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Law And Grace

Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Law which Paul talked about is the Halakha, the Jewish Law, of 613 prohibitions so devised so that the Mosaic Law could be legalistically complied. The Jews believed that their own effort in religiously complying with this Halakha, which Paul called Works of the law, would earn them salvation.

Paul said that he was blameless in compliance as a Pharisee. Phil 3:6. Yet he was merciless in persecuting the church and even approved of the stoning of Stephen.

The Pharisees could be blameless in complying with the 613 prohibitions outwardly but you know from Scripture that they were mean, covetous, prideful and hypocritical in their hearts.

So we see that there can be no evidence of a new heart and new spirit even when one can comply with the Halakha.  That is, we cannot earn salvation by these law-works.

By nature, we are spiritually blind and in order to see this fallacy, God must open our eyes and melt our hearts of stone into flesh – that is Grace.  By grace,  when we are born again in Christ Jesus, a new heart and new spirit will be given us and the Spirit of Jesus will also be given to move us to fulfill the law.  Ezek 36:26-27,  John 3:5-7,13-15.

Psalms 19 tells us the law of the Lord revives the soul, rejoices the heart and make wise the simple. Without understanding that the law is Good which is the blueprint of our image of God, do we really know God ?

Jesus our Lord often talked about the heart or character conforming to this blueprint rather than the silly outward compliance of rules so devised to conform to the law. As silly as those who legalistically follow rules without true circumcision of the heart so is the silly ignorant believer who rubbishes the law.

(The Law of Christ, which is to love God wholeheartedly and to love one another, will fulfill the Mosaic Law.  Rom 13:10.   So when we bear each other’s burden by loving one another,  we have fulfilled the law of Christ.  Gal 6:2.)

The righteousness of Christ is imputed unto us when we believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and Lord. Phil 3:9.  Though the righteousness is imputed, the training to be Christ-like in character only just begins.

Titus 2:11-13. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Greater And Lesser Sense Of Prophecy

John 16:13. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you THE THINGS THAT ARE TO COME. ….

As far as the greater sense of prophecy is concerned, the revelation of God is complete in the Scripture. That is, no teacher can claim that the Spirit says some new truth to him that is different from what Jesus said because the Spirit will only speak what He hears from Jesus. John 16:14. Eg. Jesus said that those whom He loves, He will rebuke and discipline. Rev 3:19. So any teacher who claim a new truth from the Spirit of Jesus that He will not convict or rebuke a Christian of sin is a false teacher.

But in the lesser sense of prophecy,  it is still God’s sovereignty today to use whoever He wants to tell some future event to prepare His people. Eg Acts 11:27-30. It was noteworthy to know that the Antioch church acted on the prophecy to prepare and send relief to help the church in Judea through Paul and Barnabas. And the leaders in Jerusalem were humble to receive them.

It is important to note that Scripture exhorts us NOT to despise prophecy but to test all of them.  1 Thess 5:20.

Testimony (8)

Mark 10:27. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

It is difficult for me to share this episode of my life. But it had a very happy ending by the amazing grace of God. I am sharing this testimony in the hope of helping fellow believers who are going through such hurt in their relationship with their loved ones.

I grew up having a terrible relationship with my father. He was always quarreling with my mother over financial woes. We were impoverished because of his indolence and gambling habits. I never knew a day of peace growing up.

When I started my career, I contributed towards paying the mortgage of our Housing Development Board (HDB) apartment. One evening, I blew my top when I learned we might be evicted because we were in arrears of 13 months of mortgage payment. Later the HDB added the arrears due to the principal sum and recalculated our monthly mortgage payment after we had settled part of the arrears.

I just got married then. At the wedding dinner, I went on stage to thank my dad for bringing me up. I felt so hypocritical for making that speech in front of relatives, friends and colleagues.

Despite the sour relationship with my dad, I had always hoped to do well in life to support him and my mum.

I prayed often just for a stable career and improvement in our relationship. What seemed so impossible to me had become possible with God. He blessed me way beyond what I had prayed for.  All thanks and glory to Him !

I went on to do well in my career and I could pay up both the mortgage of my parents’ apartment and mine too in full.

Growing up with so much hurt, it is impossible to work on the relationship on our own effort. Many who suffered such hurt could testify to what I was going through.

I prayed often for the salvation of my parents too. I would sign up for any evangelistic dinner organized by any church to bring them along.

When my first son came after 7 years of marriage, things began to change. My wife and I would bring him often to see both his paternal and maternal grandparents over the weekend.

I really did not know when my relationship with my dad began to mend so much that I could really love him and care for him. All past hurts were not only forgiven but forgotten as well.

God is indeed faithful when we ask Him earnestly in prayer. What seemed so impossible to me had become possible with God. I am sure His Spirit has been working on my heart since as promised – when we come to Him with contrition acknowledging our helplessness and allowing Him to work on us. Praise His holy name !

It has been 11 years since my dad went to the Lord and I can still remember fondly the good times we had together.

The Works Of God Manifest In The Weak

John 9:1-3
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

It has always been God’s incomparable grace to use the weak to shame the strong to display His works.

God used a less than honorable family to head up His chosen people. Isaac loved Esau because of his appetite for Esau’s venison. Rebekah indulged in Jacob ruining him to be cunning and mean. Esau despised the spiritual. Such was the family that God used for God is patient and will finish the work He has begun.

The Messiah, God’s Beloved Son, came and born in a manger to a lowly family. Shepherds and not nobles greeted His birth. His ministry of three years, apart from the initial miracles, would be considered worse than mediocre according to worldly standards in Christendom today.

How wrong is Christendom today to look for the display of God’s works through impressive numbers, assets, glamour, pomp and concert-like worship programmes indistinguishable from pop idol worship which is surely not His will.

It pleases God to use the faithful weak and not the insolent aristocracy to display His works so that none can boast in His presence. 1 Cor 1:26-29.

The Vine And The Branches

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

The analogy of the Vine and branches is very instructive. As how the branch remains in the Vine structurally and vitally, that is how we should remain in Christ, the true Vine. Though the branch is structurally attached to the Vine, it also needs the vital sap from the Vine to produce good fruit.

For the branches not bearing fruit, the Gardener will cut them off. These branches may be structurally attached but they are not receiving the vital sap through them so they are not bearing good fruit.

Even if we are to hold on to all the words of Christ, we need to receive the vital sap from the Vine  – the sanctification by the Holy Spirit – to produce all the good fruit of the Spirit. So not only we need to abide in all the words of Christ, we must also allow His Spirit to do His sanctifying work in us.  Though we are clean (justified), we have to remain in Christ.

Those who sear their conscience by ignoring the conviction of sin by the Spirit and His sanctifying work will be like those branches who deliberately stop this vital sap from flowing into them. That is what Scripture meant by quenching the Spirit of Christ all the time to their peril.

Our Lord Jesus clearly said that these people do not really remain in His love because they do not obey His commands.

So any believer, who deliberately trivialize obeying God’s commands and quench the Spirit of Christ by ignoring His conviction of sin and sanctifying work, does not remain in His love at all.

On Trials And Suffering In Life

Deut 8: 2-7.

2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands…5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you…7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing..

This is the exact type of the last days. Before God will usher us into His divine Heavenly homeland, He will test us to know what is in our hearts. He will discipline us as a Good Father. It is a life time of “40 years” of training. We are continually being trained. Heb 12:5-7.

It is not pleasant training but painful throughout our lives. But it will yield us the fruit of righteousness in Christ. Heb 12: 11

I am afraid many will fail to see the necessity of trials and suffering and make themselves into illegitimate children. Heb 12: 8.

How sad for many who believe only in the good things in this life in the land and “settle” down like the Israelites and forget God gradually.  Deut 8:12-14

My brothers and sisters, how necessary is the attitude to live as exiles or pilgrims during these “40 years” of wilderness training !   Heb 11:13-16.

Parable Of The Talents (I)

Matt 25: 14-30 NLT.

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip… “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

It is clear that the Master is our Lord Jesus. He is entrusting us to represent His interests when He is away. And He has also given us responsibility commensurate with our abilities and expects us to be diligent in discharging our responsibilities. There is no place for laziness as our Lord rebuked the third servant being given one bag of silver and He called him wicked. If only this servant had earned just one bag of silver, he would have been given the same commendation.

This servant was only concerned about his own profit and not that of his Master. He saw little motivation to work as the profit would go to the Master but if he failed, he would earn the wrath of Him.

That is the stance of the hyper grace believer who is only concerned with his salvation and he masks his reluctance or refusal to do good works by craftily denouncing doing good works as legalism which transgress the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.

(It is without the slightest doubt that salvation is only possible through faith in Christ Jesus alone but the genuine believer is God’s workmanship created for good works. Good works will come naturally out of love and gratitude for the Master. Eph 2:8-10.)

Such irresponsible attitude betrays their loyalty and love for their Master.  How dreadful is the punishment by the Master who said thus of those who do nothing but indulge in dissipation thinking it is unmerited favor to enjoy and not work :   “But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Divine Guidance

Acts 16:6-10

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia,but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

We see how Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit not to preach the Good News to Asia but to move on to Macedonia instead. It would be logical for Paul to travel and preach around Asia, but logic is not the basis for calling. Though the Holy Spirit forbade Paul and Silas to preach in the province of Asia, Paul still attempted to go to the province of Bithynia in Asia. Yet again, the Holy Spirit stopped them.  We are not told how the Holy Spirit prevented them.  The Holy Spirit did not leave Paul clueless as to the next destination since He had forbidden him to preach in Asia. He was given a vision to go to Macedonia.

In the above passage and other passages of Acts, we saw the active guidance of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Paul and other Christians in the following ways :

  1. Through the direct prompting of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 16:6. How the Spirit exactly prevented Paul from preaching the word, the Scripture did not reveal.)
  2. Through vision. (Acts 16:9).
  3. Through prophets. (Agabus predicted a famine. Acts 11:28)
  4. Through angels. (Philip was guided to the Ethopian eunuch. Acts 8:26-39)

Before I go on, I must stress that Scripture is the primary way of God’s guidance.  All other ways have to be tested against it.  But sadly,  many dismiss all other ways of guidance and miss the joy of the close walk with the Spirit of God as we surrender to His guidance.

The Holy Spirit may prompt us through an inner voice (John 16:13) or our conscience (Rom 9:1).   How do we discern that it is really His prompting and not our own thoughts or from other sources ?  We have to test it against the Word of God because the Holy Spirit will not prod us to do something against the Word of God, and our conscience is suspect at times.  On the other hand, do not over-ride the prompting of the Spirit by our own logic or our own preference at times.  (Do not get me wrong that we do not exercise prudence for prudence is also a cardinal virtue of a Christian. We are exhorted to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.  I am only exhorting not to trust ONLY logic ALL the time and dismiss His prompting unknowingly.)  God must have the best interests of Paul in disallowing him to go to Asia but to send him to Macedonia.  Many Christians suffer for making the wrong decisions in life by quenching the Spirit through insensitivity and disobedience to His prompting.  I have seen missionaries, who claimed that God had sent them to a certain place but it was really their own preference, came back with fruit-less ministry for several years while being there.

Many believers do not believe in visions and so why will God give them one ?  As long as the visions are not extra biblical revelation and do not contradict the whole counsel of the Word of God, why should we dismiss them as not one of the ways in which God may prod us to do something ?

Do not despise prophecy but to test each and every one.   If the Antioch church did not believe Agabus on his prophecy of a coming global famine and take definitive preparatory action,  the Judea church might suffer terribly without the relief aid from them through the hands of Paul and Barnabas.

Heb 13:2 exhorts us to show hospitality to all strangers in case angels are sent to minister or to guide us.

Parable Of The Two Debtors

Luke 7: 36-47

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been FORGIVEN – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

The sinful woman was so overwhelmed by the enormity of her debts that she wept, unlike Simon. That broken penitent spirit led her to love Jesus much. Her great love for Jesus effected a lavished action upon Him. That is the “forgiven much, love much” heart of the sinful woman.

Without this heartfelt contrition of the tremendous enormity of our debts and feeling godly sorrow for our miserable and helpless state, and the tremendous gratitude for the forgiveness in spite of our sin, we have not fully appreciated the grace of God.

Today, the hyper grace false teachers are teaching exactly the opposite to have the “forgiven little, love little” heart of Simon. They taught that repentance is merely a change of mind and downplay the enormity of sin and rubbish any godly sorrow for the enormity of sin.   The hyper grace believers can never have genuine love for our Lord if they really have this “forgiven little love little” heart because our Lord had said that whoever love Him will obey His teachings and whoever does not obey His teachings does not love Him.  John 14:23-24.   The genuine believers will obey out of gratitude and love.  Their genuine love will effect outpouring of good works like what the sinful woman had done.

Our Lord said that it was possible to honor Him with our lips but our hearts could be far away. Matt 15:8. The hyper grace teachers and their believers may praise Jesus all the time,  but they deliberately ignore His exemplary prayer exhorting us to seek God’s forgiveness of our debts as we forgive others because they do not believe in feeling godly sorrow for sins,  subsequent confession of sins and seeking the Lord’s forgiveness. Matt 6:12.

The sinful woman was JUSTIFIED for her repentant response to the grace of Christ.

 

A Letter To A Brother Suffering From Cancer

Dear Brother,

Grace and peace to you from Jesus our Lord.

It is our greatest blessing that we have received Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. It is only a matter of time before we leave our fallen physical bodies and receive indestructible bodies when Jesus comes again. During this time in our physical bodies which will be subjected to pain and wasting away due to its fallen nature, God wants to prepare us to be more like Christ loving Him and loving fellow brothers and sisters, especially the least of them. That is the Revealed Will of God.

Allow me to journey with you in trusting God for His mercy and goodness. We are all expected to have a life expectancy of around 80 years, so it is imperative that our immune system will naturally weaken with age anyway.  In God’s Word, we find detailed instruction on the food we can or cannot take so as not to compromise the immune system.  Now even if we do everything right concerning diet, eating well and taking extreme good care of our bodies,  it is still a very short sojourn on earth as compared to eternity.

The Bible says in Prov 17:22 that a joyful heart is good medicine. So let’s start by casting all our cares and worries onto our Lord Jesus. 1 Pet 5:7.

Secondly, let’s pray and petition God for your pathway of healing.

Thirdly, be sensitive to the Spirit of God allowing Him to help you select the right option of healing.

Meanwhile, let’s look at some simple ways of strengthening your immune system.
It is to my knowledge that traditional Chinese medicine is effective because they do contain some chemicals that improve the immune system and it is helpful to use at times. But at this stage of your medical condition, it is a war against the cancer and not prevention. During prevention stage when our immune system is strong, small dosage of chemicals helps to strengthen it. But during the war stage, when the immune system is compromised, very much higher dosage of the chemicals and vitamins are necessary to fight the cancer. Here is a list of vitamins and chemicals that the medical doctor will recommend.

1. Vitamin E <= 1000 mg twice daily.
2. Multiple vitamins including zinc and B Complex 100.
3. Vitamin C 1000 mg twice daily.
4. Chromium picolinate 200 mg daily.
5. Yogurt 1 or 2 cups daily.
6. Coenzyme Q-10 (Co Q-10) 30 to 90 mg daily.
7. Garlic. One clove equivalent. Take tablets daily.
8. Selenium. It is toxic so use not more than 100 mg daily.
9. Echinacea. Can stimulate immune system but tolerance can develop. Use 2 to 3 teaspoons tincture daily. Use for 4 to 8 weeks and stop for 2 weeks.
10. Glutathione. 100 mg daily.

Fourthly, stand firm and believe God will give you the best option. Spend your time in thinking of helping others around you. Help your family to cope with their anxieties over you. It is better to bring joy to others than to worry.

Lastly, think of what you will do if God extends your life another 5 to 10 years, and do it right away.

We are all appointed to die once no matter what and to die is gain because we will be ushered into the presence of our Lord. Sometimes He takes us away because He may not want us to see the coming judgment.

Isaiah 57: 1-2. NLT.
Good people pass away;
the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
2 For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.

In His love,
Your Brother in Christ

Postscript :
There is an URGENT need for all of us to grasp the biblical revelation of the living God who works primarily in nature not in supernature, in history not in miracle. …Once we begin to see the living God ceaselessly at work through the processes of history and nature, we shall begin (for example) to recognize that ALL healing is divine healing, whether without the use of means or through the use of physical, psychological or surgical means. The former should properly be termed ‘miraculous healing’ while the latter is non-miraculous, but both are equally ‘divine healing’. – Dr John Stott, Baptism and Fullness.