Faith in Christ!

(Romans 5:20)  “…but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

“To shake that snake off in the fire”, as if it was but a flea, the vipers poison of no result to our beloved brother Paul, but while he was Saul there would have been serious consequences, outside the protection of our beloved Father’s covering in and through the blood of the Lamb. To be class as a son of God through faith, we now all have the safe-guards of what will be ours in heaven. Obviously we do not have our actual spiritual bodies as yet but we are one with Christ, if we have His Spirit; no differently to a man and a woman becoming one flesh through canal intercourse; and so illicit sex a very serious offence in the eyes of God. Why? The two become one flesh!

This truth cuts deep and I have had nightmares with some of my very own behaviors through time. But praise belongs to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, His forgiveness never ceasing, thank you Father God for your mercy. Where sin abounded… “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20)

Nevertheless all of these truths we uncover through scripture are worthless to us as individuals if they are not mixed with faith. Faith is the binding agent that helps us believe them to be truth and thus in turn gets us to live different lives to those who do not believe. Even with our many mistakes alone the celestial road; it is faith in Christ that gets us to seek out His forgiveness. Of course it all hinges on the goodness of God! “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4) 

Repentance then is something that becomes a daily habit as much as we need food to sustain our carnal bodies, without it we die! It is what we learn to do in our closet that become of crucial importance, we can hide nothing from our God. He sees all! But without faith feeding our hope, that one day we shall be like our glorious Saviour, why even bother? If there is no resurrection of the death our faith would be pointless. NO! It is of the utmost importance because just as Christ rose from the dead so shall we; for those who put their trust in His finished work shall also be raised from the dead to receive their glorified bodies and so ever walk with our God in the New Jerusalem. What a hope the believer has. This then is our hope, that one day we shall be like Him in every aspect of our lives. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!

Heaven a place that takes our imagination to a domicile of absolute awe, how do we reconcile what John witnesses? It is too wonderful to conceive and yet it is a place as real as the desk I type from.

This is some of what John saw, but it was Christ who grabbed his attention…

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.”

- Rev_14:1

“The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in describing what he saw, he begins by saying, “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” This teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Nothing else attracted the apostle’s attention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him for ever. “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as good Rutherford says, “Heaven and Christ are the same thing;” to be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters-”O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.” It is true, is it not, Christian? Does not thy soul say so?”

“Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,

If God his residence remove,

Or but conceal his face.”

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is “to be with Christ.””

(C.H.Spurgeon)

And yet by faith we already have Him as our greatest treasure, praise His name! Thank you Father for sending your Son to die for me…

Let us therefore remember this valuable lesson for our live as we endeavour to walk with God, to teach others along the way in whatever small measure we have been given and not to mix the law with the gospel.

“O, when will all professors, and especially all professed ministers of Christ, learn the difference between the law and the gospel? Most of them make a mingle-mangle, and serve out deadly potions to the people, often containing but one ounce of gospel to a pound of law, whereas, but even a grain of law is enough to spoil the whole thing.

It must be gospel, and gospel only. "If it be of grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; and if it be of works, then it is not of grace, otherwise work is no more work." (C.H.Spurgeon) – (posted by pyromaniacs) http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-mix-law-with-gospel.html )

Signing off

Tyrone