The Truth of the Gospel

 The Truth of the Gospel

A Word on How God Works in Our Salvation.

 

In order to understand the Gospel. We must accept God's power and authority. God has awesome power and can save whoever He wants. However He wants.

1. God calls us. No one is saved without first being called by Him. If you are saved. Then you are called. God calls everyone. If you are reading this, then you are being called. God uses many methods to call us and draw us to Himself. He might call us many times in life. He calls everyone. 

 

God speaks into our mind and hearts. When He calls we hear it and we know it's Him. We can either accept or reject.

We might not understand. We might not want to hear Him. We might put it off, or reject, but we cannot say He didn't call, and we didn't hear. He is God. He knows. Be real.

But what about the guy in the jungle somewhere?  Yes. God has called him somehow, and he has heard. Perhaps he looked at a starry night and thought someone made this, and God spoke to him and said "I made it" and the man believed and wanted to know more.  

 

Whether he accepted or not is between him and God. Not all saved people will look like you.

God is working. Trust Him.

2. Belief!  A person hears the call and believes it's from God ( Full understanding is not required) and the person turns to God (repent) God knows, God sees, God understands. Whether we do or not is irrelevant. 

The picture in the scriptures is Jesus calling His disciples. He said, "come follow me" and they knew they should listen and they followed. They did not know the cost. They just heard and followed. Jesus did not require anything else.

Another picture is the prodigal son. He "comes to himself" and goes home in humility to the father, and the father comes running. The father demanded nothing. When the son woke up, that is what happens when we hear the call. We realize the Truth.

Another picture is the thief on the cross. He was guilty. He knew it. He was one step above death. And he realized who Jesus really was. He heard the call in his heart and woke up. He called Jesus "Lord" and put his faith in him. Nothing else.

Just turn to God and trust in Him. Be real with Him. Just ask.

3. God will bring you to Jesus Christ. It might happen immediately or it might happen later. But, God will show you that Jesus Christ is the Lord. When we see it, we confess Jesus is the Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead. ( Roman's 10:9-10)

When you hear the call, then turn to God and confess Jesus is the Lord, putting your faith in Him for salvation you are saved. You cannot lose it or give it away. God holds it. He owns you. Your salvation is totally on God. Not you.

4 What about works?  Faith without works is dead?  Well, confessing Jesus is Lord with your mouth is a work. And that's all God requires. Your faith and confession of Christ.

When you get saved The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you and He teaches you. He grows you. He helps you in your relationship with Jesus.

He leads you into works. He leads you into Baptism which is a work..  He leads you into Communion which is a work. He leads you into Fellowship with other believers . He gives you a hunger to read God's Word.. The Holy Spirit helps you to Love God and others. He gives you a ministry to serve God and others

 

5. Sin and sanctification. Notice I said nothing about sin so far. Because before we are saved we do not really know how fallen We are. We do not know how wicked we are. Sure we might realize something is wrong. Or that we do things wrong. But we do not fully know.

And we are not required to. God knows. He calls us, and loves us anyway. He wants us to turn to Him and confess Jesus is the Lord, so He can save us and cleanse us.

But we are not required to understand all that. We might know we sin. We might know we fail. We might know we need Him. But, we might not understand. We just know He called us. And we need Him.

After we get saved. God washes us in the Blood of Christ. This cleanses us of all sin. Forever.

 

It is finished.

Then as we walk through our lives, the Holy Spirit teaches us and grows us. He molds us and shapes us and we become different people. We sin less and less as He sanctifies us. But, we were already forgiven the day we were saved.

When we sin we confess our sins to God. This is a work. This brings it up between you and Him. And as you keep confessing over time, the Lord changes your mind and heart and you find that you no longer do those things. Confessing sin to God and growing and abiding in Him is a work. But you were saved the minute you turned to Him.

It's all totally God. Not you. We are to turn, believe, confess and abide.  All of which He helps us to do.

Praise Jesus. God does it. He has made it as simple as possible. We have no excuse.

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 Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the writer.

Love One Another

 Love One Another

Do You Back Up The Saints?

 

 

The early church had three things that helped them grow and take over the Roman Empire.

First, they had the Holy Spirit. They were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, who led them and guided them in their work.

If your church never speaks of or teaches the Holy Spirit. If they do not listen to or operate through the Holy Spirit. That should be a big red flag. Especially in these last days.

Second, the saints of old were willing to die for what they believed. They faced terrible persecution. They were fed to lions, crucified and burned. They faced it with joy. This led the people of Rome to see that they really believed, and therefore the Gospel might be true. The early church put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

Now, many have faced death for what they believe. But, the difference is that the early church saw death as a door to going home to be with the Lord. Their belief was real. Our attitude towards death is to be different than the world’s. We see death as an escape from this world, and being with Christ. (Phil. 1:21-30)

We get saved, and the Holy Spirit works in our life. We see that God is real and we trust Him. This leads us to see death as a gateway to new life. We are going home.

The third thing is love. The Holy Spirit works in our life and develops love in us. It is a love that defies our fleshly reason. Love that speaks against our corrupted nature.

The early church grew because of this love.

The ancient world was harsh. It is said that over 90% of Rome were slaves. We could say the same about modern America. These slaves were totally controlled by their masters. They had to ask permission for everything. They could be fired (Killed) for no real reason. Every aspect of their lives was controlled by the master. They were considered a reflection of the master (business)

 I say this, to make the connection between conditions then and now. They were very similar in spirit. The same Demon or Spirit that ruled behind the scenes in Rome, still rules today around us.

These slaves had nothing of their own. It was all owned by their master. (Bank/State)

So here comes the early Christians. They acted weird. They had faith which made them willing to die spiritually and physically to this world. They showed crazy love, not abuse. It was so much different than the world around them. Not because they stopped sinning, but because they loved and had faith.

They had church gatherings where they shared food and money to help each other succeed. They sold everything for this cause. They jumped in with both feet, loving each other and the cause of Christ.

The other slaves were drawn by the Holy Spirit to be a part of this. They wanted to know what this was. Of course some wanted to take advantage, but many were for real. And even those who wanted to take advantage were loved and got saved because of how they were treated in comparison to how the world and the system treated them. They saw the Holy Spirit working, they saw the faith, they saw the love. Real love.

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”—(John 13:35)

Our success as believers comes through the Holy Spirit, Faith and Love. It comes from God. We cannot do any of these things without Him. We cannot love the way we should without Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit growing and molding us.

Our success in this life as believers comes through the love and support we give each other by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith.

We see someone hurting and we help. We see someone fallen, and we help them rise back up because the Holy Spirit leads us to show love to them. We do this to everyone.

But, how much more should we help other saints?

Our love for our fellow saints shows whether we are even saved or not.

When we see someone who goes to our church hurting, suffering, fallen or in need; do we help them or ignore them? Do we cast them aside because they fell or do we go to them? Do we support them in ministry, business and life? Or do we ignore them because they don’t measure up to traditions of men? I shouldn’t even need to post bible verses to prove it.

Shouldn’t the leaders of the church be leading the church in love? To help others? to support the saints in life and in their ministry work for Christ? Not to be seen of men or to look good because you’re supporting the latest fad. But, to help those people Jesus speaks of in Mathew 25. It’s easy to love children in need. But, our love is supposed to be big enough to love the prisoner. To love the enemy.

This love can only come by the Holy Spirit. Course, if your church doesn’t really believe in the Holy Spirit, that could be a problem.

All saints are gifted for service. Our service comes by the Holy Spirit working through us and developing the fruit in us. Is that happening in you or in your church? Does all your church love terminate on a few “obedient” people?

Do you have little cliques in your church? Groups of people who control everything and no one else can get inside or be a real part of? Are you a respecter of persons? Like James spoke about; embracing the rich while destroying and ignoring the poor or lower class? (James 2:1-9)

Is that love?

 Real love is shown in Christ, when he died for those who hate Him, and forgave them.

Love is explained in First Corinthians chapter 13.

Love is shown throughout the Word.

Love is shown in how God has loved you.

Love is shown by doing unto others what you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

We are to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21)

Loving others, is good and is a form of spiritual warfare. When we see evil such as poverty, or oppression or disease, we respond with love. We don’t victim blame. or make unrighteous judgements. We help. When evil is done to us we turn it around for good, by faith and love with the Holy Spirit.

We are saved by Grace,through faith. Not by works. (Eph 2:8-10)

We are not saved by Love. We are saved by God’s love and grace, but not our own. However, our love for the saints and others is a reflection of what God has done for us. It is a reflection of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

We win the fight of faith through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. Our love is through Him. All our failures work to lead us and grow us in Him if we turn to Him. These failures and hurts teach us to love, and have faith in Him. (Rom 8:28)

We succeed in Him.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Grace Cannot Exist With Works

 Grace Cannot Exist With Works

If you seek to save yourself you've destroyed Grace. 

 

 

 

"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."---Romans 11: 5-6 KJV---all verses are KJV

In this verse in Romans, Paul makes a statement regarding grace that should settle all matters regarding salvation by faith, or works, or whether you can lose your salvation, or whether you must do works to maintain it.

He plainly states, that it cannot truly be grace if you have to do anything to obtain it, or keep it.

The whole idea of grace is negated by any notion of effort on our part.

The King of everything is offering us salvation, adoption, total forgiveness, mercy, joint ownership of the Kingdom, all for free, forever, if we just turn to Him, and ask. Confessing Him as our Lord, believing and trusting Him alone.

 

" For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."--- Eph. 2:8-10

We are saved by grace. THROUGH faith. 

Faith is a medium. It's like a telephone line that connects us to God's Grace. We are not saved by faith, we are saved THROUGH faith.

God does not want anyone boasting or acting like they did some great deed to be saved, or that they were obedient servants. We must accept our fallen state and inability to save ourselves, in order to receive God's Grace. That's part of it. You must acknowledge your need for him alone.

But, here's where we encounter a problem.

Some people want to use Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 as an excuse to try to save themselves. It will not work. We cannot save ourselves or even help God at all. The second you try or think you are, grace ends.

After Adam fell humans became corrupted with a sin nature. We are not able to do right or fix ourselves. This is why God gave us the law. The purpose of God's law is to show us we cannot obey it and need to turn to God for salvation. This is why Jesus came to save us. We are not saved by doing the works of the law. We are saved by Grace. We are saved through faith in Christ alone. We follow the law because it helps us avoid trouble in this life. But, it does not save us.

Let's rightly divide the Word, in verse 10.

"We are HIS workmanship"=  It is God's Work not ours.

"created in Christ Jesus unto good works"= We are "Born Again" or Created in Christ, to build the Kingdom, to Spread the Gospel. to love and help people. These are the works we do.

"which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."= God already had a plan for our lives in Him and wants to work through us.

This is not about our salvation. We cannot do the works God desires without first being saved and letting Him work through us, by His Spirit.

But, some continue to use this verse and other verses to attempt to prove that we must  pay for our salvation or do something to earn it.

The fact that they think they can earn it, is proof that they really do not understand how wicked we are. It proves God right, when He says "None seek God". We seek ourselves, when a person wants to save themselves. (Romans 3:11)

When you wonder if someone can lose Grace. The answer is no. But, many "Christians" have never received Grace. Because they have chosen to earn it themselves, And force others to do the same.

They don't lose it.  They never had it. They never fell on their face and said "Have mercy on me a sinner". They never really had any oil in their lamp because they never had faith in God. ( Luke 18:10-14)

Let God save you.

 

Just turn to Him and ask Him to save you. (Acts 2:21)

 

Confess that Jesus is your Lord and believe He rose from the dead. (Romans 10: 9-10)

Believe He has saved you and is working on you. Trust His promise. It's not a feeling.

God has saved you, if you asked him to. Now He will start working in your life to help you to have more faith and grow in Him. To help you serve Him. He will lead you to study his Word and find a place where you can be with other saved people.

 

 Trust Him.

Let me give you a little analogy.

Let's say there's a parent and a child.

Which is better?

The child that ignores the parent, and goes its own way and is hurt or has a ruined life?

 

or

The child who chooses to read about the parent and rules and laws, obeying them perfectly but never really knowing the parent?

 

or

The child who turns to the parent and says. "Please help me". The child who chooses to turn to the parent and ask them to help them and grow them. The child who wants a relationship?

 

Which is better?

 

It's kind of a no brainer.

 
Turn to the Lord and trust Him.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the writer, Gulf Shores, Alabama

Meat vs. Milk

 Meat Vs. Milk

Are you ready?

 

 

“Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 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. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 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.”— Heb. 5:11-14

God’s Word teaches us that there is a difference between milk and meat when it comes to our growth in Christ.

There comes a point when we have read the Word, over and over. When we have sat in all the bible studies and read commentary books. When we have heard all the sermons for years. There comes a point when we are supposed to be ready to serve Christ.

There comes a point where we step into our gift and start using it for the Kingdom. When Church is no longer about sitting in the same pew, listening to the same music, and the same sermon series, from the same guy who gives only milk to drink.

The burden is on both the leader and the church member to grow.

If all a church member ever gets from the pastor or preacher is milk, then how are they supposed to be ready to consume meat?

If the pastor never hears from the Holy Spirit, or even talks about the Holy Spirit, then who is guiding this man? Who is giving him his sermon notes? Does he get his ideas from other preachers in books who never spoke of the Holy Spirit? Men who never spoke as unto the Oracles of God themselves?

The preacher is to tell the flock what the Holy Spirit tells him to preach. It’s not about what the preacher thinks. It’s not a scholarly task. If he says “I was thinking about this”, he is glorifying himself. He should be teaching what the Spirit has told him. If he can’t “Speak as the Oracle of God” meaning that he is speaking what God has told him to say, then he needs to go sit down. He is too afraid to acknowledge that he heard from God, because certain members of his congregation would label him as crazy or false. The congregation should never think that hearing from God is crazy. We are supposed to converse with God, and we are supposed to be crazy for Jesus. (1 Peter 4:11)

That doesn’t mean that a preacher cannot express his own opinion or tell what his own understanding of the Word is. There are lots of places where that’s needed. But, his view point must really be from the Word and the Holy Spirit.

The congregation gets the preacher they deserve. If they are not ready for meat, then they get a preacher who never preaches meat, and the congregation will not grow in Christ. If the congregation doesn’t read the Word, or spend time in prayer or service, fighting the fight of faith how can they be ready for meat?

If all they know is from Bible classes and sermon series, then they are babes. They have never been broken or know Christ. They have never really learned from Him. They are like baby birds sitting in a nest eating regurgitated food from their parents.

Have you ever read the Word? Have you ever really studied it? Not cherry picked sermon series, but actually read and studied the Word? If your pastor started teaching false things, would you really know?

If you get enlightened things from your pastor, and you have never read or studied the Word for yourself, how do you know you are not just getting really good milk? How do you know that it’s not just a good speech? Good speeches can elicit emotions as well. It doesn’t mean the sermon is from God.

The writer of Hebrews goes on to speak of what Milk is.

“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, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”—Heb. 6:1-3

If you do not know the basic doctrines of Christ well enough to go out and teach others and preach the Gospel, then you are still a babe.

Have you asked the Holy Spirit to teach you? Do you realize your teaching comes through getting up and serving? Do you read the Word? Do you have real faith in God? Do you only get your doctrines from one man teaching milk?

Does your pastor feed you milk, because he wants to keep the flock in the pen so he can fleece them of tithes? Perhaps, you’re not growing in Christ because the leader you keep following doesn’t really know Him? Is he too afraid to preach the meat of the Word because he doesn’t want to upset the rich people of the church who pay his salary?

We are called to be soldiers in Christ. We are supposed to be serving God. That means that our pastors, preachers and teachers are supposed to be letting the Holy Spirit, speak through them for the purpose of getting people saved and preparing them to go forth and fight the true fight of faith. They should be leading and providing means for them to really serve. Not just waiting on tables or doing tasks, but exercising their gifts for real out in the world. Not just sitting on committees and doing bible studies.

We are supposed to be telling people about Jesus. Not bringing them to church so that someone else can tell them about Jesus. The time we waste between inviting a person to church and them showing up, is the time Satan draws them away. We are supposed to be prepared to give the Gospel at the moment Jesus brings someone to us. Not force them to wait a week to come to church and hope the preacher happens to give the Gospel that week. Are you really ready to serve? Can you not present the Gospel? If not, then are you really saved? Do you understand it enough to really know it? (1 Peter 3:15)

We are supposed to be taught by the Holy Spirit, and listen to his guidance as He leads us to serve and learn from teachers who really speak the Word. ( 1 John 2:27, John 16:13)

But, are we “dull of hearing” because we are lazy and sitting in that same old pew? We have been lulled into a stupor and need woken up? Like the writer of Hebrews says “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again “

They had fallen into false doctrine. They had never grown. They did not really know Christ because they were never taught by Him. They had left the basic doctrines.

This is why the writer goes on to say some of the most terrifying words in the scriptures.

“ 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, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 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. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”—Heb. 6:4-8

He is warning them. They had heard the Gospel. They had woken up with joy. They had been partakers of the Holy Spirit’s work, and seen Him move. But, they were still babes. They still consumed milk. They never grew. This should be a red flag, that they never really got saved.

Since they never grew, they turned away into false things. They turned from God and his salvation unto their own self-righteousness. You must understand these are people who are sitting in the church reading this letter.

They had turned away from the basic teachings of Christ. They had turned to thinking they were saved by obeying the Law, and by doing good works, instead of grace by faith. This is why the writer speaks of relearning the basic doctrines, when they should be teachers of it. Because they never really got it.

These people did not lose their salvation, they never really had it. They never really knew Christ. They just saw the truth, but never really moved to accept it and become a part of it. They just sat in their pews and ate the food, clapped to the music and enjoyed the story telling from the pulpit. But, it never changed them. It never led them to be saved. It never led them to grow in Christ.

These people are like the folks in the parable of the sower. The tares among the wheat. They are birds in the tree, stealing the seed. (Matthew 13)

They never really knew Him. The devil snatched the Word from their heart. Persecutions and tribulations kept them from trusting God. The flesh, the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches kept them from really turning to God. They were never saved.

These folks are the foolish virgins. They are the ones who say “have we not done marvelous works in thy name?“. They are the ones at the wedding feast in the wrong clothes, because they never really put faith in God for salvation through Jesus Christ. They trusted in their own works and their own name to save them. They thought that living a life resisting temptation and not sinning was knowing Christ. Ignoring the fact that Christ died for those sins, and giving it all to Him and following Him. (Matthew 22, Matt 25)

They “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” because they never really accepted the salvation from Jesus the first time. They did not accept the salvation Jesus gave them. They are like Moses who hit the Rock twice, because his flesh did not allow him to realize that all he needed to do was speak to the Rock, and get water. It was his work, he thought, that brought out salvation, not the finished work of Christ. ( Exodus 17:1-7 ,Numbers 20:1-12, 1 Cor. 10:4 )

We confess our sins and He cleanses us and changes us. That’s the relationship. We don’t change ourselves. Sinners cannot change their own sinful ways, for all they do breeds more sin.

Do you know Him? Are you ready for meat? Are you following the Holy Spirit? Are you serving in your gift from God? Are you fighting the enemy, helping and serving others?

Or are you sitting in a pew for years, getting milk from someone who probably should not have been a preacher?

Ask God to save you and grow you.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by pexels

The Internet and Social Media

 The Internet and Social Media

A Tool for the Last Days 

 

God allowed the internet and social media to exist, for the purpose of spreading the Gospel, and His Word in these last days.

Yes, there is evil. Yes, the enemy is using the internet and social media to unite the world for his Kingdom.

Yes, it was brought into being by the spirit of antichrist in order to build the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ.

Yes, it is the modern equivalent of the Tower of Babel from the days of old.

It is a picture of the same battle that has been fought between good and evil since the Fall of man. Since the enemy rebelled against God. Since the Lord ascended and the promise of His return was given.

We can see throughout history, the struggle between forces.

We can see the common tongue, in Jesus day was Greek, and the violent Roman empire ruled the known world.

And it was through Greek, Latin and the roads of the Roman empire that the Gospel was spread, and the saints grew in number, till the Church became the religion of Rome.

Then, Satan used false leaders in the Catholic Church to suppress the Word, excommunicating and killing anyone who opposed them.

But, the Word was printed and translated into other languages so the truth and the Gospel could spread. But evil spread with it, and tried to stop it.

Kings of Europe, rose up and fought wars, colonizing, and spreading their power around the world. Satan’s servants enslaving, murdering, worshiping money, and annihilating entire people groups. Putting the whole world in debt to the fallen ones.

But, within it the Gospel and God’s Word spread around the world using The Spanish, French and British languages and empires, as a tool.

Till the world broke free from the Kings, and formed new governments, and Constitutions promising free religion and free speech to spread the Gospel and God’s Word around the world.

But a new last days empire has arose, and was taken over by the same desire to grow, and kill and exploit the world and create a New World Order Kingdom of the Anti-Christ.

In the midst of it, the Gospel is spread globally, even in restricted countries.

Then the internet came into being. The new Tower of Babel, to unite the world.

But, it allows the saints through social media and websites to spread the Gospel so the Word can be published in every nation, till the end comes. (Matt. 24:14)

As governments, corporations and religious leaders work to quell rebellion and to control free speech on line, working to silence opposition, and to prepare for the coming of the Mark of the Beast. The saints continue to work.

While things move towards the final persecution of the saints when the Anti-Christ over comes them. (Daniel 7:21, Dan. 7:25, Rev. 13:7)

Till the Lord returns and sets up his ever lasting kingdom.

Are you working?

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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How Do We Forgive?

 How Do We Forgive?

Forgiveness sets us free.

 

We are called to forgive others. It is one of the hardest things we can be called to do.

“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 6:15

We see an example of this in the parable of the servant who owed the King.

He could not pay the debt, so the king forgave him. Then, the servant turned around and refused to forgive a fellow servant, so the king removed his forgiveness and punished the unforgiving servant. —(Matt. 18:23-35)

This is scary business.

So, what do we do?

Well, like everything in life we turn to God. We ask him to teach us wisdom and lead us into all truth. (Prov. 3:5-6, James 1:5 John 16:13)

First we need to see what the ultimate forgiveness is. What forgiveness does the King offer?

Jesus Christ coming and dying on the cross for our sins. Dying to offer forgiveness to those who hate Him and killed Him. He says “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24)

That is our image of forgiveness. To die, in order to forgive those who hate us and hurt us.

But hold on because God does not offer a general forgiveness. You must come to Him and bow the knee and ask him to save you and forgive you. You must confess Him as Lord. You must turn to Him. (Romans 10:9-10)

Do you remember Judas? Was he forgiven? He was a betrayer?

If he had ran to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, he would have been forgiven. But, we have no record of him doing that.

When you look at what God does, and you look at the parable in Matthew 18:23-35

You will see a pattern. In every case the guilty party asks for forgiveness, and/or offers to make things right. Then, forgiveness is given. Then, mercy is given.

Notice in the parable of the unforgiving servant.

“But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.” (Matt. 18:28-30)

The unforgiving servant, made it a point to go out and find any servant who owed him in a very small matter. Then, demanded payment. He refused to forgive, and sent the man to prison. This is a complete heart issue. This person did not understand the forgiveness offered. This person never knew the King.

Are you hunting down the person who owes you? Is it a petty matter? Are you choking them and demanding repayment for something that you no longer owe? (Remember the king forgave the debt. This is not about getting money to repay. This is strictly revenge.) Did the person ask forgiveness? Did you give it? Did the punishment for the crime outweigh the pettiness of the crime? Are you wrong? Have you really sought God?

These are questions to ask yourself when you wonder if you are really forgiving someone.

So let’s look at a practical example.

Someone does something wrong to you. What should we do as believers?

We turn to God and ask Him to help us. (Prov. 3:5-6, James 1:5 John 16:13)

We settle the matter with God. We say “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24)

We let them off the hook between us, them and God.

We look at what we’ve done. We try to fix it. If we’ve done wrong, we fix it as best we can.

We offer forgiveness to the offender as best as we can between us and God.

That’s all we can do. Our goal is to be right with God.

We cannot force the person to accept the forgiveness or to reestablish a relationship. All we can do is offer. Just like God offers.

Jesus tells us that we are to go to the person and try to resolve it. (Matt. 18:15-17 (Sometimes we can’t do this. It can cause more harm or damage. Sometimes it is impossible, they are dead or have removed themselves.)

But, remember our goal is to be right with God. You’ll notice that the verses to forgive are in the same chapter as the verse instructing us to go to our brother to solve the problem. Matthew 18. Forgiveness involves a willingness to resolve.

The bottom line is a willingness to forgive and to be right with God. It is about turning to God and asking Him to help with the forgiveness. This is the same with anything. If you were addicted to drugs, would you not turn to God and ask Him to forgive and help? This is the relationship we have with Him. He helps us.

All we can do is to be right between us and God. We cannot force anyone else to do anything. We listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us in what to do. We follow the Word as best we can, with an honest heart with God.

If a chance comes to express forgiveness or to make right, then we do it.

This is what we do between us and God. No matter what.

But, what about Justice?

What about protecting others?

What about fighting evil?

Let’s say you are a member of a church since you were a child, and let’s say that certain members of the church did sinful things to you. Things that impacted your faith. Things that ruined your life. Things that were illegal. Things that hurt others.

Do you just forgive them and let it go and move on?

You can, but what if you hear that they keep damaging other people? They keep driving people from Christ. They allow others to suffer from the illegal things they do? They stand in the pulpit demanding that you forgive while they themselves have refused to forgive and destroyed others? They treat others as less than them?

Let’s say there’s a child molester in the church or neighborhood. Do you just let it go?

Do you forgive them and let them hurt others?

Let’s say you have a bad employer or manager who destroys your life. They have done it to others and continue to do so. They break laws and treat workers terrible. Do you just forgive and move on? Do you let your employer continue to mistreat people and break laws, because they think they are above the law?

Perhaps God allowed this to happen so that you will stand up and do something. Maybe someone prayed 5 years ago for God to help, and you are the help God sent. Maybe?

If a drunk driver kills your daughter do you just let them continue to drive drunk and kill others? You can forgive, but what about others?

Doesn’t the authority bear the sword for the evil doer? Isn’t that from God? (Romans 13:1-8)

This is why we turn to God in all matters, but especially in the matter of forgiveness. We forgive between us and God, then we follow His Spirit as He guides us. We pray, and watch. We do what He leads.

This is part of our relationship with Him. But, these are serious questions.

“Revenge is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.” —Romans 12:19

Does that mean we just pray and wait for God to move, while someone continues to hurt others? We can forgive for what was done to us and let it go, but is it love to just let them do evil to others?

Forgiveness is a hard thing for believers to navigate. This is why we let God direct our paths.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author

Our Peace

 Our Peace

Our Peace Comes Through Knowing Him

 

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”—Phil. 4:6-7

You’ve seen the slogan

“Know Jesus. Know Peace.
No Jesus. No Peace.”

But, what does it really mean and how do you obtain it?

It’s about having a relationship with Him.

It’s not about Faith, or Trust or Believing.

These things matter and are the first steps needed. They are important.

But, you can put your faith, trust and belief in a rock, and it won’t save you. It won’t bring you real peace.

You must have a relationship with Him. A relationship is give and take.

Faith, Belief and Trust is not. It is one way.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”—Psalm 34:8

You are “Blessed” when you trust, believe and have faith in Him. That blessing is the relationship that comes from it. All the treasures in the world is nothing compared to the relationship.

“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.”—Heb. 11:6

When we put our faith in Him He rewards us when we diligently seek Him.

That’s relationship. We don’t stop at faith. We don’t stop at trust or belief, we move forward into knowing Him and having a relationship with Him. Our faith must lead to relationship.

We believe God’s Word, and stand on it in times of trouble. Then we see God move and we grow in faith and relationship with Him. This brings peace as we remember how He has been with us in the past. We have seen Him move.

Remember, the demons of hell believe and tremble, because they do not confess Him as Lord, they are in rebellion. They do not have a relationship with Him. Many people pray to receive Christ, but never really know Him. They never grow in Faith or have a relationship with Him. (James 2:19)

God calls us. When we hear. When we believe, and turn to Him. Putting our faith and trust in Him, confessing Jesus as our Lord. Trusting Him alone for salvation. God places us IN Christ Jesus. (Romans 10:9-10)

Jesus died for us. When we ask to be saved and confess Him as Lord, God places us within that salvation. He puts us on that Ark of protection. He washes us with His Blood. We die with Christ, and are born again with Him. That’s what it means to be IN Christ Jesus. Our peace comes by being IN Him. It comes through Him, not us.

But, if you do not have a relationship, can you really say you are in Him? Can you really expect to get anything like peace, through Him?

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”—Eph. 2:8-10

We are saved by God’s Grace. Not works. We are saved through faith so we can do good works IN Christ Jesus. The good works are based in our relationship with Him. We are yoked together with Him in relationship and service to God and others.

Ok, so what about Peace?

Well, when we are saved we receive the Holy Spirit.

God’s Spirit comes to dwell with us and in us. He comforts us and teaches us.

He helps us in our relationship with God (Himself).

He brings us gifts and develops fruit in our life.

If we do not quench His work. (1 Thess. 5:19)

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”—Gal. 5:22-23

When the Holy Spirit works in us He develops this fruit if we do not fight Him, or do things to stop it.

Remember, we are fallen beings. So we must develop the fruit because it is not natural for us.

Think of an adult who suffers an injury and must go to rehab to relearn the most basic things. How to walk. How to eat. How to use their hands.

It’s tough. It’s painful. It takes time. This is how the Holy Spirit develops His fruit in us.

This develops the relationship.

Understand that the Fruit is the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s not ours. It’s not our flesh. It’s Him in us. This is why we fail at times. We fall back into our old self. Our flesh.

So, if we are really saved, and really seeking Him. Then, things will come into our lives that will cause us to turn to Him, and the Holy Spirit will use it to grow fruit in us.

We learn to love because God has shown us that He loves us.

We have peace because God has shown us a thousand times that He is there with us and everything will be fine.

We have joy because we see Him again.

We have patience because we know Him and can wait on Him forever, because he has taught us to.

We know goodness, gentleness and faith because we have learned it by seeing Him working in our lives, and how he treats us and others.

We have temperance, because we need nothing but Him.

We learn Meekness through brokenness and being rebuilt by Him.

All of this is the relationship, and because of the relationship.

We confess our sins to Him and trust Him. (1 John 1:9)

We pray to Him and trust Him.

We see Him move, over and over again. And know Him.

Now we look at the verse in Philippians, and rightly divide it based upon relationship.

“Be careful for nothing; “…Because we know Him. We know He is with us and loves us.

“but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”…We can discuss anything with our Father. He is on our side. He is with us and knows how best to help us. We give thanksgiving because we believe His promise “Whatsoever you ask in my name I will do.” (John 14:14) So we thank Him, knowing He is moving.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”… We have peace because we know Him and we have his Holy Spirit. That peace is greater than anything in this world, because God is greater, and we know Him and are known of Him. He is with us and in us. Remind yourself of this. But, remember it’s because we are IN Christ Jesus. It’s because we pray in His name. It’s through Him that we have life, salvation and everything. This is our peace.

We trust that whatever God does with our prayer to Him will be fine. He loves us, “And we know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” —-(Romans 8:28)

If you are saved, then you are called. If you have the Holy Spirit then you have love for God, and it is being developed in you.

So, why do I not have peace? You might ask.

When you exercise or lift weights you come to a point of muscle failure. A point where you can’t lift anymore. A point where you strain. But if you keep working you will eventually lift that weight with ease.

The Holy Spirit is developing fruit in you. It is like exercise. You will be pushed and grow from it.

We turn to God and He helps us, and we see Him moving and our faith grows, our peace grows, our love for Him grows. See?

That’s relationship. He is with us and nothing else matters.

Always turn to God, and He will be there and comfort you and help you, and you will grow from it. Like a spotter in the Gym who puts his hands on the bar. He’s got you. He shouts encouragement. You are ok, just tough it out and trust the one who has your back.

And you will have more peace.

Remind yourself of His promises as you watch Him move in your life.

We encounter something in our life. We lean on the promises God has given. We speak them out loud and faith grows. We see God move and we grow to trust Him more, and this brings peace.

Trust Him. Study His Word. Trust His Word.

He’s got you. And that brings peace.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Support the work for the cost of a Coffee

Support the work through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author