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Posts Tagged ‘grace’

Can I Be Disinherited?

15 Apr

(Rom 8:17Rom 8:17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;…”

Since our inheritance in glory is based on relationship, is there anything we can do to be disinherited by God?  Praise God there is not inkling in Scripture that God reverses His decision to make us heirs!  As a “joint-heir,” the promise to us is as permanent as the promise is to Christ.  If we can do anything to lose the inheritance, then the relationship doesn’t mean anything.  The finished work on the cross enables God’s forgiveness to be one of the most powerful forces in existence.  It doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want knowing we will still obtain the promise. It does mean we can be thankful for God’s mercy and grace in spite of what we do each day to grieve Him.  From God’s viewpoint, He can maintain the promise of inheritance to us because our sin-debt has already been paid.  Just as the cross covers an eternity of sin, His forgiveness is infinite, our relationship is forever, and the promise to His heirs (both Christ and us) is everlasting.

Renewed Thought – God’s children cannot be written out of His will and God’s will always includes His children.

 
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My Joint Witness

13 Apr

(Romans 8:16Romans 8:16
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  

WP-Bible plugin)  “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

Do I “feel” saved today?  Sometimes we struggle in our soul because our emotions don’t always line up with reality.  Sin can get in the way of our perception of God’s grace.  We are bombarded with thoughts contrary to God in everything we read or watch.  Sometimes we hurt those we love.  Sometimes we say the wrong thing.  Sometimes we hang out with the wrong crowd.  These things can cause us to doubt who we really are in Christ.  When we yield to temptation, guilt builds.  Living without repentance causes us to be overwhelmed with guilt.  Worst yet, an unrepentant life sears our conscience and withdraws our heart from the closeness and dependency on God.

Have you ever felt God was distant from the reality of your everyday life?  It’s these times when I feel far away from God (or I think that God is far away from me) that the joint testimony of God Himself brings me back to an awareness of who I really am.  “Beareth witness with” comes from the Greek word summartureō which means, “to testify jointly, that is, corroborate by (concurrent) evidence.”  The Holy Spirit testifies, agrees and confirms with my spirit that I am a child of God.  In those dark times when I don’t allow the Word of God to work in me, when I fail to yield to the Holy Spirit’s guidance under grace, when I resist crying out “Abba, Father” in dependency on Him, God Himself is still on my side.

You may not “feel” saved today.  But praise God your salvation doesn’t depend on your feelings.  He is there for you, testifying on your behalf, proving that you are still a child of the Living God.  If you truly are a child of God through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are still saved no matter how you feel.  Jesus Christ is still your Advocate, the Holy Spirit is your Joint-Testifier, and the Father…well…He’s still your Father.

Renewed Thought – The Spirit gives us the power to live a life that is death to self.  The Spirit leads us to live a Life that is not our own.  We are lead out of bondage into the freedom to be who we really are – alive unto God!

 
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Sin Has No Right – Romans 8:3

01 Feb

(Romans 8:3Romans 8:3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: for sin: or, by a sacrifice for sin  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”

The Law could forbid me.  The Law could scold my conscience.  The Law could correct me.  But what could the Law not do?  It could not free me from the law of sin and death! In my Christian walk, every time I try to live according to the letter of the law, I face condemnation.  I am not able to escape failure under the law.  I see my own inadequacies.  But when I come back to the source, the center of my identity, I realize once again that in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.  My sinful flesh is weak and powerless to fulfill the law.  My sinful flesh is unable to meet the righteous requirements of God.

God’s plan is not for me to receive constant condemnation.  God’s plan is not for me to bear a continual burden in my soul as a reminder of my past.  God’s plan was to turn the tables on sin and the flesh.  Instead of condemning my spirit, “sin in the flesh” received the condemnation.

When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, sin in my flesh was condemned.  When I placed my faith in Him, God rewrote my history so that Christ became my Adam.  My past link to the first Adam was removed and my life is now eternally linked to the second Adam, Who is Christ.

(1 Corinthians 15:451 Corinthians 15:45
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

Because sin stands condemned, it has no right to operate in me.  Sin is a convict without a home.  When I choose to sin, I am choosing to allow something without spiritual rights and privileges to have power over me.  Therefore, sin operates illegally when it has free reign to work through me.

Renewed Thought – Thank you Lord that my history is defined by Christ alone.  Sin has no legal right over me today.  I choose to be a servant of You and I choose to be defined by You in all that I am.

 
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Free Indeed – Romans 8:2

26 Jan

(Romans 8:2Romans 8:2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

I stand without condemnation today (Romans 8:1Romans 8:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
8 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin) because I have been set free.  This is true because all those in Christ Jesus are no longer condemned.  And since I am in Christ, I am no longer condemned because the law of sin and death no longer hold my soul captive to a system that constantly points out my failure.  I am no longer held captive to a system that causes my Christian life to die each moment I fail to measure up to the rules and regulations of the law.

Freedom means I am not obligated to constantly live in the shadow of my past.  Freedom means I am not held to a standard I could never fulfill.  Freedom means I am not bound by the man-made rules others place on me in an attempt to make me conform to their standard of righteousness.  Freedom means I function on the basis of the Spirit.  Freedom means I am alive.  Freedom means I get to choose whether I want to please God with my life.

The days of self-torture are over.  There is a law stronger than sin and death.  It is Spirit and it is life.  Truth reigns over opinion.  Grace triumphs over law.  The law of the Spirit is infinitely stronger because it is centered and sourced in an infinite God.  Yes, the anointed One – Jesus – brings the victory and His life to me today.

Renewed Thought –(John 8:36John 8:36
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

 
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Free From Condemnation – Romans 8:1

25 Jan

(Romans 8:1Romans 8:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
8 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The burden of condemnation is a heavy weight.  Condemnation results in imprisonment.  Condemnation results in guilt.  Condemnation results in doubt.  God declares our righteousness and forgiveness for past offenses through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 4:24-25Romans 4:24-25
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.  

WP-Bible plugin).  Yet many of us still suffer under the unbearable load of condemnation every day.

We look at our daily lives and it just doesn’t seem to be what we think it should.  This is especially true as we are now a few weeks past a new year when resolutions were made and plans were laid down to become a better person.  Your plans to lose weight, stop smoking, or eat better have fallen through.  Maybe you had a plan to be a more consistent Christian.  You promised yourself that you would go to church more, pray more, read more, witness more.  But all the things you promised yourself or God haven’t worked out…and you feel condemned for failing to be who you ought to be and who you wanted to be.

Christian, take heart!  This passage was written to encourage us and lift us up!  I travel occasionally on business and have to go through Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C.  Every time I travel there, I miss the road signs guiding me out of the airport.  I get lost and have to backtrack to where I started.  It’s discouraging.  Just like my frustrating travel adventures, many of us miss the road signs guiding us out of one subject in the book of Romans into another.  We have to backtrack to get an idea of where we are.  The context in this section is about our practical walk in the Christian life.  The condemnation in this passage describes our relationship to the Law.  Our relationship to the penalty of sin was dealt with in Romans chapters 1-5.  In this passage, we see our position and the practical side of our identity in Christ.  We are not under a system of performance.  We are not condemned by our failures to live up to the plans, programs and performance-based systems set down in our own minds or by those around us!  We are given principles and promises as those “in Christ Jesus.”  But just like salvation, the answer to deal with the condemnation is not in our righteousness or our own ability to measure up.  We are delivered today again and again and again by the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25Romans 7:24-25
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? the body...: or, this body of death 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.  

WP-Bible plugin).

Renewed Thought – We condemn ourselves because we don’t believe God.  We feel condemned by the Law because we don’t believe God.  The cross is God’s answer to self-condemnation.  Grace is God’s answer to the bondage of the law.

 
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