EPH 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

When you are saved you are a babe in Christ having need of milk.  But you are not to stay that way.  You are to, "be no more children".  Children in Christ can be easily tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.  They will buy anything some slick sounding T.V. preacher says.

Children in the Lord can be easily deceived by the slight of men who are just looking and waiting to deceive some immature Christian.  They are good at it.  They are crafty and very cunning.  They are smart.  They can talk a good talk and make you think that what they are teaching lines up with the Word of God, but it does not. 

And do not get immature confused with age or how long you have been a Christian.  The sad fact is that many Christians never grow up.  Many years after salvation, they are still babes.  And therefore they are always at the mercy of false teachers. 

This is why I encourage Christians to be in the Word of God for themselves.  Be a student of the Word of God yourself. 

This is why I am building this website.  So instead of hearing junk at the water cooler during a break, they can spend a few minutes reading the Word on-line.  This is why I email chapters of the Bible to people around the world. 

Christians need to grow up.  You need to be in the Word of God every day.  Then you will not be carried around with every wind of doctrine.  When someone is teaching a lie, you will be able to recognize it.

EPH 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

All things were created by Jesus Christ.  Jesus was not only around during the creation week, but Jesus was the creator.  Jesus existed before all things.  Jesus existed before Mary.  Mary is not the mother of God.

It is Jesus who created all things, It was Jesus that humbled Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. 

It was the all powerful Almighty creator that paid for your sins on the cross and then rose again 3 days later. 

Now with that in mind look at verse 20.

EPH 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Power and ability is not a problem with Jesus.  He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think.  After all He created all things, He is owner of all things, He is master of all things. 

And if you are saved, then you have access to Him.

EPH 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

This truth should change your outlook on prayer.

EPH 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

EPH 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Verse 8 and 9 are two of the clearest verses in the Bible on how we are NOT saved by works.  We do not work to get to heaven.  Salvation is the gift of God.  If we had to purchase it with works, then it would not be a gift.  We are saved by faith and not works.  Praise God for this wonderful truth, but Christian don't stop reading at verse 9.  Verse 10 is important to. 

EPH 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.

Works does have a place in the life of a Christian.  But they come after salvation.

We do not work to get saved, we work because we are saved.  We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.  God has ordained that after we are saved by faith as a free gift, that we now should walk in good works.

After what Christ did for us on the cross; after the love that He bestowed upon us, we should want to do all we can for Him.

All Christians should be doing some kind of good work for our Lord and Savior.  Not to get saved, but because we are saved. 

A bloodless gospel is no gospel at all.  Our redemption is through His blood.  The forgiveness of sins is only made possible thru His blood.  The riches of His grace can only be given to us because He shed His blood.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

There can be no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. 

God told Adam that if he ate of the tree that death was the penalty.  God is righteous and Holy so He cannot change His mind.  God must do what He said.  So for man to be redeemed the penalty of death must be paid.  Someone must die to pay the penalty. 

The Bible tells us that life is in the blood.

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.

Life is in the blood.  Life must be given to pay for sins, so blood must be shed.  Hopefully you are seeing the connection between life and blood.  But not just any blood would do. 

Only the sinless blood of the son of God could atone for sin.  Only the blood of God manifested in the flesh would do. 

The life is in the blood.  Christ gave His life for you, so Christ shed is blood. 

We know that His blood was accepted as payment for our sin debt because 3 days later He rose from the dead.  If His shed blood was not sufficient, then He would still be dead.  He would still be paying for the wages of sin is death.  But thank God His blood was sufficient atonement for sin.  He did raise from the dead. 

We can now have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Never be ashamed of the blood.  It is only because of His blood that we can be saved. 

Please visit my websites

http://www.thewordpodcast.com

http://www.thewordteaches.com

 Thanks Bryan

And check out this great link site.

 

 

 

Every servant of Christ needs to claim this verse.  You need to know where it is in the Bible.  You need to have it highlighted or circled.  You need to memorize and read it often. 

If you put gospel tracks on doors (and you should), you will sometimes get discouraged and want to quit.  But DON'T QUIT.  Instead claim God's promise that in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

I was out putting tracks on doors with a couple of  teens several years ago.  They handed a track to a man who was not feeling well.  He did not talk to them other than to say that he was sick and he shut the door.  We did not see any fruit that day, but six months later that man found that track the teens gave him in a drawer, came to church, heard a clear presentation of the gospel and got saved.  Don't stop putting the gospel on doors.  You will reap in due season.

The same goes for Sunday School teachers, buss workers, preachers and everyone else that is involved in God's work.  Keep this truth ever before you and claim this promise. 

GAL 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

NEVER QUIT serving the Lord

GAL 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

GAL 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

After you are saved you have two natures.  You have the fleshly sin nature that you were born with and a new spiritual nature. 

These two natures are at odds with each other.  They are total opposites.  They are contrary the one to the other.  They are at war.  As long as you live they will be contrary to each other.  There is no middle ground.  There will never be peace between them. 

This explains why Christians sin.  They still have to carry within them that old sin nature.  And it is always battling for dominance.  So how do you keep from fulfilling the lust of the flesh?  Verse 16 has the answer.

GAL 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

You do it by walking in the Spirit.  You feed the Spirit and not the flesh.  Be separated from the world.  Stop watching filthy fleshly entertainment.  Quit listening to fleshly music.  Quit feeding the flesh.  Stop walking in the flesh.  Don't grieve the Spirit.

Instead walk in the Spirit. You walk in the Spirit by reading the Bible, Praying, helping others, listening to good Christ honoring music.  You walk in the Spirit by bringing every thought into subjection.

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

You walk in the Spirit by casting down wicked thoughts, by bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ. 

Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

Walking does not imply a step or two.  Walking implies every single step.  It also implies continually for as soon as you quit taking steps, you have quit walking. 

We need to walk in the spirit.  We need to take every step in the spirit and we need to do it continually.

GAL 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

GAL 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

What a wonderful promise to everyone who is saved!  We have become sons of God.  He is now our Father.  This makes us heirs of God through Christ.

We will not fully understand the depth of that until we get to heaven. 

God who spoke the universe into existence.  We are heirs of an almighty, all knowing, all powerful God.

He has things in store for us that we cannot even begin to imagine.   

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

We have seen nothing nor heard nothing like what God has prepared for us.  In fact it is beyond what we can even imagine. 

We are sons and heirs of God!  AMEN

GAL 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

GAL 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

There are only two kinds of people in the world as far as salvation is concerned.  The lost and the saved.  It does not matter if you are a Jew or a Greek.  It does not matter if you are a male or a female.  All must be saved the same way.  And once you are saved, then everyone is in the exact same standing.  Your social or ethnic standing does not make you better or worse.  "for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." 

No one has more value in Christ than another.  A man is not worth more than a woman.  One skin color does not have more value than another. 

And since we are all one in Christ, then we are all Abraham's seed.  Verse 29.  This makes us heirs according to the promise.  The promise is speaking about how God promised to Abraham that Christ would come and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  Not just certain ones and not just the Jews, but all nations.   

GAL 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

GAL 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Salvation is for all nations.  Every skin color, every culture, and every language.

There is NO room in Christianity for prejudice.  Period. 

GAL 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

This verse is a very clear declaration that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith.  The only way to be justified in the eyes of God is thru faith in Jesus.  The Word of God is clear.  By the works of the law shall NO FLESH be justified.  That means no one, no how, no way, and at no time could anyone be justified by works.  It is simply NOT possible to be saved by works. 

GAL 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Verse 21 teaches us that if it was possible to be saved by works then Christ is dead in vain. 

Just think about it for a minute.  If we could be saved by obeying some rule, then why would Christ have to die.  What an atrocity for the Son of God to die on the cross if we could have been saved by works.  If works saves then what Christ did on the cross is vain.  There would have been no reason for it. 

But the fact is that works DO NOT save and CANNOT save anyone.  The fact is that the only way that man could be saved is by Jesus going to the cross and paying for our sin.  The price has been paid.  All we have to do is believe and call upon Him with a repentant heart.  Salvation really is that easy for us.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It is sad that most religions that profess the Bible actually teach some form of works.  There teaching goes against the clear teaching of the Word of God. 

How do they teach what goes against the Bible you ask? 

The answer is they don't teach the Bible.  They will add other books to the Bible and make them more authoritative.  One example would be the Mormons.  Or like the Catholics they will teach traditions, and they hold their traditions as more authoritative than the Bible.  These groups only claim the Bible to try to give themselves some credibility, but they do not follow the Bible.  They actually teach against what the Bible teaches.

You cannot believe the Word of God and believe in working you way to heaven by being good, doing good works, or performing rituals.  The Bible teaches that the just shall live by faith.  It is faith that saves and not works.

GAL 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

GAL 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

GAL 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

The Ink is not even dry yet on the New Testament and there is already people preaching another gospel.  Paul said that he marveled that they were so soon removed unto another gospel.

Paul then says that there is not any other gospel.  There is actually only one gospel.  All others are perversions.  Paul says to let anyone who preaches another gospel be accursed. 

Even if an angel from heaven preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed.  The Mormons have another gospel.  It is a perversion.  And I find it interesting that they say that an angel from heaven came and gave it to them.  This is exactly what verse 8 is warning against.  Even if it was an angel, the Word of God says let him be accursed for perverting the one and only true gospel. 

The gospel is defined in 1 Cor. chapter 15 as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  Salvation is a free gift based upon believing the gospel.

ROM 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

ROM 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

ROM 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Works are NOT involved in salvation.  Adding baptism, or only after doing all you can DO, is a perversion of the gospel. 

Salvation is simple faith with a repentant heart.  Adding anything at all to that is a perversion.

And the Word of God has very strong language for anyone who perverts the gospel.