Bible study with Fred, #722: Galatians 5:1-18

Psalm 58 comments

 

Psalm 58:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David.» Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2  Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3  The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4  Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5  Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

 

David is asking a question sarcastically it would seem. Do the people indeed just in a righteous manner? Are not their hearts filled with sin?

 

We’ve expressed this sentiment in our hearts about people who act like they were born bad. In fact, our modern culture almost uplifts and praises those who act that way.

 

Isaiah 48:8  Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

 

I have read that the ancients, particularly the Romans, regarded a child’s personality as indicative of how they would turn out as an adult. If they were a bad child they most likely would be a rotten adult.

 

Ecclesiastes 10:11  Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

 

The wicked are like a serpent who will not listen to the snake-charmer. We can look at India today to see those men who seem to mesmerize a snake. But the people that David is referring to will not listen to the charmer.

 

The words of the wicked are likened to the bite of a venomous snake in several places.

 

Psalm 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

 

Psalm 140:3  They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.

 

Which the Holy Spirit through Paul quotes;

 

Romans 3:13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

 

In fact, the tongue itself is a dangerous thing for all of us.

 

James 3:8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

 

Could this perhaps be one of the attributes of the Beast of Revelation, popularly called the Antichrist?

 

Psalm 58:6 ¶  Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. 7  Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. 8  As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. 9  Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. 10  The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11  So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

 

Consider some cross-references from Job as a similar sentiment here in verse 6. Saul is the old lion and his followers are the young lions, probably.

 

Job 4:10  The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 11  The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

 

Job 29:17  And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

 

David calls on God to take away the ability of his enemies to hurt him. He wants them discouraged and destroyed, taken like a miscarriage or as a snail that has had salt applied to it making it die looking like it is melting.

 

For verse 9 see this verse in Ecclesiastes.

 

Ecclesiastes 7:6  For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

 

Dry thorns would burn quickly but he wishes the wicked would be taken away faster than the pot can feel the heat of burning thorns. In their health and full strength David wishes them taken away.

 

David yearns to see the destruction of the wicked, those who oppress him, but wants God to make it happen.

 

We can imagine this prayer made by some of the followers of Christ in the Tribulation. We can imagine this prayer to have their persecutors destroyed by God. When we think of the Holocaust most people picture the Germans and their camps like Auschwitz. However, it was not just them. Ordinary people in every country in Europe murdered their Jewish neighbors or turned them over to be murdered. In shock, many of the Jews walked submissively to their deaths. It would not be hard to imagine praying for God to destroy these beasts Himself before they could do their will.

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Psalm 57 comments

 

Psalm 57:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.» Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2  I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3  He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. 4  My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5  Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. 6  They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

 

For this we might look at 1Samuel 22:1 or 1Samuel 24:3 and contexts. Notice the metaphor of being protected in the shadow of God’s metaphorical wings, symbolic wings.

 

Exodus 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

 

Psalm 17:8  Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

 

Psalm 36:7  How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

 

Psalm 63:7  Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

 

Revelation 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

 

David pleads for mercy much as we might but says that he trusts in God and will hide in the protection of God until the danger passes. It is to God that David cries out, who David acknowledges can do all things that are needed for his deliverance. He knows that God will reach from Heaven itself to deliver him from the unfair ordeal that threatens to swallow him up. He underscores the danger he is in with a rich statement of the tribulation he faces.

 

Proverbs 30:14  There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

 

The wicked man’s ways are his own undoing if you read Psalm 7.

 

Psalm 7:16  His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

 

We can pray this when we are unjustly accused or unjustly treated by someone, especially someone in authority who has power over us and can hurt us in some significant way. Let God take care of it, and it shall be taken care of, indeed.

 

Psalm 57:7 ¶  My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8  Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9  I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10  For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11  Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.

 

For verse seven I am reminded of this scene in heaven:

 

Revelation 5:11  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

 

Fixed is firm and sure. David refers to his soul as my glory. Jacob called it his honour in Genesis 49:6;

 

Genesis 49:6  O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

 

This sentiment in verse seven and eight is repeated.

 

Psalm 108:1 ¶  «A Song or Psalm of David.» O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. 2  Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

 

For verse nine I am reminded of a thought;

 

Psalm 18:49  Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

 

Psalm 96:3  Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

 

As Paul wrote;

 

Romans 15:9  And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

 

Verse 10 had a previous similar expression;

 

Psalm 36:5 ¶  Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

 

Verse 11 repeats verse 5.

 

This Psalm of pleading for mercy, acknowledging that God will deliver, and then glorifying His name should be on our lips in times of trouble. We can look forward, as well, to the suffering saints at the end of human history.

Eternal Security - sermon notes

 

One of the most controversial Baptist distinctives is called Eternal Security, the belief that if a person is truly saved, they cannot be unsaved, no matter what they do or even if on the surface they fall into unbelief due to indoctrination in, for instance, public school or perhaps in the disappointment of circumstances.

 

Is it a valid doctrine, though? And if it is what does it imply for the believer who is struggling with the issues of life and of sin?

 

I’m going to give you the cliff notes version today. The subject is so profound that you could do a series of Sunday School lessons on it but for our purposes I’m going to keep it as basic as I can.

 

I want to start with a passage in Hebrews and break it down for you and then bring up some supporting verses and try to establish why I came to believe in Eternal Security.

 

Hebrews 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

 

Hebrews 6:1 ¶  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3  And this will we do, if God permit. 4  For it is impossible for those

who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

Traditionally, Hebrews is thought to have been spoken by Paul and written down by Timothy as his amanuensis or secretary while Paul was in Rome. You can read the end of Acts to see why he felt he needed to write this letter at that time by the inspiration given to him by the Holy Spirit if that was the occasion that prompted its writing. It can be a very confusing book if you don’t read and study it in its entirety rather than cherry-picking verses to make a point. It is a wonderful book, though, filled with great promises and comfort.

 

As a side note; perfection in verse 1 of chapter 6 in Hebrews has to do with completeness, being finished or completed, in the Bible, as one definition;

 

2 Chronicles 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

 

Colossians 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

 

James 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

In Hebrews 5:12 we have Paul starting to admonish those, in context Jewish Christians who had our Old Testament, who should be able to teach the word of God but are lacking in their understanding of doctrine and needs be brought again to the basics which Paul taught and which is self-evident in God’s word.

 

God’s word alone is capable of making a Christian and teaching him or her doctrine. MITSUO FUCHIDA

 

Chapter six starts with what Paul calls the doctrine of Christ and it is, as he puts it, the basics we should all know. We shouldn’t have to learn to count all over again by now. But here we go.

 

First, the first doctrine is repentance from dead works which are sins against God.

 

I know that there are some preachers who insist that dead works are the things you are holding onto that you think justify you such as, “I’m a good person,” or, “I was baptized by a priest when I was a baby,” but the Biblical text is clear as to what dead works are Biblically speaking.

 

Repentance from dead works.

 

Dead works are sins that needed to be cleansed by sacrifices under the Law given to Moses but now by the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Hebrews 9:8 ¶  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9  Which was a figure for the time

then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

We were to repent of our sins, and that doesn’t mean just changing your mind, but turning from your known sins and asking God to deliver you from even sins you aren’t aware of. Here’s an example of repent and turn with one action following another as part of it.

 

Ezekiel 18:30  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

 

And here is an example from David on sins that aren’t so obvious.

 

Psalms 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

 

Of course, in today’s consumer church influenced heavily by communistic belief sin is downplayed and repentance from sin is not thought much of. We even have unmarried Christian couples today living together casually because it us culturally acceptable.

 

Faith toward God would seem like an obvious thing but what is faith. In the Bible faith and belief are linked.

 

Romans 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

 

Galatians 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

 

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

We believe what Jesus said about Himself.

 

John 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

 

Those who call Christ a liar, who do not believe in Him and what He has said about Himself have God’s wrath abiding on them.

 

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

We believe that He rose from the dead as the foundation point of the Christian faith.

 

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 

Without the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ there is no Christianity. In the Muslim’s Koran Jesus as the Messiah is mentioned three times more than Muhammed is even named and yet they deny He died on the Cross or was resurrected. There is no salvation there.

 

Paul goes on to mention baptisms, plural. There is the baptism of the Holy Ghost when one receives Christ. This is beyond our control. If you are truly saved then the Holy Ghost, the very mind of God indwells you. As Peter said to the Apostles in Jerusalem as he talked about his encounter with the Roman centurion Cornelius;

 

Acts 11:16  Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

 

Referring to what Jesus had told them post-resurrection;

 

Acts 1:1 ¶  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3  To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

 

When we become saved, born again, we submit, like Jesus showed us by submitting to the ordinance of baptism;

 

Matthew 3:13 ¶  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 

This will represent Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for us.

 

Romans 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 

As my topic here isn’t about baptism I won’t go into the many verses and passages on the subject.

 

The laying on of hands by the Apostles, in the early days of the church, was a vehicle by which the Holy Ghost was several times imparted to new believers.

 

Acts 8:14 ¶  Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15  Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16  (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17  Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

 

Acts 9:17  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18  And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

 

Acts 19:1 ¶  And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2  He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3  And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 4  Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6  And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7  And all the men were about twelve.

 

The practice was also used as imparting authority or a spiritual gift.

 

Acts 13:1 ¶  Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2  As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

 

1Timothy 4:14  Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

 

The resurrection of the dead is fundamental to Christianity. Without believing that Christ rose from the dead you cannot be saved from Hell and the Lake of Fire.

 

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 

Eternal judgment very clearly means that after a person dies there will be a final, eternal judgment of God.

 

Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

 

Many Baptists believe there are two judgments; one of the Christian’s works, which I will come to later, and one of the unsaved dead’s works but with starkly different results. The unsaved dead are judged at what is known as the Great White Throne judgment after the end of the millennial reign of Christ on earth.

 

Revelation 20:11 ¶  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

 

Paul then goes on to make a very important declaration in this first part of Hebrews, chapter 6, that we must grasp to understand Eternal Security. It is impossible, he says, that having been saved, that you can fall away, become unsaved. If you did, rhetorically speaking, you could never get saved again without Christ being re-crucified. How simple does it have to get?

 

So, if you believe you can lose your salvation you can’t get saved again. For those of you who believe you can put your salvation on and off again like a cheap jacket this has to be a conundrum. Let me read it aloud again to you, what Paul says which, to me at least, is very clear.

 

Hebrews 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

So what about the sins a Christian commits for which he or she does not ask forgiveness for? There was a rock star named Warren Zevon once. You may have heard of his famous song, “Werewolves of London.” He became a Christian and before he died of cancer he published a song entitled, “The Sin,” where he asked the question of what are you going to do about the little sins, the ones that aren’t a crime against the Law. He was referring to things like stealing little things, being cruel, hurting someone’s feelings unfairly. People who don’t believe in Eternal Security typically dumb down sin to where they ignore the ungodly stuff we do every day that isn’t a blip on the radar hardly but still transgressions against God’s moral law.

 

Anyway, back to Paul’s statement in Hebrews 6:6. If you think you can become saved then lose your salvation he says you cannot get saved again without crucifying Christ all over again.

 

Hebrews 10:12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

 

Notice what Jesus said about eternal life.

 

John 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

 

And technically since we are the body of Christ on earth we are part of His hand.

 

Can a Christian suffer being reproved and suffer loss for the sin they commit? Of course they can. We will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ some time after we physically die.

 

2 Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

Our works and our very intentions and the meaning behind our actions will be judged but we will be spared.

 

1Corinthians 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

And yes, we can quench the Holy Spirit’s influence in us by our attitude and actions.

 

Ephesians 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.

 

And I will state very emphatically that Christian dogma over the centuries has made it often too hard to become a Christian, demanding perfection we are not capable of, and sometimes, as in the present day, too easy as all we need to do is repeat a 1-2-3 repeat after me formula that may be backed by no genuine repentance or even a consideration of the facts we must believe.

 

OLD PATHS STORY

 

Discuss fruits of the Spirit. Evidence that you are saved doesn’t just come in your trying to avoid sin and in the things you don’t do but is characterized by the things that emanate from you because He indwells you.

 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

Paul tells the Corinthians to examine themselves

 

2 Corinthians 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

 

Are you saved? Have you received Christ as your Saviour and been born again? Are you letting God speak to you through His word every day while you reach out to Him in prayer?

 

Christians can become overwhelmed with the distress they find themselves in whether their fault or not. They can question, AM I REALLY SAVED? Someone might be going through a torment right now that makes them question their relationship with Christ. If you are caught up in a sin you can have God deal with it.

 

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

And if you have believed and trusted in Christ’s righteousness and not your own I would confidently tell you that you are saved. Yes, it is true that Christians can be guilty of any sin under the sun in our weak and doomed flesh. But I am sure that if a Christian is writhing in sin they are miserable. If they are not miserable in pursuing a sin that besets them and reveling in it I would suspect that they never were saved and just recited a few words someone told them to say because they were sick of their life as it was and those words meant nothing to them outside of an emotional experience at the time.

 

The words you say in themselves aren’t magic but the intention of the heart, something only God knows, is the meaningful thing. Trust in Christ today, in His righteousness and not your own and be born again into God’s kingdom. Be assured that Christ will never let you go.

 

Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

 

Be confident in your salvation. I want to close with this word of encouragement from Paul.

 

Romans 8:31 ¶  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.