The Gospel of Grace for the Jews

December 11, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Book of Romans Chapter 2

If we as Christians have noticed anything since our salvation, we have noticed that it is easier to judge than it is to forgive, but God did not call us to “Judge”.

We must examine ourselves and see that we are just as desperately in need of God’s “Grace” as anyone else.

In fact, if there is a difference between a Christian and those who are lost it is only the fact of God’s “Grace”!

We must be keenly aware that we cannot hold anyone to standards we refuse to keep ourselves!

We become hypocrites and the Lord has said that there will be no hypocrites in Heaven!

We as Christians have no authority over those who are lost!

We are bound to tell them the story of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done for us, He can do for them!

There is nothing worse than to see, so-called Christians acting like the world!

Isa 52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.

It is only by the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ that we can be saved, and this salvation is made available to every man, woman, and child, until they reject it individually.

It is the “Gospel Message” that can change our hearts, but only by receiving the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, which is being “Born Again”!

Everyone that will make to Heaven must go through this process!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

It is the Jews who were given the Laws of God yet, they themselves could not keep those laws.

So how do we describe religionists?

*Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Rom 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
Rom 2:18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
Rom 2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
Rom 2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we continuously see the Pharisee, the Sadducees, the Scribes, and a few others and without a doubt the majority of these men were religionists!

These are those who profess religion enough to believe in the eternal security of that religion.

Whether he be Jew, Moslem, or Buddhist, he believes it will lead him to eternal salvation.

Yes, there are also the Christian religionists!

Verse seventeen describes to us the religionists.

They have the Word of their God with them.
They sometimes read it.
They carry it to their places of worship.
They honor it as the confirmed Word of God to all people.

Every so-called religion does this!

It is these things that lead them to believe they are at peace with God, but God requires something they do not possess.

They profess with their mouths, but they are not obedient to the Word of God.

They are not ashamed of their beliefs nor their religious affiliation.

They boast and brag about their god, but God does not accept them just because they boast of the Word of God!

The mistake they make is, that God is not interested in just these things.

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Jas 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

We must never forget what our Lord Jesus has said!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

As far as the Jews are concerned, they will never get to Heaven if all they believe is being obedient to those old Laws of Moses, that is called the Law in the New Testament!

The only profession that our Holy God wants to hear is that profession of “Faith” in the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done to provide that eternal salvation!

Without this “faith” our profession is meaningless to God!

Remember, it is the Holy Ghost who provided this knowledge to the Apostle Paul and all the other Apostles, which became known as the Apostles Doctrine, which is the doctrine of the true Church, the “Good news” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, just knowing God’s will is not enough, we must be in God’s will.

God’s will began with our salvation and if we cannot take this first step of “faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will never get close to our Heavenly Father!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God said we just become blind guides leading the world to further blindness and instructors of the foolish!

God had already warned the Jews!

Eze 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
Eze 33:32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
Eze 33:33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

The Jews killed most all the prophets including God’s only Begotten Son and still reject Him today as does all religionists!

There is only one truth!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Religion does not answer all the questions of the truth, only “faith” has those answers!

It takes more than a profession, it requires true “faith”!
It takes more than “Baptism”. Baptism is meaningless unless it is done in resemblance of the work of Jesus Christ.
It takes more than being a Church member. You can be a Church member without being in the family of God which requires the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit!

*Rom 2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Rom 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Rom 2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

We can read and study the Word of God every day of our lives, but if we refuse to apply it to our own lives, what good has it done?

In a sense, we are all teachers because no matter who you are there is someone looking at you!

We all claim to know how to live in a righteous way and we are proud parents who teach our own children how we feel, but when we refuse to listen to the truth of God and teach the truth of God, we have led them down a path of destruction.

What right do we have to tell others how to live, if we reject the truth of God on how we are all to live?

Its best we tell them nothing at all, if we are insuring their death without the truth.

God remembers all these things and we will be “Judged” for what we have done, but also for what we have not done!

Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

This kind of changes our perspective when we think about!

Do we steal?
Did we steal as a toddler?
Did we steal in school?
Did we steal on our job?
Did we steal while shopping even by accident?

Most all of us would have to say yes to most of these things.

So we cannot teach how we feel, we must teach the Word of God and then become doers of the Word of God! It is called obedience.

Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

What does the Lord say about adultery?

Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

You see if we have not been “Born Again”, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, then how should we ever believe we could teach anyone, even our own children?

Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Last week we saw that word “reprobate” and here it is again.

Reprobates then reject the truth of God for themselves but still willing to “judge” others.

We dishonor God when we do these things while still insisting, we are in a good relationship with Him. We fool our own selves!

*Rom 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Sacrilege is when we violate our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ!

This is the same as robbing from God!

This means we are treating many things as more important than our relationship with the Lord!

Every time we say some truth about the Word of God and then not do that truth ourselves, we are blaspheming Jehovah God!

We are dishonoring God before men!

When we claim to be Christian, yet violate the Word of God openly or in secret, we cause the Lord’s name to be blasphemed!

Many people doom themselves because they mock God and make light of the Lord!

All these things we are reading about were taking place by these religionists during the time of our Savior.

They are still taking place today and even taking place in the House of God, the Church.

All these things are written in the Old Testament as our examples to learn from and not to ignore!

*Rom 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Rom 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
Rom 2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

Moses established circumcision as a national ordinance for the Children of Israel.

Circumcision was another of those physical signs that have a Spiritual meaning!

The complete truth is, that there is no ritual that can get us one step closer to salvation.

Rituals cannot bring God’s praise!
Rituals cannot bring God’s approval!

You can take that word circumcision and substitute any ritual that is said to bring salvation and we can see the falsehood of all rituals!

Circumcision cannot save you!
Baptism cannot save you!
Church membership cannot save you!
Communion cannot save you!
Living in a so-called Christian nation cannot save you!
You cannot be saved by any ritual nor is any ritual to be included in any way toward our salvation!

Speaking in tongues is not a sign of your salvation!

We are acceptable to God by being obedient to His Word as it deals with the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

When you make yourself all about keeping those old laws or even new laws that are added in many of today’s Church, we have become “a Judge” who determines another person’s salvation when the Lord has taught us that all we need is our “faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God!

Not one ritual or group of rituals can save any man, any woman, or any child!

The key to a close relationship with our Heavenly Father is obedience!

Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The disobedience of Adam made us all sinners!

The obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ will make every believer righteous!

The keeping of rituals cannot save us.
The lack of keeping of those rituals cannot cause us to be lost.

It is obedience or disobedience to the Word of God that is the answer to these things!

In the New Testament we see the title Jew given to those who are not Gentiles.

The title Hebrews is used to distinguish them in regard to language and education versus the Hellenists who were Jews who spoke the Greek language.

The title Israelite is used as respects to their sacred privileges as the chosen people of God.

It is these people who preserved the Word of God that we have today!

What did Jesus say to the Samaritan woman?

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Here in this passage the Apostle Paul uses the title Jew meaning the chosen people of God while speaking to these Christian Jews.

This is the way the Apostle is using the title Jew here.

Not as the Jews of Judah, but the Jew as the chosen people of God!

Now who are the true Chosen People of God?

Listen to Paul.

A true Christian is righteous inwardly because of the Holy Spirit who abides with the believer!

We have no righteousness within ourselves!

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

With all that this great people have done by preserving the Word of God, they have chosen to abide by rituals and laws which are meaningless when it comes to salvation and eternal life with our Heavenly Father.

*Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

There has been no one except the Lord Jesus Christ who has been able to keep all 613 of those Jewish Laws.

So, as of today the Jews who stick to the laws and rituals of Moses, are not acceptable to a Holy God!

Being acceptable to Jehovah comes from the heart of those who are “Born Again” into the family of God.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a works doctrine, it is a “Grace” Doctrine!

You see, salvation is not what man can do, but salvation is what God has done through His Son and it is God who is to be praised and not man!

The true people of God are all those who are obedient to all the Word of God as it deals with the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is the Holy Spirit who converts each sinner!

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

By our own works we can never reach the throne room of God!

What does God see today?

Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

Some things just do not ever change!

We already know that all those who reject the Word of God, God has allowed to remain in that position, giving them over to a reprobate mind!

God’s true people are those who have been circumcised in the heart.

God’s true people are all those who have had that flesh disease cut out of their heart.

God’s true people are all those who have been converted by the Holy Spirit!

These who call themselves Jews must take that ultimate step:

Lev 26:41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Lev 26:42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

Amen

Why There Is A Need For God’s Grace

December 4, 2021 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Gospel of Grace for the Gentiles

Book of Romans Chapter 1

We should not have any problem believing that the Holy Ghost used the Apostle Paul as the vessel to author this Book of Romans. These things have been argued for years and the early Church decided this was true.

This Book to the Christians living in Rome was written before 60 AD which is within 30 years of the death of our Savior.

Rom 15:25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.
Rom 15:26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
Rom 15:27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

The Apostle Paul had many reasons for authoring this great book the most obvious reason is because the Holy Spirit insisted on it and another reason was that Paul intended to go to Rome to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and he used this letter as an introduction to his ministry.

The Apostle Paul had a great desire to evangelize Rome and each city on the route from Jerusalem to Rome to ensure the spread of the Gospel.

We should clearly understand that if we are obedient to the Holy Ghost, we will find that it is His job to ensure the success of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Peter was not that Rock; the Lord Jesus Christ is the Rock of our salvation!

At this time, the Church in Rome was a strong Church.

This was a lay church!

In other words this Church had been established solely by the work of the Holy Spirit without the help of the Apostles.

It is very possible that the early Church leaders in Rome had actually witnessed the resurrected Messiah.

They had certainly witnessed the moving of the Holy Spirit that day of Pentecost!

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
Act 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Act 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Act 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

The “faith” in the work of the Messiah was very strong in Rome at this time!

Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Rom 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

I should also mention that this was a Christian Church and had nothing to do with Catholicism which came much, much later.

Within seven years of this letter to the Roman Church, persecution came to this Church because of the Emperor Nero who in a fit of madness tried to burn the city of Rome and he blamed it upon the Christians.

The Book of Romans will show to us the great plan of salvation of Jehovah, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Like Paul we must never be ashamed of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, who has come and who will return to get His Church and then after a set time, show this world how it has failed.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

We are justified by our “faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation!

Those who remain ignorant of the work of the Messiah will see the wrath of God!

*Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

What was Paul’s mission which is also the mission of every Christian?

Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, “for obedience to the faith among all nations”, for his name:
Rom 1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

Our mission is to be obedient to our faith and that faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation.

We are saved for two purposes which are to be the purposes for each and every true Church.

1) To obey Him!

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

2) To lead others to obey Him!

Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

All other work for the Church comes after this work is established and is working according to the Words of Christ!

All those who reject this obedience will certainly see the wrath of God!

We are saved by the “Grace” of God, which we can understand as “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”.

If the Lord is so willing to show us His “Grace”, then we should understand that to reject that “Grace” will certainly have a penalty!

Because we all fall under the sin of Adam, which was disobedience, then we are all already subject to the wrath of God!

What two groups will see the wrath of Jehovah?

1) The ungodly!

The ungodly are all those who fail to love Jehovah who also fail to be obedient to Him.

These are all those who put forth no effort to developing a Godly nature.

2) The unrighteous!

The unrighteous are all those who fail to love others. If righteousness is doing all things according to the Word of God, then unrighteousness is doing things that go against the Word of God.

And you cannot be like our President or Ms. Pelosi who use the copout, “I know right from wrong, but I cannot tell others how to live”.

All they are saying is, that they are not going to obey the Word of God.

Jesus used these words:

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This is the mission of the Church!

Obedience; is the key to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

How does the Holy Spirit answer our corrupt government?

They know better than to try to make this sort of excuses and everyone else does also!

It is true that there are so many things that we do not know about our Savior and our God.

It is just as true that we know a lot about what He expects of us and much about Him!

Ignorance of our Holy God will never be an excuse!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we seek to know about our Creator, He will show us!
If we do not seek to know about our Creator, He will still show us!

If we choose to not know our Creator, then we have made a conscience determination to reject His truth!

God says that He has planted that information within each of us!

I believe Him!

You will never convince our Creator that you do not know anything about Him!

*Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

It is a fact that, that the heavens, the earth, and the great oceans and seas reveal that there had to be a Creator.

This world did not happen by some accident and people are foolish to even think we evolved from some accident.

The heavens declare the “Glory” of God!

Our world has become so tuned in to sin, that people will believe anything that goes against the Word of God.

This ignorance of Jehovah has sent far too many to Hell, because they simply accept what a few foolish men present as the truth.

How can we expect a Holy God to extend His hand of “Mercy” and “Grace” to this ignorant world, yet this is exactly what He does!

This “Mercy” will not be extended for very much longer because it is also true, if there is such a Creator, then how can we not expect Him to show His “Wrath” to those who reject the truth.

This is the battle that goes on today, the “Truth of a Holy God” versus the intentional ignorance of a few wicked men who have had their way in the circles of what is no longer even considered true science.

These evolutionists keep presenting the same old debunked fallacies refusing to even correct their lies and they get away with it because to admit they are wrong means there must be a Creator!

What will God do to them? What is God already doing today?

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

You see it is the invisible things of God from the creation of this world that are clearly seen!

Our Creator has revealed enough to us make us realize we did not come about by some gigantic accident.

In fact, most every person alive today cannot tell us one thing good that ever came by accident!

An accident is said to be the results that proceed from an unknown cause or the unusual effect of a known cause.

Accidents are things considered to happen without a design in mind.

To believe in accidents is to reject a Creator whose plan is so great and is so awesome that our pea brains just cannot fathom it!

Yes, it is easy to see that there has to be a Supreme Being behind what we think of as our created world.

There must a “Force” that not only put His creation in place but also Who keeps things working at His own whim!

It takes a vast knowledge of life to create life, life does not happen by accident!

There is a purpose and a meaning to everything our Creator has made, and that purpose is extended to His creatures!

There is a beauty and a majesty in all the things we see!

We do not have to imagine a Creator; we can see the results of His creation!

Psa 97:1 The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
Psa 97:3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
Psa 97:4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.
Psa 97:5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Psa 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

And the Lord God of all creation says even know these things are so easy to see, most people would rather just believe a lie.

You see, if you acknowledge a Creator then you have to acknowledge His Words and His record, He has given to us about His creation!

*Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

If there is one place in the Word of God that tells us what God thinks of all those who have rejected Him, then this is the place.

We should be truly clear, all those who reject the Word of God and the God of the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ, do so because they have chosen for themselves an idol!

They begin with a failure to praise Him and to thank Him “because they are conscious of their own guilt”!

Those who have ever taken the time to study our vast universe have no doubt that there must be a Creator.

They reject our Creator because our Creator points out their sin.

They even claim to be wiser than our Creator!

This has carried over into our pulpits today where many now claim to be wiser than our Savior.

Why would we be so foolish?

We must realize that when we push God away, He will go away!

When He goes away, we are filled with emptiness and the craving to fill that void is where most every lost person gets into trouble.

They will search the world over to find something to fill this emptiness and it cannot be found!

They will sin with, false gods, idols, drugs, and Satan is ready to receive them into his fold. The Lord Jesus said:

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Our world has become a place based upon lies and people hate the truth so much that they will reject any and all truth!

What are imaginations? Thoughts, reasonings, deliberations, conclusions, speculations.

That word “vain” means empty, futile, unsuccessful, worthless, senseless.

They become foolish and foolish hearts grow darker daily!

They sometimes become so occupied with trying to pry out the mysteries God existence and reject those things that can be so easily known.

The Word of God teaches us all we need to know to be productive in the eyes of our Creator and He does not try to hide anything so important as our salvation from us!

What more do we need to know to make that choice?

We are all bound for Hell!

God offers us a place called Heaven!

It is not such a hard choice!

We should glorify our Creator relentlessly and surely; we can thank Him for what He has already done!

If we are breathing, we are breathing God’s air!

We do not have a clue of what tomorrow may bring, but the Lord Jesus Christ does!

Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

When we know better and just follow that denying crowd, we only harm ourselves. It does not change what God will do!

God has already taken great pains to explain these things to us!

We do ourselves no justice by becoming fools!

*Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

If we take a hard look at our world, we can truly see the evidence of what God is saying here.

There is a prophesy of the last days that we can readily see today if, you have been around the true Church for any length of time.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Many will tell you that so many of our foolish governments taking advantage of this plague of Covid 19 and shutting down the Church as they have, while having no power to do so have in fact influenced this falling away.

Many who were denied the opportunity to worship have never returned to the Church!

We can say what we want about their salvation, but the fact remains they were in Church and now many are still afraid to return and some just do not return.

There is a “falling away” of those who were at one time were regular to the Church!

My point is our world just gets darker and darker every day.

If any nation rejects all the sinful movements of these liberal minded governments, then they are pushed aside as wicked and evil when it is these liberal governments who are wicked and immoral according to the Word of God.

What is happening? Evilness and wickedness are called good, and God’s children are called evil. Just as the Bible says will happen in the last days!

We may not see all the idols today because they are in false houses of worship, but just as this Book of Romans has said, all those that have rejected the Lord and the Word of God, have made themselves to be idols.

And what has our Creator done? He has given them over to uncleanness!

Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

We should ask ourselves, just what is the true reality of our dealings with our Heavenly Father?

Our Creator wants to remove from us our “uncleanness”.

The Apostle John said:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

John was describing a world that had rejected our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah that came down from Heaven.

If you give up or reject the soul saving power of Jehovah, then He will allow you to continue to dishonor your created bodies.

We live in this time called “Grace” but it will not last very much longer.

It is in this period of time that we have been given the opportunity to make a choice!

Joshua said it like this:

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

In verse eighteen we read that God has already shown us what He will do at the end of the Church Age which is what the Apostle Paul is speaking of.

He will reveal His wrath to all those who serve false gods and idols!

We live in a world where we can see this taking place right before our eyes!

You see God’s wrath is revealed from Heaven every day to all those He has given up on.

Now He will never turn down any true request for forgiveness, but our All-knowing God knows those who will choose righteousness and sadly, He also knows all those who never will!

These are things that our Savior does every day!

He gives up on those He knows will never return to Him.

This is why our world gets darker every day!

He has been doing this since the beginning of time!

So Jehovah just says, if you want to do things your way, then so be it, but know that your ending will be an eternity of His wrath.

You see though the world denies the truth of the Word of God, it does not make it any less true!

God rejected all the wicked world in the days of Noah, and He has promised He will do it again.

At the death of everyone who has rejected our Savior, they begin their days of eternal damnation which is what they said they wanted.

Notice how many today believe that Hell is nothing more than a big party place for those who reject Jesus.

Everyone in Hell is now a full believer, but it was too late for them!

When you make sin your god, you will see increased sin until you are engulfed into pure wickedness which is what Satan is, “Pure Wickedness”!

When sin looks good, feels good and taste good, then you are hooked on sin!

The sad part of this is that we are not islands. Our sin affects others!

What happens in the mind of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ?

*Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

So what does uncleanness really mean?

Uncleanness means impurity, filthiness, immorality, defilement, pollution, infection, contamination!

These are things we see at the beginning of everyday in the news and at every evening before we go to bed, and we can be sure these things do not stop just because we are asleep.

People serve themselves at the expense of all other people!

This is what idolatry means!

Worshiping a false god is like being in a heavy truck going downhill with no brakes.

There is no way to stop yourself once God gives up on you!

You see sin can only be curtailed by the Holy Spirit!

2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

So, we can just imagine, no, we cannot imagine what this world will be like once the Church is taken out of this world.

You see, every believer is home to the Holy Spirit, and He promised to never leave us so, when God calls out His Church, there will not be anyone left behind who is a home to the Holy Spirit.

Those who have rejected the Messiah have made themselves gods!

Just look toward Washington if you want to see a many of these fools.

Everyone who has rejected Jesus think that they can fulfill their own needs.
Everyone who has rejected the Lord Jesus believe that the Messiah will just continue to allow them to live in any fashion they so choose.
Everyone who has rejected the Messiah believe they can choose their own god.
Everyone who has rejected the Messiah, think they can remake Him into something more perfect according to their own minds.

These are all those who allow their loose morals to control their thoughts of what a God should be!

Again we see, God will not tolerate this type of behavior and we see God will allow you to live the way you so choose in this life.

*Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

So why would God give them up?

They have chosen to reject the truth of the Word of God and live-in uncleanness!

This is a conscious choice! They blame the truth of God for the reason they have made this decision!

Here we see that God did not cause this to happen.

It is that thing called “choice”!

God is not speaking of harlotry or adultery, here.

God is speaking of the unnatural appetite for wickedness in which all normal instincts are left behind.

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

This takes place not only with women, but for the life of me I will never understand why, but men also!

*Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Men who reject the marriage.
Men who reject ordinary lusts towards women which is bad enough.
Men who plunge headfirst into total depravity with other men.

Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

These things which have taken place throughout time are paraded down Main Street today, unashamedly!

All these things began with idolatry.
All these things come about because of the rejection of the truth!

All Jehovah told Moses, “they have corrupted themselves”!

The Lord simply says this is the judgment upon all those who do these things.

They have made a spectacle of themselves, so they take advantage of it in a depraved world!

Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

What is our world?

A lost people plunging deeper into their own desires having always someone trying to be pure to blame it on!

The only answer to this depravity is to be “Born Again” into the family of God before you go as far as to be given up on by the Savior Himself!

Jehovah said:

Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,

The Holy Spirit will only come calling until He gives up on you!

And we already know that many diseases are transmitted in this fashion, but we never hear of these plagues anymore.

So what is a reprobate mind?

*Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

How can we explain the reprobate mind?

First God did not cause this reprobate mind.

These people have reached this point of sinfulness by themselves and their own choices!

God just simply leaves them in this condition!

They have abandoned their lives to sin and God knowing they will never change, removes any opportunity for “Grace”!

Think of it in terms of a piece of metal that has proved to be worthless by the refiner’s fire.

Jer 6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jer 6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross,

You see these people did not approve to have God in their knowledge, their mind was depraved and perverted by vile passions.

This is the movement that is taking over our world today!

We also call this a sign of the very last days:

Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

They are full of unrighteousness!

We can understand righteousness as doing things according to the Word of God, they were unrighteous going against all the Word of God!

It was not just fornication it was abnormal sexual activity.

It was not just wickedness it was depravity.

It was not just a craving it for possessions, it was the craving to possess power, fame, and pleasure.

It was not just maliciousness it was with malice and viciousness.

It was not just envy; this word goes far beyond jealousy.

It was not just murder, but a craving to end the life of those who opposed them.

It was not just debate, but was in a dishonest and evil way.

It was not just malignity; it was a complete evil and wicked disposition.

It was not just whisperers but slanderers.

It was not just back biting; it was a loud broadcasting to a lie as the truth.

It was not just haters of God, but the craving to be a living god themself.

It was not being despiteful is was insulting, the spirit of spite.

It was not just pride; it was self-exaltation and arrogance.

It was not just boasting; it was braggarts and boasters.

It was not just inventors of evil, it was inventors of a new depravity.

It was not just being disobedient to parents it is a total disrespect of parental instruction.

It was not just being without understanding, it was senseless, and foolish.

It was not just covenant breakers, it was faithless and treacherous.

It was not just without natural affection; it was heartless without human emotion.

It was not just implacable; it was but an unwillingness to even condone peace.

It was not just unmerciful; it was a craving to satisfy one’s own pleasure at the expense of all others.

What do all these things bring?

The “Judgment of God” and they knew it!

*Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

All those who mention the Lord Jesus Christ, know that there is a “Judgment” coming according to the Word of God.

What are the facts? All those who sin without repentance and all those who just take pleasure in others who do those sins, will be left without the Lord throughout eternity.

They will be “judged” because they have no excuse for their actions claiming to know the truth just will make things worse.

God will not be mocked.

1) They have a complete inner knowledge of Jehovah and admit this is true.
2) They continue in depravity even knowing that this is true.
3) They are in a fellowship with Satan and all other evil doers!

All these who do such things are in league with each other and in league with the Devil!

These things describe our world today and they can be seen in every modern-day nation!

Amen!

The Responsibility Of Righteousness

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Responsibility Of Righteousness

“Working Together”

Our Text: Romans 15:4—-16:27

We have a responsibility to be righteous after we are saved by God’s “Grace”. We had no righteousness before we were saved. Our righteousness was like filthy rags.

Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, [he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness], as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

That righteousness is only in Jesus Christ:

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And God says:

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

This means we are help one another.

We are to pray for one another.

We are to minister to one another. To minister is not only to be a servant to each other but to do it for the “glory of God”. We are to deliver to each other the things, physical and spiritual, we have received of God. This is being a good steward of the things that God has blessed us with. We are to give back to others what God has given us!

We are to admonish one another, we should warn our brothers and sisters in Christ, when we see some things that affect their witnessing ability.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS JUDGING ONE ANOTHER!

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are not our enemies and should not be treated in that manner.

2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

Some read this verse and stop but we must consider the entire passage:

2Th 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no
company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15 [Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother].

We should inform them of the wrong things they do, and advise them to seek counseling from the Word of God, even showing them the truth, BUT WE MUST AVOID GETTING INVOLVED WITH THEIR EVILNESS.

We must then make them aware that we are their friend, waiting on and encouraging their return to the Lord.

When we do this properly, according to the Word of God, we will gain a solid brother and sister in Christ and we are fulfilling our obligation of “righteousness” to the God who saved us.

This is not a command because when we wear the robe of Our Lord Jesus Christ we will be in His image and we will be Christian or “Like Christ”.

THIS IS AN ACTION THE SHOWS THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

LOVE IS AN ACTION WORD!

GOD’S LOVE IS NOT CONNECTED TO “LUST”!

To love our brothers and sisters in Christ is to be in one accord with them.

Pro 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

THAT TRUE FRIEND WE ALL HAVE, THAT ARE SAVED, IS JESUS CHRIST!

THIS IS THE STRENGTH OF THE BODY OF CHRIST!

Our Text:

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that
we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

We must not forget that there was no New Testament at this time. It was being written by
these apostles and some others at this time of Paul. Paul clearly states that the books of the
Old Testament were written before the time of the Church. The Old Testament is where we learn how
God dealt with His people. God chastised them but God never abandoned them!

Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward
another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Paul is telling us, through the Holy Ghost, that the same God who gave the Old Testament Saints patience, endurance, and comfort in His Word will do the same for every believer.

In other words it is not the things of this world that can make the church better!

It is only the Word of God that can make the Church a place of worship!

Satan has too much influence on the things of this world for them to ever be any benefit to the Body of Christ!

The world would only bring false preaching and false teaching into the church and make it a place of entertainment when God wants the church to be a hospital for souls!

God uses our mistakes to teach us but we must also learn from those mistakes!

The Church must major in the Word of God and in Prayer!

Abraham knew this to be true:

Gen 13:8 And Abram said unto Lot, [Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren].

Satan will do his best to isolate Christians in this world. It is when we are alone that we are the weakest.

Satan will try to convince us that we are never good enough to get into God’s Heaven.

He will convince us that since we are so bad then it is not so wrong for us to do bad things.

This is not the plan of God nor is it the Word of God!

We can never glorify God by submitting to the evils in this world!

When we do not have the mind of Christ, we will never glorify God with our mouths!

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? [for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh].

God saves sinners and God uses sinners to do His Work!

*****Our Text:

Rom 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
Rom 15:9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
Rom 15:10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
Rom 15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
Rom 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Rom 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

What we see in chapter 15 is the fact that to minister and to be a minister of Jesus Christ should be our goal.

The theme of Chapter 15 is “minister” or “the ministry”.

The Apostle Paul uses five different Greek words to describe the ministry of the “Body of Christ”

We have learned from other lessons that the number “5” represents the number of “Grace”!

*****In verse 8 we see the word “diakonos”.

We get our English word “Deacon” from this Greek word but it means to execute the commands of a master. It means to be obedient to the Word of God as a servant to the Body of Christ.

Notice Paul said Our Lord Jesus was sent to execute the commands of the Master, The Almighty God Himself.

We are all also sent out into this world to execute the commands of our Master:

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

To be a deacon is not to hold an office of power but an office of a servant!

*****In verse 25 we the word “diakoneo”.

This Greek word means to help those in need in the church, to try to provide the necessities of life to the Body of Christ. This would include missions. This also includes those that can give more than their tithe.

We are beginning to see that every Born Again chold of God has a “Ministry” in the Body of Christ.

*****In verse 31 we see the word ” diakonia”.

This Greek word means to be a teacher and serve in the administration of the Body of Christ.

These would include every teacher in every age group from Sunday School to every other teaching program but also the music director and any clerical help among others.

*****In verse 27 we see the word “leitourgeo” for the word “service”

This Greek word means the volunteers who work in the Body of Christ to keep all the various functions of the Church working. This would also include the Prayer Warriors at most important part of the Body of Christ.

This would also include the van drivers, those that work in the nursery, those that maintain and clean the House of God and most every other volunteer in the Church.

*****In verse 16 we see the word “leitourgos”.

This Greek word means to Pastor. We know that to Pastor is to be called of God, but these Pastors must come from the Body of Christ.

This would also include any youth Pastor or any assistant Pastor among others that are specifically called of God.

All these that minister in the Body of Christ must first be believers and Born Again.

We all have a place in the ministry of the Body of Christ!

God will provide the gifts needed to for us to fit in our place.

Our Supreme example of ministry must always be Jesus Christ Our Lord!

Jesus made sure that His disciples understood this most important part of the ministry in the Body Of Christ!

Luk 22:24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
Luk 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
Luk 22:26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Luk 22:27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? [but I am among you as he that serveth].

Until Jesus died on the cross and was “resurrected into new life”, He ministered to the Nation of Israel.

Only after this did the ministry spread to “whosoever will”.

The Book of Acts tells us that the disciples began in Israel, then to the Samaritans, then to all Gentiles.

God was not selfish to go to the Jew first because He used the Jews to spread the Gospel. We may wonder why God has not yet returned but, the truth is He will not return until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, [not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance].

2Pe 3:15 [And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation]; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Look at what Paul says:

Verse 9 tells us that the Jews glorify God among the Gentiles fulfilling Old Testament prophesy:

Psa 18:49 [Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen], and sing praises unto thy name.

Verse 10 tells us that the Jews will rejoice with the Gentiles.

Deu 32:43 [Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people]: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

Verse 11 tells us that All the Jews and the Gentiles together will praise God.

Psa 117:1 [O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people].
Psa 117:2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: [and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever]. Praise ye the LORD.

verse 12 tells us that Our Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the Jews and the Gentiles.

Isa 11:10 [And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious].

We know that not all these things have taken place yet but they will!

In verse 12 that word trust “elpizo” means hope.

So in verse 13:

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing”

But the Power behind that “hope” is the Holy Ghost.

We must remember before we were saved, we had no “hope”.

Eph 2:12 That at that time [ye were without Christ], being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, [having no hope, and without God in the world]:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh [by the blood of Christ].

Not only “hope” but, joy, peace, and power, still through the Holy Spirit that lives within us.

It is because the Jew took the Gospel to the us, the Gentiles, that all the nations of this world have the opportunity to “trust”(hope) in Christ Jesus as Savior!

*****Our Text:

Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Rom 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
Rom 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The Apostle Paul, who was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, spent most all his years taking the Gospel to the Gentile.

When Paul met Jesus an the Damascus Road, he met the God of “Grace”.

1.) It was God’s grace that saved him.
2.) It was God’s grace that called him.
3.) It was God’s grace that made him the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Rom 1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

Paul realized that the Gentile were to be also called:

Eph 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Eph 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Eph 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Paul knew that the Salvation message was the Gospel of God, which is the “Good-News” of Jesus Christ.

All these things are done under the “power” of the Holy Spirit.

It is an absolute “privilege” to be a servant of God and to give the saving message of God to “whosoever will” hear it!

Paul did these things for God’s glory!

We cannot brag about our ministry BUT we must brag about what God had done in our lives since being saved and the fact of “Salvation” because it is a fact!

God’s Word is fact!

Our Salvation is based on “facts”!

We cannot over emphasize that we are stablished, stabilized on the facts of the Bible!

It was the Holy Spirit that gave Paul the power to do these things.

This is still the same power that every saved child of God operates on today!

The Apostle Paul preached according to God’s Plan of Salvation!

Paul was not to preach where other Apostles had ministered:

Rom 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, [not where Christ was named], lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

There is no greater evidence that the Apostle Peter did not start the church in Rome, as the Catholic Church declares, than this one verse!

Paul would not have desired to go to Rome if Peter had already established the church in Rome!

The Apostle Paul was the pioneer of the ministry of God, to the Gentile world!

Isa 52:12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

That word rereward means the “One that gathers”.

In other words it is the God of Israel, Jehovah God and His Plan of Salvation that had sent Paul to the Gentiles.

We know that Paul preached Jesus, so God says we will gather at the cross and the blood of Jesus will wash us into Salvation!

It would now be the Gentiles that would take the Gospel back to the Jew and that is where we stand today!

Every one that wears the title Christian is obligated to repay the debt to Israel.

1.) We should pray for the Salvation of Israel
2.) We should take the Gospel message to Israel
3.) We should provide help to Israel when we are able

When the Holy Spirit is working in the Body of Christ, the giving of these things and more is no problem.

4.) We must stand by the side of Israel!

We will see in chapter 16 that it was a lady, Phebe, that took these written words of Paul to the believers in Rome.

Phebe may not have realized the importance of the message she carried but, she could have, as the New Testament was being written and assembled during this time of Paul and the other Apostles.

2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him [hath written unto you];
2Pe 3:16 As also in all [his epistles] speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

For those that teach it was many years later that the New Testament was written, disputes what the Bible itself says.

The Bible was being written and distributed to the church during the time of the Apostles!

The Apostle Paul took some time to thank many who had help him in his ministry. We all have a ministry and we should always be thankful to any that help in our own ministry.

2Co 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2Co 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

The Apostle Paul knew that there were many that many that were working against the Church as there are today.

There are many who would divide the Church!

We can see the evidence of false doctrine in our own communities.

Any place of worship not founded on the Rock of Jesus will not stand!

Paul says:

1.) Mark them, (take aim as a spy would) and point them out to the Church, the local assemblies.

2.) Avoid them, (keep a distance from) not allowing them in our own assembly, and to not be part of these false assemblies.

We cannot fall into the trap of friendship, when we should concentrate on being obedient to the Lord and preserving our own testimony!

Any one that deviates from the Word of God intentionally, comes from Satan!

AND We know his end is near!

Not everyone that hears the Gospel of Jesus will accept Him as Savior but, we owe it to them to reach out with God’s Word, and God’s Plan of Salvation.

If we can in love point out false doctrine, then we should, but not think of them as an enemy!

God’s Word is not to be argued but only delivered!

It is the work of the Holy Ghost that will bring salvation!

If we can all work together as the “One Body Of Christ” that we are supposed to be, then God’s goals will be reached.

It is God’s Plan of Salvation!

We cannot try to change God’s Plan!

We should serve the Lord because we love the Lord!

When we work together in the work of the Lord, we are showing the love of Jesus!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Let’s Pray!

The Pursuit Of Righteousness

January 30, 2012January 30, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / 2 Comments

The Pursuit Of Righteousness

“Transformed-Not Conformed”

Romans Chapter 12

As Christians we need to look at ourselves daily. We need to examine our daily walk with the Lord!

Do we truly walk as believers, do we walk as enemies to those around us that are lost.

There are only two choices, we can overcome evil, or we can be overcome by evil.

What is this evil?

Any principle in this present world we live in, that we allow to rule our lives, that are not the principles of God!

So:

1.) When we do not present ourselves to the Lord for His use on a daily basis, we are being overcome by evil.

2.) When we cannot agree to disagree in a wholesome way with all others, we are overcome by evil.

3.) When we cannot go into the world with a sweet spirit, we are overcome by evil.

4.) When we believe we live on a upper level from others, even the lost, we are overcome by evil.

When the apostle Peter preached his first sermon he had these words:

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, [and to all that are afar off], even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

As Christians we must walk as close to Jesus as we possibly can. When we are walking [afar-off] as Peter describes, then we are walking too close to evil.

This is the same way we walked before we were saved!

The safest place for the sheep among wolves, is real close to the shepherd!

These are the words of Jesus:

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

In other words there are many false prophets [that will keep us at a far distance from Jesus], if we allow it to happen.

Jesus also said:

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: [be ye therefore wise] as serpents, and harmless as doves.

In other words, We need special training to walk amongst the evil in this world!

These that Jesus was talking to were the disciples that He was personally training every day.

*****Our Text:

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We must translate what we learn as Christians into the way we live and show in our daily lives that we truly trust God’s word.

It should be noticeable to the world that we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If we have the right relationship with God we will have the right relationship with the people that God allows to cross our paths.

We think of God as a God who gives commands, yet in this first verse we see the word “beseech”.

“Beseech” is not a word that commands but it is a word that implores, that exhort, and gives the sense that Our Lord is praying for our success. In fact God is almost begging us to give ourselves to Him for His use.

Being used of God at His will, is the safest place for us to be!

God wants us to succeed!

God is not training us to fail!

God’s purpose will not allow for failure!

God gives us the three steps that each Christian should take:

1.) God asks for our bodies.

Before we trusted in Christ we used our bodies for sinful pleasures and purposes. But!, Now that we are saved by Him we need to use our bodies for His purpose and for His glory.

Our body is His Temple:

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

God gives us this great privilege to glorify Christ:(and it is a privilege to serve Our Lord)

The Apostle Paul put it like this:

Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, [so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body], whether it be by life, or by death.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

a.) We, as believers, are chosen:

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

b.) We as believers are selected as His favorites out of many who are called:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, [but few are chosen].

Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, [but I have chosen you out of the world], therefore the world hateth you.

c.) We as believers, are God’s children:

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

d.) We as believers,are accepted:

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

e.) We as believers, are a forgiven people:

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

It is a great privileged to be one of God’s children!

*****We know that the God Almighty poured Himself into a fleshy body that we know as Jesus. He did this to accomplish his will on this Earth.

It is truly our privilege to give our bodies to continue in the work that Jesus started!

There are two living sacrifices in the Bible and they help us to understand what this means:

A.) In Genesis 22 we know that Isaac willingly put himself on the altar as a sacrifice. He would have died if that had been God’s will but God sent a RAM to take his place.

What we don’t seem to realize is that Isaac had to die of his own will in order to give into his fathers will. Isaac willingly gave his body to his father Abraham knowing it was he that was to be the sacrifice.

When Isaac climbed off that altar he was a “living sacrifice”!

B.) The greatest example of all is our Lord Jesus Christ who is the perfect “living sacrifice”.

Jesus actually died as a sacrifice in order to fulfill his Father’s will. BUT! Jesus rose again from that grave to be in Heaven as our “living sacrifice”.

To be a “living sacrifice” means we will live eternally with our Father in Heaven!

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2.) God ask for our minds:

Satan uses the things of this world to try to control our minds. God knows this and through Jesus will renew our minds.

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

Eph 4:23 And [be renewed in the spirit of your mind];
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, [which is renewed in knowledge] after the image of him that created him:

As the world tries to control our minds from the outside, the Holy Spirit that lives in us after we are saved tries to control our minds from the inside.

And, God uses His Written Word to transform our minds!

We do wrong when we ignore God’s Word! That Bible we have will not do us any good if we never turn the pages.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord].

3.) God asks for our will:

We have a body and our mind controls our body but it is “our will” that controls our mind!

We will fail if we try “under our own willpower” to control our bodies!

It is only when we yield to God’s “will” that His Power can take over!

A.) We must be sincere and fervent, in our prayer life!

B.) We must take everything before the Lord and “let God have His will” in everything we do!

Jesus says:

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: [for without me ye can do nothing].

C.) We must especially pray for those things that worry and bother us!

We must begin each day yielding our bodies, our minds and our wills to God and His purpose.

*****Our Text:

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

We can see that the Apostle Paul was writing to Christians who were members of local churches.

It is not hard to see the references to the church, “body of Christ”.

We know that each believer is a living part of this body. Each one of us have a place to serve. The Holy Spirit has made sure that each of us have the right gifts needed to fulfill our purpose.

We can also readily see “that we belong to each other as much as we belong to the body of Christ”, the church of the living God.

Paul points out some essential things for our ministry.

1.) We absolutely cannot think that our place in the church is exalted above any of the others in the church.

We must have a humble attitude toward each of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.) We must be of a sound mind and moderate in our thinking,.

This is what the word “soberly” means!

It is God that provides our measure of faith.

And our measure of faith, directly relates to the gifts we receive of the Holy Spirit:

The Bible says:

1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

It is the Holy Spirit that provides the tools each one of us need to fulfill our purpose in the church!

These gifts are given individually but, “they are for the benefit of the entire congregation”!

3.) We must not think that we are the only ones that can perform the work of Christ.

When we surrender to the Lord we then need to just get out of His way “and be that tool in His hand”.

Any believer that takes on a ministry that the Holy Spirit has “not” equipped them to do, can cause damage to the church.

But, Any believer that refuses to do a ministry that the Holy Spirit “has” equipped them to do, can hinder the growth of the church.

We can see that both of these type believers have the wrong attitude about serving!

Any gift we have is because of God’s grace. They are to be used “according to the gift of faith”.

Since our gifts are from God, we certainly cannot take credit for them in any way!

It is in the best interest of the church that we accept any gift of the Holy Spirit and use those gifts to honor the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote of himself:

1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
We can read in the Old Testament that when Solomon built the Temple that the stones that were used were so finely chiseled that they fit together without mortar.

The apostle Peter wrote:

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

We should also be so finely chiseled that we join to each other without any friction and without any strife and without any gaps!

There are no unimportant jobs in the house of God and there is no job more important than any of the others.

Spiritual gifts are tools, that in the hand of God can build the church. These gifts are not toys to play with and they are not weapons to fight with.

These gifts when used improperly can destroy the church which God will not allow!

We cannot use the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit without the use of the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit!

And the fruit of the Spirit is:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

If it is not acceptable to the Lord, IT IS NOT FOR CHURCH USE!

*****Our Text:

Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Rom 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Rom 12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Rom 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

The apostle Paul teaches us that without charity, and charitable giving and a forgiving love, then we are not using the gifts God gave us in a spiritual manner.

1Co 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, which allows all members to work together in a healthy way.

This must be honest love, not a hypocritical love nor any lustful thing. To lust is to desire, or to covet!

Our love must be a humble love and not full of self pride.

“preferring one another” really means treating others as they are more important than ourselves.!

Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

There should be little doubt that there will be many days that Satan will oppose us and try to discourage us.

But, If we can remember the one main thing, that we are serving the Lord and not man!

We must not only share the blessings of our brothers and sisters, but we should also share the burdens of our brothers and sisters.

In this way we can all grow together!

*****Our Text:

Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

What we find here, is that as we try to live our lives as the Lord Jesus did, we will see, that just as Jesus had enemies, we also will have enemies.

There will always be those that oppose the work of Jesus Christ!

We know that opposition to the work of the Lord is growing in our day.

In fact Jesus said some of our worst enemies would come from our own homes, our own families.

Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

To be truthful, we are sometimes the very reason people hate us. We sometimes forget the love that Christ had for us and don’t share that love with those around us.

This is a sad thing!

We are washed in the blood of Jesus and some refer to this as a bloody religion but, this is the truth of the gospel.

But, There is still a difference in sharing the offence of the cross, and being an offensive Christian.

As Christians we cannot play God, we cannot return evil for evil. We must not only return good for good but also Good For Evil!

We cannot do this if we do not have the love of God in us!

We cannot do this if we have not based our lives on “faith in the work of Jesus Christ” on that cross.

We cannot do this if we are not trying to accomplish the will of God for our own lives, even to those that cause us harm.

This does not mean that we should allow this world to walk all over us!

We must remember that it is the Lord that will defend us and we should leave things in His hands.

We must also remember that these very things is what Jesus taught us that would lead us to perfection.

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

There is no doubt that this is difficult to practice in our daily lives.

It is hard to show kindness to an enemy that hates you knowing, that they would take advantage of this.

Our job is still to obey and leave all the results to the Lord!

Many of our enemies will feel shame for hating us for no reason.

*****These are the ones that the Lord is trying to reach!

The only way to overcome evil is with good.

And, Our greatest witness is the life we lead in the Lord!

1Pe 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

To the evil in this world, it is the Christian Church that is the enemy.

We, of the Body of Christ, are the only ones that can show the world that this is not true.

WE ARE NOT THEIR ENEMIES BUT THEIR TRUE FRIENDS!

If we cannot do this then we have not submitted ourselves to the will of God.

These words of the Book of Romans are just as much a part of the Bible as those about salvation!

If we cannot do this then we have conformed ourselves to be like those of this world!

But, since we are God’s Children, it will show that we are identified with Jesus.

Remember, we are chosen, predestined, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and a holy people!

When we are truly conformed to the image of Jesus, we are a mighty weapon in the Hands of God!

Let’s Pray!

The Attainment Of Righteousness

January 23, 2012January 23, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / 2 Comments

The Attainment of Righteousness

“Israel’s Salvation”

Romans 10:1-11:36

The Apostle Paul is preaching to the saved children of God concerning his desire that the nation of Israel be saved. When we look back having understood the “Gospel” that is taught by Jesus Christ, we sometimes think that Israel as a nation would have been eagerly expecting the arrival of the Messiah.

We think they should of been prepared to receive Him. The Old Testament prophecies were known for centuries. The fact is, that when Jesus the Messiah came He was rejected.

Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

There were a few students of the Bible such as Simeon and Anna that knew the Messiah had come.

Luk 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luk 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Without a doubt there are some in the church that should have the same knowledge of His coming to get His Church, which we call the Rapture. Many also reject this but the truth is always the truth no matter what we believe.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Those words “Caught Up” are what the word Rapture means.

Rapture means “A seizing by violence”, caught up, yanked out. God is going to reach down and just grab His children out of this world one day and that day may not be very far away.

Jesus tells us in three of the Gospels that this is the truth:

Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Mar 13:29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

We witness these signs every day we live, so like Simeon we should be waiting on the consolation of Israel for we know that the “Rapture of the church” will happen before the time of tribulation when God will deal again with Israel. This time of tribulation will not happen until the end of the “Age of Grace”.

This is the “truth” of the Gospel of Grace.

The Church will not see the “wrath of God”!

We are saved from the wrath of God, that’s what “salvation” is all about.

In our lesson today see why Israel rejected the Messiah the first time.

The lesson for the church is that the lost of this world, after the “Rapture” of the church, will still fall into this same snares of the devil and even more so.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

We know that the world is ready for this man now who says he will make all the turmoil in this world go away.

*****Our Text:

Rom 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Rom 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

We immediately see that with the word “brethren”, Paul is addressing the church. Paul is explaining his desire that his fellow countrymen be saved.

You know, it seems what we have lost this desire in America. We don’t seem to care whether everyone in our nation is saved. It just seems that we say as Christians, we are saved but why worry about the others that are lost.

We can see that this was foremost in the prayers of the apostle Paul and this should be foremost in our prayers for our nation America and all the lost of this world.

No one deserves to be put in Hell. We are all guilty of sin, but this is still an individual choice, AND IT IS A CHOICE WE CAN MAKE AND MUST MAKE!

At the time of Jesus, Israel had a great desire to be free from Rome. They did not feel they needed spiritual salvation, they were seeking physical salvation.

Today, in America, we feel a great desire to be free from our immoral government. They also do not seem to feel the need for salvation and keep pushing God out.

Ever since Israel had returned from Babylon they had been cured of their idolatry. They had served the only true God, Jehovah.

Only the Word of God, was taught in their synagogues.

They were so zealous that they had added to the Word of God with their own traditions. They had become a nation of works not understanding God’s “grace” at all.

There are still many devout and sincere people in Israel but not a one can be saved by works.

They were proud and self-righteous, not because they did not understand the Word of God but they simply rejected the simplicity of salvation. They were too stubborn to admit their sin and trust our Savior. The apostle Paul clearly understood this because he had made the same mistake.

Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Just as Paul was wrong. Israel was wrong.

In fact anyone who places there confidence of salvation in there own flesh will never see Heaven.

*****Our Text:

Rom 10:9 That 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.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

As we studied in the book of Exodus we know, that everything about Jewish religion pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Their sacrifices, their priesthood, their Temple services, their religious festivals, and all their covenants pointed to a Messiah.

The book of Daniel gave the Bible scholar the exact time the Messiah would come, “But” in actuality they worshipped the law instead of worshipping God.

We cannot worship the Word of God, we must worship the God that gives us His Written Word!

We have been learning that the law cannot grant righteousness, the law can only point out our need for a Savior.

Jesus Christ has ended the ministry of the law to all believe!

The law moved out when the Holy Spirit moved in!

Paul pointed out that Israel had not clearly understood the truth of their own law. They had not turned to the Lord God with all their heart.

Deu 30:10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

The truth of the Gospel was not hid from them, because the truth of the Bible has always been about “Faith”.

Verse nine shows us how simple salvation is. I like to read it like this:

That if, Bobby Mayfield, shall confess with Bobby Mayfield’s mouth, the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall believe in Bobby Mayfield’s heart that God hath raised him from the dead, Bobby Mayfield shall be saved.

This is the way Oliver Greene, the Evangelist read it also.

When we make Jesus our Lord and believe, then we can be saved!

To confess this openly, without believing in our heart, will not bring salvation. The key is still “faith”.

Verse 10 gives us the order of events regarding salvation.

To believe unto righteousness is to accept Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, and as our Savior.

1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

This must be based on the written word of God. We must believe what God tells us to be the truth.

After we have believed what the Bible clearly states we need to make an open confession of our faith.

The word confession means, “to agree”. This means that we agree with God that we need a Savior. We also agree that we accept the Lord Jesus as that Savior.

This is where the nation of Israel stumbled. This is where the entire world stumbles. This is where all those that are lost stumble.

This is the very place that Satan pours most all his energy on this world!

We can see this happening with our own eyes around Christmas as the world removes the name Christ from even his own birthday.

When Paul says “shall not be ashamed” he is teaching that we have absolutely nothing to fear. When we trust in the Lord Jesus we can be assured that we are saved and are kept saved by the “blood” of Jesus.

We did not save ourselves and we cannot keep ourselves saved!

For anyone to call on the Lord for salvation, they must know about Him. This is why God leaves us here after He saves us. Our job is to proclaim the Word of God to all that are lost. And along with that job we are to be disciples to those that believe so that they can also teach others.

We may not realize it, because we live in the Bible Belt, but there are so many people in America and throughout this world that don’t know a thing about and have never heard the name Jesus. God said if we would just broadcast His word, He would make it prosper.

There has never been but one plan of salvation and as far as the plan of salvation is concerned there is no difference between Jew or Greek or black and white or red and yellow or any other thing or between any other race of people.

When God says “rich unto all” in verse 12, He is saying that the supply of mercy and grace will never run out, regardless of how many call on Him.

Verse 13 tells us the truth. “Whosoever”. This word is not bound by any limitations!

God says what He means, and God still means what He says!

Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, [that whosoever] shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:

We can see that God’s prophets had told the nation of Israel this same thing. They had no excuse for thinking that God, was only the God of Israel.

God truly wants the world to know that there is no other way to get to Heaven.

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

*****Our Text:

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We simply cannot leave this verse out of our lesson today.

1.) Faith does come by hearing.

The child of God simply cannot be silent about his salvation. The light of salvation simply cannot be hidden.

2.) Hearing.

Hearing does not automatically lead us to faith. There are many things in this world that we hear and they will lead us in the wrong direction. The Jews had heard about Jehovah God for many hundreds of years. Yet not many were saved.

3.) It is the facts of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Birth, His Ministry, His Death, His Burial, His Resurrection and His Blood.

It is when we hear these things about Christ we must accept the message or reject it. We must accept the Word of God just as it is written, rightly divided.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

God says in verse 21 that every day and all day long He stretches out his hands to a disobedient and a denying people.

*****Our Text:

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

God would never cast away any people, we do that all by ourselves when we reject the Word of God.

*****Paul called himself, “one born out of due time”.

1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Paul said he was the example, the pattern, a picture, of how the nation of Israel would be saved in the future.

1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

*****We get the details of Israel’s restoration from Zachariah:

Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zec 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

*****The nation of Israel will see Christ at his Second Coming and there will be no denying then

Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

*****The Bible tells us of the experience of Paul’s salvation on the Damascus Road. This is the experience that the apostle Paul says that he was the pattern for, this is the experience the nation of Israel will have. What is important here is not the fact that Paul was saved but in the manner that he was saved.

Israel will not be saved just because they are the covenant people, like Abraham, they will have to believe on God in order to receive His righteousness. Like Paul they will see Jesus and they will then say “Lord what will thy have me do”.

This will not only be a remnant but this remnant will be saved by grace and not by works. This is the same way any Jew and “whosoever will”, is saved in the “Age of Grace”.

What we learned from Paul is that the Jews rejected the gospel, God then sent the same Gospel to the Gentiles. The Gentiles believed and are saved.

There are three things that occurred when the Gospel was turned to the Gentiles.

One: The nation of Israel fell.

Two: The nation of Israel was lost.

Three: The nation of Israel was cast away.

BUT, The nation of Israel was not judged!

God had promised that the Gentiles would be saved and he kept His promise. We must realize that these promises to the Gentiles are linked to Israel during the millennial kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom has not taken place yet. This gap is what we call the Church Age.

This is what Paul called “the ministry”!

God is not abandoned Israel they are merely set aside unto the end of the Church Age.

The ministry of the church to the nation of Israel is to provoke them to jealousy.

There is a future for Israel, Paul describes this as their fullness in verse 12.

Rom 11:12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

God will never break His covenant with this His covenant people. God has promised to restore them!

Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
Jer 31:36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Jer 31:37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
God is not finished with the Jew. God made his covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and God cannot deny them or change them.

The Church has been “warned” that we are also obligated to Israel!

Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, [if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off].

We all have family members that are lost, surely we do not want God to take us out of here early just because we have failed to heed His “warning”.

According to Bible prophecy the church during the Laodicean Church Age will be cut off because of apostasy. Apostasy is the falling away, the departure from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

These are the signs that we see every day. Who is to say that the man of sin, the Antichrist, will not show himself at any moment. We can be sure that the Rapture is at the very door.

What is happening to Israel is part of God’s plan and we know God knows exactly what He is doing!

Let’s Pray!

The Absence of Righteousness

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / 33 Comments

The Absence Of Righteousness

"Condemnation"

Our text:

Romans Chapter 9:1-33

Eternal life is the free gift of God. We do not work to earn it and do not have to work to keep it.

We are saved by grace, we live by grace, and we are secured by the "grace" of God!

You can search the entire Bible and you will not ever find a place where God has failed.

God never fails in what he does!

God always delivers what he promises!

So, It is not up to us to keep ourselves saved; it is up to God! We are in His Mighty hands.

We are then filled with the spirit of Jesus. This is the same Holy Spirit that is always there to make intercession for us and The Holy Spirit is always with us to "convict" us when we fail.

Every day that we begin, God is working out his plan in our lives so that all things work together for our good.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, [to them who are the called according to his purpose].

This is the valuable lesson that we learned from last week in Romans chapter 8.

What we will see this week is that Paul will take some time to teach the church to understand God’s relationship with Israel.

What we should notice is that Paul has not done this until he has taught the truth of eternal salvation to the Church, The Body of Christ. (Romans Chapter 1-8)

We should also believe that none of these words are just for Israel but they are also for the church to learn. Paul was writing this Epistle to saved people.

Paul wrote this letter to believers but we need to understand as the Church, the Body of Christ, that God is not through with Israel.

Not as a nation, nor as a people!

We see many things about Paul but some of these things are:

1.) Paul was considered a traitor to this Jewish nation.

2.) Paul spent most all his time witnessing to Gentiles.

3.) Paul taught "all" God’s creation, of the freedom from the law Moses. (God only has one message of salvation, this is not the message taught in Judaism which is a message of works )

4.) Paul caused trouble in every synagogue he preached with this message.

5.) But, Paul never stop loving his nation and his people.

Reaching out to his nation was a personal thing to Paul.

We should make reaching out not only to Israel but to all that are lost a personal thing to us that are saved.

We should learn that each one of us has an obligation to reach out to our own nation beginning with our own family and then all that God allows to cross our path.

Paul taught us in chapter 8 that all believers were secure in Christ Jesus. The question that always arises about the Jews is, "how will they be secured"?

We know that the nation of Israel were a chosen people in the work of the Lord.

We know that to some it may appear that God has abandoned this people.

We know that to some it may appear that God has failed to keep his promises to Israel.

If these things are true and God is not faithful to the Jew how can we know for sure that God will be faithful church?

Israel is the only nation in the world that has a complete history.

1.) The Bible tells us about their past, when they first became a nation.

2.) We live with them in the present, when they are again recognized as a nation, since May 14, 1948.

3.) The Bible tells us about the future of this nation during the Millennial Kingdom.

4.) This cannot be said of any other nation on this earth!

We will see in this chapter, God’s righteousness, God’s justice, and God’s grace applied to Israel.

*****Our Text:

Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Rom 9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

It has only been a few weeks where we read how Moses loved this nation of Israel.

Exo 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Moses was willing to take all the blame of Israel on himself just so this nation could survive.

But! God will not allow us to die for the sin of another. We can answer only for ourselves in salvation.

What we see here is that Paul also had the same love for his nation as he had for the church.

It amazes me that in America it seems Americans do not love our nation as we should. Sometimes it seems that not many missionaries to stay want at home in America. We sometimes get so caught up in our day by day lives and forget this nation of freedom in which we live.

We still live in the greatest nation in this world!

And, we know that God deals with the sinners on an individual basis.

The Apostle Paul list eight ways that God dealt with Israel as a nation.

*****1.) This nation was adopted by God.

Exo 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

This nation was chosen as God’s own possession.

Deu 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

This nation has seen more of God’s wrath than any other nation.

Amo 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

This is still God’s chosen nation. This is absolutely and eternally true!

The Church is God’s chosen people, BUT Israel is still God’s chosen Nation!

These facts have not changed!!!!!!!

Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

If we do not stand with the nation of Israel there will be no blessings from God. It seems more and more that our own leaders are trying to abandon Israel and this is a serious mistake.

*****2.) We know that Israelites were the first to see the glory of God.

It was Israel that was told to build a sanctuary for God.

Exo 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

God has not asked any other nation to do this!

*****3.) We know that it was Israel that received God’s covenants.

With Abraham:

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram

Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

With David:

2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

Gabriel told the Virgin Mary:

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

And there will be a new covenant:

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

There is still some prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled:

Eze 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Eze 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

*****4.) It is Israel that God gave the law, the moral laws we live by now:

Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

*****5.) It was Israel that was taught how to serve Jehovah God:

They were taught the religious ordinances for Tabernacle worship and Temple worship.

These things were for Israel and not for the church.

These things may even resume during the age of the millennial kingdom.

BUT, Paul denounced these things for church worship:

They have no part in the church, the Body of Christ!

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, [how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?]
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

*****6.) Israel was given certain promises that will still be fulfilled:

God’s salvation promises were given to Abraham.

God’s kingdom promises were given to David.

The Gospel given to the church is not a promise but it is a "Fact" to be believed!

The Gospel is not preached to the nations "but to each individual"!

We do not have to become Israelites in any sense to enjoy God’s salvation in Jesus Christ!

BUT, All Israelites do have to be saved to become part of the "Body of Christ"!

*****7.) Who are those fathers of Israel?

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Judah who was the tribe of the Royal promise, King Jesus.

Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

We also have Moses, Samuel, and King David that we must include with the prophets of God.

We also know that Abraham is the father of all "believers" in any age!

*****8.) We know that Jesus Christ our Lord was also a Jew from this nation of Israel, and from the tribe of Judah.

Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

What we will see in the teaching of Paul is:

a.) God will not be unfaithful in His promises to Israel.

b.) That God’s Own Word had foretold of their rejection and their salvation of Israel but also foretold of the salvation of the Gentile.

c.) That there would be a future blessing to Israel because of God’s mercy.

*****Our Text:

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
Rom 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
Rom 9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

There should be little doubt that there is a difference between the natural seed of Abraham and the spiritual children of Abraham.

(Rom 2:28) For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

(Rom 2:29) But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Abraham actually had two sons, Ishmael by Hagar, and Isaac by Sarah. Since Ishmael was the firstborn he should have been the chosen son but God chose Isaac.

Later Isaac and Rebekah his wife, had two sons Esau and Jacob. Esau was the firstborn and should have been the chosen son but again God chose Jacob. Esau and Jacob had the same mother but Ishmael and Isaac had two different mothers.

What we should see is that God does not base his decisions on physical things!

God will have His way and His purpose in whosoever He chooses whether they be good or whether they be evil!

God had chosen Jacob before the babies were even born. These two boys had not had a chance to do neither good nor evil so God’s choice is not based on character or conduct.

BUT, These descendents of Abraham failed.

They had had a privileged relationship with God above all other nations.

AND, We know that the Lord Jesus Christ had to confront them on this matter.

Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

It was the faith of Abraham that made him righteous in the eyes of God.

All the children of Abraham would have to have that same faith in Jesus.

Jesus knew that this was not true when he was on this Earth.

There is no such thing as religious privilege in the eyes of God.!

God’s Messiah was prophesied to come through Isaac.

The Lord Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary, came from the promised seed.

The "born again" child of God then are the true children of promise and are accounted the seed because of Jesus and the work He did on the cross.

BUT, We must never think that God is unrighteous in the way He does things.

God is holy and must punish sin; but God is loving and desires that all sinners be saved.

God’s ultimate purpose is to form his church from both Jews and Gentiles!

But God had prophesied to Israel in the days of Hosea that He would turn from the Jew to the Gentile:

Hos 2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

This new people would be the children of the living God:

Hos 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

Then God said that there will be only a remnant of Israel saved:

Isa 10:21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isa 10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
Isa 10:23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

It is possible that most of the studies concerning Israel will not happen until the tribulation period and with it’s ending.

In our time we know that there’s only a very few Jews that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

We should never think that God is unjust because some are saved and others are lost. Each individual must make that decision themselves!

Hell was created for Satan and his fallen angels. It was not intended for a place for humans.

But we should also remember if these human that have rejected Our Lord got into Heaven they would be burnt to non-existance.

Our God would only be unjust if He did not keep ALL His promises!

In the days of Moses, God rejected the Gentile nations and chose the nation of Israel so that through the Jew he might save the Gentiles.

This nation of Israel rejected God’s will but they could not defeat God’s purpose!

Israel might object to the fact of the remnant but Paul insists that if God had not intervened with his grace Israel would be like Sodom and Gomorrah.

What we do know is that when this time the church has passed God will continue with his work with Israel.

*****Our Text:

Rom 9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

The Jews were seeking God’s righteousness but they thought it came by the laws of Moses.

The Gentiles were not seeking God’s righteousness yet they obtained it through "faith" in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Israel was trying to be saved by "works" and not by "faith".

They rejected God’s "grace", and tried to please God through the "laws of Moses".

The Jews in their self-righteousness believed that the Gentiles had to come up to Israel’s level to be Saved.
In Actuality, Israel would have to come down to the level of the heathen Gentile the saved. (Romans 3;23)

They still struggle with this and it has become a major stumbling block to them.

There are many in this world that struggle with the fact that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Psa 118:21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

There is only One foundation that God chose for all the world, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is a shame that the the world still struggles at this stumble stone instead of planting their feet on the solid ground.

FOR, God does not save people on the basis of birth or behavior!

People are only saved by the grace of God through faith!

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

This will never change!

God offers his salvation to whosoever will but we must trust Him and receive "by faith" His righteousness which is our guarantee to His Heaven!

Nowhere does God ask us to choose between these two truths!

The word of God and the promises of God work together for our salvation!

Our God is faithful even when we are not!

He will accomplish His purpose!

He will keep all His promises!

Let’s pray!

Security In Christ Jesus

January 9, 2012January 9, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Security Of Righteousness

"Safe In Christ Jesus"

Our Text: 8:26-39

Though many disagree and take advantage of it, the Bible does teach of the security of the believer. It is true that once saved we are eternally saved and will never lose our salvation and have to be saved again.

If we believe any part of the Bible, then we must believe this truth also.

Those that believe on Jesus Christ have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit’s intercession in prayer, and the assurance of God’s purpose during trials and the love of Christ without end.

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Though we want to disagree we are His sheep. Sheep may be the dumbest animal on this earth.

God can and will change our attitudes but only when we accept his truth and believe his word.

*****Our Text:

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

God has a real concern about the things we go through every day. We can see the proof that this is true just by looking at Jesus.

Joh 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, [he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled],

Joh 11:35 [Jesus wept].

Joh 11:38 [Jesus therefore again groaning in himself] cometh to the grave.

These are signs of concern that Jesus, the Messiah expressed. He was all man but He was also ALL GOD.

We as Christians have the Holy Spirit abiding with us and he also groans and and feels the burdens of our weaknesses and our suffering.

But the Holy Spirit does much more than groan, He prays for us so we might be led by the will of God.

We do not always know God’s will but the Holy Spirit always does.

We do not always know how to pray but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to meet our needs.

The Holy Spirit that abides within us shares our day by day burdens.

We should see that our prayer life is our most important weapon in this world.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

We should take comfort knowing God has a perfect plan.

We should take comfort knowing that God has a purpose for each and every thing he does and for each and every one of us.

There are only two parts of His purpose.

1.) His plan for our good. God does not have a plan for anything bad for us.

2.) His plan for His glory. God does not have a plan share his glory with any that do not believe.

It is God’s will to make us like Christ and others can see we are Christians. This is the first part of being a witness for God.

The most important thing we need to know about God’s plan is that it will succeed!

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

This is not having the Calvinistic view but it is the truth of the Gospel.

God has predetermined that one day we would be like his son Jesus. And this only applies to the believer.

We will never find in the Bible where God predestined people to be eternally condemned. God gives every person the free will to choose where they will spend eternity.

Joh 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].

To some this is harsh but it is the truth of the Gospel.

God will at some point in everyone’s life call them, if they respond to his call He will justify them.

2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
2Th 2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is how we obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is how God will get his glory. What this means is that once we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, then at that point we have been glorified in Christ.

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Only under these conditions can we obtain that future glorified body like that of Jesus. We saw this in last week’s lesson.

Rom 8:23 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, the redemption of our body.

We as Christians should never be discouraged knowing we already share in the glory of God.

We have no obligation to any old law because we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit. We already know that those old laws only condemned.

It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to overcome the desires of our flesh and live for God.

There should be no frustration because we already share the glory of God which is the blessed hope of Christ return.

There can be no separation because we are already in the loving hands of God.

We have no need to fear are past, the days we live in now, nor the future we know that is coming.

We know that the number five is the number of grace. What are the five things that Paul said we can believe.

1.) God the Father is on our side.

2.) God the Son is on our side.

3.) God the Holy Spirit is on our side.

4.) God is making all things work for our salvation.

5.) God in all his power is preparing us for His future use.

If God be for us who can be against us.

We should begin each day knowing that our God is own our side.

And God the Father only wants the best for his children even when we must go through some trials to becomes God’s best.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God gave us his best when He sent the Lord Jesus, while we were lost in this dyeing world and God continues to give us his best now.

God deals with each believer on the basis of Mount Calvary’s "Grace"!

*****Our Text:

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has declared that we are righteous in Christ Jesus. There is only one who is our accuser now and that is Satan.

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

We are the elect people of God. We are God’s chosen people in Christ Jesus accepted by him.

Once God has justified us He certainly will not accuse us.

For God to accuse us would mean that His salvation was a failure and we are still living in our sin.

If we truly understand justification it will bring peace in our hearts. We should think of justification as the opposite of condemnation.

Though the things we face day by day change, our justification will never change. We may accuse our selves and others may accuse us but God will never be our accuser Jesus has already paid that penalty.

We have already read where the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. And now we see where our Savior Jesus also intercedes for us. Jesus the one who died for us and is now in heaven interceding for us.

Our Savior has become our High Priest!

It is as our High Priest, He gives us the grace we need to overcome our weakness.

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus is also our Advocate and forgives our sins and keeps us in fellowship with God.

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

This means that while we are on this Earth Jesus represents us to our Father in Heaven.

It is part of God’s plan for us to stay on this Earth to be witnesses, but while we are doing that He will not allow us to be overcome in our sin.

We are not only saved by the Grace of God we are saved by the Life of Jesus.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

That word uttermost means we are saved to the highest degree. We are extremely saved!

God will never fail us but we can steal fail Him.

God does not shelter us from the difficulties in this life. We need these things for our spiritual growth. We should be assured that these things work for us and not against us.

All these things are for our good, but for His Glory.

God will never desert us and during our trials He will actually get closer to us.

Verse 37 says "we are more than conquerors through him that loves us"

We need not fear life are death, things present nor things to come, because Jesus loves us and gives us the victory.

There are no conditions that are attached to these verses!

There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God and His Victory.

1.) We are completely victorious.

2.) We are completely free from judgment.

3.) We are completely free from defeat.

4.) We are completely free of discouragement.

5.) We are completely free of fear.

There is no condemnation!

There is no obligation!

There is no frustration!

And there is no separation!

Because of God be for us, no one and stand against us.

Let’s pray!

Righteousness

January 2, 2012January 2, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Practice Of Righteousness

"Walking in The Spirit"

Text: Romans 8:1-25

Only when we walk in the Spirit of God will we ever have peace and freedom in this physical life we have now, while we are still alive.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

In this chapter we will see the part the Holy Spirit plays in our "Salvation".

1.) Without the "Work" that Jesus Christ did on the Cross there could be no Salvation!

2.) Without the "Presence" and "Constant Work" of the Holy Spirit in our lives we would have no way to apply the "Free Gift" of God’s Grace to our Salvation.

3.) Jesus Christ and Him "Crucified" is the message concerning our Salvation.

4.) Christ Jesus and Him "Glorified" is the message concerning our Perfecting us as Believers.

5.) The "Teaching" of the Holy Ghost(Holy Spirit) is "Fundamental" to the work of our Sanctification.

Sanctification is God’s act of making us Holy. We have to be Holy to live with Our Holy God!

a.) It is God’s "Comforter", the indwelling Spirit, in whose ministry we find peace and love.

b.) It is God’s "Comforter", the indwelling Spirit, in whose ministry we find our Divine purpose in this life.

c.) It is God’s "Comforter", the indwelling Spirit, in whose ministry we come to know the "Power of God".

d.) It is God’s "Comforter" that will always lead us to Our Lord Jesus and His "Thoughts".

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Our Text:

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times in Romans chapter 8.

We must see the importance of the Holy Spirit in our daily walk.

It is in this chapter where we must see our own "Declaration of Freedom"!

We can immediately see that the only ones that will not be condemned are those that have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

We can also see that only "believers" can walk in the Spirit of God.

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: [in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise],
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

These are the same ones written in the "Lamb’s Book of Life"!

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

These that are written in the Lamb’s Book Of Life, are the only ones that will live with God in His New Heaven!

All the rest will live eternally in that place created for Satan and the fallen angels, it is their own choice to do so.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to deliver every believer in the true Law of Life. This New Life is a deliverance from the old law of sin and death.

The Holy Spirit provides the New Life within us, where there was before condemnation.

It is the Holy Spirit that will deliver us from that battle with our Sin Nature we learned of in chapter 6 and 7.

If we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, then we have no other conditions to meet to be indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit.

In the sin of Adam we were condemned. In the sinless life of Jesus there is no condemnation!

This verse does not say we will not make mistakes.

We will always suffer for our mistakes while we are God’s earthly temple but we can never, ever be condemned again.

It is the Law that condemns, but as believers we have a new relationship with God’s Laws.

***1.) The Law cannot ever claim us again:(vs 2)

We have been made free from the law of sin and death. Our life is now in the life of the Holy Spirit who can never die.

The law of sin and death was set in motion when Adam disobeyed God. Adam died because his relationship changed with God and was severed. Death is the product of sin!

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

***2.) The law cannot ever again condemn the believer: (vs 3)

Why is this true?

Our Lord Jesus Christ has already suffered "OUR" condemnation on that Cross!

The law can only condemn but Jesus Christ did what the law could not do, Jesus came that we might have life.

Joh 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
Joh 20:31 But these are written, [that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name].

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

***3.)The law can never ever control the believer:

As believers we can lead a righteous life in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

There is no law that has the power to produce "holiness"! The righteousness God demands can only be fulfilled through the Holy Spirit.

Any that are what we call legalist, will try to obey God in his own strength and will always come up short.

It is the Holy Spirit led believer, the Christian, that when yielding to the Holy Spirit will enjoy the newness of life and joy in this life on earth.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

*****Verse 5.)

This verse IS NOT about the two types of Christians. (The Carnal and the Spiritual)

This verse IS about about the "Saved" and the "Unsaved"!

We must never forget the two most important things to the believer:

1.) Jesus Christ "shed His blood", (He did not spill His blood) to pay for our guiltiness and to bring us closer to God.

2.) We died with Jesus that day on the cross, (He was made sin for us).

We no longer have a history with Adam. Our history now is with The Lord Jesus Christ.

The "unsaved person" (the lost) do not possess the Holy Spirit of God. The mind of a lost person is still centered on things that satisfy the flesh.

This does not mean that an unsaved person cannot do some things that are good.

This also does not mean that a saved person cannot do some things that are bad.

It does mean that a Christian should be noticeably different from the lost in their daily walk!

****Verse 6.)

The non-believer is alive physically, "But Dead" spiritually. To be alive spiritually is t iso be indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God!

The non-believer is dead toward God and does not respond to the calling of the Holy Spirit. This the reason a lost person is available for Satan’s use.

2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The "Carnal Minded" will make themselves enemies with the Lord.

Just the name Jesus will burn like hot coals inside them and they will be angry and fill left out not knowing the truth nor seeking the truth. They just cannot reach a peace within themselves.

We know that this is true!

Isa 48:22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

*****Our Text:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

The word "enmity" is the quality of being an enemy. It is a tragic thing to be an enemy of God. This is a fixed rooted hatred and we can see the evidence of it when the name Jesus is mentioned in this world.

To be in the "flesh" is to be lost and to be lost is to be an enemy of God. This not something God has caused but that carnal minded lost person has caused because they are led by Satan.

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? [whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God].

We see that same word "enmity" which means acting like an enemy.

Remember God loves the entire world and He sent His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ to save the world.

It is not God who is the enemy!

It is God’s will to be a Savior!

The Bible says:

Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

To those that are lost, we therefore become their enemy when we try to witness to them. Not many will even listen until they have reached rock bottom in their lives and see no way out.

To be unsaved without the Holy Spirit is the lowest level of human life.

Thank God that through Jesus Christ we can step up to the next level with "Faith" in Jesus Christ.

Verse 9.) says:

To be saved and indwelled with God’s Holy Spirit is to then belong to God the Father in Heaven and this can only happen by whole hearted in God the Son, Jesus Christ, and the work He did on the Cross!

By this we then belong to God and are no longer an Enemy!

Until I was owned of God I did not know what the word "Life" really meant!

Unless the rapture of the Church happens while I am still alive, this body I have will die, but while I am still alive God will use His Holy Spirit that lives in me to make me a useful tool in His hands.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

It is when this happens to a lost soul that they will realize they are not of this world and there is a New World coming.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

*****Our Text:

Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 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, the redemption of our body.

It is not enough to just have God’s Spirit within us. Yes we are saved but if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in our lives then we will not be of much use to God.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

It is only then that we can have that abundant, victorious life that God so wants us to have. We have no further obligation to our flesh and it is the Holy Spirit that will convict us of any sin.

What are some of the ways we grieve the Holy Spirit?

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

It is easy to see when we do these things, the Holy Spirit cannot work in our lives nor in our Church!

We have an obligation to the Holy Spirit to yield to the Holy Spirit for without His work in us we could not be saved.

Because the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of Life", He can lead us to obey the Word of God and Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is when the Holy Spirit works in our lives that we can be called Christians by those around us.

This is when it will be noticed that we are a "peculiar people"!

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, [a peculiar people]; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

When some one tells us we are strange then we can rejoice knowing the Holy Spirit is working within us.

Christian’s are only Christian’s when they are truly like Jesus Christ!

It is the same "Spirit of life" that is the "Spirit of death" to our old sin nature. The Holy Spirit can, if we follow His lead, put to death the "sinful deeds" of our bodies.

As we yield our bodies to the Holy Spirit, He will apply to us and in us, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is also the spirit of adoption.

We come into God’s family by birth. But the instant we are born into the family, God adopts us and makes us his children. God has become our Abba father.

The Holy Spirit teaches us from the Word then we can receive God’s wealth by faith. There is no need for us to lead defeated lives.

When God finished His work of Creating, He had these words:

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

That word "very" meant "exceedingly good!

This not the same picture we see in this passage of Romans.

God’s entire Creation groaning in pain.

There is suffering and death every where we look. Some one robbing a bank or a store. Someone at our schools just randomly killing anyone they see. Mothers and fathers killing their own children and even sometimes the children killing the parents.

I know where I am going and I find myself wanting to go on home sometimes.

All these things are happening because of the "SIN" that is in this world.

Notice these words:

It is God’s creation that is suffering so we can see that WHAT GOD CREATED IS NOT THE BLAME NOR AT FAULT!

Paul uses the words: vanity, bondage, decay, pain and suffering to describe our world around us and we know that this true today.

Paul said this pain was like a woman in labor and we know her pain would end when her child was delivered.

That’s exactly when our pain will end, WHEN OUR REDEEMER RETURNS TO CLAIM HIS CHILDREN!

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

If we stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ we will be ready when He returns.

Let’s Pray!

The Battle Within Us

December 26, 2011December 26, 2011 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Battle For Righteousness

"Between Two Natures"

Our Scriptures for the day will come from Romans Chapter 7

When we bow to the Lord and our names are written down in the Lamb’s book of life, we find out that our flesh, these bodies we live in, hate the law of faith. We also find out that true faith leaves no room for our own will and energy.

We begin a daily battle with our own flesh. And our flesh will go to any degree to satisfy itself up to the point of death.

But when we reach a point in our spiritual lives that we crave to be holy, we will come under conviction for the way we live. Our conscience will awaken and we will see that we have been content with our own self-righteousness.

Our holy walk is not as it should be. We are sometimes worldly Christians who have lost the ability to witness.

True faith is to know that we died with Christ on that cross.

1.) We should know that our deliverance is only in Christ. We are dead to sin and alive to God.

2.) We should know and be willing for God to point out the errors of our ways and removed them. This should be a daily request in our prayers.

3.) We should know that it is only through God’s grace that we can mortify our flesh completely. If we go to a morgue we will realize what that word mortify means.

4.) We should know how to walk that path of righteousness.

5.) We should know that we will face that struggle all the days that we live.

The Bible tells us how to do this:

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1.) We have to totally submit ourselves to God.

2.) We have to resist the devil, he is the one that has to flee.

3.) We have to avoid the filth of sin.

4.) We have to have our hearts and our minds in the right place.

5.) We we must lead humble lives in the sight of God.

*****Our Text:

Rom 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

We missed last week’s lesson but the theme of chapter 6 is very clear.

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

When we sin after our names are written down in the Lamb’s book of life, we simply do not love each other enough. It is the law of love that we continue to break daily.

If we remain under any of those old laws then they will have dominion over us. It is the new law of "love thy neighbor" that should have dominion over our daily lives. While we were lost were in bondage to our sin. Once we are saved and stay in bondage to those laws, then we are rejecting God’s grace.

We are actually saying that we are ignorant of the Word of God.

Paul’s illustration of the husband and wife is to show us all that believe that there is a new relationship because of Christ Our Savior.

When a man and woman married, they vow that they have been united for life. Most vows include the words "till death do us part".

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The number "one" means unity and the number "one" is indivisible. The only way break this unity is death.

Jesus explained in the book of Matthew that unfaithfulness is on the same standard as death.

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The apostle Paul does not bring this up because it is not the point of his teaching. Paul is teaching us the relationship we had with those old laws.

Paul clears this up in verse five:

"For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death"

Those motions, or emotions would also include hardship and pain and the evil influence sin has had on our lives. We always seem to forget these horrible things that sin has caused us.

We always forget, it is not the law that dies, it is the believer that must die to the law.

In Paul’s illustration the husband died. The woman was free to marry again but only under those same old laws.

The man being dead could do nothing. Those old laws have no effect on a dead person. This man had to be born again to be something new, a new creature under a new law.

This is exactly what Paul was teaching!

This is exactly what we need to learn. When we trusted Jesus Christ, we died to the law, but in Christ Jesus, we will rise from that death and are now remarried, united, with Jesus Christ in a new relationship and a new life.

We are not lawless, but we are united to Jesus in His life.

We already know that the new law of Christ is the law of love.

This is what Jesus called the fulfillment of the old laws of Moses and of the prophets.

To be saved is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The fruit of the spirit is:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Notice the word "fruit" is not plural, to be filled with the spirit is to have all these traits as there are no laws against any of them. There is no law of death! There are no wages of death!

Again the fruit of the spirit is:

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

When we possess these traits of the Holy Spirit and walk daily in them and we are proving what is acceptable unto the Lord Jesus Christ and are walking in the new law of life.

Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

When we are dead to the law it certainly does not mean we can lead lawless lives. It does mean that our motivation, our new motions of life, come from the grace of God.

Our minds have a passion to see, the motions of sin. But with the Lord Jesus we have a renewing of the mind and therefore a passion for love, the motions of salvation.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

And again:

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The only logical conclusion we can have is that no law has the authority over a dead person and only death brings deliverance from the law.

Only after we are delivered can we serve the God of grace.

To live as a Christian is not to be rebellious or independent. When we yield to the Holy Spirit he will energize us to seek the Lord.

Those old laws were written in stone and then read to the people.

But the new law of love is written in our hearts.

2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

To be a believer is to live under one authority and that is the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Verse 7-13 were not part of our lesson but there are a few things to consider:

1.) Those old laws revealed same sin:

Those that object to the law God,"the law of love", always have their own answers so they will sometimes ask.

What good are laws that we do not need any more?

They also ask if the laws are sin then why were they ever given to anyone?

God gave the laws to show us what sin looks like!

Rom 3:20 said: "for by the law is the knowledge of sin"

Rom 4:15 said: "for where no law is, there is no transgression"

Those old laws are like a mirror that shows our filth.

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Paul teaches us that it is the sin of covetousness that is the power of sin in the inner man.

Covetousness was the downfall of Adam and Eve and in all mankind.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

If we are to be honest covetousness is the sin that we least recognize in our daily lives.

We might not ever murder or steal or lie cheat but our desires will lead us into all manner of sin.

2.) Those old laws aroused sin:

There’s just something about human nature that makes us want to sin. That sign that says wet paint. Or, just tell a child not to go through that water or through that mudhole.

This is the kind of thinking that makes us enemies with God.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

That word enmity means doing things that are hostile toward God.

3.) Those old laws could not give live but could take life:

Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

We can be sure that if there had been any other way God would not have poured Himself into that body of flesh and went to that cross.

We can also be sure there is nothing more dead than a church that has set its standards so high that even the members condemn each other.

No human could have ever taken the place is Christ, and no book can ever take the place of the Bible.

Some men can teach but only the Holy Spirit can open God’s word for our understanding.

4.) Those old laws show us the sinfulness of sin:

We simply do not realize the true nature of sin. We make our own excuses when we say we are weak or we just made a mistake.

God "condemns sin"!

We need to look at sin "The Same Way" God does!

We must hate sin, while not hating the sinner!

It is not the law that is sinful, it reveals, it arouses, and it traps us.

And there’s not one of us who have not seen the tragic results of sin.

The problem is not the law, the problem is in us before we find Jesus.

*****Our text:
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

We inherited our sin nature from Adam, and the only way to change it is to die.

1.) All God’s laws are holy, because they are given by a holy God.

2.) All God’s laws are just, because God is perfect and just in all that he does.

3.) All God’s laws are good, because they make me aware I’m in need of a Savior.

4.) All All God’s laws are spiritual, because they deal with the inner man, and it is the inner man that controls the outer man.

When God gave the 10 Commandments, He was aiming at these outer actions.

Moses later described how Israel should respond to those laws:

Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deu 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

We can see he was referring to the spiritual side of man.

This was God’s intent for the law.

Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

There was a man that wrote, "the old nature knows no law and the new nature needs no law"!

No law can transform our old sin nature, but can only reveal our sin. That old sin nature has to die.

As believers we soon realized we have war going on within us. It is a fact that our minds, our bodies, and our souls can be controlled by either our old nature or new nature.

1.) Paul said that he struggled to do the right things.

2.) Paul said he did not have to struggle to do the things that were wrong.

Paul is not saying that he was breaking all those old laws, Paul was saying he could not obey God’s law of love. Paul was saying that even when he was obedient he could still feel the presence of evil in his flesh. We all have thoughts that go through our minds that should not be there.

*****Our Text:

Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

In Chapter 6 the thought was "how can I stop doing bad things".

We now see the real problem is "how can I ever do anything good".

A legalist would just tell you to do the impossible, just obey those laws and that will make you good.

The problem with that is that every time you fail you will get the feeling you lost your salvation.

Even if everything we do in this world is good, we can never say we do not have some evil thoughts that go through our minds.

The law absolutely cannot set us free!

Our old nature will do its best to keep us in mind. Our will power may win for a while, but Satan will blindside us with temptation. It is our choice if that becomes sin.

Jesus gives us instructions for this:

Mar 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
No law can give the Christian power but it is like a magnet drawing us into corruption. It is obvious that we just do not hate sin enough and that in itself is a sin.

There are a whole lot people that tried to live by the way of the legalist, and they just got tired and gave up on God.

They tried to live the good life but what they found is they could not live good enough for salvation.

When we get to Romans chapter 8 we will learn about the deliverance.

Verse 25 is not teaching that we as believers have to live divided lives. This would mean that this flesh we live in is being used in two different ways and that is impossible.

Once we are saved we must just realize that there is a struggle that goes on inside of us.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

As Christian believers we must yield to the Holy Spirit.

The Bible never says anything good about our old sin nature.

Remember what Paul said in verse 18:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not"

If we depend on our flesh to serve the Lord we will fail miserably.

Again Jesus teaches us:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life

And the Bible also says:

Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

The Holy Spirit will only lead us to God, so to be led by the spirit is to be led by God Himself.

All legalist will only become like the Pharisee, they may look good on the outside but inside they are despicable.

Again Jesus teaches:

Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

A legalist is therefore a hypocrite and have not trusted in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every decision we make us Christians needs to be based on our relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.

Let’s pray!

The Obedience Of Righteousness

December 18, 2011March 3, 2012 / Bobby Mayfield / 2 Comments

The Obedience Of Righteousness

“Yield To God”

As we go through our lives after God has saved us by His Amazing Grace, we are not to be dominated by the sin that is still in our flesh. We must count our self dead to sin and we must yield to Holy Ghost conviction and follow His lead.

Col 3:5 says to Mortify therefore your members

This means to take total control of our flesh. When we allow our flesh to take control, we are already in sin.

A little bit about “Grace”;

1.) “Grace” is God acting freely according to His Own Loving Nature. Not under obligation and always in view of the Cross.

2.) “Grace” is a Free Gift from God.

3.) “Grace” is not to be repaid and goes forth where ever God chooses. It can even seem to place the most undeserving in the highest places.

4.) “Grace” cannot work when we feel like we deserve it or we can act on our own ability.

5.) “Grace” cannot be given when we justify ourselves.

6.) “Grace” cannot be given until we are sure of our unworthiness.

7.) Our flesh has no place in the plan of “Grace”. Our own self “Pride” is the enemy of Grace.

8.) When we are under God’s “Grace” our burden should be all about others and not our own selves!

We should learn about our Holy Walk with God in this chapter. The questions to be answered in this chapter are:

A.) Shall we still walk in our old life just because God’s Grace will abound greater?

B.) Shall we use the liberty that God’s Grace gives us to commit known sin?

Our Salvation rest on five keys, five being the number of “Grace”.

1.) Christ Jesus did all the work on the Cross and “Shed His Blood” for us all.

2.) We are “Born Again” separated from the sin of Adam our old man crucified with Christ.

3.) We are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit of God and sealed and givin a new law of “Life” eternal.

4.) Christ in Heaven is now Our Great High Priest and Our Advocate with the Father.

5.) Christ will come to received us unto Himself in Glory—- The Rapture.

Our Text For Today:

*****Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Let’s refresh our memory of the end of Chapter 5:

Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Some people will say that if “Grace” is so great a gift, then why do we not sin more just to get more “Grace”.

Some people will say that if we allow “Grace” to reign in our flesh then what will control our evil conscience, and our evil tendencies.

Some people will even say that with abounding “Grace” we can live our lives any way we want too.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is rejected by these people who think they should have to do some work to appease God.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is rejected by these people who think they have to lead righteous and holy lives they they know that they are not capable of doing.

The “Free Gift of God’s Grace” is abused by some people who think they have a license to do things they know are wrong.

*****Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Paul says to the believer, we who are saved, are forbidden by God Himself to think these things about His “Free Gift of Grace”.

When we accept Christ Jesus death on the Cross then we must accept that our sinful flesh died with Him!

We died in our relationship to sin, we are still alive in our flesh.

We cannot be the same person doing the same things because it is impossible for our sin nature to have died if we have not changed and are still walking in sin.

This does not mean we have complete victory over sin but the things we know and are convicted of by the Holy Spirit we should have Victory over all those things.

Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

*****Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Once saved we should do two things. We should make a public announcement of our confession and then be Baptized.

Baptism represents the death, burial and the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus.

Paul ask these Romans if they realized what this Baptism stood for. In our Baptism, we are confessing we have made our choice of Jesus who was made sin for us, on our behalf.

If Christ took our sin with Him to the grave then we should have no sin. These Roman Jews were not confused about Baptism as we are today.

Baptism should be a happy memory of the day we stepped out against this world of sin confessing that Jesus Christ is Our Savior and also Our Lord.

The Apostle Peter teaches us:

1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

We should have these things clear in our own minds. Baptism is all about the death and resurrection of Christ and Our New Man. Baptism is NOT ABOUT CLEANSING!

Baptism is a symbol of, a scriptural picture, of our own death to sin in our lives but it is not the means of our New Life. That was made possible by the “Shed Blood” of Christ.

*****Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

What Paul is saying here is that just as Jesus Christ was raised in that “New Glorified Body” we also as believers and identified with the death of Christ and our sin, past , present, and future, should also walk in
the Newness of Life.

Jesus Christ walk on this earth in “newness of life” for 40 days. He was the first born of the dead. He was the last Adam and the Second Man. Jesus Christ is our new starting point of the entire human race and Savior to all those that believe.

This not just a manner of living but actual life. To be saved is to already have begun our road to eternal life while we are alive in this flesh.

We will walk one day in the same new life that Jesus had after He was resurrected. We should begin that walk now even in this life and even in this flesh.

1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

We need to walk in the Spirit of Jesus.

*****Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Planted together means closely united. To be united with Christ is to be like Him.

If we do not believe then we cannot be in the likeness of Christ Jesus. If we are then in His likeness at His death, our own sin buried with Him, then we will be like Him in His resurrection. Christ was raised in “Glory” and if we are planted with Him we will be raised with Him.

Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

This verse has two meanings:

1.) Obviously when our flesh dies we will be joined with Our Lord in Heaven. This is our real victory!

2.) But also if we die to sin, then we have gained in our walk with Our Lord while we are still alive.

We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to gain the joy the Christian life knowing that our victory is soon coming.

3.) But if we are not now walking in that life can we truly say we are saved.

*****Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

If we have put off the old man then there should be a noticeable change in that new man.

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, [which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him]:

To be renewed in the knowledge of Christ image is to recognize in our own minds what being like Christ truly means.

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We all will still struggle with these things as long as we are in the flesh but we should be able to have victory over them most of the time.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Even though we are unworthy God has made it possible for us to be worthy by the death of our old man and place us in the image of His Dear Son.

This is what happens when we believe and live in Faith.

If I did not die with Christ Jesus on that Cross, then I cannot be living with Him risen from the dead.

*****Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

It is the knowing that we are sinners that keeps away from a glorious Christian Life. We can declare “Victory” only when we realize that we have certainly been justified by the “Blood” of Jesus. We absolutely are not under the “Bondage” of that “Old Sin” before Our Holy God.

It is our guilty “conscience” that condemns us. But if we have put that old sin to death, and mortified our members then we ARE FREED FROM THAT SIN!

The only memory of our old sin nature should be of the precious work that Jesus did “For Us” on the cross.

When we get “Victory” over our old sin nature we will know for sure that there is nothing that can keep us away from Our Lord and Savior, and Our Father who is in Heaven.

Do we still have sin in our lives? Sure we do but it will not rule us!

When we have been “justified” we then become a Saint of God!

Justified does not mean “sinless” perfection, it does not mean deliverance from sin. IT MEANS WE HAVE PASSED BEYOND, just as Our Lord Jesus did when He arose from that grave.

This is the picture we should get from full immersion Baptism, because once washed in the Blood of Jesus, we become a “New Creature”. This is where we can base our “Joy” for our remaining days on earth.

Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

A “Saints” in “Light” is a Saint in encased with the glory God gave Jesus through the Work of the Cross and the “Shed Blood” of Jesus.

1.) There are many who have truly turned to God but they have not accepted that Jesus “finished” that work on the Cross, that is Jesus did actually bare all sin, past, present, and future and put that sin away.

These are the ones that are never really sure of their own Salvation.

2.) Many others accept the work of Jesus and no longer fear judgment but they bury themselves in their unworthiness. They miss out on the “Joy” of being a “Saint of God”.

3.) But true “Victory” come to those who have the “Faith”, who have believed in their hearts, knowing that our relationship to sin has completely changed and we are identified with Jesus Christ in the eyes of Our Father.

Rom 8:5 says For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Once we have fallen at the feet of Jesus, we do not have to fear anything in this world! This world can only cause us to go to Heaven early.

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

*****Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

This is the confidence in the “Resurrection”. Our Lord Jesus Christ arose from that “grave” proving it is He that has the “Power Over Life”. HE WILL NEVER DIE AGAIN!

We share this “death of Christ Jesus” and we as believers will share “His Eternal Life”!

Notice Paul says “I Am” this is not some future thing but the thing that happens the day we believe and are therefore saved.

*****Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Since we have the knowledge of verse 8 and as it says “we believe” that Jesus Christ rules over “death”

The “devil” once held the power of death, by sin over man, but not any longer:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This is the promise of Jesus:

Joh 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

In other words when the body dies a physical death, that soul and spirit goes directly to be with Jesus Christ.

THERE IS NO DARK VALLEY TO LINGER IN.

Even that body will be reunited with the soul and spirit at the “Rapture”.

When we share the death of Jesus we will share the life of Jesus!

*****Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

The first thing we should realize is that Christ died “Unto” sin. Jesus Christ did not die because of any sin He had!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christ was made to be what we were as unbelievers in order for us to be what He is as a believer. God sent our old man to the Cross unto death and released the believer from the old man to become something new.

This Is Not To Be Changed But To Be Born Again!

Our lives have begun anew.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

*****Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Listen to what God says in this verse:

Our relationship to sin is exactly like that of Jesus Christ! This is the free gift that comes from accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

Christ Jesus in His death, His connection with sin was ended forever. He no longer bore our sin but He died unto that sin. When Christ was raised it was as One who lived unto God, in an endless, resurrected, and new life.

This is the promise offered to every believer!

To be united with Christ Jesus in death is to be united with Christ Jesus in life.

This is not an experience that is always felt.

THIS IS A FACT!

*****Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

We can now see that our Spiritual has been the topic but now we see that our Mortal Body is mentioned.

While our soul has been redeemed and we are still waiting on the redeeming of the Body at Christ coming in the clouds, the Rapture of the Church.

Sin is still present in these mortal bodies and will reign but God has given us the power to over come our sinful flesh.

It is through our own lusts and desires that is the weakness of our flesh.

Paul wrote:

1Co 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We do not have to yield to our own flesh!

We must reject these desires of our flesh!

We do not owe sin or Satan anything. We are bought by the Blood of Jesus and free from obedience to Satan.

*****Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Now we have this commandment from God. We are expected to be obedient! This is the law of repentance.

We are to walk a different walk. God has given a means of controlling sin and that is to walk away. Not giving in to our desires.

All parts of our bodies of flesh are to be used as “Instruments of Righteousness”!

*****Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

1.) Sin’s lordship over us has ended.

2.) We are not under any man made law but under, nor laws of Moses,(Gentiles never were).

3.) Only when we realize our old man died on the Cross can we find ourselves completely free to enjoy the Heavenly Comfort of God’s Grace.

1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

If we are under the law of Christ(God’s Grace) we can then be a “witness” to those that are lost.

*****Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Are we free to sin?

Jesus said:

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

We have 2 questions in this chapter:

1.) Are we to sin that God will have more Grace?

2.) Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under “Grace”?

*****Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

To answer the first question is that we are in the “Risen Christ”, we share “His Death”, our relation to “Sin” is “broken forever”; we walk in “newness of life”.

The answer to the second question is that God set every believer free to serve Him!

There is only one other master of our lives if we allow it and that is “Sin”!

If we do not look upon sin as controlling us enough to make us slaves then we have missed sin’s power.

What did God say about the sin of Adam?

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

God has set us free from this bondage and given us the strength to over come it. We can return to sin or we can present our bodies to the work of God.

*****Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

It is the “Gospel” where we can rest our weary souls. Every saint of God is delivered unto the Gospel of God. We must place our “Faith” in the Word of God, His “Glorious Truth”. Being obedient to “Our Faith” is to walk in the truth of God’s Holy Word.

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

*****Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

This is the pure fact of the believer who then becomes “Faithful”.

Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

These Romans had a clear understanding of “Slavery” as Rome was full of slaves and many of them were these Christians Paul was writing to. In the Roman empire, freedom did not come but to a few and it was hard to be set free.

It is not in man to like slavery of any sort because man is an independent creature. Where man makes his mistake is not realizing that he binds himself to his own lust and desires and become slaves to them.

It is only when we can accept this “truth” that we can be set free!

THERE IS NO FREEDOM OUTSIDE OF JESUS CHRIST!

1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

THIS IS THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD!

*****Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

When I look back on my life before Jesus found me, I can see the truth of this passage. I am truly shamed by my sinful life. There is not one good thing that can come from a sinful life. If I had stayed on that path I would burned in Hell. This is the death I will certainly miss out on as a child of God. I might also be able to lead others away from that certain death unto the life promised by the Word of God.

*****Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

This is where our peace of mind comes from. I truly want to be a servant of God! I truly want to be a “Slave” in the hands of God! I have no other goals to seek out. This in my mind is the beginning of the Love I have for my Savior.

Psa 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

*****Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we were hunting for a job and many are in these days and that employer said the wages were death, we would run as far away from that place as we could get and we would tell all that knew about it.

Yet the world continuously serves sin and death will surely come!

We live in a world that is running over in “Terrorism” but even that being true, the real truth is that “SIN” is the king of terrors:

Job 18:14 says His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, [and it shall bring him to the king of terrors].

It is Satan that has this power over death to all those that do not believe on Jesus Christ.

It is life that God offers as His Free Gift! This can only happen through His Son Jesus!

Who would not choose “Life” rather than “Death”, yet many choose death and many choose not to choose and that is still choosing “Death”.

We have “Victory” only through the “Blood of Jesus”!

Let’s Pray!

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

Book of Romans

The Gospel of Grace for the Jews

Why There Is A Need For God’s Grace

The Responsibility Of Righteousness

The Pursuit Of Righteousness

The Attainment Of Righteousness

The Absence of Righteousness

Security In Christ Jesus

Righteousness

The Battle Within Us

The Obedience Of Righteousness

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