How Your Faith Abides

Abiding faith in Christ is in all who are saved, as a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). Abiding faith is from God the Father, through the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. It is anchored to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead. The Spirit of grace enables you to believe the gospel of Christ.

Abiding faith is not just mental assent nor human effort. It is a result of the Holy Spirit bringing you to a point of confidence, assurance, and trust in the living Christ. It's faith that the world didn't give you, and the world can't take it away. Abiding faith pleases God, because He is working in you. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). 

When you have abiding faith in Christ, be assured that God is working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

God is the one who gives you abiding faith in Christ. It is by the grace of God that you are enabled to live by faith. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8). It's all of grace as the gift of God in Christ.

Christ in the Psalms

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 Cor. 15:1-4).

Prophecy reveals the gospel of Christ in the Psalms. We see Christ dying and rising again. We see Christ coming the second time and reigning over all. Verses in the Psalms are quoted in the New Testament. Psalms revealed Christ in prophecy.

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

The book of 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.

God's Chosen People

God's chosen people are in Christ. He foreknew us as justified and glorified in Christ. God foreknew our salvation in Christ. In Romans 8:28-30, God foreknew us as glorified in Christ. God foreknew all who shall be in Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

God's chosen people believe the gospel of Christ. That includes everyone who repents and believes the gospel (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 16:31). Only those who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. As believers, we experience the gospel in power with assurance. That is the Holy Spirit working in our hearts (Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).

God's chosen people are saved by grace through faith in Christ. We are justified through the death of Jesus Christ for your sins. Justification is by faith in the power of his resurrection. Justification means all your sins are taken away through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). The righteousness of Christ is accounted to you (2 Corinthians 5:21). God declares you justified by faith in Christ. "It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33).

God's chosen people shall be glorified into the image or likeness of Christ. Glorification is salvation complete. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). What is future for us as believers in Christ is now in the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, God foreknew us as glorified in the very image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

How to Worship God

The Bible was not written simply to give you academic information about God. It was written that you may know God today in a personal way. The Bible is the believer's guide to worship God. The Bible is like a menu in a restaurant. "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8). To taste and see is to worship God personally.

Worship God through prayer and praise. The Bible teaches you how to worship God. It's important to understand that worship is a personal encounter with God. It's more than speaking and singing words from memory. Opening your heart to God is true worship. Worship is not a monologue. It's praising God and listening to God with your heart (Hebrews 3:15).

Worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Understand that worship is our personal response to God's love and goodness in Christ. Worship God daily with your songs of praise and prayers of thanksgiving. Surrender your body, will, and emotions to God through worship (Romans 12:1-2).

Worship God with others in church, family gatherings, and small groups. Hearing testimonies of how others have experienced God is helpful. Be encouraged in your faith. Trust God to work in your life, as you encounter Him in daily worship. Praise God that He is working in you for your good and His glory, "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

God's Wrath Revealed

"He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (Rev. 19:14-16). Jesus our Lord revealed the love of God at His first coming. He reveals the wrath of God at His second coming. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ receive the love of God. Those who reject God's Son in unbelief and rebellion receive the wrath of Almighty God.

The winepress is a symbol of the wrath of Almighty God. God will totally crush all those who live in rebellion against Him. Their defeat is swift and complete. In Bible days a winepress would be found at a vineyard. Grapes were harvested and thrown into the trough. They were crushed as the grape juice flowed into another trough. That symbol pictures the total defeat of God's enemies.

The Son of God shall reveal divine omnipotence on earth. He strikes the nations with the sword of His word. He rules with a rod of iron. Those symbols reveal that Jesus our Lord has all power in heaven and on earth. Jesus has the words on His robe, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." 

Jesus shall come with the armies of heaven. That includes the redeemed of the Lord, as well as holy angels. Those who are redeemed wear clean white robes. That symbolizes the righteousness of the saints. Jesus has taken away all our sins and given us His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). The redeemed of the Lord witness His victory over all the enemies.

The Son of Man

Jesus is referred to most often in the New Testament with the terms Lord and Christ, followed by the Son of Man. That title comes from the Old Testament prophecy of Daniel. He wrote, "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man was coming with the clouds" (Daniel 7:13). Elsewhere in the Old Testament only God is mentioned coming with the clouds of heaven (Psalm 104:3; Isaiah 19:1). Son of Man refers to a  divine-human ruler. That is the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus spoke of himself as the Son of Man in the New Testament more than any other title. He was referring to the title in Daniel's prophecy of a coming Messiah. In the Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man sixty-nine times. In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the same title for himself twelve times.

As the Son of Man, Jesus came to bring the kingdom of God. He taught about the kingdom of God and demonstrated it in signs and wonders. As the Son of Man, Jesus had authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). He forgives every believer's sins. He died to pay the penalty for our sins. His resurrection proves it. That is the Gospel of the Son of Man.

Jesus will return as the Son of Man in clouds of glory to rule with dominion in the everlasting kingdom of God. "Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:14).

How God Shows Mercy

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy" (Romans 9:16). God shows mercy, not earned by our efforts, because "it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs." Our will power and efforts can never save us. God's mercy in Christ for our salvation.

God shows mercy in Christ crucified for our sins. That is to say, the sacrificial death of Christ satisfies the demands of God's holiness and wrath against our sin. God's just wrath is satisfied for sinners who trust in Christ alone for mercy and justification. "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

God shows mercy taking away our sins through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). Mercy transforms our lives. God's mercy changes our hearts to change your lives. Only God can change our hearts. The word heart is a symbol for our inward nature. That's the mind, will, and emotions.

God shows mercy transforming and renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2). Such a change enables us to repent. The word "repent" comes from two Greek words. Meta means change. Nous means mind. God's mercy leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).