Supermen?

For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 1 Corinthians 3:3

I like the way the New International Version puts it which says,

You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 1 Corinthians 3:3 NIV

This reminds me of the movie "Superman" in which Superman's enemies are able to do amazing things and he makes reference to the "Mortals" as being a weak people.

The fact is we are not mere men, but we can act like mere men. Just because I run up and down the street barking like a dog does not make me a dog but in the moment I am acting like one. Beloved in the same way just because you are saved doesn't mean that you can't act like an unsaved person - you certainly can - but why would you considering all of the victory and the power that you've been given?

The apostle John states in 1 John 4:17,

...as he is, so are we in this world.

How is Jesus now? He's righteous, He is holy, He is seated in the heavens, He is sinless, He is a King, when He speaks there is power in His Words, He is victorious over sin and death and John says that as He is, not as He was - so are we!

I encourage you dear believer, take hold of God's Word, believe His promises, don't live any longer beneath who you are - you are made just like Jesus!

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A New Heart

I was watching a TV show the other night and they were interviewing a man that was a heart transplant patient. It was very interesting to find that the gentleman that received the heart transplant suddenly began to experience emotions, desires and other traits that were foreign to him before.

For example it was found that the person to whom the heart originally belonged was a person that liked to relax by playing the drums, the recipient of the new heart suddenly without any previous knowledge of the donors love for drumming began to crave playing the drums and was amazed that he already knew how to play. The recipient of the new heart also was amazed to find that he had the innate ability to "micro focus" something he never was able to do previously but was later found to be an ability that the donor had.

Doctors refer to this phenomena as "Cellular Memory" but isn't it amazing that a new heart gave this man new desires and new abilities that he had never had before? This is exactly what God wants for you and me today! God promised that He would take the old stony heart of flesh out of the Israelites and give them a new heart. After God had given the children of Israel the law it became quite apparent that laws rules and regulations do not make a person want to do right. As a matter of fact it actually causes them to resent the rules they have been given and even if they do put on a good show, in their heart, they want to do what has been forbidden.

The Bible teaches in Jeremiah 17:9 that,

The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jesus also said in Matthew 5:28,

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Many people think that Jesus came to earth to die on the cross for sin and rise again from the grave and He did, but these same people think that they must also add their own deeds and efforts to the finished work of Christ otherwise they are in jeopardy. The Truth is that those that think this way really believe that it's too good to be true that one could be made right with God simply by faith, they do not trust that Jesus saves them apart from their deeds. In fear they labor, in many cases simply because they don't want to go to hell!

Jesus instead of coming to give us the law came to show us the true intent of the law which is to reveal sin. After all, if you even desire to look at a woman and you lust after her in your heart then by law you have already committed adultery with her.

Jesus was more concerned with men on the inside then He was with what they did on the outside because it was what was on the inside that was producing those evil deeds on the outside. The religious leaders of Jesus day really had a hard time getting this; as a matter of fact most never were able to see what Jesus was saying. These leaders were so preoccupied with washing their hands ritualistically before eating, washing cups so they wouldn't be "unclean" that they were oblivious to the fact that their hearts were graveyards filled with dead mens bones and all manner of uncleanness. These Pharisees were experts at keeping the ceremony of the law but they were void of love, faith and mercy. It's like a mud pie trying to wash the mud off itself - it can be done! Why, because at its very core it is mud! It would need to be changed into something different to be something different. In the same way good deeds, keeping laws, rules and regulations can't change your dirty stony heart into something different - only Jesus can and He does through His finished work at the cross.

I don't want you to misunderstand, I am not suggesting that after you trust Christ as Savior you will never be tempted again, the point is that you have victory in Christ, The Greater One - by His power on the inside of you causing you to walk in His ways rather than you trying to change yourself by your own feeble efforts at trying to do right. It's good to do right but what is your source? Jesus and His life changing power or the efforts of your flesh?

Dear believer there is an entirely new life for you in Jesus, your old man has passed away and all things have become new and as you learn to depend on Him more and more,exercising faith in His already finished work, you will see yourself being changed into His image day by day. You will find that those things that tempted you no longer tempt you and you will find yourself with new desires that you have never had before.

Temptation

And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? Exodus 17:7

Most people think of pornography, theft or drug abuse when they think of temptation, but the worst kind of temptation that one can yield to is that of unbelief. According to the Bible Israel sinned when they yielded to the temptation of doubt, this occurred when they questioned whether or not the Lord was with them. It says in Exodus 17:7,

And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

I remember I use to struggle with doubt as an early Christian; since I had never been taught how to walk in faith I was ruled by the sight of my eyes and by my feelings; If I woke up on a given morning and didn't "feel" like God was with me then I worried that He wasn't! If I prayed and it seemed like God wasn't answering me then I would fall into the trap of thinking "God if you're really with me let me feel your Presence or do this for me or do that for me."

In Matthew 4:3-11 Jesus had a similar temptation in the wilderness when several times satan tempted Him to perform a sign to prove that He was the Son of God. Notice how satan used the phrase, "If thou be the Son of God..." do this or that. Jesus could have yielded to the temptation to perform a sign to prove He is the Son of God but He refused to do so. Also note that after God pronounced His Word over Jesus in the previous chapter (This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased ) that satan attacked that Word. Know this: Satan will always attack the Word that God has given you, He did it to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He did it to Jesus in the wilderness, he did it to the Church through false teachers and he'll do it to you.

Dear believer I encourage you to stand firm in faith - stand on the promises of God and remember that while your feelings change from day to day, His Word will never change. Let's not give in to the temptation to doubt but remember rather that we walk by faith not by sight, feelings or anything other than God's Word.

Never Alone

... For I am not alone, but I and the father that sent me. John 8:16

According to a recent national survey, one quarter of all adults experience painful loneliness at least every few weeks, and the incidence among adolescents and college students is even higher.

It is also reported that loneliness is not necessarily being alone; the condition has been reported amongst those who are married with families and even those in the midst of large groups of friends. Also, loneliness occurs among people of many different age groups and classes.

What is loneliness? Loneliness extends much deeper than the actual fact of "being without company" as Websters dictionary defines it. Surveys again have determined that even college students often feel lonely even in the midst of attending classes and living in dorms with other students.

I believe loneliness is a bondage no different than any other kind of bondage in the sense that much of it stems from faulty beliefs and misplaced dependencies.

Jesus said in John 8:32,
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

If you aren't free then you are in bondage. You may not be in bondage to drugs or alcohol but yet struggle daily with thoughts of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

Now the Truth is you have to actually be alone to be truly "lonely" but the believer unlike the unbeliever is never alone. If you have trusted Christ as Savior then there are at least four people are with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The first person that is with you is God the Father, the second person is God the Son and the third person is God the Holy Spirit, you also have a fourth person with you and that is your guardian angel unless of course you have been assigned more than one depending on your mission in this life. In addition to this the Bible teaches that you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses - this could include both angelic beings and saints gone on before and if that is not enough the Bible also teaches that both you and every believer are made one with each other and with God Himself. So if we look at the Truth of the matter are you really alone? No. You may think you are alone and if you judge by the sight of your eyes you may "see" that you are alone but we walk by faith and not by sight. We must learn to place our dependency on God and not in the things of this world. Paul the apostle wrote in 1 Timothy 6:17,

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy...

God is to be our Source, not a car, a house, a job or even a person - family, friends, etc. The source of loneliness stems from a misplaced dependency on the creature rather than the Creator of all things. It's fine to have things and enjoy them, Paul says that God giveth us richly all things to enjoy. But don't place your dependency on them. You can depend on your job, your wife, your husband, your children, your money and a plethora of other things but God is the creator of all these things. You could have none of these things but if you have God - you have everything.

The world says, "If I can just get that new car, I'll be happy." or maybe, "If I can get debt free" or maybe you say if I can own this house or that house I'll finally be where I want to be - content and happy. The problem is dear friend is that things can't make you happy. Think about it: In 200 years your car, your house, your money and yes even your physical body will be dust

Paul the apostle states in 2 Corinthians 4:18,

While we look not 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.

Everything that you can see with your physical eyes is passing, only God is eternal and He must be the Source of your happiness, otherwise you are building on a shaky foundation indeed.

Dear believer I encourage you to remember that because God is eternal and the source of all happiness you can be secure because regardless of what may come He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.

Justified Now

Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Romans 4:25

In our day and age there are a number of ideas about how one becomes right with God; one particular problem I see consistently among Christians is that they often wait for God to do something as if it's not already been done or they act as if God is unwilling to fulfill His promises towards them. Many Christians see sin for instance as something they continually need to be forgiven of (future tense) instead of believing that Christ has already taken away their sins and made them the righteousness of God other Christians try to get healed putting that also as a future possibility instead of believing that with His stripes they were (past tense) healed; this approach is fundamentally wrong.

Paul said in Romans 4:25, Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

At first glance it appears that this verse teaches that Jesus was raised from the dead so that we could be justified, right? If you look into the Greek text we see a very different meaning: The Greek word that was translated "For" is the word διά or "Dia" and means, "By reason of, by the means of, on account of." You could just as easily say that he was "Delivered because of our offences and was raised again because of our justification."

Before I was saved, I always used to wonder what the significance of Christ's resurrection was; The Bible teaches that Jesus is God and that death couldn't hold Him so I knew that because of His divinity Jesus arose but I also knew there had to be more to it than that. Christ was raised as a sign that God had justified His people! No wonder Paul wrote and said,

And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:17

The fact is dear believer that when Jesus was raised, you were raised. Paul the apostle writes,

And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:6

When Jesus died we died with Him and were forgiven all trespasses and likewise when He was raised from the dead we also were raised up with Him; God has forgiven you finally and forever! You never have to worry about the sin issue between you and God because it is forever settled in the finished work of Christ.

Giving: Under Law or Under Grace?

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Genesis 28:20-22

If you've been in church for any length of time then I'm sure that you've heard appeals being made to give to your local church or ministry in particular. Now there is nothing wrong with giving and I am convinced that if you love God and you see that your brother has a need then you will certainly give as much as you are able to give.

On the other hand I think that many believers have gotten off track when it comes to giving; many try to live under the law of Moses by giving to get blessed.

There are many mature Christians that love God, have trusted Christ as their Savior and know that by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified and yet they are waiting to be blessed by God if they are faithful in tithing.

If Jacob were to pray the prayer that he prayed in Genesis 28:22 today, some well meaning brother or sister would stop him and say, "Now wait a minute brother, that's not right. You've got things upside down; you must tithe first and then if you're faithful in your tithing - then God will bless you, it's not the other way around."

The fact is that Jacob was already blessed. Isaac had died and Jacob had inherited the blessing of his father; Jacob was blessed just because of whose descendant he was. It wouldn't have mattered if Jacob gave anything to God or not, he couldn't change who he was nor the fact that He was under Covenant with God; God had already promised to bless Him. Just as Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils, Jacob gave a tenth in thanks and appreciation for all the blessings God had given him - not the other way around.

But then another well meaning Christian will come and say, "But what about all the promises of God about giving? What about the curse that was upon Israel because they had robbed God?" Did you notice why Jacob and Abraham were blessed before they gave anything? They weren't under any law, they lived before the law was given.

In the same way believer you are not under law, you're under grace; just like you don't perform good works to get saved, you don't give to get blessed.

The Bible teaches that all the promises of God (including those concerning giving) are in Him, yea and amen. In the Greek text "Yea" means, "even so." All the promises of God are even so in Him! We are already blessed with every spiritual blessing!

Do you know why all the promises of God are "so" in Him? Because every promise under the law had a condition that needed to be fulfilled, Jesus fulfilled the law so the promises are fulfilled as well. Jesus didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets, Jesus lived a perfect life never sinning, took your sin at the cross and was judged in your place and when you place your faith and trust in Him then His perfect lawkeeping is accounted to you while your unrighteousness was accounted to Him. You can't work to get blessed by God because He has already blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ through faith in His Son.

Do I give? Yes. Do I give to get blessed? No. I remember that I went a full year before I started giving anything to God and witnessed some of the most miraculous accounts of God's provision in my own personal life just by claiming His promises of provision, yet I had not given a single dime beforehand.

Again, God's blessing isn't based on your tithing, on your good deeds, on your church attendance or anything else; God's blessing is based on the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ that is freely accounted to you when you place your faith and trust in Him.

Incorruptible Seed

Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:23,

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

Also, in Genesis 1:11 we find it says

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."

Imagine this: you go out and plant a seed in the ground, all it takes is one tiny seed and eventually it springs forth into a tree.

Jesus said,

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." - Matthew 13:31-32

Believers have been born of the Word of God and as a result they bear fruit that matches the seed they are born from. You don't plant an apple seed and get an orange tree; neither do you plant an apple seed and expect to get any other kind of fruit from the tree than apples.

John writes in 1 John 3:9,

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Dear believer just as the Word of God is incorruptible so you - the real you - the new man that lives on the inside of you is incorruptible. Just as the Word of God lives and abides forever, because you have been born of that same seed you will live and abide forever.

Jesus said in John 11:26,

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

Make no mistake about it, if you have trusted Christ as your Savior then your new nature, the Life of God in you and your position in Christ is sealed and you will never taste of spiritual death.