The Gospel of Grace is God's Law

 The Gospel of Grace and the Law

Book of Romans Chapter 8

What is it to be condemned? It is to be sentenced to punishment. 

To be guilty. 

To be worthless. 

To be wrong according to the truth of the Word of God.

We need to understand the power of the Holy Spirit! There is nothing and no one more powerful than the Holy Spirit(Ghost)!

If we need anything, we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives!

What does the Holy Spirit accomplish in our lives once we accept the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ?

The Holy Spirit gives us eternal life.

The Holy Spirit leads us to Spiritual things.

The Holy Spirit will live inside each believer forever.

The Holy Spirit is life.

The Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome sin.

The Holy Spirit connects us to the Heavenly Father.

The Holy Spirit is our adoption agent into the family of God.

The Holy Spirit bears witness to our Heavenly Father of our Spiritual condition.

All these things will unfold as we go through this passage called Chapter Eight.

Chapter 8 of the Book of Romans is one of the greatest chapters for the believer and those who still have doubts in their Spiritual life.

So what is the truth of our deliverance from sin by the Lord Jesus Christ?

*****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. 

For me to be in Christ then, I must be in all the things Jesus Christ did for me!

The Lord Jesus Christ lived.

The Lord Jesus Christ died.

The Lord Jesus arose from that death.

So I must live, die, and arise to be in Christ!

This is also the meaning of the full immersion Baptism! 

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: 

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 

Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 

He was my Substitute for my death.

He is my Mediator while I yet live.

He is my Representative in Heaven until I get there through Him.

My goal is to identify with my Lord Jesus Christ and strive to be more like Him every day! This is the path of Sanctification!

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 

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. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Propitiation for my sin therefore I never have to die!

When I do all these things I will no longer be "condemned" to die for my sin, for He has already paid that debt I owed!

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. 

I have been made free from the law of sin and death!

*****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. 

Have you noticed that there are somethings God knew we would not understand in the Bible, so God explained them for us?

What is the Law of the Spirit? It is life in Christ Jesus!

A life in Christ Jesus is eternal!

There is life in Jesus Christ that goes far beyond these few years we see in this life that is no more than a vapor compared to the life in Jesus Christ!

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.

This life is in Jesus Christ and in Him alone!

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. 

Once this temporary body, that can live only a few years has passed to death, then by that death we will pass to life!

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 

This is an amazing promise for each believer!

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

This life after death comes only by Jesus Christ!

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. 

This is that law of the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ!

This life is the result of what our Heavenly Father sent His Son to do for us and why this act of God is called "Grace". 

God's Riches At Christ's Expense!

*****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. 

The Holy Spirit gives life by doing what those old Jewish Laws could not do!

The Law could not make anyone righteous, because in our flesh we have no power to keep and obey all those laws, and but one failure brought death!

There are no laws that can be written that would provide the righteousness, required by God to be in His presence!

God credits this righteousness to us:

1) When we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness.

2) When we believe that the lord Jesus Christ is our One and Only Savior! (The One who died for us)

When we believe these things with all our heart, the Holy Spirit fulfills that righteousness within us and it is eternal!

Without these things we cannot be saved from ourselves, and we cannot be saved from this world that lives in hopelessness!

Yes, this world lives in hopelessness!

Everywhere today we hear "trust the science" but science cannot give us what God can give us!

It is the Holy Spirit who brings with Him eternal life in the home of our Savior!

We must forsake our flesh to receive the Holy Spirit!

What are we taught by the Lord Jesus Christ?

1) Jesus condemned sin as being evil! 

All sin is contrary to God and the Word of God!

Sin is unworthy of God and humanity.

2) Jesus Christ made secure the righteousness of all humanity! 

Jesus Christ came as that babe born in Bethlehem in the same flesh as we have.

The same flesh with all its desires, its passions, and its potential for evil, yet He had the power to overcome this flesh and never sinned even one time.

The Lord Jesus Christ became our pattern, our model, of what our Heavenly Father was looking for in humanity!

We now have the power of God to reach the perfection that was in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 

3) The Lord Jesus Christ became our Substitute on Calvary's Cross. 

Our Heavenly Father had to accept the law of sin and death as fulfilled by His Son because God will never go against His Word!

Satan was removed from this picture.

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 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. 

The Holy Spirit who moves into our heart upon that "faith" in the work of Christ, will pull us to do Spiritual things.

What comes from the heart enters our mind and so when our hearts are pure, our mind will think upon pure things.

Pro 23:7  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 

When our thoughts are focused upon the goodness of God, then we are able to do good things and things that are righteous according to the Word of God!

God helps us to have control of our minds!

The Holy Spirit will search out the secret intentions of the heart and He cannot be fooled!

When we can remain under the guidance of a corrupt nature, then we had better take another look at Jesus Christ and be truly saved!

When our minds remain carnal, then the Holy Spirit does not live within our heart!

*****Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

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. 

We should understand that a carnal mind does not just mean a mind on evil and immoral things. 

A carnal mind is a mind that does not place the Lord Jesus Christ first in all our thoughts!

There is a lot to be said about "What Would Jesus Do" WWJD!

The Holy Spirit will always lead us to the thoughts of Jesus Christ!

A carnal mind can focus on moral, upright, and a cultured life, and still reject and neglect the truth of God and the truth of Jesus Christ!

This is called self-righteousness which goes against the truth of God! 

We must live in the "righteousness" of the Lord Jesus Christ!

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 4:18  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:

We must give our minds over to the control of the Holy Spirit!

It is only the Holy Spirit who can work within us to cause our mind to think upon Spiritual things!

It is only the Holy Spirit who will provide the will to do God's pleasure! A day by day walk with God! This is called Sanctification.

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. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

This is the only way we can focus upon the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we are not in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we cannot please God!

Remember we live and die by obedience to our Holy God!

Being saved is His first priority!

Doing the work of Christ is a close second.

We will live with a lifetime of choices and the Holy Spirit will always choose Christ!

*****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. 

Upon accepting the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit immediately moves into each believer.

Some will feel Him just that quick, but most do not, but this does not mean He did not move into each one that now have that faith.

It is by faith that we know this important truth of God!

It is a surety that the Holy Spirit moves in at this point and begins the process of "regeneration", making all things new!

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. 

We must have faith that this is true, and we must know that He, the Holy Spirit will never leave us from this point forward throughout eternity!

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Some people ask, what is the differences between the angels and humanity.

The differences begin with one simple fact, an angel has no spirit so the Holy Spirit cannot live within an angel!

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; "which things the angels desire to look into".

The angels can never be the children of God!

So, if Christ comes into the heart and the Holy Spirit comes to live within each believer, our bodies should be dead to sin!

But alive to Christ because of the Holy Spirit!

*****Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

What is the first benefit we receive by the Holy Spirit? Eternal life!

This old body that ages everyday will continue to age, but the spirit that remains, shall live because of righteousness.

Our spirit will begin that life that is eternal, if we have accepted the work of Jesus Christ for our salvation!

The Spirit of Christ is a life-giving force that cannot be stopped.

We say all the time that time is just going by so fast. 

What we are really saying is, that our body is in a rapid movement toward its death and there is little we can do about it!

We can try with the right diet and proper exercise, but we will not gain very much, at best we may add one or two years!

This does not mean that we should not do healthy things, we should so we can remain in the work of God as long as possible.

We all seem to forget that it is God who decides our death!

1Ti_4:8  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

We already know we had no righteousness ourselves so, this righteousness must be the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we had remained dependent upon laws, then we could have kept our righteousness only if we had not broken even one law!

Righteousness is living according to the Word of God as best we can, and God gives us many tools to help us in righteousness and the gift of the Spirit of Jesus is our greatest tool!

When our spirit unites with the Holy Spirit, then our spirit has gained eternal life and not eternal death!

What many do not understand is that the Holy Spirit will also quicken our mortal body!

Though our bodies may die and be buried till it disintegrates, burnt, or destroyed in any form or fashion, God will make those old bodies new on that great day of redemption we call the "Rapture".

Too good to be true? Not at all!

The mortal body will be made alive!

We will be who we were, but in a glorified body.

My name is Bobby and in Heaven I will be Bobby so those that knew me can still know me!

Moses was still Moses and Elijah was still Elijah, and it will be no different for me or any other child of God!

My new glorified body will be given the power and energy of eternal elements!

Eternal molecules, eternal atoms, and eternal whatever else it takes for God to glorify my old body.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

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: 

*****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. 

It is the "resurrection" of the Lord Jesus Christ that gives us these guarantees and they are guarantees!

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: 

When the Lord Jesus Christ came out of that tomb, He proved He is God!

There has never been a power on this earth that can raise someone from being dead. It is a God thing!

It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that proved that He is the Savior of the world!

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

It is the resurrection from the dead that proves that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life!

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

There are too many benefits for a life in Christ than just to say I do not believe those things!

It pays for everyone on the face of this "created world" to listen to what God has to say!

Just believing with a pure heart gets these things started by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

*****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. 

It is the Holy Spirit who has the power to put evil deeds to death!

It was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of life who decided on this new ministry of the Holy Spirit!

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

So as Christians we owe no debt to our flesh, we are in debt to the Holy Spirit. Debt meaning obligation.

Our flesh is contaminated with sin!

Our flesh is carnal!

Our flesh causes our death!

Our flesh has a mind that is in enmity with our Holy God!

Our flesh cannot please God!

We owe our flesh nothing! We owe all we are to our Holy God!

We are fools to focus all our lives on the satisfying of our flesh!

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. 

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

It is the Holy Spirit to whom I owe my new life!

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

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. 

It is by the Holy Spirit that we have the power within ourselves to put our flesh to death even while we yet live!

We can deny our flesh!

We can mortify our evil deeds!

The Holy Spirit will never destroy the deeds of sin unless we exercise our will to destroy it ourselves.

Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 

Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 

Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

When we put the evil deeds of our flesh to death, then and only then can we see life and what true life all is about!

We must understand that this is a constant daily battle for the rest of our earthly days!

We die because of evil, but we live because of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ!

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 

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. 

We can be at peace with this world within ourselves, if we follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the Word of God, the Words of Life!

Amen

Jesus Sent the Holy Spirit

Jesus Promised Another Comforter

Book of John 14:15-31

We know that as Christians, the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Jesus or the Spirit of truth, they are all one and the same person will come to live within us.

He is the promised "Comforter"!

He is not an "it". He is a person!

In the words of Jesus, The Holy Spirit could not do His work until Jesus ascended back to Heaven.

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The truth is without the Lord Jesus Christ these disciples were nothing but ignorant fishermen.

The truth is without Jesus Christ we are even worse than these fishermen, they at least had spent time with Christ Jesus.

We may not understand it, but the truth of these things is, that at this time we are better off without the presence of Christ Jesus because now we can be filled with the Holy Spirit who will never leave us!

And the death of every Christian is a loss to this world we live in!

To be honest the Church could not grow if Jesus was still upon this earth because He could not be worshipped in Spirit and truth.

These disciples needed to know all these things as Jesus explained them.

We all need to understand that it is far better at this time that Jesus is our Mediator and our High Priest, ready to defend us at all times in Heaven and our profit is far greater in Spiritual things.

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.

Let's Begin:

*****Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The truth of our relationship with God is that our "Faith" cannot grow unless we keep the commandments of God.

We have no work at all to be reconciled to the Lord, but our "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.

We do have a work to do after we are reconciled to the Lord and it begins with keeping the commandments of the Lord!

Without this then we can go no further!

This is not picking and choosing what we obey, this is being obedient to all the Word of God, rightly divided!

Doing this is saying "I love you Lord"! Being obedient is not an option for each believer, it is a must!

Notice this is not saying you are perfect, this is saying "I love you Lord"!

*****Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Without loving God the Son and being obedient to His commandments, we can never know God the Holy Spirit!

The love of Jesus is being devoted and making a commitment and this is what the Holy Spirit will teach us once He lives within us!

God the Holy Spirit comes to live within us to help us in any way possible to get closer to the Lord, who will one day deliver us to God the Father.

Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

All the things true of the Holy Spirit are true of the Lord Jesus Christ! Why?

*****Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of Jesus Christ!

The Holy Spirit will testify of the truth of Jesus Christ!

The Holy Spirit will defend the truth of Jesus Christ!

I you do not love Jesus Christ it is impossible to have the Holy Spirit living within you!

If you cannot love the Son of God, Jesus Christ, then you cannot know God the Father, it’s just that simple.

1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

For those 11 disciples the Lord Jesus Christ was their first Comforter and the Lord promised He would not leave His disciples without a Comforter.

*****Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The Lord Jesus Christ completed His work for our salvation before He went back to His Father's House.

The Rapture of the Church cannot come to a reality until the Holy Spirit completes His work on this earth!

Gen_6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Again

Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Remember verse 3

Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

God will never break His promise!

*****Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

It would be only a few days that Jesus in that body of flesh would part ways, at His death.

We can believe that only His true disciples could see Jesus after His resurrection. There is no record in the Scriptures to tell us that any of the lost saw Jesus after He arose from that grave.

Those in the world will never see Jesus again until the White Throne judgment.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

It is only those that believe who see Jesus in His Spiritual self and one day after death or after the "Rapture" of the Church, who will see Him then face to face.

1Jn_3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

At salvation we are filled with the Holy Spirit if we have placed our "Faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that will never leave us!

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.

Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Again we see Jesus pray to the Father that we join Him in Heaven and our Father in Heaven always grants the Lord Jesus what He ask for!

As far as our Heavenly Father is concerned, we are already His, but we just haven't come face to face with Him yet.

Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

How do we know that these things are true?

*****Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

So how do we know we are in the family of God?

We keep the commandments of the Lord? These commandments include all the 10 commandments.

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.

If we love the Lord enough, we can be saved from everlasting death and this is the beginning of our faith!

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.

Then we must do the work that pleases God!

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

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.

There is no other way to please God!

This Judas that asked this question was Judas Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus.

The world hates the Lord Jesus Christ because they cannot see, feel, or touch the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christian believer can!

Not many of us keep all the commandments as we should, and I dare say there is no one living who can truly say they keep them all because they would be lying if they said so.

We are still sinners save only by God's "Grace" but we are certainly to try to obey them all. This would be part of our sanctification.

How did Jesus answer?

*****Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

So many people just do not get this, or they reject it. Keeping the Word of God is essential for the Holy Trinity to live within us. Just ask Jesus!

This is the only way Christ Jesus will reveal Himself to those who love Him and not to the world!

We do not just have the Holy Spirit living within us but the entire Triune God!

If we expect the blessings of God, then we should be careful what we put into our bodies and where we take our bodies.

Those that have the Holy Trinity living within them will be in church at the appointed times to be fed the Word of God.

When we are unwilling to do what the Lord ask us to do why should we expect Him to Mediate for us when times are hard!

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.

Love and obedience are tied together, if we want to serve the Lord. Remember Adam was not obedient, and this is why sin entered into the world to begin with!

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

There are some churches who use nothing but the red letters but seems to me this is rejecting everything the Lord says here.

*****Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

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.

If we want to know what the Holy Spirit is going to reveal to us, then we had better read all the Scriptures, because the Lord Jesus Christ can be found from Genesis to Revelations!

The Holy Spirit is the teacher that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to us and all the teachings came from our Father in Heaven.

The Holy Spirit will teach us about truth and about life! This includes principles and conduct and morality and behavior.

The Holy Spirit will help us to remember what God has said and when we are brought before the Magistrates, it is the Holy Spirit who will give us the words to say.

1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Luk 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:

Luk 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

This is the only way we can have that sure peace with our Heavenly Father and our God!

*****Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Again we see those words "let not your heart be troubled".

This means we should never have to worry about anything if, "IF" we do as the Lord has taught us to obey.

Pride got Lucifer and he is now known as Satan.

Disobedience got Adam and his son became the first murderer.

We should ask ourselves, what is going to get us in trouble with a God who would much rather offer us blessings.

There are no words to describe the love God has for His children!

What is true peace? It is when we are interwoven with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and all our brothers and sisters in Christ!

The Old Testament said God be with you and the New Testament says God be within you!

There is the peace with God:

Rom_5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

There is the peace of God:

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Our Savior is much greater than this world we live in:

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We can have perfect peace when our minds stay with the Lord.

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

The Lord tells His disciples that He had to go back to Heaven for all these things to make an impact upon mankind and they have but there is still coming a time when the Lord will return.

*****Joh 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Joh 14:29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

We should not miss the fact that Jesus saw the cross as just going home. When this world has done all it can to us our mind should be on, we are going home!

It’s hard to rejoice when a child of God, who is well loved goes home to be with the Lord, but when the sadness is gone it should be replaced with rejoicing and we can actually see them again.

It was by God the Father's will that all these things have been put in place:

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.

Those who have rejected God even after seeing His power in Creation will never understand the truth of God. What we have already seen is nothing compared to what all those who love the Lord will see one endless day in the future!

That word "again" in this passage was added by man so let’s read this Scripture without it.

Jesus said: "I go away, and come unto you"

Jesus Christ was "glorified" at the Cross of His death and "glorified" again at His resurrection. It was that "glorified" Savior that went back to Heaven and within each believer!

It was not until all these things came to pass before these disciples knew the truth of these words of Christ.

This is the reason they could serve in the work of the Lord without fear and this is why the Church was born to never die!

*****Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Satan used all the power that he possessed in an attempt to stop the Lord Jesus from completing what He came to do, and Satan failed because no one can win against the power of God.

Satan used every human he had, the hard-line Jews, the High Priest, the Pharisees, the Sadduccees, and Pilate and even Judas who made a bad choice, but Jesus had no sin and there was nothing in Jesus to attract Jesus to sin.

Jesus had no guilt and no corruption, and these are the same things He has given to us in our battles with Satan.

By the "Grace" of God we have no sin, no guilt, and no corruption because our Lord gave us "Grace" the gift of God!

If we just do as the Lord has said and love with all our heart and be true to the "Grace" of God, we have no reason to be angry with this world because this world has nothing in us.

Pass all these words along as best we can to whosoever will listen and we to will soon be going home.

Glory be to God the Father and His plan for this world!

Amen

Let's pray!

The Gift Of The Holy Spirit

The Gift Of The Spirit

Galatians 3:1-9


Even today there is much confusion about the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are many in in the Church that see the Holy Spirit "as only an influence" flowing from our Father in Heaven.

This cannot be true because the Holy Spirit is a person and not some imaginary influence!

The teaching of the Book of Galatians is the fact that each of us can only be justified by "Faith"!

The first step in salvation is to trust the Word of God!

Every man, woman, and child, is to live a moral life according to the Word of God but this is not the means of being "Justified" before an already righteous God.

There is no one that has ever lived, beside Jesus Christ, who has been good enough, or kept enough of God's Laws to become perfect and acceptable before God.

Our God is perfect and there is absolutely nothing that we can do of ourselves to make us perfect in the eyes of God!

If we are to be perfect then it must be a gift that only God can give to each of us!

The deity of the Holy Spirit is bound up in the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

To deny the existence of just one of them is deny the existence of them all!

Then how is it that we can please God?

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.

What is the proof of "Justification"? The actual indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

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".

All the members of the Holy Trinity are mention in this passage:

1) The Spirit of God dwells in you.
2) The Spirit of Christ dwells in you.
3) The Spirit of Him, (the Father) that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwells in you.

To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny "Justification" as an act of God.
To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny "Salvation".
To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny "Eternal Life".

Eternal Life is an attribute of the Holy Trinity and the purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

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;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Now we can be foolish like these Galatians had become, or we can accept the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Until we have had an actual "Spiritual" experience with Jesus Christ our hope for salvation will be built upon the false doctrine of works!

So what is "Spiritual" ignorance?

*****Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

What are the facts? Anyone who has the the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them, should quickly see that it is impossible to be justified by any sort of works or rituals!

Therefore false doctrine will make every believer of that false doctrine to act foolish!

The word foolish in this verse means sensual.

Sensual means pertaining to the senses. The six senses attributed to the human being are these.

Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and perception.

God says when we only depend on our senses in this life we are foolish.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

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.

It is impossible to please God when we only depend on our senses, because it takes "Faith"!

We will never make sense of the Word of God without "Spiritual discernment" and we will always be subject to false doctrine!

False doctrine is deceiving because it may sound reasonable or even logical.

It will seem reasonable to keep religious rituals to obtain salvation.
It will seem reasonable to think we must do good works to obtain salvation.
It may seem logical that we must keep the law in order to please God, but we can only please God after we have accepted His Son by Faith.

The fact is that all these things go against the "Gospel Message"!

In fact it is illogical to believe that a righteous God would accept any of us under any circumstances!

In order to trust in a false doctrine of works, then we must just toss out the truth of the Word of God!

If we spend our life trying to be acceptable to God then we are doomed to failure!

We can do only one thing to be acceptable to God, we must trust in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

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.

False doctrine will always lead us away from Jesus Christ!

The Apostle Paul had preached the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ with such accuracy, that it was if they had been eyewitnesses of all these things.

These things were much more than a historical fact!

These things were done in the power of God and could not be disproved!

What are the facts? These false things still happen today because the world still rejects the truth of Jesus Christ!

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

When Jesus Christ is not the Head of the Church, then the Church will act according to human senses and will fall prey to all the false things that are taught in this world today.

The Church cannot be as effective today because Christians are not committed to the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ and non-believers are searching for their answers elsewhere!

The Church no longer has the power of the Holy Spirit because the Church has forgotten how to receive the Holy Spirit!

*****Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

It's called Faith!

It is a fact that your are not a Christian until you become a Temple for the Holy Spirit!

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.

Even the Angels do not receive such a gift as the Holy Spirit!

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

The question we should ask our own selves is just when did we receive the Holy Spirit.

This is the question the Apostle Paul was asking these Galatians.

Was it by keeping some law or by believing the truth of Jesus Christ?

Every true believer understands this question!

Every true believer understands that it is by "Faith" in the "Faithful Son of God", Jesus Christ, that is the only means of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And we can say Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit are One and the Same!

The gift of the Holy Spirit comes when "Faith" gives a response to the preaching of the "Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ" which is the "Gospel of Grace"!

We must believe the "Good News" that Jesus Christ came to this Earth and died in payment for our sins!

Each believer understands that he is not righteous but our Father in Heaven counts us righteous through the righteousness of His Son.

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Then and only then will the Holy Spirit come to live in the heart of the believer.

This is how we are saved today and this is how these Galatians were saved!

The Holy Spirit is the gift of God!

The Holy Spirit is given, the Holy Spirit cannot be earned!

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and "he shall give you another Comforter", that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The facts are, that God need to look no further than the heart to see if we are what we say we are!

We can only receive the Holy Spirit by our Faith!

And we can only have Spiritual growth by the that same Faith!

*****Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

We cannot begin our Christian life without the Holy Spirit and we cannot become spiritually mature by focusing on our own flesh or our own works, good or bad!

No one can begin their journey with God until they truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

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.

No one can continue their journey with the Lord unless they are renewed daily by the Holy Spirit!

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;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is why true Christians will not renounce their beliefs for some unrealistic, imaginary, and false religion!

The Holy Spirit knows only one direction and He will always lead us to Jesus Christ!

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":

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us into a greater knowledge of our God.

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Without the Holy Spirit we cannot conform to the image of Jesus Christ.

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.

Without conforming to the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, we cannot be accepted by God.

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Our conversation should be of Heaven because we have become citizens of Heaven and just Ambassadors here on Earth.

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
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.

Once being accepted into the family of God, then will come ridicule and abuse from this world we live in!

*****Gal 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Anyone that believes Christians have an easy life are fools. This world we live in hates Christians!

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
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.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

These same Galatians had also suffered persecution just because they had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ:

In Iconium.

Act 14:1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

In Lystra.

Act 14:19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

In Derbe.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

It is a fact that we are going to suffer just because we say we are Christians and if we just give up or just give in, we will have suffered in vain!

What are the facts?

1) We will be separated from this world.
2) We will have to deny ourself.
3) We will need to take up our own cross daily, which is dying to our own will and our old ways.
4) We must give of ourselves to the work of the Lord.

Jesus said:

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

It will be very hard to rejoice during persecution but the rewards are far better than any life we have now!

Those that preach a prosperity gospel stray from the truth!

It is only by "Faith" that God will work in our lives!

*****Gal 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

First, a Spiritual gift is not the same as a natural talent. There could be some relationship but a natural talent is an ability that a person may have had and developed from the time of their birth.

But a Spiritual gift is given supernaturally by God at the very moment the Holy Spirit indwells the believer!

Many of these Galatians had actually witnessed a miracle of healing by the Apostle Paul.

Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

This miracle did not come about by some law. In fact these Galatians immediately knew this miracle took place by the actions of a god.

Act 14:12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.

They had not yet met Jehovah God.

Act 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

It was not any of these Galatians who has caused this miracle to take place.

It was not any law that had caused this miracle to happen.

These Galatians had just heard the ministry of the Gospel from the Apostle Paul and "by their own faith", they had believed and by their "Faith" they had been saved.

God worked miracles among them because of their "Faith".

Without "Faith" there would have been no miracles!

Even Jesus did not many miracles around unbelievers:

Mat 13:57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Mat 13:58 And "he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief".

Without the Holy Spirit there would have been no miracles at all!

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

And there could be no gifts of the Holy Spirit without the "Grace of God"!

Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Rom 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Rom 12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

The Apostle Paul clearly understood that he had no power beyond what the Holy Spirit allowed him to have!

2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

These Galatians had heard the "Gospel Message".

They had witnessed the Power of God by His Holy Spirit.

They had believed in the power of "Faith" in Christ Jesus.

And none of these things had taken place because of some written laws.

By "Faith", and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, God had provided their needs!

How does God lay the foundation for each group of believers?

God will always do these things:

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

There are no laws that can cause these things to happen!

God's Power Comes By Faith!

*****Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

We can be sure that Abraham held a unique position for the Jewish people. In fact Abraham is revered not only by the Jews by most all the the Arab nations.

This may not hold true for Iran because most of Iran is of Persian descent.

Abraham was hand selected by God to be His witness to all the nations that existed in his day!

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

**What was God's promise to Abraham?

1) Abraham would become the father of a new nation, that would be Israel.

2) All nations on this Earth would be blessed by his seed, and that seed would be Jesus Christ.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness!

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Abraham took God at His Word and trusted God!

**What is the truth?

1) Abraham did not keep some law to please God!

The Laws of Moses would not be written for another 430 years.

2) Abraham and "his seed" were the only ones to whom God gave these promises!

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

3) Only a promise was given to Abraham. No other information was given to him!

God just said to Abraham "Go". God did not even give Abraham any directions.

4) Only one condition was attached to the promises given to Abraham.

Abraham had to believe God!

There were no works involved!

There were no laws involved!

5) What did Abraham do?

Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

If Abraham had not believed God, he would never have left his home and all his family.

"Faith" came first!

God did not count Abraham righteous for anything that he had done.

God did not count Abraham righteous because of who he was.

God did count Abraham righteous simply because he believed what God had said!

It is only by "Faith" that we can be called the children of Abraham, it has nothing to do with our own bloodline, we must be in Christ Jesus' bloodline!

It is only by "Faith" that God's promises are fulfilled!

Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: "for he hath prepared for them a city".

2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless "we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth", wherein dwelleth righteousness.

God will only justify us by our own Faith!

*****Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The Apostle Paul realized that the Word of God was to be taken as the actual "Voice of God" as it is!

Most of the World laughs at these things but that does not make them any less true!

When we go as far back as the Book of Genesis we can see that God has always had only one message, the "Gospel of Faith"!

God has always had only one way of "justification", and that is by Faith!

And it was by the "Faith of Abraham" that the promise was made.

And that Promise was that "In Thee Shall All Nations Be Blessed"!

What did Abraham do?

1) Abraham separated himself from the world.

What does God teach the Church?

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.

2) Abraham gave his life totally to God.

What does God teach the Church?

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

3) Therefore God accepted Abraham and judged Abraham to be righteous.

What does God teach the Church?

Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Abraham believed God and God took Abraham's belief and counted it as righteousness!

This was an act of God and Abraham's one item of work, his one contribution to his righteousness, was his "Faith"!

This is all our example because mankind can only be saved by "Faith"!

On what was Abraham to base his "Faith"?

God promised Abraham an earthly son and a great nation.

Isaac was born to Abraham, his only son by Sarah, and Isaac was the bloodline of the Jewish nation.

Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

BUT, the fact remains that God's promise did not point to a great nation or a great crowd of people but to a single person and that person is Jesus Christ!

It was the Lord Jesus Christ that was the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham!

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

And that great nation would be a great nation of believers by "Faith" in the promises of God!

Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

So then all which are of "Faith" can be blessed with a faithful Abraham!

Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Even Abraham is still waiting on all of us to be perfected together in the New Heaven!

If we are not willing to have the "Faith" of Abraham, how can we even think we can be saved?

Questions?

Let's Pray!