Faith and Hope: the Anchor that Enters Within the Veil

Faith and Hope: the Anchor that Enters Within the Veil

4/10/13 Audio Transcipt

Let’s start with prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I praise You for Your love that You have shown to us and we need no greater proof than the cross and Your life that You poured out for us there to know how much You love us. Your loved Your own to the point of death even death on a  cross and I pray that You would help us today to learn about faith, the gift that You have given to all of us, Your people and the perfect gift that comes from You, the Father of lights who does not change like the shifting shadows and I pray that You would reveal Yourself to us today and have mercy on me that You would give me the right words to say, words full of grace and truth and that Jesus Christ, that we would see You, a glimpse of who you truly are today and that You would remove from us our false notions of who Christ is and that we would see Him as though the veil over our eyes has been removed b/c if we have truly turned to Christ, the veil has been removed and we are able to behold Your glory and be transformed into the same image. I pray that You will surround this room with Your presence and that Your Spirit will be poured out on all of these girls and all of these people here in this building.

In Jesus’s Christ’s Name, I pray, Amen.

There are a lot of things that I wanted to talk to you girls about today and as I was thinking about it yesterday and praying, God brought to my mind the idea of faith. What do you girls think that faith is? How would you define faith?

Yes, Mara.

When you believe in Christ Jesus

That is right. Yes, Ally

Putting your trust that Jesus is our Savior

Yes, imagine that you have a hammock. You know what a hammock is? And there are two trees in a park and you have your hammock and you are trying to decide if the trees are strong enough to tie your hammock to so you can take a nap. So you go over to those trees and you see that those trees are very very strong and they are about this big around and they are like the California trees that are really really tall and look unshakeable. Do you think that you would believe that those trees are strong enough to hold up your hammock? You believe that right? So, because you believe that what is your next step? What are you going to do? You would tie it up right? But what if instead of those big trees you saw some little trees like those ones outside of this church, the trunk is only about that big? Would you hang your hammock on that tree? No, because you do not believe that it is strong enough right? So based on what you believe about those trees, you are going to decide whether or not you hang your hammock on it. That’s literally like hanging your life on it b/c if you fall out of a hammock more than 20 ft off the ground, perhaps you could die. And in the same way, when we look at God’s Word, we know that faith is, as Mara said is, believing in Jesus Christ and it is believing that He is who He says He is in His Word and believing that He will do what He says He will do in His Word and if we truly have believed in the Words of Christ, you will base your whole life upon Him and His Word. You will hang your soul on Him. It is like you are banking all of your emotions and all that you do, all your attitudes, and all of your hope on Christ. And today I pray that God helps us understand from His Word what faith really means. If you have your Bibles please open to Hebrews 11. It is in the New Testament.

We are going to camp here in this chapter for most of the time but I am going to be reading some other passages in between. For the sake of time, I am going to begin reading with verse 1.

“Now faith is the ^[a]assurance of things ^[b]hoped for, the ^[c]conviction of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)”

   So there in that verse we see what God is telling us that faith is. We know that we are saved by grace through faith and God’s Word is telling us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. So can we see God, as a physical person? No, right? Do we see sin as if it is like a substance like water or fire? Can we see sin? No. Can we see love? Can we see it as though it a physical thing that we can actually hold? No, right? But, you all do believe in Jesus and in sin and in love? You are certain that they exist right? You are assured in your souls that there truly is a Christ, and there truly is sin, and there truly is love? There truly is righteousness. So many of the things in the Scriptures and the Word of God that you will read about, if you are reading those Words and you are not relying on God to teach you, they may seem so far from you like something that has nothing at all to do with what you are planning to do today and what is on your mind and the thoughts that you have. But faith, the faith that God wants us to have, is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction, that is, the strong belief, of things not seen. So, our whole Gospel that we have been talking about all year that Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, has come in the form of a human to the earth, lived a perfect life, been crucified by sinful people like you and me and He was the substitute for our sin, all of His blood was shed, His Father showed Him the righteous anger that He should have shown to us, He finished the work on the cross and rose to life on the third day showing that He is the Son of God and that He had satisfied the Father’s justice, and now the veil is opened for us to approach God through Christ, because His Body was broken for us and His blood was shed to forgive our sins, have we seen any of that? But, if we have faith, we are assured of those things. We are banking our life on those things. And I am going to read a verse from Hebrews ch 6. You do not need to turn there, I am just going to read it. Okay

In verse 19 it says,

 ^19 [o]This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters ^[p]within the veil, ²⁰ where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Heb 6

So our hope in our Gospel that we surely do have a Christ who is alive, who has paid for our sins, that hope is an anchor for our souls. Do you know what an anchor is? Yes, what is an anchor?

The thing that hold a ship down in place

Exactly, so the thing that hold our life is our hope in the heavenly things and our Gospel and our Christ, that He is who He says that He is. And this hope is sure and steadfast. If we truly have this type of faith and hope that saves, it is sure and steadfast and it enters within the veil. Before we came to Christ, we had a veil over our eyes and that veil was unbelief because we did not believe in Him. Our unbelief was sin. We did not believe b/c we were sinful and we were sinful b/c we were did not believe. And all of that unbelief and sin together were the veil that was in front of us that prevented us from seeing God and from beholding His righteousness and seeing any of the goodness of God. And when we come to Christ that veil is removed b/c just as Christ’s body was torn, was broken for us, the veil that separated us from God was broken. It was removed when we came to Christ and now the hope that we have enters within the veil to the very heavens. It says that it enters within the veil where Christ has entered as the Forerunner. A forerunner is someone who runs before us. Up in the heavens, Christ has ran before us as a Forerunner. He is our High Priest forever. A High Priest is someone who offers sacrifices to cover over the sins of the people and Christ has become our High Priest, the only High Priest, the highest of High Priests for us b/c He has ran before us into the heavens and in the heavenly tabernacle He offered His blood there and it is b/c of the Blood of the Lamb that we are saved. Some of you have had ppl come to your door in the Name of Christ and tell you a false Gospel that tells you that you are saved by your baptism or you are saved by your own goodness or any other thing or they may tell you that Christ is not truly God. But that is not true. If you stand before the judgment throne and God asks you why He should let you in, your answer from the bottom of your heart must be only “because of the Blood of the Lamb who was slain to cover over my sin, because of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” He is the only One that we can put all of our hope and faith in. We are tying our hammock, so to speak, to Christ. We are not tying it to anything else but Christ. That is what true faith is, it is a hope that enters within the veil to the heavens. Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and is interceding for us, praying for us and is, on the basis of His own blood, He is pleading for us before the Father.

Okay, I am going back to Hebrews chapter 11. Verse 2

² For by it the men of old ^[d]gained approval. (Heb 11:2)

So the way that we gain approval before God is to have this faith.

³ By faith we understand that the ^[e]worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (Heb 11:3)

So by faith we know that God created the world. Many ppl will tell you that they believe that God did not create this world, but by the faith that God has given us as a gift, we know that the unseen God has created the world.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying ^[f]about his gifts, and through ^[g]faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. (Heb 11:4)

God had told Cain and Abel to offer a blood sacrifice to Him to show that they were trusting that someday Christ would come to be their Savior. Cain did not obey but Abel obeyed. In faith He obeyed. He had faith that one day God would send the Messiah to save him from his sins. And though Abel is dead right now, he still speaks to us because his faith is an example to us.

Do you all know that story about Cain and Abel?

Yes.

Cain had offered a sacrifice of his crops. But that does not work right? Because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins and God wanted them to offer a blood sacrifice to shown that they understood they were sinners and they needed the Messiah to save them. Verse 5:

 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 

There was a man in the OT named Enoch and he had faith, so much so that God took Enoch to heaven. He was such a righteous man that God was pleased with his faith and he never died. Verse 6.

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Heb 11

Girls, hear this verse. It is so important:

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Heb 11

If we do not have that hope that enters within the veil, that assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, we cannot please God. So may we plead with Him to give us more and more faith and to help us when we have unbelief in our hearts. And this chapter goes on. When you girls go home will you try to commit to reading this chapter this week? Ask God to help you have some time because this chapter goes through a history of so many ppl in the Bible who had faith, the type of faith that pleased God. They could not see God physically, but they had faith in Him. And their faith affected the way that they lived. They gave up everything in their lives for this Christ that they were putting their faith in. I am going to read from verse 32 to the end of the chapter.

³² And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon,Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire,escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong,became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women receivedback their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their ^[u]release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others ^[v]experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, ^[w]they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ³⁸ (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes ^[x]in the ground.

³⁹ And all these, having ^[y]gained approval through their faith, did not receive ^[z]what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had ^[aa]provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. Heb 11

You see what kind of a life that true faith leads to? The true faith that causes you to bank your soul on Christ. You have no other hope that the words in this book. It will affect everything. It is not just something that is confined to some small part of your life. The true saving faith is something that you become a slave to Christ if you have this faith, if you have this assurance of Christ. You become a slave to Christ not a slave to the world or anything else in the world. I am going to read some verses from James chapter 2:

¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is ^[p]dead, being by itself.

¹⁸ But someone ^[q]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” ¹⁹ You believe that ^[r]God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Girls, the demons believe God but they shudder b/c they have judgment awaiting them. You see, there is a judgment coming and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And if you lose your soul you lose everything. The suffering you go through when you get hurt, there is an end, but in hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, there is no end. And if you neglect the great salvation through Christ, who is so glorious, so precious, the Forerunner who has gone in to the heavens on the basis of His own blood to cover our sin. If you neglect that put that aside and just live for yourself without any faith, there is only destruction that awaits. You should shudder like these demon who believe but shudder.

 ²⁰ But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that faith was working with his works, and ^[s]as a result of the works, faith was ^[t]perfected; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. James 2

Girls, if you have faith in Christ, it is credited to you as righteousness and you will be called a friend of God just like Abraham

²⁴ You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. James 2

This does not mean that we are saved by our woks but it means that true faith is evidenced and authenticated by works. It is not that you will be perfect girls. We have talked about this before. But the good works that are a result of banking your life on Christ and His Word, it just inevitably results in a life lived for Christ, and you living as a bondservant for Christ.

²⁵ In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2

I want to close by telling you some things about our Christ, because Christ is so glorious and I want you girls to just get a little glimpse from these verses about what Christ is truly like:

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

³ And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,

And He will not judge by what His eyes see,

Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

⁴ But with righteousness He will judge the poor,

And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;

And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

⁵ Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,

And faithfulness the belt about His waist. Is 11

And finally in Revelation 1:

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,¹⁸ and the living One; and I ^[l]was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 1

And here are some verses that describe Jesus:

¹³ and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like ^[j]a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. ¹⁴ His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. ¹⁶ In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun ^[k]shining in its strength. Rev 1

Girls, do you believe in Jesus, that this Jesus that I just read about, that He really exists and that He is at the right hand of God right now and that He is coming back to bring all of us who have trusted in Him, who have banked our life on Him, who have believed that it is His blood alone that saves us. We have no other hope that the hope that is the anchor for our souls. Jesus said that if our right hand causes us to sin, cut it off and if our eye causes us to sin, take it out. For it is better to be inured that to lose your soul. It is better to go the heaven with earthly injury that to lose your soul. Of course Jesus is not saying that you should cut your hand off, but He is saying that if you are banking your life on Christ, you have got to give up everything for Him. You see, the salvation, the eternal life that is a gift of His grace, it is not just a free ticket to heaven. I hope you understand that because Christ gave up for you, He gave up His life for you that you would no longer live for yourselves but for Christ, who loved you and gave His life up for you. Eternal life means being a royal priesthood, a holy nations, a ppl set apart from the world. You must be se apart. There are many tribulations and trials and with much patience and endurance we will inherit the promises of God. But you must bank your life on Christ, you must put your hope entirely on Christ. Do not forget the words of the Gospel and the words of the Scriptures. You must pay much closer attention to them so that you do not drift away from Christ. You must remain in the faith. And if you are not sure if you are saved, cry out to God to save you, to give you a new heart and spirit, to give you the true gift of faith, the faith that is the conviction of things not seen, the hope that is that anchor for the soul that enters within the veil where Christ is the Forerunner. Would someone like to close in prayer…

Unity # 34: Released from the Power of Sin

Unity # 34: Released from the Power of Sin

Predestination, Effectual Grace, Suffering, and the Resurrection of Christ

Dear Father,

     We praise You for the hope of Your calling, the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in us, the surpassing greatness of Your power towards us who believe, the working of Your mighty strength which You brought about in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. You have put all things in subjection under the feet of Your Son, and given Him as head over all things to the church, Your body, the fullness of You who fills all in all. I commit this letter to You; may it flow by Your Spirit’s help to comfort the saints.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

Dear Beloved,

      This letter is about our release from the power of sin. By the work of our Lord, death and its sting are swallowed up in victory. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:54-57) There are many things which may be written about our release from the power of sin; here I will be focusing on what God has been teaching me in the past week: the regenerate hearts’ understanding of predestination, the nature of God in the face of suffering, and the resurrection of Christ. I am trusting that God will help all that He has brought to my mind to fit together well in this letter.

The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of Predestination/Effectual Grace

     The Scriptures make it exceedingly clear that God has both foreknown and predestined the eternal outcome of all people: some are appointed for life, and some are doomed to destruction. However, many professing believers have a difficult time understanding and believing that this is so. The common reasons are that somehow justice is perverted or coercion has been enacted on God’s part if we are left with no choice of our own. All would agree that God is just, and that for all those who have trusted in Christ, they have done so willingly and wholeheartedly. Their surrender is indeed an outcry of acknowledgement of the great love of the Father. So for us who believe the Scriptures which teach us that God has predestined us, we agree that God is just in all that He does and that the people of God have a heart that loves Christ and all that He entails. But for those who do not believe in predestination, you must consider the passage from John 6:52-71 where Christ describes that He will give His flesh for the life of the world and that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood have eternal life, and He will raise them up on the last day. He tells us that if we eat His flesh and drink His blood we abide in Him and He in us. As the living Father sent Him, and He lives because of the Father, so if we eat of Christ, we will live forever because of Him. After Jesus taught about these things, many of His followers said that this was a difficult statement and asked who could listen to it. But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? When then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe”. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. He was saying. “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father”. As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. Dear saints, in view of the teaching of predestination, that is, that it is because of God’s will and power that anyone at all can come to Him, many people could no longer walk with Him. If you knew that God’s predestination of all people is true, then would you still walk with Him? Would you be as the disciples who said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” Jesus had chosen all 12 of them, but he knew that Judas would betray Him. He has mercy and compassion on whom He has mercy and compassion. And He hardens whomever He desires. His purpose is that His Name will be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory? He has called people from both the Jews and the Gentiles; He has called those who were not His people and not beloved as His beloved people, sons of the living God. For though the number of the sons of Israel are like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant alone that will be saved; for the Lord will execute His Word on the earth thoroughly and quickly. So then, many of the Israelites pursued a law of righteousness, could not keep it, and rejected the righteousness that comes by faith. In Zion God lay a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and only those who believe in Him will not be disappointed. So then, our righteousness is by faith. (Rom 9)

    Dear saint, do you believe in the Scriptural truth of the total moral depravity of all unregenerate people, that is, that until we are raised to life by the Spirit, we are dead in trespasses and sin, possessing absolutely no goodness at all. Because we were dead, we could not hear, understand, or believe in the Gospel nor did we contain any inking of a leaning towards the Truth such that we could choose to believe in it even if we heard it? And because this is true, we require God’s effectual grace, the grace purchased through the blood of Christ for His chosen people that lifts us from our spiritual graves that we may hear, understand, and believe in the Gospel. Furthermore, effectual grace enables us to bear fruit, to be progressively sanctified, to persevere until the end, to remain faithful, to be glorified with and found in Christ on the last Day… To deny predestination is to claim that God has not chosen and caused us to trust in Christ, and if it was not effectual grace by God’s own predestination that caused us to believe, then you are saying that you had some inkling of goodness to choose him. And then you deny total depravity, and you are claiming to have some righteousness of your own; you are claiming that there was some inherent goodness in yourself that caused you to choose Him. Do you not see how such a belief, if continued in, could result in damnation if your heart has truly believed that you have some goodness apart from what God has chosen to grant to you though His regenerating work? Do you now understand why many turned away from Christ in the face of His teaching on predestination? Many were holding on to a righteousness of their own, to a false nobility of their human will apart from the Father’s enablement. We must surrender all.

     These principles can be applied to eternal security as well. Eternal security is the gift of grace granted to all those who are chosen for eternal life. Those who inherit God’s promises do so through faith and patience (Heb 6:12). God enables them to persevere until the end and works in them the “obedience of faith” that is present in all those who are truly justified. If it is not God who secures the souls of the elect and prevents them from falling away through His Spirit, Word, discipline, and love, then we are left to ourselves to remain in the faith, and we are again denying effectual grace, and claiming goodness apart from His predestining work. His act of predestination involves our calling, conversion, perseverance, and eternal life. And thus, we are determined to know nothing among us except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. We come in weakness, fear, and much trembling, and our message and preaching are not in persuasive words of worldly wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that the faith of our hearers will not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Cor 2:1-5)

     So then, this letter is to be about our release from the power of sin, and you may be wondering how God’s predestination is related to the power of sin. There are certain things which accompany the saints’ righteous belief in predestination: a deep conviction of total depravity prior to regeneration, a deep conviction that because God has secured our salvation, He will keep us holy and blameless, firm in faith, until the end, in the face of imminent temptations to turn aside and the surrounding deceitfulness of sin, a tremendous awe and fear at the incomprehensibility of God[1], and a total dependency on His hand of grace and righteousness. The heart of the saint cries, “Lord You alone have the Words of eternal life, where else can I go? You alone have caused me to trust in You and will enable me to persevere until the end because You have saved my soul” There is also a deep gratitude and thankfulness for God’s choosing, for it is apparent that MOST PEOPLE WILL DAMNED. Just as the generation of Noah was damned and only Noah and his family were saved, we also live in a crooked and perverse generation, and though many try to enter the narrow gate, few will find it, and many are called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). The majority of humans will be damned, but dear saint, do you still believe that He is good, that He is just, that He is unfathomable, that He is righteous in all His ways. These truths should bind Your heart in reverence to His.

     So then, if we have believed in His predestination of us, in His effectual grace, then we know that we are under His New Covenant by which He does not turn away from us to do us good (Jer 32:40). We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the Firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Rom 8:28-30)

The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of the Nature of God in the Face of Suffering

     Dear saints, suffering reveals what our hearts have believed about God. The fiery storms draw out from us the desires and beliefs regarding the nature of God. Just as the storm tested the foundation on which the house was built, rock or sand, so the troubles of this life reveal where we have placed our hope, our affections, and our labors. For as Christ told us, He spoke to us that in Him we may have peace. In the world we will have tribulation, but He tells us to take courage; He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) Those who doubt God’s goodness, those who do not long for the glory of God, will not stand under trials. For during suffering, they will doubt God’s goodness. They do not believe that all of the events of their lives are preordained by God out of His goodness and love. For the saint to truly believe that God never stops doing good to him will grant him overwhelming victory in the face of tremendous suffering, for he knows that each and every trial is an act of God’s goodness, though he may temporarily not know how or why. The saints consider Christ who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that they do not grow weary and lose heart. They do not forget the exhortation which is addressed to them as sons, “ My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He received”. It is for discipline that we endure; God deals with us as sons; and there is no son who is not disciplined by the heavenly Father. (Heb 12:3-7)

     We know that we have been justified by faith, and we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:1-5) Thus, the saints are able to consider it all joy when they encounter various trials, because they know that the testing of their faith produces endurance. Endurance has its perfect result, so that they are perfect and complete lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) During suffering we do not fear, for God has redeemed us; He has called us by name and we are His. When we pass through the waters, He will be with us; and through the rivers, they will not overflow us. When we walk through the fire, we will not be scorched nor will the flame burn us, for He is the Lord our God, the Holy One of Israel, our Savior. (Is 43:1-3)

     The beloved are not to be surprised at the fiery ordeal among them, which comes upon them for their testing, as though some strange thing were happening to them; but to the degree that they share in the sufferings of Christ, they are to keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory they may rejoice with exaltation. Those who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (I Pet 4:12, 13, 19) Indeed, all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) and whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Christ cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:27). But the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18). God’s granting of perseverance and faith in the midst of our persecutions and afflictions which we endure is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that we will be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which indeed we are suffering (2 Thess 1:4-5). Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all (Ps 34:19).

The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of the Resurrection of Christ

     Again, how does the believer’s overcoming in suffering relate to the release from sin that this letter must concern? For one thing, in the resisting of temptation, there is a measure of suffering that we undergo. In many cases the desire for Christ that reigns in our regenerate hearts causes specific sins to lose their appeal and we may cheerfully and wholeheartedly obey our Savior without looking back or feeling any longings for these desires of the flesh. Ultimately, as a result of His progressive sanctification of our character, attitudes, behavior, and lifestyle, He is bringing us to that place of wholehearted obedience accompanied by great joy and comprehension of His love. But we know that many times, to resist sin, we must suffer, and we must obey in faith, not knowing how He will provide, but simply knowing that He is good, loving, strong, and has promised to do so. For we know that no temptation has overtaken us but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that we will be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13). With each and every temptation that comes our way, our hope is that as we put to death the misdeeds of the sinful flesh, the resurrection power and life of Christ has been granted to us. Thus, the feeling of suffocation, pain, emptiness, and turmoil that we experience in our resisting of sin will not prevail. For in our resistance we have simultaneous faith in God’s goodness and the indwelling Spirit to powerfully oppose and weaken the desire of sinful flesh (Gal 5).  Rather, we are promised that if we have died with Him, we will surely live with Him. For if Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of His righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us. (Rom 8:10-11). For the righteousness based on faith is granted to the one whose hearts believes that God has raised Christ from the dead and that no one who believes in Him will be disappointed (Rom 10:9-11). Those who do not believe in the resurrection have a worthless faith and are still in their sin (1 Cor 15:16-17). But we believe that we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to died again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:4-11)

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Cor 4

     Thus, in our resisting of sin, we often feel death in our striving, and yet if our hearts have truly believed in the resurrection of Christ, we know that in due time, yes very soon in our earthly journey, He will again grant us the comprehension of freedom, peace, life, joy, and His unfailing love. With regard to all of the sin of the dead sinful nature, He has either completely removed the heart’s desire for that sin and replaced it with a desire for Christ, or He is commanding and causing us to resist sin in faith, while trusting in His goodness to His elect, and will soon grant us the joy of our salvation. The desires of the regenerate heart are realized through this work of His. As surely as we know that Christ is risen, as we put to death the misdeeds of the sinful flesh, the Spirit will grant us life moment-by-moment. The wisdom we speak of is God’s wisdom, a hidden and mysterious wisdom that among the unsaved, no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it to us through His Spirit, yes through the mind of Christ that we have been granted. For just as our spirits know our thoughts, the Holy Spirit knows God’s thoughts. And we have this Spirit that we may know the things freely given to us by God. (1 Cor 2:6-12, 16)

Love in Christ,

Preethi

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[1] ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches ^[l]both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵ Or who has first given to Him ^[m]that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory ^[n]forever. Amen. Rom 11

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Unity # 33: Infallible Assurance

Unity # 33: Infallible Assurance

Theme Song: Higher Ground

Dear Father,

     You are the one good Shepherd who teaches and feeds all of Your sheep with tender loving-kindness and power. You will guide us until the end. You will never leave us or forsake us, but You are with us even until the end of the age. Grant all of us infallible assurance, and please console Your people with Your Word. You are our salvation; we will trust and not be afraid. You are our strength, and song, and You have become our salvation. May we please joyously draw water from Your springs of salvation, praise You, thank You, and make Your deeds known among the earth. For You have done excellent things and You are great in the midst of Your people. (Is 12:2-6)

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

Dear Beloved,

     God has granted me the special gift of attending the Fellowship 2013 conference this past weekend. When Mrs. Mona Leiter (Charles Leiter’s wife) invited us, it seemed an impossibility, but God arranged for Dad, Anand, and me to go to Denton, TX while mom, Prasanna, and Neethi stayed home in MN. Please see my summary of the conference.  I speak of this conference as I introduce this letter, because I am becoming more and more certain in my soul that false Christianity is pervasive and damning. There is a horrifyingly large number of professing Christians who remain under God’s wrath. Free Grace Theology has taken over many, likely most, of the churches in America, leaving a false sheen of “protection” over those whose souls have never been regenerated. Oh dear ones, if we are truly a part of Him, we are far outnumbered, and by His grace we are covered in the life of Christ, for His blood alone has made full atonement for our sins. Are you sure that you have been regenerated? For there is a false type of faith that does not save: this false faith may involve an intellectual acknowledgement of the facts of the Gospel when the heart has never been raised to life and the person remains enslaved to sin; this false faith may involve a type of outward moral reformation while the heart has no union with Christ; this false faith may involve a self-deception within a person raised in the church who knows the terminology of the Scriptures, yet refuses to entrust one’s soul to the Savior; this false faith may involve a subconscious trusting in one’s work rather than the work of Christ; this false faith may involve an erroneous view of God as lacking power to sanctify and secure the souls of His people. If you lose your soul, you lose everything! Are we sure that we have been brought from death into life? If you have not been saved, and you are filled with the anguish of the fear of judgment, it is a gift to you, that you may turn to Him, and that you may seek Him with all that is within you.

     In this letter I will be writing about the infallible assurance of the one who is truly saved by grace through true faith. Let the Scriptures speak for themselves for your consolation and exhortation if you are saved, and for your terror if you have been deceived. There is so much that I could include in this letter, but I will try to start with some key texts. I pray that you look up the Scriptures and look to Him to reveal the Truth to you. I can do little justice in this letter.

What is Saving Faith?

      We know that we are saved by grace through faith. You think that you have faith, right? But there is a type of false faith that does not save. It may lead to outward transformation, emotional experiences, and a reputation of refinement among the church organizations of this day and age. But it cannot save, for it has not accompanied a casting of one’s trust completely on Christ and His atoning sacrifice. It has not resulted in the inward transformation that occurs from the removal of the veil of blindness and unbelief of the heart. Ultimately, this false faith will result in the falling away of the one who possesses it or a persistent gruesome silent deception that results in devastation on the Day of Judgment. What is saving faith? True faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. (Heb 11:1-2) Such a faith inevitably results in good works, whereas false faith has no true Spirit-driven works and is dead. For even the demons believe and shudder. Faith without works is useless. Abraham’s faith and his work to offer up Issac, his son, on the altar worked together; his works perfected, or authenticated, his faith. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be”. Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Rom 4:18-21). Because Abraham believed God, it was reckoned to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Similarly Rahab’s, the harlot, faith was authenticated by her reception of the messengers and sending them out by another way. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:17-26). If Abraham and Rahab had not acted the way that they did, it would have shown that they did not believe God. But because they were assured of what they hoped for and convicted of what they could not see, they acted in obedience to God. If we have truly believed that Christ is our only way, that He alone is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, we will surely turn the course of our lives towards Christ and away from the world.

Christ is the Object of Saving Faith

     Not only was Abraham’s faith credited to him as righteousness, but our faith is credited to us as righteousness. Our faith is in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, in Christ who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and raised because of our justification. (Rom 4:23-25) Those who escape judgment, who overcome, are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. The Spirit, the water, and the blood of Christ testify in agreement to us. If we receive the testimony of men, how much more do we receive the testimony of God which is far greater! The testimony of God is this: He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the son of God does not have the life. (1 John 5:5-13) Thus, we must believe that Christ has made atonement for all of our sins, not just for other people’s sins, or for sin in a general sense, but for our own sin. We must believe the testimony of God that He has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. False faith trusts in something in addition to or apart from Christ. For example, the Mormons believe that they can earn some of their salvation by good works, and the remaining by Christ’s atonement. This false “gospel” will not stand on the Day of Judgment. Were God to ask us on that Day why He should allow us into the everlasting Kingdom, our answer must only be: because of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who took away my sin, and who has been my Savior and Lord. For many, perhaps all people, would desire to escape the agonies and torment of the hell fires, of the pouring out of the hatred and wrath upon themselves for all eternity, but few will be saved in the end. For few have been regenerated such that the new heart and spirit have been implanted in them which desire to know and behold the glory of their Christ far above all else!

Faith to the Preserving of the Soul

     Those with true faith face the remainder of their earthly lives and they heed the warnings of Scripture against falling away/drifting away from such a great salvation. They are confident that the One who calls them is faithful to preserve their bodies, souls, and spirits until the Day of the Lord. They are confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in them will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). They do not throw away their confidence, which has a great reward. They know that they have need of endurance, so that when they have done the will of God, they may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. God tells us “But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. (Heb 10:35-29) They suffer, but are not ashamed; for they know whom they have believed and are convinced that He is able to guard what they have entrusted to Him, that is, their souls, until that Day. They retain the standard of sound words which they have heard from God’s people, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. They guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in them, the treasure which has been entrusted to them. (2 Tim 1:12-14) They show consistent diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that they will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Heb 6:11-12).

Hope that Enters Within the Veil

    God desires to show to the heirs of His promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and thus He interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things (His promise and His oath) in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. The hope of the saints is theirs as an anchor for their souls, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a Forerunner for us, having become a high Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb 6:17-20). For the Lord rescues the souls of His servants and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned (Ps 34:22). Though we do not see the full glory of God, our faith and our hope give us sight of the glory of God. For when we have truly turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, that is indwelling us, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:16-18) True faith orients the physical life of the saint according to their hope that has entered the heavenly realms.

Assurance by Obedience and Love

     By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. If we say that we have come to know Him, and do not keep His commandment, we would be liars and the truth is not in us; but if we keep His Word in us the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:3-6) Furthermore, we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides is death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. We cannot close our heart against our brothers in need of the world’s goods, but we must love, not with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. (1 John 3:14-18) For those who have false faith or profess no faith in Christ, the heart is stone and unregenerated, and there can be no true love or obedience to Christ’s commands. But those who are truly saved will surely love the saints and obey Christ’s commands, not perfectly, but certainly, progressively, and persistently.

Hearts Assured before Him in whatever our Heart Condemns us

      Because we love the saints in deed and truth (1 John 3:14-18) we will know that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:19-22) Our infallible assurance is not automatic nor does it certainly accompany salvation. This is evident in 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life”. We have already believed, and yet, the book of 1 John is written so that we may know that we have eternal life. We will be convicted. We will tremble. We will cry out and call out for assurance. And in His good time and pleasure and by His discipline, and refinement, He will grant us increasing measures of assurance founded on Christ alone. When we have sinned, rather than abandoning the faith, and allowing ourselves to be given over to depravity, we know that since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, and we hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may find mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:14-16)

Discipline Means Adoption!

      We know that we are children of God, and thus we do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when we are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives (Heb 12:5-6). We know that although He was angry with us before our conversion, that is, His righteous wrath remained on us, His anger has turned away and He comforts us (Ps 12:1).

The Spirit’s Testimony of our Eternal Inheritance

 

     The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Rom 8:16-17). Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3) We ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Rom 8:23-25)

Love in Christ,

Preethi