Just a Minute!

Revelation speaks of a time when the seven bowls of God’s wrath will be poured out on earth.

Now, these bowls are for those who bear the mark of the beast and worship his image.

But I’ve talked to many Christians who are afraid that God’s wrath is going to be poured out on them.

That’s not what the Bible says.

We have been saved from the wrath to come.

Listen to these verses of encouragement and hope from the book of 1 Thessalonians.

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

You Christian are safe and secure in the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

You have been saved from the wrath to come. And that is good news.

Categories: End Times Hope Identity/Self Image

As a believer, you are not under law, but under grace.

Many take this as a license to sin, including many Pastors and Bible teachers.

And instead of shouting this glorious truth from the rooftops, they hide it under all kinds of rules and regulations, because how else will people be motivated to live holy lives.

But that’s not what the Bible teaches.

When you were under the law, lost, you were under the power and dominion of sin.

A slave to sin.

But no longer.

Through the saving grace of Jesus, you’ve had a heart change.

And having been set free from sin, you have become a slave of righteousness.

Being under grace is not a license to sin. And don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Being under grace is the path to righteousness.

And that’s good news.

Categories: Law Grace Sin Righteousness/Justification

Have you ever described your life like this?

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate?”

Well you want to do right, you just don’t have the ability to carry it out.

Well if so, you are in good company.

Paul struggled in exactly the same way. And so as every other human being who has ever lived.

It’s called the problem of man the fact that we come into this world captive to sin.

The harder you fight to break free, the stronger sin’s grip on your lives becomes.

Paul’s experience led him to throw up his hands in frustration and cry out…

“What a wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Well here is the answer.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Categories: Righteousness/Justification Jesus Christ

At one time in his life, Paul believed that he was faultless as to legalistic righteousness.

Now that changed when he took a good look at the law.

Specifically, that 10th commandment which says, “You shall not covet.”

When he did, something strange happened to him.

The sin living in his members used the commandment to produce all kinds of covetous desires in Paul.

Sin sprang to life inside of him.

And as he wrote in Romans 7:11, “sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

Paul thought he was right in God’s sight through his works of the law.

But through the law he discovered the truth his need for the saving work of Jesus.

How about you. Has the law shown you your need for Jesus?

Categories: Sin Righteousness/Justification Jesus Christ

Do you want to bear fruit for God?

Well yes, of course. But the question is how.

Well it can’t happen trying to live up to the law.

Paul explained why.

“For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.”

Our sinful passions are aroused by the law, plain and simple.

Put a sign on a fence that says “Do not look through this hole” and you will see people lining up to look through the hole.

That’s just the nature of the flesh.

Well here is the good news.

You have been released from the law and now you belong to him who has been raised from the dead – Jesus Christ himself.

Trust him, and you will bear fruit for God.

Categories: Christian Living Righteousness/Justification New Covenant

According to the law of Moses, marriage is for life.

A man and woman are bound to each other as long as they are both alive.

But when one dies, the other is released from the law and is free to marry another.

Now Paul uses this illustration to explain a key point of the Gospel.

You were once married to sin and death.

You were bound to that relationship by the the law.

Now the only way out was through death.

And here is the good news. You died with Jesus Christ.

And the law can no longer hold you as a prisoner of sin.

As Paul wrote in Romans 7:4, “You died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead.”

Categories: Jesus Christ Identity/Self Image Righteousness/Justification

Listen to these words about Jesus from the book of Hebrews.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God.”

“The exact imprint of his nature.”

“And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

The writer is saying that Jesus is God, the exact nature of his Father.

But this isn’t new information.

God the Father had already declared this truth when he spoke through the Psalmist.

He said of Jesus, “your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”

Did you catch that? Jesus is God.

There is no one that compares to him.

So when the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus made purification for sins, your sins.

You can rest knowing you are clean and righteous in his sight.

And that’s good news.

Categories: Jesus Christ

The Pharisees had had it with all of Jesus’s crazy talk.

So much so they said, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

Not that was a low blow.

But it didn’t keep Jesus from telling the truth.

He said to these Pharisees, “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

How can that be, they wondered? Abraham died. Are you saying you are greater than Abraham? Just who do you think you are Jesus?

To this he responded, “Before Abraham was, I AM”

The same name God used with Moses when he declared, “I am has sent me to you.”

Jesus is God and he declared it to these skeptics in the clearest of terms.

They picked up stones to stone him, but to those who believe him, they will never taste death.

Categories: Jesus Christ

“I and the Father are one.”

Now, these were disturbing words to the religious leaders of Jesus's day.

They were so offended and angered by his words, they picked up stones to stone him.

Jesus had shown them many miracles, miracles that only one sent from God could do.

So he asked, “for which of them are you going to stone me?”

It wasn't the miracles. It was his claim.

“It is not for a good work” they said, “it is for blasphemy, because you being a mere man, make yourself God.”

They heard him loud and clear.

They knew what Jesus was claiming about himself.

They just didn't believe his claim was true.

But let me ask you … how about you?

Do you believe that Jesus is God?

Categories: Jesus Christ

Have you ever asked God to show you a sign?

We ask because we want him to let us know we are on the right path, that we are making the right decisions, that we are carrying out the will of God.

Well the Jews were constantly asking Jesus for signs.

On one occasion he gave them this.

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”

Now the Jewish leaders didn’t know how to read this sign.

And neither did the disciples until after the resurrection.

But then they remembered his words and believed the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

If you are looking for a sign, look to Jesus.

Believe and trust him, and you will be carrying out the will of God.

Categories: Jesus Christ Hope