DIG for Wednesday the 12th of July…..we must all keep learning…..2 Timothy 2 v 15

Life long learning is a concept that most of us are aware of in the secular and working world; it is also a concept that is very important in our Christian walk.

It is a very dangerous day when we think we know it all, or feel that we know enough about the Word of God.

The Bible I use on a daily basis is rather old, full of underlining and highlighting, however what I marked as I progressed on my walk with the Lord is very interesting.

Three of the verses that I had marked early on as a ‘young believer’ are ones I would not mark now, as my understanding about law and grace, old and new covenants has developed.

The verses are 2 Chronicles 7 v 14, Romans 3 v 23 and 1 John 1 v 9.

These are verses that as a young Christian I tried to live by, and of course failed.

I have learned that as I live under grace and not law, I have unconditional forgiveness, and that 2 Chronicles 7 v 14 is an old covenant principle and therefore not for me to live by.

I have learned that my emphasis should be on what I have been made as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus rather than any sin, so Romans 3 v 22 and Romans 3 v 24 are of more relevance to me today.

I have learned that 1 John 1 v 9 is not for me to take literally as I am a born again believer and this verse was written in context for someone else.

I have learned more and more about grace over the years and am still learning.

We all must keep this attitude of learning, searching the Scriptures for a deeper revelation of truth that is relevant and appropriate for us as we live under grace in the New Covenant.

Our task is to rightly divide the Word, knowing what has to be taken literally and what is not for us today.

We need to know what covenant we live under!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that because of the finished work of Jesus I now live under the New Covenant and under grace”.

2 Timothy 2 v 15…..Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

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DIG for Friday the 7th of August…..it is important what we put our focus on…..Romans 3 v 23

When I was born again I went to a very traditional, and now I see, very legalistic church.

We were taught from the bible but with a certain slant and bias.

The Bible I use now was bought for me back then, and it still has the shading and underlining that I did then, and it really shows how my doctrine has changed over the years.

For example, Romans 3 v 23 is shaded in, while Romans 3 v 22 and 24 are not; if I were to start with a new Bible I would now be highlighting verse 22 and 24 instead.

You see, I used to think that I had to find the sin in my life, confess it and repent of it, and then God would let me have relationship with Him and bless me.

This is what religion and legalism tries to tell us, and I “gave up” on church for a long time because of this.

I now know that this is not true; I am blessed and in relationship with God because of my faith in Jesus and His finished work and nothing else.

This is known as grace and living under the new covenant.

Yes, I was sinner (before I was saved) and sinned (before and after I was saved), and did come short of the glory of God.

But, as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus I was freely justified and made righteous.

I now focus on my righteousness and that I have been justified instead of my sins.

I now focus on Jesus instead of myself.

This is the way to freedom in life, away from the bondage of religion and legalism (Galatians 5 v 1).

I would recommend that you give it a try of you are not already doing so!

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

Romans 3 v 23…..For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

DIG for Saturday the 11th of April…. Don’t forget about the verse before and the verse after…..Romans 3 v 23

Reading verses out of context is not a good idea; we can lose the meaning of the passage by not reading the whole thing.

Take Romans 3 v 23 for example.

On its own this is not a very encouraging verse, saying that we have all sinned and come short of the standards expected by God.

Just reading that may make you think that God is upset with you or has not accepted you because of that sin.

This does not sound like good news, yet it becomes great news if we read the verse before and after it!

If we believe and have faith in Jesus then we have been made righteous by God (Romans 3 v 22).

Because of this we have been justified (set free or made righteous) and redeemed (had the ransom paid in full) through faith in the finished work (Romans 3 v 24).

This is the Gospel, the good news, that because of the finished work of Jesus Christ our sin is not an issue for God anymore.

Yes, we have sinned, and yes we will sin, however all sin has been paid for by Jesus (1 John 2 v 2).

All men need faith in Jesus as all men have sinned, that is what Romans 3 v 23 is saying.

But once you accept Jesus sin is not an issue for God.

Yes we once were sinners and caught in the trap of sin, now as a gift of grace through faith we are saints and prisoners of righteousness.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ, and thank you that I am redeemed, justified and made righteous”.

Romans 3 v 24…..For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

DIG for Saturday the 14th of March…..read all the Bible not just wee bits…..Romans 3 v 23

When I opened my Bible this morning I found that I was at Romans 3 and 4.

I noticed the one bit of highlighting that was on Romans 3 v 23, and was reminded that this was a verse I highlighted many years ago.

I was in a “different place” in terms of doctrine and theology back then and this highlight is a picture of that different place.

I had been focussing on the negative part of this passage, rather than the positive parts either side of it.

The teaching I was receiving was more about the sinning rather than the righteousness, justification or redemption.

From this I can see that my focus, or what I was mainly meditating upon was wrong.

This passage of Scripture is not about how we are all sinners and have come short of the standard that God has set.

It is all about how through the finished work of Jesus Christ that issue has been sorted!

Through faith in Jesus we have been made as righteous as God (Romans 3 v 22).

Through faith in Jesus we have been justified as a free gift and have been redeemed, or bough back (Romans 3 v 24).

Those are the truths we should be focussing on rather than the sin bit.

If I ever get a new Bible I will be highlighting Romans 3 v 22 and 24 this time!

Focus on and speak out about the goodness of God, as that is what will lead men to repentance (Romans 2 v 4).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that the sin issue has been dealt with and that as a gift of grace through Faith in Jesus I am righteous and justified and have been redeemed”.

Romans 3 v 23…..For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

DIG for Saturday the 29th of November…..my highlighting made me laugh…..Romans 3 v 23

I was saved in a great church with a good pastor and lovely people, but a church that was somewhat one sided in the teaching of doctrine.

I was reminded about this as I was flicking over the pages of my bible this morning and saw that I had highlighted Romans 3 v 23; I used to highlight a few verses when I was first saved but don’t bother much now, so the verses highlighted were the ones “important” to me back then.

Isn’t it interesting that I only highlighted the verse about sin, rather than highlight the verse before about being as righteous as God through faith in Jesus or the one after telling me that I had been freely justified by the grace of Jesus Christ?

You see that was the emphasis of what I was being taught; sin, sin, sin; when the emphasis should have been about Jesus.

I am also reminded about a friend who looked shocked when I read out Romans 6 v 23.

She said, “What was that second bit you said there?”

You see she had only been told in her church that the wages of sin was death and that she was a sinner, and had never been told the “second bit”, that the gift of God was eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Sin should not be the focus when we have been born again, indeed once saved we should really have no more conscience of sin (Hebrews 10 v 2).

Once saved, our focus should be on the Son; what has Jesus done for me and what has He made me.

The highlighting should be on the verse about us being as righteous as God through faith in Jesus (Romans 3 v 22).

The highlighting should be on the verse about us being freely justified by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3 v 24).

We should not score out the verse about sin, but this should not be our focus.

Sin is no longer a barrier between God and us for Him (Hebrews 10 v 17) so it should not be an issue for us.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that sin is no longer an issue for you, that I have been made righteous and justified through faith in Jesus Christ”.

Romans 3 v 23…..For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

DIG for Monday the 24th of March…..there is so much more to the Christian life than just your salvation, your ticket into heaven…..Ephesians 6 v 11

Salvation is a wonderful thing, a life changing event, an eternity changing event.

Through trusting in Jesus’ finished work we are saved and we do indeed have a “ticket into Heaven” (Romans 10 v 9 and 10).

The sad fact however is all that for some Christians this is all that Jesus has done for them; but the truth is that Jesus has purchased so much more for us through His amazing finished work.

This is highlighted in the “armour of God” passage in Ephesians 6.

This passage talks about all the mighty weapons we have from the Lord, in this case for our battle against the enemy.

Paul does talk about salvation, he writes about our helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6 v 17).

He also writes about righteousness, peace and faith, among other things (Ephesians 6 v 14 to 17).

When we were saved we were made righteous (2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

When we were saved God put all the peace we will ever need into our born again spirit (Galatians 5 v 23).

When we were saved we were given THE measure of faith and it was THE faith of Christ (Romans 12 v 3 and Romans 3 v 22).

His passage from Paul tells us that we have received so much more than just a “ticket into Heaven” at our salvation, and we see this truth right throughout the Word (especially when we look at the Greek meaning of the word “sozo”).

We have so much available to us right now, here on earth, through our salvation in Christ Jesus.

Jesus wants us to live an abundant life, a life of health and abundance; he appropriated this for us at the cross (John 10 v 10 and 3 John v 2).

If you are a born again believer this evening you have so much more from Jesus than just your ticket into Heaven; you have been given all spiritual blessings already (Ephesians 1 v 3) and have all you need, right now, for life and Godliness (2 Peter 3 v 1).

What good news!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for my salvation, and thank you for everything that this involves; including righteousness, peace and faith”.

Ephesians 6 v 11…..Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil