How God Teaches You

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "No man can know Jesus Christ unless he is taught by God. Tell me not of systems of divinity, of schemes of theology, of infallible commentators, of the most learned people, or of the most arrogant doctors, but tell me of the great Teacher who will instruct the sons of God and make us wise to understand all things. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher." 

Jesus promised that God's Spirit would guide his disciples into all truth (John 8:31-32; 16:13). While the Spirit of God gives pastors and other teachers the ability to minister the word of truth, yet he alone is the great Teacher. He is the one who inspired the Holy Scripture. Believers are taught by God's Spirit to understand the Bible.

God's Spirit teaches all who are born again. He teaches you about the only one who can take away our sins, Jesus the crucified one. He teaches you to confess Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit teaches you about the one who saves you, Jesus in the power of his resurrection (Romans. 10:9). His teaching always glorifies Jesus, the Son of God, according to the Scripture (John 16:14).

The Holy Spirit teaches you more and more about Jesus. Make this your prayer: "Spirit of God my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me." Every believer in Christ should be taught by God, through Holy Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16).

How God Foreknew Us

"God is not limited by time. With him there is no present, past and future, but one eternal now. He knows all things from the beginning" (J. Clyde Turner, These Things We Believe). 

God knows all that is past, present, and future. What God knows now about the future is revealed in Bible prophecy. Our knowledge is limited. The foreknowledge of God is unlimited.

God foreknows all things simultaneously. Our knowledge is limited by time and space. God is omniscient knowing the end from the beginning (Acts 15:18). We know in part and only in part. God foreknows all things now.

God foreknew the names and exact number of all who shall be saved. They are now justified and glorified in Christ as far as the knowledge of God. The apostle Paul wrote of God's foreknowledge in terms of prolepsis, knowing the future now as already accomplished (Romans 8:29-30). Yet, God's command is for all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9).

God foreknew all who shall be in Christ. That includes all who will repent and believe the gospel (Acts 2:38; 13:48; Ephesians 1:4, 13). God turns none away who will repent and believe on our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). Yet, God foreknows now all who shall be saved in Christ (1 Peter 1:2). 

How Christians Die

Wayne Grudem explained, "When Christians die, their souls go immediately into God's presence. Although their bodies remain in the ground, their souls go into the presence of their Creator. This is why Paul writes of being away from the body through death (2 Corinthians 5:8) and departing in death to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23)."

Dr. Grudem presented the New Testament teaching about the death of Christians. This exposes such errors as purgatory and soul sleep. Nowhere does the New Testament teach that Christians go to a place called purgatory, but as Grudem said, "their souls go into the presence of their Creator." Also, Christians are not unconscious as in soul sleep.

Grudem clearly stated the New Testament teaching about a Christian's death. It is "being away from the body in death." That is "departing in death to be with Christ." Death is separation of body and soul. Christians may understand what they face at death, with the expectation of being with Christ.

When a Christian faces death, the testimony of the apostle Paul should bring comfort and hope. He wrote, "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). In another letter, he wrote, "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1:23). That's what happens when Christians die.

What Faith Receives

The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved according to what God promises you. Faith is based upon what God promises you. Faith receives the promises of God.

Believe that the promises of God are for you. Trying to live by faith without the promises of God leaves us with doubt and unbelief. Our victory is faith in the promises that cannot fail, because God will not fail to keep His word of promise. What God promises you is found in the Bible.

God keeps His promises. All the promises of God are for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). God keeps His promises to you as a believer, unto the praise of His glory. 

Do you read and believe the Bible to receive what God promises you? What God promises you is Yes and Amen in Christ. That's your victory to the glory of God. Receiving answered prayer is based upon what God promises you in the name of Jesus Christ. Faith receives what God promises.

Deliverance from Evil

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Evil comes from the sinful desires of people, and the wicked one, as well as other spiritual powers of darkness (Romans 3:10-18; Ephesians 6:10-13). We live in this present evil age "under the sway of the wicked one."

Deliverance is from evil through prayer. Christ revealed God's goodness to those in bondage to sin and the wicked one. Jesus taught us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13). That's the will of God to deliver you from evil, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Deliverance is from evil through the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Christ died for your sins and defeated Satan, as well as all unclean spirits at the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is your deliverance and victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-58). Deliverance from the evil one comes as you call upon Jesus our risen Lord (Romans 10:9, 13).

Deliverance is from evil through the power of Jesus our Lord. Jesus died to take away all your sins (1 John 1:7). God raised Jesus from the dead to break the power of death. His resurrection power is your deliverance from the wicked one and all powers of darkness. God's deliverance is from evil through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has all power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

The Carnal Mind Renewed

The carnal mind is enmity against God. The carnal mind is controlled by thoughts of rebellion against the will of God. That is true until we repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The carnal mind has no peace with God. The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Romans 8:7).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Having been justified in Christ means "our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness." We are justified by faith in Christ alone. That means you have no enmity against God. We have peace with God, by grace through faith in Christ.

We have peace with God in Christ, through the gospel. The carnal mind is transformed by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).

Having been justified by faith in Christ, the mind is transformed. Enmity against God is transformed into peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The renewed mind experiences repentance. The word repent means a change of mind. The mind is renewed to understand God's good will, according to the Bible.

The Sin of Unbelief

Unbelief is a sin against God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelief cannot receive God's blessings in Christ. Unbelief spurns the goodness of God. Unbelief is the choice of a heart that is hard against the goodness of God. It never considers that it could be wrong, even eternally wrong. Unbelief defiantly says, no, to all that God graciously offers in Christ. Unbelief is the sin that rejects the love, goodness, and grace of Christ. Unbelief rejects the promises of Christ as foolishness.

Unbelief cannot receive the blessings of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1). All the blessings of God come to us in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Believing is receiving Christ.

The Holy Spirit comes to expose the sin of unbelief. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit convicts of unbelief, "of sin, because they believe not in Me" (John 16:9). Don't let unbelief rob you of God's blessings in Christ. Unbelief rejects Christ.

Faith comes as an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit; unbelief rejects the gift of God in Christ. Faith testifies that Christ is trustworthy; unbelief will not trust in Christ. Faith walks in the light of Christ; unbelief is satisfied to stand in darkness without Christ. Faith in Christ comes from a heart transformed by the grace of God; unbelief comes from a hardened heart rejecting Christ.