GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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Does Christ Dwell in Your Heart ?
Part  2 of 2
by Ken Lawson, Pastor


To illustrate the distinction between a house and a home, I remember my former life as a salesman. With some people I called upon, I felt welcome from the time I entered their home. The friendly greeting and "down home" country demeanor caused me to relax and feel comfortable. Sometimes I accepted their invitation to supper and was treated like one of the family. But other people produced a completely different atmosphere. As I entered the house, I sensed strife and tension in the air and couldn't wait to complete my business and leave. So it is with our relationship with the indwelling Christ.

Some Christians walk after their own desires--giving little consideration to glorifying Christ in their mortal bodies. Likewise, when we allow bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice to characterize our life, the Holy Spirit is grieved (but does not leave us) for we are sealed by Him unto the day of redemption (the redemption of our body at Christ's coming for us) (Ephesians 4:30,31). Contrariwise, other Christians have "presented their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" and seek to walk in the Spirit (Romans 12:1, Galatians 5:16). In the measure that we follow God's will, Christ will settle down and be comfortable in our hearts.

The normal course of action when we realize the Spirit's grieving in us is, to obey God's Word and be filled with (controlled by) the Spirit. The parallel verse in Colossians 3:16 tells us that in order to do this, we should "let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." This "Word of Christ" to us Gentiles in this Dispensation of Grace refers specifically to Paul's epistles. (See Ephesians 3:1-9; Philippians 4:9; Colossians 1:24-27; Romans 11:13, 15:16; I Corinthians 14:37; II Corinthians 13:3; Galatians 1:11, 12; 2:2,7; I Timothy 2:4-7). Paul tells us the way of the sanctified life in Christ in Romans Chapter 6. We have been baptized (supernaturally identified, made one) with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection thus breaking the power of sin in our lives. Likewise we are to reckon this fact to be true of us personally. Then we are to yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:1-13).

Our Lord Jesus Christ condescends to live in the heart of a sinner saved by grace. What an honor to have such a guest in our hearts! Do we make Him feel at home? We have His promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). But "being strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man" is the necessary prerequisite for Christ Jesus to reign as Lord in our hearts. Does He have free access to all parts of our heart life or do we exclude Him from certain things? He is our constant companion and guide. Let us clear away the old rubbish in the throne room of our hearts and fashion a habitation fit for a King. Only then can Christ settle down and feel at home.

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A GODLY HERITAGE



Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 1:5

"Unfeigned faith" was what the Apostle Paul remembered about Timothy. In the midst of prayers for him, a desire to see him, and consciousness of his tears, the Apostle was confident that Timothy's faith was not hypocritical, but genuine.

The importance of true faith as opposed to a pretended faith can be seen in the warning about the Gospel of the Grace of God. The Lord Jesus died for our sins.  He was buried and rose from the dead.  When someone accepts the authority of the Word of God concerning this, and trusts that this was God's work for him personally, we know he has genuine faith. Only pretenders do not hold this because they have believed in vain. Read I Cor. 15: 1-4. Notice how perfectly this fits with Ephesians 6:23-24, "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen."

While this sincere faith in Timothy obviously came from the Word of God, Grandmother Lois and Mother Eunice not only had true faith in themselves, but taught the Bible to young Timothy, "....from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures" is the key to Timothy's faith, because faith comes by the Word of God. The Lord used Lois and Eunice as the human instruments to make     Timothy wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Let us praise God for Christian parents and relatives who promote the faith of the Bible, and faith in the Saviour! It is a goodly heritage (Psalm 16:5-6).

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AN OLD-FASHIONED DOCTRINE
by C.  Stam


 How many there are whose hearts would be thrilled if they understood the old-fashioned Bible doctrine of sanctification!

  Sanctification is not a negative matter: "Don't do this" and "Don't do that." It is rather the positive truth that God wants us for Himself as a sacred possession, much as a bridegroom considers his bride his very own in a special, sacred way.

  Bible sanctification is a twofold truth, affecting both our standing before God and our spiritual state. In one sense every true believer in Christ has already been sanctified, or consecrated to God, by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Thus we read:

  "...God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit..." (II Thes. 2: 13).

 "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit..." (IPet.1:2).

  This has nothing to do with our conduct. God did it. Sanctification begins with Him. Thus Paul could write to even the careless Corinthian believers and say: "Ye are sanctified" (1 Cor. 6:11; cf. Acts 20:32; 26:18 ), i.e., "God has set you apart for Himself." This phase of sanctification is based on the redemptive work of Christ in our behalf, for Heb. 10:10 says: "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

 But now God would have us appreciate this fact and conduct ourselves accordingly, consecrating ourselves ever more completely to Him. This is practical, progressive sanctification. "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (I Thes. 4:3). Hence Paul's benediction: "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (I Thes. 5:23), and his exhortation to Timothy to be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet [fit] for the Master's use" (II Tim. 2:21).

 How can believers be more wholly sanctified to God in their practical experience? By studying and meditating on His Word. Our Lord prayed: "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17), and Paul declares that "Christ... loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word" (Eph. 5:25,26).

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UNIONS OR UNITY?
by C. R. Stam



Here is a company of Bible-believing Christians joined together in, let us say, an evangelistic endeavor. All are trusting in the shed blood of Christ for salvation, though some are Baptists, some Presbyterians, some Episcopalians and some represent other denominations.

Are all these believers one? Yes, in Christ, for "there is one body" (Eph. 4:4).

What united them? The "one baptism" (Eph. 4:5) by which the Holy Spirit unites all believers to Christ and to each other: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles..." (I Cor. 12:13).

Yet these same believers, all trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation, remain sadly divided as far as fellowship in the work of the Lord is concerned. They may have blessed fellowship in their evangelistic endeavor, but at its conclusion they go back to their mutually exclusive church organizations.

The reason? Basically it is that they have confused "the gospel of the kingdom," proclaimed by Christ on earth and His twelve apostles, with "the gospel of the grace of God," proclaimed by the ascended, glorified Lord through the Apostle Paul (Acts 20:24; Eph. 3:1-3).

Striving over baptismal modes and meanings, most of them still require their particular forms of baptism for entrance into their churches, while explaining at the same time that the ceremony has no saving value and that it is not required by God for entrance into the true Church.

Can't we stop being Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists and just be Christians? Why should the Church of Christ remain divided and weak, when God says:

"WE BEING MANY ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EVERY ONE MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER" (Rom. 12:5).

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THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF  ADAM
PART  ONE
By DR. TIMOTHY F. CONKLIN


INTRODUCTION

The Bible veritably bursts with the sweet, blessed message of God's love for and redemption of fallen humankind. The hope and joy set forth in the Scriptures for those who will trust in God's deliverance is beyond compare with any other communique. This message of God is not only clearly proclaimed in the Scripture, but God in His wisdom has explained and detailed for us the very history and details of His sovereign plan of redemption.

However, the Bible also recounts the reality of great dangers facing the people of God because of false teaching and false prophets. The devil and his denizens are shown in the Scripture to be hard at work to bring about confusion, bewilderment and gross error in the critical doctrines of the Word of God. Many Scriptural passages provide explicit descriptions of the character of the enemies of Christ, as well as specific examples of some of their false teaching and devious tactics. Nonetheless, for those well acquainted with the Bible---as the Apostle Paul says---- "we are not ignorant of Satan's devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11).

One of the core issues believers are told to watch out for and to contend against is the denial or the diminishing of our Savior Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our only Sovereign and Lord.

Attacks against Jesus Christ began during his own earthly sojourn, but they continue to this day. We know denying or diminishing Jesus Christ can be and often is done boldly and defiantly. But it can also be done craftily and with insidious subtly. And it is this last approach---with craft and
subtleness--- that is the most disturbing.

CONTEMPORARY FALSE TEACHINGS

Let me give you a current example. Not long ago, on Tuesday, August 9 (2011), National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast a news feature by Barbara Bradley Hagerty entitled, Evangelicals Question the Existence of Adam and Eve. The broadcast began like this ...

Let's go back to the beginning---all the way to Adam and Eve, and to the question: Did they exist, and did all of humanity descend from that single pair?

According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began .... It's a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity ....

But now some conservative scholars are saying publically that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. [At this point Ms Hagerty refers to Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University. Venema is also cited as being "a senior fellow at BioLogos Foundation, a Christian group that tries to reconcile faith and science."]

Quoting from the broadcast again -- Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century. Another one is John Schneider, who taught theology at Calvin College in [Grand Rapids] Michigan until recently (he is now a research fellow at Notre Dame). He says "It's time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve .... no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence."

Schneider says, "EVOLUTION makes it pretty clear that in nature, and in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost."

The broadcast continues: The debate over a historical Adam and Eve is not just another heady squabble. It's ripping apart the evangelical intelligentsia.

[Fazale Rana, vice president of Reasons to Believe, is said to observe that] "What rests at the very heart of this debate is whether or not key ideas within Christianity are ultimately true or not !"

[Another evangelical Bible believer] Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, says that rebellious choice infected all mankind.

"When Adam sinned, he sinned for us," Mohler says. "And it's that very sinfulness that sets up our understanding of our need for a savior."

Mohler says the Adam and Eve story is not just about a fall from paradise: it goes to the heart of Christianity. He notes that the Apostle Paul [in Romans 5 and I Corinthians 15] argued that the whole point of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection was to undo Adam's original sin.

"Without Adam, the work of Christ makes no sense whatsoever in Paul's description of the gospel, which is the classic description of the gospel we have in the New Testament," Mohler says. > end of article quotes <

Well, praise the Lord for Albert Mohler and others like him who have not thrown away the revealed Word of God and exchanged it for humanism, science so-called, philosophy, and godless antisupernaturalism.

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THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF  ADAM
PART  TWO
By DR. TIMOTHY F. CONKLIN INTRODUCTION



THE ERROR EXPOSED

The subtle error introduced here is that if we deny or diminish the Adam of Genesis, we directly impact the Bible's teaching about Jesus Christ. We need to be very aware of how closely the Bible connects the truths about Adam and Christ. We need to fully understand that if you deny Adam of Genesis. you deny Jesus Christ.

What I am now expounding will no doubt be charged by unbelievers as being blind, dumb, close-minded bigotry. Nonetheless, here is my position: In each and every case, whenever there is a conflict between the Bible and scientific theory or human intellectualism, the resolution is always to trust the Bible.

To borrow from Martin Luther, "Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other."

WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURES?

After the account of creation in Genesis 1, the Bible says:

And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image. (Genesis 1 :24-27)

The Bible also says:

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed a man  from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:5-7) The Bible also says, "Adam was formed first, then Eve."  (1 Timothy 2:13)

The Bible also says, "If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (1 Corinthians 15:44-49)

The Bible also says, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands." (Acts 17:24-26)

The Bible also says, "Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10)

The testimony of the Bible is altogether clear ...
.:. The coming of humankind into the world was in the form
of a direct Divine creative act,
.:. Not an emergence out of a lower order of brute animal life,
.:. But out of the dust of the earth.
.:. God inspirated/breathed into the created body.
.:. The bequeathing action of God's spirit/breath upon human flesh produced the soul.
.:. And man was made in the image of God.

With extraordinary illumination, the medieval theologian Hugo St. Victor (d. 1141) described the close inter-relatedness of all this --

The spirit was created for God's sake,
The body for the spirit's sake,
And the world for the body's sake:
So that the spirit might be subject to God,
The body to the spirit,
And the world to the body.

The body infused with spirit thus results in the intermediary between God and the physical world. It is not that man has a soul -- he became and is body, soul and spirit. The breath of God upon the body of man resulted in the enlivening factor of soul. The term "soul" is simply a holistic descriptor for a complete person, not merely a part of a person.

So, then, the Bible declares the first man's name was Adam, the fountainhead patriarch of all humanity. Furthermore, in another unique and miraculous Bible fact, Eve --- identified in Genesis 3:20 as "the mother of all living" --- was formed out of Adam. There is no other species of which the female was born out of the male.

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THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF ADAM
PART THREE
By DR. TIMOTHY F. CONKLIN



THE UGLY RISE OF EVOLUTION

Let me note briefly here something about the theory of evolution.

It is a bit incidental, but in 1859 Darwin published his Origin of Species. While this is usually cited as the great text for human evolution, it is really his work some twelve years later in 1871, The Descent of Man, that offers the sharper challenge.

There are several tenets of evolution which need to be squarely faced and recognized ...

·    Evolutionary theory and philosophy abolish any and all supernaturalism.
·    Evolution says existence is a closed chain inseparably linked together and must be preserved without the introduction of any mechanism or
      any source of energy that is not absolutely part of this closed system.
·    Evolution is a philosophy of materialism; it will admit nothing which cannot be quantified and ultimately understood in materialistic or
      electrochemical terms.
·    Therefore, evolution insists if there is such a thing as soul or spirit or will or self-conscious mind, it is not another order of reality but
      just a direct outcome or spin-off of matter that has reached a certain stage of complexity.
·    Evolution has no God, no spirit, no revelation, no sin, and therefore no savior, no cross, no resurrection -- just electrochemical randomness.
·    Evolution is like looking in a dark cellar with no light at midnight for a black cat that isn't even there!

Evolution is full of warped and nonsensical ideas put boldly forward as evidence and fact. A dear friend and one of my mentors, the eminent Canadian scientist Arthur C. Custance (who is now at home with the Lord) exposes this all too typical reasoning in one of his books.

Not long ago in a perfectly respectable scientific journal it was seriously suggested man grows a beard because, in the past, it had a survival value. If a man is attacked by an animal which goes for his throat, his beard will tend to trigger the jaw-closing mechanism of the attacking animal prematurely -- and thereby save his life.

A little reflection will show how flimsy such an argument really is. Half the world's population does not grow a beard, the female half -- the half which by nature of their reduced defensive equipment in terms of height and muscular strength ought perhaps to be more in need of a beard than the males! Furthermore, it is primarily Caucasians who grow beards which could conceivably be adequate defense of this kind. So, then, two-thirds of the world's population of males have not been provided selectively with this [alleged] natural defense against predators. And, finally, one might ask, would dogs or other such attacking enemies exist in sufficient numbers to constitute a threat of adequate dimensions to provide selective pressure enough ---and would they attack adults only? What kind of sense does this make? [Such thinking suggests rather] ... that the theory of evolution somehow or other is detrimental to ordinary intelligence and warps judgment.

THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF TWO ADAMS

Enough of all that. Let's return to Biblical teaching. It is imperative we realize and appreciate that the Scripture actually speaks of two Adams.

The last/the second Adam came to do what the first Adam did not and could not do. The first Adam was characterized by disobedience, sin, judgment and death, resulting in ruin. The second Adam was characterized by obedience, grace, justification and life, resulting in redemption. In the first Adam, all die. In the second Adam -- Jesus Christ -- all are made alive.

But one can only make this passage from death and ruin in the first Adam to redemption and life through the substitutionary death on the cross of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. As Romans 5:18-19 says,

As one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Both the first Adam and the second Adam were representative heads of the human race. What each one did was wholly and truly the attitude and action of everyone born of them thereafter. For the first Adam, that would be all of natural born humanity. But for the Second Adam/Jesus Christ, that would be only those who have been born again, born from above.

When Adam sinned and fell from his creaturely righteousness in disobedience to God, the whole of humanity was pIunged into that same terrible fall. Every human person born thereafter was born a sinner, thoroughly tainted by Adam's original sin, except One.

When Jesus Christ came, He was not born of Adam's seed. Therefore He was not tainted with Adam's sin. He was born of "the seed of the woman," as promised in Genesis 3:15. The virgin Mary was, in the delicate description in Luke 1 :35, "overshadowed" by the Holy Spirit; she conceived and gave birth to a son -- Jesus.

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THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF ADAM
PART FOUR
By DR. TIMOTHY F. CONKLIN



THE UNIQUENESS OF THE SECOND ADAM

We too often miss the full magnificence of this miracle. Yes, indeed, it was an astounding miracle that a virgin would conceive and give birth. But it is even more profound that a woman -without a male counterpart -- would give birth to a male child. The chromosomes necessary to produce a male baby reside in the male. If the impossibility of a virgin's giving birth actually happened, she would only be able to give birth to a female child. The virgin Mary gave birth to a male child. A miracle indeed!

So Jesus became the head of an entirely new humanity. Everything Adam was, Jesus was. But what Adam did not do, Jesus did: Adam disobeyed and failed; Jesus obeyed and conquered. Adam's sin plunged humankind into darkness and death. Jesus' righteousness lifted humankind into light and life. In the first Adam, all die; in the second Adam, all are made alive.

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here! ... God made Him who
had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17,21)

We are talking about representation and substitution. Both Adams are representative. They are the origin of all who follow after them. The first Adam is Everyman; what Adam did in the Garden of Eden, Everyman did. It is not that if someone else (you or me or whoever) had been there, we might have behaved differently. No, we all were there. Adam's behavior was the behavior of all humankind.

Jesus, as the second/last Adam, once again becomes an authentic human representative. But He is unique. He is miraculously born and does not procreate to produce offspring. Jesus is the substitute Redeemer/Savior. In His singular uniqueness, Jesus came to overcome all that Adam failed to accomplish.

This great contrast between the two Adams is evident throughout Jesus' earthly sojourn. However, the two temptations draw an exceptionally sharp distinction ..

ADAM (Genesis 3)
 Garden (blessing)
     Placed by God
     Full physical provision
     Personally mature
 Tempted by Satan
     Physical (fruit)
     Personal - companion
     Loyalty
 "Friendly" Animals
    Comforting
    Emblems of blessing
 Failure/Ruin
 Cherubim guarding


 CHRIST (Matthew 4)
 Desert (curse)
     Sent by Spirit
     Full spiritual provision
     Personally mature
 Tempted by Satan
     Physical (bread)
     Personal - angel presence
     Kingdoms
 "Cursed" Animals
     Threatening
    Emblems of cursing
 Triumph/Restoration
     Angels attending


The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (1 John 3:8 )

CONCLUSION

So the subtle but insidious error is overthrown; to take away/deny the reality of the first Adam is to make void and meaningless the Person and work of the second Adam. The craft and subtlety of false teachers has always been a great threat to God's people. One key factor in identifying such purveyors of falsehood is their denial of the reality of the first Adam as revealed in the Bible. Be very aware of the extreme importance of "Adam."

For if, by the trespass of the one man. death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:17)

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FROM FIRST TO LAST ADAM
By Miles Stanford



"For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace" (Heb. 13:9).

Thorough and intelligent establishment in the principle of grace concerning one's justification (re-birth) is the necessary footing for reliance upon the same principle for one's sanctification (growth). Unless the former is well settled, the latter will be badly unsettled.

"When the Lord Jesus has once died and risen, He is through with sin forever. He is now living in the eternal light of His Father's face. He is our Adam, our life. We died in Him. We were raised in Him. Through our death with Him at Calvary we have escaped forever from the old Adam life. Our feelings have nothing to do with it. It was all accomplished at the Cross.

"We dare not deny God's Word. He says we died with Christ. We can cry triumphantly, when we know: 'I died unto sin with the Lord Jesus on the Cross, two thousand years ago! I reckon myself what the Father says I am in His Son - dead unto sin and alive unto God. Sin has no claim on me in the Lord Jesus, and cannot have dominion over me, as I yield myself to my Father in this wonderful new revelation of yielding myself to God, as one who is alive from the dead' (Rom. 6:13). Thus will we begin to find how true and how tremendous is the deliverance that is in the Lord Jesus for us. And thus alone will we really honor the grace of God." ---W.R.N.

"There is no way to a full abiding fellowship with our Father, but through the rent veil of the flesh; through a life with the old man crucified in the Lord Jesus. God be praised that the Holy Spirit ever dwells in us to keep the old man in the place of crucifixion and condemnation, and to give us progressive liberty from all the old."---A.M.

"As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:49).

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UNSEARCHABLE RICHES
By Pastor J. Finck

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:8

As the Apostle Paul traveled on his missionary journeys, his procedure was to go first into the synagogue of the Jews and reason with them out of the Scriptures, "Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ" (Acts 17:3). When the noble Bereans heard Paul's preaching, they "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). Of course, these were the Old Testament Scriptures, for the New Testament was not yet written at that time.

However, God was in the process of giving further revelation to Paul, and these new truths could not be traced back to the Old Testament. This is why Paul calls them "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8 ). The word "unsearchable" is a hunting term meaning, "unable to be tracked or traced." This describes the nature of the great mystery revealed to Paul for the Gentiles. It was hidden from ages and generations (Colossians 1:26; Ephesians 3:5), but now has been made known for all to see in the epistles of Paul.

What are these unsearchable riches? They are too numerous to mention in this short article, but they include the catching away (rapture) of the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 15:51), the joining of Jew and Gentile in one body (Ephesians 3:6), the unique Gentile program of God during the time of Israel's blindness (Romans 11:25) and many more blessed truths. These things were simply not revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Search and see; but thank God they are now made known to the saints!

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THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS BODY
By Pastor Ivan Burgener



Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:22, 23;
Colossians 1 :24

"The God of our Lord Jesus Christ...hath put all things under His [Christ's] feet and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. I:17, 22, 23).

In His exalted place in glory, Christ has been made Head over all! God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all created beings and authorities, and in that exalted place gave Him the Name above every other, hence He is above "every name that is named," in this and coming ages! And in that place of exalted headship, God has made Christ Head of the Church which is His Body. This "Body-church" is to be distinguished from churches in past ages.

Stephen called Israel under Moses' leadership the "church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38 ). David called that same nation in the land under his kingship the "church" in whose midst he would declare God's name and sing praise (Psalm 22:22, Heb. 2:12). Our Lord told Peter and the Twelve to tell to "the church" the case of a disobedient Israelite who would not come to terms and to treat him as a "Gentile"! Clearly none of these "Bible Churches" could be the same as the Church which the Lord from heaven calls His own "Body." His own place in glory and His headship over this new Body-church were part of God's sacred secret which none on earth ever mentioned a whisper before the Apostle Paul. This is not a church of one special nation. This church is made up of both Jews and Gentiles who through faith have been reconciled to God in "one Body." And, this is not a church we join, but one to which believers in this dispensation of grace are joined by God's Holy Spirit in that one baptism (I Cor. 12:13).

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THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST
By DONALD W. WEFFALD,

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:8

Paul said, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8 ). We might wish to dispute with him about being "the least of all saints" but who can argue with him about the "riches of Christ?" Spiritual wealth, of course, is what is meant and indeed, in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). And how wonderful it is that poor believing sinners "have redemption through His (Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His (God's) grace" (Eph. 1:7).

But Paul said, "unsearchable riches." What are those "unsearchable riches?" In the Greek, the word "unsearchable" is anexichniaston and means literally, "not to be tracked out" (Gingrich). It is found in only one other place in the New Testament, Romans 11:33, where it is translated "past finding out." The riches that Paul preached among the Gentiles cannot be "tracked out." But what riches are they? The context is the best clue. One such clue is the fact that it has to do with what he preached among the Gentiles. He had just been discussing the "mystery" in which "the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Eph. 3:6). He has reference to the "mystery of Christ" (Eph. 3:4), which was revealed to him (Eph. 3:3) and not revealed in previous ages---"not made known unto the sons of men" (Eph. 3:5). This "mystery" of the Jew and Gentile in one Body was hid in God" (Eph. 3:9) and so cannot be "tracked out in the Old Testament Scriptures.

[nChrist]

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THE RESULTS OF SALVATION
Part 1 of 2
By John Baker

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-7

Upon belief of the gospel, we are saved from condemnation and assured of eternal life in heaven. However, there is much more that a believer has upon salvation. Just as salvation is given by God's grace, so the accompanying blessings are bestowed by God's grace. He has indeed "blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3b)

In the next few articles we will look at what the Scriptures state that a believer is:
1. A part of God's eternal purpose-- The moment we are saved we are made a member of the church, which is the Body of Christ, "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 27).
2. Reconciled to God-- As far as God is concerned all barriers have been eliminated. We have been drawn nigh to God because the Lord Jesus has taken away the obstacle between man and God. That obstacle was sin (See II Corinthians 5:18-21).
3· Forgiven-- All sins, past, present, and future have been forever forgiven. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses" (Colossians 2:13).
4. No longer condemned-- The unbeliever is condemned already. (John 3:18 ) However, the believer has all condemnation removed. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1

As a result of being saved, the believer is:
5. Justified-- To be justified is to be declared righteous in God's sight. The moment we believe we are justified before God. We have been "justified by faith" (Romans 5:1). This justification was procured by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. We have been "justified by His blood" (Romans 5:9). All of this was made possible by God's amazing grace. We have been "justified freely by His grace" (Romans 3:24).
6. Sanctified-- We have been permanently set apart unto God in our Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased us and we belong to Him (I Corinthians 1:30).
7. Made fit for heaven-- In ourselves we are totally unfit for heaven. Only God could make us fit for heaven. He has "made us meet (fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12b)
8. Made accepted-- Our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and is not acceptable to God. But by His grace we are made acceptable in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:6).
9. Made the righteousness of God-- "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
10. Sons of God-- We have been made the sons of God with all its privileges through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26).

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THE RESULTS OF SALVATION
Part 2 of 2
By John Baker



Scripture Reading: Romans 7:6

Upon believing we are:
11. Delivered from the law-- The law condemns sin and the sinner. In Christ Jesus we are "delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held" (Romans 7:6a).
12. Delivered from the power of darkness-- The power (authority) of darkness is Satan. We have been delivered from Satan and his authority over us (Colossians 1:13).
13. Translated into the kingdom of His Son-- Not only were we delivered from Satan and his authority, but we were translated (transferred) into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and under His authority (Colossians 1:13).
14. Complete in Him-- In this world the unbeliever is incomplete. That is why he is ever searching for pleasures and thrills to fill this void. The believer is complete (made full) in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10).
15. His inheritance-- As trophies of His grace the believer becomes a part of God's inheritance (Ephesians 1:18 ).
16. Partakers of His inheritance-- As members of the Body of Christ, the believer becomes joint-heirs with Christ and partakers of His promise (Ephesians 3:6, Romans 8:17).
17. Seated in the heavenlies-- The believer has a position of honor and privilege at the right hand of God. He has "raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace..." (Ephesians 2:6b,7a)

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:7

As a result of receiving the free gift of salvation the believer is:
18. A citizen of heaven-- The believer is a foreigner in this world. That is the reason we are called upon to be ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:20). "For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3.20).
19. Redeemed-- The Lord Jesus came with sufficient price for our sins, His own precious blood, and purchased out of the slave market of sin, in order that He might set us free (Ephesians 1:7).
20. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit-- "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5b). "But we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8:9a).
These are just a few of the blessings God has given to the believer. All these blessings are bestowed instantaneously upon the believer by God's grace. There is not one thing we can do to earn them nor is there any way we could repay God. For more examples see "Systematic Theology," Vol. III by Lewis Sperry Chafer and "Grace" by the same author.
We need to look at some of these terms in more detail The following lessons will help us do this.

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION
By C. R. Stam



In his great Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul introduces himself immediately as "a bondslave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle," to proclaim God's good news about Christ.

Paul's "gospel of the grace of God" was essentially about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was always talking about Christ. His epistles are filled with Christ. Christ, in his message, was everything. This is in striking contrast to much of our modern preaching and evangelism, which is not Christ-centered, but man-centered.

The gospel Paul proclaimed was God's good news about Christ and His power and glory in defeating Satan, overcoming death, paying for sin and nailing the Law to His cross.

This is why the Apostle calls his message "the good news of the glory of Christ" (II Cor. 4:4). To enter experientially into the truth of this good news is the greatest blessing one can possibly experience.

In Verse 4 of his introduction to the Roman Epistle, the Apostle declares that Christ was powerfully declared to be the Son of God "by the resurrection from the dead."

The resurrection of Christ had been both prophesied and proclaimed as a historical fact before Paul, but to Paul was committed a special message of good news concerning the resurrection. In his God-given message, Christ was raised from the dead to demonstrate that as God the Son He had paid the full penalty for sins that would have sunk a world to hell. Thus the Apostle writes to Timothy, his son in the faith:

"Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
"Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David [this is how Christ had formerly been known] was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds" (II Tim. 2:7-9).

Read the Epistles of Paul and see how salvation by grace through faith always hinges upon the finished work of Christ for our redemption. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."