Is Your Heart Pure?

Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Jesus is the One who makes your heart pure. He has been purifying hearts for centuries. The One who spoke about being pure in heart, is the only One who can make your heart pure. Be pure in heart through Christ our Lord.

"For with the heart one believes unto righteousness" (Romans 10:10). Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is trusting Him to do in you, what you cannot do for yourself. He is able to make you pure in heart. The righteousness of Christ is accounted to you by faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God's Spirit purifies the believer's heart based upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). There is no heart so sinful that Jesus cannot make pure. You may not be able to explain how Jesus purifies your heart, but the shed blood of Jesus cleanses believers from every sin.

The blood of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, continues to cleanse the hearts of believers. The goal is to sin not, but when a believer sins, fresh cleansing is available. Confession of sin to God in prayer brings cleansing. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Cleansed by the blood of Jesus, your heart is made pure.

What's Full Salvation?

Full salvation is in Christ our Lord. "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 you have been justified (Romans 5:1). In Christ you are being sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:2). In Christ you shall be glorified (1 John 3:2).

Full salvation is in three tenses: past, present, and future. That is to say, in Christ you have been saved; you are being saved; you shall be saved. Three terms describe the three tenses of your salvation in Christ. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are justified, sanctified, and shall be glorified.

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

Justification, sanctification, and glorification are by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ is your full salvation. In Christ you are justified and free from all condemnation. In Christ you are being sanctified until glorified. That's full salvation.

What's Common Grace?

"The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made" (Psalm 145:9). Many theologians refer to this as common grace. That's not because grace is common, but it is common to all mankind. The line is drawn between common grace and saving grace. God is good to restrain evil, give people time to repent, provide fruitful seasons and food, and many other benefits that are common to all mankind.

Bruce Demarest wrote, "In sum, God's common grace facilitates that sustains and enhances life on a fallen planet." This planet is morally fallen with the sin of all mankind. While judgment is coming, until then God's common grace sustains the world in which we live.

Abraham Kuyper recognized common grace as primarily restraining sin. He wrote, "By His common grace God bridles the evil of fallen human nature, restrains the ruin which sin has produced and spread, and enables even the unregenerated men to do good in the broad non-redemptive sense." God shows common grace even to those who reject God's goodness and compassion. They falsely believe there is no God who will judge them. 

God is temporally the Savior of all mankind in common grace. "God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe" (1 Timothy 4:10). However, the time of God's common grace will end for those who reject his saving grace in Christ. It will happen in the day when this present earth and sky will be aflame in God's justice and judgment on sin. To the contrary, saving grace in Christ Jesus our Lord is everlasting.

The Kingdom Stone

Daniel the prophet declared that "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44). It is a kingdom that shall stand forever. Messiah, our Lord Jesus, is the kingdom stone who will establish the kingdom. He shall reign forever. His kingdom shall fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).

Messiah, the kingdom stone, was "cut out of the mountain without hands" (Daniel 2:45). That is a way of speaking about the supernatural work of God. Jesus the Messiah had a supernatural birth. He was raised from the dead through the supernatural power of God. His second coming will be in supernatural power and great glory.

At his first coming, Jesus declared the kingdom of God is at hand. His miracles of healing, delivering people from demons, and raising the dead, were all signs of the kingdom. He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He taught that all who are born again enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The kingdom stone is at work in our world. After his glorious resurrection, Jesus declared, "All authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). As the chief cornerstone, he is building his church. He said, "I will build my church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). The kingdom works through "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

What Is Apostasy?

John MacArthur explained, "Apostasy isn’t an unintentional departure or personal struggle with doubt. It is deliberately abandoning the truth for erroneous teaching. 'The faith' refers specifically to the body of Christian doctrine, not the act of believing. Some will depart from 'the faith which was once delivered unto the saints' (Jude 3). People who understand and outwardly affirm Christian doctrine but don’t have a heart for God are prime candidates for being seduced by demons away from the faith."

John MacArthur warned of apostasy. He was not talking about Christians who struggle with doubt. To the contrary, apostasy is when a person deliberately rejects the truth of Holy Scripture for false teaching. MacArthur defines apostasy as "seduced by demons away from the faith."

Apostasy happens to people who "outwardly affirm Christian doctrine but don’t have a heart for God." In others words, they have made a public profession of faith, without their hearts being changed by the grace of God. Scripture says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19).

MacArthur warned that apostates are "seduced by demons away from the faith." Scripture teaches that demonic spirits motivate false doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1). That leads to "deliberately abandoning the truth for erroneous teaching." Therefore, according to the Scripture, they are "made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19).

Do You Know the Lord?

Do you know the Lord? It's more than academic knowledge. Knowing the Lord is through a personal faith relationship (Hebrews 11:1-6). Faith is confidence and trust in the Lord. Faith knows God in a personal relationship through the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers come to God the Father through faith in God the Son (John 14:6).

God proves his love for us at the cross of Jesus (Romans 5:8). Knowing the Lord is knowing God's love (1 John 4:8). Faith receives God's love in Christ (John 3:16). Believers know the Lord by knowing real love in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

Knowing the Lord is through a covenant relationship. The Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of the covenant. God promises with a covenant oath that cannot be broken. Such covenant promises are everlasting. Believers take God at the word of his promise. All the promises of God are Yes and Amen for believers in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them (Hebrews 8:11). Believers know the Lord today through the everlasting covenant in Christ (Hebrews 13:20-21). Lord is God's personal covenant name. Believers know the Lord in a personal covenant relationship through Christ.

How Is God Trinity?

God is Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While the Bible never uses the word Trinity, it clearly reveals one God in three Persons. The triune God works in perfect harmony from the beginning to the completion of our eternal salvation. There is election by God the Father, redemption by God the Son, and regeneration by God the Holy Spirit. 

Consider this illustration of God as Trinity. You may draw a triangle on paper to illustrate the Trinity. It is one triangle with three distinct points. So, there is one God in three distinct persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Believers encounter God as Trinity through prayer. We pray to God our Father, in the name of God the Son, through the presence and power of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches us to ask the Father in His name (John 14:13). Scripture teaches us to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20).

The testimony of God as Trinity is baptism. It's a public testimony to God as Trinity. Jesus commanded us to baptize believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Notice that baptism is not in the names plural, but the name singular. It's in the name of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Is Grace Resisted?

God's grace is resisted by all who reject Christ. They thereby have "insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29). The Bible teaches that people can and do insult God's Spirit. Their hearts are not changed by the grace of God. Condemnation is for all who reject Christ (John 3:18). 

"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7:51). Only the Spirit of God can change our hearts, which means our mind, will, and emotions. By resisting the Holy Spirit, people are insulting the only one who can apply the gospel of Christ to their lives.

The Holy Spirit, who changes our corrupt hearts, is the same Holy Spirit who convicts our hearts. Conviction is grace that precedes new birth (John 16:7-11). When conviction is resisted, grace is resisted. This is condemnation for refusing to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All who reject Christ are condemned. Jesus said, "And this is condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Therefore, all who reject Christ have no one to blame but themselves.

What Is the Church?

The New Testament teaches the divine romance, that the church is the bride of Christ. The church is not a denomination nor a sectarian group. The church includes all who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ. The church is a mystery not revealed in the Old Testament. The church is revealed in the New Testament (Ephesians 3:1-6). All believers compose the body of Christ. He is the head of the body (Ephesians 5:23).

Wedding customs in New Testament days illustrated the relationship with Christ and the church. The father chose the bride for his son. God the Father chose the church as the bride for His Son. Believers are the bride-elect of Christ. Marriage was a covenant relationship. Christ is the Shepherd of the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). A dowry price was paid for a bride. Jesus paid it all for his bride at the cross (Ephesians 5:25). 

In the book of Revelation, we read about the divine romance. It is the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7). The Bible has been described as the divine romance. God loves us and pursues a personal relationship with us. Believers receive the love of God in Christ (John 3:16).

The Lamb is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). He is every believer's Passover Lamb at the cross (1 Corinthians 5:7). The divine romance is God's love for sinners at the cross of Jesus (Romans 5:8).

What Is Foreknowledge?

Augustine taught God's foreknowledge. "Since only One foreknows, only One knows that number and can already name them by name, not because this is already decreed by universal foreordination, but because God's knowing is contemporary with every moment in time, including future moments with all their contingencies."

God's attribute of foreknowledge includes all things. His foreknowledge has to do with all his people in Christ. God foreknew us in Christ. God foreknew his relationship with each one of us. God foreknew us as justified and glorified in Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

God's foreknowledge includes our salvation, yet that does not remove the command for all people to repent (Acts 17:30). God foreknew us in Christ through a personal relationship, yet that does not dismiss our responsibility. We are responsible for our choices. We must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the gospel (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:10).

God's foreknowledge includes our personal relationship through Christ. God foreknew us in the everlasting covenant through Christ, the great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20-21). God's foreknowledge includes all things to the least detail. God foreknew us in Christ as his people. That includes our calling, gifting, and service (Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:10). 

How Is Grace Received?

God's grace is received as unmerited favor. There is no way we can merit nor earn the favor of God. It comes to us only as the gift of God. Faith in Jesus Christ receives God's saving grace. Don't fall for the idea that you can somehow be good enough to merit God's favor. Grace is not for good people. It's for sinners, and that includes all of us. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Grace is received as deliverance from the curse of sin and death, through Christ our Lord. God's saving grace works in us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). God's grace comes to us by faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10). 

Grace is received through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). To receive the Gospel is to believe Christ died for your sins on the cross (Romans 5:8). To receive the Gospel is to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and confess him as your Lord (Romans 10:9). 

Grace is received in Christ alone. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners  (1 Timothy 1:15). We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). God's grace is received in Christ crucified for all our sins (1 John 1:7). God's grace is received by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Who Hardens Hearts?

Pharaoh is the classic example of hardening the heart (Romans 9:14-18). He was given a choice when confronted by Moses to let God's people leave Egypt. Time and time again, Pharaoh refused the command of God. He saw the judgment of God through the plagues, yet he chose to refuse God's word. The word from God, which could have spared judgment on Egypt, was the word that hardened his heart.

Pharaoh was responsible for the hardening of his heart. God gave him a choice time and time again, but he continually rejected the word of God. Anyone who persistently rejects the word of God is responsible for the hardening of his own heart. Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Hebrews 3:15).

God does not actively harden hearts. He passively hardens hearts. God gives people over to their sinful desires. A person may continually reject the warnings of God. Then, God may remove restraints to give the person over to his own disobedient desires. In other words, God gives people over to what they choose (Romans 1:24-28). Therefore, they have no one to blame but themselves.

The patience of God can harden hearts. Again, Pharaoh is an example. God was patient with him, sending the warnings over an extended time. Perhaps, Pharaoh thought the warnings were meaningless and he could defiantly refuse the word of God through Moses. God's patience was misinterpreted. That very patience of God hardened his heart.

Do You Please God?

People try to please God in different ways. Yet, there is only one way to please God. It's when God is working in you to please Himself. He does this through our Lord Jesus Christ, "working in you what is well pleasing in His sight" (Hebrews 13:21).

If you try to please God with your own works, you are sure to fail (Isaiah 64:6). They are works of the flesh which can never please God (Romans 8:8). You simply cannot buy God's favor nor earn His blessing. Grace gives God's unmerited favor to you in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). God is well pleased in His Son. When you please God, it is by faith alone in Christ alone.

When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are well pleasing to God. He is working in you through the gospel and power of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). When you please God, it's in Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:17). The power of God is working in all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

By grace through faith, confess Jesus as your Lord (Romans 10:9). When God is working in you, then you are well pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:21). It's not about what you do for God, rather, it's all about what God does in you through Christ. That's when God is working in you what is well pleasing in His sight.

What Is God's Kingdom?

Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matthew 28:18). His power is demonstrated through kingdom authority. In the name of Jesus, the kingdom is in power through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:6-8). God's kingdom includes all who confess Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3).

God's kingdom authority works through our Lord Jesus Christ. He came into this present evil world to defeat sin, Satan, and death, through the cross and the resurrection. The power of evil was broken, yet the victory has not come in all of its fullness. The warfare rages, as the kingdom authority of Christ advances. However, the complete defeat of evil will only come at the return of Christ in power and great glory (Luke 21:27; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

God's kingdom in Christ is demonstrated through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). We enter the kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ. Only through the authority of our Lord Jesus can we break free from the control of the evil one (1 John 5:18-20). Those who are born again enter the kingdom of God in Christ through the gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Thess. 1:5).

Jesus taught us to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). The kingdom of God is now and not yet, until that day when King Jesus returns. Then, God's kingdom shall come in the final and total victory forever. That means God's will in Christ shall be done throughout the earth as it is in heaven.

What Is Amazing Grace?

God's common grace is for all. Common grace gives rain with fruitful seasons to all people. Every provision we all have is by God's common grace. However, God's saving grace is only for believers in Christ. God works in and through us to do His will by grace alone. John Newton referred to God's saving grace as "amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."

God's amazing grace is offered to all, because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). There is no way we can merit nor earn the favor of God. It comes to us only as the gift of God freely received. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith in Jesus Christ receives God's amazing grace. Don't fall for the idea that we can somehow be good enough to merit God's gift. 

The only way that we can have a personal relationship with God is by grace alone. He must reveal himself to us and in us. That has been appropriately called amazing grace. It's not what we do for God. It's what God has done for us in Christ. All that we are or ever hope to be is by God's amazing grace.

Your testimony may echo the words of the apostle Paul,"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain" (First Corinthians 15:10). Grace gives all the glory to God. It's always by God's amazing grace and never earned by our works.

Is God's Call Effective?

God calls whoever to believe in His only begotten Son (John 3:16). The call comes through hearing or reading the gospel. God's effective call saves us, as we receive the engrafted word (James 1:21). The Holy Spirit convicts the world of unbelief (John 16:7-11). God's call is effective, when faith comes through hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

God's call is effective when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). God commands all people everywhere without exception to repent (Acts 17:30). The benevolent will of God's grace common to all is for sinners to turn away from the old life and receive new life in Christ. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). None are turned away who truly come by faith to Christ (John 6:37).

God's call is effective in all who believe the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Some may hear the gospel and even be convicted by the Holy Spirit without being convinced to believe in Christ (John 16:7-11). However, God's effective call goes beyond conviction. The Holy Spirit enables us to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3).

God's call is effective changing our hearts through the gospel of Christ (Acts 16:14). That's when we are awakened to the truth of the gospel. Then, we are willing to receive and believe the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:11-13). That's when the gospel comes to us not in word only, but with power and much assurance through the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5). That's God's effective call.

Do You Rest In Christ?

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "My faith rests not upon what I am or shall be or feel or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me. Hallelujah!" 

Do you rest in Christ? We know that we are sinners and Christ died for our sins. We are not trusting in self-righteousness. Faith is resting in the righteousness of Christ alone. He is our righteousness.

Spurgeon taught that faith is "in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing." That's our faith resting in Christ. We are saved "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

Do you rest with confidence and assurance in Christ? It is trusting in Christ and not in ourselves. It is knowing Christ as our Surety (Hebrews 7:22). He is our guarantee of eternal salvation. 

You can testify with Spurgeon, "My faith rests not upon what I am or shall be or feel or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me. Hallelujah!" 

Do you rest in Christ alone? Then, you may confess, "I am a sinner for whom Christ died." You are focused upon Christ crucified for your sins. No self-righteousness do you claim. You know by faith, that Christ died for your sins. He is risen from the dead as your living Lord.

Jesus the Great Stone

In Daniel 2:31-35 Christ is pictured as the great stone (Isa. 28:16). This symbol came through a dream interpreted by the prophet Daniel. His interpretation is confirmed throughout the New Testament. Jesus is described as the chief cornerstone for his church, and a stone of stumbling for those who reject him as the Messiah and Lord (Acts 4:11; Ro. 9:33; Eph. 2:20). He is the great stone, because his kingdom includes people out of all nations (Rev. 5:9).

Jesus is a stone "cut out without hands" (Dan. 2:34). It was a common practice in those days to cut stones for building construction. However, to be cut out without hands refers to God's work and not man. Jesus came into this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.

Jesus is the stone that struck the image, representing the kingdoms of this world, and broke it into pieces. He crushed the image and it "became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so no trace of them was found" (Dan. 2:35). This is a prophecy fulfilled in the second coming and the battle of Armageddon.

Jesus is the stone that "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:35). That's when the kingdoms of this world are destroyed. Then, the kingdom of our God and Christ will reign over all the earth. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. So, his kingdom "filled the whole earth."

Can We See God?

Jesus said, "God is Spirit ..." (John 4:24). That means we cannot see God with our eyes, because he is invisible to us. However, we can see God and walk with him by faith. 

Moses was an example of faith that sees God who is invisible. "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). He fulfilled his destiny, because of faith that endured, seeing him who is invisible. 

Seeing the invisible God is like seeing the wind move. We see what the wind is doing and where it is moving. So faith is able to see what God is doing and where he is moving. Faith sees "that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men" (Daniel 4:17). Faith sees the Most High God ruling and reigning in life. Faith enables us to see what God is doing in our lives.

Faith sees not by natural vision through our eyes, but with understanding from the word of God (Romans 10:17). We walk with God daily by faith. We remember that faith is "the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). We are walking by faith, "as seeing him who is invisible."

Those who have faith in God see him ruling over all. "For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever" (Romans 11:36). Faith sees God according to the truth of the word of God. Believers see God at work in all things to his glory forever.

Your Sins Cleansed

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9). Believe the promise. God will forgive and cleanse you. God wants to forgive you. That's the reason Jesus died for all your sins. Thank God that you are cleansed through Jesus Christ. 

Why do some people refuse to confess their sin to God and receive cleansing through Christ? There are at least two reasons. First, they don't know the good news in Christ. Secondly, they don't really believe the good news. The believer's confession of sin brings immediate cleansing through Christ. You can have a clean conscience today.

God cleanses your conscience. It tells us when we have done wrong. God made us that way not to make us feel guilty all the time. Conscience calls us to confession. God wants to forgive you and cleanse your conscience. Confession of sin is simply agreeing with God that we have done wrong. God wants us to have a clean conscience. 

Christ died for all of your sins. When we confess sin to God, we are forgiven and cleansed. The Bible teaches that God cleanses us upon confession of our sin. We are made clean before God through Jesus Christ. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin"(1 John 1:7). 

How to Be Redeemed

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).

Redeemed means to pay a price to set someone free. That's what Christ did at the cross for every believer. He paid the price to set us free from the curse of sin and death. If we are redeemed from the curse of sin, we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). Believers are redeemed to be free from the curse.

Jesus died "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles." Jesus fulfilled the covenant God made with Abraham to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:1-3). God blessed Abraham in all things (Genesis 24:1). We are blessed in all things through faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). The redeemed are blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Those who reject the gospel of Christ are under the curse because of sin. The word "cursed" means "cut off and marked for destruction." The words blessed and cursed are covenant terms. According to the covenant of law, sin brings the curse (James 2:10). According to the covenant of grace, the redeemed are blessed in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). In Christ, believers are blessed to be redeemed from the curse of sin.

When God Works in Us

The Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther said, "When God works in us, the will being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively."

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). In our sinful nature, we are not willing to trust Christ (Romans 3:9-11). The will is corrupted by sin. Upon hearing the gospel of Christ, God works in us, "not from compulsion, but responsively" (Ephesians 1:13). 

God never does violence to our will (Hebrews 3:15). He does not coerce nor force us against our will. As Luther said, "the will being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts." We are willing to come to Christ by faith.

God changes our hearts through the gospel of Christ. The word heart is often used in the Bible to describe the inward person, which is the mind, will, and emotions. To be born of the Spirit means we are transformed in mind, will, and emotions.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of unbelief (John 16:7-11). He never forces us to believe in Christ, but enables us to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how the goodness of God works in us. The goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4).

God's Grace for You

Grace is the gift of God, and not of your works (Ephesians 2:8-9). God's grace is given to you through faith in Christ. Grace saves you to the glory of God in Christ. Grace is unmerited favor given to you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace is God's gift in Christ for you through the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). The Lord Jesus Christ changes your heart, that is your mind, will and emotions. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:10). Christ makes you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Grace is God's gift working in you. God is "working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 13:21). The Spirit of grace works in you to do God's will. The apostle Paul testified, "I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Grace is God's gift you receive by faith that endures, abides, and perseveres. Your faith is tried and tested. It is found to be true, because the source is true. You are "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Grace enables you to testify,"I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"(Galatians 2:20).

Salvation Is God's Work

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul dead in trespasses and sins, and it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both Alpha and Omega. Salvation is of the Lord." 

Spurgeon understood that salvation is God's work from the beginning (Alpha) unto the end (Omega) (Revelation 1:8). Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and omega is the last letter. From beginning to the end, salvation is God's work in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).

In our sinful state, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Our sins have separated us from God. Our inability to come to God is our unbelief and hardness of heart. But, God who is rich in mercy, comes to us as sinners with the goodness of grace, leading us to repentance (Romans 2:4; Ephesians 2:4-5).

God's Spirit draws us through the gospel of Christ. The Spirit of grace enables us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). Salvation is God's work in Christ, as the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13).

Salvation is God's work from beginning to completion in the true believer. He began the good work in us. Likewise, he continues to work in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). What God begins in us, God completes in us. Salvation is God's work in us from the beginning unto completion.

Did God Awaken You?

God awakens you unto repentance and faith in Christ. It is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Grace is the gift of God, giving you faith to trust Christ. God's grace awakens you spiritually unto new life in Christ.

Therefore He says, 'Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light (Ephesians 5:14). God awakens you from spiritual death, unto new life in Christ. It is new life, which is abundant and eternal (John 10:10; Romans 6:23). God awakens you to faith in Christ, from the darkness of spiritual death, unto the light of new life.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). God awakens you from spiritual death unto new life, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead awakens you from spiritual death to be spiritually alive in Christ.

You were spiritually dead without the grace of Christ. God awakens awakens by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:1, 8-10). Believers are God's workmanship created anew in our Lord Jesus Christ. Did God awaken you?

Why Will Many Perish?

The Canons of Dort (1618-19) recognized that no one perishes because of the insufficiency of the atonement. Canons of Dort: “And, whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves” (2:6).

Christ died sufficiently in value and worth for all mankind. Look at three verses of Scripture that clearly teach the sufficiency of the atonement: John 3:16, 1 John 2:2, and 1 Timothy 2:6. A literal interpretation of these verses shows beyond question that the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient in worth and value for all people. Yet, many will perish in unbelief.

In 1 John 2:2, the Bible teaches Christ died sufficiently for "the whole world." Therefore, the atonement of Christ is sufficient for Gentiles as well as Jews, "the whole world." The Mosaic sacrificial system was for the Jewish nation. The sacrifice of Christ is not limited to the Jews. His death is sufficient for "the whole world." Yet, many will perish in unbelief.

The sufficiency of Christ crucified has to do with value and worth. However, sufficiency saves no one. Christ likewise died efficiently to purchase people unto God (Acts 20:28). Therefore, the atonement is sure to save certain people, all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). God's purchased people are saved at the cross of Jesus. 

Why Are All Guilty?

"As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). That's what the Bible teaches. Look at James 2:10, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." Breaking God's law of commandment only one time means we are guilty of all. 

You may say, "If breaking one commandment means I am guilty of all, then there is no hope for me." Wait! There's good news. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He was without sin. He is the only man without sin. When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Christ is put on our account. The only way that we can be righteous before God is in Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Being self-righteous can never please God. It is like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). People who think they can please God being self-righteous see no need to receive the righteousness of Christ. They may consider themselves to be good, but we will never be good enough. Righteousness is the perfect obedience of Christ.

Christ was righteous in both active obedience and passive obedience. In active obedience, Christ fulfilled the law of God in all things. He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He died on the cross for our sins in passive obedience to God the Father's will. By faith in Christ, every believer is accounted righteous. Believe unto righteousness in Christ (Romans 10:9-10). 

What Are the Covenants?

There are two major covenants in the Bible. They are described as the Old and New Covenants, also known as the Old and New Testaments. The Old Covenant was the law of God given through Moses. The New Covenant is the grace of God working in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). Believers enter the New Covenant with God by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are obvious differences between the Old and New Covenants. The Old Covenant was fulfilled in the perfect obedience of Christ (Matthew 5:17). The New Covenant revealed Christ in the Gospel. The Old Covenant confirmed the curse of sin, resulting in Christ crucified for our sins (Galatians 3:10). The New Covenant confirms the Gospel of Christ taking away all our sins (1 John 1:7). That's the grace of God in the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "But if God enters into covenant with sinful man, he is then so offensive a creature, that must be on God's part an act of pure, free, rich, sovereign grace. When the Lord entered into covenant with me, I am sure that it was all of grace, nothing else but grace."

The New Covenant brings the grace of God in Christ. Spurgeon described it as "an act of pure, free, rich, sovereign grace." It's pure grace because it's all of grace. It's free grace because it's the gift of God for believers. It's rich grace, because God's mercy in Christ paid our sin debt in full. It's sovereign grace, because only God Almighty can give it to us. We enter the New Covenant by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10)).

Who Are God's People?

The New Testament word church originates from the Greek word ekklesia, which means the called out. It includes all who respond to God's call out of darkness into the marvelous light of Jesus our Lord (1 Peter 2:9). We have come to faith in Christ, through the Gospel and by the Holy Spirit. The church is all of God's people called by the Gospel and the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ (Romans 1:16-17).

When we repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ known as the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). The church is God's chosen people, known as the body of Christ.

Isaiah prophesied the coming of Christ as the chosen of God (Isaiah 42:1). God the Father chose the Son of God before time began to be the Savior of the world. The Son of God was chosen as the Head of the church, which is his body, composed of all who are saved (Colossians 1:18; 1 Peter 2:4). The church is God's chosen people in Christ.

The church includes all of God's people, who are born of the Spirit. We have come to repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are members of his body known as the church. All true believers compose the body of Christ.  The church is God's chosen people in Christ (Ephesians 1:4).

Has the Kingdom Come?

God's kingdom has come in the power and glory of Christ. God's kingdom has come through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The kingdom has come in Jesus our risen Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). In his second coming, Jesus shall reign as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16).

God's kingdom has come in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth  (Matthew 28:18). He came into this present evil world to defeat sin, Satan, and death, through the cross and the resurrection. The power of evil was broken, yet the victory has not come in all of its fullness. The warfare rages, as the kingdom of light attacks the powers of darkness. However, the complete defeat of evil will only come at the return of Christ in kingdom power and great glory (Luke 21:27; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

We enter God's kingdom by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:5-8; 1 John 5:1). Only through the power of our Lord Jesus can we break free from the control of the evil one (1 John 5:18-20). God's kingdom comes to us in power through the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16; 14:17).

God's kingdom shall come in great power and glory at the second coming of Christ. Jesus taught us to pray to our Father in heaven: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). God's kingdom power continues to work until that day when Jesus returns. Then, God's kingdom shall come to bring the final and total victory. 

Life in the Spirit

W. A. Criswell said,"Without the presence of the Spirit there is no conviction, no regeneration, no sanctification, no cleansing, no acceptable works. ... Life is in the quickening Spirit." 

Life in the Spirit is from God the Father, through the Son. Such a new life is for every believer in Christ. The Holy Spirit works in us and through us to the glory of God. Dr. Criswell understood that the Christian life is indeed life in the Holy Spirit.

Life in the Spirit brings salvation through conviction and regeneration. Only the Holy Spirit can convict us of the need to know Jesus Christ as our Lord (John 16:7-11). Only the Holy Spirit can quicken us through new birth (John 3:5-8).

Life in the Spirit is sanctification. He is our growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). The Holy Spirit teaches us, guides us, comforts us, and sustains us in walking with the Lord. He enables our fellowship or communion with God in Christ (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Life in the Spirit is an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Life in the Spirit begins and sustains our Christian life. Our perseverance in Christ is dependent upon the seal of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit gives us eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.