James 2:18-19 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Mark 5:6-7 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 

In the next few paragraphs, I would like to go through the actions of the demon possessed man in Mark 5 and compare them with the actions most professing Christians may or may not display in their lives in today’s modern culture. There are many who may “tip the hat” or say the “sinner’s prayer” at some point in their life, but the fruit of their life is nothing but complacency or indifference to the Lordship of Christ over every aspect of their life. Simple acknowledgement of facts is nowhere near the bar of complete submission to Jesus Christ, as I hope to present here.

First, let us consider the verses from James. Within today’s culture, there are many who are content with “checking the box.” They may have said a prayer, been baptized, maybe even volunteered one or two days a year, even thrown some money in the offering plate, but their day to day lives are consumed with everything but the Lord Jesus. These “churchy” actions are hardly an indicator of the Lordship of Christ within a person’s life, they are inherently ambiguous in nature because they may simply be indicators of religiosity, not a legitimate proof of pursuing the Savior. This is what James is pointing out in these two verses, that the performance of outward works is in itself no proof of inward change, it may simply be out of obligation or a misguided belief that doing certain things guarantees one’s salvation. He then states that even the demons believe and shudder. The greek word for shudder, phrisso, literally means “to tremble in fear.”

In light of the verses from James, let us now consider the actions of the demon possessed man. “Seeing Jesus from a distance…” Most everyone we experience in culture, have “seen” Jesus in some way, whether through being in a church service, hearing a sermon on the radio, a neighbor, a friend, a coworker, etc. After seeing Jesus, “he ran up and bowed down before Him..” The demon saw Him, ran to Him, and bowed the knee. This man’s actions are beginning to look like those of one who is at least “considering” Jesus. He then calls Him out for who He is, “Jesus, Son of The Most High God.” The Hebrew of this is “El Elyon,” the Highest Title one could give Jesus. He then asks Jesus that He not torment, or judge him.

Let us recap this mans actions and compare them against what a man is asked to do to receive salvation. 1. See or acknowledge Jesus. 2. Run to Him. 3. Bow the Knee. 4. Call on Him by name 5. Ask for a stay of due justice.

What is the motivation of the demon here? A fear of due justice. His outward actions indicate his knowledge of Jesus as Lord, but his motivation is simply to escape justice.

Dear professing Christian, please consider your motivation for having Jesus in your life. If He is only fire insurance, and you have no evidence of His Lordship or a desire to repent from habitual sin, please examine yourself. Don’t allow “churchianity” to give you a false sense of assurance unto a salvation that doesn’t see Christ as Lord in your life.

Why does evil exist? This question pervades society and brings so many to call in to question the existence of a creator who, if were all powerful would stop evil and if all good, would want to. The world looks at the amount of heinous action that takes place, the sickness, the poverty, the ever increasing amount of violence with an eye of sheer skepticism. How do we as Christians adequately answer this question for ourselves as well as others? One thing that seems to be a misunderstanding is that God reacts to evil events that take place as if He’s surprised by them. Roman’s 8:28 is often cited to make a case that God, even though He doesn’t have a purpose for these evil actions and wishes that they weren’t happening, takes those events and turns them out for the good. This view point, even though popular, doesn’t accomplish anything other than turn God into a reactionary force without any kind of active divine foreknowledge. This couldn’t be further from the biblical truth. Let’s examine these verses from Exodus:

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all My plagues ^[g]on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to ^[h]remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.¹⁷ Still you exalt yourself against My people ^[i]by not letting them go.

Pharaoh, with the evil intentions of his heart, a man who believed in his own deity, a man obstinately opposed to anything but his own agenda, was still a tool in the hands of our Mighty God used for the purposes of His Glory. We must realize that ALL things are in the Hand of God and that He will be glorified in all things that take place on this earth. There is nothing outside of His control, nothing that surprises Him, He doesn’t learn, His Ways are not our ways, His Thoughts are not our thoughts, we don’t apprehend Him in any capacity. The magnitude of His Love, His Majesty, His Grace, His Righteousness is so far beyond our capacity to comprehend that it would be sheer foolishness to believe that He has to react to anything that takes place. He is exact, meticulous, precise, and perfect in all things He sets forth to accomplish. His Counsel frustrates the plans of nations and of men. We must seek to learn how to rest in His Hand, knowing that all things we encounter are in His view and under His control.

The scope of this article will be quite broad, I’m going to attempt to make a foundational argument for the work of the atonement performed by Jesus Christ in His Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection as well as the duties He is always performing for those that are in Him.

Here are a few verses from which I will begin an explanation:

1. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”
   2 John chapters 3, 6, 8, 10, as well as 17 which is the High Priestly prayer of the Son to the Father, which gives ample explanation of those Christ Jesus will make atonement for.
2. Ephesians chapter 1-2:10 and chapter 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
3. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
4. Romans 5:12-15 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned- for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”
5. Romans chapters 6-8
6. The Book of Hebrews, this book lays out the intercessory work of the High Priest in its entirety, as well as the definition of who the work is performed for.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the scriptures that are relevant to these several topics, just ones that point to the centrality of Christ as High Priest as well as the federal headship of Adam that every man is born into, as well as the power of the Gospel unto Salvation through our Great High Priest, Yeshua!

We’ll start with Genesis 3:15 and defining the two seeds mentioned. The Seed of the woman is certainly Jesus Christ because no woman carries seed within her, that is supplied by the man, therefore this is the first prophecy of Jesus’ virgin birth. The seed of the serpent is something I’ve never heard taught on, but we get a great deal of insight into this through Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in John 8:44-45, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The seed of the serpent are all those who do not believe upon Jesus Christ, those who believe in Jesus Christ are IN Him, a part of His inheritance made righteous by Him. We see that the Pharisees display the characteristics of Satan in their words, thoughts, and actions. It is because of this, we see the gravity, the hopelessness of being in our Adamic state, a rebellious slave unto sin. Jesus Christ teaches “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”(John 8:34)
Since we’re all born into this slavery to sin, we are in bondage to it, our very nature is to commit sinful acts that display our rebellion unto God, we stand on open rebellion to God. “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”(Romans 1:28-31) We can see through these 3 verses that the actions of sinners are thoroughly wicked. The hard realization here is that these attributes are given to all who sin, which is all mankind. Romans 8:6-8 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Here we are as mankind, a place of continuous, open rebellion to God who, in His righteousness could simply destroy us, chose to send His Son to live a perfect life, fulfilling the entirety of the Law, becoming THE perfect sacrifice, paying the penalty we deserved to pay, dying the death we deserved to die, and imputed righteousness that we couldn’t possibly earn, all that we may be with Him for eternity (AMEN!!!!)

A question that is debated much in scholarly circles is this:

What did the death of Christ accomplish on the Cross?

in 3 words, “Penal Substitutionary Atonement”

When God “cut a Covenant” with Abram in Genesis, He put Himself on both sides of the guarantee when He passed through the animals. He promised at that point that if either Himself or Abram broke this Covenant, He would be like the animals. We know that God will not fail in His Promises, therefore He took the place of Abram as well as all of Abrams seed (the children of faith, all believers in the Messiah for all time) to come and die on their behalf. The very reason Christ Jesus had to come in the flesh and live among us, was so that He could fulfill the very Law we were unable to fulfill. God’s Law must be satisfied, His Justice brought to bear upon all transgressors of His Law. He cannot allow a single sin to go unpunished, ever. This is why He is called Just and the Justifier of the ungodly (Romans 3:26)

The death of Christ accomplished a double imputation:

The Sin of all who would believe was imputed to Him
His Righteousness was imputed to all those who believe

God’s Wrath for believers was fully satisfied on the Cross, His Wrath for the unbeliever will be satisfied at the Great White Throne Judgement where all those who are impenitent will be judged by being thrown into eternal punishment in the great lake of fire, where Christ says “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48, Isaiah 66:24)

Once Christ paid our debt, resurrected, and ascended into Heaven, what is He accomplishing for us every moment of every day?

Intercession.

He has become our Great High Priest, our Eternal Mediator, the One who pleads our case and stands in defense of us. Let’s look at a few verses that lay this out for us in some detail.

“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” (Hebrews 5:7-9)

I would encourage at this point to read chapter 7 of Hebrews.

I’ll cut this off here in an effort to keep from making this too wordy, I hope this encourages the greater study of these many topics as well as causing us to dwell in awe of all the great things Jesus Christ has accomplished on behalf of those who love Him.

By God’s Grace,

Joshua

This is a topic that on the surface seems to be fairly obvious when we take a look at it in scripture. Leaven is something that once added to bread cannot be removed. Why is this reference used so often regarding sin? What is it about leaven that makes it such a good description of sin? If one does a quick word search on any solid bible dictionary site, you’ll notice that leaven is used all but once as a reference to sin, Christ likens the power of a small amount of leaven to the power of the Gospel to bring about a huge change from a small amount. Every other reference speaks to the power of sin to penetrate in the smallest of ways to bring about massive negative change to a large entity. If there’s one thing I’ve witnessed, its the power of small misconceptions or misrepresentations of scripture to bring about widespread wrong teaching of the Word of God. On an individual level, just the smallest amount of falsehood believed about oneself can bring about a potentially long season of joyless living as we search for peace and happiness we may have lost due to the smallest of lies or misconceptions we carry from errant teaching or condemnation from otherwise well meaning individuals.

One of the biggest areas of our lives that can creep upon us are the “little idols” we allow in there. A bit too much time on phone, the tv, at the gym, the boat, the lake, the xbox, etc. The little harmless things that we become complacent with are usually the places where the enemy gets a foothold. We’ve allowed “a little leaven” to get in and if not dealt with, that little leaven will affect the whole lump. Perhaps my favorite individual book of the Bible is 1 John, in the last verse of the 5th chapter, John simply says this, “little children, guard yourselves from idols.” Such a short, but absolutely profound verse. He assumes here the continued temptation of idols among his christian brothers and sisters as well as the necessity of always being on guard against idolatry creeping into their lives.

The most important thing to bring to light here, is that all men are born “leavened,” or with an inherent sin nature. There is no one born in a “moral neutral ground” that becomes a sinner once they sin, they are born a sinner and therefore sin. One of the titles of Christ is “The Bread of Life.” He is able to call Himself this during His time on earth as a man because he lived a sinless (or leaven free) life. He fulfilled the entirety of the Law on behalf of all those who had or ever will believe on Him (John chapters 3, 6, and 17) God is Holy, or unleavened. We are unholy, or leavened. God must perform in us the supernatural act of removing the leaven that is our nature. He must take out our heart of stone, and put in a heart of flesh, that He may begin the work of sanctification within us to the Glory of His Name.

By God’s Grace

Joshua

Perhaps THE most discussed difference among brothers and sisters in Christ (between true Christians, this isn’t a point of understanding/contention within the Gospel message) is the role of our day to day choices within the scope of the coming to pass of the Will of God. The two verses I would like to focus on for this article are:

1: Joshua 24:15
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

2: Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “

The first thing to point out here is the abundant popularity of the last part of the verse used constantly on pictures, bumper stickers, etc., “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I’m not sitting here making light of the importance of that choice, Christ’s sheep must daily crucify the desire of their flesh in order to become conformed to His image. I would like to bring to light an aspect of this verse that I have personally not heard taught on, the fact that the only choice to be made within this verse as well as the verse in Matthew, is WHICH master we are going to serve. We are never given an opportunity to exist in a state outside of servant hood on this earth, because of our inherent fallen nature in Adam. We are either serving the Lord Jesus in what we do, or we are serving our flesh in sin, we as human beings don’t have the capacity to perform actions outside of our nature. Our natural state is one of slavery unto sin (Genesis 6:5, Romans chapters 1-3 and 8), only when we have been made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13) are we able to begin to make choices because of our fundamental nature change (ezekiel 36:25-32, Jeremiah 31:31-33) that bring Glory to God.

I would like to urge those who read not to persist in glorifying our ability to choose, but to glorify God in His greatness to bring us from death to life, our life is for the purpose of bringing Glory to God alone, not to anything we bring to the table at any point. Christ on earth made abundantly clear that His sole purpose was to do the Will of His Father (John 5:30 and 8:28) and exclusively that. He commands all of his disciples to give up all things that would be a hindrance to their submission to God’s Will, those things included possessions, relationships, careers, hobbies, anything at all that could be placed ahead of God in priority. (Luke chapter 9, Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 12:1-2)

James 1:14-15, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

When we act on our natural impulses, the only outcome possible is death, we are unable of ourselves to make any choice that brings forth an outcome glorifying to God. Our best day, our most righteous act is unto God as, literally, used menstrual garments (Isaiah 64:6) The instant we begin to live in submission to God’s Will and take our minds off of the things in our lives that have no eternal significance (houses, vehicles, electronics, social media,etc.) the sooner we will get to experience the kind of walk that the Apostles did, the kind of walk the Patriarchs got to experience, a walk of intimacy with God unhindered by any other idol.

My attempt here is not to make light of the struggles of day to day living, it is simply to point out that if we (I say WE because I certainly include myself and my household in the aim of this article) move our concerns away from a focus on a building up of the here and now to a focus on the Eternal Kingdom of God and living according to His Righteousness in Christ (Matthew 6:33-34) we will be able to much more effectively reach the lost with the Gospel through the witness of our lives.

To conclude, we must see that we are going to be a slave to either our sin or to Christ, we don’t get to sit in the stands and watch the game unfold without consequence. Are we willing to be submitted to Christ not only as the payment for our sin, but as Savior AND Lord Who truly holds all things together (Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:3) and works all things to the Counsel of His Will? (Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 33)

If we’re going to accurately represent the whole counsel of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15) we must be committed to studying it in humility, with a focus on objectivity and a heart open to all things God has to say regardless of what our emotions tell us to feel about what’s being said. If we seek Him with everything we’ve got (Jer. 29:13, Deut 6:4) we will find Him and He will give us wisdom freely (James 1:5)

By God’s Grace,

Joshua

One of the most inflammatory questions asked today among Christians of all denominations is this: Does God still speak today? That, I believe, is the wrong question to ask. It should be obvious to anyone who has a relationship with Christ Jesus that He still speaks to His children on a daily basis. The more specific and correct question to ask is: How does God speak today?

There are a few things I would like to lay out from the beginning in this discussion. God is the same throughout the Old and New testaments, His Word is immutable, and that He displays all aspects of His Character perfectly at all times. The way He communicates is up to Him and Him alone, His ways and thoughts are not apprehended by our limitation of understanding due to our fallible minds, and that the Revelation He has given of Himself in His Word is as He intended to display His Great Love, Mercy, and Righteousness. We must allow His Word to be the standard for our learning and allow Him to teach us about Himself through it. Experience must not ever trump the biblical standard in anyway, or we risk errant belief and practice.

One of the biggest issues I see in discussions today is the perhaps unrecognized belief that God’s word is open to individual interpretation, that each person must discover what the Bible says for Him/Herself. This is a grave error. God’s Word is an absolute objective truth, it’s words are not to simply be considered, they are the truth in and of themselves. If we make the error of taking individual scriptures out of context, we run the risk of developing lines of thought and practice that can take us far away from the original intended application.

Lets start here with what Christ says of Himself.. He says in John 14:6, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life..” He is also “The Word” (John 1:1) The truth of Christ is communicated throughout the pages of scripture from Genesis 1:1 to the end of the book of Revelation. We are called to pray without ceasing (1 thess 5:17) to be diligent workman accurately handling the Word of Truth (2 tim 2:15) and to test the spirits (1 john 4:1-6)

We are given the ability to pray directly to the Father because of the atoning work of Christ on the cross for us, we are given the indwelling, sealing, and truth teaching work of the Holy Spirit to teach us the infinite truths in God’s Word as well as unfettered access to resources to study God’s Precious Word from all directions, resources that generations before us could only dream of.

Let’s consider how the book of Hebrews begins.. (1:1-2) “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Here the author points out very specifically the difference in communication between how God spoke in the Old Testament against how He does so in the New. Let’s recall what Christ taught the disciples on the road to emmaus, (Luke 24:27) “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He expliained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” the Scriptures being referenced here were what the world had access to at the time, the greek translation of Hebrew scriptures commonly referred to as the septuagint. The primary means of communication throughout the Old Testament is a direct Word given to one of his ordained Prophets, in which they were able to truly say “Thus sayeth The Lord.” The distinction that must be made here is this: once the New Testament was completed and God’s Word made complete, the function of a prophet in the Old Testament sense, ceased to exist. Prophecy in the New Testament needs to be viewed for what it is, the declaration of the Gospel that has been illuminated to us by God. The Great Commission of the Church (matthew 28:18-20) teaches that we now have the Truth of the Gospel and our sole purpose is to spread that Gospel to the whole world. Christ came first as Kinsmen Redeemer, He will return as the Avenger of Blood to destroy His enemies, the world needs to know that the King has come and is coming again, we are to go and plead the Gospel to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecy, therefore in knowing him personally and seeking Him through prayer and diligent study of His Word, we are able to commune with Him in the most intimate of ways, learning all truths He would have us know, to bring glory to His Name. To think that we would get to such a place as to grow tired of seeking Him through prayer and His word and have need of “something more/more power/more anything” is to say continued learning of His scripture and time with HIm in prayer isn’t enough… We must come to a place where hiding His Word in our hearts is what keeps us from sin and keeps our minds focused on him (Psalms 119:11)

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:5-6)

The communication God has given us through his Word (Christ Jesus throughout the Old and New Testament) is how God communicates with us today, it is His direct revelation to His Church that is without the constraints of time and is relevant in all situations at all times. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is our direct path of communication with God the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit who teaches all truth, and growing in grace and knowledge of Christ(2 peter 3:17-18) through our conformation to His image (romans 8:29) There is an infinite expanse of intimacy, wisdom, and truth within the pages of God’s word, and there is no end to the growth we can experience in our walk with the Lord if we seek Him with our whole heart (jeremiah 29:13)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, this is by no means meant to be an exhaustive exploration of this topic, it is the first of many blog posts with the intent of exploring the more indepth topics of scripture in a relaxed, hopefully conversationally stimulating format.

By God’s Grace,

Joshua