Salvation
January 6
and Noah built an Altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered Burnt Offerings on the Altar. And the LORD smelled the sweet savor … (Gen. 8:20–21).
Noah built an Altar and worshipped; not the Altar, but God. The Altar was the instrument of his Salvation, as the Cross was Paul’s, and of every other Believer who has ever lived. But the Apostle did not worship the Cross, as multitudes do today, but worshipped Him Who died upon it.
The “Altar” built by Noah and the sacrifices offered upon it were symbols of Christ and what He would do to redeem the lost sons of Adam’s fallen race. When Noah offered up his sacrifices, even as commanded by the Lord, the Scripture says that “the LORD smelled a sweet savor.”
What could have been “sweet” about the carcass of an animal being burned to a crisp on an Altar?
The “sweet savor” had to do with what it represented, which was the Coming Redeemer, Whose Coming and Sacrifice of Himself would redeem fallen humanity.
Let the Reader understand:
The Lord “smells a sweet savor” only as it regards our Faith in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross. This means that everything else is repugnant to Him, coming up rather as a “stink” in His nostrils.
That rules out every fad, every scheme, anything and everything for that matter, which is not anchored solely in “Jesus Christ and Him Crucified” (I Cor. 1:23).
Every single Believer should, therefore, check very carefully as to what his Pastor is preaching, or his favorite TV Evangelist, etc. If he or she is not preaching the Cross, there is no “sweet savor” going up to the Lord, but something else entirely!
~JSM
1 Kings 18″21–21 And Elijah came unto all the people (when they all had gathered at Mount Carmel), and said, How long halt you between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word (the objective of Elijah was to prove that Jehovah, and not Baal, was God).
As we can see in the above scripture, the prophet Elijah poses a question to the prophets of Baal as well as to the us presently. How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God then follow Him but if Baal, then follow him. The word halt in the Hebrew means to hesitate or fluctuate from one to another. What were they fluctuating between? Two opinions which are whether to serve Jehovah God or the idol Baal. The word opinions means thoughts which distract the mind. Baal claimed to be the Sun-god and lord of the elements and forces of nature; while Jehovah, as well, identified Himself with this token [Lev. 9:24; 1 Chron. 21:26; 2 Chron. 7:1]).
Many today are fluctuating between serving the true and living God Jehovah, by exhibiting faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning work at Calvary, or serving through religious works and self efforts to bring about spiritual change. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, leaders of Israel, were enforcing false worship but Elijah a true prophet of God, endorsed God Jehovah. The things which we allow to distract our minds from serving the Lord fully based upon faith in Calvary must be cast down. This can only happen when we choose to place our focus and minds on the Cross of Christ exclusively. Once a person comes to Christ, there can be no adding to nor taking away from God’s plan of redemption, which is Calvary. We must serve Him according to His precepts and Plans alone. Israel in Romans 10:1-4 went about to establish their own righteousness but not according to God’s Way. The question asked then is the same questioned asked today, How long will you halt between two opinions? If God be God, then follow Him!
~Shonette
Walking According to the Truth of the Gospel
Galatians 2:14
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
…
When we are crucified with Christ, and dead to self, sin, Satan and the world system, nothing matters but the upholding of the Truth of God’s Word. Oftentimes we are committed to the Word as long as it doesn’t offend our belief systems, routines, perspectives and the relationships we have with others. In the above scripture we see the Apostle Paul confronting hypocrisy within the Jewish church as well as with one of the leaders in the church, the Apostle Peter. Peter was acting one way toward the Gentiles when the Jews were around and another way after they departed. In other words, he wasn’t upholding the Truth of the gospel irrespective to the circumstances and individuals involved. If the Message of the Cross has been appropriated in your heart and life then you will stand for Truth regardless of race, creed, relationship with family and friends…etc. What’s right according to God’s Word should be the standard across the board whether it is in our homes, jobs, our marriage, children, church…etc. We should stand for Truth at all times no matter who or what it is.
Paul had to confront error in this church as well as with the Apostle Peter who walked with Christ, was called an apostle first and had been saved much longer. Walking according to Truth is the sole point and purpose for living a Christian life. The problem lies within us not allowing our perspectives to align itself with the view of Calvary. This is why we must allow our thought process, and every reasoning contrary to Calvary to be cast down. Many of us love the Lord and have a desire to please Him but many of us will not let the Holy Spirit work in us due to not understanding how God works, which is by faith in Calvary. Are you able to uphold the Truth of the Gospel no matter the cost?
~Shonette
The Degree of Maturity of the Believer is Predicated on the Knowledge of the Cross
I want you to read that Heading again, inasmuch as it is very, very important.
The Cross of Christ in actuality is the story of the Bible. So if one is to properly know the Word of God, one also must properly know the Cross. The degree of one’s maturity will depend on such knowledge.
Paul said, “For Christ sent me not to baptize (presents to us a Cardinal Truth), but to preach the Gospel (the manner in which one may be saved from sin): not with wisdom of words (intellectualism is not the Gospel), lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect. (This tells us in no uncertain terms that the Cross of Christ must always be the emphasis of the Message)” (I Cor. 1:17).
In this one Verse, we are plainly and clearly told what the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the Gospel of the Word of God, actually is. It is “The Cross of Christ.” In other words, if one is not preaching the Cross, is not looking to the Cross, is not looking exclusively to the Cross, then one is not embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Believer must understand that Christ is the Source and the Cross is the Means.
Most Believers have no difficulty or problem with the idea of Christ as the Source. However, when it comes to the Cross as the Means, this is where the problem arises. To properly understand the Gospel, the Believer must understand that every single thing that we receive from the Lord (and I mean everything!) comes to us exclusively through Christ as the Source and the Cross as the Means. It is the Cross which has made everything possible.
Whatever the Lord is presently, He has always been. In other words, He doesn’t have more power now than He had ten thousand years ago.
The question always has been, “How could a thrice-Holy God deal with man, who is in such a sinful condition?”
The only way He could is by and through the Cross of Christ. That’s the reason it is imperative that all Believers make the Cross the only Object of their Faith. There is no other means than the Cross by which Jesus Christ purchased man’s Redemption and made possible more abundant life. We must never forget that!
So, the “mind” of the individual, within itself, cannot effect Victory in one’s life. The desire is there, and the will is there, but as Paul said, “how to perform it” (Rom. 7:18) is something else again. When the Lord gave to the Apostle the great Revelation of the Cross, he would learn that God’s Way is the Way of the Cross. We say this over and over again. The Believer must, therefore, ever make the Cross of Christ the Object of his Faith (Rom. 6:1-14; 8:1-2, 11).
~J. Swaggart Ministries
2 Peter 3:1-9
CHAPTER 3
(A.D. 66)
REMEMBER
THIS second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you (he had addressed his First Epistle to the same group of people); in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance (by reminding them of what is going to happen in the last of the last days):
2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the Holy Prophets (we are plainly told here that, as Believers, we must know and understand the Old Testament along with the New), and of the Commandment of us the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour (refers to the New Testament, but at the same time the Verse says we cannot understand the New unless we first understand the Old):
SCOFFERS
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers (speaks of the times in which we now live; they scoff at the Cross), walking after their own lusts (which will happen when the Cross is rejected),
4 And saying, Where is the Promise of his coming? (This refers to the Second Coming, not the Rapture. Endtime events as predicted in the Bible are met with scoffing.) for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation. (The two major themes of the Word of God are the Atonement and Endtime events. If we have a proper understanding of the Atonement, we will have, I think, a proper understanding of the latter.)
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of (their ignorance was a willful ignorance; in other words, the evidence was presented and then rejected), that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water (everything was created by the Word of God; this Verse points to Gen. 1:2; it speaks of the original Creation and the rebellion by Lucifer, which left the world in a convoluted state):
6 Whereby the world that then was (speaks of the pre-Adamite Creation), being overflowed with water, perished (doesn’t refer to Noah’s Flood, but rather the Flood of Gen. 1:2; this is when Lucifer led his revolution against God):
7 But the Heavens and the Earth, which are now (refers to the present Heavens and Earth as restored to a second perfect state in the days of Adam [Gen. 1:3; 2:25; Ex. 20:11]), by the same Word are kept in store (refers to the fact that all Creation is dependent solely on the Will of God), reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and Perdition of ungodly men. (This refers to the coming “Great White Throne Judgment” [Rev. 20:11–15]. At this time, the Heavens and Earth will be renovated by fire.)
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing (considering that we have the Word of God, there is no reason for the Believer to be ignorant concerning spiritual things), that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (A human promise may be weakened or destroyed by time. However, a Divine Promise is as certain of fulfillment in a thousand years as in one day.)
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His Promise, as some men count slackness (if it seems as though God delays the fulfillment of His Promises, it is for the purpose of getting more people into the Kingdom of God); but is longsuffering to us-ward (God suffers long with man, attempting to bring him to a place of Repentance), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance. (The dispensation of the Cross has been the longest of all, and it is that because God keeps calling after sinners to be saved. He has made a way through the Cross for all to be saved. Most, however, refuse His Way.)
~Jimmy Swaggart Ministry – Expositor’s Study Bible
What is Truth?
~Understanding God’s Ministry
John 14:6 — Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The above scripture and many more, shows us that “Truth” is simply Jesus Christ and His atoning work at the Cross. The story of the Bible is the story of Christ, who was the Word before coming down in flesh wrapped in Glory. Christ is fully God and fully Man. He came not to express Himself as God but as a Man, never losing possession of His Deity. Why? Because the first representative man, Adam, lost this right in the Garden of Eden when he handed the dominion of this world system to Satan. A man lost it and a Man had to regain it, Christ, the Last Adam. This is where we are redeemed and brought back to God. When Adam and Eve sinned, it cause everyone born of the woman to possess a nature or bent towards wrong doing, called the sinful nature. Upon acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior, this nature is rendered inactive or helpless. It remains within the believer but not working, in essence, to produce the fruit of unrighteousness. As long as the believer continues to put their trust in the Cross of Christ on a daily basis, the Holy Spirit within the believer promises to produce the fruit of righteousness.
The job of the third Person of the God-Head, the Holy Spirit, works in our lives based upon this simple Truth, the way to God the Father is through faith and reliance and confidence in God’s Redemption plan for humanity, the Cross of Christ. His job, the Holy Spirit, is to lead us into Truth, why? Because there is no other way for the Power of the Spirit to be expressed in the life of the Believer. Romans 8:1-4, John 16:13
“Truth” can be found in a ministry which preaches the message of the Cross for justification and sanctification but is not a ministry nor is it a denomination. It is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Today many of us are after the furtherance of a ministry or church organization and not after Christ who is “Truth.” Outside of faith in Christ and Him Crucified or “Truth”, there can be no true victory only a form or semblance of God.
~Shonette
John 1:14
14 And the Word was made flesh (refers to the Incarnation, “God becoming man”), and dwelt among us (refers to Jesus, although Perfect, not holding Himself aloft from all others, but rather lived as all men, even a peasant), (and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father,) (speaks of His Deity, although hidden from the eyes of the merely curious; while Christ laid aside the expression of His Deity, He never lost the possession of His Deity) full of Grace and Truth (as “flesh,” proclaimed His Humanity, “Grace and Truth” His Deity).
The Blood and Body of Christ
SEPTEMBER
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for I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in My Blood: this do ye, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of Me (I Cor. 11:23–25).
In brief, this which Paul here gives us is a description of the New Covenant. It is what we refer to as “The Lord’s Supper.”
Within itself, it has no Salvation, as should be obvious; however, that which it represents, the Atoning Work of Christ carried out on the Cross, when coupled with Faith properly registered in Christ, definitely does bring Salvation (Rom. 10:8–9, 13).
There are many who claim that Salvation is in the Resurrection, etc. That is decidedly incorrect. Of course, the Resurrection is of immense significance, but the emphasis must always be placed on the Cross. Every part of the Lord’s Supper directs one to the Cross, and the Cross alone!
The “Body” of Christ, which was prepared especially for Him, was done so for one purpose. The Scripture says, “Wherefore when He (the Lord Jesus Christ) comes into the world (presents Christ coming as the Saviour, Who undertakes in Grace to meet every claim the Throne of God has against penitent sinners), He said (Ps. 40:6), Sacrifice and Offering You would not (refers to the fact that He would pay for sin, but not with animal sacrifices), but a Body have You prepared Me” (God became Man with the full intention that His Perfect Physical Body was to be offered up in Sacrifice on the Cross, which it was; the Cross was ever His destination) (Heb. 10:5).
The “cup” represented His shed Blood, testifying to the fact that the “New Testament” (New Covenant) is in the giving of His Life, which spoke of His shed Blood. His Blood was pure, untainted, unsullied, unspoiled by sin in any way, for He never sinned. Satan had no claim on Him whatsoever; therefore, when He went to the Cross, He did so with a Perfect Body, and He gave that Perfect Body in Sacrifice, and did so by the pouring out of His Blood, which poured out His Life.
Both cases, the broken bread, which symbolized His broken Body, and the shed Blood, which symbolized His poured out Life, are ever to be held in remembrance. That’s the reason that Paul said, “We preach Christ Crucified” (I Cor. 1:23). The Lord’s Supper is a symbolism of the New Covenant, meant to represent that Finished Work, which means that every time we partake of the “Supper,” it is once again to make afresh the great price paid by the Lord Jesus for our Salvation.
The Lord’s Supper, in other words, proclaims the fact that the Cross is the centerpiece, the very foundation, of Salvation.
Swaggart, J. (2005).
for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to Preach the Gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect (I Cor. 1:17).
Several things are said in this very informative Passage. They are as follows:
1. “For Christ sent me not to baptize”: We learn here that Water Baptism is not to have the emphasis regarding the Gospel, and neither should any other Church Ordinance. The Cross of Christ is to have the emphasis.
Paul is not demeaning Water Baptism, but only requiring that it be placed in its proper perspective. It should be obvious to all that Water Baptism, as important as it is in its own way, is not essential to Salvation. If it is essential, then the Apostle thanked God that he saw so few saved. Nor is it essential to obedience, even as others claim, for, in that case, the Apostle thanked God that he had made so few obedient (I Cor. 1:14–16).
2. “But to Preach the Gospel”: In this particular Verse, we are emphatically told what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. In brief, the Gospel is “the Cross of Christ.” In other words, the Cross must be the foundation of all we believe, teach, and practice. If it is not, then whatever it is we are proclaiming, is, pure and simple, not the Gospel. This is extremely important, as should be overly obvious.
If our Message is right, we will get the results that a correct Message brings forth. If the Message is incorrect, there will be no favorable results, because there can be no favorable results. The entirety of the Christian Faith rests on the correct Message. If that Message is corrupted, diluted, or perverted in any way, this means that it is no longer the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but something else entirely.
The Message must be “Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.” This is where the emphasis must be, and in every capacity.
3. “Not with wisdom of words”: Paul here plainly says that intellectualism is not the Gospel. This means that humanistic psychology is not the Gospel. Once again, the Gospel is, and must be, the Cross of Christ. Preachers of the Gospel must “preach the Cross.”
4. “Lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect”: This tells us, in no uncertain terms, that the Cross of Christ must always be the emphasis of the Message. If it isn’t, all that Christ did will be to no avail.
This coming Sunday morning, how many Preachers are making the Cross of Christ of none effect, because they are preaching a false message?
Of course, only the Lord knows the answer to that; sadly, however, most fall into that category. This means that few people are truly being saved. Few are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Few are delivered, if any. As should be obvious, we should be very, very careful that we do nothing that makes “the Cross of Christ of none effect.”
September
14
no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us (Rom. 8:37).
If we follow what the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle Paul, thereby ordering our lives accordingly, which refers to Faith being properly placed in Christ and the Cross (I Cor. 1:17–18, 23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14), then we are assured of the fact that we are not only “conquerors,” but also “more than conquerors.” We must, however, always remember that it is “through Him Who loved us.” We cannot be conquerors any other way.
“Through Him” refers exclusively to His atoning Work at the Cross, which totally and completely defeated the Evil One, and did so by atoning for all sin (Col. 2:14–15). “More than conquerors” is what the Lord wants His People to be. But this modern generation of Christians represents, I’m afraid, the most defeated generation since the Reformation.
Why?
Although more books have been written on faith in the past several decades than possibly the balance of the Church Age put together, virtually all of these books and tapes are worthless, because they direct the faith of the Believer to something other than Christ and Cross. As a result, “more than conquerors” is not what is happening, but rather “more than conquered.” Satan has not only “conquered” this generation of Christians, but even “more than conquered” them, making abject slaves of them, which means that the sin nature runs wild.
Let me say it this way:
It is absolutely impossible for the Believer, be he the Pastor of the largest Church in the land or the Evangelist drawing the biggest crowds, to maintain victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil, if such a Believer doesn’t know God’s Prescribed Order of Victory.
That Prescribed Order is:
1. The Cross of Christ: Everything we receive from the Lord, irrespective as to what it is, comes to us strictly from Christ as the Source and the Cross as the means.
2. Our Faith: Every single Believer is to place his Faith exclusively in Christ and what Christ did at the Cross, never separating the two. And when we speak of the Cross, we are speaking of the benefits which come from that Finished Work, and which will never cease.
3. The Holy Spirit: Once our Faith is properly placed, the Holy Spirit, Who works exclusively within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ, will then make of us “more than conquerors.”
This is God’s Way. This is God’s only Way, because no other way is needed (Gen. 3:15; Lk. 9:23; Rom. 6:1–14; Gal. 6:14; I Cor. 1:17–18; 2:2).
~J. Swaggart Ministries
I Corinthians 6:12 – “All things are lawful unto me (refers to the fact that Christianity is not a religion which consists of rules, etc.), but all things are not expedient (not profitable): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (Grace does not give a license to sin, but rather liberty to live a Holy Life).”
The Church At Corinth
The spiritual condition of the church at Corinth was appalling. Sin seemed to be an active and dominant theme within the Body of Christ there. Paul’s teachings had been misrepresented by false teachers and the problems abounded. There were schisms and divisions. There was carnality and license that abounded. Paul did his best to bring this wavering, struggling church back to the basics of the Gospel. Those basics surrounded the simple truths of Christ and Him Crucified. By this statement I mean that the Person of Christ and His Redemptive Work for all of mankind was to be studied, appropriated, experienced, and exhibited. If this teaching of the Cross was ignored or lost, the end result was what you see on record regarding the Church at Corinth. Yes, there were many Spiritual Gifts in Operation, but the Character of Christ was not being formed in the people as it ought to be, because the wrong message was being preached. Paul writes his Epistle with the sure knowledge that if this First Century church fails to correct its course, many in the church will lose their souls and the effectiveness of the church upon the region will be destroyed.
A False Message Of Grace
Everything God does for humanity surrounds the concepts of Faith and Grace. Faith must be placed in Christ and His Finished Work and, in response, God extends Grace to the believing sinner or Saint. What is true at Salvation regarding the reception of Grace remains true for the Saint who must have God’s Help to live a Holy and Righteous Christian life. Romans 5:2 says, “. . . we have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand. . . .” We must experience every aspect of God’s Grace in order to experience every aspect of our Christian life. The problem at Corinth was that some were abusing the Grace of God and misconstruing its purpose. Grace is not the freedom to sin all we want! Grace represents the power by which we are freed from the penalty and power of the sin that confronts all of us while living in this present world. Thank God for His Word that proclaims in Romans 5:20 that “. . . where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound.” Therefore, Grace, not law, is the means to overcoming the problem of sin. This is a dynamic truth. No measure of man’s labor, work, righteous routine, or sciences falsely so-called can free men from the penalty for sin or the power of the sinful nature. No “Law” can provide men with forgiveness from acts of sin and freedom from the power of the sin nature. Only Grace can provide this freedom. Therefore, I am not under the spiritual principles of law (speaks of trusting in one’s own efforts to extricate oneself from sin) but am under the Spiritual Principles of Grace. Grace is received when my Faith rests upon Christ, His Person, and His Work. The true message of Grace is not a message that brings freedom to sin, but it is a message that supplies the Believer with power not to sin.
The Believer Is Not Under Law
Some in Corinth were following every dictates of the flesh, every natural appetite, from food to sex, and were stating that since they were not under law. God’s Grace covered every licentious act they felt compelled to carry out. Let’s be honest. There are times as a Christian that we can desire things in our flesh that the Spiritual man knows is not pleasing to God! To use Justification by Faith as an excuse to justify ungodly action is wrong. So while the Believer in Grace is not bound by the Spiritual Principles of being under law, he or she is responsible for following the moral code installed into the human heart at regeneration! The Promise regarding the new Covenant plainly tells us that this is God’s Plan. Jeremiah 31:33 – “But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My People).” Since we are no longer bound to holiness through the Law, we are not under Law. Where there is no Law there can be no charges filed against us. Romans 4:15 says, “. . . for where no Law is, there is no transgression.” Now that I am freed from righteousness through Law or works and all sin past, present, and future is paid for, what creates the standards of right and wrong for me? The indwelling presence of the Spirit in every Believer defines right and wrong for me. I John 2:27 – “But the Anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teaches you of all things, and is Truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him.” Therefore, my first task is to decide whether or not something is expedient.
“Not All Things Are Expedient”
The term “expedient” literally indicates something that is helpful, profitable, or edifying. As a Believer I must evaluate every action and attitude, every thought and deed, every relationship and all fellowship, and put them through a simple test. Is what I am doing or participating in building me Spiritually or not? If I see that it is not then I choose to voluntarily remove it from my life. When a Believer truly loves God with all of his or her heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit then we should want to please Him more than we want to please ourselves. I want nothing to adversely affect a healthy and profitable relationship with God. Therefore, I willingly choose to lay down any aspect of my life that I sense is not pleasing to Him. I do so through the processes of Faith and Grace. Faith in the Cross brings the Grace that I need to lay down certain areas of my life, so that I may experience the Abundant Life that Christ Promised.
~JSM