Acceptance – See you in Heaven

Is Jesus Christ equal with God? Part 3

Jesus not only claims to be equal with God the Father because He is the Son and the Savior, but also because HE IS THE SEPARATOR (John 5:27-30). Jesus will separate believers from unbelievers, and execute judgment on those without eternal life and bless those with eternal life. “…And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27). Christ is qualified to judge humanity because as a human being, “the Son of Man,” He can understand the needs and viewpoints of people. Christ knows the pressures and the problems we face, therefore He knows clearly when we have reached the place where we are ready to give up depending on ourselves and are ready to depend on Him alone for eternal life.

“²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29). What a marvelous claim! Jesus says there is an hour coming in history when all the dead – the good and the bad – loving and unloving, murderers, rapists – all, shall come forth from the grave. He is going to empty the cemeteries of the world. Christ will ultimately determine the eternal destiny of all people.

What does “those who have done good” mean? Many people take this verse out of context and make up their own ideas about what it means to “have done good.” Some say if the good you have done in your life outweighs the bad, then God will let you into heaven. But that is not what this verse is saying. This is just a few verses removed from what Jesus said about the gift of eternal life in John 5:24. To“have done good,” of course, means to have heard Jesus’s Word and believed in Him who sent Christ. After a person trusts Christ for eternal life, God looks at their life and sees only the good things they have done, not the evil. How can this be? Because God has no charge against the believer (Romans 8:33). The believer is justified (“declared totally righteous”) of all things based on his or her faith in Christ (Romans 4:5). All our sin has been covered by the goodness of Jesus Christ. We are seen by God as completely holy and perfect because of His grace.

“Those who have done evil” – refers to the person who rejects Christ and remains in the sphere of “death.” This dark circle (see diagram 1) represents the non-Christian’s life filled with the darkness of sin. When God looks at the life of an unbeliever, all He sees are the evil things the unbeliever has done. There is no hint of righteousness in the non-Christian. All their good works, thoughts, and words are stained with sin (Isaiah 64:6). Their condemnation by God is total, just as the believer’s acceptance by God is total. So, when God looks at our lives before we believe in Jesus, all He sees are the bad things we have done.

But the Bible tells us that when a person hears God’s promise of eternal life and believes in Jesus, he is transferred into the sphere of “life” (see diagram 2). When God looks at our life after we believe in Christ, what does He see? He sees only the blood of His Son and His goodness in our lives. That’s why God can let us into heaven when we die if we have believed in Christ as our Savior.

Some people may object to Jesus’s judgment of the unbeliever. After all, how can a loving God send people to an eternity separated from God? “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30). There will be no argument against Jesus’s judgment. No one will be able to complain that it is unfair, because it is the work of both the Father and the Son. Jesus does not judge others independently of the Father. He says, “As I hear, I judge.” Christ’s judgment is based upon what He hears His Father say so that His “judgment is righteous.” Jesus would never make a judgment that is different from His righteous Father’s.

God the Son who came among us and knows how we feel, is both our Savior and Judge. We decide which He is going to be by the response we make to the truth. It is Christ’s responsibility to determine a person’s eternal destiny. It is our responsibility to direct people to Christ. Hence, Jesus defends His equality with God the Father by making three claims:

He is the Son

He is the Savior

He is the Separator

Do you see Jesus as He is this moment? John is concerned that we have a correct understanding of who Jesus Christ is. From the very beginning of his gospel, he has told us that the Word (meaning Jesus) was God and that the Word became human flesh without ceasing to be God (John 1:1, 14). Jesus can never be put on a par with Mohammed, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, the virgin Mary, Moses or any other religious leader. But the truth is, much of the world has an image of Jesus as a good man with good teachings on how we are to get along with each other. If that were true though, He would never have gotten Himself in trouble, and He definitely would not have been crucified. You see, the facts don’t match up with that line of thinking.

What will you do with Jesus now? Perhaps your life is a mess. You have been trying to run your own life and it keeps getting messier. Are you prepared to meet Christ as a Judge or as your Savior? The only way you can face Him as your Savior is by coming to Him as a sinner, realizing He paid for all your sins on the cross and rose from the dead, and then trusting Him alone to save you. Have you done that? If not, is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ as your Savior right now? If not, simply take Him at His Word when He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24).

The moment you hear Jesus’s promise of eternal life and believe in Him for it, you have eternal life. Would you do me a favor? The moment you are convinced you have eternal life after trusting in Jesus, would you let me know because I want to rejoice with you!!! Just send me a message under our “Contact Us” menu.

Prayer: Father, please make an eternal difference today by convincing those without Christ to trust in Him alone for the gift of eternal life. Thank You, Father… Please help those of us who know Christ to make Him known to others with our lips and our lives. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

No one can successfully condemn me

“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

Are you living under condemnation? Are you weighed down by guilt and anxiety about your past? Maybe you have done things which would embarrass you if they became public knowledge. You may have committed a terrible and tragic sin that was never traced back to you. You may have a criminal record or a moral charge or a domestic conflict that, to this moment, is private information. You may wrestle with a past that has been fractured and wounded by a mental or emotional breakdown. Futile attempts at suicide may add to the previous scar tissue and increase your fear of being labeled “sick” or “nervous.” It’s possible you live with memories of an immoral relationship, a financial failure, a terrible habit, a divorce or a scandalous involvement. You may be your worst critic of your past.

Or perhaps you are living under the condemnation of another person. Critical comments from a parent, a friend, an employer or a spouse have continued to haunt you. No matter what you do, you cannot seem to live up to their expectations. Nothing you do can seem to please them. Does that describe you?

Worse yet, you may think that God will condemn you for something you have done in your past. Perhaps you have committed such a heinous sin that you are convinced that there is no possible way God could ever forgive you because He is holy and just. His justice could never overlook what you have done.

Before you surrender your situation as hopeless, please understand that if you have believed in Jesus Christ for His gift of everlasting life, God will not condemn you nor reject you. So there is no need to be paralyzed by your guilt and condemnation any longer. The assurance that no one can successfully condemn you is established in Romans 8:34.

The apostle Paul writes, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (8:34).

God is saying that no one can successfully condemn you because His Son…

– “died” in your place for all your sins, taking the condemnation that you deserved so all your guilt is removed (8:34b).

– “is risen” from the dead, satisfying God’s demand to punish your sins (8:34c). Jesus is alive to give life everlasting to all who believe in Him (John 11:25-26).

– “who is even at the right hand of God” defending you against all accusations (8:34).

– “makes intercession for” you so that your faith won’t fail, you won’t give up, and that you can encourage others” (8:34e; cf. Luke 22:32).

How many times have we listened to Satan’s accusations or the accusations of others, all the while forgetting that God knows our sin, and has forgiven us any way!?! Jesus is sitting at God’s right hand right now defending us. When we sin and we are condemned by others, God looks to His Son Who says, “Father, I paid for that sin.”

So many of us live with negative labels. Sometimes they are not our own fault. But so many times they are of our own doing. And thus, we think that our story is one of failure and shame. But you know, it doesn’t have to be that way. Because our story can be a story of grace. For it is grace that fixes broken lives. It is grace that heals broken hearts and restores estranged sinners.

Jesus points us to what we are meant to be. We don’t have to live in our past. We don’t have to live with condemnation. We don’t have to live a life that is powerless in the face of temptation and sin. We are chosen for something more.

You know, none of us deserve to be forgiven. We haven’t earned it. Nor have we paid the price ourselves. Yet, in His grace, when Jesus forgives our sin, He forgets (Heb. 10:17). Our past ended one second ago. Once you have experienced grace, it is now time to show it to others. We are to be gracious with others as Christ has been gracious with us.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for removing all grounds for my condemnation through Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession so that I am totally accepted by You. I am so glad that when You forgave me, You forgot what I had done as if I had never sinned. And You are not only willing but pleased to use any vessel – just as long as it is clean today – at this moment. It may be cracked or chipped. It may be worn or it may have never been used before. But I can count on this – because of Your grace – my past ended one second ago. From this point on I can be clean and free from condemnation. Use me for Your glory, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God has given me absolute security in Him

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Romans 8:33

Yesterday my wife and I found toilet paper stocked on a shelf in a store for the first time in three weeks. All other stores we have gone to in recent weeks have had bare shelves in the paper products section. Why? Because there is a lack of security in our world today due to the coronavirus. People are stockpiling toilet paper simply because of fear and insecurity.

But I believe there is a much greater lack of security that is commonly found among Christians. We have been taught from the Bible that God loves and accepts all believers in Jesus unconditionally (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 1:6). Yet we struggle with this teaching. Perhaps we have not experienced total love and acceptance in our dealings with people. Rejection has been a common experience in our lives, so it is difficult for us to believe that Someone such as God could love and accept us as we are. We have become skeptical and cynical of this notion of unconditional love and acceptance because we have been hurt so many times.

Some of you may be feeling very beat up by the circumstances of life. You may be feeling hopeless. There may be others of you who are discouraged and depressed by events that have happened just in the last week or two. There may be some of you who have been in the pit of despair and you have even considered taking your life because of the pain.

If this describes you, please know that God wants you to have absolute security in Him. The apostle Paul asks, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” (8:33a). Who can successfully accuse a Christian of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom? Who? Can the devil? Can your ex-spouse? Your competitive neighbor? Your unforgiving boss? Who?

Look at the answer. Paul writes, “It is God who justifies” (8:33b). God is saying, “No one can successfully press charges against you because I have declared you totally righteous on the basis of your faith in My Son.” If God pronounced that you are not guilty, then no one can reverse His verdict. No one can successfully accuse any Christian because God does not even accuse us. He justifies us the moment we believe in Jesus alone (Romans 3:28, 30; 4:5; 5:1).

To be justified means God declares us to be the opposite of what we were before we were saved. So if you were an impatient person before you were saved, He declares you to be patient at the moment of faith. If you tended to be hateful, He declares you to be helpful. If you were promiscuous, He declares you to be pure the instant you believe in Jesus.

Hence, all believers in Jesus Christ are secure forever because Christ paid for every sin they have or will ever commit (cf. Colossians 2:13-14). Before Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). This word translated “finished” (tetelestai), means “paid in full.” Christ did not make a down payment for our sin when He died on the cross so that we must pay the remainder of our sin debt to God. God does not accept us on the basis of our good life, our keeping of His commandments, our water baptism, or the sacraments we have taken. We are accepted by God on the basis of the full payment for our sin debt to God when Jesus Christ died and rose again on our behalf. God was completely and forever satisfied with Jesus’ full payment for our sin. The verb tetelestai is in the perfect tense. This means Christ made the full payment for our sin debt when He died on the cross and it remains paid in full to the present.

Satan’s (or anyone else’s) accusations against us will be thrown out of God’s courtroom because God has declared us not guilty on the basis of our faith in Christ alone. No one can bring an accusation against us that will stand because no one is greater than God. If we could be charged of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom, then the accuser would have to be greater than God. And that is not going to happen!!! No one can reverse the verdict of God. Not even you!!!

But how difficult it is at times to realize God’s total acceptance of us! It’s like the sun – every day – it shines. No one could ever say – the sun isn’t shining! We may say, “I can’t feel it or see it”…but fly high enough and there it is!

Someone may ask, “If no one can accuse me of wrongdoing in God’s courtroom after I come to faith in Christ, then why not live like the devil the rest of my life?” I commend those who ask this question because they do understand the eternal security of the believer in Jesus. Let me answer this question first with an illustration.

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA, was completed. It cost over $35 million to build and was completed in two phases: the first slowly and the second quickly. In the first stage, no safety devices were used. As a result, twenty-three men fell to their deaths. Imagine how this must have effected the other workers? They were more cautious and afraid, slowing down the work progress. But for the final part of the project, $100,000 was spent to buy a large safety net to place under the workers. Once the net was installed production increased by 25%. Why? Because the men were assured of their security and they were free to wholeheartedly finish the project.

Many Christians lack joy and peace because they think going to heaven is based on their works or feelings instead of the finished work of Christ on the cross. They live in constant fear of losing their salvation or conclude that they were never saved to begin with because someone accuses them of some unforgivable sin. So instead of focusing on the Lord and the work He has for them to do, they are stuck in the past, unable to move forward. If you are one of these people, please listen again to what God is saying in this one verse.

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (8:33). Does anyone dare to bring a charge against God’s people!?! If they do, they must answer to God because He has already pronounced that His children are totally righteous and acceptable before Him on the basis of their faith alone in Jesus alone. This truth is worth celebrating and living for!

Prayer: Father God, I praise You that no one can successfully accuse me of wrongdoing in Your courtroom because You have declared me to be totally righteous on the basis of my faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Although Satan has relentlessly accused me throughout my Christian life along with his teachers, I can still rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ Who paid my sin debt in full. Therefore, I do not have to worry about what others say or think, because I am forever secure in Christ. Please lead me to the people who need to hear and believe in Your absolute security through Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is God Someone you run from or to?

“⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.¹¹If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; ¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Psalm 139:7-12

After describing God’s intimate and thorough knowledge of him, David felt surrounded and controlled by God (139:1-6) and sought to flee from God’s presence (139:7). When someone knows us so well, we can also feel threatened and insecure because we fear that he or she will reject us. So we try to get away from them. But we are reminded in this Psalm that there is nowhere we can go to escape God’s presence.

Even if I go vertically to the highest (“heaven”) or lowest place (“hell”) in the universe, God is still there (139:8). Though I travel horizontally at the speed of light from the east (“take the wings of the morning”) to the far side of the Mediterranean Sea in the west (“the uttermost parts of the sea”), even there God “shall lead me” with His left hand and lovingly “hold me” with His “right hand” (139:9-10). Even though God knows everything about us – our actions, thoughts, motives, and speech – He still loves us and accepts us unconditionally, and He wants to guide us. He always offers a helping hand to us no matter how we have responded to Him in the past. Instead of running from God we can run to Him and enjoy Him!

We cannot hide from God in the dark for “the darkness and the light are both alike to” Him since He is all knowing and present everywhere (139:11-12).

Prayer: Lord God, I can be such a goof ball at times thinking I can escape Your presence by staying busy or traveling fast for great distances. What is even more absurd, is thinking that Your complete knowledge of me will be used against me instead of expressing Your love and acceptance of me. Thank You for comforting me today with the image of Your gentle and loving guidance. With Your left hand You gently lead me and with Your right hand You lovingly hold me. Instead of running from You, I want to run to You and soak up Your grace. You are a good good Father who knows me and loves me far beyond what any human being ever could. You are so so good. All glory to You my Daddy in heaven! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How are Christians to respond to those who differ with them about their Christian liberty?

“Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.” Romans 14:1

The apostle Paul is writing to Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome who had differing views about how God’s will was to be practiced with regard to nonessential issues (“doubtful things”) such as food, drink, and observing certain “religious” days. Jewish Christians wanted Gentile Christians to observe their Jewish customs and Gentile Christians wanted the Jews to practice their customs. These practices are not wrong in and of themselves. Examples today may include food, drink, recreation, clothing, personal grooming, birth control, schooling, holiday observances, etc., when no sin is involved. Paul instructs believers to do the following:

1. They are to “receive” or accept one another even though they differ about what their Christian liberty permits them to do because God “receives” them in Christ (14:1-5a). For example, the stronger Christian whose faith permits him to eat all foods and observe every day the same, was not to “despise” or condemn the Christian whose faith did not permit him to exercise his Christian liberty to the same extent. Nor is the “weaker” Christian, who does not believe he has the liberty to eat all foods or view all days the same, to “judge” his more liberal Christian brother because “God has received him” (14:2-3).

2. They are not to “judge” one another for these differing practices …

a. Because they can observe them “to the Lord” for His approval (14:5b-8). In Paul’s day, Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath and Jewish feast-days while Gentile believers did not. Paul says it does not matter what days you think are sacred, what matters is that you seek to please the Lord.

b. Because only Jesus Christ is qualified to judge them, and He will at “the judgment seat of Christ” (14:9-12; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10).