GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION

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FOR JUST BEING HERE
by C. R. Stam



When you sigh for heaven, remember:

“…Christ…loved the Church, and gave Himself for it…That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph.5:25,26).

Too readily we forget that Christ loves us infinitely more than we love Him; that He paid the penalty for our sins on cruel Calvary and shed His life’s blood that one day He might have us for Himself to share His glory with Him forever.

Surely, then, He would rather have us at His side in heaven than here in this scene of sin and sorrow, and sickness and death. We should bear this in mind when we long that we might leave this world and go to be with Him.

But there is more: The Saviour, who was exiled from this earth, and is, even now, rejected by men, has not yet rejected them. Rather, He has left us here as His ambassadors on hostile territory, to plead with his enemies, praying them “in His stead” to be reconciled to God, assuring them that He has done all that is necessary to effect a reconciliation (IICor.5: 20,21).

And this is His attitude toward mankind now, though the prophetic Scriptures declare so emphatically that man’s rejection of Christ was to be — and will be — visited with the severest judgment (Psa.2:4-9; Acts 2:16-20).

But not yet! Though man had declared war on Christ (Acts 4:26,27), He did not yet make a counter-declaration, but interrupted the prophetic program to save Saul of Tarsus, the leader of the rebellion and sent him forth to usher in the present “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph.3:1-3).

This is why, in His love and compassion, He leaves us here still to plead with His enemies: “Be ye reconciled to God”. And what about His special love for us? Entirely apart from rewards earned by service or suffering for Him, God will richly reward us (II Cor.4:17) just for being here as “ambassadors for Christ”.

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THE NATURE OF GRACE
by C.R. Stam



To a young Christian who kept bemoaning his failures and lack of spiritual growth, and wondering how God could love him, a more mature believer responded substantially as follows:

"When I leave here and return to my home I will pick up my little baby girl and put her on my knee. Tired as I am, I will dandle her on my knee and, somehow, looking into that darling face and those pretty blue eyes, I will soon feel rested and refreshed.

"This is strange, in a way, for she does not love me. She doesn't even know what love is.

"She doesn't appreciate my problems and has no sympathy for me. My heart can be burdened with grief or filled with anxiety, and my mind vexed with difficult problems, but she doesn't even know or care. She just keeps gurgling and giggling at the attention I lavish upon her.

"She doesn't contribute one cent toward the needs of our family; indeed, she costs me a great deal of money and will for years to come. Yet I love that child more than I can say. There is no sacrifice I would not make for her; no good thing I would not gladly give her."

Such is the grace of God toward us, His children. It does not depend upon our faithfulness to Him or our appreciation of His love to us. He loves us with an unspeakable love and keeps lavishing upon us "the riches of His grace" simply because we are His children in Christ, the Beloved One. And strangely, is it not precisely this fact that proves to be our greatest incentive to give ourselves to Him in loving service and sacrifice as we grow in grace?

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ROMANS 7:15-20
A Profound Revelation


I believe our failure to recognize sin, the power is because Satan always seeks to camouflage the English word sin to us as a verb rather than as a noun. They both look the same and sound the same in the English language. A Greek speaking culture, such as that of the churches in the New Testament, would never be confused about differentiating between sin, the noun hamartia (person, place, or thing) and sin, the verb hamartano. Someone has said that if English is a Chevy, Greek is a Cadillac. The English language plays right into the Deceiver's hands here.

A Profound Revelation

In the mid '70s, one of my counselees was a beautiful young woman whom I'll call Mary. Although she had the cheerleader, popular-girl-on-campus pedigree, she was a troubled young woman. I'll never forget the day I received the call that Mary had taken her life.

I agonized over the loss of this Christian. I loved her. Such a waste. I stayed before the Lord for weeks, asking Him to reveal to me how Satan had influenced her to commit this act. And God showed it to me. Once you embrace it, this truth will be a fantastically powerful weapon against Satan. The power of sin "talked" Mary into taking her own life, just as it had deceived Cain in Genesis!  This agent of the deceiver, called "sin" wages war against both sinners and saints. And the seventh chapter Romans gives us the details of how he goes about it.

Count the actors in Romans 7:15: "For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate." How many actors do you see in the verse? One: "I." However, "verses 17 and 20 both indicate that there are two actors in this scenario: "I," plus the power called "sin."

"So now no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me" (verse 17). Notice the two actors: "I" and "sin."

"But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me [is doing it" (verse 20). There they are again: "I" and "sin."

l am not moving toward teaching "the-devil-made-me- do-it" nonsense. I am pointing out that there are now two actors in the scenario: "I" plus sin." These verses indicate that I am not flying solo when I embrace a sinful thought or commit a sinful act. This power called "sin" is flying copilot. I want to make it very clear that I believe that I am totally, accountable when I commit a sinful act or embrace a sinful thought. I am not teaching the false idea that I can blame my sins on my mythical, nonexistent sinful nature. That would be a cop-out, The person who takes that unbiblical position projects the blame for his sins on the nonexistent old man who died in Christ (Romans 6:2-8 ). That is denial. That cannot be documented in the text of Romans chapters 6 through 8.  This error promotes the false notion that it's normal for (Christians to sin dozens of times a day in our thought-life, plus overtly. That deception is from the father of lies. God says that a second actor has entered the scene here who is involved in my sinning: it's the noun called "sin," that same power which God showed us in Genesis.

I'll reprint Romans 7:15 for easy reference, and then I want to make two points: "For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate."

Point Number 1. When God says something once, we had best pay attention. When He repeats Himself, we had best post it on the door of the fridge! It's mega-important. The second actor in Romans 7:17 and 20 is that noun "sin." I said, "Lord, there is only one actor in verse 15, but there are two in verses 17 and 20. I know that sin was in this man in verse 15 because it came into man at the fall. Sin, however, doesn't surface until verse 17. How did sin go underground in verse 15?" Thoughts came to me which I believe were from the Holy Spirit:

· The power of sin keeps a low profile by injecting thoughts into the mind with first-person-singular pronouns: I, me, my, myself, mine, etc.

· In our battle against the power of sin, these "thought-bullets" are triggered into the mind through the old flesh patterns in the brain.

· A Christian who does not understand that the old man was crucified will naively receive these thoughts, believing that they originated in his own mind!

There is Satan's secret! God has blown away the smoke and dust camouflaging Satan's "rubber tanks and canvas ships." This is such a powerful revelation from God! Do you see that it is imperative for me to know that my old man was literally crucified in Christ (Romans 6:6) and that I am literally a brand-new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) who longs to walk uprightly with God (Hebrews 10:16)? If I do not claim this, I leave myself wide open to the devil's lie that I have two spiritual natures: a righteous one and a sinful one who constantly fight against one another! That's the view from 30,000 feet! The old "good dog, bad dog" teaching that we all cut our spiritual teeth on is the devil's smoke-and-mirrors baloney. It's not biblical. The Bible teaches unequivocally that the old man died in Christ and was buried with Him (Romans 6:2-8 ). Although my counselee Mary had been taught about her crucifixion and rebirth as a new creation, I had not yet received the revelation to teach her about the power of sin and how it operated. Consequently, she was deceived into taking her own life.

Folks, the old you was crucified in Christ before the new you was reborn, Because of this fact, we can believe that:

· A dead man cannot wage war against the new man in Christ.

· A dead man cannot resurrect himself, as we hear some imply: "You've got to keep that old man on the cross." Hey, since when do you have to keep a man on the cross?

· If the old man didn't die, then Jesus didn't die because they were both crucified on the same cross, and the Bible states categorically that they died simultaneously (see Romans 6:2-8 ).

· Satan does not have the power to bring the old man back to life.

· It would be theologically pointless for God to crucify the old man only to bring him back to life again. Why kill him if you're going to bring him back?

· It makes perfect theological sense for God to crucify the old man in Christ's death and then re-create the new man in Christ's resurrection, which is precisely what the Bible says happened (Romans 7:4).

· The old man is history! Gone!

· I'll use the dreaded e word which many theologians rail against---the sin nature is extinct! It's a dinosaur for Christians! Write it in the sky in smoke! Shout it from the housetops! Hold a street dance! The "wicked old witch" is dead! Christians do not have a sinful nature!

· Christians have only one nature---a holy) righteous new nature. "He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). That's us! That describes our nature!

Although, based upon our experience, our thought--life, and our feelings, it certainly seems illogical to believe that the old man was literally crucified, God's Word teaches that a new creature in Christ has no sin nature, due to our having been crucified in Christ (Romans 6:6, et al.). Please don't write to me and quote the New International Version to "prove" me wrong. The well-meaning theologians who translated the NIV Bible took unbiblical liberty by translating the Greek word sarx as "sinful nature" (see Romans 7:18, et al., NIV). Folks, that's not translation-that's religious tradition; that's human opinion. They made an honest mistake. One of them is a good friend of mine. I hasten to credit them for all of the good things about this translation. But I don't recommend that you use it to exegete Romans 6-8 because you'll see the old man portrayed as having the miraculous ability to survive the crucifixion. It's absurd to believe that we must "keep him on the cross." He's deader than a hammer! That old man took one trip to the cross. Then God buried him! We regularly celebrate the reality of this truth via believer's baptism-a one-act depiction of our death as the old man, our burial, and as we burst up out of the water, our new birth in Christ's resurrection.

By Bill Gillman

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THE FOLLY OF WORLDLY WISDOM
by C. R. Stam




Has not the world made great progress, intellectually, since Paul's day? Is this not evident on every hand? Of course! For one thing, our physicists have taught us how to kill each other much faster now. Moscow, London or Washington could be wiped out in a few minutes, and this is a considerable saving in time!

And think what has been accomplished in the field of electronics! We can now keep intelligent people glued to their TV sets for hours on end, their eyes riveted to shows which are often unwholesome, but sometimes at least entertaining and occasionally even informative. And think of the many time-saving devices in our homes! We are all saving so much time that we cannot even be hospitable to each other and our mental institutions are over-crowded with patients who have collapsed from enjoying all this leisure time.

Then consider our achievements in transportation! Our thorough fares are crowded with automobiles whose drivers are getting jangled nerves in traffic jams and choking in the deadly carbon monoxide fumes, or else racing at high speeds, which is great fun until suddenly some object looms up ahead as if from nowhere. And the airplane! This is really something! We can now fly through the air with so much noise and commotion that innocent people for miles around our larger airports are kept awake nights. Of course, the minority should be willing to suffer cheerfully for the majority and it is important that great numbers of people get places fast, fast, fast.

But all this is nothing compared with what is going on in outer space. We now have all sorts of things orbiting around out there -- and it's not all debris. It includes some very sensitive instruments, serving us faithfully from day to day. Indeed, men from our earth have actually landed on the moon and have brought some of its rocks and dust back with them. Soon, maybe, we will have people from beautiful New England, or the breath-taking Rockies, or the lovely shores of Oregon, living on its barren wastes. Wonderful prospect! And we can always get the necessary billions from the taxpayers.

But the best of it is that while we have aspired to reach the moon, and even Mars, we've got a Great Society going on earth; a Society whose wild pagan music has all but replaced the beautiful melodies and harmonies of the classics, and whose twisted "art" reflects the bewildered confusion of our times; a Society in which children and young people are corrupted, women are robbed and raped, and men, women and children are murdered in the streets. Oh, it's wonderful! The young people demonstrating a tour universities for the right to use filthy language if they want to, and demanding a greater voice in running our institutions of learning; the minority groups marching to protest their various grievances, the rioting and blood shed, the burning and looting! And meantime, ever so quietly,our most sophisticated mob syndicates are running fine motels and other business organizations -- and pouring a never-increasing flow of narcotics, pornographic literature, etc., into our enlightened community, judges and juries doing what they can to favor the criminals and, should any of them land behind prison bars, the parole boards are there to help get them released as soon as possible, so that our happy society may benefit from their experience and our mental and penal institutions may be further enlarged. Surely we've never had it so good.

Thanks be to God for the truth of Gal. 1:4:

"[Christ] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world
[or, "age"] according to the will of God and our Father."

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ABIDE ABOVE
By Miles Stanford


"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6).

The Cross has separated us from the power of sin (Rom. 6:11), the old man (Rom. 6:6), the world (Gal. 6:14), the law (Rom. 7:4), and the devil (Heb. 2:14). The Spirit has joined us to our risen Lord, and we are "hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3) . We are free --- to abide above; free --- to fellowship with our Father in glory.

"The lack I find in souls is, that while they know that their sins are forgiven, they do not know their new place. What place do you have? Is it earth or heaven? It could not possibly be earth, for the Lord Jesus was rejected from the earth. It has a great moral effect upon a person to be able to say, 'I have a place in heaven; I have no property on earth at all, it is all in heaven.'

" 'It is the Lord's property I have on earth, but in heaven I have my own.' In the garden of Eden, man lost his place; the question to him then is, First --- Where art thou? then, What hast thou done? Every believer seeks to be clear as to the latter, but very few are clear about the former." --- J.B.S.

"Many do not go beyond Christ's resurrection; they do not extend to His ascension. They do not know Him in glory. They are occupied with Him in relation to their own side. He was at my side and glorified God there both in His walk here and in His death; but He is now at His own side, and it is there I intelligently realize the vastness of my life, for He is my life."

"My mind must rise above what I am to what God is; then it is that one is formed by the revelation of what God is. To this we are called." -- J.N.D.

"Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (I Thess. 5:24).

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God Is For Me
By Steve McVey




“God is for me.” Can you make that statement with a deep sense of certainty? He is, you know. When things are going the way you want, God is for you. When life seems to be falling apart, God is for you. When the Philistines chased David down in Gath, he wrote, “This I know, that God is for me” (Psalm 56:9). What a time to make a declaration like that!

Many of us have found ourselves in a place similar to David’s situation at times. Life is closing in . . . the enemy seems to have us cornered and there appears to be no way out. Pleasant circumstances disappear before our eyes and the world turns dark.

At times like that, we may be tempted to cry out, “Why is God against me?” Not David. He assured himself with the truth, “God is for me.” He didn’t say, “This I feel, that God is for me.” There are many times in life that we don’t feel like God is for us. No, he said, “This I know, that God is for me.

Will you affirm this truth in your own life? God really is for you. Nothing can ever change His mind or heart toward you. If you are His child, His loving kindness toward you will last forever. (Read Psalm 136 sometime!)

Circumstances may be suffocating you at times, but God is for you! Negative feelings may seem to be strangling you, but God is for you! Life may not make sense at a given moment, but God is for you! Trust Him. When you feel like you’re drowning in an ocean of problems, cling to your Heavenly Father. He will prove Himself strong in your life by assuring you of His love.

Your circumstances may or may not turn out like you want, but He will hold you in His loving and sovereign arms and gently whisper His love to you again and again. Sit in quietness for a moment and listen to his loving voice assure you of that fact until, like the Psalmist, you may say, “This is known, God is for me!”

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GOD, WHO CANNOT LIE, PROMISED
by C. R. Stam



"In hope of eternal life, which GOD, WHO CANNOT LIE, PROMISED..." (Tit. 1:2).

In the Mediterranean Sea there lies an island which in Paul’s day had a very bad reputation. It’s name is Crete. To Titus, a pastor sent to evangelize the inhabitants, the Apostle Paul wrote: "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said. The Cretians are always liars..." (Tit. 1:12), and he added: "This witness is true" (Ver. 13). Paul knew this to be a fact, for he had labored among them. Indeed, even secular history bears witness to this trait of the Cretians, for we are told that in ancient times to call a man a Cretian was to call him a liar.

How wonderful that St. Paul had succeeded in establishing a few small Christian assemblies on this island and that Titus was now laboring there as his successor! And how reassuring that to Titus and these few believers, surrounded on every hand by people who could not be trusted, Paul could write about "eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised"!

"God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken and shall He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19).

Thank God, millions have trusted His Word, especially about salvation through the all-sufficient and finished work of redemption wrought by Christ at Calvary, and they have found it to be blessedly true.

In dozens of passages of Scripture God has promised eternal life to those who trust in Christ and His payment for sin. "Christ died for our sin" (I Cor. 15:3). "[He] was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Take Him at His Word; His promise is good. "GOD, WHO CANNOT LIE, PROMISED."

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KNOW YE NOT?
By Pastor Marvin Duncan


Part 1. - The Book Of Romans
Part 1 of 2

There are many things the apostle Paul would have the members of the Body of Christ know and in our last study we saw some of the things he would not have us to be ignorant of concerning this dispensation of the Grace of God. Today, I would like for us to consider a phrase used by the Apostle Paul to call attention to something that is very important for all of God's redeemed of this dispensation to know. That phrase is, "KNOW YE NOT." As Paul presented the message of the Mystery to the different Gentile congregations, he expected them to grasp everything he taught about God's program for today. Yet, after Paul left these different areas, he received word that some of the Saints had not fully understood what he had taught, or they had neglected to put into practice some area of teaching that was necessary if these Saints were to walk well pleasing to our Lord. When writing to these congregations after hearing of their failure to live up to the teachings he had given them, Paul brings up these different doctrinal points by challenging his readers with the phrase, "KNOW YE NOT." He then proceeds to repeat the doctrine they were failing to put into practice in their personal lives.

In the Book of Romans we have three subjects that are introduced with the phrase, "KNOW YE NOT." Let us look at these passages and see if we can gain a fuller insight into Paul's teachings concerning the message of the Mystery which had been "HID IN GOD" (Ephesians 3:9) and "KEPT SECRET, SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN" (Romans 16:25).

Baptized Into Christ

Not only did the Saints of Paul's day lack a good understanding of the doctrine of baptism, many today are confused about what Paul taught in Romans 6:3, when he wrote:

"KNOW YE NOT, THAT SO MANY OF US AS WERE BAPTIZED INTO JESUS CHRIST WERE BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH?"

There are many Christians today who believe a water ceremony is being spoken of in this Romans 6:3 passage. Paul would not be talking about a water ceremony here because he had already taught that Water Baptism was not to be practiced in this dispensation of the Grace of God (First Corinthians 1:17). Water Baptism was given to the nation of Israel as a ceremony that identified the recipient into the Priesthood. In as much as there is no priesthood for the Body of Christ, there is no water ceremony to be practiced today in this dispensation of the Grace of God.

A majority of the problems surrounding the subject of BAPTISM would be answered if we recognized the fact that BAPTISM is a Greek word that has been inserted in our English text. If we are to understand what the writers of Scripture meant when they spoke of Baptism, let us use the English word, IDENTIFY or IDENTIFICATION, when we see this Greek word in our English text. In every place where the subject of Baptism is spoken of, we will find some kind of identification being referred to. This can be seen in Romans 6:3 if we use our English word, IDENTIFIED, in place of the Greek word, BAPTIZED. In this passage, Paul is talking about our oneness with Christ. The doctrine that had been missed by these Roman Saints was the fact that when Christ died on Calvary's Cross, God saw every believer as having died with Him there. It is this identification with Christ that gives us the power to overcome Sin. Not only were we identified with Christ in His death, we were also identified into His burial and His resurrection. This is why Paul encourages the Saints to live the resurrected life right now. (Romans 6:3-6).

Paul wanted these Saints at Rome (and all the members of the Body of Christ) to know that we already have the victory over sin. Because of our having died with Christ, Sin no longer has any claim upon us. Sin cannot dictate to, or exercise control over, a dead person. This is Paul's point in this Romans six passage. Since every believer died with Christ, and because of this death Sin has no claim upon, or power over, those who are IN CHRIST, why is it that so many Christians are not free from sin in their lives? The answer is simple. These Saints whose lives are weakened by sin have never understood the teaching of Romans 6:3. They do not know that Sin no longer has any authority over their lives. They have never put into practice the truth of Romans 13:14, where Paul said:

"PUT YE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND MAKE NOT PROVISION FOR THE FLESH, TO FULFILL THE LUSTS THEREOF."

Because most Saints do not know that Sin is powerless due to our death WITH CHRIST, they ALLOW Sin to work in their lives. They even make allowances for sin in their lives by saying, "I can't help doing the things I do because this is the way God made me." This statement is just an excuse to satisfy the desires of the flesh and blame God for their actions.

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KNOW YE NOT?
By Pastor Marvin Duncan

Part 1. - The Book Of Romans
Part 2 of 2



To Whom Ye Yield Yourself


In keeping with his theme of our being freed from Sin by our identification into Christ's death, Paul addresses our separation from Sin in detail in the last part of Romans chapter six.


Paul has already established the fact that we died with Christ (Romans 6:3), were buried with Him (Romans 6:4) and were then raised with Him unto newness of life (Romans 6:5 & 11). Because of this identification with Christ, we are encouraged not to serve Sin (Romans 6:6-7). The whole purpose of this lengthy discussion of Sin no longer having dominion over the Saints is to press home the point that all relationships that once existed between the Saints and Sin have been severed because of their death with Christ. Not only had the Saints at Rome miss this most important teaching of our identification with Christ, they were not aware of the fact that man is a perpetual servant. Paul addresses this truth in Romans 6:16 by saying:

"KNOW YE NOT, THAT TO WHOM YE YIELD YOURSELF SERVANTS TO OBEY, HIS SERVANTS YE ARE TO WHOM YE OBEY."

We who live in the United States are prone to believe man was created to be an independent creature who is free to do what ever he wanted to do and is not responsible to anyone. This was never the case. No Scripture can be found to suggest man was created to be anything but a servant. Romans 6:16 makes this clear.

Paul's point in this last part of Romans chapter six is to show that every man was a servant (a SLAVE) to Sin by virtue of physical birth. The natural man may insist he is doing what he wants to do, but the truth is that Sin is his Master. The natural man can do nothing except what Sin wants him to do. The natural man is like a beast with a ring in his nose by which Sin leads him into the activities of the flesh. We were ALL the slaves of Sin before we were saved and we all did the bidding of our Master. BUT, with salvation and our death with Christ on Calvary, Sin's power as our Master was severed. Now, as the Saints of God, we have become the servants (the SLAVES) of "RIGHTEOUSNESS" (that; is, of Christ). The great difference between these two Masters is that Sin demands full obedience from his slaves; whereas Christ sets His servants free to serve Him out of a heart of love.

Most Christians fail to recognize Christ's ownership over the Saints of God. Yet, this is the whole purpose of God's redemption. By the shed blood of Christ, God purchased the Christians out of the slave market of Sin. Once a Slave of Sin has been bought by the Blood of Christ, Sin relinquishes all rights and claims over that one and Christ takes title to these slaves of Sin. Christ owns every believer because He purchased them. This is what Paul is speaking of in First Corinthians 6:20.

Romans 6:23 shows us the difference between these two masters. Sin takes everything from his slaves and rewards them with DEATH. Christ GIVES His servants the GIFT of Eternal Life.

The  Law  And The Living

The truth Paul would have us know is that we DO NOT have to serve Sin as our Master any more since we have been redeemed. If Sin continues to have any control of our life, it is because we have permitted him to take control of that which belongs to God. This is why every Christian should put Romans 6:12-13 into practice in his daily walk.

In Romans 7:1, Paul again challenges these Saints by asking the question, "KNOW YE NOT?" This time Paul speaks of the power the husband has over his wife because of the Law of Marriage. The Law of Marriage continues in force as long as the husband and wife are alive, but when one of the marriage partners dies, the Law of Marriage is broken and the remaining partner is free to be married to another.

Paul uses this Law of Marriage to teach the same truth he had been talking about in chapter six, that the Christian is no longer bound to Sin. In Romans 6:16-23, Paul speaks of the Master/Slave relationship. In Romans 7:1-6, Paul uses the Husband/Wife relationship, showing Sin as the husband and mankind as the wife. As long as a man remains alive, he is bound to Sin as a wife is bound to her husband. But, if the "wife" were to die, Sin would have no more authority over her because the Law of Marriage only has power over the living. Paul's point is that the "wife" who is saved, DIED with Christ on Calvary. Therefore, Sin no longer has any power over her because the Husband/Wife relationship was broken by the death of the "wife."

Just as the living member of the marriage relationship is free from the Law of Marriage when one partner dies (Romans 7:2-3), the same is also true of the dead partner. This is what Paul has in mind in Romans 7:4. Since the Christian DIED WITH CHRIST; his marriage to Sin has been broken. The Christian who is free from his marriage to Sin is now free to be married to Christ. In any marriage, the wife should bring forth children for her husband. This is the picture Paul presents in Romans 7:4. Having chosen to be married to Christ, we should, as a faithful wife, bring forth "FRUIT" unto God. This "FRUIT" is Spiritual offspring produced by the Christian as he is empowered by Christ.

In all three of these passages where Paul uses the phrase, "KNOW YE NOT," he wants the members of the Body of Christ to know of the freedom from Sin that results from the death they experienced by their identification with Christ.

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OUR SECRET WEAPON EPHESIANS 6:18-20; ROMANS 15:30-32
By Pastor Paul Hume

The 'Life that wins' is one in which prayer is a vital element. 'Pray without ceasing.'  'In everything by prayer ....' 'Be instant in prayer.' 'Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.' 'Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. ...' 'Men ought always to pray and not to faint.'

YET how prayer less many of us really are! Someone has well stated, 'Prayer is work, but prayer works.' For many, the only praying they experience is before meals at home (how rare it is to see believers ask 'the blessing' before a meal out in a restaurant!!), when bad news or sickness strikes in the family, or in a church service when the leader requests the people to 'bow your heads for prayer.'  We leave the work of praying up to the pastor, the missionary, or perhaps ladies' missionary society! Then we complain about the dearth of souls being saved, and the slow spread of the Gospel, and the powerlessness of our churches! It is easy to organize, but so difficult to agonize (in prayer)! We will attend a ball game quicker than attend prayer meeting! People will turn out in numbers for a banquet (in spite of the price of the tickets), but they will find some excuse for absenting themselves if it is a meeting 'just' for prayer! In some places we can get a fairly good group for Bible study (which I am one hundred per cent for), but if you announce you will spend the majority of the time in prayer, your group will diminish to almost no one!

Someone has said, 'The Gospel moves at a slow and timid pace when the saints are not at their prayers early and late and long.' Paul depended much upon the earnest prayer-support of the saints for the success of the Word and the Gospel! (II Corinthians 1:11). Our Lord's disciples wisely requested their Lord to 'Teach us to pray,' not 'teach us to preach.' Why? Because prayer is indeed our 'secret weapon' in rescuing souls from the 'power of Satan,' and the growth of believers unto spiritual maturity (see Colossi ans 4:12).

Grace, Peace and Love,
Pastor Hume

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IS "FAITH" THE "GIFT" OF GOD?
by Russell S. Miller



Is "faith" in Ephesians 2:8,9 the "gift" of God?

Some have taught that the Greek word here, for "gift", suggests that faith is the gift of God. Can this thinking really be justified in the light of what the Apostle Paul says of salvation in Romans 6:23? The answer is an emphatic "NO".

Meditate upon this for a moment: Who created us? The Scriptures reply with a resounding: "GOD". God, "who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph.3:9), created us in His own "image" and "likeness" (Gen.1:26). And this great and mighty Creator, who "formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen.2:7), put within this man, whom He had created, the ability to "seek the Lord" (Acts 17:23-27). This quotation from Acts is no less than the words of "the Apostle of the Gentiles" (Rom.11:13). Is there not within every one of us that vacuum that can only be filled with Christ? Yet the Apostle to the Nations declares:

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one" (Rom.3:10-12).

The Bible does not contradict itself here. God has built within every man, woman and child--upon creation--that ability within him to believe. He can discern the sky; he can choose whatever he pleases; he can believe a lie. If man is responsible before God, and he most assuredly is, then he may choose to "receive" the gift of God:

"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 not that he is unable to believe the gospel, as we have demonstrated, rather it is a matter of his will. Consequently, man will stand to give an account to his Creator, for his faith--his ability to believe--is indirectly given of God in creation. Man, however, is a rebel from his birth, and intentionally disobedient. In the words of John 3:18, "...he that BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God". This is why his sinfulness is defined in terms of "total depravity".

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CREATION AND REDEMPTION
by C. R. Stam


In Romans 1:18 the Apostle Paul declares that ungodly men are “without excuse” because they are surrounded by the evidence of the Creator’s “eternal power and Godhead.”

Our Authorized Version calls the creation, in this passage, “the things that are made,” but in the Greek it is called literally, “the poyeema,” from which we get our word poem.

The Apostle refers, of course, to the harmony of God’s creation. And is it not indeed amazing how billions of heavenly bodies can continually revolve in the vastness of space and never collide! And are not the flowers, the seasons, and the sunsets all part of a harmonious creation, which God alone could have conceived and set to music?

But very interestingly, this word poyeema is used just once more in Scripture. We find it in Ephesians 2:10, where it is translated “workmanship.” Let’s consider this passage in its context:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
“Not of works, lest any man should boast. “For we are His workmanship [Greek, poyeema], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph.2:8-10).

The Epistle to the Romans speaks of the poem of creation, the Epistle to the Ephesians, of the poem of redemption, and the latter is the more wonderful. An old hymn says: “Twas great to speak a world from naught; ‘tis greater to redeem.”

In this poem of redemption which God has composed, we believers too often want to change some word or phrase. We would like this or that in our circumstances to be different. Ah, but this would destroy the meter and the meaning of God’s new creation.

Thank God, when we who trust Christ some day go to be with Him, we will see the beauty and glory of the poem of redemption. Then we will rejoice that He did indeed “work all things together for good” for us.

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THE BODY - A POSITION IN HEAVEN
By  FLOYD BAKER, Pastor

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3; 2:5, 6;
Colossians 3:1-3

"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." What a blessed truth we see in these two verses concerning the grace of God. We who were "dead in sin," now seated with Christ in the heavenlies. No wonder Paul was inspired to write in 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." From a dispensational view we see this in contrast to Israel's earthly blessings, but we also need to see the practical side.

It is important that we realize our standing and position in Christ, and then we must "walk worthy," on the same plane or level of our calling. We are citizens of Heaven and should live that way down here. Our verses in Colossians 3:1-3, give to us the key on how this is done. We are to "seek those things which are above," and this will enable us to "set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth." The child of God who realizes, his, or her, position in Christ, is enabled to live each day without the burdens of the past and present. Our walk can indeed match our heavenly calling and position. This is indeed God's will for each one of us, to glorify Him here, and to enjoy His glory in the ages to come.

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PATH TO PROXIMITY
By Miles Stanford




"God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8 ).

Suffering takes us in condition where truth has us in position.

"We will never learn any truth in experience excepting in the deepening knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the lack of this which is the cause of weakness among believers; bare doctrine is not personal fellowship with Him. We have that which is lovely and full of blessing in Him; but if we are to know it as such; to prove its truth, to enjoy it always, it must be in taking these things as connected with Him." -J.N.D.

"The passive power of faith needs for its sustenance closer communion with the Father than its active energy. Action, as it were, nerves us to the conflict; but quiet endurance of wrong, or suffering of any kind, which neither friend nor foe sees, but only God, this indeed needs divine power, and without God's support none would bear the strain. Many a saint has shown the courage of faith before his enemies, as Elijah when he faced Ahab, but who, like him, quails and flees, where there is nothing to do, but quietly trust in God."

"There is but one thought with our Father in disciplining us, namely, to make our trials an opportunity for our heart to learn and discover more of His love, and the resources which are in Him as He has revealed them to us in His Son," -J .B.S.

"There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust our Father than to enjoy life."

"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:10)

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THE MOST IMPORTANT HOUR OF HISTORY
By John Steiner


The most important hour of all history was the hour when the Lord Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross for the sins of mankind. Often in scripture, the hour of our Lord's death is called simply "the hour," "My hour" or "His hour."

To fulfill prophecy He could not have died one hour earlier, or one later. Until that hour arrived, His enemies were somehow restrained from doing Him bodily harm, so that we read in John 7:30, "Then they sought to take Him; but no man laid hands on Him, because HIS HOUR WAS NOT YET COME" (See also John 8:20).

This hour was to be for Him a time of unspeakable agony and shame. Referring to this, He said to Andrew and Philip, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour? But FOR THIS CAUSE CAME I UNTO THIS HOUR" (John 12:27).

He had come to die for the sins of the world and would not now turn away from the sufferings involved. But this hour of suffering and shame was also an hour of glory, for there the Son of God paid a debt which would have sunk a world to hell. This is why, at this same time, in the very shadow of the cross, He said, "THE HOUR IS COME THAT THE SON OF MAN SHOULD BE GLORIFIED. Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:23,24. See Also John 17:1,2).

Little wonder we read in John 3:35,36; "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE: AND HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LlFE BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM"

These thoughts are taken from one of my favorite daily devotionals called: TWO MINUTES WITH THE BIBLE by C.R. Stam. I think these comments are fitting this time of the year when many are hopefully turning their thoughts to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

THE DEATH OF THE CROSS

There are four words which everyone of us should consider in connection with Christ's death at Calvary if we would fully appreciate what our Savior did for us there.

CRUCIFIXION

It is doubtful whether man has ever conceived a more cruel and humiliating way to execute even the vilest criminals. The physical agony alone must have been horrible beyond comprehension. The criminal was nailed to a tree and left to hang there, writhing in the most intense pain until, fevers wracking his body, he died. And then think of the humiliation as he hung there,  stripped and naked, to suffer shame and disgrace before the public gaze. Little wonder Philippians 2:8 says that Christ humbled Himself to become obedient "unto death even the death of the cross."