heavenly life

20
Jul
2011

The Top Ten Percent

Readers,

I’ve provided 154 journal entries on my blog with 73,580 page views. Occasionally I share a list of those entries that have rendered the most readership. Here are the top ten percent beginning with the most read and on down. Check the titles for an entry(s) that you would like to preview.

(1)    Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/11/mercy-triumphs-over-judgment/

(2)    Passing Through the Valley of Baca: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/01/passing-through-the-valley-of-baca/

(3)    Tongues: http://buddymartin.net/blog/speaking-in-other-languages/

(4)    Which Bible Translation is the Best: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/01/which-bible-translation-is-the-best/

(5)    Testimony: http://buddymartin.net/blog/testimony/

(6)    Salvation: http://buddymartin.net/blog/salvation/

(7)    How Secure Are You in Christ: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/03/how-secure-are-you-in-christ/

(8)    How Do You Know That You Are Saved: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/02/how-do-you-know-that-you-are-saved/

(9)    Honoring God With First Fruits: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/12/honoring-god-with-first-fruits/

(10)  The Secret Place of God: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/11/the-secret-place-of-god/

(11)  CCI [Christian Challenge International]: http://buddymartin.net/blog/about/

(12)  Questions: http://buddymartin.net/blog/ask-the-pastor/

(13)  Jesus the Wonder and Mystery of the Bible: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/11/jesus-the-wonder-and-mystery-of-the-bible/

(14)  The Call of the Eagle’s Heart: http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/02/the-call-of-the-eagles-heart/

(15)  Acts: http://buddymartin.net/blog/acts-studies/

 

Here is a song for your heart. Take time to listen. God really wants to speak to you.

“I Could Sing of Your Love Forever.”

In Christ always,

Buddy

 

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11
Jul
2011

The Fullness of Life – God’s Blueprint and GPS

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb 13:20-21)

 

 

Journal,

Sometimes religion can become a road block to a meaningful spiritual life. One struggle many believers have is in trying to find the perfect religion. They go from one group to another trying to find God’s blue print for life. The problem is that no institution on earth has the blueprint of God. To begin with there is no such thing as the perfect religion. And secondly, Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. [It can’t be found in an earthly form.]

Roman Catholics don’t have God’s blueprint. Southern Baptists, nor Pentecostals, nor Messianism have heaven’s blue print. The blueprint came to us from God and it can only be found one place. It can only be found in the heart.

Jesus is heaven’s blueprint. He said,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

 

 

Living life without the blueprint

Most believers today are spiritually mature enough to realize that God has people throughout the varied Christian groupings. Yet you always have those who live spiritually shallow lives because of their misconceptions about how to walk with God. Their walk is ‘religion-centered.’ Without even realizing it, they have placed their religion between themselves and God.

These are the, ‘Lo, Christ is here’ people. Jesus spoke of them:

“And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him … ” (Mar 13:21-22)

So, the question remains. If the blueprint of heaven can’t be found with any religious group, where then do we find Christ? The apostle said it very well:

“… the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 “We proclaim Him [Christ], admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” (Col 1:26-28)

The Bible says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And God wants each believer to find their own…

 

Completeness in Christ

It really isn’t a matter so much of where you attend church. God does place His people into flocks. Simply be where the Lord wants you to be.

What is important is that believers understand the essence of God’s heavenly covenant. The new covenant is an eternal covenant that gives us eternal life. The people of the new covenant are a heavenly people. They are a people born of heaven. They are given a heavenly directed heart. (That is what being born again actually means.)

Jesus is the heart and soul of the new eternal covenant. His life is our life. It is His life that we live. This means that new covenant life is an under tutorship of the Spirit of Christ.

Listen very carefully once again:

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb 13:20-21)

Paul explains this very well when he says,

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal2:20)

 

Learn to believe God’s way

It takes time to learn how to live in kingdom life. A difficulty we often have is in reading our own belief system into the Scriptures. We read it that way because we want to believe it that way. This is called eisegesis, or ‘reading into.’ This form of reading can mar a person’s spiritual life. Rather than let God speak to our hearts, we rush through the Scriptures to bolster what we want to believe.

The proper way to read the Scripture is called exegesis, or ‘reading out of.’

To properly understand what a Biblical writer means when he uses a certain term, we have to understand how that term was used during his time. When John says,

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace,” we need to know how the term ‘fullness’ was used at that time.

The word ‘pleroma‘ means ‘that which fills,’ and it comes from ‘pleroo‘, or, ‘ to fill with a content.’

Pleroma as used by the gospel writers had a two-fold meaning. It meant that believers have been brought into a fullness in Christ’s sphere of life. In this case there is nothing we need to do to be any closer to God, than being ‘in Christ.’ This fullness of our sphere of relationship takes place in the new birth. It is not some later added spiritual experience.

This Greek word also means that believers are filled absolutely by the Person of Christ as the giver of life. No believer has more of Christ than another believer. It is here that we get the idea of Christ living out His life in us. The apostle said that the one who belongs to Christ is one spirit with HIm.

Let’s take another example. Paul said,

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled (pleroo) the law.” (Rom13:8)

Paul is saying that the love of God that is poured out in our hearts in the new birth, is the governing principle of the new covenant, and that by walking in the Spirit of love we automatically fulfill, or reach the full goal of the intent of the Law of Moses. Paul’s point is that Christ has removed any need for performing rituals. Anyone can do a ritual, but only those truly born of God’s Spirit have the capacity to fulfill the love walk.

 

Made complete in Christ

There is a last sense in the word ‘pleroma‘ which has to do with completeness, or to finish up a thing. This is a very important concept. Listen carefully:

“For of His fullness (pleorma; or, ‘completeness’) we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” (Joh 1:16-17)

Completeness means there is nothing you can add to make it any more complete.

At the very moment of the new birth, a believer is made complete in Christ. No one can take away from that. Nor is there anything to add to that. This is the sum and substance of the new covenant.

It is because of this sum and substance, that John said we are given “grace upon grace.” Grace upon grace means that at no time in a believer’s life will he or she be able to get beyond God’s redeeming grace.

Hear again the apostle;

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He *lavished* on us, in all wisdom and insight.” (Eph1:7,8)

The key word is ‘lavished.’ Perisseuo means a super abundance, or be over and above anything needed or required. God can lavish grace on all His children because we have received the fullness of Christ.

 

 

Putting on Christ

This issue of Christ being our completeness was a struggle for the early believers, just as it is for many today. They had the Judaizers who said you must fulfill the law of Moses to be right with God. Then you had the Gnostics and philosophers who took to themselves as being the ‘special’ ones on the earth, that one must come to them to have fulfillment.

These kinds of religious systems have always been around.

John disarmed both groups when he said,

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

He then says,

“By this, love is perfected (brought to completion) with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He [Christ] is, so also are we in this world.” (1John4:15,17)

John is saying Christ perfectly represents every believer in heaven. And this is where our salvation lies. You can also refer to this as the life exchange of the cross. Christ took our life to Himself in His death on the cross, and, He, in turn, gave us His perfect life to be our standing with heaven.

 

Heaven’s GPS

And now for the path finder. Folk often wonder what specific role the Holy Spirit has in a believer’s life. There are many specifics to be had but the one most important to our walk of faith is how the Holy Spirit acts as our guide in our journey from earth to heaven.

Listen to these Scriptures:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (Joh 16:12-14)

The Greek term for ‘truth’ speaks of an unveiled reality or the very essence of a matter. Here the Lord is calling attention to matters of the kingdom.

Notice Jesus said, “Whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

How real is this? Most believers are familiar with what Jesus said about His sheep –

“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (Joh 10:26-29)

The point is that God’s people have the capacity to hear the Spirit of Christ speaking in their own hearts, also in providence, also in ways too many to mention. But once again, here is where spiritual maturity must come into place.

The prophet described how very real God’s speaking is:

“Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” (Isa 30:20-21)

 

The Way of God

When Jesus said that He was ‘the Way’, this term resounded with prophetic overtones. In time the disciples saw the connection, the very connection that we need to see. This is why the earliest believers often referred to their walk as ‘the Way.’

Listen to the Psalmist as he describes both God speaking and how the Messiah sets forth the way of God:

“I will hear what God the LORD will say; for He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; but let them not turn back to folly.

“Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

“Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. Righteousness will go before Him and will make His footsteps into a way.” (Psa 85:8-13)

 

And so, we are back to where we started. Ok – One more time – Listen with your heart to our beginning Scripture portion —

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb 13:20-21)

Does this Scripture speak to you? Take your time. Let it sink in.

There is no truth more important to a believer than to understand the reality or truth of kingdom life. That truth is simply, “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

 

Here is your meditation song. ‘Thank You, Lord’ by Hillsong. (Why not relax and let Jesus minister to your heart.)

In Christ always,

Buddy

 

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25
Jun
2011

A Case for the Christian

“If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.“ (1Pe 4:14-16)

 

Journal,

Christianity of itself is not essentially a religion. It is a kingdom. In order to have a kingdom you must have a king. Take note of this description of Jesus Christ about His second coming and His titles:

“He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:13-16)

Then there is this issue. There are no naturalized citizens in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. The only way to enter the kingdom of God’s Son is to be born into it. When a person is born from heaven, this is also a citizenship birth. With each kingdom birth there is a register. Listen to Paul:

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Php 3:20-21)

So, where does religion enter the picture? Good question. Religion is what we manage to do. A kingdom birth is what God does.

 

Born from Above

Let’s begin with the thinker – What is it that makes an Irishman an Irishman, or a Cajun a Cajun? (Pass the crawfish please.) The simple answer is that the Irishman and the Cajun are born to a particular cultural grouping. Each group has its own natural proclivities.

What then is it that makes a human a human? The answer is that all humans share a nature that belongs exclusively to humankind in general. Neither angels nor animals have a human nature. They have a nature that is exclusively theirs. So there is an angelic nature, an animal nature, and there is a human nature.

And here is the problem. The human nature is in disrepair. Our souls were damaged in the fall of Adam. Thus our physical life and our spiritual life have need for repair. While the holy angels of God continue with their original nature intact, the deepest part of our humanity, that is, our spiritual identity with God has been displaced.

Whether we understand it or not, Adam and Eve had in their original nature that which is only found in God Himself. They carried in them a certain spiritual likeness of God. The image and likeness had to do with their basic nature. It is that part of man’s inward nature that is in need of repair.

Satan took advantage of Adam’s fallen state and built his earthly kingdom around the aspect of disrepair. Satan is called the god of this world, the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the authority of ‘the domain of darkness.’ Thus Adam found himself in a twisted world filled with wrath and discord. Everything was out of balance.

 

Repaired Through the Cross

In essence what makes a Christian a Christian is that our spiritual identity with God has restored through a heavenly birth. This was the purpose of the cross.

Jesus said

“The thief [Satan’s environs and activities] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn10:10)

Listen to these Scriptures that describe the two kinds of humans on planet earth today:

Paul: “[We] formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as the rest.” (Eph2:2,3)

Peter: “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2Pet1:4)

When a person is born from above their severance from God is remedied. The born again person is now a very child of the living God and a citizen of heaven. This means that on planet Earth there are two kinds of humans, those who have been spiritually repaired and restored to God, and those who are still in disrepair. Is it any wonder that the strongest impulse of Christians is to get the message of the gospel out to our fallen kin.

 

 

The Wonder of a New Creation

Here we need to understand the critical element of what makes a Christian a Christian. The disrepair of our humanity can only be corrected one way. It has to be God’s way. God’s way is found in the working of the cross. No person is ever born again because they shook a preachers hand or that they prayed through to some esoteric experience.

The only way for a person to be born from above is that they must consciously recognize Jesus Christ as Lord, and receive Him personally as their own Lord and Savior. This accepting Jesus Christ as Lord is the heart and soul of the new creation.

And so, it is to Jesus alone that we bring our broken humanity. It is to Him that we make our appeal to His Lordship and to His saving grace. This is why the true apostolic message never changes, which says, “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” To call upon the name of the Lord means to recognize His Lordship and to appeal to Him as our own Lord.

This is why salvation can never be based on an emotional experience where we have set aside our minds and now depend on certain euphoric feelings. Drugs can induce euphoric feelings. A person can even become euphoric on their own emotions. There is such a thing as an emotional drunkenness.

The point is that our salvation is be based upon the fact alone. We are to become convinced of the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of Jesus Christ, and that He is now both Lord and Christ, and that there is no other way to be saved other than to call upon Him, and to acknowledge and confess His Lordship. Aside from this act of believing and confessing, there is no salvation.

Believing in Jesus Christ is an act of our will. The faith to be born again is a gift from God.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10)

Every time a person is born from above, there is an act of creation. In this new creation a new humanity comes into place. We are a people born-from-above, that is, a heavenly people. We now share a heart like God’s heart.

This brings us to…

 

The Reborn Heart

In the Bible the term heart speaks of the very center of our being. It is where our spirit life evolves. This is why the Scriptures make a distinction between man’s soul and man’s spirit. The soul is generally thought to be our mind, our will, and our emotions, that is, what identifies us as an individual. But our spirit is that part that relates closest to God. In is in our spirit where we have our God-awareness, our conscious spiritual life, our intuition, our fellowship and communion. This is why it is our spirit that is born again and not our soul. Our soul undergoes transformations over time.

The prophet described our new life this way:

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.” (Eze 11:19-20)

It all begins with the Lord getting our attention. The word repentance in the Greek speaks to a moral conquest of the mind. It begins as an intellectual process. We are made aware of and become convinced of the message of the cross. We realize our lostness. We change our minds about the path we’ve lived. And we turn to Jesus as our own Lord and Savior. Every bit of this involves our thinking. The mind is the way to the heart. Salvation involves both the mind and the heart.

It is under this strong convicting work of the Holy Spirit that our heart is brought to the place of being born again. The power that makes a Christian a Christian is not our power. It is the power of heaven.

Paul explains where the power of life comes from. Listen carefully:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom1:16)

The power of new life is found in the message of the cross itself.

Listen again to Paul:

“For this reason we also constantly thank God, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (1Th2:13)

The point is that the beginning place of salvation has to include our mind. The very word repentance speaks to the mind. Salvation is made upon a decision for Christ. This is why the Billy Graham crusades have such a tremendous effect on the crowds. He preaches the simple message of the cross. The respondents are openly declaring their faith in Jesus Christ.

 

A Seal that Cannot be Broken

When the Holy Spirit enters the heart of the believing one, that person becomes sealed for eternity. The Spirit will be there tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, and the next tomorrow. This is called the testimony of the Spirit. The apostle calls this the seal of redemption. This new believer has become a child of the living God. He can never be separated from the loving Father.

This does not mean that the newly born-again person is incapable of sin. Yes, the child of God can sin and will have failures in his life. However, sin will always be contrary to the child of God’s nature. He will sin by temptation. Yet the Spirit of Christ within him will now allow him to stay in a condition of sin. Sin hurts too much.

Think about these things. Feel free to offer your comments. I would love to hear from you.

In the meantime here is a song that will speak to your heart.

The King is Coming by the Bill Gaither Trio

 

 

Yours in Christ,

Buddy

 

 

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20
Jun
2011

Lord Jesus, remember me


 

– Lord Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. I know that I have broken God’s laws and that my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry. Please forgive me. I do believe that You are the Christ, the Son of the Loving God, that you died for my sins. I believe that you resurrected from the dead, that you are seated in heaven at the Father’s right hand as Lord of all creation, and that you are coming again. I call upon you as Lord of my life. Fill my heart with Your Holy Spirit. From this day forward I will confess you as my Lord and Savior.  Amen. –

A prayer of Salvation

 

Journal,

The thief on the cross did not have time to find a church, to get baptized, to do good works, or undo any of the sins of his life. He was about to die. On the cross between him and another thief was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Here is how it went:

“One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’

“And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’ And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luk 23:39-43)

 

The reason the thief on the cross would enter paradise is that he was placing his faith in the Man who was hanging on the cross. The thief would enter paradise the same way that all true believers enter paradise. He acknowledged faith and trust in the Lord when he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

One struggle that often confronts new believers has to do with realizing the life that is given us in the new covenant. I have often shared that when believers try to measure their walk with the Lord by the Old Covenant laws it can actually hinder the flow of grace in their life. The new covenant includes a life cause that had never been known to man.

It all has to do with…

 

The Life Atonement

In all the former covenants there was no spiritual atonement. All the Old Testament sacrifices could do was serve as reminders of sin and of man’s need of a Savior. The Bible says that these sacrifices could never make the worshipper “perfect in conscience.” (Heb9:9)

In the Old Testament sacrifice the one offering the sacrifice was exchanging his life for the life of the animal. The sacrificed animal was taking the place of the sacrificer. But all the sacrifices under the Law could never take away sin. They served as a reminder and a shadow of the great sacrifice to come. In the Old Testament sacrifices the gospel of Christ was being set forth.

What of the cross? It was on the cross that Christ offered himself as an ‘eternal’ sacrifice for all sin for all time, and through His atoning blood, the believer is given a cleansed conscience. Rather than having a heart that would continually remind the believer of the condemnation of sin, the blood-sprinkled heart would now speak of grace and righteousness.

The moment a person becomes born again, they are made aware of a new life principle at work. The born from heaven believer has a new relationship with God. His conscience has been cleansed. The former things have passed away.

Paul said it this way:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2Co 5:17-19)

None of this means that a new covenant believer is incapable of sin. What it means is that the new covenant believer’s life has been exchanged for the life of Jesus. The new believer now remains under the influence of the atonement of Christ.

This also means that the heart and soul of a new covenant believer has undergone a nature change. Where sin was his natural state, now sin becomes an unclean thing to this new believer. O yes, he can sin but he can never be comfortable in sin. Sin is now contrary to his new nature.

Another way of saying this is that the new believer now represents Jesus on the earth, and Jesus represents the new believer in heaven. Both the apostle John and the apostle Paul confirms this.

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He [Jesus] is, so also are we in this world.“ (1Jn 4:17)

“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col 3:3-4)

 

 

Walking with a Cleansed Conscience

It is one thing to know we are saved by the sacrifice of Christ, it is altogether another to walk with a cleansed conscience. And so the new covenant has a built-in ‘spiritual-cleansing’ or ‘renewing’ factor that will never lose its power for cleansing. The apostles speak of this renewing and cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.

The word that relates to the cleansing and renewing is the word sanctification. When God saves us, we become ‘set apart’ from the world. (This is essentially what ‘sanctify’ means.) Anything that is sanctified means that it belongs exclusively to God. In this sense all believers are ‘God-possessed’ people.

And so we have from God the work of separation, of cleansing and of renewing.

Paul said,

“We do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2Co4:16)

The term Paul used for ‘renewed’ is anikainoo. It literally means, ‘make new.’ Anikainoo carries the idea of spiritual restorations. Thus it can be said that the believer’s life is being made new day by day. This is the outflow of the life that has been given us in Christ.

Jesus described it this way:

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (Joh 7:37-39)

Back to the thief on the cross. In the new covenant there is …

 

No Salvation by Works or Personal Goodness

Just as the thief could be saved only one way, the apostles are careful to point out that we cannot be saved by anything that we could do or have done in our own power. The truth of our being saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone is taught throughout the New Testament. James explains how a person is born from above. He said,

“In this exercise of [God’s] will He brought us forth by the word of truth.” (James 1:18)

It is so important to understand this. You cannot work God’s will in your life. God works His will in your life. This is why even repentance can be said to be God at work in our hearts.

Paul added to this in saying,

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” (Tit3:5)

Once again Paul is speaking of the new life renewal that the Holy Spirit continues to manifest in each believer.

Always keep in mind what Jesus said to the thief, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’

Now let us talk about…

 

Full Fellowship

Again listen, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” We need to know that the Lord always deals with us as blood redeemed people. When we make mistakes, or fall into a temptation, or stumble, or whatever the case may be, the Lord is able to restore us in full fellowship through the atoning blood of Jesus. The Bible says that nothing shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus.

We drink from His cup. We sit at His table. We will always be with Jesus in heaven. The believer’s life cannot be separated from Jesus’s life.

In Hebrews, we hear,

“He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb7:25)

But it is more to this than restoration from sin. It is the very life of the new covenant that we need to learn about. Paul gave the finishing touch on how new covenant life works in a single statement. He said,

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal2:20)

 

Crucified with Christ

Yes, the thief was crucified with Christ. And the thief would forever live with Christ. When Christ arose from the grave, the thief arose with Him. When Jesus entered into heaven the thief entered with Him. When Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father, the thief was seated with Him. And so was every believer in the new covenant.

When Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ, he is addressing a cardinal reality of the Christian faith. Listen to the apostle:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:4-7)

Where does all this leave us? It really depends on your standing with heaven. If you are not assured of your salvation, I provided a prayer at the beginning of this journal entry that you may want to use. It begins with the simple words of the thief on the cross and it includes those things that speak of the Lordship of Jesus.

Don’t place your salvation in some church membership, or on some emotional experience, on shaking the preacher’s hand, or how long you prayed at an altar. Salvation is based on one issue alone – Salvation is the change of Lordship. You are turning from the god of this world [Satan] and calling on the name of God’s beloved Son. The Bible plainly says that whoever will call on His name will be saved.

Why not take time for this song. It is titled, ‘Lord, Please Remember Me,’ by the Jackson Southernaires. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYF-2Y9-ogo

 

Be blessed,

Buddy

 

 

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27
May
2011

Time for a Breather – Blog Studies Update

Readers,

Greetings from the Martin house.

Since I’ll be on the road for the next week and unsure about computer time, I thought it would be good to give an update on my blog. As of this morning so far this year I’ve had 40,089 page views. (Total of 71,201.)

The top twelve countries most represented in number of views are: (1) USA. (2) Russia. (3) United kingdom. (4) Canada. (5) Germany. (6) India. (7) Ukraine. (8) China. (9) Philippines. (10) Australia. (11) Japan. (12) Indonesia. (The views pretty much span the globe.)

If you are new to my on-line journal and would like to check those studies that have generated the most readership, here is a list of the top twelve studies in order of number of readers.

(1)    Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/11/mercy-triumphs-over-judgment/

(2)    Understanding Biblical Salvation. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/12/understanding-biblical-salvation/

(3)    Beware of the Godhood Lie. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/05/beware-of-the-godhood-lie/

(4)    Passing Through the Valley of Baca. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/01/passing-through-the-valley-of-baca/

(5)    Twisting and Turning in the Wind. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/05/twisting-and-turning-in-the-wind/

6)    The Secret of an Unfeigned Prayer Life. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/05/the-secret-of-a-unfeigned-prayer-life/

(7)    When the Temple Shuttered. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/05/when-the-temple-shuddered/

(8)    There’s a Promise Coming – Restoration. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/04/theres-a-promise-coming-restoration/

(9)    Miss You Mama. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/05/miss-you-mama/

(10) How Secure are You in Christ. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2010/03/how-secure-are-you-in-christ/

(11) Honoring God With Firstfruits. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2009/12/honoring-god-with-first-fruits/

(12) There Really Are Two Worlds. http://buddymartin.net/blog/2011/04/there-really-are-two-worlds/

A Servant of the Lord,

Buddy

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03
May
2011

When the Temple Shuddered

“And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (Mar 15:37-39)

 

Journal,

When Jesus breathed His last, the veil of the temple was torn. There was also an earthquake, and according to some sources, the foundation of the temple shifted. In this entry I wish to concentrate primarily on the significance of what happened in the temple during the crucifixion of Jesus.

Before the torn curtain, darkness had filled the land from noon to 3 o’clock. The ninth hour (3 pm) was the time of the incense offering. A priest and his attendants would be in the holy place.

The priest would not have heard the voice of Christ on the cross, nor the mockery of the chief priests and scribes, who were chiding Jesus, in saying,

“He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the king of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.” (Mat27:42)

But this moment was the deepest of sorrows for Jesus. And it is here that we hear the saddest words ever to be recorded by a human pen, when Jesus cries out,

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

At the moment of the cry, what the priest in the temple saw must have left him quaking. Hearing the sound of tearing, and looking up, the priest saw the vast curtain beginning to rend, starting at the very top.

 

Historical background

Let me share some historical background on both the curtain and the happenings in Israel during the time of Christ. This would explain any nervousness that the priest would have had.

First the curtain – The curtain was awesome in itself. It was 80 feet high, and as thick as the width of a man’s hand. (According to Josephus and later rabbinic authorities.)

Another point of interest is that the curtain had changed in appearance from the original pattern given Moses. The tabernacle curtain had cherubim embroidered in it. But the curtain in Herod’s temple had the heavens themselves embroidered on it. It was like looking at the sky. So when it began to tear, the priest would have thought of the rending of the heavens. And this is truly what was happening.

 

Strange things happening

There is more. According to the Talmud and Josephus, strange things had happened during that time period. Josephus said that the eastern gate, which was made of brass, and which took twenty men to close, would open and close on its own accord.

The Talmud speaks of something similar. It says that forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple doors would open and close on their own, and you could hear voices coming from within. Forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem was when Jesus took up His Messianic anointing. The Master of the Universe walked the land.

Evidently the temple was becoming a scary place. The priest would have reason to go about his duties with some nervousness. But nonetheless, it happened. He looked up and the vast curtain began to tear. The floor began to shift and shake.

It was as if God were saying, “This is it! No more! There will be no more separation! No more blood sacrifices! No more!!!” It was as if the temple itself was rending her garments. She shuddered.

What is the wonderful secret in all this? It was all about God and man. God has been reconciled to all of humanity. Thus, every person on this planet, saint or sinner, has the right to call on the name of the Lord, and be saved. Sin was dealt with in Christ. Not simply the sins of the saints. All the sins of the world were taken to the cross in Christ.

 

When love walked the earth

Through the fall of Adam, the human race came into league with Satan. But that did not mean that God stopped loving humanity. The Bible is a record of redemption. It is also the story of God’s love for humanity.

When Jesus came into the earth, it meant that He had to leave heaven with all its glory and splendor, and to come into a world that was enshrouded in sin.

Sin was our clothing. Did He come in anger? Did He come with vengeance in His heart? No. He came with a heart full of the Father’s love.

And this is why John 3:16,17 will always be the key message in the Bible. It says,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Jesus had to be born as a human. And so He was. Thus we have the mystery of the incarnation. Jesus was the only human ever to walk this planet in whom Satan had no power or authority over. Satan knew that somehow he must get Jesus to sin. But it never happened. Jesus was perfect in all His ways.

 

The message of the garden

Oh yes, Satan never forgot the message of the garden —

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Gen3:15)

Jesus could have went back to heaven any time He desired. But He didn’t. He walked in our sinful world. He put his arms around sinful creatures. He rebuked the religious leaders for their hardheartedness, and gave nothing but love and acceptance to the most sinful of us all. It still works that way today.

But all this wasn’t entirely new. God’s plan of redemption had been laid out by His holy servants of old, the prophets. In fact the Bible unfolds around God’s Son and the work of the cross.

Hear what the prophet David had to say…

 

When mercy and truth met together

Somehow mercy and truth had to meet together. Somehow righteousness and peace had to kiss one another. Somehow heaven and earth had to be reconciled. Somehow there had to be the ‘one’ sacrifice that would take away sin forever. And the sacrifice had to be so perfect that it would remove all the sins of all of humanity, for all time. And somehow, this sacrifice had to become the way for man to return to God.

The Psalmist also spoke of this. He said,

“Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. Righteousness will go before Him and will make His footsteps into a way.” (Psa 85:9-13)

Listen to the words —

‘Truth springs from the earth.’ This is Jesus born of a woman.

‘Righteousness looks down from heaven.’ The voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

‘Righteousness … will make His footsteps into a way.‘ The footsteps of Jesus took Him from the cross and to His rightful place in heaven. His footsteps are now our footsteps.

There is so much more to be said.

But then, maybe this song pretty much says it all.

Take time to listen to John Starns, ‘Love Grew Where the Blood Fell.’

In Christ always,

Buddy

 

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30
Apr
2011

There’s a Promise Coming – Restoration

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” (Act 3:19-21)

 

Journal,

The eyes of the world are on the Middle East. We are seeing a conflagration (uncontrolled fire) working its way out from the regions of ancient Babylon. The heat is intense in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel, Somalia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, not to speak of all the ‘***istan’ nations of the former Soviet Union. Keep in view that all these nations with the exception of Israel, are Islamic.

So much for all the diatribe on Islam being a religion of peace.

The apostle Peter told the Jewish people that Jesus had been received into heaven and would stay there, but would send times of ‘refreshing’ [special moves of the Holy Spirit] until the period of restoration of all things.

What did he mean by the term restoration? The Greek term ‘apokatastasis‘ means a restitution of a thing to its former condition. This expression denotes the times when the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ is completed, and the conversion of the Jewish nation is at hand.

This was a primary concern for the Lord’s Hebrew apostles. Jesus clearly taught that the kingdom of God would be taken away from the nation of Israel until the day came when they would say of Him, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

In Acts 1:6, they asked Him,

“‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ Jesus responded, ‘It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.'”

 

The clock is ticking

This is why May 14, 1948 is so important to redemption history. Israel lost her nationhood in the year 70 a.d. She was brought forth again as a nation in 1948, and took her place among the nations. Thus we have Isa66:8 fulfilled;

“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.”

Then we have this from the Lord:

“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles [other nations] until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

Some like to think that a nation being brought forth all at once has to do with the church. However, this does damage to the prophecy.  Notice carefully that it is not simply a nation, but also a land that will be born in one day. The Hebrew for land [’erets] speaks of the earth. The land took on the name Israel on May 14, 1948, and land of Israel once again took her place among the nations of the world.

Without laboring this too much we also need to understand that the nation of Israel today is not the nation she is going to be. The Jews returning to the land is at the heart of Old Testament prophecy. Yet Israel today is largely secular, with Talmudic Judaism in charge of her religious affairs. The fact that Israel is largely secular is not a bad thing in comparison to the Christ-hating Talmudic religion.

(Most Jews do not hate Jesus. There are even Jewish-Christian churches and synagogues in Israel. According to my sources, the number one topic of discussion among Israelis today is about Jesus. The Lord is stirring their hearts. Any hatred towards Jesus and Christians comes largely from Orthodox-Talmudic Judaism.)

 

The mystery of the dry bones

When God spoke to Ezekiel about the dry bones, it had to do with the restored captivity of that time. However, it had a deeper meaning that would reach forward to the day when Israel turns to Jesus, and call upon Him as their Lord and Savior..

“He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, You know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.”’

“Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'” (Eze 37:3-6)

 

Now lets combine two Scriptures, one from the old and the other from the new. Both with the same goal.

First Zechariah 12:10:

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me [This is Yahweh speaking] whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him [Jesus the crucified One], and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him [Jesus] like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Now Romans 11:25-27:

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel [the Christ-rejecting nation group] until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved [nation group looks to Jesus]; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'”

The sins of the Christ-rejecting Israel can only be taken away when they come to faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The message to Israel has never changed. When Peter addressed the Jewish leadership, this is what he said:

“He [Jesus] is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Act 4:11-12)

No one can ever be saved aside from receiving Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as both Lord and Savior. There are no exceptions.

 

A house restored

Let’s come back to what Peter said about the times of restoration:

“…that He [the Father] may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” (Acts 3:20,21)

The Greek term for ‘period‘ is chronos. It speaks of a particular time or space or season of events.

The Greek term for ‘restoration‘ is a double compound. It is only used here. But interestingly enough it is also used by Flavius Josephus for the return of the Jews from captivity, and for the restoration of the year of Jubilee. That is the how the term was understood during the time of Christ.

The period of refreshing and restoration that Peter speaks of has a dual focus. It includes the Church being refreshed during her journey on heart. And while the Church is being prepared for her departure, the Jewish people are being gathered to the land of Israel to fulfill her prophesied purposes. Hence, God is working with the Jews and with the Christians.

For the Jew there is a period of tribulation they must endure before the Savior comes out of Zion. The Bible also gives place for a pseudo-Church during the last hours of this age. (Pseudo refers to something that appears to be true but is not. A false pretender.)

The true church refers to those who are inborn of the Spirit and will not follow anyone other than Jesus, in spite of signs and wonders. The true Church will make her departure from the earth at the proper time. The pseudo Church will follow after lying wonders.

 

Tears for Jerusalem

Let’s listen to some of the last words that Jesus spoke over Jerusalem.

“When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

And again,

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me UNTIL you say, ‘Blessed is He [Jesus] who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matt23:37,38)

So, will the kingdom of God be restored to Israel? Will Israel really turn to the Lord Jesus and become part with His people? Can it be proved by the Scriptures? I believe it can. For your extra study consider these Scriptures: Isaiah 1:26; Jeremiah 23:3-6; Hosea 3:4,5; 5:15; 6:1-3.

That’s it for now.

Here is your song. Let the Lord refresh your heart. ‘There’s a Promise Coming Down’ by Joy Gardner…

Blessings,

Buddy

 

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28
Apr
2011

There really are two worlds



“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’

“Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'” (Joh 18:35-37)


Journal,

For the past few days I’ve had this feeling that I was to write a blog on the other world Jesus spoke to Pilate about. Then I remembered a blog I shared last year entitled, ‘Made in the Divine Image.’ So I decided to use that blog as a backdrop and share more insights that hopefully will bless my readers.

Here is the bottom line issue. While the angels of God continue with their nature intact, our spiritual nature and personal identity with God was displaced in the fall of Adam. We forfeited our unique relationship with all of creation. We lost something of our original nature.  

I realize that the idea of humans having something of the divine is difficult to grasp. Yet a restoration of Adam’s lost glory is at the very heart of our redemption in Christ Jesus. And this restoration includes something of the divine nature.

Pay attention to these Scriptures —

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom3:23)

Another,
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Heb 2:10-11 NASB)
And again,
“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2Pe 1:4)

Jesus entered the fallen world of Adam

Jesus took to Himself the fallen human race. Satan’s authority over all humanity was broken at the cross. From that moment on any person who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Calling on Jesus relates to His becoming Lord and Savior to the one calling on Him.)

But it doesn’t stop there. Peter gave more insight:

“… seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (2Pe 1:3 NASB)

That which was lost in the fall of Adam, has been restored in Jesus Christ.

The point is that Satan was able to take advantage of Adam’s fallen state and build his earthly kingdom around this aspect of disrepair. Satan is called the god of this world, the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the authority of ‘the domain of darkness.’ All that changed with the coming of Jesus Christ.

 

The two worlds and the two kinds of humans…

So now there actually are two kinds of humans on this planet. You have the ‘in Adam’ human. And you have the ‘in Christ’ human. Those who are in Christ, have turned to Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior. They belong to a new creation. Those who have not turned to Jesus still yet remain under the domain of the old creation. They are still under Satan’s jurisdiction.

Listen to these Scriptures that describe the two kinds of humans on planet earth today:

“[We all] formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as the rest.” (Eph2:2,3)

In speaking to the Jewish leaders in the temple, He said,

“‘I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.’ So the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, “Where I am going, you cannot come’?”‘ And He was saying to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.‘” (Joh 8:21-23)

Again,

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Joh 8:44)

Here is the description of those who have turned to Jesus Christ:

“For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we would walk in them.” (Eph2:10)

Again,

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away, new things have come.” (2Co5:17)

To the disciples and by extension to all believers through the age.,

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (Joh 15:19)

 

See the distinction?

You have humans in disrepair and you have humans who have been restored to their proper nature and in right relationship with God.

Once the human nature has been repaired this brings the principle of godliness back in place, and that which most closely relates to the divine. We now have a heart that is very much like God’s heart.

This does not mean that the repaired Christian cannot sin. No person on this planet has as sensitive a conscience as that of a person who has been born again. It is the nature of a Christian to seek cleansing from sin.

 

Born from above…

With that being said let’s take a closer look at the believer’s new status with God. Jesus said,

“The thief [Satan’s environs and activities] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn10:10)

The true believer is born from above. When a person is born from above their human nature has undergone a spiritual repair, and is in the process of being restored to its proper purpose.

The born again person is now a very child of God. The child of God once again has something of the divine within him. He belongs to the family of God.

The heavenly Father spoke life to him. This is what Jesus meant when he said,

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the word that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63)

Through our journey in this world, the Lord gives us life words. He speaks to us as our Father. But He also brings healing where healing is needed.

 

Repairing the broken…

The disrepair of our humanity can only be corrected one way. It is found in the working principle of the cross. Jesus alone is the One who repairs us. It is to Him alone that we bring our broken humanity. It is to Him that we make our appeal to His Lordship and to His saving grace. This is why the true apostolic message never changes, which says,

“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved [repaired].”

The word salvation [soteria] in Greek speaks of preservation and deliverance. The word ‘save’ [sozo] means, to bring safely, get well, to restore, etc.

Listen to angel’s message to Joseph about Mary having a Son:

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mark 1:21)

Being saved from our sins is not a one time event. It is the maxim of the cross. Being saved from our sins is a process of life. The Lord saved us, He is saving us, He will save us. Jesus came to save us from all our sins, past, present and future.

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” (Tit 3:5 NASB)

 

The glory to be revealed…

Here is the Scripture that troubles some folk:

“What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God,  and You crown him with glory and majesty!“ (Psa 8:4-5 NASB)

Yes, Adam did share in the divine nature, that is, in those godly traits that are found in God Himself. Adam was God’s very child and he carried in his person something of the nature of his Father.
I hope you are seeing the picture. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you also are God’s very child.

We have yet to receive our full glory, but it will happen.

Paul said this:

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Rom 8:29-30)

In all this always keep in mind that you do have authority over Satan. How to use this authority properly is a way of learning the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Think about these things. In the meantime here is a song what will minister to your heart, “The Glorious Impossible,” by the Gaither Band:

 

 

May the Lord ‘s richest blessing overflow your life as you seek His face,

Buddy

 

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24
Apr
2011

The Mystery of The Marriage

“Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’

“It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'” And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.'” (Rev 19:6-9)

 

 

Journal,

It was the first wedding for one of our grandchildren. Wesley asked her uncle Nathan to do the wedding and she wanted grandpa to bring a blessing. Here we are on the platform, Nathan and myself, and the groom. The groomsmen and bridesmaids are in place. All we needed was the bride.

The bridal music began and suddenly everyone’s gaze is fixed on the top of the plantation stairs. There she was. I think my heart literally skipped a beat. But I don’t think it was my heart only. All eyes were transfixed. Never had I seen a more beautiful bride. (All brides are beautiful.) There was our granddaughter Wesley with her raven black hair at the top of the stairs. The evening sun was lowering and its rays seemed fixed on our grandchild. It was pure radiance.

It was at that time that a thought rose up in my mind. My mind went to the bride of Christ. No, I wasn’t calling Wesley the bride of Christ. It was the scene. The tears began to fill my eyes. It was a moment of heaven as I stood transfixed with pure love in my heart. How I long for the day when we shall be joined fully with Jesus in our heavenly home.

Anyway, when Wesley and Joshua stood before me, the first words I spoke were, “Wesley, you are so beautiful.” Then I began to share the blessings of the Lord over them.

Yes, it was a family moment. My oldest son, Nathan, performed the wedding. My youngest son, André, gave the bride away.

(By the way, how do  you give your daughter away? I only have one daughter, and I refuse to give her away.)

Before I go any further, there is one more picture to share. Here are our two great-grandchildren Aiden and Cadence. Like everyone else, Aiden was feeling the moment.

Well, that brings me to the most beautiful story ever told. It is about…

 

The mystery of the Lamb’s marriage

In all that the Bible has it is important to bear in mind that it is both a book of redemption and a book of marriage. The Bible opens its pages with a marriage and the book closes with the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride. And the story of redemption is interwoven throughout its pages. The bridal price was paid at the cross. (Called the ‘ketubah’ in ancient Israel.)

And so we take up our name ‘Christian.’ We take to ourselves the new covenant representative title of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. The prophet Isaiah said that God’s people would be given a new name. The apostle Peter said that we are to glorify God in the name Christian.  It is important to understand this. Anything else a believer may wish to call himself is of little importance. Unless you can call yourself a Christian, you have not fully identified with the Christ of God in a proper way.

“If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” (1Pe 4:14-16)

Did you catch it? We Christians have taken the name of Christ to ourselves. This is because we are espoused to the Lord Jesus. We are to glorify God in the name Christian.

Let me say it another way – The Baptist Church did not die for you. Nor the Catholic Church, not the Pentecostal Church, nor the Episcopalian Church, and so on. Those designations are meaningless when it comes to who believers really are. We are Christians. So, why don’t we began to drop all the other titles and simply say, “I am a Christian.”

 

A marriage covenant of the Spirit

Now for the heart of the matter. The new covenant is a marriage covenant of the Spirit and not of the letter. The letter was written on stone. The new covenant is a love letter of Christ written in our hearts. In the new covenant our hearts are filled with the very presence of Jesus Christ. Who is adequate for this? The mystery of our espousal to Jesus Christ is beyond words.

The apostle said it well enough:

“… being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2Co 3:3)

“Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2Co 3:5-6)

Take note that the essence of our covenant in Christ is found in the ‘new.’ New covenant believers are given a new ability to live in and experience the very love of God. Everything in the new covenant is new, not renewed, or refurbished, or modified. It is entirely new.

 

A marriage based on blessings not curses

The Old Covenant was also a marriage covenant but it had curses attached to it. It ended in a death. The new covenant has no curses. In the new covenant every believer’s life is overseen by, indwelt by, enriched by, guided by, corrected by, and governed by the Holy Spirit. It is a covenant of life. It is a covenant of love.

The new covenant is a covenant of forgiveness and mercy. It is a covenant where all believers are guaranteed a future together with Christ. Upon each believer’s heart is placed a redeeming seal of love. The seal cannot be broken. God allows no separation from His love for us in Christ.

The new covenant overrules death. The new covenant is a covenant where no believer can ever received a damnatory sentence. This is what the statement means, which says,

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law [the new covenant marriage contract and all its spiritual ramifications] of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law [former marriage covenant with its curses] of sin and death.” (Rom8:1,2)

So, there you have it in short measure.

As for my granddaughter, Wesley. Well she is the first of fifteen grandchildren. We have fourteen more to see at the altar of wedding. I’ll probably enjoy an epiphany [a divine manifestation] experience with each wedding. But who knows — Hopefully our journey to our heavenly home will be in the short run.

In the meantime here is a song for your meditation —

 

 

In Christ always,
Buddy

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17
Apr
2011

Invisibility and Power

 

“Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Co 12:8-10)

 

Journal,

Did you know that a believer’s greatest weakness can become their greatest strength? Yes, this is Biblical language. It has to do with something that God does in our lives. Turning weaknesses into strength is one of the great wonders of the new covenant walk. It is the secret to what beautifies a believer’s life. Yes indeed, God wants to add beauty to your life.

Listen as the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah;

“[I will] grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isa 61:3)

We need a good starting place. Let’s begin with the word ‘spiritual‘.

 

I can do all things through Christ

The New Testament term so often misunderstood is the term ‘spiritual. The Greek term for spiritual [pneumatikós] comes from two words that have to do with invisibility and power, or that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit. So, whether it is a spiritual song, a spiritual gift, or a spiritual enlightenment, it will always be of the Spirit and never of the flesh or by natural tendency.

Spirituality is not something to be earned. It comes to us by way of the cross. And yet spirituality is something that the believer learns to draw on. The reason is in every believer there is a spiritual fountain of life.

Listen to Jesus explain this to the Samaritan woman:

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

“She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.'” (John 4:10-14)

 

From grace to grace

Spirituality is the outflow of God’s grace. Grace is not something that is measured to us on the basis of our merits. No one earns grace. And there will never be a day in a believer’s life where they are unable to draw on grace. (Cf. John 1:16)

God’s grace will always be amazing. It seems to come to us out of nowhere. Paul said it this way:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20)

The apostle also said,

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Php 4:11-13)

 

A secret to be learned

Paul said he had ‘learned’ the secret. The word ‘learned’ in the Greek context speaks of an entrance into a new condition of living.

Paul had been taught by the Lord how to be independent of outside considerations. What he learned was that the Lord can infuse His strength into any every need that Paul the believer had. Paul’s weakness could become his strengths. However, it would be important for Paul to recognize his own weakness before the power of God’s grace could become his source of strength.

Another way of saying this is that Christ is living His life in each believer.

This is where we hear Paul say,

“…Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Co 12:9-10)

 

You don’t put new wine in old wine skins

A problem for some today is that they try to live new covenant life on an old covenant level. While there are defined callings in the new covenant, in no sense is one believer granted a higher spiritual life than any other. Certainly we should thank the Lord for pastors and other ministers, however, these ministers should never be given a place where they become the voice of God in our lives.

And in no case should a believe be running to and fro, trying to find someone who can give them a word from the Lord. The era of the Old Testament prophet is over. His job was fulfilled in John the Baptist. Jesus specifically said that the law and the prophets concluded with John. The new covenant is a covenant of spiritual life. This spiritual life is resident in each believer.

It is not that the Lord can’t speak to us through others. He can and He does. The Lord can speak to us through nature or even by way of a sinner. But none of this precludes the essence of spiritual life in the new covenant.

Hear what Jesus had to say about the new covenant:

“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” (Joh 10:4-5)

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (Joh 10:27-28)

 

The Way of the Cross

After Jesus took His place in heaven as the resurrected ‘Lord of glory,’ the Spirit then came to fill the new covenant church. The purpose of the cross was a new creation wherein each believer would be God-indwelt. This is why Jesus told the apostles that it was to their advantage that He went away.

The Lord went on to speak of the cross to the disciples:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” [The term ‘truth’ in in the Greek speaks of the realities of God that comes to us by the cross.]

And again,

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said to you that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (Cf. John 16:12-15) [He would take of the finished work of the cross and will disclose it to you.]

Out of the cross would come a new kind of man and woman, a people of the Spirit. These spiritual people would also be ‘heavenly’ born, that is, they would be heavenly citizens in earthly bodies. They would also be given the mind of Christ.

Our spirituality is the working of the cross in us. It is also the working of heaven in us. If we keep the term ‘the finished work of the cross’ in view, this will disallow confusion about what it means to be a person of the Spirit in the new covenant.

Jesus Christ is not only Lord and God, He is also the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. John said that His fullness has been given to all believers. Thus we have become men of Christ and women of Christ, that is, we are Christians.

Listen to the gospel story in this song, ‘He Came Down to My Level’, by the Gaither Vocal Band

Much love in Christ always,

Buddy

 

 

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