Series

Life Sketches – The Letter that Changed the World

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Have you ever read the letter that changed the world? It was written to Christians in one of the most prominent cities of the world today, and it has been changing the history of the world ever since it was written.

A few days before His crucifixion, Jesus gave His disciples a little insight into what was going to happen in the future. Aghast at this news, they asked Him when these things were going to happen. Jesus told about the troubles that were going to come upon the world. He said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

What He said about the end coming after the gospel was preached to all the world was a dual prophecy. Jesus referred to two distinct events. In the first part of Matthew 24, Jesus predicted what would happen before the destruction of Jerusalem. This event was also a type of the destruction that will come upon the whole world at the end of time. Jesus said that before the end would come, the gospel would be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations. And it was preached in all the world as a witness to all nations before Jerusalem was destroyed. We know this because Paul said, “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23).

How was it that the apostles were successful in getting the gospel preached to every creature under heaven? Remember, no more than 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, the gospel had been preached to the entire world. It was a time when there was no radio, or television, telegraph, telephone, newspapers, or any of the modern media or means of communication that we have available today. Yet the gospel was preached to all the world. It would never have happened without the special blessing and power of the Holy Spirit that came upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.

After the apostle Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, he went on missionary tours and raised up churches in the prominent cities of the Roman Empire. Ephesus, Thessalonica, Corinth, Philippi, Antioch, as well as other places he visited to share the gospel. He greatly desired to establish the Christian religion in the city of Rome itself. In a sense, Rome was the capital city of the world in those days. People came and went from that city to and from all parts of the world and Paul knew that if Christianity could be established in Rome, it would go very quickly to all parts of the world. He was right and that is exactly what happened. The gospel at that time had already been preached to every creature under heaven.

But before that, while he was working in the city of Corinth, Paul wrote and sent a letter to the Christians in Rome. He said, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me” (Romans 1:8–12).

Continuing he said, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greek and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.” Paul said, “I’m ready as much as is in me to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome.” And then he said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (verses 13–16).

Paul then proceeded to show that the ancient nations, by not acknowledging God, lost sight of eternal realities. There are a large number of people today who are unaware that there was a time when all the nations in the world knew about the true God. Unfortunately, that knowledge has been lost. Information can be lost in one, or two, or three generations. Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (verses 18–27).

Here we see clearly that the result of people knowing God but refusing to glorify Him as God, not being thankful and not wanting to keep God in their remembrance, is a moral downhill slide. It says, “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (verses 28–32).

The description that the apostle gives is an accurate description of the exact conditions in which the Christians were living in the city of Rome. As one historian said, “Rome was the sewer of the nations.” History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church, by Henry Charles Lea, 1884.

The Christians in Rome were living in the place where idolatry and paganism reached its greatest heights, but where morality reached the lowest depths. By not acknowledging God, the nations lost sight of eternal realities. People want religion. They want to be saved some way. There are many people even today who believe that they will be saved by going through certain religious rituals or by making certain pronouncements. People claim that because they have made a profession and confessed their faith as a Christian they have a right to be saved. In fact, they quote a text from the book of Romans to try to prove it.

But Paul shows that there is no religious ritual or works that can save a person. Notice what he says in Romans 2:25. He says, “For circumcision [a religious rite] is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” Concerning religious works, Paul said, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19, 20).

Paul says that not by the deeds of any law—the moral law, a ritual law, a religious law, a ceremonial law, whatever kind of law it is, by going through religious rituals, or doing certain things, making certain pronouncements—will you ever be saved.

Paul points out that we are all under condemnation and under the penalty of death because we are all violators of God’s law. It says in Romans 6:23, that “the wages of sin is death.” He says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). There is no such thing as a person who hasn’t sinned or who is not a sinner. The apostle John said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Verse 10 says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Everyone in the world has sinned and is under the sentence of death. In Romans 7:10, 11, it says, “And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.”

So, you cannot save yourself by any good work, by any religious ritual, or by any profession or confession. There is no ritual or ceremony you can do or be part of that can save. This is one of the first lessons you learn reading the book of Romans, but do not lose heart. God always has a solution to any problem we may have.

The book of Romans has had an effect that has changed the history of the world ever since it was written because it seems that the majority of people in the world have felt for thousands of years that the way to be saved is to do some good thing, do some good work, go through some religious ritual, be circumcised, become a member of a certain church. However, the apostle Paul shows that none of these things can bring salvation. The Jews thought that if you become a member of their religious organization, you would be saved. Jesus told His disciples that this thought was just a delusion.

Jesus said that if you want to be saved, you had to be directly connected to Him. (See John 15.) The book of Romans teaches us that we cannot perform any good work that will save us from death. Notice what it says in Romans 3:20: “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Verses 27 and 28 say, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”

If we can’t do anything to save ourselves from the penalty of sin, which is death, and we are all sinners, guilty, and all doomed to die, then how are we going to be saved? There’s only one way. You can only be saved by the gift of the grace of God when you believe. Verses 24 to 26 say, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [meaning somebody that paid the price] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Romans 4:1–5 says, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

You can be saved only by the grace of God, when you believe. Salvation is a gift. As the apostle Paul stated to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 2:8, salvation is a “gift of God.” Salvation is not of anything that you can work to achieve. However, when you read the rest of the chapter, you will see that to believe means to make a commitment. When Paul talks about believing, he is not just talking about giving an intellectual assent; he means making a life commitment.

Abraham is used as an example. Concerning him, Paul says, “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became of the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness’ ” (Romans 4:18–22).

Notice, Abraham believed God, and he acted on that belief. He made a commitment. O, friend, have you made a commitment? There are many people in the world who say, “O, I believe that Jesus is the Christ. I believe that He died on the cross for the sins of the world.” But the Bible says, “The devils believe those things” (James 2:19). The devils believe all those things and tremble, but they are not going to be saved, because their intellectual belief does not lead them to make a commitment with the Lord.

Have you made a commitment with the Lord and committed your life to Him? Or is your religion just a matter of an intellectual assent, and hoping for the best? There are some people who think that because forgiveness comes by grace, by a gift of God, and not by anything that you can do, that you don’t have to do anything. You don’t even need to worry about keeping God’s law anymore. Paul clearly teaches in the book of Romans that that is not the way it is.

He says in Romans 2:13: “For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.” In Romans 3:31, he says, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’ ” (referring refers to the 10th commandment).

“But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (verses 8–12). Notice, he does not say the law has been done away; he says the law is holy. It has not been made void but established (Romans 3:31). It is those who obey the law who will be justified and receive the gift of salvation. Paul says that the law is holy, and just, and good, and furthermore, he then states that the Christian who has received the Holy Spirit will, through the power of the Holy Spirit, keep God’s law. Notice what he says, in Romans 8:4: “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Notice, the person who is filled with the Holy Spirit will be keeping God’s law. Who is the person that will be breaking God’s law? Paul says that it’s the person who has not been converted. In fact, he says, the person who has not been converted cannot keep God’s law. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (verse 7). Who is it who is not subject to the law of God, nor can be? It is the carnal man with the fleshly mind, the unconverted man, the person who has not made a commitment to the Lord. When you make a commitment to Christ, you are forgiven by grace alone when you receive the Holy Spirit, without anything that you do. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to live a new kind of life, one that is in harmony with God’s law. O, friend, has that miraculous change happened in your life? Have you really been converted? Have you received the Holy Spirit and are you resting in the only One who is “able to save to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25)?

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Total Commitment

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During his second missionary visit to Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote a letter which was destined to change world history, not only in the first century, but in all future ages.

Paul makes a very profound statement about how we should respond to the gift of Jesus. He said, “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

A prevalent sin of the last days is that people will live primarily for themselves. This is contrary to those preparing for heaven. Paul said, “Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,” and then it goes on to list a whole series of terrible sins and says they will be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1–5).

O, friend, who has your heart? To whom do you give the wealth of your affections? Are you living for yourself?

Self-centered people always end up falling into sins, predominantly sexual immorality. The Corinthians had some trouble with immorality in their church. Paul’s advice was, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’ ” (2 Corinthians 6:14–18).

Notice that you cannot have it both ways. You cannot eat at the Lord’s table and at the same time eat at the devil’s table. This means you cannot be the Lord’s child and also the devil’s child. So, it is necessary that you not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. What fellowship can you have if you are? Either you become like them or something in the relationship is not going to work.

Paul says, “Dearly beloved, you should then cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1, literal translation). The New Testament is not a book describing an easy, arm-chair religion. In fact, it says that being a Christian requires a commitment and you must be willing to leave whatever you have in order to follow Christ. Notice how Jesus stated it in Luke the 14th chapter, and verse 33. He says, “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

The Christian religion of the New Testament requires a total commitment to Jesus Christ, for life or death. It involves following Him, even if you lose everything in this world. It requires you to separate yourself from all that is opposed to Christ, to His government, to His law, and to His word. This concept is not very popular today where people want an easier religion that allows them to love the world, to love themselves, to love their money, and to love pleasure more than God.

This describes people who will claim to be Christian. Paul says that they will have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of it (2 Timothy 3:5). How is it with you? Do you separate from that which is unclean and evil, and that which is unlawful, or are you trying to mix righteousness with unrighteousness? These are questions to ask yourself. Are you trying to be a Christian while still self-serving and self-loving, loving money and pleasure more than God?

This is an impossible situation to be in. You will not find true satisfaction in either a form of godliness or worldly pleasure. It will not be worth anything and it will certainly not help you to receive the gift of eternal life which is offered to all who repent of their sins and make a full commitment to Jesus.

What Is Repentance?

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is one of the books that deals more about the subject of repentance than most other books. We read that on the Day of Pentecost the people who had crucified Jesus were pricked in their consciences concerning what they had done, because Peter told them that they were the ones who had crucified the Lord of glory. They believed him and responded in asking, “What are we going to do?” Peter said, “Repent” (Acts 2:37, last part, 38, first part).

But what does it mean to repent? The church at Corinth had some very serious problems. One spoken of was the open situation of sexual immorality. Paul says, “It’s worse than is even allowed or done in the Gentile world” (1 Corinthians 5:1). There were some practices that compelled Paul to say, “the people that do these things, will not be in the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:1–10).

Paul severely rebuked the church which was condoning sin in their midst and they repented. He said, “Even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Corinthians 7:8–11).

Godly sorrow produces repentance that will result in eternal life. But the sorrow of the world, just being sorry for being caught and not that a wrong was committed, resulting in a penalty of some kind, and not being sorry enough to turn away from the sinful life will cause death.

O, friend, do you know that there are many people today who claim to be Christians who have never repented according to the New Testament? O, a man may have a problem with anger and beats his wife and says he is sorry. His wife forgives him, but the next month he beats her up again. He is sorry again and his wife forgives him once more, but he remains a repeat offender. There comes a time when his wife will be convinced that this man is not sorry at all. If he was really sorry he would ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit to give him the power to overcome his temper and live a new life.

Many people today have never really thought through what repentance is. True repentance is evident in a changed life. They may claim to be Christians and go to church but they have not turned away from their life of sin.

“Repent!” was the message of John the Baptist, when he cried out in the wilderness: “Repent” (Matthew 3:2). When Jesus began to preach, He said, “Repent” (Matthew 4:17). When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he said, “Repent” (Acts 2:38). The apostle Paul said, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

O, friend, have you truly repented, or are you pretending to be a Christian? Are you just going through the motions, going to church, making a profession, saying that you believe certain beliefs, going through religious rituals, but still living the old life?  Repentance is a gift that God wants to give to you (see Romans 2). The person who has repented turns away from every known sin. Sin is breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). He now lives a new life in Christ that is changed day by day by the Holy Spirit.

The Christian religion is the most spiritual of all religions. God hears the cry of all who desire a godly repentance and longs to answer that prayer.

The early church endured a great deal of trouble because of false religious teachers. The pressure on Paul was so great that sometimes it seemed that he could not bear it. He suffered outward dangers as well as inward fears. False teachers prejudiced the brethren against him making false charges against him to destroy his influence among the churches that he had raised up. He said, “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:22–28).

Amid all of his struggles, he had consolation. He had joy in Christ. Notice how he described his mental state. He said, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.” (2 Corinthians 7:4, last part). However, he warned the church that they needed to be careful about these false teachers. He said I’m concerned that “if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it” (2 Corinthians 11:4)!

There are many people today who believe a different gospel than that which the apostles preached. Many claim to be Christians who do not have the same spirit that the apostles had. This is demonstrated by their actions. It is impossible to read another’s heart, but Jesus said you can know whether a tree is good or bad by examining the fruit (Matthew 12:33). So, it may be beneficial to examine what gospel we do believe; what spirit we do exhibit; what Jesus we do worship.

Paul elaborates on the false apostles and how deceptive they would be. He said, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13–15).

The judgment is not going to be according to what you profess, but whether or not that profession has changed your life. A mere profession will not save you for if it could, then the devil could also be saved.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the repentant sinner that purifies the heart and mind and transforms his or her character which is manifest in every action.

It was while Paul was on his second visit to Corinth that he wrote one of the most powerful letters in the New Testament. This letter was not written to an individual, like some of the letters that he wrote, but it was written to an entire church, the church in Rome. In it he explains more clearly than in most of the other letters he wrote just how a person is saved. He says it is only the gospel that can save you. But, if you receive the gospel, you will receive power from God to live a new life.

He said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’ ” (Romans 1:16, 17).

In the gospel there is the power of God to enable you to live a different life from that which you have lived. You will receive forgiveness for sins. You will be changed in character. You will live a sanctified life, not in your own strength, but in the strength of Jesus Christ you will be a conqueror.

“Can we measure the love of God? Paul declares that ‘it passeth knowledge’ (Ephesians 3:19). Then shall we who have been made partakers of the heavenly gift be careless and indifferent, neglecting the great salvation wrought out for us? Shall we allow ourselves to be separated from Christ, and thus lose the eternal reward, the great gift of everlasting life? Shall we not accept the enmity which Christ has placed between man and the serpent? Shall we not eat the flesh and drink the blood of the son of God, which means to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God? Or shall we become earthly, eating the serpent’s meat, which is selfishness, hypocrisy, evil-surmising, envy, and covetousness? We have a right to say, In the strength of Jesus Christ, I will be a conqueror. I will not be overcome by Satan’s devices.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 345.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

 

The Life Sketches Series – Strength in Weakness

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Sometimes people find themselves facing seemingly hopeless situations for which there is apparently no help. Often it even seems that their prayers are not to be answered, but take heart, for the apostle Paul faced similar situations several times and gives some interesting counsel.

All of the apostles taught that how a person received the gospel was a serious matter, for one of two things can happen. If the gospel is accepted, it is the beginning of life eternal. But if the gospel is rejected, it guarantees eternal separation from God unless the mind is changed before death.

Paul said, “Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life” (2 Corinthians 2:14–16, first part).

In Acts 4:12, Peter said, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Clearly taught here is that the only person who can save you is Jesus Christ. If you reject Him and choose not to follow Him and allow Him to be the sovereign of your life, then there is no other way that you can be saved. No one else can give you life.

Speaking to the Jews, Jesus said, “You are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:40). “If you do not believe that I am the One, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24, literal translation). To die in sin means eternal death. Jesus came to deliver His people from their sins and eternal death (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15, 16). To accept the gospel is to be saved. To reject it is to be lost. The choice you make determines your eternal destiny, for it is either a fragrance of life unto life, or of death unto death.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul deals at length with the subject of generosity, which is a character trait of the Christian religion. Notice what he says about the generosity of God Himself: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)! In verses 6 and 7 he says, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

How is it in your life? Have you learned to be a giver or is your focus simply about what you can get? The early church at Philippi was a poor church. However, this church understood the principle of giving. Paul said, “In a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God” (2 Corinthians 8:2–5).

In spite of their own poverty they learned the lesson of giving of what they had to help others. Generosity is fundamental to the Christian religion and God Himself has given us the example. He loved the world so much that He gave all of heaven in one gift when He gave His son to die for the sins of a rebellious race. It is fatal to live for self. Living for self indicates that we are part of the devil’s kingdom. Notice how clearly Jesus taught this when He said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). We are living in a selfish age. The Bible predicts that in the last days men will be lovers of their own selves, they will love money and pleasure more than they love God, yet they will still have a form of godliness. (See 2 Timothy 3:1–5.)

Benevolence is the very foundation of the universe and God is benefactor of the human family. God is a being of inexhaustible goodness and love. That love of the Father for man was expressed in the gift of His beloved Son to save our race from eternal ruin. Christ gave His life for man. Though He was the Monarch in the courts of heaven, He voluntarily left His riches and His honor and came to this world, becoming meek and lowly so that we might be made rich. Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Those who live for self are demonstrating to the whole universe that they are not part of the kingdom of Christ, but part of the kingdom of Satan. The sin of covetousness is especially denounced in the Scriptures. Worldliness is at war with the true principles of Christianity. A life of benevolent labor is the fruit that will be borne on the Christian tree.

The second letter to the Corinthians contains many passages that cause some people to be troubled. In 2 Corinthians 3:6, we read, “Who [that is, God] also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

The “letter” that kills refers to the ten-commandment law that was written in stone. It kills because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). So, sin is simply breaking God’s law and the consequence is death. Now the problem is that everybody has sinned, so everyone is doomed to die unless that sin can be forgiven. The penalty for breaking God’s law cannot be remitted; the penalty has to be paid. God’s law cannot be done away with, nor can the penalty for breaking it be remitted.

Dear friends, that is why Jesus had to go to the cross of Calvary. He paid the price of sin for a race of sinners who were doomed to eternal death. By that, He opened up the possibility for every member of the human race to have eternal life if they would believe in Him and accept Him as their personal Saviour and sovereign or Lord of their life.

Jesus said to the Jews, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)? To those who accept Jesus He has promised something very wonderful.

He said, “I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [that is, the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:5–7).

Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, there is no chance that he can go to the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3, 5). The reason is because the unconverted person is actually against God and cannot in his own strength be subject to Him. (See Romans 8:7.)

Paul tells us one of the results of receiving the Holy Spirit. He says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Not only will his past sins be forgiven, but the Holy Spirit will give that person power to keep God’s law.

The ministration of the Spirit changes the heart and gives life in preparation for the final judgment. Paul said, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). This causes perplexity to many people who just read that we are saved by grace through faith. There is no text in the Bible that tells us that the judgment is on the basis of our faith, but “according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” As James wrote, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him” (James 2:14)?

The way a person lives day to day demonstrates to the whole universe whether or not he or she has faith and has received the Holy Spirit. All who have been born again and directed by the Holy Spirit will begin to live lives in harmony with God’s government and His law.

However, a person’s works do not gain any merit. The only merit by which you can receive the gift of eternal life is that which Jesus has provided for you. His death on the cross of Calvary made it possible for you to receive forgiveness of sins. However, in addition to having your sins forgiven, you must be born again of the Holy Spirit and this new birth will be demonstrated by your works.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

There was a situation of personal suffering and affliction that Paul had to deal with himself. It was so awful that three times he prayed to the Lord to be delivered from it and it seemed as if his prayers were not answered. God did not say yes to his prayer. In fact, it is recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:7–10: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This is one of the most profound declarations of faith that you will find in all the Bible. Paul was in a situation where he desperately wanted to be delivered from the bodily affliction that he suffered. Three times he prayed that the Lord would deliver him from his affliction, but the answer was “no.” We are not told why, and we don’t need to know why in this world. All we need to learn is to trust when we don’t know why. The Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, because My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul then concluded that he was going to rejoice in all the troubles and trials that he couldn’t understand because he was going to trust in the Lord.  He knew that when he was weak, then he would be strong because the power of Christ would rest upon him.

O, friend, this story is in the Bible for you to claim when going through trying experiences. If you have surrendered your life to Christ and chosen to follow Him and find yourself in an impossible situation, His words to you are the same as He gave to the apostle Paul. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

 

Life Sketches – Love – The Best Gift

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Everyone enjoys receiving a free gift and the Bible says that God is the source of every good gift. However, God gives to some people more valuable gifts than to others because those people, desire, value, and appreciate more valuable gifts that He has to give.

Talking to the Corinthian church concerning their former life, Paul reminded them that they were once Gentiles led by senseless idols, believing they received special power and wisdom from them. However, in worshiping idols they were not worshiping the one true God and what they thought they had received was not from Him.

He said, “I say … that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:19–21).

Paul was clear in saying the Gentiles were not really receiving any special wisdom from God. They were receiving wisdom or power from demons—evil spirits. The Bible is very clear that there are many evil spirits in our world seeking to gain control of our minds. They are all working under the one master evil spirit called the devil and Satan.

These evil spirits were formerly angels of God in heaven, but they fell through sin. (See 2 Peter 2; Revelation 12; Jude.) After the rebellion in heaven, one third of the angels who were deceived by Satan lost their first estate and were cast out into this earth. Since the creation of man they are seeking to gain control of the world and we have been warned that in the last days, these evil spirits will succeed in deceiving almost the entire world. (See Revelation 12:9; Revelation 13; Revelation 16; Revelation 18.)

The only protection available to man to avoid being deceived is to receive the Holy Spirit into your life. Paul said, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 12:1). “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all” (verses 4–6).

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (verse 7) if you have been baptized into Christ. Then it says that you are to receive in your life the manifestation of the Spirit and it is to result in the profit of every other Christian. The manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

You and I do not get to choose what spiritual gift we will receive, for it is the Holy Spirit who decides that. “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues [languages], to another the translation of languages” (verses 8–10, literal translation).

Notice, Paul has specified nine different gifts that the Spirit gives to different people – wisdom, knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different languages, and translation of languages.

“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (verse 11). The Holy Spirit decides what gift each person receives. No one is going to receive all the gifts. They are distributed as the Spirit sees fit.

Then Paul explains how this works and how there is unity in diversity. “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as he pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be” (verses 12–19)?

What would it be if all you had for your body were eyes and no hands, or feet, or ears, or tongue, or the other things that you need to function as a human being? Eyes are wonderful, but you need more than eyes to have a body. You need ears, and you need hands, and you need feet, and you need a mind, and you need a tongue. Without a nose you could not smell, and you need a digestive system and organs to circulate the blood around your body. Without these additional parts you would not have a body.

However, Paul said, “Now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism (division) in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (verses 20–26).

Referring now to the church, all members are part of the same body. We are not to look on any other Christian as somebody separate from ourselves. We are to have care and regard for every other person that is part of the body of Christ. If you get up in the night, and you stub your toe, the rest of your body doesn’t say to the toe, “Well, that’s just too bad you got hurt. It’s all right with us.” No, no! The whole body sympathizes with the toe that got hurt. It is the same way with any other part of the body. The whole body works together and every part of it is in sympathy with every other part. That is the way Paul says the church is to be. Every member is to be in sympathy with every other member.

Paul said, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (verse 27). You are individual members with different offices, but all are to cooperate with each other and have sympathy for each other.

“God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues [languages]” (verse 28). Then he asks, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with languages [foreign languages]” (verse 29)? No, not everybody does. “Do all interpret, [that is, do all interpret foreign languages]” (verse 30)? No, not everybody does but imagine the impact when all of those gifts are available in the church in one body.

While in Ephesus, Paul found some disciples of Jesus and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They answered him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). They informed him that they had been baptized into John’s [the Baptist] baptism. Paul then explained to them what Jesus had said to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. He said, “John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5).

It was God’s will from that time on that every person who professed to be a Christian and was baptized would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “When they [the disciples in Ephesus] heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:5, 6).

O, friend, God wants to give gifts to His people. He wants to give gifts to everyone who has taken the name of Christ, to everyone who has chosen to be a disciple of the Christian religion. The Holy Spirit wants to give you a gift.

Paul said there is a gift that every member is to receive. Jesus made that very clear that this gift is more important, it is of greater value, than any other gift that the Holy Spirit could give to you.

Many people think that it is wonderful if they can speak in other languages, and that is truly a gift of the Holy Spirit. When the apostles at Pentecost received the Holy Spirit, they miraculously received the ability to speak in foreign languages, a gift which lasted for the rest of their life.

However, Paul says, “Though I speak with the tongues [languages] of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). It does not matter how many languages you could speak, if you can speak in both the languages of earth and the languages of heaven, it is valueless if you have not received the love of Jesus into your heart.

Paul goes on to say, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (verse 2).

Notice friends, the Christian religion is the most spiritual of all religions because it deals with the most inner part of one’s mind and conscience. It is not just about intellectual things but goes right to the heart of a human being. The religion of Christ says if you have all these other things, all these intellectual accomplishments, so that you can speak all the different languages, if you have the power to prophesy, and if you have faith and if you have all knowledge, but all these gifts are devoid of love in your heart, Paul says, it is not worth anything. It’s nothing.

“Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (verse 3). It matters not what achievements you make or what acquisitions you acquire or talents you have, even if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, if that gift of the Holy Spirit has not led you to have love in your heart, it is worthless. It profits you nothing, and you are nothing. You are like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

The most valuable of all gifts is so valuable that Jesus said that this would be the sign that you were a Christian. It is not so much whether you have absolutely the right doctrines, or theology, or understanding. Notice what Jesus said in John 13, verses 34 and 35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Paul then goes through a list of 16 different things showing what love is like. If I have love in my heart, I will also have these characteristics. 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, first part:

“Love is long suffering.” It exhibits patience. It is long suffering. Everybody wants somebody to be patient with them when they make a mistake.

“Love is kind.” O, friend, it’s not enough to be the right kind of a person, unless you’re kind in what you do and how you deal with others.

 

  • Love does not envy. Be content with what you have and happy for those who may have more than you.
  • Love does not boast. It doesn’t brag about its own accomplishments.
  • Love is not conceited. It is not puffed up.
  • Love does not act in an indecent or a shameful way. It has a sense of propriety.
  • Love does not seek its own. It does not try to get its own advantage over others.
  • Love does not become irritated. This may be the hardest one of all.
  • Love does not dwell on evil. Today we are surrounded by evil. If you dwell on it, you will become like it, even if you abhor it. That of course is going to affect what we look at and what we think about.
  • Love does not rejoice in injustice. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness. This is another hard one for our generation.

“Rather it rejoices with the truth.” Do you love the truth? A person who has love in their heart will rejoice with the truth. The Bible predicts that in the last days there will be many people who will have a form of godliness who will still be lost because they never learned to love the truth. (See 2 Thessalonians 2:8–10.)

 

Love bears all things.

It believes all things.

It hopes all things.

It endures all things.

It never fails.

 

O, friend, love is the gift that God wants to give to everyone who follows Him. The gift of the Holy Spirit and the first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love.

Paul goes on to say that “Where there are prophecies, they will fail; where there are languages, they will cease; where there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away” (verses 8, last part–10, literal translation).

O, friend, have you received the most perfect of all gifts that God wants to give to everyone who chooses to follow Him? Do you have all 16 characteristics of love in your heart? Unless you have love in your heart, Paul says all the other profession of religion, all the languages, all the knowledge, all the faith, everything else you might do, is worthless unless you have love.

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

 

Life Sketches – Health and the Early Church

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The apostle Paul taught the early church to be aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how you treat your body. He goes so far as to say that the way you treat your body could even result in losing eternal life.

In the city of Corinth there occurred many different athletic events. The most ancient and highly esteemed of them all were the foot races, which were held at stated times and places with great pomp. Being patronized by kings, nobles, and statesmen, persons of rank and wealth who engaged in these exercises shrank from no effort and discipline necessary to obtain the honor of victory. These races were governed by strict regulations from which there was no appeal.

Before the names of the candidates could be entered upon the list as competitors for the prize, they were required to undergo a severe preparatory training. Every indulgence of appetite and other gratification which could in the least affect their mental or physical vigor was strictly forbidden. As the contestants in the race made their appearance before the eager and waiting crowd, their names were heralded, and the rules of the race were expressly stated. The prize was placed in full view before the competitors. They all started together, the judges sitting near the goal line so they could award the prize to the person who was victorious, also seeing to it that no one took some unlawful advantage.

Great risks were run by the contestants in these contests. It happened sometimes that somebody overexerted themselves, just as athletes have done in our time, such that as they reached the finish line they fell over dead.

As a person reached the goal there was shout after shout of applause from the vast multitude that echoed around the surrounding hills and mountains and the judge, in full view of the spectators, would present the winner with the emblems of victory – a perishable laurel crown, and a palm branch to carry in his right hand. This crown was worn with great pride. Not only the one who won the race, but also his parents received their share of honor, and even the city where he lived was held in high esteem for having produced so great an athlete.

It is this experience that Paul presents as a striking figure of the Christian warfare. Notice what he says: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate [exercises self-control] in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).

Notice the seriousness of what the apostle Paul is saying here. The body must be disciplined and be under strict control. The words Paul used in the Greek New Testament are much stronger language than has been translated into our English Bibles. He says that we must have our body under strict subjection and have absolute self-control; if not, we will be disqualified.

“To be carnally [fleshly] minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:6, 7). Paul says here that it is the unconverted person who doesn’t have control over his body.

The Holy Spirit gives to the Christian the power to be in control of his life. By just reading certain portions of the writings of the apostle Paul some people get the wrong idea of his message. They read only the portions that have to do with forgiveness of sin. You cannot do anything to earn forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness of sin comes as a gift of grace alone. The inheritance of eternal life is an infinite gift, and there’s no way that you can earn it. All are saved by grace by a gift of God. Salvation is an inheritance offered free to the entire human race, but it has conditions.

Those who desire to receive the gift must comply with the conditions. In the first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul gives several examples from the Old Testament that are especially applicable to people who are living in the end of time. He says concerning the children of Israel, “All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:1–5). “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages [“world” KJV] have come” (verse 11).

What are these things that are examples for the people that live in the ends of the ages? He says, “These things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted” (verse 6). When God took the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt into the wilderness, He gave them a program that involved health reform and dietary reform. But many of them rebelled against having a change in their diet that would bring them into a more healthful condition.

Notice what happened: “Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving [lusting]; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: ‘Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes’ ” (Numbers 11:4–6)!

Asaph, in contemplation of the wilderness wanderings, said they “ate angel’s food” (Psalm 78:25) and “were well filled” (verse 29). God did not provide for them an impoverished diet; God gave them a superior diet. Among the millions of people there was not one feeble one among all their tribes. (See Psalm 105:37.)  Though they were eating angel’s food and were healthy, they wanted to go back to the kind of diet they ate in Egypt. The diet of Egypt resulted in all of the different degenerative diseases that we have today, a diet that will produce atherosclerosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancers. God prepared for them the kind of diet with which they would not suffer any of those diseases, but still they complained saying, “We want to eat flesh foods.”

Paul said this is an example for people who are living in the last days and warns against lusting after and craving evil things, things that God did not create for you to eat. In 1 Corinthians 10:7, Paul also lists something else. He says, “Do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ ” Here reference was made to worshiping the golden calf. (See Exodus 32.) Paul warned that many would follow the children of Israel in lusting after that which was forbidden, causing them to lose eternal life.

Sexuality was mentioned as being a special problem in the world in the last days. Paul said that just before the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, thousands fell in one day due to the sin of sexual immorality. He said, “Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell” (1 Corinthians 10:8).

The experience at Baal Peor is recorded this way: “Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.’ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, ‘Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.’ And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand” (Numbers 25:1–9).

Being undisciplined, the children of Israel got involved in idolatry, sexual immorality, fornication and adultery and many of them lost their souls as a result. Take the warning, Paul said that what happened to them is an example for those who live in the time of the end. It is not worth forfeiting your eternal inheritance for sexual pleasure.

1 Corinthians 10:9, 10 says, “Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (literal translation). The children of Israel being tempted, murmured and complained, tempting Christ. By His miraculous power, the Lord had protected them from the poisonous serpents in the desert for their whole journey, but when the Lord removed His protecting hand, the people found out that life in this world without God’s protection wasn’t nearly as safe as they had thought it was.

Friends, the whole world is under the grace of God at this present time, provided for us through the cross of Calvary. But the Bible teaches very clearly in the book of Revelation that the time is coming when God’s grace that is shielding our world is going to be removed. There is coming a time when the people of this world (that is, those who have sinned away their day of grace) are going to experience what it is like to be in a world without grace, where there is no mercy. If you accept Jesus as your Saviour, the Bible predicts that in that awful time no plague will come near your dwelling. But the way that you live, the way you treat your body, affects your eternal destiny. You can lose your eternal destiny; you can lose the gift of salvation, by treating your body in a sinful way. (See 1 Corinthians 9:24 to 27.)

Notice Numbers 21:5–9: “And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water [that was a lie], and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

Jesus used this experience to illustrate the gospel to a leader of the Jews by the name of Nicodemus. Jesus said to him, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14–16, literal translation).

Friend, every person in the world has been bitten by that ancient serpent the Bible calls the devil and Satan. We have been bitten by the instigator of sin; so much so, that the Bible says that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But if you will look, if you will commit your life to the Saviour of the world, if you will choose to follow Him as your leader, surrender to Him, and choose Him as your Sovereign and obey Him, then you can be healed from the sting of sin. Paul said point blank that if you destroy your body you yourself are going to be destroyed. You don’t have to destroy your body instantly by taking a gun; you can destroy your body by taking different kinds of drugs or partaking in many other unhealthful practices. Paul was a very strict teacher of health reform.

After Paul told the church in Corinth how that it was necessary for them to be in strict control of their bodies, he knew that they would be tempted. They had been so used to living in sin. Notice what he says to them, one of the most wonderful promises in all the Bible: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:12, 13).

He goes on to say, if you are a Christian, every detail of the conduct of your life should be in harmony with God’s will by stating, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (verse 31). That is the Christian’s motto – the way you eat, what you eat, how you eat, the way you drink, what you drink, whatever you do, it should be to the glory of God.

To the person who does not pay attention to these requirements, Paul says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:18–20). The Christian is to be sanctified, not only in his mind and in his spirit, but he is to be sanctified in his body. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and 23.) God wants to sanctify not only your mind, but also your body, to bring your entire life into perfect conformity with His will. Paul says, Don’t you know your body is to be the temple, the dwelling place, of the Holy Spirit. What you have is from God. You are not your own because you were bought at a price.

The price at which your body and soul were bought was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. No one in the world belongs to himself or herself; it’s just that most people don’t recognize it.  We have been bought with an expensive price.

Paul issues a strict and severe warning about those who do not pay attention to this counsel on how to treat your body, choosing to do as they want. He says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17)? Then there is a play on words that we usually translate two different ways, but the same word is used so it actually should be translated as follows: “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

O, friend, there it is. Paul says that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you. If you defile or destroy the temple of God, God will destroy you.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Who is on the Lord’s Side?

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Throughout his letters to the early churches, Paul taught that the whole world was under the jurisdiction of the law of God. He explained that the law was not only given for the Jews and abolished by Christ for Christians, but that all needed to keep it.

A misunderstanding arose within the church regarding the ceremonial laws. In Acts the 15th chapter, we read that there were some people who taught the Christians in Antioch that unless they were circumcised according to the manner of Moses, they could not be saved. It says, “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question” (verses 1, 2).  Verse 5 says, “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.’ ”

A council was held in Jerusalem amongst the church leaders and it was determined that it was not necessary to require the Christians to keep the law of Moses and to be circumcised. Paul then made some very strong statements concerning this in his letters, and as a result, some people have concluded that the apostle Paul taught that Christians no longer need to keep the law of God. The question is, however, which law was he referring to?

He wrote, “For He Himself [Christ] is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us [the Jews and the Gentiles], having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near” (Ephesians 2:14–17, literal translation).

Christ abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances. From this statement, people have said that if Christ abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances, we do not need to keep the law of God.

However, in Colossians the 2nd chapter, it says, “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it [that is, in the cross]. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or in regarding a festival, or a new moon, or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations [or ordinances] —‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle’ ” (verses 14–21)? He goes on to say, “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (verse 23).

So, people have concluded that Paul taught that the law of God was not binding on Christians. Some people have qualified that a little bit and say that it is necessary to keep the seventh commandment because even though Christians were released from being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses, they required them to keep the commandment dealing with immorality. Acts 15:28, 29: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

None of the other commandments are mentioned. The nations of the ancient world knew that immorality was wrong. There were strict penalties against adultery, taking another’s wife, and all knew that was wrong, but many of them did not think that fornication was wrong. They thought there was nothing wrong in having sexual relations with somebody who wasn’t married. For that reason, the apostles pointed out to the Christians that the seventh commandment included all manner of sexual immorality.

(The apostles also prohibited the Christians from eating of blood. In fact, nowhere in the Bible is permission given to the follower of the Lord to eat blood, though millions of Christians throughout the world eat blood today when they are eating meat.)

Paul said it was the law contained of ordinances that was abolished, and not God’s commandments. He said, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

Think that through. Can you abolish a law and establish a law at the same time? Paul is talking about two laws. Paul says that there is a law of commandments contained in ordinances that is abolished (Ephesians 2:15) and a law that is established (Romans 3:31). Notice, this is not some new law that was given in New Testament times; it is a law from the times of the Old Testament that by faith in Christ is established. Paul says that “Where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15). He also says that if the law wasn’t there he wouldn’t even know what sin was (Romans 7:7), because, as John says, “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV).

Notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3:  “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (literal translation). Why did Christ die? Christ died for our sins. What is sin? You would think that everybody in the world would know by now what sin is, but many do not. Sin, the Bible says, is breaking God’s law. If you don’t have a law, then there isn’t any sin. And if you don’t have a sin, you don’t need a sacrifice and there is no need for a gospel, for the gospel is to save men from sin. The gospel doesn’t save men in breaking God’s law; it saves men from breaking God’s law. Remember the words of the angel to Joseph before the birth of Jesus: “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 KJV).

So, there was a law that was abolished when Christ came, a law having to do with ordinances—concerning foods and drinks, feast days, and yearly ceremonies (Leviticus 23)—those things were done away at the cross of Jesus. Those were temporary laws that were given regarding things that would happen in the gospel dispensation in the future. But, the law of God, the Ten Commandment law, was not done away; in fact, Paul says, “It was established.”

Notice he says: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Corinthians 7:19 KJV). Or many translations add the words, “keeping the commandments of God is what matters,” or “is everything.”

Circumcision is not anything; whether you are circumcised or not circumcised is not the issue. The issue is, do you keep the commandments of God, for that is what matters. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1–4).

Paul said that the righteous requirement of the law will be fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit. So what about the person who is not filled with the Holy Spirit? Paul says that person is not going to keep the law. In fact, he says, a person who has a sinful nature, who has not been converted or received the Holy Spirit, cannot keep the law of God. He says, “For to be carnally minded is death, But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:6, 7). Notice, he says, “the carnal mind,” the person who is not converted, that person is not subject to the law of God; in fact, it’s impossible, nor indeed, can that person be subject to the law of God. But then he goes on to say, that’s not your situation. You’ve chosen to follow Christ; you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. He said, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (verse 14).

Paul taught that there was coming a time in the future of the Christian church when multitudes of people considering themselves to be Christians would violate the law of God and still expect that they were going to go to heaven, regardless that they were living in deliberate violation of God’s holy law. Paul taught that an antichrist power would come that would enter the Christian church and cause Christians to break the law of God. He was not the first one who predicted this.

Daniel prophesied that this antichrist power “shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and laws. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25).

Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition …” (2 Thessalonians 2:1–3). Paul predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would not come in his day. He said that before that great event there would be a great apostasy, a falling away from the truth, and the antichrist would be revealed. He said that this “man of sin [or antichrist] … opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (verse 4).

In Ephesians 2, the church of God is likened to a temple. A temple is a building where a deity resides. The church is to be a temple for the indwelling of God, but the antichrist is going to sit in the temple; in other words, in the church. The antichrist is going to arise in the church and he is going to exalt himself above every god that is worshiped, and he is going to show himself that he himself is God. Paul says, “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed” (verses 5–8, first part).

Notice that the antichrist is described here as the lawless one. In Daniel the antichrist is described as a power that intends to change times and laws. Here it is described as a lawless power, a power that teaches people to break God’s law. This antichrist power is going to continue until Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven and then it will be destroyed. Paul said, “Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (verse 8).

He says in verses 9, 10, “The coming of the lawless one [the antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

Friend, do you love the truth? Paul said that if you don’t receive the love of the truth, you are going to be deceived by miracles that will be performed by evil spirits and you will think that they are being performed by the Holy Spirit. “For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (verses 11, 12).

Those who believe the lie and have pleasure in unrighteousness will still lose their soul. They well may plead ignorance or that they were deceived, but they neglected to receive the love of the truth and had pleasure in unrighteousness. Having pleasure in unrighteousness is taking pleasure in sin, in breaking God’s law. Those people will all be condemned.

The book of Revelation reveals the startling fact that in the very last days almost the entire world will worship the antichrist power. This is a violation of the first commandment that forbids the worship of anyone except the God of heaven. The second commandment forbids a person to bow down to any image or idol but, “All the world marveled and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:3, last part). Then it says in verse 8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

We are coming to a time when everybody in the world, except those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, is going to worship the antichrist. Whom will you worship? In Revelation, it is pointed out that in the last days a line will divide the people of the world into two groups—on one side will be those who keep God’s commandments; on the other side will be those who worship the antichrist and the image of the antichrist (Revelation 13, 14).

Revelation 12:17 says that “The dragon [the devil] was enraged with the woman [God’s people], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The devil is enraged with those who keep God’s commandments and he tries to destroy them. He causes a law to be passed that all who refuse to worship the antichrist and the image to the antichrist will be killed (Revelation 13). The devil is going to try to destroy every person who keeps God’s commandments. But God’s children will still be keeping His commandments. Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

O, friend, we are headed toward a gigantic spiritual crisis that is going to divide the whole world into two camps—those who keep God’s commandments and those who do not keep God’s commandments. It is just that simple.

In the last chapters of the book of Revelation this warning is repeated. In fact, in the last two chapters it is repeated at least three times. Looking at one in Revelation 22:14 and 15, it says, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral (7th commandment), and murderers (6th commandment), and idolaters (2nd commandment), and whoever loves and practices a lie” (9th commandment). You see, in the final analysis, whether you are on the inside or whether you are on the outside in the last generation depends on whether or not you are loyal to God’s law.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

 

Life Sketches – The Church, a Living Temple

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In ancient times God had the children of Israel build for Him a temple in their capital city, Jerusalem. However, the apostle Paul says that the Christian has no continuing city in this world. Nevertheless, the Christian does have an altar to which others have no right.

Many times in Scripture, in both in the Old and the New Testaments, the building of the Christian church is likened to the building of a temple. The apostle Paul uses this description in writing to the church at Corinth. He said, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 3:10).

Paul was a champion of the Christian faith. He was one of the main men who laid the foundation for the development of the Christian church. However, although he said that God had made him a wise master builder, he did not exalt himself, but stated that he was just a co-laborer with God, as were the Corinthians also to be co-laborers with God. He said, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Often the prophets and the apostles likened the Christian church to a temple, a building which is to be a habitation for God Himself. A temple is a house or a building for a deity, someone who is worshiped. In explaining this to the Corinthians, Paul communicated lessons which were to apply to all times, all places, and all people.

The Lord gave him the wisdom of a skillful architect that he might lay the foundation of the church of Christ. This figure of the erection of a temple is frequently repeated in the Scriptures, illustrating the building up of the true Christian church. Zechariah writes, “ ‘Then speak to him, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord’ ” ‘ ” (Zechariah 6:12). Not only was He to build the temple of the Lord, but there would be many Gentiles, many people who were not Jews, who would come and help in this building. It says in verse 15, “Even those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

Just as was told by prophecy hundreds of years before the foundation of the Christian church was laid, Paul worked in the Gentile quarry of the world to bring out valuable stones to lay upon the foundation, which was Jesus Christ. By coming in contact with that Living Stone we also might become living stones. Then Peter describes it in very similar language when he said, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house [this is the temple, the church], a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed” (1 Peter 2:4–8).

Just as Paul described it, Peter described it; the church is composed of human beings that are described as living stones who are built upon the foundation of that Rock, Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, Jehovah is described as that Eternal Rock that is a refuge and a fortress for His people. Paul used the same terminology in writing to the church in Ephesus. He said, “Now, therefore, you [that is, the Gentiles in Ephesus] are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19–22, literal translation).

So, the church is described by both Paul and Peter as a spiritual temple, a spiritual building where God Himself dwells. To the Thessalonians Paul said that in the future the antichrist would come and sit in the church that is in God’s own temple. (See 2 Thessalonians 2.) In his letter to the Corinthians Paul uses this description tactfully, but yet as a severe warning.

He said, “Other foundations can no man lay except that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:11–15, literal translation).  Then he said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (verses 16, 17, literal translation).

The foundation has been laid. By the Christian experience that you develop, you are building on the foundation. Are you advancing? Is your character being built with material that will stand the day that will reveal your character? When the day of judgment comes and all characters are revealed, will it be seen that you have built on the rock using building materials of gold, or silver, or precious stones? Or will it be seen that you have built on the sand and retained a carnal heart, an unsanctified character that has been whitewashed with a thin profession of righteousness and Christianity—an unsanctified character that cannot be readily detected by the eye of man, but will be detected in the day of God when all characters are revealed.

The precious stones represent those Christians who have been refined and polished by the grace of God. Many times both Paul and Peter said, “We are to grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18). You are to grow in your Christian experience. Paul talked about the necessity of growing up into Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1:4–8 he said, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is God’s will for each one of His children to be blameless in the day of Christ when Jesus comes again in the clouds of heaven.

During the probationary time in this world we are all given opportunity to not only accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour from sin, but also to receive the Holy Spirit and grow up into His image. Paul wrote about how there were some people who were like little children being pushed back and forth with every wind of doctrine. He admonished them that they needed to grow up so that would no longer be the case. In Ephesians the 4th chapter it says, “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (verses 11–15, literal translation).

Since the time of the apostles, Paul’s epistles helped lay the foundation for building the church of God. Paul brought each person who was willing to accept the gospel to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to a connection with the living cornerstone. Slowly, there ascended the temple, the church of the living God, which is to be completed before Jesus returns in the clouds of heaven. Paul said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17).

The Jews made the work of Paul exceedingly difficult, claiming that they were the only true children of Abraham and therefore they were the only ones who could be part of God’s house. However, the apostles had received a commission from God Himself that the gospel was to go to every nation, to every tribe, to every nationality, to every group of people and to every language (Revelation 14:6). They had to contend with the bigotry, prejudice, and the violence of men who wanted the gospel to be restricted. One after another the noble builders fell at their posts of duty by the hand of the enemy. Stephen was stoned. James was slain with the sword. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified. John was exiled, but in spite of the fact that it appeared that all the leaders would be killed off, the church of God still slowly ascended by men who were willing to endure terrible persecutions.

New workers eagerly took the place of those who had fallen, and these faithful laborers down through the ages have brought precious material to the living foundation. Paul told Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:16). Although they are dead now, the righteous of all ages testify by the record of their words and deeds to the truth of God. The names of all the martyrs of the Christian faith for Christ’s sake are immortalized among the angels in heaven, and a bright reward awaits them when the Lifegiver shall come back to this world and call them from their graves.

This light of truth that has been ascending in our world has always been exceedingly annoying to those joined to the world because the truth exposes the darkness of error. There is a contrast between righteousness and sin. Those who refuse to obey the truth themselves are unwilling that others should obey it. For that reason, the course of the faithful is a continual reproof; their very presence is a reproof to those who do not believe and are disobedient. Carnal minds wrest the word of God to make it pander to their follies and superstitions, but that unerring Word, which is the rule that will test every stone that is brought to God’s temple, will be the record in the judgment to which your life will be compared.

How will it be with you in that final day of judgment when Paul says God is going to “bring every secret thing to light” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)? He said, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

O friend, think of the consequences of that day of judgment. How will it be with you? Will you be found connected to the living stone, the living foundation? Will you be found to have a Christian character that is likened to gold, and precious stones, and pearls, or will your character be represented by wood, hay, and stubble? Remember what Paul said to the Corinthians that, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive the things that we have done in the body, whether it is good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10, literal translation).

The leaders of this world, both church leaders and secular leaders, have sought to defile and destroy this temple by sacrilegious idolatry and persecution of the faithful. But God’s eye has never for a moment left the building that He is erecting in this world. In the face of gaping prisons and torture, and flames, the work of the Christian church has grown under the hands of faithful men. The workmen were at times almost blinded by the mists of superstition that settled as dense darkness on this world. They seemed to be beaten back and destroyed by the violence of their opponents. But in spite of all that, the work of building the church, has gone forward and will continue to go forward in the face of the persecution that we are continuing to face until Jesus returns again. Paul said, “Where are you going to be in the day when God reveals the nature of character that you have been building?” Characters are being built for eternity, either for everlasting life or everlasting destruction. What is going to be your destiny?

Jesus said that your character determines your destiny. (See the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5; Matthew 25; and John 17.) Paul taught that principle to the Corinthians who had fallen into apostasy and the sins of idolatry and paganism that surrounded them. Attempting to draw them back he asked, “Are you going to be a Christian in truth as well as in name or not?” Then he gave them an illustration of something that they could clearly understand being used to seeing these things in their city.

There were people who lived in the first century, just as there are people today, who wanted a religion where all they had to do was simply believe, and that was all. They sought a profession of faith and wanted assurance of salvation without having to change their lifestyle. So today, there are many people who live like the devil thinking that they are Christians and that they are going to heaven, but this is not the religion that was preached by the apostles. This is not the religion described in the New Testament.

In writing to the Corinthians who were in a terrible state of apostasy practicing open sins among themselves, Paul talks to them as a father instructs his children. Paul wants to describe to them the necessity of firm self-control and strict temperance. He did this by comparing it with the games that were celebrated near Corinth and were always attended by a multitude of spectators. This illustration was calculated to make a vivid impression upon the minds of those he addressed because it referred to something with which they were intimately acquainted. There were various games that had been instituted among the Greeks and Romans, not only for the purpose of amusement, but also to train young men for personal vigor and activity, and prepare them to be qualified to be excellent soldiers in warfare.

The most famous of all these games, the most ancient and the most highly esteemed, were the foot races. They were held at stated times and places with great pomp and were patronized by kings, nobles, statesmen, and very wealthy people. These contests were governed by strict regulations from which there were no exceptions. Before the names of the candidates could be entered upon the list as competitors for the prize, they were required to undergo a severe preparatory training. Every indulgence of appetite or other gratification which could in the least affect their mental or physical vigor was strictly forbidden.

Paul speaks of these games to help the believers understand what is necessary for the Christian who is preparing to leave this world to go to a different place. The Christian is also running a race, the race of life. Paul said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate [that is, practices self-control] in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run like thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).

O friend, have you ever thought that through? We should ask ourselves, if it was possible for the apostle Paul, who had faithfully preached the gospel all over the world to become disqualified from receiving the prize of eternal life because of lack of self-control, what about me? O friend, do not fall for the idea that the Christian religion is just a shallow assent to saying, “I believe,” and then it is all over—you are saved!  No, the Christian religion involves running a race, one in which you practice strict self-control in all things, so that you might be ready for the coming of Christ and your character is such that you are safe to take to heaven.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Following Christ Regardless of the Cost

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Have you given much thought whether you would stick to the truth, obey and follow the truth, even if it resulted in a decrease in your income or cost you in some other way? When that is the consequence of following truth, then the whole observing universe can find out whether or not you really love the truth.

During the three years the apostle Paul ministered in Ephesus, a large church was developed.  From that city the gospel spread to seven other cities in Asia. The apostle at that time thought it was time to make another missionary journey to visit the churches in Macedonia and Achaia, the area we call Greece today. His hope also was to preach the gospel in Rome. The church at Ephesus still demanded his presence; so he decided to remain there for a time. However, an event soon happened that hastened his departure. It was customary in Ephesus to devote the entire month of May to the worship of the great heathen goddess Diana. Universal honor had been given to this deity. The magnificence of her temple and her worship attracted an immense number of people from all over.

Festivities were conducted with great pomp and splendor and the heathen gods were represented by persons chosen for this purpose. These people were then regarded as objects for worship and were honored by processions and various religious rituals. There were musical contests and feats of athletes. Fierce combats were held of men and beasts for entertainment. Paul says, “If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:32)! Admiring crowds came to take part in the festivities which were held in the vast theaters. Certain men were chosen to conduct the grand celebrations. These were very wealthy men of the highest distinction in Asia and they were expected to defray the entire expense of the occasion. It was time when the whole city of Ephesus became a place of brilliant display and wild revelry. Imposing processions swept to the grand temple and the people gave themselves up to feasting and drunkenness and the vile practices that have always accompanied the worship of pagan idols.

This was a time of great trial to the people who had newly become Christians; they did not engage in the heathen festivities. They took seriously the first commandment that says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3) and the second commandment that forbids the use of idols or images in worship (verses 4–6). So, the company of believers were an inharmonious note in all of the festivities that were going on and became the target of ridicule, reproach, and the victims of insult. Fully in accord with Scriptural instruction, Paul had taught against the use of any kinds of idols.

In 1 John, the 5th chapter, the apostle John says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (verse 21). In other words, don’t have anything to do with idols. This message caused a perceptible falling off in attendance at the national festival and a decrease in the enthusiasm of the worshipers. The influence of Paul’s teachings had extended far beyond the actual number of people who had become Christians. There were many who had not openly accepted Christian doctrines but who were so far enlightened as to lose all confidence in the heathen gods.

Paul’s presence in the city called special attention to this fact, resulting in loud and bitter curses being uttered against him. There was yet another cause of dissatisfaction. It had been long customary among heathen nations to manufacture small images, or shrines, to represent their favorite objects of worship. Portable statues had been modeled after the image of Diana and they were widely circulated in the countries along the shores of the Mediterranean. There were also models of the temple enshrining an idol inside. These were all regarded as objects of worship and carried at the head of the processions, on journeys, and on military expeditions. Those people who were involved in this kind of industry found their profits diminishing and united in attributing the unwelcome change to Paul’s labors.

Acts 19:23–28 says, “About that time there arose a great commotion about the Way [that is, about the way of Christianity]. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: ‘Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.’ Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians!’ ”

The report of this speech was rapidly circulated and the uproar was terrible and the whole city seemed to be in commotion. An immense crowd gathered and a rush was made to the workshop of Aquilla to find Paul. The mob was so insanely angry that they were ready to tear him to pieces. Paul’s life would not have been spared unless the Lord had worked a direct miracle to deliver him from their hands. By the time the mob arrived, some of the Christians had already hurried Paul out of that place. The Bible says that, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him” (Psalm 34:7), and angels guarded the faithful apostle away from the trouble. It was not yet his time to die a martyr’s death, as the Lord had more work for Paul.

When they failed to find Paul, the angry crowd seized two of his acquaintances. “The whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions” (Acts 19:29). Paul’s place of concealment was not a long way away. He soon learned of his brothers’ peril and forgetful of his own safety, he wanted to go at once to the theater and give an answer. However, the other Christians realized that Paul was the focal point of their rage and if he should appear, it would arouse the worst passions of the mob. Then there would not be the least human possibility of saving his life. Verse 30 says, “When Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him.”

Paul’s desire was to defend the truth, but several of the most honorable and influential among the magistrates of the city sent him an earnest warning not to come into a situation that was so dangerous. This was proof of the regard in which Paul was held by the leading men of Asia, and it was no small tribute to his sterling integrity. Notice verse 31: “Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater.” The tumult in this theater was continually increasing. It says, “Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together” (verse 32).

Because Paul and his companions were of Hebrew extraction, the Jews did not want the situation blamed on them; so they tried to make it known that they didn’t have any part of the Christians. The Bible says, “They drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians’ ” (verses 33, 34)! There wasn’t anything that could be done; they weren’t in any mood to make nice distinctions. They saw that he was a Jew, they thrust him aside, and they yelled for two hours.

At last, as a result of sheer exhaustion, there came a momentary silence and the recorder of the city, by virtue of his office, used this opportunity to arrest their attention and to obtain a hearing. This man, by his prudence and good judgment, soon succeeded in quieting the excitement. It says, “And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: ‘Men of Ephesus, what man is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. For we are in danger of being called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.’ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly” (verses 35–41).

The clerk showed that there was no cause for what the mob was doing and appealed to their reason to decide whether the strangers who had come among them could change the opinions of the world regarding their ruling goddess. He skillfully turned the subject from blasphemy against their goddess to suggesting that the courts were the place for any other differences to be settled. He closed with a warning that such an uproar without an apparent cause might subject the city of Ephesians to the censure of the Romans, thus causing a restriction of the liberty which they then enjoyed. He intimated that there must not be a repetition of a scene like this. So, having by this speech tranquilized the disturbed elements, he dismissed the assembly.

Now when we read the story, the words of Demetrius reveal the real cause of the tumult at Ephesus and the cause of much of the persecution that existed in the apostle’s day, and which still exists today.

The reason had to do with the fact that the apostles were telling the truth. Demetrius said, “Not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship” (verse 27). So, what was the problem? The problem was they were in a very profitable business of image making, and this business was endangered by the large number of people who were accepting the gospel. The income, not only of the artisans, but of pagan priests, was at stake. For this reason they instituted the most bitter opposition to the apostle and refused to receive or investigate the new religion which would have made them wise unto salvation.

Because of this uproar, Paul decided to leave (Acts 20:1). In the apostle’s day there were many people who had heard about the gospel but refused to receive it because it would have caused a decrease in their income. They would not have been able to have the large income from the practice of sin that they presently enjoyed; it would decrease. Income was more important to these people than following the truth so, they rejected the truth. That has continually happened right down through the ages.

In 2 Peter, the 2nd chapter, the apostle talks about this problem occurring not just in the past, but how it would occur in the future. He says, “These, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing [beguiling] unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet” (verses 12–16).

“These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (verse 17). Whom is he talking about? O, he’s talking about people who love the wages of unrighteousness. They believe that the devil pays very well. They are living in sin and participating with others in sin and getting paid very well for it. There are still practices of sin today by which people earn high pay; they love the wages of unrighteousness. O, friend, how much money does it take to dissuade you from following the truth? For some people it’s not very much. They love and receive the wages of unrighteousness, but they will also receive the end result of unrighteousness. Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul” (Mark 8:36, 37 KJV)? O, friend, do you love the truth? You cannot be saved if you do not love the truth.

The antichrist will deceive the world. The Bible says, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12).

How is it with you, today, friend? Do you love the truth enough to stick to it, obey it, and follow its principles, even if it results in a decrease in your income? There are people today whose incomes will be severely cut if they choose to follow the truth, because they are obtaining their income from the pleasures and ways of sin. Balaam sought riches from a dishonorable source as did Judas. Their love of worldly riches cost them their souls.

Choose the course of righteousness regardless of the cost. Waste no more time in worldly pursuits, but say to the Lord, “Lord, I’m willing to forsake everything and follow You and obey the truth.”

Jesus said that the truth, obeyed, would sanctify His followers (see John 17); the apostle Peter (1 Peter 1:22). What is your experience today, friend? Do you love the truth? Are you willing to follow the truth even if it results in financial cost?

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – Be Born Again

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There are many people in the world today who, though they have an intellectual knowledge of the truth, are lacking the moral character that will fit them for eternal life.

While Apollos was teaching and preaching in Corinth, the apostle Paul went to the city of Ephesus. (See Acts 19.) At that time, Ephesus was one of the leading commercial cities of the world. It was a harbor city, a center of trade and shipping from all parts of the civilized world. Its streets were filled with people from many lands. Thus the city of Ephesus, like the city of Corinth, presented a favorable missionary field, from which the gospel could be taken to all parts of the world.

Within 20 to 30 years after Jesus ascended to heaven, the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven. Part of the reason for this success was Paul’s concentrated effort in the large commercial cities where the gospel would be dispersed to all parts of the world.  The Jews had been widely dispersed in all civilized lands and were generally expecting the speedy advent of the Messiah, for while they attended their annual feasts at Jerusalem, some of them had gone to hear John the Baptist preach by the Jordan and heard from him that the time of the Messiah was at hand. On return to their homes they had talked about it and the knowledge of the Messiah was widely dispersed throughout the world at that time.

Jesus had made many promises to His disciples that those who accepted and followed Him would receive the Holy Spirit. He had promised, “John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:5, 8).

While Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, in the audience were some who had clamored for the crucifixion of Christ. Coming to the conviction of what they had done, they said to Peter, “ ‘What shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent [change your mind], and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’ ” (Acts 2:37, last part, 38).

Many were baptized and did receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesus, Paul met twelve brethren who had listened to the preaching of John the Baptist, but didn’t fully understand the gospel perfectly or the gift of the promised Holy Spirit. Paul asked them, “ ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ So they said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ ” So they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’

“Then Paul said, ‘John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus’ ” (Acts 19:1, last part–4).  Paul explained to them about Jesus’ mission in this world and how He had suffered a cruel and shameful death. He told how the Lord of life had broken the barriers of the tomb and had arisen on the third day, triumphant over death. This same triumph was promised to all those who believe and follow Him and they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Paul repeated to the twelve the commission that Jesus had given to His disciples: “ ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matthew 28:19, 20).

By faith these twelve brethren grasped what Paul was teaching them. The Bible says, “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues [other languages] and prophesied” (Acts 19:5).

One of the most interesting things in this story is that these twelve men, by cherishing a humble and teachable spirit, gained precious knowledge and a new religious experience they had never had before. Their example presents a lesson of great value to Christians in our age also. There are many claiming to be Christians who make but little progress in their spiritual life because they are too self-sufficient to be learners. They are content with their present knowledge of God’s word, which may be very meager, and make no effort to obtain greater light. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9).

Are you a seeker? Are you asking? Are you seeking the Lord and asking for more spiritual truth or do you think you know enough already? Give yourself to God and He will guide you by His divine hand just as Moses was.

You may think of yourself as lowly and ungifted, but if with a loving, trusting heart you obey every intimation of God’s will, then He will give you more and more truth and knowledge. It is not enough to be content with an intellectual knowledge of religious truth. Jesus longs to send His Spirit to work upon the hearts of those who seek Him. Many talk about salvation, but they are not experiencing it. The Bible is so clear about this point. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless you are born of water and of the spirit, there is no chance that you can enter the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:3, 5). Or simply, only those who are born again will see the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit works upon the heart creating new emotions, new thoughts, and new feelings. Jesus spoke of it as a new birth. The life giving power of the Holy Spirit, proceeding from Christ and imparted to every disciple, pervades the soul and changes the motives and the affections. This affects even the most secret thoughts and brings forth fruit in holy deeds. Referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus told Nicodemus that it is like the wind. You see the results, but you can’t actually see the wind itself (verse 8).

In the same way, the operations of the Holy Spirit upon the heart cannot be seen with human eye, but the results can be seen. We are sustained both physically and spiritually through the blessings that God places within our reach as we take and receive them. Are you watching? Are you praying? Are you studying God’s word and giving heed to the instructions that you see there or just stumbling along without seeking for an experience in the Holy Spirit that would result in a holy life? The Holy Spirit brings to each believer an experience in “… holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

God’s children who are living just before the close of the age (world KJV) are described as those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ and keep God’s commandments. Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” There are many who believe they can be saved while in transgression of God’s law but John specifically says in Revelation that the saints will be keeping the commandments of God.

In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said, “Not everyone that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name’ ” (Matthew 7:21, 22)?

These people are not atheists or unbelievers. They claim to be Christians who call Jesus Lord. They tell Him that they have made a mistake. They believe that they are saved because they have prophesied in His name and cast out demons in His name, and have done many miracles in His name. They know that they are saved.

Every time I read this Scripture it causes a tremor to go through my mind and sometimes through my whole body as I realize the terrible shock that these people are going to have.

Jesus says, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’ ” (Matthew 7:23)! Can you imagine? They believe they are saved. They had the spirit, but it wasn’t the right spirit. The Holy Spirit never leads a person to “practice lawlessness” by breaking the law of God.

Paul says, “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:7–10).

These “protesters” are deceived because they did not receive the love of the truth. It is not enough to have an intellectual knowledge of the truth. You must also love it and choose to follow and obey it so you can receive the Holy Spirit and be changed in character. Those who do not love the truth enough to obey it will be sent a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie that you can be saved in sin. They believe that you can go ahead and keep breaking God’s law and God will still save you. The New Testament does not teach that. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God is what matters.”

God’s children in the last days will be keeping His commandments. In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he speaks of a condemnation on those “who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12). The Bible says that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV). So in other words, those who find pleasure in sin have pleasure in breaking the law of God.

All must choose their own destiny. There are many people today who have unwittingly violated one of the precepts of God’s law. Look again at Exodus 20:3–17 and ask yourself the question, “Am I keeping God’s commandments or not?” When the understanding is enlightened and the claims of the 4th commandment are urged upon the conscience, then a person sees himself or herself as a sinner in the sight of God. Notice that James 2:10 says that whoever offends in one point of the law is guilty of all. Keeping only 90% of the law is not enough.

We are bidden to search the Scriptures and all who are honest seekers after truth will not plead ignorance of the law as an excuse for transgression. Light is within the reach of all. God’s word is plain, His law is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). Earnest seekers after truth will repent of their transgression and plead that the atoning blood of Christ may pardon their sins so that they may be converted and live in harmony with all of God’s commandments.

When the Holy Spirit works on the heart, that person will be led to be in harmony with everything that Christ and His apostles have taught.

There’s no promise in the Bible for salvation in sin. The promise of salvation is salvation from sin. The angel said to Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). [Emphasis supplied.] God is going to have a people at the end of the world who are obedient to all His commandments (Revelation 14:12). Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” But then notice what it says in the next verse: “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral (see the seventh commandment) and murderers (see the sixth commandment) and idolaters (see the first and second commandment), and whoever loves and practices a lie (see the ninth commandment)” (verse 15).

When Jesus returns, the whole world is going to be separated into two classes—the saved and the lost. In Matthew 25:31–33, Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.”

The world population will be separated, some to the right hand and some to the left hand. Those on the right will receive the benediction of Christ, the gift of eternal life and will enter into the kingdom. Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ ” (verse 34). But to those on the left, He will say, “ ‘Depart … into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ ” (verse 41, literal translation).

Waste no time in choosing life, for soon God will ask, “Has this person been obedient to My law or not?” The decisions that you make day by day are going to determine your eternal destiny. Yield yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit that will transform your character so that your life will come into harmony with God’s word and with His law.

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Life Sketches – A New Life in Christ

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Factions have developed among nations and churches claiming to be Christian since the first century, even while the apostles were alive. There are obvious reasons why.

The residents of the city of Alexandria in Egypt in the days of the apostles were noted as some of the most highly educated in the world; in fact, many people among the Jews and from Palestine went to Alexandria to obtain a finished education. The book of Acts records an experience of one such man who had received a high level Greek education. He had heard about the preaching of John the Baptist and had accepted Jesus as His Saviour, although he did not understand the gospel perfectly. In Acts 18, verses 24 to 26 it says, “Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

There was much that Apollos would learn. He did not know all about the death, the resurrection, the ascension and the intercession of Christ in the sanctuary in heaven for His people, and the promise of Jesus that those who accepted Him would be baptized by the Holy Spirit. However, he boldly taught what he did know.

Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers who, when they heard him preach, had opportunity to explain to him the deeper meaning of the gospel. This man, with grateful surprise and joy when he learned more about Jesus, whom the Christians worshiped, began to teach even more boldly in the synagogue, becoming one of the most able defenders of the Christian faith.

We see here an example where a scholarly man who was a brilliant orator learned the way of the Lord more perfectly from a Christian man and woman of humble employment, that of tent-making. Once he accepted and understood the gospel more perfectly, he desired to go to the city of Corinth and teach there. “When he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:27, 28).

Many of the Jews who had been expelled from Rome had moved to Corinth. They were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah whom they expected would come soon and elevate the Jewish people above all nations and languages. When Apollos arrived at Corinth, he showed them conclusively that their expectations of another Messiah to come were in vain. He taught them that the Messiah had already come and that He had suffered a shameful and violent death at the hand of their Jewish teachers.

Apollos became very successful in proclaiming the gospel in Corinth so much so that some of the church members began exalting his labors above that of Paul. Apollos was working in harmony with Paul for the advancement of the cause of Christianity, but a rival factious spirit developed in the church that threatened to greatly hinder the cause of truth.

Paul said, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me, concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas’ [Peter], … or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:10–13).

Because Apollos was a brilliant orator and scholar, some of the people preferred his preaching so much that they said, “We are under the spiritual leadership of Apollos.” Others said, “No, we’re under the spiritual leadership of Paul.” Others chose to be under the spiritual leadership of Peter, who was intimately acquainted with Jesus Christ.

There were some who thought they had the perfect solution. They claimed to be under the spiritual direction of Christ. So, factions were developing in the church at Corinth and Satan took the opportunity to take advantage of their imaginary differences. In addition to this problem, other factions were developing because of Judaizing teachers who had come into the Corinthian church. These Judaizing teachers taught that the believers who observed the ordinances of the Mosaic law and were circumcised had a closer relationship to God than those who were uncircumcised. They took advantage of the fact that the apostles allowed diversity within the Christian church and allowed the Jews to keep up with some of their customs that they had received in the old covenant.

Paul had to meet these Judaizing teachers in every church that he founded or visited. Notice what he taught: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters” (1 Corinthians 7:19).

The Judaizing party looked upon Paul as an apostate and attempted to destroy his influence. They visited every church that Paul had organized and created divisions. They believed the ends would justify the means so they circulated false charges against the apostle.

Paul came to be distrusted and even despised by some Christians in the churches that he had raised up. These divisions in regard to the ceremonial law and the relative merits of different ministers teaching the doctrine of Christ caused him much anxiety and trouble and explains the root underlying the problem that causes factions today among nations, churches, and families.

Notice how Paul addressed this issue in 1 Corinthians 3:1–4: “And I brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal [fleshly, unconverted], as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?”

In other words, you are still living in the flesh; you are still unconverted. Paul counsels a lot about this subject through his epistles.

Notice what he wrote to the Romans: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:5–7).

Many claim they cannot keep the law of God and that is true, for the carnal mind cannot keep the law of God, is not subject to the law of God, and cannot be. But when you receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus causes you to put to death the deeds of the carnal nature, those deeds of the flesh, and to live a new life in Him.

Paul explained it to the churches in Galatia in this way: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:16–21).

We see here the problem that is underneath the contention, strife, and all the trouble in the world today. People are not converted. It can happen in the family; it can happen in the church; or it can happen in society, in a school, in an institution, an organization, or even in a whole nation. These factions, variances, and all strife prove that there are people who still hold onto their carnal nature. They are unconverted. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless you are born of water and of the Spirit, there is no chance that you can enter the kingdom of heaven. (See John 3:5.) The only people who will be fit to enter heaven are those who have been born of the Holy Spirit. All who are born again of the Holy Spirit will live their lives in harmony with God’s law (see Romans 8:4) and be fit and ready to be taken to heaven when Jesus returns.

Paul says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh (that is, the carnal nature) with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:22–24).

When Paul came to Corinth, a wicked and idolatrous city, he was dealing with people who had no experimental knowledge of the way of salvation; so he was obliged to present the truth in its most simple form, because their carnal minds could not discern the sacred revealings of God. They were strangers to the manifestation of divine power.

Paul said, “I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. … Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us though His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. … But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:1, 2, 9, 10, 14).

Paul said that the rulers of this world didn’t know Jesus when He was on earth “for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (verse 8). But they didn’t know Him, for they had no understanding of spiritual things.

As a wise instructor, Paul began to set before the church in Corinth the true object of life, impressing their minds with the lessons of the divine Teacher so that they could come up from their worldliness and sin to a life of purity and eventually immortal life. He did not venture to directly rebuke those who were licentious and immediately show them how heinous their sins were in the sight of a holy God or they would have been crushed. He especially dwelt on practical godliness, the character of holiness necessary for all who will receive eternal life.

There are some Christians today who believe that holiness is just something for certain holy people called saints and that the rest of us have to be saved some other way. This is contrary to the New Testament that teaches that everyone who is saved must be a holy person. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Hebrews.  He said, “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, literal translation).

If you want to be in the kingdom of heaven, you must cooperate with the Holy Spirit to become sanctified – made holy. We are living in a world where the philosopher turns aside from the light of salvation because it puts his proud theories to shame. The worldly person refuses to receive the gospel because it would separate him from his earthly idols and draw him to a holier life, which he finds unattractive in his carnal state. But when Paul went to Corinth, there were people, even among the most sinful, who did accept the truth of the cross of Christ—the truth that Jesus, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the majesty of heaven, had died to bring salvation to sinners.

Paul says, “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). He explained that the wise and elevated people of this world often do not accept the preaching of the cross when he said, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:18–28).

Do you understand that spiritual things are spiritually discerned? Do you understand that if you are going to have eternal life, you must receive the Holy Spirit and be transformed in character? Jesus told Nicodemus that unless He was born again, born of the Spirit, he would not enter the kingdom of God. It is time to do some serious soul searching. The level on which you live will determine your eternal destiny.

Jesus is waiting and wants to give you a new heart, a new Spirit, a new mind with new desires. He called it the new birth experience. How is it with you, friend? Have you been born again?

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.