Category: Christianity 101

Shall We Sin So Grace May Abound?

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Sin. It’s something most of us would rather not think about. For the unsaved person, sin is something that separates them from God, due to his perfect holiness. Yet for the Christian, their sin has been paid for. When God looks at them, he doesn’t see their sin, but instead righteousness.

How can that be? The answer is Jesus.

Jesus took the place of us on the cross. He paid the price of our sins with his very life and his holiness was accounted to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). God made it possible for us to be with him through the blood of his holy Son. Instead of condemnation, we receive grace. Instead of rightful punishment for our sins, God sees us as his sons and daughters. Indeed, this is the miracle of the Christian faith for all who believe.

But this brings up an important question. If our sin is already paid for, why should we stop sinning? In fact, doesn’t the vastness of our sin just make his grace more beautiful? Shall we sin that grace may abound?

Shall We Continue in Sin?

Paul demolished this dangerous line of thought in Romans 6. Christ died to free us from sin, not enable us to sin. When Jesus died, he was releasing us from our bondage to sin, because that is what sin is — slavery. Sin is what separates us from God. It’s damaging, and for the unredeemed, it is damning (Romans 6:23).

 

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” – Romans 6:6-7 

So, shall we then continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul replies with a resounding “God forbid” (Romans 6:2). To desire to continue in sin shows a misunderstanding of this abundant grace and a contempt for Jesus’ sacrifice. Either we believe what God says is true or we don’t. Either we take him at his word when he equates sin to death, or we do not believe him at all (Ephesians 2:1).

What is the point of the Christian faith if we get to pick and choose what we want to believe? Do we think God is that small, insignificant or somehow uninformed? Do we trifle with the very thing that God sent his Son to save us for? Do we misuse the grace that he gifted us with in his death and resurrection? Surely not.

Sin and Grace

Grace is a gift. Forgiveness of sins and his salvation are gifts. Grace is not, however, a license to sin. Throughout the Bible, fathers of our faith are seen distressed, tormented by their sin.

Consider David after his adultery with Bathsheba or Peter after denying Christ (Psalms 51:17 and Matthew 26:75). They did not discount their sin as simply something atoned for. Just because the Christian’s sin is paid for by Jesus, sin is still damaging to the believer and their relationship with God.

When David tried to ignore his sin, his “bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psalms 32:3). He did, however, find freedom in confession.

 

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” – Psalms 32:5 

A Christian who pursues sin despite claiming Christ as their Savior is living outside the blessing and fullness of the relationship that comes with an obedient life. We cannot equate grace with freedom to sin. Instead, we should be thankful that grace provides freedom from sin and its eternal consequences.

Doesn’t that kind of grace make you want to obey the one who set you free?

What Is Sanctification?

 

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.” – John 14:5-17

The Christian’s spiritual journey doesn’t begin and end at a one-time prayer of confession. When we truly see our need for God, his grace and Christ’s sacrifice for us, we will want to obey him. Why? Because we will overflow with love and gratitude that the God of all creation cares enough to save us from ourselves. And if we love him, we trust him when he calls us to higher things. This pursuit toward Christ, and refining of our faith, is sanctification. Sanctification is progressing toward Christlikeness. A Christian cannot pursue both Christlikeness and sin.

So Christians, remember his abounding grace toward you. Turn from sin and embrace your new life as a vessel of light. You are dead to sin, alive in Christ.

Now go live it.

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***By Lizzie Hoover at Grand Canyon University: gcu.edu / Photo by Mike Waters at Joyful Toons

Sovereignty of God

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
~ Isaiah 55:8-9

The total sovereignty of God over all people and circumstances, is a matter in which many believers remain in doubt. They may give lip-acknowledgment to it, but they don’t believe it “works” in the situations of daily life. Yet the Scriptures are full of examples of how God worked sovereignly on behalf of His people – and often in the most unlikely ways.

Many of us are familiar with the obviously miraculous ways in which God worked on behalf of His people – such as the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt etc. But we have often missed seeing the greater miracles by which God turned the tables on Satan when Satan attacked God’s people.

The case of Joseph is a classic. God had a plan for that eleventh son of Jacob to make him the second ruler in Egypt by the time he was thirty. Joseph was a God-fearing lad and therefore he was hated by Satan. And so Satan instigated his elder brothers to get rid of him. But God ensured that they didn’t take Joseph’s life. They managed, however, to sell him off to some Ishmaelite traders. But where do you think those traders took Joseph? To Egypt, of course!

That was the fulfilment of Step One in God’s plan! In Egypt, Joseph was bought by Potiphar. This too was arranged by God. Potiphar’s wife was an evil woman. Taking a fancy to Joseph, she tried to entice him again and again. Finally when she found that she could not succeed, she accused Joseph falsely and had him cast in jail. But who do you think Joseph met in the jail? Pharaoh’s cupbearer! God had arranged for Pharaoh’s cupbearer also to be jailed at the same time so that Joseph could meet him. That was Step Two in God’s plan.

God’s third step was to allow Pharaoh’s cupbearer to forget about Joseph for two years. “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. It happened at the end of two full years that Pharoah had a dream…. Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh…(Genesis 40:23; 41:1,9). That was the time, according to God’s time-table, for Joseph to be released from prison. Psalm 105:19, 20 says, “Until the time that His word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. Then the king sent and released him and set him free.” Joseph was now 30 years old.

God’s time had come. And so God gave Pharaoh a dream. And God reminded the cupbearer also of Joseph as the interpreter of his dream. Thus Joseph came before Pharaoh and became the second ruler in Egypt. God’s timing of events in Joseph’s life couldn’t have been more perfect! We would never have thought of arranging things the way God did. If we had the power to plan Joseph’s life, we would probably have prevented people from doing him any harm. But the way God did it was better. It’s a far greater miracle when the evil that people do to us is turned to fulfill God’s purposes for us! God takes great delight in turning the tables on Satan, so that all things work together for the good of His elect.

Let us look at one more example from the Old Testament, so that our minds can be firmly established in this truth. In the book of Esther, we read of how God rescued the Jews from being slaughtered as a race. But it is amazing to see how God did it – through one small incident – that the king could not sleep one night. Haman and his wife had been plotting one night to get the king’s permission to hang Mordecai on a gallows the next morning, as a prelude to destroying all the Jews.

But while Haman and his wife were making their wicked plans, God was working on behalf of Mordecai too. “The Keeper of Israel never slumbers or sleeps.” (Psalm 121:4). God prevented the king from sleeping that night, “During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king” (Esther 6:1). The king listened to his nation’s history for many hours, until the day began to break. Then the reading came to the place where it was recorded that Mordecai had once saved the king from being assassinated. The king asked his servants what honour had been bestowed on Mordecai for this, and they replied that nothing had been done. God’s timing of events was again perfect. At that very moment Haman walked in, planning to ask the king for permission to hang Modecai. Before Haman could open his mouth, the king asked Haman what he thought could be done for one whom the king desired to honour. Haman, conceited man that he was, thought that the king was referring to him, and so suggested a great parade of honour for such a man. “Go and do that for Mordecai, quickly,” the king said.

How wonderfully our God can turn the tables on Satan. Haman finally hung on the very same gallows that he had made for Mordecai. As the Bible says, “He who digs a pit (for another) will fall into it (himself). And he who rolls a stone (at another) will find the stone rolling back (to crush him)” ( Proverbs 26:27). Haman, in this story, is a type of Satan who is always planning some evil against us. God won’t stop him, because God has a far better plan. He wants to turn the tables on Satan. The pit that the Devil digs for us will be the one that he himself falls into finally. Zephaniah 3:17 says (in one translation) that God is silently planning for us in love, all the time.

While Mordecai was sleeping peacefully that night, quite ignorant of all the wicked plans that Haman and his wife were making against him, God was also planning to protect Mordecai. So Mordecai could have slept just as peacefully, even if he had known of Haman’s wicked plans. Why not? If God was on his side, who could be against him?

Once we have seen the sovereignty of God, we will stop blaming people for anything. We’ll no longer be afraid of Satan, fearing that he might harm us in some way. We won’t be afraid of sickness or disease or anything else in this world.

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**Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at cfcindia.com / Photo by Johannes Plenio at pexels

Precious Blood of Jesus

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This is a story about a little girl. She grew up in a family with a father and a mother. She lived in a little house in a little village. She had a lot of fun with her father and mother, and they did everything together. Then this little girl grew up and went to college, but whenever she got a chance, she would come home because she loved being with daddy and mommy.

Then her mom got really sick and they found out that she was going to die. The mother and the daughter were really sad. Before she died, the mother called her daughter into the room and said, “I’ve got something very special for you.” Her mother had stitched a very special dress for the daughter to wear. It was a special dress made out of a very special material. The mother said, “I want you to wear it and whenever you wear it, you can think of me. It’s made out of a very special material you won’t find anywhere else. There is no soap and no detergent that can clean it if you get stains on it. I made a little bit of a solution. It’s in this little bottle. Wherever the stain is, just use a little bit of the solution and the stain will come right off.” Then a few days later, the mother died and the daughter was very sad.

Whenever the girl was lonely, she would wear that dress. She was super excited to wear that dress because every time she wore that dress, she could smell her mother. She was very careful to keep the dress clean. She was careful when she was eating not to get food on the dress. Whenever the dress got a stain, she would go home and use a little bit of that liquid that her mother gave her and the stain would come off.

Then she got busy with work, and she was doing well at work. She was living in a big city so she had lots of friends and was enjoying life. But over time, she became careless with the dress. Food would spill on the dress, but she would think, “No problem. I got this liquid at home and it’ll come right off.” And she kept doing this for months and years.

Then one day, she came home and found that there was no more liquid in the bottle! She was really sad and thought, “What a fool I have been!”

Over time, more and more stains came on the dress because she continued to be careless, then the stains became too obvious and she stopped wearing the dress. It was so filthy because it had so many stains on it.

Finally, she said, “I’m going to ask my father what to do.” So she went to her father and just broke down and started crying. She told him everything about how she had squandered everything and how she wished she could have her mother again and how she could have a clean dress again.

Then the father said, “I know how long and how hard your mother worked to make that dress. She knew that you were probably going to get careless. She knew that you needed to come to the point where you really valued that dress again. Well, your mother gave me one extra bottle. Your mother said not to give it to you until you are really desperate to keep this dress clean. Then you can give her this second bottle.

Now the daughter had the second bottle and her attitude was completely different. She was extremely careful with the dress. When she went out to eat, she would get two or three napkins to cover the whole dress so that food wouldn’t touch it. Her friends would laugh at her, but it didn’t matter. She was very careful with the dress.

Sometimes she would make a mistake or trip and fall. But she never felt guilty. She would come home and use the liquid and the stains would come right off. Because she was so careful in using that liquid, the bottle never ran out. That was the miracle of that bottle.

This girl lived for 60 years wearing that dress, but the bottle never ran out because she used it carefully. Then she died and went home to be with Jesus and her mother.

So this is a story about a little girl and how she lived her life but it’s also a parable about us and Jesus. Jesus gives us a robe to wear. It is called His righteousness. It’s the most beautiful dress we could ever wear and nobody can ever make it. No amount of good works can make this dress.

When we’re born again, God gives us this dress to wear. At first, like that little girl, we treat it very carefully. But little by little, we can get careless. We can think, “Oh the blood of Jesus can forgive me of all my sins. I don’t have to worry about sinning.” We act as if it doesn’t matter whether we stay in the robe of righteousness that Jesus gives us. Even though we gave our hearts to Jesus some years ago and were serious about following the Lord, now it’s different. We wonder what happened and we long to have that relationship again. God is trying to come get us to come to an end of ourselves. He says, “I’ll give you a fresh life, but I’ll only give it to you when you recognize the value of this dress.”

God wants me to see this dress is so precious. God wants me to see that the blood of Jesus that He shed for me is precious. When I stop seeing it as precious, God says you’re losing your way. God gives us a robe of righteousness that is absolutely clean, but when we don’t treat His blood as precious, it loses its power. But if you treat the blood of Jesus as precious, the blood of Jesus is limitless and infinitely able to clean us.

Full sermon here.

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**By Sandeep Poonen © Copyright – Sandeep Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at NCCF Church / Photo by Jan Lawrence Suzara at Pexels

Prayer Binds Satan’s Hands, but a Spirit of Negativity Binds God’s Hands

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“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;” – Hebrews 3:12


INTRODUCTION

BINDING SATAN’S HANDS

So Satan is desiring to cause disaster in our homes, in our marriages, in our churches, and in our own hearts – but we have the power to bind his works by praying, and by praying in unity. Husband and wife can bind things in their children’s lives, members in the church can bind things when they pray with one another, etc. See again in Matthew 18 verse 19, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” So that’s binding Satan’s hands. But there’s another verse which is very interesting in Matthew 13:58, and also similarly in Mark 6:5-6 – that says that the Lord was not able to do many works for His own hometown because they had such unbelief: Matthew 13:58 “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” Mark 6:6:5-6 “And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief…”

BINDING GOD’S HANDS

We say we want to bind Satan’s hands, but I believe we read in this verse itself that we by our unbelief may be tying ropes instead around God’s hands in our life!  Maybe He’s able to work in many other people’s lives the way He wants, but with regard to my own life His hands may be tied if I have unbelief! Wow. Imagine the Father reaching down from Heaven to (figuratively) lift up a boy and care and comfort and encourage him.  And as the Father is reaching down from Heaven to help this boy, the boy reaches up to His Father’s hands… but he doesn’t take His loving hands and hold them and receive His loving care; instead the boy places handcuffs on His Dad’s wrists, and then takes a rope and wraps up the wrists and hands that were reaching down to lift him up!  I believe this is exactly what we do when we don’t trust our Father, and we don’t believe He can help.  When we focus not on the hope and promises we have in Christ, and His power, but instead on how bad the situation is. 

NEGATIVITY

I think one word for this which often sums up unbelief is: “Negativity”. A spirit of negativity is the spiritual equivalent of tying ropes around the hands of the Father who is trying to reach down to pick me up and love me. I sometimes had to repent of and ask God to forgive me for my ‘sighs’ of negativity. I don’t always use words, but have often let out a ‘sigh’ of unbelief that with my groan was actually in reality saying “Oh great I have to deal with this again.” And when I think about what it implies I have to admit that it is saying that what God has chosen to allow is bad. It’s not for my good (it denies the plain truth of Romans 8:28). Or at least, with my negativity I’m confessing that the trouble/hassle of the trial is not worth the good that it would bring. But there’s something important about faith: Faith is not just believing that what God says is true, but it’s also believing that it’s as valuable as He says it is! It’s not only believing His Word, but believing it to the point that we’re enthusiastic about it (I believe we see this in the parables of the treasure / pearl of great price Matthew 13:44-45). And so I’ve seen I have to repent of negativity. We have to have a constant attitude of faith that just as the Lord turned the worst thing that ever happened in the universe (the death of Jesus) into the best thing (Jesus dying for us, rising again and saving us forever) – we have to be confident every ‘bad’ thing is not bad, it’s actually good if we love the Lord, and if it’s fully submitted to Him so that He can do something with it. And it’s not just ‘good’, but it’s REALLY REALLY good! A faith filled Christian MUST be an optimistic Christian. Always hopeful, always patient, exulting in tribulation instead of cursing it. Romans 5:3-4 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 5:4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;” “Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation” (Romans 12:12), Be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12)

CONCLUSION

So I see now more of the seriousness with which I need to take unbelief, when I see what it is – unbelief actually is tying up the hands of God so that He cannot work. Unbelief is not an ‘innocent sin’, committed by poor unlucky people who deserve pity from a God who has been too hard on them!  It’s tying ropes around the very One who’s loved us from the beginning, and Who wants to help us even more than we want to help ourselves.  But accepting every single situation that comes our way (both good, and difficult) as from His loving hand is what frees Him up to work mightily in our life, and also is the very thing we can do which pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6).


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**By Bobby McDonald © Copyright – Bobby McDonald. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at NCCF Church / Photo by Jan Antonsen from Pexels

Aim For Steady Spiritual Progress

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As we begin a new year, it is good to think seriously of the priorities we should be having this year in our spiritual life. Here are a few suggestions.Consider them seriously – and pray that they will all be fulfilled in your life. May the Lord help you.“Whatever your blunders or failures, you can make a new beginning with God now, as you begin a new year.”

1.  Make a New Beginning: In Luke 15, in the story of the prodigal son, we read that the father brought out the best robe for a son who had failed him so badly. This is the message of the gospel: God gives His very best even to those who have failed. They can make a new beginning because God never gives up on anyone. This is a great encouragement for those who failed in the past. Whatever your blunders or failures may have been, you can make a new beginning with God now, as you begin a new year.

2.  Be disciplined: In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul says, “God has given us a spirit of power, love and of discipline”. The Spirit of God gives us power, love for others and enables us to discipline ourselves. Whatever experience of the Holy Spirit you may have had, if you don’t allow the Holy Spirit to discipline you – to make you spend your timeand your money in a disciplined way, and to discipline your speech, you will never be what God wants you to be. The greatest servants of God in the history of the church were men and women who allowed the Holy Spirit to discipline their lives. They were disciplined in their sleeping habits, in their eating habits, in prayer and in study of the Scriptures. They were disciplined in putting God first above all their earthly desires. Many Christians remain satisfied with having received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and they imagine that everything in their lives will flow smoothly thereafter. But you need to be disciplined too if you are to fulfil God’s will for your life in this year.

3.  Keep the fire burning:  Timothy had faith and spiritual gifts and yet Paul reminds him of this, “I want to remind you of the spiritual gift you received when I laid hands on you” (2 Timothy 1:6). The Holy Spirit is not a spirit of timidity. Paul urged him to stir up that gift and to kindle it afresh, to keep the fire burning. From this we learn that even though Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11), we still have to do something to keep that fire burning at all times. God lights the fire. We have to keep supplying the fuel – a life totally surrendered at all times to God’s will. Don’t imagine that just because God anointed you once, that you can now relax and say, “Once anointed, always anointed”. That is as great a fallacy as saying, “Once saved, always saved”. I have seen people who were genuinely anointed by God who are spiritually dead one year later. The fire is gone. Worldly interests and pride have come in and taken the fire away. They are now running after money and a comfortable life – and have lost the fire of God. That is sad and a great loss for the kingdom of God. So, Paul told Timothy, “That fire that came upon you, keep it afresh, keep it burning. It is up to you now. If you don’t keep it burning it will die out. Keep it burning by keeping a good conscience, by studying the word of God, by humbling yourself constantly, by seeking God wholeheartedly, by staying away from the love of money, and from arguments with others and from anything that will quench this fire.”

4.  Make steady spiritual progress: In Hebrews 6:1–3, we are exhorted to press on to maturity. Think of pressing on to maturity like climbing a mountain (of say, 10,000 meters). Jesus has already reached the top. When we are born again, we start at the foot of this mountain. Our goal is to follow Jesus and to press on towards the top, no matter how long it may take. Then we can say to our younger brothers and sisters, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), even if we have climbed only 100 meters. Spirituality is not something that comes through one encounter with God. It is the result of choosing the way of self denial and of doing God’s will consistently day after day, week after week and year after year. It was the consistent denial of His own will that made Jesus a spiritual man. And it is the constant denial of our self-will that will make us spiritual too. In 1 Timothy 4:15, Paul urges Timothy to “take pains with these things.” A businessman takes a lot of pains to earn money and to establish his business firmly. If you are serious about the Christian life, you will also take a lot of pains to study the Scriptures, seek for the gifts of the Spirit and cleanse your life from everything impure. One translation of this verse reads, “Be absorbed in them.” When you are absorbed with these things your progress will become evident to everybody. Be so absorbed with Jesus Christ and His Word that the temptations of this world don’t attract us so much. And we won’t be chasing after the many things that worldly people chase after. If you live an “absorbed” life like that, you will make progress constantly. Every year you will be a better Christian and a more effective servant of the Lord.

5.  Be an overcomer: In Hebrews 12:1-3, we are exhorted to run the race with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. We look up to Him and run this race. We don’t stand still. The race of faith is something in which you can’t stand still. The time is short and so you have to run. If you fall down, get up and continue running. There are many runners who have fallen down in a race, who got up, continued to run, and still came first. So, don’t get discouraged if you fall down sometimes in your walk with the Lord. Don’t lie there. Get up, confess your sin, and continue to run. Look at Jesus who endured the cross and ran till the end of His life. When many enemies oppose you, think of Jesus Who had so many enemies opposing Him (Heb.12:3). You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood like He did, in striving against sin (Heb.12:4). Here we see that Jesus strove against sin. In other words, His attitude toward sin was, “I would rather shed My blood than commit sin.”  If you have the same attitude – that you would rather die than commit sin – you too will be an overcomer.  When you are tempted to tell a lie, if you say, “I would rather die than tell a lie”, you will be an overcomer. When you are tempted to cheat a little bit to make more money, if you say, “I would rather die than cheat even a little”, you will be an overcomer.  When you are tempted to lust after some woman and you say, “I would rather die than lust”, you will be an overcomer. That is the secret of living the overcoming life.

6.  Be secure in the love of God: The words “He will rest in His love” in Zephaniah 3:17 have been translated as: “He is silently planning for you in love”. Do you realize that every single thing that God allows to enter your life comes from a heart that is planning for you in love? Every trial and problem that comes into your life has been planned for your ultimate good. If you believe Romans 8:28, you will never again be afraid of people or of circumstances, for the rest of your life. You will not live in fear that you might have an accident, or die of cancer, or be harmed by anti-Christian fanatics, or any other fear – because your heavenly Father controls everything and everyone.

We desire that you will have a truly blessed year of spiritual progress.

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**Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author at cfcindia.com / Photo by Brett Jordan at pexels