Hope - An Essential Christian Ingredient

1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (2) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (3) And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; (4) And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (5) And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:1-5.
There are many essential ingredients of the Christian faith that are important to us. The apostle Paul mentions three of these in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians; faith, hope and love. Paul also mentions that love is the greatest of all three essentials. I totally agree with Paul because without love we cannot fulfill the great commandment that Jesus laid out to the Pharisee lawyer who questioned Jesus. In other words, we cannot begin to be a Christian without loving God first and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Love is talked about more than any of the essential ingredients of being a Christian. I want to deviate from the most discussed ingredient and address the ingredient of hope.
Do we need hope in these days? Most definitely we need hope! The symbol that has long stood before the U.S. Naval Academy chapel is an anchor which also bears the form of a cross. This anchor with the cross is the abiding symbol of hope. In the scripture above, the apostle Paul mentions hope. Paul says that we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and hope maketh not ashamed. We need this hope that Paul writes about because of our daily disappointments and frustrations. When life becomes a mess, hope offers a way through. When occasional crises arise, such as illness, failure, difficulty, and sadness, hope enables us to survive these tremors that shake the foundations of our existence.
What can we say about hope that signifies it's importance in the Christian life and makes it so essential?
First, Paul is trying to tell us that hope is ours. "We rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God". We must realize the hope that we possess comes in different levels and means different things according to how we use the word. One kind of hope may only mean wishful thinking. Some people live their lives by daily hoping through luck things will change and become better. They hope that each day might be the day their ship comes in; that they may win a lottery or some fortune will fall upon them. For most people with this level of hope they live with a main problem that they never under gird their hopes with honest work. This level of hope, "wishful thinking", is just a substitute for work. Josh Billings, an American humorist once said, "I never knew a man who lived on hope but what spent his old age at somebody else's expense." Everyone does possess their own hopes. But the hopes a person possess which never rise above the level of just wishful thinking, don't just hurt the person who possesses the hopes, but effects others who are living under the umbrella of that person's hope as well.
A second kind of hope is reasonable expectation. A person may become seriously ill or injured in a terrible accident. His family and friends are filled with anxiety about his recovery. After receiving the best medical care available, his doctors may say to the patient and his family they have every reason to hope for the best. Having knowledge of similar cases they find it possible to have hope, for someone has just given them reasonable expectation of recovery.
The third level of hope is confident assurance. This is the hope the Apostle Paul is speaking of. It is a hope which is more than wishful thinking or reasonable expectation. It is the assurance of sharing the glory of God. Through our faith in Jesus, we have the confident assurance that we will partake in God's triumph over sin and death. Regardless of what is happening around us or directly to us; regardless of our crises', our discouragements, and the grim fact of death, we rejoice in what we are going to have. We can rejoice in the confident assurance that we shall share the glory of God. This confident assurance is free and ours for the taking.
Although hope is free it is hard taking. Paul says, "suffering (tribulations) produce patience (endurance), and patience (endurance) produces experience (character) and experience (character) produces hope. Hope begins in suffering. When a person suffers, hope may seem and may be far away. Hope follows hard on the heels of failure, illness, and discouragement. On the way to hope, suffering produces endurance. When an athlete trains for the big challenges, it is pain and suffering that produces the endurance necessary for the performance and to win the challenges that take place. Endurance produces character and brings God's approval. As we endure our value systems change. Little by little we learn what is important in life and what is unimportant. We learn what is worth striving for and what has empty meaning. As we endure we learn what God expects of us and what His plans for us are. In other words, what we work for and what we expect gradually come into line with what God wants for us. The poet Keats wrote: "The world is the vale of soul-making." God must look at the souls of men and women who have endured all kinds of suffering and achieved unusual depths of character and integrity.
God's approval creates "hope". When we become sure God has accepted us and affirmed us, we have reason to hope. When we begin to understand that God is on our side, though He may sometimes punish us, we never have to give up hoping.
The final thing to say about hope is that hope is reliable. The apostle Paul writes, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." This hope that Paul writes about is reliable because it rests on God alone. True hope is not built on our intelligence, our character, or our connections. All of these fall short of the glory of God. Although we are created in God's image, our humanity continually shows through and in some ways dishonor God and brings shame to us. The future in which God is leading us can never be built on the foundations of human achievement. Our character apart from the grace of God cannot determine the Christian's hope. Hope is also reliable because it is certified by the Holy Spirit within us. As we enjoy the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is in us, He is transforming us and making us into new and different and better people.
The ingredient of hope in the Christian's life can help face life today and everyday. The ultimate enemy, death, cannot destroy our confident assurance that God will create new heavens and a new earth. Christians can have confident assurance that the crises that burst into their lives, whether they be in relationships, business, or health, cannot destroy the bright confidence that God is doing great things in their lives even in the hour of suffering. The little difficulties of everyday living are not too much for God. God has promised they will all be bearable and will shame us for becoming preoccupied with trivialities while He is offering us His glory.
We need to accept our daily and present suffering and look at it as a token of God's acceptance. Let us all continually renew our hope with each trial we suffer.

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How to Graduate to Christian Maturity and Leave Babyhood Behind

Three Stage Christianity - Just as a natural baby must grow through stages to enter maturity, so it is with the Christian that has just been born into the kingdom of God. He must go through three stages to fulfill God's destiny for his life: the new birth, head knowledge and heart knowledge. Most Christians never reach the third stage because they are stuck either in the first or second stage on the road to maturity. You want to make every effort to go beyond the first and second stages to enter the third stage.
Why do you want to make every effort to leave the first and second stages to enter the third stage? Because the third stage is where the real fun begins. That's where you begin to walk in a realm of glory, virtue, faith and power that people only dream about. That's where you bear the most spiritual fruit for the kingdom of God. Where you get more people saved, healed and discipled than you ever imagined. That's where God's peace, joy and love flow through you like a river to minister hope and life to people. That's where God's grace abounds toward you to do things you could never do on your own. That's where you fulfill the destiny God has purposed for you. That's where you grow up into the fullness of Christ, the ultimate Christian goal. So, let's look closely at these three stages to understand how to graduate from Christian babyhood to Christian maturity.
Stage One - The New Birth
When someone first becomes a Christian, their understanding of what God expects of them is based on what knowledge they have. Their knowledge is probably limited to the elementary requirements of a Christian: stop sinning, go to church, be baptized in water, read your bible and pray. These are the basics that help lay a foundation for going to the next stage, head knowledge.
Stage Two - Head Knowledge
As a Christian spends time reading his bible and listening to messages given by his local church pastor and other ministers, he begins to acquire more knowledge of who God is and what Christianity is all about. The amount and quality of his scriptural knowledge will depend on how much time he reads and studies God's Word and how much knowledge he gets from his pastor and other sources.
Some scriptures tell him the things he can do through Christ, like praying to the Father in Jesus' name, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, casting out demons and raising the dead. Some scriptures tell him what he has inherited from his Heavenly Father through Christ, things like power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing. He might also learn that he has been redeemed from the curse of the law which makes him free from sickness, poverty, fear, lack, the second death (lake of fire) and a host of other curses listed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
All this knowledge is good, but it is head knowledge, not heart knowledge. There is no faith in head knowledge because faith is of the heart (spirit of man) as written in Romans 10:10, "For with the heart (spirit of man) man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." We are not talking here about the physical heart that pumps blood through your body. No, we're talking about your spirit man, the inner man. Meaning the same thing, the heart of man and the spirit of man are interchangeable.
So we see that head knowledge does not give a Christian the faith to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers or raise the dead. Head knowledge will not deliver him from lack, sickness and disease. Head knowledge alone will not allow him to walk in God's love, joy and victory in every situation. Head knowledge will not give him victory over sin. Head knowledge will not give him supernatural wisdom and knowledge to solve impossible problems. Head knowledge will not cause God's supernatural financial blessings to flow into his life so he can be blessed and be a blessing to others. Head knowledge will not cause him to fulfill God's glorious destiny for his life.
Because head knowledge (mental assent) by itself will not get the job done, that is why Christians continue to have problems with their flesh, their sinful nature, and why they may live very defeated frustrated lives because their minds have not been renewed with God's Word and God's Word has not dropped into their hearts and become reality to them. They continue to live far below their divine potential, prisoners of the lusts of the flesh and lacking God's provision for a victorious life which only comes through heart knowledge. Heart knowledge is what creates the God kind of faith to overcome the world.
Sadly, most churches are filled with first and second stage Christians unable to walk in the faith, power and might of God's liberating promises, never growing up into the fullness of Christ. Never becoming manifested sons of God to advance the kingdom of God. Why are Christians stuck in the first and second stages of spiritual development to never graduate to the third stage? They simply have never been taught how to enter the third stage or if they have been taught, they have lacked the zeal to go forward. Assuming you desire to please and obey God to go forward to fulfill your divine destiny, let me explain below how to get God's promises to drop from your head to your heart so you can graduate to the third stage where Christian maturity is an ongoing process of going from glory to glory.
Stage Three - Heart Knowledge
Jesus said in John 8:36, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." He said in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." So, how do you get the truth, God's Word, to drop down into your heart and set you free to begin walking in the power and might of God's liberating promises that will cause you to fulfill God's destiny for your life? Just reading God's Word is not enough. You must memorize and meditate God's Word until you receive revelation knowledge of God's Word, specifically the promises that belong to you as a son or daughter of God. These promises help to mold you into the image of Christ so you can live the abundant and overcoming life that pleases God.
First, begin memorizing scriptures that tell you how big your God is, who you are as a child of God, who you are in Christ and what your inheritance is in Christ. Next, you must spend time meditating these scriptures for them to become a reality to you, to become rhema to your heart. Rhema is a Greek word that refers to a word that is spoken and means "an utterance." An "utterance" is when the Holy Spirit illuninates a scripture to your heart producing faith for you to believe that scripture is now true in you. Illumination, revelation of God's mighty promises is what sets you free. Meditation of God's Word is what God told Joshua to do to get God's Word to go from his head to his heart, to become a reality to him: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8).
So what is meditation of God's Word? The meditation of God's Word as defined in Strong's Hebrew dictionary is to murmur, ponder, imagine, meditate, speak, study, talk and utter God's Word.The end result of meditation of God's Word brings forth revelation knowledge to your heart, spirit man. God's Word becomes no longer just words on a page, but a reality in your heart and His Word becomes part of you. Then 2 Peter 1:4 will begin to manifest in your life as you take on God's divine nature: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Memorization, meditation and revelation of God's Word allows you to graduate from the second stage of head knowledge to the third and final stage, heart knowledge that produces Christian maturity. Christian maturity is an ongoing process, your goal being to grow up into the fullness of Christ and to fulfill your destiny which advances the kingdom of God. The more time you spend meditating God's Word resulting in revelation knowledge of His Word will determine the speed of your spiritual growth.
Besides the memorization, meditation and the revelation of God's Word, there are other important things God would have you do to please Him and accelerate your spiritual growth: being baptized in Holy Ghost power, fire and God's love, daily praying in tongues as written in Acts 2:4 and Romans 8:26-27, daily spending time alone with God to hear His instructions for your day, daily prayer for yourself, others and those in authority, daily worshipping God in spirit and truth, living a life of giving as you sow your finances for divine harvests as led by the Holy Spirit, sharing the Gospel with the lost and fellowshipping with other believers as commanded in Hebrews 10:25, living a holy life free from sin and of course always walking in love and forgiving others as God forgave you.
Romans 14:10b says, "For we (Christians) shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ." That being said, we should always be about are Heavenly Father's business so when we stand before Jesus Christ we will not lose rewards, but receive rewards. May God's grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May your desire to know, love and obey God increase mightily each day.

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How to Live a Guilt-Free Christian Life

"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." Heb. 10:1
As I think about the power of the blood of Jesus and how it provides perfect cleansing for us, I can't help but worship and praise Him with continual gratitude.
PERFECT CLEANSING
Make no mistake about it. Your own performance (no matter how good it might be) will never improve the fantastic status you already have in Christ.
"And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time." Heb. 10:10 NLT
His blood makes you holy, righteous, perfectly cleansed. If you are struggling with guilt and condemnation even after you repented, you must hear the Gospel (the Good News) once again. Yes! You have to repent from your sins. Yes, you have to live a holy life. But based on the work of the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus. Remember: You are a NEW COVENANT believer. You are not under the Old Covenant. It is highly important you inform your mind and emotions about this...
ARE YOU A SINNER OR A SAINT?
"So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood." Heb. 13:12 NLT
Are you a sinner or a saint? Are you a sinner that struggles to love God or a lover of God who struggles with sin? Huge difference! Religion teaches the first. The Gospel teaches the second. The word holy comes from the Greek which means "to make holy, consecrate, sanctify". This is why Jesus died... to make you holy, acceptable, blameless and righteous. If you have been born again, this is your reality today.
This powerful truth is not based on your performance but on Christ's. It's not that you will be holy one day in the future (when you finally grow up and stop disappointing God), no, you are holy now, even in your weakness, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Please get this: We will never measure up to God's perfect standard. That's why we need JESUS.
THE KEY TO LIVING A GUILT-FREE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Your spirit inside is as holy as it will ever be, it's your mind that needs renewing. And what about your body? Well, your body always follows your mind. You are a new creation now. You are holy, chosen and greatly beloved (Col. 3:12). The essence of living a victorious life over sin depends on understanding the nature of the new man. What or Who is the New Man? The new man is who you really are -- God's master piece; His new creation.
Closing Thought: The key to the Christian life is found in the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:1-2). You have to look into the mirror of the word of God to discover who you really are (your true identity). Then, you have to believe it and start defining yourself according to what God says you are in Christ.

Much Blessings

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Christian Rock, Worship, and the Church

Actual History of the Rise of Contemporary Christian Music
The hippie Summer of Peace took place in 1967. By 1968 the drug branch of hippie culture had separated from the peace and love branch and that branch itself split into secular and Jesus people wings.
Church kids had been singing "camp songs" since the 1940s, either acapella or accompanied by acoustic guitar. With the rise of new folk music in the early 1960s, leaders of church youth and camp programs capitalized on this cultural phenomenon by structuring youth programs that included 20-30 minutes of singing of Christian choruses. The most effective youth ministers started services with fast songs and gradually slowed down the rhythm as the song lyrics moved, in relationship to Christ, from praise to devotion and holy living. But what went on in the youth services was not typical of the "adult" worship services. At successful churches, the adult service began with an organ prelude, continued with a 40-60 voice choir singing a hymnal "praise" composition, continued with 20 minutes of congregational singing of doctrinally-rich Christian hymns from the 1700-1800s, and ended with a stirring Bible message preached by a good pulpiteer. The doxology was often sung and usually some song of recession was played after the pastor pronounced the benediction and dismissed the adult congregation.
The Cultural Position of the Evangelical Church in 1970
At a typical evangelical mid-western church in the late 1960s, if a kid with long-hair responded to the message invitation, the first thing the deacons did was cut off his offending locks. What was it about long hair on a man which so offended? The church and conservative American politics were blended together in a cultural message that equated Christian holiness in dress and culture with early 1950's American clothing and grooming style. Furthermore, I Corinthians 11:14 stated, "Doth not even nature itself teach you that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him.?" Seizing on apparent New Testament support for conservative American dress, church leaders initially denounced hippie dress, style, and music, even that of the sincere, but un-churched, Jesus people.
But this backfired. By 1969 evangelical church pastors realized that the youth ministries of their churches had been impacted by the Jesus movement outside the church. Church teenagers saw what appeared to be more love and acceptance among long-haired iconoclasts outside the church than among staid congregants within the church. Church emphasis on maintaining the superficial values of dress, style, and traditional Christian hymnal music seemed at odds with the emphasis of Jesus people on sincerity and devotion of the heart as the primary Christian concern.
The Evangelical Solution
The most thoughtful pastors and Christian leaders knew something had to be done. The static Christian church was in crisis. The less thoughtful pounded the pulpit and shouted, "'As for me and my house...' we will remain where Jesus stood," confusing status quo American culture with Biblical principles.
What did the evangelical church do to stop the flight of Christian youth and evangelize the un-churched in the early 1970's? They took the historic Christian youth program and moved it from the church camp and an audience of teenagers to the 11:00 am Sunday adult worship service. The choir was disbanded, vocal soloists were condemned as self-glorifying, the organ and grand piano were pushed to the side and teenage musical guitar players replaced the classically trained pianist. The adult congregation began singing youth choruses all the time! The 11:00 am Sunday adult worship service began to resemble a service at a teenage Christian youth camp in the early 1960s. That's what happened!
The Place of Contemporary Worship Music in the Church
If your church has a contemporary worship service using a rock band singing rock anthems and choruses as worship staples, where do we go from here? Consider the following:

1. Over 30 years have pasted since the church adopted contemporary Christian music as standard Sunday adult music. At least three new generations of children have been introduced into the church since then. These new generations know nothing of the cultural struggles of the 60s-70s. Most of today's young adults who attend church have never heard a traditional hymn sung by a 60 voice choir (except at Christmas) and they've never seen a hymnal. Just as fashion style-setters and Disney movie producers re-release something from the past every 7-10 years, the evangelical Christian church is now justified in deviating from a musical standard set 30 years ago in response to a specific cultural challenge that is long gone.
2. The original use of Christian choruses in church was based on an evangelical program for church and un-churched youth. Like the 11:00 am adult church service, if the church offered an AM Sunday youth service, the attending kids sang the upbeat songs from the hymnal. Choruses were used primarily at evangelistic children's services outside the church. Why not move the Christian rock band from supporting adult worship at 11:00 am to outside the church, as a way to gather a crowd in public parks or at evangelistic events? This use of rock music would be consistent with historic Christian missionary activities and would actually make the thin Christian messages supplied by the lyrics serve as an introductory theological thought to a non-christian audience. Of course, evangelism means giving the audience gathered for the music a brief message from the Bible designed to speak to the hearts of those seeking forgiveness of sin and a new life in Christ. The fact that a church sponsored the concert would not be lost on those looking for community.
3. Two music legalisms have afflicted the church for the last 30 years: contemporary versus traditional Christian music. Some felt that anything that was not contemporary was unchristian. Why? Because it had a formalistic scent tinged with the dusty flavor of history. Contemporary meant unconnected to church history. Traditionalists either railed against compromise or ignored non-traditional musical trends. Both streams are no longer convincing. The Sunday AM service is free to use any music, played well by accomplished musicians who want to glorify God (not themselves) on any instrument, sung by individuals, choirs, quartets, or congregation in any musical style. It's music, not theology! It's about style and taste, it's not about supralapsarianism.

If every doctrinal argument raised in the past to condemn Christian rock were proved true, it doesn't matter. The church either embraced youth culture and made it the central program of church worship or rejected it. That is a fact of history!
Don't congratulate yourself if your church never brought the rock band onto the Sunday morning platform and you are still singing out of hymnals, as your denomination did in 1960. If the contemporary evangelical church reaches into the back of its closet and retrieves a piece of antique culture (a hymn) for modern use, traditionalists should not rejoice that hymnal music has returned to vogue..
The Way Forward
The evangel of the Christian faith remains the same in any age. However, in our post-modern, post-christian culture, churches need a new path forward in the twin goals of making disciples and growing Christians in the New Testament life. The key questions to answer are as follows:

1. How do we present a post-christian world culture with the always relevant call of Jesus Christ? This is evangelism.
2. How do we teach those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour to live for Him as their Lord and Master? This is holiness.

Both evangelical and holy living messages must be a part of the total Christian word spoken to the modern world. Every local church has a personality. Every church has a pastor and Christian leadership who should connect with the twin goals listed above and find means to accomplish them in their own Jerusalem, Samaria, and to uttermost parts of the earth. Those who share similar philosophies of ministry can associate in denominations. The key ingredient in musical choice is motive, not style and taste. Any style of music can glorify God, what matters is the hearts of the players and the listening audience.
Why not use various music styles evangelistically? The old joke applies here: What do you call ten banjos at the bottom of the ocean? Answer: A good start! Every church music director has seen that style and taste in music varies greatly among church people. So, have a "Country and Western" Sunday, a "Classical" Sunday or a "Choir" Sunday and use style and musical taste as a way to get folk under the sound of Gospel preaching. Why exclude people by banishing their musical taste and style from your church's music program? Why drive people away or silence their praise by insisting that the same rock choruses be sung every other week played by a 3-guitar electric band? Why not have some Sundays when there is no music at all! Or some Sundays when all music is vocal and musical instruments of any kind are not played?
This is the essence of a post-christian presentation of the Gospel message. Christianity should no longer be identified by anything as superficial as musical style. We play every kind of music on every instrument, only asking that it glorify God. We can dress in any color using any fabric, we only ask it be modest. We do not have to attend church dressed in our "Sunday Best", we can come as we are. If your church encougrages casual dress, why not have a Sunday where everyone is encouraged to dress in suits and ties as a special way, that day, to honor God?
Summary
Worship leaders, be advised: 1968 James Taylor-esque soft rock is no longer "contemporary" pop music. Christian worship cannot be "contemporary" with the music of the world. You might get away with "Christian rap" in a black church (probably not), but you won't in a white, suburban church. The church is not about mimicking the hottest musical sensation or the latest pop musical style. The church is about Christ, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, holy living, and evangelizing the lost. Music is only one channel through which any of these things can be advanced. Having only one style of music in church "traditional" or "contemporary" limits your audience for the Gospel. Do something with your music program, don't just stand in place.
The Apostle Paul said, when speaking of his own position regarding cultural issues and the church, "I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved." 1 Cor 10:33. I don't like banjo music, you say. Then be sure to have a bluegrass music sunday. After the banjo pickers re-case their instruments, preach the Gospel. You my be surprised what God will do.

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The Temple of the Holy Spirit - Be Ye Holy as He is Holy

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20: 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 Peter 1:13-16: Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy.''
Here's a very simple thought, life is not easy! It is full of pitfalls and traps placed by the enemy to ensnare you and destroy your witness! The enemy is determined that you will not succeed in your life as a Christian. In fact, he really wants you dead and if he cannot kill you, then he will destroy you any way he can!
John 10:10: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Yes, the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy, but Praise God! Jesus came to give us abundant life! Now that is something to get excited about!
There will be many temptations that will come your way as you learn to grow as a Christian. We often hear the Pastor quote Revelations 3 regarding a lukewarm Christian.
Revelations 3:15-16: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.
We cannot be people who sit on the fence all our lives. Believe me, when you try to do that, two things will happen, one you will get "spiritual saddle sores" and the other is you will eventually fall to one side of the fence or the other. We will fall to the side that has the greatest pull. Unfortunately, that side is generally the world and its attractions. It is important for us to realize that our Heavenly Father expects us to grow and mature as Christians. We cannot stay babies all our lives. As you grow, you will be tempted in many areas. It is not the same for each of us, the enemy knows what buttons to push to get you to fail.
Let's stop and take a look at the prophet Daniel. Just to remind you Daniel was taken captive into Babylon at the age of 14-17 with the destruction of the nation of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem. I will not go into all I have learned over the past months while studying the Book of Daniel, but one thing that I learned is, once captive and in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the captives were to be trained to accept the Babylonian culture and become "Babylonian". This included extensive training in the religion, culture, dress, actions and dietary habits of the culture. These practices were an abomination to these Hebrew young men because it was a very ungodly atmosphere. However, Daniel, even at that early age took a stand.
Daniel 1:8: But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel " purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself"! Can you say the same thing? Have you taken a stand for God, that will not allow you to defile yourself, have you decided to be holy as He is holy?
I know for almost 15 years, I chose to be a nominal Christian, putting Jesus in a box in my heart and pulling Him out only when I needed Him. I did what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say things in my life were a mess! But then over 7 years ago both my husband and I made the individual decision and then the joint decision as a couple to return to the Lord, and live our lives fully for Him and to strive for holiness. Life has never been the same since and all I can say is I rejoice daily as I learn more and more about the Lord and learn to live in Him, for Him and through Him!
Now back to my original statement: "Life is not easy"! It has been a daily walk full of pitfalls, because the enemy does not want me to succeed. No one ever promised us a life of ease once you became a believer, in fact it is just the opposite. I don't know if you are familiar with " The Far Side" cartoons published during the 1980's and 1990's but the author had one that I really identified with. It was two deer standing in the forest talking, one had a huge bull's eye in the center of his chest. The caption read "Bummer of a birthmark, Fred." I don't know about you but that is how I feel at times, that I have a huge bull's eye in the center of my chest at which the enemy has 100% accurate aim!
As we saw in the opening Scriptures, God expects us to strive to live a life of holiness. It is a choice we make, one that God demanded of His followers from the beginning.
Genesis 17:1: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
God demanded holiness from Abraham and he demands no less from us. The wonderful thing is He provides a way for us to accomplish this and that is the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8: "But 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.''
The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do all things including witness to others but it also enables us to live a life worthy of Christ.
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
What is holiness? As used in our Scripture in 1 Peter according to Vine's Greek Dictionary "...in its moral and spiritual significance, separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred...yet believers are called to sanctify themselves." Holiness is moral and spiritual separation from sin that we as believers are to attain, through the strength of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.
We are to work out our own salvation. We are to abstain from ungodly behavior. It is a choice we make! It is not something God does for us or makes us do. Daniel made this choice, he purposed in his heart not to defile himself. Have you made this choice in your life or do you continue to "play with fire"?
1 Corinthians 6:9-12: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
Many of us were sinners in the worst sense, yet Christ loved us and gave himself for us. The washing of the blood has sanctified us, it is important for us to realize that in God's eyes we are the righteousness of Christ. But my questions today are, are you living a righteous life? Are you making choices that will glorify God in everything you do? If you can answer yes to this, then Praise God! Continue to live a life worthy of Him. However, if you are like me, there are many areas I continue to have difficulty with. I grow stronger in the Lord daily, but I mess up now and again. The wonderful thing about God is that he makes provisions for us, because He knows we will mess up and need his love and forgiveness.
1 John 1:8-9: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Apostle John was writing to believers when he wrote these words. In the next chapter, he addresses the recipients of this letter as "my little children". To be my child, you have to belong to my family, in this case the family of God. To be in the family of God you have to be born again. So you see, when he tells us if we confess our sins, he is talking to believers. If we as a believer confess our sin, our Heavenly Father is just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is that simple. As Pastor says, "Confess it, forget it and move on."
Let me leave you with a thought. God's mercy toward us is everlasting, and once we repent from a sin and turn away from it, ask forgiveness for it, it does not exist in God's eyes. That is how merciful God is. Meditate on the following verses in the next week, it will truly bless you!
Psalms 103:11-17: For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
God's is good and His mercy endures forever! Amen!
Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you want to be a joint heir with Christ?
If so, I urge you to earnestly pray the following prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Your word says, "...and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (Jn.6:37),
So I know You won't cast me out, but You take me in, And I thank you for it. You said in your Word, "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'' (Ro. 10:13).
I am calling on Your name, So I know You have saved me now, You also said, "...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." (Ro.10:9,10).
I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe He was raised from the dead for my justification. And I confess Him now as my Lord, Because Your Word says, "... with the heart one believes to righteousness..." and I do believe with my heart, I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21),
And I am saved! Thank You, Lord!
I can now truthfully say, I see myself as a born again child of God!
Glory to God! Amen.

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We Are Commanded By God To Be Holy

"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15 - 16).
Today people are willing to debate how a Christian should behave. This is something that has never happened in the past 2,000 years since Calvary. Instead, the way that a person was to live a pure, holy life was simply assumed.
If you were to actually look back at the requirements of all the major denominations you may actually be shocked to learn that there were some strict consequences in place for church members whose lives brought shame and reproach to the name of Christ. In fact, it wasn't all that uncommon to hear of members who were barred from membership for a period of time based upon what type of offense they committed. This was different from preventing them from attending church services. Instead, it simply meant that they weren't allowed to enjoy the privileges of their church membership.
Starting in the 1960s there was an overall rebellion that swept across the United States. The hippie generation that existed during that time also started to affect what was going on within the church itself. At this time, there was a teaching that took root that held Christians to specific standards of behavior whenever it came to things like modesty, as well as abstaining from both alcohol and cigarettes. Many people started to refer to this as "legalism."
The real definition of the word "legalism" has to do with requiring good works as a condition of "being saved." Today, there are a lot of religions that actually teach this. For instance, Islam teaches that in order to be saved you must do certain things. Mormonism also believes the same thing. Whenever one of my friends went to a Mormon Church website to chat with someone about their questions, they asked the Mormon about how they felt in regards to salvation. The Mormon answered that the church believes that both faith and works are needed for a person to be saved. This is nothing short of legalism.
In the Bible, Peter plainly stated that God commands us to be holy because He is holy. Does that mean that Peter was a legalist who wished to impose his beliefs upon other people? This really doesn't make any sense, especially when you stop to consider that Peter knew Jesus personally whenever Jesus was alive on Earth. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to consider that Paul may have known more about what God expected of people than those who don't think there's any need to be holy.
God doesn't suggest that we be holy, He commands that we be holy. Holiness doesn't have anything to do with salvation. The Bible clearly states that works, including holy living, doesn't have anything to do with salvation. Of course, this doesn't mean we shouldn't live holy lives. In fact, not living a holy life means that you don't love God because you can't love Him while disobeying his commandments.

If you enjoy what you just read concerning holiness, you can consider visiting this site to find out more about the word of God.

Correct Christian Focus - How to Please God

As a Christian, focusing on the wrong things in life can be harmful and even dangerous. Bad things can happen to you that could have been avoided if you were living in the center of God's perfect will and not your own imperfect fleshly will. Indulging in certain wrong things can even forfeit your salvation according to Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:19-21.
So, it is important as a Christian to be focused on the right things in life. It is important because when you focus on the right things you will please God and allow Him to release His divine will for your life. He takes great pleasure in rewarding those who focus on the right things in life. Let me show you the three things God wants you to focus on to please Him and to fulfill your destiny.
1. Seek God - We are called to seek God. A number of good things happen when you begin to seek God with all your heart. Most importantly, He reveals Himself to you. When He reveals Himself to you, then you are changed. You love Him more and more. Drawing ever closer to God allows Him to reveal His heart to you, which is His desire for souls to be saved. Seek God and you will find out how much He loves you and how He has given unto you "all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him, that has called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3b).
"Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually" (1 Chronicles 16:11 KJV).
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV).
"He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6b).
2. Love God - God is a jealous god and He wants you to love Him even more than life, more than your spouse, your children or anyone or anything. God wants you to have things and money, but he does not want things and money to have you. It is okay to like things and money, but not to love them. The Lord corrected me in this area. He told me to transfer my strong allegiance for wanting things and money to wanting Him. Put God first place in your life and He will take care of the things and money.
The greatest wealth you will ever accrue is found in Jesus Christ and not in earthly things.
Always love and forgive everyone, even your enemies.
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV).
"Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters - yes, more that his own life - otherwise he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26 TLB).
3. Obey God - You please God by obeying Him. To obey God you must know what He wants you to do. You find out what He wants you to do by daily reading His Word, the Holy Bible, which is your instruction manual for living a successful, fruitful and holy life. Spending daily quite time with God and listening to His voice is another way of finding out what He wants you to do. Also, very important, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues according to Acts 2:4.
Why is speaking in tongues so important to obeying God? Because when you pray in tongues you allow the Holy Spirit to pray through you to your Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit prays for the elimination of those things hindering your spiritual growth. So, pray in tongues daily.
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21 KJV).
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Matthew 7:24 KJV).
"If you love me, obey me" (John 14:15 TLB).
Caution: Don't expect to do all this in your own strength. Ask God the Father in Jesus' name to give you His grace to diligently seek, love and obey God. What is His grace? It is His willingness to release His power and ability on your behalf.
Financial three step plans, money making formulas and sowing and reaping scriptures can all be well and good, but if you have a poverty stronghold lodged and hidden in your mind, you may never enter your earthly wealthy place. If you feel you might have a poverty mental stronghold keeping you from your wealthy place and you want to be set free, then click on "Free from a Poverty Mental Stronghold" below.
Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." We are commanded by Him in Mark 16:15 to witness to the lost. Please don't be a disobedient Christian and lose your soul winner's crown awaiting you in heaven.

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Christians - Holy and Righteous

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:19)
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Eph. 1:4) God's Word teaches that every believer is holy and righteous. It does not say that we are holy and righteous in ourselves. It says we are holy and righteous because God has made us this way. These concepts must be firmly planted in our hearts if we are to understand our true spiritual identity. As believers, our fundamental nature is now identified with God and His Spirit.
Therefore, it should not surprise you that God identifies us this way. It is not as though anyone earns this status, as if our works could do that for us. Rather, our spiritual identity, by grace, is now wrapped up in God's very person. Since that divine power now lives in us, we are, in a very real sense, holy. It does not mean that we are morally perfect like God or that we are sinless. God alone is in that category. But we are associated with the divine person and strive to live holy lives by the power of God.
Hard to Be Holy?
To many, this may seem impossible. But possible it is. The Bible declares it. The two most common words for "holy" applied to believers in the New Testament are holios and hagios. Holios literally means "consecrated" and "associated with divine character." Hagios means "sacred," "pure," and "blameless." So when God declares us "holy," that is exactly how He sees us.
And as holy ones, we are to live that way, as well. Some may respond to this declaration by saying, "If only I had more strength to resist sin" or "If only I were around the right ministry or church, maybe I could live more holy than I do now." This totally misses the point of who we are in Christ. In 2 Peter 1:3,4, Peter declares that, as partakers of the divine nature, we have everything we need for life and godliness. That means right here and right now. We do not have to do anything to be holy. We already are holy. We merely have to rest in this biblical truth.
I know this is too wonderful to believe. But believe me, dear saint, it is true. You may not always live like you are holy, but you are holy, no matter how you may feel about yourself. Here is another truth almost too wonderful to believe. If you receive this truth, your behavior will conform to your belief. The Spirit in you will bring His thoughts to bear on your life to convict you of sin and enable you to repent and become the person God intends for you to be. He makes everything beautiful in its time (Eccl. 3:11).
Spiritual Inheritance
How can all of this be true? Simple. When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, His righteousness is given to us. It's like receiving an inheritance. When someone passes away and wills you a sum of money, you receive the money, not because you've earned it, but because it is the will of the one who died that you should have it. It becomes yours through no effort of your own. So it is with Jesus' righteousness. When we accept Jesus as Lord, He gives us His righteousness. We don't earn it. It is simply ours. When God looks at us, He does not see our earthly righteousness, or the righteousness we deserve in ourselves, but only the perfect righteousness of Christ.
Put another way, because Jesus is righteous, His righteousness is imputed to us through our faith in His death for our sins. "To impute" is an accounting term that indicates a credit being applied to an account. 2 Corinthians 5:21 sums it up well: "God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Unbelievable! We have become the righteousness of God. Repeat this to your inner man over and over again. Say, "I have become the righteousness of God."
With this foundation, let's look again at 1 John 3:7 (KJV), that jewel of a verse: "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." No matter how we look at this verse--forward or backward--it is true either way. Let's start with forward. A person who does righteous things is a righteous person. That is why he does righteous things. But that person's righteous deeds are not of himself. Those deeds are only made possible because of the righteousness of Christ. He is the source of all righteousness. Now backward. Jesus is righteous. Based on His righteousness, we also have become the righteousness of God. Now it is natural for us, as God's righteous children, to walk righteously before him. It makes sense forward, backward (or even sideways), fellow believer.
Living Up to Your Identity
You are holy and righteous. Instead of becoming proud in these biblical truths, however, we should be greatly humbled to realize what new creatures we have become. We are totally made of new stuff now. The heavenly DNA is taking hold of us and we are aliens of this world. Once we are made righteous, we should naturally strive to live up to this identity, especially if we are living and walking in the Spirit.

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How to Stop Sinning and Start Living a Holy Life Pleasing to God

God has called Christians to live a holy life that glorifies Him. "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. As a Christian, your spirit is perfect and holy, born of God. However, your soul (mind, will and emotions) is not perfect and holy because it has not been made new like your spirit. Your soul is still motivated by sinful desires, strongholds of the mind.
Your soul must be renewed and made holy by a special process called sanctification. Sanctification means being made holy. That is to be your goal, to sanctify your soul, making it conform to God's highest standard of conduct, holiness.
With God's help, you will use four powerful weapons to tear down the sin producing strongholds of the mind: God's Word, praying in tongues, worship and sowing and reaping. We'll start with God's Word.
God's Word
The Word of God is like a giant divine wrecking ball that can destroy any destructive stronghold of the mind. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrew 4:12).
To release the power in God's Word to attack and defeat the unholy strongholds in your mind, the Word must become rhema. I will explain. Rhema is a Greek word which means "the spoken Word of God" and is filled with faith and power that produces results. Example: Jesus spoke one rhema word to Peter, "Come." And just on that one faith filled word, Peter walked on the water. Logos is a Greek word that means "the written Word of God." It has power, but not the instant dynamic power of the rhema Word.
The logos will become a rhema word when you spend enough time meditating it. Meditation of the Word of God is simply taking a scripture and thinking on it, muttering it, speaking it, declaring it, visualizing it until it becomes real in your heart. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Revelation and He is the one who will breath life on the logos and cause it to become the rhema.
So, this is what you do. I have seven scripture based declarations below that you will daily think on, mutter, speak, declare and visualize (seeing yourself living a holy life, victorious over sin). I suggest spending at least a half hour a day doing this. The more time you give to this, the quicker the results.
Scripture Based Declarations
1. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm119:11).
2. My old sinful man was crucified with Christ so I am no longer controlled and dominated by the sin nature (Romans 6:6).
3. It is impossible for me to sin because my old sinful man died on the cross with Christ and he that is dead is free from sin (Romans 6:7).
4. I reckon myself dead to all sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ my Lord. Praise God, I am dead to sin but alive onto God (Romans 6:11)!
5. Because I am dead to sin, sin no longer has dominion over me (Romans 6:11,14).
6. I am a new creature in Christ and old things are passed away and all things have become new, therefore I no longer sin, but walk in holiness (2 Corinthians 5:17).
7. I am born of incorruptible seed by the word of God, therefore I am holy and I cannot sin (1 Peter 1:23).
Worshipping God Daily in Spirit and Truth
Worshipping God daily in spirit and truth will bring about a manifestation of God's presence in your life that will help produce in you the sanctified life and will draw you closer to Him. He is seeking those that will worship Him on a daily basis. "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23). The more time you spend doing this, the better.
Set aside a time each day and begin thanking the Lord Jesus Christ for what He has done for you through His death and resurrection. Thank Him for your salvation. Thank Him for redeeming you from sin, sickness, disease, poverty and the second death which is the lake of fire. Thank Him that you are blessed with faithful Abraham because you have put your faith in Christ and the Gospel. Then begin praising Him for who He is. Praise Him for His glory, power, love, wisdom, knowledge, peace, joy, honor, riches, blessing and holiness.
Finally, begin to worship Him, telling Him how much you love Him. Telling Him how awesome and glorious He is. Tell Him you magnify Him. You glorify Him. Be in awe of His holiness. If you have never worshipped God like this before, start out with just a few minutes of thanksgiving and praise. Then spend fifteen minutes worshipping Him. Eventually you will want to stretch your worship time to a half hour or more. What happens in this sanctifying process? God begins to manifest His presence and you are changed on the inside which will eventually manifest outwardly from you. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" ( James 4:8a).
Sowing and Reaping
There is great power in a financial seed sown in faith. Your tithe (10% of your income) takes care of the operating expenses of your local church. God honors your tithe seed planted and gives you a harvest of fulfilling the operating expenses of your home. Your offering is anything above your tithe. This is what you do to get a harvest of freedom from sin. Name your offering seed "freedom from sin and holy living." Sow that financial seed into good soil and expect to receive your harvest.
Good soil is a ministry that is winning souls for God and it is prospering financially because it believes and operates in God's dynamic financial system of sowing and reaping. Your own local church might be good soil if they are winning souls to Christ and believe and operate in God's superior financial system of sowing and reaping. Your offering does not take the place of your tithe, so make sure you sow both your tithes and offerings or you will be robbing God according to Malachi 3:8.
There are a number of ministries I will recommend for you to sow your offering seed: Ever Increasing Word Ministries, Jesse Duplantis Ministries, Bill Winston Ministries and Kenneth Copeland Ministries. These are all good soils for your seed sown and will produce harvests if you sow in faith consistently. "Consistently" means you are a consistent sower of your tithes and offerings. It is not a "one shot" thing.
Well, there you have it. Daily meditate God's Word, daily pray in tongues, daily worship the Lord Jesus Christ and consistently name your seed sown in good soil to reap a harvest of holy living. Do this faithfully and your bondage to sin should be over and your life of holiness should become a reality, well pleasing to God.
One thing I did not mention. The fire of God. One hundred and twenty disciples of Jesus were in the upper room when the fire of God fell. What did the fire of God do? The fire of God burned out the carnal things in their life, things like fear, sin and unbelief. If you are serious about being used of God mightily

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Price For Salvation

I want to share with you how you and I became saved or through what means Jesus paid the price for our salvation from sin. Some people believe that because they are born into a religious family they are saved. But that is not true. No one is saved by being born into a Christian family or any other religious home. No one can also be saved by any religious rituals nor can salvation be purchased with money or killing a fellow human being. The apostle Peter who was one of the closest disciples of Jesus Christ helped us understand how we got saved. He said:
1 Peter 1:18-21
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Let us learn some truth from the writing of Apostle Peter
The first thing to learn from this passage is that we were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver, gold (financial means), traditions of men, such as being born into a religious family or killing or engaging in "holy war".
Secondly, we are redeemed through blood.
Any teaching that professes redemption or salvation without blood is false. It is false because that religion denies the very nature and gravity of the original sin of Adam and Eve.
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, death was the result. The death was first spiritual which eventually manifested in the physical. Now the Bible teaches us very clearly that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). That means, when man died as a result of sin, his blood (the blood that made him holy) was taken away. And for man to become alive again in holiness, he must need blood. This was the first reason God used animal skin dripping with blood to cover man (Gen 3:21). With this, man was seen alive but through the blood of the animal that God used. This goes to establish why animals were used for atoning for man's sins in the Old Covenant.
But the blood of animals did not actually take away the sins of man but rather covered it. Again, that blood of the animal did not really bring back the life that has gone out of man. For the scripture says; "... it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). So man still needed a blood that can bring him his very life of holiness and which can take away his sin. This is why redemption must be by blood. However, with this understanding, we needed the blood of man and not of animal any more to gain back our lost life of holiness - that is to receive salvation.
From the Scripture passage above, it is evident that the blood for redemption or salvation is without blemish and sin. This is the third thing to learn.
Many people in one religion or the other profess that they are saved by their leaders or founders etc. All these are not true. This is because they also needed to be redeemed from sin, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 6:23.) We all - all descendants of Adam - including our leaders even the prophets of God in the Old Testament were all born into sin and with the sin nature.
It is a clear teaching of the Bible that none is righteous and that everyone has sinned. This "all" includes every human being born right from Adam. This means, no man's blood was worthy or holy enough to bring salvation to man. You may ask, "But why?" This is because all have sinned and therefore have the sin nature. Every man has the sin nature - the unholy nature which Adam exchanged with his holy nature, and it was transferred to us through birth. When Adam sinned we all in his loins sinned. This is why no man can redeem us. We therefore needed a man that has no sin nature to offer his blood for the salvation of mankind.
The fourth thing from the passage of First Peter is that, the man whose blood is qualified to bring salvation to man is Christ Jesus who never had the nature of sin in Him.
Scripture says, Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came down in the human flesh or in the likeness of man in order to save mankind. This means, as a Son of God but in the likeness of man, He never had the blood of man that has the sin nature from Adam. He was not born of the seed of man, and so He could not have gotten the nature of sin. If He had, then He would have had sin in Him. But He was born of the seed of the Spirit of God and woman. And so, His blood was sinless, without blemish, spotless and without blame from the very point of His conception. This is why his embryo was called a "holy thing" (Luke 1:35).
His blood therefore qualified to be offered for the salvation of mankind. It is in this blood you are saved or redeemed to become the child of God. This is the blood that is very precious to God. This is the blood we all have access to becoming members of the family of God.
If one therefore claims to be saved or redeemed without the blood of Christ, he is not redeemed at all. This is because redemption cannot be through silver, gold, or any other corruptible thing. Salvation cannot be through the traditions of our fathers. It is only through the precious blood of Jesus. If you are saved by this sinless blood, then you can gratefully appreciate God for your salvation.
But if you are not yet saved, it is possible to be saved today, because we are in the day of His salvation.

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