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Daily Archives: December 1, 2020
2 Kinds of Cheap Grace You Need to Avoid — BLOG – Beautiful Christian Life
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“Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
Cheap grace is worthless. It tries to rob you of your peace and rest in Christ. Christians always need to be on the lookout for cheap grace and stay far away from it. Here are two kinds of cheap grace that pretend to be the costly grace God gives us in Christ:
1. Grace without Christ
Some people think that God saves us by his grace in Christ, but we must be obedient to get and keep God’s grace fully. There have been various words used over the years to describe this kind of cheap grace, including legalism, prevenient grace, works-righteousness, and covenant faithfulness. You can always recognize this kind of cheap grace by this one test: If someone is telling you that there is something you need to do to add to Jesus’ completed work on your behalf—that Jesus’ finished work is not enough to save you—then you need to run away from this false teaching.
Many Christians are told that this kind of grace is true grace; the people who teach cheap grace may be ignorant, thinking that conditional grace is God’s grace—but it isn’t. There are many verses in the Bible that affirm the truth that salvation comes from outside of us through the work of Christ, not from anything we do (for some examples, see Rom. 5:1; 6–8; 15–17; Rom. 8:1–11; 2 Cor. 3:4–5; 5:17; Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 3:4–7). The works James is talking about in his letter are the fruits of the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of believers (James 2:14–26). These works do nothing to save a person; rather, they are evidence of a person’s adoption into God’s family in Christ.
2. Grace without the Spirit
Some people think that, because believers are saved by God’s grace in Christ, they can sin whenever they feel like it because God will forgive them anyway. A fancy word for this is antinomianism. This kind of cheap grace does not take into account the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in the lives of all Christians (John 16:7–15). All believers bear the fruit of the Spirit because they are branches attached to the vine of Christ (John 15:4–5; Gal. 5:22–23; Col. 1:10).
Followers of Christ must continually fight against sin, but that doesn’t mean they will do a perfect job of it in this present world. In fact, they can’t do a perfect job, no matter how hard they try. It has been said, “If you’re still livin’, you’re still sinnin’.” Christians will fail to keep all of God’s commands in this life because, although they are declared righteous in Christ, they are still sinners. The Spirit convicts believers of their sin and leads them to repentance (John 16:8; Rom. 8:14). Believers will experience true sorrow over their sin because they have been bought with a price and have the Spirit living in them (Rom. 7:14–25).
One of the signs that a believer is growing in holiness is the increasing awareness of one’s sin and corresponding desire to stay away from all ungodliness. Christians show gratitude to and love for God by keeping his commandments (John 14:15; Heb. 13:15; 1 John 2:3; 5:3). This obedience is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the believer offers up to God; it is never a means to keep—or earn—God’s grace. Just as sometimes children disobey their parents and are disciplined accordingly, God disciplines us because we are his beloved children in Christ, and he will use our failures to teach us through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
So, what is costly grace? Costly grace is God’s unmerited favor because of Christ’s unfathomable sacrifice for all who trust in him (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:20). Because we are sinners, there is nothing we can do to earn the favor of a holy God (Rom. 3:23). God sent his Son to be born in the flesh because there was no other way we could be saved. Jesus did all the work to earn God’s favor on our behalf, so that we could have peace with God and eternal life (Rom. 5:1).
By God’s grace, Christ’s righteousness is counted to us and our sin is counted to Christ, who gave his precious blood as the perfect sacrifice once for all (Rom. 5:12–21; Heb. 7:27; 10:14; 1 Pet. 1:18–19). This grace comes through faith in Christ alone, which is also God’s gift (Eph. 2:8–9). God’s costly grace is amazing, because even though we are guilty before him based on our own insufficient works, God declares us righteous in Christ.
Don’t let the devil rob you of your joy in Christ, for Jesus has already won the victory. The devil’s attempts to make you doubt your salvation will never change the fact that you are declared righteous in Christ alone through faith alone by God’s grace alone—regardless of what the future holds. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:35–39). Cling to your Savior and be at peace.
Related Articles:
- Works in the Book of James—“Fruits and Evidences of a True and Lively Faith”
- Say Yes to the Best Offer Ever: Receive Jesus for Free
- 2 Important Things to Remember about Fighting Sin—Romans 7:13-25
- 12 Reasons Why Jesus Meant It When He Said, “It Is Finished”
Le Ann Trees is managing editor of Beautiful Christian Life.
This article was originally published under the title “Say No to Cheap Grace” at corechristianity.com.Click Here to Subscribe to BCL’s Free Monthly Newsletter and Weekday Devotional
Recommended Book:
Putting Amazing Back into Grace: Embracing the Heart of the Gospel by Michael Horton; foreword by J. I. Packer
2 Kinds of Cheap Grace You Need to Avoid — BLOG – Beautiful Christian Life
“And Why Stop There?”: CNN Analyst Calls For Sweeping Regulation Of Free Speech On The Web | Zero Hedge
“Nearly every tweet from the president at this point is labeled for misinfo. Which had me thinking. Why doesn’t Twitter just take the step of labeling his entire account as a known source of election disinfo?”
Those calls are growing as anti-free speech advocates see an opportunity in the Biden Administration to crackdown on opposing views. One vocal advocate of censorship and speech controls has been CNN media analyst Oliver Darcy who just ratcheted up his call for de-platforming opposing views.
Like many anti-free speech advocates, Darcy simply labels those with opposing views as spreading “disinformation” and demands that they be labeled or barred from social media. In a recent newsletter, Darcy calls for every tweet by Trump to be labeled as disinformation while asking “and why stop there?” Precisely. Once you cross the Rubicon of speech regulation, there is little reason or inclination to stop. Just look at Europe.
Darcy wrote:
“Nearly every tweet from the president at this point is labeled for misinfo. Which had me thinking. Why doesn’t Twitter just take the step of labeling his entire account as a known source of election disinfo? And why stop there? Why not label accounts that repeatedly spread claims the platform has to fact-check?”
There was a time from the very touchstone of American journalism was the rejection of such calls for censorship, including at CNN.
What is chilling about Darcy’s writings is that they reflect the view of many now in Congress and in the Democratic Party. Indeed, they reflect many in the Biden campaign. Once a party that fought for free speech, it has become the party demanding Internet censorship and hate speech laws. President-Elect Joe Biden has called for speech controls and recently appointed a transition head for agency media issues that is one of the most pronounced anti-free speech figures in the United States. It is a trend that seems now to be find support in the media, which celebrated the speech of French President Emmanuel Macron before Congress where he called on the United States to follow the model of Europe on hate speech.
— Read on www.zerohedge.com/markets/and-why-stop-there-cnn-analyst-calls-sweeping-regulation-free-speech-web
December 1st The D. L. Moody Year Book
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.—Genesis 19:14.
THE Saviour tells us they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building; all went on as usual. Sodom was never more prosperous than now. There is no sign of a coming judgment; no sign that Sodom is going to be burnt up.
The sun shone as brightly the day before its destruction as it had shone for years. The stars perhaps were glittering in the heavens as brightly as ever, and the moon threw her light down upon the city; but Lot’s sons-in-law mocked him, he couldn’t get them out. I see him going through the streets with his head bowed down, and great tears trickling down his cheeks. Ask him now about his life, and he will tell you it has been a total failure. He goes back to his home; and early in the morning the angels have to take him almost by force, and hasten him out of the city. He could not bear the thought of leaving his loved ones there to perish, while God dealt in judgment with that city.
Is not that a fair picture of hundreds and thousands at the present time? Have you been trying to accumulate wealth even to the neglect of your children, so that to-day they are lifting up their voices against your God, and against your Bible, and against you? They do not care for your feelings; ate they not trampling them under their feet? Perhaps many of the parents have gone to their graves, and the children are now squandering what their parents gathered. What an example we have in the case of Lot, and how it ought to open the eyes of many a business man, and cause him to see that his life is going to be a total wreck if he takes his children into Sodom’s judgment when the judgment comes.[1]
[1] Moody, D. L. (1900). The D. L. Moody Year Book: A Living Daily Message from the Words of D. L. Moody. (E. M. Fitt, Ed.) (pp. 213–214). East Northfield, MA: The Bookstore.
BREAKING: The Durham Probe is Now a Special Counsel Investigation — Christian Research Network
“The move by Barr ensures the investigation into government abuse during the 2016 presidential election and beyond will continue should former Vice President Joe Biden be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Biden would have the ability to fire Durham, but given Democrats’ record of defending Special Counsel Robert Mueller, doing so would be a tough political move.”
(Katie Pavlich – Townhall) Attorney General Bill Barr has appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham as a Special Counsel, elevating his current investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. The appointment took place shortly before the 2020 presidential election.
“On May 13, 2019, I directed United States Attorney John Durham to conduct a preliminary review into certain matters related to the 2016 presidential election campaigns, and Mr. Durham’s review subsequently developed into a criminal investigation, which remains ongoing. Following consultation with Mr. Durham, I have determined that, in light of the extraordinary circumstances relating to these matters, the public interest warrants Mr. Durham continuing this investigation pursuant to the powers and independence afforded by the Special Counsel regulations,” Barr wrote in an order. “The Special Counsel in authorized two investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller,. III.” View article →
BREAKING: The Durham Probe is Now a Special Counsel Investigation — Christian Research Network
General Michael Flynn’s Warning to the Nation — VCY America
Date: December 1, 2020
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Brannon Howse
MP3 | Order
https://embed.sermonaudio.com/player/a/121202219437129/
According to major media sources, the 2020 election is over and Joe Biden is president-elect. Actually, it was the media that granted the title of ‘president-elect’ to Biden. That’s despite the fact that there are numerous lawsuits occurring in multiple states where voter fraud has been indicated including activities like vote data dumps, missing USB cards, state legislatures introducing resolutions to dispute election results and Dominion software reportedly accessed by foreign governments.
As this situation plays out, people formerly involved at high levels of our government are presenting information that appears to verify the idea that fraud did occur and that the media is involved in deliberate censorship to cover it up. Brannon Howse proves the point as he was granted the opportunity to be the first to interview General Michael Flynn since his pardon. Brannon joined Jim to present excerpts of that interview for Crosstalk listeners.
Brannon is the president of WVW Broadcast Network and Host of Worldview Weekend Radio and the Worldview Weekend Hour Television Program. He’s an avid researcher, author of several books including Marxianity, Coming Religious Reich, Twisted Scripture Twisted Theology, Grave Influence and numerous others. He’s producer of the documentary, Siege.
Brannon became friends with national security author and researcher Mary Fanning. Eventually Fanning introduced Brannon to 3-star General Thomas McInerney (retired). He oversaw NORAD (Alaska), was in charge of nuclear weapons for the Pentagon and as a young man flew over 400 missions fighting the communists in Vietnam.
Brannon received a call on November 27th from General McInerney saying they needed to go live on-the-air. It was during that broadcast that he received a call from General McInerney’s friend, General Michael Flynn.
As you hear the excerpts from General Flynn, he explains…
- How there are clear paths to victory for President Trump.
- How China was tied to the recent election.
- The censorship in the media.
- How what had been a ‘…coup in progress’ is evolving.
Brannon followed this up by describing the impression this interview left on him and information from General McInerney that the general believes amounts to treason.
What is that information and does it indicate that the enemies of our nation are now ‘inside the wire’? Become informed and decide for yourself when you review this edition of Crosstalk.
More Information
For more of the interview with General Michael Flynn go to: wvwtv.com
COVID-1984 DOUBLESPEAK: New UK Vaccine Minister Says That While Coronavirus Vaccinations Will Not Be Mandatory, The Immunity Passport Will — Now The End Begins
The UK’s new vaccine minister Nadim Zahawi has said that while coronavirus vaccinations will not be mandatory, Britons may be barred from going to the cinema or getting on an aeroplane without it if service providers demand proof of inoculation with immunity passport.
Over in the UK where there are weeks away from rolling out the first round of coronavirus vaccines, the newly-appointed Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment has been engaging in some decidedly Orwellian double-speak. On the one hand, he said that the UK has no plans to make the vaccine mandatory, and then follows that up with the idea that the immunity passport, something you get after receiving a vaccine, will be mandatory.
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” ― George Orwell, 1984
Prepare yourselves, people, no matter what country you call home, because one the vaccines start rolling out, and they will be seemingly endless, there will be no end until every human on earth has received multiple shots and have taken their biometric, digital identification immunity passport.
PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE ID2020 COVID-19 ‘IMMUNITY PASSPORT’ THAT COMBINES DIGITAL IDENTITY WITH VACCINATIONS, BLOCKCHAIN AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
UK Minister: You Might Be Banned from Venues Without Coronavirus Vaccine Immunity Passport
FROM BREITBART NEWS: Conservative MP Nadim Zahawi is the newly-appointed Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment and will oversee the rollout of the vaccination in England. Mr Zahawi said that of the three vaccines currently being developed in the UK — by Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna — the Pfizer product is the most far along and likely to be widely rolled out first.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One on Monday, Mr Zahawi confirmed that the vaccine would not be compulsory and would remain voluntary. However, the demand for “immunity passports” to secure service — such as by Australian airline Qantas — may make the jabs effectively compulsory by any other definition.
When host Sarah Montague asked if could follow that British businesses could demand an immunity passport before a person can go to a stadium to watch a football match, the COVID vaccination minister did not deny such an outcome, rather adding that the government was looking for a system comparable to the NHS’s ‘Test and Trace’ app, which tracks the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Zahawi said: “We are looking at the technology and of course a way of people informing their GP that they’ve been vaccinated. But also I think you’ll probably find that restaurants, bars, and cinemas and other venues — sports venues — will probably also use that system as they’ve done with the app.”
The Times had reported on Monday that the NHS is working on updating the Test and Trace app to include the information in its data architecture so that Britons can confirm their inoculation status.
The vaccine tsar admitted that without the availability of Big Government’s tech, there would be no demand for such ‘COVID passports’ by service providers, saying: “In many ways, the pressure from both ways: from service providers who will say, ‘Demonstrate to us that you’ve been vaccinated,’ but also we will make the technology as easy and accessible as possible.”
Sarah Montague asked Mr Zahawi whether or not it would become “virtually impossible to do anything if you don’t have the vaccine”, with the minister responding: “I think people have to make a decision, but I think you’ll probably find many service providers will want to engage in this in the way they did with the Test and Trace app.”
The minister’s comments come after reports that the government is also working on coronavirus stamps for passports in order to boost the travel and tourism industry. The government is also reportedly working on so-called “freedom passes” for those who have tested negative for the Chinese coronavirus, which could allow them to be free from having to wear a mask or to visit family members during lockdowns.
Former Brexit Party MEP, now Lady Fox of Buckley in the House of Lords, Claire Fox responded to Zahawi’s remarks on Monday evening, saying: “When Boris assured us that no-one would be forced to vaccinate, he forgot to add, ‘but if you don’t, you will be effectively prevented from being part of the public sphere, ever’. Public shaming next? I want to be an enthusiastic advocate for vaccines. This COERCION doesn’t help.” READ MORE
Coronavirus: Calls for mandatory vaccines for re-entry into Australia
Should the COVID Vaccine Be Made Mandatory?
Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 4, Angelic Comfort — The End Time
By Elizabeth Prata Advent series in scripture photos
What is sin?What is the definition of sin? – Got QuestionsMatthew Henry on Matthew 1:18-25 Thirty Days of Jesus series Introduction/BackgroundDay 1Day 2 Day 3
Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 4, Angelic Comfort — The End Time
December 1 Life-Changing Moments With God
A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest.
As I have partaken of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself likewise shared in the same. “The Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.”
I who dwell in Your secret place, O Lord Most High, shall abide under Your shadow. There will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. You, Lord, are my shade at my right hand. The sun shall not strike me by day, nor the moon by night.
When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble. You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
In times of need and during the struggles of everyday life, Lord, You provide shelter and strength. Thank You, Father God.
Isaiah 32:2; Hebrews 2:14; Zechariah 13:7; John 10:30; Psalm 91:1; Isaiah 4:6; Psalm 121:5–6; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 32:7; Isaiah 25:4[1]
[1] Jeremiah, D. (2007). Life-Changing Moments With God (p. 360). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
December 1, 2020 Evening Verse Of The Day
Righteousness Is Provided For All
for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (3:22b–23)
The provision of salvation and the righteousness it brings is granted for all those who believe. Anyone will be saved who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, for there is no distinction.
Preaching in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, Paul declared, “Through Him [Christ] everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). In his letter to the church at Galatia, the apostle said, “A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 2:16).
Jesus Himself said, “The one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ—whether a murderer, prostitute, thief, rapist, homosexual, religious hypocrite, false teacher, pagan, or anything else—will be saved. Just as no one is good enough to be saved, no one is so evil that he cannot be saved.
That is the wonderful point of Romans 3:22. All those who believe will be saved, because in God’s sight there is no distinction. Just as everyone apart from Christ is equally sinful and rejected by God, everyone who is in Christ is equally righteous and accepted by Him. Even the “foremost of all” sinners, as Paul called himself (1 Tim. 1:15), was not too wicked to be saved.
There is no distinction among those who are saved, because there is no distinction among those who are lost, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Hustereō (fall short) has the basic meaning of being last or inferior. Every human being comes in last as far as the glory of God is concerned.[1]
23 The reason all must come to God through faith in Christ is that “all have sinned and fall short of [or lack, as in Mk 10:21] the glory of God.” This crisp summarizing statement repeats the point already established by Paul in 3:9, 19. The glory in view cannot be eschatological (as in 5:2), since even believers, for whom the sin problem has been solved, lack the future glory now. The suggestion that the glory is God’s approbation or praise (Denney, 610) is unlikely, since this meaning of doxa (GK 1518), common in Luke, is somewhat rare in Paul. Dodd, 50–51, seeks to link the glory with the image of God in man (cf. 1 Co 11:7), which is marred by sin. This is suggestive, but it would be more acceptable if Paul had used the past tense (“have fallen short”) to match the sense in the previous statement about sin. Probably the best interpretation is to associate the glory with the divine presence and the privilege Adam and Eve originally had of direct communion with God. This ever-present deprivation is depicted in the restriction of the glory to the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and the denial of the right of access to the people except through the high priest once a year. God’s glory is the majesty of his holy person. To be cut off from this direct fellowship is the great loss occasioned by sin.[2]
22b–23 In something of a parenthesis, vv. 22b–23 remind us why this righteousness is available to all, and why, also, all need this righteousness. “There is no distinction” summarizes a key element of Paul’s presentation in 1:18–3:20, and is likely, therefore, to have special application to Jew and Gentile. In v. 23, Paul elaborates this point. His “no distinction,” as we would expect, has to do with the absence of any basic difference among people with respect to their standing before God. Jews may have the law and circumcision; Americans may lay claim to a great religious heritage; “good” people may point to their works of charity; but all this makes no essential difference to one’s standing before the righteous and holy God. Paul reduces the argument of 1:18–3:20 to its essence in a justly famous statement of the condition of all people outside Christ: “all have sinned and are falling short of the glory of God.” The second verb states the consequences of the first: because all have sinned, all are falling short of the glory of God. “Glory” in the Bible characteristically refers to the magnificent presence of the Lord, and the eternal state was often pictured as a time when God’s people would experience and have a part in that “glory” (e.g., Isa. 35:2; Rom. 8:18; Phil. 3:21; 2 Thess. 2:14). And just as this sharing in God’s “glory” involves conformity to the “image of Christ” (Rom. 8:29–30; Phil. 3:21), so the absence of glory involves a declension from (though not removal of) the “image of God” in which human beings were first made. “The future glory may be regarded as the restoration of the lost, original glory.”736 Paul, then, is indicating that all people fail to exhibit that “being-like-God” for which they were created; and the present tense of the verb, in combination with Rom. 8, shows that even Christians “fall short” of that goal until they are transformed in the last day by God.[3]
3:23 / For all have sinned. This is Paul’s categorical summary of the human experience. In chapter 3 he repeats this judgment nine times (vv. 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 22, 23)! Regardless of the distinctions humans draw among themselves, in God’s sight “there is no difference.” All have sinned is an essential prelude to verse 24. Only in the light of grace can humanity recognize and lament its rebellion; only in the light of its rebellion is humanity humbled to receive grace. If humanity is to be saved, salvation must come from outside it, for on its own humanity stands under wrath. The Reformers referred to this as “alien righteousness,” salvation from outside, salvation not from humanity, but freely and entirely from God. Karl Barth presses this idea into service when he says, “Genuine fellowship is grounded upon a negative: it is grounded upon what men lack” (Romans, p. 101). There is no denominator common to humanity, whether social status, nationality, race, or whatever interests, which constitutes the fellowship of righteousness. All humans share a solidarity of impoverishment with one another in God’s sight. The one thing they have in common is that which makes them objects of both wrath and grace, their unworthiness before God.
Unworthiness is characterized by a falling short of the glory of God. Paul said earlier of those who sought glory and did good that “glory, honor, and peace” would await them (2:10). It might be supposed that the human predicament is actually a failure to “come of age” or attain its destiny. This is quite an alien thought for Paul. Falling short of the glory of God is surely a reference to Adam’s sin in Genesis 3. Humanity lacks glory not because it has failed in its potential, but because it has lost it through disobedience. The lacking of glory draws our attention not to a hopeful evolutionary spiral, but to the state of sin (“under sin,” 3:9), resultant from humanity’s exchanging the glory of God for its own will (1:21–23).[4]
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Two pieces of Paul’s Adam theology surface here. First, the aorist tense of the verb hēmarton (“have sinned”) no doubt alludes to Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden of Eden (see Rom. 5:12–21; cf. 1:18–32). Thus, in some mysterious way all of humanity has been impacted by Adam’s sin (see the commentary on Rom. 5:12–14). Second, Paul’s reference to all of humanity falling (hysterountai [“fall short”] is a present tense used in gnomic fashion, indicating something that is constantly going on) probably alludes to the first couple’s loss of divine glory upon their sin in paradise (see Gen. 1:26–28; Ps. 8:4–8; Apoc. Mos. 21.6; 3 Bar. 4.16; 1QS 4.22–23; CD 3.19–20; 4Q171 3.1–2) as well as the eschatological hope of the restoration of that glory.[5]
23. All have sinned. These identical words (pantes … hēmarton) appear at the end of 5:12 where, however, the reference may be to the participation of all in ‘man’s first disobedience’; here the meaning is that all human beings, as individuals, have sinned.
Fall short of the glory of God. The image of God in which man was created was believed to involve a share in the divine glory, which was forfeited through sin. The words of Isaiah 43:7, ‘whom I created for my glory’ (spoken, in the context, of ‘every one who is called by my name’), came to be applied to humanity in general. Cf. also 1 Corinthians 11:7. The ‘hope of sharing the glory of God’ awaits believers in the coming age (5:2).[6]
Ver. 23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Sin as a fact:—
- The necessity of a clear sense of sin. 1. The gospel is a glorious remedy for a universal and otherwise incurable disease; and the first step must ever be to make us sensible of that disease. For one of its most dangerous symptoms is, that it makes men insensible of it. And, seeing that the remedy is not one which can be simply taken once for all, but requires long application, a man must be very thoroughly persuaded that he has the disease before he will take the necessary trouble to be cured of it. Let us try and see what “all having sinned” means. 2. When any of us looks out upon mankind, or within himself, one thing can hardly fail to strike him. It is the presence of evil. From the first, man’s history has been a history of going wrong and doing wrong. From the first, our own personal history has been a history of interrupted good and interfering bad. 3. Some have said, “Don’t tell people about it; forget that there is evil in yourself; and you and they will become good. It may be true that there is such a dark spot in nature; but gazing upon it is painful and useless; look at the bright side.” But do you suppose that evil in our nature can be thus got rid of? Try it for a day—for an hour; then take strict unsparing account. And if more time is wanted, try it for a year; then retire and trace your path during the time. Does not every man see that it would be simply the tale of the silly ostrich over again, which imagines itself safe from the hunter by hiding him from its sight? No; a man who wants to get rid of evil must open his eyes to it, stand face to face with it, and conquer it.
- Sin is distinguished from every other evil. 1. There are bodily pain, discomfort, misery, common to us and to all. Now, if we can manage to flee away from them, we thereby get rid of them. We need not study their nature. But the man who wishes to avoid evil in this world must be awake and alive to the forms and accesses of evil. His very safety consists in it. Therefore evil is a matter of a totally different kind from bodily pain, misery, or death. 2. Evil is not by any means our only inward source of annoyance and hindrance. Every one has defects and infirmities. But none of these do we look upon as we look upon evil. Let it be shown that we are dull, or feeble, or inferior to some others, we put up with it, we excuse it, we make ourselves as comfortable as we may under it; but let it be once shown that we have wished, said, done, that which is evil, and we know at once that there is no excuse for it. We may try to show that we did it inadvertently, or by force of circumstances, or in some way to lessen our own share in it, but the very labour to construct an excuse shows that we hold the evil itself, as evil, to be inexcusable. So far, then, this evil is something which our nature itself teaches us to revolt from and abhor. No son of man ever said or could say, from his inmost heart, “Evil, be thou my good.” It requires more than man ever to say this.
III. Sin is the transgression of law. 1. What we have said shows that there is a law implanted in our nature by which evil is avoided and good desired. All our laws, public opinion, even our ways of thinking and speaking, are founded on this. 2. Now, when man says or acts evil, what sort of a thing does he do? Is it a necessary condition of our lives that we must enter into compact with evil? Certainly not. Every protest against, resistance to, victory over it, proves that evil is not necessary to our being. But true as this is, the freedom from and victory over evil is not that after which all men are striving. One man seeks sensual gratification; another wealth; a third power; a fourth reputation, &c., &c.; and so, not man’s highest aim to be good, but an aim very far below this is followed by even the best of mankind sometimes. Now every one of these lower objects, if followed as an object, does necessarily bring a man into contact and compromise with evil. Greed, intemperance, injustice, unkindness, overweening opinion of self, and a hundred other evil things beset every one in such courses of life. 3. When a man lives such a course he is disobeying that great first law of our being by which we choose the good and abhor the evil. Now, whenever we do this we sin. “All sin is transgression of law.” 4. Now, sin is committed against a person. And this law of good and evil of which we have been speaking, springs from that Holy and Just One who hath made us and to whom we are accountable. All sin is against Him.
- All have sinned. And in dwelling on this, the fact that all men have inherited the disposition to sin, necessarily comes first. And, inheriting this disposition, but with it inheriting also the great inward law of conscience warning us against evil, we have again and again followed, not the good law, but the evil propensity. In wayward childhood this has been so; in passionate youth; in calm, deliberate manhood. Now, then, this being so, can sin be safe? Can a sinner be happy? Sin is and must be the ruin of man, body and soul, here and hereafter. (Dean Alford.)
The charge of sin universal:—
- The charge here brought is that of having sinned, and a most solemn and awful charge it is. “Fools,” indeed, “make a mock at sin”; and that they do so, is a proof of their folly. God is love; and consequently His law requires love. To love God with all the heart, and their fellow-beings as themselves, is the essence of that law. To break this law is sin; and sin produces only misery and ruin. To charge a person with having sinned is to charge him with having acted contrary to the purpose for which he was made; with having failed to love and obey the best and greatest of beings; with being guilty of the same conduct with that which cast the angels out of heaven, and man out of Paradise. Surely this is a solemn charge. Do we want other examples of the evil of having sinned? Why the Flood? why the fire upon the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? &c. Because they had sinned. Or, to give a more awful and decisive example, why did the Son of God die on the Cross? Because He had taken upon Himself the nature and the cause of sinners.
- The persons against whom it is brought. “There is no difference; for all have sinned,” in their progenitor and representative, and in their own persons also. But this is a truth unpalatable to the pride of man. And under the influence of this principle he will be disposed yet further to ask, “What! is there no difference? no difference between righteous Abel and wicked Cain? between impenitent Saul and contrite David? Are they all equally guilty before God?” In one sense all these persons are not alike. They have not all sinned in the same manner, in the same measure, to the same degree. Here there is a wide difference between them. But in the sense spoken of in the text they are all alike. They have all sinned; and here there is no difference. Though they may not be equally guilty, yet they are all guilty before God.
III. The extent of the charge here brought. “All have sinned, and,” by so doing, “have come short of the glory of God.” This expression signifies—1. To fall short of rendering to God that glory to which He is entitled. He requires that all His creatures shall glorify Him. He has created them for His glory; and when they fulfil the purpose for which He created them, then they do glorify Him. Thus “the heavens declare the glory of God.” What, then, was the end and purpose for which man was made? To love, obey, and serve his Maker. By opposition to His will he comes “short of the glory of God.” Man, a living, rational being, is placed, not like the other works of creation, under a law of necessity which he cannot break, but under a moral restraint, by which he ought to be kept in the path of duty. But he is not so kept by it. He dishonours God in his very gifts, and endeavours, according to his power, to introduce confusion into His works, and to defeat His great and gracious designs. 2. The failing to obtain that glory which God originally designed for man. God originally designed man for a glorious immortality. But by sin he fell short of that glory; he forfeited and lost it. This, indeed, was the consequence of not rendering to God the glory due to Him. Having been unwilling to glorify God, he could no longer expect to be glorified with God. Conclusion: Perhaps you say, “Why, this doctrine takes away all hope. Would you drive us to despair?” No, not to a despair of salvation, but to a despair of justifying yourselves before God. But in Christ there is a full and gracious pardon for all your sins; there is glory offered to you again. (E. Cooper.)
The test of a sinner:—A young man once said to me, “I do not think I am a sinner.” I asked him if he would be willing his mother or sister should know all he had done or said or thought—all his motives and desires. After a moment he said, “No, indeed, not for all the world.” “Then can you dare to say, in the presence of a holy God, who knows every thought of your heart, ‘I do not commit sin’?” (J. B. Gough.)
Man’s sinfulness and inability:—
- It is universally admitted that there is something wrong in man’s nature. 1. In every one of us there is a something good which perceives a something bad; also something which whispers of an ideal state—a kind of reminiscence of a lost condition. 2. To account for this it suffices if we think of our nature as having had, originally controlling it, a supreme love which has been largely but by no means entirely lost. That in us which accuses us when we do wrong and commends us when we do right cannot be sinful, but must be holy. And so there is in us all a viceroy asserting kingship in the name of the true Sovereign of our souls. As a matter of fact we look upon one another as beings not entirely trustworthy. If man be not a depraved creature, why this universal suspicion? And yet we are not so depraved as not to know that we are depraved. 3. It is often argued that we are here in a state of probation. But man as man has had his probation and has fallen. Adam’s “tree of knowledge of good and evil” tested his obedience. Our Tree of Life—Jesus Christ—tests our obedience. Only with a difference. The first man, knowing only good, wanted to know what evil was. We, having in ourselves the knowledge of good and evil, are put upon trial, whether we will adhere persistently to that which is good—good personalised in Christ.
- What does this condition mean? 1. There is suggested the explanation of incompleteness. Our nature, say some, is moving on gradually towards perfection. Give it time and it will come out according to the highest idea that the best and most intelligent man has of it. Unhappily, except under certain conditions, and in a certain environment, man as he grows older does not grow better. And this idea does not account for our sense of guilt. It leaves out too much. There are too many facts which lie outside of it. It only covers a part of the ground. 2. It needs along with it the idea of depravation. The sense of not being right, of being wrong, is in us all. And it is an internal trouble which men would get away from if they could. But no man can get away from himself. No external condition can eradicate it. Men try all sorts of devices to rid themselves of it. Sometimes they change their opinions, but that does not alter the inward condition. The bad consciousness is there all the time, and there is no other word but sinfulness which will express its nature. For it is certain that there are in man not only defects which mean weakness, but also a parent defect which means guilt.
III. This degeneration is total. It affects the whole nature. Our nature is so connected, part with part, that degeneration in one region means degeneration in every region. If a man be unjust in his feelings he will be unjust in his thinking and action. It is the merest rubbish to talk of a man being good at heart and bad everywhere else. Whatever affects the centre of our nature affects also every part of it to the outermost extremities. If there be impure blood in the heart there will be impure blood in every vein. And there is no kindness in any teaching which leads men to assume that sinfulness is only an eruption on the skin and not a disease of the heart. Only “fools make a mock at sin.”
- The view we take of this fact of sinfulness will influence our estimate of every other vital truth. If sinfulness be only ignorance we need only a Teacher; if only disease, a Physician; if only error, an Example. But if it be something more, we need in Him who is to deliver us from it a power other than that possessed by the Teacher, &c. Sinfulness means ignorance, error, disease; but it means a great deal more. In many a case it means that state of heart in which the idea of God is more hateful than the idea of the devil. I have known fallen men and women who never ceased praying “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and I cannot forget Christ’s words—“The publicans and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.” There are sins of the flesh which destroy reputation, which bring misery, social degradation, and much else. There are sins of the spirit which bring none of these, and yet which put men and women at even a farther distance from God. Of what condition of heart is he who is amiable and placid until someone speaks to him such a truth as “God is Love,” “God is Light,” “God so loved the world”? &c. To err is human, but to contemn and reject the claims of Deity, that is not human, but fiendish. No one has ever taken a true measure of what sinfulness is until he has considered it in this, its most terrible form. I want you to feel “the exceeding sinfulness of sin,” for only then will you be able to appreciate the exceeding goodness of God who “willeth not the death of a sinner, but that all should come to repentance.” “Where sin abounded grace did superabound.” No man who looks away from his sin to his Saviour need despair, but then he must look to Him as Saviour. If a man can grow out of this condition of sinfulness by natural development; if every old man be nearer to the ideal of manhood than when he was young, then a Teacher, &c., is needed; but if man is helpless to deliver himself from sinfulness, then he who is to meet the necessities of the case must be human to understand him, but more than human to deliver him from an enemy stronger than man himself. (Reuben Thomas, D.D.)
Coming short of God’s glory:—Different persons, according to the difference of their habits of thought, or their education, or their moral attainments, take a very different standard of what sin is. But here we have God’s definition—whatever “comes short of the glory of God,” that is “sin.”
- God measures sin by the degree in which the act, or the word, or the thought, injures or grieves Him. This must be so. The only true rule for the estimate of any sin must be taken from the mind of Him whose mind is law, and whom to offend against constitutes sinfulness. Do not say, “Are not we forbidden to seek our own glory? How, then, can God seek His own glory?” For the reason why no creature is to seek his own glory is because all glory belongs to the Creator. What does it mean to “come short of the glory of God”? It may mean to come short of heaven, or to be unworthy of any praise from God, or to come short of that which is indeed God’s glory—His perfect image and likeness; to fail to reach, in its purity, the only motive which God approves—a desire for His own glory. It appears to me that though all the other senses are included in the words, yet that their great primary intention is the last. II. This brings me to the motive of human action. 1. You, who can read only what speaks to the outward senses, think most of words and actions. And, as naturally, God will look at the sources more than at the streams of every man’s moral being. So it will be at the last great account. All the deeds and sayings of a man will then stand forth to give evidence to a certain inward state of the man, according to which every one will receive his sentence. 2. And yet even we judge of things by their motives. Why do we value the most trivial gift, the act of a moment, a smile, a glance of the eye, more than all the treasures of substance? 3. Note some of the legitimate motives which may actuate us. (1) It is legitimate to wish to be happy. Therefore God stirs us up by promises, and lifts us up by beatitudes. It would be contrary to common sense to say that we may not do anything for the sake of going to heaven. (2) It is a step above that—to do or bear with the desire that we may become holier. (3) But higher, because less selfish, ranges the motive of a true ambition to make others happy. (4) And still higher the lofty, Christ-like focus, concentrating the whole will upon this—“Father, in me glorify Thyself.” 4. To all these principles of action, except the last, there attaches a shadow. The wish to be happy, even where the things we desire are spiritual, may degenerate into religious selfishness. The longing to be holy will often turn into morbid self-examination and a restless disquietude. The ambition to be useful easily becomes vitiated with—I will not say the love of human applause—but a desire to be liked. But the motive to do anything for God’s glory has no shadow, and is that which makes all the other motives right. It is right to endeavour to be happy, mainly because our happiness gives glory to God as the result of the finished work of Christ. It is right to study to be holy, because where God sees holiness He sees His own reflection, and He is satisfied. It is right to set ourselves to be useful, because it extends the kingdom of God. Here, then, lies the wrongness of everything that is done on any inferior principle—it “comes short of the glory of God.” (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
Missing the mark:—The word “sin” alike in the Hebrew and the Greek means “missed the mark,” as an archer might. When one is interested in rifle shooting the picture is easily realised and not easily forgotten.
- The mark, the centre, the bull’s-eye, that man is to make his aim through life, is “the glory of God.” 1. And what is that? The outshining of God’s attributes; Christ is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person. We can, at best, be but broken images, interrupted rays of His light. But still that is what we are to aim at—becoming ourselves, and reflecting to the world around us some images of the holiness, goodness, and love of God. 2. In this shooting we are a spectacle to men. See us they will, and judge from us the character and the worth of the religion we profess. The various professions or trades we may follow are but the courses which our bullets take amidst the various influences to the right or to the left, to be allowed for by the shooter. Our bullets must pass through them without erring, and in all alike the aim is to be one—to manifest the character of the God we serve. Those occupations are not in themselves the true centre to be aimed at—they are but the means of reaching the glory of God.
- Missing this mark is sin. St. Paul lays it to the charge of all alike. 1. The standard is a high one—to aim directly and always at God’s glory. But, then, man occupies a high position, made above all creation, blessed with faculties above all creatures for being the glory of God; placed with opportunities of being so now, and the promise of being more so hereafter. 2. Shall we complain that we are so high in the creation, or complacently stoop down from it and forfeit the crown held out for us to take, like Bunyan’s man with the muck-rake? Was not he missing the mark of life? He took up, as many do, a handful of dirt—he lost the crown of gold. We speak of men having made a good hit when they have succeeded in a telling speech, or a successful speculation, or a fortunate match, but what have they hit if they have not sought to honour God? Certainly not the glory of God, nor have they advanced the true purposes of life. 3. Now a rifle is made to shoot straight; if it will not do so, however perfect the polish of its barrel, or the finish of its lock or stock, it is useless, and you throw it on one side or break it up. The more complete it seems the more vexed you are with it for its utter failure in the one work for which you had it made. God has made us for the one object of glorifying Him, and if we fail in that, then whatsoever else we have which decorates us—intellect, politeness, science, art, position, wealth—all tend not to diminish but to increase our condemnation. 4. What our condemnation may be I do not pretend to fathom; but if the words mean no more than that having been made for the highest purpose, and then having utterly failed, we are henceforth cast on one side as useless, our powers broken up, and our opportunities taken from us, they will mean enough to stir us to redeem the time. We should not like to meet the exposure of such a shame. Pindar describes the return of a combatant from the great National Games. He speaks of him as hiding himself along the byways, not venturing to enter by the gates into his city, or to be seen in any public place. Why? Because he had missed the mark. He went out in the name of his city, equipped by his fellow-citizens, to win honour for their name, and to give them glory. But he has failed, and he dare not meet them. We have failed, and we must “all appear before the judgment-seat, that every one may receive the things done in his body.”
III. To what does this lead us? 1. We must realise more and more our condition as sinners. Let any man solemnly ask himself, How much of God has the world seen in me? How much of His glory have I reflected? 2. We must go back to the same butts and shoot again for a truer aim. Go to your seat in Parliament, or your books, or your shop, and there aim afresh at rising to the glory of God, “forgetting those things which are behind,” &c. True, it will not be so easy now that one’s hand is unsteadied by neglecting to aim aright; true, it will not be so simple now that many Ere looking on and wondering what in the world you are changing for, to shoot straight under their critical eye; but such sense of sin, such turning from it to God in Christ again, such trusting hope that with His aid we may succeed, will bring with it His forgiveness for the past and His guidance for the future; and we may yet, with His encouragement, hit the mark and glorify Him. (Canon Morse.)[7]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1991). Romans (Vol. 1, pp. 207–208). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Harrison, E. F., & Hagner, D. A. (2008). Romans. In T. Longman III &. Garland, David E. (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans–Galatians (Revised Edition) (Vol. 11, p. 70). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[3] Moo, D. J. (2018). The Letter to the Romans. (N. B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, G. D. Fee, & J. B. Green, Eds.) (Second Edition, pp. 246–247). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[4] Edwards, J. R. (2011). Romans (pp. 101–102). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[5] Pate, C. M. (2013). Romans. (M. L. Strauss & J. H. Walton, Eds.) (p. 78). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[6] Bruce, F. F. (1985). Romans: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 6, p. 108). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[7] Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Romans (Vol. 1, pp. 233–238). New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company.
Answering Common Objections to the Notion of Hell – Part 2 (Podcast) — Cold Case Christianity
In this blast from the past, J. Warner continues to discuss several objections related to the existence and nature of Hell.
Answering Common Objections to the Notion of Hell – Part 2 (Podcast) — Cold Case Christianity
December—1 The Poor Man’s Evening Portion
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness, and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people.—Acts 2:46, 47.
What a beautiful picture is here given of the primitive Church! My soul! think of the happiness of the saints of God in those days, when, instead of that idle and unprofitable conversation, which, for the most part, fills up the employment of Christians professing godliness in the present day, believers never met without celebrating the Lord’s supper, (for so the expression of eating bread from house to house means;) and their ordinary meals were conducted with a single eye to God’s glory! What a sad change hath taken place in the circumstances of Christians! “They were daily with one accord in the temple:” and thousands who would be very highly offended were their religious profession to be called in question, think one part of the Lord’s day sufficient to be found there. They conversed “from house to house” of the great things of salvation: but what parlour, what place of meeting, what house or family must we go into, to hear of Jesus and his gospel? They were daily setting forth the broken body of Christ, in the action of “breaking of bread and of prayer:” but how many are there who think the observance of monthly communions of Christ’s body and blood too frequent, and only attend now and then, lest the frequency of the service should lessen the reverence due to it? My soul! look to it, that thy life be upon the plan of those venerable followers of the Lord! Oh! for grace to make every day a sabbathday; and every table the Lord’s table! Precious Jesus! I would pray to keep up a constant remembrance of thee, that “whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, I may do all to the glory of God!”[1]
[1] Hawker, R. (1845). The Poor Man’s Evening Portion (A New Edition, p. 334). Philadelphia: Thomas Wardle.
The real problem — Possessing the Treasure
by Mike Ratliff
I have been posting here on my blog for past several months about the evils of Critical Race Theory & Intersectionality and how many “Christian” leaders have corrupted their ministries by going full bore transforming their focus from Orthodox doctrines to include these non-Biblical, man-focused subjective non-truths. We have to wonder what would cause these people to do such a thing. Tom Ascol of Founders Ministries, one of the leaders against this evil Tweeted the following today:
PSA: Critical Race Theory & Intersectionality are not the problem. They are deadly symptoms of deeper problems. Evangelicals give only lip service to God’s Word. We have a crisis of man-fearing, unbelief, & cowardice. That’s how CRT/I gained a foothold.
I completely agree with him. What I find most troubling is the huge number of pastors and other Christian leaders who are not partaking of this evil, but who are “on the sidelines” not saying or doing anything about it. However, as the light of the truth is shined by those who know what is really going on into this darkness many of these “sideliners” are starting to speak up. I believe we must not let up. We must continue to show everyone who those people are who are behind this evil. Shine the bright light of the truth directly into what they are doing. We must name names. Why? Because that is what we are told do in the Word of God. Are we man-fearing, unbelieving cowards? I wouldn’t be writing these posts if that was the case.
What is the cure for unbelief? God dragged me out of a shallow, self-focused, angry Christian walk back in 2004-2005 and that changed everything. He changed everything for me and if He could change me, He can change anyone. It’s called repentance. It’s learning how to walk in repentance. When you do that you see things God’s way not man’s way. You learn to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus. When you do that you most definitely will not be a man-fearing, unbelieving coward. Oh, did I mention, when you do that you will also not be afraid to take those stands that might not be popular with the crowd? Yeah, but that is where our Lord wants us.
Soli Deo Gloria!
December 1 – Expiation vs Propitiation? — VCY America
December 1Daniel 8:1-27
1 John 2:1-17
Psalm 120:1-7
Proverbs 28:25-26
Welcome to December! You are in the final month of the year, and it’s been an incredible time of digging into God’s Word!
Daniel 8:1 – From John Walvoord:
Two important factors mark Daniel 8 as the beginning of a new section. First, beginning with this chapter, the language returns to Hebrew instead of the Aramaic used by Daniel from 2:4 through 7:28. Second, the change of language is in keeping with the change in thought introduced by this chapter. From here to the end of Daniel, the prophecy, even though it concerns the Gentiles, is occupied with human history as it relates to Israel.
Daniel 8:11-14 – What is this 2,300 days about? The Millerites thought it meant the return of Jesus by October 22, 1844, but the teaching instead brought about the “Great Disappointment.”
Most scholars believe this refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, the leader of the Syrian kingdom that emerged from Alexander the Great’s empire. The book of 1 Maccabees tells about Antiochus during the intertestamental period. Walvoord discusses the 2,300 days:
The terminus ad quem of the twenty-three hundred days is taken by most expositors as 164 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphanes died during a military campaign in Media. This permitted the purging of the sanctuary and the return to Jewish worship. Figuring from this date backward twenty-three hundred days would fix the beginning time at 171 b.c. In that year, Onias III, the legitimate high priest, was murdered and a pseudo line of priests assumed power. This would give adequate fulfillment in time for the twenty-three hundred days to elapse at the time of the death of Antiochus.
Daniel 8:16 – I’m glad he asked Gabriel to make Daniel understand. Daniel, one of the wisest men ever, “was astonished” and “was sick certain days” as a result! (Daniel 8:27).
1 John 2:1 – What does it mean that Jesus is our advocate? My grandfather used to host a television program, Advocates in Adversity, featuring attorneys and judges to talk about legal issues. If you’ve dealt with the legal system, attorneys are expensive. Jesus Christ is my attorney, and though I can’t afford Him, he’s representing me pro bono!
1 John 2:2 – Not just my attorney, but my propitiation! There’s a big debate in theological circles between the words propitiation (satisfying the wrath of God) and expiation (removing the guilt). If we believe God is angry at sin, then His wrath needs to be placated. From R.C. Sproul:
Therefore, Christ’s supreme achievement on the cross is that He placated the wrath of God, which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. So if somebody argues against placation or the idea of Christ satisfying the wrath of God, be alert, because the gospel is at stake. This is about the essence of salvation—that as people who are covered by the atonement, we are redeemed from the supreme danger to which any person is exposed. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God Who’s wrathful. But there is no wrath for those whose sins have been paid. That is what salvation is all about.
https://www.ligonier.org/blog/two-important-words-good-friday-expiation-and-propitiation/
1 John 2:3 – John goes back to the words of Jesus that he recorded in John 14:15. To love Jesus is to obey Him. If we obey Him then we know Him.
1 John 2:15 – Another sign of the fake Christian:
- Not keep his commandments (1 John 2:4)
- Hate his brother (1 John 2:9)
- Love the world (1 John 2:15)
Many Christians don’t realize we are in a war. There are only two sides. Either you are on the world’s side, or on Jesus’ side. Before you make your choice as to which side you’re on, remember “the world passeth away… but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (1 John 2:17).
Psalm 120:2 – Notice the Psalmist’s cry for deliverance from those with lying lips and a deceitful tongue. We read in 1 John 2:4 about the liars – those who claim to know God but keep not His commandments. The Psalmist is vexed not just by people who are upfront that they are against God, but those who claim to be followers of the LORD but backstab other followers.
Proverbs 28:24-25 – Contrast the trust in the LORD with trust in your own heart. Disney tells you to “follow your heart,” but God says not to trust your heart (Jeremiah 17:9).
MinistryWatch’s Annual List of “Shining Light” Ministries – Ministry Watch
Each month, MinistryWatch.com publishes lists of interest to donors and non-profit executives. But once each year we publish a very special list, a list of what we call our “Shining Lights.” The Bible says we are to let our lights shine so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) These ministries do just that.
To become a MinistryWatch “Shining Light,” a ministry must have earned a 5-star rating on MinistryWatch’s 5-star financial efficiency scale. Further, those ministries on this list have a Transparency Grade of “A.” That’s MinistryWatch’s highest transparency grade. Out of 700 ministries, only 13 meet these strict criteria. They are listed below.
— Read on ministrywatch.com/ministrywatchs-annual-list-of-shining-light-ministries/
CBN NewsWatch AM: December 1, 2020 – YouTube
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
News on The 700 Club: December 1, 2020 – YouTube
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Operation Warp Speed: Your One-Way Ticket To Total Surveillance — Christian Research Service
Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a joint operation between U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense, continues to be shrouded in secrecy, but little by little information is emerging that long-term monitoring of the U.S. public is part of the plan.
At face value, OWS is a public-private partnership tasked with producing therapeutics and a fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine1 — 300 million doses’ worth that are intended to be made available starting in January 2021.2
But it appears the involvement doesn’t end there. Rather than just ensuring a vaccine is produced and made available for those who want it, Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed, dubbed the coronavirus vaccine czar,3 said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the rollout will include “incredibly precise … tracking systems.”4,5
Their purpose? “To ensure that patients each get two doses of the same vaccine and to monitor them for adverse health effects.”6 In an interview with The New York Times, Slaoui described it as a “very active pharmaco vigilance surveillance system.”7
What Will the Vaccine Monitoring System Entail?
This is the No. 1 question, and one that hasn’t been answered, at least not officially. “While Slaoui himself was short on specifics regarding this ‘pharmacovigilance surveillance system,’” news outlet Humans Are Free reported, “the few official documents from OWS that have been publicly released offer some details about what this system may look like and how long it is expected to ‘track’ the vital signs and whereabouts of Americans who receive a Warp Speed vaccine.”8
One of the documents, titled “From the Factory to the Frontlines: The Operation Warp Speed Strategy for Distributing a COVID-19 Vaccine,” was released by HHS.9 It also mentions the use of pharmacovigilance surveillance along with Phase 4 (post-licensure) clinical trials in order to assess the vaccines’ long-term safety, since “some technologies have limited previous data on safety in humans.”10
The report, which lays out a strategy for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine, from allocation and distribution to administration and more, continues:11
“The key objective of pharmacovigilance is to determine each vaccine’s performance in real-life scenarios, to study efficacy, and to discover any infrequent and rare side effects not identified in clinical trials. OWS will also use pharmacovigilance analytics, which serves as one of the instruments for the continuous monitoring of pharmacovigilance data.
Robust analytical tools will be used to leverage large amounts of data and the benefits of using such data across the value chain, including regulatory obligations. Pharmacovigilance provides timely information about the safety of each vaccine to patients, healthcare professionals, and the public, contributing to the protection of patients and the promotion of public health.”
Similar language was reiterated in an October 2020 perspective article published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), written by Slaoui and Dr. Matthew Hepburn.12
Hepburn is a former program manager for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he oversaw the development of ProfusA,13 an implantable biosensor that allows a person’s physiology to be examined at a distance via smartphone connectivity. ProfusA is also backed by Google, the largest data mining company in the world.
Writing in NEJM, the duo writes, “Because some technologies have limited previous data on safety in humans, the long-term safety of these vaccines will be carefully assessed using pharmacovigilance surveillance strategies.”14
‘Traceability’ a Key Tenet of Operation Warp Speed
Humans Are Free also references an OWS infographic,15 which details the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration process. One of the four key tenets is “traceability,” which includes confirming which of the approved vaccines were administered regardless of location (public or private), reminding recipients to return for a second dose and ensuring that the correct second dose is administered.
That word — pharmacovigilance — is used again, this time as a heading inferring that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be involved in “24-month post trial monitoring for adverse effects/additional safety feature.” Pharmacovigilance, also known as drug safety, generally refers to the collection, analysis, monitoring and prevention of adverse effects from medications and other therapies.16
Passive reporting systems for adverse events, like the Vaccines Adverse Event Reporting System, already exist and are managed by the FDA and CDC.
However, a report released by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security suggests that passive systems that rely on people to send in their experiences should be made into an “active safety surveillance system directed by the CDC that monitors all vaccine recipients — perhaps by short message service or other electronic mechanisms — with criteria based on the World Health Organization Global Vaccine Safety Initiative.”17,18
What’s more, according to Humans Are Free, “Despite the claims in these documents that the ‘pharmacovigilance surveillance system’ would intimately involve the FDA, top FDA officials stated in September that they were barred from attending OWS meetings and told reporters they could not explain the operation’s organization or when or with what frequency its leadership meets.”19 STAT News further reported:20
“The Food and Drug Administration, which is playing a critical role in the response to the pandemic, has virtually no visibility into OWS — but that’s by design … The FDA has set up a firewall between the vast majority of staff and the initiative to separate any regulatory decisions from policy or budgetary decisions.
FDA officials are still allowed to interact with companies developing products for OWS, but they’re barred from sitting in on discussions regarding other focuses of OWS, like procurement, investment or distribution.”
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security, by the way, has ties to Event 201, a pandemic preparedness simulation for a “novel coronavirus” that took place in October 2019, along with Dark Winter, another simulation that took place in June 2001, which predicted major aspects of the subsequent 2001 anthrax attacks.
Hepburn also reportedly “ruffled feathers” during a June 2020 presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices because he offered no data-rich slides, which are typically part of such presentations, and, STAT News reported, “Several members asked Hepburn pointed questions he pointedly did not answer.”21
Google and Oracle Contracted to Collect Vaccine Data
Google and Oracle, a multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, have been contracted to “collect and track vaccine data” as part of OWS’ surveillance systems,22 a partnership Slaoui reportedly revealed in his Wall Street Journal interview.23 According to Humans Are Free:24
“If the Warp Speed contracts that have been awarded to Google and Oracle are anything like the Warp Speed contracts awarded to most of its participating vaccine companies, then those contracts grant those companies diminished federal oversight and exemptions from federal laws and regulations designed to protect taxpayer interests in the pursuit of the work stipulated in the contract.
It also makes them essentially immune to Freedom of Information Act requests. Yet, in contrast to the unacknowledged Google and Oracle contracts, vaccine companies have publicly disclosed that they received OWS contracts, just not the terms or details of those contracts. This suggests that the Google and Oracle contracts are even more secretive.”
In an interview with investigative journalist Whitney Webb (see Mercola hyperlink above under “Dark Winter”), it’s also revealed that Slaoui, a long-time head of GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine division, is a leading proponent of bioelectronic medicine, which is the use of injectable or implantable technology for the purpose of treating nerve conditions.
The MIT Technology review has referred to it as hacking the nervous system. But it also allows you to monitor the physiology of the human body from the inside.
Slaoui is also invested in a company called Galvani Bioelectronics, which was cofounded by a Google subsidiary. “So, you have Google being contracted to monitor this pharmacovigilance surveillance system that aims to monitor the physiology and the human body for two years,” Webb says.
“And then you have the ties to the ProfusA project,” she adds, “which oddly enough is supposed to work inside the human body for 24 months — the exact window they’ve said will be used to monitor people after the first [vaccine] dose.”
The conflict of interest is massive, in part because Google owns YouTube, which has been banning our videos, a majority of which are interviews with health experts sharing their medical or scientific expertise and viewpoints on COVID-19, since June 2020. As noted by Humans Are Free:25
“With Google now formally part of OWS, it seems likely that any concerns about OWS’s extreme secrecy and the conflicts of interest of many of its members (particularly Moncef Slaoui and Matt Hepburn) as well as any concerns about Warp Speed vaccine safety, allocation and/or distribution may be labeled ‘COVID-19 vaccine misinformation’ and removed from YouTube.”
Is Total Surveillance Set to Become the New Normal?
OWS, rather than being directed by public health officials, is heavily dominated by military, technology companies and U.S. intelligence agencies, likening it to a successor for Total Information Awareness (TIA), a program managed by DARPA that sprang up after the 9/11 attacks.
At the time, TIA was seeking to collect Americans’ medical records, fingerprints and other biometric data, along with DNA and records relating to personal finances, travel and media consumption.26 According to Webb (again, refer to the Mercola hyperlink earlier, “Dark Winter”):
“We now know, for example, that the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security are directly involved in Operation Warp Speed, but they won’t really say exactly what parts they’re doing. But there are some indications as to what they could be involved with.
And the fact that Silicon Valley companies that have been known to collaborate with intelligence [agencies] for the purpose of spying on innocent Americans — Google and Oracle, for example — are going to be involved in this surveillance system … for everyone that gets the vaccine.
It’s certainly alarming, and it seems to point to the fulfillment of an agenda that was attempted to be pushed through or foisted on the American public after 9/11, called Total Information Awareness, which was managed, originally, by DARPA.
It was about using medical data and non-medical data — essentially all data about you — to prevent terror attacks before they could happen, and also to prevent bioterror attacks and even prevent naturally occurring disease outbreaks.
A lot of the same initiatives proposed under that original program after 9/11 have essentially been resurrected, with updated technology, under the guise of combating COVID-19.”
A key difference is that TIA was quickly defunded by Congress after significant public backlash, including concerns that TIA would undermine personal privacy. In the case of OWS, there’s little negative press and media outlets are overwhelmingly supportive of the operation as a way to resolve the COVID-19 crisis.
But what if it’s not actually about COVID-19 at all, but represents something bigger, something that’s been in the works for decades? As Humans Are Free puts it:27
“The total-surveillance agenda that began with TIA and that has been resurrected through Warp Speed predated COVID-19 by decades.
Its architects and proponents have worked to justify these extreme and invasive surveillance programs by marketing this agenda as the ‘solution’ to whatever Americans are most afraid of at any given time. It has very little to do with ‘public health’ and everything to do with total control.”
Read full story HERE.
Operation Warp Speed: Your One-Way Ticket To Total Surveillance — Christian Research Service
December 1 Failing
Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart … on the inside … not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
(2 Corinthians 4:9, TM)
Successful Christian people recognize that defeats can lead to even greater victories! Trying is more important than not failing! When I make mistakes I ask, “What did I do wrong, and how can I do it better next time?” Failure affects some of us so negatively that it stops us permanently. Don’t let that happen to you! Edison tried thousands of experiments before he was able to produce an acceptable light bulb. Look at your failure as a fresh opportunity—not a final defeat. When Paul was shipwrecked, he used it to preach the Gospel. When he was thrown into prison, he wrote books that are still being read 2,000 years later. He said to those who were so concerned about him, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel” (Philippians 1:12, NIV).
Failing to try is the greatest failure anyone can experience, for if you don’t make the attempt, you’ve failed already! This can be seen in the life of baseball player Ty Cobb. In 1915, he set the record for stolen bases in a season—96 steals. Seven years later, Max Carey set the second-best record with 51 stolen bases. What is remarkable is that while Carey failed only twice in 53 attempts. Cobb failed 38 times in his 134 attempts. If Carey had tried more times, he may have set a record that would still be unbeaten today!
Attempt great things without worrying about the possibility of failure. If you persevere, with God’s help you’ll succeed.[1]
[1] Gass, B. (1998). A Fresh Word For Today : 365 Insights For Daily Living (p. 335). Alachua, FL: Bridge-Logos Publishers.
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