It is curious to me that one of the most significant aspects of God is largely misunderstood and, if I may, misused. Not that the typical definitions of grace are in any way demeaning of God, they aren’t. But as far as application of grace to our own life, the typical definitions remain somewhat elusive.

God has many aspects that are for our benefit.

1. Mercy. God is a merciful God. He says we don’t have to go to hell.
2. Love. God loves us. God is love. This is powerful.
3. Not a Respecter of Persons. God wants loves you as much as He loves David, Moses and Abraham.
4. Holy. God’s holiness is the key to who God really is. Above all He is Holy. Holiness isn’t so much an aspect as it is God’s nature.

Then of course there is Grace. But exactly what is Grace?

There have been entire books written on the subject. There have been millions of sermons preached on it. It shows up over 120 times in the Bible. It is firmly attached to salvation:

Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace are ye save, through faith…

And yet there is so much controversy that surrounds it.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

So we are living ‘under’ grace. Or rather we are living under the dominion of grace rather than the dominion of the law. This notion alone has been the source of books, sermons, debates, and even, unfortunately, conflict.

The typical definition of grace is this: Unmerited Favor.

Another defined it this way: Mercy is not getting what you may deserve (in a bad sense) and grace is getting what you do not deserve (in a good sense).

But then what does it mean when we get ready to eat and someone says, ‘Don’t forget to say grace’? All of these carry different connotations, thoughts, ideas, and ultimately doctrine. If we say that grace is completely unmerited then why does the Scriptures say that Noah found grace in the eyes of God when he was the only one that was perfect in his generation (Genesis 6:8-9). Why him and no one else? It seemed he merited it in some way, don’t you? Then there is this verse:

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

According to this verse, grace can be achieved through humbleness. Is it therefore unmerited? I suppose you could argue that nothing we ever do no matter how good would ever merit any grace from God. That’s fine, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but it just doesn’t seem to match the verses.

My point is that we seem to struggle with the idea of grace. It doesn’t seem to be clear. These are nice definitions, but they don’t fit every known use in the Scriptures.

I’ll make a closer examination of what grace is, by looking at four verses. These four verses help to explain the purpose and idea of Grace.

EPHESIANS 4:7

Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

This is an interesting verse, simply because it tells us that not everyone has equal grace. In fact, it is measured to people differently. So whatever grace is, it is not something that everyone gets equally.

Paul made mention of this… when he said in Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

In the above verse he is referring to his calling to the gentiles. He called it grace that was given to him. He implies that what he got no one else did, or that no one else received in as he did.

The Bible is very clear that you can receive more grace:

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

According to Ephesians 4:11-12, we find that the amount of grace given to us is measured out according to the gift of Christ. He then lists different offices, or jobs, or callings, that get different measures of Grace. They are:

1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Evangelists
4. Pastors
5. Teachers

Each one of these different positions, with different authority and jobs, receive a different measure of grace. The grace, apparently, is give so that the work can get done.

ROMANS 12:6

Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

This is very similar to the last verse. Note these thoughts:

1. We all have gifts from God.
2. These gifts differ from person to person.
3. These differing gifts are a measure of grace given to us.

He is saying that God’s grace provides us with the ability and power to do what God wants us to do!

2 CORINTHIANS 9:8

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

In this verse, note the phrase ‘abound to every good work’. God gives us grace so that there will be sufficient strength and ability to do the work that God wants us to do! Grace is God stepping in when we lack the strength, ability, knowledge, wisdom, or talent to get something done.

Thus we get to a better, more accurate, definition of what grace is:

Grace is God’s Provision for our Insufficiencies.

This is certainly true in salvation! We are saved by grace. We are not saved by ourselves that is impossible, because we lack the means, thus salvation is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

It isn’t unmerited favor, so to speak. Rather it is God’s provision for where we become incapable, or lack. Here is another example of grace and salvation.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

What a perfect example of grace. God gave them grace (power) to do what they could not do on their own! Ye are saved by grace!

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Again note how the words ‘grace’ and ’sufficient’ are tied together in this verse.

Paul learned that grace is all he needed. He wanted the thorn in the flesh to depart from him, which would allow him more strength to do what God wanted. God, however, taught him an invaluable lesson. True power is not within ourselves, it comes from the grace that God gives us. When you find yourself lacking, that is when you need the grace of God. Every parent, every Christian will find themselves in positions that only the grace of God can overcome and conquer.

This changed my prayer life. I no longer pray that God helps my children to behave. Instead, I ask God for the grace I need as a father to teach and rear my children correctly. Where I fail as a father, God has grace to succeed. No matter what your deficiency is, grace is your answer. If God has called you do something and you don’t see how you have the personality, ability, or strength to accomplish it, that is what grace is for.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Grace is God’s provision for our insufficiencies.

Greg Baker

Please visit our website at: http://www.fitlyspoken.org For more books and resources to build Christ honoring relationships, express yourself, and develop stronger communication and social skills.

Specializing in practicality that works, not the political

Have you ever been in a situation where you know God is calling you for ministry? He has given you a certain talent or gift that can be used for his kingdom, but somehow you keep putting it off? You come up with all the reasons why you should not develop your gift or talent some of them could be ‘I’m too young or too old,’ ‘I’m too inexperienced,’ ‘God cannot use me a woman for the healing ministry that is a man’s ministry.’

Well has it ever occurred to you that God actually chose you to do the ministry he has given you? Otherwise he wouldn’t have given you the gift or talent for it in the first place.

God called me in the ministry at the age of 26 years old. At this aged I was called to be the prayer coordinator at my local church and to be on the ladies committee. God also gave me a writing ministry and I ended up being an International Published Author at the age of 27 years old. Now God has given me this gift to write self help books and to intercede for people which I have finally pursued. But I had my doubts and fears. I was at a ladies conference we were doing a workshop and we also talked about ministry. I remember saying to a lady that sat beside me, ‘I think I’m too young for the prayer ministry. There are women that are way more experienced than me and who can pray better than me.’ This lady said to me ‘God can use you at any age and you must not think of yourself as being inadequate’ but I still was not convinced.

It was one night when I was in my room at the conference that I was lead by the Holy Spirit to go into the book of Jeremiah. We all know the famous scripture of Jeremiah 1:5 which says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet the nations.” Now God was calling Jeremiah into the ministry however even Jeremiah had his doubts about being a prophet at a young age his reply to the Lord was “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (Jeremiah 1:6) But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you.” (Jeremiah 1:7). The sentence “Do not say, ‘I am only a child,’ really spoke to me I know that was God reassuring me, that it doesn’t matter to him about my age what matters is the willingness and desire to do and to pursue the task that he has given me to do while I’m here on earth. It will be the Lord teaching and guiding me and working through me. Now I got through the ‘I’m too young stage’ it became easier for me to carry on with the writing ministry that God called me to do, and God could now use me through this ministry on a wider scale.

Sometimes as young people we can feel intimidated to pursue the ministry that God has given us. Our most common thought will be that were to inexperience. However 1 Timothy 11:12 says ‘don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.’ We must build up our self confidence and truly believe that regardless of our age we can do all things through him that strengthens us.

Unknown to her God made this young beautiful Jewish girl into a Queen and gave her a divine purpose to save her people from being killed. Her name was Esther. In order for Esther to save her people from begin killed she first had to go to the king’s inner court without being summoned and ask him to invite Haman who wanted to kill the Jewish people to a banquet. Now any man or woman that went to the king’s inner court without being summoned by him had to be put to death as that was the king’s law. The only expectation was the king needed to extend a gold sceptre in order for the person’s life to be spared. Even though the king had not summoned Esther for thirty days Esther was still determined to see him in order for purpose that was given to her to go ahead. Esther 4:16 says “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” To conclude Esther did go to the king’s inner court and he spared her life. She asked the king if they could have the banquet and invite Haman, during the banquet Esther told the king for the first time she was a Jew and what Haman had planned to do to the Jewish people. In the end the king order Haman to be hanged and the Jewish people lives were spared.

What is the point that I’m trying to make here? Well if Queen Esther had allowed intimidation, fear of death, the fact that she wasn’t summoned and a Jew to hinder her purpose gave she would never had fulfilled the task that God chose her to do, and we might not have even heard of her today in our Bibles. Esther strongly believed in her calling and was willing to do what it took to achieve it even if it meant death.

Not only did she believe in her calling she must have had some confidence in herself. It takes us to have faith and confidence in ourselves first before God can do the rest. It just like going to a job interview, before you got the job you had to sell yourself you had to convince your employer that you are good for the job in other words you had to believe in yourself and had the confidence to know that you can do this job if you lack confidence then most likely you would not have got the position. If we can have self confidence when we are going to a job interview then why can’t we have it when it comes to our ministry?

My friend Sarah is in her early thirties. God has given her the ministry of counselling at her local church. She even counsels people who are much older and has been going to church a lot longer than her. But God has given her the great gift of wisdom she is someone that can give good sound knowledgeable advice in fact she reminds me of King Solomon in the Bible. She is a woman who is determined to achieve her God given destiny and she will not let anyone or anything stand in her way. Even at her workplace she has a fantastic position as a Housing Project Coordinator and she doesn’t want to stop there she is even doing a leadership course for her to get managerial position. The thing about Sarah is she has a positive mindset she knows how to turn a negative situation into a positive she believes in herself and another important think is she doesn’t settle for less.

We women of God must not settle for less, what do I mean by that? Well if you know in your heart, for example that God has called you to be youth leader and ten years later you’re still the youth worker then don’t you believe that you have settled for less? For some reason or another you didn’t strive to be in the next position that God has called you to be in.

You must change your negative thinking into a positive one continually just like Sarah and stop putting off pursuing your God given destiny. It is very important that you build up your self confidence, but in order to do that you must find out the root into why you are lacking confidence. Lack of self confidence could stem from childhood, maybe you were told as a child that you’re useless or you were constantly compared to your siblings as being worthless. It also helps to be around people like Sarah as these are people that are encouragers as well as positive thinkers, instead of being around people who are constantly negative and discouraging. But remember only you know the ministry that God has given to you better than anyone else does so don’t rely on peoples approval too much.

To conclude you must remember were not put here on earth to waste our time and our God give talents. He put us on this planet for a reason to fulfill our purpose. Do not allow yourself to be like the third Servant in ‘The Parable of the Ten Minas’ (Luke 19:11-26) who was given money by his Master and rather than produce more money he hide the one that was given to him. He was a very unproductive. What excuse can you give God on judgment day? None. If God has called you to be a Chief Executive, Director, Healer, Prophet, then pursue it and pursue it all the way. Do not allow your ministry to finish before it has even begun. Remember only YOU can hinder ministry.

Marie Grossett aka Vanessa Grossett is the Author of the book ‘Don’t Look Back’

http://vgrossett.wordpress.com

A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor woman who has discernment sees through him. Proverbs 28:11

What’s the difference between a rich person and a poor person? Wealth, right? If tomorrow you inherited $100 million, wouldn’t you be rich? What about the people who win the lottery, don’t they go from rags to riches instantly? Yes, all it takes to be rich is money. Likewise, all that’s required to be poor is lack of it.

If money is all that’s standing between us and being rich, why do we poor people (and middle class people) feel inferior to rich people? Why do middle class people feel superior to poor people? And the greatest irony of all is that the rich and middle class who look down on the ones in the lower class are usually the ones who have their wealth through little effort of their own. People who have class shifted as a result of hard work usually have some measure of compassion for those in the class from which they emerged.

We think incorrectly that being rich brings with it some heighten level of humanity more wisdom, more grace, more finesse. If you ever get to know a really rich person, I think you’ll be quite surprised to see that underneath the designer labels and scents, there’s a person just like you and in some cases, there’s a person who doesn’t even measure up to you.

Once I dated a rich guy a self-declared venture capitalist. He lived in the nicest neighborhood in town, had a gardener and a maid, drove a wicked Mercedes, wore tailored clothes, had his back waxed regularly and the whole deal. I have to admit that I was taken in by the new experience of being around wealth. He gave me nice and expensive gifts. He was charming, well-groomed and funny. He was a pretty nice guy. In fact, I really liked him and was just starting to get a glimpse of myself belonging in an environment like his when I found out into what kind of venture he invested.

This great guy owned and financed topless bars. That really messed with my mind. It took me some weeks to reconcile the wonderful guy I thought I knew with the creep who peddled smut. I wondered why a guy like that would even be interested in a wholesome person like me.
I can’t say I ever came to a definitive conclusion about him. Perhaps he lived a dichotomy of personal and professional lives and honestly believed that business and personal were different realities. Perhaps he was just a well-mannered immoral person. It may come as no surprise to learn that the relationship didn’t last for me to find out. I think back on it now with embarrassment that it took me more than a moment to decide what to do once I found out what he really did for a living. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the fun of dating a rich guy didn’t give me pause, and as I’ve already admitted, I did like him a lot.

It didn’t take long though for me to spin out scenarios of being the smut king’s queen: “How was your day at the office, Dear? Is the new club going to open on schedule? Did the shipment of pasties arrive?”

No, not for a million dollars. He thought himself a savvy business man and counted himself equal with the other big spenders in town. And you know, he may have been. There’s a lot of dirty money to be made in this world. Trading off your principles, morals and values for wealth will leave you spiritually bankrupt. It’s not worth it.

Hold this thought: My Christian values are not for sale.

www.onmyownnow.com 2010 Donna Lee Schillinger founded On My Own Now Ministries to encourage faith, wise life choices and Christ-likeness in young adults.

1. God owns everything. Psalms 24:1 teaches that everything belongs to God. Everything includes what we call our money, our automobiles, our houses, and even our cloths. God owns it all, according to the authoritative Word of God (see II Tim. 3:16).

2. Gratitude should be enough. The Psalm writer lifts a marvelous question, in Psalms 116:12. In essence, he asks, “What shall one render to God, in exchange for all that God has already done for me”?

When we think about how great God has been in our lives, we should want to at least “tip” Him to say, “thank You.” When we go to fine restaurants and receive simply adequate service, we give 10% and more of what we owe to the server to say, “thank you.” We are thanking them for doing their job. And we are giving more than we owe.

With the same logic in mind, think about how God has saved your soul from a burning Hell. Think about how God has given you the ability to work (see Deut. 8:17-18). Think about how God has provided you with food, clothing, and shelter, while others were hungry, naked, and homeless.

What is 10% or a “tip” of what you owe God for all He has done for you? And Christian giving goes to another level, when you think about what He has done for your family members and loved ones. Gratitude should be enough of a reason for us to engage in Christian giving.

3. God blesses profitable stewards. In Luke 19:16-17, the servant who is profitable for His master is richly blessed. When you give God at least a tithe or a tenth, God will bless you as a profitable servant.

Read passages like Malachi 3:8-11 (i.e., blessings you will not have room enough to receive… rebuking devourers for your sake), Luke 6:38 (i.e., pressed down and running over), and Matthew 6:33 (i.e., all of these things will be added to you).

Read Proverbs 3:9-10 (i.e., over filled barns), Philippians 4:19 (i.e., all of your needs according God’s riches), and Psalms 34:10 (i.e., will lack no good thing). God blesses profitable stewardship, which includes Christian giving.

4. God punishes unprofitable stewards. Luke 19:20-26 teaches that the unprofitable steward, the one who made excuses, instead of profit, was severely punished. In Luke 20:9-18, the tenants who would not send profit to the master were killed.

In Malachi 3:8-10, those who rob God are cursed with a curse. In Haggai 1:5-11, God puts holes in His people’s pockets and blows their stuff away, when they are unprofitable stewards. Your life is challenging enough, without adding God’s punishment to your list of challenges.

5. Make a commitment to grow. Abraham tithed before the Law (see Gen. 14:18-20) and the Law taught tithing (see Lev. 27:30-33). Jesus often added to the Law (see Mt. 5:21-28). We should strive to give no less than a tithe of our gross income (i.e., first fruits), as the proportion that we give to the Lord.

A great thing about the passage in Luke 19:15-26 is that God will bless a person at his/her level of faith, if he/she show God that he/she is trying. Notice the middle servant did not do as well as the first, but he did better than the last.

Consequently, he was not blessed as much as the first servant, nor was he punished like the last servant. God blessed him at his level of faith. And God will do the same in your life, in this area of Christian giving.

If you have not grown to the level of tithing and beyond then you ought to commit to no less than 3% of your gross income, until you grow to 5% and 7%, on your way to 10%.

6. Miscellaneous. I recommend that you set your proportionate giving up with a auto draft situation, where checks are either deposited into your church’s account or checks are mailed to your church. Or you should write checks. There is something about seeing cash that makes God’s money look so much bigger (smile).

You should strive to pay God first. If you pay your other bills and come up short with God’s money, the other vendors are not going to help you with God’s deficit. But if you pay God first and come up short with the other bills, God has a way of working things out for His people.

If this is your area of struggle, I strongly suggest that you seek an accountability partner (click here for a helpful article) to help you in this area. There is power when two or three Christians commit to doing God’s will (see Ecc. 4:12; Mt. 18:19-20).

In summary, everything already belongs to God. Even though God will bless us for being profitable stewards and punish us for being unprofitable, we should actually be thankful enough to give God 10% of our income and more. You should make a commitment to grow and seek support, if this is your area of struggle.

Dr. Robert E. Baines, Jr. uses his doctorate of ministry degree and twenty years of pastoral experience to provide quality and helpful Christian living information to 1,000’s of visitors a month.

Make sure you secure your free copy of his ebooklet, “How to Encourage Yourself: 21 Practical Tips,” and sign up for his newsletter that features great articles, helpful devotionals, and Bible based teaching notes at www.RobertBaines.com.

According to The Complete Christian Dictionary for Home and School it means to be outstanding; to do or be better than.

To be outstanding in our context means to be marked by eminence and distinction, and that is excellence. Eminence is a position of prominence or superiority.

To be excellent means to be unusually good; of very high quality, according to The Complete Christian Dictionary for Home and School. And according to the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary excellent means superior; very good of its kind; eminently good; first class. So in summary will be talking about first class leadership.

One can have an excellent (first class) leadership irrespective of size, status or level of group or affairs. You do not have to be leader of a big or well-known organization to be able to have an efficient, effective and excellent leadership. One can start to effect excellent leadership even from the point you are at the moment.

Excellence in leadership has to do with a) one’s ability to command a following. b) one’s ability to bring the followers to the point where they ought to be or come to, and this is the most important of the two. Isaiah 46:10 says God knows the end from the beginning. That means He knows the end we should come to. You can say He has gone or been there, and comes to the present to take us to that expected end if we are in agreement with or let him. So should every leader if he should provide excellent leadership. He should be able to know the point the group should come to at a certain point in time and look for efficient and effective ways to bring all who are willing to that point. This is called visionary leadership.

Leadership is influence, which is the ability or power to get results from someone without using apparent force or authority, or to have him think and behave in certain way. And influence like almost every other thing is a tool and can be used for positive and negative ends.

You cannot really divorce true excellence in leadership from the purpose of God, which is positive. I use ‘true’ in this context to represent anything in agreement with God, His righteousness and purpose. Paul the apostle made a very profound statement. He said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1(NIV). This is because true leadership is by inspiration. Leadership generally is by inspiration. The one who is following made the decision to, whatever influenced that decision.

Leadership has a lot to do with what we do, but more with who we are or become. The Bible says that Daniel distinguished himself by his exceptional qualities. “It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” Daniel 6:1-4(NIV).

Matthew 18:1-4 says, ‘At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”‘ (NIV). Matthew 20:25-28 buttresses that fact, ‘Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”‘ – (NIV).

Daniel distinguished himself, not by his strength, age (he was in his eighties then), experience, gender, family background, intellectual accomplishments, wealth, connection, or by the extra hours he worked or by being seen as busy or available, but by his exceptional qualities. Each of these ‘advantages’ can be brought in where needed for accomplishment of tasks given to him, but it was by his exceptional qualities that he distinguished himself, set himself apart for a greater leadership responsibility. The King James Version of the Holy Bible says he had an excellent spirit in him. It was this excellent spirit that manifested in the needed intellectual accomplishments, that created the experience, that encouraged the extra hours worked to achieve the necessary goals, that created the wealth, that got the needed connections and so forth. It was by his exceptional qualities that he distinguished himself. This is the easiest way to go about it because true leadership is by inspiration; be what you want the people to become and do what you want them to do. That is taking the lead.

The qualities which form your character determine your deeds; they determine how you respond to demand placed on you, for demand will be placed on you as a leader. The sponge brings out what is soaked up on its inside when squeezed. You will bring out what you are made of when pressured. It is your character traits that will show through your deeds when demand is placed on you. And the demand can be very great. It was the same situation the king and soldiers of Israel found themselves in, and David reacted differently and killed Goliath because he was a man courage and faith in his God (1Samuel 17).

Though someone can claim the science of leadership, leadership is an art. It is a skill, something you do. Your actions and reactions depend on the current situation or challenge and the person you are or have become.

So if you must have excellence in your leadership you must begin to build yourself to be a person of excellence. This is how excellence will manifest in whatever you do, including your leadership.

Onyekachukwu Ukeje is an itinerant preacher based in Enugu, Nigeria and can be reached through e-mail onyekachukwu_ukeje@yahoo.co.uk.

For ebook(s) by this writer please visit www.onyekachukwuukeje.com/home/ebook.htm.

Lately I’ve had the occasion to fly a lot around the country, preaching here and there. Even though I’m here on Sundays, it seems like my weeks have been spent in airports, sometimes for a long time, as I’ve had mechanical delays and things like that. And I’ve become very much aware of a book that I knew was out there but I see literally all over all the airports that I’ve been in, in the last month or so, it has been labeled, at least, the best selling religious book of the time. The title of it is Your Best Life Now. I have seen stacks and stacks and stacks of those books everywhere I’ve gone.

Out of curiosity, I want to know what’s in the book and so I found this on page 5, “God wants this to be the best time of your life.” On another page it says, “Happy, successful, fulfilled individuals have learned how to live their best life now. On another page it says, “As you put the principles found in these pages to work today, you will begin living your best life now.” And that is absolutely true if you’re not a Christian. This is it, you better get the book because your next life is going to be infinitely worse than this one.

This is your best life now. In fact, it’s your only life because in the world to come, you will only exist in a perpetual state of dying with no hope, no satisfaction, no meaning, no joy and no future and no relief from eternal suffering. That’s the worst life possible. And this is your best life, if your next life is in hell.

But, on the other hand, if you are a child of God and your sins are forgiven and you’ve come to embrace Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, this is not even close to your best life. You can’t even comprehend what your best life looks like because “Eye hasn’t seen, nor has ear heard the things that God has prepared for them that love Him.”
Contrary to what is popular today, even in religious circles, even in quote/unquote religion circles, even in the name of Jesus, the Lord is not promising you here and now a full, happy, rich, satisfying, trouble-free life of health, wealth and success. Oh He does promise that. Absolutely…a full, rich, satisfying, trouble-free life of health and wealth and success and absolute joy and peace and perfection…but not now…not now. In fact, quite on the other hand, our Lord has promised to those who know Him and love Him in this life…trouble, persecution, rejection, difficulty, trials, temptation, pain, suffering, sorrow, sickness and even physical death.

So, for Christians, this is our worst life now. It isn’t that it’s bad, but comparatively it’s the worst when you think about the life to come, which is the best. Your best life as a Christian begins when this life ends. Christians through the centuries have understood this, certainly the early Christians understood it. The Bible makes it clear. You just can’t expect all the promises that God has made to you for heaven to necessarily show up here. Any sensible Christian understands that. Don’t expect more than this life can deliver.

Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1…1 Peter chapter 1 and there is a beautiful doxology, a hymn of praise that comes right after the introduction to this letter from the great Apostle Peter, it starts in verse 3 and it runs down to verse 5…1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. It goes like this, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Peter introduces his letter, verses 1 and 2, and then immediately launches in to a doxology of praise. He is calling his readers to praise for something they do not currently have. He calls it an inheritance, reserved and protected and later to be revealed. Now why would he be pointing them to the future? Why would he break out in this doxology with regard to things they do not possess? And the answer to that is because they were very realistic living in this world. We find that those to whom he writes are aliens in verse 1. They have been scattered all over the Mediterranean world in to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. And everywhere they went, life was hard. They were believers in Christ so they were under persecution from the unbelieving and hostile world of pagan religion. Life was very difficult for them. They were hated. They were abused. They were intimidated. They were troubled. They had very little resources. They were poor. They lived in a very difficult world. In fact, that is evident to anybody who reads this brief letter. Let me just help you to see that. Verse 6, immediately following what I read, “In this you greatly rejoice that is in your future inheritance, ready to be revealed in heaven, in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials.” The now for them was their worst life.

In chapter 2 down in verse 20, Peter says to them, “What credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience, but if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.” And that’s exactly what was happening. They were doing right. They were honoring the Lord, living obediently to Him and they were suffering for it. Christ, he says, called you for this purpose, to suffer in this life. He also suffered for you and left you an example to follow in His steps. He showed you how to suffer unjustly.
Verse 23 says, “When He was reviled, He didn’t revile in return. While suffering He uttered no threats, kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” You need to do the same thing. Entrust yourself into the care of God when life is very hard, unfair, abusive and intimidating.

In chapter 3 and verse 13, “And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear their intimidation, do not be troubled. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” Verse 17 says, “It’s better if God should will it that you suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong.” It’s going to be that way and you’re going to have to hold on to hope…the hope, he says in verse 15, that is in you because this life is not going to be your best life. In fact, it’s likely going to be very hard.

Chapter 4 verse 1, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” Christ again suffered in the flesh, unjust treatment, arm yourself, you’re going to face the very same thing. Down in verse 12 he says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exaltation.” Look ahead, look to the future glory.

Verse 15 he says, “I don’t want any of you to suffer as a murderer, thief, or evil doer, troublesome meddler, but if anyone suffers just for being a Christian, let him not feel ashamed but in that name let him glorify God.” And then in verse 19 he says, “Let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

And Peter sums it up in chapter 5 verse 10. “After you have suffered for a little while, here and now, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” You have a great future. You have a glorious future.

Now back to our doxology in chapter 1. Clearly this life was not the best life for them. That’s the way it’s been throughout history. There are no promises in the Bible that this is our best life now. Our best life always is to come. And so Peter calls for a doxology, a celebration, exalted praise to God for the life to come. It is a hymn really that I read to you in verses 3 through 5. It is a call to worship the Lord God who has promised us eternal joy and blessing in the future, in an inheritance, a salvation to be revealed, a living hope.

We are to learn, the sooner the better, that our best life is not here and now. This doxology centers on our inheritance. Please notice that’s the key word at the beginning of verse 4, “To obtain an inheritance.” The word means a fully realized and possessed gift. We have a guaranteed reserved future that God has already determined and established. It’s an inheritance.
We understand the concept of an inheritance. We understand that an inheritance is something that comes to you in the future. In the Old Testament inheritance was a familiar word and it was used to describe the land of Canaan very often because Canaan was the inheritance that God promised to the children of Israel. This inheritance of the earthly Israel, this land of Canaan in the promised land, had begun with Abraham, the father of the nation Israel. But it wasn’t realized for a long, long time. There were hundreds of years between the promise of the inheritance and the realization of the inheritance. There were hundreds of years of bondage in Egypt, trouble in Egypt. There were decades of wilderness wandering in which a whole generation of Jews died. They led a very troubled life until they entered in to their inheritance finally. You might say, all the years waiting for their inheritance were years of very, very hard times.

And in a very similar fashion, Peter is saying, “You’re like the children of Israel in bondage in Egypt, you’re like the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness of the desert. You haven’t yet received your inheritance but it is reserved for you. He’s calling on these troubled believers who are getting hammered from every side with all the difficulties that life can possibly bring to bear upon them to forget trying to live the best life now and patiently wait with hearts full of praise for the best life which is to come in the future.

In fact, he is saying you should be so committed to that that you burst spontaneously into praise, that you join me in this doxology for something you do not now possess. Yes you are children of God and therefore heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ…yes you are waiting to possess your unimaginable eternal inheritance, but we like them are childish, like a childish prince who before his years of maturity can never grasp the enormity of his royal inheritance. We have little understanding of what God has prepared for us. We have little comprehension of the realities of what we’re going to receive from Him when He gives us all the crowns that He has promised to us and crowns us with everlasting bliss in the joy of eternal heaven. We have no way to fully comprehend it. But we need to get the finest, the purest, the truest, the widest, deepest, broadest understanding of it we can because it produces joy in the midst of trouble.

We make too much of life’s difficulties. We can’t be telling people that Jesus wants them to live their best life now or Jesus will disappoint them because this isn’t going to be your best life now. Don’t invest too much expectation in it. It’s full of trouble. And if you expect too much out of this life, this life will steal your joy. If you expect little and are grateful for every small benefit, but you live in the light of the life to come, then this life can steal nothing of your joy.

You attach your joy, you attach your sense of God’s loving you to what you have in this life and God in your mind will disappoint. That’s why the Apostle Paul said this in Ephesians 1:18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling…listen to this…and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance.” I pray for you that you will get a grip on your heavenly inheritance because if you live in the light of the fact that your next life is your best life, then you can take what comes because this life is a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away. Paul calls on us as Peter calls on us to transcend this life and live in adoring, wonder and praise and worship to God for the life to come.
What is this inheritance we will receive? He calls it at the end of verse 5 “a salvation…or salvation ready, pregnant, imminent, to be revealed in the last time.” It is the final aspect of our salvation. There’s a past aspect. When you believed in Christ, you were saved from the penalty of sin because you were justified, declared righteous, your sins placed on Christ, His righteousness placed on you. You were saved from the penalty of sin. Presently you are being saved from the power of sin, it no longer has dominion over you. The final phrase of your salvation, you will be saved from the presence of sin. It will not exist in the world to come. You will then be delivered fully, finally, completely from all decay, all sickness, trouble, conflict, pain, suffering, grief, guilt, sorrow, anxiety, tears, discipline, hatred, disappointment, misunderstanding, weakness, failure, ignorance, confusion, imperfection…and on and on.

For us, the only way we can understand perfection is from the standpoint of all of that which is our experience so we have to use negatives to speak of perfection. We will enter in to eternal experiences of pure joy, pure peace and pure holiness. It is this salvation in its final form, ready to be revealed, pregnant language, in the last time, the last epoch, the last day, that is the time when we leave and meet Jesus face to face, or the time when He comes to take us to be with Him, when death is swallowed up in the eternal victory and we enter in to our everlasting inheritance.

Look, it really is of little consequence how much you have in this life or how much you don’t have. How well you are, or how sick you are, how fulfilled you are or how humanly speaking unfulfilled you are, how many successes you’ve had or how many failures you’ve had, how many fulfillments you’ve had or how many disappointments you have had, it really matters very little. You came into this world with nothing and you will go into the next world with nothing. You can’t take it with you, as Joe Bailey used to say, “You’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. It doesn’t go, it stays.” Just don’t invest too much into it. We are not, as a church of Jesus Christ, offering people their best life now. That sets up an impossible illusion because that allows them to define what their best life is and then forces Jesus to deliver on that. And when He doesn’t, they move on.

We need to learn to live in the light of our best life which is coming after this life is over. No matter how difficult this life is, we live in hope. So Peter calls us then in this doxology to join him in some praise. Let’s go back to it in verse 3, just make a few comments. A very simple way to understand this. It is a call to praise, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Among the Jews, the most common way to start a prayer of praise was to say, “Blessed art Thou, O God.” That’s the way they started their praise. “Worthy of adoration.” That’s what blessed means. Psalm 34, “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Or later in the Psalms, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” This was a very typical form of praise and Peter borrows from his own experience as a Jew and talks the way a Jew would talk, “Blessed be the God.”
But he adds something here that’s important for us to understand, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And with that, Peter introduces us to the source of our inheritance…the source of our inheritance. Where does this inheritance come from? It comes from the one who is to be blessed, that’s why he blesses God, that’s why he adores God, praises God, exalts God because God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has enabled us to attain this inheritance.

He is the source. It is a gift from God…a very basic and simple truth. I just call your attention to the identification of God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a title. That’s not a descriptive phrase, that’s a title. As God is called God the Creator, or God the Redeemer, or the God of Israel, or the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is how He is to be known. He is the God who is one with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a Trinitarian statement that speaks of common life, common essence. To know the true and living God, you must know Him as someone more than God the Creator, the Redeemer God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or the God of Israel, you must know Him as the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…the true and living God who is in His Son incarnate. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

I love the fact that it says, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And because of the incarnation, the transcendent God has become near and personal. We bless our God, our God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the One who has given us this inheritance. It could never be ours if it were not for the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we have not earned our inheritance. We have not merited our inheritance. It is a gift to us. It is the gift of God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is one with Christ. It is their gift to us. I think Paul has this in mind in even greater range when he writes in Ephesians 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” All that heaven holds is for us…a gift from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is one with Jesus Christ, affirming the deity of Christ.

Well enough about that, the motive behind it. The source is God, what is the motive? Why would God do this? The motive is simple here, “Who according to His great mercy…” Who according to His great mercy. It’s not that we deserve it, it’s that we desperately need it.

Can I explain mercy to you a little bit? We talk about grace and mercy and they can be used interchangeably, I think, in some ways. But there is a shade of difference. Grace is a term that applies in the category of guilt. Mercy is a term that applies in the category of misery. Grace for our guilt, mercy for our misery. Maybe that’s a way to help you remember it.
That is to say, God gives us grace by forgiving our sin. God gives us mercy by relieving the consequence of our sin which is our profound sole misery. The Lord refers to someone in a pitiful condition, someone in a helpless condition. I remember in Matthew 17:15 a father coming to Jesus and he said this, “Lord, have mercy on my son.” He said, “For he is a lunatic and very ill and is always falling in the fire and falling in the water.” A horrible situation. There is blind Bartimaeus again in Jericho who in his blindness as a beggar cries out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” Grace looks at guilt, mercy looks at misery.

“Have mercy on me” became a common expression the Jews used when they cried out to God out of distress, pain, suffering, grief and misery. That word alone, eleos, and its derivatives are used about 80 times in the New Testament because God is expressing Himself again and again as a God of mercy. And always when it’s used, it refers to compassion and relief given to those whose condition has overpowered them.

With reference to God, of course, it speaks of His divine compassion on the misery that sin has produced. Grace goes to the sin, mercy goes to the misery produced by the sin. And God is by nature a God of mercy. God is a God of tenderness, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathy. Micah 7:18 says, “He delights in mercy.” Psalm 103:17, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. It is as eternal as He is eternal.” Psalm 108:4, “God’s mercy is far above the heavens, it is as infinite as He is infinite.” That’s why 2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “He is the Father of mercies.” Lamentations 3 says, “His mercies are new every morning.” It’s as if they’re replenished every day and undiminished even as He pours them out. Titus 3:5, “He saved us according to His mercy.” Ephesians 2:4, “But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us has made us alive together with Christ.”

Why? So that in the ages to come He might show us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness. He extended mercy to us, Paul says, to show us His kindness in eternity. You’re never going to experience full relief from misery in this life. You cannot experience the fullness of God’s mercy therefore in this life. Yes, His mercies are new every morning. There is mercy in this life, but we don’t even begin to comprehend the mercy of being completely and forever relieved from any misery.

So the source is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The motive is the merciful heart of God toward those in misery. What is the means of this inheritance? How do we…how do we appropriate this inheritance?

Well “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy…here it is…has caused us to be born again to a living hope….born again to a living hope.” You don’t have this future inheritance by natural birth. Quite the contrary. In fact, your natural birth does give you an inheritance, but according to Ephesians 2 you are a child of wrath. You are a child of wrath and you will inherit damnation. All of us…that’s true of all of us. You are not children of God, you’re children of the devil, the Bible says. Therefore you’re children of wrath, therefore you will receive eternal damnation. That’s what natural birth gives you.
So, as I said earlier, this is your best life now, it’s your only life. But God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. That’s an interesting contrast. The only way you can become an heir of God would be to become a child of God, right? Inheritance is for heirs, that’s why the words are connected…an heir inherits. You have to be a child of God to have an inheritance from God, and so God wonderfully, miraculously, supernaturally gives us life. Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Unless you’re born again, you’re not going to see the Kingdom of God.” You’re not going to inherit all that God has for His own. So Peter says, “Blessed be the God who has caused us to be born again…who has caused us to be born into His family so that now I’m a child of God and an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ.” This comes, of course, later, Peter says in the same chapter, chapter 1 verse 23, “This being born again is not of seed which is perishable, not like human birth, natural birth, but imperishable through the living and abiding Word of God.” It is a spiritual birth that God produces in the great power of regeneration through the Word of God. Verse 25 he says, “The Word of God which was preached to you.” You heard the gospel, you believed the gospel. As you believed the gospel, God gave you new life and you were born into His family. And now you have a living hope…a living hope. A very important phrase.

If you’re not a Christian, if you haven’t been born again, you have hope. But I hope to tell you, it’s a dying or a dead hope, that’s all it is. You can hope for the best in this life, it’s not going to come. Who can live under the ridiculous illusion that you can be completely satisfied, happy in this life, but it never will happen. Hope just dies and dies and dies and dies. As you grow up as a kid, you have dreams and desires and you keep shifting them and changing them as they die. You have relationships and unregenerate people have a difficult time sustaining relationships of any kind, friendships, love relationships, marriages. You have great hopes when a child comes into the world and hope just dies and dies. Most of our hopes for careers, ambitions, you hear people say all the time, “You can be anything you want to be,” that’s a lie. You can achieve anything you want to achieve…that’s a lie. You can create your own world by speaking it into existence…that’s a lie. You live in this world without God and you just live with dying hopes, dying hopes, dying hopes. And if they don’t die while you’re still alive, they’ll all die when you die. That’s how it goes.

But when you’re born into the family of God, you have a living hope…a hope that never dies. The lost know only hope that dies, dreams that turn to ashes. Most of them die before they die, all of them die when they die. That’s why Scripture says, “If in this world only you have hope, you’re of all men most miserable because your hope just keeps dying.” Your best life is the life of a Christian and your best life is in the future. It’s good now, but the best is yet to come. That’s why Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to die is gain…for to me to die is gain.”

What Christianity, true Christianity is offering the world is caught up in the life to come, not in this life. In the life to come, we will have the glorious sight of Jesus Christ, the complete fullness of infinite perfection, the absolute absence of sin and all that it produces, the full enjoyment of unhindered freedom in worship and service to God, the wonder of heaven, the pure fellowship of God, Christ, saints and angels, pleasure forever unrestrained, unrestricted and infinite. That’s a living hope. That will never die.

Even Christians…we have hope in this life that dies. I’ve had a lot of things in my life that I hoped would happen that never happened. And I have a hope that never dies. In fact, it is even far better than I can imagine. What is the nature of our inheritance? Its source is God, its motive is mercy, its means is regeneration, what is its nature? The answer to that is found in verse 4, “It is an inheritance which is…and here is the description of its nature or character…it is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away.”

This is something that has to be other worldly because everything in this world is perishable, defiled, and fades away…everything…everything. Everything in the created universe is touched by the Fall and by sin. And it all perishes and it all gets defiled, diminishes, fades away. But here is an inheritance that like the Lord who gave us this inheritance is unchanging is itself unchanging…imperishable, not capable of corruption. In the military sense that was used to speak of an army that was impervious to all the assaults and attacks of the enemy, unravaged by an invading enemy army.

Well think about that in relation to Israel. Israel had an inheritance, the land of Canaan. They took that earthly inheritance, the land of Canaan, and frequently Canaan was ravaged by invading enemy armies. I think if I count correctly, Jerusalem itself was leveled to the ground seventeen times by enemies. But our inheritance, that heavenly inheritance cannot be plundered by any enemy, it is indestructible…it is impervious to all attacks.

It is also undefiled, unpolluted, unstained, cannot be touched by defect. It is unfading, will not fade away. Another phrase to say the same thing about its permanence. Its nature is permanent. Our inheritance never loses its supernatural glory. It’s not like verse 24, the grass and the flower of the grass that withers and fades away. Our inheritance never fades, never has a defect, is never corrupted, never plundered. All that we have in heaven is forever unchanged, as is our unchanging Lord.

Now this is a wondrous thing to think about because, you know, as we go through life we’re not always faithful, right? We’re not always as loyal to the Lord as we should be. Grace operates and mercy operates and there is waiting for us in heaven an unchanging glorious eternal life.

Peter has one more truth regarding our inheritance. Its source is God, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Motive is mercy. Its means is regeneration. Its nature is permanent. And that leads to the security of our inheritance…the security of our inheritance.

You say, “Well wait a minute now. It may not tarnish, it may not decay. It may not wither, but can it be taken away and given to somebody else?” There are Christians who believe that. Can it be taken away? Can we forfeit it? Could we be disinherited? Hey, that fits the analogy, there are children who are so disappointing to their parents that their parents disinherit them. Can God disinherit us?
The answer comes at the end of verse 4 and in to verse 5. “This inheritance is reserved in heaven for you.” It is reserved in heaven for you. Bless God that in spite of your weakness and in spite of the struggle of life, this unchanging inheritance is reserved in heaven for you, not for somebody else. Safely in heaven in the holy presence of God, not subject to any assault, any plunder, that’s what Jesus said, didn’t He, in Matthew 6? “Lay up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Heaven will never be invaded, none of its treasures will ever be plundered. The book of Revelation at the end of Revelation says that there’s nothing corrupted or nothing abominable will ever enter heaven. Your inheritance is safe there. It cannot be plundered. It cannot be laid waste. It cannot be defiled, defaced, corrupted or stolen. It cannot be taken and given to anyone else. Why? It is reserved for you…and then verse 5…you who are protected by the power of God through faith. Incredible statement.

You are protected, military term, you are personally protected by God. Romans 8 says, “No one can lay any charge against God’s elect, it’s God that justifies.” Romans 8 says, “Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God which is in Christ…nothing.” Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Jude 24 says, “He will keep you from stumbling and present you faultless.”

How does He do this? What if we fall away and stop believing?

Well that’s not going to happen because it says there you are protected by the power of God through faith. God does not guard, protect, secure and keep us apart from faith, or whether we believe or not, but He keeps us through faith the very faith that He gave us when we were saved. You are saved by grace, through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2.

So your faith will endure because the faith that He gave you that saved you is an enduring faith. That’s its character. This is what salvation is all about, folks. It’s all about what comes in the next life and what is secured to us.

You say, “Why are you talking about this on Resurrection Sunday? Because this inheritance, this full, glorious, eternal salvation, this living hope secured for us in heaven, protected by the power of God is made possible…look at verse 3…through…end of the verse…the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” No resurrection, no inheritance. No resurrection, no eternal hope. No resurrection, no salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The stupendous, historical event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ opened heaven and all the treasure house of eternal glory. If you deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christianity becomes stupid, foolish, ridiculous because it makes promises it can’t deliver. But Jesus did rise, and John 14:19 He said, “Because I live, you will live also.” Because I live, you will live also.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is what opened heaven to all of us. At least a dozen times in the New Testament it says, “God raised Jesus…God raised Jesus…God raised Jesus…God raised Jesus.” But we know God slew Jesus, “It pleased the Father to bruise Him.” God killed Jesus. He was God’s chosen Lamb as a substitute for sinners. God made Him the sacrifice for our sins. And then God raised Him to validate the sufficiency of His sacrifice. And heaven opened for Him and He ascended back and heaven opened for all of us as well. That’s why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so essential. It’s the cornerstone of the Christian faith. We have eternal life because He conquered death for Himself and for us. Our best life is yet to come with Him in glory. And I hope that will be your best life, as well.

Lord, thank You for reminding us again in another way from another portion of Scripture of the greatness of the resurrection and the glory of it. Thank You for life in Christ. Thank You for eternal life. We celebrate that with grateful hearts. We are humbled because we are unworthy. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for Your mercy.

Father, open heaven wide for some souls this morning and give them this living hope, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

John McArthur

It was a few years ago, maybe three years ago that it was brought to my attention that it had been quite a number of years since we had looked at the heart of the book of Romans, chapters 3, 4 and 5.  And it was suggested to me at that time that going back to that text might be a wonderful blessing and benediction to the folks in our church who have not done that.  We have so many new people and this is such the heart of the gospel that certainly that was a very important suggestion.  Given all the other things that we were involved in, took a few years to get around to it, but we arrive there tonight, and gratefully so.

So open your Bible, if you will, to Romans chapter 3.  And I want to begin reading at verse 9 and basically read down to verse 20…Romans chapter 3 verses 9 through verse 20.

What then?  Are we better than they?  Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.  As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no, not even one.  There is none who understands.  There is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.  Their throat is an open grave.  With their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known.  There is no fear of God before their eyes.  Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight,; for in the Law comes the knowledge of sin.’”

It is universally true that people like to think of themselves as good, basically.  But that is not the testimony of Scripture.  The testimony of Scripture is that unequivocably the entire human race is evil, as the vernacular would tell us today, bad to the bone, corrupt to the core.
Men live with the consequent guilt of their wickedness.  They don’t like it.  They don’t want to face it.  They try to eliminate it by adapting a more convenient kind of morality or by silencing their crying conscience.

Some years ago, a psychologist put it this way, “One of the most painful self-mutilating time and energy consuming exercises in the human experience is guilt.  It can ruin your day, or your week, or your life if you let it.  It turns up like a bad penny when you do something dishonest, hurtful, tacky, selfish or rotten.  Never mind that it was the result of ignorance, stupidity, laziness, thoughtlessness, weak flesh or clay feet.  You did wrong and the guilt is killing you.  Too bad.  But be assured.  The agony you feel is normal.  Remember, guilt is a pollutant and we don’t need anymore of it in the world.”  And with that last statement, the article ended without a solution to get rid of it.

Admittedly we don’t like it.  Admittedly we wish we could get rid of it.  But what is the means to relieve us of guilt?  More importantly than living with guilt is living with the reality of future divine judgment.  Guilt in a sense is that which we impose on ourselves.  And that is not nearly so deadly as that which God will impose upon us.  We can make our life in this world miserable by guilt.  But God will make our life in the next world miserable by judgment.

Sin produces then a misery in this life and an infinite and eternal misery in the life to come.  People try to deal with their guilt in many ways…alcohol, drugs, sometimes suicide, any kind of earthly diversion.  But in the end, it’s very hard to avoid because according to Romans chapter 2, all human beings have a Law written in their hearts, a Law of God written in the heart of every sinner.  Not only do they have a moral sense that is part of being human, like the other senses, seeing and hearing and smelling and tasting.  There is this sense of what is right and this sense of what is wrong that is built in to the whole human race.

But in addition to having that moral law written in our hearts, Romans chapter 2 says, we also have a mechanism called the conscience.  And the conscience is activated when we violate that moral law that is written in our hearts and it accuses us.  It really is a gift from God, the conscience is, because it’s a mechanism by which God warns us that we’re living in violation of His Law which has consequences in this life and even more consequences in the life to come.  We are guilty because we are sinful.  We feel guilty because we should feel guilty.  We make life miserable for ourselves by our sin.  As Seneca put it many years ago, “Every guilty person is his own hangman.  And we put ourselves, as it were, on the block of judgment before God because of our sin.  And yet we are left to ourselves, unable to do anything to remedy the problem.”

As I just read to you, the whole world, according to verse 19, is accountable to God.  And even though Gentiles and the whole human race have a law written in their hearts, and the Jews, he says in chapter 2, have the Law of God written down in Scripture, in neither case, either for the Gentile with the Law written in the heart, or the Jew with the Law written on paper, do they have the ability to take themselves out of that sinful condition, free themselves from that guilt in this life or the horrible judgment in the life to come, as verse 20 says, because by the works of the Law, no flesh will be justified in His sight.  We have no capacity to change the sinful condition in ourselves.  There is no way that we can do that.
Now before we get to chapter 3 and verse 9, Paul has already been dealing with the guilt of all men.  He has let us know by now, if you studied the first section in the bok of Romans, you would be fully aware that all men are immoral…all men are immoral, all men are sinful, all men bear guilt, legitimate guilt for their sin, they feel the weight of that guilt and they stand under the judgment of God.  Some guilty sinners are more moral than others.  Some are more religious than others.  There are pagan Gentiles and there are religious Jews.  From the standpoint of morality and religion, we would say the Jews who follow the Old Testament prescriptions are more religious and more moral than outright pagans.  But they have no more ability than those pagans to fix themselves.  They have no more power, no more ability to relieve themselves of the guilt of sin and by some effort of their own to escape eternal judgment.

This is the bottom-line truth in the Christian gospel.  “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  Nobody escapes.

Now when Paul comes to chapter 3 and verse 9, he makes his final argument about the sinfulness of all mankind and it is a classic presuppositional argument.  He could have argued that sin is a reality because death is a reality.  And that is a valid argument.  “The wages of sin is death.”  And everybody dies.  Therefore everybody is a sinner.  And he does make that argument.  He can argue from the standpoint of past judgments by God, such as God drowning the entire world…a massive judgment, incalculable.  In fact, I mentioned this at the Shepherds Conference and somebody gave me a little e-mail from someone that said, I said somewhere between ten million to a hundred million, we have no idea.  And somebody wanted to correct me and say, “It was at least six billion people that died in the Flood.”  We could find out perhaps in the future if we in heaven care to discuss matters of judgment, which is unlikely.  But the world is under this massive kind of sinfulness.  You could argue from history and from judgment.  You could argue from death which comes to all men.  But the strongest and the greatest argument for the sinfulness of man is Scripture…Scripture, the Word of God.  What does God have to say?  And that is precisely what you have in verses 9 and following.

You will notice in your Bible that the type changes when you come to verse 10.  The section starting in verse 10 is introduced with the words, “As it is written…” and that is a reference to Scripture.  And then you have a series of statements that runs from verse 10 down through verse 18.  Every single one of those is a quote from the Old Testament.  So this is God speaking through His divine revelation in Scripture on the sinfulness of sin.  This is the coup de grace.  You can argue from history.  You can argue from judgment.  You can argue from reason.  You can argue from conscience.  But the greatest argument is the argument of Scripture because here is the Word of God.  So this is the pinnacle of Paul’s presentation on which He calls on God to speak to all the world, sort of climbing the peak and surveying and summarizing all that he has said but now in strictly scriptural terms, powerful, it is convincing.

Now the paradigm here, or the motif if you like that word, is a legal one, it’s a trial motif.  The procedure in Paul’s language here is judicial.  It is the language of a courtroom.  This is a trial.  It has an arraignment.  It has an indictment.  And it has a verdict.
Let’s begin with the arraignment.  At this trial, the whole human race is brought before the eternal judge.  The arraignment appears in verse 9.  “What then?  Are we better than they?  Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.”  “What then?” simply means, “What is the case?  How are you to understand the situation?”

Now remember, in the prior verses, Paul has shown that the Gentiles without the Law are guilty before God and the Jews with the Law are also guilty before God.  The whole world is guilty before God, Jew and Gentile.  And in themselves have no capacity to remedy the situation.

Now here he says, “What then?  Are we better than they?”  To whom does the “we” refer?  He’s already talked about the Jews.  He has already talked about the Gentiles.  He has said that the Gentiles have the Law of God written in their hearts.  The Jews do have an advantage, chapter 3 verse 1.  In fact, they have a great advantage, verse 2, because to them were committed the oracles of God, Scripture.  So they not only have the Law of God written in their heart, but they have the Law of God inscripturated.

So he’s already dealt with the Jews, and he dealt with the Gentiles.  So who is this “we”?  Must be somebody other than the Jews and other than the Gentiles.  And I think the best answer is it is Paul and his readers….it is Paul and his readers, believers in Rome, and his companions.  That’s the “we”.  He uses “we” back in verse 8, “We are slanderously reported,” speaking of accusations that were used against him.  So I think “we” is referring to Paul and believers.  And he is simply saying, “Because we’re believers, because we’re saved, because we belong to God?  Are we somehow better than the rest of the world?  Is this…is this reality that we enjoy called salvation a result of us being better than everybody else?”   That’s, I think, his argument here.

He is saying, “Because we are believers, are we therefore somehow more worthy?  Are we somehow better than those who are condemned?  Are we different?  Are we special?”  And the answer is very clear.  “Not at all,” verse 9, hupontos(??), all together no…no in every way.  We are not better for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin and we are either Jews or Greeks…or Gentiles, Greek or Gentile being the same.  We have already proven, already established that the Jews and Greeks are all under sin.  That is to say, the entire human race is condemned before God.  And that even applies to Paul, his companions and Christians.  They belong to the same sin-cursed family.  We are all under sin, hupo, preposition, under meaning under the power of sin, under the dominion of sin, to some degree, under the authority of sin, under the control of sin.

It’s good for us to remember that though we are Christians, the fact that we are Christians is not a result of the…of our own lives being somehow better, somehow more worthy, somehow more pleasing to God, somehow more righteous or acceptable.  In a Christless state, we’re all the same.  We are under the command, control, dominion, authority of sin.  We are under the power of the prince of the air, Ephesians 2, we are children of wrath and we are all the same.  So that is the arraignment.  We are all called into the court and we are all arraigned.  The arraignment is complete.  Paul brings the whole human race there, Jew and Gentile.  And just because you are now saved in Christ doesn’t mean that you somehow escaped the reality of the sinfulness of humanity.  We are all the same.  We can all be brought before the judgment bar in the court of holy God to be arraigned before the Almighty as those without exception are all guilty sinners.

By the way, we don’t cease to be guilty sinners either just because we’ve been saved.  We’re still guilty sinners.

From the arraignment, we move to the indictment.  And the indictment comes then in verse 10.  Here the case against us is given.  The specific indictment, clear, precise.  And by the way, easy to verify in human experience.  Here is the testimony to the doctrine of the universal sinfulness of men and it is the testimony of God Himself, for as I said, every one of these statements is drawn out of the Old Testament.  There are thirteen counts against men here, thirteen…four times the word “none” is used, three times the word “all” is used.  So this is a comprehensive list.  No one escapes the indictment.  The list then is a collection of Old Testament quotes.

By the way, that was a very common rabbinic device.  It was called a cheroz(??) which literally means a string of pearls.  And the rabbis would string together pearls of truth that fit with one another.  And here you have these pearls that go together in giving us Old Testament Scriptures that constitute a full necklace, if you will, of spiritual indictment.  It begins then, “As it is written,” a very familiar New Testament phrase that makes reference to the Old Testament.  Our Lord used it, you remember, when He was being tempted by Satan.  And when Satan came after Him, He said three times, “It is written…It is written…It is written,” and then quoted the Old Testament.

It is also in what we call the perfect tense in the Greek.  If you remember your English grammar, you might remember what that means.  It is…the perfect tense identifies something that happened in past time with continuing effect, continuing significance.  So we could read it this way, “It has been written…It has been written and it continues to be true.”  That’s a perfect tense view of Scripture.  It has been written, it was stated as true, it continues to be true.  If you said something was in say the aorist tense or the imperfect tense, you might lock it in the past.  If you put it in the perfect tense in the Greek language, permanent…it makes it permanent.  It was said and it is continually true.  Perfect tense then makes permanent what is said.  The Word of God then is forever settled in heaven.

So this is God’s Word on man’s sin and the utter and total lostness of the world.  Now as we break down the indictment, break it in to three parts, character, conversation and conduct.  What you’re like on the inside.  What you say.  And what you do.  Those would be the three aspects of behavior which could be brought under indictment.  This, I suppose you could say, in medical terms is a full examination of the sinner, beginning with the x-rays.  Go inside and look at character, verses 10 to 12.

We find here that man is sinful at the core, in the heart, in the spirit, in the soul.  “The heart of man,” said Jeremiah seventeenth chapter, “is deceitful and desperately wicked.”
So you have here a series of negative statements describing the character of all men.  You will meet yourself here.  First, in verse 10, “There is none righteous, no not one,” taken from Psalm 14, the opening verses.   There is none righteous, no not one.  Righteousness simply means right, just, good.  Righteousness also I might add, just as a footnote, is the theme in many ways of the whole book of Romans.  The word appears in one form or another, at least 30 times.  So this book is how to be right with God, how to be good in the sense that makes you acceptable to God, how to be declared just before God.  And we learn right at the outset that there is none righteous.  And unless someone say except me, the Holy Spirit says no, not you, not one.  This righteousness is true only of God.

There is none righteous, no not one, nor can anyone make himself righteous.  You have the same word translated down in verse 20 as justified, it’s the same word as righteous, same root.  And it says, “No flesh will be justified, or made righteous in His sight by the works of the Law.”  So no one is righteous and no one on his own can become righteous.

To break it down a little bit, no one is capable of pleasing God fully.  No one can keep God’s standard.  No one can reach God’s level of acceptable goodness.  No one can be morally perfect.  No one can be holy.  And that is God’s standard.  Scripture says, “Be holy for I am holy.”  Repeated, repeated, repeated in the book of Leviticus and repeated again in the New Testament, be holy for I am holy, Peter says, or in the words of Jesus, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  But no one is perfect.  No one is holy.  No one is righteous.  And no one has the capacity to attain to that.

Now there is a relative human goodness.  That is to say, not all people are as bad as all other people, and not all people are as bad as it’s possible to be.  There is in the goodness of God enough common grace in the world to make people good on a human level.  So there is a kind of human goodness that theologians like to call bad good.  In other words, it’s bad people being good.  But it’s not good good, it’s bad good, because its motive is something less than the glory of God.  No one manifests God’s perfect holiness and righteousness.  No one meets the standard.  In fact, in the pre-flood civilization, God said He was going to drown the whole world because all He ever saw in the heart of man was only evil continually.  Does that mean nobody ever did anything good?  Does that mean mothers didn’t love their children?  Does that mean they didn’t feed the poor?  Does that mean they didn’t do acts of human kindness?  No.  It just meant that there was no one whose heart was righteous.  It was impossible, it still is.  No one meets the standard.

Then in verse 11 we have a second element to the indictment of the heart.  “There is none that understands.”  There is none that understands.  That’s taken from Psalm 14:2, Psalm 53:3.  Man has no true perception of divine reality.  He wouldn’t know what goodness was in its full perfection.  He has no right apprehension of God.  To put it in the language of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man understands not the things of God, to him they are foolishness.”  It is incomprehensible to the sinner what the righteousness of God really is.  Romans 8:5, “Those who are according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh.  Those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  The mind set on the flesh is death.  The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.  Then this…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, it doesn’t subject itself to the Law of God, it isn’t even able to do so.”
It does not understand.  I cannot understand.  It cannot comprehend.  To just extend that a little bit and put it in to the practical zone where you will understand this.  There is in the heart of every person, every unconverted person, ignorance of God, the truth about God.  Listen, ignorance of a true understanding of His Word, but more hostility toward that of which he is ignorant.  To say it another way, there is a basic hostility in every sinner to God that manifests itself in hostility toward the Bible.  Do you ask yourself why there is such universal hostility against the Scripture?  It is because sinners are all ignorant of God and take it even deeper, they are enemies of God.  And there is a basic hostility toward the Bible that is true of all non-Christians.  They are ignorant, and in their ignorance they are unable to understand and they don’t like what they do understand.

Now men do have some natural abilities to grasp some things in Scripture.  But when it comes to their indictment about their sinfulness and God’s righteousness, and the glory of the gospel and the hopelessness of works and self-effort and all of that, they are hostile to it.

The Apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians expands our understanding of this.  He says, concerning non-believers, “They walk in the futility of their mind.” They walk in the vacuum of their mind.  They walk in the emptiness of their mind.  Romans 1 says they profess themselves to be wise, and they’re really fools.  And then he says, “Be darkened…verse 18…in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart and they have become callous and given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

So you take the indictment that’s given here and then to Ephesians 4:18, they’re ignorant, they have empty minds when it comes to understanding God.  Their minds are darkened, again a perfect tense participle to show that this is a reality that came into existence when they were born and it continues to be the same.  They are alienated from the life of God.  They don’t know God’s truth because they can’t know God.  They are blind.  They have no ability to comprehend because of their profound ignorance.  And even though they are ever-learning, they never come to the knowledge of the truth.

He further says, following down in Romans chapter 3, “There is none who seeks for God.” They don’t know God.  They are ignorant.  They are evil.  They do not seek after God.

You say, “Wait a minute.  Doesn’t the Bible say he that seeks finds, Matthew 7?  Doesn’t Hebrews say He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?  Doesn’t…doesn’t it tell us in Isaiah that if we seek with all our heart we’ll find Him?  Is that contradictory?”  No…no, simply to say man does not naturally seek God.  In fact, Romans chapter 1 verse 21 says the very opposite, “Though they knew of God, they didn’t honor Him as God or give thanks, became empty in their speculations, their foolish hearts was darkened, professing to be wise they became fools.  And then they turned the glory of the incorruptible God into an image of corruptible man or birds, four-footed animals, crawling creatures.  And God gave them over to perverse sexuality, homosexuality and a reprobate mind.”
So what they did know about God, not a saving knowledge, but what was perceivable to them by creation, the power of God, what was perceivable to them by the Law written in their hearts, the morality of God was the limit of it.  And when they saw the power of God and the morality of God, they ran from it.  That’s the history of humanity.  The only time the sinner ever seeks for God is when God first seeks the sinner.  John 6 says, “No man comes to Me unless the Father draws him…unless the Father draws him.”

But that really isn’t the concept here that’s being conveyed.  When it says here, “No one seeks for God,” it’s not really talking about a salvation kind of seeking.  It’s not…that’s not the point.  It means that the center of our life is not God.  That’s what it’s saying.  No one is looking at life, as it were, to honor God, to glorify God, to make God the focus of life.  No one really desires the full manifestation of the glory of God and all His wondrous perfections as the dominating objective of their life.

No one naturally adores God, longs for His sovereign majesty to be put on display.  No one naturally wants to feed on His truth, live in His presence, obey His commands, pray to Him, trust Him in everything and declare His praise.  That’s what it’s saying.

The opposite of Psalm 16:8 and 9 where David says, “I’ve set the Lord always before me,” that’s the view of the saint.  That’s the view of the believer who seeks after God in everything, not just in a saving sense but seeks the honor of God, the glory of God, the praise of God.  That’s not how men live.  They are their own gods.  And if need be, they manufacture gods out of their own minds, aided and abetted by demons.  But naturally they do not put God at the center of their lives, even the religious people.  It’s a god of their own making, not the true and living God.

So this is a desperate condition.  There’s none righteous.  There is none who understands.  Their minds are darkened and empty.  And there is none who focuses on God, who seeks for the honor and glory of God in all of life.  Verse 12 then goes back to Psalm 14 and picks up something from verse 3, “All have turned aside.”  Or to put it another way, “They’ve all gone off the track, out of the path, no exceptions.  All are deviate.”  They’ve all deviated out of the way, blinded by sin to the truth with no particular interest in the glory of God, they are all diverted by their lusts and desires out of the path of truth, out of the path of salvation.  They literally have turned aside, ekklino.  That’s exactly what it means.  They have fled, if you will.  It’s used of fleeing from wild animals.  In one use in classical Greek the verb was used by Polybius for a group of soldiers who turned and fled in confusion in the midst of a battle, deserters.  The whole human race has deserted the way of God.  The whole human race has deserted the path of truth.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “We’ve gone astray and every man has turned to his own way.”
There’s more.  Go back again to the next statement in verse 12.  “They have become useless together, collectively, no exceptions, useless.”  The Hebrew equivalent of this word is used of milk that’s gone sour, what do you do with that?  Pour down the drain.  The human race is rancid.  The human race can’t serve its function.  The human race is rotten and corrupt to be thrown away like salt without savor, or rotten fruit, or bad milk.  They have no more value.  They’re good for nothing.

Homer uses this word in the Odyssey to refer to the senseless laughter of a moron.  And by the way, Psalm 14:3 adds that man is filthy, or the marginal reading, “Stinking, putrid, to be discarded.”  And this is quite an anthropology, isn’t it?  I doubt that this is what they tell you in your anthropology class at UCLA, about how wonderful man is and how noble man is and how he has ascended through the chains of evolution to reach the apex.  When the truth of the matter is he is base by definition written by God Himself.

Verse 12, again, “There is none who does good,” same as verse 10.  There’s none righteous, not even one is another way to say it.  “There is none who does good, there’s not even one.” And the word for good here, this, by the way, is taken from Psalm 53:3, this whole section moves between Psalm 53 and Psalm 14.  The word has to do with moral goodness.  This is the sixth indictment here, condemning the character of man.  He doesn’t do anything that is genuinely good.  Some of man’s character, here’s your biblical anthropology, man is bad, ignorant, rebellious, wayward, useless.  And we could stack up some adjectives that could even make it worse…rotten to the very core.  And remember, this is universal.  This is true of Jews and Gentiles.  This is true even of believers.

So, the character is defined.  Secondly, the conversation.  Out of the abundance of the heart…what happens?  The mouth speaks so we can learn about the heart by listening to the mouth.  And here in verses 13 and 14 Paul quotes from Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140 verse 3, Psalm 10 verse 7, and he’s now concerned with the mouth.

By the way, James 3:3 to 10 talks about the mouth being like a flame of fire, spreading a conflagration of corruption everywhere.  Proverbs 10:32 says, “The mouth of the wicked speaks perverseness.”  Proverbs 15:2, “The mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.  The mouth of the wicked…verse 28…pours ut evil things.”  So Paul introduces the conversation of the man which is so revealing of his character.  His character might be under wraps until he opens his mouth.  It doesn’t take long.  Verse 13, “Their throat is an open grave.”  This from Psalm 5:9…”Their throat is an open grave.”  That’s frankly what we would call a gross picture.  Nothing is more abominable in the ancient world than an open grave and a stinking rotting body putting out its staggering and unbearable stench.

Now we’re not talking here about bad breath, we’re talking here about something far deeper than that.  The grave is open, and again it’s a perfect participle, and it stays open.  What comes from the inside, out the mouth is the same putrid rotten corrupt reality that has just been described as the character.  Man’s soul is dead in trespasses and sin and the putrid stinking decaying corpse emits a foul and filthy smell through the throat in the form of words.
So, with their tongues, they keep deceiving.  This again from Psalm 5:9, tense indicates again a life habit, deceit, dolioo, the root idea is a fishhook, the fishhook is deceptive, the fish thinks lunch, the bait, you think lunch, the fish, you deceive the fish.  That’s dolioo.  Psalm 36:3, “The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.”  Psalm 52:2, “Like a sharp razor is the mouth, working deceitfully.”  I always remember a story of lady I read in the L.A. Times some years ago who was angry at a man and let him get close to her.  And she had a razor blade between her teeth and sliced off his lips.  He was rushed the emergency hospital.  Psalm 57:4 says, “Their teeth are spears and arrows.”  Read Jeremiah 9, read Isaiah 59, the Old Testament is loaded about statements about the corruption of the mouth.  And Isaiah recognized it, didn’t he?, in Isaiah 6 when he was feeling the weight of his sin, he said, “I am a man with an unclean mouth and I dwell amidst a people of unclean lips.”

It’s not just unclean, it’s deadly.  Verse 13, at the end, “The poison of asps is under their lips.”  That’s from Psalm 140 and verse 3, this kind of speech that comes out of the corruption of the heart between the lips that is so vile and so filthy and so corrupt is also destructive.  It has a poison.  And there’s an analogy with a snake, the fangs of a deadly snake ordinarily lie folded back.  They’re folded back in the upper jaw.  But when it throws open its head, they flip down so that the poison of asps is tucked under their lips until they’re ready to strike, and then those hollow fangs flip out, drop down.  When the snake bites, the fangs press a sac of deadly poison hidden under their lips, injecting venom through them like a needle into the victim.  Words are deadly.  There are many battles that are started over words in your house and beyond, even wars among nations have been started by what was said.  Deadly.

It says then, continuing to look at the mouth, verse 14, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,” taken from Psalm 10:7.  Cursing and bitterness, cursing is literally a malediction against someone, to speak evil of someone.  Bitterness, pikria, extreme wickedness resulting in vile speech against God and men.  All you have to do is listen to the speech of the world, foul, bitter, angry, cursing, filthy, blasphemous, proud, lustful, violent, lying, deceptive, destructive.  And the open grave simply releases the stench of the corrupt heart.

Well, that leads to the conduct in the arraignment…the conduct in verses 15 and following.  We now know what the character’s like, what the conversation is like in this universal indictment, and obviously the conduct will follow.  Verse 15, “Their feet are swift to shed blood,” taken from Isaiah 59:7.  Men are murderers, they are killers from cannibalism to crime.  It’s just a part of life that men massacre each other.  I don’t need to give you the history of that, you know it, you see it.  Here we are supposedly living in this advanced twenty-first century and there’s just slaughter going on all over the world at a greater volume than ever because the weaponry is so much greater.  There’s travel warfare in the African continent that literally results in genocide as millions of people die unknown personally to the people who killed them.  This is true of man, he is by nature a murderer because he is following his father, the devil, who Jesus said was a murderer from the beginning.

The history of murder, slaughter throughout the story of man’s life is well-known to us.  Ching SenChung(???)  1643 to 1648, a bandit leader in the Chinese Province of Schezwan is estimated to have killed 40 million people…just a footnote.
So goes the history of man.  Verse 16, “Destruction and misery are in their paths.”  Destruction, suntrimma, literally a shattering into bits, cruelty, misery, meaning suffering distress.  It’s a word that is a kin to the word for wretched.  The abstract sense of that word is misery, but it really means actual, painful, physical suffering.  Men leave a trail of destruction and a trail of physical misery as they move through history…violence, bloodshed, devastation mark all human history.

And verse 17, finally, “The path of peace they have not known.”  We’re not too good at that, are we?  Humanity is not very good at getting the final peace, right?  Jeremiah put it this way, they say, “Peace, peace, there is no peace.”  There is no peace for the wicked.  Violence has taken the peace, men cannot attain peace whether it’s quarrels in personal relationships, hatreds, fights, arguments, animosities, crimes, revolutions, massive wars, genocide…this is characteristic of man.  He does not know peace.  Robert Haldain(?) wrote, “The most savage animals do not destroy so many of their own species to appease their hunger as man destroys his fellow man to satiate his ambition, his revenge, his greed.

So the arraignment came in verse 9, then the indictment, thirteen counts dealing with character, conversation and conduct.  But a good prosecutor will sum up his case and make it simple so there’s one more essential.  The sum of all these crimes rises out of a universal attitude in verse 18.  This is what is behind it all, let’s call this the motive.  Every criminal has a motive.  What is the motive for this kind of character?  What is the motive for this kind of conversation?  What is it that motivates this kind of conduct?

Answer: the motive in verse 18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  There is no fear of God before their eyes.  This is a key point.  The transgression of the wicked says within his heart there is no fear of God before his eyes, that is Psalm 36:1 that Paul is referring to here.  The transgression of the wicked, that Psalm says, says speaks in the heart, there’s no fear of God before his eyes.

Why do men live like this?  Why do they act like this?  Why do they speak like this?  Why do they think like this?  Because they will not fear God.  Proverbs 16:6 reverses it and says, “By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.”  Fearing God means having a respect for God.  It isn’t just the fear of His judgment, it’s the desire to honor Him for His nature, His works.

Universally men do not fear God, they do not honor God, they do not glorify Him as God.  Fearing God in Scripture is a synonym for being a true believer, a God-fearer.  It describes that man or woman who has respect for God’s holy person, work, word and will.  It is not the idea of flight or panic or dread, but reverential respect, a sense of awe.  What basically drives and controls who you are is your attitude toward God.  In that sense, fearing God is the control of all behavior.  It’s the control of all speech.  And it is the definer of all character.  When you accept God as God and you come to worship God and desire to obey God and give Him the honor He is due, it is because your character has been changed and now you have a new motive and it effects your speech and it effects your conduct.
The Old Testament, by the way, is filled with the concept of fearing God on a negative side.  Within this whole larger context of fearing God, there is definitely a negative element.  Look, God wanted people to be afraid of Him, that’s why He turned Lot’s wife to a pillar of salt.  That’s why He threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden, drowned the world, sent snakes to bite the Israelites, swallowed Korah, Dathan and Abiram, killed Nadab and Abihu, sent fire down from heaven, at the call of Elijah consumed a hundred soldiers.  God wanted to be feared as a judge.  He drowned the Egyptian army, took the life of Eli and his useless sons, Hophni and Phinehas.  He killed Absalom, David’s rebellious son and powered Samson to slaughter the thousands of Philistines, demanded death for sins.  There is to be a healthy fear of the righteous power of God and of His judgment.

But it’s not only that.  It’s revering His holiness.  It’s honoring Him for His mercy and grace, giving Him glory.  The bottom line is this, what is the motive for these crimes?  Practical Atheism.  At the root of man’s problem of sin and unrighteousness is a practical Atheism, he does not fear God.  All the previous evils, all the indictments rise out of the absence of that fear.  He is motivated by a wrong attitude toward God.

Now that brings us to the final part of this court scene.  We’ve seen the arraignment, the indictment and the motive, here’s the verdict…here’s the verdict.  “Now we know…now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable.”  Or if you will, guilty before God.

What’s the verdict?  Guilty…guilty.  The Law of God is the standard, the perfect holy Law of God.  All men are under that Law and that Law finds them guilty.  You know what the responsibility of a judge is?  To bring to bear upon the person brought before his bench, the force of the Law.  The judge has one responsibility, uphold the Law.  And that’s exactly what happens. The whole human race is brought before the tribunal.  The judge says when measured against the holy Law of God, all of you who are under that Law have no defense, so that every mouth may be stopped.

What does that mean?  What’s missing in this trial?  If you were putting this trial together, the one who uses a model trial, what’s missing?  The defense…there hasn’t been any defense.  There’s been all prosecution, there’s no defense.  The reason there’s no defense is there’s no defense.  Look, I was in court one time when our church and myself were sued for clergy malpractice.  I was taken into the court in Glendale, this will be 1980, I think, or in the eighties, and there was a great case attempted to be amassed against us.  And I sat in the court and in came the prosecution, the plaintiff and they laid out their whole case against us.  And then it was our turn for a defense.  And the judge stood up and rendered a summary judgment and said, “We don’t need to hear a defense, the case of the plaintiff is not substantial,” and dismissed the case.
So you have a summary judgment, only in the reverse.  The judgment here is that the case for the plaintiff is so substantial there is no defense.  So verse 19 makes that clear, “Every mouth is stopped and the whole world is guilty before God.”  There is no defense.  Verse 20 says, “The reason we haven’t got a defense is because by the works of the Law no flesh will be made righteous in His sight.”  All the Law does is produce the knowledge of sin.  It just reveals how sinful man is.  This is the picture of the whole human race on which the gospel then is built.  I think sometimes we don’t understand the glory of the gospel because we don’t understand this.  Now is the gospel more glorious or less?  Far more glorious when you understand the predicament of the guilty sinners, such as we are.  When you come to the end of this section in verse 20, if you’re a sinner and you haven’t heard this before, your heart is beating hard because you have just been indicted, there is no defense, your mouth is stopped, you’re guilty before God, you can’t do anything about it, you can’t keep the Law, you can’t live up to the Law and therefore your indictment stands and from your own perspective you are in a hopeless condition and you’re left there at the end of verse 20.

And then in verse 21, t he glory of the gospel begins to burst on the scene.  And if you come next Sunday night, I’ll explain that to you.
Father, Your Word is so consistent, so powerful, so precious, so rich.  We thank You for it.  We understand the wretchedness that has been described as our wretchedness.  This is a description not of somebody else but of us.  Not of…not of pagans or just the Jews, but of us.  It’s a description of all before salvation.  It’s a disastrous condition in which sinners live.  And in this condition they bear fierce guilt in this life, guilt that steals their joy, that makes them empty, hopeless, fearful, anxious and finds no remedy within themselves.  It is in this horrible condition that the sinner becomes desperate enough to look for a remedy outside himself beyond him and by Your grace is drawn to the glory of the forgiveness provided in Christ.  We thank You, Lord, that we have experienced that.  We thank You for the testimonies we heard tonight of the transformation in the life of guilty sinners to joyous, blessed saints.  Thank You, Lord, for that great miracle and for Your Word which lays it out so clearly.  May we always remember as we share the gospel that there are many people who can’t understand grace because they don’t understand Law, who can’t understand forgiveness because they don’t understand guilt, who can’t understand the joy of heaven because they don’t understand the horror of hell.  Help us, Lord, to give them the full message, to make the sinner aware of his guilt before we make him aware of Your provision.  We glory in the gospel, we rejoice in it.  We thank You.  We know we are saved not because anything we’ve done but because of Your grace.  We give you praise in Your Son’s name.  Amen.

John McArthur

But first consider this. If a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks…all the evidence would be worthless, because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.

When it comes to the possibility of God’s existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God.¹ On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you."² Before you look at the facts surrounding God’s existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want to know him? Here then, are some reasons to consider…

1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

Many examples showing God’s design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:

The Earth…its size is perfect. The Earth’s size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth’s surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.³ Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +48 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth’s position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.⁴

Water…colourless, odourless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You’ll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:

It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies at a steady 37 degrees.

Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.⁵

Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.

Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.

Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.

Ninety-seven percent of the Earth’s water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.⁶

2. Does God exist? The human brain’s complexity shows a higher intelligence behind it.

The human brain…simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colours and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

The human brain processes more than a million messages a second.⁷ Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. A brain that deals with more than a million pieces of information every second, while evaluating its importance and allowing you to act on the most pertinent information… did it come about just by chance? Was it merely biological causes, perfectly forming the right tissue, blood flow, neurons, structure? The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people. How does one explain the human brain?

3. Does God exist? "Chance" or "natural causes" are insufficient explanations.

The alternative to God existing is that all that exists around us came about by natural cause and random chance. If someone is rolling dice, the odds of rolling a pair of sixes is one thing. But the odds of spots appearing on blank dice is something else. What Pasteur attempted to prove centuries ago, science confirms, that life cannot arise from non-life. Where did human, animal, plant life come from?

Also, natural causes are an inadequate explanation for the amount of precise information contained in human DNA. A person who discounts God is left with the conclusion that all of this came about without cause, without design, and is merely good fortune. It is intellectually wanting to observe intricate design and attribute it to luck.

4. Does God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are convinced that there is a God.

This is not to say that if enough people believe something it is therefore true. Scientists, for example, have discovered new truths about the universe which overruled previous conclusions. But as science has progressed, no scientific discovery has countered the numerical likelihood of an intelligent mind being behind it all. In fact, the more science discovers about human life and the universe, the more complex and precisely designed we realise these to be. Rather than pointing away from God, evidence mounts further toward an intelligent source. But objective evidence is not all.

There is a much larger issue. Throughout history, billions of people in the world have attested to their firm, core convictions about God’s existence–arrived at from their subjective, personal relationship with God. Millions today could give detailed account of their experience with God. They would point to answered prayer and specific, amazing ways God has met their needs, and guided them through important personal decisions. They would offer, not only a description of their beliefs, but detailed reports of God’s actions in their lives. Many are sure that a loving God exists and has shown himself to be faithful to them. If you are a sceptic, can you say with certainty: "I am absolutely right and they all are wrong about God"?

5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.

I used to be an atheist. And like most atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don’t believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people…to help them realise their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.

I didn’t realise that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn’t escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God’s existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win…" It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.

I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "…night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."

Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting God’s existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed by his love for me.

6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you’ll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you’re looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.

He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."⁸ He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."⁹

What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can’t do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people…blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects…created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature…walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I’m telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you’re seeing.¹⁰

Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly swap places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.

Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."¹¹ This is God, in action.

Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We’re told that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."¹²

God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth’s perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ.

If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.

This is your decision, no coercion here. But if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or her]."¹³ If you want to do this, but aren’t sure how to put it into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."

God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand."¹⁴

So, does God exist? Looking at all these facts, one can conclude that a loving God does exist and can be known in an intimate, personal way.

About the Author: As a former atheist, Marilyn Adamson found it difficult to refute the continuously answered prayers and quality of life of a close friend. In challenging the beliefs of her friend, Marilyn was amazed to learn the wealth of objective evidence pointing to the existence of God. After about a year of persistent questioning, she responded to God’s offer to come into her life and has found faith in Him to be constantly substantiated and greatly rewarding.

(1) Romans 1:19-21
(2) Jeremiah 29:13-14
(3) R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), p. 20
(4) The Wonders of God’s Creation, Moody Institute of Science (Chicago, IL)
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) John 8:12
(9) John 14:6
(10) John 14:11
(11) Jeremiah 31:3
(12) John 3:16
(13) Revelation 3:20
(14) John 10:27-29

“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)

This Colossians passage points out another reason why the goal is living to Christ and not dying to self. Because of Christ, we have already died. We have already died (in a sense, the most important part any dying to be done has already been accomplished for us), and we already have life hidden in Christ (in a sense, the most important part of any living to be done has already been accomplished for us), yet we must continue dying to (putting off, denying) the old self in order to continue living in Christ (I think this is what people call “sanctification”).

Now, we may wish that dying to the old self was like coming to a place of total surrender to Jesus and allowing him to slay the old sinful self with one terrible thrust of some kind of death-to-the-old-self sword. Instead, dying to the old self is part of a lifelong journey. A journey where there are many sword strokes rather than a single fatal sword thrust. Desire, knowledge and discipline are not enough. We need the ongoing, life-giving activity of many sword strokes – from the revealed word of God.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

But even the activity of the living revealed word of God is not enough. We must participate in this dividing of ourselves… from death in its many forms. We will participate when we understand what the Spirit is doing, so that it seems right and good to us to join with the Spirit in this denial of the old self. To deny the old self is not something we do in “blind” faith. It is done from a faith that understands what is revealed; from a faith that is supported by rigorous thinking. We are constantly to test God’s will so as to approve God’s will. Can you believe it, the God of the universe wants us to approve his will?

Our incompletely renewed minds may deny it, but no matter how much we struggle against it, we will remain conformed to this world unless we approve God’s will. We come to the key point at which we choose to deny our old selves or not. We can test God’s will in order to judge it according to our sense of right and wrong – to sit in judgment over the righteousness of God’s righteousness. Or we can test God’s will so as to approve it, as being good and well-pleasing and perfect:

“No one has greater love than this that one lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.” (John 15:13-15)

Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Stanley Hasegawa
I am richly blessed in my marriage. I have two grown children. I am semi-retired. I have been a computer programmer, systems analyst, househusband and homeschool teacher. I love to walk, talk and eat, and write short articles about devoting our lives to Jesus.

God tells us not to fear the ones who are a threat to you as it only brings harm (PS 37: .. more like the ones who constantly bug you, who keep accusing you of the things you haven’t done, and those people who constantly keep absorbing negativity into others about you. Those people are around, believe it or not but they are and you have no choice but to deal with them! the first things on our minds is to get mad at them. But then we miss the Big Picture!

In (Pslam37), God continually asks us to be patient & righteous in our every step, he further mentions committing our ways to Him, keep doing what is good, keep walking in the footsteps of righteousness and the Bible mentions in (Deut6:25) that a man will be called righteous only if he carefully observes and keeps all the commandments of his Lord. That law is the 10 commandments so following them, living according to them will be our righteousness. He adds to continually keep his ways, wait on him and delight in him and he will grant all the desires of our
heart (Ps37:4).

He also asks us to walk in an upright conduct as he knows their days and their inheritance will be forever (V 18). He continually mentions that he watches over us and loves justice for his saints (V 28) In a matter of time it will all be cut off, the bad weeds anything and everything surrounding you to bring you down will disappear. He always has his eyes on you and considers you for who you are, He watches your every step and watches over you, those little things that no one sees- He does and knows your heart and mind intimately.

There is always someone there to justify you. That’s when He tells us to do what we can and the rest He does. That’s the beauty of our LORD, He loves His people, His saints, His righteous, His upright and His long suffering.

COMMIT YOUR WAYS TO THE LORD, TRUST ALSO IN HIM AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS, HE SHALL BRING FORTH YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE LIGHT
AND YOUR JUSTICE AS THE NOONDAY (PSLAMS37:5)

I am Shenin Hamid, i live in the middle east, i just turned 17 and love writing for God and inspiring people through what God puts in my heart with the Gift of writing that he’s sowed in me.