JESUS THE SAVIOUR

Saying that He is a God of mercy is a minimized description of what He is willing to do. Remember, in the first section we said God offers a pardon even though He knows of our guilt. Paul gives a good picture of this in  Ephesians 2:1-10 . “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. “ “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace we are saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grac...

God is known to be a God of mercy and grace. Understanding mercy is often difficult for people as we tend to be a generation of “I’ll get him for that” and “I hope they get what they deserve.” Many have developed a nature of harsh criticism and want others to get what they have coming to them and then some. God, however, is merciful to even the worst offenders, sinners, and law-breakers. This means that even though He knows of our guilt, He doesn’t always issue the punishment deserved. To elaborate, the verse in  Romans 3:23-24  says “...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Simply, we are all sinners and do not meet the standards of righteousness that God intends us to have. But, through His mercy and grace He provided a way for our sins to be forgiven through our acceptance of Christ Jesus—even though we don’t deserve it. Coupled with grace (being given God’s free gift of ...

God seeks out those who love Him and love His commands so that He can bless, guide, and protect them ( Psalm 37:23 ; Proverbs 3:5–6 ). This does not mean that everyone who is prosperous or healthy has found favor with God ( Jeremiah 12:1 ; Psalm 37:7 ; 73:16 ). Nor does it mean that those whom the Lord favors will never suffer difficulties. Many people in the Bible had the Lord’s favor but also suffered hardship ( 2 Corinthians 6:4 ; Acts 14:22 ; 20:23 ; 1 Peter 2:19 ). Heroes such as Noah ( Genesis 6:8 ), Moses ( Exodus 32:11 ; 33:13 ), Daniel ( Daniel 10:19 ), and Mary ( Luke 1:28 ) were favored of the Lord, but they also struggled with difficulties like anyone else. Those who are favored of God know that God is with them and that nothing can happen to them apart from His good purpose ( Romans 8:28 ). They have His ear as they walk through dark valleys ( Psalm 34:15 ) and know that their struggle to remain true to Him will not go unrewarded ( Matthew 10:42 ; Revelation 2:10 ). I...

Paul describes the possibilities of our victory in Christ in I Corinthians: So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:54-57) Now, you will note that Paul is really describing OUR experience of victory in this passage. And He is quite to the point. First, he says WHO gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ – he says GOD does. So this isn’t about us figuring out a way to win victory. No. We find victory only in Christ through God. But secondly, Paul tells us WHEN victory is possible. He says that, "WHEN this corruptible shall put on incorruption…." – THAT is when. When death is swallowed up by the r...

Jesus is saying that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. His power is greater than the power of the enemy. When there is a head-on conflict between the power of the enemy and the power of God, the power of the enemy will lose every time. How do we then live and walk in this power and authority? We understand from our last session that the world we live in has two realms—the natural and the spiritual. We need to be able to know how to live in this spiritual realm in a way that affects the natural realm. Instead of the spiritual realm only affecting me, I need to be living in a way that affects the spiritual realm, which in turn affects the natural realm. Ten years ago, as I read Paul's amazing statement in 1 Corinthians 4:19-20 , I began my personal journey in understanding the power we have as believers. Paul says in these verses that he's coming to Corinth to see the teachers that are there, and he's not coming to hear their words, but...

The scriptures enlarge our memory by helping us always to remember the Lord and our relationship to Him and the Father. They remind us of what we knew in our premortal life. And as these things penetrate our minds and hearts, our faith in God and His Beloved Son takes root. The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ—faith that They exist; faith in the Father’s plan for our immortality and eternal life; faith in the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which animates this plan of happiness; faith to make the gospel of Jesus Christ our way of life; and faith to come to know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent” ( John 17:3 ). The word of God, as Alma said, is like a seed planted in our hearts that produces faith as it begins to grow within us (see  Alma 32:27–43 ; see also  Romans 10:13–17 ). Faith will not come from the study of ancient texts as a purely academic pursuit. ...