LIGHT FROM THE WORD

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

LIGHT FOR THE NOW: By the sacrifice of Jesus, you have been made righteous.

Jesus paid the price at the cross for your sins. His blood was all that was required. At death, Jesus’ body died but His soul and spirit rose again. At resurrection, he rose with a new body. This is why he appeared physically to His disciples and showed them the new body. The death of Christ brought about the redemption of man. Paul addressing believers states in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. Remember that, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20). That was the verdict. Justice demanded that man should die for his sin. There was no room for mercy; neither was there any provision for substitution. A son was not permitted to die for the father’s sin and vice versa. In Romans 6:23, Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. So, by the sacrifice of Jesus, you have been made righteous. Christ substituted Himself for you by accepting to bear your sins and consequently died in your stead. Righteousness is not purchasable but receivable. It is a gift from God.

There is no resurrection without death and there could be no death without sin. Jesus willingly accepted your sins. He bore the sins and died for the whole world. He knew that He had conquered death. This is why He told Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Everyone who believes in Christ should be eternally grateful to Him. Through the redemption that Christ wrought for you, you have been completely delivered from the hand of the enemy. The sacrifice of His blood was the ultimate price. The thickness of His blood did not just cover your sins but completely wiped it away from the eternal record of death. If you are in Christ Jesus, you have no sin anymore. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ completely gives you a clean slate. 

INSTRUCTION: Stay in the liberty that redemption has wrought for you.

PRAYER: Lord, the price of my redemption can never be in vain, in Jesus Name.

QUOTE: Redemption is the eternal plan of God.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 18; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 18

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” – Romans 5:1

LIGHT FOR NOW: Now that you have been justified, you have no record of sin.

To be justified is to be discharged and acquitted. It is to declared not guilty and have a right standing with God. To be justified is to be united, to be in union with God. This means that we are no longer enemies to God. Christ was made to be sin for us. David spoke about Christ and gave a good report about Him (Hebrews 11:23). In Christ, we have been declared free and acquitted. The Old Covenant scolds, exposes and institutes all forms of legislations. The old covenant was anti-human. In the New Covenant, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 8:10 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”. This simply means that you have been found not guilty and discharged and acquitted. You do not have any record of sin anymore. It will therefore be a serious violation of agreement and gross injustice to repeat a punishment that was already put on someone.

Life is now strictly based on faith in Christ. Faith in the finished work of Christ is what makes life beautiful. Jesus is not just sitting on the mercy seat, He is the Mercy Seat.  The confession and belief that Christ was raised from the dead is what guarantees your redemption and it is your redemption that guarantees your justification. The work is grace is possible only because Christ made Himself available. Until your belief system is established in Christ, you cannot be justified. Therefore, you need to have an honest belief in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

INSTRUCTION: Believe in Christ and you are justified.

PRAYER: I am in Him justified and He is in me glorified, in Jesus Name. Amen.

QUOTE: Until you are justified, you cannot be glorified.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 17; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 17

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, ho walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit – Romans 8:1

LIGHT FOR NOW: We have now come into at-one-ment with God through Christ.

We have been reconciled back or united with God through Christ. We are no longer enemies of God. We have now come into at-one-ment with God through Christ. Condemnation is a legal word used in passing verdict. It means to be damned. To be condemned is to be judged as guilty. It is to be sentenced to serve the required punishment as written in the law. When we come into Christ, we have passed from judgment. The moment you arrive in Christ, you have been passed from judgment; you become translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. You have been declared right and not guilty. Jesus brought righteousness. Through righteousness, justification was imputed on all men who believe in Him.

Righteousness is the state of being right. It is to be treated as someone who has not done any wrong. If you have received Christ, then you must live your real life which is a life with a not-guilty verdict. Righteousness is not an act; it is a gift. No man can earn it. Just as you don’t have to pay for a gift; you cannot pay to earn righteousness. Righteousness is not given because one stops doing something wrong but because he has believed the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. When you receive the gospel; you receive the power that saves you and keeps you saved (Romans 1:16). There can be no salvation without the gospel. The gospel is the good news because it tells about the remission of sins. The gospel brings the gift of no condemnation into your life.

INSTRUCTION: Stay Justified.

Prayer: Father, I thank you for reconciling me back to you through Christ Jesus, in Jesus Name!

QUOTE: No condemnation. You have been declared right.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 16; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 16

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” Hebrews 1:3

LIGHT FOR NOW:

Christ has paid for our sins; there is no need to doubt.

The word “purged” means to clear out. The same word is also used for remission which means to take away or remove. Friends, our sins have been cleared out, taken away and removed forever. When sins are purged, such record does not exist anymore. Hebrews 8:12 says “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”. A believer in Christ does not have past records. Sin is not the problem of the church but sin consciousness. Hebrews 9:14 says “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Daily confession of sins does not stop sin. Hebrews 10:1-2(NLT) says “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshippers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.” To confess sin is to approve sin, live in sin and become sin. When a guilty man has been punished, he is no longer guilty. Christ has been punished for our sins. Therefore, we cannot be punished again. God, based on the sacrifice of Jesus, has justified us freely. He has redeemed us from the law of sin and death. The sin of Adam corrupted man and the entire planet. So God could not use anything to redeem man except Himself (John 1:14 &18). Christ became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him. The sacrifice of Jesus is the only answer to sin consciousness; it is the reason for our right standing with God, and it is the gift of God to us (Ephesians 2:8-9). Righteousness is by faith (believing) and it is a gift. Jesus is our Advocate – speaking to God on our behalf. He is our helper who stands and speaks for us. His birth was a manifest of what was spoken (Matthew 1:21-23). Sin can never stand between God and a believer in Christ. Hallelujah!

INSTRUCTION: Purge your conscience. Your sins have been paid for.

PRAYER: I am the righteousness of God through Christ.

QUOTE: You confess Christ to be saved and not sins.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 15; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 15

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit” Romans 8:1

LIGHT FOR NOW:

Once you arrive in Christ, you have escaped judgment.

The word “condemnation” is a legal term used for passing verdict. The same word is also used for damnation. The word “condemnation” is actually a judgment and it is a sentence to serve the required punishment as written in the law. Once you arrive in Christ, you have escaped the white throne judgment. It is only your services to God here on earth that will be tried, and rewards given accordingly. Jesus went to Hell on our behalf in order to redeem us from it. He was judged, discharged and acquitted on our behalf. Romans 5:17-18 says “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”. Until you understand the word of God about salvation, you would not think in the direction of God. By Adam’s disobedience, sin came into the world and by the obedience of Christ; righteousness came to all that believe in Christ. It is the righteousness of Christ that frees men from sin and condemnation. Righteousness is a state of being right or being treated as someone who has never committed any sin. If that is how God sees us and relates with us, we must stop acting as criminals. He didn’t save us to leave us. Righteousness is not an act but a gift. It was not given to us because we stopped doing wrongs. Once you discover God’s system, your life will be right. The gospel brings the gift of no condemnation into our life. That is the good news!

INSTRUCTION:

Stay in the liberty that Christ has given you.

PRAYER:

Lord, I am free from condemnation, in Jesus name.

QUOTE: Once you discover God’s system, your life will be right.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 14; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 14

“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” – Revelation 12:10

LIGHT FOR NOW: Accusation is an everyday affair

To accuse is to lay blame with the intention of having one sentenced to punishment. It is to charge someone with an offence. The word, ‘to accuse’ is gotten from the Greek word, ‘kategoros’ which means to prosecute. Accusation is a verbal attack. It works through the avenue of spoken words. Accusation always works via spoken words; words spoken on a note of finality to cause judgment. The word, ‘accuser’ which is ‘diabolos’ is the name given to the devil. An accuser is someone who is diabolic, being slanderous, brings charges for the purpose of bringing down or destroying another person; someone who opposes God’s purpose. It is critical to unmask the spirit behind accusation. Accusation is a major way Satan uses to put the believer on the defense so he can always take advantage of him. Through accusations, a believer becomes weighed down. In our world today, accusation is an everyday affair. The spirit of accusation is fault-finding. Accusation will never cease and this is why a believer needs to know how to deal with accusations.

A believer must know that the accuser has no authority over his life (Luke 11:21-22). The devil can never condemn a believer. He can only accuse him expecting the believer to give in to the accusations. The aim of every accusation is to bring condemnation. Therefore, a believer in Christ must learn to assure his heart in order to be able to overcome the feelings of accusations. A believer’s freedom in Christ will be tampered with if he does not have the full knowledge of his salvation in Christ. Growing into maturity in spiritual things is not the work of the Spirit, but the personal commitment and responsibility of the believer.

INSTRUCTION: Constantly assure your heart in the knowledge of your salvation in Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, I overcome all evil accusation by the knowledge of my salvation, in Jesus Name.  Amen.

QUOTE: it is not God’s intention to prove Himself.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: GENESIS CHAPTER 13; EVENING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 13