace with all the luxuries of life while his people are in
hard labor and suffering. He did not experience what the people of Israel
went through. That disqualified Moses to take that office. The high priest
was the representative of the people to God. He ministers unto God not
only for himself but for the whole nation of Israel. Therefore, if the high
priest was good, the standing of the people of Israel before God will be
favored. Where the high priest goes, the whole nation of Israel follows.
Succession on this office comes when the high priest dies.

The high priest garment has a breastplate where all the names of the sons
of Israel were inscribed. When he enters the Holy Place, with him are all
the sons of Israel inscribed on two stones in settings of gold and put on his
shoulder and also the names of the sons of Israel are engraved on precious
stones attached on his breast (Exodus 28:11-29). It only means that today,
Jesus Christ the true high priest is bearing all the names of the believers
in His heart, carrying them on His shoulders and presenting them to the
Father. The believers in the Holy of Holies are seated together with Jesus
at the right hand of God.

The high priest wears an engraved seal, “Holy to the Lord” attached on the
front of the turban (Exodus 28:36-38). God is forever holy and in order for
someone to see God, he must be holy because without holiness no one will
see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). The engraved seal “Holy to the Lord” will
never be blotted out and is continually worn by the high priest so that the
people of Israel will be acceptable. They were accepted to God not on the
basis of how good the people were on their obedience, but on the basis that

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the plate of pure gold with inscription “Holiness to the Lord” is always worn
by the high priest. Today, your High Priest is forever holy and because you
are in Him, you are forever holy and accepted to the Father as His child.

You have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus
Christ the Son of God, that while ascending into heaven, He lifted up His
hands and was blessing the people (Hebrews 4:14, Luke 24:50-51). He
only blesses and knows no curses because 2000 years ago, Jesus bore in His
body all curses that He redeemed you from the curse of the law (Galatians
3:13). You are blessed and no curse shall ever befall on you who believe.

Jesus Christ our great High Priest came as a baby and clothed Himself with
flesh and blood just as you are. Jesus was tested in every way (Hebrews
4:15). Being a perfect man that He was in the flesh and at the same time
perfect God, He knew the flesh is weak that He once said to Peter, “the
spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).” When
He was nailed on the cross, He experienced all and the most severe and
excruciating pains. He was tested in all points and for this reason Jesus is
able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

All the high priest in the Old Testament is a type of Jesus in the New
Covenant. The high priest will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts
the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts maybe (Exodus 28:38). Guilt
also means iniquity and iniquity is sin. The sacred gifts or the holy things
the people of Israel offered to God had iniquity but the high priest is to
bear the iniquity taking them out of the sacred gifts.

All the sacred gifts we do have sin in it. We may be attending church
worship service but while raising up our hands to praise God, our minds
may be wandering away scooping out filthy thoughts. I am talking here
by experience and if you didn’t experience that yet, great and good you.
All these may come in all our holy gifts and services to God but we don’t
have to worry because Jesus Christ our high priest screens those that are
not acceptable before taking them to the throne of God as our offering.

If you are in Christ Jesus, you can always be sure that through Him your
holy offerings and sacred services are always perfect and acceptable gifts
to God.

Only because of Jesus the High Priest!

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 PART XIX

God’s Grace
Unleash
the Best of Heaven

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Prayer According to God’s Will
Romans 8:26
26
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (NKJV).

The people under the Old Covenant had the spirit of bondage that
brought negative and slavish fear of God. That is so because whenever the
people turn away and serve other gods, judgment is guaranteed and many
suffered for it. No one could withstand the judgment of God. Under the
New Covenant, Jesus came to absorb all judgments for sin once and for
all. Bondage and fear are things of the past; gone and no more. Now, in
Christ, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom you can cry out,
‘Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:15). As if to give you a deeper assurance that
there is no more judgment and condemnation which lead you to fear, the
Spirit Himself bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God
making you heir and joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:16-17). The Father
cannot condemn His children who are in Christ, certainly not.

You are a child of God and one of your inheritances is prayer. To have a
better understanding about prayer, one of the meanings the International
Edition of Webster Comprehensive Dictionary offers is, “communion
with God and recognition of His presence, as in praise, thanksgiving,
intercession.” In communion, you are actually partaking in the goodness
of God, Jesus Christ, the bread and the wine. When you petition God in
prayer you are in His presence having the willingness of heart to receive
the good things of God. You walk in praise and thanksgiving when ‘Abba,
Father’ hand you over His answer of good things to your requests.

All God’s children want the good things of God but many do not receive
for having failed to invoke their rights in their inheritance to prayer for
some reasons. Perhaps, you don’t pray because you do not know how to
pray, or maybe, you cannot say your prayers as spontaneous as the others
who can recite long litany of spiritual flowery words to petition God. Or
you stammer, grappling for the next words to say to God and you don’t
want Him waiting to hear your next round of words to utter. You may
not have a prayer room that you can’t concentrate in your prayers. Prayer

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after all may be your weakness. Rejoice, because you are not alone in this
department.

Just as the Spirit bears witness that you are a child and heir of God,
likewise, the Spirit also helps you in your weakness. Even the Apostle Paul
who wrote more than half of the books in the New Testament, prayer is
his weakness that he says, “the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses,” him
included. Thank God it’s not those who have the strength He helps but
those with weaknesses. If prayer is really your weakness which is also mine,
then, we are in good company with the Apostle Paul.

For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.
But Christ who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit is, because
He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Though
you do not know what you ought to pray for, pray anyway, because the
knowledge of Christ knows about it for He searches your heart. When an
intercession is made for you out of Christ’s knowledge through the mind
of the Spirit in accordance with God’s will, surely, it gets through the ears
of God. You have a deep assurance that God hears your every prayer.

The last part of Romans 8:26 says, “…with groanings too deep for words
(NASB).” If the word of God says too deep for words, you can be sure
you can’t dig in and you won’t know what it is that man’s words cannot
express or utter. Does it mean because you do not know the words you
ought to utter, then you don’t pray and just let Christ search the heart
and the Spirit do the praying? No, that is not what it means. Pray or
utter your petition to God even with stammering words and incomplete
sentences, even only in groaning and then Jesus Christ the mediator
makes the intercession who knows the words that should be uttered in
prayer for you. He will select the divinely perfect words to be included
in your prayer. Groaning activates God’s covenant (Exodus 2:23-25).

Though you say words one by one, no spontaneity, you speak simple
words to God, pray anyway. When Christ makes intercession for you,
He will hear your prayer, take it to heaven, and shapes it in accordance
to the will of God. The prayer you think is not good in the ears of those
around you will not be the same in the hands of Christ. Being your High
Priest forever, He takes out all the superfluous that should not be in

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your prayer. In Him you can pray simple and short prayers. Your prayer
is not what God accepts but the One who is holding and making the
presentation of your prayer, Jesus Christ your mediator.

If only Jesus Christ will first show your prayer that He shaped before
presenting it to the Father, surely you cannot grasp for words to describe
it. You will stammer for words that you cannot express to describe your
Christ-finished prayer. Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, though how
“imperfect” your prayer maybe, if He takes it into His hands and patterns
it will be beyond recognition in beauty, in quality, in purpose, in glory, in
majesty. The prayer that has been molded and shaped by Jesus through the
power of the Holy Spirit is a prayer according to the will of God.

In Christ, all your prayers are in accordance with God’s will!

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Fervent Prayer
James 5:18-19
18
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly
that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years
and six months. 19And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and
the earth produced its fruit (NKJV).

One of the weaknesses I have is prayer. Not that I don’t pray but I pray
little lines with sporadic words and I don’t spend much time in prayer as
compared to others who can recite and do the talking to God for more
than 15 to 20 minutes in prayer meetings. The focus of my concentration
is very much limited that after a while my mind will be wandering in
the wilderness instead of listening to the one praying and nod with
confirmation on the items being prayed for, saying the Amen. How I
envied others before, those who can pray out loud praying spontaneously
because I thought that if I pray with beautiful words and delivered my
prayers spontaneously, God will be happy and obliged to answer.

Surely, there are many believers whose weakness is prayer and you may
be identified with them. You are not alone and rejoice because you are in
good company. The Apostle Paul says, “likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses,” himself included. Also, Elijah was a man subject to like passions
as we are. The word “passions” as used means “similarly affected.” You have
more reasons now to rejoice in your predicament because even Elijah was
affected with the same affliction you may have when it comes to prayer. You
are now in the company of the Apostle Paul and the prophet Elijah.

It would have been good to see how the Apostle Paul prayed but I cannot
remember any recorded event of his prayer. But we can trace the fervent
prayer of a righteous man that availed much. When he prayed, something
miraculous happened. How did Elijah pray in most trying times? It is
a good thing that his prayers were recorded for us to study as a source
of encouragement. They are short prayers and God heard Elijah. (For
effective short prayers, see also 2 Kings 20:3).

After sometime that no rain came on the land, the Brook Cherith where
Elijah used to drink dried up and the Lord directed him to Sidon to stay in

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the house of a widow with a handful supply of flour and a little oil. For the
duration of the drought period, the flour and the oil did not run out because
the Lord kept on replenishing the bin and the jar. Elijah, the widow and her
son are fully supplied while the people suffered that even King Ahab was
restless in looking for springs and grasslands so that his horses and mules
will have something to drink and eat and will not die (1 Kings 18:5)

It happened that the widow’s son was sick and his sickness became serious
until there was no more breath in him. Elijah took the boy to the upper
room and said, “O, Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the
widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?.” And he stretched himself
out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O, Lord
my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him (1 Kings 17:20-
21).” Elijah had like passions (similarly affected) as ours. He also prayed
an ignorant prayer.

When he cried out to the Lord in 1 Kings 17:20, the Lord closed His
ears. Nothing happened. What was he crying for? He was accusing God
of murder and bringing tragedy and other tragedies in the past! (can you
see the word “also”?). God is so gracious that even when Elijah accused
Him of killing the boy, instead of reacting to his cry, God just kept silent
and perhaps He turned His back to Elijah when uttering the words of his
accusations. Elijah is affected with like passions. Sometimes we say things
wrongly and the Lord will not hear and put a plug on His ears. God has
a wide range of understanding; He understands man’s weaknesses. Elijah
accused the One who has nothing to do with death, but in his book James
describe him a righteous man.

You may have seen posters that read, “Prayer can move mountain.” Some
go to prayer-mountain to spend an overnight prayer and there is nothing
wrong with that. But if you think that going to prayer-mountain will
give you a more effective prayer doesn’t make sense and it’s not scriptural.
Effective prayer is an inheritance only for the righteous; believers who are
righteous by faith that is. It is not automatic to have an effective prayer
in going to prayer-mountains. Prayer cannot move mountain and it never
will. It is the One to whom you are praying to that moves mountain.
Prayer is not powerful. It is the One to whom you are praying to who is
all-powerful. You see, posters like that make believers self-righteous. Their
focus is on their prayer and not to the One who can move everything.

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Realizing that nothing happened, Elijah cried out to the Lord and said,
“O, Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him. Then
(denotes that there was a lull in between) the Lord heard the voice of
Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived (1 Kings
17:21-22).” That is one of the fervent prayers of Elijah which comprises of
only a handful of words. Elijah is like us similarly affected with weakness
but because he is righteous by faith, though how short his prayer was, the
Lord heard him.

Brooommm!!! Broooom!!! I heard the engine in high revolution. Then,

screech!!!…… Blaaagg!!! The engine went off. A girl riding an ATV (all-
terrain vehicle) with her friend bumped the other where her brother
was riding. That happened in the recreational area of the biggest and
most lavish hotel in the Northern Philippines. The girl and her brother
got injured. Then I felt the Spirit prompting me to go and look what
happened. To be honest, I don’t want to look on people who had just met
accidents, much more go near them. Nevertheless, I followed the dictates
of the Spirit. When I arrived on the scene, no one except the friend who
was screaming was there with them. The mouth of the girl who fell down
was foaming, her body shirked and her color was turning blue. It was then
that I hold on to her neck and whispered, “Lord Jesus, please bring her life
back.” After a while she moved her body and coughed.

Fervent prayer is not reciting many words to the Lord. In Mark 12:40, the
Lord Jesus condemned long prayers of the scribes and Pharisees which they
do in pretense. According to the Senior Pastor of New Creation Church
in Singapore, “the shorter we pray, the bigger we make of Him.” That is so
because long prayers will eventually amplify the one praying and not the
One to whom he is praying to. God is happy and is in a hurry to bless and
answer your prayers so that you don’t need to collect all the flowery words
available thinking that such words will land sweetly in the ears of the Lord
then He is obliged to answer. Jesus prayed very short prayers even when
He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:33, 38). But there is nothing
wrong with long prayers if no pretense.

Finally, when Elijah prayed for rain, he bowed down on the ground and
put his face between his knees and uttered his prayer. What words he said
in his prayers are not recorded and only the Lord understood very well

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what Elijah said. Then the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its
fruits. Thanks to the brief prayer of Elijah and James the Apostle recorded
in his book, a fervent prayer.

You are righteous in Christ. Go and confess your righteousness in Him

every time because there are times you don’t believe.

Only if you believe that you are righteous by faith in Christ all the time
shall you have fervent prayer every time!

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So Be It, Lord
2 Corinthians 1:20

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in
20

Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of

God (NIV).

I came from a family of 14 (parents included) which redound to many

mouths to feed. With the addition of my parent’s grandchildren, we
became a family of families. A big family consumes a lot of things from
limited and scarce resources that my parents never made big promises for
their children. Education has never been promised but a rolling accident.
I became an engineer without my parents promising I will be in the
university when the first semester opens after my graduation from high
school. Instead of going to the university, I found my way to plow the
field and plant rice so that my other siblings may continue their college
education. I became an engineer with sacrifices mostly from my elder
brothers and sisters.

There may never be big promises but my parents had a spectacular promise
that we will eat at least 3 times a day after a hard day’s work. Despite the
promise, doubts lingered over the horizon if there will be enough food on
the table when the sun comes out the next day. Only when the firewood
is lit up and the rice is cooked that never a doubt the promise for the day
is fulfilled. But how about after a good night’s sleep and the sun rise up
again another day? Will there be food ready to satisfy the hungers of the
many cramping stomachs? It was another round of “doubting” hope and
expectation.

Today, as I look back on yesteryears, beyond those doubts there is a God

whom we were not aware of working behind the scene. We may not have
been conscious of Him but it was He who made every day a glorious
reality towards the life we now have in Christ Jesus today.

God is the God of promises. As I was meditating on 2 Corinthians 1:20,

I asked the question, ”why God made many promises?” He has given me
a very simple answer – He is able to make every promise a reality and
no ifs and buts (2 Corinthians 1:18-19). During World War II, General

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McArthur left the Allied Forces in the Pacific with a very soft promise
declaring, “I shall return.” “Shall” becomes a reality only when the person
who said it and the other factors beyond his control fall in their right
places. Therefore, the moment General McArthur left the Allied Forces,
his promise hanged on the balance.

When God made his promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and now to us
through Abraham’s offspring, He said “I will” and never did He say “I
shall.” When God said “I will” His bet is all that He has – His holiness,
righteousness, faithfulness, and all His nature and attributes are at stake.
And yes, even His Son Jesus Christ too is at stake that the Holy Spirit
says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “YES”
in Christ.”

Now, my question is “what is your bet”? You may say, “My bet is to obey
God, do my best not to commit sin, pray three, five or ten times a day, go
to church regularly, do everything good in return for His promises.” All
these are good and holy things to do but your answer is a big mistake
because they are very much uncertain to be fulfilled! My bet is to
declare the “AMEN” so that I will receive and get all that God has put in
His promises. In so doing, God is glorified. The word “amen” in Hebrew
is true, truth and so be it. I don’t know about you but my bet is so be it,
Lord.

“So be it, Lord” brings out and declares the glory of God. God promised
Abraham and to his offspring a land flowing with milk and honey and
many more promises. The Bible says, Abraham believed God (Romans
4:3) which he subconsciously said the “AMEN.” Flowing is a picture of
continuity and the source is never exhausted. You just have to go and scoop
it out. Milk and honey pictures the best harvest, properly and naturally
(God) processed ready for consumption. “Flowing with milk and honey”
is a picture of rest so that Abraham will never be wandering for his needs.
God finds joy in giving and doing everything for him.

Our parents may not have promised anything but left us wandering with
a piece of cloth. With that our heavenly Father multiplied what we have
because He promised us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Today,
we are living in the promise land and the land of promise where there is
abundance beyond our imagination. Our promised land is the finished

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work of Jesus that paid for everything; every good thing for us (healing/
health, wealth, joy, fellowship with the Father – think about everything
good) demanding only our “SO BE IT, LORD.”

Amen!

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 Parting Words
Jesus called the scribes and the Pharisees hypocrites because they
transgressed the commandments of God with their traditions (Matthew
15:1-9). He reminded them what was written by king David and the
prophet Isaiah saying, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain
they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” The
scribes and the Pharisees replaced the commandments of God with their
traditions making them the yardstick of spiritual standards that must be
observed and applied in peoples’ lives.

They were the spiritual guardians of the people but Jesus put their worship
in vain having their focus the traditions they received from their fathers.
Traditions were the context of their teachings in the synagogues for that
is the contents of their hearts that Jesus said further, “Not what goes into
the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a
man (Matthew 15:11).” Anyone who came to the synagogue to hear the
teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees had no choice but to defile their
understanding of spiritual realities.

You cannot be defiled any longer by the scribes and the Pharisees. Yet the
Holy Spirit has put a distinct imaginary line of dividing the word of truth
that the Apostle Paul reminded the young pastor Timothy saying, “Be
diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).” A
worker approved to God is one who rightly divide the word of truth; that
is, separating grace and law; putting a clear distinction between the Old
Covenant and the New Covenant realities.

By now you know that you cannot live in adultery as a believer if you
want Jesus to have effect on you. You cannot live by grace adulterated with
law; mixing the Old Covenant and the New Covenant realities together
to formulate a covering for shame and sin to enable you to approach God
boldly. Also, you now have the understanding that if you mix up these two
as yardsticks to your daily spiritual living, even Jesus will be confused with
you because He can’t determine the degree of your spiritual temperature
that you’re neither cold nor hot. In His confusion, He will vomit you
out. Presenting oneself to Jesus by holding on to the two covenants at the

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same time as a way to please God is nothing but a spiritual gift of poison.
Remember that Jesus prefers you are cold or you are hot; that is He wants
you holding on either to the covenant of law alone or the covenant of
grace. Adulterated grace is no grace at all.
In His days, the scribes and the Pharisees, whenever and wherever they
meet Jesus, they were corrected by the teachings of the Savior. But never
did they accept correction. In that, Jesus had no part in them that He
said, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind
leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch (Matthew 15:14).” Today, you
are either a blind and confused believer or someone who rightly divides
the word of truth. If you are one of the confused, that is living in spiritual
adultery, mixing grace and law, you can be sure that you are following a
leader who is an adulterer or adulteress. Remember that as a blind lead
the blind into a ditch, the confused leads a confused life that there will be
chaos in the church. Jesus has no part in your confusion and the chaotic
situation that you are in.

Not that will there be violent reactions in the church, but the people will
be living in fear, bondage, and slavery. They have developed a slavish fear
of God, that in their minds they are still in bondage to sin despite the
fact that every believer have been set free from sin that they are now holy
(Romans 6:22). Their concept of sin is far greater than the grace of God
that has put away sin once and for all. Seeing sin in this manner, they
tend to exert efforts to please God, making confession as the propitiation
so as to ward off sin’s twin brothers of judgment and punishment. They
cannot see the grace of God that is all powerful, far greater, and more than
sufficient for all the sin of the world. Though they are saved by grace, they
go back to the blueprints of the Old Covenant of law as a means of their
spiritual communion with God.

Repentance is changing of mind and I believe in repentance but not

confession of sin for those who are already in Christ because confession is
not the final solution for my acceptance to God that if no confession of
sin first, God will not accept me. I am always acceptable to God because I
am in Christ. If you are a believer in Christ that still believes in confession
of sin as your acceptance to God, you have just entered a very dangerous
phase of your spiritual life. You have made confession your Savior, the

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propitiation for your sin because you think you are acceptable only to
God once you did your confession. You believe that your confession paves
the way to access the power of God. 1 John 1:9 is the only passage that you
can see in the New Testament where confession of sin is discussed. This
is because John’s hearers were saying they have no sin (1 John 1:8). For
them to be saved and to have true fellowship with the church and with the
Father and with the Son, they need to agree with God they have sinned
so that His Son Jesus Christ can save them and they will be forgiven once
and for all. There is no forgiveness at all to those who say they have no sin.

You should be living a restful life by now. You are a believer and the twin
brothers of judgment and punishment had been satisfied once and for all
with the propitiation of sin, Jesus Christ. Having satisfied the requirements
of judgment and punishment, Jesus is able to assure you, “Come to Me, all
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light
(Matthew 11:28-30).” Those whom Jesus is inviting have their own yoke
put on them. If you think you are one of the invited, He wants you to take
off your yoke and put on His yoke because the days of self-efforts are gone.

You should be living in faith to the obedience of Christ and what the
Father said by now. We always hear from others say, “have faith, grow
in faith.” But what is that? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).” Faith is to have
confidence to the One who can see even of the things unseen. God had
seen everything and put substance into them; describing them in His
word. Faith was defined after Jesus has established the second covenant
(Hebrews 10:9) where His once and for all sacrifice put an end to all
animal sacrifices that reminded sin of the people year after year. His
offering made perfect, not for the time being, but forever for those who
are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). In Christ, you cannot be perfect
today and tomorrow you are not. In Him, perfection is not an “on and
off” reality but a continuous state of being for all eternity.

Even the Holy Spirit, the witness who cannot lie, testified how perfect
those who are being sanctified. In His witness, He further testified that
under the new covenant established by Jesus, sins and lawless deeds God
will remember no more because of the final sacrifice (Hebrews 10:15-18).

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Through the blood of Jesus that made believers perfect, we the believers
can now enter the holiest with full assurance of faith, the confidence that
we have in Him. He is the new and living way that the more we come to
the Holiest, the more we become alive in Him (Hebrews 10:19-22).
To have faith is to live in confidence to what God has put substance from
the unseen. Now that you are a believer, you have been perfected forever
while being sanctified. You have been purified that even the sin in your
conscience has been put away. All your sin had been remitted through the
blood of Jesus that God cannot remember them anymore. He cannot see
any trace of sin in you because the blood of Jesus washes away sin. Sin has
no more dominion over you because it has been dissolved once and for all
(1 John 3:8). You can live in freedom from the clutches of sin that bear
fruit into holiness (Romans 6:22). Your holiness is not “on and off.” All
these are substantial evidence that have been done by God in the past for
you to have faith and live with.

Don’t succumb and believe to what people say that will contradict what
God has said. They may see you are not perfect, but the way God sees you
in Christ, you are perfect. They may see you sin having said something
wrong in your unguarded moments, but God had not seen you have
sinned because you are hidden that He sees the righteousness of Christ
instead. Not believing in accordance to what God see the way you are is
not of faith but rebellion to the Highest Authority in heaven. Align the
vision of your faith to how God sees things as they are.

The Apostle Paul who spearheaded the preaching of grace opened up all
his epistles greeting his readers with the grace of God except in his letter
to the Hebrews and closed them with the same grace, except for the book
of Romans. All in between Romans and Hebrews greet and bid farewell
to his epistles with the customary God’s grace. I used to wonder why
this is so and I asked God the question why these books were opened
and closed with grace. God showed me the scripture behaviors written in
between the greetings and his farewell. Then I got the answer. It means
that the believers are saved and accepted by grace, yet, though they may
fail sometimes on the scripture behaviors that are written in between, by
grace they will be with the Father in the end. You have been saved by grace
and grace will lead you home.

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Take the complete and finished works of Jesus Christ on the cross and His
resurrection as something that is yours because He died and rose again,
not for Himself, but for you. He died to sin once and for all which means
that Jesus died to the imputation, the judgment, the condemnation, and
the guilt of sin. He is your substitute on the cross. His resurrection is a
clear receipt that all your sin had been paid for. Reckon therefore His
death as yours; you are dead to sin. His death will never be repeated. Not
that you will no longer commit sin for the days to come because surely,
and is guaranteed, that sooner or later you will sin. Again, don’t get me
wrong. I am speaking a universal truth here. No one can live a sinless life
so that Jesus came. Now that you have taken refuge in Christ you are dead
to sin, there is no more imputation of sin on you. Through Jesus’ death,
you cannot be found guilty of an offense. When Jesus was judged and
condemned for your sin, the Holy Spirit says, there is therefore now no
condemnation to you who are in Christ.

You should be having the right attitude by now; in everything give thanks.
We sing the song quoted from 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give
thanks; for this is the will of God……………….” Unfortunately, we have
formulated a conclusion that we give thanks to God only for the things
that give us the feel good factors, not in everything. My friend, even when
you have sinned for that counts “in everything,” rather than confess, give
thanks to God when you recognize your sin, thanking Him that He sent
His Son as your substitute to absorb all the judgment and punishment
for all your sins; past, present, and the sins you will do for all tomorrows.
Jesus will not come to die again so that you need to throw off your idea of
partial forgiveness of sin, that is, you are forgiven only if you confess. Let
me repeat: In Christ, you are forgiven once and for all.

To give thanks to God for giving His Son as the full payment for sin is
the hardest thing a self-righteous would do. Self-righteous are people who
demand a share in the glory of forgiveness. The true test of such kind
of believers is, they make a way out from sin committed not seeing the
totality of the cross where Jesus shed His blood once and for all. They see
their self-efforts of confession as the missing touches on the icing of the
cake. The Lord Jesus Christ said to Peter, “do not fear,” yet, Peter feared
and began to sink. With this, Peter transgressed and disobeyed Jesus to
His face, but never did Jesus reprimand Peter to confess his sin first before

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He stretched out His arm to lift Peter up (Matthew 14:26-31). The people
of Israel have been confessing their sins and if confession has put finality
to the problem of sin, Jesus would not have come.

Also, when Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant Malchus, that my
friend is a horrible and grievous sin in front of Jesus, yet Peter was not asked
to confess (John 18:10-11). There are many other instances where Peter
failed Jesus and never can we see He taught him about confession of sin. In
all his failures, Jesus accepted Peter as he is; the forgiven one. In Christ, you
too are forgiven and you are accepted once and for all like Peter who had
all the boldness to be with Jesus even when he failed. His boldness to come
to Jesus despite his failures is faith in action seeing things the way Jesus sees
them. Focus your vision to how Jesus sees things on you.

You were once ugly and obnoxiously horrible. But the moment you put
your trust in the Son of God, you have been beautified by the greatest
beautician, the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. God can no
longer see any trace of ugliness or any horrible scar on you because in
Christ you have put on the new man which was created according to God,
in true righteousness and holiness (Isaiah 1:18, Ephesians 4:24). That is
your divine standing before God, righteous and holy in Christ. Nothing
can take out your righteousness and holiness which is the true person of
Jesus Christ. Righteousness and holiness are not common nouns, these
are proper nouns combined into one, Jesus Christ the righteous and holy.

This will help you and take note of this. In Christ Jesus, God cannot see
and remember your sins anymore. He cannot see your old identity but
your new identity is very much glaring and shining in His eyes. Your new
identity is His beloved and pleasing Son Jesus Christ and He will always
remember one thing; His covenant of grace. Jesus who came with grace
and truth is your representative doing all the good things for you to look
good unto God.

When Abraham was looking for an offspring to become his heir, God
showed him his descendants. Then He brought him outside and said,
“Look now towards the heaven, and count the stars if you are able to
number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be
(Genesis 15:5).” Because of your faith, you have become a son of Abraham
and you are blessed by believing (Galatians 3:7-9). Paul described what

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God showed to Abraham that in Christ you are one of the stars in heaven
seated at the right hand and heir of God (Ephesians 2:6, Romans 8:17).

From now on, settle for nothing less than who you are in God’s sight. You
are in Christ and God will always see you in and through His Son, Jesus
Christ.

Shalom!

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