Month: August 2023

If God has called the believers to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8) and do extraordinary miracles, even greater than the ones that He performed, then who are each of us called to be? What part are we called to play in this awesome kingdom that we’ve been adopted into?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” John 14:12 KJV

What is the kingdom fruit that we are called to bear? Changed lives, saved souls, divine healings, casting out demons, raising the dead, and the list goes on and on. These are all things that we cannot do on our own, but with the Holy Spirit equipping us, we can do great exploits.

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Paul said that we have all been given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit the body (see 1 Corinthians 12:7). The manifestation of the Spirit which he is talking about is our spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Without those, the body suffers loss as a whole (see 1 Corinthians 12:26). Why would God give us the manifestation of the Spirit if He never intended us to walk in it to edify the body? If every man has been given the manifestation of the Spirit in the form of spiritual gift(s), then we are all intended to use them as part of our calling. To argue that some Christians are not called to walk in spiritual gifts is to call Paul a liar, but if we are all given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit the entire body, then we will not fulfill our God-given calling unless we figure out and operate in our spiritual gifts. If it’s intended for us to have, then it’s intended for us to use as part of God’s ultimate plan for our lives.

“(7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (8) For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; (9) To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; (10) To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: (11) But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 KJV

The Christian life that Jesus gave us is the most exciting life we can live here on earth. We are called to do things that would normally be impossible for us to accomplish on our own. Jesus even said that the works that He was doing were impossible if He attempted to do them Himself!

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19 KJV)

So what was the key to all the miracles and demonstrations of the Power of God? It was the fact that He was anointed with Power from heaven, that is, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit! It was that anointing that gave Him the ability to do all sorts of powerful exploits for the kingdom.

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38 KJV)

According to that scripture, we learn that the reason Jesus was able to do what He did, was because He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. My friend, we have that same Holy Spirit to equip us for ministry and to do great exploits as well!

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 KJV)

My friend, with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are endued with the same power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus was in His earthly ministry! That means, just as Jesus said in John 14:12, that the same miracles He did, we will be doing also.

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One of the biggest reasons why we may remain in bondage to sin, even though we have been ‘legally’ set free, is because of ignorance of the truth. Jesus speaks of this in John 8:31-36: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

One time I was tempted to sin, but the Lord brought me to this one picture of a cute baby bird in somebody’s hands, and somebody wrote a Bible verse on the picture about the goodness of God. I realized that I didn’t even THINK of sinning after thinking about what a good and loving God we serve!! My point? The more we become aware of the goodness and the love of God, the more we will love Him, and the more we will develop a bitter hatred for sin, because as we become more like Him, the more we love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. After all, it’s the goodness of God that leadeth us to repentance: Romans 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

Once you begin to grasp the goodness of God, your love for Him will grow because of the love that He has for you (1 John 4:19), and out of your love for Him, you will begin to naturally keep Jesus’ commandments as Jesus said in John 14:23, “…If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” As we grow in love for God, we also grow in love for one another (1 John 5:1), and out of our love for one another, we will naturally fulfill the law by loving one another (Romans 13:8, “…love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”).

Meditating on God’s Word and learning of the goodness of God is very powerful in the tearing down of strongholds (incorrect thinking patterns based on lies and deception). I believe one of the reasons King David developed a very intimate relationship with God is because he spent a lot of time alone out in the field with Him.

Did you know that knowing (realizing) the love of Christ allows us to to filled with the fullness of God? Ephesians 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

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Hebrews 10:17, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

If God Himself chooses not to remember our sins, then who are we to remember something that God Himself has chosen to forget?

Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”

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A saint is somebody who is holy, and we have been made holy with the righteousness of God through the blood shed by Christ Jesus! 2 Corinthians 5:21, “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.”

1 Corinthians 1:2, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” This passage tells us that the letters Paul wrote to Corinth, were geared towards all who call upon the name of the Lord, and later on He refers to the believers reading these letters as saints in 1 Corinthians 6:2.

Just after Paul got done chewing out the saints at Corinth for rejoicing over the man who was having incest with his mother, Paul turns right around and refers to them as saints in 1 Corinthians 6:2, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”

If Paul still referred to them as saints, then I think it becomes clear that a saint is not somebody who is perfect by the things they did, but somebody who’s been made perfect through the blood of Jesus!

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As you know, a forgiven sinner would be somebody who was forgiven, but is still in bondage to sin. God’s Word makes it clear that we not only have had our sins forgiven, but we have also been set free from the power of sin. A saint is a person who is holy, and we are given the righteousness of God through the work Jesus did on the cross:

2 Corinthians 5:21, “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.”

Unlike forgiven sinners, we have not only been forgiven our sins, but also set free from the bondage of sin:

Romans 6:18, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

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As I said before, if you look up the word “sinners” in the NT Greek, it gives us this interpretation:

1) devoted to sin, a sinner

Would you consider yourself a “Forgiven person who is devoted to sin”?

a) not free from sin

Would you consider yourself somebody who is forgiven, but not freed from sin? (Romans 6:18, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”)

b) pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked

Would you consider yourself somebody who is forgiven but especially wicked?

1) all wicked men

Would you consider yourself a forgiven wicked person?

2a) tax collectors, heathen

Would you consider yourself a forgiven heathen?

Basically, a forgiven sinner is somebody who has been forgiven, but they are not freed from the power of sin.

Jesus didn’t just die to forgive us of our sins, but also to deliver us from the power of sin! If He only came to forgive us, then we could use the term ‘forgiven sinner’.

I don’t know about you, but the old ‘sinner’ in me died (Romans 6:11), and was buried with Christ (Romans 6:2, 4), and I am a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17)!

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If you look up the word sinner in the NT Greek, you’ll find the Greek word hamartolos, which means:

1) devoted to sin, a sinner

a) not free from sin

b) pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked

1) all wicked men

2) specifically of men stained with certain definite vices or crimes

a) tax collectors, heathen

This means that a forgiven sinner is a person who has been forgiven, but is STILL in bondage to sin! Are we in bondage to sin? In John 8:31-36 Jesus speaks of believers who were in bondage to sin due to ignorance, but we don’t have to be! In verse 36, Jesus tells us that, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” We are legally freed from the power of sin, but we can remain in bondage to sin due to our own ignorance of the truth!

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