Partakers Christian Podcasts

Faith - Exploring Words In Scripture

Faith

People always say that faith is blind!  However the Bible says that faith is a total confidence in God’s faithfulness, which leads to reliance, trust and total obedience to Him (Hebrews 11v6).  We see this faith in the Godly obedience of those around us and from the Bible and church history.

Faith in Salvation

For salvation, faith is a voluntary change of mind and heart in the sinner in which the person turns to God, relying on and accepting His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.

1. Mind - recognition of your need of salvation. Acknowledging Christ’s death on your behalf and your need of forgiveness.
2. Emotional (Heart) – your personal assent to the gospel.  You ask yourself, “What must I do to be saved?” and then you agree to make salvation a part of your life.
3. Will - Personal trust in Jesus Christ.

Now as a follower of Jesus, you are to continue having faith in Him.  Four things at least you are to have faith in Him for:

By faith - He is praying for you

Jesus Christ is making intercessions for His followers (Romans 8:34).  He knew the disciples troubles (Mark 6:48), just as He knows your troubles now.  He feels your cares and knows what you are going through (Hebrews 4:14-16).

By faith - He will come to you

Ever felt like God is far away? Well you aren’t alone!  King David often felt God was far away and unconcerned.  However he also knew God would ultimately rescue him.  Jesus always comes to you through difficult times, although He may not come in the time you think He should come, because He knows when you need Him most.

By faith - He will help you grow

When the disciples were in the storm and Jesus came to them walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33), the purpose of this incident was to show that Jesus would be leaving them soon, so they had to learn to trust in Him when He wasn’t physically present.  Peter wrote later on in his life, “for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers” (1 Peter 3v12).

By faith, He will see you through

At the same event, Jesus said “Come” and Peter went with Him.  This must have encouraged the other disciples, for upon seeing Jesus’ power they worshipped him.  Whatever troubles you are undergoing are temporary, and Jesus will see you through.

By faith, you have salvation. By faith Jesus is praying, will come to you, grow you and help you through troubles.  By being obedient to God, you are showing others your salvation and showing that faith, is not blind, but active!

 

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Justification - Exploring Words In Scripture

Justification

I wonder if you have come across this word in your reading of the Bible and wondered what it was all about!!  Justification means, that God looks as you as if you have never sinned against Him.  That means you are declared free from the penalty of sin. Justification is only a reality to you, if you have taken up the offer and are a follower of Jesus Christ. The basis of this justification is that God the Son, Jesus Christ, is both the Just and the Justifier of sinners (Romans 3:21-26).  God is holy; therefore, sin must be dealt with. He cannot arbitrarily forgive sin.  The judgment and penalty of sin, which is death, was poured out on Jesus Christ who is the substitute.  Therefore justice has been done, because God is just.  By faith in Jesus Christ we are declared righteous as a free gift, and Christian Disciples are therefore justified.  Nothing we can do could make us justified before Almighty God.  It is only through His free grace.

Substitution Jesus died for your sin, the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). That is how God is both just and the Justifier of sinners.  That is why Jesus needed to be both fully God and fully human, so as to be the full substitutionary sacrifice that was required to deal permanently with sin! For while you were yet a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you, (Romans 5:6-8), willingly giving His life as a ransom for you (Mark 10:45) and when He died in your place on the cross, He bore the consequences of all your sin – past, present and future.

Sacrifice This substitution was the sacrifice required in order that Jesus Christ could take away the sins of the world, which includes yours (John 1:29)! He therefore became sin for you (2 Corinthians 5:21) and it was His blood as the sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish (1Peter 1:18-19) that fulfils God’s requirements permanently. We are justified before God, because Jesus is our substitute! Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, justification means

• Your sins were nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14)

• You are clothed in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)

• You have the righteousness of Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Acts 13:38-39)

• You have received the gift of righteousness. (Romans 5:17)

• You have been declared righteousness by God through faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9)

So I challenge you with this: if He who was without sin, became sin, for you, you are to live a life worthy of Him and your status of freedom from sin in Jesus Christ.

 

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Covenant - Exploring Words In Scripture

Partake – Words In Scripture Explored – Covenant

Gday and welcome to Words In Scripture Explored! The word for today is Covenant.

Look at your money! On British money are the words "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five [ten/twenty/fifty] pounds. In fact you can even take old British banknotes to the Bank and cash them in for modern money! Promises!! That’s what a covenant is – a promise between two parties.

Covenants in the Bible

Covenants were common in all kinds of life, and not just between God and humanity. For instance where a powerful nation had taken over a weaker nation, a covenant was in place to give benefits from the powerful nation to the weaker nation, such as protection as well as sanctions if the weaker nation rebelled.

About God’s Covenants

Each covenant between God and humanity showed God promising to do something and commands for mankind to follow! When an Old Testament covenant ended in failure, it was always due to mankind’s inability to obey God! Such as when Adam & Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thereby breaking the covenant made with God. The Edenic Covenant was therefore terminated and now God needed to make another covenant with Adam (Genesis 3v14-21). In the Old Testament we have six covenants between God and humanity: Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and the Davidic. They all had several things about them:

• God always took the initiative.
• God always gave His solemn promise to fulfil His promise.
• God always waited for a free response from humanity, without coercion or force.

New Covenant

As a Christian Disciple today, you are living under the the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31v31-34)

Four features of this covenant are: God transforming you; God being your God and you being His; God living inside you and leading you; your sins are forgiven and removed

This new covenant is sealed only through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. His blood ensures the truth of this New Covenant. There is no other way for this New Covenant to be sealed except through Jesus’ blood alone. This New Covenant finalizes what the Mosaic Covenant could only point to: the follower of God living in a righteous life conforming to God's holy character.

Whenever you celebrate Communion or the Lord’s Supper, you celebrate this New Covenant between God and yourself, for it symbolizes this New Covenant, which guarantees salvation! So go tell somebody else today about how God will make them new, forgive them, live inside them, and transform them, if only they come to Him in repentance.