A Walking Revelation

    Whether you believe it or not, dear reader, I received a revelation from God on Sunday 20 March 2011. It may seem a bit strange for me to say this, and I am not stating that this is the type of revelation that John the Apostle received, and it is not something that is new and not revealed already in scripture. Rather, it is an insight into scripture that came to me while walking the 2 mile trek from my mothers’ apartment to Denny’s on Pacific Highway in San Diego. The Holy Spirit was giving me a very distinct picture of works, of grace, and of salvation. The truly strange thing is that the very scripture that I was reflecting on was confirmed to me later that morning while attending St. Paul’s Cathedral, as, unbeknownst to me, the scriptures I had reflected upon on my walk were the same scriptures from the lectionary for that day. This was so shocking to me that I had to place it down on paper for myself and any others for whom the message is clearly meant. The scriptures are from Romans 4 and John 3.

Romans 4:1-8, 13-25
 1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, 13For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.14For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

    This passage speaks very clearly about how a person is justified, that is, declared not guilty before God. Many people have the mistaken idea that it is by works of righteousness that they find approval by God. Paul, in his interpretation of the Old Testament Historical account of Abraham blows up that theory. Abraham was not found righteous by his works. Abraham was not found righteous by his law-keeping. Abraham was not found righteous by his religion. He was proclaimed righteous by God because of his faith. He believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. God called Abraham, and Abraham responded in belief, and demonstrated his belief by doing what God called Him to do. Now, God did not count Abraham righteous because of anything that Abraham had done, for if that were the case, then God would be paying Abraham a wage, something that Abraham had earned.

    Abraham had no such boast before God, and neither do we.

    Many of us spend our lives before God trying to curry His favor through works of religion, by being moral, by being better than others in the way in which we behave. Abraham, King David, Paul, and Jesus Christ understood that righteousness comes by believing upon God alone for salvation. They understood that it was only by the sovereign grace of God that a person could be declared not-guilty. Bring it to a human court of law. If we have broken the law, as an example, we murdered somebody, and we stand before a judge, he is not going to take into account all the good things that you have done. He is going to judge you as a murderer, no matter how moral you have been with the rest of your life. He is going to judge you as a murderer even if you are sorry. He will judge you as a murderer even if you promise never to murder again. In his epistle, James states that if we transgress (break) the law in any one point, we are guilty of the entire law. The judge is therefore not going to declare you not guilty of murder because you have kept all the other laws. If the judge let you go, he would be a corrupt judge. His kindness towards you would be interpreted by the family of the murdered person as corruption and a miscarriage of justice. However, if somebody came and volunteered to pay a fine or to carry the punishment of your sentence, the demands of the law could be met. In the case of Abraham, and every other person after Abraham who looks to God alone for salvation, the fine has been paid by God through Christ. Our faith is λογίζομαι (logizomai) imputed or reckoned as righteousness. Jesus was delivered up for our offenses, and God raised Him from the dead so that we could be justified, that is, reckoned as righteous. This means God proclaims it to be so and recognizes it as being true. When we look to Christ for salvation, God gets the glory for saving us from the penalty for our sin, and we get to spend our lives thanking Him for His kindness by walking in His ways. We do not get any glory, only the benefit of His saving grace. This is why I love the following passage, for it demonstrates this powerful truth:

John 3:1-20, 36
 1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.12If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

 36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

    Nicodemus was described here as a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews. The Pharisees believed in the knowing and keeping of the law they would please God and earn their salvation as do many religious people in our day. The Pharisees were very religious about keeping the law, so religious that they added some 700 extra laws or clarifications about the law that defined what work could and could not be done on the sabbath day, how far one could walk on the sabbath, etc. A Pharisee like Nicodemus would have at least memorized the entire Pentateuch, if not the entire Old Testament, along with all the interpretations of the laws and additional rules the Pharisees had.  Since they loved the law and keeping the law, they became very self-righteous. They would look down on people who were not as good at keeping the law as they were. This is the very description of a proud and self-righteous religious person of our day; Believing that by good works and keeping of religious rules that they will please God and earn salvation.

    This is the notion that Jesus Christ exploded in the face of Nicodemus as well as all of us who have ears to hear. Jesus stated it succinctly: You must be born again. The phrase in John 3:3 and 3:7 is in the Greek γεννάω gennaō ἄνωθεν anōthen which literally means to be born from above. This is the only requirement to inherit the Kingdom of God. We listen as Jesus describes it as birth and as the wind. In both situations, we can see the result, but we have no control over the action. A baby gets born because of the action of his or her parents. They have no choice in the matter as to the time, place, or his or her own parents. This event is something that is set in motion and controlled by God. In the same way, we can harness the wind, and even see the results of the wind, but we have no control over the direction or the source of the wind. Being born again is the gracious action of God taken in the life of an individual. The only action that the man completes is belief. Depending upon your theological bent, this belief is described as being given by God as a result of being regenerated or quickened by God so that we are able to believe, or it is the action initiated by man in response to the Gospel by which we can be saved. I think it is clear here that it is both. As a result of the work of God, we look to Christ in faith and we can be born again.

    The Greek word that is central to John in this Gospel is πιστεύω pisteuō and it means to believe, to be persuaded, to rely upon, to trust. The New Testament  conception of faith is three fold:  a fully convinced acknowledgment,  a self-surrendering fellowship, and a fully assured and unswerving confidence. What this means is that the belief that saves is not just a historical acknowledgement that Jesus was who He said he was and that he walked the earth at some point. It is that belief and a surrender of the will so that we are in agreement with Him, following Him. Finally, New Testament belief that saves us is a trust in Jesus alone for salvation, not in our work but in His alone. This is the concept that Nicodemus and other religious people struggle with. It is not our knowledge of scriptures, religious actions, good deeds, or anything else that we do that justifies. As Paul taught about Abraham, and as Jesus teaches Nicodemus here, it is all about the work of God and or trust alone in that work that saves us. An illustration that may be helpful: Say that I gave you a brand new Bentley, all you needed to do to receive the gift was to take the keys from my hand. But you, being a proud person, wanted to give me something in return, so you give me $10. I would be very insulted. It is the same way with God; we give Him $10 worth of works and religion to attempt to please Him, when He offers us so great Salvation, the unlimited riches of His grace and mercy. What we must remember in this picture is that the default is that we are (outside of Christ) under condemnation, that the Wrath of God (outside of Christ) abides on us. We have nothing to offer except our lives; and He even must redeem those in order to make them of any worth. But he will, if we will simply give them over to Him by looking to Christ alone for salvation. If we refuse to look to Christ alone, we are already condemned, in the darkness, with the wrath of God abiding on us. If we will look to Christ and trust in Him alone, He will save us.

    The concept of grace is hard to grasp, for religion gets in the way. Every religion in the world is a system of works by which we ostensibly please God. It is backwards; we cannot please God. The Bible in its entirety teaches this concept. God chose Abraham, not because he was good, but because of God’s grace. The nation Israel was chosen not because of their superior goodness, but because of the grace of God. Not one of us are saved because we are good, we are saved based upon the grace of God alone. From start to finish, it is all God. He quickens us so that we can believe, He provides the payment (in Christ)  that satisfies His righteous wrath and anger (propitiation) so that we can be made righteous (justification). It is His indwelling Holy Spirit, not our works, that make us more like Christ (Sanctification). And this is all accessed by grace through faith. It is not of ourselves, we bring nothing to the table save ourselves.

    I have written this for myself primarily, because God gave me this message for whomever has ears to hear. I was that religious person, brought up in church, thinking I deserved everything good from God. In truth, I deserve nothing good from God, I deserve Hell. I write this because I have experienced grace, though the Lord bears witness that I am the least deserving of grace, of so great a salvation. I am a wretch; a lying, thieving, murderous, blasphemous adulterer at heart. It is my prayer that, in some small way, people may read this and understand the grace of God as displayed in my Lord Jesus Christ. Someone wrote the following, and it reflects my testimony of God’s grace towards me:

   
God be merciful to me a sinner for I am unrighteous, unworthy and dead in my trespasses. My throat is an open grave and my mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Wretched man that I am. I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. What is man that Thou art mindful of him and what am I that Thou would choose me to be a vessel of Thy mercy. Surely Thou art the Potter and I am but clay. I thank Thee God for the gift of faith and for the grace Thou hast shown me.

I am grateful to be the fruit of Your workmanship. I pray Thee use my life for Your Glory and enable me to walk in the good works which Thou hast prepared beforehand. In this mortal flesh I will always fall short of perfection. Day by day I see my failures making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Father, tis an unspeakable privilege that Thou move us to pray according to Thy Will. Assist me to do so without ceasing. Enable me to aspire to live quietly, and to mind my own affairs, and to work with my hands. Help me to love my neighbor, to rightly handle the Word of Truth, and to not be ashamed of the Gospel.

Father, Thou hast bestowed the Gospel to me. Please guard it. Thou hast promised that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate me from Thy love in Christ Jesus our Lord. I worship Thee.

I know that one day I will stand before Thy judgment throne and when Thou asks upon what do I plead, I will fall prostrate before Thee and say, I have nothing to claim but the blood of Jesus. It is by Christ Alone that I stand.

    Thank you for reading this. May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ save you, sanctify you, and bring you to glory with Him.

Dear _____,

Hebrews 3:7-12 ⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, ⁸ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:⁹ When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.¹⁰ Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.¹¹ So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)¹² Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

This is a passage that scares me to death. Last night, you spoke about the unpardonable sin, that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The unpardonable sin is unbelief, unbelief in the one whom God has sent. You shared that you were brought up Lutheran, that you had been baptized and confirmed. I fear for you, my friend. You have more than enough light to choose Christ or to deny Him. You have chosen the latter. You are full of knowledge about science and politics, things that you have learned by looking into and studying. Though you have God-given intelligence you are a fool according to the Word of God, which says the fool hath said in his heart "there is no God".

The verses above, from the book that you deny has any sort of truth, are warning those who have heard his voice, as you have. I do not know what kind of Lutheran that you were, but the fact is you have heard the Word of God. I have also spoken it to you multiple times personally, and you refuse to believe it. Such a seeker of knowledge you are! You cannot take the challenge of the Word of God and receive what it says about you, about mankind, about God, and about His Son Jesus! You have, in essence hardened your heart (not the organ-the core, the center of your being, what makes you human, the seat of your emotions, your will) against your creator. You, like the Israelites in the literal wilderness for forty years, have seen the great works of God all around you. They saw miraculous acts, as have you. They denied them and refused to believe. You have called them evolution, or the works of doctors, or the product of chance. You have dared to say "I don't know" and denying God rather than acknowledging that there could be a God. You have hardened your heart and suppressed the truth by your unrighteousness (Romans 1:18-20). It is your evil unbelief that condemns you, they very knowledge that you have and place your trust in in opposition to God.

You gave an illustration last night, saying that if God told me that he was going to destroy San Fransisco with an earthquake but I was not to go and warn people because God wanted to punish them, would I do it. I explained that God would not do such a thing, and that HE has warned me. He has warned me that you, and others like you who refuse to trust Christ alone are headed for a very real place called Hell. He has told me to warn you of the wrath to come, to provide you with an escape plan to avoid the terrible wrath that you are storing up for yourself. I would be the lowest of the low if I would not warn you, disobedient to the very command of God. I have warned you, and many others. I will continue to do so, because I love God primarily and He has commanded me to have love for you enough to plead with you to repent.

Please do not harden yourself to the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus.

I love you,

JTB

Crossway, Page CXVI, and Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary are helping me with a book and music giveaway worth over $150.

What will be given away?

1. Your choice of any bonded leather, Truetone, or personal size edition of the ESV Study Bible
2. Mark Driscoll’s Doctrine
3. Bob Kauflin’s Worship Matters
4. Rolland McCune’s Systematic Theology three volume set
5. Page CXVI’s three Hymns CD’s
6. Together for the Gospel Live CD

How you enter? Three easy steps:

1. Comment on this post or subscribe to my blog via RSS (here’s a helpful tutorial) or email (go to the bottom of the sidebar on the right)
2. “Like” the video I made promoting my school on Facebook – to do so, you must also “like” the page it is on (my video is the seventh one down and says “Contest entry by Jon Bolin”)
3. Send me an email (bolinpathblogATgmailDOTcom) telling me you subscribed to my blog/commented AND clicked the “like” button on my video

Want extra entries?

1. You can tweet about this giveaway and send me an email telling me you tweeted about the giveaway (gives you one extra entry)
2. You can mention the giveaway in your Facebook status and send me an email telling me you mentioned it in your status (gives you two extra entries)
3. You can blog about this giveaway and send me an email telling me you blogged about the giveaway (gives you three extra entries)

Additional Info:

• At midnight on February 28th, 2011 I will use random.org to select one winner.
• I can only ship within the United States.
• I will name the winner in a blog post on March 1st. The winner will have one week to respond with a shipping address to the email I send out.
• When the contest is over, your giveaway email entries will be deleted and your name and email address will not be sold or given to any third party.

ESV Study Bible

The ESV Study Bible was created to help people understand the Bible in a deeper way. Combining the best and most recent evangelical Christian scholarship with the highly regarded ESV text, it is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published.

The ESV Study Bible features more than 2,750 pages of extensive, accessible Bible resources, including completely new notes, full-color maps, illustrations, charts, timelines, and articles created by an outstanding team of 93 evangelical Christian scholars and teachers. In addition to the 757,000 words of the ESV Bible itself, the notes and resources of the ESV Study Bible comprise an additional 1.1 million words of insightful explanation and teaching-equivalent to a 20-volume Bible resource library all contained in one volume.

Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll

Regeneration in the New Testament

John 1:13	“born … of God”
John 3:3	“born again”
John 3:5	“born of water and the Spirit”
John 3:6	“born of the Spirit”
John 3:7	“born again”
John 3:8	“born of the Spirit”
Eph. 2:4–5	“God … even when we were dead … made us alive together with Christ”
Col. 2:13	“you, who were dead … God made alive together with him”
Titus 3:5	“he saved us … by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”
James 1:18	“he brought us forth by the word of truth”
1 Pet. 1:3	“he has caused us to be born again”
1 Pet. 1:23	“you have been born again”
1 John 2:29	“everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him”
1 John 3:9	“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning”
1 John 4:7	“whoever loves has been born of God”
1 John 5:1	“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God”
1 John 5:4	“everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world”
1 John 5:18	“everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning”

The wickedness of being ashamed of Christ is very great. It is a proof of unbelief. It shows that we care more for the praise of men whom we can see, than that of God whom we cannot see. It is a proof of ingratitude. It shows that we fear confessing Him before man who was not ashamed to die for us upon the cross. Wretched indeed are they who give way to this sin. Here, in this world, they are always miserable. A bad conscience robs them of peace. In the world to come they can look for no comfort. In the day of judgment they must expect to be disowned by Christ to all eternity, if they will not confess Christ for a few years upon earth. Let us resolve never to be ashamed of Christ. Of sin and worldliness we may well be ashamed. Of Christ and His cause we have no right to be ashamed at all. Boldness in Christ’s service always brings its own reward. The boldest Christian is always the happiest person.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 312. {Luke 9:23-27}

We have been studying the big word ecclesiology for the past several weeks, and there is one thing that has been really impressed on me in this study: God is an incredible God which has given us an amazing gift within the church. We are the body of Christ because we are adopted as children of God. We are spiritual brothers and sisters who, when we are together studying the Bible, praying, and celebrating the sacraments (ordinances) of the church, we are growing more and more like Jesus and manifesting His life in Marshall, Minnesota where He has willed that we are at this time. Today we will focus on the keeping of the ordinances, which is summarized in the breaking of the bread in the Acts 2:42-47 passage. The keeping of the ordinances are really about one thing, and that is keeping our eyes on Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith.
<blockquote>42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in <strong>breaking of bread</strong>, and in prayers.</blockquote>
<strong></strong>

<strong>The church is steadfast in the keeping of the Lord’s supper.</strong> The Lord Jesus gave the church two ordinances that we ought to observe that remind us of what Jesus Christ has done for us; baptism and the Lord’s Supper. As in fellowship, these are not individual acts, they must be done with one other person at least. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night He was betrayed. It was a memorial meal that was to be taken together for fellowship (it is taken only by those who by faith have trusted Christ for salvation, and thus have been adopted into the family of God) and to remember what Christ has done for us at the cross ‘until He comes again’.We see in 1 Corinthians 11 these instructions and what we are remembering and proclaiming when we break the bread together:
<blockquote>1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.</blockquote>
What we are remembering is the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the surrounding events. We remember how Jesus was betrayed, how his body was broken, and how his blood was shed for us. We are remembering that there is a missing guest at the table, Christ, for He physically is in heaven and will be there until He comes again. It is a time of remembering that our sin was that which required the penalty of death, and Jesus’ love for us required that He come and make atonement by his shed blood. Indeed, this should remind us that Jesus took the punishment that each of our sins deserve. He did not deserve to die, yet, He was a willing sacrifice. We are remembering our sin, but we are also remembering His victory over it. The grace of God is amazing, that despite deserving death and punishment for our deeds, Jesus Christ came and took this penalty for us, and when we take communion we are remembering what He did for us. It should assist us in living a holy life in thanksgiving to God.

By participating in the Lords Supper, we are proclaiming the Gospel until Jesus comes again. We are proclaiming that we are sinners, in need of a cleansing for our sin. We are proclaiming that Jesus Christ is savior, that His body was broken and His blood was shed for our sins. We are proclaiming His victory, for we do so with knowledge that He lives. and we do so in hope, because we are commanded to do it until He comes again.

The other ordinance or sacrament that Jesus commands us to observe is the sacrament of Baptism.
<blockquote>Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.</blockquote>
Baptism was around for a while,, the Jews would take a mikvah, a bath, to cleanse themselves ceremoniously before they would enter into the temple. The ritual cleansing by a priest in Leviticus was for the evidence that the sin had been dealt with. This is similar to Baptism, and John the Baptist took that picture and used it as a picture of spiritual cleansing for the remission of sins. Jesus used that type and shadow also and revealed it as a outward demonstration of an inward reality. Baptizo is the Greek, and it can be the act of baptism, but it also means to be immersed into. Baptism does not save anybody, but it is a sign that we have been brought into the body of Christ through salvation.
<blockquote>Romans 6:2-4 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.</blockquote>
In Baptism, we remember that we have died to sin, but also that we have died with Christ, that is, we have symbolically as well as spiritually died to self and to sin, and by identifying with Christ’s death, we are dead to sin. We are also symbolically buried with Christ, and raised up with Christ in newness of life. By being baptized within a church fellowship, you are making a proclamation about yourself, that you are no longer your own, that you have died and that the new has come, that you are alive in Christ Jesus. As a result of salvation, symbolized by baptism, you should walk in newness of life to the glory of God the Father.
<blockquote>Galatians 3:26-28 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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.</blockquote>
Baptism also represents that we have been adopted into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ. In believers’ baptism, we have put on Jesus Christ, but we also have put on one another. We are all one in Jesus Christ through regeneration, then conversion, then by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we are somehow united by the symbolic putting on Christ through the public proclamation of Baptism. We have all gone through not only the spiritual passage from death to life, and we have also shared the rite of passage in Baptism. The real beauty of believer’s baptism is the symbolism and the testimony of the one being baptized. They verbally say I used to be lost but now I am found. I used to be dead, but now in Christ I live. I have died to my self, and I have put on Christ. I am now a child of God, and adopted into His family. It is a beautiful thing.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Acts 2: 43,47 (KJV)

The church was steadfast in Fear What does it mean that the church feared God? The natural result of the people being steadfast in the apostle’s teaching, prayer, fellowship, and observance of the ordinances, in addition to the conversion of three thousand souls by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the testimony of the signs and wonders done by the apostles brought to the people an awareness of the power of God in their midst. The result was a  reverence towards a holy, holy, holy God because of an awareness of the truth of God and His work in their very midst. They saw lives changed radically. They saw signs and wonders. They were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The result was reverence and appreciation towards God, and a holy fear that drove them in the midst of very hard circumstances. It is not an misstatement to say that being a part of a close fellowship in the midst of the trials drew these people to rely on God first and on the body of Christ all around. They did not want to sin and offend God, they truly wanted to please God with their lives and thank Him for His salvation by the way that they lived. They had a proper  understanding of who they were and who God was, and their lives evidenced this. The beauty for Christians is that even though God is awesome and powerful, the phobos (Greek for fear) is one of awe and reverence, not of horror of punishment, because now God is His loving adoptive Father, not the judge. Their worship evidenced this. Look at the end of the passage we studied earlier in 1 Corinthians 11
<blockquote>27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.</blockquote>
The things that were shared within the fellowship of believers, the ekklesia, were sacred. They understood, for the new believers were cognizant of the history of the Jews. They understood the richness of their heritage. In Corinth, they were one or two generations removed from the original church, not in years but in culture and background. In other words, they did not have the proper view of God, or of one another, which is why Paul had to correct them in this letter. Something as simple as remembering Jesus in the Lord’s Supper had become an occasion to sin for some because of their selfish approach. Indeed, they had forgotten to remember who they were and who God was, and who their family was. They had forgotten there as no rich or poor, Jew or Greek, they were all Christians. As a result, they were approaching the Lords Table without due reverence for the Lord, or honor for one another. As a result, many were sick and many were dying. The purpose of the sickness and death was the discipline or the chastening of the Lord, not for condemnation, rather, for training. We do not have to fear this chastening if we would simply examine ourselves as we approach the Lord’s Table. A note: Unless we are in Christ, we are not worthy to take the Lord’s Supper. We need to be careful, even as Christians, to not make a mockery of this holy proclamation by the way that we live and in the way that we take the cup. We should take each opportunity to examine ourselves, our motives, our lives before a Holy God. While we remember who we were, we take stock of who we are and how we are living.  Please think about this: People sick and dying as a result of improper attitude towards God would bring about fear, and awe, a reverence for God and His power both within the church and without. Inside the church, the loving chastening of the Lord was seen as a Father training his children. Their love cast out the fear of final judgment and brought about changes in their lives as they examined themselves. Outside the church,  the Holy Spirit’s role in the world is to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Seeing the people in the church being chastened would bring an awareness of God’s power and standards that many never paid attention to up to that point. They may be convinced that God is all powerful and seek to be reconciled to Him. Either way, God is given great glory as men fear Him.

And this reverent awe was not lost on the community that surrounded the Corinthians, or the community that surrounded the Jewish Church. Praise went to God, the common people favored the Christians, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. You see, as the Proverbs say, the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When people observe the power of God being manifested through the Holy Spirit in the local body of Christ, then amazing things happen. As the body celebrates the sacraments together in a fellowship that honors God through their study and application of scripture and prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested and people get saved. Imagine our Fellowship if each one here would lay down their lives as individuals daily as a living sacrifice. This would be first and foremost to honor God, but in doing so the people in Marshall could be impacted like the people in Jerusalem. We would gain the favor of the people because they would see that Christ is the real deal through our changed lives. And, I believe as our fellowship becomes more like the body of Christ, many more people in Marshall will be saved by the Lord Jesus.