Thanking God all the time is a prerequisite of the Christian prayer life. Philippians 4:6-7 educates us on this, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’. When we do this then a further promise is made in the verse that follows, ‘And the peace of God that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’. We should therefore thank God at all times, in good and in bad situations; in good because He is once again blessing us and in bad because He is growing us in faith.

In the book of Luke 17:11-19 we read about the account of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus Christ but only one came back and gave his thanks. When we look closely at this report, we see three things: 10 unclean men, 9 ungrateful men and 1 unique man. Is it not interesting to note that the higher the glory that can be found in thanksgiving the fewer the people who actually qualify for it?

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus came across these 10 leprous men and from a distance they called out to Him, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us’. Lepers were outcasts in the society and their presence at the entrance of the village attests to this; they were out of normal habitation. They had to live away from the rest of the people. Leviticus 13:45 gives us a glimpse of the nature and extent of their ostracized existence, ‘The person of such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, “Unclean, Unclean!” As long as he has the infection he remains unclean, he must live alone, he must live outside the camp’

If one was found to have leprosy, his life immediately changed. If married, an immediate separation would be instituted and he would be cast outside the camp to live with his kind. This is because the camp had to be holy, yet, this person had now become unclean. Deuteronomy 23:14 says, ‘For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy so that He will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you’. Being a leper therefore even meant that one was not where the Lord dwelt! One could only relate to lepers like oneself. According to ancient writings, a 6ft distance had to be observed at all times when dealing with those who were not lepers. The lepers therefore stood at a distance as they spoke to Jesus.

Leprosy was a cruel disease. The name comes from a Greek word which means scaling. With patches of red skin on the nose, neck, cheek or head, it attacked the nerves rendering the person unable to feel. This was dangerous because the person was not aware when he hurt or burnt himself. The voice box could also be affected and produce a raspy pathetic semblance of sound. It would also cause blindness in some cases. A leper was therefore socially ostracized, economically disempowered and psychologically depressed especially where it was intimated that he deserved what had befallen him because of having sinned. It was against this backdrop that Jesus Christ met and healed these 10 lepers. When He saw them, He said,’ Go, show yourselves to the priests’. And as they went, they were cleansed. Levitically, it was the priests who could now give them a clean bill of health and declare them fit to live within the camp with the rest of society. The lepers were thus to be a testimony to the priests that indeed, a miracle had occurred.

Many other miracles had occurred through the Old Testament but it was hundreds of years since a Jew had been healed of this disease. Naaman had received his healing from the same and now these ten received theirs from our God. The implications of this healing were great; they could now finally engage in life, marriages would be restored and sanity would prevail. The stigma that had surrounded them would now be a thing of the past and whilst they had been uncomforted and untouched, they could now mix freely with the rest of the society. What Jesus Christ did for these men was only grasped and understood by one of the lepers, the other nine were the ungrateful ones.

In Luke 17:17:17 Christ asked, ‘Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 90% of those healed did not return to give thanks to the Lord, they quickly forgot what had just happened and went their way. A lot like how we too behave sometimes. We may spend years asking the Lord for something but when the Lord God finally answers our prayers, we quickly forget Him and instead focus on the blessing whilst the blesser Himself ceases to have much meaning. The 9 ungrateful lepers were a covenant people, of the house of the Lord and should have understood the importance of thanksgiving but only one foreigner stopped and recognized what God had truly done for him. Are we like the ungrateful nine or like the unique one?

The unique man saw what had happened and did three things: firstly he came back praising the Lord in a loud voice. Whereas his voice may have been raspy from years of ravage by disease, he now had powerful, healed vocal cords-and he used them. Secondly, he threw himself at Jesus feet and worshipped Him. He recognized his God, he saw his Savior, he knew his Healer and from the depths of his heart, showed his gratitude. He knew that only God can and must be worshipped and although he had to present himself to the priests, first things had to be done first. Thirdly he gave thanks to the Lord-he knew where he had been before the Savior healed him and he did not let his restoration blind him to the mercies that Jesus Christ had shown him; He had made him whole!

As we look at our own lives we mostly see a similarity between ourselves and the 9 ungrateful lepers. The 10 lepers had said to the Lord, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us’. And He did. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness’. Psalm 136 talks of God’s enduring love for us. How then is it that we fail to give Him thanksgiving for the things that He has done for us throughout the year and even in our lives? When we reflect on this, the appropriate response should be to fall down on our knees and worship the Lord for He has been good to us.

We should also give Him thanks for our salvation for where would we be without it? Would we not still be bound to the dark world of sin the evil one? Colossians 1:12-14 reminds us, ‘giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins’. God is deserving of our praise and thanksgiving for He has shown us great mercy and given us favor.

We also need to thank God for answered prayers for many are the testimonies around us. For some of us, business opportunities have been opened through the year, for others, relations have been restored while for many more still new liaisons have been forged. If it looks like nothing has happened for us, then we need to fall down and worship Him because we are still alive to await His appointed time. For many years the lepers had not had an opportunity to worship the Lord as they probably would have wanted but we see the one unique man falling to his knees and worshiping the Lord as if it were habitual. As a leper, he had never had this privilege to worship unrestrained by societal condemnation. We who know the Lord however, have slackened in our worship. We have become casual with Him. It matters not to us that we do not start the day in fervent worship of our King and in reading of the Word. The benefits of the Word resound in Psalms 19:7, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making the wise simple’. All the 10 lepers received healing but I believe that the unique man received something extra, ‘Rise and go, your faith has made you well’.

Born again or not, God has done great things in the life of men; the unique leper was a Samaritan but he knew how to give thanks to the Lord. How much more, we who are of His house and who have been saved from darkness?

(word count 1534)

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Vs1.

Like a sponge that has long been dry

Like a deer runs to the water

Like a child to the mother cries

So my soul leaps for the altar

To be at the feet of my Lord

To eat and gulp all of His word

Though Jesus lives inside of me

I just can’t have enough of Him

Lord I’m hungry, come fill my heart

Chorus:

I love it that I’m hungry Lord

Hungry, thirsty for You Lord

Yes You touched me yesterday

Yet I need You everyday

Lord come in a fresh new way

Come Lord Jesus, don’t delay

Vs2.

Like a man on a long journey

Famished, worn out, longing for rest

Like the bees stick to their honey

Like a bird flies up to her nest

So my spirit thirsts for the Lord

To be with Him out of this world

To be wrapped in His Comfort arms

To stand up tall in His safe palms

Lord I’m hungry, come fill my heart

** ** ** * *** * ** **

Sixtus Onyeanusi is passionate about hymn writing, sharing God’s word, practically helping and simply being a FoolforGod…to please Him.

His vision is to see the hearts of youths, and all men filled with joy, love and power by the presence of Jesus.

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My name means “peace” but I am known for my great wisdom as well. I followed my father’s footsteps and became king of Israel after him. One of my greatest accomplishments was building the first Temple to the God of Israel in Jerusalem.

In addition to the Temple, I wrote three of the Books in the Old Testament. One of my famous verses is, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Who am I?

Here is a great way to share the stories and people of the Bible. This is a great conversation starter for reaching children as well. Pass it on to your family and friends to see if they know the answer. Have a great day!

Chris is the author of the inspirational book “Spiritual Basic Training” Learn more at http://www.spiritualbasictraining.com to complete missions for a Spirit-filled life.

God Bless

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An article in the Daily Oklahoman today (12/20/2011) should be an encouragement to Christians. It was written by Rachel Zoll and it was entitled, “Study Shows Shift in Christian Population”.

The article stated that, “Christians overall remain the largest religious group in the world, according to a new analysis released Monday.” Christians should rejoice over this information. The Gospel is reaching people. People are being changed, for the better. They are meeting and following the Lord of the universe.

The article goes on to say that, “Christians are still the world’s largest faith group, with nearly 2.2 billion adherents.” This is very positive and should encourage Christians to be even more involved in witnessing and evangelization.

The article says that, in most countries, Christians are the religious majority. Zoll tells us that, “Christians comprise nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population” Even taking into consideration that many ‘professing’ Christians have no real relationship with Jesus Christ, and are therefore ‘Christians’ by name only, these are still encouraging statistics.

However, what if this was not the case? What if there was only one Christian in the worldand you were that Christian? Do you have the kind of deep faith it would take to stand against every other person in the world and remain faithful? Could your beliefs stand the kind of persecution that Christians encounter in third world countries?

There are too many Christians whose faith cannot withstand the mocking of their friends or relatives. This ‘faith’ could never stand up to the criticism and ridicule of a skeptical world. Too many so-called believers do not take their relationship with God to be important enough to dedicate the time and energy it takes to maintain that relationship.

A new year is swiftly approaching. It is the prayer of this writer that Christians would ask themselves this question: “If everything was taken away from me and no one else on earth was a Christian, would I still have faith in Jesus Christ?”

If the answer to that question is a confident “Yes”, then praise God and continue what you are doing. However, if you are not sure that that Jesus, “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 1:25 ESV), then it is time to reevaluate your walk with God and commit to doing whatever it takes to improve your relationship with Him.

While Zoll’s article contained some very encouraging facts, our relationship with God does not rest on how many others profess belief in Him. Our relationship with God rests on the basis of our trusting the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as being the payment for our sins.

May 2012 be the year of recommitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Seeking to introduce people to Jesus Christ and to help them become “transformed by the renewing of their mind.”

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God, the Powerful Originator,

The Alpha and Omega,

The Heavenly Architect,

God, the Universe Dancer,

The Cosmos Designer,

The Master Builder,

God, the Messiah and Savior,

The Wonderful Counselor,

The Earthly Carpenter,

God, the King of Jews,

The Author of Salvation,

The Biographer of the Bible,

Poured His enormity

Into Jesus, His son

And walked this earth

Among fallen humanity

Poured His mission

Into Jesus, the son

And sacrificed Himself

To save flawed human beings

Poured His compassion

Poured His forgiveness

Poured His mercy

Poured His grace

On Jews and Gentiles

Swallowed our sins

As He drank from death’s cup

And climbed on the life-giving cross

Swallowed the grave

As red blood flowed

And Jesus’ heart was resuscitated

There is no greater love than the Creator who laid down life for His treasured creatures, human beings. I cannot fathom the deepness of God’s affection. The cross was the way of redemption and salvation. Yes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Romans played a role in the death of Jesus, but God designed the plan. God who crucified Himself to save me, to love me, and to give me life.

Melissa writes about the God and human connection and condition.

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The birth of Jesus Christ.  Celebrate his birth with a visit to midnight services across the world, give thanks for his birth and life.

Open up your hearts to the Lord and thank him for giving us his wonderful son.

God Bless.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22:23.

It is God’s utmost desire for us to be first of all fruitful in life, that is, being full of the fruit of His Spirit in us as He detailed in the book of Galatians chapter 5. It’s important because those virtues depict His image and likeness in us; they vividly express the presence of Jesus living in us.

In Galatians 5, there were noted two main sources of fruit that a man must bear. They are:

1. The Flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

2. The Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

The first is natural; it’s inborn in man while the second is super-natural; it’s imputed in a man when He’s born again of the Spirit of God.

The first which is natural is against the nature and life of God, while the second is the perfect will of God for His redeemed children.

As born again children of God, bearing the fruit of the Spirit instant in season and out of season marks us out clearly as the children of the Kingdom…children of light shining as stars in this dark world, and thus the Father is happy with us.

The beauty of bearing the fruit of the Spirit unceasingly is that it keeps us up above the law. Yes, the law in every sense. We would not be judged of no man for there won’t be any genuine reason or offense to lay hold and accuse us. And bearing the fruits opens up doors unto us, it positions us to succeed in every place, no matter the geographical location.

The right attitudes that stem from the fruit of the Spirit we constantly exhibit or express are priceless pearls in the world system, it’s wanton out there…they are very rare gems the world can’t buy!

They have it not because they have not the Holy Spirit. They know not the secret behind it because they know not the Holy Spirit.

The world may learn to cultivate some good attitudes and self-discipline, but only the Lord by His Spirit can impute the fruit-divine in a man inside his brand new heart.

Our Christian life is so sweet, admirable and enviable when the fruit of the Spirit effortlessly flow and manifest through us.

Imagine when people are being and speaking against you, yet you do not revile back but had long-suffering.

Imagine when people accuse and unjustly use you, yet you show them love, bless and pray for them.

Imagine when everyone expects you to be angry and impatient, yet you amazingly demonstrate meekness and patience with them.

ISN’T IT DESIRABLE AND ADMIRABLE? The normal attitude would have been the opposite, but the Holy Spirit, through our submissiveness helps our infirmities to maintain the right divine attitude and attributes.

Oh, Holy Spirit, help my life…give me the grace to show forth the right attitude even when everyone and everything is in the negative.

Oh, how we discourage people the more with our lives…when the people expect to see the beauty of Jesus in us as Christ followers, but they see the negative, they get discouraged!

Our lives ought to be changed indeed!

Our lives ought to challenge them really!

More souls are won over to the Lord Jesus than mere words. The Lord made it bare to our understanding in 1 Peter 3:1-2 ” Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, When they OBSERVE your chaste conduct accompanied with fear.”
The scripture says “the Kingdom of God is not just in words”, but in the demonstration of power (the power here means the express nature and overcoming life of Jesus Christ displayed by the Spirit in and through a born again child of God).

The world don’t think much of your faith or the big Bible you carry in your beautiful hands, even singing Hallelujah if you don’t back it up with the fruits of the kingdom life.

If you live the way they do, and are passionate of the same thing they are, you don’t have the wherewithal to turn them to Christ, there ought to be a clear difference.

Though the world is blind spiritually, yet they are not totally blind physically that they cannot differentiate between a hypocrite and a true lover of the Lord Jesus who’s truly standing for Him. Though they will hate those who oppose their devilish and worldly purposes, yet they know without a shadow of doubt that you belong to Christ, and have crucified the flesh and its passions…the life you live is clearly opposite theirs.

Oh, how many times we bring reproach to the Lord’s Name when our life is opposite what it should as people who call the Name of God, and are called by His Name.

Heaven mourns over the Christian who professes Christ, but denies Him in thoughts, in conducts, in reactions and in actions.

True Christians Are Wanted, Highly Needed in This Present World: apply in fruits. For personality description, see Galatians 5:22-23.

It’s not by power nor by might that you bear the fruit, but by the Spirit.

To really bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it demands total yielding to the Holy Spirit. It calls for hunger and thirst for those virtues. Actually, we stop growing and becoming more and more transformed from one degree of glory to the other when we lose our hunger and thirst to go beyond.

If you are satisfied on this shallow level of Christian life, how can there be a change.

Change occurs when you are challenged and moved to act and persist until your earnest expectation of Christ-likeness be fulfilled. And when God sees this kind of desire in the righteous, he will never let it go unfulfilled.

Your present level of Christian life and ministry is not where it ends; there are still virtues and glory to experience, there are still much more the riches of God’s knowledge and grace to tap into.

HERE IS TOO SHALLOW TO STOP!

Go beyond, press beyond in prayer, cry out, pour out your heart to the Father,…God’s word says that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another, that means how virtuous we are today ought to be greater than we were yesterday, and that’s the way is goes daily…from glory to glory. Insist on the word of God, take time to pray, fast, read the word….it prunes you from every natural inclinations, and positions you well enough to receive of the Spirit His fruit and express it effortlessly in season and out of season.

When the flesh has more ground than our inner man, we tend to respond more to the fleshly and selfish desires, and thus fall into temptations easily. But when the Spirit has upper hand, we triumph effortlessly over the flesh, and the glorious and victorious life and beauty of Jesus radiates through us.

God taught me one day that the Holy Spirit in a believer is the Divine nature in him. And when he chooses to live and walk in the Spirit, he shows forth the Divine nature…making a difference!

The reason the Spirit is in you is that you may live like Christ Lord all day long.

Don’t be satisfied with your present level of fruit-bearing. Intensely call on the Father to give you grace. He desires us to bear His fruit in full and that our fruits would remain. Be planted in Him, thus you would be fruitful forever more. The psalmist declared, “As for me, I can only be satisfied, when I awake in your likeness…”

Will that be the cry of your heart today?

Let your life be humbly changed and challenging to others inside and outside the household of faith. It’s possible, no matter how much virtues you’ve lost in the past!

** ** ** * *** * ** **

Sixtus Onyeanusi is passionate about hymn writing, sharing God’s word, practically helping and simply being a FoolforGod…to please Him.

His vision is to see the hearts of youths, and all men filled with joy, love and power by the presence of Jesus.

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Recently, I was preaching at one of our local churches. At the end of the service and as everyone was leaving, a lady walked up front to me and asked, “How do you get childlike faith?” I was somewhat taken aback by her question because that’s not what I had been preaching on that day. On the other hand, Jesus said, “Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). So the lady’s question was certainly relevant.

I am sure that she is not the only one who has asked that question so I decided to address it in this article. Mainly, I told her that it’s rather ironic, but we must first grow up to become as little children. Let me explain. You see, when a person first becomes a Christian, he knows very little about how to exercise faith in God. Not knowing what to do, he does what he knows.

When I first became a Christian, for instance, I studied the Bible, scrutinizing every Word. Not because I was trying to find something wrong with the Bible, but it was because I was an engineer, and engineers are known to be sticklers for detail. As I studied the Bible, I subjected what I read to human logic, and I always adding one plus one to see if I got two. With time, I learned that what God says does not always jibe with logic, and sometimes when you add one plus one you will not get two for the answer. This realization was a sign that I was growing as a Christian, and in the process, I was developing childlike faith.

Childlike faith requires that I understand what the Bible is saying to me, but it does not require that I understand how God will fulfill His promises. To illustrate this point, let’s say you have a three-year-old son, and also that you have been laid off from work the past six months. Now your son’s birthday is coming up next month. So you ask him what he wants for his birthday, and he tells you. You don’t know how you will, but you promise him that you will get it for him. Your son is ecstatic because you have promised him that you will get him that prized gift.

He does not consider that you don’t go to work like you used to. He understands what you promised, but he does not understand how you will fulfill the promise. He doesn’t try to. He has a simple faith in you that you will do whatever it is that you have promised. It’s the same kind of childlike faith that we must have in God. We are not born with that kind of simple faith in Him. It is not incidental to our relationship with Him. Rather, we must first grow up and become like little children before we can have strong but simple faith in God.

Copyright 2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Frank King is a former church pastor. He is currently an evangelist and an author. Frank holds a Master of Theology degree. Through the grace of God, Frank has been blessed to cross cultural lines in his preaching. Website: http://www.efrankking.com

Blog: http://wwwefrankking.blogspot.com/

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“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”! (2Cor 5:17). But the New Creation is ONLY In Christ, nowhere else, and we MUST BEHOLD IT! From being found In Him, as Paul said in Philippians, we have Good News. In Him there IS Good News. The verse I am thinking of is Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountain… .” This Mountain represents Mount Zion, and Mount Zion represents believers found In Christ, and here is where they are being changed into that same image from glory to glory/strength to strength, from one creation to an altogether Other “New Creation”! (2Cor 3:18; Ps 84:7). From being In Zion, In Christ, we have Good News, because Here (and only Here in Christ) there is only Good News, there is only the New Creation to behold. And this is what we declare, speak, publish, etc… .
2Cor 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.

Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

2 Cor 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.

Ps 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

Jimmy Ned Collins is a bilingual Bible Teacher, writer, and editor at the C.M.I. Bible Research Center in Leslie, Arkansas. For more Christ-centered writings, audio and video teachings from Jimmy Ned Collins and fellow laborers in Christ, visit http://www.cmintl.org

email at: crosseyedned@gmail.com

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God is willing and available to explain our circumstances to us if we are willing to listen to Him. One such example in Scripture can be seen in Job 42 when the Lord finally appears and ministers to Job. We can see a conversation going on here. It is awesome to imagine that this great God, this omniscient presence, this Mighty one, is willing to listen to us. He is not averse to intellectually engaging us; in Isaiah 1:18 He invites us further, “Come now, let us reason together”, says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool”. Through Christ, our God is willing to listen to what is in our hearts and also forgive us our sins.

Whatever you are going through and are wondering how to get out of it, remember God is not the problem, you are the problem because you have failed to bring it to Him or if you have, then you have failed to hear His answer. To get out of your bewilderment you have to know how to talk to Him. But most importantly, you must learn to listen to what He has to say about your situation because He may say Yes! No! or Wait! Paul, a man who could really pray, took his thorn in the flesh to the Lord-three times! Twice God was quiet but finally He answered Him, ‘My grace is sufficient” and Paul learnt to live with his condition. You too must learn the times and know what to do, but you must be ready for God’s answer.

The Scriptures tell us that God’s people perish due to lack of knowledge. In our ignorance we may incur God’s wrath but this need not be the case if we engage in the Word and know what God is all about and how to access His blessings. The last word in the old Testament is ‘curse’ and it would indeed be a sad day if our dealings with God ended in a similar manner.

Job remained stable in the Lord despite all that he went through. His friends forecasted what he was going through as much as they could and gave their various predictions concerning his case but his faith remained in the Lord. This is the God you too should engage; the one who asks you, to come to Him, through Christ, with your heavy burdens and He will give you rest. This is God and you should know Him. If you go through the wilderness with Him, He will give you a testimony. No matter what you are going through, one of these days, He will come through for you because that is just who He is: faithful.

God has a plan for your life and His objectives and purpose concerning you must come to pass. The devil is the liar who comes to kill, to steal and to divert God’s purpose for your life. But you must remain upright and steadfast in the Lord and avoid sin which could make you lose your inheritance. Remember David could have built the Lord’s temple but his sin with Bathsheba stood in the way and this priviledge was granted his son, Solomon.

God is pulling us from the crowds and separating us from the rest for His name’s sake. When He wants to use you, He must process you; break you down and mould you until you satisfy His specifications. He is the author and finisher of your faith and therefore knows what is best for you. He breaks us up and cuts us down to size for His glory. God wants us to come to Him and repent our sins so that we are presented holy before Him. He wants to see us broken and contrite so that He may use us. This brokenness is what God admired in David. God knows the heart of man and how deceitful it can be, He is the observer of our thoughts and motives. In the book of Job, after God had ministered to Job, he turned to his enemy the devil and embarrassed him by blessing Job.

The enemy is the accuser of the brethren. In this courtroom, God is the judge, the devil the prosecutor and we are the accused; but thanks to God for Jesus Christ who steps in as our advocate and shows evidence of what happened at Calvary. Holding up His wounded hands he interjects. “Daddy’, look at me. Nails through my hands, thirty nine stripes on my back; a spear to my side as blood and water gushed out; a crown of thorns that dented my head. Daddy all for their sins!” And as the devil sees this, he flees from the courtroom

And the Father remembers that He who the Son has sets free, is free indeed! And the case is annulled.
Let Christ speak for you because the battle is really not yours. Romans 5:1 says, ‘Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. 8:1 of the same book further assures you, ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’. Let God deal with your circumstances but only access Him through Jesus Christ.

Bless those who curse you and pray for those who pursue or use you. Forgive those that hurt you because you are of the Lord. He has placed His special mark on you through the Holy Spirit and will therefore accord you a special protection. If you have hurt some people, then ask for forgiveness and stand blameless before the Lord. Ephesians 1:3 says ‘For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight’ When you accepted the Gospel of Christ, you became His adopted son through Jesus Christ. For you to access Him, your life must exemplify this. Job in 42:10 prayed for his friends who had misled him with their lack of faith; this was an act of forgiveness and we learn that after this, God blessed him twice as much as before.

God knows why you are where you are. Maybe you have not released some people with your forgiveness; you are holding onto a grudge which has now become a part of you. God knows your address and when you forgive, His mercies shall follow you all the days of your life; wherever you are. The journey of salvation is about forgiveness and you must constantly do this. God will restore you but you must do your part.

Like Job, people will come to celebrate with you when you are restored. When you were in the wilderness they avoided you but they will now come to see the testimony that God has given you. They may have left you out of their gatherings because you were single or because you had been down for so long that they did not know how to behave around you anymore. But when God restores you, you will see them flocking around you; embrace them for they knew not what they were doing. There is a time for everything, and there will be a time for you to rest from the calamities and adversities that you have gone through. You will not die in your pain. God will provide a way out for you. And this time round you will be stronger.

But when He blesses you, do not forget to serve and thank Him. Do not become too busy for Him. Remember His mercies and remember the wilderness that He has pulled you from. Remember the disease He has healed you from, or the husband He has now given you and covered your shame. Remember the child He has blessed you with after many years of childlessness or the debts He has removed from your life and restored your sanity. Remember the tears you shed at His feet. Remember His mercies and serve Him wholeheartedly and He will bless you much more. Because Deuteronomy 28 tells us that blessings are conditional and that curses follow disobedience.

God is accessible; you just need to know how.

(word count-1378)

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It happens too often today with all of our problems locally, nationally and our daily issues that we forget about God. We forget to pray to God, thanking Him and praising Him. But when things get really bad then we turn to God. That is treating God as a god of convenience not a God you serve. I have caught myself sayingwell, I have tried everything else, I guess I’ll give God a try. God doesn’t want to be your last resort but your first answer. “But I don’t want to bother God. He is so busy with other more important things than my little problems.” God chose you before time began. God chose you for a time and place such as this. God who cares and loves you so much that He took the time and effort to know everything about you right down to numbering the hairs on your head. God knows you better than you know yourself. A God who loves you that much is a God who wants to be involved in every tiny thing and every big thing in your DAILY life.

Most people treat God as something that they keep in a box for a rainy day. When they need Him they take Him down from the top shelf of the closet blow the dust off of the box that they put Him in then ask Him for help. There are those who go to church on Sundays to pray, worship and hear a sermon then the rest of the week they forget about God almost altogether. Most Christians don’t feel comfortable or worthy praying to God. That becomes one of many excuses why they don’t pray much or at all. Jesus said “You have not because you ask not.” Luke 11:9-10 9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. The Lord’s Prayer is a great way to start your prayers. God isn’t interested in the flowery words or special “Christianese” phrases in your prayers, He is just happy that you prayed to Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn how to pray when you pray!

In a recent vision I saw a side view of a man standing in front of a door praying. He wasn’t certain what it looked like behind the door or who was listening to his prayers. Most of us have had a conversation with someone on the other side of a door. You hope that the other person on the other side is listening and that they will be receptive and responsive to your words. The door that the man was standing at was heaven’s door. What I saw on the other side of the door was a huge room and God, whose head was almost as big as the door, was bent down and had His ear pressed up against the door. God was eagerly listening to the man’s prayers. What love!

Prayer is God’s gift to us to communicate with Him. Does God hear everyone’s prayers both saint and sinner alike? No, there is only one prayer that God hears from sinners and that is the prayer of salvation. Even the saint’s prayers can be hard for God to hear clearly if they are living a sinful life. But “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” It’s like talking over a ham radio, if you don’t get the frequency or channel just right your message will not be heard clearly. When praying keep in mind to pray for others as the Bible directs, for both your brothers and sisters in Christ and for the lost. We are to pray without ceasing, that means praying beyond Sundays. Starting your day off in prayer, praying through out the day and finishing your day in prayer. Some religions have special times to pray daily. We are not required to do so because our prayers are to be honest, earnest and fervent prayers from our hearts not out of routine.

Declaring should be part of your praying. You pray and ask in Jesus name according to His Word and His will. Praising God for His promises, His faithfulness, His mercy and grace and blessing God for His everlasting love. Praise and thank the Lord every day in ALL things is part of your declaring. Declare the goodness of the Lord and His blessings in your life everyday. Give thanks for what you have learned through your problems and trials. Praise Him in the storm instead of blaming God for the storm. Sometimes you have to go though some storms to appreciate the clear sunny days. Christians often blame God for putting them in their problems as if it was all God’s fault. There are few things to keep in mind as you grow in the Lord. How you got into your problem and how long you stay there is totally up to you. How you got there was based on decisions that you made and the consequences for those decisions. EVERY decision you make both good and bad carries consequences. Those consequences can have an impact not only on you but on those around you and close to you. How long you stay in your problem is based on your ability to learn for your mistakes so as not to repeat them. For Israel, back in Moses day, when they were in the wilderness it was “one more time around the mountain” instead of going into the promise land. God has a way of turning those problem areas in your life into learning experiences that He will help you to grow out of. Declaring God’s Word should always be included in your prayers. Taking God’s promises and declaring them ties them to your prayers. There are over 77 promises in the Bible for prosperity alone!

Receive the answer to your prayers. Visualize your answer in your “spirit’s eye” that God has answered your prayer. Don’t try to visualize how God will do it just “see” the end result of your prayer. Let God work out the details. If a sinner can visualize the sin he or she is about to commit, why can’t a saint visualize God’s answer to their prayer? Too often Christians pray once for something then they assume, having done their Christian duty, it is all up to God to complete it. The Bible says that you are to keep praying and praising God until you receive your answer. Does God answer all of your prayers? Yes He does but sometimes the answer is no or not yet. Just as you answer your child’s request for something sometimes with a no. For your heavenly Father knows what is best for you. He has already seen ALL possible solutions to your prayers and answers them perfectly. What would you expect from a perfect God? Pray according to God’s will, declare God’s promises with praise and thanksgiving and receive your answer from heaven as you visualize the end result. Are you ready? It is time to stand!!!

My name is Steve and I was born and raised in a good Christian home in Phoenix Arizona. In 2004 God spoke to me to let me know that He would start sharing things with me that I would share with others. Little did I know how powerful and meaningful those things would be! Thank you Lord!!

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How has life been to you? Would you recommend your type of life to someone else? Life really can be full of excitement if you have the right foundation. This article tells you why life in Jesus Christ enables you to enjoy life

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 – John 20:31 (KJV) (Emphasis mine)

Life without Christ is a life with crisis. Life is more than possession of wealth, position or power. Some people who have these and more are still miserable. Some of them even commit suicide. Yet in this life, there are some people who actually enjoy life. What is their secret? It is a life in Jesus Christ.

Having Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour is the greatest asset one can have in life. It is the right foundation to build on. It is possession of Jesus as your Lord, then other goodies that make life enjoying.

What to enjoy in Christ?

1. Life of peace

Absolute peace can only be found in Jesus Christ. It is only when you have Jesus that you can be passing through challenges and still have peace. Presently the world is in chaos but believers are in peace. Their faith is in Jesus who takes care of them in every situation and has NEVER failed them.

2. Joy

Life in Jesus Christ is one full of joy that is not dependent on circumstances but on God’s love and supremacy. That is, life bubbling with joy, come rain, come sunshine. To enjoy life is to be rejoicing all the time. This, you can achieve when you are in Christ.

3. Righteousness

Some people desire to live a life without sin but this goal has been far-fetched for them. They make New Year resolutions and fall short of them after a while. Jesus Christ gives you the power to overcome sin. It is practically impossible to live a righteous life without Christ.

4. Security

There is no complex in a life in Christ. A believer is secured in Christ. He knows who he is as a child of God. There is also no fear in a life in Jesus Christ. Insecurity causes people to do all manner of things that will make them not to enjoy life.

5. Contentment

Godliness with contentment is great gain. Greed is insatiable. It deprives people the ability to really enjoy life. These people spend their time, energy, money, etc trying to satisfy their greed, only to increase it the more. But in Christ you are content with every level per time and you will enjoy every step of the way.

Life is exciting when Jesus is your Lord and saviour. Believe In Him and have life through His name.

Ngozi Nwoke Is a teacher and a counselor. A product and distributor of love. She has a passion to teach people how to enjoy God’s love and fellowship for more fulfilling life. Want more fulfilling life? subscribe for free email updates today. http://stepswithgod.com

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I know it sounds so simple, just praise Him. Lately I needed reminding of that phrase. I had been told it before and had heard confirmation on it, how you are to praise God in the storm. In the middle of your troubles, trials, circumstances, problems, headaches, sorrow, grief, despair, depression and anger just praise God. While going through some things lately, I found myself praying over the same issues. I know that we are not to keep praying and repeating ourselves in our prayers like the heathens do, but the Bible also says to be diligent and persistent in your prayers like the widow before the unjust judge. Keep in mind that you are responsible for your own conduct, character and situations regardless how you ended up there.

I became somewhat fearful of committing the same sins and missed opportunities that caused me to end up repeating parts of my prayers. It felt like a vicious circle. That is when God reminded me to praise Him. Every time I found myself in a situation of temptation or trouble, if I would get my eyes back on Him and start praising Him that I would be delivered from it. “Praise Him in the storm!” Regardless of the troubles that you are going through, God is always good and worthy of your praise! “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” Think about that phrase. Look at what can be found in the joy of the Lord peace, contentment, quietness, happiness, rest, calmness, blessed assurance, faith, trust, hope and of course strength. If the Lord is full of joy than He isn’t worried, fearful, afraid, uncertain, unsure, nervous or excited. He holds your future in His hands. “What can man do to you?” “If God is for you then who can be against you?” Knowing that should give you strength. What a great reason to praise Him!

Now that is a reality check! The more I think about it the more it makes perfect sense. God loves to work with His children when they are receptive, that being a willing heart and joyful spirit. On the other hand if you find yourself mumbling, grumbling, angry, murmuring, whining and complaining then you give God nothing to operate with. You basically close off yourself to others and to God because your focus becomes inward. God inhabits the praises of His people not the complaining and whining of His people. Application is the key and lately there have been plenty of opportunities to apply that which God has shown me. My biggest problem is me! It is one thing to have knowledge and be knowledgeable but it is quite another to apply them in your daily life. Being a Christian and having received revelation doesn’t mean that it stops with you. Depending on that revelation and how it is to be applied is something that can be a blessing to other fellow believers. Now having received revelation and only sharing it with others doesn’t replace personal daily or regular application of it.

I shouldn’t be such a slow learner! Countless times have come and gone where I didn’t apply God’s revelation and wisdom from His Word to my opportunities. I always kick myself for having missed those moments and then suffered for them accordingly. When you praise God for ALL of the wonderful and countless things that He does and blesses you with everyday, you slowly pull your eyes off of your problems and fix your gaze on Jehovah Jireh, God your provider! It is the natural that wants to whine, complain and blame others.

It isn’t natural to start praising God in the middle of your troubles but it sure is the right thing to do! I guarantee that your attitude will change. Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabit the praises of your people. Now instead of being closed off and unreceptive because of your irritable moods, you now are open minded and receptive to God’s help and strategy for your life and life’s problems. Praising God brings joy to your spirit. Praising God brings peace to your soul. Praising God builds up your faith and trust. Praising God brings God to your situation. Praising God brings God’s wisdom and solutions to your problems. It is not that all of your problems will disappear, it is that by praising God invites God into your problems to help you get through them. Everyone has problems and troubles, both sinner and saint. People will notice your strength and wonder how you survived your troubles. That is when you let them know that it wasn’t your strength but God’s strength in you that got you through it!

My name is Steve and I was born and raised in a good Christian home in Phoenix Arizona. In 2004 God spoke to me to let me know that He would start sharing things with me that I would share with others. Little did I know how powerful and meaningful those things would be! Thank you Lord!!

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Holy Father, we humble our hearts before you. We’re making it a top priority to understand your Word. We want to understand it. We want to live it. We want to be fully ready to stand before you. We pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen!

I’ll always quote from the New American Standard Bible, unless I mention otherwise. Sometimes I make comments in the middle of quotations using brackets [ ] or [[ ]] to make them more obvious.

Last time when we stopped we were on page 148 of my book, “Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are in the middle of a study of the Greek noun “aphesis,” which is a very important word. We were discussing Col. 1:9-14 at the end of the last article, which is a very important passage on the topic of holiness and victory over sin. We finished discussing verses 9-13 in the last broadcast, and we are ready to discuss verse 14, a verse that uses aphesis.

Before I read Col. 1:14, I’ll read verses 9-13 with a few comments for review. What the apostle Paul said in verses 9-13 helps us understand what he went on to say in verse 14. These verses are strongly tied together in the Greek. Verses 9-14 are all part of the same sentence in the Greek. There is a very strong emphasis in these verses on our being delivered from the authority of the kingdom of the darkness and bondage to sin and of our being transferred to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the kingdom of the light, and of our being made saints who walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects by the authority and power of God.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us [or, "who has made us fit"] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light [better yet, "in the light"; the definite article is included in the Greek], For He rescued us from the domain [or, "from the authority"] of darkness [of the darkness], and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son [Now I'll read verse 14], in whom [in Christ Jesus] we have redemption [we have the redemption], the forgiveness of sins [Greek aphesis].”

The Greek noun aphesis is typically translated “forgiveness” or the equivalent in this verse, but as we have discussed and will further discuss in some detail, I don’t believe this is an adequate way to translate aphesis in this verse and in several other verses. A translation like, “in whom we have the redemption, the release from sins [with the guilt and the penalties]” is required. This other translation says so much more, and it agrees perfectly with what the word redemption means and with what the apostle Paul said in the preceding verses. The Lord Jesus Christ didn’t just bear our sins with the guilt so we could be forgiven, as important as that is. He bore our sins with the guilt and with the penalties in His atoning death (very much including the penalties of spiritual death and bondage to sin), so He could forgive us and redeem us out of the kingdom of the darkness, with its spiritual death and bondage to sin. He bore our spiritual death, so we could be redeemed out to the kingdom of spiritual death and be born again. He bore our bondage to sin, so we could be redeemed out from under that evil taskmaster and be made righteous and holy with the very imparted righteousness and holiness of God.

Now we’ll get into the details of Col. 1:14. I’ll be reading from my book, which uses the New American Standard Bible, 1977 edition; sometimes I modify what is written in the book for these articles. We’ll start with the words, “in whom we have redemption.” I would translate “the redemption.” The definite article is included in the Greek. God’s redemption through Jesus Christ is the redemption in that it is the theme of much Old Testament prophecy and is at the center of new-covenant salvation. Also, the apostle does not first come to the idea of redemption at Col. 1:14; he has been speaking of the redemption, using different words, in the preceding verses, especially verse 13. On the redemption see under Rom. 3:24 in chapter 6 of my book, “Holiness and Victory Over Sin.”.

I’m going to turn back to page 80 and read part of what I said there in chapter 6. We’re discussing the words “through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” of Rom. 3:24. “I believe these words rather strongly confirm that (in Rom. 3:24) “being justified” includes the ideas of being set free from the authority and power of sin (and spiritual death) and being made righteous. Sin formerly reigned (see Rom. 5:21, for example), and we were slaves of sin (see, for example, Rom. 3:9-20; 6:6, 17-22; 8:2, 5-8; and John 8:31-36), but now we have been redeemed out of the kingdom of sin (and spiritual death) through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word redemption conveys the idea of buying a slave to set him free. We were slaves of sin (according to the New Testament), but we have been redeemed out of the kingdom of sin; we are no longer under the authority and power of sin, and we are no longer to serve our old master of sin (by sinning). If we were forgiven but were still slaves of sin, we would not be redeemed. Let’s briefly consider several passages that deal with the redemption in Christ Jesus, passages that emphasize the transformation to righteousness and holiness.

First we’ll look at 1 Cor. 6:18-20. “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. (19) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (20) For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” We were bought with the price of Jesus’ blood. His precious blood redeemed us out of the kingdom of sin, Satan, and spiritual death.

Now I’ll read Titus 2:11-14 from the NIV, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (12) It teaches us [and, I might add, it enables us] to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (13) while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (14) who gave himself for us TO REDEEM us from all wickedness [or, lawlessness] and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (I mentioned that Titus 2:11-14 are briefly discussed later in this chapter of my book.).

Now 1 Peter 1:14-19, which is another passage that speaks of redemption and puts a very strong emphasis on the need for Christians be set apart from all sin for God. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance [back before you became Christians], (15) but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; (16) because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’ (17) And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth [We must be afraid to sin against God; that's a healthy fear and a necessary fear according to the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.]; knowing that you were not REDEEMED with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile [and I might add, sinful] way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” “Christians have been redeemed from their former futile, sinful way of life by the atoning blood of Christ. (First Peter 1:13-19 are discussed in the last chapter of this book.)

Now I’ll turn back to page 148 and continue to quote what I said under Col. 1:14, Now we’ll discuss the words “the forgiveness [aphesis] of sins” of Col. 1:14. As I have mentioned, I can’t live with the translation “forgiveness” for aphesis here. I would translate “the release from sins [with the guilt and the penalties],” or the equivalent. With these words, which are in apposition with the words “we have [the] redemption,” the apostle expands on what he means by “the redemption.”

Formerly we were under our sins with the guilt and the penalties. (See chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of my book.) To be under our sins with the penalties included being under the authority of sin, spiritual death, Satan, and the darkness. These enemies gained authority over us through our sins, especially Adam’s one great transgression (see Rom. 5:12-21).

God sent His Son to bear our sins with the guilt and the penalties, and He delivered (rescued) us from the authority of the darkness (see Col. 1:13). The deliverance (rescue) of Col. 1:13 refers to the same basic gospel reality as do the expressions “the redemption” and “the release from [our] sins [with the guilt and the penalties]” of verse 14. All these expressions include the forgiveness of the guilt of sin, but they also include much more. We were not just redeemed from the guilt to sin. We were redeemed out of the kingdom of sin. This means, among other things, that we are no longer required to (or supposed to) serve our former master of sin by sinning. This is very good news! This is what we want, isn’t it?

Isaiah chapter 53 (which is discussed in this book) is a very important passage to show by what means we are released from our sins with the guilt and the penalties. That chapter deals with the all-important atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other passages that we are studying in this chapter of my book are all important illustrations of this concept of being released from sins with the guilt and the penalties. Since this concept is so important, and since it is not widely understood, let’s consider several more illustrations:

First we’ll look at Psalm 130:8. I’ll read the verse, “And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.” Iniquities is a translation of the plural of the Hebrew noun “awon.”. I believe this Hebrew noun is used here (as it very often is) of the iniquities with the guilt and the penalties. (Chapter 2 of my book deals with the meaning of this Hebrew noun.) Israel needs to be redeemed from her iniquities with the guilt and with the penalties. Psalm 130:8, understood in its ultimate sense, prophesies of full salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. The concept of being redeemed from iniquities with the guilt and the penalties in Psalm 130:8 is essentially the same thing as “the redemption, the release from sins [with the guilt and the penalties]” of Col. 1:14.

Now we come to the subheading, “Several Commentators on Psalm 130:8.” J. J. S. Perowne (“Commentary on the Psalms,” a 1989 reprint by Kregel), commenting on the words, “[He will redeem Israel] from [all] his iniquities” says (in part), “The redemption includes the forgiveness of sin, the breaking of the power and dominion of sin, and the setting free from all the consequences of sin.”

F. Delitzsch (Volume 5 of the Keil and Delitzsch commentaries on the Old Testament) says (in part), “…He, in the fullness of the might of His free grace, will redeem Israel from all its iniquities, by forgiving them and removing their unhappy inward and outward consequences. With this promise the poet comforts himself. He means complete and final redemption, above all, in the genuinely New Testament manner, spiritual redemption.”

Now we’ll take a quick look at Psalm 39:8, “Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish.” The word transgressions was translated from the plural of the Hebrew noun “pesha.” I believe the idea is “Deliver me from all my transgressions [with the guilt and with the penalties],” or just, “Deliver me from the penalties of my transgressions.” The first chapter of my book deals with the meaning of the Hebrew noun pesha, and Psalm 39:8 is discussed in that chapter.

Now Matthew 1:21, another verse that will help us understand the concept of being saved from our sin [with the guilt and with the penalties]. “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” That is, He will save His people from their sins [with the guilt and the penalties]. Note the preposition “from” in Matt. 1:21 (“He will save His people from their sins [with the guilt and the penalties]“), and note the preposition “from” in the next verse listed here, Rev. 1:5. I’ll read Rev. 1:5, “To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins [released us from our sins with the guilt and with the penalties] by His blood.” I should mention that the preposition “from” was also used in Psalm 130:8 and Psalm 39:8, verses we just looked at.

Now 1 Peter 2:24, 25, “and He Himself bore our sins [He Himself bore our sins with the guilt and the penalties] in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed. (25) For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, bore our sins with the penalties of spiritual death and bondage to sin so that we might be born again and live in the very righteousness and holiness of God, as His born-again children.

Now we come to the subheading, “Two commentators on Colossians 1:14.” Adam Clarke, who was an associate of John Wesley (in his commentary on the Bible abridged by Ralph Earle, published by Baker in 1967), commenting on the words “the forgiveness of sins,” said, ” ‘The taking away of sins’; all the power, guilt, and infection of sin.”

R. C. Lucas (“The Message of Colossians and Philemon,” published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1980) has an interesting discussion regarding the meaning of “the forgiveness of sins.” I’ll quote the major part of his primary paragraph on this topic, “The blessing of forgiveness has sometimes been devalued, as though it were no more than the wiping of the slate clean. But sin is always a power that holds people in thrall [in bondage], so, in Paul’s teaching forgiveness must include the breaking of that power. It is inconceivable that God should forgive the past, and then send us back incapable of living a new life. Pardon without deliverance would be a mockery, and it is never so contemplated in the New Testament. We ought not speak of ‘mere forgiveness’ as though this were but an initial blessing of the gospel. The gospel is precisely the offer of freedom because of the forgiveness of our sins. (E.g., Acts 13:38, 39.) That forgiveness flows from the cross where Christ not only cancelled our debt but also disarmed our enemy (see Colossians 2:14, 15).”

I appreciate these words by R. C. Lucas, but I’ll make two brief comments. Most Christians don’t use the word forgiveness in the full sense presented in this quotation, and I don’t believe they ever will. Secondly, I believe a translation like

“release from sins [with the guilt and the penalties]” more accurately reflects the meaning intended for aphesis here in Col. 1:14, and in several other verses.

That completes our study of Col. 1:9-14, now we come to the heading “Ephesians 1:7 and the Meaning of ‘Aphesis.’ ” I’ll read Eph. 1:7, “In Him [in Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness [aphesis] of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Now we’ll discuss the words, “In Him we have redemption through His blood.” As in Col. 1:14, I would translate “the redemption.” The definite article is included in the Greek in both verses. We discussed “the redemption” in some detail when we discussed Col. 1:14. The words “through His blood” speak of the all-important atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ (see, for example, Rom. 3:24, 25; Titus 2:14; Heb. 9:12-15; 1 Pet. 1:18. 19; and 2:24, 25).

Now we’ll discuss the words “the forgiveness [Greek aphesis] of our trespasses” of Eph. 1:7. As in Col. 1:14, these words are in apposition with the words “the redemption,” and they expand on the meaning of “the redemption.” And, as in Col. 1:14, I would translate “the release from our trespasses [with the guilt and the penalties],” or the equivalent. “The trespasses [with the guilt and the penalties]” here in Eph. 1:7 is the equivalent of “the sins [with the guilt and the penalties]” in Col. 1:14.

“The redemption through His blood, the release from our trespasses [with the guilt and the penalties]” includes our being set free from sin, Satan, and spiritual death. On our being set free from sin and being made righteous and holy, see Eph. 1:4; 2:1-10; 3:14-21; and 4:1-6:20. On our being set free from the authority of Satan, see Eph. 1:20-2:10; 4:8-10, 27; 5:8; and 6:10-18. (Although Satan has no legal authority over true Christians, we must still resist him. The warfare has not ceased, but we need not, and should not, be defeated.) On our being set free from spiritual death by the indwelling Spirit of life, see Eph. 1:13, 14; 2:5, 18; and 3:6.

Now we come to the subheading, “Several Commentators on Ephesians 1:7.” First I’ll quote several sentences from Francis Foulkes (“Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,” published by Eerdmans in 1963). “His death means that blood has been shed as a sacrifice for sin; it may also be described in terms of sin’s defeat and so the release of man from its bondage. The sacrifice is thus the means of redemption which is the forgiveness of sins. Sin involves the bondage of mind and will and members, but forgiveness is freedom, and aphesis, the word used here, means literally the loosing of a person from that which binds him.” I very much appreciate what the commentator says here, but he is using the word forgiveness in a much fuller sense than most Christians do. Typically forgiveness is understood to mean the cancellation of the guilt of sin.

Next I’ll quote several sentences from Henry Alford (“New Testament for English Readers,” volume 3; this reprint was published by Baker in 1983). Commenting on the words “the (or, our) Redemption,” he says (in part), “[redemption] from that which brought us under God’s wrath, the guilt and power of sin, Matthew 1:21.”

Later in his discussion of Eph. 1:7, Alford comments of the meaning of the words “the remission [or, forgiveness]…of our transgressions.” He says, “explanation of the words, our Redemption: not to be limited, but extending to all riddance from the practice and consequences of our transgressions.” Then he comments on the meaning of the words, “according to the riches of His grace,” He says, “This alone would prevent the word ‘remission’ applying to merely the ‘forgiveness’ of sins. We have in this grace not only redemption from misery and wrath, not only forgiveness, – but we find in it the liberty, the glory, the inheritance of the children of God, – the crown of eternal life; compare 2 Corinthians 8:9.” I’ll read 2 Cor. 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

The last commentator I listed here was John Wesley. I’ll quote part of what he said under Eph. 1:7 in his “Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament. “…we…Who believe, have from the moment we believe, redemption from the guilt and power of sin, through his blood – Through what he hath done and suffered for us.”

That completes our study of Eph. 1:7 and the Greek noun aphesis. We’ll go on to a study of Eph. 1:3, 4. We won’t finish this study today; we’ll finish it in the next article. I’ll be quoting from my paper that includes verse-by-verse studies of Ephesians chapters 1 and 4 that is on my internet site. I highly recommend that you take a look at this paper. For one thing, it has a lot to say about holiness and victory over sin.

I’ll read Eph. 1:3, 4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” The verse continues with the words, “In love.” We’ll discuss those important words when we come to them.

Verse 3 starts with the word “Blessed.” I’ll read what I said in a bracket regarding this word, The NIV has “Praise (be to).” God the Father is to be blessed/praised (with thanksgiving) for the blessings He has bestowed on us in Christ Jesus. This sentence, which continues through verse 14 in the Greek (what a glorious sentence!), puts a strong emphasis on praise to God for His gracious and glorious plan of salvation. In verse 6 the apostle Paul speaks of “the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [in Christ Jesus],” and in verses 12 and 14 he speaks of “the praise of His glory.” In verse 7 he speaks of “the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us.” In verse 5 he speaks of “the kind intention [or, good pleasure] which He [God the Father] purposed in Him [or, probably better, "which He purposed in Himself"].”

I’ll read verse 3 again, then comment further on the meaning of these words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” The apostle goes on to speak of these spiritual blessings as he continues this long sentence. The primary blessings are spiritual, but the blessings are not limited to the spiritual dimension. Some of these blessings are available now, and some of them are reserved for the future (see Eph. 1:14, for example). Even now we have the victory “in the heavenly places” by virtue of our being “in Christ.” On “the heavenly places,” see Eph. 1:20; 2:6; 3:10; and 6:12. Note that the words “in Christ,” or equivalent words (like “in Him” and “in the beloved”) are repeatedly used in this long sentence (and in a large number of other passages in the New Testament), referring to the glorious union believers have with the Lord Jesus Christ (see verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 13). Verse 5 shows that we are adopted as sons through Jesus Christ.

Now we come to Eph. 1:4, “Just as He [God the Father] chose us in Him [in Christ] before the foundation of the world [I have a lengthy discussion here, but I'm going to skip down to the next words for this article], that we would be holy and blameless before Him….” As I pointed out under verse 1, the Greek adjective translated “holy” here in verse 4 was translated “saints” in verse 1 (the adjective was plural in verse 1). Saints are holy (set apart) people. The call and enablement to be holy and blameless is a major feature of the present spiritual blessings given to us in Christ Jesus. Our living in God’s righteousness and holiness (by His grace) is the bottom line of Christianity (see, for example, Eph. 2:8-10; 3:14-6:17; Rom. 6:1-23; 8:1-14; 1 Pet. 1:13-25; 2:24; 4:1-6; Rev. 2:1-3:22; and 22:12-15).

Through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Eph. 1:7), and by the work of the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:13, 14, for example), Christians are enabled (by grace through faith) to live in a state of holiness and blamelessness – set apart by God for God, and living in the center of His will, with the victory over all sin. This is the ideal state that we can (and should) be living in as born-again Christians. Holiness is not optional for Christians (see Heb. 12:14, for example; I’ll read Heb. 12:14 from the NIV, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”) We must make living in a state of holiness a top priority. Christians aren’t automatically holy. The only way we can live in a state of holiness is by grace (which includes all the work of the Holy Spirit) through faith (a faith that is based on the good news spelled out in the New Testament).

In closing I’ll read what I said in a parenthesis here. It’s true, of course, that forgiveness is a foundational part of the Christian gospel. This truth is typically well understood by Christians, but there is a major problem when, as it so often happens, most of the emphasis is put on forgiveness and right standing. I believe we should put about ten percent of the emphasis on forgiveness and right standing and about ninety percent on being righteous and holy through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, by grace through faith.

We’ll come back to Eph. 1:4 in the next broadcast. God bless you! His name be glorified! His will be done! His will be done in each one of us!

Copyright by Karl Kemp

http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc.

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Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and look to His wonderful face, all things of this world shall grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

When your eyes are upon Him, the weight of the natural things no longer has effect on you. Gazing on Him is waiting for that which is supernatural and the natural mind can not understand it. There will be peace like river even when all is crumbling down in your life. Set your eyes on Him again!
How God want us to learn from His word daily. Many times we set our hearts on how things happen naturally. This could be marital, emotional, financial, immigration, health wise and etc. But God would always want to create scenes that portrays to the natural mind that this can’t be possible.

In the contest at Mount Carmel, Elijah had to pour water on the woods that he gathered and you know what this means! Naturally speaking anything that wet can’t be consumable-that is the natural law. But Elijah was doing this to allow room for these people to see that God can cross any barrier. Fire came; the wood and the rest were all consumed. god is not bound by natural law!

Take your eyes off the symptoms, the natural effect of things and set your eyes on Him till He comes! He who will come will come, He shall not tarry. Though the vision tarries wait for it.

This article is free to you.

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