This entry is a long one, folks. Go get some coffee, or a soda, or the beverage of your choice…and maybe a snack. I will wait right here for you.
I dedicate this post to the following individuals, without whom, I would not have given up my old religion, and embraced the gift of Grace, provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf.
My beautiful and Godly wife, who introduced me to my ignorance, and walked me back to the Cross.
Glenda Dowd who shared Dr. Jim Richards, “Grace: The Power To Change” with my wife, who in turn used this book to open my eyes.
To Casey Merseal, who always makes me think.
[And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good [thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus[and unto His glory]. Philemon verse 6. Amplified Bible
Recently, a post appeared on my FB page. It was from an organization called “The Ministry of Second Timothy“. Here is a quote from the very first paragraph:
“YES, THE CURSE ON AMERICA APPLIES TO YOU TOO: AS
THE LAW HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED BY CHRIST.
BY DEIRDRE”
The author of this blog went on to say:
“…any natural man observing this fact who considers themselves someone who acknowledges truth, will find it hard to rebut the spiritual fact that Deuteronomy 28:43-44 and Deuteronomy 28:49-51 (below) are currently in effect REGARDLESS OF WHAT PAUL THE APOSTLE SAID IN GALATIANS 3:13; so if you count yourself among the smart, you better start listening to what JESUS SAID and forget the lies of Paul the Apostle!
The author further said:
“JESUS clearly said that He did not come to destroy the law, yet those who exalt Paul over Jesus, still claim that Jesus has already destroyed the law and therefore the Old Testament does not apply. This is a lie and those who worship the words of Paul are devil worshippers.
So it does not matter that Paul said that Jesus has already redeemed us (past tense) from the curse of the law. We have not yet been redeemed because Jesus is still fulfilling the law – so we are still under the law! Please don’t be foolish – listen to Jesus!
JESUS SAYS:
17 “DO NOT THINK THAT I CAME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS. I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY BUT TO FULFILL. “
The most interesting thing the author said after that was:
“JESUS IS STILL FULFILLING THE LAW IN THIS YEAR 2013; IN FACT HE JUST WOKE ME UP THIS MORNING AND SAID “RISE AND COMPLETE MY WORK!” THEN ONE OF HIS ANGELS PLACED A SONG IN ME WHICH I WILL SHARE AT ANOTHER TIME, BUT THE CHORUS IS SUNG LIKE THIS:
MY FATHER SAID “RISE” AND COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK.
MY FATHER SAID “RISE” AND COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK. COMPLETE HIS WORK.
SO I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH GOD THAT ALL HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED, BECAUSE I AM A WORKING ON A PROCESS THAT JESUS TASKED ME TO COMPLETE – A PROCESS MODEL “FOR HOW TO CREATE SOMETHING FROM NOTHING.” WHICH SHALL BE USED FOR MANKIND TO EXTEND OUR SCIENCE SO THAT WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO HEAL THE WORLD.”
I am compelled to address this.
Firstly, Timothy was a disciple of Paul (Said blog is called, “The Ministry of Second Timothy”). Here is something Peter had to say about this:
“And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation (that which is conducive to the soul’s safety), even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual insight given him, Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures. Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind].” 2 Peter 3:15-17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
If Paul was a disciple of Satan, then Peter endorsed a child of Satan as being one of their own (The fellowship of the Apostles).
Jesus hung on the cross. John, the beloved apostle, recorded the following:
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished (ended), said in fulfillment of the Scripture, I thirst. [Ps. 69:21.] A vessel (jar) full of sour wine (vinegar) was placed there, so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a stalk, reed of] hyssop, and held it to [His] mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:28-30 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Jesus did not only die for our sin, he became all sin and was judged by the Living God for it. Jesus did this in our place because we are not able to do it for ourselves, and God loves us too much to let all of Humanity’s souls perish.
Because of the fall of Adam, all humans inherited a dead spirit We are born already spiritually dead. Jesus had this to say about that:
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation–he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ‘s name.]” John 3:16-18 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Christ and Christ alone is our salvation. What He finished on the cross is the burden of the Law.
It is written:
“Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross. [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].” Colossians 2:14-15
What Christ finished on the cross is also stated in the book of Romans:
It is written:
“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.” Romans 5:8-10 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Christ not only put finished to the demands of the Law, but he also freed us from the burden of the law. The law existed only to show mankind that there is nothing we can do on our own strength to be righteous before the Living God.
Because we are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we can now say with confidence that we belong to the kingdom of Heaven. When we learn to walk in the freedom that this grace from God brings, we will be able to draw others to the same saving grace. This is why we weren’t raptured the second we believed and were baptized.
Walking in the freedom of grace is not a license to sin. Knowing what this freedom means will draw you to walk in the likeness of Christ. You will discover that the short-lived pleasures sin brought you will fade into oblivion. This will be true because you have a new spirit in you.
It is written:
“A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
That Spirit delights in the presence of God. The freedom from the influence of sin is amazing, it is lovely, it is beautiful, and it is light. You will never know true freedom unless you understand what Christ’s death on the cross bought you.
The alluring draw of the Spirit of God will lead you to walk after Christ. It will be effortless. Being Human, we will still fall into error, on occasion, but we no longer have to fear the punishment of God. Jesus finished everything when he finished it on the cross.
God is not mad at you. He is not mad at the unrepentant sinner, He loves them. The myth that God is mad at you is a religious construct used by people who want to control you, and have the desire to be the dispenser of the will of God.
The delusion that there is anything else to add to the finished work of Christ implies that Christ was not actually able to finish what He started. Mohammed made the same mistake. That mistake brought us “The Religion of Peace”. There is no work that needs to be accomplished outside of what Christ said we need to do.
It is written:
And when they saw Him, they fell down and worshiped Him; but some doubted.Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, ‘All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age.’ Amen (so let it be).” Matthew 18:17-20 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
WHAT WE ARE BECAUSE OF THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST
I am using the following material with permission. Below is a summary written by Dr. Jim Richards. This summary tells us what the finished work of Christ has purchased and given us.
Because of the Finished work of Christ:
I AM:
A son of God and an heir of God
It is written:
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.” Romans 8:14-17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Full of the Holy Spirit
It is written:
“But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. [Rom. 8:14.] But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of in and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you]. And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Free from sin
It is written:
“Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:11 AMPLIFIED BIBLEand“ For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy]. What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we live not under Law but under God’s favor and mercy? Certainly not! Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)? But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).” Romans 6:14-18 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
A new creation
It is written:
“Therefore if any person is [in-grafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” II Corinthians 5:17 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
More than a conqueror
It is written:
“Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. [Ps. 44:22.] Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
The righteousness of God in Christ
It is Written:
“For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”II Corinthians 5:21 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Crucified with Christ
It is written:
“For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God. I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]” Galatians 2:19-21 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Justified by faith in Christ
It is written:
” Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and n right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and[absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God). [Ps. 143:2.]” Galatians 2:16 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
God’s workmanship
It is written:
“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” Ephesians 2:10 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Hid in Christ
It is written:
“IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [Ps. 110:1.] And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Saved by Grace
It is written:
“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]”Ephesians 2:8-9 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Accepted in the Beloved
It is written:
“For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]–[So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:5&6 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
At peace with God
It is written:
“THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).” Romans 5:1 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
So, you see, all the above states what the thesis of Paul was, and what was accomplished when Christ nailed the Law to the cross, became sin on our behalf. We can boldly say, “It is finished” with Christ.
The Judaizers of Paul’s day attacked Paul in the same manner that the Judaizers of today attack Paul and anyone who will put stock in Paul’s writings. We do not worship Paul. We worship the Living God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. That is the same Jesus Christ that appeared to Paul on Paul’s journey to Damascus.
Paul was chosen by Jesus. Paul was endorsed by Peter and James and John.
The message is clear. Jesus does not need anyone to complete the finished work. It is finished. No self-appointed messiah can stand before the Living God and demand that His children must obey the Law that Jesus already fulfilled, and still lay claim to the finished work of Christ. It is by grace alone we are saved. No one can claim before the Living God that Jesus failed to complete the finished work, the work of promise that was foretold in the Law and the Prophets. God did not appoint you to be the Messiah Part II.
Christ’s work is finished.
Let me encourage you, brothers and sisters, to cling to the finished work of Christ. It is the only path to Salvation and freedom from sin. Nothing you can do either by the Law or of your own effort will ever make you righteous. You cannot save yourself. If you could, Jesus died in vain.
We who know this message of Grace, who are hidden in Christ, who drink deep of the Gospel of Grace offered by Jesus Christ, we few must take to the world, not being absorbed by the will of the world, but to show the light of the Grace that lives in you because of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Let’s be about it.
I love you
David G. Perkins
sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com
David G. Perkins 