The Apostle Paul was called
of Jesus Christ to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ to both Jew and
Gentile. When called, Jesus told him that he was sending him to them “to open
their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place
among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Ac. 26:16-18). And, this is the
essence of the gospel message.
Through Faith
Ephesians 3:12-13 NASB
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Paul taught the true gospel
of salvation from sin. He opened spiritually blinded eyes to the truth, and he
turned them from darkness (slavery to sin) to light (truth and righteousness).
He turned them away from the power Satan had over their lives to God, to follow
Jesus Christ in obedience to His Truth (His Word). And, this is because he
taught a faith in Jesus Christ that included both repentance (turning from sin
to God) and obedience to Christ and His Word.
He understood that faith in
Jesus Christ was not just some emotional experience, or some intellectual
assent to who Jesus Christ was and is. He understood that faith in Jesus Christ
was divine persuasion as to God’s holiness and righteousness, and as to the will
of God for our lives.
Thus, if persuaded by God, we
then submit to him and to his will. So, true faith in Jesus Christ dies with
Christ to sin, and is resurrected with Christ to newness of life, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness (See: Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Lu.
9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 2:20).
When we have this kind of
faith in Jesus Christ, we can approach the throne of God with freedom and
confidence, because we have been set free from sin’s hold on our lives, and
thus the guilt of our sin has been removed, and we are now confident in our
freedom in Christ, i.e. in our freedom from our slavery to sin.
That barrier of sin which
stood between us and God is gone, and now, in his power and strength, we can
walk in his Spirit in holiness, purity, righteousness and godliness, one day
and one moment at a time.
But, because Paul taught the
truth of the gospel - because he loved the Lord, because he believed the gospel
message himself, and because he loved the people and he wanted them to be free
of sin - he was persecuted, abused, mistreated, beaten, falsely accused and wrongfully
imprisoned. He suffered greatly for the name of Jesus, and for the sake of his
gospel, but also for the freedom from sin of his fellow humans and for their
walks of faith in Jesus Christ.
Yet, he did not want his
suffering to bring discouragement to the believers in Jesus, for he suffered in
order to bring them the message of hope, healing, deliverance and victory over
sin and Satan. Amen! So, it was for their good.
Strengthened Within
Ephesians 3:14-19 NASB
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
For those of us who have
believed in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, and who have given our hearts
and lives to Jesus Christ, sometimes we grow weak and tired, not just
physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually, too. And, we need to be
strengthened in our inner being.
We may need strengthened
because we have been beaten down by others who are persecuting us for our faith
and for our testimonies for Jesus Christ and for his gospel. Paul even talked
about how one time he and the other apostles felt the sentence of death within
themselves, but that was to teach them not to rely on themselves, but on God.
Or, we may need strengthened
within because of the sins of others committed against us which have crushed us
in spirit, and we may need our Lord to heal our wounded hearts.
Or, we may need to be
strengthened within, in our inner being, because of sins in our own lives which
have caused us to lose that confidence and freedom we had in approaching God.
We, too, may have lost some of our spiritual insight, discernment, and wisdom,
because of giving into sin, and our spiritual vision may have become cloudy and
in need of repair.
Cataract Surgery
The Lord gave me a picture of
this as something like cataract surgery. Cataracts in our eyes make our vision
cloudy. I know, for I have them in both eyes, and my physical vision is
definitely impaired by them.
Well, continued and willful
sins in our lives works in our inner being kind of like cataracts, and they end
up clouding our spiritual vision so that we no longer have the wisdom, discernment
and insight that we ought to have, as believers in Christ. And, so that cloudy
lens needs to be broken down into pieces and removed from our spiritual eyes
and replaced with a new lens so that it lets in the light and it restores our
spiritual vision so that we can see more clearly how our lives have gotten all
messed up by our wrong choices.
We can go through this
process willingly, which is called “revival,” or the Lord may take us through
some hardships in order to push us that direction, i.e. to force the issue,
kind of like surgery to remove cataracts in order to let in the light of truth
and of righteousness, and to improve our spiritual vision so that we do see
more clearly, and so we do walk in the light of truth instead of continuing on
a sinful course.
So many people teach God’s
love as though it is some mushy-gushy feeling he has for us, or as though it is
permission to keep on sinning without guilt. But, it was God’s love which sent
Jesus Christ to the cross to die for our sins, so that we would be liberated
from our addictions to sin, and it is still his love at work when he
disciplines us in order to continue to liberate us from our addictions to sin
(See: Heb. 12:1-13).
His grace to us does not look
the other way when we sin against him, either. His grace, which brings
salvation, instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly passions
(lusts), and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we await
Christ’s return (See: Tit. 2:11-14).
Far More Abundantly!
Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Many Christians or professing
Christians are struggling with sinful addictions, feeling helpless to overcome
them, and regularly are giving in to them. And, one of the reasons for that is
that they are addicted, and they do not want to be free, truly, and so they
make excuses for their sins, blame others, and or they dilute the gospel
message to make it fit their chosen lifestyles.
There are some people who are
battling addiction, but they are defeated regularly because they have
spiritually cloudy vision which keeps them from seeing (understanding and
applying) the truths of God’s Word.
They truly don’t see that our
God is all powerful and he is truly able to deliver any of us from any
addictions, for that is why Jesus died, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness.
Jesus already defeated Satan,
in other words, and he already conquered sin, so none of us has to remain
addicted to any sin, for our God is able to do far exceedingly above anything
we ask or imagine. Amen!
And, He can heal our
diseases, heal our broken hearts, deliver us from our fears, strengthen us when
we are emotionally weak, and give us the courage and the endurance that we need
to make it through every persecution, every opposition which comes against us,
and any mistreatment that we may face from other humans. Amen!
Believe today that He is God,
and that He is able to meet you in whatever your situation is, and He is able
to deliver and to bring healing and to bring complete freedom, if you just
believe him and put your life in his hands, and let him have control.
This I Believe
(The Creed)
Hillsong Worship
I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of
Jesus
Our Judge and our Defender
Suffered and crucified
Forgiveness is in You
I believe in You
I believe You rose again
I believe that Jesus Christ
is Lord
For I believe in the name of
Jesus
We believe in love, Jesus
Wednesday, June 6, 2018 –
Thank you, Lord, that You are able to meet us in all of our needs and to set us
free from anything and everything which is weighing in on us and is hindering
us in any way from walking with You in complete victory.
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