Tag Archives: Covenant Relationship

Above All, The Shield

The Christian only becomes a Christian by the action of the Holy Spirit. We enter our salvation by FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our works that save us, not our ability to keep the Law or to be moral in an amoral world. The Bible is very clear:

Romans 3:28 (ESV): “For we hold that ONE IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH APART FROM THE WORKS OF THE LAW”.

Galatians 2:16 (NIV): “…know that a person is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, but BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST…”.

Romans 4:3 (ESV): “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and it was counted to him as righteousness”.

Salvation is of FAITH, not of WORKS. But it is FAITH in JESUS, FAITH in God, FAITH in the God of the Scripture.

But once you call upon Jesus in faith, God the Holy Spirit causes you to be BORN AGAIN (John 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:23). You are called “a NEW CREATURE, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are not part of this world anymore. You are not enslaved to sin nor to Satan. Continue reading

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The “L” Word

I saw a young lady the other day “deconstructing” her faith on Youtube. This is a new and popular thing to do among so called “young ex-Christians”, some Christian music artists who’ve made millions singing about Jesus. This young lady was saying “I thought I was a Christian. I made myself a Christian, but now I’ve changed my mind.”. She said:

“I got saved (mocking voice on saved) when in a very vulnerable position. I was struggling with alcohol, drugs, you know. That’s how I got in. When I came to the faith, I was like, the prime Christian. I was the Christian on fire. My whole congregation, I lit a flame up under their —es. They loved to see me coming. I can’t tell you how many times I went up in front of the Church, because you had to do that if you were found out in sin. … I would show up on my pastor’s porch and tell him I had sex with somebody. Then I would stand in front of the congregation, and confess my sin.”

The girl was never saved. Her testimony was all about I. In one short statement about her faith, she never spoke about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, but about I. This young lady was never born again. She was a repeat fornicator. How can I say with assurance that she was never saved? Because Jesus spoke of such people.

Mechanics of Salvation: Jesus explained the mechanics of salvation in His parable of the Sower, also called the Parable of the Soils. It’s found in three Gospels:

Matthew 13:3-23
Mark 4:1-20
Luke 8:4-15

In this parable Jesus talks about the Sower sowing the seed of the Gospel. As the Sower sowed, some seed fell on the packed down path (Matthew 13:4). Other seed fell on rocky ground (Matthew 13:5-6). Yet other seed fell among thorns (Matthew 13:7). But the seed that fell on good soil, it PRODUCED fruit (Matthew 13:8).

Jesus was careful to explain the parable to His disciples, but NOT TO THE CROWD. Only those who were in a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP with Him heard the explanation. Why? Why did Jesus speak in parables? I’ve heard preachers mistakenly say “to make it easier to understand”. But Jesus explained this:… Continue reading

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The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Israel has crossed the flooded Jordan, God parting the waters and making it dry land. Israel has gone to Gilgal – a town called Rolling Wheel – and has honored God by setting up a monument to God’s glory there. Israel has honored God with their lives and with their bodies. They are now in a proper Covenant relationship with God. Continue reading

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