The Ultimate Sacrifice Sermon Jam

Future Sins Are Already Forgiven - Steve McVey
from Gracewalk.org

“It can’t be true that my future sins are already forgiven!” This was the protest I heard one day after somebody heard me teach that all of our sins are forgiven. I read her the passage from Colossians 2:13-14. Then I asked her these questions, which I encourage you to answer as you read them.

1. How many of your sins did God know about before you were born? (All of them.)
2. How many of them did He record on your certificate of debt mentioned in the passage in Colossians referenced above? (All of them.)
3. How many of your sins did Jesus pay for on the cross? (All of them.)
4. How many of them were future at that time? (All of them.)
5. How many sins was He referring to when He said, “If is finished”? (All of them.)
6. At the time you were saved, how many of your sins did God forgive?

If you didn’t answer number six by saying, “All of them,” I encourage you to ask yourself if you’re being intellectually honest. Would it make sense that God would see and note all of our sins; that Jesus Christ would bear all of them upon Himself; that He would declare from the cross that payment had been made for all of them and then, after all that, God would only forgive you for some of your sins — namely the ones you had committed up to the point in time at which you were saved? Don’t make the mistake of trying to put God in the “time box.” He won’t fit. He has forgiven you for every sin you will ever commit, past, present and future. The verse clearly says that He has “forgiven us all our transgressions,” not just our past ones.

For many years I believed that in order to stay in a state of forgiveness before God, it was necessary that I ask Him to forgive me for each sin which I committed. This kind of faulty theology raises some serious questions. What happens if I don’t ask Him to forgive me for a specific sin? Does it remain unforgiven until the day I die? What happens then, when I go into eternity with an unforgiven sin? Nobody can go into heaven with unforgiven sin (Imagine being eternally separated from God for calling somebody an idiot in another car on the interstate and forgetting to ask God for forgiveness.).

On the other side of the issue, consider this question: Is there anything that you know is the right thing to do that you aren’t doing? James said, “Therefore, to the one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, it is sin” (James 4:17). Do you see the dilemma? If all our sins aren’t forgiven, then we had better make sure we are living a perfect life because not only do we have to deal with sins which occur when we do wrong things, but we also have to be worried about the right things we haven’t done. This would be enough to give the Christian a nervous breakdown!

"Then, are you saying that since His grace has covered our sin, we can go out and do anything we want?" I hope somebody is asking that because, if so, it shows I've made grace clear here. You're not the first one to ask that question. Read Romans 6:1-4 to see how Paul answered the question when it was asked of him.

Are We Literally Righteous Or Positionally Righteous? - Steve McVey

This is taken from Steve McVey's blog. Scroll down to watch a related video.

For years I couldn’t reconcile what I saw taught in the Bible. I read verses that clearly say we are righteous (Romans 5:17, Ephesians 4:24, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, etc.), but struggled with my own inconsistent behavior. So I took this aspect of truth to be only a positional truth. My argument went like this: “We aren’t literally righteous. God only sees us that way. Our position is one of righteousness, but our condition is that we are unrighteous.”

Let’s dissect that argument for a moment. We’ll get rid of the glaring error first — the idea that God only sees us as righteous. Exactly what could this mean? Would one suggest that God sees something that isn’t really there? It reminds me of the arrogant professor who saw the unlearned custodian reading his Bible and sneered, “Do you believe that book as it is?” Without hesitation, the custodian replied, “Do you believe it as it ain’t?” That’s a good question for this matter. Does God see something as it is or as it ain’t?

When we consider the argument that the righteousness of the Christian is positional, but not literal we must be intellectually honest. Romans 5:19 corrects the error of believing that we are only positionally righteous.

For as through the one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners,even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

This verse very simply presents the truth of our present righteousness in Christ. Paul reminds us that in Adam we were made to be sinners. In the same way, he says, we are now made righteous in Christ. According to principles of biblical hermeneutics, we must be consistent in interpreting scripture. If the last half of this verse means that we are only positionally righteous in Christ, then the first part of the verse must be interpreted to say that we were only positionally sinners in Adam. Were we literally a sinner in Adam or was it only positional? If we were literally sinners then, we are literally righteous now.

Some say that the verse teaches that we will be made righteous when we get to heaven. Does that mean that a person doesn’t become a sinner until he gets to hell? We were sinners for one simple reason — we were in Adam. Now are righteous because we have been placed into Christ.

Let’s don’t resist the truth! God says we are righteous because we are in Christ. It is a literal truth. That doesn’t mean we always act that way. How we act and who we are may not always coincide. Sometimes I act like a child even though I was born in 1954. Identity isn’t determined by our behavior, but by our birth. Occasionally my wife, Melanie, has even called me a big baby. But I know it’s not true! I have my birth certificate to prove it!

Watch short video by Joshua Tongol -- www.JoshuaTongol.com

The “Anointing”

Anointing is one of those buzz words doing the rounds in today’s church circles. This person is an “anointed” psalmist, that one is an “anointed” speaker, that one carries a prophetic “anointing” and that one a healing “anointing”. Every time somebody starts doing something better than somebody else, suddenly that person has to be anointed, specially called and gifted to do that certain thing. That is such nonsense and also an old covenant mindset. The Hebrew and Greek words for anoint, anointing or anointed all refer to two basic things. To physically smear or rub with oil and the appointment of a person to a specific office or service. In other words to anoint or to receive and anointing is to be bestowed with the legitimate authority to fulfill the duties of a certain position, be it king or priest or prophet. Kings, prophets and priests were the people who mainly got anointed into an office of service.

1 Sam 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance? (NKJV)

Here we read about Samuel anointing Saul to be king. He physically poured oil out over Saul’s head and said, “Is it not BECAUSE the Lord HAS anointed you commander…” Samuel is saying God anointed / appointed Saul to be king already, and the physical oil being poured out is just to symbolize in the natural what has already taken place in the spiritual. The spiritual anointing is the one that really matters. The anointing that God gives is more important and significant than oil on your forehead. God’s anointing carries heaven’s power. But when did God anoint Saul?

1 Sam 9:15-16 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” (NKJV)

God made the choice to appoint / anoint Saul as king and rescue God’s people. He told Samuel to go anoint him in the natural, but the spiritual has already been established. Now remember that Saul got anointed to be king, but look what the anointing enabled him to do:

1 Sam 10:6-7 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you. (NKJV)

Here Samuel says the Spirit of God will come upon you (after being anointed already) and then he will prophesy. Wait a minute!? Saul wasn’t anointed as a prophet, how come he can prophesy? Because we place the limitations on the anointing, not God. The anointing brings the Spirit of God and He has all the power needed to enable us to do what the occasion demands. Look at verse 7, “Do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.” If the occasion demands a prophetic word, the anointing ensures that God is with you and you will be able to bring that word. If the occasion demands healing, the anointing will enable you to heal because God is with you.

How long was Saul king for? Until he died, right. The anointing never left him. He remained a king until the day he died, even after his life went downhill and he got into major sin. The anointing was not given based on Saul’s good or bad behavior. It was given to provide the power to bring salvation to people. The gifts (spiritual endowments or miraculous faculty / office) and callings of God are irrevocable. (Rom 11:29) THE ANOINTING DOES NOT LIFT. Now let’s jump ahead to Jesus and pick it up where He just came back from the wilderness.


Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (NKJV)

Look at Jesus’ words: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, BECAUSE He HAS ANOINTED Me to preach…heal…proclaim liberty…recover sight…set at liberty… proclaim God’s acceptable year. The Spirit came upon Jesus because He was anointed. The anointing didn’t come because of the Spirit. The anointing or appointment always comes first. The appointment to an office of service always precedes the outworking of the office. In other words I can’t just walk into any school and go sit behind the principle’s desk and run the school if I was not appointed to serve in that office. If I get appointed by the school board, then I can go sit there and run the school. Anointing always precedes the power to fulfill the duties of the office. Jesus didn’t do any miracles until the power came through the Spirit. What was Jesus’ anointing? He was called Christ which as you hopefully know was not His surname. Christ means the Anointed. Its Hebrew equivalent is Messiah. He was anointed to save. Interestingly, so was Saul and all the other Judges. They were anointed to save or set free. Power was always given to save. That is the nature of God’s Power.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation (NKJV)

The Gospel is the POWER unto SALVATION (Greek = soteria = save, heal, deliver, protect, make whole) The nature of the God’s Power is to save. Back to Jesus. He is called a high priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10 & 6:20) who was a king, making Jesus a king, a priest and a prophet. This means Jesus was given the power and authority (king) to be the final mediator (priest) between God and man (prophet). Jesus’ anointing was the highest possible office of service before God and therefore He also had the most power to fulfill the duties of that office. The higher up you are in a company, the more authority and executive power you are entrusted with. As a New Covenant believer, reborn by the Spirit of God, the ‘anointing’ you received at the new birth is the same one Jesus had since we are now called sons of God. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) and we have been blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3). Since the anointing is a spiritual blessing, Ephesians 1:3 confirms that there is not some other anointing we didn’t receive. We are co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17) meaning everything Jesus inherited we also inherited.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (NKJV)

As He (Jesus) IS, so ARE we in THIS WORLD. That means the same righteousness, the same holiness, the same favour, the same anointing and the same authority. We are one spirit with the Lord! (1 Cor 6:17) We have received everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). We have been anointed (1 John 2:20) and this anointing abides (1 John 2:27), it doesn’t lift or leave, come and go. You have everything you need to be what God destined you to be. Our only problem is we either don’t know it or we think if we deny what we have that it will remove the responsibility to step out do something for God. To make your faith effective, acknowledge every good thing that is IN YOU in Christ Jesus.

Philem 1:6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)

Effective faith starts with the acknowledgement of what you have been given. So instead of saying I need more anointing, I need more power, I need more authority, acknowledge that you have received every spiritual blessing and that you have the anointing and the indwelling Spirit of God Himself and as His son you can do all things through Christ (the anointing) who strengthens you. The devil wants you to believe you don’t have everything you need because then you will be looking for more and more instead of just being who God created you to be!

Be, know, do!

Cornel Marais
Read some excellent follow-up comments here -
The “Anointing”

IT’S TIME FOR A REALITY CHECK!

IT’S TIME FOR A REALITY CHECK!

Gal 1:8,9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

This passage of the bible is often used to threaten and scare people to only listen to the truth or gospel as preached in their denomination or church. But it begs the question, “What is this gospel that Paul preached?” Paul says in verses 11 and 12 that he did not receive this gospel from “man”. He says that, “neither was he taught this gospel by any man” and that includes the elders and leaders of the church in Jerusalem. So then how did he receive this gospel? He says he received it “by revelation” directly from Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the “Word of God” personified. John says that this Word became flesh and was full of “grace” and “truth”. Jesus revealed this word of grace and truth to the apostle Paul. Jesus said that He is the truth. So what is the truth? What is the true gospel? It is time that all Christians and churches do a reality check to see if the gospel they are hearing and preaching is the same gospel that Jesus Christ revealed to Paul.

So what is the gospel that Paul preached? Paul preached the good news of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ Acts 13:38. He preached that:

• the punishment for the sins of the whole humanity came upon Jesus, so that we should not be judged for our sins anymore.
• Jesus was made sin, so that we might be “made” the righteousness of God in Christ. (Note that we are not becoming progressively righteous by our works, but He has already “made” us righteous).
• the very righteousness of God has been given to us as a FREE gift, free from our works or performance.
• the blood of Jesus has obtained “eternal” (not partial or temporary) redemption, which is the eternal forgiveness of sins.
• not only are we saved by grace, but our salvation is kept by His grace, not by our works.
• Christ has fulfilled the law and has removed the law as a means of our justification, since we could never keep the law.
• Christ has delivered us from the ministration of death and condemnation, which is the law written and graven on stones, by nailing it to the cross.
• Christ has set us free from religious laws and regulations and has given us the perfect law of liberty (freedom) in Christ Jesus.
• we are no longer led by the law, but by the very life of Christ in us.
• Christ also nailed our old self, the old man to the cross with Him. After nailing the old man, He then raised us up a new man, a brand new creation, who has the very life of God in us.
• we are saints, sanctified, made holy, righteous and perfected.
• there is no condemnation to those in Christ.
• we are already accepted and blessed with EVERY blessing in Christ Jesus, not based on our performance. He preached that we are complete in Christ, lacking nothing.
• we are God’s workmanship; it is He who is working in and through us.


He preached ALL about what God has done through the finished work on the cross in our lives. He preached the message of God’s grace and truth!!

Is this the good news that is being preached today? If anyone is preaching a mixture of law and grace, or the message of condemnation, or a message of “Jesus plus your holy works to stay saved”, or a message of perfection by the flesh, he is preaching another gospel. Please check your gospel and see if you are putting yourself under a curse!

Grace by Faith

How do we access the things that God has given us Freely by His grace. It is through Faith (Rom 5:2). Is faith something that we have to work up? No! Rather, this Faith comes by hearing the word of God (logos- reasoning of God). Jesus himself is the logos of God and His word is full of grace and truth. What is the truth? Listen to this powerful message to hear what is the Truth from God's perspective or reasoning (logos). Once you know that, you can align your reasoning with God's reasoning and this will manifest success in your christian life.

Grace vs Law

Bring Back Heaven to Earth

I Am The Righteousness of God in Christ

Powerful Stuff!

In this recent sermon, Pastor Paul White teaches that there is great power in the tongue and that we are not necessarily what we say, but we need to confess who we are in Christ.

The "Giant Flat Panel TV" in Heaven - Joseph Prince

The following article is from the Daily Devotional by Joseph Prince. You can subscribe to these devotionals from www.josephprince.org.

When I was a young Christian growing up in Singapore, I read a little tract entitled This Was Your Life. In that tract, it said that when you get to heaven, God will replay your entire life, including all your sins, on a huge video screen for all the angels and other saints to watch!


The idea that God was making such a video of my life with the intention of screening it for everyone to watch used to make me feel awful and condemned before God. How could I ever stand boldly in His presence? And how was I going to face my loved ones and Christian friends in heaven?


I was a nervous wreck, thinking about all my sins that God was recording down, until I read this in the Bible: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” (Romans 4:8) Hallelujah! I jumped for joy when I found out that God was not counting my sins against me, and that He has given me something called “non-imputation of sins”!


My friend, the reason that God does not impute any of our sins to us is that He has already imputed all of them to the body of His Son Jesus when He hung on the cross 2,000 years ago. Not only that, when God punished His Son for our sins, He caused the curse of the law to fall stroke by stroke upon Jesus’ entire body until every curse had been fully satisfied. That is why we have been redeemed from the curse of the law. (Galatians 3:13) That is why, instead of imputing sin to us, God imputes righteousness!


God wants us to know that our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more. The words “no more” in the original Greek text carry a strong double-negative meaning. In other words, God is saying, “No way, by no means, will I ever remember your sins again!”


Beloved, since God says that He will remember your sins no more, why do you still remember them? Or for that matter, your spouse’s or neighbor’s sins? God does not want you to be conscious of sins because He is not. So rejoice! Come to Him boldly and expect Him to show you mercy and grace because He remembers your sins no more!

What Bread Are You Feeding On? -Part 2

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.

To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).

In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)

The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.

Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)

We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!

What Bread Are You Feeding On?

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

What was Jesus saying here? Was he saying that we should read the Bible every day and obey all the scriptures? (Don’t misunderstand; I am all for reading the Bible). Let’s examine prayerfully and with an open mind!

Jesus was quoting from Deut 8:3 which says, He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna ……………. that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone (physical bread), but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD - NASB.(brackets mine). What is the thing that came from the mouth of the Lord - - It is manna, the heavenly bread. So God is saying, He fed them with this heavenly bread manna which came from Him, and not with physical/earthly bread, to show that they can live by what comes from God and not just by physical bread.

Now, when Jesus quoted this same verse to satan, He replaced “everything or manna” with “rhema – which means “utterance” or word that comes from the mouth of God. So what is this word or rhema that comes out of the mouth of God that we are supposed to eat and live by? It is the word of God, who came from God, in the form of flesh, His name is Jesus!

Let me explain! The manna in the Old Testament was only a type and shadow of the real heavenly bread Jesus. This heavenly bread became flesh. Jesus said in John 6:50 this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Hallelujah! The bread from heaven became flesh.

Jesus was referring to Himself when He told satan, that man shall live by every “word” that comes out from God. Jesus is the embodiment of every word that comes out of the mouth of God. When John talks about the “word” becoming flesh, he uses the greek word “logos”. Logos means the reasoning or computation of God or the essence of the word of God. Jesus is the essence of all the word or rhema or utterances of God. This logos (word) or Jesus is full of grace and truth. There is no condemnation His word.

What is God’s reasoning or logos word? It is simply that, by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, but by the obedience of another man, many shall be made righteous (Rom 5:19). His reasoning is that because of Jesus’s obedience to the law and taking upon Himself the curse of the law, the righteousness of God comes as a FREE gift upon all who believe in this reasoning or logos of God. Can you align your reasoning with that of God’s and see yourself as He sees you – righteous and holy? Or are you trying to look for the do’s and don’ts in the scripture and still trying to become righteous and attain eternal life by obeying those scriptures like the Pharisees (John 5:38-40).

If you feed on the bread of life Jesus, you will never need the bread from stones (Law). Which bread are you eating and living by? The one leads to life the other to death! Don't mix the two breads either, because a little poison will poison the whole lump!

Please check Part 2 of this article......

What is your identity as a New Creation?

Love not the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life

1 John 2:15-17

15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The apostle John exhorts us, not to love the world and the things in the world namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. For these things are not of the Father, but of the world.

The "world" here refers to the world's system in general. The whole world runs by the system of knowing right & wrong, good & evil and doing the good or right thing as much as possible. The reward is determined by ones performance. The driving forces behind this system are called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh denotes human strength and ability. The flesh always wants to live life based on ones strength, will-power and ability. The prospect of living a life based on ones resources and ability and acheiving the end result looks very appealing (lust of the eyes). Pride in one's ability is also a factor.

Verse 16 says that this system is not of the Father. In the garden of Eden, God told man, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. God never wanted man to live by knowing good & evil or right & wrong (Law), but He wanted them to live by eating from the tree of Life (God's life). God made them in His image and likeness - just like Him. All they had to do was to live by His life and enjoy everything that He had created for them to enjoy freely. He did not give them 10 or 15 rules or principles on how to live a holy, moral, successful and prosperous life. The only command he gave them was to stay away from living by knowing good and evil or living by rules or principles. He warned them that eating that fruit would result in death.

But the tempter came and told Eve that eating this fruit would cause her to be like God. Remember, they were already like God, not by any of their works, but because they were created in His image and likeness. So Satan, put this idea in the mind of Eve, that she could be like God by her own doing and not by how God made her to be. She decided that she wanted to be like God, independent of God, by her own works by knowing good & evil. Gen 3:6 says that the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and a tree desired to make one wise (pride of life). By eating that fruit, man implemented this system of works or performance for the whole humanity.

Beloved, are you still eating from that forbidden tree by living by knowing good & evil or rules & regulations or are you living by the tree of life (the life of Jesus in you)? Living by rules and commandments may appear very good, may boost your ego by your performance and will satisfy your flesh, but the end result is death. Are you satisfied with how God has made you to be like Him - holy and righteous in Christ Jesus or are you trying to become like God by your holy living and good works? Verse 17 says that the world and it's system will pass away, but he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. The will of the Father for you is to believe on the good news of the removal of your sins by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, whereby He has made you perfectly holy and righteous, just like Him, free from any of your works!

Encounter with Jesus - Philadelphia

He that hath an ear let him hear. The truth will set you free. Listen to this powerful preaching of the real gospel of Jesus Christ. It may challenge your traditions, doctrines and religion!!

Resting in Christ - Steve McVey

It is amazing how the default setting in contemporary Christian culture tends to oppose the concept of spiritual rest when that is exactly what Jesus promised to give those who follow Him. (See Matthew 11:28-30) This concept requires a new mind set for most people, especially in western culture. We live in a society where people go on vacation with their Blackberrys and laptops. To rest in Christ, trusting Him to express His life through us sounds lazy and negligent after having lived in the wilderness of rigorous religion for such a long time. Many mistakenly think of rest as some sort of passivity, which it is not. Resting simply means to trust Jesus Christ as our Life-Source, depending upon Him to empower our actions with His strength and direction.

For many years the concept of rest was so foreign to me that I couldn’t comprehend it. I didn’t know rest was a gift from God. I thought it was a sin. I sincerely believed that the only time we would find complete rest was when we died and went to heaven. There was a verse I used to read at funeral services to give comfort to bereaved families. I would share Hebrews 4:10 with them: “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

When I shared this verse, I would tenderly point out that our beloved friend who had died “has now entered into God’s rest and ceased from his own labors.” I talked about how heaven is a place where there are no more struggles. It is a place where we simply rest in Christ and enjoy Him forever.

Entering into His rest and ceasing from our own works. It sounded like dying and going to heaven to me. Then one day I read the next verse in the passage — Hebrews 4:11 says, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall down through following the example of disobedience.” What? Be diligent to enter that rest? Now I was in trouble. I had always taught that rest means dying. Now here I was being confronted with the verse that says to be diligent to enter that rest or else I would be disobedient to God. I knew I had better go back and reexamine that verse again and hope that my interpretation had been wrong or else I was in serious trouble! I didn’t know at the time that I had already died with Christ and was able to cease from my own works.

“I understand that salvation is a gift, but when we become a Christian we do have certain responsibilities in living the Christian life, don’t we?” somebody asked me. “We don’t just sit back and coast to heaven with no obligations in the meantime.” Her concern is common. Her statements reflect a belief that if we don’t take ownership of certain things that we must do for God, we may become passive and lazy.

What is the responsibility of the believer toward God? The disciples once asked Jesus about the works they were to do for God. “They said therefore to Him, ‘What shall we do that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:28-29). When asked what we are supposed to do in order to do the work of God, Jesus gave one work. Believe.

If we are to take the words of Jesus at face value, faith is the sole work of the Christian (and even that is a gift from Him — see Ephesians 2:8). That fact doesn’t mean that nothing else will be done, but that nothing else can be done unless it flows from the abiding relationship of faith in Him as our constant Life-Source (See John 15:5). The activity of our lifestyle comes from the overflow of our intimate union with Him. As we trust Him, we will discover the reality of the truth that “Faithful is He that calleth you who will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, KJV)

http://gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/2009/11/resting-in-christ.html

An Encounter with Jesus

You might be a professing Christian with several years or decades of experience, a Pastor, a famous preacher, a church leader, a theologian, a theology student, a new believer or a skeptic - but are you sure that you have heard the pure Gospel (Good News) yet? Listen to these messages with an open heart and receive Jesus Christ (not your traditions/principles/works) as your only anchor, for only in the person Jesus (not in a religion that loves to put people in bondage and condemnation), in His perfectly completed works, will you find true literal liberty.

An Encounter with Jesus: Message by Bertie Brits. Translated to Malayalam by George Varghese.

Christian Cataracts - Steve McVey

Sometimes people with failing vision have been known to pretend to see better than they do. They find it hard to admit that they can't see clearly. That’s what a Christian legalist does. In an effort to keep up appearances, those blinded by legalism profess all the more loudly about how clearly they can see. They go through religious motions, but with each passing day their view of the Divine Lover’s face grows dimmer. Those actions which were once animated by His indwelling life and which were motivated by love now become religious routine. They have traded a Person for performance.

They read the Bible, but it doesn’t read them. They say prayers, but don’t pray. They watch and listen, but no longer see and hear. They are more than willing to tell everybody around them how to walk, but don’t have the vision to know where they are going themselves. They are “blind leaders of the blind.” (Matthew 15:14)

The source of legalists’ behavior is not love for Jesus Christ, but dead, religious duty. They believe they can gain God’s favor because of what they do. The miss the point altogether that it isn’t a certain behavior that brings God pleasure. God is pleased only by faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

Those blinded by legalism typically get hung up on the technicalities of the religious rules they deem obligatory, but have lost sight completely of the things that are really important. They argue over incidentals that have no eternal value. They are missing Jesus!

Jesus spoke to them in Matthew 23, telling them the way it is. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the scene in The Message, when Jesus said to them,

You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment- the absolute basics! – you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?

Much of Matthew 23 is filled with the renouncement of Jesus against the legalism of the Pharisees. Their obsession with rules above relationships was the definitive evidence of their blindness. They were missing the whole point, says Jesus.
Have you become blinded by legalism? Some might argue that a Christian can’t be a legalist. They understand the word to refer only to those who hope to become a Christian by their works. While that certainly is one expression of legalism, it isn’t the only way a person can act as a legalist.

The Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians because of the threat of legalism in their church. False teachers had come into the fellowship there, teaching these young Christians that, along with Christ, they needed to embrace the law. Paul wrote to them to say, “No! Your life isn’t built around the law! Your life is in Jesus Christ!” He asked them, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2)

Paul wasn’t writing to them because he was concerned that they might misunderstand salvation. He knew they had believed the gospel and received God’s Spirit. How could they become confused about what it takes to become a Christian? They had already become Christians! His concern for them was that, as Christians, they might become ensnared in legalism.

The Pharisees were not believers in Christ. The Galatians were. It’s possible to be a legalist whether a person is a believer or non-believer. Do you want to clearly see the spiritual reality of Christ? Then allow the Great Physician to remove your cataracts of relgious rules and regiment. When you do, you'll find yourself singing with new understanding, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!"

Abiding in Christ

John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing

Sin separated mankind from God. Jesus Christ came and removed this barrier called sin, by taking the sins of the whole humanity and the punishment for it, upon Himself. This is GOOD NEWS (gospel), but only HALF the news.

Escaping hell by the removal of the sin barrier is only one aspect of being born again. Sadly, this is the carrot (escape from hell and ticket to heaven), being offered to people to get saved. So once a person has the assurance that his sins have been forgiven and is on the way to heaven, then they may go and live as they please. For such people, there is nothing more to Christianity after they are born again.

How can this error be corrected? By preaching the WHOLE GOOD NEWS, which is, “he that believes in Him should not perish, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE”. (John 3:16). Everlasting life is the part of the gospel that is either misunderstood or not given enough importance.

In the gospels, Jesus said several times that He has come to give LIFE (zoe - Greek-the very life of God) and that He HIMSELF IS THIS LIFE. In John 17:3, He says, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is not something that you attain somewhere in the future, but rather, it is having Jesus Christ Himself or His zoe life in you, RIGHT NOW! Not only that, it is to KNOW God and Jesus Christ (have an experiential knowledge). Jesus came to restore the connection with God that Adam lost, by giving us His very life in us. Adam, by his disobedience, experienced death or lost that spiritual connection with God. Jesus, through His obedience, came to restore what man lost in the Garden of Eden, chiefly among them, a relationship and fellowship with God.

The Bible says, he that is joined to the Lord is ONE SPIRIT. When we are born of God, He makes us a brand new creation (one which never existed before). This new creation or creature has the very life of God in it. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me, said Paul. It is His life that we are living by, as a new creation. Our old self died by co-crucifixion with Christ.
Not only does God take up literal residence in our bodies, but we are placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (I Cor 1:30, Rom 6:3). So, we, the branches, are connected to the true vine Jesus Christ, by His work of regeneration. The branches do not struggle to produce fruit, but the life from the vine flows through the branches to produce fruit. As the true vine, our Lord is the source of life and strength and fruit. There is a relationship of complete dependence between the branch and the vine. The vine supplies life-giving nourishment to the branches. Apart from it, the branches have neither life nor fruit

So, does this life flow automatically through us producing the fruit? We saw that we are connected to Him by His work. Why then, do we not sometimes see fruit in our life? Jesus said that the key to seeing fruit in your life is not by you struggling, but by simply abiding in him. What does abiding in Him mean? Abiding in Him is, going beyond our positional placement in Christ. It is a life of having an experiential fellowship and intimacy with Him. We, as the branches are the physical and visible manifestation of the life of Christ inside us. It is our choice and responsibility to let this life flow through us by have a relationship and intimacy with Him. This experience of abiding in Him is, trusting Him and allowing Him to flow through us and not trusting in our self efforts to produce fruit. We can choose to let Him live through us or trust in our ability, holiness and good works to produce the fruit.

Is there a labor involved in abiding? Yes! The bible says that we have to labor to enter into His rest (Heb 11:4) To rest means to rest from our labors, trust and rest in His finished work and His life in us to produce the visible manifestation of fruits. His work is perfect and there is nothing left for us to do, but enter into this rest. This is done by knowing the truth, believing the truth, renewing our minds to the truth. – the truth that Christ took away all our sins (not some, but all), He gave us His very life(eternal life) and is living right now inside us, we have a new nature (His nature), He has made us holy, righteous and blessed us with EVERY blessing in Christ Jesus. HAVING THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE IS VERY IMPORTANT! Knowing this truth makes it easier in our labor to experience the rest. Knowing this truth makes it easier to have a constant fellowship and intimacy with Him. Does this happen overnight? Absolutely not! In this modern day and age there are so many things to distract us and occupy our time. Even in the midst of our business, we need to make a conscious effort of being aware of Him. He is with us all the time - when we drive, at school, at work, when doing our chores etc. He NEVER leaves us, even when we do something wrong. He is with us. We need to cultivate His presence and talk to Him all the time.(this is “pray without ceasing”).

Abiding is our obligation; fruitfulness is God’s concern. The True Vine is the Author, the Source and the Finisher of our faith. We should be seeking His fellowship, and leaving the fruit to Him. Holiness is one of the fruits which will happen as a natural byproduct of us fellowshipping with Him. Sometimes we may find ourselves, straying away from His presence and not communicating with Him. At such times, do not let guilt, condemnation and frustration take over you. But rather, simply start communicating and fellowshipping with Him again. This is the labor, that is involved on our part and we may find ourselves straying away quite often at the beginning. But as we go along in our spiritual journey, by His grace, these straying moments will become less and less and more and more His life will manifest through us.

Can You Go Too Far With Grace? - Steve McVey

Those who are afraid of the message of the grace walk have sometimes suggested that you can go too far with grace. They're afraid about getting "out of balance" with the message. It is from out of that unfounded fear that this lie finds expression. The fact is that grace is a Person. His name is Jesus. So to say that you can go too far with grace is like saying that you can go too far with Him. It simply isn’t possible.

"But if you teach grace the way you are, people will think it's okay to sin," some have said to me. That kind of fear shows a lack of understanding about what grace does in a person’s life. When God’s grace really takes hold of us, it does the exact opposite of encouraging sin. It causes us to draw near in love and faith to God, which is where we find a greater desire to walk in a way that honors Him.

Read the full article here.

What's wrong with knowing good and evil (eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil)?

God did not want man to live by knowing what is good and evil, or right or wrong, and thereby doing good and avoiding evil (this tree represents the LAW - what to do and what not to do). God knew that man, by his own strength, will power and determination would always fall short. Instead, He wanted man to live off of the tree of life, (which is the very life of God in us). Adam and Eve were created in the very image and likeness of God (they were already like God) and they had the very life of God in them. But man chose to become (like God) what they already were (like God) by their own self effort. God had made man perfect and saw that His creation was GOOD. Yet man wanted to become like God by knowing good and evil and then doing the good thing (keeping the LAW). Only God is capable of doing that and that is why He wants man to live by His life inside of us. Satan deceived man into thinking that he could become like God, independant of God by His own self efforts, when in reality man was already created like God. Satan himself tried this when God has already placed him(satan) in a very high position. Lucifer was the covering archangel over the mercy seat, he was right there, infact above the mercy seat where God sits. But he was not happy with that, he wanted to ascend above God and become like God by His own self effort. In other words he want to be something that God had already made him to be and he wanted man to do the same. This same deception of Satan is still working in the church today.

Let's fast forward some thousands of year. Jesus Christ came to reverse what happened in Eden. He came as the last Adam and as our representative fulfilled every LAW perfectly, took our sins and died for them and rose again victorious and is in His glorified body at the right hand of the Father. His perfect sacrifice has made us holy, righteous, sanctified and perfected for ever(heb 9 and 10). Paul says that "I am crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me." We had a co-crucifixion with Christ 2000 years ago. Now it is no longer us, but Christ HIMSELF is living in us by the Holy Spirit. We are to live by His life (tree of LIFE) in us leading us, animating our actions and thoughts. We are freed from the LAW (knowing good and evil and thereby doing good and avoiding evil). All religions basically teach a set of moral principles (good and evil) and command men to become holy by observing those. But true biblical Christianity is not living by laws or moral principles, but living powered by the very life of God in us. Jesus said several times in the N.T. that He has come to give us life and that He is that very life. When He comes inside of us, the Bible says, we become one spirit with the Lord. We are a brand new CREATION, holy and completey righteous. The Bible says we are "complete in Him". Now mind you this spiritual act has taken place in our spirits (which is our true self). God is a spirit and sees us in the spirit. Now God, by His one perfect sacrifice, has made us Holy. We look at our five senses and our thougts and conclude that we are unholy, and are trying to become holy by keeping the law and by our own self effort. This is the deception that Satan is still playing in the church 6000 years later. Eve was not tempted to do something bad, she was tempted to be like God or godly. This is what is being preaced is that we have to become godly by obeying rules and commands, when God has already made us godly and holy. He obeyed on my behalf perfectly and when I believe in Him that obedience or righteousness is imputed to me. We have the very DNA of God in our spirits when we are born of Him (born again). We need to live out of this new identity that God has given us and let His life in us (which is holy and righteous) manifest in our minds and bodies. We have to renew our minds to this spiritual reality of what took place at the cross (our co-crucifixion) and the reality of His life now in us. It's NO LONGER I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. Just yield to him, moment by moment and you will see an automatic transformation in your actions and thoughts. The price has been paid for the redemption of our souls and bodies, but our souls(mind, will and emotions are being renewed) and our bodies will be changed in the future.

Look at yourselves as how God has made you. Righteousness has been given to you as a gift, not by our doing good or avoiding evil. If righteousness could come by our works, the Bible says, then Christ died in vain. He needn't have come and died. You may say that if we don't have any laws then we won't have any guiding principles in our life. We don't need the law, but the very life of God in us becomes our guiding principle. The bible says that the law is not for the righteous. Let's trust God to be who He is and His perfect work He has done in us. As we behold ourselves as He has made us to be, we will be changed in our souls and bodies, from glory to glory by the indwelling Spirit of God. Let's get away from Satan's deception of "I am not holy, blessed etc...but I will be by knowing good and evil, right and wrong and then doing the right thing." "I will become holy by my fasting and praying and Bible reading, I will become blessed by obeying and sowing and reaping." NO! I will read the Bible, pray and fast to know Him and what He has done for me by His finished work and to grow in that relationship. I will give money to the work of God and the poor because I am already blessed by God, NOT to become blessed. You see the difference is very subtle and satan is using religion to trap people in his mindset of "I am not, but I wlll become what I do". This is what Paul preached against and Christ railed against the religious people of His day who woudn't come to Him (the eternal life), but was trying to get eternal life by searching the scriptures to see what to do and what not to do(John 5:39 and 40). I am afraid that the modern day church is doing the same thing. Instead of focussing on Jesus who is our very life and living by His life and our new identity, the church is focussed on 10 steps to this, 7 steps to holiness, prosperity etc. Religion is all about what YOU must DO,DO,DO, but real christianity(GRACE) is about what HE HAS DONE IN YOU. Next time you listen to a preaching, check how many times Jesus is mentioned in that preaching. Paul says that "we preach Christ crucified"- that's it. JESUS is the answer, not religious or biblical principles. Would you trust and yield to Him to let Him live His life throught you?

Having A Form Of Godliness - Steve McVey

There are multitudes of people who appear godly at a casual glance. They go to a church building every week. They carry their Bibles and even read them at home. They give their money. Nobody can deny that they certainly possess a form of godliness. But upon closer examination, it can be seen that the focus of their message, their ministry and their mindset isn't at all on the cross of Jesus Christ. Their obsession is on themselves. On their behavior. On whether or not it's right or wrong to do this or that. On where Christians can go, what we can say, how we should worship, what we can eat or drink or watch or participate in. The list of preoccupations with anything - with everything - other than the finished work of Jesus Christ is endless within this group.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Religion is a Headache

Your Sins are Forgiven!! (A Fresh look at the cross)

Luke 7:48 ……Your sins are forgiven

What is the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ? The good news is that “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN”!!

This statement has become a cliché in the church. To understand this statement, it is necessary to take a fresh look at the cross. What happened at the cross?

Sin separated man from God by the disobedience of one man, Adam. Heb 10:1-4, 11 says that the old covenant, which was a type and shadow of the real thing, had a sacrificial system for the atonement of sins. Because, the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins, it could not make anyone perfect. If perfection could be achieved by that system, then there would be no need to offer the same sacrifice again and again. So people were constantly conscious of their sins. They could never have a perfect or sinless conscience (Heb 9:9; 10:2). The priest had to offer sacrifices for himself and the congregation continually.

Now contrast that with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which is the real thing. He was offered ONCE for the sins of many (Heb 9:28). He entered the most holy place with His own blood. How does the ONE sacrifice of Jesus and His blood compare with that of the sacrifices of the old covenant? (Please pause and think about each of the following points)

1. His ONE sacrifice has PUT AWAY SIN FOREVER (Heb 9:26; 10:12)
2. His blood has provided remission or forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22)
3. His blood has cleansed our conscience (Heb 9:14; 10:22)
4. We HAVE BEEN sanctified ONCE FOR ALL(Heb 10:10)
5. We HAVE BEEN perfected FOREVER (Heb 10:14; 12:23)
6. Because sins have been remitted, there is no need for another sacrifice (Heb 10:18).
7. Because sins have been taken away by His one sacrifice, He is now SEATED and not standing anymore to offer more sacrifices (Heb 10:11-12).
8. He has obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION (Heb 9:12)

We have received eternal, not momentary, redemption (Heb. 9:12). One sacrifice was made for all sin forever, and we have been perfected forever. Isn’t that awesome news?

So does that mean Christ forgave all our sins (past, present, future sins)? You better believe that Christ has forgiven all your future sins too, because he died for our sins once; 2000 years ago; before we were born or committed any sin. All our sins were future sins when he died. God is not bound by time as we are. When we believe in Jesus and His finished work, we receive the forgiveness for all our sins that He has already provided 2000 years ago. He did this purely by His grace, not because of any of our good deeds or confessions or sin consciousness or introspections. Rather, based on Heb 10:2, we should have no more sin consciousness, because of his perfect sacrifice, which has done a perfect work in the area of sin. We have eternal redemption, which is eternal forgiveness of our sins (Eph 1:7 and Col 1:14). 2 Cor 5:21 says that, He was made sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Beloved, righteousness is a free gift that He has given us - not by our own works (Rom 5:17, 18). Forgiveness of sins and the free gift of righteousness (apart from law/works) is the gospel that Paul preached, that was given to him by direct revelation by Jesus Himself (Acts 13:38; Gal 1:12).

He has taken away not only our sins, but the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2; John 1:29). This is the good news that needs to be shouted from the roof tops. The sin barrier has been removed once for all. God has reconciled the whole world to himself through Christ and is not imputing anyone’s trespasses anymore (2 Cor 5:19). Christ took the punishment for sins of the entire humanity.

Beloved, are you willing to see yourself as God sees you today, forgiven, holy, righteous, sanctified, and perfected because of the PERFECT sacrifice of Jesus? Quit trying to add anything more to his finished work by your religious works. It is an insult to His finished work. He doesn’t even remember your sins anymore (Heb 10:17; Ps 103:12). Jesus said, “It is FINISHED”. Do you believe?

YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN!

Spiritual Adultery

2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband। 3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Rom 7: 2-4)


Here, the Apostle Paul is using the analogy of marriage to explain our relationship with the law. We were born into this world married to the law. How did that happen? When Adam ate from the law tree (tree of knowledge of good and evil), we who were in Adam, got married to the law system (Mr. Law). The law system or legalism is a system of knowing what is right and wrong, and then observing those rules to make spiritual progress. It is based on our performance.

Being married to Mr.Law is a miserable life because he is always condemning and critical (2 Cor 3:7, 9). He points out our faults, but never does anything to help us live a godly life (Gal 3:21). It is a lifetime of struggling in vain against sin and attempting to achieve righteousness.

How do we get free from this marriage with Mr.Law? When one person in the marriage dies, the other person is set free from that relationship. But Mr.Law is not going to die. Therefore, Rom 7:4 says that, we were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, thereby setting us free from the marriage with Mr. Law, so that we might be joined to another man (Mr.Grace). Gal 2:19 says that Paul died to the law so that he might live unto God. When Christ died on the cross, our old man that was married to the law, died with Christ. We are now born again in our spirits and are married to a new person Mr. Grace (Jesus Christ). Therefore we have NO RELATIONSHIP with Mr.Law or the system of religious rules.

Mr. Grace never condemns us (Rom 8:1), he loves us and adores us. He gives us a wedding gift – the gift of righteousness (Rom 5:17b). He offers us a life of rest, free from our toils and labors (Matt 11:28, 29). Grace says that we are blessed, not because of our performance, but because we are in Christ and what He has done on our behalf.

Now, what happens when we fail to fully understand our relationship with Jesus Christ? What happens when we feel like we need to observe certain religious rules to please God and make spiritual progress? We begin to flirt with our ex-spouse (Mr.Law) again. What is it called when we are married to one, but involved in an affair with another? It is called ADULTERY. Remember, Christ loved us so much, that He took us with Him on the cross, so we could die to the law, be set free from that relationship, and as a result be joined to Him. We don’t want to turn our backs to His love and commit spiritual adultery. Let us therefore be conscious of our relationship with Him and His life in us, thereby resisting the lure and deception of spiritual adultery.

CAUTION: This may turn you religious world upside down!!

I thank God for a friend who introduced me to the true Gospel(GOOD NEWS) of the grace and unconditional love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have provided links to two topics, that I first listened to as a babe in this gospel. These messages RADICALLY transformed my life. Since then it's been a wonderful journey of mining into the knowledge of Jesus and His finished work and the new identity He has given me. I guarantee you, that these messages will challenge you to the core, about Christianity as you know it and you WILL be delivered from the chains of religion. I DARE YOU TO LISTEN!

CAUTION: This may turn your religious world upside down.

Click on the images below.

Self Righteousness or His Righteousness - Daniel Alexander

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – Matthew 6:33


Religious people have this tendency to focus on self-righteousness. They sometimes come to the conclusion that, since they have not done “big” sins, they are good. And they happily condemn and judge the so-called “big” sinners. But the call is to seek His righteousness (right-standing with God), not ours (Matthew 6:33).

Let us see how the Word of God views sin:

James 2:10-11 – “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.”

Some may scoff at this verse, saying that they have neither committed adultery nor murdered anyone. But Jesus warned, “You have heard…You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” (Matthew 5:28). If you have ever looked at another person with lust, Jesus calls this adultery. Jesus was making this point to the self-righteous religious crowd who heavily gave weight to the external actions, but sin originates from within (James 1:13-15).
Murder. Jesus warned, “Whoever is angry with his brother without cause, is in danger of judgment,” (Matthew 5:22) and the Bible says, “He who hates his brother is a murderer,” (1 John 3:15). God sees hatred in the heart to be as wicked as murder. If you hate someone, God sees you as a murderer. It does not matter how justified you are in your sight, but as per the Word of God, you are in sin.

James 4:17 – “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
When was the last time you saw a broken down car on the highway and passed by them without offering a helping hand? The Bible calls this sin.

Romans 14:23 – “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
We do a lot of things each day solely depending on our senses. The Bible says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin!

Regardless of what the religious crowd wants to make you or themselves believe, not one of us is righteous (Romans 3:10). Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In God’s eyes, there is no small or big sin. Sin is sin, even if it is a “white” lie or a cold-blooded murder. To be perfect in God’s eyes, we have to score 100 out of 100. There is no silver star for 99.999 out of 100 (James 2:10-11). The truth is, no one (you, I, our friends, parents pastor or anyone) can achieve this with our own effort, no matter how sincere we are in our effort, which is precisely the reason why we needed a Savior. His name is JESUS. If the perfection that God requires of us to be in His right-standing could be achieved by our good works and by keeping the law, Jesus did not have to go through the gruesome torture and crucifixion (Galatians 2:21). Since it is humanly impossible to reach God’s righteousness with our effort, Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf and while we were sinners, Christ demonstrated the height of His love for us by paying the penalty for our sins with His own precious and sinless blood (Romans 5:8). In the past, people sacrificed animals to temporarily cover their sins, but Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the Cross wiped away the sin - once and for all (Hebrews 10:10-14, 9:28). We stand the great risk of negating this awesome grace for us that is in Christ Jesus, if we think we can earn and keep our salvation by our feeble efforts to keep the law (Galatians 5:4).

Praise God for His gift that we cannot earn with our works. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).

Let us wholeheartedly stand each day in His righteousness that Jesus made us to be (Romans 5:17-19).

If you have not yet received this precious Gift of Salvation, do not waste another minute, for you may not have a tomorrow. Get Saved, Now!

For more articles by Daniel visit http://heknocks.blogspot.com/

When Faith is Frightening - Peter Youngren

The following is an article written for the St Catharines Standard Newspaper where Peter is a regular columnist.

Believers in Christ accept that something utterly amazing happened at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once and for all, God put the punishment for the world’s sins on Jesus. The phrase “the world’s sins” is all inclusive from Hitler’s murders to a gossiping church member; all was put on Christ. To millions this carries a profound meaning for their daily life, and they believe that what happened at the cross has power to transform people from the inside out. The message of what Christ did is commonly called “Gospel”, which means “Good News”.

Here is where it gets fuzzy. What is the good news all about? Is it good news that if you do your best, God will do the rest? Or is the good news that God gave Jesus as an example of good living, and those who follow Him will be saved? Surprisingly the answer is no on both counts! The most famous verse in the entire Bible simply says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”, (John 3:16). There is only one condition, “believe”, nothing about us doing our best, or our attempts to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

“Believe” is a verb and “faith” is a noun, two sides of the same coin, and two words that to some seem weak and to others even frightening. Why? Because believing puts the focus away from our performance; faith has nothing to do with our effort, our good attitude, diligent studies, or our attempt at impressing God with our humility. Faith is not about what we need to do, but it is simply to put our trust in what God has done for us. We are relying on someone else for the payment of our debt and that can be nerve-wracking. I’m relaxed when I drive my car, but let someone else take the wheels and suddenly my anxiety level rises. Faith frightens some, because it means to rely on another.

Faith is to trust in God’s grace. Grace can have no strings attached to it, it must be free; it has nothing to do with bargains, or the idea of “you do your part and God will do His”. Grace is not a contract, or a negotiated settlement between God and man. If it was, it would depend on each of the contractually bound parties to fulfill their respective obligations. A contract is not rooted in love, but in the performance of those who are party to it. God’s idea is not to transform the world or an individual through a contractual obligation, but through unconditional love. There is no tit for tat, grace is a free gift, and yet it empowers. The unconditional grace and love of God gives us the capacity for genuine moral improvement; without it, all we can muster is polishing the outside. Grace makes us honest, vulnerable, transparent and open to change because of the good God has done for us through Jesus. No need for cover-ups or pretense. After all, we are not trying to prove our own ability; we are trusting in God’s unconditional love. This removes the idea of us earning credits with God. We simply surrender to another, and the good another has done is credited to us. Frightening? Maybe, but also totally liberating. Best of all, faith itself is a gift, not the result of our effort, that way we can’t even take credit for believing. Since it’s all free, why not ask for it? You can, if you want to.

http://peteryoungren.org/impact/blog/when_faith_is_frightening

What is your Worth?

Matt 13
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

In this parable, Jesus talks about the “pearl of great price”. Who is this pearl of great price and what is the worth or value of this pearl?
The worth of something is established by what someone is willing to pay for it. If we put up a pearl for sale, its worth is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. So if someone pays X amount of dollars, then we say that, the pearl is worth X amount of dollars. In other words the value of that pearl is equal to the value of the money paid to acquire it.

We are familiar with this parable being taught as Jesus being the pearl of great price and that we need to pay a price to obtain Jesus and to make it to heaven. We have heard it said that we need to do this and do that and the whole rigmarole of religion, to be worthy of Jesus and His kingdom. There is nothing further from the truth. Our best efforts will always fall short of His glory and His standards. There is no price we can pay, no sacrifices we can make, no amount of religious works we can do to gain His acceptance. All such attempts are futile and will never amount to anything close to His value. He is priceless. If we could pay our way to heaven with our works and by following all the rules and regulations of religion, there wouldn’t be any need for Jesus to die on our behalf. Paul says in Gal 2:21 that if you could become righteous by keeping all the rules and laws, then Christ died needlessly.

Let’s look at this parable from a grace perspective. Sin separated man from God. The righteousness of God demands that sin be punished; and the penalty of sin is death. This means that you and I would have to face God, the righteous judge, and be condemned to eternal destruction. God also knew that you and I would never be able to save ourselves by any of our self efforts. So, what did God do to save us, and at the same time punish our sins? John 3:16 says that God loved SO loved the world (you and me), SO much that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice, the lamb slain before the foundation of the world for our sins. Our sins were placed on Him and He bore the wrath of God and OUR sins were punished in His flesh (Rom 8:3).

What was the price God paid to redeem or purchase you and me? He gave His very best, His only Son, His very life, which cannot be compared to millions of dollars or all the wealth in this world. So you are EQUAL in value to Jesus, because that is what God paid to redeem you. In God’s eyes, you are as precious as Jesus. YOU ARE THAT PEARL OF GREAT PRICE! He paid with His life and blood. Jesus gave up His glory, riches and domain, and suffered humiliation, even to the death on the cross, to pay the ransom for us (Mark10:45). You are His purchased possession. You are apple of His eye. You are graven in the palm of His hands. You are most precious in His sight. Quit looking at yourself as worthless and start looking at yourself through God’s eyes.

There is a false sense of humility when one says, “Oh! I am a poor old sinner saved by grace” or “I’m not worthy to receive God’s blessings”. Quit looking at yourself and how you don’t measure up. Look at what God did for you through Jesus, knowing very well, that you would never measure up.

Religion will say that you are not good enough, you need to do more and become better to become worthy of His kingdom. Religion focuses on what we need to do but God says,” Look at what I have already done in you through the finished work of Christ on the cross.” He says, “You are a saint, you are righteous, you are holy, you are loved and accepted in Christ, you are royalty, you are that pearl of great price, you are precious.”

Beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

Matt 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matt 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Here Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Verse 12 shows that the leaven speaks of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious people of Jesus’s time. We see that Jesus was not against the sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, but He was against these religious people. Doesn’t that seem strange that He would do so? If Jesus was here physically on this earth today, what would He say about the modern church?
The doctrine of these religious people was that they could attain righteousness by doing the works of the law. In John 5, Jesus tells them that they were seeking eternal life in the scriptures, but they failed to understand that the scriptures were pointing to Him as the only way to salvation or eternal life. They were looking for “do’s and don’ts” in the scriptures to be able to fulfill them and thereby attain righteousness by their performance. Jesus called them “hypocrites, snakes etc.” They observed the laws outwardly but their inside was full of darkness. Jesus shed light on the righteous standards of the law and showed every single time that the religious people fell short of those standards. So rather than falling on God’s mercy and grace they wanted to trust in their own performance to attain righteousness. Doesn’t this sound like the modern church? They try to grow in righteousness and holiness by their own works rather than depending on the grace of God who is the indwelling Christ in every believer. They try to comb the scriptures to find every single law from Genesis to Revelation and make additional laws and put this heavy burden on the people.
The Apostle Paul in his epistles lashed out against such religious people who wanted to mix their legalism with the pure gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls them “wolves.”Writing to believers in the Galatian church, he asks them, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”In chapter 5 He tells them that, “if you are justified by the law(performance), then you are cut off or severed from Christ! You are fallen from grace!” That’s a very serious statement! He further tells them that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”. A little leaven or doctrine of legalism (even a little bit) will leaven the whole lump. Grace and legalism cannot be mixed.
We are saved by grace, made righteous by grace, live by grace, kept by grace, sanctified by grace, perfected by grace. This is the pure unadulterated message of the gospel of grace. Rom 11:6 says, that grace is no longer grace if your works are involved.
In conclusion, let us not nullify (invalidate) the grace of God (by mixing it with legalism), for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Gal 2:21)

Greasy Legalism

I have just about seen enough articles, teaching albums, etc. advertised under titles like “Greasy Grace”, “Crazy Grace”, or “Grace Gone Wild”. While I am sure that just about everything can be abused, even grace because the Bible says so. These three titles that warn against the grace message don’t have a clue and often have little or no knowledge of what the message is. Instead they build up a phantom and an attack that their imagination has created. It goes something like this: “Those who preach a radical message of God’s grace are people looking for a low commitment, a low level Christian life where anything goes because sin is tolerated (after all, Jesus paid for them).” Often writers are connecting the message of grace with general moral decay in the church and in the world. I used to have this opinion of grace teaching myself only seven or eight years ago. I had never really heard the message but just assumed that people who would preach that all sin, past, present and future had been paid for by Jesus, couldn’t be doing anything good with their sermons, in fact they must be something negative (creating a license to sin).
The fact is that it is not grace that is greasy, it is legalism. Paul writes in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” By Paul’s definition what causes greasy living is legalism. Grace on the other hand brings freedom from the greasy debt of sin. When a person receives the free gift of Christ’s righteousness in the abundance of grace, their heart overflows with gratitude (Romans 5:17). In fact, it doesn’t inspire sin but holiness. Just like the apostle Paul wrote that the goodness of God brings us to repentance.
What is greasy about legalism? It seems that when the focus is on “self” the thinking goes something like this, “Look at how much I am doing for God; praying, teaching, sharing, and suffering for Christ. No wonder the devil is attacking me. This secret sin that I harbor is a sin that the devil is really attacking me with, and after all, it can’t be that bad because look at all the good I am doing.” Notice how many times the word “I” appeared in the last two sentences. This is how legalism opens the door for sin, when one assesses one’s own good deeds weighed against the not-so-good. As long as we can put a lot of points in the positive column, whether it’s fasting, praying, Bible reading, church attendance, giving of money or whatever, surely all that must outweigh the bad. That kind of thinking is straight out of Legalism 101.
On the contrary, Gospel thinking goes likes this; “If I follow God’s commandments and do everything that God says in His Word 99.9 % of the time, what will be the result?” The answer is quite simple and found in both the books of Deuteronomy and Galatians: I will be 100% cursed. You see, the Gospel doesn’t teach a portion of the blessing, i.e. if you are 10% obedient you get 10% blessing while if you increase your obedience to 20% you get 20% blessing. No, if you are only disobedient in even .1% you get 100% of the curse. If you do everything right but in one area not, you just get everything involved in the curse. The only way is to trust in Jesus’ obedience, His righteousness, His finished work, and receive it as a free gift. Condemnation, condescension and guilt inducing sermons never made anyone holy. Falling in love with Jesus is what will produce true holiness. Get out of greasy legalism and get into the free gift available from God for everyone who believes in His imparted righteousness, and then live out of the revelation of Christ in you.
Don’t worry about God’s grace perverting people, the more of it, the better. In fact, the cure for a defeated life is an abundance of grace (Romans 5:17). To call what God has done in Christ “greasy”, “crazy” and “gone wild” is at best ignorant and at worst I don’t even want to say. Your thoughts?
Keep blogging.
Peter Youngren
http://peteryoungren.org/impact/blog/greasy_legalism

Want to live a sanctified life? by Peter Youngren

True Sanctification Through God’s Grace

Believers desire to live fruitful and godly lives, so why do we fail? What is the solution?

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:30 – 31).

The teaching that we are righteous through Jesus Christ without our own merits often leads to a question, “How can we be righteous without doing righteous deeds first?” Let’s turn the question around, “How could Jesus have been made sin without committing any sinful deed?” After all, the Bible tells us that when Jesus went to the cross He was made sin. How is this possible? The answer is: it was the work of God. God took the world’s sins and put them on Jesus. We are made righteous the same way – it is the work of God. We become new creations in Christ Jesus without our own merits.

Some may think that we avoid the question of sin, but that’s not the case. On the contrary, we are teaching how true sanctification comes.

Truly Sanctified

How do we get victory over sin? How are we sanctified? Let me show from God’s Word the only power that sets us free from sin and sanctifies us – God’s grace. Some preachers like to use two words that Paul doesn’t mention: positional and experiential. Those teachers say that positionally we are sanctified in Jesus; He has become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. But at the same time they say that we are not experientially sanctified.

Remember, Paul is writing this to the Corinthians, and we know there were many sins and conflicts in Corinth. Yet, the Corinthians were told, as a completed fact, that Jesus Christ has become their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He doesn’t use the words positional and experiential. He speaks about Jesus, our sanctification, as a reality. Jesus has really and truly become our sanctification. If sanctification comes through grace, no one can glory of himself, but only he who glories “let him glory in the Lord.” If we claim that we only have a position as sanctified, it becomes meaningless – because we live in the realm of experience. I’m not interested in Jesus as a mere theological position, but what Jesus Christ is in me now, in reality, that means something.

Dead to Sin

We read, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:11). Notice Paul says “reckon.” This is not a mere theological point of view, but something much more real. To reckon something is to really count on it. In other words, really count on the fact that you are dead to sin. He continues, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13). If we try to be holy through our own power and might, it will only lead into death. But if we practice the New Covenant, the covenant of the Spirit, it will produce life. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. We can live this new life in Christ only if we allow the Holy Spirit to be our Helper.

When you stand before a confusing situation, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your wisdom. It doesn’t take a long time. You don’t have to pray for an hour to “have a breakthrough” or to get “wisdom anointing.”

When you are tempted to sin, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your righteousness.


Jesus Christ is your wisdom right there on the spot. You will be amazed how His wisdom will manifest in you. You will discover that by appealing to Him the answer will come very quickly even to very difficult situations.

When you are tempted to sin, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your righteousness. You don’t have to fight. When you take a few moments confessing that He is your righteousness, you will notice how His life manifests in you.

The victory is not won by saying “NO” to sin, but by saying “YES” to Jesus. The more we say “no” to sin, the more we will be aware of sin. The more we say “yes” to Jesus, the more we will be aware of Jesus, and that’s when sin loses its grip.


Our sanctification rests on Jesus Christ, and what He has done. It doesn’t depend on you - it depends on Him. Look at His finished work.

If you have low self-esteem and you feel unworthy, be still and confess Jesus is your redemption. You will experience how His life, strength and joy manifest in you.

“Man-made” methods

There are “man-made” methods, even in the charismatic world, of sanctification. One pastor said, “If you have a habitual sin, you have a demon.” That is not what the New Testament teaches. We read of a person, who did what he didn’t want to do (Romans chapter 7), but the chapter doesn’t mention one single demon. Instead, this person describes a person who is trying to fulfill God’s commandments in his own strength. The more he tried to fulfill the Law in his own strength, the worse the situation became. The only solution to this “wretched” person was God’s abundant grace. The more we see Jesus Christ revealed in us, the more victory manifests in our life.

The spiritual armor in Ephesians chapter 6 deals with God’s grace. The helmet talks about salvation – we are saved by grace. The breastplate points to righteousness – Jesus is our righteousness. The belt is the truth – Jesus said, “I’m the truth.” The sword speaks about the Spirit – we live in the covenant of the Spirit, not of the letter. The shoes symbolize the Gospel of peace – the peace that Jesus’ blood has purchased for us.

I saw a book titled Christian – Set Yourself Free. Have you ever heard anything so absurd? Is this our covenant? Should we set ourselves free? Many will try, but when they try to make themselves holy and free, they never become really free. They may feel like they are free for a short period of time, and then they are seeking freedom again.

It’s popular to use the phrase “JUST SAY NO.” This teaching emphasizes that our own willpower can make us holy. When our will wrestles with sin, our willpower will always lose. If our own willpower could produce sanctification, Jesus’ death and resurrection was in vain.

Our Part

Many will ask, “What should we do? Surely we have to do something?” Yes, it is important we understand our part. We believe and receive what Jesus has already prepared for us, and allow Him to work in us. This is so radical, that I’ll give you a few Bible verses to back it up.

“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess 5:23 – 24).

Who sanctifies you completely? – “The God of peace.”

Who is faithful? – “He who calls you.”

Sanctification is not based on our efforts, but it’s God’s work in us.

Sanctification is not based on our efforts, but it’s God’s work in us.

“May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb 13:20 – 21).

Who makes us complete in every good work to do His will? – “The God of peace.”

Who makes us to do what is pleasing in God’s sight? – “The great Shepherd.”

How does He sanctify us? – “Through the blood of the everlasting covenant.”

What should we do? – Give Him “glory forever and ever.”

So it all depends on Jesus. He is our righteousness, redemption, sanctification and wisdom.


So it all depends on Jesus. He is our righteousness, redemption, sanctification and wisdom.


The works of God were sometimes frightening in the Old Testament. Do you remember when God thundered in the mountain of Sinai? They were all in a state of panic, including Moses. Sinai was a demonstration of God’s holiness and it scared the people. The holiness and sanctification that manifests through Jesus is not frightening – it is attractive.

When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai, people ran away because of fear. When Jesus came down from the mountain of transfiguration we read: “When they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him” (Mark 9:15).

The glory of the Old Testament was frightening, but the glory of the New Testament is attractive.

Don’t be discouraged if a person isn’t transformed overnight. God didn’t send Jesus to change people’s behavior, but to give us a new heart. As soon as the heart changes, the behavior will change as well.

Paul writes, “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (2 Thess 2:16 – 17).

Who is going to establish us in every good work? – The “Lord Jesus Christ Himself.” When we try to become holy through our own efforts, it leads into restlessness and troubles. God’s way gives us positive results – “everlasting consolation and good hope” through God’s “grace.”

Give Him Glory

The key is to say “YES” to righteousness, faith, love and peace.


How do we avoid lusts and ungodly behavior? Paul writes, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22). Many read only the first four words: “Flee also youthful lusts.” If we stop there, we will fail. The key is to say “YES” to righteousness, faith, love and peace.

If a baby cries, it doesn’t help if we say, “stop crying.” Instead, we try to direct the baby’s attention elsewhere by singing or shaking a key ring. Suddenly the baby forgets why he was crying in the first place! The way to the victory over sin is by not trying to conquer sin through our own strength, but “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (1 Tim 6:11). We will focus on Jesus’ righteousness, godliness, faith and love in us.

“The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (2 Tim 4:18)

Who delivers me from evil? – “The Lord.” Who preserves me? – “The Lord.”

What do we do? – “We give Him glory forever and ever.”


“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude, v. 24 – 25).

Who is able to keep you from stumbling? Who is able to present you faultless? – “God our Savior.”

What is our part? – “Give Him glory, majesty, dominion and power, now and forever.”

Sanctification is not what we can do, but what Jesus does in us. Our job is simply to believe and entrust ourselves to Him. We can live a holy life, but not in our own strength. True sanctification is Jesus’ life in us.

JESUS’ LIFE WORKS!