Abide in Christ Daily Devotions

Have You Received the First Blessing? 02/01/2010

The Holy Spirit does a work within the believer whereby He sanctifies us. This is an experience within the Christian. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “ . . . you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). The context tells us all the sins of these saints that were covered by the blood of Jesus. God chose the believer unto “salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13; cf. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 15:16). Paul has in mind the ultimate goal, our final salvation. God chose us in the deep counsels of eternity on the basis of His grace and love, and not because of any personal merit on our part. It is all of grace and love. The means God uses to bring us to salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit who sets aside chosen individuals to live holy lives. The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, baptizes the believer into the body of Christ, etc. The individual believes in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit has done His work in our hearts. Then throughout the life of the believer the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to progressively purify the Christian’s life. Sanctification by the Holy Spirit is the first blessing of God’s work in the heart of the believer. This first blessing leads to the full knowledge of justification by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ for our sins. No one can be saved without this first work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. The sanctification by the Spirit in the heart brings the believer unto obedience to the sacrifice of Christ. We come to knowledge of our justification when the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in the death of Christ for our sins. His precious blood cleanses the soul of every sinful stain. The blood of Jesus alone makes you acceptable before God. . The Holy Spirit brings you to faith in Jesus Christ.

Have You Received the First Blessing?

Our Absolute and Progressive Sanctification 01/30/2010

Can you imagine how chaotic the Christian life would be like if we believed on Christ to save us, but we had to keep ourselves saved by our own sinless life? Because of false teachings most non-believers have the misunderstanding that Christians are to be “perfect” once they believe on Christ as their Savior. They are led to think that all Christians are hypocrites because they are not “perfect” in their daily life and practice. The truth is Christians are “saved sinners” who by the grace of God are striving to live a life that is pleasing to their Savior. Our goal is perfection, but it will not be reached in this life. We will be presented “complete,” “mature,” “perfect” before our heavenly Father in heaven at the end of this life on earth. Only then will we experience sinless perfection. I thank God that the same grace that saved me, also keeps me saved. Every blessing in the Christian life is ours in Christ for all eternity from the moment we believed on Him. They are ours all because of the pure grace of God. Yes, we have everything in Christ. How tragic if we were to trust Christ for salvation, but had to trust in ourselves for sanctification. We would have a religion that would teach that God only forgives sin committed up to the time when we accept Christ as our savior, but after that we would have a lifelong probation proving that we were saved, and would have to forfeit our justification and reconciliation with God when we sinned. If we did not repent of unknown sin in our lives we would forfeit our salvation. We would be in a constant need of a “second blessing” or a further work of grace to keep us saved. We would have to be saved over and over again. Our salvation would depend upon us rather than the perfect, all-sufficient atoning death of Jesus Christ. The problem with a legalistic philosophy of Christian living is one of sinless perfection. There are no sinless Christians this side of heaven (1 John 1:8-2:1; Phil. 3:8-14). We are totally dependent upon the grace of God for Christian living. The same grace that eternally saved us the day we believed on Christ as our Savior enables us to persevere in the Christian life for all eternity.

Our Absolute and Progressive Sanctification

Living the Christian Life 01/30/2010

There is only one person who can live the Christian life. Yes, it can be lived, but only by the Lord Jesus Christ. To live the Christian life you must have the right one living it. The Christian life can be lived by Christ. It is His life, and it is exclusively His to be lived only by Him. Have you found yourself ever trying to live the Christian life and feeling like a failure? The reason is it can only be lived in complete dependence upon Christ. The Christian life is an exchanged life. It is lived in dependence upon Christ. You exchange your life for Christ’s life. That way He lives His life in and through you. The apostle Paul explains, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). Your life can pulsate with the living wonder of the Son of God living His life in you as you appropriate it by faith. When you do every demand upon you is a demand upon the Christ who indwells and infills you by His Spirit. Is there any demand upon Christ that He cannot fulfill? Are you inadequate to meet some pressing need or demand? You may be, but Christ is not. The demand is not on you, but upon Christ. Therefore, let your life be an endless exercise of faith in drawing from Christ all He desires of you. Do you need patience, wisdom, unconditional love, and strength? You can draw it endlessly from the One who lives and abides in you. This is the secret to living a life that overcomes temptation. The apostle Paul tells us the more you draw from Him by faith, the less you live in the flesh. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). When you walk in the Spirit, the life of Christ will flow through you.

Living the Christian Life

The Lord Over Death 01/28/2010

When I was a teenager, I enjoyed watching the weekly TV program, “You Are There.” However, there was always one part of the program that I dreaded. Every one of the great men portrayed in history all died at the end of the program. There was always the view of the funeral procession. That view always brought fear and dread to my heart because I knew that one-day all die, including me. However, Christianity gives me a totally different perspective of death. For me it is no longer a thing to be dreaded, but a marvelous moment of triumph. My physical death will be only a door that leads into life’s fullness in Christ. Instead of something to fear as a horrible end to existence, the Christian looks to it as a door opening into a greater presence of the Lord God. It is only the continuity of life that began in time when I put my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. At the death of my father I felt orphaned, even as an adult man serving Christ. The Holy Spirit focused my mind and heart on 1 Corinthians 15. As I studied that great chapter verse-by-verse, sentence-by-sentence, phrase-by-phrase and cross-referenced each statement in the Bible the Holy Spirit applied to my heart the wondrous triumph of Jesus Christ over death and the grave. God gave me a tremendous sense of peace that Christ is the Lord over death. For the believer in Christ, death is not the end of life; it is only the beginning of a deeper, richer life in Christ. Death is not the end of our personhood. This perishable body as an empty shell is left behind, but in His triumph over the grave Jesus gives us another body that is made for heaven and eternity (1 Cor. 15:35-38; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). Jesus Christ is Lord over death and the grave. Death is swallowed up in His victory. Therefore, my death is also swallowed up in victory at death because Jesus Christ is Lord over death. That is not just a play on words. It is a statement of fact. Because Jesus Christ is Lord over death, my life does not end at death; it continues as long as Jesus lives and He is eternal. Death is no match for the triumphant resurrection power of God. Why am I so confident of these truths? First, because of the historical evidence that Jesus is alive. He rose from the dead. History is full of evidence of His resurrection from the dead.

The Lord Over Death

The Lord of History 01/27/2010

History moves toward a steady goal because God is in control of history. Jesus Christ is Lord of all including time, kings and kingdoms. He is the Lord of history. The lordship of Jesus Christ includes every area of life. “The blessed hope” of history is the triumphant, visible return of Jesus Christ. It will be a “glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Jesus Christ will return in triumph to fulfill God’s eternal purpose with all of creation. Creation begins and ends with Christ. The Creator is the Beginning and the Finisher of His creation. We need to remind ourselves of this truth that man is not the creator; he is the created. Only the Father in heaven knows when that triumphant day will appear (Matt. 24:36). We do know that cataclysmic events will occur (Matt. 24; 25; Mark 13; Luke 21). Our occupation until His return is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe, people and nation. Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). As we take the Gospel to every nation, we are to watch expectantly for His return (Matt. 24:27-44; 25:13; Mk. 13:35-36; Lk. 12:35-40). Like the early followers of Jesus Christ, I am certain of His return. The Lord Jesus is returning in absolute triumph and display of His eternal glory. All of history is moving toward this glorious climax. History has a reason and that reason is Jesus Christ. It is moving to a climax when “time shall be no more.” A time is coming when “every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11). This will be a day of victory, judgment and glory for Jesus Christ (Rev. 19).

The Lord of History

Lordship of Christ and Our Sanctification 01/26/2010

There is always a constant tension between the “now” and the “yet to be” in the Christian’s life. When we submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ He changes our lives. We grow in our inner person as the Holy Spirit reveals areas of our lives that are not fully yielded to Christ. It takes a lifetime to affect big changes in our lives because God’s goal is a person like Christ. Matthew 5:48 reads, “you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” God will never lower His standard to human level. He demands absolute perfection. We want to become more like Him because He loves us. What a tragedy if we lose the desire to become perfect in Christ. How wonderful to know even now His blood clovers all our sins. Nothing is left uncovered for those who believe on Christ as their Savior. In God’s holy eyes, the believer is already perfect in Christ because we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Christ-likeness in our daily life begins when we put our faith in Christ. It is true, we will never reach sinless perfection in this life, but we strive for it because we love Him and respond to His love. God conforms us to His likeness as we yield ourselves to Him. As we grow spiritually, we strive to make Christ lord of every area of our lives. This is where spiritual growth takes place. We learn to trust every area of our lives to Christ. Sadly, no one has given God all of themselves except Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit works within us revealing our true self and the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Do we really want Christ to control the deepest recesses of our hearts? There is absolutely nothing God cannot do in your life if He so chooses. The One who “brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” can do anything He so chooses with anyone who will yield himself to Him (Eph. 1:20-21). All He asks from us is to trust Him. All He wants of us is to make ourselves available to Him moment by moment. This is God’s inheritance in the saints. Paul prayed that we would come to know how precious the saints are in God’s eyes as His inheritance. It is a permanent work of the Holy Spirit in our inner spirit. God is glorified in His saints. This is part of His wealth (Eph. 1:18-20). May God increase our capacity to understand what He is doing in our lives.

Lordship of Christ and Our Sanctification

Jesus is both Lord and Messiah 01/25/2010

Jesus Christ is my Lord. That is the greatest confession of faith you can ever make. “Jesus is Lord.” He is not one of a variety of ways to get to heaven; He is the only way because He is the risen Lord. When we confess faith in Jesus we are saying Jesus is Lord because God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10). Why do followers of Jesus Christ believe He is Lord? The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated beyond any doubt that He is Lord of all. Our faith is based on the clear historical evidence of His resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus proved the validity and reality of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross and His sovereign Lordship. Because Jesus is alive He is our Lord, and He invites us to join Him in the resurrection life. The apostle Peter gave four evidences of the resurrection of Jesus in Acts 2:22-36. The person of Jesus Christ is the first clear evidence that He is risen from the dead (vv. 22-24). Jesus is a real historical person who lived in the town of Nazareth (2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 10:38; 22:8; 26:9). He performed many miracles that were witnessed by multitudes of people on diverse occasions. There were eyewitnesses who saw Him raise the dead (cf. John 11:38-44), and heal the sick (Matt. 9:35-38). Peter declared in his greatest sermon, this was the person who was crucified on the cross in Jerusalem (2:22-23). “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know” (v. 22). “. . . You nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (v. 23; cf. 3:13; Lk. 24:19-20). People knew Him and could identify Him. This man was seen alive from the dead! The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was no accident. It was God’s “plan.” He was “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God . . .” His very person testifies that He died and rose again.

Jesus is both Lord and Messiah

The Problem of Evil and Suffering 01/24/2010

The greatest theological challenge Christians face is the problem of evil and suffering. Never have we had a greater demand to think biblically. We must speak the truth with integrity when people are desperate to hear it and no one else seems to know where to look for honest answers. There is not a day that goes by that we are constantly called upon to minister at senseless accidents, terrible disasters, crimes against innocence, or someone suffering from a devastating disease. People demand some enlightenment. Perhaps the most difficult situations are those when the innocent suffer at the sinful hands of others. In times of tragedy and crisis pastors are called upon to speak words of comfort and encouragement when no one else has any idea what to say. We are supposed to know what to say when nothing seems appropriate to say. Where do you go for such wisdom and guidance? Jesus had a way of saying exactly what needed to be said in every situation. In Luke 13:1-8, Jesus was informed of a tragic event. Pontius Pilate perpetuated an atrocity in which innocent Galileans were killed in the Temple precincts in Jerusalem. The blood of the Galileans was mingled with the sacrifices in the Temple and therefore desecrated the Temple. A greater horror cannot be imagined in Jerusalem. Jesus asked, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the Galileans because they suffered this fate?” What was the thinking of those who came with the horrible news? They assumed that these Galilean victims died because they were greater sinners. Perhaps they thought that they were more righteous because they were alive. To make His point even clearer Jesus reminded His listeners of the tower that had fallen in Siloam, killing 18 men. Were they greater sinners than those who lived in Jerusalem? Jesus made it very clear, “No.” He said to them, “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Problem of Evil and Suffering

God Brings Good out of Evil 01/23/2010

Evil in our world is a reality every thinking person must face, but it need not be fatal to the Christian. The fact never changes: God is good. God is omnipotent, God is omniscient and He is omnipresent. We interpret the events of the day by the known truths, not the unknown. In fact, we interpret the unknown in the light of the known. Augustine said, “God judged it better to bring good out of evil, than to suffer no evil to exist.” You must acknowledge that good exists for evil to exist. There can be no evil without there being good. God’s providence extends over both good and evil. Moreover, His will is absolutely good and perfect because His is a righteous God. God has good reason for evil to exist, even though He did not create it. Evil cannot exist unless God willed it, therefore He can use it for His glory and for our good. A false premise commonly heard in our day is because evil exists in the world there is no God. The reasoning is if God is all-powerful, sovereign, and totally good, He will not allow evil to take place. Evil is only a problem if good exists. Only because both good and evil exists can you have a problem. If there is no God, you cannot account for both good and evil. The only basis for assuming both is because there is a moral law, a standard by which to determine both good and evil. There can be no moral law without a moral Absolute. As Ravi Zacharias observes: “If there is no moral Lawgiver there is no moral law; if there is no moral law, there is no good; if there is no good there is no evil.” Therefore, the idea of evil should cause us to seek God in His goodness rather than to flee from His presence and deny His existence.

God Brings Good out of Evil