Hebrews 9:22, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (NIV)

The Bible tells us that the only way sin can be cleansed and forgiven is by the shedding of blood. Have you ever asked yourself why it was necessary for blood to be shed to cover our sins? Why not something else, like water, milk, or honey? Those items are much more easily attainable and do not require as much of a sacrifice. Why the blood?

The first reason is because life is in the blood.

Leviticus 17:11, "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (NIV)

Quite simply, sin brings death.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV)

The death that sin brings forth can only be thwarted by applying an innocent life to it, which is in the blood. Innocent (or sinless) life triumphs over death. (On a side note: this is why we can have eternal life, because Jesus' sinless Blood has been applied to us forever!) Animals do not sin. They did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their blood is innocent.

The second reason for "Why the blood?" is because the Bible tells us that blood speaks.

Genesis 4:10, "The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground." (NIV)

Abel's blood cried out for justice and to be avenged of his murder! When man's blood is shed, it cries out for mercy and justice. Did you know that blood continues to "speak?" We can take samples of tissue found with blood in it from decades (and centuries) ago and run DNA tests to obtain genealogical and other information.

You see, God chose to use the blood of animals not only because they were innocent, but because they were not given the gift of speech. Therefore, when their blood was shed, it remained silent and it could not cry out for vengeance like Abel's. If God heard them, because He is Righteous and Just, it would be demanded of His very nature to avenge the wrong-doing. It was because of His Grace that He chose what He could not hear so that we could live. And God being Righteous and Just will not judge the same crime twice! Are you saying to yourself, "Oh, Sandy, c'mon! Give me a break, this is too far-fetched!"? Well, consider the following scriptures.

Isaiah 53:7, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth." (NIV)

Hebrews 12:24, " to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled Blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (NIV)

The Blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel. What that means is when Jesus' Blood was shed as our ultimate sacrifice for sin, Jesus went like a lamb silently to the slaughter,

John 19:8-10, " When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said..." (NIV),

and Jesus' Blood did not cry out for justice from His enemies as Abel's did. Instead, Jesus' Blood cried out, "Father, forgive them for they are innocent!" His Blood is still crying that today and forever to those who will receive His amazing gift!

We have so much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season!

Love and blessings to you and yours,

Pastor Sandy

Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee." (KJV)


I had read the above scripture many times, but today two words, "perfect peace", jumped out at me.   I know what peace is, but what is perfect peace?   I looked up the Hebrew translation of Isaiah 26:3 and found that the two words, perfect and peace in this scripture were the same word.  They are both the Hebrew word "shalom." The scripture literally reads, "Thou wilt keep him in shalom shalom whose mind is stayed on thee..." (For all of you Bible scholars out there, here are the complete Hebrew written words of this passage.   I have hi-lighted the two words shalom side by side. יֵ֣צֶר סָמ֔וּךְ תִּצֹּ֖ר שָׁלֹ֣ום שָׁלֹ֑ום כִּ֥י בְךָ֖ בָּטֽוּחַ׃ )

After seeing this, I needed to know why the Lord would duplicate a word in a sentence.  He could have said He will keep us in peace and that would have been excellent in itself, but He chose to write shalom twice.   It certainly was not by coincidence or an error on His part.

What I found is that the translation of this double shalom (peace) means that the Lord will give a double portion of His kind of shalom to those who focus on Him. 

Shalom means so much more than only being at peace or having no conflict.  It means completeness, soundness, welfare, prosperity, safe, good health, happy, favored, rest, literally nothing missing or broken in one's life, complete restoration.

Reflect on that for a moment.  In Isaiah 26:3 God is promising us a double portion of completeness, soundness, welfare, prosperity, safety, good health, happiness, favor, rest, nothing missing or broken in our lives if we will focus on Him putting our confidence in Him and not in ourselves.  This is a double portion inheritance and blessing!  Wow, what an awesome Heavenly Father we have!

Oh, Heavenly Father, please help us keep our focus on You today.

God bless you!
Pastor Sandy

Psalm 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." (KJV)

In our Christian walk, it is extremely important to rightfully see the nature of God. The Hebrew word for good in the above scripture is טוֹב -towb (pronounced tove). It literally means good, pleasant in the highest nature, agreeable, kind, benign, ethical, merry, prosperity, wealth, glad.

Jesus is our best example of showing us the nature of God. He said in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." (KJV)

Jesus did nothing but good when He walked as a man on this earth. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). Therefore, because Jesus said he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, God the Father is a loving God doing good. He has even adopted us as His children (Romans 8:15-16). As a loving Father, He would never commit any harm against us. This is confirmed by what Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 7

Matthew 7:9-11, "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (KJV)

James wrote in James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (KJV)

God is so good that He even promises to turn our darkest moments into good for us. Whatever He touches turns to good (טוֹב -towb).

Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (KJV)

If you are His born-again child, then you love God and are called according to His purpose. How do you know you love Him? You love Him because His love has been shed abroad in your heart (Romans 5:5). Love is already placed there from the time you receive Jesus. It is a gift to us from the Holy Spirit and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).

There is no evil in God and He does not tempt man with evil.

James 1:13, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." (KJV)

When crises comes, when "sure" things fail, this is when knowing the nature of God is crucial to see you through. God only wants the best for His children.

Yes, there are still valleys in life, but during those times, beloved do not ask God why He let this happen or why He did this. Do not blame Him at all. Let His Holy Spirit remind you of what Jesus said in John Chapter 10.

John 10:10, "The thief (satan) comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." (KJV)

Yes, we have an enemy who goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8) but there is Good News. For this purpose the Son of God came that He might destroy the works of the devil! (1 John 3:8).

Through Jesus Christ, He has made it our security that no matter what happens, we win because He is good!

Thank you dear Jesus that You have already given us the victory in You! May we live our lives in that revelation.

Many blessings!
Pastor Sandy

Dear Friends,

As a teacher of the Word, one of the questions I receive quite frequently is to explain the Holy Trinity and how it is possible for God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit to all be One.  That is difficult when trying to explain it within human reasoning.  For years the way it was explained to me was there is no explanation and it's just one of those things that you have to take by faith because God said it.  Yes, that works, but here is something that may make it a little easier to comprehend.

The Bible says that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and we know that He is Three Beings in One (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  Well, we are three in one on a lesser level as well.  We have a spirit, a soul (our mind/emotions/intellect) and a body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23, "23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  (NIV)


Hebrews 4:12, "12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."  (NIV)


Our spirits get reborn or recreated (saved) when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, but our minds or souls must be renewed by the Word of God because we still think and have the same habits we had before we got saved.  We must learn the will of God through the Word of God.

So we are made three in one just as God is Three in One.  All are separate, but all are one and in need of each other.  Think of it along these lines.  The unity of spirit, soul and body is needed.  One does not exist without the other.  For example, without a spirit, there is no life.  Without a soul or mind, or medically speaking, when their is no brain activity, we are clinically dead.  Without a body, there is no life.  (I praise God that when we shed these mortal bodies, He has promised us new ones.  There is a reason for that.  Why not just be a spirit in Heaven?  God wants us to have a body to complete His image.)  All are separate, but all are one and needed to live.

Each Being in God's Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is separate and They all Live, but They are also One as our spirit, soul and bodies are one.  Now God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are always in unity with each other, but because we are human, we are not always in unity within the members of our own body (make-up).  Sometimes our flesh screams for earthly desires that our spirits and minds know are not good for us (Romans 7:14-25).  The Apostle Paul said he put his body under subjection to his spirit man (1 Corinthians 9:27).  And sometimes our emotions want to rule our bodies and our spirits.  We act out because of scars and traumas within. Those who are not born-again have what is called a dead spirit (Colossians 2:13).  They are dead in their sins even though their souls and bodies live.  (Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people live!)  However, a born-again spirit is alive in Christ and always wants to do what is right (Romans 8:5-12).

We are created in God's image more than only a mere photo likeness.  We are three in one as is His Holy Trinity.

Hope this explanation helps a little bit in regards to the question of how can the Holy Trinity be separate and One all at the same time.

Blessings!
Pastor Sandra
Lifting Up Jesus Church

2 Corinthians 12:9 - His Grace Sufficient, Perfect in Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  (NIV)

Often I have read the above verse and thought to myself, poor Paul. It appears he is at the end. Instead of receiving the answer of healing he longed for (so I thought), he must now rely on God's grace to see him through every affliction.   Paul had been rendered an invalid.  

It was the same feelings of defeat that I had when a crisis arose in my life and I did everything I knew to prevail only to come to the end of my self efforts and finally exclaim with flailing hands, "Well, all we can do now is to pray!"

The Holy Spirit challenged me to a deeper revelation. I sought 2 Corinthians 12:9 through the Greek translation.  Sometimes true meanings can be lost in translation from one language to another.   Here is the treasure the Holy Spirit revealed to me.

I first looked up the Greek word for "grace", charis.  The Greek translation of grace tells us it is God's unmerited, unearned, bountiful favor that swallows up and much more abounds over the prison of sin we are all born into (Romans 5:20 & Galatians 3:22).  Charis is also the root of the English word "charisma" which means a compelling attractiveness that can inspire.

Grace from God abounds to, through, and in us and is triumphant!  It is the very essence and character of God's nature.  Grace is the compelling attractiveness of Jesus Christ.   Jesus was filled with charisma.

Then I looked up the Greek word for "sufficient".   The English translated word "sufficient" fails to do justice to the Greek word it was translated from, which is arkeo.   Arkeo means to be possessed of unfailing strength.  

From this simple true and deeper revelation, I could easily see that Jesus is Grace personified and He is our unfailing strength.

What appeared in 2 Corinthians 12:9 to be a response from God to Paul of "You will just have to get by on My grace" was the farthest interpretation from the truth of what God was saying.   God was telling Paul, "My Jesus is unfailing strength for you!"

I then understood.   His Grace was not for the end of our self efforts, but for the beginning of every trial, tribulation and persecution that attacks us.  We are to look to Jesus as our strength and it will be supplied mightily from the hand of God.

Today, with this new revelation, I find myself saying again and again as I walk through the valleys of life, "My Jesus is unfailing strength for me!"

It is also no longer astonishing to me that Paul after receiving this celestial answer gladly gloried in his weaknesses.  He saw the power that rested upon him while in his weaknesses.  It was Jesus' strength, His dynamite power (the Greek word for "power" is dunamis - where we get our word dynamite from) that was now resting upon him.   What other power could ever triumph over that?   Could any sickness, disease, weakness or affliction and ailment? 

What mountain of affliction are you facing?  A broken relationship?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Your child has chosen the wrong path and told you they no longer want you in their life? Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

Your company has decided to let you go?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

Your dearest and closest friend has betrayed you?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

You received a bad report from the doctor?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Your family and friends do not understand your hunger and thirst for more of Him?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Jesus is unfailing strength for you and me!  

His Grace is sufficient for you and me!

Romans 8:11 - Power of Life by the Spirit

Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." (KJV)

Sometimes I have to read a scripture over and over and meditate upon it before I begin to understand the full impact of it.  Romans 8:11 is one of those scriptures. It's a powerful verse and easy to camp out on for a long time. Think about how much power is needed to raise someone from the dead.  How about doing that after they have been dead for three days?  I don't know of anyone with the ability to do that in their own human strength, no matter how physically fit or intellectually savvy they are. Raising a dead person after three days goes against the order of all that is natural. Only God can do that!  But look, the above scripture states that we have that very same Spirit living on the inside of us!  What power, what might!  It truly brings to light and better interprets what Apostle Paul meant when he later wrote in Romans 8:31, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Oh why, oh why do we fear when greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)?

Now the Lord could have stopped there just letting us know that His great power resides in our very beings because that is glorious news alone, but He didn't.  He continued on in the same thought, same sentence, to bring our cup to overflowing, immersing us in His super-abundance.  He said through the Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit will also give life to our mortal bodies.  Isn't that wonderful news?  God deliberately used the word "mortal" because He wanted us to know that this promise was indeed for our physical bodies today on this earth, here and now.  Our Heavenly bodies will no longer be mortal, but eternal.  (A quick note: the Greek word for "quicken" is zōopoieō (zō-o-poi-e'-ō) which means to restore to life; endued with new and greater powers of life; to give increase of life: thus of physical life.)

God is forever looking out for us to bless and increase us.  He cares about every detail of our life.  I ask again, what is there to fear with so great a power as the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us?

Luke 10:41-42 "Martha, Martha..."

Luke 10:41-42, "And Jesus answered and said unto her, 'Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'"  (KJV)

It's very easy to be worried and troubled about many things today. From the scripture above, we can see that not much has changed since Jesus' time. There is always so much to be concerned about. Sometimes it can feel like there are not enough hours in the day to be concerned about everything that needs to be taken care of. Many have demanding jobs while trying to have a quality home life spending time with the family and meeting their needs. Then there are the tasks of grocery shopping, cleaning house, doing laundry, yard-work...  The list can go on and on.  It was the same for Martha.  Jesus had come to her house and she wanted to fix a great meal for Him.  Who wouldn't?  Any born-again believer wants to do their best to please Jesus.  The problem was that Martha was trying to please Jesus in her way.  The fruit of her labor resulted in her becoming angry and resentful toward Jesus and her sister Mary (Luke 10:40).  She even accused Jesus of not caring!

Jesus knows we have a lot on our plates.  He knows there is much to be concerned about and He was fully aware of all that Martha was doing, and He did care.  He cared so much that He gave her (and us) the answer to triumphing victoriously in her (our) busy schedule.  It was only one instruction.  God's ways are so simple.  Jesus said in Luke 10:42 that only ONE thing was needful, and that was what Mary had chosen to do, which was to sit at Jesus' feet and hear Him speak the Word.  Mary wasn't worried about the meal and preparations.  After all, Jesus had fed 4,000 and 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread (Mark 8; Luke 9)!  She wanted to bask in His presence and not miss a morsel of what He had to say.  She knew everything would work out just fine.  This pleased Jesus greatly.  He told Martha that He would not take that away from Mary.

Jesus is pleased by the same actions today for He does not change (Hebrews 13:8).  It pleases Him when we put Him first and feed upon His Word.  He knows how important it is for us to hear His Word.  Jesus told the devil in Matthew 4:4 that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Jesus even said His body was like bread and told us to take and eat (Matthew 26:26).  It pleases Him when we do so. 

I can attest by my own experiences that when we do that one thing that is needful, putting God and His Word first, everything else, no matter how busy just falls into place and God works it out.  God really does care about us so much so that He even knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30)!  Amen!

IN LOVE REJECTED, BY GRACE REDEEMED

Good Morning!  God is so good!  I wanted to share something wonderful with you.  It's taken from Genesis 3:22-23:

22   And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23  So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  (NIV)

Have you ever thought deeply about these verses?  I noticed that God did not tell Adam and Eve why He was banishing them from the Garden of Eden. Yes, He did tell Adam that he would have to work the ground by the sweat of his brow (Gensis 3:18-19) but in verse 22, God was speaking to Himself and amongst the Heavenly Host, not to Adam.  So when He drove Adam and Eve from the Garden, it must have looked like rejection to them, like God no longer wanted them around.  However, in God's eyes, it was out of love and compassion for them because He did not want them to eat from the Tree of Life which would have enabled them to live forever in their newly sinful state.  Could you imagine living forever in a decaying body with an evil heart and unregenerate mind?  Before Jesus came to redeem us, God told us in Jeremiah 17:9 that man's heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked!  The wonderful news is that Jesus gave us a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36: 26-27).

Rejection was born into man when they were banished from God's presence.  God really had never turned His back on them.  It was Adam and Eve that hid and separated themselves first from God when they sinned (Genesis 3:8).  God will never turn from us (Romans 8:31-39), but their perception was that He did because they did not know the truth of why they were forced to leave His presence.  They reasoned in their own minds that God rejected them.  This evil idea that God rejected them spawned anger and rebellion toward God resulting in more disobedience to where man not only blamed God for His seemingly rejection, but jealousy entered in and they blamed others believing it was their fault too why God rejected them.  We see that in Cain's response to God and how he killed his brother, Abel, out of jealousy.  Cain didn't offer a good sacrifice to God for the atonement of his sins (Genesis 4:3-5) and God wasn't rejecting Cain, but He couldn't accept the offering because without the shedding of blood their is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22).  God has standards set that are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Out of His love for Cain, He even tried to reason with Cain and let him know that He was not rejecting him, but Cain would not listen (Genesis 4:6-8).  God gave him the freedom to choose and he chose to let his wrong feelings of rejection turn into jealousy.

Jealousy does not have anything to do with what another person has or doesn't have.  Simply put, jealousy is not believing that God can and will do the same for us that He did for someone else.  We feel rejected by Him and thus, we reject.  An example of this is that a person may think if someone gets a great promotion they wanted, then they can't have something as good. They may think it's because God loves that person more because that person pleases Him more.  Some even believe that God will have to rob the other person in order to give them the same thing because they believe God is lacking.  The root cause of this line of thought came from initially believing that God had rejected us.  This is also why so many people are angry with God.  Many people are claiming that God doesn't accept them for who they are - more rejection and they reject Him without finding the truth.  This belief came to the point where the Bible tells us that we WERE enemies of God (Romans 5:10).  The ultimate seed of believing we were and are rejected is to completely discount God and say there is no God.

But here is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Grace!  Jesus came to put an end to that lie once and for all!  He took our rejection for us when He cried out as we once did in the Garden of Eden, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!?" (Mark 15:34)  Child of God, you will NEVER be forsaken by God.  He has made it abundantly clear through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that He has not rejected you.  Like in the parable of the prodigal son, God our Father will always be waiting to run toward us with open arms when we draw near to Him (Luke 15:11-32).  He will run!

God bless you always,
Sandy

Law or Grace - How Would You Rather Live?

1 Corinthians 15:56, "For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power." The Greek word for "power" in this verse is dynamis, which literally means strength, power and ability. It is where we get our word dynamite from, so you can see that it is very explosive power and not a wimpy power.

Why did Paul write this? Paul was not against the Law. No he respected the Law for the reason it was given, and he completely understood why it was given. He answers that question of why was the law given in Galatians 3:19, "Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people." (NLT)

Galatians 3:24, "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." (NIV).

Paul also wrote in Romans 5:20, "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (NASB) Do you see and understand this? The Law was given to actually increase sin, which confirms 1 Corinthians 15:56 where Paul wrote the law gives sin its power or strength, and again it isn't a wimpy power, but a dynamite power. Sin brings great bondage, but in Romans 5:20, Paul said that Grace is stronger. Grace swallows up sin!

According to the Bible, the Law was given to us to show us our sins and to lead us to Christ, which is what we said last night. I know this is contrary to what most people believe and have been taught. For years many people have been taught that the Law was given to abide by, but we have to stick with what the Bible says and not our opinions of it and the Bible clearly says that the Law was given to show us our sins.

When the Law shows you your sin, it brings condemnation and punishment with it because there is a penalty for breaking the Law, which is sin. The Bible tells us that the penalty for sin is death.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV)

Because there is death in the Law, Paul wrote the following about the Law. Remember, this is the Bible.

2 Corinthians 3:7-10"7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone (Paul is talking about the 10 Commandments - they were engraved on stone), came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation (the Law) was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness (Jesus' Grace)! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!" (NIV)

God knew from day one when He gave Moses the 10 Commandments that no man would never ever ever be able to follow them. In fact, even if they disobeyed just one and obeyed all the others, they would still be guilty of all the others. This is what James wrote about that:

James 2:10, "For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws." (NLT)

Does this seem fair? No, unless you understand why God gave the Law in the first place, and that was to show us our sin and lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:19, 24).

The Bible also says this about the Old Covenant of the Law and how God viewed it:

Hebrews 8:7, "For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant (the Law), no place would have been sought for another." (NIV)

Hebrews 8:13, "By calling this covenant “new,” he (God) has made the first one (the Law) obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear." (NIV) (**The Greek word here for "obsolete" is palaioo, which means to make ancient or old; of things worn out by time and use; the worse for wear.")

Now, what does all this mean for us today? Does it mean that we now can just go out and sin now that we are under Grace? No! If you are saved, why would you want to sin? Paul said in Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (NIV)

If you are born again and the Holy Spirit now dwells inside of you, the old you which was in bondage to sin died with Christ and now you are a new creation in Him. You have a new heart (read 2 Corinthians 5 for further explanation of this). Paul is saying in Romans 6:2 that we should be losing our passion for sin. And he goes on to say in Romans 6:14 that sin no longer has dominion over us. Sin is no longer our master, and why is that? He says because we are no longer under the Law, but under Grace.

Romans 6:14, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." (NIV) (This implies that when you are under Law, sin will be your master.)

We are dead to sin because Jesus conquered the power of sin on the Cross. All our sins were laid on Him and He dealt with it. The fact that He was raised from the dead, which remember death is the wages of sin, is confirmation to us that He conquered it because He didn't stay dead. We are in Him and He is in us and therefore, sin no longer reigns in us either. I know what you are thinking, YES, we still do sin, but it is our choice when we do. The devil didn't make us do it. He has no strength. Jesus stripped him of all his authority (Colossians 2:15). All satan has is his words to try and confuse us with if we take those words to heart. No, sin is no longer our master or stronger than us because of Jesus Christ in us, and here is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what He did for us on that Cross - even when we do sin, God no longer holds it to our account. We will not be punished for it. We are blessed by God's Grace. He no longer sees us condemned and paying for our sin. That is why King David said first and Paul quoted later:

Romans 4:8, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." (NIV)

Under the Law, we must pay for our sins, but under Grace, Christ paid for our sins. There must be restitution and payment made for sinning because God is a righteous God. Sin must be dealt with. That is why He sent Jesus Christ, His only Son to die for us, because in doing so, Jesus suffered and paid the restitution for all sin, past, present and future. The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17, that Jesus died for the world's sins and to save us as a gift to us, not just yours and mine, BUT the whole world, BUT we individually have to receive this gift as Romans 10:9 says, we must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. It is free because it is a gift. If you have to pay for it or earn it, then it is not a gift.

And because God is righteous, He will NEVER judge us for the same sin twice. All our sins past, present and future were laid on the body of Jesus Christ before you and I were even born.

Isaiah 53:6, " We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him (Jesus Christ) the iniquity (sin) of us all." (NIV)

Hebrews 10:10, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (NIV)

Hebrews 10:14, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (NASB)

Romans 8:1, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (NIV) (The KJV has tacked onto the end of this verse "if we walk according to the spirit and not the flesh" but that was not in the original epistle that Paul wrote. It was tacked on later because during that time period the translators couldn't believe that we could be free from condemnation without doing something in our own efforts to obtain it.)

According to the Word of God in the scriptures I have quoted above, we are free, innocent, not guilty of our sins forever. That is the Gospel or Good News that Jesus came to bring. We were dead in our sins before He came, but now we are alive. He does not condemn us because He took our condemnation no matter how big or small. We can hold our head high even when we miss the mark and say, I thank you God for the cleansing Blood of Jesus for because of Him, I am innocent!

This is so powerful when we get a revelation of it because it is so freeing. The one thing that holds us back in life and going forward is not fear. There is a deeper root than fear and that is feeling condemned, ashamed and guilty. Fear is spawned from condemnation. We see that in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3). They immediately felt guilt and were ashamed and hid themselves from God (condemnation separates us from God). Then fear came when God was looking for them. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, which represents their own efforts or self-righteousness if you will. God knew that only blood could overt His eyes from seeing their sin and so He made them skins of animals for clothing, which initiated the first shedding of blood. Those animals had to die for their clothes to be used to cover Adam and Eve. Now we have something so much better than the blood of animals and their skins covering us. We have the Blood of Jesus and His robe of righteousness covering us. The animal blood (skins) wore out, but the Blood of Jesus and His robe of righteousness will never wear out.

If you have any questions, I invite you to contact me. I would love to hear from you.

Pastor Sandy
Lifting Up Jesus Church
4147 Northgate Blvd., Ste 2-3, Sacramento, CA  95834
connect@rsrm.net