Tagged: Trinity

The great impostor

How three of the most successful religious systems in the world proclaim “another Jesus, a different Spirit, a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4).

He was known as “The Great Impostor” and inspired a 1961 film by the same name.

Ferdinand Waldo Demara impersonated everyone from physicians to monks and thus achieved notoriety. He began his nefarious career during World War II by borrowing his Army buddy’s name, going AWOL and faking his suicide. A string of pseudo careers followed. He was, among other things, a sheriff’s deputy, a doctor of applied psychology, a lawyer and a child-care expert.

He was best known for masquerading as a surgeon aboard a Canadian Navy destroyer during the Korean War, successfully completing a string of operations. His final gig: serving as a Baptist minister.

Demara’s life is a fascinating but sad story of one man’s quest for respectability. His success as an impostor also exposes the soft underbelly of a society whose people are easily duped by one who talks smoothly and claims to serve the greater good.

For Christians, Demara’s story is a warning to be on guard against those who disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:15). But how can we know a religious impostor when we see one? The apostle Paul gives us three clear markers in 2 Cor. 11:4. False teachers proclaim “another Jesus … a different spirit … a different gospel.”

To illustrate, let’s look briefly at three of the largest and most successful religious systems in the world today: Islam, Mormonism, and the Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses) – all of which are growing worldwide and teach unbiblical doctrines concerning Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the gospel.

Read more …

Is God in everything?

The Bible clearly teaches that God is omnipresent. But what does that mean? Is He physically present in every atom of the universe? Does He inhabit every rock, tree and creature? Pantheism is the belief that God, or a group of gods, is identical with the whole natural world. In fact, the word “pantheism” comes from Greek roots meaning “belief that everything is a god.” While this is a popular view in some religious circles, it is contrary to the Word of God.

When Scripture speaks of God as everywhere present (Psalm 139 for example) it is not claiming that He is materially distributed across time and space, but that He is “simultaneously present (with all His fullness) to every part of creation,” according to Hank Hanegraaff. “Thus Scripture communicates God’s creative and sustaining relationship to the cosmos rather than His physical location in the cosmos.”

The Bible tells us that God exists outside of time and space (Isa. 57:15). He also is a triune God, with the second person of the Trinity (Jesus) becoming flesh and taking up residence with us (John 1:14). In His incarnation, Jesus did not lay aside His deity, but added to it sinless humanity. Because Jesus walked the earth, some rush to the false conclusion that God is a material being. He is not. He is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

Isaiah 61: The Garments of Salvation

LISTEN: Isaiah 61 podcast

READ: Isaiah 61 notes

STUDY: Isaiah 61 worksheet

Prologue

Where we are:

Part 1: Judgment Part 2: Historical Interlude Part 3: Salvation
Chapters 1-35 Chapters 36-39 Chapters 40-66

When this takes place:

Chapter 61 is part of the second major section of Isaiah and deals less with Judah’s immediate plight than with its future deliverance from Babylonian exile and ultimate glory.

Key verse:

Isa. 61:10 – I greatly rejoice in the Lord, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.

Quick summary:

Isaiah 61 reveals that “the Messiah, who ministered salvation at his first coming, will minister comfort for redeemed Israel at his second coming. Jesus read and applied 61:1–2 to his own ministry when he preached in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16–21). Jesus did not quote 61:2–3 in the synagogue at Nazareth because they will be fulfilled at his second coming. In the kingdom, redeemed Israel will realize its destiny to be a priestly nation” (Robert B. Hughes, J. Carl Laney, Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, The Tyndale Reference Library, S. 268).

Take note:

In reference to Himself, Jesus quotes verses 1-2a in Luke 4:18-19. The Messiah’s mission is to “bring good news to the poor” … “to heal the brokenhearted” … “to proclaim liberty … and freedom” … and “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He stops in mid-sentence, however, after the word “favor,” showing that His work would be in two advents. In His first advent He does the work laid out in verses 1-2a. In His second advent, He will carry out the work mentioned in verses 2b-3, bringing judgment on unbelievers and great comfort to Israel.

The Trinity (Isa. 61:1-3)

All three persons of the triune Godhead are written of in verse 1: the Spirit, the Lord God, and the Messiah, signified by the personal pronoun “Me.” Three factors indicate that “Me” refers to Messiah, according to The Bible Knowledge Commentary. First, the association of the Holy Spirit with the anointing points to Jesus Christ. After being anointed with oil, Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David, are blessed with the Spirit’s ministry (1 Sam. 10:1, 10; 16:13). In a similar fashion, the Holy Spirit anoints Jesus to be Israel’s King (Matt. 3:16-17). The Hebrew word for Messiah means “the Anointed One,” and the Greek word “Christ” comes from the word chrio, to anoint.  Second, part of this passage is read by Jesus (Luke 4:18-19) to refer to Himself. And third, the mission of the Anointed One as spelled out in Isaiah. 61 is the earthly ministry of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels (John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, S. 1:1116).

Further, when the Messiah comes, He will transform the Jews’ sadness into joy. From a New Testament perspective, the grief of captivity in Egypt, the defeat of the northern kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians, the destruction and exile of the southern kingdom at the hands of the Babylonians, the Diaspora at the hands of the Romans, the Holocaust, and the yet-future trials of the Great Tribulation will become distant memories as God comforts and blesses the redeemed of Israel. Isaiah reports in advance all that the coming One will do for His people:

  • Comfort all who mourn
  • Provide for them
  • Give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes (a sign of mourning; see 2 Sam. 13:19; Esther 4:1; Dan. 9:3)
  • Give them festive oil (to soothe and brighten the spirits; see Ps. 23:5; 45:7; 104:15; Ecc. 9:8; Matt. 6:17; Heb. 1:9)
  • Give them splendid clothes instead of despair (bright garments are a sign of joy and acceptance)
  • Call them righteous trees planted by the Lord, displaying His splendor (Isa. 60:21)

Yes, days of judgment lie ahead. Yahweh will chasten and rebuke His own, but in so doing He will turn their feet away from idolatry and, in the last days, turn their hearts toward their Creator and King.

Israel Rebuilt (Isa. 61:4-9)

The Jews will return to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity and rebuild the temple and the cities. While these verses in some respects speak to this promise, the greater truth lies further in the future, after Messiah returns and ushers in the Millennial Kingdom. Israel will rebuild her ruined cities, even those buried beneath the rubble of antiquity. The nation will be so revered that “strangers” and “foreigners” will assist with farming and shepherding. Every Jew will know the Lord and, as a nation of priests, will deal personally with Him and even mediate on behalf of others. This was to be one of Israel’s ministries in the world (Ex. 19:6), but unfortunately she fell short and today awaits the empowerment by the Messiah to fulfill this ancient duty – one which the church will share (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6).

The wealth of nations will come to Israel (see also Isa. 60:5, 11). But even more important, the Lord, seeing that Israel’s shame is “double,” will bless the nation will a double portion (v. 7). The “double” refers to the inheritance the first-born son in a family receives from his father’s estate (Deut. 21:17). Just as the eldest son is given special honor, Israel, as the Lord’s firstborn (Ex. 4:22), will be exalted among the nations, resulting in “eternal joy.”

“I will faithfully reward them,” Yahweh promises in verse 8, “and make an everlasting covenant with them.” This is the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah (32:40), Ezekiel (16:60; 37:26) and the writer of Hebrews (13:20). It’s also the covenant Jesus established through His blood (Matt. 26:28). Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22) but offered freely to all (John 3:16; 5:24). In these ways – God’s blessing the nation of Israel and sending His Son, a Jew, to bear the sins of many – “[a]ll who see them [the Jews] will recognize that they are a people the Lord has blessed” (v. 9).

Some may see these verses as relegating the Gentiles to perpetual servility, but such a view mistakes metaphor for fact, according to D.A. Carson, who writes. “Under the figure of a priestly Israel served by foreigners (5–6) and enriched by its former plunderers (7–8), the reality is the people of God (whose status is not national; cf. 1 Pet. 2:10; Rev. 7:9), vindicated and enjoying their full inheritance as kings and priests (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6), while the pride of man is humbled and his power harnessed” (New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, S. Is 61:5). There is no doubt that Christ’s finished work at Calvary, and the ensuing work of the Holy Spirit,  make Jews and Gentiles alike joint-heirs with Jesus of God’s kingdom (Rom. 8:14-17).

A Remnant Rejoicing (Isa. 61:10-11)

Notice two metaphors for righteousness in these verses. First, “the garments of salvation.” The prophet exults that the Lord “has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness” (v. 10). This image is carried into the New Testament to depict the justification of believing sinners, who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ (see, for example, Rev. 3:5; 7:9-17; 19:6-8, 14; and note the parable of the wedding banquet in Matt. 22:1-14, in which a wedding guest is cast out for refusal to put on the appropriate attire provided by the king, symbolic of Christ’s righteousness). Isaiah also makes reference to the turban worn by the high priest and the jewels worn by a bride – garments of special meaning that are worn with great joy. “Such is the beauty of God’s grace in those that are clothed with the robe of righteousness, that by the righteousness of Christ are recommended to God’s favour and by the sanctification of the Spirit have God’s image renewed upon them; they are decked as a bride to be espoused to God, and taken into covenant with him; they are decked as a priest to be employed for God, and taken into communion with him” (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, S. Is 61:10).

The second metaphor Isaiah uses for righteousness is growing plant life. “For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations,” he writes in verse 11. Just as God’s common grace – which includes seed, soil, water and sun – causes crops to spring up and sustain His creatures, so His saving grace will cause the believing Jewish remnant to proclaim righteousness and praise to all the nations. This promise is for the church as well. “Though it may sometimes be winter with the church, when those blessings seem to wither and do not appear, yet the root of them is fixed, a spring-time will come, when through the reviving beams of the approaching Sun of righteousness they shall flourish again” (Matthew Henry, S. Is. 61:10).

Closing Thought

Warren Wiersbe writes: “The background of this passage is the ‘Year of Jubilee’ described in Leviticus 25:7ff. Every seven years, the Jews were to observe a ‘sabbatical year’ and allow the land to rest. After seven sabbaticals, or forty-nine years, they were to celebrate the fiftieth year as the ‘Year of Jubilee.’ During that year, all debts were canceled, all land was returned to the original owners, the slaves were freed, and everybody was given a fresh new beginning. This was the Lord’s way of balancing the economy and keeping the rich from exploiting the poor. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you are living today in a spiritual ‘Year of Jubilee.’ You have been set free from bondage; your spiritual debt to the Lord has been paid; you are living in ‘the acceptable year of the Lord.’ Instead of the ashes of mourning, you have a crown on your head; for He has made you a king (Rev. 1:6). You have been anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit, and you wear a garment of righteousness (Isa. 61:3, 10)” (Be Comforted [An Old Testament Study], S. Is 61:1).

Was Jesus Both God and Man?

Apologetics 101: Part 7 — How can I identify the real Jesus?
This is session seven in a 10-part series designed to help Christians defend their faith.

Keys to identifying the real Jesus (audio part 2)

Keys to identifying the real Jesus (audio part 1)

Keys to identifying the real Jesus (pdf)

 

Keys to Identifying the Real Jesus

Apologetics 101: Parts 6-7 — How can I identify the real Jesus?

This is sessions six and seven in a 10-part series designed to help Christians defend their faith.

Keys to identifying the real Jesus (audio part 1)

Keys to identifying the real Jesus (pdf)

1. His origin

What Jesus says about Himself: He is eternal and uncreated.

  • John 8:58 – “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am” (I AM is the name God gave Himself at the burning bush [Ex. 3:13-14]).
  • John 17:5 – “Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.”
  • Rev. 1:17-18 – “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He has always existed and is the uncreated Creator.

  • John 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
  • Col. 1:15-17 – He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation; because by Him everything was created, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.

What do you say about Jesus’ origin?

2. His deity

What Jesus says about Himself: He is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit

  • Mark 14:61b-62 – Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus, “and all of you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
  • John 8:24 – “Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins.” (I AM is the name God gave Himself at the burning bush [Ex. 3:13-14]).
  • John 10:30 – “The Father and I are one.”

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He is God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit; the fullness of deity in the flesh

  • John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  • John 5:18 – This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill Him: not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
  • Col. 2:9 – For in Him the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily …
  • Heb. 1:3 – He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

What do you say about Jesus’ deity?

3. His humanity

What Jesus says about Himself: He is fully human, sharing the full range of mankind’s experiences from thirst to temptation.

  • Matt. 4:1-11 – Jesus is hungry and tempted by Satan but responds to both with God’s Word.
  • Luke 19:41; John 11:35 – Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and at the tomb of Lazarus.
  • John 11:33, 38 – Jesus is “angry in His spirit.”
  • John 19:28, 30 – “I’m thirsty,” he says, and then He dies.

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He is virgin born, adding sinless humanity to His deity; His humanity enables Him to serve as our great high priest.

  • Matt. 1:18-25 – The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit…. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
  • John 1:14 – The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
  • Phil. 2:5-8 – Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
  • Heb. 2:17-18 – Therefore He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.

What do you say about Jesus’ humanity?

4. His purpose

What Jesus says about Himself: He came to bring God’s kingdom; to seek and save the lost; to pay mankind’s sin debt; to defeat Satan and his works; and to offer us eternal life.

  • Matt. 12:28 – “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”
  • Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
  • John 10:10-11 – “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
  • John 12:32-33 – “As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all [people] to Myself.” He said this to signify what kind of death He was about to die.

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He came to die and rise from the dead in fulfillment of Scripture; to save sinners and reconcile them to God.

  • Rom. 5:6-11 – For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, [then how] much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
  • 1 Cor. 15:3-4 – For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …
  • 2 Cor. 5:21 – He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
  • 1 Tim. 1:15 – This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.
  • Heb. 2:9 – But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.
  • 1 John 3:8b — The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works.

What do you say about Jesus’ purpose?

5. His proof

What Jesus says about Himself: He fulfills Messianic prophecies, most notably by rising physically from the dead.

  • Matt. 12:39-40; 26:31-32 – “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights…. Tonight all of you will run away because of Me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been resurrected, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
  • Luke 18:31-33; 24:38-39 – “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished…. they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day…. Why are you troubled …And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! Touch Me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
  • John 2:18-22 – So the Jews replied to Him, “What sign [of authority] will You show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days.” Therefore the Jews said, “This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He fulfills Messianic prophecies, most notably by dying on the cross for mankind’s sins and rising physically from the dead.

  • Mark 15:25-28 – Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified Him. The inscription of the charge written against Him was THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two criminals with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws.]
  • John 19:33-37 – When they came to Jesus, they did not break His legs since they saw that He was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out…. For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of His bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the One they pierced.
  • Acts 2:22-27 – “Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the  Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him. God raised Him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. For David says of Him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh will rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, or allow Your Holy One to see decay.”
  • 1 Cor. 15:3-4 – For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

What do you say about Jesus’ proof?

6. His uniqueness

What Jesus says about Himself: He is the Messiah/Christ; the Son of God; the Alpha and the Omega; the only means of salvation.

  • Matt. 26:63-64; 27:11 – Then the high priest said to Him, “By the living God I place You under oath: tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!” “You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” … Now Jesus stood before the governor. “Are You the King of the Jews?” the governor asked Him. Jesus answered, “You have said it.”
  • John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
  • Rev. 1:17-18 – “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
  • Rev. 22:13 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He is the unique Son of God; divine; the Creator; the only means of salvation.

  • John 1:1, 14, 18 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…. No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son – the One who is at the Father’s side – He has revealed Him.
  • Acts 4:11-12 – This [Jesus] is The stone despised by you builders, who has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.
  • Col. 1:16; 2:9 – because by Him everything was created, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. … For in Him the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily.
  • Heb. 1:3 – He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

What do you say about Jesus’ uniqueness?

7. His call to us

What Jesus says about Himself: He calls sinners to trust in Him for eternal life; He invites the weary to rest in Him; He beckons the spiritually thirsty to be satisfied in Him; He warns of the danger of rejecting Him.

  • Matt. 11:28 – “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
  • John 3:16-18 – “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.”
  • John 5:24 – “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”
  • John 7:37b-38 – “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”
  • John 8:24 – “Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins.”

What the eyewitnesses say about Jesus: He calls sinners to receive forgiveness of sins and everlasting life by believing in Him; He grants salvation by grace through faith, apart from works; He calls us to salvation and to service.

  • Acts 2:39 – For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
  • Rom. 4:4-5 – Now to the one who works, pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares righteous the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
  • Eph. 1:18 – [I pray] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints …
  • Eph. 2:8-9 – For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift …
  • Eph. 4:1 – I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received …
  • 1 Thess. 2:12 – [W]e encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
  • 2 Tim. 1:9 – [God] has 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 to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
  • Titus 3:5 – He saved us— not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

What do you say about Jesus’ call to you?

Copyright 2009 by Rob Phillips