Saved By Grace, Live In Christ

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King James Bible StudyAnd when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Sunday, December 06, 2020
Chapters: II Corinthians 5-9
Message: Saved By Grace, Live In Christ

Hello My Friend,

I knew that God was going to show me a quite a few things as I read His Word this morning due to the fact that I woke up with a headache and just wanted to go back to bed, and He did not disappoint. For years I have heard pastors, teachers, and commentators say that we will all stand before Christ, even after we are saved and be judged for sin, and it does not sit well with me. I understand that living a sinful life, especially when you are saved, leads to a mountain of pain and sorrows if we do not repent. I always say that since the Bible tells me that we are saved by grace through our faith in Christ, and all my sins have been removed by that faith, my sins are not what Christ will judge me for my sins were nailed to the cross with Him, [Colossians 2:12-14  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.  13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;]

I can understand that some of things that we read from Scripture can seem contradicting, but we are to never let an obscure verse change the truth of the matter, that eternal life is given to us solely through our faith alone in Christ. There is nothing that we could ever do after we get saved to lose our salvation, that is unless we never really got saved. There is a reason why we should not just open up the Bible and grab one verse from it as this often leads to misinterpreting what God is telling us. Now, keep in mind that the Bible is not meant to be read just one time and we understand everything, we are to read it from the time we get saved until the time we taken home as God reveals things to us as we grow in our faith. Many draw the conclusion that the saved will stand before Christ in judgment the good and bad things they have done in their bodies, and it is all based on this verse, [2 Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.] Now, in order for us to understand what Paul is saying here we need to look at the verses come before and after.

[2 Corinthians 5:1-9  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:  3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.  4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.  5  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.  6  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:  7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)  8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.]

[If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.] Those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Saviour, even if they know of Him, are naked, their sins are not covered by the blood of Christ and therefore, they will be judged for every sin, and that is when [every one may receive the things done in his body,]. Yes, we will all stand before Christ in judgment, and if you are found naked, you will be judged for every sin. Why? Because Jesus has saw what is really in your heart, and it is not Him, [Matthew 7:22-23  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]

[I never knew you:] Do you see how it is that our works have nothing to do with our salvation? As you continue reading you will understand that it is our conscious that convicts us to the knowledge that we are sinners, and it is, in fact, Christ that we need to save us. Our faith in Christ is actually what clothes us with His righteousness.

[2 Corinthians 5:1112,14-15,17,19,21  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.  12  For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.  14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:  15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.]

[but we are made manifest unto God;] You see, when we discover that we can do nothing in our naked, sinful body to save ourselves, it is our fear of facing an eternity in hell that leads us to the true knowledge of Christ. When we do stand before Christ, He is not going to be looking at a list full of accomplishments first, He is looking for one thing, our faith. If we are saved, then our names are written in His book of life, and it is those who are not who will be judged according to their works, [Revelation 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.]

[which glory in appearance, and not in heart.] Remember, religion does not save us, we can have the knowledge of Christ, and do a million things in His name, but unless we personally acknowledge and accept Him as our Saviour Christ will not recognize us, and therefore, we will be found naked, and judged for every sin, [Luke 13:27-28  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.  28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.]

[not imputing their trespasses unto them;] And this is exactly what happens when we are covered in the blood of Jesus, in fact, our sins are more than covered, they are removed completely, [Revelation 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,]

[that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.] It is His blood that covers and clothes us with righteousness through our faith in His death, burial, and resurrection, [Romans 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.]

Now, after we are saved, and before we see Jesus face to face, that is when our works through Christ start to count. This includes making sure that we fully understand that it is only our faith in Christ that saves us and we are not working to keep our salvation, but in doing so we are keeping ourselves from needless suffering.

[2 Corinthians 6:1-4,7,10,14,17  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.  2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)  3  Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:  4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 7  By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,  10  As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.]

[in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities,] Since we cannot avoid all suffering, we can endure it and find some purpose in it by giving thanks to Jesus for what He has done for us as we live the rest of our lives through Him. No, we are not going to be perfect, no, we are not going to ever be without sin again, and no, we are not going to avoid all suffering through our faith. Yes, Christ will perfect us as we walk with Him, yes, Christ will wash us clean from every sin, yes, Christ will see us through every bit of suffering.

[2 Corinthians 7:10-12  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.  11  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.  12  Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.]

[but that ye sorrowed to repentance:] The more we learn about, and the closer we get to Jesus, the Holy Spirit inside of us convicts us and we no longer what to live the way that the world does. This is what causes problems if we are not separated from those who are of different faiths. It is heartbreaking when you give your all to someone who follows a different faith in Christ. I do not have to tell you that it is not always easy to live through Christ, we do face lots of difficulties as Christians. When you stop to think about it, the world faces more difficulties than we do. At least, we have Jesus to help us through the persecution we face for our faith.

[2 Corinthians 8:2-5,9  How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.  3  For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;  4  Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.  5  And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.]

[but first gave their own selves to the Lord,] This is what got me this morning, I have been struggling so much the past couple of months, feeling as though I am failing God on every level. It was here and through these chapters that God answered me as I was talking to me this morning, as long as I give myself to Him everything else will fall into place. Let me tell you, it is not how much we give that gets God’s attention, it is what we give, [Mark 12:41-44  And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.  42  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.  43  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:  44  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.]

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for not only giving your life to save me from the punishment I faced for my sins, but also nailing those sins to the cross, burying them in the tomb, and removing them completely through my faith in You alone. I am saved by grace, and know there is nothing else I need to do or maintain to keep my salvation. I do not want to just get by in this life covered under Your blood, I want to live life abundantly through my walk with You. Lord, Lead me and guide me, fill me with Your love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, repentance, longsuffering, patience, and strength as one of Your ministers. Let me not attempt to walk in my own righteousness, rather in Yours, allowing You to perfect me as I give You my all. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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