Alien Righteousness

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1, 2 ESV)

In order to become a Christian, we must repent of our sins and live for God. We must put our faith in Christ, believing that his dying for us was the perfect sacrifice.

Now, we are covered by his grace. This in no way means that we now have a license to sin. Therefore, we repent daily, because sometimes we stumble. We are in a daily battle with sin. We may fall into sin, but if we are true Christians, we won't dive into it. We don't plan our sin, but rather war against. This is the mark of a true Christian.

The beautiful thing that we have the privilege of experiencing is that we now have what's called an "alien righteousness". In another words, God sees us through Jesus Christ as "perfect", because Jesus has credited his own righteousness to our account. 

Praise God for that!!

Is Jesus God?

I the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

Good morning, God!

Upon having a conversation with my wife, I gained a little insight on her walk with God.

She explained that the first thing that she does in the morning upon waking up is say, "Good morning, God."

In her prayers, she asks God, "What can I do to make you happy?" And she imagines God with a big smile on his face. 

She went on to explain how constant communication with our Lord is so important. She speaks to God when she brushes her teeth, combing her hair, driving to work, in other words, in every thing she does. It's important to stay "connected" with the Holy Spirit, who is always there with us. Remember that the Lord is always there for us no matter what we are going through. 

She reminded me of the story of the rich man and  Lazarus: Luke 16:19-31, which says:

"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." But Abraham said, "Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us." And he said, "Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers —so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment." But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." (Luke 16:19-31 ESV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:1-14 ESV)

Will Baptism Save Me?

Some believe that we are saved by water baptism. This is not the case. Baptism is a symbol of our commitment to God. It is a public proclamation of our salvation. 1 Peter 3:16 says:

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2: 8,9). Yet we are commanded to be baptized in Acts 2:38. We should obey this, but not confuse the process of salvation and sanctification. Ephesians 2: 8,9 tells us:

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift-not from works, so that no one can boast.

11 Things To Do For God in 2013

1. Witness to at least one person per day in one way or another.
2. Read the Bible every single day. This is food for our spirit, not to mention an increase in knowledge.
3. Write some notes down after reading the Bible. This helps to remember what you've read. Remember that the amount you read per day shouldn't worry you, but I would suggest at least one whole chapter of a book until the book is finished, so that you understand the context.
4. Pray consistently. There is not a set number of times you should pray, but I suggest praying when you wake up, pray for your food, pray when you're bored, pray when your in your car at a stop light, pray before going to bed.
5. Ask God to help you understand your spiritual gift and for the wisdom to use it. If you don't know what your spiritual gift is, pray and crack that Bible open!
6. Be a spiritual leader in your family. Lead by example, but be assertive in explaining why you live the way you do. 
7. At least once a week, choose a subject to study and sit down for 30 minutes, an hour or so, or whatever it takes, to get a good understanding and clarification on what that subject is. Use different versions of the bible, concordances, bible dictionaries, books by writers like John MacArthur, audio like that of Todd Friel, Paul Washer and Ray Comfort (just suggestions).
8. If you are experiencing issues with temptations, regardless of what type, get rid of things that can make it easier to be tempted to "fall" into sin. If we give in to sin, after a while, we no longer fall, but live in a pattern of sin. This would be called "diving" into sin. At this point, we'll need to examine ourselves to make sure we are saved.
9. Speaking of such, examine ourselves daily to ensure we have repented and placed our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He saves us. We cannot save ourselves. 
10. Be conscious of your surroundings, temptations, foul talk or dirty jokes, magazine covers at the grocery store line, giving in to peer pressure, and one last thing:
11. Ensure you have no idols in your life. It's easy to make an idol out of things we use and enjoy: technology (computers, smartphones, video games) cars, guns, vehicles, vanity, or our employment. It's okay to like these things and make good use of them for the glory of the Lord, but if we love them too much and give them more time than we give the Lord, we've made them an idol, and now we have issues. Remember the first commandment?

Please consider these thoughts and have a great 2013!

Sam

Do you live by sight, or do you live by faith?

Just came back from church. It was a great service. We had a guest speaker by the name of Will Franklin Graham. The name sounds familiar, doesn't it? This is the grandson of the famous and well-loved Billy Graham and the oldest son of Franklin Graham.

Graham opened his Bible to read from 1 Samuel, 1:1-20, which speaks of Samuel's mother, Hannah. She had been barren and could not have children. She was living in misery, until she stopped "living by sight" and started "living by faith". Thereafter, she left the sanctuary with joy, even though her problems at home still lingered. She later gave birth to her son, Samuel, and dedicated him to the Lord.  

It's really something to chew on today - Do we live by sight, or do we live by faith? Do we have joy, or do we have misery eating away at us and taking over our lives?

God bless.