GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME

  How many times have we expressed that sentiment individually and in an assembly! If you have ever heard Demar Elam speak you certainly have joined him and others to almost shout aloud, GOD IS GOOD – ALL THE TIME! And that is true! He is good all the time, when the sun is shinning and when the rain is falling; in good times and in bad times; when the money is plentiful and when there is a shortage of money; when there is a bountiful amount of food and when there is little food to place on the table. In recent months we have been praying for at least 10 friends who have cancer. Of that number 3 individuals have been declared cancer free! Praise God, He is so good and our prayers have been answered. However 2 of our dear friends have died because of that awful disease. Was God good on 3 occasions when our friends were declared cancer free? Why, of course He was. Now, let me ask you this question, was God good when 2 of our dear friends died with cancer? The answer depends on how you perceive the character and nature of God. The person of a deep and abiding faith in God knows that He is good all the time; in sickness and in health; in life and in death! The believer knows that our Heavenly Father cares for us when things don’t turn out the way we thought they would, especially when a loved one or a friend dies. The apostle Peter encourages us to cast our cares upon Him “for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). It was Peter who replied to Jesus when many of His disciples turn from following Him and He asked His apostles, “Do you also want to go away?” “But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom we shall go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67, 68). I often say softly by memory Psalm 46:1 when I feel discouraged or saddened by the death of someone I loved: “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in time of trouble”. Friends and family may comfort me but it is to God who takes me ‘under His wings’ and there I find shelter from the storms of life. Like Peter, I must say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? God is the great comforter. “God is so good, God is so good – He’s so good to me!” – Raymond, 1/28/16

FAITH, GRACE AND LAW

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (NKJV).  We often use this verse to contrast the old Mosaic Law with the new way of grace and truth through Jesus Christ.  We emphasize to our religious neighbors that we are no longer under the Law of Moses but under a different system made possible by the death of our Lord.  However we must be careful that we do not leave the wrong impression in the minds of others, that is, the Law of Moses was void of God’s grace or that the system of grace excludes law.  

The grace of God preceded the Law of Moses and was included in it.  Regardless of when a person lived in ages past there had to be a response to the unmerited favor of God in order to receive the benefits therein.  Paul declared in Romans 4:16:  “Therefore it is faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all.”  A person was never accepted of God simply because of his race or national origin.  He had to possess that faith like unto Abraham in order to be blessed by the grace of God.  That kind of faith motivated one to obey the commands of God.  “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…” (Hebrews 11:4).  “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household…” (Hebrews 11:7).  “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance…” (Hebrews 11:8)  These are just a few examples of faithful men who responded to God’s grace as recorded in Hebrews chapter eleven.

The grace of God was evident in the overthrow of the city of Jericho.  “And the Lord said to Joshua: See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor” (Joshua 6:1).  Now that is unmerited favor!  Joshua and the people of Israel had not done anything toward capturing the city yet God said, “I have given Jericho into your hand.”  Instructions were given from God and followed by Israel relative to what God wanted them to do.  In their faith, the people marched.  At the blast of the trumpets and the shout of the people on the seventh day the wall of Jericho fell.  “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days” (Hebrews11:30).  The works performed by Israel did not cause the city walls to fall; rather, it was by God’s grace.  However, the walls would not have fallen if the Israelites had not done what God commanded them to do.

God’s grace can also be seen in the curing of Naaman (II Kings 5).  This man had leprosy.  There was no earthly cure for this terrible and fatal disease.  However, when Naaman finally obeyed the command of the prophet of God to dip seven times in the river of Jordon, “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (II Kings 5:14).  The waters of Jordan did not cleanse him.  It was when his faith motivated him to obey the command of God that the grace of the Lord was bestowed upon him.  Throughout the Old Testament the wonderful grace of our heavenly Father is clearly seen.  Obedience to the commands of God did not exclude His grace.

In contrast, the system of grace does not exclude law.  God is the giver, salvation is the gift and man is the recipient.  No student of the Bible denies that we are saved by the infinite grace of the heavenly Father.  The apostle Paul made this truth evident in his writings:  “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Ephesians 2:4, 5).  “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste of death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).  Does this mean that God saves people without an individual having a choice in the matter?  Certainly not!  Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13, 14 that the “many” in contrast with the “few” would be eternally lost, the reason being that a person determines whether he will obey or disobey Christ.

But someone is ready to reply, “If a person has a part in his salvation, such works nullify the grace of God.”  Not so!  That grace of God which “has appeared to all men” also instructs mankind to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and informs us how to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-14).  We have to respond to the grace of God by living in harmony with the teachings of the Word of God.  In Ephesians 2:8 we learn, “For by grace you have been saved through faith…”  Faith is a person’s part of his salvation that is required by God.  “Therefore it is faith that it might be according to grace…” (Romans 4:16).  If there is not a response (faith) on the part of an individual, God’s grace will not save.  In the great Roman letter Paul mentions “obedience of the faith” in the beginning and in the ending of this epistle (Romans 1:5; 16:26).  Faith is the foundation of obedience.  The faith that saves is one that obeys (Hebrews 5:8, 9).  It is a living, vibrant, obedient faith (James 2 24, 26).  While the works of the law could not justify anyone, it is a work of God that we believe on His Son (John 6:29).  Paul wrote in Galatians 2:16:  “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”  The Lord also requires that a person repent of sins, confess his faith in Jesus Christ and be immersed for the remissions of our sins (Acts 17:30; Romans 10:9, 10; Mark 16:16).  When in our faith we respond to the commands of God we know that we have not merited salvation.  Jesus taught:  “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants.  We have done what was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).  It is not a matter of who saves but rather when God saves a person.

Paul declared that “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).  Yes, there is law under the system of grace and the commandments ordained of God for mankind to obey do not nullify His grace.

HE WHO SAID “I THIRST” HAD CREATED THE SEAS

There He was, God the Son, incarnate in human flesh, nailed to Calvary’s cross. Jesus Christ was dying for all of mankind “by the grace of God” (Hebrews 2:9). He had been hanging on that rugged cross almost six hours. While He was on the cross He spoke seven times. Of the seven sayings of Jesus Christ, the shortest was, “I thirst” (John 19:28). Surely His words indicated the intense suffering He was enduring on that “tree” (Acts 10:39; Galatians 3:13). A Roman soldier gave Him a mixture of sour wine (wine that had passed its time and had turned into vinegar) and well water.

Our Lord Jesus Christ created the “waters” in the beginning (Genesis, chapter one) and yet there he was saying, “I thirst”. He also created the trees, from which wood was used to make the cross on which He hung as He was suspended between heaven and earth. Also He had created the material for the hammer or mallet being used by the Roman soldier to drive the nails into His hands and feet and the spear used by the Roman soldier that pierced His side. Even the soldier was a descendant of the man and woman who God formed/made in the Garden of Eden (Genesis, chapter two). Jesus Christ could have called down “more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53) to rescue Him from that cross “but He died alone for you and me.”

But you may ask, how was Jesus involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth? In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the Hebrew language, “God” is from ‘Elohim’ which is a noun that is masculine and plural (Emphasis, RE). Now observe what is written in Genesis 1:26, 27: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness…” (NKJV, Emphasis, RE). “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

In the New Testament we learn that God the Son was truly involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all things therein. The apostle John declared this truth in chapter 1:1-3 of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word (Greek: Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  In verse 14 we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The apostle John bore witness of this great truth. The eternal Word (Logos) was incarnate in human flesh and His name was called “Jesus” (Matthew 1:21, Emphasis, RE).

 

The apostle Paul plainly taught that God the Son (Jesus) was involved in the creation. “He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:15-17).

The writer of the book of Hebrews in chapter 1, verses 1-4, speaks of God the Father’s evaluation of His Son: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Emphasis, RE).

We can truly say that God the Father was the architect/designer of the heavens and the earth; God the Son (Jesus Christ) executed His plan and God the Holy Spirit was the finisher.

He is the Alpha and Omega,
the Beginning and the End.
The Son of God, King of Kings,
Messiah, Jehovah, The Prince of Peace, is He.
Son of Man, Seed of Abraham,
Second Person in the Trinity.

- From the song, Alpha and Omega, Lyrics by Robbie Trice

“LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN”

Many mothers have stated that while their son was in prison for killing a person, “I hate what my son has done but I still love him.” A broken hearted wife has found out that her husband has broken their wedding vows by committing adultery. She is overwhelmed with grief and disappointment; but, she wants to save their marriage and expresses her feelings, “because I still love him.” A son is sent to prison for selling cocaine and will be incarcerated for several years. His father hates what his son has done; but, down deep in his father’s heart there remains a love for his wayward son and he will give him moral support. No doubt, there are Christian parents who may have a son or a daughter living with a member of the opposite sex without being married. The parents know the Word of God considers such an arrangement as being the sin of “fornication” and described in the book of Galatians to be one of “the works of the flesh”; and that they “who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Don’t you know those parents still love their son or daughter and at the same time hate that sinful relationship? There are Christians parents who have sons and daughters who are homosexuals (Lesbians) and are actively engaged in such a lifestyle. Do not these parents love their children while hating that sinful way of living? Why, of course they do! It is my conviction that the majority of people accept that the foregoing illustrations are, in reality, common occurrences. And, we understand how you can ‘love the sinner and hate the sin’. It is mainly when Bible believing people speak out against the sin of homosexuality (actively engaged in such a life style) and ‘gay marriages’ that we are called ‘homophobic’ and ‘bigoted’. Also we are accused of actually hating the individuals. But, is it possible that a person can love the sinner, yet, hate the sin? Have you ever considered that God loves sinners but hates sin? In Proverbs 6:16-19, we read, “These six things the LORD HATES, (Emphasis, RE) Yes, seven are an abomination to Him” and then the writer list them. This passage is a continuation of the character of the person mentioned in verse 12 who is described as “A worthless person, a wicked man…” The Bible plainly teaches that God loves sinners yet hates sin. How do I know that? Please read the following passage: “But God demonstrates His own loved toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). As children of God we are taught to “LOVE your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). At the same time we learn from the Psalmist, “Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I HATE every false way” (Emphasis, RE, Psalm 119:104). Therefore we can love the sinner and at the same time hate the sin. There is hope for those who live the lifestyle of homosexuality and that hope is found in Jesus Christ and the power of the gospel of Christ. Please read carefully the passage of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (NKJV). In Christ there is salvation from sin, strength to overcome our weaknesses and frailties of the flesh, and a blessed assurance of an eternal life with God when our journey on this earth has ended (1 John 5:11, 12). My friends, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth” when I write “the truth in love” (Galatians 4:16; Ephesians 4:15)?