“But I Don’t Have Enough Faith”

“But I Don’t Have Enough Faith”

I often hear people say, “I am afraid I don’t know if I have enough faith.” How much faith do you need in order to be saved?

The Bible does not teach that you are justified because of your faith. Faith is not works.

Faith is nothing more than the instrument to receive our salvation. Nowhere in Scripture will you find that we are justified on account of our faith. The Scripture says that we are justified by faith or through faith. Faith is nothing but the channel by which this righteousness of God in Christ becomes ours. It is not our faith that saves us.

What saves us is the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect saving work. It is the death of Christ upon Calvary’s Cross that saves us. It is God putting Christ’s righteousness to our account that saves. Faith is only the channel and the instrument by which His righteousness becomes mine (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:24). The righteousness that saves is entirely Christ’s.  My faith is not my righteousness and I must never define or think of faith as righteousness. Faith is nothing but that which connects us to the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness.

The whole emphasis on salvation by faith is clearly on the object of our faith: Jesus Christ. Jesus saves! Faith does not save us. Jesus alone does that.

If we are saved at all it must be through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Spurgeon once said, “It does not take a strong faith to save you, just faith. The weakness of your faith will not destroy you. A trembling hand may receive a golden gift.”

The object of our faith is the all-important thing (Acts 16:31). Our faith must be focused on Christ Jesus and His saving work on the cross.   He died as our substitute. We must trust in Christ to save us.

The righteousness that God has graciously provided becomes ours through simple faith. Ponder over Romans 3:22, 24-25, 26, 28, 30 and observe the emphasis the apostle Paul is making in these verses. Faith will not earn your salvation. If it did then faith would be works and God would owe you something. Faith is essential because only those individuals who put their trust in Christ will be saved.

The apostle Paul wrote, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (v. 22). Sinners are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (vv. 24-25a). God did it this way as a demonstration “that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (v. 26). You cannot boast if you are saved by grace through faith in Christ, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law” (v. 28). Moreover, “He will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (v. 30).

If you have never done so, will you believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved today? “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent

The Call of God to Salvation

To those who are called of God, the good news in Jesus Christ is the power of God. If you are called of God, you know it.  It is a matter of pure experience between you and the risen Christ.  The true believer can declare, “Now I know in whom I have believed.”

C. H. Spurgeon said, “Ah!  What a mercy it is that it is not your hold of Christ that saves you but His hold of you!  What a sweet fact that it is not how you grasp His hand, but His grasp of yours that saves you!  Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  “But we preach Christ crucified… to those who are called, both to Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23a, 24).

“To those who are the called… Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  On occasion Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

There is the general call through the preaching of the Gospel to all who will come and listen, but there is also an effectual call when the Holy Spirit speaks to the individuals and they respond by repenting of their sin and believe on Christ as their personal Savior.

The school bell rings at 8 a.m., and it is a general call for all students to be in their classroom ready to begin their studies.  However, when the teacher says, “Wil, come with me.  We are going to the principal’s office,” that is a special call.

When the apostle Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified…to those who are called,” it is always a special call.  It is the sharp, hot arrow of God’s Word piercing into the heart bringing conviction of sin and saving faith in Jesus Christ.

The effectual call of God is when the Holy Spirit whispers your name and says, “Come to Me.”  The word comes into the soul, and there is no resisting it.  God speaks.  Jesus said, “All that the Father has given to Me shall come.”  That is the effectual call.

The believer is saved by the effectual grace of God.  Saul, the persecutor of the early church, heard the effectual call of God saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul could go no further on his way, and a radical change took place in his heart.

Zaccheus saw Jesus coming down the road and climbed up into a tree so he could get a better view.  As Jesus walked He looked up into the tree and called to Zaccheus, “Zaccheus, come down today.  I must abide in your house.”  Zaccheus heard his name called and he could not stay up the tree.

The effectual call of God comes as we listen to the gospel being preached, and there is the power of God drawing the person to repent and believe on Christ.  It is the effectual call because those who hear it respond to God’s free grace and are saved.

The preaching of the cross is a thing of power.  “I have felt it here, in this heart; I have the witness of the Spirit within and know it is a thing of might because it has conquered me; it has bowed me down,” wrote Spurgeon.

It is a thing of power that does it. It is the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  Have you experienced it?  I have.  It is my prayer that you will respond to the good news that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross.  Can you say in your heart, “Jesus died for me.  I know the blood of Jesus has washed me of all my sins.  God has saved me for all eternity by His cleansing blood.”

Christ to me is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

       “Were the whole realm of nature mine,

       That were a present far too small;

       Love so amazing, so divine,

       Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

This is the response to the effectual call of God.  “To the rest of you who are called, I need say nothing,” Spurgeon said.  “The longer you live, the more deeply Christ taught you are, the more you live under the constant influence of the Holy Spirit, the more you will know the Gospel to be a thing of power, and the more also will you have understood it to be a thing of wisdom.  My every blessing rest upon you; and may God come up with us in the evening.”

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent

Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine

God does not intend for His saved child to live the Christian life without the blessed assurance of eternal life.

The apostle Paul had a profound conviction that nothing will be able to separate the believer from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:31-39).

Jesus spoke of double assurance or security for the believer when He said to His disciples: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand . . . and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

We have “been born anew to a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3-5). We are guarded by God’s power through faith for salvation. Because the new birth has taken place in our lives, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit within us (Rom. 8:23). He is called the “first fruits,” the initial promise and pledge of a greater harvest to follow. The Holy Spirit does a work in our lives producing His fruit that is characteristically different from our human nature. The Holy Spirit is evidence of assurance because “we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His own Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13).

The ascension of Christ to heaven to be our advocate is another great assurance for the believer who has been saved by grace. Jesus “ever lives to make intercession on our behalf” (Rom. 8:34; 1 Jn. 2:2). He is our great God and “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him” (Heb. 7:25). Do you have an intimate love relationship with your Savior? Are you abiding in Him and He in you? Spend time with Him every day. Learn to go into His presence throughout the day and make yourself available to Him all day long.

God’s sovereignty gives assurance to the sinner saved by grace that “all that the Father gives Me will come to Me; and him who comes to Me I will not cast out” (Jn. 6:37). Have you taken these words of Jesus to heart and believed on Him alone for your salvation? God’s eternal purpose of salvation is such that He will accept and forgive all who trust Him for salvation.

Have you taken John 3:16 seriously? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Every person who hears His voice and follows Him will never perish or can ever be snatched out of His hand. And they can never fall out of His hands because Christ has His hands securely around the believer and God the Father has His hands around His Son! “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all” (Jn. 10:29). How big is you God? Is He as big as Jesus claimed His Father to be? A God that big can provide eternal assurance for the weakest believer who is acutely aware of his sins and weaknesses. Have you confessed your need for Him to save you and keep you saved? Have you asked Him to save you? Are you trusting in Him alone for salvation?

If you are trusting in your good works to save you, then you should be filled with anxiety regarding your salvation. How can you ever have assurance that you have done enough good works, or are good enough, or perfect enough to be saved? Such presumptive pride should cause you to tremble before the Lord God (Matt. 7:21-23; Heb. 3:12).

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Will you now put your faith and trust in the finished and all-sufficient work of Jesus Christ to save you for all eternity? When you do you can find eternal security. “He who begin a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Behold, What Manner of Love

Jesus wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. The Jewish people who saw Him responded to one another, “Behold, how He loved him” (John 11:35-36).

C. H. Spurgeon said to his congregation in London, “Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in the tears, but in the precious blood that He so freely shed for us. . . . Behold how He loves us!”

Have you ever asked yourself where or when He first loved you? With fullness of heart we can say, “See, how He loves me!” Is the beginning of that great love when we first believed? Could it have begun when He died for us? As we reflect back on our lives and His love for us there is no time when He did not love us.

When we ponder the beginning of His love for us, it takes us beyond our creation into past eternity.

In eternity past Jesus so identified Himself with us and covenanted to redeem us.

From past eternity Jesus looked down the distant future in His divine perspective and saw the disastrous ruin of sin in our lives and chose to do something about it. In past eternity Jesus Christ took up our cause and pledged to be the guarantee of God’s eternal covenant. Jesus knew that sinful man could never fulfill the demands of the covenant with the LORD God. Therefore, Jesus pledged to fulfill man’s part of the covenant. He did so on our behalf long before we were able to have any part of it.

Jesus pledged to die for us by giving His life as a ransom for our sins. It was a unilateral covenant through His own blood for it is sealed “through the blood of the eternal covenant” (Heb. 13:20).

It was not bilateral because He did it in past eternity by Himself without our asking. It is eternal, and because it is by His grace it is undeserved. Jesus knew that we could never remedy our sin problem so He stepped in, and out of His love and mercy did it for us.

In that great act of love He united Himself with us so that His life became our life, His death became our death, His burial became our burial and His resurrection became our resurrection. What love!

Where did Jesus do that? When He first loved us. Behold, what manner of love He has for you and me! Even before we were born, even before creation, even before the Fall, even before we sinned, His great love was settled for us. Behold, how He loves us!

“When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father'” (Gal. 4:4-6).

Again, we can only exclaim, “See what manner of love He has for us!” We can never lose that adoption. It is guaranteed in eternity, purchased by the blood of the Son of God at Calvary, and sealed by the Holy Spirit the moment we believed on Christ as our Redeemer.

What our Redeemer planned in eternity past before the foundation of the world, He accomplished in time, and it is guaranteed by His resurrection for all eternity. Cf. Romans 8:37-39; John 15:13; 3:16; Galatians 4:4-6.

Although our salvation was planned in eternity, and Christ fulfilled that eternal covenant in His own blood at Calvary, it is not automatic.

Jesus calls us personally and persistently until we respond to “the sweet compulsion of His grace.”

Have you responded in sweet surrender to His abounding love and grace? Do you have eyes only for Jesus? Or is the Holy Spirit still pursuing you and pleading with you to put your faith in Jesus Christ?

“Behold how He loves us,” but as Spurgeon asked, has anyone ever said to you, “Behold how he or she loves Jesus”? Can your friends say of you and me, “See what manner of love he or she has for Jesus”? “Behold how they love Jesus.” Has anyone ever said to you, “Why do you love Him so?” Why do you love and serve Jesus Christ?

And when they do ask you, what will you say to them?

“Behold, what manner of love . . . .”

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Because Christ Lives

God supplies all of our spiritual needs through His infinite resources. The Holy Spirit indwells us with His power; therefore, as we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. As we are occupied with Christ, we are kept from sin and thus “saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

“He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). This permanent priesthood of Jesus gives Him the capacity to carry His saving work to completion. He can see them through every trial and difficulty right to the end of the road “because He always lives to intercede for them.” In saying this, the author reverted again to a truth he had already enunciated (4:14-16) where he had invited the readers to avail themselves boldly of the mercy and grace accessible to them through Jesus’ priesthood.

Therefore, the living Christ is in the presence of the Father interceding on our behalf and the Holy Spirit is in our hearts bringing us to repentance, confession of sin and reconciliation with God. We are saved by His resurrection life as we walk in the Spirit.

He saves completely, forever, all who put their faith in Him. Because He is our High Priest forever, He can save forever. “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:34).

One day we will stand before God complete in Christ and forever saved from the presence of sin. We will be in God’s presence and will never again be tempted by sin. In the fullest possible sense we shall be “saved by His life” forever.

God has taken us out of the category as “enemies of God” and has placed us in His family as sons and daughters. Because we are no longer enemies of God and are now members of His family, Paul reasons that He is certainly going to save us from the final outpouring of His wrath on the Day of Judgment. If He has saved us while we were enemies, He will certainly keep on saving us now that we are His children. Because we are now His friends God is not going to change His mind and cast us aside. He forever remains the same. Yes, there is a “wrath to come,” but no true believer will experience it (1 Thess. 1:9–10; 5:8–10).

We rejoice in the “hope of glory of God” because our living Savior guarantees our glorification. There is much more in store for the believer. Moreover, the greatest demonstration of the power of God was displayed at the cross of Calvary when Satan and his hosts were defeated.

In our blessed union with Christ, we stand with Him on the resurrection side of death. The work of Christ for us leads to His work in us to deliver us from the power of sin. We are in this sense saved by His resurrection life. We now live in union with the risen Redeemer who died for us and rose again. Life, peace and righteousness are ours in this new life in Christ. The very life which is in Christ in glory is also ours.

It is the living Christ, through His Spirit within us, who leads us, prompts our inner being, inspires us to holy purpose and molds our character to be conformed to His image. The more we make ourselves available to Him the deeper becomes our awareness of that intimate relationship with Him. The life we live, we live by faith in the risen Christ.

Because He lives, we are eternally saved (Heb. 7:23–25).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

A Zeal for the Righteousness of God

The apostle Paul prayed to God for the salvation of those who “have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3).

The apostle Paul was making his plea to his own people who in their religious zeal had rejected God’s provision of His own perfect righteousness for their own self-righteousness. They were intensely religious in their own eyes, but not with the true knowledge of God. They were running well but in the wrong direction. They labored to do good deeds, but for the wrong goal. They were religious, sincere, dedicated, but in their anxiety, they would miss their eternal reward.

“They have a zeal for God.” I meet people like that every day. In their religious zeal, they knock on your door, too. Like the apostle Paul, I am not against religious zeal or enthusiasm. However, they are zealous in their religious ceremonies, prayers, observances, holy days, fasts, visitation, teaching, etc., “but not in accordance with knowledge.” There is no use being zealous if you are zealous for the wrong reason. It will not help you if you are going in the wrong direction spiritually.

The apostle Paul was writing from his own personal experience. He had been very zealous for the Law, and in that enthusiasm, he killed men and women who had a different “knowledge” than his. He had a mistaken zeal for God. He believed sincerely, but he was sincerely wrong. He had been zealous, but his zeal was focused on the wrong object.

Then there came a day when he gained true knowledge of the righteousness of God, and he counted all his self-righteousness as dung and received salvation by free grace alone.

Paul’s zeal became refocused “with knowledge” when he met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. Knowledge of what? Before the encounter with Christ he did not know about God’s righteousness and sought to establish his own. In Philippians 3:4-6 he tells about that self-righteousness. He said, “I still count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . . that I may gain Christ” (v. 8). He gave up his zeal for self-righteousness by good works “that I may know Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (v. 9).

That is Paul’s “knowledge.” “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4).

Spurgeon once said, “It is easier to get a sinner out of sin than a self-righteous man out of his self-righteousness.”

Have you tried to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone who thinks he can earn or merit a right relationship with God by his religious zeal?

What is the problem? In their zeal they “know nothing about God’s righteousness, and seek to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (v. 3).

Any form of self-righteousness will never save you. In contrast, the Lord God has provided His own perfect righteousness by which He justifies the ungodly. Jesus Christ was obedient to the Law at every point, even to the point of death. God in His righteousness imputes the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believing sinner. He imputes to the believer what Jesus did for you on the cross. God will accept the believing sinner because of what Jesus is and what He did. Jesus Christ shall be your righteousness.

If you say, “No, I will not have His righteousness; I will have a righteousness of my own,” you are ignorant of God’s righteousness, and you shall perish.

God would never have sent His Son to the cross if you could be saved by our religious zeal. The death of Jesus on the cross was needless if you could be saved otherwise (Acts 4:12). If you are trying to have a righteousness of your own by being zealous for God, your church or denomination, baptism, church membership, emotional experiences, etc. then you are in competition with Jesus Christ.

Your eternal salvation lies absolutely outside of yourself, in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not in what you do in your religious zeal, but in what Christ Jesus has done on your behalf.

If you try to add anything to that finished work by your own thought, feeling, good works, baptism, church membership, etc., you have spoiled the work of Christ on your behalf. It shall never be Christ plus your _________, regardless of what you may fill in the blank. If you are to be saved, you must get out of the way and let God alone do it. The spiritual birth is all God’s doing, not yours or mine. Sinners saved by grace through faith will glorify Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is all by free grace of God in Jesus Christ.

“Going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” The righteousness of God is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved by God’s grace. Salvation is through faith in Christ. It is based on grace, and free grace alone through faith alone which is in Jesus Christ alone! It is a gift from God freely received by the sinner.

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Bad News – Good News

 One of the basic principles of sharing Christ with your friends is that you have to present some bad news before you can share the good news.

The Bible contains both bad news and good news. The bad news is that we have a very serious problem. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NET).

The word that catches our eye is “sinned.” “All have sinned.” You can ask grammar school students what sin is and they can tell you in the flash of an eye what sin is. We sin when we lie, cheat, steal, lust, hate, gossip, murder, etc. But it is more than that; it is anything that does not glorify a holy and righteous God in our lives.

The “glory of God” is his standard for people. We keep trying to reach His standard and we come up short. A friend of mine said it is like trying to throw stones at the North Pole. No matter how hard you try you could never hit the North Pole with a rock. We always come up short when try to satisfy God’s righteousness. He is perfect, but we are imperfect. We are sinners by our attitudes, and our actions.

Now if that is not bad enough, our problem gets worse. The Bible says there is a penalty attached to our problem with sin. It is bad enough that we are sinners, but the Bible says, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The “payoff” of sin is death. The “wages” or “payoff” was used in reference to the soldier’s pay. “The soul that sins will surely die.” That is the payoff.

There is a big difference between working for a salary and receiving a free gift. If you work for a company your employer pays you a salary for the work you do. The Bible tells us that when we sin we earn a wage and it pays in death. It is a spiritual death that separates us eternally from God. The sad truth is we deserve it because we are sinners.

The barrier between God and us is so great that we cannot overcome it in our own power, good works, religion, philosophy, self-righteousness, etc.

However, there is some good news in God’s Word for us.

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ died for us. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. . . God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8 NET).

This verse of Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ loved us so much that he was willing to die for us. Let’s suppose that you were guilty of murder, and the capital punishment by lethal injection is the penalty. That penalty is going to be paid. You must die. Out of grace I decide to take your punishment on myself and die in your place. You would then be set free because the penalty had been paid in full on your behalf.

The Bible tells us that is exactly what Christ did for you. Christ took your penalty that you deserve for sin, placed it upon himself, and died in your place (2 Cor. 5:21). There is no greater love than that.

The evidence that God accepted the full payment of your sin debt is that Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” (Romans 10:9-10 NET).

Salvation is God’s fee gift to everyone who believes on Jesus Christ as their Savior. Again, the Bible says, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NET).

Jesus Christ is the only answer to the problem that separates us from God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). This is why we must put our faith in Him alone to save us. You must put your trust in him just as you would trust a chair to hold you up and keep you from falling to the floor. You must trust in Jesus Christ to get you to heaven. Trusting in good works, religion, philosophy, keeping the law, going to church, etc. will not help. Salvation is not a wage God pays for your good behavior. It is a gift of His grace, freely given to the sinner who repents and believes on Christ to save him. When you trust in Christ alone, God gives you eternal life as His free gift.

Jesus said, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 NET). Ask Jesus Christ to save you right now. Pray something like this if it comes from your heart: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I deserve to be punished. I believe that you died for me on the cross to pay my penalty. I know that you are alive right now in heaven and that you are listening to my prayer. I trust you alone to forgive me of all my sins and give me everlasting life with you in heaven. Thank you for saving me. Amen.”

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

A Zeal for the Righteousness of God

The apostle Paul prayed to God for the salvation of those who “have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3).

The apostle Paul was making his plea to his own people who in their religious zeal had rejected God’s provision of His own perfect righteousness for their own self-righteousness. They were intensely religious in their own eyes, but not with the true knowledge of God. They were running well but in the wrong direction. They labored to do good deeds, but for the wrong goal. They were religious, sincere, dedicated, but in their anxiety, they would miss their eternal reward.

“They have a zeal for God.” I meet people like that every day. In their religious zeal, they knock on your door, too. Like the apostle Paul, I am not against religious zeal or enthusiasm. However, they are zealous in their religious ceremonies, prayers, observances, holy days, fasts, visitation, teaching, etc., “but not in accordance with knowledge.” There is no use being zealous if you are zealous for the wrong reason. It will not help you if you are going in the wrong direction spiritually.

The apostle Paul was writing from his own personal experience. He had been very zealous for the Law, and in that enthusiasm, he killed men and women who had a different “knowledge” than his. He had a mistaken zeal for God. He believed sincerely, but he was sincerely wrong. He had been zealous, but his zeal was focused on the wrong object.

Then there came a day when he gained true knowledge of the righteousness of God, and he counted all his self-righteousness as dung and received salvation by free grace alone.

Paul’s zeal became refocused “with knowledge” when he met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. Knowledge of what? Before the encounter with Christ he did not know about God’s righteousness and sought to establish his own. In Philippians 3:4-6 he tells about that self-righteousness. He said, “I still count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . . that I may gain Christ” (v. 8). He gave up his zeal for self-righteousness by good works “that I may know Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (v. 9).

That is Paul’s “knowledge.” “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4).

Spurgeon once said, “It is easier to get a sinner out of sin than a self-righteous man out of his self-righteousness.”

Have you tried to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone who thinks he can earn or merit a right relationship with God by his religious zeal?

What is the problem? In their zeal they “know nothing about God’s righteousness, and seek to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (v. 3).

Any form of self-righteousness will never save you. In contrast, the Lord God has provided His own perfect righteousness by which He justifies the ungodly. Jesus Christ was obedient to the Law at every point, even to the point of death. God in His righteousness imputes the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believing sinner. He imputes to the believer what Jesus did for you on the cross. God will accept the believing sinner because of what Jesus is and what He did. Jesus Christ shall be your righteousness.

If you say, “No, I will not have His righteousness; I will have a righteousness of my own,” you are ignorant of God’s righteousness, and you shall perish.

God would never have sent His Son to the cross if you could be saved by our religious zeal. The death of Jesus on the cross was needless if you could be saved otherwise (Acts 4:12). If you are trying to have a righteousness of your own by being zealous for God, your church or denomination, baptism, church membership, emotional experiences, etc. then you are in competition with Jesus Christ.

Your eternal salvation lies absolutely outside of yourself, in the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not in what you do in your religious zeal, but in what Christ Jesus has done on your behalf.

If you try to add anything to that finished work by your own thought, feeling, good works, baptism, church membership, etc., you have spoiled the work of Christ on your behalf. It shall never be Christ plus your _________, regardless of what you may fill in the blank. If you are to be saved, you must get out of the way and let God alone do it. The spiritual birth is all God’s doing, not yours or mine. Sinners saved by grace through faith will glorify Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is all by free grace of God in Jesus Christ.

“Going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” The righteousness of God is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved by God’s grace. Salvation is through faith in Christ. It is based on grace, and free grace alone through faith alone which is in Jesus Christ alone! It is a gift from God freely received by the sinner.

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Are You Saved?

Have you been saved?  

Have you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?  

It is a question that is almost exclusive to Christianity.

The word saved in the Bible had three tenses. We were saved from the penalty of sin the very moment we put our trust in Christ Jesus as our savior. We are now being saved from the power of sin by the process of progressive sanctification. Moreover, we shall be saved from the presence of sin at the coming of our Lord in His glory.

We were justified by faith in Christ, we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and we shall be glorified when Christ returns for us.

The word salvation is related to the good news of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

God has delivered us from the penalty and power of sin and has preserved us with His gift of eternal life.  It is the sum of all blessings bestowed by God through Jesus Christ.

It is only by the name of Jesus Christ that we can ever be saved.  Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”  “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

In salvation God deals with the whole person: spirit, mind and body. The gospel of salvation includes justification, sanctification and glorification.

In the context of this great verse, the apostle Paul reminds his readers, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:18-19).

Therefore, we are all without excuse.  “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things” (Romans 2:2).  What “things”?  Paul tells us in vivid detail in 1:18-3:20.

The Jews were guilty of breaking God’s revealed law.  “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified” (Romans 2:13). The only problem is no one, but Jesus Christ ever lived up to the Law.  All stand guilty before God. “There is none righteous, not even one” (3:10).  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (v. 23).

In vivid contrast Jesus Christ revealed the perfect righteousness of God.

However, not only have the Jewish people broken the written Law of God, but “When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:14-16).

What was the problem?  Again all stand guilty before God.  “For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves” (Romans 2:11-14).

What is the solution since we are all depraved sinners?  Jesus Christ is our only hope.  Salvation is a gift of God by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:22-25; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 5:6-8, 10:9-10, 13:8-11).

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, NASB 1995).Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Acceptable to God

How can a sinful person ever be acceptable to a holy God?

God takes sin seriously; it will be severely punished unless atonement is acceptable according to God’s standard.

Sin is a barrier that separates a person from God. In the Old Testament God dealt with man’s sin by substitution (Lev. 1:4; 4:20; 7:7; Lev. 16).

In the New Testament sin is still a serious problem because everyone has sinned and come short of God’s expectation (Rom. 3:23). Moreover, an eternal hell awaits all who sin (Mk. 9:43; Lk. 12:5; Rom. 6:23).

It is the will of God that everyone come to repentance and be saved from the wrath of God (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:9-10). Salvation is accomplished by what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). This reconciliation was accomplished by the death of Christ. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?” (Rom. 5:10 NET). The death of Christ is absolutely essential to our salvation. Only the death of Christ can save us from our sins and the eternal punishment we deserve.

Jesus gave His life as “a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45) because “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21 NET).

The sacrifice of animals could not “take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). However, the sacrifice of Jesus did what was impossible for animal sacrifices to accomplish. “By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (v. 10 NET). “But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice” (9:26b NET).

By His death Jesus Christ paid the sinner’s debt in full and that death turns away the wrath of God (Rom. 3:25). Because Jesus paid sin’s due penalty God can be both a just and holy God, and at the same time justify the person who has faith in Him (v.26). “For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23 NET).

How did Christ redeem us? “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Gal. 3:13 NET). It was as a sacrificial substitute “having become a curse for us” that he redeems us. Therefore, we can stamp across our sin debt: “PAID IN FULL!”

Jesus bought us while we were in the slave market of sin, paid the price in full, and set us free to live the Christian life (Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 6:20; Gal. 5:1). He purchased us with His own blood (Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Because our sin has been dealt with completely we are now free to serve the LORD God. We no longer have to be preoccupied with sin, guilt and punishment. It has been dealt with in the blood of Jesus and we can focus on serving him with a clear conscience.

We have entered into a new covenant with God in Christ (Heb. 9:11-15). Jesus entered “the greater and more perfect tabernacle . . . through His own blood . . . once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:11-12). The effect is it cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (v. 14).

We are now irrevocably the children of God, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15-17, 29-39; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:12; Jn. 5:24; 1 Jn. 5:13; 4:13; 5:10).

“All these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18 NET). We share with others what God has done in reconciling us to Himself.

We have a right relationship with God, the forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life because Christ has taken our place, doing what we could never do for ourselves.

Christ paid our debt in full; our part is simply to accept that great salvation by faith. It is God’s free gift to the believing sinner.Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006