There Are No Righteous.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one

There are NO righteous.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

ALL have sinned.

ALL come short of the glory of God.

Rom 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

The only way we sinners can ever be justified is NOT through our righteousness, but through our Savior's grace. We ONLY have redemption through Christ Jesus but we try so hard to be righteous on our own. We love to pat ourselves on the back for our goodness. We do something good and we stroke our ego with that goodness. Some of us even do that as we try to counterbalance the hopelessness we feel if we aren't stroking ourselves with the little bit of good we do. Others of us love to downplay any good we do wanting others to stroke us for it. That desperation of recognition that we have good in us somewhere is what truly can destroy us, because we are so focused on ourselves we aren't looking to our Savior! We need to LOOK for our Savior every single time we are trying to find good in ourselves. We can only find it in HIM. If as a byproduct of loving Him we are used by Him to do any good, all glory goes to Him!

Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 

Rom 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 

Rom 3:29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 

Rom 3:30  Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 

Rom 3:31  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

The law is fulfilled in faith. By faith we believe and through faith we live the law of the LORD, the moral law. All the rudiments of the law before Christ- the ceremonial, the feasting, the many rules and regulations, all of those were truly nailed to the cross as people were given the ONE true sacrifice for all. Being uncircumcised, not following the Jewish traditions and Jewish rules would no longer keep people from belonging to God. All both Jew and Gentile would have an opportunity to belong to God through faith through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is through GOD we live and if we keep His law because it is established, we are keeping the moral law that is summarized in loving God and loving others.

May we be HIS, may we believe in HIM and His righteousness always! All in His LOVE! His perfect, perfect love now and forever!!!!!!!

Temptation-Joy.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. 

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

JOY- count it JOY when we fall into different temptations.  Why? Because of this--

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Yet, do we stop as the temptations come and count them joy? Or do we fall victim to the temptations allowing them to become conceived in us and therefore sin? Do we take the temptations and count them as sins already- dooming ourselves when we haven't quite yet given into the temptations. Do we note the temptations assaulting us and let our hearts be filled with the joy of the Savior, knowing that somehow having to face that temptation and choosing Christ over the sin, we are letting the temptations work patience in us, patience that we need to be fully ready for our Savior.

We know the closer to the return of our Savior, our adversary the Devil, will be working unceasingly to get every single person he can. Satan would have us look upon temptations as signed, sealed and delivered sins, but they aren't! The temptations aren't sin! We flail against the temptations as soon as they start interrupting our spiritual walk - thinking they are awful, miserable beasts to be despised. How can we despise something we are to call joy? We need to comprehend that temptations to sin will NOT cease, but by the GRACE of GOD through the HOLY SPIRIT we will be able to count the temptations joy- recognizing that they are but opportunities to grow ever closer to our Savior.

And, if we do fall into sin, we must quickly repent and seek forgiveness- NOT GIVE INTO DESPAIR!  Satan would have us give in to despair so we no longer live for our Savior

Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Heb 11:6  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. 

Ask God for wisdom, in faith. Our belief in God as a reality must be steadfast. We can't believe in God one day and not believe in Him the next. I mean ACTUALLY not believe in Him as if He doesn't exist. Our belief in God being very real beyond a doubt real is something we cannot deny and if we do allow ourselves to be tossed about believing one day but not the next then we can't have hope in the Lord, not truly. God is a REALITY and even when we are mad at our lives and in a bad place, we can't stop believing God exists and all that God stands for is truth. He is truth and He is forever no matter what.

We have to always remember this-

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

And this isn't just temptations for things we enjoy but  know are sinful, but the temptations of ANYTHING that would cause sin, of anything that would take us from the love God. The temptation to leave the love of God can be found in our day to day life, in distractions, in friendships, it can be found anywhere. And we truly do need to count it ALL JOY when we are placed in any situation that will cause us to choose God over self and all the evils that would keep us from Him. Every choice we make for God over sin, over temptations to sin, can only make us stronger in Him giving us the patience we need to endure, all through the Holy Spirit.

In A Moment...

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

Who shall be raised at the last trump?

The dead.

Why? For what purpose are they raised? Aren't they already incorruptible? Haven't they already been changed? Seriously, haven't they? The majority of Christians believe there are no dead people in the grave. I'm not talking physical bodies, because no one can dispute the fact a lifeless body is left and begins the process of decaying instantly upon death. We take those bodies and bury them or dispose of them in other ways- and people console themselves by saying the thing that made that person who they were in personality has now taken on spirit form and is invisible, and heaven bound. Very few Christians believe that the personality of that person who has died is now sleeping- knowing nothing at all.

The Bible does say this--

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Psa 6:4  Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. 

Psa 6:5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 

Psa 115:17  The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. 

Isa 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 

Isa 38:19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 

God's word tells us- the 'dead know not any thing', 'in death there is no remembrance of thee', 'in the grave who shall give thee thanks?', 'the dead praise not the LORD,' , 'for the grave cannot praise thee', 'death cannot celebrate thee', 'they that go down into the pit cannot hope…'

Curiously- if you believe upon death a person in spirit-personality goes to heaven don't you think they'd be praising God, celebrating God? I'm being serious, we need to ask ourselves these types of questions because if for some reason Satan wants to deceive people and he uses death to do this on a very grand level, then people need to know, don't they?

What was so miraculous about our Savior rising from the dead, if all humans who die are raised from the grave in spirit? Our Savior's body was raised unlike all those who die, but why does it matter if people already inherit heaven upon death? What will be raised at that last trump?  I know I've talked about this many times, but it bears repeating.

If you believe your loved ones who have died are in heaven, what will be raised at the last trump? Will their personality, spirit empty bodies rise up? If those empty bodies are being called from their graves what happens? I can't find a single verse that says our spirits will be reunited with our bodies at the last trump.

I do know this…Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping- and clarified that he was dead, and then Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. What was he raising, a body without personality, without spirit? Or did he snatch Lazarus' personality/spirit from heaven where he'd been (supposedly) rejoicing with his previously deceased loved ones, and put it back into Lazarus' body, and if so how awful that must have been for Lazarus to have been in heaven in personality/spirit only to be taken out of heaven and put back upon this earth only to have to face eventual death once more.  However… if Lazarus was sleeping death's sleep the sleep his personality, his mental faculties, and every cognitive means he possessed was sleeping- how awful would it have been to simply wake up again?  When a person falls asleep the next thing they know is waking up. When a person dies and falls into death's sleep all their brain function ceases- it doesn't slip into spirit form and take off for heaven. They will remain sleeping death's sleep where they can no longer praise or worship God, where they will know nothing at all, until that last trump sounds and they are raised- their bodies changed in the blink of an eye.  Called from that sleep they will wake to new bodies- putting incorruption- never to have their bodies decay again in their new form. The joy they will experience as they meet their Savior in the air will be unimaginable!  Yet how could it be that they raise up to meet their Lord in the air- if they've already met Him, lived with Him for who knows how long, what is the point? If they've already put on incorruption and immortality, how does it make the least bit of sense that they'd need to put it on again?  Exactly what DEAD are there to rise, if they are already risen? 

I think people don't want to face the truth because they want to imagine their loved ones still living, still filled with their personality, in a form no longer subject to any pain. People want to skip the death's sleep part and jump right to the heaven home with our Savior. And some may say there is no harm at all in believing that way, it hurts no one. But it does and therein lies the deception. Eve was told by Lucifer that she would not surely die, and guess what? Eve didn't die instantly upon biting the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, forbidden by God. She did however- die. She ceased to live. And if ceasing to live only means exchanging one sort of life for another sort of life the she never really dies- right? There is never a true death to be raised from when that last trump sounds.

Act_13:36  For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption

Hundreds of years later and Paul talks about David- beloved of God- died- fell to sleep, and he was laid in the grave with his fathers and saw corruption. David wasn't raised from the dead. And I ask again- if David were alive in heaven in any form at all don't you think there would be a mention made of that fact? Wouldn't there be at least a couple of books, or even chapters in a single book on the wondrous spirit form we take on after dying and how we love being with others who died before us, and how we are living a new existences in heaven? You'd think there would be a lot more confirmation of this life after death, so much so there would be no doubt whatsoever. There certainly was A LOT written about Jesus and His life after death- which truth be told wouldn't be all that spectacular if people just never died at all regardless of their beliefs. We are told that the angels witness a lot, but not told a thing about all the dead people in heaven witnessing things as well.

If we want truth, we'll believe what the Bible says and not opinions, not fables concocted by taking bits and pieces of scripture, using parables with meanings totally not related to what it is being explained.  We won't follow the crowd, we won't be duped.

May the Holy Spirit open hearts and minds to this important truth!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Awake to Righteousness.

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. 

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

AWAKE to righteousness.

SIN NOT.

We die daily.  Our lives mean NOTHING, or rather very little when we live only for this life.

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

2Co 6:9  As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed

2Co 11:23  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 

2Co 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 

2Co 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 

2Co 11:26  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 

2Co 11:27  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 

I repeat--

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. 

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

AWAKE to righteousness.

SIN NOT.

We die daily.  Our lives mean NOTHING, or rather very little when we live only for this life.

God help us! God help me learn to live for my Savior and the kingdom.

Hope Now and Hope Forever!

1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Truly, if we have no hope for life after we die then we are living only for our very short time upon this earth. As we get older and older we realize just how short the time is. When we are young and have our whole lives- 70, 80, 90 years to look forward to it seems like we will never die. We don't have to worry too much about death when we are young, right? But let time creep up on you and 70 is coming up fast then you might start thinking about death more and more, and its inevitability. This isn't to discount anyone and any age contemplating death, some people do die very young and know others who die young. The life we are born into is precarious at best. Young or old an accident can take us at any moment. Young or old we can discover we have a terminal illness at any moment. There isn't any moment we can live without knowing (at the age we can contemplate such things) that we can die. Our life will cease. When people die around us, they leave our lives in all but memory. When we die it will be the same- we will be memories for a few generations. This is our life, this is what life is. The first above says- IF in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable.    Truly if this is ALL we have we are most miserable. Even the very rich can be very miserable. I'm not saying we can't find happiness, contentment, a way to life our lives in relative peace and comfort- a lot of people do. Yet underlying ALL things, underneath all our contentment lingers death, sickness, pain, agony, heartache, and the list goes on. If we aren’t personally experiencing the tragedies of life, we may know those who are, and those tragedies can be just a heartbeat away for any of us- this is truth, this is the life we live. The misery of this life is our reality, but it that was all the reality truly we'd have no real hope.

We do have hope though-

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 

We have the hope of resurrection from death!

We have the hope of a life beyond this short life!

We have the hope of life after death, upon the return of our Savior!

We don't have to be miserable, not with the hope we possess that all our suffering in whatever forms they take will be short compared to the life we will have with Christ.

When our Savior returns we will be resurrected from the dead! This is HOPE!

And this HOPE is something we need to have before us CONSTANTLY! Our Savior and the hope found in Him must be our everything!

1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

We have hope of Christ in this life and in life everlasting, life eternal! All praise, glory and honor unto our GOD, now and forever!

Made Alive When Christ Returns.

Jesus Christ rose from the dead- yes or no? What do you believe? If you're reading this study then hopefully you're seeking truth, Biblical truth. If you haven't accept Christ as your Savior, prayerfully you will.  Christians by their very name are followers of Christ. Followers of Christ are those who believe Christ is God's only begotten Son, declared to be so. Christ followers believe that God's only begotten Son sacrificed Himself for all of humanity and each person can choose to accept what Christ has done, believing in His forgiveness, and in His ability to save us, to give us salvation so that one day we will find our home in heaven with Him.

We believe that Jesus' death resulted in His being resurrected, raised from the dead by His Father, our Heavenly Father.

1Co 15:12  Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 

1Co 15:13  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 

1Co 15:14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 

1Co 15:15  Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 

1Co 15:16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 

1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 

1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 

Please note here- 'Then they also which ARE FALLEN ASLEEP in Christ are perished.'

What does this mean, 'fallen asleep in Christ'?  Seriously, what does this mean? Elsewhere in the Bible Jesus talks about Lazarus being asleep and clarifying it as his being dead. (John 11:11-14).  So let's read this again with this knowledge- 'Then they also which are DEAD in Christ are perished.' What VERY important message is this telling us? That those who died have NOT ALREADY been raised and taken to heaven.   The raising of the dead in Christ is a FUTURE hope, not a hope already realized.  In fact, if the dead from the very first to die (Abel) until now ALL are immediately whisked in spirit form from their bodies with all their memories and personality and taken to heaven then why do they need a Savior? People wouldn't need a Savior if it is automatic that when we breathe our last breath and our heart beats its last, we slip out of our bodies and up to heaven.

1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

In Christ SHALL all be made alive.

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 

EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN ORDER.

Christ the firstfruits.

AFTERWARDS-

…they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING.

If this is to be true what we've just read then those who are Christ's will be made alive AT HIS COMING.

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 

.

I Am What I Am

I am what I am.  Paul spoke those words. Paul said- 'I am what I am'; however Paul said it this way-

'But by the grace of God I am what I am.

His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.

But I labor more abundantly than they all.

Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.'

What's this mean?

Paul was who he was by the grace of God. He was an apostle who worked tirelessly, unceasingly for the Lord. If he wanted to, Paul could have allowed himself to become incredibly prideful.

Paul said this--

1Co 1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 

1Co 1:14  I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 

1Co 1:15  Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 

Paul was glad he didn't baptize many people because he did NOT want any to say they were baptized in his name. Paul wanted all to look to Christ and NONE to look to him! Paul knew all his righteousness was as a filthy rag, meaningless. Paul was an amazing God-fearing, commandment keeping, religiously  upright more than most-- read this--

Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 

Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 

Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith

Paul said that having ANY confidence in the flesh and acts of the flesh - EVEN good acts- meant nothing without Christ. Just as we've studied for a couple days here- our flesh, our carnal acts, anything we do of our self, on our own has no worth in righteousness.

Paul had to learn this and truly we do as well. May God HELP us to learn quickly so we may be wholly HIS, ever dependent upon HIM, always living in HIM through the Holy Spirit! May our Heavenly Father do all He needs to do in us so we can be HIS now and forever!!!!!!!

' If the children of God honestly strive for the life more abundant and are ready to accept God’s assessment of the flesh, they will not esteem themselves stronger and better than others, notwithstanding their extensive spiritual progress. They will not utter such words as “I of course am different from the others.” If these believers are disposed to let the Holy Spirit reveal to them God’s holiness and their corruption and do not fear to be shown too clearly, then hopefully they will come to perceive by the Spirit their corruption at an earlier time, with perhaps a consequent lessening of the painful experience of defeat. How lamentable it is, though, that even when one’s intention may not be to trust the flesh, there may yet lurk beneath the surface some little impurity, for such a one still thinks he has some strength. In view of this, God must permit him to encounter diverse defeats in order to eliminate even that little confidence in himself.' -- The Spiritual Man Page 124

1Co_15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Repeating- I am what I am.  Paul spoke those words. Paul said- 'I am what I am'; however Paul said it this way-

'But by the grace of God I am what I am.

His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.

But I labor more abundantly than they all.

Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.'

What's this mean?

This mean we truly are what we are by the grace of God and may that grace not be in vain. May we LABOR abundantly for our GOD- but that LABOR truly be GOD laboring IN US! May God in us use us for His labor. May we believe in Him, may we have faith in Him enough to believe HE Is in us and ANY thing we do that is even remotely laboring in Him, is all because HE is in us and not that we've acquired the ability to be righteous, or labor on our own for Him. He labors IN US and all glory goes to HIM.  PRAISE BE TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!!