Forgive As You Have Been Forgiven. (Live Forgiven Series, Part 3)

Ephesians 4:31-32 (KJV), "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

How many times have been you told that you must forgive in order to be forgiven?

How many times have you been told the Bible says that you must forgive in order to be forgiven?

How many times have you been told that you are already forgiven of all of your sins?

How been times have you been told that the Bible says that you are already forgiven and that should be your motivation to forgive others?

I am sure the answer to the first two questions were higher numbers, unless you are a believer who studies the Bible in the proper way, rightly dividing the word of truth. Ask yourself why your pastor has failed to tell you about the last two questions. Better yet, ask your pastor why.

The basic principle behind living forgiven is understanding that you are forgiven of all trespasses and the sin debt is no longer held to your charge. Otherwise, this whole series will mean absolutely nothing to you. In the verses above, we read a small list of attitudes, attributes, and actions that should follow the believer as they walk each and everyday of their life. The last quality is what this study is all about. "Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Those are powerful words that should resinate in the hearts and ears of those who read and hear them. Once you fully grasp the concept of complete and total forgiveness, your life will be revolutionised. You will live life in a complete and totally different way.

This bears the question, "How did God forgive you?"

Let us take a look at how God forgave you.

Romans 5:6-12 (KJV), "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."

This becomes more and more amazing as we read and study the Bible. God forgave for Christ's sake while were sinners. While we an ungodly, pitiful, unrepentant, and without strength, Jesus Christ, of His own free will, chose to suffer the death of all mankind. In fact, God chose to accomplish this before the foundation of the world. Now that we have been justified by His blood, we are also saved from wrath. Now is a present tense word that means at this time you possess forgiveness, you possess the atonement, and you possess salvation, from the tribulation, to come. So then, it should not be too hard for us to forgive our neighbour for blowing leaves into our yard. It should not be too hard to forgive the guy who just cut you off on the road. Living forgiven starts with an understanding that you should also live forgiving.

Grace and Peace,
Greg Resor
Complete in Him.

What Did You Give Up? (Live Forgiven Series, Part 2)

Galatians 4:9-11,  "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."

Recently, I have noticed a trend that is quite disturbing, yet I am not surprised.  There is a trend where denominational churches are taking things that are almost exclusively related to the Catholic Church and are bringing them into their "Protestant" churches.  It should be no surprise though. 

Why do you think "Protestant" churches are so bent on having Christmas as part of their religious holidays?  They do not care that it dates back to a Pagan religion and that it has become a "religious holiday" through the Catholic church. 

Why do you think "Protestant" churches are so bent on performing the Eucharist in their churches?  They say it is different, but seriously?! 

So "Protestant" churches have recently begun having Ash Wednesday services and participating in Lent. So, I ask you... What did you give up?

Paul tells the church at Galatia, who was struggling with living as though they have already been forgiven of all of their sins (which they were), that they should not return unto the weak and beggarly things of the law program.  There were Jews living in their day telling them that they need to keep the law to be saved and remain saved.  Those things only bring you into bondage.  However, a true understanding of the grace of God will allow you to live your life free of worry and strife.

If you are saved by grace through faith, and you live by grace through faith.  Why would you need to turn to weak and beggarly things, like lent??

The answer to that question is ... you should not turn to those things.  In fact, I would say that Martin Luther is standing in Heaven right now waving his 95 theses, proclaiming that his work was for naught. He must be thinking that he died for nothing. 

I will give you an even better example.  Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God and He is proclaiming that His work must have been for naught.  He must be thinking that He died for nothing.  Jesus Christ purposely gave His life for you at Calvary, that He might give you His life when you trust in His death, burial, and resurrection, and He lives His life through you as you live day-by-day in this life.  You have the triune Godhead living inside of you.  There is nothing in this world that can make you more saved, there is nothing in this world that you make you more forgiven, and there is nothing in this world that can make you closer to God.  Quit going to the weak and beggarly things of mans religion and understand that you have been forgiven of all sins and that God wants you to live for His glory, not your own. 

I recently had someone who attends a Catholic church tell me that they are better than me because they partake in lent, they go to mass, and they perform the sacraments.  However, this same person could not tell me what they believe or their church believes.  Many today are held under the tyranny of a religious system and they do not even know it. 

I guess a better question would be ... What did Christ give up?

Grace and Peace,
Greg Resor
Complete in Him

Blessed, are they? YES! (Live Forgiven Series, Part 1)

Romans 4:6-8 (KJV)
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Did you know that God has forgiven you of all trespasses by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Many today like to quote verses like, Matthew 6:12, Luke 11:4, or 1John 1:9, when speaking about forgiveness. The main idea behind these verses is that you must do something to receive forgiveness. Whether it be forgiving others, or confessing sins. However, each of those things are works and the passage we just quoted teaches us that those who are forgiven without works are blessed, or happy.

Why does there seem to be a contradiction between these four verses?

There is a simple explanation that you may not have heard about. God has changed the way in which He deals with man. David never understood what it meant to be forgiven without works, but he knew how much his life would have changed had he known. Notice, he only described the blessedness of the man to whom God would impute righteousness without works, who would have sins forgiven, and who would not have sins put to his charge. You and I live in an amazing time where God is not imputing our trespasses against us and He has given us, unto those who believe, His righteousness. He has given us His righteousness as a free gift because we are no longer under the law of sin. Romans chapters five and six is very clear about this truth.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 are our marching orders for today. The passage clearly states, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 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."

How amazing is that truth?

God gave unto the Apostle Paul an amazing gospel to preach to the world, Jew and Gentile without separation. Many in Christendom have long since left that message behind to preach unto the world a gospel meant only for the Nation of Israel, who rejected it, first.

Something changed in the book of Acts. Ask your pastor to explain it. I am sure he knows. If not, come back as we continue this study of living forgiven, in 2013.

Grace and peace,
Greg Resor
Complete in Him

Identity Theft

Many of us today are worried about someone stealing our identity.  Whether it is through online purchases, insurance, or some other manner in which someone would want to use your information to obtain something illegally.  There are companies who promise to secure your identity because we are too busy to take care of things ourselves.  However, there are many today who are stealing the identity of a group of people and they are doing it to obtain something illegally as well, yet they do not know they are doing so.

The Church, the Body of Christ, is a particular group of people who have decided that they are lost and in need of a savior.  They have chosen to accept the cross work of Christ as the payment of the penalty of their sins by grace through faith alone.  This is a small group of people throughout the world.  There are many "Christians" today who claim to saved but they are not because they have stolen the identity of the Nation of Israel.  They have decided to claim things that were only promised to the Nation of Israel, claiming to be "spiritual Israel" which is never a doctrine taught in scripture.

The truth remains, we are NOT Spiritual Israel.  Replacement Theology is false.

God is interested in us preaching about His grace that He put on display in the form of the death of Christ on the cross.  Today, God is forming the Church, the Body of Christ, to rule and reign in the heavenlies with Christ.  We are not to live on the earth but we are part of His plan to subdue the places of governmental authority in the heavenly places with Christ.  We are a completely different group of people.  God is not finished with Israel, they are part of His plan to subdue the places of governmental authority in the earthly places.  God's overall plan is to be the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth.  He is going to use two different groups of people to accomplish this.

Grace and Peace
Greg Resor
Complete in Him

Live Forgiven

Everyone wants to know what God has planned for their lives, yet He has told us everything we need to do and how we should act in every situation.  The biggest thing we need to understand is that we HAVE BEEN forgiven by grace through faith.  Have been means it has already happened, it is already accomplished.  In other words, IT IS FINISHED!  What we need to do then is to walk or live under that truth.  We must live as though you have been forgiven of all sins, because you have.

We all know that Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." 

How have we been saved?  By grace through faith, plus NOTHING.

What does verse 10 say?  Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."   How do we do we walk in good works?  God has chosen before the foundation of the world that we should live correctly not to be forgiven, but because we have been forgiven.  We have another verse to explain how we are to walk in good works.

Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

How did we receive Christ?  By grace through faith.  In other words, we trusted what He said in His book and we believed it through faith.  We should live the same way.  We should read what the Bible says and apply it in our lives, but be careful.  The Bible says to build an ark, should we do that?  No!  So, there are some things that do not apply to you and I today.  Okay, how do we figure this out?  I am glad you asked that question.

We must follow God's divine method of Bible study.  He told us in II Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 

There must be a right way to divide the Bible and there must be a wrong way to divide the Bible.  In order to figure out which one we need to follow, it seems we should ask the person God chose to write that verse down for us to study.  Who was that person?  The Apostle Paul.  We know of verses in Ephesians 2:11-13, 7, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.", "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

These tell us that there is a difference between Jews and Gentiles in time past, but now there is no difference, and that in the ages to come, God would show forth exceeding riches of His grace through Jesus Christ. 

That means, if the Bible makes a difference between Jew and Gentiles, then you are in times past.  If there is no difference, then you are in but now.  The ages to come just signifies time after the catching away of the Body of Christ through eternity future.

In order for us to live unforgiven, we must first know we are forgiven.  The only part of scripture that speaks to us about the fact that we have been forgiven of all trespasses without works, by grace through faith, is found in Romans through Philemon.  Which coincidentally are written by the Apostle Paul.  He is God's spokesman for the Church, the Body of Christ.  He is our apostle.  Quit reading verses that are written to the Nation of Israel and applying them to your life.  They were not told that they have been forgiven of all trespasses.  They were not told that they were to live by grace through faith.  You will be spiritually anemic when it comes to serving God in the manner He suggests. 

Therefore, begin in Romans read through Philemon.  Begin to understand all that we have in Christ, and live it.

Grace and Peace
Greg Resor
Complete in Him

HEY!! We have a secret! Tell everyone.

Ephesians 3:2-6, 2  If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

Have you heard of the dispensation of the grace of God?

Why not?

God thought it very important to talk about, so much so, He wrote it down on paper through the pen of the Apostle Paul.  The dispensation of the grace of God consists of a mystery, which was never made known to anyone in the history of the world, until God revealed it to Paul.  

What is the mystery?

It is not as simple as that, but in a nutshell it is that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.  Still, not that simple.  God has changed the way he deals with humankind in a way which was never seen nor heard of in the history of the world.  Many pastors simply choose not to teach Ephesians 3, because they do not want to change the religious, denominational led, doctrinal statements.  Why?  They must each answer to that question themselves. 

However, God has changed the manner in which He is dealing with mankind today, and He has given us everything we need to learn about it and live it in our lives.  According to Ephesians chapter 3 the dispensation of the grace of God was only revealed to Paul.  This verse, along with other verses, shows how God used Paul to promote a new doctrine and it was only by revelation from the risen Lord, that this information was disseminated.

Peter did not know about this before Paul.  Neither did he preach it.

The twelve did not know about this before Paul.  Neither did they preach it.

Christ did not peach this while He was on the earth.

To be continued, 

Greg Resor

Complete in Him

Unity In The Church Introduction

Ephesians 4:3-7 (KJV)
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Many today search for unity within the walls of their church but to no avail.  Why?  If you do not try to make sure the members of your congregation are all on the same page, doctrinally speaking, then you will have no hope to gain, much less maintain unity.  The most basic issue is the bible version issue.  If everyone does not read from the same version then you are already off to a bad start.  You can not have unity in your church if their "textbook" is different.  I use this analogy quite often.  In a mathematics class, I could assign homework from page 37, but if the student has a different textbook, their page 37 may not have problems on it, but rather different information about a completely different subject.  That student would then be confused about the homework but would still be held responsible for learning the material for the test.  Is that fair?  Yes.  That student has the same access to the same textbook but chose to get the wrong textbook.  They will not have the proper knowledge and would invariably fail the test.  Is it their fault our the textbook provider?  It is their fault of course.  Therefore, that is one reason why I want to make sure everyone knows they need to read and study from the King James Bible.  If we all have the same version, then we all know the same information.  This is step one to unity.

We are going to look at each of the seven "ones" in Ephesians 4.  Of course this will come from the KJV.  If you do not have one, get one.  Or you can just read the verses I post throughout the study.

Grace and Peace
Greg Resor
Complete in Him