WRITINGS
Justification and regeneration are closely related doctrines. Regeneration occurs in believers' hearts when they receive Christ and become “born again.” It refers to an impartation of life and is God’s answer to the problem of sin and spiritual death. In comparison, justification by faith is the foundational truth of God’s provision of salvation. Justification is often misunderstood but is one of the profound truths of God’s salvific plan restored to the church from the Protestant Reformation.
Our salvation requires faith, and Jesus was looking for it when He came to the Jewish people. Jesus told His disciples: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
But Paul said: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). From his words, we are not saved by faith. Instead, God’s grace saves us through faith. But even our faith is a gift from God lest we erroneously believe that somehow, we can save ourselves from our dead nature caused by sin. No, we were dead in trespasses, and dead people are neither aware nor capable of making themselves alive through faith. Only God can save us by His grace and the faith He has given us so we might choose Him. As we read, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension reveal many purposes in God’s unfolding restoration of humanity and His creation. God entered this world in the likeness of human flesh and the person of the Holy Spirit to bring about man’s complete rebirth and transformation. God’s provisions for us include election, repentance, faith, justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification, assurance, and security. Christ is Lord and King over all, but without royal subjects to govern, there is no King, and there can be no Kingdom.
There are many expressions in the Bible that define sin. Some include: missing the mark or aim, overpassing or trespassing of a line (to transgress), disobedience to a voice, falling where one should have stood upright, ignorance of what one ought to have known, diminishing of that which should have been rendered in full measure, non-observance of a law, lawless or anarchy (complete disregard for the law), and debt, failure in duty, and not meeting one’s obligation to God. The Bible also uses iniquity, godlessness, wickedness, unbelief, unrighteousness, injustice, and unholiness to define sin.
“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
How many times have I read this verse conjuring up images of large mountains plunging into the ocean? Now, I have never seen this happen nor witnessed my prayers causing even a pebble to move out of place. Or have they?
The Apostle Paul said, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). From Paul’s words, we see that we have an incredible destiny in Christ. Let us discover what it looks like.
It is written, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35 & 38-39). “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
I never expected to write about the gospel. And yet, I find myself needing to clarify the biblical gospel in the light of a rising movement, even within the church, trying to redefine what the Bible says about this subject.
If you search on the internet, you will quickly discover some of the many other gospels out there. There is a social gospel, also called social constructivism. There is the gospel of science, Christian humanism, and list goes on and on.
It is written, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face” (Psalm 89:14). Reading this verse makes me feel like I am standing in a court of law. We are— “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1).
The Apostle Paul had much to say to the gentiles about their relationship with the Jewish people, even warning them to not boast or become arrogant against them. Paul made these critical points in his message to the church at Rome, specifically Chapters nine through eleven. I have paraphrased and emphasized these below, and I believe scripture speaks plainly for itself.
“For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:24-27).
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25, NKJV). Yeshua affirmed this when He said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
