by George Runyan | Oct 31, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:21 – Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
This is a very clear word from our Lord about entering into the kingdom of heaven. The subject which Jesus is addressing can be found in verse 23, “You who practice lawlessness.” The lawlessness which Jesus is addressing is that of the religious leaders and their followers. They claimed to be followers of God and part of His kingdom, but they had established their own rules and were lawless and not submitting to the Law of God.
Jesus fulfilled God’s Law and was the only means to a right standing before His heavenly Father. Faith in the work of Christ gives us access to the Father and acceptance in His kingdom. Those who have trusted Christ are in varying degrees of development in terms of their daily obedience. “When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).
God richly poured out His Spirit through Jesus. He justified us by His grace so we would be made heirs in our hope of eternal life. Through belief in what God has done by justification we should be careful to engage in good deeds. It is to our profit to be fruitful in good works and obedience to our great God and Savior.
It is vital to understand that no one person can obtain access into God’s kingdom except through Jesus Christ. It is He, and He alone, who justifies every believer. It is equally true that He did not save us simply to go to heaven, but as “heirs according to the hope of eternal life . . . we should be careful to engage in good deeds.” There is the great tension of the Scriptures regarding salvation. It is not by works which we have done that we trust, but by His work alone. The expected result of the Father is through the power of the Holy Spirit, we do the work of God by engaging in good deeds.
Paul says to Titus, “I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds” (Titus 3:8). It is with confidence I speak as well. God has secured your salvation, believe Him for what He has done on your behalf and do good works. Each day, ask for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit to do God’s works. In order to do those works, we must have God’s power.
Father, I thank You for Your kindness and love for mankind. Thank You for saving me not based on my deeds, but Your mercy. Now Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, that by Your power I might do deeds of righteousness.
by George Runyan | Oct 30, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 John 2:29 – If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.
The context of John’s writing is to encourage the children of God. In verse 24, John says to “let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.” What was it that they heard from the beginning?
God’s love for them.
He had promised eternal life to those who believed.
The anointing, which is the Holy Spirit.
John told the believers that he was writing to them because of those who were trying to deceive them. He is addressing the same problem Paul had to address, the Jews who distorted the Gospel. They were teaching the believers that they had to practice certain Jewish customs in order to be saved. John tells them, “You have no need for anyone to teach you; but His anointing teaches you about all things” (1 John 2:27). John was establishing the fact that the Holy Spirit was given to them to teach and clarify the gospel they had received. John was not saying to reject teachers. He recognized the “anointing” was the obvious final word. The anointing is in the believer, and not external to the believer.
John gave believers wise counsel when he said, “Now, little children, abide in Him” (1 John 2:28). Today, many run after all the different teachers and doctrines that are being represented. Some are leading God’s people away from a healthy relationship with the Father and the Son. People run after doctrines, supernatural manifestations, and charismatic personalities. Abiding in Christ is no doubt the wisest decision one can make. Waiting on Him, proving all things, and holding fast to what is true. As we abide in Him, we will have confidence when He appears.
John is not questioning the believer’s position regarding eternal life. He knows all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. In that day, he does not want the believer to be ashamed, but to have confidence because of practicing righteousness. It is not the practice of the works of the law, but the practice of righteousness through faith in Christ that matters.
Father, I thank You for the confidence to stand before You and not be ashamed. Thank You for the anointing that is in me through the Holy Spirit. I pray for You to protect me from false teaching and instruct me by Your Spirit in righteousness.
by George Runyan | Oct 29, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 Peter 2:21 – For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.
As Peter states, “we are to follow in His steps.” What steps did the Lord leave us and how is it possible for us to walk as He did? He committed no sin (1 Peter 2:22). We start out with a major problem, even after the regeneration of the Spirit of God; we have a sin nature which must be put to death. In Romans 6 he deals with the problem and answers the question of how it is possible to walk as He walked. There was no “deceit” in His mouth. I certainly would like it said of me, there is no deceit in my mouth. What is deceit? “That which gives a false impression, whether by appearance, statement or influence.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
The Christian life is a process. It begins with the mindset, “our old self is being crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6). This is why we are no longer “slaves to sin.” The work of salvation has been done in our spirit, but we must form a mindset in our soul of considering ourselves dead to sin. “Consider yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Christ suffered for us and we join His sufferings, by choosing “death to self.”
The Scriptures use the word “sanctification,” which speaks of being separated to God. Our flesh is weak and hinders us from serving Christ. Before we gave our life to Christ, we were slaves to sin. Christ set us free from that master called sin. We now have a new master, called righteousness. “Now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (Romans 6:19). This is the new mind which Christ wants each believer to possess; I am dead to sin in Christ, no longer a slave to sin. I am alive unto righteousness, to serve righteousness. All of this is made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are now to ask the Holy Spirit daily for His life to sustain us in our entire decision-making process.
“Now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Jesus freed us from sin’s domain. We must not only believe, but apply Christ’s life in our daily walk. Salvation was secured in Christ, but the application is our responsibility. Assurance of our position in Christ is rooted in His work of redemption, but confidence to walk as He walked comes through obedience to the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads to “sanctification” with the final outcome of “eternal life.”
“While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Peter 2:23-25). I find myself returning again. How about you? I know of none who have obtained sinless perfection, but I know many who confess day by day their weakness and ask for Christ’s power to help in pleasing the Lord.
Father, I thank You for the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul. I need Your daily help for me to walk in Christ’s example. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit so I might die to sin and live to righteousness.
by George Runyan | Oct 27, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 5:36 – The testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John.
Most would agree that John the Baptist had a powerful testimony of God’s power used to introduce the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus declares that His testimony is greater than John’s. Jesus’ greater testimony came through the works which the Father gave Him to accomplish. The greatest of the works is found in the cross. Before the cross, Jesus revealed the Father’s work in His ministry to God’s covenant people, Israel.
One of the first works took place in a Synagogue as a man manifested demons. Jesus cast out the demon by rebuking him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him” (Mark 1:25). The demon had said to Jesus, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us?” Jesus would not receive the testimony of the demon, but the work spoke for itself. The people were all amazed and debated among themselves, saying “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even unclean spirits, and they obey Him” (Verse 26).
Another work was the healing of a paralytic through forgiveness of his sins. “Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5). Of course, this made the religious leaders angry because they counted it as blasphemy, thinking in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins but God?”
Finally, Jesus raised the dead. Lazarus had been dead four days, when Jesus prayed saying, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me. When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth’” (John 11:41-42).
The Father also equipped His people through the power of the Holy Spirit to do the “works of God.” God has called us to good works. This is why the gifts of the Holy Spirit are made available to believers. The Father has not commissioned us to go and proclaim the good news without also supplying what is needed to accomplish the task. As believers, we have authority and power in Jesus’ name to proclaim the good news of the Gospel and demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God.
Jesus was given the full measure of power to do the works of His heavenly Father. Each believer is authorized to move in the portion of power the Father chooses to give. The works of God usually need to be developed in a believer’s life. Don’t be disappointed the first time you pray for someone to be healed and they’re not healed. Just keep praying for the sick and trust God.
Father, I ask to be used by You to minister Your love to others. I pray for the works of God to be manifested in my life. I pray that Your works through me would witness to others of Your greatness and help lead them to a relationship with You.
by George Runyan | Oct 26, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 5:36 – He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
It cannot be emphasized too greatly how important John the Baptist was to the introduction of Jesus and His kingdom reign. John was the prophetic bridge from the Old to the New Covenant. The last verses of the Old Testament recorded in the book of Malachi spoke of John when it said, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).
These verses reveal the heart of our heavenly Father. Elijah was the premier prophet of the Old Covenant. He represents the total prophetic revelation of the Old Covenant. John came in the spirit of Elijah. We know these scriptures speak of the time of Jesus’ first coming because Jesus calls John Elijah. Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands” (Matthew 17:11-12).
Prophets are anointed to be lamps to God’s people. John was that lamp, lighting the way for Jesus to enter His ministry. In those days, a lamp was fueled by oil which caused the wick to burn. As John “burned” for Jesus, those hearing him rejoiced for a time. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we too are called to burn for Jesus and to point to the “Lamb of God” who takes the world’s sin away. John’s light revealed Jesus. The light of the Holy Spirit in us reveals Jesus to a dark world as well. People rejoice in that light until they find out what is required to have the light in them. Many reject God’s love because, in order to receive what God has done in Christ, they are required to give up their life and receive His. This is why Jesus said “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
For the one who receives the testimony of John, they become “greater than John.” “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). Wow! We are greater than John! How can this be? The greatness of the least in the kingdom of God comes through being joined to Christ in the power of His resurrection and His indwelling Holy Spirit. John was part of the last covenant which looked forward to Christ’s first advent. We are those who are part of the “new” who live in the present reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are waiting for His glorious return, when at His appearing we will be joined with all those who have gone before us.
Father, I thank You for what You have done in Christ. I pray for the oil of the Holy Spirit to fill my life so I might burn like John, filled with light that points to Your great love in Christ.
by George Runyan | Oct 25, 2018 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 5:39 – You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.
John 5 mentions four witnesses regarding Jesus. They are: the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of works, the witness of the Father, and the witness of the Scriptures. Jesus declares, He can do nothing on His own initiative and if He alone testifies about Himself, His testimony is not true (John 5:30-31).
What Jesus says about Himself is also true for every believer. As a believer, I can do nothing on my own initiative. One of the great challenges of the Christian walk is learning to live out of the life of the Spirit as opposed to drawing from our natural life. Many believers initiate good works, the problem being “they initiate them.” The works which Jesus performed came from the Holy Spirit, not Jesus’ own ideas of how to serve His Father. The witness of Jesus came from other sources. Jesus knew who He was, but He let other sources testify concerning Him.
The witness of John pointed toward Jesus and away from John. The witness of works demonstrated God’s power through Jesus’ life. The witness of the Father is that He sent His only Begotten Son. He spoke many times, through many individuals, and in many different ways concerning the coming of Jesus. The witness of Scripture is in the miraculous way the Law and the Prophets testified of Christ.
The fallacy of the religious leaders was they thought life was contained in the Scriptures. They did not recognize the One of whom the Scriptures spoke. To receive life is not a matter of conversation, but action. The action required in this case was to believe Jesus. Believe not only His words, but His works.
After Pentecost, the witness of all that Jesus did was witnessed in the coming of the Holy Spirit. Eternal life is obtained through the Spirit. As we believe the witness of others pointing to Jesus, as we believe the work of Jesus in the cross, as we believe the Father’s declaration that He sent His only Begotten Son, and as we believe the Scriptures.
As we receive Christ, His life is firmly rooted in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and then we become part of the witness. The transformation of our life, the witness of our faith through how we now live and share with words, God’s love becomes a conduit of God’s grace.
Father, thank You for the witness You have given of Your will revealed in Christ. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to draw me to Christ and the life You made possible through faith in Jesus, the Christ, my Savior, and my Lord. Use me to testify of Your Son that others also may know His life.
