The Anointing in You

Martyn Lloyd-Jones taught, "We have been anointed and been set apart; we have received this unction, and it has given us this understanding of truth which enables us to say that 'we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). That is your anointing of the Holy Spirit.

"But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you" (1 John 2:27). The anointing is the Holy Spirit abiding in you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word Christ means "anointed one." Christ abides in every believer, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The anointing is the Holy Spirit abiding with you to teach you (1 John 2:27). He teaches you according to Holy Scripture, inspired of the Holy Spirit. According to the New Testament, you are taught by God. Jesus said, "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me" (John 6:45). 

Certainly, God uses people to teach you, such as evangelists, pastors, and other teachers. However, we are all dependent upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit to teach us. Both teachers and those who are taught must depend upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit to understand the truth.

Christ in the Psalms

The gospel is Christ crucified for our sins and risen from the dead, according to the Scripture. The apostles in the New Testament preached Christ from prophecy in the Old Testament Scripture, and that includes the book of Psalms. Before the New Testament was completed, they preached the gospel of Christ according to the Scripture, which meant the Old Testament Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

The gospel of Christ is throughout Old Testament prophecy, such as the Psalms. Christ is prophesied dying and rising again. Christ is prophesied coming the second time and reigning over all. Verses in the Psalms are quoted in the New Testament. Psalms reveal Christ in prophecy.

In Psalms we find the gospel of Christ. He is prophesied suffering death at the cross (Psalm 22). The Psalms also declare the resurrection of Christ (Psalm 16:8-11). That is the gospel of Jesus Christ foretold in the Psalms.

The Psalms prophesied the present day priestly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, as our Intercessor with God the Father (Psalm 110). Psalms also prophesied the second coming of Christ (Psalm 2).

The apostle Peter preached Christ and the resurrection on the Day of Pentecost from the book of Psalms (Psalm 16:8-11; Acts 2:25-28). That means the first gospel sermon in the Christian church was on Christ from prophecy in Psalms. Both the Old and New Testament reveal the gospel of Christ.

Full Salvation In Christ

Full salvation is in the past, present, and future. That is to say, in Christ you have been saved; in Christ you are being saved; in Christ you shall be saved. Three terms describe your full salvation in Christ: justified, sanctified, and glorified.

In Christ believers have been saved. That is justification by faith in Jesus Christ. In Christ believers are being saved, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). That is sanctification. In Christ believers shall be saved. That is glorification, when Christ returns. In essence, believers shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

Full salvation includes justification, sanctification, and glorification. It's by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ is every believer's full salvation. In Christ believers are justified and free from all condemnation. In Christ believers are being sanctified until glorified. In Christ believers shall be made just like him, when he appears.

Full salvation is from the beginning unto completion in Christ. "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). In Christ believers have been justified (Romans 5:1). In Christ believers are being sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:2). In Christ believers shall be glorified (1 John 3:2).

Be Righteous In Christ

Charles H. Spurgeon testified, "My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, HE is my righteousness."

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ receive the gift of God's righteousness. When you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you "become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is the imputed righteousness of God in Christ, accounted  to every believer. Be righteous by faith in Christ.

"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). We receive the imputed righteousness of God in Christ. It is the gift of God received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are accounted righteous by God in Christ.

How did Abraham become righteous? He was righteous by faith in the Lord. He received God's imputed righteousness by faith. Abraham is our example three times in the New Testament on how to receive God's righteousness (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23)."And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). 

How Jesus Saves

"We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves. Jesus saves!" Those words from an old hymn are true forever, because Jesus our risen Lord lives to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him (Hebrews 7:25). Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved (Acts 16:31). How does Jesus save us?

Jesus saves from the curse of sin unto the blessing of God. Jesus took the place of sinners, when he died on the cross in our place. All have sinned and all are under the curse of sin (Romans 3:23). To be cursed is to be cut off from the blessings of God and marked for destruction. In his humanity, Jesus was cut off from God the Father at the cross for our sins. He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus saves from death unto life eternal. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). The Bible mentions two types of death. The first death is physical death. We all must die, but Jesus our Lord will raise us from the dead in glorified bodies like unto that of our risen Lord. The second death is for those who are not saved. They are cast into the lake of fire, at the great white throne judgement (Rev. 20:14-15).

Jesus saves from sin unto righteousness. Our sins are no longer counted against us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are imputed to Christ at the cross. In exchange for our sins, the righteousness of Christ is placed upon our account (2 Corinthians 5:21). We give him our sins at the cross. He gives us his righteousness. That's how Jesus saves.

God's Will in Prayer

Charles Spurgeon said,"When your will is God's will, you will have your will." Spurgeon understood that true prayer submits to God's will. Your key to prayer says to God, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

Prayer seeks the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). Trying to manipulate God in prayer to have it our way is wrong. Seeking a formula in prayer to always get what you want becomes sin. It misses the mark concerning God's good will. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3).

Prayer is asking the will of God be done according to the Bible. Holy Scripture is God's revealed will. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

Prayer is asking God's will be done to God's glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). He does all things to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). When your will becomes God's will, you desire the glory of God above all else (John 11:40). Answered prayer submits to God's will and glory in all things. 

God Transforms Us

God transforms us by the renewing of the mind. Then, you are no longer conformed to this world. Only God's Spirit is able to transform your mind in Christ. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"(Romans 12:2). 

God transforms us through new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are enabled to understand the will of God in Christ. Your renewed mind understands the will of God in the Bible. Your transformed mind refuses to be conformed to the world of unbelief. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 2:5).

God transforms us by the Holy Spirit. We are able to read the Bible with understanding. The Bible is now more than old stories of people who lived long ago. It's like a new book, because your mind is renewed. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the authors of the Bible, is now continuing to renew your mind through the word of truth in the Bible.

God transforms us to understand spiritual things. "By faith we understand"(Hebrews 11:3). The spiritual man, unlike the natural man, can understand the things of God. "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14). By the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, your mind is transformed.