Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

1 Peter 1:18-19 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19.) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

Of all of the ways you can hear about being saved, there truly is only one single way and that is through Jesus Christ. The word “redeemed” means “ransom” which in the Greek is compared to the word “lutron” which means a redemption price. The idea here is that a price must have been paid for salvation and it was paid in full at Calvary. One simply cannot be saved without the blood of Jesus Christ washing their sins. It is proven here that water, gold, silver, works, or etc cannot be a saving factor because none of these have cleansing power. The Religionist work every day to to prove this wrong however you cannot destroy truth. Every sort of works we can do on this earth are corruptible things and the Lord stated we are not saved by corruptible things. The price has been paid by the only incorruptible thing there is in the death of the “...Lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Let us notice what other things they miss in this chapter; First, in verse 2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father...” that is we were not only redeemed by he blood of the Lamb but also chosen in Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world. Some will say that God looked into the future and saw those who would believe and chose them to salvation but what they forget to think about is with God there is no future, every thing and time is present to Him. There is no tomorrow with God or heaven, only here on earth. God is Omniscient and He cannot be Omniscient if He did not know everything before the creation of the world because He did not and cannot change. Secondly, in verse 5 we see “Who are kept by the power of God through faith...” The word “kept” means to be a watcher in advance that is this same God Who elected us, and Who paid for our redemption, watches over us to make sure His chosen will come real in time. We also need to look closely at the Greek definition of the word “kept” - to be a watcher in advance not just a watcher after we are saved but rather one in advance. God could not elect someone to be saved and not carry it through from start to finish. This is the only way the will of God can be an absolute is for Him to entirely control every detail of it. So by definition of the word “kept” God is our watcher or preserver before the foundation of the world, to make sure we were not murdered by our mother and some doctor in the womb before we were born, He also watched over us to make sure we do not die before we are saved, and a watcher to make sure we reach the bounds set for us before the world began by God.
This brings us to verse 9 “Receiving the end of your faith...” The word “receiving” means to take care of, that is God will take care of His elected until the end of their faith, that includes salvation and beyond. This is more deeply described by Paul in Romans 8:35 – 39 when the Lord tells us that nothing in existence (including our oneself or own actions) cannot separate us from the gift of salvation He has so graciously given to us. God is going to take care of us and see us through until we are setting in our proper place in His kingdom as His children.
This is the sum of salvation, we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and preserved by God to insure He did not choose in vain. Jude 1:24 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,"

Guilt By Association

Psalms 50:18 “When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.”

As Christians we have very strong limits from the Lord our God, we are not allowed to dwell among the lost and those Christians that are out of step with the Lord. I understand some will think this to be strong language; however it is God’s law and not mine. We need to look to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:17 and we get a better understanding of what God is talking about in Psalms 50:18 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” The Lord told us in our text scripture “thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker”. The Lord did not warn us to watch our step with them but to stay away from them. The Lord said if we “run with a thief” that is to join him or agree with him then we are guilty of the same, not that we were active in the act but rather just associating ourselves with them. As Christians we are to exclude those who are not saved or are acting outside of God’s will and truth from our life or fall into the judgment of sinful acts. I understand some Christians truly believe they can be their own person and we as minister or their church or pastor has no right to judge their actions but they are wrong. If you are a member of a church then your life is of interest to the church membership because the Lord told the churches to weed out the leaven from among them. In 1 Cor. 5:6 the Lord said “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” that is your sinful actions as a church member without discipline from the church can cause the entire church to be partakers of your sins. In 1 Cor. 5:7 the Lord went farther to say “Purge out therefore the old leaven…” the words “purge out” means to cleanse thoroughly that is to cleans the one with the leaven from the church or exclude them or else the entire church is guilty by association. And the Lord ends with verse 8 of 1 Cor. 5 “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” That is to keep ourselves and our churches pure even if it means expulsion. One of my church members informed me of a woman who attended another denomination that told him she would not be a part of a church that believed in expulsion; well I could not be a part of one that did not purge out the leaven. Let’s not forget the Lord said we become partakers in their sinful acts.

We also need to consider what the Lord said in Psalms 50:22 “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” If the Lord is angry with us and brings punishment on us because of our actions then who will deliver us from His anger? God is our shield, He is our protector, and He is the One whom delivers us, so if He refuses or if He is tearing us to pieces, who else do we look to for deliverance? We as Christians must be very careful in this life in what we do because God sees every action and He knows every thought. Be careful at whom you associate yourself with and do not become guilty by association because the eyes of God are everywhere. Do not make the sad mistake of saying it is none of my pastor’s business or it is none of the churches business because it is and they also can become guilty by association. I understand there are churches that do not believe in expulsion and will allow their membership to do as they please but remember this, a church without order is not a church and if it was then the Lord Jesus has removed the candlestick and it is no more. This is a serious matter and God is serious and His punishment is serious and real. God has not changed, man has changed who God is and will greatly suffer because of it.

Already Condemned!

John 3:18-19 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19.) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

There is something funny about mankind and the bible; it seems that the simplest scriptures are the hardest for man to grasp an understanding of. Let’s look closely at what exactly the scripture says;
“He that believeth on him is not condemned…” – Now in the most simplest terms the Lord Jesus said if we believe on Him as our Saviour then that person is not condemned.
“…but he that believeth not is condemned already…” - But he that refuses to believe in Jesus as their Saviour is already condemned; not going to be but already is condemned.
“…because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – Now the Lord gives us the reason for this condemnation, because they have refused to believe on Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The Lord continues in verse 19 with this reason “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world…” The Saviour of mankind has come into the world and the world has refused Him as their Saviour.
“…and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Man in his evil heart would rather dwell in the darkness of his depraved heart rather than accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour and therefore man is already condemned.
There is certainly more here than I can possibly cover in this short article however there is one main point I want to draw your attention to, and that is “…but he that believeth not is condemned already…” The word “already” means – now or by this time, however it actually means “from the beginning” because man has been condemned since Adam eat of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, the condemnation or the punishment in eternal hell is a sentence cast upon all and this is why mankind is already condemned. Some seem to think damnation is coming but Jesus said man is already condemned and that it is not something to wait for, if you do not believe Jesus Christ and He alone can save you then you are already condemned. There is no wait and see what judgment holds; you have already been judged.

The second point here is this; the Lord Jesus said if you do not believe in Him as your Saviour that you are already condemned. For all of those who believe in other things such as works, baptism, church membership - association, or etc you are sadly mistaken and have been grossly misled. The only condemnation in the bible is for not believing in Jesus Christ as Saviour. This cannot be accomplished if anything is attached to Him as Saviour. No where else in the entire bible does it say that we are condemned for not believing or doing anything else, only for not believing in Jesus Christ. You cannot find one place where the scriptures say you are condemned for not being baptized, for not working enough, for not for joining or being associated with a church or religious origination, or etc. Many will lift their eye after death only to find that they are in the eternal lake of fire and wonder why. In Revelations 20:11 – 15 we see the lost stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment and they are judged by there works (just as man desires to be) only to find their works could not save them and all (100%) of them are cast into the eternal lake of fire forever. Just read the bible, Jesus would not lie to us, Satan is the liar and has your heart blinded.