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Freedom from God’s condemnation is a reality for every single believer, not because of any new found performance capabilities, but because we are made the righteousness of God in our union with his perfectly righteous son. On top of that, everything necessary to prove to us beyond any shadow of doubt, and to prove to Satan and his rebellious forces that we are totally secure in our union with God’s son, we need nothing more, God supplied every need already. There were a lot of people in Paul’s day and in our day trying to earn their righteousness before God by way of their performance. They thought God would measure their do’s and don’ts and thought they were actually measuring up. God would considered them righteous worthy of his attendance, worthy of being in heaven. In fact, they were bragging, boasting about their achievements as though God could do nothing other than to declare them righteous because they deserved just such a declaration. Paul warned to guard against those who would promote a righteousness through performance idea. It is up to those of the world to either accept or reject their redeemer, but that does no less make him their redeemer. When we accept our redeemer and the price he paid, the ransom he paid, then we are joined to Christ and we have his righteousness attributed to our account. Those who reject the gift are thumbing their noses at the one who died to paid that price for their redemption. The price was paid for all, and through that payment Jesus redeemed the entire human race from the sin barrier that separated the world from God. It is now a son issue, not a sin issue. Will those of the world accept or reject the payment Christ made for their redemption? Those who reject their redeemer will face the ultimate consequences of that rejection. God did for us what we could never do for ourselves, he took all of our performance off of us and put it onto Jesus and judged him for our faulty performance. The only thing God is asking us to believe to be placed into his son, is to take him at his word concerning what his son did where our sins are concerned. The instance we take our stand with God, we are not only saved, but sealed until the day of redemption of these earthly tents in which we dwell. Flesh wants to say if I broke it, I can fix it. God is not asking us to turn from anything to be saved, he is asking us to believe Jesus accomplished salvation for us and we are simply to believe it. Jesus did it all, there is nothing left for us to do, God did all the giving, we do only all the receiving, faith is taking God at his word concerning what his son did on our behalf.

Then go to the churches and find out for yourself what you have to do to get God to say YES or NO. But be aware, there’s insecurity in those messages. These are the doctrines we’re tossed to and fro by as we hear those things and fail to understand the good news of reconciliation. Wow! What good news the world could hear. Someone has paid their sin debt already. The decision was made before you were ever born. What wonderful news! Now, not everyone is going to be in Heaven because God reconciled the world unto himself, we know that. The Bible clearly teaches that you have to accept that gift. Love doesn’t force itself. God is equally as much love as he is just. So, he doesn’t force that on anyone. He offers it freely to the world, but he did indeed accomplished it for the world through his son. The issue is no longer sin, the issue is: what well you do with what the son accomplished where your sin debt is concerned. Most are going back to the 12, trying to rely upon what the 12 would tell them. How many know of Paul’s distinct message today? Are we moving toward truth or moving away form truth? The Savior did not send Paul to build upon or to add further truth to the message of those who preceded Paul. (Romans 15:20) The foundation they laid was of Jesus as Messiah to the nation Israel. The Messiah is promised to Israel for the ruling over of that Kingdom, that earthly Kingdom promised that nation. Paul would not to have wanted us to mix the message of the 12 in regard to God’s program to and with the nation Israel...with the message specifically given him for the Gentiles. Paul was given that brand new revelation. He would not have wanted us to add or mix earthly Kingdom truth with the message he dispensed. He went to great lengths to separate his ministry with the ministries of those before him. 1 Corinthians 3:10 - But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

Eve was deceived and she missed the ball unintentionally, but not Adam. Adam purposely took his eyes off the ball and when he dropped his bat; he lost the ball game for the human race. What made that such a catastrophic loss for the human race is heightened by the fact that people are unable to do anything to alter their moral choice of good and bad condition. Human wisdom, human reasoning would say, “Give us a law. Give us something that we can do. Give us some way to perform. Give us a few balls of our own to hit so that we might earn back what we lost through Adam.” God’s reasoning said, “Impossible!” Why? The Law that he gave to Israel was a measure of what the human race would have to perform to be accepted by God. God would have to do for the human race what the human race was totally incapable of doing for themselves. God would of necessity have to credit the righteous faithfulness of someone else to account of the hopeless and helpless human race. The word “Redemption” has to do with a ransom. So, Jesus paid the price necessary to satisfy the Father’s justice for all the sins of the human race. The human race was given a Redeemer and the price the Redeemer paid through the shedding of his blood (the second Adam’s blood) dripping on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant (the Ark Moses was instructed to build) to ransom the human race was a satisfactory payment to take those sins off the table of God’s justice forever! However, the fact that Jesus became a redeemer of all the human race does not mean that all the human race will accept the gift the redeemer purchased on their behalf. Jesus’ faithfulness was the only faithfulness sufficient to merit God’s favor. God used our faith in Jesus’ faithfulness as the means whereby he would credit Jesus’ righteousness to all them that believe. To believe is to receive! To be justified does not mean to be perfectly righteous in performance. It also does not mean to become perfectly righteous or even more righteous in performance through time, it means having Jesus’ perfect righteousness freely credited to the account of the ungodly who believe. We didn’t receive our righteous standing before God by the things we’ve done in the past that we might consider to be righteous. We certainly don’t maintain it by the things we continue to do or what we promise God that we’ll do that we might consider to be righteous. Our justification was something accomplished for us by God’s grace. Understanding the Grace of God results in joy. The mind set of joy will not come apart from understanding the Grace we have in this age of Grace. Many lack joy from not understanding that justification is compete.

Dealing with the enemy is not a power encounter; it is a truth encounter. You can not expect God to protect you from enemies influences if you do not take an active part in his prepared strategy. The armor that we must take up to protect ourselves from the enemies attack, the first three are established because of our identity in the Savior, the last three help us continue to win the battle. It is critical that when we put on the armor of God, we start with the belt of truth. If the enemy can deceive us into believing a lie, they can control our life in that area. It’s absolutely vital that we put on the breastplate of righteousness so that we can resist the persistent accusations of enemy, they never give up trying to get us down and keep us down by hurling one false accusation after another. We put on the shoes of peace because we are to forgive as we have been forgiven, and we must base our relationships with others on the same criteria. If we fail to speak the truth in love and manage our emotions, anger which turns to bitterness and unforgiveness is an open invitation to enemy. The important process of renewing our mind includes managing our emotions by managing our thoughts and perceptions. The enemy are always hurling their fiery darts of fear, doubt and worry in our direction, but the only time they can hit us is when we let our shield of faith down. The fact that the helmet is related to salvation indicates that their blows are directed at the believer’s security and assurance of being placed into the Savior. This helmet covers our mind, intellect or reasoning. The two dangerous edges of the enemies broadsword are discouragement and doubt. In addition to believing it and thinking it, the Word of God is the only offensive weapon mentioned in the list of armor. If you are going to resist the enemy, you must do so outwardly so they can understand you and be put to flight. That is why Paul insists that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The enemy have no power over us except what we give them by failing to take every thought captive and thus being deceived into believing their lies.

When God looks at you and your life is hid in the Savior; who does he see, his son. How many spanking does his son need? This is not simply an abundance of blessings, this is a super abounding abundance of blessings based upon God’s super abounding grace.

“There’s no repentance for the Age of Grace.” Oh, yes there is! How about repentance? How about a change of thinking in the Age of Grace? If a person hears Paul’s good news message and that person refuses to believe Paul’s message, choosing instead to believe that their works can add something, that their works can do something to do with getting them saved or, keeping them saved, that person does indeed need to change their thinking, they needs to repent! All who are believing the messages presented by the ministers of righteousness today, wherever they are or whoever they are, the ones Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 11:15, they need to change their thinking and accept Paul’s good news message as being the truth in order to receive justification unto eternal life by being placed into the Savior. So, repentance (or, a change of thinking) is necessary, in that sense even in this Age of Grace.

Let’s suppose that God had not separated out a brand new apostle with a brand new message for a brand new creation called the Body of the Savior. Imagine with me for a moment that God had allowed that kingdom program to continue on as some believe today. What message would we as Gentiles, have heard under those circumstances, had that program continued on? You see, according to Israel’s program, when the messiah was cut off according to the 483 years of Daniel’s prophesy fulfilled, the time for that nation to come to their last days prior to the entrance of their kingdom had come close to hand. Only 7 years remained at that period of time on Israel’s prophecy clock before the earthly kingdom would be set up and the messiah would be ruling and reigning on the throne. The tribulation was on its way when Pentecost took place. These are the last day Joel was talking about. If God had not put Israel’s program on the shelf, he would be gathering Gentiles, and bringing them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. (Joel 3:9-16) At the culmination of the tribulation period, Gentiles are going to be coming against the nation Israel. The Gentiles will be the bullies when this day arrives. Jesus is coming to stand up for that remnant and who will the messiah be coming to fight? The Gentiles. We see in 2 Corinthians 4:3 the word hid. Satan’s not a mandy pandy at hiding what Jesus accomplished. It’s one thing to have your sin slate wiped clean. It’s something else entirely different to be in the Savior. Righteousness and sin two different things. If people are asking for forgiveness for their sins today, than what do those people understand about what happen to their sins Jesus accomplished for the human race. We shouldn’t be surprised today that Satan, the master counterfeiter, is so successful at confusing what Jesus accomplished. Don’t let anyone confuse you. God is reconciled where the sin debt of the human race is concerned. There’s not a sin you did commit, are committing or could ever commit that God hasn’t reconciled himself through what Jesus accomplished on your behalf. Satan’s ministers of righteousness are keeping the issue of sin on the table of God’s justice. Sin stood between God and the human race but Jesus stepped up according to God’s plan and became sin for the human race. (2 Corinthians 5:21) So becoming sin for the human race and dying for the sins of the human race was the ultimate act of righteousness where our Savior was concerned. So in the eyes of a perfectly righteous God, Jesus is the only one who has ever earned merited righteousness through his performance. No one else has done so. God was perfectly satisfied with all the sins Jesus did die for. God’s justice was satisfied. The Bible is really the story of two men and the people who are related to these two men. The issue for life everlasting is not what church you attend or to which denomination you belong or how religious you are or even whether or not you are a good person in the worldly sense of the word good. The issue in eternity will not be how many sins you’ve committed or how many sins you have promised God you will abstain from committing. It will not be whether you’ve walked an aisle, recited a particular prayer, or asked Jesus into your heart. The issue in eternity will be to which man are you related? Do you have your identity in the first Adam, or do you have your identity in the second Adam, Jesus our Savior. You have to believe that the second Adam died, and not just died for your sins, but what was accomplished when he died for your sins; what was accomplished where those sins were concerned. You cannot be related or identified in both.

Today, for the most part, we are also an unbelieving people. Instead of trusting in God’s Word and resting in the glories of his grace that we’re shown through the Word, we are even now continually looking for signs, continually looking for visual evidences of God’s presence and his approval in the day-to-day circumstance of our lives. The direction is in God’s Word and we’re still waiting for direction while our apostle has given us a clear and straight forward proclamation from God himself that we walk by faith and not walking by sight. He’s not giving us those visual manifestations. Would God not have us know and understand that the proof is right before our eyes, in a very real sense today concerning his position, his power, his presence, his purpose, and his predisposition in this dispensation? It’s in his written Word. You see, we are not the sign nation. And we have not become the assumers and fulfiller of God’s program with that sign-nation. Many think we have. That program has been placed on hold while God completes his plan and purpose for the saints of this dispensation. While Israel walked by sight, we walk not by sight, but by faith. The focus today is no longer on the outward, but on the inward.

The law pointed to sin and then required death for the sinner. Can the law now stake a further claim against the one who has already satisfied that claim? Will the law ever again have a future claim where Jesus is concerned? Or did Jesus satisfy that claim once and for all. Of course he did! And you are joined to him; being joined to him meaning: fully identified with his satisfying the law’s claim. It only stands to reason that once a person is joined to the one who has satisfied the law’s requirement for sins, and is now standing only in the Savior’s perfect righteousness, that believer’s sinfulness can never be used as proof of that believer’s lack of righteousness. Paul moves us away from the realm of condition and he takes us straight into the realm of identity. The law can make no demand on the world of the lawlessness because Jesus met the law’s demands for the world of sinners for which he died. Today, the law can only serve the purpose of proving people’s need for a righteousness that no person is capable of gaining through performance. Paul had all the motivation that Paul needed to bring his body into subjection to whatever degree possible for Paul, not allowing it to reign supreme when it came to his actions. But, had Paul arrived when it came to the sacrifice of himself for the sake of those to whom he had been sent? Paul prayed that he might be made conformable unto Jesus’ death (Philippians 3:10). Jesus sacrificed himself for the sake of the Father’s enemies, for the sake of his enemies. Paul wanted to be made conformable to Jesus’ selflessness. But, Paul hadn’t arrived at Jesus’ selflessness as he states him in Philippines 3:12. You see, even with the proper motivation (and Paul had it, as do we), the flesh is incapable of removing self from our service. So, Paul wasn’t able to divorce self from his service when it came to what he did on behalf of others. Paul was certainly motivated to serve the Savior who died for him. But, Paul was being honest with himself and with us when it came to the capacity of his flesh to merit righteousness before God through performance. If God was going to declare ungodly people righteous, it would have to be freely by his grace. It could come no other way. People’s performance could not be allowed to enter the picture. God would have to use belief rather than behavior as the criterion whereby to join believers to his son.

You have to know something, to count up the facts before you can come to an appropriate conclusion based upon what you know to be true. That is why knowledge is absolutely essential. If you have drawn an improper conclusion, Paul would say it is because you have failed to properly consider all of the facts. God has only held people accountable to believe that which he was revealing to them at the time, nothing more. Justification has always been based on taking God at his Word, nothing more. We would call that faith, it’s just that the message of faith has changed. It’s not been the same message, because things have been added and things have been changed throughout the course of human history. If you are asking God to forgive you for your sins today, what are you saying you believe about what Jesus accomplished, where those sins are concerned? See how subtle the message is today, and how many people in the world miss it, because they think God is still looking at them and judging them and evaluating them on the bases of their performance. God wants believers to all think the same way, when it comes to what is happening in this Age of Grace, what God is doing today and how he is doing it.

When Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles was getting underway before God’s Word was complete...was send a handkerchief in order for God through his power from on high to jump into action and perform a miraculous sign for the sick. (Acts 19:11-12) Do you believe that someone could send you a handkerchief and with that handkerchief you're just automatically going to be healed of all manner of sickness and disease? God certainly worked that way in that day. But, Paul himself, revealed a change that was to take place as the ascended Savior let Paul know that change would be coming. 1 Corinthians 13:8, these were signed gifts; the ability to proclaim God’s message prior to the completion of God’s Word through the supernatural empowerment of God’s power from on high. 1 Corinthians 13:9, it would have been impossible for the prophets of that day, those proclaiming the truth of God before the completed Word of God to reveal all the knowledge of God that would be contained in that completed Word of God. Paul’s epistles were to be passed from assembly to assembly, but keep in mind, he’d only completed 3 letters up to the point of what he’s telling us right here. All the written word the saints had up to that time, pertaining to the dispensation of grace was Galatians and the two letters to the saints at Thessalonica. Paul kept getting more revelations from the ascended Savior on what to tell us and the way God’s working with us today. 1 Corinthians 13:10, when that which was to be finished comes to completion, there would be no need for the sign gifts to remain in operation. What was unfinished at that time? Paul’s writings to the Body of the Savior of this age!2 Corinthians 12:7-10, notice the change in operation that was beginning to take place in this new, previously undisclosed dispensation. What revelations? The revealing of the secret that God had been keeping where we Gentiles are concerned in light of Israel’s program being placed on the shelf for a time; the revelations concerning the change in program relative to the new dispensation God was ushering in. 2 Timothy 4:19-20, Trophimus have I left at Miletum SICK. No handkerchief, no anointing with oil, no laying on of hands, no naming it and claiming it, no power of a positive confession, no seed faith sowing, no prayer of faith prayer meeting mentioned whatsoever, just the truth resident in Ephesians 3:20 in light of God’s change of operation in connection with his new program and the dispensation of the grace of God. We can now trust the truth of Romans 8:28.

Today, for the most part, we are also an unbelieving people. Instead of trusting in God’s Word and resting in the glories of his grace that we’re shown through the Word, we are even now continually looking for signs, continually looking for visual evidences of God’s presence and his approval in the day-to-day circumstance of our lives. So, suffering circumstances are working something in your life, believe it or not. You say, “I can’t feel it now. It’s painful, it’s a heartache.” Wait a minute. While you’re undergoing what you’re undergoing and thinking it’s the worse thing that can happen to you in your life, and you don’t know the answer, and you don’t know which way to turn, Paul says that it’s working for you. You say, “How did that happen?” I made a wrong choice somewhere along the line. Could of made a better decision, but I didn’t. Now the wrong crop is coming up and I’m going to pray to God to take the crop away. But instead, I can learn and start planting new seed right away. Better decisions right away. From where does God intend the suffering saint gain that mental emotional emotional stabilization in such times? The answer is, it should come from the stabilizing doctrines that are found written in the written word of God. Paul give us ample ammunition when it comes to those distressing situations that boggle our minds, shatter our peace, knock us off our feet. The truth is every believer should be armed, should be scripturally equip with the fortifying doctrines provided by the apostle Paul for the suffering saints of the age of grace. Don’t look at those suffering situations, look at the things that are not seen.

Romans 3:20, what knowledge did the apostle Paul gain from the law about his very own sin? He learned the fact that he couldn’t escape it. The predicament of sin is that no person can escape it and no person can best it, no person can beat it. There isn’t any fixing the sin nature. The flesh cannot be repaired. The law served a useful purpose for Paul. For what purpose did it serve him after his conversion on the road to Damascus? The law simply shined the high beams on the dust particles in Paul’s life. And he’s telling us that he had plenty and the more he tried to use the law as an applicator to dust those particles away, the more the particles were dancing around and the more plentiful became the particles. In spite of Paul’s most lofty expectations, he could never merit righteousness before God through the perfection of his flesh. It would not happen. That’s called religion. There’s a system out there to give you that way to make your flesh better flesh and it’s called religion, all dressed up but nowhere to go because you’ve not changed the casket that’s sitting on the inside. The law sounded the death knell on the capacity of Paul’s flesh to turn itself into something it never was not or could not ever become. The law proved conclusively to our apostle that trying to use it as a system whereby he might gain the victory over his flesh would end in nothing but failure and frustration every time.

Since the gospel of the Savior is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes this message, Paul wants us to know that keeping people from understanding this message is Satan’s major goal during this dispensation. Most reject “The Reality of Reconciliation” because they just don’t understand it. There are those who mistakenly suppose that reconciliation is the same thing as being declared righteous. These people have jumped to the conclusion that Jesus taking the sin issue off the table of God’s justice through his becoming sin for the human race is that which makes a person as righteous as God. They’ve mistaken reconciliation for justification. To have your sin slate judicially emptied because Jesus died for those sins does not mean that you now possess the righteousness recorded on the slate of the one who died for those sins. How can you get God to reconcile you to himself where your sins are concerned? The fact is, you can’t. There’s nothing you can do. You don’t have to try to get him to do it. You don’t have to promise him something in order for him to do it. You don’t even have to ask him to do it because he’s already done it according to 2 Corinthians 5:18.

2 Timothy 2:15, approved where? At the Judgement Seat of the Savior. A workman worthy of God’s praise rightly dividing the word of truth. Most people have no understanding that there are divisions within God’s word in the first place and those who do understand that God has a plan and purpose for the Body of the Savior which is unique and different from his earthly plan and purpose for the nation Israel concerning an earthly kingdom, most of those people fail to see where in scripture God put his earthly plan on hold and thus they fail to see where the Body of the Savior had it’s beginning. Paul tells us our efforts at studying God’s word in a Rightly Divided manner understanding the distinctiveness of Paul’s ministry and message will come under the scrutiny of the perfect judge of our Savior Jesus at the Judgment Seat of the Savior. It’s a judgment not of sin, but a judgment of every believers work of faith, labour of love and patience of hope. The believers effort in those three areas will be scrutinized. Evaluated for reward or loss of reward. Work of faith - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Even our motivation shall be opened up...then shall a few grace believers have praise of God...then shall only the most productive saints have praise of God...then shall only a select few pastors and workers in the assembly have praise of God? 1 Corinthians 4:5, then shall every person have praise of God. Wow, every person. As wonderful as heaven must be, God has more in store for his Grace Age saints. Not only heaven, but an authoritative position in heaven expressed by that sitting together concept that Paul presents there in Ephesians 2:6. It doesn’t just mean sitting next to. Seated together with, means a joint place of authority in the heavenly realm. None will be given a pink slip or an absentees slip for this judgment. Our evaluation at the Judgment Seat of the Savior will be how we’ve utilized 2 building materials, the Word of the Truth Rightly Divided and agape love on behalf of the brethren. Every building project needs a set of blueprints or plans. Isn’t this tied directly into our Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth? The blueprints are Paul’s epistles. It’s the truth of his epistles that builds up the Body of the Savior. How do we know that? Because the blueprints were given to Paul as the wise masterbuilder. 1 Corinthians 3:10

Most are going back to the 12, trying to rely upon what the 12 would tell them. How many know of Paul’s distinct message today? Are we moving toward truth or moving away form truth? The Savior did not send Paul to build upon or to add further truth to the message of those who preceded Paul. (Romans 15:20) The foundation they laid was of Jesus as Messiah to the nation Israel. The Messiah is promised to Israel for the ruling over of that Kingdom, that earthly Kingdom promised that nation. Paul would not to have wanted us to mix the message of the 12 in regard to God’s program to and with the nation Israel...with the message specifically given him for the Gentiles. Paul was given that brand new revelation. He would not have wanted us to add or mix earthly Kingdom truth with the message he dispensed. He went to great lengths to separate his ministry with the ministries of those before him. 1 Corinthians 3:10 - But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

At one point in time a Gentile could approach Israel, but they could not approach God. Only Israel could do that. If you were a Gentile you had to come Israel’s way. They had to take part in the circumcision which was the sign of those under the covenant. They had to bring the proper sacrifices in connection with that covenant. In other wards, they had to take hold of the covenant or lay hold of the covenant is the expression used in the Bible. NOW all of a sudden it’s Paul’s job, his special responsibility to convince the Gentiles and the Israelites a like and he has to do that in the face of much Israelite opposition that God is at this time doing something brand new. Now Paul was telling the Gentiles that they can come directly to God. No longer do they need to come through the nation Israel. No longer is their manner of life to be the manner of life that God had prescribed for Israel under the covenant. Things are different now. The Gentiles can come to God apart from Israel and apart from their program all together because that program was put on hold as God ushered in this new program through the Apostle Paul. Romans 11:13, you see why Paul was magnifying that special position God was giving him?

Paul had to remind people over and over again of his God given position. He had to remind them that he was not one of the 12. That his ministry was distinct and separate. His position was unique...that his message was brand new...that his ministry was different from that of the 12 and that it was divinely ordered. It wasn’t something he chose to do. Paul constantly had to emphasize his ministry, why? Because others were de-emphasizing his ministry. How many today would say we get our marching orders for the church today from the Apostle Paul and not from the 12? Tragically most people and sadly enough most Bible teaching pastors...most seminaries will tell you...Paul was simply preaching what the 12 before him had been preaching. What Jesus had been preaching. He was simply aiming their message at a different people. He was aiming their message at the Gentiles. They would say Paul was the Apostle “to” the Gentiles, rather he was the Apostle “of” the Gentiles. That is what’s being taught by pastors across the land today. Paul knew it was his responsibility to take the message of reconciliation out to a lost and dying world.

Those people - Most are going back to the 12, trying to rely upon what the 12 would tell them. How many know of Paul’s distinct message today? Are we moving toward truth or moving away form truth? The Savior did not send Paul to build upon or to add further truth to the message of those who preceded Paul. (Romans 15:20) The foundation they laid was of Jesus as Messiah to the nation Israel. The Messiah is promised to Israel for the ruling over of that Kingdom, that earthly Kingdom promised that nation. Paul would not to have wanted us to mix the message of the 12 in regard to God’s program to and with the nation Israel...with the message specifically given him for the Gentiles. But, Satan knows the power that emotions play when these emotions become the cement that seals the door of the mind, such that a mind remains closed and the door locked. It isn’t that people cannot see the truth, it’s more the fact that they do not want to see the truth. They choose not to see it. To be open to that which moves a person from the mental comfort zone to which that person has become accustomed becomes not only an unsettling inconvenience, it becomes a mind-shaking threat to many people. It’s easier for these people to remain firmly entrenched in a false system of belief than it is to expose the pride-nature to the possibility of having been wrong and especially for the possibility of having been wrong for many, many years.

Will people accept what Jesus accomplished or will people reject it? God purchased the human race out of sins dominion never to be returned to the market place of sin again. God effectively canceled Satan’s ownership of all the human race. Satan can lay claim to no person based on their sinfulness. Does that mean the entire world is saved? No. A person has to have an individual change of status and that take place when they accept what the son did for them. Throughout the ages, God in his sovereignty, has chosen to recognize as being righteous those who would simply take him at his Word. In Romans 3:24 to be justified is to be recognized as being right. It’s a judicial decree of rightness. God recognizes those who take him at his Word concerning the price Jesus became on the tree of crucifixion on their behalf to resolve God’s justice for their sins. A judicial decree of righteousness. It doesn’t go away. It doesn’t abate over time. It’s their’s forever. Understanding peace with God comes from understanding the accomplishment of Jesus, but letting the peace of God rule in our hearts is not the same thing as understanding the reality of having peace with God. But, their people are under the assumption that their sin debt is separation from God. If an ounce of new reconciliation in this Age of Grace could be restored for anyone when it comes to the issue of their sin debt then the degree of forgiveness that must be obtained in order to restore the reconciliation is the very degree to which that individual refuses to believe that Jesus accomplished it all. Paul’s gospel is hid from those people. They don’t understand what reconciliation is all about. For a person to have to make their own peace with God would be nothing more than an exercise in futility, it could never be done. Grace within a dispensation was one thing, a dispensation characterized solely by grace is something else altogether.

The moment we are tempted to get our need met in the world, we are at the threshold of a decision. If we don’t immediately choose to take that thought captive, we will begin to consider it as an option and if we begin to mull it over in our mind, immediately our emotions will be affected and the likelihood of yielding to that temptation is increased. We must capture the tempting thought in the first frame or it will probably capture us. Once our consideration of a temptation has triggered an emotional response, we will act upon that choice and own that behavior. We may resent our actions or claim that we are not responsible for what we do, but we are responsible for our actions at this stage, because we failed to take a tempting thought captive when it first appeared at the threshold of our mind. If we continue to repeat an act for more than six weeks, we will form a habit and if we exercise that habit long enough a stronghold will be established. Once a stronghold of thought and response is entrenched in our mind, our ability to choose and to act contrary to that pattern is virtually nonexistent and negative thoughts and actions we cannot control spring from a stronghold. Somewhere in the past we consciously or unconsciously formed a pattern of thinking and behaving which now controls us. Simply putting on the armor of God at this stage will not solve our dilemma, these strongholds are already entrenched and fortified. We are going to become enslaved to that which we choose to put ourselves in servitude. Choose to serve sin and we can soon become addicted to the manner in which we have chosen to serve sin is the principle. Paul isn’t talking about a believer losing salvation, he is talking about what those who pursue the satisfaction of the sinful lusts. We reap what we sow, not from God, but through that to which we are reaping.

The difference between the two Adam’s in our history is the need to be sure we are identifying with the right one. Understanding and acting upon who we are in Jesus is the basis for successful growth and maturity. Our daily performance is often marked by personal failure and disobedience which disappoints us and disrupts the harmony of our ambassadorship of God’s reconciliation. In our attempts to understand the disobedience which so often disturbs our ambassadorship, are we unwitting victims of our old identity? Our old identity which we have inherited from the disobedience of the first Adam is like a big black dog, but through the redemptive work of the second Adam, God deposited his power from on high in us when we got born anew and that power is like a big white dog. Whenever we involve ourselves in worldly thoughts or behavior, we are feeding the black dog. Whenever we focus our mind and activities on matters of our ambassadorship, we are feeding the white dog. The dog we feed the most will eventually grow stronger and overpower the other.

The most dangerous of all, people accepting Jesus’ work but on the installment plan. These people claim to believe that Jesus died was buried and that he was resurrected. They’re like the ones trying to do it themselves also they are not willing to accept the finished work of Jesus. They’ll only accept a partial salvation. According to Paul, we must believe that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection took place and that accomplished our salvation.

Galatians 4:3, in Paul’s day were the children who were under tutors and governors. You have a child walking along and then you have that one who is hovering over that child, the schoolmaster as Paul calls them in Galatians 3:24. The tutor in Galatians 4:2 with a hand on that child’s head ready to turn that head continually directing the child...through that turning to do this and to do that and to stop doing the other. Go this way, do not go that way. Stop this, start that. Choose this, avoid that. It was necessary for the children to have very close supervision and constant direction by the tutor. The children were in bondage under the elements of this world. They continually needed to be told and to be directed and they continually needed the visuals in connection with the directing hand. They needed to be shown what to do and when to do it. We should no longer be in need of someone to turn our heads and tell us what to do and which direction we’re to take. Everything is in God’s Word, apply it and make your own choice…we should be a full grown child of God not needing a tutor.

Matt. 27:51, the earthquake that fractured the rock opened a fissure that ran down through 20 foot of solid rock into a cave and cracked the stone lid on top of a black stone volt where the Ark of the Covenant lie hidden inside, pushing the lid aside. John 19:34, the blood that poured from the side of Jesus, ran down through that crevice and dripped onto the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant that was hidden by God and the prophet Jeremiah, right under where they crucified Jesus, 620 years earlier when the Babylonians destroyed Salomon’s temple.