May 2022 "Dearly Beloved" Articles
Dearly Beloved 05/31/22 "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled"
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Dearly beloved of God, let not your heart be troubled, God our Father is for us. He will not leave us, and He will never, never forsake us. It is not the odds against us, but the God that is for us that matters. He is our Helper. He always has our backs.
Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. We have not because we ask not.
Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.
Don’t be anxious about anything dearly beloved, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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Dearly Beloved 05/30/22 "The Good Pleasure of His Will"
The Good Pleasure of His Will
Dearly beloved of God, it is not only what God did in Christ that is astonishing, but His attitude in doing them is staggering as well.
Reading Ephesians we see what God accomplished in Christ. God determined these things ahead of time, He planned them by the counsel of His own will, and He sent the Christ to accomplish the plan of redemption, and he did.
God our Father blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. He chose us in Christ that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love He determined beforehand that we would have sonship and be His children.
What was the standard by which He did these things? He accomplished them “in accordance with the good pleasure of His will unto the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He highly favored us in the beloved one [Jesus Christ].” It was the good pleasure of His will to do them for us in Christ.
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Dearly Beloved 05/28/22 "Our Hope in Christ"
Our Hope in Christ
Dearly beloved of God, what event will be the concluding event for the Church in this Administration of the Grace of God, the Administration of the Mystery?
Every believer in Christ will be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air whether they are alive at his coming, or they have died previously.
We will both be changed, transformed to be like the Lord. Together we will be caught up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air, and we will forever be with him. [See I Thessalonians 4:15-18.]
II Thessalonians 2:1 and 2
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
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Dearly Beloved 05/26/22 "Stand Fast in the Liberty"
Stand Fast in the Liberty
Dearly beloved of God, Christ freed us with freedom. Therefore, stand fast and be not entangled again with a yoke of bondage. What is this freedom with which he freed us?
The Lord Jesus Christ freed us from the law of sin and death. He freed us from the condemnation that Adam brought upon us by justifying us by his accomplishments. He did what the law could not do. He freed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.
Christ freed us from the guilt, and the condemnation of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. When he returns he will free us from the presence of sin.
Christ freed us by giving us the promised gift of holy spirit, the spirit of sonship. By the grace of God, he freed us by making it possible for us to be the children of God by believing in him.
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Dearly Beloved 05/23/22 "The Wisdom of God Concerning Christ"
The Wisdom of God Concerning Christ
Dearly beloved of God, all scripture is God-breathed; it came from the mouth of God Himself. This truth is irrefutable, and if we reject it, it is to our peril.
The Word of God is our point of contact with the One True and Living God. If is our only reference for truth concerning spiritual matters.
The Scriptures reveal what is in God’s mind concerning us. If we know the revelation of the scriptures, we know what He thinks. He has given us the revelation concerning who we are in Christ.
God is not holding out on us; He will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Once He has given us the knowledge of the truth, it is certainly not His fault if we do not believe it.
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Dearly Beloved 05/20/22 "God Set the Standard"
God Set the Standard
Dearly beloved of God, when Christ returns we will not be judged according to the flesh, nor according to our goodness, nor according to our works, nor by our law keeping. We will be judged according to who we are in Christ.
No flesh will be justified before God by the works of the law. Through the law is the knowledge of sin. Now the justice of God without the law has been manifested.
God’s justice is according to the established standard that He determined, not a standard that man determined. His standard concerning our justification is declared by the gospel of God concerning Christ.
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Dearly Beloved 05/19/22 "Beneficiaries of His Grace"
Beneficiaries of His Grace
Dearly beloved of God, God saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us before the time of the ages.
The grace of God our Father to us in Christ is so very abundant. He determined beforehand that we were to be conformed to the image of His firstborn Son.
His Son, Jesus Christ, did all the work required to accomplish our redemption, justification, salvation, sanctification, and glorification. He gave his life for our lives. The righteous one gave his life so that the unrighteous might be as he is.
In Christ we are justified, and forgiven our sins by the riches of His grace, which He abounded to us.
We were made the righteousness of God in him. We became the children of God, His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ.
In Christ we are holy and without blame before the Father.
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Dearly Beloved 05/17/22 "The Unity from the Spirit"
The Unity from the Spirit
Dearly beloved of God, what does God reveal about the unity of the spirit?
Ephesians 4:1-3
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The King James Version, in verse three states that we are to keep “the unity of the Spirit.” The unity of the spirit is used in the genitive case in the Greek, and it is the genitive of origin, which would be translated, “unity from the spirit.”
“Spirit” in this verse refers to the gift of holy spirit received from God after Jesus Christ sent “the promise of the Father” on the Day of Pentecost. Everyone on Pentecost and thereafter who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead receives the gift of holy spirit from God, which is the spirit of sonship.
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Dearly Beloved 05/16/22 "The Administration of the Grace of God"
The Administration of the Grace of God
Dearly beloved of God, the time from the Feast of Pentecost until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Church is the administration of the grace of God, which is also called the administration of the mystery.
During this period of time, we are saved by the grace of God. It is not of any works so that no one may boast. God would have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of God. It is sad that all men do not take Him up on His invitation.
How is a person saved? If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you are saved. At that moment you are born-again of the spirit from God, and you enter the kingdom of God as a child of God, His heir, and a joint heir with Christ.
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Dearly Beloved 05/15/22 "The Only Safe Place"
The Only Safe Place
Dearly beloved of God, there is only one safe place to be in this life, and that is standing on the Word of the One True and Living God. His power stands behind every word that comes out of His mouth.
Consider this prophecy of the coming of the Christ.
Isaiah 55: 1-11
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
In the lands and times of the Bible, on your birthday you would buy out the marketplace and give gifts to your friends. Their friends would “buy wine and milk without money” at no cost to them.
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Dearly Beloved 05/14/22 "Turn the World Upside Down"
Turn the Word Upside Down
Dearly beloved of God, many Christians have no idea of who they are in Christ, and the rights, privileges, and ability that is theirs in him. They are ignorant of the grace of God to us in Christ, and they do not understand our hope of glory in Christ Jesus.
Why do God’s people not know, nor understand the truth concerning their sonship as the children of God?
The reason for their ignorance is that no one has taught them what God has revealed about these realities in His Word, the Bible. No one has instructed them that the Word of God is revelation knowledge from the mouth of God given for our believing. Let’s consider some of these realities in Christ Jesus.
We are saved by confessing Jesus as Lord, and believing that God raised him from the dead.
Jesus Christ gave his life to accomplish these realities, and then God freely gave every Christian all things with Christ.
Our relationship with God is the basis of spirit. Jesus Christ sent the promise of the Father, which is to born of the spirit from God. Now we are the children of God, and that birth is of incorruptible seed.
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Dearly Beloved 05/13/22 "Trust the Plan"
Trust the Plan
Dearly beloved of God, God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the time of the ages.
God had a plan before the times of the ages, and then He set about to accomplish it. He marked out the boundaries of His plan ahead of time.
In the Christ we were chosen, which was determined beforehand according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the deliberation of His own will.
God determined that the Christ would accomplish our redemption and salvation, and that after he had accomplished His plan, God would then freely give each and every one of His children all things with Christ. He determined that in Christ, He would bless His children with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. It is all of them in all of us.
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Dearly Beloved 05/12/22 "Riches of Grace in Christ"
Riches of Grace in Christ
Dearly beloved of God, God has shown us the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus, and His grace is beyond anything we could imagine.
The gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ reveals that we were justified by believing concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and by what he accomplished.
God planned for this justification in Christ, and by His grace all who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead are saved.
The gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ is the good news of the grace of God to all who believe regarding him. This gospel teaches that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
God made Christ Jesus wisdom unto us, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption so that He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.
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Dearly Beloved 05/11/22 "A New Covenant"
A New Covenant
Dearly beloved of God, the Lord God Almighty is God. He is the Most High God, the God of the heavens and the earth, and that God made a new covenant in Christ. That God became God our Father, and we became His children.
What did God say about the old covenant that He made with Israel?
Exodus 34:10
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
God made a covenant with them that He would be their God, and they would be His people. God had the covenant written on stones.
They agreed to the terms of the covenant. God upheld His God end of the covenant. He performed what He had promised.
Their part of the covenant was to keep the commandments that He gave them.
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Dearly Beloved 05/09/22 "The Word of Truth"
The Word of Truth
Dearly beloved of God, the Word of God is God speaking. You cannot get any closer to God than His Word.
If we will study the Word of God, and allow it to speak for itself, we can learn about matters that God Himself determined. When we rightly divide God’s Word we will have the Word of Truth.
God reveals what He would have us to believe. Believing comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
We cannot replace God’s Word with man-made doctrines, traditions, and philosophies and still have the truth. If we sincerely want answers we should listen to the truth of the Word of God.
For example, what does the Word of God say about salvation?
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Dearly Beloved 05/06/22 "That Same Jesus"
That Same Jesus
Dearly beloved of God, after exalting His Son by raising him from the dead, God made the same Jesus that they crucified both Lord and Christ. God declared Jesus Christ the Lord His Son by raising him out from among the dead.
Hebrews 11 sets forth a list of faithful people who believed God at His Word. They were faithful to God, believing His Word until they died without receiving the promises God made them, but they will receive them when Christ returns, and raises them to life again.
Those old testament saints lived seeing God’s promises in the distance. They lived as strangers and pilgrims on the earth confessing His promises because He was faithful that called them.
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Dearly Beloved 05/04/22 "If You Love Me...."
If You Love Me….
Dearly beloved of God, after Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead he appeared a number of times to his disciples. John 21 records one of these events.
After eating breakfast with the seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had a conversation with Peter.
John 21:15-19
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
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Dearly Beloved 05/02/22 "Are You Kiddin Me?"
Are You Kiddin’ Me?
Dearly beloved of God, the truth concerning this Administration of the Grace of God, and the Mystery of God concerning Christ is truly amazing. Everything from our salvation to our hope of glory is by Jesus Christ's accomplishments and it is ours by the grace of God.
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This is how one receives salvation. It says what it means, and means what it says. This is truly grace.
I John 3:1, 2
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
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Dearly Beloved 05/01/22 "When Did Judas Hang Himself?"
When Did Judas Hang Himself?
Dearly beloved of God, if Thomas was the missing apostle when Jesus suddenly appeared to them when they were behind closed doors, when did Judas Iscariot die?
The Word of God reveals all that is possible to know about the situation. We cannot afford to voice an opinion on the subject before considering what God reveals to us in His Word.
The Word of God interprets itself in the verse, in the context, or where the same subject appears previously. As we consider the scriptures on the subject, they will build up and give us the whole truth.
Beloved, we must be as honest in our study of God’s Word as we would be in any other field of learning. We cannot afford to reach a conclusion before all the evidence is in. Changing our minds is often difficult when we have already formed an opinion about a subject.
This is true of the timing of Judas Iscariot’s death. Rather than starting with what we assume to be true, let’s read the clear scriptures concerning the subject.