DIG for Monday the 15th of May…..living by faith is what is required…..Romans 1 v 17

A couple of days ago I wrote a DIG about how we move into our on-going salvation through faith and not works.

This is a truth that seems to have been hidden from the mainstream church today.

I’ve been part of the error myself, taking part in 24/7 prayer shields trying to persuade God to ‘heal our land’ or ‘send His Holy Spirit’.

This comes from the error of having a works based or law-based mentality.

As New Covenant believers living under grace we should live out of a faith-based mentality.

As Paul wrote to the Romans the just (the church) shall live by faith.

It was faith and not works that brought you into Christ and it is faith and not works that you should now live by.

The people asked Jesus what works they should do (John 6 v 28).

Jesus told them to “believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6 v 29.

In other word Jesus told them to have faith; faith in Him.

Once again we see that faith in Jesus (and in what He has done and what He has made us) is key to our walk with the Lord.

He does not want our works (religious performance); He wants our faith.

Faith in Jesus is your door into the abundance that Jesus has already provide for you, I advise you to walk that way today.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can live by faith and not through my works and religious performance”.

Romans 1 v 17…..For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith

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DIG for Sunday the 14th of May…..Christ is the answer…..Romans 10 v 17

I was reminded recently about a wonderful truth I found out about a few years ago.

It is important that we check out the Greek and Hebrews when studying the Bible, as sometimes the translated word does not reveal the ‘true’ meaning of a word.

Take Romans 10 v 17 as it is translated in the King James Bible (I love and use the KJV by the way).

This says that faith come s by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

If you look at the Greek the word for God is Christou and not Theos.

So a ‘better’ translation would be faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Now this may no sound significant to you but it is highly significant.

The Word of God includes the law, the 10 Commandments, the other rules and regulations required by the Jewish nation to approach God.

These ordinances are not to be followed by the born again believer and indeed do not generate faith.

It is the finished work of Christ and an understanding of grace and the New Covenant that is key in the life of the believer.

The faith builder in our lives is an understanding of what Jesus has done and who we are now in Christ.

An understanding of the finished work of Jesus and what it has done to you is key to your ‘progress’ in this life.

Let that be your focus going forward.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for the finished work of Jesus Christ”.

Romans 10 v 17…..So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God

DIG for Saturday the 13th of May…..as you began so you must carry on…..Colossians 2 v 6

We all know that we came to salvation as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

We know that there was nothing we could do in our own strength to be saved.

Yet, many in the church now think that in order to move in other parts of salvation (such as healing and prosperity) we have to work for it.

All parts of salvation (our ticket into Heaven and our peace, joy, acceptance, healing and prosperity for example) are gifts and are never rewards.

We did not work for our initial salvation so we do not nee to work for our on-going salvation.

As you first received, so walk ye in Him is what the Bible says (Colossians 2 v 6).

This means that if you require healing you receive it by faith.

This means that if you require prosperity you receive it by faith.

You do not need to fast, pray and ask for healing and prosperity, just as you did not need to fast, pray and ask for your initial salvation.

Healing and prosperity (among other things) are part of what I call the ‘sozo package’.

If you are saved (got your ticket into heaven) then you are also healed and prosperous; you just may not see this manifest in your life at the moment.

Faith is what is required to walk into your on-going salvation, into what Jesus died to bring you.

Faith, not works, is the key to moving into the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10 v 10).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can move into my healing and my prosperity through faith in the finished work of Jesus”.

Colossians 2 v 6…..As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him

DIG for Friday the 12th of May…..salvation is only found in one ’place’…..Acts 4 v 12

As I wrote yesterday the account of Noah and the ark is a wonderful piece of typology about Jesus Christ.

There was only one place to be during the flood that guaranteed absolute safety, and that was in the ark.

If you were not in the ark you would perish, the ark was the only place where salvation could be found.

This is of course a picture or shadow of Jesus.

He is the only ‘place’ where salvation can be found.

If you are in Christ you are saved, if you are not in Christ you are lost.

It is that simple!

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to the Father (and salvation) except through Him (John 14 v 6).

There is no other way to salvation; there is no name that you can call upon to be saved (Acts 4 v 12).

But the great truth is that anyone and everyone can call upon the name of Jesus, no one is excluded!

Jesus died for the sins of all men for all time (1 John 2 v 2).

Salvation is available to all though Him, however every man has to exercise faith to receive this free gift.

Jesus is our ark; He is where we find our safety, security and salvation.

Jesus is the way to salvation and He is the only way.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Jesus and thank you that He is our only way to salvation”.

Acts 4 v 12…..Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved

DIG for Thursday the 11th of May…..safety is in Christ…..Genesis 6 v 18

I’ve written before about the account of Noah and the ark being a picture of salvation and safety we have in Christ.

I read a book this morning that brought a new revelation to me about this wonderful piece of typology.

When the ark was built there were no windows lower down in the walls of the ark.

The window was near the top of the ark.

So when the floodwaters devastated the earth the inhabitants in the ark would not have seen the turmoil going on around them.

I tried to picture what would have been going on outside the ark as the waters rose and rose.

People would have been struggling, screaming, drowning; scrambling maybe to try and get into the ark.

It would have been a terrible and fearful sight.

But Noah and his family would only have been able to look upwards towards the sky.

This is telling us that when we are in Christ we should still be looking upwards, looking to God and the things of God.

Even Jesus at times turned his eyes upwards, telling us He too looked to God the Father.

In Jesus we have safety and salvation, He is the only place where this can be found.

But even in this state we need to keep looking to the Lord for His guidance, advice and council.

Look upwards today and see what the Lord has for you!

Speak this out…..”Thank you Lord for the safety and salvation we have in Christ”.

Genesis 6 v 18…..But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee

DIG for Wednesday the 10th of May…..and whose righteousness do we get…..2 Corinthians 5 v 21

There is another amazing truth that we can read in 2 Corinthians 5 v 21

When we are made righteous it is nothing to do with what we do or have done.

Our righteousness has nothing to do with our performance, so in a real sense it is not our righteousness.

When we are made righteous this is done as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

And we are not made of any old righteousness.

When our spirit is created new (2 Corinthians 5 v 17) it is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4 v 24).

And the righteousness that we have is the righteousness of God.

Yes, when we are made righteous we are made as righteous as God.

No Vic you may be thinking, you’ve gone a bit far this time!

No I have not; this is the Biblical truth if you read this passage.

Jesus takes our sin so that we can have God’s righteousness.

That is exactly what 2 Corinthians 5 v 21 is saying.

Through Jesus we are made the righteousness of God; and that is a direct quote from the Bible.

Please read this passage if you do not believe me.

If you are born again, right now in your born again spirit you are as righteous as God.

Now that’s the good news!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have been the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 21…..For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him

DIG for Tuesday the 9th of May…..what an amazing exchange…..2 Corinthians 5 v 21

We have now reached the verse, in this mini DIG series, that changed my life.

We know that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, and sometimes this transformation is slow and steady, sometimes it is in large steps.

My transformation took a large step once I realised that I had been made righteous.

In this verse we see how a believer is made righteous and also what type of righteousness we now have.

The first important point is how a believer becomes righteous.

It is not through works or religious performance; a believer is made righteous.

You cannot be in the process of moving to righteousness and we do not have different levels of righteousness.

You are either righteous or you are not!

2 Corinthians 5 v 21 tells us that we can be made righteous through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

We can be made righteous as He was made sin, even though He knew no sin.

He made this great exchange possible through the cross; He took our sin so that (as a gift of grace through faith) we could be made righteousness.

This is an amazing fundamental truth of the Christian faith and it will change your life if you truly understand and believe this.

I can testify that it did in my life.

I have never been the same since I understood and believed that I had been made righteous.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have been made righteous as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 21…..For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him

DIG for Monday the 8th of May…..we have another job along with the ministry of reconciliation…..2 Corinthians 5 v 20

We have seen recently that Paul talks about us, as born again believers, having the ministry of reconciliation.

We all have this ministry.

He carries on in this passage by telling us about another “job” that we all have.

We are all ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5 v 20).

An ambassador is the representative of a king or government in a foreign country.

They have the authority to speak and act on behalf of their sovereign or nation.

So in this world we speak for Christ and his Kingdom.

We are the representatives of Christ here on earth.

We have His authority and should be acting and speaking on his behalf.

We should be doing what we saw our King doing when He was on earth.

And indeed this is what Christ told His disciples (and us) while He was on earth.

We are to do greater things than He did, is what Jesus said!

The church (you and me) is the hands and mouths of Jesus on the earth.

Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit we can lay hands on the sick and see them healed, we can cast out demons and yes, we can raise the dead.

We can do all these things, as we are His ambassadors!

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord that you have empowered us with your Holy Spirit to allow us to be your ambassadors here on earth”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 20…..Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God

DIG for Sunday the 7th of May…..He’s doing what with our sins…..2 Corinthians 5 v 19

Yesterday we saw that God has already reconciled us to Himself through no work of our own but through the finished work of Jesus.

This has huge implications for us, not least of how God sees our sin.

Yes, we have all fallen short of the glory of God and indeed were all born sinners.

Yes, we are all still prone to falling and doing stupid things in our current lives.

We all had sin on our lives that separated us from God the Father.

However through the finished work of Jesus all our sin (indeed the sin of the whole world) has been paid for and dealt with.

God is not holding our sin against us any more.

This is what the word imputing means; He is not counting our sin against us, He is not looking for any further payment for sin.

He has chosen to forget about our sin; the Word says He will remember our sins and iniquities no more (Hebrews 10 v 17).

Many think that if we sin we need to ask for forgiveness, we need to get that sin “under the blood”.

This is not a Biblical attitude, as all sin (past, present and future) has already been dealt with on the cross and forgiveness and reconciliation has already been provided.

God is no longer imputing any sin against any man.

Now that is not an excuse to sin; if you think like that you really have not grasped the significance of your forgiveness and reconciliation.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you are not imputing any sin against me now thanks to the finished work of Jesus”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 19…..To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation

DIG for Saturday the 6th of May…..we have all been given the same ministry…..2 Corinthians 5 v 18

In this verse we as born again believers are all given the same ministry.

Now, we may all have different ministries in other areas but with regards to reconciliation we all have the same ministry.

And this ministry is to tell people they have already been reconciled through the finished work of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5 v 18).

How often do we hear people being shouted at in the street by an “evangelist”?

How often do we hear people being told to repent and turn from their wicked ways?

This should not be happening.

It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance.

Men should be told the good news about the finished work of Jesus; the good news that they have already been reconciled and forgiven.

The good news is that only faith is required (and not works) to benefit from this reconciliation and forgiveness.

The good news is that reconciliation has already been delivered.

Reconciliation was a work of Jesus and is not a work required from man.

This came as a gift of grace from Jesus.

Jesus brought peace and goodwill from God and completed His work on the cross.

Our job (or our ministry) as believers is to tell people this good news!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that all men has been reconciled to you through the finished work of Jesus Christ”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 18…..And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation