Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #45 on: August 31, 2003, 08:28:15 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Aug 31 HEAVEN IS BETTER THAN THIS A large percentage of the people of the world wake up every morning with some kind of ache or pain. If you are one of the many victims, with some infirmity of the flesh, perhaps you will agree with the little chorus which says: "Heaven is better than this." The Scriptures tell us that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Rom. 8:22). Note the expression: "the whole creation." This takes in the whole world; no one is excluded. Indeed, the very next verse goes on to say to Christian believers: "And not only they, but ourselves also... even we ourselves groan within ourselves... waiting for... the redemption of our body." No doubt many of us feel like crying out with the Psalm- ist David, "Look upon mine affliction and my pain" (Psa. 25:18). In spite of all sorrow, trouble and pain which the child of God must endure, however, he can be assured with the Apostle Paul that: "our light affliction, which is but for a moment [comparatively], worketh for us a far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory" (II Cor. 4:17). When we go to be with the Lord we will no longer be living in "this earthly tabernacle," but will have "a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Cor. 5:1). Paul even adds that as Christians we earnestly desire "to be clothed upon with our house [our new body] which is from heaven" (II Cor. 5:2). Finally, St. Paul declared that "to depart, and to be with Christ... is far better" (Phil. 1:23); far better, not only than all earth’s sorrow and trouble and pain, but far better even than earth’s greatest joys and its dearest treasures. How wonderful it is to know that "Christ died for our sins," to have a light beyond the grave, a hope beyond the tomb! Surely "heaven is better than this!" ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #46 on: September 01, 2003, 02:54:30 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 1 OUR WEAKNESS AND GOD’S POWER When our Lord was on earth He healed great numbers of sick and diseased people. The believers at Pentecost also healed many in the name of Jesus, offering to Israel His return from heaven upon condition of their repentance (Acts 3:19-21). All those who were healed, however, finally succumbed to physical infirmity or disease again and died after all. This was because the Lord Jesus was rejected as King, not only in His incarnation but also in His resurrection. Rom. 8:22,23 declares the result as we see it in our own day: "...we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit [that is], the redemption of our body." But Christians in "this present evil age" often need phys- ical infirmity to draw them closer to God in prayer and faith. Paul himself said: "...there was given to me a thorn in the flesh... lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me: My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Cor. 12:7-9). The Apostle’s response to this shows how well he under- stood that suffering and weakness are an important part of Christian discipline. "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me... I take pleasure in infirmities...for when I am weak, then am I strong" (II Cor. 12:9,10). "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a for more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Cor. 4:16,17). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #47 on: September 03, 2003, 01:19:58 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 2 THREE BILLION WILLS As long as man remained obedient to the will of God, his Maker, all was well with him. His life was perfectly bal- anced because it was centered in God. As soon as he lis- tened to Satan, however, and set his will against God’s, all began to go wrong. His life was now off center and out of balance. It was no longer subject to the one central will. Alienated from God, man now reaped the fruit of his re- bellion, not only in his banishment from Paradise, but in the self-will of his offspring. Of the first two children born into the world, one bludg- eoned the other to death, and this was but the beginning. Whereas God had originally created man in His own "im- age" and "likeness" (Gen. 1:26,27), we read later that Adam begat Seth "in his own likeness, after his image" (Gen. 5:3). And so parents down through the ages have begotten children like themselves, with fallen natures and wills of their own, until now we have some three billion wills oper- ating in the world instead of the one central will of God. This does not mean, however, that God has abdicated, or that the future of the world is now subject to the wills of three billion fallen creatures. Nor was God forced to for- mulate new plans because of the fall of man. Far from it, for despite man’s rebellion -- even through it -- God has been carrying out His plan and every true believer rejoices that God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). While He does not rule directly in the affairs of men, He very definitely overrules, and as a result "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28). All glory to that blessed One of whom it is written: "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Thy WILL, O God" (Heb. 10:7). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #48 on: September 03, 2003, 01:31:23 PM » |
|
Sep 3 GOD’S PROMISE vs. MAN’S EFFORTS "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath..."(Rom. 4:14,15). This should be self-evident to us all. If blessing is gained by the works of the Law, it is earned. This is why Gal. 3:18 says: "If the inheritance be of the law it is no more of prom- ise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise." The Apostle Paul, God’s great apostle of grace, declares in Rom. 4:4,5: "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." But let’s go back to that phrase: "the law worketh wrath." Many people somehow do not see this. Even some clergy- men tell us that the Law was given to help us to be good. But God Himself says, "the law worketh wrath." Every criminal knows this, and every sinner should know it. God certainly places strong emphasis upon it: "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions" (Gal. 3:19), "that every mouth may be stop- ped, and all the world may be brought in guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19). "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowl- edge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). If we come to God expecting eternal life because of our good works, are we not offering Him our terms, which He can never accept? He will never sell salvation at any price, and certainly not for a few paltry "good" works, when our lives are filled with failure and sin. Our only hope? God has promised to give eternal life to those who trust in His Son (John 3:35,36; Acts 16:31; etc.). "The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #49 on: September 04, 2003, 01:05:00 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 4 UNIONS OR UNITY? 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 exclu- sive 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 Meth- odists 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). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #50 on: September 05, 2003, 08:39:39 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 5 GRACE AND DEBT "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:4,5). As we look back at all the Old Testament types: the phys- ical types, the narratives, the sacrifices, we exclaim: "The cross was not an accident, nor an afterthought on God’s part: He had it in mind all the while." Surely Paul was right when he said of believers that "[God] hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1:9). It is on the basis of the cross, typified all through the Old Testament, that God now saves us by grace through faith alone, and the types show that this was indeed His eternal purpose. Furthermore salvation should be by grace through faith. As our text, above, declares: if man could earn his salva- tion it would be the payment of a debt, not the bestowal of a gift -- and God will never be indebted to anyone. He will never be in a position where He owes us, sinners, a debt. Nor will He ever allow us to disgrace ourselves and annoy others by our boasting about how we earned eternal life. But He can, on the basis of the penalty paid at Calvary, bestow salvation as a free gift. This is why we read: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). "It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). God owed Abraham nothing, but seeing his faith He said, in effect: "This man believes Me; I will count his faith for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). And this He still does for those who trust Him, only He has now revealed the basis for this action: Christ’s payment for sins at Calvary. This is why, in Romans 4:5, He forbids works for salvation and declares that the believer’s faith is "counted for righteousness." ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #51 on: September 06, 2003, 08:44:41 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 6 GRACE NOT EARNED Have you ever noticed that God does not hold the great men of Scripture up to us because of their personal good- ness? Almost invariably their records are marred by failure and sin, but God bids us look at their faith, to see what their faith did for them. Even those who lived consistently good lives are not held up to us for their personal worth, because God knows their imperfections. Thus Rom. 4:2,3 says: "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory—but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." And Verse 6 goes on to say about David: "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works." This is because man cannot live a life good enough to make him acceptable to God, for with God only perfection is good enough. One sin spoiled the earth; God will not allow one sin to spoil heaven too. This is why in grace He gave Christ to die for our sins and to pay the just penalty for us. Because of the all-sufficient payment of Christ in our be- half, God can now be "just, and the Justifier" of those who place their faith in Christ (Rom. 3:26). The famous eleventh chapter of Paul’s letter to the He- brews bears out the fact that salvation, or acceptance with God, is obtained, not by human effort, but by faith. This great chapter on the heroes in God’s "Hall of Fame," begins with the words: "For by it [faith] the elders obtained a good report," and then goes on: "By faith Abel ...," "By faith Enoch...," "By faith Noah...," "By faith Abraham...," etc., and closes with the declaration: "...these all...obtained a good report through faith..." ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #52 on: September 07, 2003, 08:15:08 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 7 THE PRIMARIES AND CHRISTIAN FAITH The presidential primaries are now in full swing, with nearly all the candidates talking confidently about win- ning, but it has long been a question just how much these primaries mean. Some, indeed, have started by winning in the primaries and have gone on to become president. But others have done well in the primaries, yet have never even come close to being nominated by their own parties. It’s something like this with faith. The primaries are like mental assent, or intellectual faith. Before a person can be saved he must, of course, know about sin and salvation and must give mental assent to what the Bible says about these things. He must agree that Christ died for man’s sins. But while intellectual faith is a good start, it is not enough to save you. You must go on from there to trust yourself to Christ, who died for our sins (I Cor. 15:3), otherwise your intellectual faith has done you no good. God wants our heart trust; it is this kind of faith that honors Him, and it is this kind of faith that saves. In Romans 10:9-13 He says: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE IN THINE HEART that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For WITH THE HEART MAN BELIEVETH unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed... For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." If Christ is not a risen, living Savior, He is no savior at all. We must believe this in our hearts if we are to call upon Him for salvation. Thank God that "He showed Himself alive, after His pas- sion, by many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3) and that millions have indeed found the peace and joy of sins forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work at Calvary. ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #53 on: September 08, 2003, 03:30:24 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 8 CAMPAIGN EXCITEMENT We hope our readers are interested in our government and in what policies it pursues, but there is something even more important than this important to you and me per- sonally, and for all eternity. God has put each man on the spot, as it were, by offering justification and eternal life as a free gift, through Christ, who died for our sins. Rom. 6:23 clearly states: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now the question is: Will you accept this gift, or will you reject it? Perhaps you reply: "I won’t do anything about it; I’ll take my time and think it over." But you can’t; you can’t just do nothing about a free gift which God offers for your acceptance "now" (II Cor. 6:2). If you do not accept it, you thereby reject it. God purposely puts us on the spot in this matter, for the consequences are truly great. God’s Word says, 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: but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." God does not take it lightly when He offers forgiveness and all the riches of His grace as a gift and this gift is spurned. Unbelievers are not condemned only because they have sinned, but because they have spurned God’s grace and rejected salvation through Christ, who died to save them. Thus it is written in John 3:18: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Which will you do, accept Christ or reject Him and the gift of salvation He purchased for you with His blood? ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #54 on: September 09, 2003, 03:21:41 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 9 CHRIST AND POLITICS Did you ever think of Christ’s relation to politics? He came into this world, remember, as a King. The very open- ing words of the New Testament are: "Jesus Christ, the Son of David...“ (Matt. 1:1). This emphasizes the fact that He came from the royal line. John the Baptist had gone forth as the King’s herald, to prepare His way, and the twelve apostles proclaimed His royal rights as they preached "the gospel of the kingdom." This was all in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David..." (Isa. 9:6,7). Instead of crowning Him King, however, they nailed Him to a cross and wrote over His head His "accusation": "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." Actually our Lord had come especially, this first time, to be rejected and crucified for the sins of men. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and other Old Testament passages had predicted that at His first coming He would be despised and rejected. Matt. 20:28 says of this coming: "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many." Our Lord did not die an untimely death; the cross was not a useless sacrifice. He knew that man’s greatest need is moral and spiritual -- that his sins must be paid for if he is not to be condemned forever before the court of eternal Justice. So in love He came to be rejected and suffer and die "the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (I Pet. 3:18). He will come again to judge and reign as all prophecy indicates, but for the present He deals with mankind in grace. Eph. 1:7 says that "in [Him] we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace" and Rom. 3:24 declares that believers are "justified freely by [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #55 on: September 10, 2003, 01:15:09 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 10 TWO SIDES OF ONE COIN "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved" (II Cor. 12:15). The true man of God will faithfully serve the congrega- tion which the Lord has entrusted to him without thought of reward. Like Paul, he will "gladly spend and be spent" for them even if his toil and sacrifice go unappreciated. Where the congregation is too small to support him fully he will cheerfully engage in enough secular work to supply the deficiency. This is as it should be for, in ministering to his people, he is serving God. But there is another side to this coin, for Christian assemblies should appreciate the ministries of their pastors in their behalf. This is especially so where the minister gives himself unstintingly for his flock. It is a sad fact that too many pastors are grossly under- paid. Most of the members of the congregation would not be willing to live on the low economic level on which they keep their pastor and his family living for years on end. He must be willing to sacrifice, but they must not be deprived of any of the luxuries to which they are accustomed. They do not realize how discouraging it can be for the pastor and his family to constantly have to do without, while the better- off members of the congregation hardly notice. This is why the Apostle Paul reproved the niggardly Corinthians and declares: "Even so hath the Lord OR- DAINED that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel" (I Cor. 9:14). And this, too, is why he wrote to the large-hearted Philippians: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction ...Not that I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account" (Phil. 4:13-17). Where true, Bible-believing pastors are concerned, let’s not be Corinthians; let’s be Philippians. ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #56 on: September 11, 2003, 01:41:00 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 11 CHRIST IN US It has been well said that if there is anything good in any man it is because it was put there by God. And something good -- a new nature -- has been imparted by God to every true believer in Christ. While there is still within us "that which is begotten of the flesh," there is also "that which is begotten of the Spir- it," and just as the one "cannot please God," so the other always pleases Him. Adam was originally created in the image and likeness of God, but he fell into sin and later "begat a son in his own likeness, after his image" (Gen. 53). It could not be other- wise. Fallen Adam could generate and beget only fallen, sinful offspring, whom even the law could not change. But "what the law could not do, in that it was weak [because of] the flesh, God, sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin," accomplished, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3,4). As Adam was made in the likeness of God, but fell, so Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh -- though without sin -- to redeem us from the fall, that by grace, through the operation of the Spirit, a new creation might be brought into being, "the new man which after God, is cre- ated in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24). Thus in addition to our fallen Adamic nature true be- lievers, through faith, have also become "partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). This is the "inner man" of which Paul speaks in Eph. 3:16, and this "inner man" de- lights to do God’s will (Rom. 7:22). The Adamic nature, which Scripture calls "the flesh," is that which was generated by a fallen begetter. It is sinful in itself, even in the believer. It cannot be improved or changed. But "that which is born [or begotten] of God" al- ways pleases Him. It was begotten by the Spirit of God Himself. This is why our Lord said to Nicodemus: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit....Ye must be born again" (John 3:6,7). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #57 on: September 12, 2003, 02:52:06 PM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 12 LIBERTY NOT LICENSE The fact that we are given perfect liberty in Christ does not mean that we should spend our lives in gratifying our own fleshly desires. Just the opposite is the case. Believers have been delivered from the bondage of childhood and given the liberty of full-grown Sons in Christ (Gal. 3:24; 4:1-7), and this advance from infancy to maturity in itself implies the acquisition of a sense of responsibility. The doctrine of our liberty in Christ does not support, it rather refutes, the false theory that those who are under grace may do anything they please. Paul was "slanderously reported" in this connection (Rom. 3:  , but there were carnal believers then, as there are now, who actually did use their liberty as license to gratify their own desires. To turn from liberty to license in this way is fully as serious an error as to turn from liberty to law. Many a believer, motivated only by his own fleshly de- sires and not at all by love for Christ or others, has in- dulged in pleasures of the flesh and of the world, justifying himself on the ground that he is under grace and has lib- erty in Christ. Taking others down with him in his spir- itual declension he complains of any who would help him, that, "They are trying to put me under the law." Such are actually guilty of departing from grace, for "the grace of God ...hath appeared": "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:11-14). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #58 on: September 13, 2003, 08:08:52 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 13 HEAVEN -- AND WHO WILL GO THERE Most people are surprised when they learn that the Old Testament, though three times as large as the New, does not contain one single promise about going to heaven. God’s people, in Old Testament times, looked forward to a glori- fied earth, with Messiah as its Ruler. This was so even when our Lord was on earth and con- tinued to be so through Pentecost. Peter, addressing his kinsmen just after Pentecost, said in essence: "Repent, and God will send Jesus down here" (See Acts 3:19-20), but Paul, in his epistles, says by divine inspiration: "Believe, and God will take you up there." This apostle of grace teaches us that God has already given believers in Christ a position and "all spiritual bless- ings" in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 2:4-6; 1:3). And he teaches further that at the close of this dispensation of grace "the dead in Christ shall rise" and "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together ...to meet the Lord... and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thes. 4:16,17). Thus it is that Paul, God’s special apostle for our day, declares that "our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20) and writes of "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven" (Col. 1:5). Thus it is that he encourages per- secuted saints, saying: "Ye...took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing...that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance" (Heb. 10:34). And thus he writes even of death: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Cor. 5:1). "...to die is gain....to depart and to be with Christ...is far better" (Phil. 1:21,23). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ambassador4Christ
|
 |
« Reply #59 on: September 14, 2003, 10:08:50 AM » |
|
Two Minutes With The Bible Sep 14 THE CHRISTIAN’S PROSPECT Those of us who trust in Christ for salvation have a glo- rious prospect. For the present, while waiting to go to be with Him, "we have redemption, through His blood, the for- giveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7). In infinite love God has made us to be "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6) and has pronounced us "complete in Him" (Col. 2:10). Our position is now a blessed and exalted one, for God has made us to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6) and has "blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). But this is only the beginning, for, referring to the Chris- tian’s death, Phil. 1:23 tells us that "to depart, and to be with Christ. . .is far better"; far better, not only than earth’s sorrows and troubles, but far better even than earth’s dear- est treasures and joys. But even this is not all, for the time will come when, the Church, "the Body of Christ," having been completed, the Lord will come to receive all of its members, living and dead, to Himself. Referring to the resurrection of the de- ceased believer’s body, I Cor. 15 declares that "it is raised in incorruptibility" (Ver. 42), "it is raised in glory" (Ver. 43), "it is raised in power" (Ver. 43), "it is raised a spiritual body" (Ver. 44), for "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (Ver. 49). And as to those believers who will be alive at His com- ing, he says: "We shall all be changed" (Ver. 51). "For...we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:20,21). ================================================================= You are receiving this message because you registered to be included in our mailing list at the Berean Bible Society website at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.orgLiterature: The Two Minutes With The Bible daily devotional articles are also available in book form, along with many other Bible study materials, in the Literature Corner section of our website at https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literature. Subscribe: If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, visit the Two Minutes page at http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/twominut.html.
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|