God Remembers Your Sins No More

My daily devoition today is  Joseph Prince's Devitional, a one year program available on YouVersion, my thoughts follow it, highlighted in yellow:

God Remembers Your Sins No More

Hebrews 10:17

17… “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

I don’t know about you, but I would say that Hebrews 10:17 is good news. God sees all our sins — past, present and future — and says, “Your sins I remember no more!” The words “no more” are a strong double negative in the original Greek text. In other words, God is saying, “Your sins I will by no means ever remember!”

Has God lowered His standards? No, He is still perfectly holy. He did remember all our sins — 2,000 years ago at the cross. Every sin that we have committed or will commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. That is why today, God remembers our sins no more. We should, therefore, not be sin-conscious.

Each time we feel condemned for our past mistakes, God wants us to remember the cross and say, “Lord Jesus, you were sentenced for this sin I committed. You bore the judgment, so God will not judge me for this sin. You were condemned for this sin, so God will not condemn me for it.”

If you don’t look to the cross, you will become sin-conscious and you will walk around with a certain expectation of judgment. And that expectation of judgment will give the devil a chance to get you thinking that God has something against you because of your sin.

You must come to the place where you know and believe that all your sins are forgiven, that there is no sin that will ever disqualify you from God’s blessings, that you are saved eternally.

Hebrews 10:12, 14 says, “But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God… For by one offering He has perfected forever…”

You and I are perfected forever because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross. We are perfected by God’s full acceptance and perfect delight in His Son’s work that has so glorified His holiness. Beloved, hear God say to you, “I will be merciful. Your sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Thought For The Day

Every sin that we have committed or will commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross.

Think about this for a minute. Every sin that we have committed, past, present (if you happen to be sinning right now) and future is punished to the fullest extent of the "Law" to quote a common phrase that is often used today. Think about it, the "Law", God's Law, requires death for our sin, any sin we commit requires our death under God's law because he is holy, and cannot stand sin. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is Eternal Life in Jesus Christ our Lord."  Romans 6:23 makes it perfectly clear that it is not punishment per se, this is something that sin earns us and that is important, very important. Think about this for a minute. You know your unsaved friend or co-worker who asks "Why would a loving God send me to hell?" Think about what Romans 6:23 says "The Wages of Sin" I especially like the NKJV or KJV translation, because it clarifies this for us. A wage is something we earn, right?  So when you think about it, and are trying to witness to someone and the question "Why would a Loving God send  me to hell?" comes up, bear this in mind, and use this verse as a teaching moment.  Possibly use vacation time as a comparative  illustration, you earn vacation time, right, it's not just given to you, you do something to earn it, you go to work every day that you are supposed to and it accumulates, if you don't go to work, what do you earn? Nothing. Let's look at the second part of that verse "but the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD"  so when the "Why would a...?" question comes up, use a comparative illustration like above, and then consider and use the second half of the verese.  This verse says God has a gift to give us. A gift is given for what? It is generally unmeritted favor, I mean in our culture we have gift giving all wrong, often we give a gift at say Christmas time, we expect that we will get a gift back, right? You do nothing to earn a gift. Think of your birthday, you are given gifts. Did you really do anything to earn that gift? No, it is given to you freely, no strings attached, unmeritted favor, and this is what the scripture teaches us that Eternal Life, or salvation is. Unmeritted favor. You've heard the old addage, Grace is getting what we don't deserve, Mercy is NOT getting what we do deserve. So stress this point when witnessing, it is effective, and true. This is stressed in the thought for the day above, but I will stress it again here:

Every sin that we have committed or will commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross.
Every sin... that's a lot of sins...Every... you can't put a number on it. All we must do is what, reach out and take that gift, that unmeritted favor...accept it. Pretty powerful stuff, no? As believers, we are called to share this unmeritted favor, this gift with everyone around us...This is being a good neighbour as in the story of the good Samaratin, the disciples asked: "who is our neighbour?" Jesus then shared that parable...We MUST do this...we MUST share this...if we don't, how can we truly call ourselves followers of Christ?
-Michael

Faith without good deeds is dead? If so, Can you lose your Salvation?

Faith without good deeds is dead? If so, Can you lose your Salvation?

 Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve and mercy is when God doesn't give us what we do deserve. -Unknown

Jas 2:14-26 NLT

Xref: Eph. 2:8-13, Heb. Ch. 11, Jhn 6:39, Jhn 10:28-29, 2 Tim. 4:8, 1 Cor. 9:25-27, James 1:12; Rev. 2:10; 1 Pt 5:2-4; Matt. 5:19, 1 Thess. 2:19, Daniel 12:3, Prov. 11:30, Rom. 8

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"--but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 21 Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

There are groups that teach that you can lose your salvation, and that you can walk away from your salvation. It is my firm conviction based on Biblical evidence listed in the Cross reference verses verses up above that you cannot. Nor can you walk away from your salvation. I am sure that if you research these verses on your own, you will find that scripture supports that if you think you can lose your salvation, you should really evaluate whether or not you have salvation in the first place. Salvation is a gift of God, a gift of Grace, and a gift of Mercy. It cannot be earned by works, (Lest any man should boast {KJV}) Works are important for the benefit of others as well as us. When we do good works, we show others Christ who we are to be a reflection of. We are a reflection of God the Father to the world when we do good works. When we do good works, we are “Working out our salvation with fear and trembling as found in Philippians 2:12-13. People use this to show that you must do good works to “Earn” your salvation. Look carefully at what these versions are saying. The NLT says it this way: 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. What are the results of these good works? Crowns. Crowns that we will throw at the feet of Jesus our king when we finally enter paradise. Here are what these rewards for our works will be:

Crowns of Reward in Heaven

By Rev. Michael L. White

(Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.)

NOTE: The Scripture pop-up service used on this page is RefTagger.

When we all get to Heaven, we will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for our works done in this world, both good and bad. As believers, in order to enter Heaven, we will be counted as righteous because of our faith in Jesus, but we will then receive rewards and crowns for our faithfulness and good works in this world (1 Corinthians 3:8-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Romans 14:10-12; Revelation 11:18; Revelation 22:12). Listed below are the five types of crowns mentioned in Scripture, some warnings about protecting our crowns and rewards, and the joy of receiving crowns.

Five Crowns of Reward

1. Crown of Righteousness (a.k.a. the Watcher’s Crown) For loving (longing for) the Lord’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:8)

2. Crown of Victory (a.k.a. the Victor’s Crown) For spiritual discipline and self-control (1 Corinthians 9:25-27)

3. Crown of Life (a.k.a. the Martyr’s Crown) For patiently enduring trials and/or death (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10)

4. Crown of Glory (a.k.a. the Elder’s Crown) Godly leaders who were good examples to their flock (1 Peter 5:2-4; Matthew 5:19)

5. Crown of Rejoicing (a.k.a. the Soul-winner’s crown) For leading others to accept Christ by sharing the Gospel of repentance and salvation (1 Thessalonians 2:19; Daniel 12:3; Proverbs 11:30)

Warnings About Crowns and Rewards

•           Do not let anyone take your crown (Revelation 3:11)

•           Do not let anyone deceive you into forfeiting your crown or reward (2 John 1:7-8)

•           Do not do your good deeds with wrong (self-centered or otherwise impure) motives (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16)

Joy of Receiving Crowns

Because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, He is worthy of our everlasting praise and worship! Therefore, we will have the joy of casting our crowns at Jesus’ feet when we get to Heaven (Revelation 4:10-11). However, if we have earned no crown, we will miss out on the joy of casting it (or them) at Jesus’ feet. What a shame that will be!

Reprinted in part with permission from Parson Place: http://www.parsonplace.com/crowns.html

A Warning against Predjudice

Today we will do a study on the first half of James Chapter 2 Which in the Life Recovery Bible (NLT) is Titled: 

A Warning against Prejudice

1 My dear brothers and sister, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor" --well,  4 doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
8 Yes indeed it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. 11 For the same God who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not murder." So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. (The Law of Grace and Mercy, the new covenant under Christ) emphasis mine. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

Our discussion then began with talking about who was this target audience that James was reaching out to? Well, the book of James was written to the twelve tribes of Israel over all, and as we know, this book was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, the only sibling of His that the Bible records as being a follower of Christ. So this chapter though appears to be addressed to his brother and sisters in Christ based on the very beginning of verse 1: My dear brothers and sisters. He again reiterates and reinforces this thought more forcefully in verse 5: Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters.

James then goes on to talk about how they would give preferential treatment to the rich, while essentially scorning and reviling the poor. The custom in these times, in synagogues, and it would appear in some of the early churches as well was that you would Pay for your seat. The more money you had, the more you could afford to pay, the better seat you got. This is a practice that continued well through the middle ages I believe. Meanwhile, if you were poor, and could not afford to pay for your seat, you were lucky if you got to stand, where you were told, if you were unlucky, you would be told to sit on the floor.

Imagine if you will, coming into church, you have been out of work for an extended period, as many in our church are, and being told by the ushers, that the seats were for those who could pay for them. And that since you weren't working, you could go sit in the back of the sanctuary on the floor. You couldn't see the leading elder very well, you may not be able to hear well (thankfully we have a great sound setup) but you definitely wouldn't be able to see Bernie as he preached. Thankfully you would have the benefit of our large screens that we project to, but depending on how far back you are you might have to turn around and look at the one in the back. Now imagine that when you had to do this, everyone staring at you, knowing that you weren't good enough, or rich enough to afford a seat. 

This is what the apostle was addressing. He then goes on to say that God has chosen the poor to be the one's who are rich in faith. Have you ever known anyone who was poor? I have. In fact, I have known many...Growing up for many years, my family was dirt poor. This principle that he is touching on has practical applications in the secular arena as well as the Christian one. I was tormented and bullied, verbally and physically from Kindergarten until about the 7th or 8th grade. At one time, in Kindergarten, I was actually thrown in a dumpster by older kids, this would have been an elementary school, and in the 70's, when I grew up, I would have been 4, maybe 5. And the elementary schools back then went to about grade 5. So I was thrown in a dumpster by these older kids, under the guise of "Hey kid, do you want to come play with us?" what Kindergartner wouldn't be thrilled to be asked if he wanted to come play with older kids if given the choice? They then proceeded, after throwing me in the dumpster, to throw eggs at me, and dump syrup on me as well as pouring milk and other food stuffs on me. 

In 5th grade, now in another Town, Norton actually, One day at the bus stop (about 100 feet, if that) from my house, the tormenting continued. One day, I was beat up at the bus stop, again because we were poor. One fat kid sat on me, while 4 or 5 others beat the excuse the expression, "hell" out of me. The bus came along, and they all got on the bus, and the bus driver asked if I was coming to school that day, as blood is pouring out of my nose, and my clothes are in tatters... I waved her off, and struggled to get home that hundred feet and made it in the door where I promptly passed out on the floor from inhaling blood. I stopped breathing.

Right around the end of the 6th grade, my family moved back to Easton, another affluent community. Again, I was teased, and tormented. One day in the seventh or 8th grade, a "Zoof" or "Stoner" we called them, stood on his desk in Math class and kicked me in the head repeatedly with his steel toed boots on. When the Math teacher came in, and I told her, she told me that she didn't believe me, to go sit down. I was constantly preyed upon by the older kids, and in Easton at the time, Junior High school meant 7th, 8th, and 9th grade since the high school was too small to house the 9th graders.

One day, I had had enough. I went into one of the boy's rooms to use the bathroom, and a kid who was in the same grade as me happened to be in there, and this particular kid, while never bullying me, was friends with many of those who did. I cornered him, and smashed his head 30-40 times into the concrete wall to send a message. Although I deeply regret doing this, the message was well received. My days of being bullied were over.

I share these stories not for pity, but to give you greater insight into what the Apostle was talking about, and perhaps give you a greater glimpse into me and my life, and the things that have made me into the man I am today.

James then goes on to talk about the Law of God, at this point, He is speaking to the Mosaic Law, the 10 commandments. He says that if you favor some people over others, you are sinning. You are then guilty of breaking the Law, not only the 10 commandments, but we see that in Verse 8, he talks about the second great commandment that Christ gave us, "Love your neighbor as yourself", so you are breaking the law here that Christ gave us as well. You cannot keep all of the law, no one can, if we could, we wouldn't need Christ. He says that to keep all of the law, but break one, it is just as though you had broken them all. He also speaks to how one sin is no better, or worse than another sin, he uses the examples of Adultery and Murder in verse 11. So if you murder someone, but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. Sin is SIN, it doesn't matter if that sin is stealing, or lying, or murder, adultery, and I must be careful here, I don't want to offend you, my brothers in Christ, but homosexuality. In the church, we tend to treat sexual sin, especially the sins of homosexuality or lesbianism as those they are a special class of sin. They aren't. They are sin, just like lust, adultery, etc. 

James concludes this part of the passage by saying that whatever we say, or whatever we do, we must remember that we will be judged by the law that sets us free. This is the law of the new covenant, the law of Christ, Grace and Mercy. Remember that Grace is when God gives us something that we don't deserve, Mercy is when God doesn't give us what we do deserve. This is the reason Christ came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, was crucified to show us both the ultimate act of Grace and Mercy, and show us how we are to act towards all others, then he resurrected, showing us that even when our physical bodies are no more, we will live again in the resurrection. Christ has told us that He will someday return again, and I believe whole heartedly that He will return in the clouds as He has said. Do you? Then let's begin to show it, but practicing Grace and Mercy with others, it isn't easy to do, but the more you practice it, the better you will get. And let's continue to show the world what it means to be followers of Jesus the Christ by not giving anyone preferential treatment over another. This is how we can act out the things that James and ultimately Christ has called us to do!

Next week, Part Two entitled: Faith without Good Deeds

Be Well, and continue to view life through the lens of the Scripture, it really is our guidebook to this life!
-Michael