8-6-2020
Beloved...
In many churches there is this ideology, or we could call it “theology”; that due to the fact that our salvation is only by faith & faith alone in order for members to remain “humble” they are to “confess” once in a while that they are sinners saved by grace, & to somehow recognize that they will remain sinners until the day they go be with the Lord.
So there is this preaching about the Sovereignty & Holiness of God, & because of it, we sinners saved by grace are to approach Him as undeserving men unworthy of such God. And we are to continue to confess our sinfulness & unworthiness, especially when we pray & that no matter how much we want to please Him, we will fall in sin once in a while, & therefore remain unworthy, & then we are to continue to fight our sinful nature hoping one day we will overcome it & be worthy of God’s calling, which will only happen in the next life.
I want to share what I read in the Bible, please pray about these passages & ask the Lord see if you understand what God says.
The apostle Paul wrote Rom 7:18-25 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good; For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.
There is no better description of our dilemma with sin than that one. It calls the attention that Paul adds… I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Then he continues…
Rom 8:1-4 THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS MADE ME FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND OF DEATH. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
So, it is vital that we understand that the victory over sin in our lives was won when God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. What did the Law required? That we would have to pay for our sins, so God satisfied that requirement through the sacrifice of His own Son. When we seek the Lord through the renewing of our minds by reading His Word & getting close to Him through Prayer, just fellow-shipping & spending time with Him, & not by our own efforts to control our flesh through our will power, which is what many religious people try to do & are always almost getting there, but never reaching. The apostle Paul goes on to say in the letter to the Hebrews…
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. 14 HAVING THEN A GREAT HIGH PRIEST, WHO HAS PASSED THROUGH THE HEAVENS, JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, LET’S HOLD TIGHTLY TO OUR CONFESSION. 15 For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16 LET’S THEREFORE DRAW NEAR WITH BOLDNESS TO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY RECEIVE MERCY, AND MAY FIND GRACE FOR HELP IN TIME OF NEED.
Please note in that passage that because Jesus is our High Priest & therefore intercedes for us, we can enter into the Holy Throne of God with BOLDNESS, to receive Mercy & Grace in time of need, Hallelujah!
So he says let’s hold tightly to our confession. And what confession is he talking about?
In everything we do we should copy Jesus & the apostles. How did they talk, how did they pray? I have been studying their prayers in the New Testament, & the way they prayed is how I want to pray. If Jesus said: Jn 12:49 For I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say, and what I should speak. In other words, He only said what the Father laid in his heart. Why can’t we copy that example?
This is where our “confession” becomes vital for our complete victory.
If I confess, “I will fail sometimes” (because I am aware of sin in my members), then I am opening the door to that possibility with my own mouth, even more. Or if I confess: I am a sinner saved by grace; then I am not acknowledging God’s work in my life.
I can say: I was a sinner saved by grace, but now I am a Son of the Most High & an Heir with Christ, not because I did anything, but because of the high price Jesus paid for me in the Cross. 1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Gal 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.
When I read passages like the following…
Jud 1:24-25 Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy; to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever. Amen.
Heb 13:20-21 Now MAY the GOD of peace (who brought again our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant) MAKE YOU PERFECT in every good work to do His will, WORKING IN you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Col 1:21 And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now HE HAS RECONCILED in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish, and without charge in His sight…
Jn 8:36 Therefore IF THE SON SHALL MAKE YOU FREE, you shall be free indeed. (Jesus was talking about being free from sin)
2Co 5:21 For HE HAS MADE HIM who knew no sin, to be sin for us, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME the righteousness of God in Him.
The reason I am highlighting those verses is so we can see, that God is the one who does the work of perfecting us, & not our own efforts.
Even though it may sound bad to some people, instead of declaring… I am a sinner saved by grace, or I am not worthy, etc., as some people do in churches trying to sound humble, I rather say out loud & confess to myself on daily basis: I am a Son of the Most High God, & an Heir with Christ! My God is keeping me from stumbling… He is making me perfect in every good work… My Heavenly Father has made me Holy… Jesus has made me free from sin, & so I am free! I am the Righteousness of God in Christ! Hallelujah…!!!
And while I confess the same thing God’s Word says about my life, then I am calling myself Holy, as God does, because as He calls the things that are not as though they are, so thus I call what He has made me, & therefore I become. It’ all by Faith, & faith is what pleases God!
Rom 4:16-17 Therefore it is of faith so that it might be according to grace; for the promise to be made sure to all the seed, not only to that which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it has been written, "I have made you a father of many nations") —before God, whom he believed, who makes the dead alive, AND CALLS THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT, AS THOUGH THEY WERE. (& they become what He has called them)
Knowing that I have the greatest Treasure in the Universe within me, because I have the same Spirit of Faith, because I believe, therefore I speak, & I don’t look at the physical world but keep my eyes on the Promises of God & quote them to myself every day.
2Co 4:6 For it is God who said, "Out of darkness Light shall shine;" who shone in our hearts to give the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. BUT WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS, SO THAT THE EXCELLENCE OF THE POWER MAY BE OF GOD and not of us; in every way having been troubled, but not having been hemmed in; having been perplexed, but not utterly at a loss; having been persecuted, but not having been forsaken; having been thrown down, but not having been destroyed; always bearing about the dying of the Lord Jesus in the body, so that the life of Jesus also might be revealed in our body. For we who live are always being delivered to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus might also be revealed in our body. So then death works in us, but life in you. For we, HAVING THE SAME SPIRIT OF FAITH (ACCORDING AS IT IS WRITTEN, "I BELIEVED, AND THEREFORE I HAVE SPOKEN"); WE ALSO BELIEVED AND THEREFORE SPEAK, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall also raise us up by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sake, so that the super abounding grace might be made to abound through the thanksgiving of the greater number, to the glory of God. For this cause we do not faint; but though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. WHILE WE DON’T LOOK AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, BUT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT SEEN. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. .
Besides declaring the Promises of God upon my life daily, I also pray daily as Jesus warned us Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Whenever I slip, for whatever reason, right away I make amends with God & ask for his forgiveness, as…
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 2:1-2 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
Rom 8:34 Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also who is raised, who is also at the right hand of God, WHO ALSO INTERCEDES FOR US.
One thing that is a DON’T DO, is to allow the enemy to put us under condemnation, because… Rom 8:1 THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!
But as you walk close to the Lord, & live in His Word, you will realize that every time more & more you hate sin, & your dominion over your sinful nature grows continually stronger & stronger. Remember now we are like Jesus & He lives within Us… Hallelujah!!!
1Co 6:17 But he being JOINED TO THE LORD IS ONE SPIRIT.
Reading the next passage in Romans 5…
14 But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of Him who was to come; 15 but the free gift shall not be also like the offense. For IF BY THE OFFENSE OF THE ONE MANY DIED, MUCH MORE THE GRACE OF GOD, AND THE GIFT IN GRACE; WHICH IS OF THE ONE MAN, JESUS CHRIST, ABOUNDED TO MANY. 16 And the free gift shall not be as by one having sinned; (for indeed the judgment was of one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses to justification. 17 For IF BY ONE MAN'S OFFENSE DEATH REIGNED BY ONE, MUCH MORE THEY WHO RECEIVE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE AND THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL REIGN IN LIFE BY ONE, JESUS CHRIST.) 18 Therefore as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation, even so BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE THE FREE GIFT CAME TO ALL MEN TO JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, SO BY THE OBEDIENCE OF ONE SHALL MANY BE MADE RIGHTEOUS. 20 But the Law entered so that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, 21 so that as sin has reigned to death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
In a few words: As the sin of Adam had the power of making all men sinners, the righteousness, the obedience & the sacrifice of Jesus has the power to transform all those sinners that come to God by Him: Righteous & Holy. Can you see it? So I say: Because I came to the Father by Jesus, He transformed me into a Righteous & Holy Son of Almighty God!
Knowing how much God loves us definitely strengthens your faith. Confess whom God says you are, & YOU WILL BE!
Love in Jesus… Alejandro
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