Salvation

The Clean Heart

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“Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.” Psalm 73:1 (KJV)

The Psalm is a song of Asaph.  A collector.  A Song writer.  A musician of the temple.  There are a few of the Psalms attributed to Asaph.  A man who loved God.

To have a clean heart, a pure heart ought to be the desire of every child of God, every Christian.  Yes we are saved by grace, but that grace is powerful enough not to leave us in our sin and rebellion.

God is good to Israel, and to all who know Israel’s God, and are known by Him.  Here is what has been written concerning “perfect hearts” that is a pure, clean heart;

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a

Do you have a clean, pure heart?  Do you desire a clean, pure heart; a perfect heart?  Hear what Jesus says,

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

Believe what God says.  Trust His gift of salvation to mankind.  Trust His Son Jesus Christ, and His finished work on the cross.  See Romans 10:9-13.

God and His Enemies

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“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him.” Psalm 68:1 (KJV)

I would think that David had read the writings of Moses, and would have known the prayer of Moses on this same order (Numbers 10:35).

Many will be thinking that read this that “Well God would have no enemies”, but all who refuse to see God as God are His enemies.  All who refuse to hear His Word.  All who refuse to believe His Son.  All who refuse to come to Him His way, but seek other ways.  These are all His enemies.

Are you the enemy of God?  “Let God arise” in your heart and life today, through the cross of His Son Jesus.  The enemy of God in your heart will flee when you invite Jesus in.  “Let His enemies be scattered” by the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ.

Christian.  Let God arise in your life that the enemies you and I face flee.  Let us pray that the soul will flee unto Christ, and be delivered from the enemy of men’s souls.  That enemy is Satan, the devil.  He is already defeated.  Defeated by the cross of Jesus, and proved to be true by the resurrection of Jesus.

God does have enemies.  Make sure you are not one.  God has made provision for those who might hate Him;

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:8-10

Let God arise in your heart and life today.  Come to Him through His provision of the gift of Jesus Christ.

Responsible for Sin

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“And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, Mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” Exodus 32:31-35 (KJV)

Moses had been on the Mount receiving instructions of the worship of God for the people of Israel.  They had previously received the Ten Commandments in word, having heard the voice of God speaking to them in Exodus 20.

The first Commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me”.  The second is “You shall not make for yourself any graven image…”, and that is exactly what Aaron and the people had done.  They had disobeyed God the LORD of all glory.  They, by making the golden calf, had separated themselves from the worship of YaHWeH.  They transgressed the law of God.

Moses, the man of God, the prophet of the Law of God, prays that if someone is to perish for their sin, “…Blot me, I pray Thee out of Thy book which Thou has written”.  It is apparent from God’s response that no one is responsible for the payment of sin except the one committing the transgression.

There is the promise of God that “Mine Angel shall go before thee…”, but there is still a visitation of judgment that must be made upon sin.

God has not, nor will He ever forsake His  people; but Oh how His people have forsaken Him.  Yet, He is merciful.  He is forever with us.

We are the ones responsible for our own sin debt, but God has provided a Substitute who has paid the price, by becoming “sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  The name of that Substitute is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Wrong Side of Judgment

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“O LORD, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.” Psalm 38:1 (KJV)

No one that I know wants to be on the wrong side of judgment.  By that I mean the danger end of a shotgun, rifle, or pistol.  For those unfamiliar with this thought I will just say, no one looks forward to standing in court before a judge; at least if they are in the right mind.

No one should desire to stand on the wrong side of the judgment of GOD.  I know that I sure do not want to.  Neither did David the Psalmist.  GOD is the supreme Judge.  He hates sin.  He judges sin; my sin and yours.  We cannot even appear  before Him unless sin has been dealt with.

No one can be good enough, sinless enough to appear before GOD of Creation on their own merit.  Not me, nor you.  Our own “righteousness” condemns us, it does not save us.  We are born in a condemned state, apart from GOD; without GOD.

GOD Himself stepped into the world picture in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, pouring out His wrath, His displeasure upon Him for us, that we might come into His presence and glory.

If you do not desire to be rebuked in the wrath of GOD; in which you will not survive it; neither will you survive His hot displeasure; then, you must receive GOD’S gracious gift of salvation He has provided by way of the cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus died, was buried, and bodily arose and came out of the grave, and lives today awaiting the time to come again and make all things right.

Abiding In the Presence

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“LORD, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 (KJV)

These are two very important questions.  They could have been asked by David after attempting to move the Ark of the covenant to Zion’s Hill in the wrong manner, it was touched by Uzza, and he perished (1 Chronicles 13:7-11).

There is this one thing that professing Christians of 2014 seem to forget and that is that GOD is still holy.  He is still a “Consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29), and it is still a “Fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).  Those references are from the New Testament written and quoted after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So do not go off on a tangent saying, “We are no longer under the law” which has absolutely nothing to do with it.  God is still holy.  He is still Jehovah [YaHWeH].

The questions “Who shall abide in Thy tabernacle?”  None of us are worthy.  “Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?”  Again none are worthy.

O, but the death of Jesus Christ; God’s perfect, sinless, spotless, undefiled, pure sacrifice paid the sin debt that was mine and yours.  Jesus was the sin-bearer for me, and for you.  Because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus we can abide in His tabernacle; we can dwell forever in His holy hill.

No I am not worthy, you are not worthy to abide with God.  We cannot dwell in His presence, but through His Son Jesus Christ.  Believe Him.  Call on Him, and come into His presence and abide forever.

Jesus Through the Bible – The Lamb of God

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”  Exodus 12:5-7

The final plague was coming upon Egypt.  Moses had received instruction from the LORD for the deliverance from this final form of judgment on Egypt; it would affect all in the land of Egypt, even Israel.  None can stand before the final judgment without the redemptive power of the blood of the lamb.

Note in the above verse the placing of the blood on the “two side posts”, and on the “upper door post” of their homes.  Within that alone we have the sign of the cross.  It was on the cross of Calvary where our blessed Saviour bled out His life’s blood for our redemption.  The perfect Lamb of God who willingly gave His life for my sin and yours.

John the apostle wrote of John the Baptist as he said,

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  John 1:29

Your sins and mine have been paid for by the blood of the perfect, sinless Lamb of God Jesus Christ.  You are lost and condemned without Him.  Repent, believe Him, and be saved, today.

Jesus Through the Bible – Isaac the Promised Seed

/ Tim A. / 7 Comments

“And God said, ‘Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.”  Genesis 17:19 (KJV)

Yes!  Abraham had other children.  His first was Ishmael; due to the impatience of Sarah and himself, thinking to take things concerning the promise of God into their own hands.  God had better things in mind.  Sarah was to have a son of promise.  It was and is through God’s promise of a Saviour that the covenant was made with Isaac as the son of promise.

Just at the time you think it cannot happen; with God nothing shall be impossible.  Jesus is the Son of the covenant of promise and grace.  Paul the apostle has written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit…

“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”  Romans 9:6-7

It is by the promise of Jesus, and no other way that one will be forgiven all sin, cleansed, and imputed all righteousness and have fellowship with God.

-T.A.

Jesus Through the Bible

/ Tim A. / 2 Comments

From February 01, 2014 through December 31 we will take a journey through the Bible, and looking at pictures of Jesus and the very fulfillment of Jesus when we get to the New Testament.  These will be a short portion of verse or verses, and light commentary on the portrait, type, and how we are to respond to Him.

For February 01 –

 ‘And the LORD said unto Noah, ‘Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.”  Genesis 7:1 (KJV)

It is awesome the way God has preserved, and inspired His Word to proclaim His Son and His glorious salvation.  Looking at the verse above we see the means of Noah’s, his family’s and many other creature’s salvation from the devastating flood.

In this historical account of the worldwide flood of Noah’s day we have a wonderful picture of Christ Jesus in the ark, and of God’s marvelous grace.  That invitation is still valid, and powerful today when we look at Jesus as the only source of hope and salvation for mankind.  He says “Come unto Me…, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  There are at least five other references to the Lord saying “Come unto Me”.

The Lord is calling the lost, the hopeless, the sick, the sinful, and the weary to “Come unto Me…”

For God So Loved the World…

/ Tim A.

Within the Southern Baptist Convention there is a great controversy over Calvinism and Arminiamism.  I only use these because in the end they are the extreme side of both ends.  I know that my little bit will not help the debate, but it will be my two cents nevertheless.

Calvinism is based partly on the teachings of John Calvin, a reformer; born in 1509 and died in 1564.  I am not a follower of John Calvin, nor would I call myself a Calvinist, but neither am I an Armenian.  Just to get to the nitty gritty of the matter Calvinism teaches the sovereignty of God in salvation, and there is no Biblical problem with that.  No one can be saved except the Spirit of God draw an individual to God (John 6:44).

The problem with this belief is when it is carried to the extreme by living as though there is no human responsibility in taking the message of the gospel to the lost of the world.  We are commanded by Jesus Himself to “go into all the world…”  Many of those who have fallen into this lie will say that this is spoken only to the disciples, or apostles of Jesus and has no merit for today’s believers.  I guess the rest of Scripture, then, has no merit for us.  That is the only conclusion one can reach with that belief.

The extreme calvinist will tell you too that God only sent Jesus into the world to die for the elect; thus the title of this post.  According to Strong’s Concordance “world” is from the word “kosmos, cosmos” which takes in all of creation, the universe, and every thing and everyone upon planet earth.  Especially those made in His image and after His likeness, but He does not leave out the rest of His creation.  The extreme calvinist will also deny the freewill of man.

Yes God is sovereign in salvation of mankind.  No Christian can deny that and believe Scripture; however, one cannot deny that Christ came and died, was buried, and rose again from the grave, that “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  To deny that is to deny the Scripture as well.

It is my understanding that the extreme of Arminianism is that an individual can of his/her own will decide to be saved.  The logical conclusion of that is; if one can on their own merit decide to be saved, in their own time, place and way; then, they could at any time, any place, and any way they choose decide not to be saved as well.

What amazes me about the sovereignty of God is that God saves by His discretion and grace; and that His will is and will be done no matter what we may say or do.  The sovereignty of God, and the freewill of man are both taught in Scripture.  To deny one or the other is to deny the Word of God.  They work together to accomplish the will of God on earth and for His glory.

In the end neither one of these man made soteriologies are going to get anyone to God or heaven;

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

As Baptist we need to agree that the Scriptures are true; and that we do not understand all there is to know about God, His sovereignty, or His salvation by grace.  We are called to trust and believe on His Son, His death, burial and resurrection.

Let us get together, and get it together.

-Tim A. Blankenship

BF&M – God’s Purpose of Grace

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There is quite a bit of talk about grace.  It may be more among Christians than others, but it is a good topic.  How can grace be defined?  My definition is this;  It is a gift from God which we do not deserve, and cannot earn.  It is something for which those who have received it should be forever grateful.  It is an eternal gift which God chooses to give by His own will.

Here is our SBC Statement of Faith on “God’s purpose of Grace”:

V. God’s Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.

There are some who want to tell us that people who were saved in the Old Testament were saved by their works.  That is not so.  They were all saved by faith looking forward to the cross of Jesus Christ.  People today are saved looking back to the cross of Jesus.

It is said of Noah, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:8 (KJV).  The word ‘Grace’ is found more often in the book of Genesis than in all four New Testament Gospels combined.  Now, would someone tell me that the Old Testament people were saved by their works.  Go figure.

The one New Testament Scripture that stands out as a favorite for all Christians is Ephesians 2:8-10.  That is right I include verse ten.  It is one we too often leave out.  “For by grace are ye ssaved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  Trust the God of grace.

I am Tim A. Blankenship

BF&M – Salvation

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Living in this world we do often hear people ask the question, “What do we need salvation from?”  As mentioned in yesterday’s post concerning our Statement of Faith on “Man” we do believe that man is a fallen being; meaning that we have fallen out of fellowship with our Creator, and therefore, we are a condemned race.  We need the salvation which only our Creator can provide us.

Here is our Statement of Faith concerning Salvation:

IV. Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

B. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5

Let me try and clarify the meaning of “Justification”.  It is the act of God declaring righteousness on the believer.  It is the same as God’s declaring us as “Saints”.  It is certainly undeserved on our part.  It is God’s declaration and the placing of the righteousness of Jesus Christ on us.  Jesus Himself taking our unrighteousness while on the cross and putting it to death at His death.

It is truly a marvelous salvation.