July 2017 Printable .pdf (194 KB)

The June teaching focused on the post-Resurrection record in Luke Chapter 24, where Jesus Christ in his resurrected body appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus. God's Word devotes more time on this resurrection appearance than any other. Jesus Christ did not appear to men of great power, wealth, or status. He appeared to two disciples who were having a difficult time understanding the events surrounding the death of the man whom they believed would redeem Israel and be their savior. In this way, God's Word was a refuge and strength to those disciples. God's Word is continually our refuge and strength, as we read it each day and put it on in our hearts.

This month's teaching will continue to focus on God's Word as our refuge and strength. We will see an example of how to use our Ministry of Reconciliation God has given to us, by sharing the Word of Reconciliation which is the Word of God. Remember God's Word state's "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God (II Corinthians 5:20).

This is a Question-and-Answer teaching on the new birth. One person represents the Ambassador for Christ and the other person is the Unsaved Person. We will see how God's Word serves as our refuge and strength.

Ambassador for Christ:
How are you doing today?

The Unsaved Person:
I am doing fine, how are you?

Ambassador for Christ:
I have God in Christ in me, the hope of glory. I am wonderful!

The Unsaved Person:
What do you mean by saying you have God in Christ in me?

Ambassador for Christ:
The Word of God in I Timothy 2:4-5 states:

Who [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The Unsaved Person:
Why do I need to be saved?

Ambassador for Christ:
Because you are born without the spirit of God. Let's begin by understanding how man was formed, made, and created from Isaiah 43:7:

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

The Unsaved Person:
Ok, I understand that. But what does that have to do with being saved?

Ambassador for Christ:
Now Adam had body, soul, and spirit. Adam's body was formed from the dust of the ground. Breath life was made, and spirit was created in Adam. This is how man initially had body, soul, and spirit. So, God communicated with Adam by His spirit that was within Adam. God and Adam had perfect fellowship. This is documented in the first two Chapters of Genesis.

Then God gives Adam one commandment in Genesis 2:15-17:

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

In these verses, God commanded Adam:

. . .of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

This commandment is simple and straight forward. Yes, to all trees except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Once Adam accepted and obeyed God's commandment, he lived well and peaceful.

Then God said it's not good that man should be alone. So, God made a help mate for man. Genesis 2: 18, 21-23:

And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

The Unsaved Person:
I remember this story. Adam and Eve did what God told them for a while, right?

Ambassador for Christ:
Yes. Adam and Eve lived and prospered in the Garden. They were body, soul, and spirit. They were as God intended them to be, until Eve met and had a conversation with the serpent. Adam and Eve had a mind and they had free-will. Eve used her mind and free-will to disobey God's commandment and ate off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The consequence of Eve's interaction with the serpent occurs in Genesis 3:6:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Now Eve is walking by two of her five senses, seeing and hearing. Eve is not walking by the spirit of God that is in her. The sin was that Eve and Adam disobeyed God's commandment and ate off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam did not obey God's commandment. God's Word was not their refuge and strength because they did not obey God's Word.

The Unsaved Person:
So, what was the consequence of this sin? What does that have to do with being saved?

Ambassador for Christ:
Once Eve and Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said they would surely die. But what died in Adam and Eve? Genesis 5:5 tells us Adam lived to be 930 years old. So, it was not the body and soul that died. What died in Adam and Eve was their spiritual connection with God. They no longer had the spirit of God in them. They became what the Word calls "natural man" - body and soul, but no spirit of God.

Because of Adam and Eve's sin, all men and women are born without the spirit of God. They have body and soul, but no spirit. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 2:14 to understand about the "natural man."

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The Unsaved Person:
So, we are born into this world as natural man - with body and soul.
Ok, I understand that. Where does being saved come in?

Ambassador for Christ:
Without being born again of God's Spirit, we, are without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).

So now the answer to your question "Why do I need to be saved?" It is because we lost God's spirit when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's commandment. We are born into this world without God's spirit. We cannot know "the things of the Spirit of God." We are strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. Once our earthly existence is over with, that is it for us. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The Unsaved Person:
So how do I get back to God?

Ambassador for Christ:
Fortunately for us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses or sins to them (II Corinthians 5:19). I Peter 3:18 tells us:

For Christ, also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [made alive] by the Spirit.

Who is Christ bringing us to? God!

Today, each person that confesses Jesus as Lord and believes in his or her heart that God raised Jesus from the dead shall be saved or born-again of God's spirit. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

Now you must make up your mind to believe God's Word and act on it!

The Unsaved Person:
Thank you for sharing with me. I believe God's Word. Can I get born again now, so I can be saved?

Ambassador for Christ:
Yes, it is the will of God that all people be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. There is one God and one mediator between God and men - the man Christ Jesus.

Do you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead? Then you are saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

The Unsaved Person:
I do believe.

Ambassador for Christ:
You are born-again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever (I Peter 1:23). The first time you were born of your earthly father's seed, this time you are born of your heavenly Father"s seed.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10.)

For by grace are you saved through faith or believing of Jesus Christ; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

The Saved Person:
Great! I am born again of God's spirit and I have everlasting life. So, what's next?

Ambassador for Christ:
Now you must read God's Word. For the Word of God is the Will of God. You just cannot know God's Will without reading His Word.

Then you must be renewed in your mind to believe God's Word and act on it to get results.

The Saved Person:
Great! I can do those things. I can read the Bible and work to renew my mind.

Ambassador for Christ:

Remember this new birth is spiritual; it does not affect your mind. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). They never overlap in the Bible. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or creation (II Corinthians 5:17).

This new creation is spirit. When you were born-again it did not make your flesh perfect or do anything to your mind. You don't feel any different. But now God is your Father. You have His spirit in you. You are a son or daughter of God (I John 3:2) and an ambassador for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20). You have God in Christ in you the hope of glory! (Colossians 1:27). You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

The Saved Person:
Got it! John 3:6 tells me what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Ambassador for Christ:
Yes, excellent! It is important to keep Ephesians 2:13-19 in your heart as you move forward. Let's read it together:

But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off [Gentiles] are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both [Judeans and Gentiles] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both [Judean and Gentile] unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off [Gentiles], and to them that were nigh [Judeans]. For through him we both [Judean and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

The Saved Person:
Wow! What is my proof that I am born-again?

Ambassador for Christ:
In the early Church when they were born-again, they immediately spoke in tongues. The record in Acts 1:8 tells us that we shall receive the power of the holy spirit and that we shall be witnesses to Jesus Christ to the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 2:4 says:

And they [the twelve apostles] were all filled with the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion - the gift, power from on high] and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit [the pneuma - the Giver] gave them utterance.

The Saved Person:
So, the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit?

Ambassador for Christ:
Yes, but the Holy Spirit, God, was not what they were filled with. It was His gift they were filled with. And as they began to speak with other tongues, the Holy Spirit, God, gave them utterance.

Who did the speaking? The twelve apostles. They moved their lips and tongues and made the sounds. But what they spoke was what the Spirit gave them to speak. In other words, speaking in tongues is your action, but what you speak is God's action! There are four other records in God's Word where each time they were born again they spoke in tongues.

I invite you to go to the April 2016 teaching in Mor-Bible.com on speaking in tongues. God's Word is our refuge and strength. God's Word is the Word of life!

Saved Person:
Thank you for teaching me God's Word on how to be saved, by being born again of God's spirit. I can see how God's Word is my refuge and strength.

Ambassador for Christ:
Welcome to the household of God. Let us pray together. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And has put all things under his (Christ) feet, and gave him (Christ) to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all (Ephesians 1:17-23).

I learned long ago when you base your actions on the Word of God you are guaranteed success. Bless you. You are God's best!

Next month's teaching will continue to look at the Word of God as our refuge and strength.

In the Lord,

Ministry of Reconciliation
Son of God through Jesus Christ
Ambassador for Christ

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