Sunday Re Cap (6th Dec 2009)

Receiving Forgiveness of Sins Enables Us to Receive Our Father's Love

Rom 8:38

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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2Ti 2:13
       ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

"God does not need our love; in order to love us". We are not the initiators of that love but God is! He first loved us! Even when we don't feel like loving God; we can be assured that He loves us. His love is constant.

Do you and I need to love God? Same answer as, "Does God need our money"? He owns the cattle over a thousand hills. God IS LOVE! There is no shortage of LOVE in heaven. The Bible says God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son who is a manifestation of love. God IS LOVE No shortage of love in heaven! Our need is not to love God but to FIRST receive His unconditional LOVE.

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The key to receiving God's love is by receiving forgiveness of sins through the finished work of Jesus on the cross!

The purpose of the Cross was love. God the Father Himself initiated the cross. HE DID! He put to rest the matter of love through the cross and said He would love us forever because of what Jesus had done on the cross. We don't need to do anything to earn that love.

Up to the cross, God's love for His people was subject to their obedience and how they failed and again and again! However, after the cross, God's love for His people was based on Christ ultimate sacrifice and obedience on the cross! It's not your obedience that saved you or will ever save you; it's Christ obedience!

Does that want us to go out and sin? NO! Let's see what Jesus had to say about that. How many will believe if Jesus said something?

Luk 7:40-43 These verses clearly show that when we are forgiven, we do not go out and sin more BUT we LOVE more!

Then someone might say what about the unforgiving servant? Let's read what happened to him when he received forgiveness and then went out and used that as a license to sin against his brother? Matt 18:23-35

Mat 18:34-35 He remain tortured as he received GRACE for himself but applied the LAW on others. Always remember as recipients of GRACE, we show that same GRACE to others as well.

What is the purpose of God forgiving us? Love! We don't need to love Him but when we come back to the realization of His forgiveness of sins, we cannot but LOVE! The issue is not how much we love God because that will change with circumstances; but the real issue here is receiving the forgiveness of sins!

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

When we feel unloved, a failure, do you feel like going around saying "I love you" or "I love God" to anyone? Honestly? We feel dry, discouraged. Then when we turn and look at the cross and God's great love for us, what happens? We are overwhelmed and now, we can love again!

When we are touched by that LOVE, we give, we love naturally. Don't try to love God. Allow Him to love you and watch your own response!

 

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re-Cap 22 November 2009

Confidence in the Last Days (1 John 2:18-29)
by Ps. Abel Phillips

We believe that, according to Scripture, we are living in the last days.
The Bible says that perilous times are coming, and we need to be prepared.
We need to be ready because of:
i. The intercession factor – we need to be praying for people.
ii. The soul-winning factor – we need to be telling folks about Jesus Christ.
iii. The family preparation factor – as parents and grandparents, we need to be teaching and training our children in the ways and truth of God.
iv. The comfort factor – when we know what the Bible says about coming events, then we don’t have to worry; we understand that Jesus is coming again.

I) THE TIME IS THE LAST DAYS – BE AWAKE (1 John 2:18)
- Be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. After the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus, we entered into a period of time called the last time.
- The rapture of the church is imminent; we’re not waiting for the fulfillment of a sign or prophecy. The rapture may occur at any moment.
- We are to be expecting the coming of the Lord Jesus at any moment: Thessalonians 1:10 ; Philippians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Hebrews 9:28 & Titus 2:13
- We are not to look for a sign; we’re to be looking for our Lord Jesus.

II) THE TYRANNT IS THE COMING ANTICHRIST – BE AWARE (1 John 2:18-26)
A. The antichrist has many aliases, including the son of perdition, the man of sin, the wicked one, the man of lawlessness, and the beast, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 & Revelation 13:1.
The prefix “anti” has two meanings: “against” and “instead of”. The antichrist will come against Christ by substituting himself for Christ (instead of Christ).

B. Attributes of the antichrist:
1. Devilish - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
2. Divisive –
1 John 2:19 – speaks of other antichrists that have entered the world, many of whom were once a part of the church. This Scripture says that “they were not all of us,” meaning that they were never saved.
1 Timothy 4:1
3. Deceptive
His primary objective is to deceive men about who Jesus is.
1 John 2:20-23; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 4:1-3 & 2 John 7-11
4. Destructive
His objective in deceiving men about Jesus has an ultimate goal of condemning the souls of men.
1 John 2:24-25

III) THE TRUIMPH IS THAT JESUS IS COMING – BE ABIDING (1 John 2:24-29)
We need to abide in the Word of God.
-1 John 2:24
We need to abide in the Spirit of God.
- 1 John 2:20;1 John 2:27;Ephesians 4:11-12;2 Timothy 2:15;John 14:26
We need to abide in the Son of God.
- 1 John 2:28-29

So be abiding that when He appears you will have the confidence and will not be ashamed or alarmed before Him at His coming.

Sunday Re Cap (15th Nov 2009)

Forgiveness

Text: 1 Cor 1-10; James 1:2-4

Quote: Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to drop dead.

It's a matter of ATTITUDE!

Daniel 12:10 "Those who are wise will understand".

Rev 22:11 "and those right with God keep on being right with God".

Holy- AWESOME, BEYOND BELIEF.

Salvation- PRESERVATION FROM DESTRUCTION.

1 Cor 13:13 Above all, LOVE!

Rom 5:1-5 Never give up/live with great expectation.

Paul says-In the future we will BECOME, until then, we OVERCOME! GROW!

James 1:2-4

Time for CHANGE; Time to POSTURE ourselves.

How?

1. Establish the right atmosphere. Mark 6:3,5,6 "Is that the carpenter?"-They took offense.
   
   1. At the cross Jesus took ACTION; NOT OFFENSE.
      
   2. Jesus saw the BIGGER picture.
      
   3. Taking OFFENSE leads to BITTERNESS.
      
   4. Holding on to OFFENSES impedes life's posture for action. Blocks the atmosphere for the INCREDIBLE.
      
   5. Jesus gave up the RIGHT to be RIGHT at the CROSS.
      
2. Posture for the EXTRAORDINARY. Dan 10:12.
   
   1. "I have come because of your WORDS". Why 21 days? Needed to overcome spiritual challenges.
      
3. SERVE only God's Purposes.
   
   1. Extraordinary comes with much prayer.
      
   2. Greatest ministry in the waiting period.
      
   3. Take positive action; NOT OFFENSE!
      
   4. Let LOVE flow through us.
      

Re Connect

Faith to LIVE.

Hope for the LIVING.

Love for the LOST

Grace to our LIVES.

Peace to all.

James 2:14

Are we Citizens or Sojourners? Are we Potted or Planted? Are we Ambassadors or Terrorists?

Angelina Boots

Sunday Re Cap (8th Nov 2009)

Holy Communion (Part I)

The Holy Communion was instituted for the purpose of wholeness and healing. This will be a study that will help God's people to understand the full significance of the HC. To start our study, we need to go back to the Old Testament where it all began. To understand HC we need to fully appreciate the Passover.

Ex 12:1-13; 22-24 The Passover instituted.

V2-The Beginning of months-New Beginnings (The Passover signifies a new year).

V3-a lamb for himself and for his household-the lamb is not just for you but Jesus is for the whole household. When God sent Jesus, he did not only see you but your household. Your household is blessed because of you.

V4-Household too small! The Lamb is not too small. God's provision always exceeds our needs! Jesus is more than enough. God's blessings over our lives are meant to overflow to others. Not just kept for ourselves. JESUS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH. Twelve baskets full! Net breaking boat sinking load of fish. Wonderful to call for help when we are too BLESSED! How many would like to experience such a day? God is extravagant with His love! Don't be jealous with others. Don't be stingy as that doesn't reflect the heart of God.

V5-Lamb without blemish; first year, very sweet and adorable. Purposely not 2 or 3^rd year lamb. It represents Jesus, the one without blemish. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!".

V6-14^th day, meaning lamb kept for 5 days to bond with the family. Also to see if in the midst of the household if it has any blemishes. To fully appreciate that a sinless animal died on their behalf. Jesus came and dwelt among us, became one of us. Jesus was examined for 5 days faults-John's baptism, paying tax,

V7-the cross! The blood applied outside. Judgment on the outside but mercy on the inside!

V13-The Lord sees the blood and not what's in the heart of the people; not their goodness, charity, contributions. People were also conscious of the blood and not their sins. Even if they were, God's protection was still upon their lives as God only sees the blood. However, they would not be able to enjoy the time while awaiting their deliverance because of they did not receive! The blood on the doors of the Israelites differentiated them from the Egyptians' homes. As we said the last 2 weeks, the Egyptians represent sin. What separates us from the Egyptians? Sin? It's the blood!

Even in the OT the Passover was a picture of God's mercy. Why then do God's people treat the Holy Communion as a place of judgment for their sins? Even in the original Passover God did not judge sin but provided the blood of a lamb without blemish. Who needs to be without blemish? The lamb or the one that is sacrificing the lamb?
To be continued…

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re Cap (1st November 2009)

What REALLY Happened At Baptism/The Cross? Part III

There are 2 significant events in the life of a believer which we saw the parallel in Ex 12 and Ex 14.

The Passover (Exo 12:24-27) is a "type" of The Holy Communion (1Co 11:23-25)

Red Sea Crossing (Exo 14:26-30) is a "type" of The Baptism (Rom 6:6-7 & Rom 6:9-10)

Both events point the believer to the victory of Christ on the cross on behalf of us.

• The Baptism is identification with the cross and the Holy Communion is a remembrance of the cross.
  
• The differences between these 2 events are the identification only occurs once and remembrance is celebrated as often as we can in remembrance of Jesus.
  
• Baptism is also most of all a powerful declaration of the end of the observance of the law and the beginning of the walk of grace. (Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace).
  
• Holy Communion is a continual reminder that we are under grace.
  

What is REPENTANCE?

Acts 2:37. 38.Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What is this Repentance that Peter was talking about? Not a repentance of sin; otherwise Peter would have said REPENT FROM SIN!

We get another clue about the true meaning of repentance from Peter's next statement "you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". When did Jesus mention this and under what conditions? John 14:16;26 When Jesus returned to the Father having fulfilled all the requirements of the LAW on our behalf! The Holy Spirit could only be given IN FULL MEASURE when Jesus finished His work on the cross and having fully dealt with sin. The fact that we have the Holy Spirit is a proof that sin has been totally dealt with on the cross! The Father no longer sees us as sinners but fully redeemed by grace! We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. IT IS FINISHED!

So what REPENTANCE is Peter speaking about in Acts 2:38?

Heb 6:1-not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,

In Acts 2, Peter was laying a foundation of repentance. What is that foundation? Not repentance of sin but repentance from dead works! Dead works speak about the LAW.

Heb 9:11-15 ¹¹  cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ 

We are NOT against repentance. However we need properly understand repentance. There is a difference between Old Covenant and New Covenant REPENTANCE. Repentance that unveils sin is of the LAW! NEW COVENANT repentance unveils CHRIST! The curtain of the law of our hearts is torn and we see Jesus and His finished works on the cross! Notice what Peter what doing right up to the point where they were cut to the heart. Acts 2:36 summarizes everything he was saying, he unveiled Christ to them! Their eyes were opened! Then Peter said "REPENT!" Open your eyes and see JESUS instead of the LAW (DEAD WORKS).

REPENTANCE is allowing the blood of Christ the continuously cleanse our conscience from DEAD WORKS to serve the living God. That is why Judas died (Matt 27:3-4) and Peter lived (JOHN 21:7 It is the LORD!). When it's a repentance that unveils sin, it leads to condemnation and death! When it's a repentance that unveils Christ, it leads to LIFE and LIFE more abundantly!

Let us go unto perfection (Heb 6:1) by not going back to "dead works" to serve the living GOD! This is Bible Repentance.

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re Cap (25th Oct 2009)

What REALLY Happened At Baptism? Part II

What is really Baptism? To which act of Jesus is it pointing to? These verses themselves are so pregnant with so much of truth concerning Jesus. Baptism points to the CROSS!

Rom 6:1-11

The parallel for this scripture is found in Ex 12-14

• Ex 12: The LORD instituted the Passover. The Passover is a shadow of the Holy Communion. Jesus on the same night that He was betrayed shared the Passover meal where He instituted the Holy Communion and spoke of the New Covenant. The Passover is celebrated by the Jewish people annually to this day. It is a continual reminder of the victory over Egypt. Ex 12:27. This is why we repeat the Holy Communion "as often as we partake of it".
  
• However what happened after that? The Crossover. What happened at the Red Sea? Ex 14:13-31. They crossed over the Red Sea. How many times? Once. Why? Because Jesus went only once to the cross! Heb 10:12-14
  
• As far as the children of Israel were concerned, they were no longer slaves to the Egyptians. The parallel is we are no longer slaves to SIN! Sin has lost its power over us. We are no longer slaves but we are sons The Baptism is a picture of Cross which is a picture of the Red Sea Crossing. We have crossed over!
  
• Now will sin still be there? Yes. The children of Israel had the Amalakites, Jebusites, etc…but we are no longer slaves to them but we have mastery of them! They went back to The LORD and found direction, strength and triumphed over their enemies (sin). We go back to the Holy Communion! Sin is still there but we don't face sin as slaves but we overcome it as sons!
  
• NOTE: Even in the NT Jesus celebrated the Passover before He went to the Cross (Over).
  

Let's read Rom 6:1-10 again. Do you see the parallel? Let's allow the Holy Spirit to unveil Christ! Let the truth set us FREE!

1. V3: What is baptism? It is a powerful picture of the cross shown to the world and the devil hates it! It reminds him of his failure and it is a reminder of our victory once and for all over sin. (v9-10).
   
2. V4: We were buried just as Christ was buried in a tomb. But the tomb could not hold him. A new life under the new covenant!
   
3. V5: Likeness of His death. Likeness of His resurrection. What does the baptism unveil of Christ? He is resurrected in a new body, glorious, healed, whole, complete! As He is so are we.
   
4. V6: Sin has no more body; virus needs a host to latch onto. However if there's no body, it cannot land! We are no longer sinners.
   
5. V7: God cannot punish sin again and again. When His Son took our place, it was as if we were there. And because Jesus paid the price in full, it is as if we have paid the price and punished. It is finished; God cannot punish it again! We are now FREE!
   
6. It is a reminder of the finished work of the cross. It does not need to be repeated. What is the significance of that? We don't need to repeat our sins again and again to God. It has been paid in full! That is why baptism is only once in a lifetime!
   
7. The more we bring ourselves under grace, Sin can no longer bully us into believing that we are under the law.
   
8. V11: Reckon yourself: The key to breaking the power of sin. Consider, (esteem, judge) yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our LORD.
   

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re Cap (18th Oct 2009)

What REALLY Happened At Baptism? Part 1

Text: Acts 2:38, Acts 8, Is 53-54

Definition of Baptism

The word baptism itself comes from the greek root word "Bapto" which means immerse, dip (Liddel and Scott Lexicon) as opposed to pour or sprinkle.

Thayer Definition:

1) to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge, to wash, to overwhelm

Act 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent
(not just from sin BUT change your mind about the law (righteousness through works), about rejecting Jesus as the way to salvation, the Son of God), and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8: 13: Simon (spiritual senses sensitized, he was amazed)

Acts 8:26-39

• Philip preached beginning from that scripture (Is 53), Jesus (righteousness by faith, unveiling of Jesus).
  
• Condition for Baptism; "if you believe with all your heart you may"
  
• The water was a reminder from Is 54:9 (which is after Is 53) of God's covenant to Noah of peace and mercy upon a coming generation of people of the NEW COVENANT! We are that people. No wonder the eunuch wanted to get baptised so quickly!
  
• They went INTO the water and came up OUT of the water.
  
• The Eunuch went away rejoicing (a fresh consciousness of Jesus and righteousness by faith).
  

Where did Jesus die to sin? NOT AT BAPTISM. It was at the CROSS. That is why He gave us the baptism. It is a typology of the CROSS! Just like Holy Communion, it is not a new event every week but a reminder of one significant event that points to the FINISHED WORKS of JESUS on the CROSS!

It does not only mean death to our old life, it means death to the law, self consciousness, sin consciousness and its consequences; and alive to GRACE, Alive to Christ, Alive to RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Mat 3:15 But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him.

Gen 1:26: when God made man in His own image, He said, "Let US make man in our own image". Who is us? It's the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Notice that at the baptism, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were present as a firstborn among many brethren. At baptism, man was restored to the original design; in the image of God! Clothed with glory and honour again, back at the 2^nd creation of man; man came back into a full cycle and relationship with God!

In Summary:

1. Is Baptism important? It was important to Jesus, to the early church and even to the devil. Matt 10:32
   
2. When do I get baptized? In general, when we have an awareness of our sinful condition, that we cannot overcome sin in our own strengths.
   
3. Is Baptism the guarantee of going to heaven? Am I a Christian only when I get water baptized? NO! It is the profession of faith that saves us. Rom 10 especially verses 9-10; John 5:24, 3:36
   
4. Do I need to get water baptized before I'm allowed to take Holy Communion? The Bible places no such restrictions. It is not in the heart of our heavenly Father to place restrictions on coming to Him. Everything He does, He does to remove barriers because His whole objective is to love us and to make himself known to us.
   
5. Do we need to get baptized often? It's up to our own personal convictions. Jesus never did it, neither did any of the disciples and unlike the Holy Communion, Jesus never used the phrase "do this often". Having said that, we can understand if anyone wants to get baptized again as it is such a beautiful sense of identification with our LORD JESUS. Declaring to the world, "I am a child of God".
   

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Lord, I Cannot, But You Can!

Philippians 2:13
13for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Have you ever tried to break a bad habit on your own? You probably found that when you tried to stop it by sheer willpower, you saw improvement for a while, and then bounced back to square one. Worse, you found yourself binging on the very thing that you were trying not to do. And your condition is worse than before you started your "I'm going to quit" program!

The changes were temporary because it was you doing it.

A church member who had been a chain-smoker used to believe that with willpower, he could quit smoking. He would tell himself, "If there is a will, there is a way!" But he discovered that with willpower, he could stop smoking for a week or two, and then he would succumb to the pull of nicotine again.

When he turned his life over to God and learnt about God's grace, he told God, "I realize that I cannot stop smoking. I cannot, but You can break my habit, Lord." And every time he lit up, he would say, "Lord, I am trying to stop smoking, but I cannot. I am trusting You." He would even say, "I am still righteous because of Jesus' blood."

Well, in the very same year, all his cravings to smoke vanished! When asked how he succeeded, he would say, "It is entirely God and none of me! It is all by His grace." This man lost all the desire to smoke. That is true transformation.

When you receive the grace of God to do for you what you cannot do, you will experience effortless and permanent change on the inside, which in turn changes your actions on the outside. The Bible tells us that God works in us to give us both the will and ability to perform what He desires. It is God who removes the old want to's and gives us new ones. And He even gives us the power to carry them out!

Beloved, look to His grace to do what you cannot do. Say, "Lord, I cannot, but You can!" Then, what you experience will not merely be behaviour modification, but true and lasting inward transformation!

Pastor Joseph Prince @ New Creation Church, Singapore

Sunday Re Cap (27th September 2009)

The Year Of Great Favour

Is 60:1-4

Even though darkness is covering the earth and deep darkness the people, we are reminded to arise and shine for our light (Jesus) has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. We do not need to strive to shine; these verses declare that the Lord will arise upon us and His glory will be seen upon us. He WILL do it! There is no effort on our part that can increase that; we only need to receive. This speaks of God's great favour upon us as sons of the New Covenant. Only slaves need to strive for favour; sons simply receive!

What is this New Covenant? Was it spoken about in the Old Testament?

Heb 8:10-12 is actually quoting from Jer 31:33-34

The New Covenant was long prophesied in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is truth concealed and the New Testament is the truth revealed. The Old is the shadow and the New is the substance. So what is seen in the New Testament is nothing new but a revelation of what has already been foretold in the Old Testament.

How do we appropriate the New Covenant?

1. LET GO. Is 43:18-19
1. Let go of the former things and receive the new things. Let go of strive, self effort, worry, fear anxiety and receive God's rest and promises and provision for us.
2. Let go of the LAW mentality and receive the Grace mentality. The Law tries to make evil men good and fails miserably; but Grace makes dead men LIVE and succeeds wonderfully!
2. RECEIVE. 2 Cor 5:17
1. Receive the fact that we are no longer the old creation but a new creation.
2. Receive the atoning work of Christ on the cross and enjoy his blessings of healing, health, protection and provision.
3. PRACTICE. Ps103:1-5
1. Our Heavenly Father is eager to load us with benefits daily! As we receive, He is BLESSED!
2. Each time we take The Holy Communion, we are reminded that God has forgiven our sins and healed all our diseases through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. V3
3. We can then receive all the other benefits that are listed in V 4-5 which are:
1. Our life is redeemed from destruction. Jesus body was broken that ours might be made WHOLE.
2. We are crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Jesus' was given the crown of thorns that we might have the crown of LIFE!
3. Our mouth is satisfied with good things. Jesus held back his words before the crucifixion that we could open it wide and receive "good things".
4. Our youth is renewed like the eagle's. Jesus' gave up His youth that we could have ours renewed.

LET GO, RECEIVE AND PRACTICE to enjoy the GREAT FAVOUR of GOD for 2009!

Samuel Hari © GROW BM

Sunday Re Cap (20th Sept 2009)

Where Sin Abounded Grace Abounded Much More!

Where does Self consciousness and Sin consciousness originate from? For this we need to go to the very first book of the Bible.

Gen 2:9; 2:17; 3:6-11

In The Garden of Eden when Adam partook of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil instead of the tree of LIFE, Adam and Eve became conscious of their nakedness, conscious of their sins (they hid behind the bushes and behind fig leaves and eventually from GOD). The AGE OF SELF CONSCIOUSNESS BEGAN!

Rom 7:8 The LAW makes us conscious to SIN; but GRACE makes us conscious to the SON. We can only choose one; Law or Grace. Either Sin or Son Consciousness. One produces death and the other produces LIFE and LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY!

So what are we saying? Isn't the law holy? Isn't it good?

Rom 7:12 ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

The LAW is simply like a mirror. It's great! But can it clean us up?

Many well meaning Christians believe that God forgave our sins only up to the point of the cross. They recognize the quality of the sacrifice but somehow have doubts about the quantity of that grace that is available. This one of the most erroneous teaching in the body of Christ and it insults everything that Jesus has done and completed on the cross. It also robs God's people from receiving His blessings, healing and abundant life!

Let's look scripture to determine the quantity of GRACE. Rom 5:17 (the ABUNDANCE of GRACE).

Rom 5:20: ….where^G3757 sin^G266
abounded,^G4121 grace^G5485 did much more abound:^G5248

G4121-pleonazō-increase ; G5248-huperperisseuō-abound much more, exceeding.

What did God do? He did the unthinkable!

Rom 6:11-14 He REMOVED SIN out of the EQUATION! THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY MAN COULD COME BACK INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH A HOLY GOD. HOW?
Through the shedding of the perfect and sinless blood of His Son.

Jesus sacrifice on the cross was an overpayment for our sins. Jesus 'sacrifice was not just an act of grace, it was the very manifestation of GRACE! John 1:17

How can we respond to this truth?

1. If we don't hear about it, we remain under condemnation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the words of Christ. Rom 10:17. The unveiling of the finished works of the cross. Luke 24:27
   
2. We can say "I don't believe it!".
   
3. We can remain doubtful and continues to find ways to justify ourself.
   
4. We can be overjoyed and grateful.
   
5. We are no longer conscious of our sin. Initially, we may be self conscious but then day by day our confidence grows. Has the debt been paid, yes! It doesn't matter how we feel, it's not there anymore! The TRUTH is the debt has been paid!
   

Jesus' gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace will cause us to reign in life! Rom 5:17.

It takes FAITH to believe that we have been made righteous by God. John 3:30: Self consciousness must decrease that Jesus may increase. 1 Jn 3:2 When there is a revelation of Jesus (instead of self); we shall be like Him! Let there be more and more revelation of Jesus in our worship, communion, preaching that we shall be like Him!

Samuel Hari © GROW BM