Hi, am just getting used to the gospel of grace, even though I’ve been born-again for long. So in the light of that, am trusting God for my children and knowing that Jesus has made provision for me to have them has eased up a lot of worry and anxiety. My question is, how do i rest in the finished work of Jesus and at the same time resist the devil. Also what’s your take on acting on my believe (faith) according to James 2:17, concerning my situation.
I’ve been there! Put away all of your works Mentality! Jesus did it all for you. Claim all the blessings in the New Testament. All that Jesus did was for you. Giving Thanks continually. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. As you begin to come into the knowledge of his love for you With nothing attached, It will be so easy for you to be an overcomer.
For the first part, I gotta say it’s the battle of TRUST. The devil doesn’t want us to trust Jesus, but we know rest in Jesus leads to abundant life [John 10:10].
For the James 2:17 part, the context is on a practical viewpoint (people compare James to Proverbs). James wants to say how doing absolutely nothing with our faith won’t allow us to live an abundant life in the present.
I still believe that we get eternal life by accepting Jesus’s sacrifice and seeing Jesus as who he is [John 3:16]. However, Jesus didn’t die just so we can go to heaven — he wants us to live an abundant life [John 10:10]. When we walk with Jesus, fruit naturally comes out [John 15].
BTW, check out Paul Ellis’s articles on James 2. He wrote a lot!
Haha I drowned to Pastors when I got baptiezed. In the Photos you csn see me tryjng not to dron and them swiming as fast as they can ti get away. Good times 🙂
Holy Needle in a Haystack Batman!! I am trying to find if you have any articles written on 2 Tim 2:12….the ole if you deny him, he will deny us hullaballoo. Do you have any? Much obliged!
Hello Paul, I heard teaching on this passage which blessed the socks off me! I understand the word ‘deny’ here is the same word used when you ‘deny’ a child a specific blessing (pocket money as an example) because there is a discipline issue. Jesus will not deny us to the point of not knowing us, but we will be denied (effectively by ourselves) the blessings we could/should receive by denying Christ access to our lives. if we deny Him (time, faith, access to our hearts) He will deny us that which could be ours through right relationship.
Hope that made sense!
Hello, I was just wondering, how is the judgment seat of Christ (believers judgment) to be viewed through the lens of grace? Maybe I’m not seeing it correctly but the rewards we received or the lack there of based upon the type of life we live for the Lord will be something we will have to live with for all eternity. Thanks,
Steven
Hi Steven,
I have written a chapter on eternal rewards in my new book The Gospel in Twenty Questions. One day I hope to find time to write some posts based on that chapter, because the material in that book is something I have never seen discussed anywhere, and especially not within the grace community.
I really look forward to hearing about that. Especially here in the United States where we are so focused on achievement and accomplishments. It’s so easy take those scriptures and turn them into performance-based Christianity. Thanks for dealing with all the subjects that we are often too afraid to address!
Paul, I look forward to your writing about this (eternal rewards). From Jim Richards teachings I have gleaned that our “rewards” are the lives / souls we have impacted based on our walking in love (God’s love in us or through us).
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina)
I have written a few posts on rewards and have more in the pipeline. You can find the publishing ones in the Archives > Subject index under “eternal rewards.”
Can you please tell me why there are Christians who are struggling in financial hardships?Specially here in our country Philippines.Is it normal for us here to be in hardships because our country is struggling in our economy?even we are Christians?
From a historical view, poverty in various countries is the result of imperialism, and I don’t believe God approves of injustice like that.
Even so, God is a master of bringing good out of evil [Romans 8]. I also learned from various articles and a mission trip that poverty CAN NOT keep us from bonding with God!
Although financial prosperity isn’t a guarantee, God gave you a purpose and a plan for life [Romans 12]. No matter where or what conditions, we can still show God’s love. Perhaps he wants you to help solve poverty…
I have a question. The Bible says that has believers we have the Spirit of Christ. Now, is the Holy Spirit separate from the Spirit of Christ? If so, Is the believer without the Holy Spirit until we ask God for Him? or do we receive both once we have become born again. Also, is this different from what happen during Pentecost?
I actually have a similar question before. Fortunately, I have looked at various Scriptures that definitely helped with resolving this specific question.
First off, we know from Jesus that all believers are born by Spirit and a child of God [John 1, 3]. All believers who trust in Jesus are guaranteed eternal life [John 3:16]. Additionally, all believers will receive the Holy Spirit at some point [John 7:37-39].
With that said, during the four gospels and Acts, there seems to be a desync between believing and receiving the Holy Spirit. The disciples believed but didn’t receive the HS until Pentecost. And the HS distribution seems to be a separate activity done shown multiple times in Acts.
Fortunately, Paul’s epistles (which happen after the events of Acts 1-9) cleared things up. Upon belief, the Ephesians were sealed with the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:13-14]. Paul wrote in Romans 6:23 that eternal life is “in Christ Jesus”. Additionally, since the writing of epistles, Paul wrote that everyone who “belongs to God” must have the spirit of God [Romans 8:9-11], and there is only one body of Christ [Ephesians 4:4]. Finally, it’s worth noting that in the NT “spirit of God” and “Holy Spirit” are actually interchangeable terms (because the HS is also God — trinity shenans).
Thus, since the writing of the epistles (AKA today), all believers immediately receive Holy Spirit. Desync is likely for demonstrative purposes in Acts era.
Hey Paul,
I know the Holy Spirit dwells in us. However, is it still the Holy Spirit that brings the tangible weighty Glory? Or is that the like Spirit of God entering the room? You know hoe people say the Presence in here is thick.
Good and interesting question. We know from John 7:37-39 that all believers receive the Holy Spirit, and as seen in Ephesians 1:13-14, all believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
However, in terms of “Spirit of God entering the room”, I think when people are referring to “thick Presence”, they are referencing Matthew 18:20, where Jesus says that he is with them when 2+ people gather in his name (whether it’s in church or even over Zoom). Definitely because both believers would have the Holy Spirit (not to mention that Jesus is God, so God is technically with them, too).
The big takeaway is that we are in God’s presence, whether we are alone or with fellowship. Being with other believers (even over Zoom) helps us experience God’s presence even more.
Demas isn’t talked about much in the Bible, but we do know from Philemon and Colossians that Demas has worked with Paul before. However, in 2 Timothy, Paul wrote to Timothy to come to him because Demas seemed to have left Paul. Unlike Crescens and Titus, Paul noted that Demas left because “he loved the world”. [2 Tim 4:10]
In context, the point of that section is that Paul wants to get help from Timothy, especially with getting back supplies. Paul knew that Demas isn’t that reliable, so he chose to call someone else as a co-worker. Speaking of which, regarding Demas leaving, it’s because of focus on worldly stuff.
That’s really about it in the Bible regarding Demas. None of the sections have a clear indicator that Demas indeed renounced his faith in Christ. In fact, in the same section that Paul talked about Demas deserting Paul, he wants the deserting to “not be held against them”, which likely includes Demas [2 Tim 4:16]. Technically, only God knows if Demas truly trusted Jesus in the first place. If he did, the deserting has no effect on denying him access to heaven — but that doesn’t mean that he would remain reliable by deserting!
Hey Paul, I have read your book, “The Gospel in 20 Questions”. I agree with your gospel teaching, however, I don’t agree with your teachings on healings. If God wanted to heal everyone when Jesus died, he would have. If he wanted to heal everybody, he would every time the believer asks. The book seems to limit God’s power, like, he wants to , but he can’t… for some reason, is what I think the book implies. But, I disagree. I think he wants to heal our hearts, but we are still here, we have not left this world yet. Sickness and death and suffering and sin and the effects of sin are still here, I think ultimately for us to learn trust and the complete divorce of flesh from spirit because we realize that ultimately this life is nothing compared to being with God. Our flesh, is truly not important compared to our spirit. He does not take every thorn from the flesh… so, he doesn’t want to, because he is all powerful. This does not retract his goodness… as he has already defeated death, however, in our condition, it may look that way. Also, in that way, he has also defeated the idol of the flesh. This is not to say that we should not ask to be healed, because I think he may. Or he may not. But I do not believe its because he doesn’t hear us or a messenger of heaven gets stuck or something like that. Take it for what its worth: another believers opinion :). But, that’s my view.
Lenz,
Jesus told US to heal the sick. His power in this regard is limited (self imposed) to our walk of faith / belief. If we believe His promises (and His motivation of Love) and speak it (confess it) with our mouths. . . .watch out. Build your faith and get out the doubt.
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina)
Lenz: The bible rightly divided tells us we’ve been given a measure of faith, and the faith by which we’re marked and sealed is not ours but the ‘faith OF Christ.’ This is radically important when determining what God is and is NOT doing in this age of His Grace, is it not?
Probably one of the more interesting and funky questions that I have encountered.
We know that ultimate goal God has for us is to “love one another” [John 15:12]. In fact, loving God and loving others is essentially the SparkNotes of God’s standard (which we could not accomplish ourselves). And yes, Jesus officially says to “love your enemies” [Matthew 5:44]. In summary, we must show love to EVERY SINGLE PERSON. I know it may be hard to swallow, but sometimes, hard-to-swallow Scripture is what God uses to counter big problems of life, like bitterness.
With that said, “loving others” doesn’t necessarily mean “being best friends with everyone”. Official definition is found in 1 Corinthians 13 (includes patience, kindness, etc.). However, it’s okay to distance from bad influences or even not like actions from someone [1 Cor 6]. Thus, we don’t have to be close to everyone. You may have heard of “friendship circle”, where bulls-eye means closest friends, then good friends, then acquaintances, then total strangers. Normally, we spend most time (and connection) with people near bulls-eye.
As final thought, “not liking one” seems to be a funky response. I can say that we can have people who are not “close friends” (maybe not wise to say that to them), but we should still show love to everyone (or let Jesus show his love to everyone through us). Honestly, it’s hard to love people I have issues with, but I know that Jesus loves them.
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom. 12:8). Sometimes it’s not. When that’s the case, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ.”
Please make the list alphabetic or give us the option to type in a title.
I am looking for the article: “Seven golden promises about your future”.
Thanks
There is a search box in the right sidebar and another in the footer. Alternatively, you can use Google to search (it works surprisingly well). But I can save you some time. I never wrote an article with that title.
Escape to Reality 
Paul, what is your position on what is termed the Exchanged Life?
I am very grateful for his life.
Amen!
Hi, am just getting used to the gospel of grace, even though I’ve been born-again for long. So in the light of that, am trusting God for my children and knowing that Jesus has made provision for me to have them has eased up a lot of worry and anxiety. My question is, how do i rest in the finished work of Jesus and at the same time resist the devil. Also what’s your take on acting on my believe (faith) according to James 2:17, concerning my situation.
I’ve been there! Put away all of your works Mentality! Jesus did it all for you. Claim all the blessings in the New Testament. All that Jesus did was for you. Giving Thanks continually. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. As you begin to come into the knowledge of his love for you With nothing attached, It will be so easy for you to be an overcomer.
Read One-Way Love, reviewed here, it will free you from performancism in all it’s forms, and set you free to be okay with not being okay.
For the first part, I gotta say it’s the battle of TRUST. The devil doesn’t want us to trust Jesus, but we know rest in Jesus leads to abundant life [John 10:10].
For the James 2:17 part, the context is on a practical viewpoint (people compare James to Proverbs). James wants to say how doing absolutely nothing with our faith won’t allow us to live an abundant life in the present.
I still believe that we get eternal life by accepting Jesus’s sacrifice and seeing Jesus as who he is [John 3:16]. However, Jesus didn’t die just so we can go to heaven — he wants us to live an abundant life [John 10:10]. When we walk with Jesus, fruit naturally comes out [John 15].
BTW, check out Paul Ellis’s articles on James 2. He wrote a lot!
Can anyone baptise me?
If they are Christians they can – see Matt 28:19. You don’t need a degree to dunk someone in water. Just make sure you pull them up again.
Hilarious! and thank you!
Haha I drowned to Pastors when I got baptiezed. In the Photos you csn see me tryjng not to dron and them swiming as fast as they can ti get away. Good times 🙂
Holy Needle in a Haystack Batman!! I am trying to find if you have any articles written on 2 Tim 2:12….the ole if you deny him, he will deny us hullaballoo. Do you have any? Much obliged!
I don’t, but I should include it in my ongoing series on eternal security.
Hello Paul, I heard teaching on this passage which blessed the socks off me! I understand the word ‘deny’ here is the same word used when you ‘deny’ a child a specific blessing (pocket money as an example) because there is a discipline issue. Jesus will not deny us to the point of not knowing us, but we will be denied (effectively by ourselves) the blessings we could/should receive by denying Christ access to our lives. if we deny Him (time, faith, access to our hearts) He will deny us that which could be ours through right relationship.
Hope that made sense!
Hi Neil, which passage would that be?
Yes you should Paul.. So when can we expect it☺??i
About 2 years ago. 🙂
Check out the Archives > Scripture Index.
Hello, I was just wondering, how is the judgment seat of Christ (believers judgment) to be viewed through the lens of grace? Maybe I’m not seeing it correctly but the rewards we received or the lack there of based upon the type of life we live for the Lord will be something we will have to live with for all eternity. Thanks,
Steven
Hi Steven,
I have written a chapter on eternal rewards in my new book The Gospel in Twenty Questions. One day I hope to find time to write some posts based on that chapter, because the material in that book is something I have never seen discussed anywhere, and especially not within the grace community.
I really look forward to hearing about that. Especially here in the United States where we are so focused on achievement and accomplishments. It’s so easy take those scriptures and turn them into performance-based Christianity. Thanks for dealing with all the subjects that we are often too afraid to address!
Hello Paul and Merry Christmas,
Thank you for your reply. I just read the sample of your new book
“The Gospel in Twenty Questions” and it’s awesome. Again, I say thanks.
Steven
Thanks Steve.
Paul, I look forward to your writing about this (eternal rewards). From Jim Richards teachings I have gleaned that our “rewards” are the lives / souls we have impacted based on our walking in love (God’s love in us or through us).
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina)
I have written a few posts on rewards and have more in the pipeline. You can find the publishing ones in the Archives > Subject index under “eternal rewards.”
Can you please tell me why there are Christians who are struggling in financial hardships?Specially here in our country Philippines.Is it normal for us here to be in hardships because our country is struggling in our economy?even we are Christians?
Dear Jay, I am also a Filipino. What are you so afraid of? You have Christ in you. You have Jesus, you have everything. Speak the word and declare.
From a historical view, poverty in various countries is the result of imperialism, and I don’t believe God approves of injustice like that.
Even so, God is a master of bringing good out of evil [Romans 8]. I also learned from various articles and a mission trip that poverty CAN NOT keep us from bonding with God!
Although financial prosperity isn’t a guarantee, God gave you a purpose and a plan for life [Romans 12]. No matter where or what conditions, we can still show God’s love. Perhaps he wants you to help solve poverty…
I have a question. The Bible says that has believers we have the Spirit of Christ. Now, is the Holy Spirit separate from the Spirit of Christ? If so, Is the believer without the Holy Spirit until we ask God for Him? or do we receive both once we have become born again. Also, is this different from what happen during Pentecost?
I actually have a similar question before. Fortunately, I have looked at various Scriptures that definitely helped with resolving this specific question.
First off, we know from Jesus that all believers are born by Spirit and a child of God [John 1, 3]. All believers who trust in Jesus are guaranteed eternal life [John 3:16]. Additionally, all believers will receive the Holy Spirit at some point [John 7:37-39].
With that said, during the four gospels and Acts, there seems to be a desync between believing and receiving the Holy Spirit. The disciples believed but didn’t receive the HS until Pentecost. And the HS distribution seems to be a separate activity done shown multiple times in Acts.
Fortunately, Paul’s epistles (which happen after the events of Acts 1-9) cleared things up. Upon belief, the Ephesians were sealed with the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:13-14]. Paul wrote in Romans 6:23 that eternal life is “in Christ Jesus”. Additionally, since the writing of epistles, Paul wrote that everyone who “belongs to God” must have the spirit of God [Romans 8:9-11], and there is only one body of Christ [Ephesians 4:4]. Finally, it’s worth noting that in the NT “spirit of God” and “Holy Spirit” are actually interchangeable terms (because the HS is also God — trinity shenans).
Thus, since the writing of the epistles (AKA today), all believers immediately receive Holy Spirit. Desync is likely for demonstrative purposes in Acts era.
Hey Paul,
I know the Holy Spirit dwells in us. However, is it still the Holy Spirit that brings the tangible weighty Glory? Or is that the like Spirit of God entering the room? You know hoe people say the Presence in here is thick.
Good and interesting question. We know from John 7:37-39 that all believers receive the Holy Spirit, and as seen in Ephesians 1:13-14, all believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
However, in terms of “Spirit of God entering the room”, I think when people are referring to “thick Presence”, they are referencing Matthew 18:20, where Jesus says that he is with them when 2+ people gather in his name (whether it’s in church or even over Zoom). Definitely because both believers would have the Holy Spirit (not to mention that Jesus is God, so God is technically with them, too).
The big takeaway is that we are in God’s presence, whether we are alone or with fellowship. Being with other believers (even over Zoom) helps us experience God’s presence even more.
please i need to ask a question about demas in the bible. like paul said, does it mean demas renounce hsi faith in christ
Demas isn’t talked about much in the Bible, but we do know from Philemon and Colossians that Demas has worked with Paul before. However, in 2 Timothy, Paul wrote to Timothy to come to him because Demas seemed to have left Paul. Unlike Crescens and Titus, Paul noted that Demas left because “he loved the world”. [2 Tim 4:10]
In context, the point of that section is that Paul wants to get help from Timothy, especially with getting back supplies. Paul knew that Demas isn’t that reliable, so he chose to call someone else as a co-worker. Speaking of which, regarding Demas leaving, it’s because of focus on worldly stuff.
That’s really about it in the Bible regarding Demas. None of the sections have a clear indicator that Demas indeed renounced his faith in Christ. In fact, in the same section that Paul talked about Demas deserting Paul, he wants the deserting to “not be held against them”, which likely includes Demas [2 Tim 4:16]. Technically, only God knows if Demas truly trusted Jesus in the first place. If he did, the deserting has no effect on denying him access to heaven — but that doesn’t mean that he would remain reliable by deserting!
Hey Paul, I have read your book, “The Gospel in 20 Questions”. I agree with your gospel teaching, however, I don’t agree with your teachings on healings. If God wanted to heal everyone when Jesus died, he would have. If he wanted to heal everybody, he would every time the believer asks. The book seems to limit God’s power, like, he wants to , but he can’t… for some reason, is what I think the book implies. But, I disagree. I think he wants to heal our hearts, but we are still here, we have not left this world yet. Sickness and death and suffering and sin and the effects of sin are still here, I think ultimately for us to learn trust and the complete divorce of flesh from spirit because we realize that ultimately this life is nothing compared to being with God. Our flesh, is truly not important compared to our spirit. He does not take every thorn from the flesh… so, he doesn’t want to, because he is all powerful. This does not retract his goodness… as he has already defeated death, however, in our condition, it may look that way. Also, in that way, he has also defeated the idol of the flesh. This is not to say that we should not ask to be healed, because I think he may. Or he may not. But I do not believe its because he doesn’t hear us or a messenger of heaven gets stuck or something like that. Take it for what its worth: another believers opinion :). But, that’s my view.
I think you have come away with the wrong message. I would never say God can’t heal or doesn’t hear us when we pray. He’s God.
Lenz,
Jesus told US to heal the sick. His power in this regard is limited (self imposed) to our walk of faith / belief. If we believe His promises (and His motivation of Love) and speak it (confess it) with our mouths. . . .watch out. Build your faith and get out the doubt.
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina)
Lenz: The bible rightly divided tells us we’ve been given a measure of faith, and the faith by which we’re marked and sealed is not ours but the ‘faith OF Christ.’ This is radically important when determining what God is and is NOT doing in this age of His Grace, is it not?
Paul: is it right for Christians not to like one another? Is there some revelation missing when this happens?
Probably one of the more interesting and funky questions that I have encountered.
We know that ultimate goal God has for us is to “love one another” [John 15:12]. In fact, loving God and loving others is essentially the SparkNotes of God’s standard (which we could not accomplish ourselves). And yes, Jesus officially says to “love your enemies” [Matthew 5:44]. In summary, we must show love to EVERY SINGLE PERSON. I know it may be hard to swallow, but sometimes, hard-to-swallow Scripture is what God uses to counter big problems of life, like bitterness.
With that said, “loving others” doesn’t necessarily mean “being best friends with everyone”. Official definition is found in 1 Corinthians 13 (includes patience, kindness, etc.). However, it’s okay to distance from bad influences or even not like actions from someone [1 Cor 6]. Thus, we don’t have to be close to everyone. You may have heard of “friendship circle”, where bulls-eye means closest friends, then good friends, then acquaintances, then total strangers. Normally, we spend most time (and connection) with people near bulls-eye.
As final thought, “not liking one” seems to be a funky response. I can say that we can have people who are not “close friends” (maybe not wise to say that to them), but we should still show love to everyone (or let Jesus show his love to everyone through us). Honestly, it’s hard to love people I have issues with, but I know that Jesus loves them.
Do you have anything on the parable of the 10 virgins please?
Thanks
Henry
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom. 12:8). Sometimes it’s not. When that’s the case, “there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ.”
Please make the list alphabetic or give us the option to type in a title.
I am looking for the article: “Seven golden promises about your future”.
Thanks
There is a search box in the right sidebar and another in the footer. Alternatively, you can use Google to search (it works surprisingly well). But I can save you some time. I never wrote an article with that title.
Standing Secure on God’s Promises
Posted on February 19, 2013 by Paul Ellis // 78 Comments
Seven golden promises about your future
For a Christian to lose their salvation and be expelled from the kingdom…
1. God would have to forsake us, when he said he wouldn’t (Heb 13:5)
2. God would have to cast us out, when he said he wouldn’t (John 6:37)
3. God would have to condemn us, when he said he wouldn’t (Rom 8:1,34)
4. God would have to withdraw his Spirit, when he said he wouldn’t (John 14:16-17)
5. God would have to remember our sins, when he said he wouldn’t (Jer 31:34, Heb 10:17)
6. God would have to forget that we are his children, when he said he wouldn’t (Is 49:15)
7. God would have to blot our names out of the book of life, when he said he wouldn’t (Rev 3:5)
Good news, no?
Hi Paul,
Can I ask your view or explanation about predestination, foreknowledge of God?
Thanks much