If you desire powerful signs and wonders read this.

Act 14:3  So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands.

Why do we not have the miracles they had in the first century? I know, there are some that insist we do but in reality that is not true. I'm not saying there are never miraculous healings, but many of the modern day faith healing ministries are suspect to say the least. So let's answer the above question.

Look at the passage from the fourteenth chapter of Acts. There you find that the miracles have a very specific purpose. The purpose was to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel of grace. With so few ministries emphasizing the gospel of grace, it is little wonder that there is not an outpouring of miracles. In fact, Paul speaks in a place of lying signs and wonders. Satan the accuser of the brethren/sisters can perform lying signs and wonders. He can also take them back. Perhaps the reason that some people who seem to be miraculously healed fall back into the same ailment later is because they were performed by a ministry that is accusing the brothers and sister rather than proclaiming the gospel of grace.

If current evangelical doctrine is as I think it is, the strong delusion of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, then lying signs and wonders would be a natural product of the phenomenon. Remember, the man of lawlessness sets himself up in the temple of God, pretending to be God. Surely many church leaders have set themselves up in the temple and claim to speak for God. The Pope claims to speak ex-cathedra and many of the pastors that I have known claim to speak for God. This fulfills 2 Thess 2:4 does it not?

Perhaps if the current ministers would repent from their legalistic gospel and begin to preach the pure pristine gospel of grace, then God would once again testify of the message of his grace with true signs and wonders!

A fresh look at the Prodigal Son

Luke 15:25-32  “Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.  (26)  So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening.  (27)  The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’  (28)  But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him,  (29)  but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends!  (30)  But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’  (31)  Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours.  (32)  It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’”

How many times have you heard the story of the prodigal son. It is a key component of evangelism, encouraging the lost to come to the Father through Christ. Yet, there is a much forgotten part of the parable that is not emphasized often and really not that widely understood. It is the story of the so called "good son" the faithful son. I have posited that above for you to read in full.

We know that the prodigal repented. In fact, the prodigal son is proof of the thing that Paul stated toward the end of his letter to the Galatians. Paul said, "be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap!" The point is that if you sow to evil, you will reap evil in the here and now. It is not eternal punishment. It is "right now" punishment. It is not God's punishment, it is merely a fact of the law of sowing and reaping.

There is something far more sinister in this parable. It is the plight and fate of the so called "good son." Jesus did not say that the good son repented. In fact, it is likely that the good son just remained angry and jealous. In this parable the good son is a picture of the self righteous Pharisees. The good son is a metaphor for the religious person and the self righteous person... for the religious mindset so to speak.

The religious mindset is so enticing and beguiling to so many. If affords one the false sense that they are somehow worthy because of their right behavior. Nothing could be farther from the truth because the good son was filled up with jealousy and anger. He was miserable in his working to gain the father's favor and he was jealous of the father's love for that prodigal. I some times feel sorry for the good son because it seems that the gospel is unfairly geared toward the prodigal. So much so that in the religious mindset, people try their best to enslave the repentant prodigal into becoming a miserable good son. Jesus said of the Pharisees that they traveled land and see to make a convert and when they had converted one, they set out to make them twice the demon of hell that they were.

This brings me to the idea that the so called "strong man" spiritually is the demon of religion. Metaphorically, the first attempt at religion was the sewing of fig leaves to try to cover up sin and shame. Satan, the accuser of the brethren is always at work and in this parable we see that the good son is the accuser. The self righteous judgmental attitude of the good son poisoned everything about him to the point where he could not enjoy himself for jealousy and anger.

Unfortunately, this part of the parable is a metaphor for the evangelical church today. They travel land and see to make converts,and then they try to turn them into twice the child of hell that they themselves are. All the while they ignore or marginalize the gospel of grace which is the gospel of the kingdom. There is but one gospel and the gospel of the kingdom is quite simply the gospel of grace. Let's look at Jesus' words: Mat 23:15  “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!"

The true gospel of the grace of God is freeing. It does not place the prodigal in bondage. It sets the prodigal free to love the father who so graciously welcomes him home, but more than that, the father also longs to lavish his love on the good son and the gospel of grace facilitates that as well. This message is especially geared at religious leaders and so called "seasoned saints." They are the ones that seem to want to believe that their behavior pleases God. I think it makes them feel superior and when you stop and think about it, that itself is sinful behavior. It is rolled up in pride. Yes, pride was the main problem that the good son faced. He was proud of his obedience, and then when the prodigal returned and found unmerited favor jealously crept in.

The truth is this. We all need the gospel twenty-four seven. My prayer is that people will awake from their religious stupor and begin to live out the gospel in community.

Justifying oneself

Luke 10:25-29  Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  (26)  He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?”  (27)  The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  (28)  Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”  (29)  But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

It seems that it is difficult for people to grasp that we have been justified, made righteous and acceptable to God by the faith OF Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16.) Justification by the faith of Christ just doesn't seem to make sense to the human mind. Why would God justify people based on the faith of his Son? Doesn't it rather make sense that ultimately we justify ourselves by our actions? These questions are the reason that most people will not really accept the pure gospel.

The above passage from Luke's gospel is the beginning of a parable that is widely known as the story of the "Good Samaritan." Here are some facts to stick away as we think about self justification. To the Torah observant Jew of the first century, there was nothing lower than a Samaritan. The fact is that Jews, especially Torah observant Jews had absolutely nothing to do with Samaritans. So it is important to realize that Jesus was not just telling about a person who had mercy and did a good deed. He was showing that loving your neighbor meant loving someone you hated, Furthermore, rather than giving an example of a Jew being merciful and doing good for a Samaritan, he reversed it and had the Samaritan doing good to the Jew. This would have been extremely offensive to the expert in the law that was seeking to justify himself.

This brings us to Paul in his letter to the Romans. In chapter ten verses 1-4 he explains the futility of trying to justify oneself. He says that he is concerned for his countrymen. They rejected the idea of being made righteous by the faith of Christ and instead set about to establish their own righteousness by the law. As pointed out in the parable of the "Good Samaritan" it is difficult to establish self righteousness. In fact, due to humanities fall it is impossible to justify oneself or establish ones own righteousness by law observance. It is impossible to truly love God when one is striving to establish their own justification. One can only fear, and fear prevents one from loving God with all ones heart, soul and strength. So it is impossible to justify oneself.

Yet, isn't that what most Christians try to do? They use the gospel as an entry point to being able to end up justifying themselves through their actions. Come on y'all you know I'm right here. Let me explain something in the most simple terms. Saints are NEVER advanced to the point that they do not need to hear the pure gospel over and over again. In fact, the gospel should be treated as the Israelites were instructed to treat the law. It should be written on the door posts, taught to the children, attached to the head and arms. There should be a continual reminder of the gospel of grace. It is truly the only way to love God with all one's heart, soul and strength, and it is the ONLY way one can begin to really truly love their neighbor as oneself!

What is the Biblical meaning of faith/believe/belief ?

Joh 3:16  "For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life."

I have used the Classic Amplified Bible version of John 3:16 to illustrate the point that it is actually easy to specifically define what it means to believe the gospel or have faith in Christ. Faith is a concept that is rich in Hebrew thought. In fact, there are several words in Hebrew that are translated faith. I will mention three. Hasah, Batah, Aman..... Hasah's meaning is to seek refuge or flee toward. Batah means settled confidence in. Aman means trust in and rely on. So it is safe to say that when one sees the word faith/believe/believes/believed in the New Testament writings one can expect that it means to trust in, rely on, flee toward, have settled confidence in, and seek refuge. As you can easily see it is much more than an intellectual assent.

So, the next time that someone quotes James 2:19 to try to scare you into doing more than just having faith, realize that James is not speaking about faith. James is simply referring to intellectual assent and knowledge. It must be that there were those even back then that thought that belief/faith meant simply to believe a fact. There is a big difference between the English definition of believe and the New Testament definition of believe. The definition of the English word believe is to accept the truthfulness of something. That is simply intellectual assent. However, John 3:16 is describing something far more than merely accepting the truthfulness. It is describing trusting in, relying on, clinging too, fleeing toward, having settled confidence in.

Here is the facts. If you are trusting in, clinging too, relying on, fleeing toward, having settled confidence in the truth of the gospel, that Jesus is one's justification, one's righteousness, one's obedience, then.... you are having New Testament faith!

It does not have to be perfect faith. It does not mean that doubt never comes into the equation. In fact, the only human that had perfect faith was Jesus of Nazareth. That is what made him an acceptable sacrifice and type for all of humanity. He alone was able to do what we are not really capable of. He was willing to die, willing to be tortured, willing to be scorned, knowing that he had settled confidence in what the Father had told him. This helps us make sense out of two separate statements in the New Testament that actually work together as one. The first one is where God the Father stated that Jesus was his Son in whom he was WELL PLEASED.... and, what the Spirit revealed to the writer of Hebrews who reported that without faith, it is impossible to please God. What pleases God? Faith! How then could God be well pleased with his Son? By his Son's faith!

This should offer comfort to those who are struggling with perfect obedience and continuing repentance to understand perfect obedience is relying on, clinging too, having settled confidence in the message of the gospel of grace and that CONTINUING REPENTANCE is continually turning the mind and attention to the gospel of grace.