ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ကပ်ရောဂါနှင့်အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာစာပို့လုပ်ငန်းဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပျက်ပြားခြင်းကြောင့်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ 'အခမဲ့ပုံနှိပ်စာအုပ်ဝန်ဆောင်မှု' ကိုယာယီရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်သည်။
ဤအခြေအနေ၏အခြေအနေအရကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ယခုအချိန်တွင်သင့်အားစာအုပ်များမပို့နိုင်သေးပေ။
ဤကပ်ရောဂါသည်မကြာမီကုန်ဆုံးပြီးစာတိုက်လုပ်ငန်းပြန်လည်စတင်ရန်ဆုတောင်းပါ။
Subject 15 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the GALATIANS
[Chapter 2-4] A Man Is Not Justified By the Works of the Law But by Faith in The Gospel of The Water and the Spirit (Galatians 2:11-21)
“Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.’”
Our Faith
We just published the second sermon book on 1 John. I believe that many people have returned to God after realizing the Truth revealed through God’s Word in 1 John. I pray that God will grant the blessings of salvation from all their sins to all those who seek the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
These days some Christians have misunderstood some verses in 1 John. And they do not know that believing in Jesus exactly means believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. I have the duty to explain God’s will, which lies in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to every person.
These days there are many among Christians who have legalistic faith of the Law. Such legalistic believers are relying on the Word in 1 John 1:8-10 to justify their erroneous ways of faith. For this reason, I wanted to explain true gospel by making the Word of Truth revealed in 1 John most simple to comprehend. If many people within the Christian community were to realize the secrets of the Lord-given gospel of the water and the Spirit, they would not be captivated by the false doctrines any more. In this sermon book, I am trying to explain the Word in 1 John within the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Henceforth, I have the conviction that many more readers of the book would come to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
It is impossible to understand the Word in 1 John without first understanding and believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Yet, many people these days are still confused in their legalistic faith because they try to understand 1 John without first knowing the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. This is why I am trying to tell you once more about Truth of the water and the Spirit.
All the Word in the Bible is aimed to solve the problem of all the sins of every person. If you were to pay attention to the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you would come to realize that you have been a grave sinner and that you have become righteous by this Truth of salvation. Thus, if we fail to realize the Truth of salvation revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we would perish for eternity. These days, not a few Christians are born again and become sinless by their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit revealed in the Word of God.
However, still many people fail to realize the gospel of the water and the Spirit correctly despite the urgent need to do so. Put differently, Christians are leading foolish lives of faith right now without knowing the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, which in the only Truth of salvation. Thus, because many who believe in Jesus have vague ideas about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, there are even more misunderstandings about God within the so-called gospel they believe in. Even in today’s Scripture passage in Galatians, it is impossible for us to comprehend the meanings of the Word unless we have correct faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we can understand correctly about the gospel of the water and the Spirit as witnessed by Paul through these passages, we would be able to end our legalistic lives of faith. Now, many people have to realize the secrets hidden in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and be transformed in their hearts towards truthful and right faith in order to receive abundant blessings of God within this true gospel.
Right now you and I are very much delighted to do the works of God after receiving the remission of sin through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Thus, we have to be evermore grateful for this gospel Truth. The reason we have to pray for the servants of God more than ever before is so that they can spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. In order to carry out the works of God, we need to ask God for His help by ardent prayers. It is certain that we who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are doing blessed works before God. We can say that we have become happy in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We have read today Galatians 2:11-21. We can see Paul rebuked Peter for his hypocrisy when Peter had come to Antioch. That is, when certain men came from James, Peter ran away from a dinner with the Gentiles. After having seen this pretense, the Apostle Paul exhorted Peter with the following words; “How can you put the yoke of the Law on the Gentiles when you, a Jew, cannot keep the Law yourself?”
The blame Paul gave Peter for his hypocrisy was a great gain for the spreading of the gospel. That is because our salvation from all our sins does not come from righteous deeds of the Law but by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. In fact, Christians can receive salvation from all their sins once for all by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But they have not been able because they had already believed in false gospels. Thus, it is very wrong for them to lead their spiritual lives outside of the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we were to play the hypocrite in our lives of faith, we would lead many of our followers into hypocritical faith. The same result was expected to the believers of those days when Peter played such hypocrisy. In fact, the false pretenses of the predecessor are passed on to the successors.
The Apostle Paul said, “I was not sent to deliver the gospel to the Jews but to the Gentiles.” That is, Paul was a gospel preacher to the Gentiles. God separated Peter and Paul, one from another, and sent them as missionaries to the Jews and the Gentiles respectively. Then, if Paul was sent to deliver the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the Gentiles, he had more reasons to overthrow their legalistic faith. As the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul could not help but rebuke Peter for his hypocritical faith. Paul did so because he recognized how much obstacles would be created in the spreading of the gospel among the Gentile believers owing to Peter’s hypocrisy. If Peter were to add the works of the Law on top of faith in Jesus Christ who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Truth of salvation by which our Lord delivered us from all our sins would no longer be able to shine its light of salvation. What I am saying is how could the Gentiles receive the salvation from all their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit if all of us make them believe in the other gospel by playing hypocrisy in our lives of faith?
All of humanity is able to receive salvation from all sins by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus Christ has given us. Otherwise, we cannot receive salvation from all our sins. No one can eliminate his sins by trying to obey the Law of God. On the contrary, such legalistic faith only increases sins in the hearts of those who are not yet born again. Our faith is in the fact that all of our sins were expunged once for all when we believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus Christ has given us. We are made righteous only after we receive our salvation from all our sins by knowing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul is telling us what faith in Jesus Christ enables us to attain true salvation. Now we remember that in order to blot out all our sins, God has given us His Law so that we may realize our sins and that the same God has granted us simultaneously both true and eternal salvation through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Thus, every Christian must once for all receive salvation from all his sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit now. It is clear that we can become the children of God only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must witness this Truth throughout the world to reveal the Truth of salvation.
What Is the Road to Salvation from All Our Sins?
The Truth that brings salvation into our hearts is nothing but our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There has been an argument about whether the chicken or the egg came first. If someone insists that the egg came first, then the other might raise an objection against it saying, “Okay, then, how could the egg come to exist without a chicken?” But, all controversies were to be terminated when we shed the light of the truth in God’s Word. When God created the world, birds came into being as God said “let there be birds,” just as the numerous fish in the water came into being. So, the final and concrete answer to this controversy is the chicken. Since God has created a full chicken from the beginning, chicken came before the egg.
As such, our Lord did not deliver us from all our sins and granted us our salvation owing to our human efforts but only by our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is, to speak precisely, if we wonder whether our salvation from all our sins came by our deeds or by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it was possible only by the faith in this true gospel. It is clear that the remission of all our sins is not by our fleshly deeds but only by our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Thus, it is very wrong to say that all of us must offer prayers of repentance in order to rectify or strengthen our faith. And it is also a wrong idea that we have to sanctify ourselves on our own to be saved from all our sins. People are not delivered from all their sins by their virtuous deeds. Strictly speaking, every one’s sins can be blotted when the person believes in Jesus Christ who has received the baptism and shed His blood to atone all the sins of the world. The true remission of all our sins lies in believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, through which God unilaterally blotted out all our sins once for all. From the human side, all we have to do to receive our salvation is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus Christ has given us.
Fallacy of the Doctrine of Repentance
Whether salvation is achieved through deeds or faith has been an ongoing controversy in Christianity. This subject needs to be answered by explicating the Truth of salvation that lies in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There could be no other answer.
Still, even to these days, there are people who believe only in the blood of the Cross say that they have to wash away all of their sins daily with their legalistic faith of the Law. However, if you read the Word of the Bible, you will soon come to realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit has already washed away all our sins completely. The Bible does not talk only about the blood of the Cross in relation to the Truth of the salvation, but rather deepen our understanding of the remission of sin by emphasizing the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist.
The Bible places its importance on whether we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit right now. The Lord asks us in earnest whether or not we now believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are creatures that need to believe that Jesus the Son of God came to this world just like the sacrifices of the Old Testament and received the baptism from John the Baptist, which transferred all the sins of the world onto Him. We also need to believe that He died on the Cross and resurrected from the dead.
We need to know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. However, many Christians today believe only in crucified Jesus because they do not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. To us, it is evident that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Thus, following the sacrificial law of the Old Testament, He came to this world in the flesh of man and received the baptism from John the Baptist to take all the sins of the entire humanity once for all. According to the same statutes of sacrifice, He shed His blood on the Cross. By resurrecting from the dead, Jesus has become the Savior of those who believe in Him. Dear fellow believers, you need to know how much emphasis the Bible puts on the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it.
However, those who are of legalistic faith say that they have attained salvation only by the blood Jesus shed on the Cross without believing in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist. They have mistakenly believed that they received salvation by believing only in the blood of the Cross without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus told Nicodemus about. We can excuse those who do not know Jesus because of their ignorance, but Christians who believe Jesus to be their Savior need to know and believe not only in the blood of the Cross but also the baptism that He received from John the Baptist. Isn’t it right?
Nowadays, many profess their faith saying, “Jesus is my Savior.” However, all these people who believe and follow Jesus as their Savior believe only in the blood of the Cross. The problem lies in the fact that most Christians believe in Jesus without knowing correctly that He received the baptism from John the Baptist, shed His blood on the Cross, died and resurrected from the dead so that we may have our salvation. They have added their legalistic faith to their faith in Jesus. Furthermore, they have added the doctrine of repentance and the doctrine of sanctification as well.
Yet, because it is impossible to find the road to Heaven with their legalistic faith of the Law, many people are perpetually lost in their sins. They should find the road to Heaven in the gospel of the water and the Spirit by faith. Since they only know Jesus’ blood on the Cross, they still have the sins in their hearts, which prevents them from going into Heaven, due to their disbelief in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Aren’t there great multitudes of people who say that all their sins were washed away by Jesus’ blood of the Cross alone? Then how could God acknowledge their faith? When they first believed in Jesus, their hearts felt at ease. However, as time passes by they reach a faith that is bound by their own deeds. Thus, although they believe in Jesus as their Savior, they also think and believe that Christians need to offer fervent prayers of repentance and go through the process of sanctification.
But, what we need to know is that no matter how many prayers of repentance we offer, we are not made sinless in that way. With such a faith we cannot but remain sinners. Thus, they come to the conclusion that they have to sanctify themselves everyday by living virtuous lives. However, no one can sanctify oneself on one’s own. People think their sanctification to be possible on their own because they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But it is just a superstitious thought that originated from their emotion. Instead of relying on the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, these people expect themselves to be sanctified as time passes by. To believe that a person would gradually commit less sin and become holy in one’s heart and body until one day they are fully sanctified without any sin of their own is a highly superstitious faith.
Believers in the doctrine of sanctification are saying that they would be transformed into sanctified individuals with the passing of time. Yet, this is merely a human wish. Where in this doctrine can you find the gospel of the water and the Spirit by which we can be made born again? It is utterly impossible for one to receive salvation by becoming a perfect human being who does not commit sin out of one’s fundamentally sinful nature. The doctrine of sanctification, that today’s Christianity advocates, is a very wrong faith and doctrine.
In fact, the reality is that people become even more imperfect as they age rather than being sanctified. It is said that a human walks on four limbs at first, then on two when he is in his youth, and ultimately on three at his advanced age. As such, every human being is an imperfect being. Just looking around our lives, we can see many old people that devote themselves to the basic instincts of their flesh just like a young child.
We can see that people become less and less competent as they age. One’s temper grows more impatient as one grows older. Adults over 50 years of age tend to show worse temperament than their younger days. That is because people cannot overcome the weakness of their flesh. This weakness is the reality of our existence. People who advocate the doctrine of sanctification insist that we would be able to learn not to be angry if we train ourselves enough to suppress our anger in our hearts, but that is far from reality. The body of a person follows the principle of physics in the flesh. If a person has the power to restrain, then he would also be able to restrain his anger. On the other hand, if he doesn’t, his anger would be released. Thus, if a person gets older and loses one’s self-control, the person is prone to get angry on the slightest provocation. When you make an uncontrollable mistake while living faithfully, that is because you have lost your self-control owing to the exhaustion of your energy.
Because we have been delivered from all our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have to live our lives faithfully on the Lord’s side with that faith. We gratefully and voluntarily serve our Lord because we believe that our Lord has blotted out all our sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Are we following our Lord in order that our hearts would be sanctified to perfection? That is not the true faith. It is not God’s will that we live our lives according to the Law of God. God is telling us that we just need to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to be delivered from all our sins. Of course, we should not forget that we often fall into our weakness because our flesh is imperfect. However, because all of our sins were blotted out once for all from God’s side by the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, those who truly believe are completely sinless. Because we were delivered from all our sins by our faith in this true gospel, all the sins we commit daily before God are also washed completely by our faith. Now, we must live by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and give thanks to God. We must recall our Lord who eliminated all our sins by ruminating the gospel of the water and the Spirit once again.
Now, we must give thanks to God with our faith. When we confess rightly before God about the deficiencies in our flesh, we come to plainly experience that our Lord has blotted out all our sins that we have committed due to our insufficiencies. A truthful confession before God comes from one’s belief that our Lord has delivered such deficient beings as us from all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Now when you and I look again up and down the gospel of the water and the Spirit and confess our sins before God, we gain great comfort and peace in our hearts with the realization that our Lord has blotted out all our sins by this gospel Truth. Then, we are able to live before our Lord still sinless and full of thanksgiving. Although we are lacking in our flesh, because we still believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can do righteous works before God.
We believe that the gospel of the water and the Spirit out of the might of God is of the remission of all our sins. We also believe that our faith in this gospel is not from our human efforts or deeds. Finally, we believe that our efforts and deeds add nothing to the matter of our salvation.
The Apostle Paul Said That He Could not Abandon the True Faith
Thus, the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:17-20, “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I made myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Like this, the reason you and I believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus has given us, is to receive our salvation from all our sins and become sinless people. We believe that Jesus Christ has blotted out all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Despite of the fact that we believe in Jesus to become sinless, if we were still sinners after believing in Jesus, are we supposed to say that Jesus Christ is therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! Jesus Christ has delivered us from all our sins once for all by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus Christ does not make you and me into sinners but rather He is our Savior who makes us sinless.
Jesus Christ is our Savior as well as our God. It is evident that Jesus Christ is our Savior who has expunged all our sins and that we have received the remission of all our sins when we believed Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Then what would happen if sin enters our hearts again after we have believed in Jesus Christ and we try to solve this problem of sin by trying to live according to the Law in order to become sinless? Just as the Apostle Peter played hypocrisy before Paul, it would be erroneous faith before God if believers in Jesus tried to become righteous by keeping the Law of God. Addressing this very issue, the Apostle Paul said that if he had done so, he would have made himself a transgressor. To play hypocrisy and lead a legalistic life of faith by the Law makes oneself into a transgressor.
We should pay attention to how greatly the Apostle Paul reproached Peter for his wrongdoing. “How could you tell the Gentiles to keep the entire Law, when you, even a Jew, cannot keep all of them? Then, how grave wrongdoing is it for you to lay such emphasis on keeping the Law?” What Paul was saying here is that Peter and his followers had committed horrible transgressions before God. So, Paul was saying, “As a result, you have rejected the just love of God by not believing in the God-given gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit; if you keep on playing hypocrisy, you would not be able to be delivered from all your sins.”
The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gift of salvation that delivers every sinner from all their sins by revealing the righteousness of God. To spread one’s own faith by playing hypocrisy would be not only a terrible wrongdoing but also a rebellion against the true gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must know this fact. That is, playing hypocrisy out of one’s legalistic faith is terribly wrong that stands against God, who loves us unconditionally with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
If we apply the Apostle Paul’s faith to the legalists, it implies that their faith is wrong. That there are so many people of the legalistic faith within the Christian community is a big problem. What I am saying is that it is a bad thing. If we believed in Jesus as our Savior to become sinless people but rather became even more sinful after believing in Jesus, such faith must be terribly wrong. Ordinarily, Christians have legalistic faith, and as a result, they have become worse sinners after knowing Jesus Christ because they have not been able to keep the Law. Still, they think that they have received the salvation from all their sins. After all, they come to rely on the doctrine of repentance and the doctrine of sanctification with hoping that Jesus would have mercy on them because they try hard to keep the Law of God somehow.
Is Jesus a creature? Jesus is God. God in His justice judges the sins of those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with fire, but He presents the reward of eternal life to the believers. For that reason, we must recognize that keeping the Law of God well cannot sanctify us. Such doctrines directly oppose the faith in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. Such faith is in vain. Only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are delivered from all of their sins.
Since we were unable to keep the Law of God, our Lord sacrificed His own body as propitiation to the Father—receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and shedding His blood of the Cross—and accomplished the perfect love of salvation. In spite of this, if there are still people who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and try to be delivered from all their sins by keeping the Law well, they should turn around from their evil ways and believe in this true gospel. If there are still those who have fallen into the doctrine of sanctification, they should come to realize that they are committing a sin by opposing directly the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. We should not commit the sin of opposing the Lord-given salvation before God.
Now, Paul speaks of the gist of his faith by declaring the famous passage of Galatians 2:20. Every Christian should comprehend this passage. If we look at Galatians 2:19, it says, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” The Apostle Paul said that he died to the Law because of the strictness of God’s Law. When he reflected himself on the Law standing in front of God, he found out that the Law was speaking about his sinfulness. Because the righteous law of God says, “The wage of sin is death,” we cannot but become sinners and we are unable to escape God’s judgment. The Apostle Paul is telling us that we deserve death even if we only have the slightest hint of sin in us and have broken only a single rule from the Law of God. We must admit the strictness of the Law of God, and we should become those who have been put to death by the same Law.
Ordinary Christians do not admit the strictness of the Law of God and consider themselves sinners out of their own standards. Such perspective is fundamentally very wrong. One does not go to hell or become a sinner due to one’s own standards. God has given us His Law and those who break that Law become transgressors who have committed sins before God. Those transgressors have to be judged and receive the judgments according to the just Law of God. That is the very law of God that states that the wage of sin is death. But the gift of God is the eternal life in Jesus Christ. The believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit have been delivered from all their sins because Jesus Christ took all their sins onto Himself by receiving the baptism and because He died shed His blood unto His death on the Cross.
Have You Already Died to the Law of God?
Just as the Apostle Paul acknowledged and believed in the Word of God, you and I must do the same. We must acknowledge that God is alive and that He gave us the Law. We who are humans cannot keep the Law of God and keep committing sins throughout our lives. Thus, if we were to be judged according to the Law of God, we should rightfully be sent to hell. It is because the Law of God is so holy and because people are inevitably born into this world with innate sin. The Law of God states, “The wages of sin is death,” that is, those with sins should be sent to hell.
We acknowledge all the Word of God. It says, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” We have to die once to the Law in order that we might live to God. God has delivered you and me from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, washed away all our sins, and adopted us as His sinless children by sending His Son our Lord Jesus Christ to this world. We believe with our hearts in the salvation that came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus Christ like us are the children of God who have received the salvation from all their sins. Dear fellow believers, do you believe in your hearts that God has delivered you from all your sins? If yes, this is true faith.
Thus, the Bible says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit has delivered you and me from all our sins, has made us into God’s own children and people, liberated us from all judgments for all our sins, and made us into truly free people. By believing in this true gospel, we have become the children of God who have received the salvation from all our sins regardless of how deficient our hearts may be. Dear fellow believers, do you believe this? Surely, you do.
It would be impossible for someone who has not received the remission of sin to preach the true gospel. Unless one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that person would not be able to preach this true gospel. Even the greatest of all evangelists in this world cannot preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit without first believing in that gospel. They can merely speak of the religious doctrines, but they cannot witness even a word to the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is so amazing that not just anyone can share it with you.
The Apostle Paul confessed that he had died to the Law in order to live towards God: “I believe that God has delivered me from all my sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Hence, I have died with Christ and resurrected with Him as well. I had become a sinner by believing in the Word of the Law and was made righteous by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Now, we have become God’s own people and His servants. Thus, I have been shining the light of Truth upon a multitude of people as a servant of Christ.”
We also are able to confess that we have been delivered by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because the Apostle Paul has recorded in the Bible that He had died and resurrected with Christ, we can share the same faith as him.
The Apostle Paul has left a number of epistles, which are called as the Pauline Epistles: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. This is quite amazing. God has selected the Apostle Paul and called him to do these works.
God in order to record the Word of the Bible used Paul as well as the Apostle John. God led a selected few Apostles and servants to record the Bible. By doing so, He has completed the whole Bible and fulfilled His own prophecies and the salvation. And He warned that whoever adds anything to or strikes anything out from the Scriptures would be deleted from the Book of Life. Now, God admonishes us to read this Bible and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Nowadays, the servants of God should preach within the Word of God. Put differently, the servants of God have an obligation to preach the Word of God and not their own words. Moreover, they should witness the Word of God in lights of the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Then, both those who speak the Word of God and those who listen to them will never go wrong as long as they deliver and accept the Word in their hearts by faith.
Jesus Christ has become the true Savior who has delivered us all from all our sins by coming by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Apostle Paul was also able to make true confessions of faith because he believed in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. We can conclude this fact from today’s Scripture passages. That is why the servant of God said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
That we receive salvation from all our sins is possible not by our own works of the Law, but by believing in our hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit which Jesus Christ has given us. We become the righteous, become the children of God, receive the eternal life from God, and become the servants of God by accepting the salvation God has granted you and me through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with heart. Hence, the Apostle Paul said, “For with the hearts one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). Because God is the God of Truth, our Lord had promised us true salvation and accomplished it just as He had promised. God has blotted out all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit and adopted us as His own children. We are able to receive the salvation from all our sins by believing in our hearts in His salvation and love in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Apostle Paul is comparing God’s grace of salvation with the Law for us.
We receive the salvation from all our sins, dying and resurrecting with Christ to become the servants of righteousness before God within the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which the Son of God gave us. If we live our remaining lives as the servants of God’s righteousness, we will be recipients of glory and honor in the Millennial Kingdom as God promised through His Word. Receiving the eternal life from God, we would not die for eternity and rather share the glory and honor alongside God. This is the love of God and His purpose of our salvation. This is the will of God toward us. I believe that God will surely do as such for us. Because God has promised us, things will surely be thus. Do you believe this? I am sure you do.
The Apostle Paul said that he could not set aside the grace of salvation, which He has given us. The Truth that God delivered us from all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gift of salvation from God. The love of God is also His gift. Also, delivering us from all our sins and turning us into the righteous was a gift of God. The Kingdom of God prepared for us is a gift of God. The fact that we are living in this world as a tool of righteousness is a gift of God. And all the supplies for our lives in body and spirit are also His gifts. That we are able to do the right work of delivering others from all their sins by sharing the gospel of the water and the Spirit is a gift of God. That you and I will live for eternity is a gift of God.
Out of the things that we have received, which one is not a gift of God? Everything in nature is a free gift of God to us. We believe all these with our hearts. We believe that God has adopted us His children, made us the servants of His righteousness, and promised to share with us the glory and honor in the coming future because God loves us.
Dear fellow believers, we should never reject the love of God and the gift of salvation that came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must know this true gospel. God will not nullify the salvation He has granted us. Neither should we set aside the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit by disbelieving it.
What is the greatest sin a person could commit before God? It would be to disbelieve in the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The greatest sin of all is to reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit—which is the love of God—while knowing all about it. The Apostle John said in his Epistles that, despite the fact that people continually sin before God, people should not commit the unforgivable sin before God. He defined this sin as “the sin leading to death” (1 John 5:16). Thus, the Apostle John is telling us that we should not commit the unforgivable sin. That sin is not an ordinary sin we commit in our daily lives but the sin of disbelieving in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. What this entails is that we should never reject God’s grace of salvation.
On the contrary, receiving God’s gift of grace with our faith, we should thank Him for eternity, believe in Him for eternity, and praise Him for eternity. God desires for us accept and enjoy all of His blessings with thanksgiving. Therefore, we must believe that God will grant us the glory and honor for eternity when we receive the God-given gift of salvation by faith. This applies to me and also to you. We receive the gift of God with thanksgiving and praise God.
What Kind of People Do We Have to Become?
The Apostle Paul concluded at the end of Galatians 2, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).
If we could become sinless before God through our legalistic faith of the Law, giving prayers of repentance and trying to sanctify ourselves, then Jesus Christ would have received the baptism and died for you and me in vain. Dear fellow believers, would it be right for us to make the baptism and death of Jesus Christ vain? We should not turn the salvation Jesus Christ gave us into a matter of vanity.
From this worldly perspective, the worst thing a person could do is to die before one’s parents pass away. Then, what sin would be the greatest before God? It would be not to believe that Jesus Christ has become our perfect Savior by coming to this world, receiving the baptism to take all the sins of the world onto Himself, shedding His blood on the Cross to atone all the sins of the world, and resurrecting from His death. If we nullified Jesus’ love of salvation by which He gave up His own life to give us new life through His baptism and His bloodshed, that would be the greatest of all sins. Whoever commits the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven and will perish (Matthew 12:31). No one should commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Do you understand?
Thus, when you share the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you have to do so in faith and you cannot stop after delivering it once but you have to keep sharing it. Although people may at first mildly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in their hearts, by continual sharing of the gospel, it has to be deeply rooted in each individual’s heart. The faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must take roots in everyone’s heart. We have to admit the gospel Truth with our intellect, emotion, and will. What I am saying is that we have to become people who know and believe in the Truth clearly, posses the emotion of love, and then put into deeds. We cannot turn the coming of Jesus Christ into this world, His reception of the baptism, His death, and His resurrection into vanity. If we do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we will surely receive the judgment for that sin.
Furthermore, we must lead a faithful life to the task appointed to us, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God tells the righteous to be faithful as well as grateful to Him in the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and to share that gospel with others. That is why we serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit faithfully before God. Otherwise would there be any reason for us to spread this true gospel throughout the world?
Nowadays the percentage of unused land is increasing in my country. The government stated its policy to support those who do not farm on their land up to a certain portion of the average harvest. And there are actually farmers who instead of farming are benefiting from this policy. Unused land is land on rest so its landlord does not cultivate the land. Thus, if we go out to unused land we cannot find any pure grain but weeds that have overrun the land. Go out to the fields in autumn and compare the unused land with a regular field. On a regular field you can find a lot of pure grain with some occasional foxtails. But all you can find in an unused land are weeds. It almost appears as if someone came and sowed foxtail seeds and watered them to grow. This world is similar to this illustration.
For us not to make the grace of God vain, we have to become righteous by believing in our hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit, receive salvation, and spend the rest of our lives sowing the seeds of salvation for spreading the true gospel. The Apostle Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Just like this Scripture passage, if God has given you and me true salvation by the gospel of the water and the Spirit through Jesus Christ, we should serve this true gospel by faith and spread it throughout the world.
If we do not serve the gospel and nor live righteously for the rest of our lives despite of receiving the salvation from all our sins, all kinds of dirty thoughts would fill our hearts. Then, we would become completely useless beings. You and I often have to cultivate our hearts with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As we serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we cannot forget to cultivate our own hearts often. Although unused land may bring the physical comfort to the farmer, in the end it only produces inedible foxtails. Land produces much edible crops only after it has been cultivated, sown upon, fertilized, and watered. Dear fellow believers, do you wish to become useless and even harmful just to seek a little comfort in your lives?
We should not desire in our hearts to avoid serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we fail to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit, foxtails and all kinds of evil thoughts inevitably grow in our hearts. Then, we would come to our unbearable death. Our hearts are clean because we believe and serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we are not doing so, our hearts would be unbearably tainted.
In the Bible, the tares or the weeds imply the sons of the wicked one (Matthew 13:30). However, it is a shame that there are still those who have unjustified high esteem of themselves. Some people argue that even foxtails are worth something since it bears its fruits. It is truly shameful that these people do not realize that they are bad seeds that require the effort to be removed from the field.
This is the Word of God. Truthfully speaking, people who do not serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit become evil people. That is why I tell you to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit despite the fact that you may be burdened by such request. If we deny our thoughts of the flesh and serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we will bear much fruit because of the gospel we serve. Not only will we bear the spiritual fruits and improve on our faith, but we will also bear much fruits materially.
I am happy because of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And I am thankful. I am quite joyful doing the works of God. The more I serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the more I remain patient, I experience the Holy Spirit working more strongly in my heart comforting me more, empowering me more, and blessing me more. I am very happy because God has blessed all of us in body and spirit.
Instead of seeking the comfort of the body, I hope you are joyful to live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Whether we are facing difficulty or joy, it should be dealt with in the Lord. No matter what, we should devote our lives for the works of God.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The Apostle Paul devoted his entire life for Jesus Christ. Not only the Apostle Paul but also we have devoted our lives for the spread of the gospel. “I will succeed in the gospel for sure.” When we determine to do so, God will work in us and bless us to become people of faith. If we devote ourselves to the works of God in faith, much fruit will come to bear through us and this body will come to live a prosperous life under God’s blessings.
I give thanks unto God.
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