Believe Right!

  Believers, consider Psalm 103:1-5 with emphasis on verse 3: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s." The order of the Lord's benefits is not coincidental; before the rest can follow, one has to be established in the first set of benefits in verse 3- "Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases," And how are we blessed with these two benefits in the Lord Jesus Christ? Romans 8:32 tells us that it is FREELY and not by those abominable human effort-driven works like attempts at obeying the law, fasting and sowing seed in order to get God to forgive and to heal: "He who did not spare His own Son...

Beloved of God, Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him: "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone." Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Believers whose righteousness is found in Christ, trust in Christ to make you "free indeed," even free from your sins. Matt. 1:21 says of Him: "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Don't let anyone bully you into believing that it is up to you to save yourself and that you are headed for hell if you don't do certain things that they prescribe for you to get back into God’s good graces or be godly aka "be like God." Christ paid the price for that and all who truly believe Him, having Him as their righteousness and strength, are f...

Beloved of God, God's word in 2 Peter 1:9 tells us WHY the virtues of goodness, understanding, strength of self-control, patient endurance, godliness, mercy and unending love are lacking in the lives of many churchgoers today: "9 But if anyone lacks these things, he is blind, constantly closing his eyes to the mysteries of our faith, and forgetting his innocence—for his past sins have been washed away." See the NIRV- "But what if these things don’t describe someone at all? Then that person can’t see very well. In fact, they are blind. They have forgotten that their past sins have been washed away." God's word is telling us that the virtues of goodness, understanding, strength of self-control, patient endurance, godliness, mercy and unending love are lacking in the church today not because people are not clenching their teeth hard enough to curb sins; it is because many are not convinced about the efficacy of Christ's blood in utterly wiping away our p...

Believer, this is the crux of the message of Christ: Righteousness by faith in Christ. In Him, we are made right with God, not because we obeyed but because Christ obeyed as it is written in Romans 5:19- “By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous." In 2 Peter 1, Peter tells of God's abundance of Grace in the lives of all who have been given the same precious faith as the apostles. Let’s break the verses in this chapter down: VERSE 1-2: “ 1 This letter is from Simeon Peter, a loving servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to those who have been given a faith as equally precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 May grace and perfect peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Notice that this gift of faith is given only "through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Faith is no...