Christ In Your Heart

Christ is in every true believer. Now if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Romans 8:9). The Spirit of Christ lives in your heart, that is your mind, will, and emotions. He gives you new desires. Christ works in us what pleases God (Hebrews 13:21).

Christ and the Holy Spirit are in union as one. Even so, you are one with Christ through the Holy Spirit. That is your union with Christ. The Spirit of Christ lives in you, even in your heart. He lives in you through the Holy Spirit. That is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

The Spirit of Christ is in you with three abiding gifts of faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). The indwelling Christ produces fruit in the life of every believer, such as love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22-23). Therefore, every believer may say, Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

The Spirit of Christ is in you for ministry to others. The Spirit of Christ gives us ministry gifts for service to others through the church, which is the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-8). Some have speaking gifts, such as preaching or teaching. Many have gifts for serving others in practical ways (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Our Daily Cleansing

John Owen (1616-1683) a Puritan theologian saw the believer's need for daily cleansing. He wrote, "Go daily to Jesus for cleansing. Hence also is manifest the necessity we have of continual applications to Jesus Christ for cleansing virtue from his Spirit and the sprinkling of his blood on our consciences to purge them from dead works."

Owen recognized the need for daily cleansing from our sins as believers. Not only did he recognize the need, but more importantly, he recognized that cleansing is open daily for all believers. Our conscience witnesses to our need. The blood of Jesus avails to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

There are no perfect Christians here below. Our temptations continue. Our battle with the flesh is reality (Galatians 5:17). Our sanctification is not perfect nor complete. Our growth in holiness continues, but we do sin from time to time. Free from the bondage to sin, we are not yet free from the temptation to sin.

Our Lord Jesus not only cleanses us at the point of conversion, but he graciously continues to cleanse us, as we confess our sins (1 John 1:7, 9). Scripture warns us not to claim that we are sinless. If we do, then we only deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8, 10). John Owen wisely saw "the believer's need for daily cleansing." 

God Revealed to You

God is revealed to you through creation and conscience. The created order of this world declares to all the glory of God. Creation declares the Creator (Romans 1:20). Also, God is revealed to you through conscience (Romans 2:15). God has made you a moral agent to know the difference between right and wrong. Conscience reveals God's holiness and our sinfulness.

God is revealed to you through the Bible. It reveals who God is (John 4:24). He is fully revealed through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). If you want to know what God is like, read the Bible. You will discover that Jesus is the full revelation of God. He reveals the fullness of God's love, mercy, and grace (John 1:16).

God is revealed to you through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). God wants us to know how much He loves us. He knows all of us have done things that are wrong. He sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (I John 1:7). Jesus is alive! He is risen from the dead (Romans 10:9). The gospel reveals God's love for us, through His only begotten Son (John 3:16).

God is revealed to you in Christ. He is revealed to the heart of every believer, through the Holy Spirit. The heart is your inner-person, that is your mind, will, and emotions. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of Christ to our hearts (John 16:7-11). God the Father is revealed to you through Christ the Son (John 14:6)

What Is Redemption?

Charles Spurgeon preached, "Our great redemption is in the covenant, but we have no redemption except through His blood." Redemption is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word redemption means to pay the price to set prisoners free. The price has been paid to set every believer free from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Every believer's sin debt is paid in full. Redemption is at the cross of Jesus (1 John 1:7).

Redemption was foreordained by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4). In Bible days, covenants were made based upon the shed blood of a sacrificial animal. God redeems us based upon the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross. In the eternal plan of God, Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

Redemption is in Christ alone. We are not redeemed by what we have done, but what God has done for us in Christ. It is a unilateral covenant, not based upon our promises nor our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). To the contrary, we are redeemed according to God's promises in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Redemption is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). What God commands of us, Christ provides for us. The Holy Spirit gives us faith as an abiding gift to trust in Christ. God credits to every believer the righteousness of Christ. Redemption is in Christ our covenant Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The Elect of God

Jesus Christ is the Elect of God. He is described in Scripture as a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6). Our election is in Christ the Elect. That's our election in Christ, based upon the foreknowledge of God (1 Peter 1:2).

The elect are God's people in Christ. The initiative of our salvation is with the eternal God. In eternity, God's purpose was to justify believers in and through Christ, before the world began (Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Timothy 1:9). God chose us unto faith in Christ, who is the Elect of God.

To be in Christ means we are believers, baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 16:7). The body of Christ is the church. The word church does not refer to a denomination nor a sectarian group. It refers to all of God's people saved through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 

God calls us out of spiritual darkness, into the light of Christ (1 Peter 2:9). Believers are God's new creation in Christ (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). We see the light of our election in Christ, who is the Elect of God.

By grace through faith in Christ alone, God saves us from condemnation (Ephesians 2:8-9). It's God's eternal purpose in Christ the Elect. God's purpose is to save us unto the praise of His glorious grace in Christ (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). Our election is in Christ, who is the Elect of God. 

Give God the Glory

Give God the glory in all things now and forever. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36). It is God's will for us to bring glory to Him in all things. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Give God the glory for all of creation. He has created all things to the praise of His glory through Christ. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created (Revelation 4:11). We were created to bring glory to God. The Bible defines sin as falling short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).

Give God the glory for your salvation. We who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:12). As a believer, God is working in you and through you to the praise of His glory in Christ, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:21).

Give God the glory in your prayers. Pray to God our Father, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:13). Prayer should always be centered upon God's glory in all things. God's kingdom and power work to the praise of His glory. We should pray to the glory of God alone in all things.

Faith Comes to Us

Faith comes to us with confidence, taking God at His word. Faith is trusting God, and not leaning on our own understanding. Faith comes by the word of God in the Bible. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). That faith comes to us as an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Faith comes to us with trust in God, even when you don't understand. No one understands all the ways of God. Trust God with confidence, believing in His ability to help and direct us. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

All relationships are built on trust. Faith comes to us with trust in the word of God. He is always trustworthy. His word is your bond of trust. Faith is willing to trust God in all circumstances. You may testify, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust (Psalm 91:2).

Faith comes enabling us to take God at His word. The Bible gives us the written promises of God. Faith receives the promises of the Bible. He is the Promise-Keeper. His word of promise is faith's sure foundation. Faith enables us to trust in God's word through every situation of life. Faith comes to us with absolute confidence in God's word of promise.

Those Who Perish

Jesus said, Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish  (Luke 13:5). He made it clear. There are no exceptions, repent or perish. Those who are saved have come to repentance. Those who perish refuse to repent. Jesus made it clear.

God's command to all people everywhere is to repent. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent  (Acts 17:30). Those who will perish disobey God's command to repent. That includes all who do not repent.

The word repent (metanoeo) means to have a change of mind that leads to a change of direction in a person's life. It's a change of mind toward God about our sin, and a change of direction in life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's command for all people to repent is clear. He saves all who repent. Let us always remember that our responsibility is to repent and believe in Christ (Acts 17:30; John 1:12). God's will of command is that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) His command is to all people everywhere.

What God commands, God gives us in Christ. That includes our repentance, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth (2 Timothy 2:25). God's goodness in our Lord Jesus Christ leads us to repentance (Acts 2:38; Romans 2:4). Those who perish reject God's goodness in Christ.

Receive Free Grace

Charles Spurgeon said, "All you can receive, and all you ever ought to hope for, must be through the covenant of free grace." To understand what God gives every believer, you must understand grace. God has sworn with an oath of promise to give us salvation by grace in Christ (Hebrews 7:21-25). God's free grace is the gift of God. What God's grace gives you is received believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Receive free grace through the everlasting covenant of Christ (Hebrews 13:20-21). The covenant is summarized in four promises to every believer (Hebrews 8:10-12). First, God will put his laws in your mind and heart. Second, each one will know God in a personal relationship. Third, God will be merciful unto you. Fourth, God will remember your sins no more.

Receive free grace in Christ as our covenant surety (Hebrews 7:20-22). God always works through covenant. He tells what he is doing and what he shall do. Covenant is an agreement or contract that includes God's everlasting promises are to every believer, guaranteed through Christ Jesus our covenant surety.

Receive free grace through the everlasting gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 14:6). That is God's covenant of grace in Christ. It is based on the merits and righteousness of Christ alone to every believer (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is freely given by grace alone through faith in Christ, because it is the gift of God and not of our works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Born Again and Sure

Those who are born again can be sure. Jesus made it clear in his discussion with Nicodemus, found in the third chapter of John's Gospel. Believing on the Son of God was the real issue. Those who are born again believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16, 36). That's how we are born again and sure, based upon the clear teaching of the Bible.

Our first birth was by the flesh. Our new birth is by the Spirit. Our new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Those who are born again can be sure, because they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1).

Jesus said to Nicodemus, If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (John 3:12). Nicodemus was a religious man who was not born again. His unbelief was the evidence. Only God knows how many religious people today are not born again.

Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ means our new birth is sure (Acts 16:31). All who are born again believe the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). We believe Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture. We believe Christ is risen from the dead, according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). That's all who are born again and sure.

Free from the Curse

We were cursed by our sins. It cut us off from the blessings of God. It marks us for destruction. God's covenant of law promised blessings to those who obey and curses to those who disobey (Deuteronomy 28:15-24). The curse of our sins cuts us off from the blessings of God. We have all disobeyed God (Romans 3:23). Only Christ can set us free from the curse of our sins.

Martin Luther taught Christ died for the curse of our sins. "He voluntarily fulfilled all righteousness, living under the law without spot or blemish, bore our sins, became a curse for us, and offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This is the atoning, reconciling work of Christ."

We were cursed and controlled by a spirit of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-3). We were under the dominion of sin and the curse of the law. The only hope of salvation for us was in the sacrifice of Christ alone.  As Luther said, Christ "became a curse for us, and offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world."

We are free from the curse of our sins by faith in Christ as our sacrifice! Luther taught that Christ in the atonement "became a curse for us" at the cross (Gal. 3:13). He wrote, "This is the atoning, reconciling work of Christ." That means by grace through faith in the gospel of Christ, we receive the blessings of God. Believers are free from the curse.

Filled with the Spirit

As believers in Christ, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). To be filled with the Spirit is to yield to the love and power of God (Ephesians 3:19; Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit fills us with the love of Christ to do the will of God. The Holy Spirit fills us with power to effectively witness for Christ (Acts 1:8).

On the Day of Pentecost the disciples were both baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 2:4). They were baptized with the Holy Spirit to become one body in Christ collectively (1 Corinthians 12:13). They were individually filled with the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. We are commanded to be filled, and to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

We are filled with the Holy Spirit through prayer. And when they had prayed ... they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). The apostle Paul wrote his prayer for all believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-21). When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are filled with God's love.

We are filled with the Holy Spirit yielding to Jesus Christ our Lord. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is the will of God for every believer. We are empowered to witness for Christ, live for for the Lord, and minister to others in Jesus name. What the Lord wants us to do, the Lord empowers us to do. 

When We Exalt Jesus

Charles H. Spurgeon said, "In many places dedicated to the Lord, the name of Jesus is too often kept in the background. The Holy Spirit is almost entirely neglected, and very little is said concerning His sacred influence. ... May God send us a Christ exalting, Spirit loving ministry." 

Effective churches exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ is exalted, the Holy Spirit will work among us. The Holy Spirit always works to exalt Jesus Christ (John 16:7-11). When Christ is neglected in our churches, we are ineffective in our service. If we exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will work in us and our churches. Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit, exalting God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:18-20).

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of people. The promise of the Father was fulfilled just as Jesus had spoken (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit came with great power to exalt Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit was sent to draw people to Jesus. Three thousand people repented and received Jesus as Lord that very day. 

Effective churches exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. The focus of worship must be upon God our Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason for that is simple. The Holy Spirit's power is effective through us, when we exalt our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Who Cannot Be Saved?

John MacArthur wrote,"God receives sinners. The flip side of that truth is that He refuses the righteous. Not that there are any truly righteous people, of course (Romans 3:10). But those who think they are good enough, those who do not understand the seriousness of sin, cannot respond to the gospel. They cannot be saved, for the gospel is a call to sinners to repent and be forgiven."

Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). His gospel is for sinners only, and that includes all of us (Romans 3:23). Those who are self-righteous see no need for a Savior from sin. They foolishly think that they are good enough without the gospel.

The apostle Paul wrote, It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all (1 Timothy 1:15, NASB). That's the gospel of Christ, that God receives sinners.

Before Paul was saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was a Pharisee. He thought that he could please God with his self-righteousness. Only when he saw himself as a sinner was he saved. MacArthur warned all who are self-righteous. "They cannot be saved, for the gospel is a call to sinners to repent and be forgiven." 

How God Renews Us

God renews us through the Gospel of Christ. God renews our hearts. The heart is an expression for our inner person. That's the mind, will, and emotions. The Spirit of God renews our hearts to confess Jesus is Lord (Ro. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3). The Holy Spirit enables us to know Christ in a very personal way.

God renews our mind. We are renewed to understand spiritual things that are taught in the Bible, by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Ro. 12:2). The Holy Spirit is our teacher, giving us more and more understanding through the Bible.

God renews our will. God works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). We are then willing to do God's will, with a desire to serve Him and minister to others for His glory. We become doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22). 

God renews our emotions. We then have a godly sorrow for our sins. We are moved with compassion to help others. We may feel a burden to pray for someone. Remember that God does the work in our hearts, and that includes our emotions.

A Vision of Messiah

In Daniel 10:4-9, the prophet saw a vision of a man that overwhelmed him. Some expositors believe the vision was an angel, even Gabriel. John Gill maintained that it was a vision of Jesus the Son of God, that is our coming Messiah. 

Dr. Gill wrote, "Not Gabriel, but the Son of God, the Messiah; who, though not as yet incarnate, yet was so in the counsel and purpose of God; had agreed in covenant to be man, was promised and prophesied of as such; and now appeared in a human form, as he frequently did before his incarnation, as a pledge of it, and showing his readiness to assume human nature." 

Gill further commented about Jesus the Son of God in Daniel 10: "He appears here clothed in linen, in the habit of a priest; which office he sustains, and executes by the sacrifice of himself, and by his prevalent intercession; and may denote his purity and innocence, as well as direct us to his spotless righteousness he is the author of, which is like fine linen, clean and white."

The revelation of Jesus our Messiah in Daniel is confirmed in the book of Revelation 1:12-16. There we see the person of Jesus described in the same way. He is described in Revelation 1:13 as "One like the Son of Man." That title of Jesus as Messiah came from the book of Daniel 7:13-14. It is a term used to describe Jesus more than eighty times in the New Testament. Jesus is our Messiah, which means Christ. Both words means the anointed One (Acts 10:38).

Your Full Salvation

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

In Christ you have been saved. That is your 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 your sanctification. In Christ believers shall be saved. That is your glorification, when Christ returns. In essence, believers shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

Your full salvation is justification, sanctification, and glorification. It's all 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 glorified into his likeness, when he appears.

Your full salvation from beginning unto completion is 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 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).

How to Be Righteous

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."

Be righteous by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gift of God's righteousness. When we believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we 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 alone. Believers can say, HE is my righteousness.

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

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 believers 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). 

Who 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). The Lord Jesus Christ saves believers (Acts 16:31). 

Jesus saves believers from the curse of sin to be blessed by God. Jesus took our place, when he died on the cross. 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 believers 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 a glorified body. It will be a body 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 believers from sin unto righteousness. Our sins are no longer counted against us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins were imputed to Christ at the cross. God exchanges our sins for the righteousness of Christ placed upon our account (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took our sins at the cross. He gives us his righteousness. That's how Jesus saves believers.

Enter God's Covenant

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."

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). Enter the covenant of 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 reveals 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). Enter this everlasting covenant through our Lord Jesus (Hebrews 13:20-21).

God's Covenant of grace is for us 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 us. 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. Enter God's Covenant by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).