Christ HAS Raised Us With Him!

Christ HAS Raised Us With Him!

      The Scripture uses the past tense when it talks about salvation. Paul recognized the promise, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that cannot be revoked. Those who believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord are saved; today! Ephesians 2:6-7

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Today we are seated in heavenly realms because of the promised grace of God. It is through grace you have been saved. You cannot work your way into heaven; neither can you work your way out of heaven. Once you have been saved you are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

      In the same way, success for your life is promised by God. It is his desire that you bring him glory; your success brings him glory.  

      It is important at this juncture, to state that this promise is only for those who accept Christ. Simply stating you are a Christian does not mean you are saved. Perhaps you are thinking, “Isn’t that contradictory? I thought all I have to do is confess Jesus as Lord and I am saved.”

      Confessing is only half of the equation. If one is to be saved they must confess and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9). James 2:19 says that even the demons believe in Jesus, but they are not going to heaven.

      True belief requires an action. If you truly believe that you have the million dollars promised to you by the government, you will spend the money. You won’t hesitate. If you truly believe that Jesus is Lord, you will live a life that is glorifying to Christ. You will gladly go to church, give your money, give your time; you will want to work for the Kingdom to promote Christ to others.

      There are many who “profess” to be Christians, but their actions do not confirm that they have a relationship with God. In fact, quite the contrary, they loathe church and the Christian community they profess to be a part of. Christians are far from perfect, but true Christianity is a process to become like Christ.

      Romans 6:5 says, “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” In other words, you can “bank” on the promise of eternal life if you have been united with Christ through your confession of him.

By Grace You HAVE Been Saved

By Grace You HAVE Been Saved

      If you know Jesus, you are walking currently in the state of eternity. You do not have to wait until you die. It is a promise that has been made by an eternal God. That means, you currently walk in his grace and are currently in heaven with him. How? The promise God has made is irrevocable. He has promised eternal salvation to all who call on the name of Jesus. Because of the promise from a faithful God, you can take your salvation to the bank.

      If you have a promissory note from America for, say one million dollars; you can take that note to the bank, any bank, and borrow money against it. It is a note that has been faithful for hundreds of years. Even though it is possible that America might not honor the promise of payment, one could draw on that note because of the faith that the banks have in its backing authority, in this case, America. After all, America has the history of backing its promises.

      The note God has given us is much more powerful. He has never broken his promise. You can literally “bet your life” on his promise. His promise is that whoever has accepted Christ has eternal life. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved (Italics added).” Did you notice that the promise is written in the past tense? God made us alive; it is by grace you have been saved. These are promises that can be banked on today.

      In the same way, the promise of your success is guaranteed if you trust God to lead you. Have you noticed that the common denominator of the passages of Scripture in the Bible is success? It is not God’s desire that we fail.

      Some confuse persecution with failure. There are times in a person’s life he or she might be required to suffer for the Kingdom of Christ. This is obvious throughout the Word of God. However, God never declares persecution as a failure of the believer. Quite the contrary, he declares such times success for the glory of God. 

      Others confuse the fact that many believers are poor in this world; therefore, it is not God’s will that any should be rich. According to the Scriptures previously examined this is not the case. So how can this “paradox” be reconciled? It is reconciled in the fact that we must, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).” All of what things? The things it takes for you to have a successful life. The things God provides us “for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17) whether poor or rich.

      The problem is that as Americans we judge the impoverished of the world through the glasses of the American way of life. When in fact, what we assess as poor, the people of the country or culture themselves might perceive as rich.     

      Because of God’s grace, his promise is true. He gives the abundant life to those who know they have Jesus Christ. He gives the abundance through his promise and security that he walks with believers today. He has not changed; he is with us today and cares about the struggles we encounter.

      Strangely the struggles Christians encounter are due to the lack of trust in the promise. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).” Titus 3:3-5 says:

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit                 . . .”

Truth Powers Success

Truth Powers Success

What a great life! As he looked over all that had been given to him by God, he gave praise. He trusted God for everything he enjoyed. It never crossed his mind that any other should receive thanks for what he had. The oxen, the donkeys, the sheep and all of his wealth were blessings because of his faithfulness to God. He was absolutely successful in everything he did. There was no aspect of his life that could have been construed as failure. Yet, failure was to come; failure that was beyond imagination; failure that would shake anyone to the core. He was to fail in such a way that anyone would ask God, “What have I done?” It was to be a failure that would have the normal person to question his life. Nevertheless, Job still trusted God. Even though everyone in his life accused him of being unrighteous he persevered. Even though his wife told him, “Curse God and die.”

Job had something that many did not have. He had the truth. He was upright before God and knew that he had not sinned against God as his “friends” accused him of doing. Job’s major “sin” was that he obeyed God. In that obedience, God allowed him to be tested. Why would God do that? God knew he would undergo the test and come out even stronger than before. Of course, God was right.

Maybe you are undergoing a test right now. If you have chosen to step out from the pack and take a risk, your “friends” will resent you for it; you are sure to meet with opposition. You are sure to face struggles that others who remain in their safe environment will not face. However, God wants you to succeed. Look at your struggle as a test; a test of your faith; a test of your perseverance and trust for the promises of God’s success in your life.

            Truth is a powerful tool for success. God has given us the Truth, Jesus Christ, to show the true meaning of success. The world is seeking the truth. They follow a political candidate who claims truth only to find out he is a liar and are disappointed. They follow a popular star who claims to know the truth only to be lied to by his or her lifestyle. The truth is elusive to the world because they follow the Prince of Liars; Satan.

However, God has given an option to follow the Truth and proclaim his truth. When we speak the truth the world is drawn to us. The paradox is that many will also ridicule those who speak truth as a defense mechanism to justify how they are living their own lives; thus repelling from the truth and fleeing to an easier lie. 

There was a popular movie with the quote, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” That is the scenario many Americans are living today. They seek the truth, but when the truth is presented to them, it is rejected, because the truth does not always feel good. The truth requires some sort of discipline.

            Ephesians 2:1-10 says:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work   in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (above) recognizes those who do not know Jesus are dead in their transgressions. They are the walking dead. They do not realize their situation because their eyes are blinded without the clarity that comes only through acceptance of the Savior.

What is going on in your life today? Are you rich? Are you poor? Are you dead? There are many walking the streets of America who are dead. They don’t know they are dead. They portray themselves as living great lives. You see the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Perhaps you dream of being one of those who live the luxurious lifestyle, but to what end?

Michael Jackson was so disturbed that he couldn’t sleep. He was so restless that he required drugs to sleep; powerful drugs that ultimately killed him. If you look at the lifestyles of the rich and famous you will see that it is a very long list of people who are searching for what they are missing. They are searching for something that will fill the hole in their heart. They buy cars and houses and wives and husbands and when they do not get satisfied they get rid of those same cars, houses and wives and/or husbands and get new ones. They continue to go through life looking for something to fulfill them. Hollywood is a great example of the failures of a sinful lifestyle.

What is your need today? If you are trying to fill that hole, how are you doing? Perhaps you have tried materialism or yoga or some other type of religious experience only to find out that what you sought after was a lie. It was a lie from the pit of Hell that will continue to suck the life out of you if you do not find what will fill that hole that you are experiencing in your life.

All of the symptoms I have described are because many Americans are the walking dead. They have fooled themselves into thinking they are happy; fooled, because they chase after the things of this world rather than the things of God. When they achieve what they thought would make them happy, they experience the hopelessness that accompanies the emptiness of material objects rather than the fulfillment of God’s promises. They are convinced that life can’t get any better. It is the proverbial beer commercial that says, “Life doesn’t get any better than this.” If you are without Jesus, a truer statement has never been made.