Freed From The Law
Luke 16:16 'The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.'
LUKE 16:16-17
The Bible teaches that there are different dispensations or divinely ordered ways of God dealing with mankind throughout the ages. A dispensation is simply a period of time in which God deals with mankind in a certain way.
The Old Testament law was only a temporary dispensation and ruled from the giving of the law (Ex. 20) until the ministry of John the Baptist. When Christ came, He put an end to the law for righteousness (Rom. 10:4). Anyone who advocates the keeping of the law for the purpose of right standing with God is going back to an Old Testament system of...
Build Faith, Destroy Doubt
Matthew 17:20 'And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.'
MATTHEW 17:9-20; MARK 9:9-27; LUKE 9:37-42
The disciples' unbelief in this instance was not a disbelief in God's power to produce deliverance, but rather a 'natural' kind of unbelief that came from a hardened heart that was more sensitive to what it saw than to what it believed. Jesus said that a very small amount of faith (a 'mustard seed') is sufficient to remove a mountain, if no unbelief is present to hinder it.
Jesus was disappointed...
Alive Unto God
Matthew 17:2 'And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.'
MATTHEW 17:1-8, MARK 9:1-8, LUKE 9:28-36
It is interesting to compare Jesus' transfiguration with that of Moses'. Jesus' face shone as the sun and His garment was as white as the light. This certainly exceeded what Moses experienced, and yet Jesus' face did not continue to shine when He came down off of the mountain as Moses' face did. Moses' face reflected the glory of God, but Jesus was the glory of God (Jn. 1:14; Heb. 1:3). Moses put a veil over his face to conceal the glory of God (Ex. 34:29-35) so that the people would not be afraid to come near him.
Jesus' body was His veil that...
Getting dressed is always an important part of the day. In fact, before you can walk out your door for work, school or any other place you go, you have to put on clothing. Some days maybe you even wear your favorite shirt or blouse just because it makes you feel good. However it doesn’t end there. You also choose each day the attitude that you want to wear. Even when life is challenging and you hurt inside you can choose to be clothed in praise. The Bible speaks in Psalms 22:3 of how God inhabits or is enthroned in our praises. Funneling your thoughts and feelings thru Gods Holiness invites His presence in the middle of your circumstances. So as you walk thru the pain and frustrations...
The Right Righteousness
Luke 16:15 'And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.'
LUKE 16:14-15
Justification is not something to be earned, but a gift to be received. Seeking to earn salvation is the only sin that will prevent a person from being saved, because you cannot submit yourself to the righteousness of God which comes as a gift through faith as long as you are seeking to establish your own righteousness.
Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of righteousness. Only one type of righteousness is acceptable to God. There is our righteousness, which is our compliance with the...
