Universal Effect

Romans 5:12-14

The “wherefore” that starts the 12th verse is Paul’s way of picking back up where he left off two chapters earlier. In Romans 3, he was in the midst of showing the universality of sin (“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”; 3:23), and then he branched off for a couple of chapters to give an extensive look at justification and its results. Having returned to the topic of sin, he will not show why it is universal and what its effects will be.

Adam’s sin brought moral ruin upon the human race. Because of his sin in Eden, death comes upon us all, no exceptions. We have all sinned because of Adam’s sin, which was passed on to all of us and birthed in our hearts (Psalms 51:5). Even though we may never commit the same sin that Adam did, we are still seen as sinner’s because of the fall of our first father (Romans 5:14).

Death is not a result of the Law, for men were dying from Adam until Moses, long before the Law was given. Death is a result of sin, while sin exists whether there is Law or not. When there is no Law, men still fail because they have the seed of sin in their heart, due to the fall of Adam. However, when there is no Law, man’s sins are not counted against him, for there was no Law for him to transgress (Romans 5:13). This means that sin is a real, tangible thing that exists without the presence of Law; as it is a breach against the holiness of God. If man is never given Law, he will fail, but he will be free from the condemnation of breaking a Law, thus he will never become trapped by that particular failure. From Adam to Moses, men were sinning, but God did not put it on their account.

If the believer lives under grace and not law, which Paul declares that we do (Romans 6:14), then the believer is free from the imputation of sin and condemnation as well (Romans 4:8; 8:1). This does not guarantee that the saint will never sin again, but it does free the saint from the mastery of sin. This is why Paul told Corinth to “Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34), for he knew that if they would wake up to how righteous that they are in Christ, their sins would cease.

Insert Law into the life of a believer and you will have a revival of sin in their lifestyle (Romans 7:9). The reason that this is true is that the Law has always been given to exploit man’s inability to save himself. When Law enters, it enters with a single purpose: to cause sin to abound (Romans 5:20). It was never intended to lead men to Christ, but rather it was to lead men until Christ could come to justify them by faith. The italicized words “to bring us” in Galatians 3:24 has led us astray, because they make the verse say that the Law will lead someone to Jesus. Italicized words were added by the translators. Without those words the verse clearly shows us that Law was all we had to live by until Christ came, but now that faith is come, “we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:25).

Fear not saint; removal of the Law will not cause an explosion of sin in your life or in anyone else’s for that matter. Replace the Law of works with the grace of God, and this alone will teach you how to live (Titus 2:11, 12). In the meantime, rejoice that there is non-imputation of sins for you because of the New Covenant. Jesus paid it all!

The Great Exchange

Romans 5:10, 11

Christianity is not about doing good and avoiding evil; nor is it about trying to get to heaven. If these things define us, then we should drop “Christ” out of the name of our faith, for these having nothing to do with Christ and His finished work. Every religion in the world tries to do good and avoid evil, and all of them are working and hoping for a higher home when they die. Is this what we want to be?

We have relationship, not religion, and we are sons, not slaves (Galatians 4:7). The reason that Christianity is special is that when you accept Christ, your life does not become a daily challenge to live up to rules and regulations but it becomes one where Christ lives His life through you. The cross and the resurrection provided two very important things for all of us:

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).

Christ’s death on the cross reconciled the world back to God. There is no more separation between God and man. Not even sin can separate man from God, for Jesus bore all sins in His body on the tree. This message of reconciliation is made up of the fact that God does not impute transgressions to man; and this is the sole message of the church (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Christ’s resurrection, which of course could not have taken place without the cross, provides us with life. It is not the life of Jesus prior to the cross that gives us life, for that would have nullified the need for His sacrificial death. Jesus’ life is a pristine example of how to live, but it provides us with no strength to copy the same. We need His death for our sins and His resurrection for our life if we hope to walk as He walked.

These two important things are not the only things however, for Paul now says, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11). The word ‘atonement’ is the Greek word ‘katalaga’ meaning, “exchange or reconciliation”. We have joy because of the finished work of Jesus, who has exchanged His life for ours. He took our sin; we take His righteousness. He took our curse; we take His blessing.

Peter called this joy “unspeakable” (1 Peter 1:8). It is unspeakable because mere human words can never describe the miracle that takes place at the great exchange. When we are saved, we give up who we were to receive who He is. He is perfect in every way, and as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). He literally exchanged places with us at Calvary, taking into Himself what should have been ours; giving us what was rightfully His.

Because of the great exchange, every promise of God in Christ is yours. If Jesus was beloved, so are you. If Jesus was full of health and wholeness, so are you. If Jesus was the righteousness of God, so are you. Get the picture? Thank God for the great exchange and just enjoy being who He has become in you.

When God Showed Off

Romans 5:8

Man has had knowledge of God from the beginning of time. Paul said, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…” (Romans 1:20). All one must do is look around and they will see the handiwork of God, knowing that He is real simply by the things that are made.

Though we know there is a God by the wonders of the universe, the beauty of nature and the rising of the sun, none of these marvels teach us about God’s love. Could God not have created all of these things for His own pleasure, us included, and have no love or concern for us whatsoever? Of course the possibility must exist that everything is what it is only for God’s joy, and He does nothing and has done nothing to intervene or interfere with mankind, because He just doesn’t care.

Before you cry “Blasphemy!”, can you find God’s love in the tide, or the moon, or the stars? The honest answer is “No”. No one can prove to another that God is love based upon creation, for creation is fallen, and thus it fades away. God needed a way to show man that he loved him unconditionally, and using the things of the natural would never work. God would need to do something supernatural to prove His love.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The word ‘commendeth’ is ‘sunestame’ in Greek and it means “to show or exhibit”. The cross of Christ was God showing off or exhibiting His love to sinful man. By living a perfect and spotless life, Jesus showed man what God looked like, but then gave up His life for sinful man, to show man what God loved like. Nothing else could prove with such power that God was passionate about man, but the sacrifice of His own Son would stand for time and eternity as the ultimate price being paid.

It would be one thing if Christ died for the godly and the moral; we might understand how He was trying to “help those that help themselves”. It is another thing altogether to think that Christ died for the ungodly and for sinners. Paul said, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). God’s awesome love made righteousness available to the ungodly, not through them cleaning up their life, but simply by faith. This is a love that is beyond words, for it discounts man’s ability to attain or achieve it and it rewards him anyway.

If you ever doubt God’s love for you, just remind yourself how much God loved Jesus and realize that He killed Him so that you would not have to die spiritually. If that isn’t love, then there is no love at all.

The Holy Spirit’s First Work

Romans 5:5

This verse marks the first usage of “Holy Spirit” or “Holy Ghost” in the entire book of Romans by the Apostle Paul. Until this point, he has proven man’s guilt by sin; shown God’s justice system of the cross; explained that righteousness comes only through faith; and elevated grace to its position of abundance. Now, with all of the foundational work done, Paul shows us the third member of the God-head for the first time.

What would you suppose the first work of the Holy Spirit might be in the believer? Some would say that He is here to bring power to the saint, so that they can cast out devils or perform miracles, and while those things are true and good, it is not what is mentioned as His first role. We know that it is first, for this is not only the first mention of the Holy Spirit in the entire book, but it follows Paul’s instructions on how we know that we have justification and grace:

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:1, 2).

Having shown us justification by faith and peace with God, Paul explains that our standing is in grace by faith. Now, we need something inside of us to assure us that we are everything that Paul just said that we are. That something is the Holy Spirit who is in us initially to show us that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts”. How is that love shed abroad? “By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

Isn’t it fascinating to know that the primary reason that the Holy Spirit is in you is to reinforce how much the Father loves you? Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be another Comforter, to walk with us and guide us. What better way to comfort than to remind us that we are deeply loved by our Daddy Father!

We need reminded that we are loved because the enemy constantly wishes for us to forget it. He spoke to Jesus in the wilderness, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3). Why didn’t he say, “If thou be the beloved Son of God”? That is what God had just said of Jesus to close the third chapter, but Satan leaves that powerful word “beloved” out. He never wants to remind you that you are loved, so the Holy Ghost has to!

Each day of your Christian walk, the Holy Spirit will spread the love of the Father into the further reaches of your heart. Do not be fooled by preaching that tells you that the Holy Spirit is searching the dark corners of your heart to find hidden sins and bring them to light. Jesus died to take away your sins, and His work is a finished work. The Holy Spirit does not come in and do the excess work that Jesus failed to do when you were first saved. That is sacrilege! Instead, the Holy Spirit is here to show you, one step at a time, just how much your Father cares for you.
You are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved!

Justified By Faith and Blood

Romans 5:1, 9

When we place our faith in Christ for our salvation we are justified from all of our sins by that faith. This initial act of faith is the only thing that is necessary to bring grace to work in our life, and we are considered as clean as if we had never sinned. This judicial act of justification brings us "peace with God", meaning that God is not mad and that we are secure because of our faith.

After having placed our faith in His finished work, we will find that our faith does not remain constant and unwavering. Like Peter, we may have faith to step out of the boat to walk on water toward Jesus, but we shake and doubt when we notice how high the waves are, and we realize that we could sink. Jesus does not abandon us in that moment and let us drown for He loves us, and He knows our heart better than we do (1 John 3:20).

Since our faith wavers, we need something in our lives that is steady and constant, that can guarantee that our justification is a permanent thing and not a temporary thing. Without something so secure and stable, our salvation is only as good as our last church service; and eternity is more important than that! Thank God that the He has provided a better security than our shaky faith.

Paul advances us in our justification by faith on into the ninth verse of Romans 5, "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him". With "much more then" we see that now there is something justifying us that is rock solid and secure and it is "by His blood". While my faith may waver, His blood never does.

When the Israelites went into their homes to wait out the arrival of the angel of death in Egypt, they first marked the door posts and door mantles with the blood of a spotless lamb. As long as the people stayed in their homes, the angel of death would see the blood guarding the door and He would pass over them. This instituted the Jewish feast of Passover, celebrating the passing over due to the blood of the sacrifice.

As a believer, you have the precious blood of Jesus marking the door to your life; your heart. When God's wrath was poured out, it was exhausted in the body of His Son Jesus on the cross, so there is no anger left for those who are sheltered by that precious blood. Your daily justification is not wrapped up in whether or not you "maintain perfect faith", for that will quickly turn into a work within itself; but rather your justification is based upon the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ. While you were originally justified by your faith in accepting Christ, your right standing is maintained by the fact that He has accepted Jesus!

No one can be justified by blood that is not first justified by faith. The blood of Christ is not the provision for "universal salvation" which states that everyone is saved in the world because of the cross, whether they accept it or not. That is a heresy against Christ's finished work! Faith is the hand that takes from God all that He has to offer. You must accept Him by faith, and then allow His precious blood to cover you over everyday.

One more thing that should thrill your soul as you go about this blessed day: Israel simply had to stay in the house and let the blood do the work. They could doubt that it would work; but it still worked. They could hide under the table in fear; but the blood still worked. They could go about their lives inside with little regard for the blood on the door; but the blood was still effective. Your works in the house are of no consequence to whether or not you are accepted. Thank God that the blood on the door is what makes us who we are. You are deeply loved believer, so rest in it!

The Sleeping Habits of the Redeemed

Acts 12:1-7

Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod the Great and was a strict observer of the law. This made him extremely popular with the Jews, and to maintain this popularity, he turned his hand against the early church to kill some of the apostles. Having killed James with the sword (Acts 12:2) he turned his attention to Peter. He captured him and imprisoned him, intending to kill him publicly following the Easter holiday.

Peter was held in prison under the watch of four quaternions of soldiers. This was a rotation of 16 soldiers, four at a time working 3-hour shifts. This was done to keep the soldiers fresh and alert. What a threat this fisherman from Galilee must have been! On the night before Herod was to have him executed, we find Peter sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains with soldiers standing outside of the door of the prison house (Acts 12:6).

There must have been some kind of confidence in Peter’s heart that would allow him to sleep in such a moment of crisis. I don’t think that I would have been as calm as Peter was, knowing that the next day might be my last on the earth, yet we find him snoring the night away. The secret to his calm was not in any supernatural talent on his part, but in his understanding of His Savior’s words to him.

Peter was in the boat the night that a storm raged and all of the disciples became afraid for their lives (Matthew 8:23-27). He remembered seeing Jesus asleep, so peaceful while the ship rocked to and fro. He recalled that moment when he woke Jesus from his rest and asked if the Master cared that they perished. He saw the sky break and the waves cease to roar as Jesus commanded the storm to flee. What wonder must have risen in his heart as he realized the key to surviving the storms of life was to learn to rest in the midst of them.

He also remembered one of the last things that Jesus had said to him while He was still on the earth. Following the embarrassing incident of denying Christ, Peter had decided to leave the ministry and go back to professional fishing, only to meet Jesus on the shoreline one morning. The Master never mentioned Peter’s failure; but rather invited him to breakfast and then commissioned him to preach the gospel again (John 21:12-17). Following that commission, Jesus prophesied of Peter’s life and death, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, When you were young, you girded yourself, and walked wherever you would: but when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you where you would not” (John 21:18). This told Peter that he would live to be an old man and then die a martyr’s death. The incidents of Acts 12 take place less than 10 years after Jesus made that statement, and Peter is far from being an old man. He has learned to trust the statements of Jesus, and if the Master said that he will live to be old, then this incident with Herod cannot be the end. With that information, he sleeps the sleep of the redeemed.

Take your rest in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Do you believe those words? If you do, then you have nothing to fear; God is not leaving you, so rest in His goodness and sleep the sleep of the redeemed.

He Did Not Come to Accuse

John 5:39-47

This is another amazing passage that is found only in the book of John. John was written specifically for the sinner (John 20:31), so the stories that he relates speak to us of the beauty, grace and forgiveness of Jesus. In this case, this story also speaks to us of how to find Christ in the Old Testament.

Jesus points out to the Jews that they are always searching the scriptures, but that they are failing to find Jesus in those scriptures (5:39, 40). The scriptures that Jews would have been reading were the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. These are the same scriptures that Jesus uses on the road to Emmaus to prove who He was to the two disciples (Luke 24:27). He concludes with, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). Had Israel been looking for the Messiah of the Bible, instead of a fictitious one that would overthrow Rome, they would have been satisfied in Jesus. The same holds true for us today. If you are looking for a wrathful, vengeful, angry God then you will be unsatisfied with the Jesus of the gospels; but if you are looking for the Lamb of God which come to take away the sin of the world, then you will “have life” (John 5:40).

John makes it abundantly clear as to why Jesus came. Watch the steady progression of facts, in sequential order in this glorious Gospel:

John 3:17 – “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved”. These words, straight from the lips of Jesus, show us His purpose on earth, as well as what His purpose was not. He came to save the world, not to accuse them.

John 4:34 – “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work”. Jesus came with a mission, which was to finish God’s plan in redeeming man.

John 5:45 – “Do you think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust”. Jesus did not come to accuse man, for there is already an accuser which is the Law of Moses. It declares the whole world guilty (Romans 3:19).

John 9:39 – “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind”. Jesus came for judgment so that those who do not know will know, and those who think they know will see that they know nothing. This judgment is not on us, it is on Him. How do we know? Watch the progression continue.

John 12:31, 32 – “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me”. Notice that I left the word “men” out of verse 32, for it is italicized, meaning that the translators added the word to explain the passage. It is the wrong word, for the thing that Jesus is going to draw to Himself is the judgment of verse 31. He was the lightning rod for the judgment of God, so you would not have to be!

John 12:47, 48 – “And if any man hears my words and believes not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”. Jesus reserves all judgment against sinners for the final hour, when the words of love and truth that He spoke will have been rejected. It is rejection of the finished work that sends men to hell, not their sin.

John 19:30 – “It is finished”. What is finished? The works of the Father that Jesus came to do were finished at Calvary after Jesus had suffered for all of our sins (John 4:34). If it is finished, let us stop proclaiming that “judgment is coming to America”. Instead, let us tell America and the entire world about a man who paid for their sins.

John 21:12 – “Come and dine”; John 21:17 – “Feed my sheep”; John 21:19 – “Follow me”. Let us preach these!

Take Up His Cross Daily

Luke 9:23-27

What did Jesus mean when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”? There is a school of thought that says that Jesus was telling us to die out to our old man every day, but Paul said, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him…For in that He died, He died unto sin once…” (Romans 6:8, 10). The Apostle makes it clear that when we became believers, we were baptized into the death of Christ, dying with Him to sin; and that Jesus died but once. How could Jesus die to sin only once and then require that we die to sin over and over again?

The answer to the last question is, “He doesn’t require us to die out to sin on a day to day basis”. Paul said that Jesus died once and that we should “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (Romans 6:11). I should “reckon” or consider myself dead to sin, just as Christ is dead to sin. Because of His finished work there is no need for me to die again every day, nor is there a need for me to re-crucify myself every day. This doctrine is very subtly teaching believers that their salvation is only as good as the day is long and that every new day requires a new death to the old man. This insults the finished work, for it claims that the finished work is only finished today, but needs refinished tomorrow.

Jesus’ statement in Luke 9:23 is two-fold: one is spiritual while the other is physical. When He made this statement, the cross had not yet happened, so no one standing there would have assumed that dying on a cross was anything more than a physical death. His statement to the disciples was the equivalent of someone today saying, “Deny yourself and be ready to die in the electric chair”. We would understand that He meant for us to deny our own selfish desires and be ready to die a martyr’s death.

The spiritual aspect is the denial of self, which every believer must perform. We all sacrifice some of the things that we always wanted to accomplish; or that we wanted to become in order to do and to be all that God wills for us. The physical side of the statement is the willingness to lay down our lives on a daily basis for the cause of Christ. Paul said as much when he said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He wasn’t speaking of spiritual death, for the preceding verse said that he was in jeopardy every hour (verse 30) and the following verse says that he has fought with beasts at Ephesus (verse 32).

We can be sure that this is what Jesus meant because as we read further, we find this important statement in verse 27, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). If Jesus were talking about spiritual death when He said, “take up the cross daily”, why would He now speak of physical death in the same paragraph? “Take up the cross daily” was the willingness to lay down one’s life for Christ’s sake, which He then says, “some standing here shall not taste of death”. He is referring to the Mount of Transfiguration which takes place in the next few verses, allowing Peter, James and John to see the kingdom before they die a martyr’s death.

You died to sin the moment that you were saved, so how shall we “live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). You need not die again every day; you simply need to trust your Jesus that He is living His life through you. The attempt to die spiritually every day will slowly lead you back into works where you will fear constantly that you are not “keeping your eyes on the cross” or that you haven’t properly crucified yourself. Relax and let the finished work do its work. Trust me; it works better than we can!

Away From the Multitude

Mark 7:31-37

Jesus did great miracles in the midst of large crowds (feeding of 5,000; curing of the palsied man; Gadarene demoniac), but sometimes He did things just as miraculous with almost no one watching. No one witnessed the soul conversion of the woman at the well, and only the 12 saw Him walk on water. It was these moments of privacy that brought a different side out of Jesus; and brought mighty miracles to those privileged enough to share those moments with the Master.

Jesus was met by a small group of people who brought to him one that was deaf. It would have been customary for family members to take care of loved ones who had physical disabilities, so this was most likely the deaf man’s closest kin. The text also tells us that he “had an impediment in his speech” (Mark 7:32). This was no doubt due to the fact that he could not hear himself when he tried to speak, which had left his speech underdeveloped. They requested that Jesus put His hand on the young man.

Jesus could have performed this miracle in front of the crowd, with His disciples looking on, but we see something come out of the heart of our Savior in this story that still resonates for every person today. Jesus “took him aside from the multitude” (verse 33). Jesus took him away from the onlookers; from the gawkers; from the mockers and from the doubters. This young man had never heard any insults against him for his ears had never worked, but he had seen the looks of frustration on people’s faces as they tried in vain to communicate with him. He had watched the looks of disappointment enter people’s eyes as they were unable to understand what he was trying so hard to say. By taking the man away from the multitude, Jesus is bringing His redemption to the man personally, with no crowd to interfere.

Salvation comes to every man in a personal way. Some cry and fall on their knees in the midst of a crowded church, while others make no emotional response at all, but their heart aches inside for the love of God. Jesus has always made our redemption a personal, not a corporate thing. We may have corporate invitations in church to come and meet Jesus, but that is because we are in a corporate setting; but salvation itself is on the inside, where Jesus meets us at the end of our rope and the end of our faith.

Jesus “put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue” (Mark 7:33). Many commentators speak of how Jesus touched the man’s ears and tongue to loose them, but I believe that Jesus did these things to HIMSELF, not to the man. No one had been able to properly communicate with the young man, so Jesus pulls him to the side to say to him what others had been unable to say. He touches His own ears, spits and touches His own tongue to communicate the miracle that He is about to perform to the man. He then looks to heaven and sighs; no doubt wearied at the desperate case that He constantly found mankind in. When He says, “Be opened”, immediately the man can hear and speak.

Our Lord always took the time to communicate the miracle of the gospel to each individual person. May we not be weary in doing the same thing to those around us; no matter how difficult they may be to reach.

The Will of the Father

Matthew 7:21-23

I once heard two preachers talking about another, older minister who had experienced some very rough times in his ministry. He had fallen into sin and failure but had continued on and was being used of God. The one commented that he wondered what kept the older minister going in spite of all that had happened to him, and the other minister said, “Because if he quits, he will go to hell. He has to keep preaching, it’s his call”. The first minister nodded in agreement, citing Matthew 7:21.

These ministers believed that “He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” meant that if God tells you to do something and you don’t do it then you will be rejected at the judgment, because you did not obey God’s will. This thinking is usually held by those who also believe that you can be in God’s perfect will or God’s permissive will. They say His perfect will is what He wants, while His permissive will is what He allows. What He “allows”? Doesn’t He “allow” anything? If there are two wills of God for man, which one must you do to “get to heaven”?

In order to properly understand verse 21 we should read further to find the context. In verse 23, Jesus makes it clear that those to whom He is speaking were never believers in the first place; “I never knew you”. This tells us that someone who knows the Lord but fails to do everything that He tells them to do has no fear that they will be rejected at heaven’s gates, for they have known Jesus.

Jesus states in verse 21 that those who get to enter into the kingdom of heaven are those that “do the will of my Father”. There cannot be two wills of the Father; one perfect and the other permissive, for that would make one path of God less than perfect. God’s will and plan for your life is always perfect and anything that you do other than that is always permissive. Even living in sin is “permissive” since God doesn’t strike you down dead, but no believer wants to live under the power of that (Romans 6:14; 1 Corinthians 6:12).

The will of God must be universal for every man so that salvation is the same everywhere. We know that the “will” that Jesus is speaking about is not the 10 Commandments, for Paul calls these the “ministry of death” and “condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 9). What might this will be? Jesus was asked as much following His feeding of the 5,000, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent’” (John 6:28, 29). Jesus defines God’s will as man placing faith in Jesus Christ. Only faith placed in Jesus Christ and His finished work will produce the kind of works that every believer desires.

If that older preacher mentioned at the beginning were to quit preaching, he would not go to hell because he stopped walking in his call. He would be miserable because he would not be using the gift that God gave him to minister to souls, but he would not have to fear being rejected at the judgment day. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have fulfilled the will of the Father and you will not be rejected as if He never knew you for “he cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).