Never Leave Thee, or Forsake Thee

Does God seem distant? Guess who moved? He is right where you left Him because He never leaves or forsakes His own. Did you know that if you would simply trust in His Love and Mercy and pray and worship as if you had never sinned you would discover that His Spirit will shortly make you feel just that way, because when you repent and trust in Him, you never did sin; at least that’s what His Books will show. Under the Law of the Old Testament, "if you leave the Lord, the Lord will leave you," because there was no justice yet served for men’s sins, and the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. Heb 10:4. What difference does faith in Christ and His Blood make for New Testament believers? JUSTICE IS SERVED! Jesus said, "I will never leave thee, or forsake thee… Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Heb 13:5; Matt 28:20. His blood satisfied the claims of justice for all sin forever. It opened the way for relationship to God that would allow access to fellowship. There is a difference between relationship and fellowship, because you can have a relationship and still have no fellowship in that relationship. Relationship needs to be secure for access to fellowship regardless of sin. Only in the blood of Jesus is a perfect Righteousness, a perfect right standing relationship in Christ. This is the Righteousness that was wrapped up as a gift and given to us when we repent and trust in Jesus. Rom 5:17. So although our fellowship with God may have its up’s and down’s, our relationship to God is perfect in Christ. And though sin may cause us to lose touch and feel forsaken of God at times, Jesus responds and says, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" Isa 49:16. "I will never leave thee, or forsake thee… Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Matthew 7:13-14

Can you imagine trying to keep Gods commandments perfectly your whole life thinking it was the narrow way to Heaven, only to find it really was the wide path to hell!? The Jews thought they were following the "narrow path" of "works salvation," and they boasted in their obedience to the Law, so Jesus added to their already wide path of works, to show that a path of works does not get narrower the more Laws you add to it [Matt 5:27-28], it gets narrow when you remove them. Rom 10:4. If works are a path, the more you have, the wider the path; if Christ is the end of good works as a path, then the way gets narrow. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes unto the Father but by Me." John 14:6. Notice He doesn’t say, "…no man comes unto the Father, but by Me and keeping Gods Laws." Still, many preachers today use this saying of Jesus, "narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it," out of context to teach works salvation as a narrow path, a path that gets so narrow at times you may barely squeak through the tight spots to Heaven. "Whosoever offends the Law in one point is guilty of breaking all." James 2:10. This verse tells us that if obedience to Law is the "narrow way," then the way closes if you sin even one time. If obedience to the Law [works salvation] is any kind of path, it is permanently closed by every thought of sin. "Wide is the path to Hell." What does this mean? Works salvation is the same wide path to Hell as utter lawlessness if Jesus Christ did not pay for sin. Keeping Laws for righteousness is the broad way to Hell because no one can do it, and Jesus was trying to help them see this fact. We absolutely need Jesus to save us. He is the Narrow Way that leads to Life everlasting! Because the Bible says He has abolished in His flesh the Law of commandments and ordinances that was thought to bring righteousness, and He paid an awful price to provide a Way through Himself. Saved by grace through faith, not of works… it’s a free gift of Righteousness.

Have you ever magnified an object with a zoom lens until all you can see is the object in full detail? Magnification enlarges, or pulls an object in, blocking the view of anything else. When you magnify problems or sin, more and more hopelessness magnifies right along with it. You begin to have a sense of failure that overwhelms and gives place to doubt, fear, and depression that can completely shut down your internal motivator or desire to please God. If a Christian has sin in their life, they need to recognize it and deal with it, but to sit there and stare at faults is to magnify your faults. It leads to a place where your whole life is magnifying your faults. But there is hope. "Oh magnify the Lord with me; let us extol Him name together!" Because of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, you can take your eyes off yourself and magnify the Lord. When you do, the closer you zoom in on Him, the image of yourself changes. Change comes because He lives within us, and our mind is renewed to that image of God in Christ, the longer we behold Him. God told Abraham he would have a child in his old age, but Abraham doubted, so God said, "look at the stars and count them… so shall thy seed be." Then He said, "look at the grains of sand on the beaches… so shall thy seed be." God promised Abraham that his children would be as many as the number of the stars and all the grains of sand. He used visual aid to increase Abraham’s faith, because old Abe doubted he could have kids at his age. You may not see your ability to please God because you’ve failed so many times, but see Him on the bloody cross; now magnify and don’t take your eyes from there. Not only will your sin disappear from sight, but you will begin to see yourself as God sees you in Christ, forgiven, accepted, beloved of God, saved forever by grace through faith. Then see Him arisen from the dead, and magnify the resurrection in your heart, and change into that image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

I’ve heard preachers tell Christians that they should not make war against the devil. I don’t know what Bible they are reading. My Bible says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph 6:12. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor 10:3-5. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." How do we resist the devil? Jesus said, "In My name you will cast out devils." Mark 16:17. In Acts, Paul gives example of how to do this, when he "turned and said [out loud] to the demon spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" Acts 16:18. Spiritual warfare is appropriating the Word of God in our lips by faith, to every opposition of God, be they demons, temptations of sin, wavering of faith, or reasoning against the known will of God. Jesus resisted the devils temptations with the Word of God in His lips. Luke 4:1-13. We are not greater than our Lord in this. God knows that repentance will not be enough to defeat the sin in your life, so He says, "pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations, bring every thought captive, wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and cast them out in Jesus name!" If a lustful thought attacks your peace, speak the Word and say, "I set my mind on things above, not on things on earth! For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace!" Quote the commandments and pledge loyalty and allegiance to God. If doubt attacks your mind, say out loud, "The carnal mind cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned. I refuse to think about spiritual things with a carnal mind!" 1 Cor 2:14. Use your spiritual mind to think about spiritual things, and doubt your doubts with the Word of God in your lips! If you are not willing to speak the Word out loud by faith, you are not willing to be free, because this is the example of the Word of God for victory. We are truly in a war, but we are more than conquerors, and you will never outgrow spiritual warfare, so you had better learn to fight.

John 6:40

Matthew 7:21

Jesus said that in order to be saved we must do the will of the Father in Heaven. "Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." From this verse some claim that we must not only obey Gods commandments to be saved, but we must also be "working" for God, doing His will. But what is the "Will of God" Jesus is speaking of? He states it in John 6:40, "And this is the Will of Him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." The Will of God is that we believe on the Son. We will all "see the Son" in death, for "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," but believing on Him is another thing. Only those who do not trust in their works, but trust in the Son and what He did for them on the cross may have everlasting life. This is the will of God. A chapter before this, Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24. The good news of the gospel is not that you must perform up to standard to be saved in the end, but that God saves us from ourselves, and from having to obey the standard, through His work alone, and gives us salvation through faith and trust in Him. Works play their part only after the heart has been converted and saved, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,.." Eph 2:8-10. Repentance then, is the fruit of faith. Notice: saved not of works, but "unto good works." You must be "created in Christ Jesus" or "born again," before any good works can give God glory, and the only way good works give glory to God, is if you do not trust in them, in any way at all. God’s Will is that we believe on His Son, not our works.

John 6:28-29

According to the Old Covenant, doing the works of God was considered doing all things good and right by God’s Law, in giving to the poor, tithing, obeying all commandments and giving sacrifices according to the Law of Moses. The New Covenant of grace and truth through Jesus brought a great change that shocked the system. John 1:17. Jesus preached repentance from sin [Matt 4:17], but more often He preached salvation through faith alone, never mentioning repentance. John 1:12; 3:14-18; 3:35-36; 5:24; 6:35-36; 6:40; 6:47; 7:37-39; 8:24; 9:35-38; 11:25-26; 12:46-47. The Jews did not believe Jesus message of salvation through faith alone. They exalted the Law as a justifying agent and worked out a system of salvation based on merit for the keeping of its precepts and traditions added to it. They had come to trust in the Law as a means of spiritual salvation. Ignoring the innate sinfulness of their hearts they imagined they would be saved by keeping the letter of the Law, so much so, that when Christ came offering them salvation for their sins, they thought they had no need of such a Messiah. John 8:32-34. Instead, they thought Jesus would prescribe some new form of works or requirements that they might receive eternal life. They asked, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" But they were not willing to follow the way indicated by Jesus: "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent." John 6:28-29. This seems too easy for them, when in fact their pride made it the most difficult concept to grasp. They want to take credit for their disposition, to stand by their works, but God knows the works of a man may falter because they are in his own hands, faith however is in Gods hands, and God says we stand by faith. 2 Cor 1:24. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Important note: although "faith without works is dead," Jesus said, "this is the work of God, that ye believe on Me." Even if good works disappear, the real work is to believe. Keep believing His grace is sufficient for you and it will light your way out of every fiery trial.

Satan commends sinners, but accuses saints. Because a man is saved, Satan knows he cannot accuse him after he is dead, so he takes advantage of the Christians weakness of mind and accuses him every chance he gets before he dies. But for the unbeliever, Satan will never accuse him. He wants the sinner to keep on sinning and running from God. He will work to keep him ignorant of God, but if that doesn’t work, he will work to deceive him into thinking he is accepted with God without repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. His goal is to keep him thinking "all is well," and thinking he’s a "good person," while the violations of the Law of God are not satisfied through the death and resurrection of Christ. This is very easy to verify. Ask the average non-Christian on the street if they think they will make it to heaven when they die; and nine out of ten will say they believe they will go to Heaven because they are a "good person," as if being good enough was the way to Heaven. Even some of the foulest sinners will claim they are not as bad as some others when asked this question (Pro 16:2; 20:6). When the New Birth takes place, Satan will bring on the Law as the accuser, no longer hiding it; for just as effective as it was to hide it while we loved running from God, now that we run with God it is more effective to try and make us feel condemned for every shortcoming. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death" (Rom 8:1-2). What is the Law of sin and death? The Ten Commandments (2 Cor 3:7-9). The Law of the Spirit of Life that overcomes the Law of sin and death, is the "Law of faith" (Rom 3:27). He says there is "no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Walking "after the flesh" is an attempt to walk by "the Law" for righteousness with God. We are free from the condemnation of the Law not because we live perfect after the flesh, but because Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to all who believe (Rom 10:4). And Satan no longer has the Law over us to accuse.

John 16:7-9

There is a much deeper curse than the curse of sin, Jesus said the world is convicted "of sin, because they believe not on Me." John 16:7-9. Unbelief in God’s Word is the root cause of sin, and it always proceeds sin. You may think what you are doing is your problem, but the heart of the problem is the problem of your heart. Adam and Eve did not sin until they first doubted God’s Word. They listened to Satan as he called God a liar. God said of the forbidden fruit, "…thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die." But Satan said, "Ye shall not surely die..." They must have spent a bit of time considering Satan’s words against God’s because Genesis 3:6 says, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." In the time they spent considering Satan over God, they fell into the lust of the flesh [the tree was good for food], the lust of the eyes [the tree was pleasant to the eyes], and the pride of life [the tree makes one wise]. They doubted God’s Word in their hearts and it opened the door for disobedience. The Bible says, "Give no place to the Devil." Satan has not changed. His lies are still contradicting what God has said, and they still only appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 1 John 2:16. The curse deeper than sin we see on the world today is the same curse of doubt of God’s Word. The world of sinners is really a world of unbelievers. "…the god of this world [satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them." Jesus said the Holy Spirit convicts, "Of sin, because they believe not on Me." That is, He restores the child-like trust in God’s Word that was lost in Eden. Want the sin to run out of your life? Feed your faith and focus your heart on the Word of God. Believe on, trust in, and feed continually on God’s Word until you trust what God has said more than what the world, the flesh and the Devil are saying. Doubt is the root of sin. Destroy sins roots and you won’t get sins fruits.

Grace does not mean that a sinner is forgiven because God is big-hearted enough to remit the penalty or to waive the righteous judgment. "The soul that sins, it shall die." As perfect Ruler of the universe God cannot deal leniently with sin, for that would detract from His perfect holiness and justice. God’s grace to sinners is seen in the fact that He Himself, through the atonement of Christ, paid the full penalty of sin; therefore He can justly pardon sin without regard to the sinners merit or demerit. Sinners are pardoned not because God is gracious to excuse their sins, but because there is redemption through the Blood of Christ, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom 3:24. Liberal preachers have gone astray at this point: they have thought that God is gracious in pardoning sin, whereas His pardon of sin is based on strict justice. In pardoning sin "He is faithful and just." 1 John 1:9. God’s grace is revealed in His providing an atonement whereby He can both justify the ungodly and yet vindicate His holy, unchangeable Law. "He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Eph 1:6. In the end, God will punish sin wherever it is found; the good news for us is that a believer’s sin will only be found at the cross, strict justice having been served to Christ for our complete redemption.

It is not a call to sin when the Spirit of God says to believers, "Blessed is he that condemns not himself in the things he allows." Rom 14:22. The Lord has made us for freedom and to celebrate righteousness and holiness in an atmosphere of equality with Himself, and it cannot be if we are aware of every short coming, that we can fellowship with God entirely on the level He desires. "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 1 Cor 6:12. When we are in Christ, there is such a freedom that there should never be a sense of legal boundaries, "Unto the pure, all things are pure," Titus 1:15. But this does not mean everything is good to do. For self judgment, we realize what we take, may take us, and we are not to be in any kind of bondage. As for judging others, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Rom 14:13. In one example, what this means is that while it may be ok for a pastor to drink alcohol in moderation if the Lord permit, it will be a stumbling block to tell his congregation about it, whom many have their lives destroyed by alcohol addiction, including deaths from liver failure, drunk driving accidents, teens drinking and getting pregnant, etc. And if be wrong to tell them of his drinking, it is especially wrong to preach that because Jesus changed water into wine, Jesus may have drank, therefore it’s ok with God to drink. "All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." 1 Cor 10:23. If a man has no peace in his own heart, he cannot be happy; and no man can have peace who sins against his conscience. If a man’s passions or appetite allow or instigate him to a particular thing, his conscience should approve what his passions allow, so that he is never the subject of continual self-condemnation. There are many amoral things that will be offensive to others who are weak in the faith, but "Blessed is he that condemns not himself in the things he allows."

Micah 7:7-9.

In the Old Covenant, seekers of God were saved when they repented of sin and trusted in God’s mercy. God said that King David was a man after His own heart; a man who was an adulterer and a murderer, but he repented and trusted God for mercy. Micah had this heart in him as well when he cried, "when I fall, I shall arise!" Under the Old Covenant people repented of sin and trusted for mercy and were granted eternal life, yet the Bible says in the New Covenant God "provided some better thing for us," and calls the New Testament a "better covenant established upon better promises." Heb 8:6. In fact, Hebrews 11 lists the great men of faith of the Old Testament and tells of their victories trusting in God through many trials, even trials of sin: "by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with the unbelievers, when she had received the spies with peace;" The chapter ends with, "these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Hebrews 11:39-40. So what better thing than the old way does repentance and trust in Jesus Christ promise? It is this: "I will put My Laws into your mind, and write them in your heart: and I will be to you a God, and you shall be to Me a people, and all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest, For I will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb 8:10-13. "Merciful to your unrighteousness" means that every unrighteous act with is met with immediate mercy. "Sins and iniquities will I remember no more" means God no longer holds our sins on record against us in heaven. Rom 4:7. Writing His Laws into our mind and heart means that we all know Him in a personal relationship, born again into His heart and mind. "You will be found in Christ, not having your own righteousness which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith... For by one offering He has perfected forever them which are being made holy." Heb 10:14-17; Phil 3:9. The miracle of the New Birth is that once you are His child, you are seen and treated as His beloved Child, because that is what you are.

Isaiah 43:24-25

Did you know that if you are judged for even one sin when you die it will be a Hell sentence? It doesn’t take a lot of sin to earn eternity in Hell, just one (James 2:10). There’s no purgatory in the Bible. This is why God made Covenant to forget our sins through the blood of Jesus (Heb 8:10-12), and as we draw close to Him in fellowship, His blood purges our conscience from sin as well. We begin to see ourselves as He sees us, without sin! This happens without conscious effort on our part. We draw near to God and His Holy Spirit cleanses our conscience and memory from sin so that we can serve the Living God (Heb 9:9-14). We are told to forget, and we must work at it, due to the fact that Satan will remind us, and God knows we don’t always stay inside the purging fire. Only by "forgetting those things which are behind" are we able to "reach for those things which are before us" (Phil 3:13). Guilt and condemnation will keep you from reaching forward, so forgetting is a big part of sanctification. The Covenant of God in Christ makes this possible (Titus 3:5-7). We would not be able to forget without the Covenant of God. "…old things are pasted away, and all things are become new" (2 Cor 5:17). Living life in the NOW is the way of the Kingdom of God due to the New Covenant in Christ. If we become prayerless and proud of our own righteousness, God smirks and says, "Remember the hole of the pit from which you were pulled." If we continue to operate in pride, all the laws of the flesh, sin and death begin to haunt. The phantoms of the pits we were pulled from try to spook, but to no avail. These are there due to the reality of God in the Holy Spirit, but the haunting of the past is due to the lack of knowledge of the Covenant of God. Never bring up your sin again, not if you have confessed, repented and forsaken it. God has forgotten it for a reason, and you need to forget it for the same. Because of Jesus, God forgets the past and says, "Let’s move on!" and the past ended one second ago.

2 Corinthians 5:10

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Why? That every man may receive for the things done in the body. Even believers will appear for this reason; only one thing.., according to the Bible only good deeds will be on record. All of humanity will be judged by the books that recorded their works, but all sins of believers will be blotted out of the books [Rev 20:11-15, Eze 18:22; 33:16, Isaiah 43:25; 44:22, Acts 3:19] How did the sins get blotted out, or erased from the books of works? By the blood of Jesus Christ. The blood is the sin eraser. Why? Two reasons; 1. Because there is no double-jeopardy in God’s court. He punished His Son for your sin, so He will not punish you. And 2, because where there is no commandment, there is no record of sin. Colossians says even the Law of commandments was blotted out of the books for believers. The cross was powerful, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Col 2:14. Jesus erased our sins, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the Law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." Eph 2:12-16. The Judgment seat of Christ will be about reward and assignment in heaven [1 Cor 3:13-15]. The only way it will be about sin, is that we all will worship Jesus for who He is, and for the cross He bore. You are not a sinful servant awaiting trial, but a Fathers Child enjoying an inheritance, and are only there to verify and discuss its provisions. Jesus paid the fine for the Laws you broke. Father declared you "not guilty" and erased all Laws and commandments, rules, and rituals so that you can walk into the court room boldly. Heb 4:16. Do you go into God’s Presence boldly now with your sins to receive grace and mercy? Yes, every time. We go to the Judgment seat of Christ every day and He forgives us and treats us like we did no wrong. It will be no different on the final Day.

Hebrews 10:26-29

This verse scared me into submission in the early years as a Christian. It’s a wonder I ever sinned again taking this as a warning against general sin. But I did, over and over through the years and it left me with a growing feeling of worry for all the things I ever did wrong. The more I worried, the less I trusted in Jesus and His blood. The warning against "willful sin" however is not even dealing with general sin at all, it is dealing with the apostasy of using a different faith system to reach God other than Jesus and His blood. In context, Paul was constantly dealing with Jewish Christians who were devoted to the Law of Moses, thinking they were going to be saved via obedience to the Law. Paul argued with them about this in all the surrounding context of the verse. He refers to Deuteronomy 17:2-7 in verse 28 that under the Old Testament, if someone would despise Moses Law as the way of salvation, and seek other gods and false religions, he would die by stoning, punished with physical death because it was a willful act of rejecting God, not just mere common sins of which God accepted sacrifices for atonement, but a rejection of the God of Moses. Paul knew these Christian Jews defended the Law of Moses as "the way" of salvation, but since there was now a new and living Way, he warned them in verse 29 that if they rejected Jesus and His blood as the only Way, that it was tantamount to apostasy and deserved a far worse judgment than physical death. Sinning ignorantly or sinning willfully is defined by the plans made to "depart from the Living God," not merely struggling with the old nature. There is no sin without your will involved, so don’t think the Christian who struggles with sin yet trusts in Jesus blood is deserving "worse punishment" than an unbeliever. No, this passage is referring to the one who willfully rejects the knowledge of the truth, seeking instead to climb up some other way than Jesus blood alone. There remains no more sacrifice for sins other than Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:7

We need to see the righteousness that is unseen. Right standing with God means absolute perfection in God’s eyes. We need to walk by faith, meaning that we need to see ourselves, having not a righteousness that is according to deeds, but God’s Righteousness which is perfect! "For by one offering He has perfected forever them which are being made holy." Heb 10:14. We are perfect in Gods eyes because we walk in "the free gift of Gods Righteousness by Jesus Christ." Rom 5:15-19. There is much said about "works righteousness" in the Bible, but even more said about God’s Righteousness. How is God righteous? It is not merely because He is the source of all "right-ness," which He is, but since Jesus Christ became a man and submitted His will to the Will of the Father, living a human life in obedience to God and His Law without sin, Christ has a Righteousness to speak of that is perfect. As a sinless man He is perfect. The Bible says Jesus is "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners…" Heb 7:26. Walking by faith and not by sight means no matter how we feel because of failures, we have a perfect Righteousness in Christ that is always ours by faith even if not by sight. This is why we are more than conquerors. Rom 8:33-37. A conqueror is one who fights and wins a battle, a more than conqueror is one who knows Jesus fought the battle and we receive the credit for His victory. We simply live by faith in what our Champion has won for us, a perfect right standing with God regardless of what we see in our conduct. Those in Christ who live holy and right, we walk by faith and not by sight.

Jesus loves the backslider. "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you... Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." And our response, "Behold, we come unto thee; for you are the LORD our God." Jer 3:14; 22. Under the Law of the Old Covenant, God rejected servants that disobeyed Him, and they were broken without remedy, but in Jesus Christ there is a new and living Way, and He has actually made covenant never to reject you. "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that has mercy on you." Isa 54:10. No matter how far we may backslide, because He paid the price for sin, it is never too late for Love. Satan wants you to think that God too late to return to Jesus. I’ll never forget hearing a TV interview with a satanic cult leader, and he claimed that the true test that a Satanist has "matured" in satanism is that he knows he can never "go back." He said, "there is a point that you know you could never turn back, not ever, because the way has been destroyed and you know there is no chance of ever turning back." This is the same lie Satan uses on Christians whom he lures away with sin, whom afterward want to repent. Satan says, "God hates sinners and hypocrites. You’re no longer holy enough for God and church. You’ll never be holy as the others. You’ve walked on the blood and rejected Christ, there is no more sacrifice for sin!" Have you heard this satanic hiss before? Exactly the opposite is true if you’re a child of God, in fact, the further out you are, the more you qualify for grace and mercy. I repeat, the further backslid you are, the more you qualify for grace and mercy! Jesus said, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 2:17. "Whosoever comes to Me, I will in no way cast him out." John 6:37. Don’t let anyone fool you with half wit theology. If God restored backslidden servants in the Old Testament, how much more will He never turn away His own child in the New Testament. It is never too late.

Condemnation comes at accusation of the Law and the news of rejection, conviction comes at the news of forgiveness and free acceptance. People change in heart at conviction because of unconditional love, when they know they don’t deserve it. Example: Next time someone wrongs you badly and they know it, love them, and show them. Conviction will come over them producing changes in their heart toward you, a true sorrow for their wrong. This is why people repent at the love of God, because He loves us while we are still in sin. When we feel and know this fact, it produces a change of heart. We love Him because He first loved us. The goodness of God leads us to change our ways, Rom 2:4. Again, only love and open forgiveness brings conviction; only conviction brings heart repentance or change. This is God’s Way of leading sinners to Himself. Remember the commandment of Jesus to "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." Matt 5:44. God loves sinners, and asks us to have His character. "God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Rom 5:9. Jesus came not to condemn, but to lovingly show people they were already condemned if they did not trust in Him. John 3:17-18. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1. Remember: Conviction is the persuasion of guilt, but is not the same as condemnation. Condemnation is for the person who is proud of sin thinking they need no forgiveness from God. Where condemnation of the Law holds a person in guilt; conviction invites change. Conviction takes place when we feel loved by the person we have wronged, from the person who has every right to condemn. That Love pulls us out, when He loves us right in the middle of our offense against Him.

2 Corinthians 7:10

The heart that does not sorrow to repentance is not really a repented heart. The sorrow of the world is selfish, weeping for what the world has done to us; but the sorrow of God is humble, weeping for what we have done to God and the world. Christians should pray continually and ask God for tears (Lam 2:18-19; Psalm 80:5; 126:5). The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Christians start out in godly sorrow but become distant to God through prayerlessness, then they become arrogant workers, upset and legalistic. Just as God loves a cheerful giver, and the wrong heart despised, any claim of ownership of a level of godliness is pride and proof of un-repentance. Only if we are broken in our own sight, does He make us whole in the world’s sight. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:8-10). Jesus said He came to heal the broken hearted (Luke 4:18). It is in the healing that we come to know the Healer. Sorrow is the pain known from rending the heart, and the healing cannot begin until we rend our hearts (Joel 2:13). Only when we sorrow to repentance does a salvation come that will not be repented of. That is, only the pain that is endured in the change, of being sorry to God, when after it is relieved and rewarded with salvation, will have faith bolstered by the healing experience of the Holy Spirit, the death and resurrection of Christ to new life. This is the Christian experience, not a religious duty to follow Laws, but a true death and resurrection spiritually speaking. Only God’s Spirit can make the commandments come alive again. Once the commandment revives, the carnal man dies in godly sorrow. "God have mercy on me a sinner" (Luke 18:10-14). Godly sorrow for sin is convictions fruit of a Love that is greater than all our sin. It brings proof of salvation into the heart, which is a blessing so great that it leaves no regrets for any loss. What proof do you have that you hate your sin? None at all, except that you sorrow to repentance. Godly sorrow is the only proof in your life that you hate sin, even if you get entangled therein. Pray for tears.

Philippians 2:12-13

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..." This is not saying "you are on your own" when satan tests you, for the very next statement sets the first in place, "…for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure." Work out the free gift of salvation He has already worked in, is what the verse says. He has worked in our will that which is good and pleasing. "Work out your own salvation…" Some quote this out of context to form a pretext, using it to claim that Christians are not secure in God’s hands; as if they are in danger every second of an angry god who hates them when they sin… and only loves them when they are doing well, when they repent again, and again. Salvation does not belong to us in that manner. The Bible says, "Salvation belongs to the Lord." Ps 3:8. Where He says, "work out your own salvation," the context of the chapter shows that He means each should look on his own things instead of disputing and judging others. Phil 2:3. Paul was not telling these Philippians that salvation was up to their works, because one chapter earlier he commanded them to, "Be confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil 1:6. How? "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent" John 6:28-29. Salvation is "by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship…" Eph 2:8. Surely we have a responsibility to repent and be faithful, but if the point of the cross was to save us from ourselves, we must place all our confidence in Him. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." The plea to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..." is that you do not doubt the good news, as you work out what God has worked in; working out in active lifestyle the salvation that God has worked in by faith. The fear and trembling is not of hellish judgment, for Jesus has "delivered us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess 1:10. But the fear and trembling spoken of is a reverential fear, consistent with the highest acts of faith, trust, joy and rejoicing, "Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11. Fear of judgment cannot result from the reality that everything depends on the power and Love of God.

John 19:30

From the cross Jesus said, "It is finished", which is the Greek word "tetelestai" meaning, "paid in full." Jesus said plainly concerning our sin, "the debt is paid in full." However this is not what we are hearing from most pulpits. What we are hearing is that Jesus only paid half the debt and we need to continue the installments. To be more specific, when Jesus said "it is finished," a perfect righteousness was finished agreeably to the Law, which was magnified and made honorable by it. Jesus had lived right with God as a man. No man had been sinless since Adam, and Jesus had left no debt of sin to pay for Himself, no reason to die, for only the wages of sin is death. And so accordingly, Jesus becoming man and literally one with mankind can now in His special sinless state of the race, undo the mess the first Adam made. In a real sense, mankind pays for its own sin through Jesus, "the Last Adam." 1 Cor 15:45. Christ is man, not merely clothed with man, but perfect God perfect man. It is in His unique position as a man that He pays the price back to God, redeeming the human race as His own race. Have you ever had a creditor call you to pay a debt over and over again? That is like the Devil, who continually calls you on your sin debt. Next time he calls, put a stop to the calls by telling him "the debt is paid in full by the blood of Jesus!" While He was on that cross He was paying for your fine, it was a legal transaction; you broke Gods Laws and Jesus paid your fine. So now God can legally dismiss your case on Judgment Day on the grounds that Jesus paid your fine. It was a substitutionary death, God poured out His wrath on His Son Jesus Christ that was meant for you and I, so that we could go free. For all mankind who will repent and trust in Christ, the entire sin debt is paid off, re-creating a perfect life of Jesus in average Joe humans, complete with a perfect Righteousness, fulfilled in every believer; because the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us by grace through faith in Him. Rom 8:3-4; 10:4.

Psalm 19:7

Loving God’s Law is the source of obedience. We are not under the Law for righteousness, but we still love His commandments and desire to teach them to our children. The commandments should be used in sharing our faith with the lost, and as we recite them to awaken sin as a backdrop for preaching the grace of Christ, they take root in our heart and become more and more hard wired into godly character. One time at a church I was ministering in I was talking with an elder before service and said, "I love Gods Law." I said it with a smile and with full heart. The elder however frowned and looking strange at me said, "who ever says anything like that?" I replied back saying, "David did! And it’s all over the Bible." He actually thought I was weird to say that I loved God’s Law. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible, and the most beautiful thing about it is that in every single one of the 176 verses is a praise for Gods commandments. The more we love God and obey His Word the more we will love His Holy Law. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. The Bible is perfectly balanced by God. It ministers to the person who struggles as well as to the person on the mountain top. It declares freedom from the Law by the grace of Christ, but at the same time admonishes the perfect to love His commandments and obey. It preaches to "let the weak say, I am strong," but to the strong it says, "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." Gods commandments become more of a blessing the more they are meditated, spoken and shared. Especially the "thou shalt not’s." A person　knows this if they are driving 80 mph towards a bend in the road as they pass the sign that says, "Cliff ahead. Sharp turn, do not exceed 30 mph." The sign is there to save us from catastrophe. If the city　did not care about people, they would just ignore the need to put up a sign, and just tell themselves, "people already know they should not drive over the speed limit."　I don't know about you, but I love warning signs. Equally, we should love Gods Laws, even though we are not under them for right standing with God.

Galatians 2:16

"Now we know that whatsoever things the Law says, it says to them who are under the Law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Rom 3:19. Ok, this is pretty simple. Whatever the Law says, it only says it to those who are under the Law. Get ready for good news; "You are not under the Law, but under grace." Rom 6:14; Gal 5:18. Next time an accuser comes to you with the Law or any judgment, just tell them, "The Law is not speaking to me, because I am not under it." After showing many Christians that the Law has been abolished for righteousness, "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness" [Rom 10:4], some will still not believe the plain reading of scripture on the matter, and insist that it has not ended for righteousness. When this happens, I always ask them that if the Law still applies for righteousness, then what about scripture stating we are not under the Law? Paul asks the question, "Tell me, you that desire to be under the Law, do you not hear the Law?" Rom 4:21. "For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." James 2:10; Deut 27:26. Now take into account that God judges thoughts just as equal as actions [Matt 5:27-28], and strife and envy on the same line of sin as adultery and murder [Gal 5:19-21] and "they that do these things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God"… it becomes very good news that we are not under the Law, but under grace. But what is grace? "If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." Rom 11:6. How is the grace received if not by some form of works? This grace is received through faith so that no flesh can take credit. Eph 2:8-9. Faith really is the only thing we can offer God that does not give glory to the flesh. "But before faith came, we were kept under the Law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster; for we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal 3:23-26. You are not under the Law, but under grace.

Luke 14:27-28

We are admonished in the scripture not to use our liberty as an occasion to the flesh. Gal 5:13. What is our liberty? The liberty spoken of is the fact that God does not count our sins against us, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against Him." Rom 4:7-8. This is the only liberty that could merit a warning. It is the freedom that we are not under the Law, but under grace. Some legalist Christians do not like this liberty, and preach against it, saying that we should trust in ourselves or the Law for assurance of salvation, reducing the cross to a secondary issue that is only effective if we obey the Law. Gal 2:21; 5:4. The grace of Christ has been called many things by some legalist Christians. It’s been called "fire insurance," or "a safety net." I’ve even heard some call it "a crutch." Interesting how legalists Christians and unbelievers agree against the grace of Christ. Well, grace is a crutch! Because you can’t even limp into Heaven without Jesus; but as for fire insurance, Christians are not looking for ways to run away from God, but they do need insurance [stay with me]. Who seeks Fire insurance and safety nets? They only matter to whom they pertain, right? Example: In a circus who worries about a safety net? Is it the audience or the guy about to walk the high wire tight rope? The guy walking the high wire! The audience doesn’t care because they aren’t doing anything. They would like it if the guy didn’t use a safety net because they want to see him fall! In the same way, as strict as the Law of God is, there is no way we can have confidence to make it to Heaven without insurance that if we fall from the Law, Hells flames won’t burn us up. We must know that our walk of obedience is covered by God and company. 1 Thess 1:5. Walking a sinless life takes work and plenty of practice, but we still count the cost every time before we begin. Who begins to climb a 1000 foot cliff without checking all safety measures? They will not even begin without knowing they will be safe if they make mistakes. The same is true for Christians. Until they feel loved by God they will not even begin the walk of obedience. That love includes safety in His hands at the end of the day. "We love Him because He first loved us." We realized we knew we would be "ok" accepting His love, and so we begin the walk of faith.

Romans 5:16-17

Because repentance is required for salvation, legalists often gossip that if a new Christian begins to fall back into some old ways, they did not really repent at all, and were never really saved to begin with. But initial repentance from sin in surrender to Jesus does not mean one is going to live perfect, nor are they above being tempted and falling into sin ever again. Salvation is not given on loan where repentance is an initial down payment and then if we don’t keep up the installments we get expelled like bad students. Salvation’s not a test, and it’s not a pass or fail mission in life. And it is not just a gift from God either [stay with me], the Bible says it’s more than just a gift from God, it says it’s a "free gift" from God. Why is this important? It would have been enough for God to just say its a "gift," because we know that gifts are free, at least most of the time; but making sure to let us know salvation is a gift that is "free" means He knows we are going to have to stretch our faith when our lives don’t reflect the Glory of the Gift. The word "free gift" in the Greek is the word charisma, which means "gratuity," or "endowment" or "qualification," but only in the sense to "freely give;" an unusual but blessed Greek word, communicating a deep willingness to bestow grace on someone severely undeserving. This is why the word is rendered "free gift" in most translations. God does not play with us in time. He is eternal and does not grant eternal life to take it away again. Rom 8:29-39. If you ever receive so great a Gift, it is yours eternally, from the only God Who is eternal. This means though we may judge a Christian who sins, God tells us not to, because He has a relationship with that person, and all we see are their actions. 1 Cor 4:5. They may be in repentance, and we are to empower and enable them to do so. Gal 6:1-3. For no matter how far we may think we are from walking in their shoes, if they are repentant, we are still in their shoes.

The flesh is very deceptive. Once the conscience has been offended through manifold transgressions of the Law, things that are abominable and even blasphemous, the flesh will boast "are not so bad after all." To reset the conscience that has been seared, the body of flesh that deceives must be denied through wisdom, to the point that it is dead. That is, its voice to the soul must be scourged, nailed to a tree, and left to die. You must ignore it when it cries out "why have you forsaken me?" You must give it vinegar to drink when it cries out, "I thirst!" And even ignore its voice when it finally says "it is finished." You must let the flesh completely die so that the Spirit may live. Most Christians know the phrase, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," speaking of physical death. 2 Cor 5:8. But to put off the bodies desires is another way to be absent from the body. In order to experience being present with the Lord, you are going to have to be absent from the bodies desires to degree. The body is not sin, it is only where sin resides, and it keeps us from the presence of the Lord in so many ways. If we crucify it on earth we can have fellowship with God through the blood of Jesus. Don’t get overwhelmed with this. One simple prayer can be an act of crucifying the flesh. Worship is another, going to church is another, tithing another, and every other obedience listed in the Word are acts of crucifying the flesh. Doing more and more of what our "carnal will" despises, will make us more and more absent from the body. Important to remember: your spirit and your body are not in agreement, "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of Righteousness." Rom 8:10. The flesh and the spirit are contrary to each other. Gal 5:17. Sin being in the flesh; present war with sin will not make you unrighteous if you die in the battle. If a Christian physically dies, he dies in Righteousness, not in sin, even if he is enduring a trial of sin with chastening. 1 Cor 5:5; John 8:24. Grace and mercy, God’s unfailing Love is the confidence. We do not have to wait for physical death to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. John 14:21-23.

1 John 1:7

Although some of Gods commandments are greater than others, and consequently some sins greater than others (John 19:11; Mark 12:31), you should know that scripture says you are "Cleansed from ALL SIN." There is nothing impure remaining after God has forgiven. Have you wanted to draw close to God, but a memory makes you turn your eyes from Him? Or maybe there is something deeply implanted in your conscience from the past that you can’t put your finger on that keeps you from a better prayer life. There’s always something the devil accuses as too great to forget and move on deeply with God. PROMISE: The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from ALL SIN! Force your stubborn will to agree with God in this. He commands us to forget the sin that was washed away, because He has forgotten it Himself (Isa 43:18-25). You may be thinking that God only forgives and forgets as He pleases. The sentiment that God might forgive sin as an act of mere generosity is an insult to holiness and divine government. He has made a Legal Covenant that His Throne must honor in order for justice to prevail in the universe. The cross of His Son Jesus Christ is justice severed, and there is no double jeopardy in God’s court! Others who stand by "works righteousness" may not be able to forget your sin, but they are on dangerous ground because they have forgotten the Covenant. What is the greatest sin of man? pride that rejects God’s cross. It was pride that nailed God to a tree; everything else cowers and is unable to fathom it. Jesus prays hanging by nails, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." If He forgives us nailing Him to a tree, every disobedience is pulled to the cross by cords of Blood, nothing left lingering behind. Our commitment to Him should be that we will not remember something about our past that God has forgotten (Phil 3:13). If we refuse to forget we do not forgive ourselves. He is still greater. You may not think you are worthy to dine at Gods table, you may think you owe something in the end, but the truth is that Jesus already paid the tab.

James 4:13 Psalm 136

Lots of preachers today are big on Gods’ judgment; but "mercy triumphs over judgment." God’s message of judgment is important, but many Christians trust more in Gods judgment and merely hope for His mercy. "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." Psa 52:8. To trust in God’s mercy is something different than to hope in it. While hoping for mercy may allow fear, trusting in His mercy creates rejoicing, "I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation." Psa 13:5-6. God wants us to trust in His mercy. Faith and trust in Christ sees the cross and believes the love God has for us, planting us in salvation. "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always rebuke: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities… because he delights in mercy." Psa 103:8-10; Micah 7:18. God delights in mercy, and if you delight in something you will look for every opportunity. The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s excuse to show mercy in every opportunity, on all who call on Him, "For thou Lord art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Psa 86:5. Notice He stands ready, or prepared to forgive. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb 4:14-16. So to all of you preachers who preach the judgment to come, keep up the good work, but keep in mind, "…in wrath remember mercy." Hab 3:2. "Mercy triumphs over judgment" is the prophecy of Jesus Christ and His cross.

In the summer of 1988 there was a troubled soul who debated eternal security with me, and he challenged me saying, "You cannot show me one scripture in the Bible that says that a Christian cannot fall away." He was worried about this, because that’s what legalist do, they worry. I replied, "We are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul" (Heb 10:39). He looked amazed at my answer, as if he had stumped a hundred Christians with this challenge, and finally had to eat crow. "I guess that says it," he answered with a cracked smile. And we both smiled. God says in His Word, "Choose you this day, whom you will serve!" If He said those words to a stone, the stone would instantly have free-will, but He says it to us, to those who have been made in His image and likeness. "Choose you this day." Free to choose, however does not mean a Christian cannot choose to leave the Lord, but the scripture is clear that he will not (1 John 2:19). Why is this important? because God promises eternal security to those who are in Christ, a promise that becomes more precious with every passing day. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29). We "are are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph 4:30). We are "confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). We are sanctified "wholly; your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it" (1Th 5:23-24). We are given "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…" (1Pe 1:3-5). He promises that He "is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). God’s election or predestination of people to salvation is according to His foreknowledge of their protected choice (Rom 8:29-30; 1 Pet 1:2), the scripture is clear that we are secure in His hands once we are saved. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jer 32:40-41; 1Thess 5:9; John 15:16).

Because God sees Christians in Christ, we are safe every moment from sin and death. When we are living holy and are amazed at His work in us, God sees us in Jesus when He acted in devotion to His Father. When we are praying for others, God sees us in Christ as He prayed for others. When we are laying hands on the sick, walking on demons, or working mighty works through the Spirit, God sees us in Christ as He did those things, and credits us for what Jesus did. And when you sin, God sees us on the cross, paying for our sin. We are dead, buried and risen with Christ. There is no time or distance in the Spirit, no time or distance in God. This means that in God’s eyes Jesus is hanging on the cross right now, not over 2010 years ago. When you sin, the very moment the act is committed and seen by God, He sees Jesus hanging on the cross at the same time, because God holds all time in the palm of His hand. He sees all acts in time as happening now, be they past, present or future. In every act of sin, we are imputed in Christ as He hangs on the cross. Also every good act you make is something that is imputed in Christ as He did them, rewarding us with the merit of His good acts instead. Just as His death on the cross is credited to us, all His good works are credited to us as well. When we do them imperfectly here, we are credited with the highest merit of Him doing them there. Those who are in Christ are free from good works or bad works as relating to position before God. God seeing us in Christ means we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us. Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." Does this mean you will raise the dead and walk on water? No, but if you are in Christ you may be credited for them as a free gift. More than conquerors? Greater works? We are credited for wining a battle we didn’t even fight; in this case dying on the cross for our sins. Greater works means that God credits us when we do good works, with merit of Jesus works, with His Righteousness, not our own. Example: you give a piece of bread to the poor in His name, in the judgment God sees you in Christ feeding the five thousand! We are in His Righteousness, in Him, presently seen by God by a parallel timeline imputation, an ever present now in God.

Having backslidden and forsaken fellowship with the Father, being deceived by the tempter Satan, and fallen in the contest for your will, you cry out for revenge. Knowing this ahead of time, Jesus has mercy and promises, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" "I am with you always, even until the end of the world." This is love that never leaves even the resistant backslider. Take a fresh look at the prodigal son, who took his leave to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He amazingly leaves with Fathers consent, granted to go into sin with the inheritance. What is this? For Christians it is the reality that God allows His children to leave as well, taking with them the down payment of the eternal inheritance, the precious Holy Spirit. But the longer the prodigal stays away from Father, the more he spends up the inheritance, till he is all but a beggar for the Presence of God; and sin will always cost you the presence of God in your life. However, the prodigal knows the mercy of his Father, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" "I am with you always, even until the end of the world." When he sets out to return to the Father, "…when he is yet a great way off, his Father sees him, and has compassion, and runs, and falls on his neck, and kisses him." In this love scene, notice the Father does not even acknowledge his sons negative words, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the Father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." Luke 15:20-24. Notice two things: 1. The Father does not acknowledge his sons negative words saying he is unworthy to be his son. 2. Father takes extra care to let His son know, that while the son was away from fellowship, and spending up the inheritance, he was still his Fathers son and loved during that time. His actions declare, "You have never stopped being the son I love." Relationship was not lost, nor dead. What was lost? Fellowship was lost. What was dead? Fellowship was dead. This is all. Because of Christ, even a backslidden son is still a son and loved. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Cor 7:1.

"And you hath He quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). Even though you are a born again Christian, you can feel dead in trespasses and sins if you dwell in the flesh and disobedience. Do you feel dead or sick in spirit, trapped by your sins? Does it seem impossible to repent? With God nothing shall be impossible. Read the words a second time, "With God nothing shall be impossible!"(Luke 1:37). Jesus heals the sick and raises the dead, even the spiritually sick and willful dead in sin! There was a physically dead man named Lazarus, Jesus had plans to raise him from the dead even though all his friends and family doubted He could do it. Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?" He shouted to the dead man, "Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth" (John 11:44). Death looks impossible in the natural, and people will always doubt when it comes to raising the dead, but God wants us to believe He will raise the dead. He wants you to believe He can raise you out of your sin once and for all. There was another man named Jairus who had a daughter who was sick, and Jesus was going to heal her, but again, the doubters said to Jairus, "Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole… And when He put them all out [all the doubters], He took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway" (Luke 8:50-55). You may doubt at times that the sin you struggle with can ever be conquered, that you can finally repent and be healed and raised from death. You must believe on purpose that God will heal and resurrect you, and He will! Do not doubt, even in the face of sin and multiple failures. You may be thinking these stories are just examples of physical healing and resurrection, and do not count for forgiveness, freedom and repentance. "Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said He to the sick man) Arise!" (Mat 9:4-6; Luke 4:18). Believe and don’t give up.

Saving faith to God is to leave sin, but does "believe the gospel and repent" imply that we must do two things to be saved, and not only one? The exhortation is really only one requirement. The instruction, "leave London and go to Los Angeles," sounds like a two fold request, but it really is only one. It is impossible to go to Los Angeles without leaving London. Salvation is not a contract to be good, nor is it a test to see if you will over time. Salvation by faith is a free gift not of any kind of works at all (Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8). Repentance is merely the hands to hold the gift. Repentance is the ability to hold saving faith. Without repentance you will not be able to hold faith in God. Repentance and faith are the same things because saving faith acts on itself if it is genuine. Salvation is eternal, and it is not granted until real faith is present, but after God has granted salvation, the new birth, it is a one time done deal. The baby is born in repentance from sin, and therefore perpetuates a lifestyle of repentance and holiness. The baby knows that "God holds the future and I am safe in His hands." You never release yourself into something unsafe, that’s why it’s called "saving faith," because it is faith that if you release your life into Him you will finally be safe. I had a Christian friend who always admitted that he didn’t know if he was truly saved. He doubted his salvation at times because he judged his right standing with God by his deeds. He never felt "safe." Don’t let your sins drop your faith in God. Your mind can become so darkened not just by sin, but more so by believing that deeds can position you in God. Once the New Birth has truly taken place and regeneration has occurred in the spirit, we are children of God by birth. Not something that is undone or improved by deeds. We must decide to depend on Jesus to save us personally, resting upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered to us in the gospel.

Luke 17:3-4

Matthew 18:21-22

Jesus taught us that so long as it is needed and sought, we are never to come to the point of refusing forgiveness sincerely asked. How many times in a day shall we forgive someone who wrongs us, till seven times? Peter asked this question to the Lord because he had heard Him teach it, but didn’t understand the point. You are never to refuse forgiveness to the honest seeker. God doesn’t ask us to be more righteous than Himself in this. Let’s rephrase the passage to bring the truth home: The offending brother is you and I, and Jesus’ instructions reveal what He would do. "how many times a day if my brother sins against me shall I forgive him, until seven times?" Jesus answers, "No, until seventy times seven!" He never turns away the humble and repentant. "Him that comes to Me I will in no way cast him out." Notice His emphasis, "in no way" will He cast him out. We are tempted in weakness to think that there are many ways God will reject us for sin, some milder than others; but He says "in no way" will He cast us out when we seek Him, but will we always seek Him is the question? Sin has a way of hardening the heart against seeking the Lord. Beware of running away from God thinking it settles the issue, because it doesn’t. If your heart condemns you, it doesn’t mean that God does (1John 3:20). Once we are accepted of God through Christ, Satan accuses every sin to make us feel condemned, to doubt that God accepts us or wants fellowship with us. Don’t let your sin end your fellowship with God when the Blood of Jesus cries from Heaven that you are forgiven! He commanded us to forgive each other seventy times seven, how much more will He forgive? Don’t run from God, run to Him! We are forgiven every time and forever through Jesus Christ.

2 Sam 15-19

David, the king of Isreal had a son that rebelled against him, and taking a great number of the army of Isreal from David, he sought to overthrow his father and take his throne. Even though he vowed to kill his father, David still loved Absalom, and always thought of the time he would repent and come home. The time came for a great battle, and Absaloms army fought against David’s army. Twenty thousand died in this fight. "So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim; Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men. For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country." Before this battle started, David gave this command, "And the king commanded… saying, Deal gently for my sake, with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom" (2 Sam 18:5). Absalom however, was brutally and forcefully killed in the battle. When the report came to the king that his son was killed, "the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, he said, ‘Oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, Oh Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam 18:33). What about the twenty thousand that died because of Absalom? The kings love for his son made him blind to his crimes against him. This is a picture of God’s heart. God calls David "a man after my own heart" (Acts 13:22). "The Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people" (1 Sam 13:14). David continued to mourn the death of his son, turning the would be time of victory of battle into a time of mourning for all the people. "But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, Oh my son Absalom, Oh Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam 19:4). The lesson? God is always calling our name, "Oh my son, Oh my daughter, I have died for you, I have forgiven you! Come home to me, and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall white as snow." The heart of the King does not wish your death; He loves you with unfailing Love, always desiring you.

Hebrews 4:14

There will be great and extravagant boldness at the Throne of God in the Day of Judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus. How do we know? Look at what we have right now, in the present time. Notice it says "we come in boldly [with our sin] to the Throne of grace, that we may obtain [not hope to get] mercy and grace to help in time of need." Some imagine that the Day of Judgment will be a time of weeping, shame and fear, but it is because they have not learned or believed enough in the love of God. "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love." (1Jo 4:16-19). Notice the words, "boldness in the Day of Judgment." It says it comes from love, not from being perfect. This Love of God casts out fear of Judgment. It is not a passing human emotion, but an eternal Covenant of Love that creates boldness at His Throne. "This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my Laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh" (Heb 10:16-20). Boldness by the blood! We don’t have to wait, to enter into the holiest; we have access to the Throne right now, "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him" (Eph 3:11-12). We have a Righteousness that is perfect, a peace and friendship with God that is holy and separate from sinners, even if we think we have messed it all up, God says, "…their Righteousness is of Me!" (Isaiah 54:17). "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of grace…" (Heb 4:14).

Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:18-19). Notice He says, nothing, not one tittle of the Law shall fail; then He boldly states that offenders of the Law will still make it to Heaven! "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." How is this possible? "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom 10:4). It does not say that Christ is the end of the Law, it says Christ is the end of the Law "FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS" to every one that believes. Christians don’t preach the Law "for righteousness," it is only for awareness of sin. The Law will always be useful for its purpose, for "the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully" (1 Tim 1:8). That is to bring awareness of sin to those who are in denial. But for those who have come to their senses, forsaking sin to trust in Christ, there is a grace that is greater than all sin, and a mercy that is new every morning. Christians want to be those "doing and teaching the commandments." Sad fact is, Gods kids are not always obedient. Next Jesus said, except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisee’s you will in no way make it to Heaven." Jesus was teaching that there has to be a Righteousness that is perfect in order to make it to Heaven. Keeping the Law for Righteousness could never work, "For whosoever offends the Law in one point is guilty of breaking all." He proclaimed a Righteousness that was coming as a free-gift from God, a Righteousness that puts living by Laws to an end. The Law shall not fail, but it was not given to establish Righteousness. What was it given by God to do? "Moreover the Law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Rom 5:20). The Law will never fail to bring awareness of our sin, but it will never succeed to condemn those who trust the grace of Christ, because for them, "where sin abounds, grace does much more abound."

John 8:34-35 NIV

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Gal 4:6-7). We call ourselves God’s servants according to the Word, but even though we are committed servants, God will not treat us as such on the Day of Judgment. "They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him" (Mal 3:17). God speaks about the Day of Judgment, and He sees us His heart, Hhhas sons that are serving Him. This is very important. Servants can be discarded or forsaken if they fail or do not work. Jesus said, "A slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever" (John 8:35). God makes it clear to us that we are not servants in His eyes; we are His very own children, and He will spare us on Judgment Day because of this. Notice we are jewels to Him. When your own children are working in your business you are very partial to them above all others, even if they mess everything up. You know it is all for them anyway and you love them. God wishes to be closer than a brother to us. He wants us to know Him and His love more than He wants our service. There is no greater threat to our devotion to Christ, than our service to Christ. It can actually become an idol if we are not close to Him. God always uses the man closest to Him. We should not desire so much to serve as to first renewing the mind to being a child drawing near. It can produce a pride so strong if one is before the other. A child who knows his place at the table of the Father, who knows his worth and love of the Father, will be the greatest servant to the rest of the family. You can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3). Because of Jesus blood we are sons and daughters of Love, as pure as Jesus standing in Judgment.

Hebrews 10:22

The Bible warns that conscience can be "weak" (1 Cor 8:12), "defiled" (Titus 1:15), "Seared" (1 Tim 4:2), and "evil" (Heb 10:22). Paul said that he served the Lord "with a pure conscience" (2 Tim 1:3). He had a perfect conscience before God and wanted the world to know about this freedom. But his perfect conscience did not come from obedience to Gods moral Laws, even though he loved God’s Law. He said that all his service, obedience, gifts and sacrifices, "could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience." Paul had a conscience problem all his life as a man trying to please God through the Law of Moses. His conscience never seemed to be clear of guilt and shame no matter how much work he did for God, but things changed with the revelation that Jesus was the final sacrifice for all of his sin; that trying to obey perfectly was no longer a method to clear his conscience, because Jesus had already "obtained eternal redemption for us. …the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And for this cause…" What cause? The purging of the conscience from sin! "For this cause, Christ is the mediator of the New Testament." (Heb 9:8-14). The blood of Jesus Christ once we are purged by it, leaves us with "no more conscience of sin" (Heb 10:1-2). "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb 10:22). "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... For by one offering He has perfected for ever them that are being made holy" (Heb 10:11-14). What did Christ perfect forever? the conscience, through faith in the finished work of Christ. If your conscience is not clear even though you have repented, then you are doubting Jesus sacrifice was enough to satisfy God. Repent of this unbelief, and receive "the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21).

Isaiah 54

Isaiah 53:5 "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." The whole chapter of Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of the cross of Jesus Christ. Each of the 12 verses in the chapter radiates the vision of the suffering Savior dying for the sins of the world. Next is chapter 54, and it continues the prophesy of the victory the cross provides and the definition of the Righteousness it provided. Remembering Isaiah 53 is all about the cross, there is an amazing promise: "For this [the cross of Jesus] is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you" (Isa 54:7-9). The waters of Noah, is a big deal in the mind of God, so He says, "this is as the waters of Noah unto Me." What was the great flood in the time of Noah? It was the judgment of God for the sins of the whole world. Who had to pay for those sins? The whole world paid with their deaths! How was the cross just like the flood? It was the judgment of God also for the sins of the whole world, but it was in the body of one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world…" (John 9:39). Christ did not come "to" judge, but "for" judgment. He said many places that He did not come to judge the world (John 3:17, 12:47, 5:45), but that He did come to take our judgment upon Himself. "Now is the judgment of this world…" Just days before He goes to the cross, He says the entire world is about to be judged! "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:31-32). Notice the word "men" is in italics. It is not in the original manuscript, but was added by translators. If the word "men" is removed, the real message is, "Now is the judgment of this world… And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all judgment unto me." The subject is drawing all the judgment of the world to Himself, "for this is as the waters of Noah unto Me."

Isaiah 54

After the prophesy of the cross in Isaiah 53, in chapter 54 there is a promise made: "For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you." What was God’s promise after the cross? I will not be angry with you, or rebuke you. You say, "well how in the world could God not get angry with me nor rebuke me?" He sees you as completely Righteous, He sees nothing to get angry about, He sees nothing to rebuke. He finds no fault with us. "If thou LORD, should mark iniquities, who shall stand?" (Psalm 130:3). If God marked our transgressions we would not be able to stand. The cross has brought all of Gods kindness and peace upon us in Christ. Verses 10 "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart." When will Gods kindness not depart? After the cross. "Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed." What will not be removed from the earth after the cross? "Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee." The sweeping judgment of the cross paid for the sins of the whole world, just as the flood, so that whosoever will, may come. Then He reflects back between the Old Covenant and the New: "Oh thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." Who were they afflicted and not comforted by? Some say the Devil, but it was not the Devil that said he would not be angry any more. Who was angry? God was angry. So who were they afflicted and not comforted by? By God! And He is telling them that because of the cross, all this is going to change! "And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Why? "In Righteousness shalt thou be established." Why will you have peace with God? Because you are established in Righteousness. Why will God no longer be angry with you? Because you are established in Righteousness. Why will God never rebuke you again? Because you are established in Righteousness. If He rebuked you He would be rebuking His own Righteousness!

"For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you" (Isaiah 54:9). This is big. God swears not to be angry anymore at us because of the cross, and this promise is as big to Him as His promise not to flood the earth again. He says, "In Righteousness shalt thou be established, thou shalt be far from oppression…" If you ever feel under the fear of judgment and anger from God, you are going to be mentally and emotionally oppressed. You may wind up in a mental institution. 70% of all the people in mental institutions in America [statistic reports] are professing Christians, who believe God is angry with them. It can put you in the mental institution. "…thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear…" What is it we are not going to fear? Who’s anger was He talking about? Who said He’s not going to be angry anymore? God. So who are we not going to have to go around being afraid of? God! "…and from terror," What terror, the terror of the Devil? No, it spoke constantly in the Old Covenant about the terror of the Lord. You’ll be far from the terror of the Lord. Why? "…for it shall not come near thee." God said I won’t be angry with you, I won’t rebuke you, you won’t have to live in fear, you won’t have to be oppressed in your mind thinking that I am against you, He said because you will not have to walk around in fear of me anymore, you will never have to be concerned about the terror that would come upon you, for it will not come near you. "Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake." "…No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment…" What do you have to have, to have a judgment? A Law. "…every tongue that rises against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn." We need to condemn every bit of judgment you hear preached. Condemn it! Don’t condemn the person, their already condemned enough if their preaching judgment. How can we condemn all preaching of judgment? This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, how could we do that? "and their righteousness is of Me, says the LORD!" Why do you not have to believe any judgment is on you? Because your Righteousness is not of yourself, you can’t be under judgment because your Righteousness is of the Lord.

Hebrews 6:10

Speaking of the Day of Judgment, Jesus said, "Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt 7:22-23). Notice these people were boasting of their works on the Day of Judgment, it is proof they are not Christians, because we will all give the glory to Jesus for every work done in the body. Legalist Christians often quote this scripture out of context to say that God will banish Christians to Hell for their sins. Take comfort that God cannot lie; His future statement, "I never knew you" should bring comfort if you know that you know Him, or even if you know beyond a doubt that you did know Him, it will be impossible for Him to lie and say, "I never knew you" (Num 23:19). And what of our works done in His name? "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb 6:10). What would make God unrighteous? according to God’s economy, if He were to forget your work and labor of love shown toward His name. If He remembers you, He does not remember your sins. He engraved you on the palms of His hands when the nails hammered through (Isaiah 49:15-16). but we forget Him. How is this? Sin causes us to forget we know the Lord. Knowing God is always present tense and holy, and sin can make you feel like you "knew" the Lord, His holiness and separateness. "Hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His Commandments. He that says, I know Him [presently] and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4). Knowing God does not mean you won’t miss the mark (1 John 1:9).

What is our liberty in Christ? In Christ there is exemption from liability between us and God. True freedom in Christ in the gospel is that He no longer holds us liable for our faults and our failures. Psalm 130:3 says, "If thou, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Truth is, no one can stand if God is marking sins. This is why right standing with God had to come some other way. Only in Jesus Christ is the liberty that we have no one in heaven marking our faults against us. "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom 4:8). In the New Covenant "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb 10:10-14). The word "sanctified" means to be set apart by God. We are set apart by God through the offering of Jesus Christ once for all. But some how most Christians get it all mixed up, they think the Christian life is defined this way, "we once used to do wrong things, and now we are Christians, and now we do everything right." That is not Christianity. The true revelation of the gospel is not that we are so converted that we do everything right; it is that we have nothing held against us in Jesus Christ. "And the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor 3:17). Sin is obliterated wherever the Spirit of the Lord is. If the Spirit is there, the blood has cleared the way and made the place acceptable to God. It may not feel acceptable to us, because we feel the aftermath of sins clutch on our mind and flesh, but the Spirit of God goes where the blood of Jesus has cleared the path and begins the process of "body and soul restoral." Holy Spirit works on setting apart our mind and body from sin as we surrender our spirit to His working. "Wretched and blind I come, clothe me in white, so I won’t be ashamed, Lord light the fire again." With a redeemed spirit we can drag our sin stained minds and dead flesh into the very Throne and have them restored by the Fire of God (Heb 4:16). This is our liberty in Christ.

Luke 14:27-30

One day while witnessing to a homosexual who claimed to be a Christian; he kept telling me how hopeless it was trying to repent of his sin of homosexuality, and was asking me for advice. I told him he needed to die to self. It is the only answer for someone whose sin is written so deep, "The sin is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars" (Jer 17:1). I told this precious man that there is a place in prayer where the will to live slams into the presence of God, and the will to live must be surrendered at that point of time. You cannot leave prayer until your will to leave is gone. This is where your will to live meets death. You must lock your flesh down at the alter of prayer until there is no will to leave left, until the fire of God, the Holy Spirit, completely consumes the sacrifice of your life offered in prayer. Dying to self means being willing to give up your life for His life. Jesus talked about counting "the cost," or the price for life of God (Luke 14:27-30). This fact was shown in the story of Solomon, when two mothers were fighting over ownership of a baby, both claiming the child was hers. When normal methods could not determine who the real mother was, Solomon threatened to chop the baby in half. As he raised the sword over the baby, one of the women threw herself in front of the child to take the sword blow. There was no more mystery about who the real mother was. This kind of commitment to die is the same that is found in the one who can pray all day and night and sacrifice whatever it takes to have Christ’s Life manifest through their mortal flesh. Death to self is outlined in the parable of the "Pearl of Great Price," where Jesus shares that a man who wanted a certain pearl so bad that he sold everything he had, and took the money and bought that pearl. It cost him all his life in the abundance of his possessions to have the pearl of his heart. Afterward, nothing left but the pearl. Michelangelo was asked why he always wore a miner’s cap when he painted. His reply was that he never wanted a shadow of himself to fall on his canvas. It is only when we deny ourselves that we do things that are remembered. They are only remembered because nobody ever forgets the acts of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:20-21

Death is the wage of sin, God’s judgment on sinners, and Jesus’ death was the worst. Does God ever get angry? Some say He doesn’t, but the Bible says He does. The Great Tribulation to be poured out in the last days proves He is angry with the wicked every day. However, because of Christ, God has reconciled the world to Himself, and waits in a state of grace for all to come to repentance. A Christian has an inside touch with God. God’s anger will not be at you when you mess up [and you will mess up], it will be on Jesus as if time did not exist; as if your sin were pulled magnetically to Calvary (Isa 53:10). "Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds," what does it mean? Picture the flood waters of Noah as sin and its judgment, and the cross, the grace of Christ as the Ark of safety, the only salvation from the flood (Luke 17:26-27). As the flood waters rose higher and higher, the Ark rose much more. It always remained above the waters of judgment. Even though the storm may send waves of water to splash on deck, God is in the Ark with us, and we are surly safe from judgment. Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. It means that no matter how high we think sins abounds, we are in Christ, far above all principality and power, seated with Him in heavenly places. But you say, "Every sin carries its judgment right with it." All our sin is as water that runs off the deck. Do not fear, the ship will stay afloat! The cross is the Ark of safety that raises us above the floods of judgment. The verse says, "grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Because we are right with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, grace reigns whenever sin is present, as though it were judgment water that runs off the deck. When the final Day of Judgment has ended and the flood waters recede, the door of the Ark will open and we will step out into a New Land that flows with milk and honey.

Hosea 7:4-7

Sin makes its own Hell, turning the heart into an inferno. This warning goes out to all who think God just wants to take away your fun, or impose Laws on you that are unnecessary. He wants to save your heart from becoming an oven for Devils food. When God rebuked the wickedness of Ephraim and Samaria He said, "They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker,.. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleeps all the night; in the morning it burns as a flaming fire. They are all hot as an oven... Ephraim is a cake not turned, strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t know it…" (Hosea 7:4-9). It doesn’t help to blame the devil for sins baking in our heart, when the whole purpose of the baking is our desire to eat. God wants us to repent, but it is much easier to repent of the sins that we have committed than to repent of those we intend to commit. You may even think you have repented, but if the thought of sin can slightly tickle your fancy, your heart is an oven for it. "Ephraim is a cake not turned, strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t know it…" When you look to the Lord in truth, He will always show you the evil preparing inside you. "…every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death" (Jam 1:14-15). Sin is first a simple suggestion, then a strong imagination, then delight, then assent. Spurgeon said, "If there is anything like Judas beneath your breast, make it your aim to hang him by the neck until he is dead!" Sin may be clasped so close we may not see its face. Only God can come closer than sin, causing us to see it in proportion to our nearness to God. There does not have to be blatant disobedience to the Law of God for there to be a disobedient heart. If God has told you to do something and you are refusing to obey, you are baking a poison apple. Unforgiveness can also cause the heart if it is not dealt with speedily, to cause bitter thoughts to continue for ones whole life. Draw out now, everything in your heart, and lift it into holy fire.

Sow an act, reap a habit,

Sow a habit, reap a character,

Sow a character, reap a destiny.

If you see yourself in guilt and shame, look away from yourself to Jesus in admirant love and worship, and He will change the way you see yourself. "Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). This verse is speaking to the spirit man, that which is born of God. The flesh is not born of God. The seed of the Word of God remains in the spirit man of a born again Christian, even if he sins. He is not saying that Christians cannot sin, "For if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9). Have you ever sinned as a Christian and in repentance felt like it was not you that did it? Thinking, "how could I do that, that wasn’t me, I am not like that?" The Apostle Paul said this twice about his sin, "if I do the thing I hate, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in my flesh" (Rom 7:17-20). Notice the sinful unredeemed flesh is not who we really are to God, so He tells us to crucify the flesh, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…" "you" are to present "your" body. The body is not "you," you are a spirit; the body is what you are to present to God. The real "you" in this verse is the spirit man who is born again. You are a spirit who is to present your body a living sacrifice to God. "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom 8:10). If a Christian sins, his spirit [that which is born of God] does not; remember, "Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." The spirit is not merely "alive," it is LIFE, because of Righteousness! The conflict is that it has to live in a body of sin. Always remember this: sins are committed in the flesh through a deceived carnal mind, but God does not see His Child in the flesh, but in perfect Righteousness. "For you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Rom 8:9). "In Christ" means, "as He is in Heaven, so are we in the earth..." (1 John 4:17). How can this be? we are on earth and even in sin! But when you sin, God looks away from your flesh and temporal distraction to Jesus, and sees you in Him, still perfectly Righteous. It changes the way God sees you. You too must look away from yourself to Him in admirant love and worship, and He will change the way you see yourself.

James 4:4-6

A new friend who wanted to hang out could not hide that he was disappointed with his life, unwilling to stop doing certain things he knew God did not approve; so we talked about repentance, Gods grace and patience, but finally he said to me, "Do you have non-Christian friends?" I replied, "none that are very close to me." He said that he had some close non-Christian friends that he could never part with. I thought that was cool, but I asked, "What fellowship do you have with them?" My new friendship with him seemed to go down-hill from there on. My question to him was valid. Scripture states, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Satan? or what part hath he that believes with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? …therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor 6:15-18). I believe, just as Jesus did, in friendship evangelism, but just as Peter who denied Jesus three times to be accepted among the heathen, many new Christians who want to break away from sin never choose to make new friends who love God. No matter how resolved you are to repent, your unsaved friends will sully your decisiveness. We are no different than "…Lot, who was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds" (2 Pe 2:7-8). You must not be lax about this. It is the command of scripture to withdraw yourself, even from brothers who walk disorderly (1 Cor 5:11-13). If you find the sinfulness of your friends humorous, it will not be long before you are winking at sin yourself. Even though Jesus was said to be the friend of sinners, He did not laugh and wink at their disobedient ways while in their company. You may not think you are culpable, laughing and going along, but he sins as much who holds the bag as he who puts into it. That which we call sin in others is experiment for us. Little sins make room for great, and one brings in all. "Come out from among them and be ye separate" is not a suggestion, it is a command from a loving Father. Our priority to befriend unbelievers must be weighed with the priority of keeping holy before God. If you do not make new Christian friends, you can easily become food for demons dwelling among Gods enemies (Col 1:21).

Romans 5:12-21

God gave Adam a command about one tree in the Garden of Eden: "You shall not eat of the fruit of it." Of course we know what happened next. He ate, and the wages of sin was death. And there were no other commandments until Moses came, but still scripture says, "death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression..," Hold the phone, did you catch that? Death [the judgment for Adams sin] reigned "even over them that had not sinned," that is, no one from Adam to Moses broke a commandment, because the Law was not given until Moses, and "sin is not imputed when there is no Law" (Rom 5:13). If "death reigned even over them that had not sinned," it is legal then to reverse this, and "Life reign even over them that do sin," that is, through the blood of the sinless Savior. Everyone in human history was born in sin and conceived in iniquity, accept for Adam and Christ, they both were sinless when they changed the world. They were the only two men in history born without sin. Jesus is called the "Last Adam" because His Righteousness reversed the curse of the first (1 Cor 15:45). The following verses are a legalist’s nightmare: "…not as the offence [Adams sin], so also is the free gift [Christ’s Right standing with God]. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one offence to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Rom 5:12-21). Legalists hate this passage, because it perfectly strips our personal sins or good deeds as variables for going to Heaven or Hell. Here is what we were just told: Before you were saved, you were "in Adam," not going to Hell because of your offence, but because of Adams. Now that your "in Christ," you are not going to Heaven because of your obedience, but because of Christ’s, "by the offence of one [Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [Jesus] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." The free gift is Perfect Right Standing with God by grace through faith, even if we fail at keeping the Law of God (Eph 2:8-9).

Hosea 1,2,3.

God told Hosea the prophet, "go and marry a prostitute, and then when she takes off from you, go buy her back, and her kids that she’s had that are not yours. You are going to be a reflection of My love for the church." You see this picture of Gomer the prostitute, who after marrying the prophet and having two children with him goes away after other men. She has another man, and then another, and has kids with these men as well, and she says, "I’ll run after other men and sell myself to them for food and drinks and clothes." She ends up as a prostitute slave being sold at auction. It is here in the lowest and awful place where God tells Hosea to "go and love your wife again and buy her back, even though she is an adulteress..." So Hosea goes to the auction where she is and watches her as she’s dressed in some scantly clad outfit, probably twirling around on the auction platform where the people are assembled to buy her. The yucky atmosphere of men’s lust saturates the room as they look on, and she tries her best in all the shame to look appealing. Then Hosea’s heart cries out and he bids for her, and gets out bid, bids again and gets out bid, and he bids again and again until he finally wins her. The joy on her face as she realizes the love of her forsaken husband, would pay any price to have her back, even as a used and abused prostitute. God says, "That’s the picture of My love for the bride." Our worth does not come from who we are; it comes from how much has been paid for us. The price He paid was His own life on the cross. He pursues us because we’re worthy.

Galatians 5:11

Did you know the preaching of the cross is offensive even to some professing Christians? Why? because they are attempting to live by the Law for right standing with God, and the message of the cross strips all that away. What is the offence of the cross? That it erases all sin by taking away the need to live by God’s Law for right standing with Himself. The cross removes all sin leaving only love as our motivation for obedience. Paul said that if he added one requirement to keep God’s Law for righteousness, then the offence of the cross ceases. "Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased." What is circumcision? circumcision is a commitment to keep all of Gods Laws for righteousness, and he argues, "I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law; you are fallen from grace" (Gal 5:2-4). How are you fallen from grace? Thinking you are justified from sin by keeping Gods Laws, not just ceremonial, but as he said, "the whole Law." Christ and what He did on the cross becomes "no effect" if we hammer ourselves in doubt and condemnation for failing. But when we love and trust in Christ, only then does the cross have effect to remove sin and restore confidence to obey. Love obligates us, not the dreadful fear of an angry God. Paul ends his defense of the cross by saying, "Brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Gal 5:13). The caution not to misuse the liberty of freedom from the Law is proof he speaks not only of ceremonial Law, but every moral commandment as well. Are you offended at this, or does it make you free? If offended, just remember it is the cross that is doing the offending.

Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world; first a dawning; then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness. If we have near to the right understanding of how great and awesome God is, we would leap for joy at the thought of being in His grace. There is nothing to worry about ever again, forever. Grace has no conditions and it is designed and made perfect in our weakness, not just something acceptable for it. Grace is more than unmerited favor, it is rather favor in demerit. If you feed a tramp who calls on you, that is unmerited favor, but it is scarcely grace. But suppose that after robbing you, you then feed him. That is grace. Grace then, is favor shown where there is positive demerit in the one receiving it. Grace creates godliness in human nature. Grace is being loved and accepted over and over again until failure ceases. It creates success in the weakling who doubts himself. Grace turns lions into lambs, wolves into sheep, monsters into men, and men into angels. Grace is everything for nothing, going to those who cannot come in their own strength. In his book ‘In The Heavenlies,’ H.A. Ironside tells the story of an attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth I. The woman who sought to kill her dressed as a male servant and hid herself in the queen’s bedroom awaiting the convenient moment to stab the queen to death. She did not realize the queen’s attendants would be careful to search the rooms before Her Majesty was permitted to retire. They found the woman hidden among the gowns and brought her into the presence of the queen, taking from her the dagger she had hoped to plant into the heart of the sovereign. She realized that, humanly speaking, her case was hopeless. She threw herself down on her knees and begged the queen as a woman to have compassion on her, a woman, and to show her grace. Queen Elizabeth looked at her coldly and quietly said, "If I show you grace, what promise will you make for the future?" The woman looked up and said, "Grace that hath conditions, grace that is fettered by precautions, is not grace at all." Queen Elizabeth caught it in a moment and said, "You are right. I pardon you by my grace." And they let her go, a free woman. What difference is the grace of God to the grace in this story? Where the Queen was a mere woman who was almost killed, Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign God, and we succeeded to kill Him brutally with our sin. And as we were in the process of doing so, He said, "Father forgive them…"

Romans 5:21

Every believer has two kinds of righteousness working in them at all times. One is the righteousness of the Law, and the other is the Righteousness of God (Rom 10:3). The righteousness of the Law is the one we are responsible for, and consequently the one we always fumble (1 John 1:9). The Righteousness of God is ours as well, but it is not our responsibility, it is Christ’s, and it is finished (Matt 3:15; John 19:30). We are saved by "His" Righteousness, grace poured out through it to "our" righteousness, making it room for progress. We did not nor do we ever work for Christ’s Righteousness, and we only own it because He gave it to us freely when He recreated us "in Himself" (Rom 5:17-19). His Righteousness is perfect. His Righteousness does not faulter. His Righteousness needs no grace, but ours needs plenty. Our righteousness is weak and imperfect and smells like filthy rags (Isa 64:6). His grace is made perfect in our weak righteousness. His grace is made perfect in all our weaknesses, not merely made acceptable in them. His grace fits our weakness perfectly. His grace reigns on us through His perfect Righteousness. Just as a kings lets his children run free to play in his kingdom, and they have special right standing with the king, his grace is over every act they make, whether it be good or bad; and even if they blow it big time, the king loves his children and his kingdom is for them; it only exists for them! They will always have his grace even if they make a big mess in the kingdom. This is what the blood of Jesus has done. Child of the King of Kings, sin can set back your fellowship with the King, but not your relationship. If it could, according to bad works we would die spiritually with every sin and need to be born again and again and again... Thankfully our relationship to Him, being born again once, is His part, perfected in His Righteousness, and God will always be our Father and we will always be His children. Grace does not just save us, it rules and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in us. It rules over sin, sickness, demons and fear, and over all our weakness as we submit to God and resist the Devil (James 4:7). His grace reigns over all our good deeds as well, without Him we can do nothing. His grace is Himself ruling and reigning through Righteousness in this natural realm, pushing back the forces of evil and darkness making us salt and light in a world that is rotting at its core.

Imagine yourself invited to a banquet in the White House by the president of the United States. You are seated at the table that is filled with the choicest foods. Every effort is made to give a most enjoyable evening. At the end of a lovely visit, the president stands at the front door to bid you good-bye. As you leave, he extends his arm for a hand shake, and you press a dime into his hand and say, "Thank you very much for your kindness. I have enjoyed the evening very much. I realize it has cost you a lot of money, and I want to help you pay for the meal." Is that the proper response to his kindness? On the contrary, it is a rude and insulting gesture. All the honor and work and high cost to attain the office of Presidency is offended. And so it is that we offend God’s grace, if we doubt Christ’s sacrifice was enough for Heaven, it is like pressing the dime. We press the dime when we think Christ’s sacrifice was not enough for sin. All transgression of the Law is sin, and it creates in us in a sense of self righteousness, when we think our righteousness is offended. We fail to realize we are not right by what we do, but by what He has done; Right with an open invitation into His presence and into Heaven at the expense of the King. The King was crucified for our sin and disobedience. Sin and disobedience never frustrate His grace, only doubt that His work and death was enough (Gal 2:21). It frustrates grace like pressing the dime. This is what happens when the weakness of the flesh pulls us into sin, and we begin to judge ourselves for failing the Law, and all such judgment is self righteousness if there is fear of punishment, because Christ paid it all on the cross. If there is sin, we must judge ourselves in the body and blood of Jesus Christ, or else we will think we have to pay for sin again and again. "For if we would judge ourselves [crucified with Christ], we should not be judged" (1 Cor 11:31). Grace is made perfect in weakness, not just acceptable. Condemning ones self for sin, or trusting in good deeds, are both forms of self righteousness, ignoring Christ’s work on the cross. When we get to heaven, no one will attempt to press the dime into the palm of Jesus hand. If they did, it would fall through the hole, because the price has been paid.

The next time your sin begins to make you feel unworthy and grieved, instead of begging God for forgiveness, say this instead: "In the name of Jesus, I shake off this self righteousness right now, I am not standing in my own righteousness, I am standing in Jesus Righteousness!" Then praise Him for the blood of His cross and see your sins hanging there. Say, "I thank you that I am perfectly Right with you because of the blood of Jesus." If you need to ask forgiveness, do it; but most of the time asking forgiveness still will not cleanse your conscience, nor let you see things for the way they really are. This will! It is the revelation that the blood of Jesus has made you Right apart from all deeds. Works are excluded for right standing with God (Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Most of the time weeping over sin is created by a delusion of self-righteousness. Thinking you are right because of obedience is wrong; because we are only right with God through the blood of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:24-28). Repentance in humility means we do not trust repentance, but only in Jesus Christ and His sin offering. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve displayed the true nature of self-righteousness. Before their sin, they were perfect in Righteousness, and choosing to sin against God was a desire to be self righteous, "you shall be as gods." And we may not realize it, but every sin we commit as Christians is the same desire to be self righteous apart from Gods Righteousness. It is not merely the pride of good deeds that equates to self righteousness, but sin itself is the strongest form of self-righteousness, and will always create a sense of apartness from God, turning from God’s Laws to our own way and creating our own laws. Even when you beat yourself up for sin, it is a delusion of standing in self-righteousness before God, because you are judging your spiritual stance by works and deeds, and not by His cross. Settle it in your heart from now on or you will be self-righteous and carnal minded: There is nothing more needed other than Jesus blood, to get through the Gates of Heaven.

Hebrews 10:17

"I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins" (Isa 43:25). It is for the sake of Love. Wherever sins are recorded in heaven, the promise of God is that He blots them out of record, and even better, "I will not remember your sins." The blotting out of sins is reflective of the Old Covenant blotting out of curses, "And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water" (Num 5:23), but speaks of the future judgment when the books will be opened, and the books of works are opened (Rev 20:12). Why does God blot out our sins from these books? "For My name's sake will I defer mine anger [Jesus is the Fathers name’s sake], and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off… For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake, will I do it." (Isa 48:9-10). The Father loves His Son Jesus, and for the sake of the blood shed on the cross, He blots out and forgets every sin of believers who trust in His Son. All sins are forgotten, especially sins committed while walking with Christ (Rom 5:8-10). "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). His fellowship is to be so sweet with you that you do not remember either. You as well, will not remember your sins. God is in covenant with Christ to forget your sins, it is actually written in the terms of the Covenant, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..." (Acts 3:19). Frail humanity cannot forgive this way. They will say, "I can forgive, but I cannot forget," but not forgetting is another way of saying, "I cannot forgive." God’s says, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions…" (Isa 44:22). It hurt the Father very much to crucify His Son on the cross, and we cannot know how deep that pain must have been for Him. It is from eternal pain that He says, "I will not remember your sins!" It is from the depth of the Fathers heart that He says, "For My own sake, I blot out your transgressions." He is forgetful because His Heart still remembers the crucifixion of His Son.

One reason sin flourishes is that it’s treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake. Many pray over and over for God to clean the cob webs out of their life, what they really need to do is kill the spider! What will kill you is not all of your individual errors. You must deal not so much with sins, but with SIN itself. Sin is character, sins are conduct. Sin is the center, sins are the circumference. Sin is the source of which sins are the secretion. Sin is the root, sins are the fruit. Make the root of the tree good and the fruit will take care of itself. If you continue in disobedience long enough, ignoring the root, the struggle can create an illusion of hopelessness and doubt. This is only an illusion of the carnal mind. Satan blinds spiritual minds using the flesh and its passions. His goal is to kill you. He is not interested in just giving you a bad time, he wants to take you out, before you repent and spread your testimony of Jesus. Satan knows something about sin that most Christians do not, that sin is a pact with himself, of the soul [mind, will and emotions] and the flesh; "to whom you yield yourself servants to obey, his servant you are of whom you obey" (Rom 6:16). Paul warns believers not to use the grace of God as a license for immorality (Gal 5:13; Jude 1:4). God says, "Give no place to the devil... For your adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8; Eph 4:27). He may not devour you, if you don’t let him, for you can prevent him. The term, "seeking whom he may devour" means three things, 1. whom he sees allowing their mind to be fed by him, 2. whom he may cause mental, emotional and physical harm to due to access granted to him, and 3. whom he may kill, because the person would not repent into safety, into in the arms of the Savior (1 Cor 5:4-5). The physical element of sin takes hold of us and brings us into bondage. What we take, takes us, making us slaves to it [to demons] to do it's will. This is what God detests in His children, having sin running ramp in their lives gives satan a degree of authority over them; something God Himself cannot even stop until the person turns to Him for help (Rom 10:21). Do not merely ask God for forgiveness of sins, but ask to see things for the way they really are. Jesus said, "the lusts of your father you will do" (John 8:44). Satans lusts prove something of our old "father" still remains in us (1 John 1:8). Jesus said the devil had nothing in him (John 14:30). Our part is to be able to say the same, to remove our hearts far from him and disown the devil as father completely. We are not ignorant of his devices. You are playing with a murderer.

"Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isa 38:17). If God casts your sins behind "His" back, why do you keep looking behind yours? You are moving on with God at His pace, so don’t look back. Make no mistake, satan is not just out to give you a bad time, destroy your witness, and make you blame God for everything bad in your life, he is out to kill you grave yard dead, especially because you are Christian. Someone might argue that "in order to drive forward you must look in the rear view mirror once and awhile." The only thing you will see is God, for "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). We’re not talking about giving your personal testimony, but not looking back with your heart. When God delivered Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorah He gave them commandment not to look back because His mercy was strong to deliver them. As soon as they left Sodom, fire and brimstone fell out of Heaven and destroyed everything and everyone in the city. Lots wife disobeyed God’s command to "not look back" and she was judged instantly. God turned her into a pillar of salt. She looked back with her heart to the things she was delivered from and was judged with Sodom’s Judgment instantly (Gen 19:24-26). God may not be so with you in judgment, for when you sin, your judgment goes to His Son on the cross; but the devil will not evade judging you for sin. He will bring Hell on earth to your door, and God will be your only refuge from his wrath. Why will satan judge you for sin? because God has pardoned you for it, and it is not fair to him. Satan hates the cross of Jesus Christ.

His name was Saul, God changed his name to Paul. Saul was persecuting the Church of Jesus when Jesus appeared to him and called him into the ministry. Why does God choose a man who was at war with Jesus Christ, to be the one who writes two thirds of the New Testament? Why does God shake this man against His will and give him the ultimate reality check? God delights to take the man who fights against Him the hardest, and show great Love and mercy, even while the man still wars against Him. He wants to amaze the world with mercy, to show that His kindness is infinite in Christ. God’s mercy is taught to us in Paul, "if God saved Paul he will save me." After Paul was saved, he began to preach Jesus, but none of the Christians trusted him. He had to gain their trust through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is glorious! God will set the tone for all of us, that we will trust in His mercy forever. A man so bad, that Christians of his time did not trust his conversion, yet this is what made Paul powerful. Grace and mercy is never more clearly seen than in our greatest weakness. A man who is deemed the worst of all sinners will be the greatest Apostle and write the Bible for the entire Body of Christ. How can we escape such love as this? If God forgives a man who destroyed Christian churches for a living, and killed and tortured Christians everywhere; if God not only forgives and saves this man, but makes him the greatest man of God in revelation understanding of the deep knowledge of the Holy Spirit and power of the Word of God, how can we not have hope? Paul was turned into the greatest preacher of justification by faith that ever lived. He must have been amazed everyday that he was justified by faith in Christ; for he was once a determined stickler for salvation by the works of the Law. Once the greatest legal Pharisee, bent on destroying and cast people out of the church (Acts 23:6; Phil 3:5-6), is now the humble servant preaching faith and trust in Christ apart from works. "Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight… But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested… Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Rom 3:20-22).

1John 4:16-19

Everyone that desires to love God more perfectly listen up: "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect," How is our love for God made perfect? Because we "know and believe the love that God has to us." It is not enough to merely believe God loves you, as a mental assent you simply accept, you must "know" by experience and "believe" the love. This is why love for God is not perfected in most churches, because of sin consciousness and condemnation wears down faith in Gods love, a love with eternal breadth, length and depth. Most do not know and believe the love He has for them, at least not enough to perfect their own love for God. Churches that do not preach the cross and the grace of God enough are churches that their love for God never reaches perfection. Notice: "we have known and believed the love God has to us." You cannot believe the love of God until you "know" it by experience. "We love him, because He first loved us." Notice again: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear." What fear is He talking about? Answer this first; what love is He talking about? the love of God and for God. So He says, "There is no fear in love." Fear? Fear of what? Fear of judgment. "Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment…" Fear of judgment from God brings torment. Faith in Christ and His death on the cross washes this away with pure love. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love." While the fear of God may be the antidote for an arrogant unbeliever who thinks he needs no God in his life, his fear will only torment him if he never hears of the grace and love of Jesus Christ displayed in the cross. When once he believes and receives Jesus as Lord, he is free from fear to know and believe the love God has for him. "We love him, because he first loved us."

Eph 1:3-4

He lives inside us on earth; we live inside Him in Heaven. He speaks through our mouth on earth, we speak to God through His mouth in Heaven. We lay hands and He touches the world through us on earth, in Heaven He sits down at the right hand of the Father and we lovingly hold the Fathers hand through Him. On earth His Kingdom and authority is manifested through us, in Heaven the dominion of men is honored at the Throne of God. He loves the world through us, we love the Father through Him. When the world sees us they see Jesus, when the Father sees Jesus He sees the world. The world hears His voice in our voice, feels His touch in our touch, sees His eyes in our eyes. The Father in Heaven hears our voice in Jesus voice, feels our touch in Jesus touch, and sees our eyes in Jesus eyes. In Heaven we are standing before God with no other motive but to know Him and to be known of Him, nothing fooling or being fooled. The business of His will and work will be measured out from the relation in Him as it is fully realized. It is not our business, but His to be made known. On earth our business is to be empty, cleaned and ready, and understanding who He has prepared us to be in Him. Not identifying ourselves with sins from the past, but with perfect Righteousness. We don’t associate ourselves with anything we’ve done in the past. We live in Christ, present. We live by faith, now and projecting into the future. No matter your faults, the Father God sees Jesus when He looks at you, because He sees Jesus inside of you. He does not look on the flesh. He credits you for dying on a cross. Before Him stands a sinless man, the man Jesus Christ. There is no sin in Him. What is the miracle of Christianity? God sees you "in Christ," with no sin, because there is no sin "in Him." The cross is credited to you, and your sin is credited to the cross. This leaves you perfectly right with God and with honors! The Judgment and perfection is complete, standing on earth and in Heaven as one new man "in Christ." How do people get "in Christ?" That is the best part… grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:8; Titus 3:5-7).

2 Corinthians 5:21

It is a miracle gift that only God can give, to become the Righteousness of God, when all your deeds show you are really a vile sinner. People can give gifts to you externally, but God gives internally, and eternally the gift that keeps on giving. As much sense as it makes to gift a sinner with perfect Righteousness, standing before God holy, yet still with blood on his hands, the same it is that Jesus became sin, who is holy, harmless and undefiled. As perfect is the reality of God’s presence at any point in our life, just that perfect was Jesus banished from God’s presence for our sins. He did not know sin until it was heaped upon Him at the cross, we did not know Right standing with God, until we stood at the same cross and said, "I surrender all." That is where the great exchange took place. He is bowed over in our shame, we put our shoulders back and stand upright before a holy God. Not one other deed can be added to this. It is a perfect exchange. We become His Righteousness, no deeds of ours added, He became our sin, no sins of His own added. He had no sin before He was gifted with ours, therefore none of our good deeds will be counted before the exchange. The life of God is in the blood, and His life poured out to us vacuumed our death into Him. He can take it. He can swallow up death as if it were a three course meal. "Death is swallowed up in victory." The time it takes will be three days and nights, one day and night for each millennium of grace till the end of time. For a day is as a thousand years to the Lord. And He brought all the Old Testament saints into the third heaven with Him upon His resurrection. We too, are counted "raised together with Him and made to sit with Him in Heavenly places in Christ." From the cross, still in wonderment that the Fathers presence had forsaken Him, He said many wonderful things which were not of any merit to Him in the condition of being in our sin. The same is true on our side of the cross. We may sin even in His perfect state of righteousness, but it is not held in any account against us.

If life were a sinking ship, forgiveness without repentance would be like continually pumping water out, without mending the leak. It may keep you afloat, but all energy is diverted to pumping instead of at the oars. What is the difference between forgiveness and repentance? Forgiveness deals with pardon, but repentance deals with justification. One says, "you are still guilty, but forgiven," the other says, "you are not guilty!" We know that there is the righteousness of works, and then there is the Righteousness of God. Christ Righteousness does not fluctuate with our good and bad deeds. It is perfect and always remains perfect regardless of our deeds, that is why we are saved by it, and not by our own righteousness. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Pet 3:18). The word "quickened" meaning "made alive" holds the same meaning as "justified" or "declared not guilty" in the spirit. "God was manifest in the flesh, and justified in the Spirit" (1 Tim 3:16). Jesus flesh was sinless flesh, ours is not. We are declared "not guilty" in spirit through the cross, but the flesh is not redeemed. It is still the residence of sin till the Day of Redemption when we get our new bodies. Until then God forgives the failures of the flesh, because the Righteousness of the Spirit is intact by the blood of Jesus. The flesh man is declared "guilty, but forgiven." In other words, because your new spirit is justified by faith and "not guilty!" because it is in Christ Righteousness, the "not guilty" spirit status will declare the flesh status "guilty, but forgiven." Repentance is required not because it establishes the Righteousness of God, but because it is the only way to hold the faith that provided it. Only through repentance will the mind ever be able to grasp the faith that justification is a reality. Continual sin without repentance can sully the mind into a carnal arena to the point that if repentance does not take place, and the believer is unable to hold confidence that he is saved, his sinning will actually open a door to the enemy to completely destroy his life. This might not be a bad thing as it seems, because knowing the truth and living a lie is a Hell all its own, and God would rather let you die and come home to heaven than let you live in Hell on earth under the Devils power and deception (1 Cor 5:5; 1 John 5:16-17).

Within us is the godlike desire to have friends. When all potential candidates have become enemies, the only thing to do is to show yourself friendly and keep showing yourself friendly. This is how grace creates in us a clean heart. Grace does not teach as legalists say, "let us sin willfully knowing God will forgive." Grace teaches us to be holy: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:11-12). But how does grace actually teach? How does the goodness of God [grace] lead us to repentance? (Rom 2:4). It happens through unmerited friendship melting or defenses. Remember how Jesus said, "Love your enemies," and how it would heap coals of fire on their heads? (Matt 5:44; Rom 12:20). Scripture says, "They that will have friends must show themselves friendly" (Pro 18:24), and God takes the initiative in this truth, and shows Himself friendly to His enemies. Grace changes us because we are only friends with those who show kindness, with those who show themselves friendly, and God does this over and over our whole lives. Do not doubt the power of Almighty Love. Within us is the godlike desire to have friends, but we only make friends with those whom we feel safe and not with those who threaten us. The fear of Hell does not create in anyone a desire for friendship with God, it teaches us that He is God respectfully, and leads foolish people to discover wisdom, but only friendship from God in grace leads us to surrender. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Grace actually opens the door of our heart and lets God in to begin the process to make us holy like Himself. It starts a process of recreation of our spirit that makes us holy like God. One preacher said, "Because of free will in Heaven, in the future God will banish anyone even Christians from heaven who choose to sin." The preacher did not understand grace or the power of God. The Bible says we will be "like Him." This means we will be holy as He is holy. Just as impossible it is for Jesus to sin, that is how impossible it will be for us, for we will be like Him. Angels are not created in this image, but we are. If it were not for your flesh right now, you would never sin again. The change has already begun, but as for now, if we fail the test of loyalty at any level in the Kingdom, grace takes over as teacher.

Have you ever been on course driving and made a wrong turn that turned out to be right? Sometimes we can turn down the wrong road in life, and if we chart to keep on to our original destination we may find it turned out to be a short cut. Some fear disaster from every bad decision in life. God is really in total and perfect control.　 This means that even when we make a mistake or a wrong decision, God is big enough to allow that error and still direct us back on track!　 Our part is to keep in close touch with Him, to follow His leading and to commit everything to Him, allowing Him to direct our paths.　 The psalmist declares, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand" (Psalm 37:23-24).　 Notice that the one directed by the Lord can still fall, or make a mistake.　 But the wonderful assurance we have is that in grace God will not allow us to be so broken and devastated beyond hope or deliverance.　 Notice the promise that He will be there to pick you up again, to uphold you with His hand, to put you back on track!　 How awesome is that?! No one likes detours or distractions that upset our well laid-out plans.　"All things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). God creates miracle short cuts for us when we make mistakes, and gets us back on track with leeway, because we love Him and are called to His purposes. We have trouble believing the words "all things" in the promise, but what is impossible with man is possible with God. Joseph was thrown down the well by his jealous brothers, but what seemed to be such a terrible sin and tragic time for Joseph, really turned out to be the path to save all Israel from death in seven years of famine.

Pro 4:23

Although the carnal mind may try to pursue the desires of the flesh, the new heart is in charge of door keeping. "Guard your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Pro 4:23). This was Jesus secret to victory over Satan in every test. He prepared His heart and mind well in advance for the temptations of the flesh, "…the prince of this world cometh, and has nothing in Me" (John 14:30). He guarded His heart that Satan would have nothing in Him to tempt, nothing for Satan to speak to when He addressed Him, no handle in Him for satan to put his filthy hand on and pull the Son of God, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matt 15:19). The heart must be turned over before the Lord to make sure nothing is underneath, nothing hiding beneath the surface. When the blood of Jesus is applied by faith to every area of the heart, always give it one more deep exposure to God’s Light and Love, then once it is cleansed and you know you are clean, guard your heart with all diligence. You will rejoice when satan comes and finds that he has nothing in you. Be careful not to assume there is nothing in you already, and therefore no need to prepare or guard the heart. Envy, jealousy, pride, self pity, resentment, unforgiveness, and many other things can appear undetectable when we scan our heart for cleansing, but the evil one will speak to those things that he has placed, the things he has had his hand in, the things that make us unlike Jesus. He will treat them as though they were a handle for him to grab, and he will speak to those things he knows are in us, that lead us into further disobedience. Jesus blood instantly cleanses us from sin in the eyes of God the moment we ask, but sometimes it takes a great deal of sacrifice to remove all of sins residue from the heart. Jesus had no sin in His flesh at all, but still He was led of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness on a forty day fast at the beginning of ministry. There is really only one way to guard your heart, and that is to spend the time it takes to turn it over before the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:25-33

Repentance is not gathering up enough will power to say no to sin. God says in His Word, "I will take out your stony heart and will give you an heart of flesh." A heart of flesh, what does it mean? It means this: Flesh is sensitive to the touch. Flesh bleeds when it is cut. Flesh is alive. God says, "You have a heart of stone toward Me, a dead heart without feeling. I will give you a new heart. I will give you a heart that is sensitive to my touch, one that feels My Presence. A heart that bleeds when sin touches it, a heart that is alive to Me, a living heart that hungers for nourishment of the Word. A heart that needs My healing touch when sin wounds it. I will take out your stony heart and give you an heart of flesh. Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:3). This is not just getting a "second chance" at being right with God; it is God making you Right spiritually in a single regenerative act, making you a New Creation that never existed before. All of your virtues are of the Holy Spirit; your Righteous is of God, your Faith is of God, your Joy is of God, your Peace is of God, your Love is of God, your Wisdom is of God, your Sanctification is of God, and even your Holiness is of the Lord. Because He comes to live within you, you have a second set of every blessed virtue of spirit and soul that makes you perfect in His eyes. And He sees you through that set, and knows you through that set, and relates to you through that set, and in the end, will reward you through that set, and not by anything ever done in the flesh. Being made spiritually alive to God means not just that He has come to live within you, but something mysterious as well. He says, "He that is joined unto the Lord, is one Spirit with Him" (1 Cor 6:17). Therefore repentance is more than mere submission to the Holy Spirit within, it is recognition that change has come to the core. I am not the same anymore. The things I loved, now I hate, and the things I hated now I love (Rom 7:19-22). God’s union with your spirit has recreated you "in Christ", and all relations to God are through that recreation. All the deeds of the flesh we take burden for, whether of sin or obedience, remain dead to God. What matters to God is a New Creation, one that He alone is completely responsible for through a blood Covenant with His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus told me I am going to show you a little bit of what happened at Calvary, so He started to take me there and I saw how they made the crown of thorns, how they where mocking Him, they placed this crown on His head with furious anger. He started bleeding immediately. Jesus looked at them and said to me, "I love them." Then Jesus was walking with the cross and everyone on the road were throwing things at Him insulting Him and spitting on Him, with no mercy whatsoever. Jesus looked at them and told me, "I love them so much," but His words where more than words, they were so deep that they spoke more than a thousand words. His word made me feel His love, His pain for them. Then they took Jesus and placed Him on the cross to nail His hands on it, when they nailed His hand, Jesus screamed so deep that His cry went through my body, and still its like an echo in my soul, in my spirit so deep, and He was looking at me telling me, "I love them, I love you." When they raised up the cross, this cross was so full of blood, Jesus was bleeding from everywhere. Jesus was crying tears of blood, tears of love. His eyes you can hardly see them, they were exploding inside full of blood, and He told me, "My tears are of pain, but really are all for this love I feel for you all I went thru, all the pain all the insults, all the shame, all of it. I wouldn’t be able to embrace it, if I didn’t feel this love. I love you. All of this is because I love you." There were the Pharisees insulting Him, cursing Him, and Jesus told me, "I love them." The one that gave him vinegar, He loved him too. The guy that came and pierced Him, Jesus looked at him and told me, "even this one, I love Him." I saw Mary Magdalene on the dirt feeling so much pain, so much she wanted to die. She wanted to go under the earth. She bathed herself with dust, crying so much. Jesus looking at her with no words, just telling her how much He loves her. Jesus told me, "all this, all of it is because I love you. This is my love for you. This I wanted to go through, I embraced it for only one reason, I LOVE YOU WITH ALL THE LOVE THERE IS, I LOVE YOU." Jesus does not care who you are or where you have been, or what you did, He loves you. He loves you as never no one else has loved or ever will. This is real love. Eternal everlasting, undying, unfailing love just for you, run to Him, to Jesus, He is all you need. By Victoria Hernandez

James 1:2-4

Jesus said, "pray that you enter not into temptation," but if we fall into temptation the instructions change: "Count it all joy when you fall into temptations, trials, and tests." Notice it does not say, "weep and morn and beg like a slave for forgiveness if you fall." Repentance does not always mourn over failure. It is true, at times our hearts may be lifted up in pride, and tears are good for the soul that sins, but there is a proper humility to God for every situation. Humility is shown through faith, praise and worship and expressions of Joy for the victory the cross provides. It is the greatest faith to believe and rejoice contrary to circumstances. It is the command of scripture if we are to mature, and it matters not that you have sinned. It says, "Count it all joy… knowing this…" We cannot count all joy without knowing this, "that the trying of our faith works patience." Disobedience tests only one faith, and that is the faith that we are justified by His blood. You will ask yourself "how can I possibly be ‘not guilty’ in Gods eyes when I have sinned?" At that moment of question you are to count it all joy, walking by faith and not by sight because Jesus paid it all! There is nothing more you need to pay to be right with God. The Law of faith and patience is most effective in times of trial. It works patience in the process of sanctification. We are further commanded to give thanks "in all things" (Eph 5:20), and "for all things" (1 Thess 5:18). How can this be? Unless Jesus paid it all?! Giving thanks in the midst of trial or trouble causes the reward of Righteousness to speedily overtake your situation. Miracles will take place. He will work all things together for the good because you love and trust Him. Your Joy confuses the devil. When you don’t let your mistakes tear you down; when you don’t allow God to leave your focus even after you have been disloyal. We walk by faith and not by sight for righteousness, right standing with God, but perfection is what righteousness really means. The more our flawed righteousness lines up with Christ’s Righteousness, we experience His perfect Righteousness in the natural realm, but it is always secure in the spirit realm for us whether we feel it or not, because of Jesus.

There is a power in submission to one another through encouragement that delivers us from disobedience. Accountability is not about submission so much as it is about running in a race with team spirit. There is no excitement in thinking about submitting to one another, but there is great a excitement racing side by side with friends to the finish line. This is a beautiful competition in the Kingdom of God that is unlike anything in the world. The competition of Love (1 Cor 9:24-27). You want to be close to Jesus? Make friends in church and you will see a beautiful race. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head..." (Psalm 133:1-2). The fellowship of the Church works like the oil of the Holy Spirit upon our head, helping us think right about holy living. We are provoked, spurred on, and motivated to do far more than just live godly, but to serve each other in love. So long as a Christian hides from church he becomes food for devils. Some argue that they do not need church or anyone else to live holy and have good character. Challenge them! Character is who we are in private, and God reconstructs the contents of our character through our loyal commitment made in secret, but only through the fellowship of the saints does He work out those contents and sets them as a seal in community interaction. "He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him (1John 2:10). Notice that loving the brethren brings the promise, "there is none occasion of stumbling in him." How important is it to love church? "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (1 John 3:14). It is a measuring stick for you. A way for you to know you have passed from death into Life! "Forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is" (Heb 10:25). "Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of God" (Eph 5:21). For new Christians who may struggle with disobedience, the enemy will work hard to discourage them to leave the church. We are commanded to "Judge not." Satan uses judgmental Christians to discourage young believers out of the fellowship of the church, in order to isolate them back into the fellowship of the world. Be on guard. Only love and acceptance in the unity of the blood of Jesus can smooth the progress of accountability where growth can take place. We are all in the blood together.

Psalm 103:8-14

Love always helps or gives mercy to the disadvantaged. The town sheriff pulls out his handcuffs, ready to arrest a man who is hurling insults at him in front of many onlookers. Just then his deputy puts his hand on the sheriffs shoulder and says, "He’s drunk." The sheriff sighs, puts his cuffs away and lets the man go, showing mercy because the man is not in his right mind. Similarly Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." He asks for mercy because we are not in our right mind. This is no small thing, this is why Jesus went to the cross. "The god of this world [satan] has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor 4:4). Behind the scenes there is a devil and an evil plot working against every believer to use temptations of the flesh, the deception of the carnal mind, against our spiritual experience with Christ. But as our High Priest, Jesus understands these things. "For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15). God sent Jesus to the cross because He has pity. "Like a father has pity on his children, so the LORD has pity on them that fear him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." The legal requirements of the Law insisted that justice be served on us, but mercy triumphs over judgment because God is Love and has pity on our weak circumstances. He insisted to die to satisfy the legal claims against us. This is all for pities sake. Satan tempted Eve in the Garden against the will of God, "Do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil," and if not for satans hiss, Adam and Eve would have obeyed in all things. We have no reason to believe not. Truth is that God is patient and kind and always provides a way of escape in all our trials, tests and temptations we endure. And right now, today, His grace is still sufficient.

Romans 3:19-28

We are enchained to sin and death; the chains are heavy with guilt and condemnation. God approaches us with a hatchet in His hands and angry eyes, we are fearful of His judgment and beg for mercy, He raises the hatchet over us, and bringing it down He smashes the chains and sets us free, moments later while we are amazed at His mercy, He hands the hatchet to us, trusting we will not turn it on Him. This is love, and what changes the hardened heart, the only way to win love from those of free will. The free man will trust the one who set him free. "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law" (Rom 3:28). By exposing His Presence in our hearts, God releases us [sets us free] to love Him, knowing that His love is greater than any desire in the universe. How can there be right standing with God without Law, especially in a world of sinners? But this is exactly what has happened through the cross of Jesus Christ. Notice: after stating that the Law was written that all the world may be "under the Law" and guilty; he states, "Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall be no flesh justified in His sight." What!? God gave the Law knowing nobody can keep it! It was given so we can see our sins from His vantage point, "for by the Law is the knowledge of sin." Without the Law, every man proclaims his own goodness, and calls evil good and good evil. The Law puts a stop to this, and leaves all guilty, and at least seeing the need for mercy and grace. Verse 21 starts with the words, "But now," meaning something has changed radically. "But now the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested." Here it is, a Righteousness, a right standing with God, without the Law! No rules, no rituals, and no condemnation that go with them. A perfect Righteousness which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. What does this Righteousness without the Law do? We are justified [declared not guilty] freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24).

John 13:3-17

Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. Notice He changed His clothes in order to wash their feet. He wore only a towel. Why did He wear the towel? Not merely to appear as a servant in character, there is another reason.

There are many examples of Gods grace in Jesus washing their feet. He changed into the towel to let them know there is a Righteousness coming to them that will daily wipe sin away! That it was his very Righteousness that took the sin on itself. Oh, the blood of Jesus, it washes white as snow.

John 3:3

The Law was given that offenses might abound, that sin be seen for what it really is.., sin. Not mistakes made against Laws, but outright rebellion against a holy God (Rom 7:7-8). A man said to R.A. Torrey, "I’m an upright man, what do you have against me? Torrey replied solemnly, "I charge you, Sir, with treason against the King of Heaven." If unbelievers insist that they have no sin, it is because their heart is hard soil. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; Mark 4:3-20). The seed of the good news will bounce right off hard soil hearts and go to waste. Love does not tell someone who is condemned, that they are "ok with God" (John 3:17-18). Through the preaching of the Law seasoned with grace the soil is made soft and ready for seed (Psalm 19:7; Rom 7:9-13). The heart is made humble and ready for the message of love, grace and mercy. This is what God is after, a new creation, for the heart in man to be born again (Gal 6:15). The new birth however is a one time occurrence, and never takes place again. The new Christian is born again of the Spirit of God, a Child of God, and declared "not guilty," promised never to be condemned again. He is secured by an eternal sin offering, the blood of Christ. All judgment for sins past, present and future are in Christ on the cross, as if time did not exist; an awesome free gift of right standing with God that could never be earned (Rom 5:16-19). Can such a blessed person ever get into mischief again? Yes, but now as a Child of God, where sin abounds, grace much more abounds because the Father Loves His children. How much? enough to die for them. God’s Kids will always respond to His Love, even if it takes a while. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil" (1 John 3:10). That is, they respond to His Love shown at the cross, and others do not. Children of God are not under the Law, but under His grace (Rom 5:20; 6:14). The heart is living to God, and God to the heart, so it feels His Presence and knows His Love. This is what it means to be Born Again.

We tell people that God can heal their broken heart, but they have to give all the pieces. Most times we let God have nearly all the pieces, but hold back the one that is the key piece to hold it all together. A brother came for prayer once and said he wanted more of God. I told him he needed to give God more of himself. God is not holding back anything; He has given His life on the cross. It is us that hold back. "I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation" (Psalm 111:1). It is impossible to seek the Lord with only a partial heart. Some who thought they could do this have only fooled themselves. They’ve not sought Him at all. They may have sought for religious commendation, or for their ego’s sake, or relief from self pity due to sin; but when someone is ready to seek the Lord, the whole heart turns away from sin and earthly pursuits and embraces mercy and grace like water in the desert. "I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes" (Psalm 119:145). Notice, the whole heart cries to God. This is more than a few words at meal time, or a ritual bed time prayer. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2 Chron 16:9). The perfect heart is the heart that is fully turned in Gods direction, and the amazing part is God searches for the one who is searching for Him! Some have whined, "we cannot seek God fully because of sinful flesh." Lie! The flesh and the spirit are contrary to each other, meaning we are able to pursue God fully, and the flesh just has to come along for the ride (Gal 5:16-17). Before the New Birth, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the hearts, I try the reins..." (Jer 17:9-10). But after the New Birth, the heart is recreated in Jesus, made partaker of His divine nature, cleansed from deceit and wickedness, and begins to cry out wholly for God (Heb 9:13-14; 2 Cor 5:17; 2 Pet 1:4). In the midst of sin, you will always run to Him.

Psalm 32:1-11

You have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, and have obeyed from the heart the commandment of God. God forgets and hides our sin at the cross if we repent and trust in Him. We are never to cover our own sins, but utterly repent and forsake them and God covers them and hides them. "He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" (Pro 28:13). "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecc 12:14). "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; nothing hid, that shall not be known" (Luke 12:2). "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance" (Psalm 90:8). Hopefully these words do not bring you fear, they should strengthen your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, but rest assured, what you hide will be found, and what you repent of, God will hide, and never be found. "He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19). Jesus said, "For every one that doeth evil hates the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God" (John 3:20-21). The beautiful thing about the blood of Jesus is that whether our deeds are good or bad, we can approach the Throne of God for mercy and grace to help in a time of need!

If a Christian will not be freed from His sin, it will be exposed within the church by the power of God, and brought to judgment due to his profession of faith. If he is truly in Christ, this is how his sins go before him to the judgment of the cross, but they will not follow him to heaven. Those whose sins follow after death to judgment are not Christian (1 Tim 5:24). A Christians sins are only in the flesh, not in the spirit. Flesh dies, sin dies, spirit goes to God pure as the driven snow. Non-Christians are not born again in spirit, so their spirit and flesh are the same to God, dead in sin. You want the sin out of your life? Then burn it out by getting as close to the fire as possible and staying there as long as you can!

Lev 4:2-4

"By faith I lay hands on the cross of Jesus, and transfer my sins there. I receive the death of Jesus as the punishment for my sins, and I receive the resurrection of Jesus as my restoration and healing to New Life. Thank you Lord for the blood!" Looking at Jesus, John the Baptist cried out, "behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!" The point is not that Jesus was a lamb or goat, etc. but that He was a sacrifice that was human, for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin, but the blood of the only sinless human sacrifice did just that. Jesus really was never a goat or lamb, no, we are the goats and lambs, and our sins represent this. Jesus is in our place at the cross, a substitutionary sacrifice for our sin. If you have sin, no matter how terrible, lay hands on the goats head and transfer it. By faith lay hands on Jesus bloody feet at Calvary, transferring your sin to the cross, and let God kill the sacrifice. Let your sin be judged at the cross.

"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away." Hosea 14:4. He says "I will love them freely," meaning, while they are still backsliding. This "free love" is what heals backsliding. We love Him, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19. According to grace we are holy and blameless, but according to the Law we are all backsliders, even as Christians. We boast of our repentance, but we still sin every day, whether in thought or deed, it is the same. Whether for five seconds, five minutes, one hour, or even one year, the Law says, "I condemn you!" Even if sin were just a thought, the Law says, "I condemn you!" God is not gracious to pardon sin because it is small. He is gracious to pardon only because the debt has been paid by Jesus Christ in His own blood. We tend to think that backsliding is when a believer has fallen and made sin a life style. There is no definition like that in the Bible. And even one broken Law makes you guilty of all the Law. James 2:10; Deut 27:26. This is important to remember: whether your sin lasted two years or two minutes, whether it was a deed or a thought, it is all called "backsliding," and according to the Law it is punishable by eternity in Hell. Matt 5:21-29. Now for some really good news, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Gal 3:13-14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:" Jer 3:12-14

2 Chronicles 30:18-20

Although many had not the opportunity to observe the strict regulations concerning the Passover, they were right before God because they prepared their hearts to seek Him. So God pardoned their sins and healed them all even without the required ritual for cleansing, at the prayer of Hezekiah. It is an amazing thing that many in vain worship God with their hearts far from Him, and go to church and religious meetings out of some form of mental obligation, but have never counted the cost to prepare their heart to seek God. This is the key many believers freedom. If we prepare our heart to seek Him, we judge our ways and calculate the effort it will take to press in to know the Lord. Salvation is free, but it definitely isn’t cheap; it cost Jesus Christ His life. If we will know Him it will cost us ours as well. There is a guarantee of success for those who prepare their way before Him. "Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God." 2Chon 27:6. John the Baptist was the greatest of prophets because of his high calling, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." Luke 1:76. Jesus said Christians are greater than John. We are all called in our own lives to "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Mark 1:3. This is really not an option if we are to walk free from darkness. We are warned of the arrogance of Rehoboam, the king of Judah who "did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD." 2Chon 12:14. Your heart is always preparing to do something. If it is not preparing to seek the Lord, it is preparing to seek self. And all that is of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is of selfishness and is not of the Lord. We must prepare our hearts well to seek the Lord as if preparing for great battle. "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." Joel 3:10. Jesus said the flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing. This is your time, prepare well, then seek Him with confidence.

I recently heard a story of a Judge that had a criminal son, who one day ended up in his court room for his crimes. The father wept momentarily, but composed himself in front of the court, then he did his duty without bias and sentenced his son to five years in prison with the fine set at $200,000 dollars. His son wept and wept, but then the father stood up from behind the bench, took off his judicial robe, walked down and over to him and wrote him a check for $200,000. The entire courtroom was shocked at this dramatic display of love and honor. This is what God did for us when He sent His Son to the cross. In another true story in 1935, the Mayor of New York, showed up in a night court in the poorest ward in the city. He dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench. One case involved an elderly woman who was caught stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. The Mayor said, "I’ve got to punish you ten dollars or ten days in jail." As he spoke this, he paused, looked around the room, then threw ten dollars into his hat. He then fined everyone in the court fifty cents for living in a city "where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat." The hat was passed around and the woman left the courtroom with her fine paid and an additional $47.50. These two courtroom stories display the truth of Biblical grace. Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits on the undeserving; God’s special favor freely given to undeserving people. Some might argue that the elderly woman’s motives were unselfish, and therefore merited mercy; but remember that the Law has no mercy. Whether a person's life is sinful or holy... it’s ONLY by the Blood of Jesus that any man passes through the gates of glory. We will not walk through the gates with our own righteousness..., it will be with His. We are all in that courtroom, and guilty of breaking the Law; but the Father has chosen to pay our fine. He has passed His hat to Jesus, and Jesus paid our fine to the court; but then because our Father is also Judge, He not only set us free, but declares us "not guilty" and releases us to an eternity in Heaven with Himself.

Once President Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious Southerners when they had finally been defeated and returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away." What is the Love of God? "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:10-12. We belong to a King and Kingdom Who’s Love never fails. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:18-19. How does He subdue our iniquities? He sends the Messenger of His compassion to us while we are at war with Him. Even if we tread far into the enemy camp, deceived by satans appealing temptations and tricked away from Love by selfish and treacherous ambitions, He grants a stay of execution and leads us home with a promise of amnesty. He tells us "the war is over" and we are "let off" with full pardon for our rebelliousness. War torn and battle scarred we begin the journey home with joy unspeakable. When we arrive He treats us as though we had never been gone, and secures our trust by granting a seat with Him at His right hand in heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And puts all things under our feet. Eph 1:19-23.

In God’s mind the sin never happened, and it has to be that way in your mind, if you want to be free. Satan will work his hardest to keep you in remembrance of sins. He will work through those closest to you. He will impersonate God even, coming as an angel of light, accusing you through others who are known for spiritual practice. They will hear the serpents hiss and think it is the Lord accusing, judging and condemning you for sin. Jesus never sinned, and He was accused night and day of sin by the Pharisee’s who believed they were doing God a service. It is because you are especially beloved of God that this ever happens. You may not have done the sin they are accusing, it is no matter; you are white through the blood of Jesus no less, standing in the same blood they think they are standing in. All the sin you have ever committed in your life time, even as a Christian, if you have repented, then in God’s mind it never happened, and that is the present natural reality for you as well. You must agree with God in this, and let go of guilt and condemnation associated with all sin. The devil will tell you that "you are lying" to say it never happened. Bury him with scripture. God says He has forgotten if you have repented. If He has forgotten it, then it never happened at all, no matter who wants to agree with the Devil that it did. It will be to their peril, for even the accusation or judgment of another in heart, will be a seed that grows up, and they will reap the same judgment in their own life. "For whatsoever thing any man sows, that shall he also reap" (Gal 6:7). Never judge another persons heart, even in your own heart, for when you are proven wrong by God Himself you will have a greater condemnation than you think the one has that you have judged. I can’t tell you how many times I have been accused of things I never did. It is always a sign to me I am in the will of God, for "woe unto you when all men speak well of you." When the Holy Spirit in you meets the will of God, get ready for accusation. Demon spirits always cry out of others when the Holy Spirit in you meets the place where you walk into the will of God.

A Christian brother begins to doubt he is saved because of his struggle with sin. I ask him, "did you struggle with sin before you were saved?" He replies, "No, I didn’t care." "Well, there you have it!" I replied. "The proof you have the Holy Spirit is that you struggle with sin!" Do you love God, but struggle with sin; or do you love sin, and struggle with God? You are still a mighty saint in God, even if you have sinned or backslid, because of the blood of Jesus. So many struggle with sin with tears of failed repentance, but they don’t realize God sees the heart and accepts it as successful repentance every time. The only time we cannot find repentance is when we seek it from man. "Esau could not find repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears," but his seeking and tears were not to God, but to his father Issac, whom he could not, with all his tears and entreaties, persuade to reverse the judgment he had made, "I have blessed him [Jacob], and he must be blessed; I cannot reverse it now." Legalist Christians believe that good works equal right standing with God, and sin equals wrong standing, and because of this, they teach that God will get to a certain point with a Christian if they continue in sin, where He will not accept them anymore even if they repent! Who do you think is behind a lie like that? Satan is a liar. Jesus would rather die on a cross for sinners to keep them from Hell, how much more would He do for His own Child whom He loves (Rom 5:8-9). The difference between the Old Testament and the New, is that after God has accepted you in the New, you will never again be rejected for sin, because of the blood of Jesus. Under the Old Covenant of Law, if you rejected God at any time, even if He had acknowledged you through obedience, He would reject you. But under the New Covenant of grace, His acceptance is not based on your performance, but on the fact that judgment has been satisfied through the cross of Jesus Christ His Son. With God, there is no such thing as "tears of failed repentance." He sees and accepts the heart of faith.