Charles Fowler Ministries
charlesfowler.com
A little arrogance and a little ignorance can take a person a long way down the wrong road!!!
Are you in the ditch today?
Jesus said the blind lead the blind and everybody winds up in the ditch. The reason? Just plain old fashioned pride. We all have it and all must deal with it.
Psalms 25:9
Regarding the religious leaders of the day, Jesus told his disciples simply: "Leave them alone."
"Leave them alone" When the Son of God says "leave them alone" it is ultimately the worse thing that can happen to a person. You see "He knows the proud from a far off" in other words He is distant from the proud. The real trade mark of ...<< MORE >>
Jesus said the blind lead the blind and everybody winds up in the ditch. The reason? Just plain old fashioned pride. We all have it and all must deal with it.
Psalms 25:9
Regarding the religious leaders of the day, Jesus told his disciples simply: "Leave them alone."
"Leave them alone" When the Son of God says "leave them alone" it is ultimately the worse thing that can happen to a person. You see "He knows the proud from a far off" in other words He is distant from the proud. The real trade mark of ...<< MORE >>
Living Free
Living Free
Living free, living free, living free . . . is that not the heart cry of humanity. All over this planet, people want to be free. It doesn't matter if they are in Iran, Japan or America. It is a fact: People want to be free!!!
Jesus said that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The ultimate freedom is spiritual freedom which only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and in his testimony Paul quotes Jesus, the Risen Lord, ...<< MORE >>
Criticism of others
38 John said unto him, Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followed not us.
39 But Jesus said,
Forbid him not: for there is no man who shall do a mighty work in my
name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is for us.
41 For whosoever
shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ's, verily
I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. ...<< MORE >>
39 But Jesus said,
Forbid him not: for there is no man who shall do a mighty work in my
name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is for us.
41 For whosoever
shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ's, verily
I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. ...<< MORE >>
The Word of their testimony
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony;
In its context the Greek text is saying that they overcame because of the atoning blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ and by the word of their testimony as to the blood of the Lamb. In other words, it is their affirmation, confession or testimony as to what the blood of Christ has done for us that causes us to overcome.
We overcome by the word of our testimony of what the blood of the Lamb ...<< MORE >>
Grace is not a doctrine, Grace is a Person!!!
We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through FAITH in His blood. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He took our place on the cross, He bore the penalty for our sins. He paid the full and complete price for our salvation.
Jesus saves. We do not save ourselves, religion does not save us, not even the church can save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us. When we turn to Him, looking to Him and Him alone. ...<< MORE >>
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through FAITH in His blood. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He took our place on the cross, He bore the penalty for our sins. He paid the full and complete price for our salvation.
Jesus saves. We do not save ourselves, religion does not save us, not even the church can save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us. When we turn to Him, looking to Him and Him alone. ...<< MORE >>
Daily Time
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need Hebrews 4:16
Be merciful to me, O Lord; for I cry to You daily. Psalms 86:3
Evening, morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. Psalms 55:17
One of the purposes of this blog is to encourage believers to spend time alone with the Lord in prayer and in the word. My experience is that it ...<< MORE >>
mercy and find grace to help in time of need Hebrews 4:16
Be merciful to me, O Lord; for I cry to You daily. Psalms 86:3
Evening, morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. Psalms 55:17
One of the purposes of this blog is to encourage believers to spend time alone with the Lord in prayer and in the word. My experience is that it ...<< MORE >>
Not I, but Christ
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24
What I believe to be the first step in becoming a disciple of Christ can be described as a total commitment or surrender of our lives to Christ. Various terms have been used down through the years to describe this vital step in the Christian's life. Terms like absolute surrender, consecration, dedication, submission, yielding and absolute surrender as I have said.
I was in ...<< MORE >>
Colossians 3:10 - "Put on the New Man"
Colossians 3:10
Colossians 3:10 "put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him"
Some practical steps to putting on the new mans:
Step 1 is understanding that the new man is being renewed in the knowledge of Christ.
Borrowing from the Navigators and their bible memory program there is the five finger illustration of grasping the Word of God.
And you can start with any finger you want, I start with the thumb. But it is a great memory add in remembering the five ...<< MORE >>
God Loves Jerks
"Jacob I loved." (Rom 9:13)
God loves jerks. That is an unusual thought and one that is difficult for us to accept. But there are many biblical examples of this. One of the most profound is the bible character named Jacob. And in regards to Jacob the term bible "character" can be taken quite literally. Jacob was quite the character. The fact is, Jacob was a real jerk.
You can read the entire life of Jacob starting at Genesis 25:21 and going to Genesis 50:26. The Bible narrative holds nothing back, his life is a tell all story of a completely self-centered, controlling, manipulative man who had little or no love for anybody but himself. Jacob was a complete jerk.
To make a long story short, he did not love his wife (actually two wives and he was a terrible husband to both), his children (he was a terrible father) and he swindled both his father and his brother. Being a manipulator to the very end. As far as I can tell he did not have a positive relationship with anybody.
Yet, God in His infinite grace continued to love, overrule and care for a selfish, manipulative, insensitive jerk. Unbelievable, but it is in the bible for a reason.
The lesson here is that God loves to specialize in difficult cases and overlooking our faults he continues to bless and use us despite all our failures. This is a lesson in the grace of God, the unmerited favor and unconditional love of God. A lesson both our flesh and our mind struggle with if we seriously take it to heart. Yes, a very difficult lesson for any of us. Especially when it comes to loving jerks ourselves.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us . . . " (2 Corinthians 4:7)
God was infinitely, at times unfairly, gracious to Jacob. "Jacob I have loved." (Romans 9:13) You have to say that God loved Jacob completely unconditionally.
Apparently Jacob was clueless as to his own deeply flawed character and yet God blessed him anyway. He never looked in the mirror. He saw no need for forgiveness, yet God forgave him anyway. He did not seek divine guidance, but God gave it to him anyway.
Jacob was a complete jerk who apparently felt no guilt for the way he treated people. He was afraid of his brother but apparently never really felt sorry for his actions. Jacob was a jerk! Or have I said that already. A jerk that God loved.
The point we must wrestle with here is how much God can love unworthy people. And if God pours out His love, His grace, His mercy and even His blessing on unworthy "jerks" . . . then we must learn to love them as well.
"That he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory." (Romans 9:23)
I am not promoting jerks or encouraging you to be a jerk. I am just telling you to love them and accept them as God does, despite their jerkiness.
You are either a jerk or you know someone who is. And if you happen to be a "real" jerk, you probably don't know it. There is a little bit of Jacob in all of us. And yes, we all know some Jacobs, don't we? The point here is simple. God is love and He chooses to love Jacobs. We also, must learn to love and accept others just as they are. God loves jerks!
God loves jerks. That is an unusual thought and one that is difficult for us to accept. But there are many biblical examples of this. One of the most profound is the bible character named Jacob. And in regards to Jacob the term bible "character" can be taken quite literally. Jacob was quite the character. The fact is, Jacob was a real jerk.
You can read the entire life of Jacob starting at Genesis 25:21 and going to Genesis 50:26. The Bible narrative holds nothing back, his life is a tell all story of a completely self-centered, controlling, manipulative man who had little or no love for anybody but himself. Jacob was a complete jerk.
To make a long story short, he did not love his wife (actually two wives and he was a terrible husband to both), his children (he was a terrible father) and he swindled both his father and his brother. Being a manipulator to the very end. As far as I can tell he did not have a positive relationship with anybody.
Yet, God in His infinite grace continued to love, overrule and care for a selfish, manipulative, insensitive jerk. Unbelievable, but it is in the bible for a reason.
The lesson here is that God loves to specialize in difficult cases and overlooking our faults he continues to bless and use us despite all our failures. This is a lesson in the grace of God, the unmerited favor and unconditional love of God. A lesson both our flesh and our mind struggle with if we seriously take it to heart. Yes, a very difficult lesson for any of us. Especially when it comes to loving jerks ourselves.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us . . . " (2 Corinthians 4:7)
God was infinitely, at times unfairly, gracious to Jacob. "Jacob I have loved." (Romans 9:13) You have to say that God loved Jacob completely unconditionally.
Apparently Jacob was clueless as to his own deeply flawed character and yet God blessed him anyway. He never looked in the mirror. He saw no need for forgiveness, yet God forgave him anyway. He did not seek divine guidance, but God gave it to him anyway.
Jacob was a complete jerk who apparently felt no guilt for the way he treated people. He was afraid of his brother but apparently never really felt sorry for his actions. Jacob was a jerk! Or have I said that already. A jerk that God loved.
The point we must wrestle with here is how much God can love unworthy people. And if God pours out His love, His grace, His mercy and even His blessing on unworthy "jerks" . . . then we must learn to love them as well.
"That he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory." (Romans 9:23)
I am not promoting jerks or encouraging you to be a jerk. I am just telling you to love them and accept them as God does, despite their jerkiness.
You are either a jerk or you know someone who is. And if you happen to be a "real" jerk, you probably don't know it. There is a little bit of Jacob in all of us. And yes, we all know some Jacobs, don't we? The point here is simple. God is love and He chooses to love Jacobs. We also, must learn to love and accept others just as they are. God loves jerks!
The Atonement of Christ
"God demonstrated His love for us, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. . . now being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. . . by Whom we have now received the atonement." (Romans 5:8-11)
There are at least 8 keys to understanding the atonement of Christ. By studying the revelation of Paul the Apostle in his letters to the churches that we can gain a real understanding of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
#1. Sacrificial
When we say that the atonement was "sacrificial," we mean that Christ was our sacrifice. When Christ died on the cross, it was for you and me. He became our passover. If you had been the only person on the planet, Christ would have died on the cross for you. He loves you that much! The Bible says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
"Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him." (Romans 5:9)
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
You are justified by faith in the blood of Christ. Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us. (Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:2)
#2. Vicarious
By vicarious atonement we simply mean that Christ died on our behalf. He was our representative and we are identified with Him in his death, burial, and resurrection. I am crucified with Christ and now Christ lives His life through me in my identification with Him and in His atonement.
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5:6)
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:21)
#3. Substitutionary
By the term "Substitutionary Atonement" we simply mean that He took your place on the cross. The gospel song that says "I should have been crucified" expresses this idea of the substitutionary work of Christ.
Christ took our place. I should have gone to the cross, but instead, Jesus went there for me. He bore our sins in His own body on the cross.
In the words of Saint Augustine, "But Christ without guilt . . . took upon Himself our punishment, in order that He might thus expiate our guilt and do away with our punishment."
"He (Christ) died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:15)
Martin Luther said, "This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners, for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ's and Christ's righteousness is not Christ's but ours."
#4. Penal
Penal atonement is where Christ took our curse and bore our death and our penalty for us. Christ bore the penalty for our sins. He (Christ)Who knew no sin, was made to be sin on our behalf; in order that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse forus; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)
#5. Propitiatory
By the term propitiatory atonement we simply mean the truth that Christ is our mercy seat. His blood appeases the wrath of a just and holy God. We can commune with God in the secret place because of, and only because of, the blood of Christ that is sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven. The just wrath of God has been satisfied by the atonement of Christ on the cross.
"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood,to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season:that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:24-26)
"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him." (Romans 5:9)
"Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (I John 4:9)
#6. Expiatory
When we call the atonement "expiatory", we mean that our sins are covered with the blood. The Greek literally means that our sins are done away with or obliterated. As far as the east is from the west . . . Though are sins be as scarlet, we shall be made white as snow . . . by the expiatory work of Christ and His blood on the cross.
#7 Redemptive
The redemptive aspect of the atonement is where we are ransomed, or purchased, by the blood of Christ. We are not our own, we have been bought with a price. Acts 20:28 says that the Church was "purchased with his (Christ's) own blood." (Acts 20:28)
#8. Triumphant
The atonement of Christ is a Triumphant Atonement. Because of the atonement, we are triumphant over Satan. Jesus spoiled principalities and powers, and now God has raised us up and made us sit together with Christ in the heavenly places.
"Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15)
"But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus: for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)
It is only by virtue of the blood of Christ sacrificed for us on the cross that we can approach the Throne of GRACE with boldness and obtain Mercy.
Suggested Affirmation of Faith:
Through the blood of Jesus, I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil.
Through the blood of Jesus, I am delivered from the powers of darkness.
Through the blood of Jesus, I am translated into the Kingdom of God.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, continually cleanses me from all sin. I boldly declare that my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit of God. I am redeemed, cleansed, delivered and totally set free from all the bondage of the devil, by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Recommended Reading:
- A Theology of the New Testament by George Eldon Ladd
- Understanding Theology by R. T. Kendall
- Atonement by Derek Prince
- Essentials of Evangelical Theology by Donald G. Bloesch