GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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I AM  SO SORRY AS I HAVE BEEN OFF LINE SINCE JULY 15, COULD NOT SIT AT COMPUTER OR WORK IT, HOPE TO BE BACK FULL TIME SHORTLY,  PARIS
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Brothers and Sisters,

Let us keep Paris in our prayers.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

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COMPLETE IN CHRIST
Part 3 of 4
by William B. Hallman



CHRIST IS ALSO THE HEAD OF ALL REDEMPTION.



"And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself' (Col. 1:20). He is both the "Author and Finisher" of our faith, the "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End" of our redemption. When He cried, "It is finished," it was finished. Nothing was left undone, and nothing need be added. In the incarnation He became both God and man; in the crucifixion He became our means of peace and pro-vision for every spiritual blessing; in the resurrection He became our power over death, the grave, and Lake of Fire; in His ascension and seating at God's right hand, He became our guarantee of all future glory with Him. Nothing has been left undone for our future glorification with Him "in the Heavenlies."

CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, HIS BODY.

"And He is the Head of the body, the church" (Cot. 1:18 ). The head is the glory of the body. There the chief beauty of manhood dwells. Christ is fairer than all. We are circumcised with Him, baptized with Him, risen with Him, ascended with Him, and seated with Him in glory. What a complete identification! It is the head which unifies the body, coordinates all its movements, regulates all its actions. From the head comes the mandate which lifts the hand and moves the foot.

CHRIST IS AGAIN THE HEAD OF OUR HOPE. "When Christ Who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). Christ takes care of all our sorrows, sufferings, trials and tribulations. Matthew Arnold shows the failure of  the Greeks' religion to take into account the sorrows of life. It was only a fair- weather religion.

Twenty miners were once buried in a coal pit in Wales, standing in water to the waist, until but five remained. Yet they were singing, "In the deep and mighty waters there is none to hold my head, but my only Saviour Jesus, Who was offered in my stead." The South Sea Islanders have a palm tree that they use for bread, drink, clothing, shelter, light, material for books, cordage for boats, and for needles. So our Lord Jesus Christ is all and in all. We are God's heavenly people; our citizenship is in Heaven, and from thence we look for our Saviour. "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).

THE "FULNESS" OF CHRIST is but half of the story. The apostle hastens on to show the other side. So we must also,

RECOGNIZE THE CHRISTIAN'S FULNESS.

"Ye are 'complete in Him" (2: 10). Note our present possession in the words "ye are." This word in the Greek holds the emphatic position. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God" (I John 3:2). Note also our present position "in Him." Again the Greek gives this an emphatic location. "In Him" is the rich-est little phrase in all of Paul's Epistles. This is the sphere of the believer's life. It is a sphere, not a mere circle. We are "in Him," surrounded above, beneath, beside, and all around. So nothing can come from without to harm us, and with Him within we should be "more than conquerors." "In Him" we have all that He has, and He is our fulness, our complement, our completeness. So also our past perfection as believers. The word is pepleromenoi, and means "COMPLETE, FILLED FULL, PERFECTED." This is a perfect, passive participle, so it represents a past perfect work. Demosthenes used the word here translated "complete" in describing a ship fully manned. Truly our ship is fully manned, from prow to stern, by her Captain Who steers the vessel, stills the storm, guides through rocks and reefs, feeds the crew, fills every need, and brings the vessel to its desired haven.

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COMPLETE IN CHRIST
Part 4 of 4
by William B. Hallman



If we are "COMPLETE IN HIM," and we are "by grace through faith," then it follows what Paul sets forth in this Epistle.

WE ARE COMPLETE WITHOUT PHILOSOPHY, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (elements) of the world, and not after Christ""' (2:8 ). We need no sophisms of this world to prop our faith. There is nothing new in philosophy except old error. One day three friend philosophers came to Job to comfort him and to set him straight as to his thinking. These three represent the reasonings of the best of men. Eliphaz reasons on human experience (4:8; 5:3; 15:17): "Even as I have seen," "I have seen," "I have seen." It is what he had seen, heard, and felt. Bildad comes with human tradition (8:8,10): "For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age," "search of the fathers." Zophar reasons on human merit (11:13-14): "If thou prepare thine heart." This is the gospel of humanism. Six thousand years of human gropings after wisdom have not given men the true knowledge of God, nor His ways with men. Man's reason is inadequate to understand either the will or way of God. If man by his own reason could find God, and His way of redemption, then there would be no need of a revelation. Like little David we are content with the sling and the stones. As for the armor of philosophy, we leave that to proud Goliath to wear. "Spoil you," says Paul. The word is sulagogon, and means "to carry off as a captive, a slave, as booty." It is used of kidnapping and plundering a house, also seducing a maiden.

WE ARE ALSO "COMPLETE IN HIM" WITHOUT CEREMONIES. "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; Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days" (2:14, 16-17).


All these ceremonies had their day. They belong to the time of shadows; we now have the Substance, Christ. "Finished are the types and shadows of the ceremonial law." Circumcision, sacrifices, Passover, water baptisms, temple services, priestly functions, etc., are but "beggerly elements" of a past age, encumbrances no longer needed. Who looks for the moon as long as the sun is shining? We are in the day of the Substance, not in the night of the shadows. But man is so prone to be religious, and to add something to Christ. He must "touch," and "taste," and "handle" something.

Again, WE ARE "COMPLETE IN HIM" WITHOUT ANY HUMAN MERIT. "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. 2:8-9). All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags. If we were "dead in sins," and we were, how could a dead man do anything? He cannot see, hear, touch, smell, speak, or walk. So how utterly foolish it is like Zophar to talk about preparing one's heart to appease God or to merit His favor.

Therefore, if "IN HIM" there dwells all "the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and we are "COMPLETE IN HIM," let us live as those who know this fulness! The Pauline doctrine of Christ is His absolute "fulness," His pleroma. And the doctrine of "ye are complete in Him." Christ should therefore command all our worship, our admiration, our love. There is at our disposal the infinite merit of His righteousness; the infinite efficacy in His blood; and the infinite power of His resurrection and glorification.

The celebrated artist Danneker was asked by Napoleon to paint Venus for the Louvre, and declined. An enormous sum was offered him, but still he declined. The little emperor angrily demanded the reason. "I have just painted Christ," was the answer, "and I can never lower my brush to paint such an inferior subject as Venus."

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BYPASSING THE DEATH SENTENCE


The modern teaching of consecration, which is tantamount to the consecration of the "old man," seeks to bypass the death sentence and, therefore, only leads to frustration and failure. When, however, you and I are prepared in simple humility to make the FACT of our death with Christ our daily basis of life and service, there is nothing that can prevent the uprising and outflow of new life to meet the need of thirsty souls around us.

Here is the crux of the matter. The question is, which life is to be consecrated to Him, the old self-life or the new Christ-life? God can accept absolutely nothing from the old. He sees and acknowledges only that which is centered in His Son, Who is our life. Hence God has but one stipulation for consecration: "Yield yourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead" (Romans 6:13). This is our only ground and from this platform we are to count ourselves dead unto sin (the sin nature), self, the Law and the world, and alive unto God in Christ risen; to walk "in newness of life" (Romans 6:4, 11).

God asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1). Until we have done this, there is nothing else we can do. Notice that this exhortation comes after Romans 6. There is reason for this order -- crucifixion comes before consecration. Uncrucified self refuses to be consecrated. This is why so many people walk down the aisles again and again, consecrating uncrucified self to God.

A careful study of all the Epistles of Paul will show that they are written on the basis of the cross set forth in Romans 6 ---the fact that God consigns the old fallen Adam-life to the cross, and has nothing to say to it. God deals with all believers on the ground "in Christ you died." But the church of Jesus Christ ignores this fact. It treats the fallen creature as capable of self improvement, and the meaning of the cross bringing to death the old Adam race as fallen beyond repair, is thus nullified.   (Selected)

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THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP
by C. R. Stam



"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption [Lit., sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15).

The position of the believer in the family of God is amply illustrated for us in the Epistles of Paul. In Gal. 4:1-5 the Apostle alludes to the fact that in the life of every Hebrew boy there came a time, appointed by the father, when the lad was formally declared to be a full-grown son, with all the rights and privileges of sonship.

It was now assumed that the young man would no longer need overseers to keep him in check. There would be natural understanding and cooperation between father and son. And so the "adoption" [Gr., son-placing] proceedings took place, indicating that the child, now a full-grown son, was no longer under law, but under grace.

"And because ye are sons," says the Apostle, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a [full-grown] son" (Gal. 4:6,7).

This is the position of every believer in Christ. He may, like the Corinthians, still be a babe in his spiritual experience (I Cor. 3:1), but in Christ he occupies the position of a full-grown son, and to grow spiritually it will do him no good to go back under the Law; he must rather recognize his standing before God in grace. This is why the Apostle says in Rom. 8:15:

"Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption [sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

A recognition of this position will do far more to help us live godly lives than will the "dos and don'ts" of the Law.

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FRUSTRATED ENEMY
By Miles Stanford


"Then saith Jesus unto him, Be gone, Satan" (Matt. 4:10).

There is a great difference between a foe, and a defeated foe. A conquered enemy can be put to valuable use in the hands of the victor, and that is exactly what God is doing with that old serpent. Satan is allowed to sift, and try the believer; he is used of God as a winnowing machine to clear away the chaff in us.

"No power in present things allowed to Satan annuls the will of the invisible God." - W.K.

"The story of Job shows clearly that it is God who sets the limit to the extent of the devil's activities and power. From the human viewpoint the Cross looks like a colossal failure. In it the victory of the power of evil seemed complete, But 'the weakness of God is stronger than men' or the enemy, and by the power of weakness having 'spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it' (Col. 2:15)." -CJ.M.

"It is inevitable that in a world like this the faith of Christians must be tried. For we are in an enemy's land, and he resents our presence. And we have an enemy within our gates --- the old man --- that opposes us too. But take heart, fellow believer, the trials of the faith will be found unto praise, honor and glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Pet. 1:7). The happy outcome is a foregone conclusion. Trials work patience, experience, hope --- and these are abiding qualities. Satan as it were is God's scavenger, and all he can do is to remove out of your life those things that mar your joy, your growth, and your service."

"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy [undo] the works of the devil" (I John 3:8 ).

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THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY
By R.H. Schaefer


"Christ in you the hope of glory." This, says Paul, is the riches of the Glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.

Whether the expression, as given above, "Christ in you" gives the correct meaning to this passage or "Christ among you", as some prefer, is correct, cannot, as we have seen, be decided by others. Only we can decide which is correct. Context alone must decide the matter, for as we have seen, Biblical scholars have come down on both sides of the matter. Since it is context alone which must decide this matter great care must be exercised in searching out the purpose of the (Colossian) Letter and its general intent.

If we assume that the expression, "Christ among you" is the correct translation and meaning, we must pause to ask ourselves how it fits in with the near and more remote context.

First, the near or immediate context. Here we find that Paul states in verse 25 (Ch. 1) that he -- for the sake of the church, His Body has been made a minister of God to fulfill the Word of God in accordance with the stewardship that God had given to him on behalf of the Church. Paul goes on to state that it is the Mystery (The Secret) which has been hid from ages and generations that fills full the Word of God. He leaves no doubt that the Mystery that completes the Word of God is the very Mystery of which he has spoken and written of in Ephesians. It starts with God's secret desire of Eph. 1:9,10 and takes in God's engracing of the Church to make it His own special inheritance, Eph. 1:14. And, reveals the oneness of relationship between the Head and His Body, and between each member --- and goes on to speak of many other things which were all kept hidden and secret from all past generations until revealed to and through Paul. To this, Church, Paul goes on to state:

God would make known what is the
RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS
MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which
is Christ in/among (?) you, the Hope of Glory.

Is Paul saying that the "riches of the glory of this mystery" is Christ among you --- the Gentiles?

Christ being preached among the Gentiles apart from the hope of Abraham or Israel is certainly a part and parcel of what is involved in the Mystery, but the Mystery involves much more than simply Christ being preached among the Gentiles apart from Israel and the covenants. If we insist that it must be translated, "Christ among you" then we have redundancy in Paul's words. He would then be stating:

To whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this MYSTERY
AMONG THE GENTILES: which is .......
CHRIST AMONG THE GENTILES.

The MYSTERY itself must be something less than the RICHES OF THE GLORY of the Mystery otherwise words have no meaning. If the RICHES OF THE GLORY is nothing more than the Mystery, what then is the Mystery?

What about the remote context of this passage? What is the purpose of Paul in writing the Epistle? Is it not to reveal to us how God in engracing His inheritance beyond what man ever dared to dream has made us complete in all the perfections of Christ? Note, the expression Riches Of The Glory follows after Paul has dealt with the perfections and superiority of Christ. In 1:15 (Col.) Christ is presented to us as the Image (Ikon) of the Invisible God, the Firstborn of All Creation. He is presented as the reason for creation. He is the Preeminent One (Before all things), He is the Sustainer of all things, He is the Head of the Body, the Church, He is the Beginning, He is the Firstborn from the dead, in Him ALL FULNESS DWELLS. What was Paul's point in laying before us his Christology at the time he does in this letter? Was it done so that we would find it convenient to build a systematic theology and base our Christology on these very points? Or, was it because the total argument of the Epistle required that he first establish the perfections and superiority of Christ as a basis for what was to follow? The riches of the glory of the mystery depends on the superiority and perfections of Christ. It was necessary that this be fully established before what was to follow could be understood and appreciated. It is this Christ, the One in Whom all fulness dwells, Who indwells the believer and constitutes what is the "riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles."

Paul goes on in the second chapter of the letter to deal with the practical outworking of this inworked reality. He deals there with what it means to be "Complete In Christ" based upon the reality of the indwelling Christ.

The expression, "Christ among the Gentiles", tells us nothing more than we had already learned from Ephesians. Worse, however, is the fact that it ignores the context of Colossians and denies the thrust of Paul's argument. "CHRIST IN YOU" not only follows the natural progression of Paul's thought but makes the words:

RICHES OF THE GLORY

meaningful.

THE HOPE OF GLORY
Col.1:27.

Have you seen the Christ of God in all His personal splendor and glory? What He is? He is the fulness of God. He portrays the nature and being of God. He is the Glory of God, the Shekinah. The Body of Christ is to be the fulness of God. It is to convey the nature and being of God, with Christ, in all the on-coming ages:

To Him be all the glory in the Assembly
And, in Christ Jesus -
Unto all the generations of the aeon
that comprehends the ages! Amen.
Eph.3:21.

The life of Christ and ours have become entwined and intermingled so that as the fulness of God is shared and manifested in Christ it is also manifested in His Body. This is far beyond the promptings of the spirit in our lives, rather it is the essence and full realization of what is spoken of in Eph. 4:13:

Until we all advance -
Into the oneness of the faith and the
personal knowledge of the Son of God,
Into a humanity of full maturity,
Into the measure of the stature
Of the fulness of the Christ.

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THE GRACE MOUNTAINS
EPHESIANS 2:1-22
PART 1 OF 3
By Evangelist S. Lee Homoki


In the second chapter of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is addressing believers but is talking about their past sinful condition as unbelievers (vs. 2a). They were described as being: " .. .filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful" (Rom. 1:29-31). It was terrible! It would be like coming upon a horrifying train wreck! Your first thoughts and words to describe the scene would be, "Death, destruction and devastation everywhere." Everything is in disarray and disorder and the stench of death hangs heavy in the air. Even the skilled eyes of a trained medical emergency team, sent to the scene, would conclude that there is "no hope." Such a sad evaluation! There are no sadder words to fall on human ears! Here, the Apostle Paul, looking over the great wreck of Gentile humanity, inspired of God the Holy Spirit, declares them as "having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12)!

Wreckage at the Foot of the Mountain (vss. 1-3)

The crash happened when Adam disobeyed God and promptly died - and all of humanity with him! God had given Adam a solemn warning about the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" saying, "Thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:17).

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22).
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom 5:12).   "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:23).

It is important for us to look carefully and honestly at this pile of human rubble of which we are all a part. We will never fully appreciate or understand God's saving grace if we don't! There is nothing savable! We must be convinced that the destruction is so complete and so total that only the divine application of God's great grace and power could ever restore what has been lost! When the Apostle Paul surveys the debris field, he identifies at least three reasons for his discouraging assessment:

1. All the victims are spiritually dead (vs. 1). Adam was living in a perfect environment. Adam had no knowledge of what death was he should have listened and obeyed but he didn't and guilt swept over both Adam and Eve. They learned the consequences of sin by personal experience. They died spiritually and will eventually die physically! Externally nothing had changed but inwardly Adam's spirit died.

There are several kinds of death mentioned in the Bible and none of them are very appealing or exciting. If death means anything, it means the cessation of life or the inability to do anything! The worst would not be the cessation of physical life but, rather, spiritual death. Spiritual death means that the unsaved have no capacity to know God, love God, appreciate God or serve God. They are "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18 ) and their destination is ultimately to the "lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21 :8 ).

The root cause of this death was "trespass and sins " (Eph2:1; Col. 2:13; 2 Cor. 5:14). "Sin" means that man has no ability to hit the "bulls-eye" of God's righteous demands. And "trespass" means that man is outside the boundary of God's law. Mankind is guilty of both sin and trespass. We are sinners because, by the inherited nature of Adam, we have gone our own way - the way that "seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 16:25). And, we are trespassers because we have violated the boundaries of what we knew by nature was the will of God (Rom. 2:14). The "victims" are thus declared to be spiritually dead.

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THE GRACE MOUNTAINS
EPHESIANS 2:1-22
PART 2 OF 3
By Evangelist S. Lee Homoki



2. All the victims are children of disobedience and wrath and are under the rulership of Satan (vs.2). The unsaved are dead to God. However, they are physically alive and animated in sin as indicated by the verb "walked." These living dead are energized according to the dictates of the "god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4) - "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience" (Eph 2:2).

"Walking" is not without thinking. A person lives the way he thinks (Prov. 23:7). The Apostle Paul, twice in this verse, uses the preposition "KATA" = ACCORDING TO - meaning, in this case, a pattern of thinking. Disobedience does not happen in a vacuum. The Devil, the father of all lies, dictates the "course of this world" to his disobedient children. He is aided by the political and theological liberals of this world who are the "mouthpiece" or "ministers" for him. Their damnable work is to blind the poor, lost victims as to their real condition. They are what the Apostle Paul called, "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15). Christ told the Pharisee of His day, "Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it" (Jn. 8:44). The Apostle Peter says that the Gentiles, "walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatry. "

These wretched victims are not corrupt, evil and immoral because of their environment or lack of education, but because they have bad hearts (Jer. 17:9; Mk. 7:21-23), controlled by a personal Devil who makes them hostile to the will of God. That is why these "children of wrath" think it " ... strange that [believers in Christ] run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of believers" (1 Pet. 4:2-4).

3. All victims are under the control of the "flesh" (vs. 3). When Adam sinned, his whole manner of life ("conversation ") crashed in a heap. Instead of enjoying the luxury and blessings of the Garden of Eden and the grace and presence of God, he, and all of unregenerate humanity with him, are now under the harsh rule of Satan where they exist fulfilling the desires of the "flesh" and the "mind." They subsist on what can be seen, felt, touched, smelled and tasted. The human race looks at their existence in this world, having a "seared conscience" (1 Tim. 4:2) that is independent of the indwelling influence of God the Holy Spirit and the revealed Word of God. But God looks on their heart and sees the wreckage and finds nothing good in it. We can train and educate the "flesh" so that it does not murder and steal, etc. We can cover it up with a lovely false front and a lot of human good, but that does not make it good or acceptable to God (Rom. 7:18; 8:8 ).

The Bible teaches that we are to: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 Jn.2:15-16).

This wasting wreckage of humanity is now identified as the "natural man" - "the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

Take a good look (verses 11 and 12)! There is no possibility for the recovery or reconstruction from the ruins without what the Bible calls "regeneration." Gaze long and hard at the wreckage here and try to understand! Picture if you will how the carnage is described. (1) The human wreckage was godless and unclean - no better than a pack of wild dogs called "the uncircumcision. " This was an uncomplimentary term that might be used to describe some disgusting piece of garbage - no recommendation for salvation here! (2) The human wreckage was separated from Christ- "without Christ" - no means of salvation here! (3) The human wreckage was excluded from the nation ("the commonwealth ") of Israel. They were illegal aliens - salvation was of the Jews Jn. 4:22) - no agency of salvation here! (4) The human wreckage had no special racial or tribal connections. They were "strangers of the covenant" that was made with Abraham the Jew - no covenant of salvation here!

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THE GRACE MOUNTAINS
EPHESIANS 2:1-22
PART  3 OF 3
By Evangelist S. Lee Homoki



Resurrected to the Top of the Grace Mountains (vss. 4-12)



What marvel! What mystery! How do we explain it? How do we describe it? How do we fully appreciate the change of scenery that takes place within the space of one verse? It cannot be so except God is introduced into the picture! God's remedy for death is another death - meaning Christ's death on the cross! Christ was the divine substitute for dead sinners. His death was our death. His death paid our penalty in full! His resurrection is our resurrection! This is great news for the hopeless! Because He lives, we shall live also (Jn. 11 :25; Gal. 2:20)!

Look now! A resurrection! See what God has done! "But God! Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6)!

God has resurrected the dead! God is in the soul-saving business. What He has done is not unlike what He has promised to do someday for the nation of Israel. He made them a promise about the national rebirth in a future dispensation, wherein God will gather the dead, dry bones of Israel. He said, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezek. 37:4-6). Some day, all Israel will be resurrected to a national hope (Rom. 11:25), whereas, by the same power God raised the Body of Christ to "heavenly places, " thus denying death its victory (Phil. 3:10; Eph 1:19-20)!

Our text (vss. 4-6) uses words like "love," "mercy," "kindness," "riches" and "grace" to describe how God was able to accomplish this great regeneration (PALING-GHEN-ES-EE-AH = back again to the beginning); the great work of taking fallen humanity back to before Adam's fall (Titus 3:5)! How do you put a definition and limits on the greatness of God's love? You can't! That is why God recommends His love (Rom. 5:5; Titus 3:3-4) - because it has no equal or limit! Of course, the same is true of all the other adjectives, mentioned above, that are used to explain His work of saving sinners who deserve nothing but His wrath. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9:15).

It's a gift! Of course, to be lifted from the valley of destruction, despair and death and elevated to the very heights of God's Grace Mountains and made to sit together in heavenly places with Christ throughout all "the ages to come" is a gift! How hard is it for the sinner, who is "dead" and "without strength" to receive a gift? It is easy! It was effortless because the "gift" was available for the taking. It's a simple matter of believing God's Word (Eph. 2:7-9). That is what faith is:

Faith is just believing
What God says He will do.
He will never fail us
His promises are true;
If we but believe Him,
His children we become.
Faith is just believing
This wondrous thing is done!

Saved sinners are God's "workmanship "! Salvation is His work! Sinners receive it by faith!

Salvation, however, was not cheap! God the Father exhausted the treasure vaults of Heaven to give His Son for the sins of the world (Rom. 8:32; Jn. 3:16). And, the personal cost to Jesus Christ was immense! He was made "sin "! He was numbered among the "transgressors," and "though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). The precious "blood of Christ" was the "cash on the barrel head" to "reconcile" sinners unto God. Be careful to give praise and glory!

[nChrist]

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THE GRACE MOUNTAINS
EPHESIANS 2:1-22
CONCLUSION
By Evangelist S. Lee Homoki



Peace was Preached in the Valley (V ss. 13-18 )


"But now" indicates a definite and great change in God's way of dealing with the Jews and Gentiles. The Jews, like the Gentiles, being the sons of fallen Adam, must be counted with the wreckage in the valley of death, despair and destruction at the foot of the mountain. In the previous dispensation of Law and Commandments, the Jews occupied a place of preeminence and privilege among humanity (Rom 3:1-2; 9:4). No people were ever so blessed! The covenant that God had made with the Jews, however, excluded the Gentiles and it bred severe animosity between them. Now, the plan of God changes because Christ came "preaching peace." Since Christ never preached to Gentiles while He was here on earth (Mt. 15:24), we take this to mean that Christ spoke through the Apostle Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles, preaching the "Gospel of Peace " (Rom. 10:15; Eph. 6:15 and cf. Rom. 15:18; 1 Cor. 14:37; 2 Cor. 13:3; 1 Thess. 4:2,15; 1 Tim. 6:3).

Here the Apostle Paul teaches that the finished work of Christ, by the blood of the cross, removes the barrier of "hatred." In doing so, God creates "in himself of twain one new man," bringing "peace" and a new dispensation, thus causing the warfare to cease (Eph 2:13-18; Col. 3:10-11). Please note: Reconciliation implies that there was an alienation that needed healing. Reconciliation is a grace doctrine and is at the heart and soul of what is called the "revelation of the Mystery" (Eph. 1:9; 3:3-4; 3:9; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 4:3). This reconciliation was not said to be accomplished at the cross but, rather, "by" the cross. By reconciliation, both believing Jew and Gentile are "made nigh" to each other and the "one new man" is "made nigh" to God! "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? " (Rom 8:31-32).

Grace and Glory on the Top of the Grace Mountains

Look! The death, darkness and dread are gone! The storm is over and the bright sunshine of grace and glory is shining (Eph. 2:7; 3:1O)! (1) The dead sinners are resurrected from the graveyard and transformed into living "saints" and "citizens" of the "household of God. " (2) Those who were once the children of the Devil are reborn as the children of God and elevated to a place of privilege, being "made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"! (3) The hopeless now have an eternal hope and home being "fitly framed together" into a "temple" to be occupied by the family of God! God's great building project - a "habitation of God" (vss. 18-22). Note: The work, role and dwelling place of the "Godhead" in this building project - God the "Father" - God the Son ("Him") - God the "Holy Spirit"!

What a change in dwelling places for God! What an adjustment from God's habitation in the Dispensation of Israel where God dwelt in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and then in the Temple in Jerusalem. And now, He has chosen to build on the mountain tops of grace, a home for Himself in this Dispensation of Grace! Bless God and give Him glory! (See my Bible Brief Study - "Building with Paul" - sent free upon request.)

A personal message: My dear reader, if you have never trusted Christ, you stand in dreadful danger! If your heart were to stop beating, in an instant you would end up in the lake of eternal fire! I have a great concern for your eternal soul. The Bible says, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." If you will, this moment, turn your heart from your unbelief and trust the fact that Christ was your substitute and that he died for you. He is alive and paid your penalty with His blood. The moment you trust Him, your soul will be saved, your heart changed and your sins all forgiven. You become a child of God! I beg you, in Jesus' name, make that decision now. Will you do it? Why will you perish? If you will take Christ, this moment, as your Savior, write me a note and share your decision with me. If you do, I will write you a letter of encouragement and send some literature that will help give you assurance of salvation. Write to: Lee Homoki, PO Box 564, Comstock Park, Michigan 49321.

[nChrist]

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WHERE ARE YOU LIVING?
PART 1
by Evangelist S. Lee Homoki 

I often ask people, "Where are you living? Is your life characterized by Romans Chapter Seven or by Romans Chapter Eight?" Now, let me tell you how important I think that question is. I believe that if anybody wants to get a handle on how to grow and be strong and victorious in the Christian way of life, they must understand the distinction between these two chapters. I do not know of any more important passage of Scripture for the Christian. Romans Seven and Eight illustrate the two operating principles that battle for control of the believer's life.
 
The man of Romans Seven demonstrates the pathway of defeat. He is a sincere person, a person who is anxious to know God, to please God and to serve God. He is trying to do what is right, but something is missing. Oh, he knows he's saved but it seems like the harder he tries the more he fails until finally - in abject failure - he comes to the place where he says, "I give up." I know that there are a lot of people like that. Perhaps you are like that or know someone like that. You're not alone! I can recall in years past, and occasionally from time to time, my life gets out of joint; something isn't quite right in my life. Thankfully, I have discovered that usually the problem is right here in Romans Chapter Seven!
 
Romans Seven shows the life of the believer that has not yet discovered the truth of Romans Eight. Romans Seven shows the work and the energy of the flesh which is not capable of pleasing God. Oh, fleshly energy can try hard. The flesh does its very best, but the flesh can never satisfy what is needed (Rom. 8:7-8 ).
 
If you have a longing to serve God, if you are sick and tired of defeat, if you are tired of just coming up short, if you recognize that you are missing the victory and joy of the Lord in your life, then you need to come over to Romans Eight. The answer is found there.
 
Romans Eight tells us that the Holy Spirit is available to fit your needs. The Holy Spirit is working and has a ministry today that He never had in the Old Testament. Now, the Holy Spirit was in the Old Testament but not everybody was influenced or controlled by the Holy Spirit. In fact, in the Old Testament there was a different kind of a control. It was the external control of the Mosaic Law. The Law, the Bible says, was "holy, just and good" There was nothing wrong with the Law except it was weak. The Law could only say "do this," "do that," "don't do this," "don't do that," but it never told anyone how! It never empowered anyone. It only demanded. It never gave any Old Testament saint any power to execute the demands of the Law. That's why Romans Eight tells us the Law "was weak through the flesh."
 
It is only on this side of the Cross, and with the coming of the Dispensation of Grace, that we learn of the expansion of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yet, the Holy Spirit remains the most neglected person in the Godhead! I have observed in the Christian community (I think I am qualified to say this as I have traveled all over the country and been in over a thousand churches) that there is a great neglect today and gross ignorance of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
 
Romans Eight is where you and I need to go! This is where we need to live! This is where the joy and victory is found! This is the normal Christian life! And yet, I tell you that many Christian people have not yet discovered this truth. Oh, there are sincere Christians who are happy to hear about the Holy Spirit as long as the Holy Spirit is working "out there" safely at arm's length. But the idea of surrendering to the Holy Spirit, up close and personal, to "be filled with the Holy Spirit" - that is a little scary. The word filling means to be controlled: "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. " You see the application here, don't you? The wine controls a person who is drunk. You have perhaps rubbed shoulders with or bumped into somebody who is inebriated and you say, "The wine has loosened up his tongue." He says some funny things. He says some sad things. He says some bad things. We say, "That was the whiskey talking." In like manner, a believer is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit in such a way that we are guided in what we say, where we go, and what we do to the glory of God.

[nChrist]

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WHERE ARE YOU LIVING?
PART 2
by Evangelist S. Lee Homoki 



Living in Romans Chapter Seven (. .. Taking a Closer Look at the Flesh)

Verses Twelve & Thirteen

"Wherefore the Law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" No doubt about it. "Was then that which is good made death unto me. God forbid But sin that it might appear sin working death in me." How? "By that which is good That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."

This is why I still preach that it is good to put the Ten Commandments up. It is good to indoctrinate boys and girls with the Ten Commandments. It is good for you to know the Ten Commandments because it will continue to do exactly what it has always done. The holiness of God will kill you. Let me illustrate: Take the very best man, with all his righteousness. He's the best. He is the "high water mark" of human righteousness. Now, take the Ten Commandments of God and place it alongside of him. The Bible says that all of man's righteousness, compared with God's righteousness, "are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). So, was the Law good? "Yes." Could the Law bring life? "No." The Law killed and it was brought in so that our righteousness, our very best, might appear to be what it is - sin (sin means to miss the mark of all that God approves or demands).

Verse Fourteen

"For we know that the Law is spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin."

That is why we can't measure up. Now, you know what being "sold" is - that's being a slave. I was recently preaching in the Washington DC area and we went down to Mt. Vernon. While there, I was surprised to find that George Washington was a slave owner. They told us about that from the standpoint of the slave. I want to tell you folks: the slaves had no freedom! Admittedly, the slaves had it a lot better than what they had in the jungles of Africa, but they were not free - it was awful. They were nothing more than a piece of chattel. They were a piece of property that could be bought and sold. You can imagine the heartbreak of separation of family - family relations were non-existent. They had no identity. They had no personal ambition. They had no personal goal. They were just property to be used. So, the Romans Seven Man was, "sold under sin. " He was a slave to sin. That is what causes the spiritual struggle in the soul. That is what you and I struggle with. You and I may be born again but we have an old sinful nature. We were born with the nature to sin. We were born with that which is called "the flesh, " and we are in bondage to it. At some point, we all need to be made aware that there is an alternative to the slavery of sin. That's what Romans Eight is all about.

The following verses explain the complexity of this bondage.
 
Verses Fifteen through Twenty

"For that which I do (#l) I allow not for what I would that I do (#2) not but what I hate that I do (#3) if then I do (#3) that which I would not I consent that the law that is good. Now then it is more I that do (#l) it but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform (#1) that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do (#3) not: but the evil which I would not, that I do (#2). Now if I do (#3) that I would not, it is no more I that do (#l) it, but sin that dwelleth in me."

This is a warfare that leads to failure. The Romans Seven Man's weakness is resident in his use of the "flesh" to accomplish Divine goals. Notice three things:
     (1) This man has "I" trouble.
     (2) The problem is internal ("in me") not external.
     (3) The problem is in the doing.

The word "do" is used in these verses nine times. It is surprising to find that it is translated from three distinctly different Greek words! If care is taken to understand these different Greek words, it will help to understand the complexity, mechanics and exasperation of this conflict.
     #1. KATERGOZOMAl = to work from the inside out
     #2. PRASSO = to practice
     #3. P01EO = to produce
Suggestion: Read these verses again substituting the meaning for the word "do."

Verses Twenty-one through Twenty-three

"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

Is there anybody here who would deny that there is an indwelling Law of Sin at work in the heart of this Romans Seven Man? Just to simplify how it manifests itself - it sounds like this: "If I trust in the flesh, no matter how hard I try to do what I should or shouldn't do - I crash! And, even though I have more self-will than the other guy, my very best shot is not good enough. I still fall short! After you go through this disappointment for a lifetime, you just finally throw in the towel and say it isn't worth it - it doesn't work! This man of Romans Seven wrestled with this. I guarantee that this describes a great many Christians. They want to do right. They know right from wrong, but if they are depending on the flesh, they're going to flop.
 
Verse Twenty-four

"0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Now our man of Romans Seven has finally reached the bottom! He has come to the end of his human resources! I am convinced, although I cannot prove it, that the Apostle Paul's inspired pen reaches deep into the archives of the Barbarian's concept of justice and punishment for an illustration to show just how desperate the Romans Seven Man's condition really was.

In the ancient world, when a man committed a murder - a brutal murder - there was a special punishment. Of course, people would be outraged! There would be people everywhere crying for blood and for revenge. This would initiate a great manhunt, much as it would in our day - a manhunt for the person responsible for of the crime. Once the perpetrator was found, captured, and tried, he was executed in a most bazaar way. Meaning, the murderer is laid prostrate on the ground. The victim's body was then bound hand to hand, arm to arm, leg to leg, neck to neck, head to head, to the guilty and condemned murderer. Now, you don't need anyone to rehearse to you the nauseating process of decay and corruption. It wouldn't be long before the victim would begin to decay. The Barbarians would take the murderer, now bound to a rotting corpse, and turn him loose to suffer the most indescribable, painful, slow death as he is literally being eaten alive by the corruption. It is at this point that the poor, suffering wretch would cry out, "0 wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" I tell you, we often talk about cruel and inhumane punishment, but believe me, anything we do today by way of punishing criminals, is not near as inhumane and cruel as were the Barbarians.

Paul hears the dying man's heartbreaking plea, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He relates that to the experience of the believer who has not yet discovered the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Romans Eight. Paul's heart is linked with the believer who is trying to do what is right; trying to do what is good; trying to live the Christian way of life but doing so in the energy of the flesh - and the "flesh profits nothing!" He likens the defeated believer to the wretch who was bound to this dead body and crying for help - being eaten little by little by the skin worms and the awful pain and slow death. "Oh, wretched man that I am."

Verse Twenty-five

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God,' but with the flesh the law of sin."
 
This verse is where Paul the Apostle "shifts gears" to move our focus from Romans Chapter Seven to Chapter Eight. It also identifies the choices that are available to the child of God, namely The Law of God or The Law of Sin.

[nChrist]

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WHERE ARE YOU LIVING?
PART 3, CONCLUSION
by Evangelist S. Lee Homoki 

Living in Romans Chapter Eight
(Taking a Closer Look at the Law of the Spirit)

In Romans Eight we are introduced to the major distinguishing feature of the Dispensation of Grace, namely, the internal, indwelling, empowering influence of God the Holy Spirit.

Verse One

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

We begin our observations by calling attention to the phrase "in Christ. " The work of the Holy Spirit for this dispensation rests upon being in that relationship. The concept of being "in Christ" is not found in the Old Testament or the Gospels. Those dear saints were saved and they were in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ but they were not "in Christ" in the sense that we are "in Christ. " They were saved and placed into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as "King." He was the King and they were subjects in His Kingdom. Oh, yes, it was a saving relationship. And, yes, God promised a Kingdom to those dear saints. They were promised eternal salvation, and that is wonderful, and we are thankful for (God's blessing on them, but theirs was not the same blessed relationship as we have today "in the Body of Christ! "
 
When someone gets saved in the Dispensation of Grace, God does something that never happened in the Old Testament. According to First Corinthians chapter twelve, verses twelve and thirteen we are told that the Holy Spirit takes the believing sinner and places him into Christ. We are placed into Christ so completely that He is the head and we are the body. Our life is hid with Christ in God. We are so completely placed into Christ, that we lose our former identity. We are neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free, male or female, we have a brand new identity - the Body of Christ. We are "in the Body of Christ" by the work of the Holy Spirit that was never manifested in the Old Testament or the Gospels.

There is now "no condemnation" to those who take the option of living in Romans Eight and walking "after the Spirit. "The struggle believers go through from the moment they are saved is a struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh profits nothing! Expending efforts by trusting the flesh. trusting will power, "biting the bullet," "grinning and bearing it" - is doomed to fail. Victory and joy is to be had only as we yield to the Holy Spirit. "Reckon yourself to be dead indeed unto sin, alive unto God" (Rom. 6:11). When believers yield themselves to the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit will speak in a still small voice, through the Word of God, and empower them to live and function in humanly impossible ways: ways they never could do before.
 
Verse Two
 
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
 
Being "in Christ" is the most important place to be, and the most important and valuable blessing of grace is: "made me free from the law of "sin and death" by the "law of the Spirit of life. " In my opinion, the "law of sin and death" refers to the indwelling sin principle that we inherited through the fall of Adam. It is often referred to as the "Old Man," 'the Flesh" or the Old Sin Nature. The saved person is freed from the bondage of the Flesh, when a person gets saved and receives the Holy Spirit. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His"  (Rom. 8:9). He is "sealed unto the day of redemption" (2 Cor. I :22; Eph. I:13; 4:30) by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's sealing is a mark of ownership and a guarantee of God's promise. Believers are not only "in Christ" now, but the Holy Spirit has come to indwell us, seal us and free us. These blessings can never change. Since this is true, just think of the riches of God's grace! Think of the privilege and the opportunities that are ours for victory and the blessings of God.
 
Why would God do it this way? Answer- God has provided the assets of grace (salvation, the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Word of God) and when something wonderful is accomplished in and through the believer's life, God gets the praise and glory.
 
Verses Three through Eight
 
"For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

"For what the Law could not do." You know, there is something that bothers me. You pick up the average Sunday School literature and you'll find that many will tell you that you are saved by grace through faith. I say, "Hey, great, praise the Lord I believe that! That's wonderful!" But much of the literature says, "In order to live the Christian life you have to go back to the Mosaic Law" and it binds the students hand and foot to the Law.

I'm here to tell you that when someone gets saved, they are made free, both from the Mosaic Law and the "Law of Sin and Death. " God has changed His method of operation. How? And Why? Answer: God sent "His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin as a sin offering condemned sin in the flesh." The Christian way of life is now lived according to the principles revealed here in Romans Eight. Living the Christian way of life, in a successful way, is not a matter of keeping the Mosaic Law or through the energy of the Flesh!

We have said elsewhere in this article that God has not relaxed His holiness; rather, He has, through the substitutionary work of Christ, made provision for the "righteousness of the Law" to be "fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. "

"Walk after the Spirit." That's for us! We are privileged! That's why the age in which we are living is called the Dispensation of the Grace of God. The world has never seen anything like this before. God has always been a God of grace. But, what God had done by enriching those that dare to believe Him today is absolutely without equal. The whole Eighth Chapter of Romans has to do with walking after the Holy Spirit.

Verses Nine through Fourteen
 
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons [adult/mature) of God "

These verses form the heart and structure of the place where God wants us to live and function as a member of Christ's body; Romans Eight should be our dwelling place.

Conclusion
 
I want to ask you a personal question, "Where do you want to live?" I have made my choice. I've had enough of Romans Seven. I want to live in Romans Eight. I want to experience and know something more about the Holy Spirit. I want to know enough of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God so that I can experience the riches of His grace.

The Bible holds out that hope that we can live independent of the flesh - that there is the possibility of living in such a way that we can glorify God in all that we say and do. Now, have I been successful? I'm not going to raise my hand and say "Yes." I'm growing. I'm learning. I'm walking. Have I been successful in all? No, I fail lots of times. But, thank God, I found what I believe is the major key in living the Christian way of life.

I say this without fear of contradiction; we need to know the Word of God and the reality of the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit. Enough! Enough! Enough pain, fear, defeat, disappointment, sadness and disillusionment! Enough! Enough! Enough talking about victory and joy in the Holy Spirit. We need the reality of the power of God the Holy Spirit and that is the only way that we shall ever produce fruit that will remain. We need to move out of Romans Chapter Seven and move into Romans Chapter Eight. Where are you living?

[nChrist]

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THE GRACE OF GOD
Part 1 of 3
By Jack Trumm

In this edition of the Grace Messenger, we would like to look at the word "grace". Let's begin by asking ourselves a few questions concerning grace.

1. What does the word grace mean?
2. What does the word grace not mean?
3. Who receives this grace?
4. By what means is it received?

Let's begin with the nation Israel, God's covenant people. They found grace (or favor) with God for it was through them that God intended to establish His Kingdom here on the earth. God had given them favored-nation status, and they were to be instrumental and the channel of blessing in bringing all other nations back to Himself. Luke writes of these things in Acts 3:25-26, "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, 'And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

So God had given Israel favored-nation status, however His favor, His grace was something they were instructed and required to seek. Our Lord Jesus Christ exhorted them not to be like the other nations, but rather to: "seek, ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) He told them, "Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7: 7)

If Israel would seek God and perform, they would find grace (or favor). "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations  of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God." (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)

So, in order to find grace (or favor) with God, it needed to be sought and performed. And by doing so, they demonstrated their faith concerning the things God had commanded them. The end result was finding favor (or grace) with God. But we know that they as a nation failed to measure up to the requirements of God. Time and time again they failed to seek His favor and perform what was required. Rather than seek Him they crucified Him, and rather than repent for it afterward they resisted, blasphemed and persecuted those who did. Paul wrote concerning Israel in Romans 10:2-3, " For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."

So as a result of their mind set, and going about to establish their own righteousness and not submitting to the righteousness of God, He has concluded them in unbelief and has temporarily set that program aside. "Well, because of unbelief they were broken off', "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief', "blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." (Romans 11:20, 33, 25)

Israel has been TEMPORARILY set aside. This is evident by the word "until" in Romans 11:25. There are those who teach that God has permanently stopped dealing with the nation Israel, but there couldn't be anything further from the truth. Paul writes in Romans 11:1-2, "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people which he foreknew."