Tag Archives: Holiness

Take Out The Trash, Son

Posted on December 8, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

Crucifixion was considered “the most cruel & hideous of tortures” (Cicero). Author Dr Alexander Metherell wrote, “The pain was absolutely unbearable. In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe it; they had to invent a new word: “excruciating”. Literally excruciating means ‘out of the Cross’”.

Before Jesus was removed from the Cross for burial a Roman guard, well versed in crucifixion, ensured that Christ was dead. The Bible says:

John 19:34 (ESV) … one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

This was a clear forensic sign that our Lord had passed into glory. Jesus’ body was embalmed by washing and wrapping Him in myrrh and aloe – about 75 pounds in weight… Continue reading →

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Losing Your Soul

Posted on November 22, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

“DESIRE” is not a bad thing. The word translated “DESIRE” is the Hebrew ta’ăvâ which means “desires, wishes, longing for that which you do not have”. When used in a negative way, it can mean “lust or covetousness”.

God made humans with the ability to desire, to want something outside of ourselves.

When God made man and woman, the Bible says that God said “Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let THEM have DOMINION over the earth” (Genesis 1:26). God gave man and woman the whole world and everything in it. Adam and Eve lacked nothing, but were told to dominate all creatures. God told them:

Genesis 1:28-29 (ESV) Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

Adam and Eve were to desire three things… Continue reading →

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Judgment Day Is Coming

Posted on September 27, 2024 by bibleteacherorg

The Apostle addresses the “beloved of God”. The word “BELOVED” is the Greek agapētos, which certainly means “BELOVED”, but it means also “those well favored, those worthy of love”. The believer in Christ is worthy of love because he is a believer in Christ. Jesus Christ is God’s “BELOVED Son” (Matthew 3:17). God told the Prophet Isaiah of the Lord Jesus, saying:

Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior you are “BELOVED” for His sake. You are “called to be SAINTS” because Christ’s sacrifice is reckoned to your life. As father Abraham believed on and received Christ, we do as well. Christ’s righteousness is “imputed to us, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and raised for our justification”.

But as we come to Romans chapter two, the Word of God does not address the Church, but the lost world. We read:

Romans 2:1 … Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man …

Romans 2:3 … And thinkest thou this, O man …

Word Study: It is not the “BELOVED” that is addressed, but “MAN”, the Greek anthrōpos which means “human being, whether male or female”. The Beloved of God, the Christian is to “let your light so shine before MEN (anthrōpos), that they (the lost) may see our good works, and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Continue reading →

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We All Shall Give An Account

Posted on October 24, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

1 Peter 4:5-7 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Last week we saw how the Christian – a person saved by Grace – would be considered at odds with the world. Though we used to walk in (see verse 3):

lasciviousness (Greek aselgeia), wanton unbridled lust, shamelessness
lusts (Greek epithymia), desire for the forbidden
excess of wine (Greek oinophlygia), drunkenness
revelings (Greek kōmos), carousing, rioting, partying
banquetings (Greek potos), bar hopping, drinking about
abominable idolatries (Greek athemitos eidōlolatria), wokeness

we no longer do this. God through the Apostle Peter tells us why the Gospel is preached. Why do we tell people about Jesus? Why do we ourselves focus on the Gospel? Continue reading →

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God Works With a Few

Posted on March 28, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Last week we ended with Gideon being given a mission from God. He was to go to his father Joash’s Altar to Baal and, using a 7 year old bull, tear the altar down. Tearing it down he was then to kill the bullock, and offer a sacrifice to the God of Israel.

God’s Leaders Must Publicly Stand Up For God

Gideon’s action was a public profession of his faith in God. Those who claim to be children of God are to publicly stand up and affirm their faith in God, regardless as to what others think. Jesus said in

Luke 9:26 (ESV) For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV) So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Luke 12:8-9 (ESV) And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

I have often heard people say, “I have faith, but my faith is a private matter”. It cannot be a “private thing” if you’re saved. John MacArthur rightly said in reference to Luke 12:8 …

“If you have a very private, personal faith of your own, you’ll take it to hell. …… Continue reading →

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Justification Leads To Sanctification

Posted on May 23, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

Salvation can only be achieved – not through our works – but through the finished work of Christ. But once saved by justification, the Christian is to actively participate in his or her SANCTIFICATION. Once saved, we are not what we were. Before we were saved, we belonged to ourselves (or so we thought). Once saved, we belong to God. God is our Father. Jesus Christ purchased us by His Blood. Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for us.

We are not what we were, but are now – by the Blood and Intercession of Christ – SONS OF GOD.

As Jesus prays for His Church, He prays:

I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Christian, you were GIVEN to Jesus. Christian, you BELONG to God. You are “not your own … you are bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)

Christians are both JUSTIFIED as well as SANCTIFIED. Pastor and Bible Teacher Chuck Swindoll wrote:

“{The Bible’s} message emphasizes the gospel to the lost and grace to the saved. … Just as the lost don’t understand the gospel, the saved rarely understand grace.”… Continue reading →

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And Stephen

Posted on January 24, 2022 by bibleteacherorg

The very first man the Church chose was called Stephen (vs 5). Stephen and these other six men did what they were supposed to do. As they MINISTERED, the MURMURING ceased. Rather than the cancer of murmuring killing the Body, we are told:

Acts 6:7 … The number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith”

The Church began to reach even the hardest to reach. “A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith”. The priests were part of the group that called for Christ’s crucifixion. Now, through love, these “enemies of the Cross” became “children of Christ”.

At this point the narrative in Acts focuses on the standout named simply Stephen. A lot of time is taken with Stephen, because Stephen would have the privilege of being the first martyr of the Church. We saw earlier that Stephen was “full of the Holy {Spirit} and wisdom”, and now read:

Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

Stephen refused to allow anything in his spiritual walk that was negative or degrading. Stephen would not allow himself to be filled with FEAR, nor CONFUSION. Stephen refused to entertain notions of darkness. Stephen did this by staying busy in Christ, giving to others as Christ gave to him. The Apostle said:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,… Continue reading →

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Receive Jesus, Receive Power

Posted on June 13, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

The most important part of the race is the finish. I don’t know about you, but I want to finish well. I don’t want to be like Judas Iscariot who, following Jesus for 3 ½ years, ended up hanging himself (Matthew 27:5-8). Peter said of Judas,

Acts 1:18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

What a horrible ending that was! One author notes, “Perhaps Judas hanged himself and in the process also fell (lit. “flat on his face”)… Continue reading →

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The Marks Of The Christian

Posted on April 9, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

What marks a Christian, a Christian? What are the signs or evidences in the life that stand as proofs that you are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus? It is not the man made denomination that makes a Christian, but God does this when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Apostle of Love wrote:

John 1:12-13 But as many as received {Jesus}, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Position Of The Christian Is Different To
The Position Of The Lost

A Christian is distinctly different to a non-Christian. A Christian is a “Son of God”. Someone once asked, “But doesn’t God have any daughters?”. Well yes, He does. But “Son of God” is a technical term for the genuine Christian.

When Jesus Christ was incarnate, He became the Son of Man. But Jesus is eternally THE Son of God.
Even Satan acknowledged this…. Continue reading →

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The Eyes Of The Lord Do Not Change

Posted on March 29, 2021 by bibleteacherorg

Many professing Christians today refuse to read the Old Testament. They think that the Old Testament is obsolete, no longer valid, because of Jesus Christ. Many preachers believe that the various statements made in the New Testament, statements like …

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace.

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain.

… erase the Old Testament. They do not. The Old Testament is the foundation upon which the New Testament rests.

We who are Christ followers are no longer under the portions of the Law that relate to animal sacrifices, special feast days, dietary laws, or laws determining cleanliness.

We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
Jesus is our High Priest and we are a Kingdom of Priests
(Revelation 1:5-6)
Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial and symbolic aspects of the Law
(Matthew 5:17)

The New Testament believer is freed from the law of circumcision, because we are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of our sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11).

The New Testament believer celebrates the Sabbath on the day Jesus rose from the grave, Sunday (the first day of the week), the same day the early Church worshiped (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). Continue reading →

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