2 Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" A yoke is typically a plow and frame that fastens around the necks of two animals to enable them to work together. The best outcome occurs when the animals are of equal size and strength, allowing the weight of the yoke and the labor to be evenly distributed. The yoke is often made of wood and iron, and in itself, it is a burden. This principle of not being unequally yoked is reflected in the Law: “Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together”  (Deuteronomy 22:10). The Apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to consider their reconciliation to God through Christ alone and not to become entangled again in the bondage of works-based religion, especially with those still in unbelief. While this verse is often interpreted as a warning against believers marrying non-believers, it must also be applied more broadly to any situation where believers are closely associated with non-believers—whether in business, marriage, or worship. Primarily in this context, it concerns separation from false worship (2 Corinthians 2:15-18). Once again, the principle of separation is revealed in the Law of God: “Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed; neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee”  (Leviticus 19:19). There can be no mixture of grace and works. The phrase “Be not”  in Greek is “don’t become”  yoked, since, as a child of God, you are already yoked to the Lord Jesus in His righteousness, which He earned and established for you. He laid down His life to redeem and justify you. Therefore, you cannot be unyoked from Him—neither in His Person nor His work—and become yoked to anyone still bound to their works of “unrighteousness.”   “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”   The righteous are those whom God the Father has declared righteous through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The unrighteous, literally that which is “inequity”  (from which the word “iniquity”  is derived), are those whose sin debt has not been paid by the Lord Jesus. They remain “unjustified”  and therefore cannot have any relationship with that which has been made equitable with God's righteousness through Christ—since it can never be matched by human effort or works. The Lord Jesus lived a perfect, obedient life, and He died an obedient death to fulfill the Law on behalf of those the Father elected from eternity and entrusted to Him. He came to pay for their sin and earn righteousness for them through His perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross. This is why the Lord Jesus calls each of His own to “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me...For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light”  (Matthew 11:28-30). Someone has said, “To call those who are weary and heavy laden to take a yoke upon them may seem like adding affliction to the afflicted; but the pertinence of it lies in the word ‘ My. " The yoke of the Lord Jesus is easy because it represents the yoke of Justice that He has already borne for His people. Being yoked with Him means that the child of God does not bear the weight themselves but enjoys the “weightlessness” of Christ having already borne the burden. He will not place the burden of His yoke on any sinner for whom He has already paid the sin debt. That is why His yoke is easy. To take Christ’s yoke upon us is to come to Him, being drawn by His Spirit of Grace and to rest in Him and what He has accomplished, and never to be further burdened by the guilt of your sin, because our Lord has already taken it all away. Taking His yoke means not clinging to things that would otherwise weigh us down, such as our sinful nature, futile efforts to improve our sinful flesh, an unforgiving attitude toward others who have wronged us, or any bitterness and shame from our past lives (Ephesians 4:31) . When we come to Christ, He reminds us through His Spirit that He has already borne the yoke in His suffering on our behalf. Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION (Romans 8:1) .

1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." The Greek word translated as "preaching" here is ho logos , which means " the word of the cross." That is, the doctrine of the cross, that proclaims salvation only through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished on the cross. Preaching the cross is to declare the Christ of the cross—the One who died, why He died, and what He accomplished by His death. It is to exalt the Lamb of the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the satisfaction that His righteous obedience and effectual bloodshed unto death accomplished in saving those sinners the Father gave Him to save before the foundation of the world (John 10:14–18) . By His one sacrifice, He fully, freely, and forever redeemed, justified, and reconciled to God each one for whom He died: "For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). The preaching of the cross is to declare that the sinners that God ordained to salvation have been reconciled to God, pardoned, and saved uniquely by the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and His effectual sacrifice alone. While one might think that declaring salvation accomplished by the death of Christ would be a subject of rejoicing for all sinners, Scripture declares that it is foolishness to those who are perishing—yet unenlightened or made alive by the Spirit of God. Preaching the cross will always bring division. To those who perish (in a lost state and fit for destruction), it is foolishness, and will always be foolishness (contemptible, stupid, and unworthy of belief). However, to those who are saved, it is the power of God, in contrast to the foolishness of those who are perishing. They are saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of Grace revealing Christ in them, drawing them effectually to the crucified One alone, in heart and soul. Sinners are judged as either saved or condemned exclusively by the work of Christ on the cross, manifest through the Spirit’s revelation of Him in the heart. "But unto us which are saved" —This stands in contrast to "them that perish." It refers, doubtless, to the elect of God, as being saved from the power and condemnation of sin; and as having in Christ's death for them an Eternal Salvation, both in this life and the world to come. The Gospel is called "the power of God" because it is the medium through which God exerts His power in the salvation of sinners, revealing Christ to those for whom the Lord Jesus paid the debt. The apostle Paul declared, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). It is how God has purposed to reveal Christ in every redeemed and justified sinner’s heart: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). It answers the sinner’s greatest need before a Holy God, and is efficacious in renewing and sanctifying (setting apart) each elect sinner unto Christ. All in whom the Spirit works rest in the Truth of the Gospel and all that it reveals of Christ and His death, accomplished for sinners. The Gospel of the cross effectively produces the effectual fruits of Christ's work on the cross in each one for whom Christ died. All the fruits of Christ's work on the cross are in time revealed to the soul by the Spirit—in their justification, sanctification, regeneration, repentance, faith, and final glorification. These are only what the Gospel of the cross is suited to produce in the saved sinner. It is the Truth concerning the Lord Jesus and God’s promise to save sinners for whom Christ came into the world. Only the Holy Spirit can take the effects of Christ's work on the cross and reveal them in the hearts, not just the minds, of those whom God the Father chose to save and saved through Christ's sacrifice. Each one that Christ redeemed and the Father justified at the cross, the Holy Spirit does effectually draw to Christ. Of all that the Father gave to His Son and for whom He paid the debt, He can lose nothing (John 6:37).

Ephesians 1:11 "In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the Counsel of His own Will." A more accurate translation of the expression " we have obtained an inheritance" would be "in whom we were also made an inheritance." Whose inheritance are we if God has predestined us to salvation according to the Counsel of His will? We are God's! The whole number of God's elect in Christ are His possession. What then is the possession of the elect? Since they are God's possession in Christ, God is also their Inheritance in Christ. As the Lord Jesus prayed in His High Priestly Prayer, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us" (John 17:21). How beautiful the view of God's purpose in Christ when seen through the prism of the Sonlight. Just like a diamond flashes many colors as its facets catch the light, so here we see the different angles of being the inheritance as God's elect, redeemed ones, but also inheriting the Lord Jesus Christ Himself according to the Father's purpose. If we inherit Eternal Life, that life is in God's Son. "And this is Life Eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). To know Christ and be found in Him is as much a part of being heirs of God as it is for us to inherit Eternal Life. God-given Faith is God's Gift to His elect because of His faithfulness to honor His Son with those elect sinners that He gave Him before the foundation of the world. The elect are nothing and have nothing to commend them to God, but their nothingness is replenished with the Fullness of God in Christ. That's why the apostle Paul declared elsewhere, "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:9-10). Blessed Comfort! To know Him is to have Eternal Life, and to be found in Him is to have my emptiness fully replenished in His fullness. We possess God in Christ, and God possesses us in Him. "We were made His inheritance" ... "And He is the earnest of our inheritance." As the children of God in Christ, we are His heirs, chosen in eternity but purchased in time in the coming, doing, dying, rising again, and ascension into the glory of the Lord Jesus. The Scriptures are the legal document, God's testament of redemption for those that He gave to His Son before the foundation of the world, and for whom He came into the world to pay their complete sin debt. It says that when Christ died, His heirs inherited all that He is, as promised. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). It is not by our works but by His. Christ is the Promise given to every one of God's chosen children. Everything about this physical world and our earthly lives is, at best, temporal. Our flesh and blood, our possessions, our works—they are all temporal, which means temporary, and therefore all worthless and passing away. "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever" (1 John 2:17). Only the heirs of Jesus Christ will live forever. Anything that we forsake in this life, for Christ's sake, is not to be compared to the Life Eternal that is in Christ, and to live in His presence forever. " But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come Eternal Life " (Mark 10:30). Christ is that Hundredfold Who bequeathed Himself to His chosen children. He is the Reward, the Righteous One given by His death to unworthy sinners. "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Reward of the Inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:24).

Micah 7:8 "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a Light unto me." There are often seasons of affliction and oppression that the LORD ordains for His people to endure. Many of these times are filled with darkness, where it appears that God has completely withdrawn His presence. The child of God may find no comfort until the LORD is pleased to give the Light of His presence and cause it to shine in their heart once again. As His children, God will grant His Spirit of repentance to look to the LORD Jesus Christ alone, Who is the Light of those who sit in darkness. He gives them the patience of Job to endure the trial and not charge God with sin or evil (Job 1:22). When we are tempted to complain to the Lord about our affliction, it is the pride of the flesh making us think that we deserve better. But then, the LORD mercifully reminds us of what our LORD Jesus endured to save us and present us righteous and faultless before God the Father. Consider what He endured to satisfy the Father so that He might be just in justifying each one for whom He paid the debt. " For consider Him that endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Hebrews 12:2). In the heat of the trial, we would do well to complain against ourselves rather than find fault with God or wonder why He is exercising us as He is. The comfort is, as the Word declares: "For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (Hebrews 12:6). Knowing that it is in love that God is chastening us, we ought not to complain about the evil of the affliction. Rather, we should complain about the evil of our hearts. Through the exercise of our souls, the LORD weans us from any confidence in the flesh and causes us to depend completely on Him to work deliverance in His due time. What is clear is that if the LORD Jesus paid our horrific sin debt, He cannot leave us to ourselves. Just as a father disciplines his children, the LORD will do the same in us—not only to look to Him for light and comfort but to look for Him to be that Light and Comfort through the trial. In our greatest distresses, we will see no reason to despair of salvation, because, being the LORD's by His electing, redeeming, and effectual grace, He gives each one the Faith to look to and rest in Christ alone as ALL their salvation. The LORD grants the Faith to look to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as the God of their salvation. Although enemies may appear to triumph for a while through their insults and attacks, we know that in the LORD's time, they will be silenced and put to shame. When Micah prophesied these words, it was 150 years before Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Babylonians. Yet, foreseeing the devastation of the destruction of Jerusalem, he prophesied of Hope in the coming Messiah for an elect remnant (Micah 5:2) . The lesson for us is that even though Zion's walls (the Church) might remain in ruins for a time, there would come a day when they would be repaired. Historically, Israel was brought back after 70 years of captivity, and it was the LORD who drew them back from their dispersion. Therefore, they were to find comfort in His Grace and Mercy toward them. Though our enemies may seem to prevail against us and rejoice over us, we should not despair. Though cast down, we are not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). We may join hope in God's mercy, with submission to His correction. No hindrances can prevent the favors that the Lord has purposed for His elect children. It is against the backdrop of the darkest times that the Light shines the greatest. "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up" (Matthew 4:16). Like the moon that shines brightest against the darkest sky, God's children are made to see Christ. The darker and deeper the sin, the greater and more glorious the Savior shines!

Matthew 26:28 "This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Did the LORD Jesus come into the world to save every single sinner? This is the popular message contemporary preachers are declaring. They misinterpret John 3:16 to mean that the LORD Jesus laid down His life to save everyone, based on the idea that God loves everybody in the world and that Christ died for everyone in the world. In John 3:16 , the word "so" means "in this manner." It's the same word used in John 3:14, " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so [ in this manner] must the Son of man be lifted up. Therefore in John 3:16, In this manner, God loved the world—both Jew and Gentile—without specifying every single person in the world. The rest of the verse makes a distinction between those who believe and those who do not. It says that He died so that "whosoever believeth" should have everlasting life, not whoever does not believe. John 3:36 states that those who do not believe have the wrath of God abiding on them. They are vessels of wrath and therefore will not and cannot believe, being given over to their reprobate minds (Romans 1:26-32). Matthew 26:28 states that the LORD Jesus shed His blood for "many." In Romans 5:15, they are called "THE many," with a definite article in the Greek. The "many" is not everybody, but uniquely for those for whom He shed His blood. They exclusively enjoy the blessing of the remission of their sins because He shed His blood for  them. Christ’s death is not just the ground of the sinner’s salvation; it is all  their salvation! The truth is that if you believe the Lord Jesus laid down His life to save every single person in the world, and yet not everyone is saved, then what does the death of Christ have to do with salvation? It must not have anything to do with it if it does not effectually save anyone for whom He died. Furthermore, if you say that God loves every single person in the world, and yet not everyone is saved, then what does the love of God have to do with the salvation of sinners? It must not have anything to do with it because, despite loving them, they remain unconverted and condemned. When faithful preachers of the Gospel declare what the Scriptures teach—that the LORD Jesus did NOT come to save every single sinner, but only those that the Father gave Him from eternity (John 17:10) —the opponents decry this doctrine, saying it limits the death of Christ. However, the doctrine of Christ's particular redemption for the elect only limits the death of Christ in its design, not in its power. It is those who say that He died to save everyone who limit His death in its power to save. Why? Because not all are delivered from guilt, which would make Christ’s death less than effectual. A ransom that does not redeem is no ransom at all. A propitiation that doesn’t satisfy is no propitiation at all. The Scriptures teach of a ransom that is unlimited in its power to save, but limited in its design to those whom God purposed to save by it. In other words, His blood was shed for many for the remission of sins. Christ died for many , a number that no man can count: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands" (Revelation 7:9). Yet, this "many" is limited to as many  as the Lord has ordained to believe: "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). And as many  as the Lord God shall call: "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). For whom then did the LORD Jesus die? Every sinner that was given to Him by God the Father, before the foundation of the world, for whom He came into the world and redeemed them. When He had finished paying their sin debt on the cross, there remained nothing but God's righteousness to impute to their spiritual account, which the Father did there at the cross. In time, the Spirit of God, through the preaching of the Gospel, draws to Christ each one for whom Christ died. Christ therefore has effectually saved each one for whom He died, who God the Father appointed. Of ALL of them, He will lose none (John 6:37).

Acts 2:42 "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." True fellowship presumes a common bond, founded upon the Truth. The “apostles’ doctrine” is described by Paul in Ephesians 2:20 as the very foundation on which the church (the elect, redeemed and called-out ones) is built, with Jesus Christ the Chief Cornerstone. Fellowship is founded solely upon the Person and work of the LORD Jesus Christ, to the satisfaction of God the Father, revealed in the heart by the Spirit of Grace. Where this oneness does not exist, there is NO fellowship. As stated in 1 John 1:6 , "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.” Many profess to have fellowship, yet they continue to walk in darkness—blindness, unbelief, and an unconverted state regarding the unrighteousness of their own works as evil, nor will they come to Him alone in Faith and walk in Him, who is the Light. Without the blood shed of the LORD Jesus Christ unto death, and without the Righteousness imputed by God the Father to their spiritual account by His death at the cross, they remain in darkness. True fellowship is the fruit of Christ’s work, by which believers are "reconciled unto God in one body by the cross" (Ephesians 2:16). The word for fellowship in the ancient Greek is koononia, meaning communion. There is a threefold cord that binds believers together in fellowship. 1. Steadfastness in the Apostles’ Doctrine The first and most fundamental element is that “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” This refers to the doctrine of Christ’s coming, His perfect obedience to God the Father, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection for the justification of those that the Father gave Him from before the foundation of the world. 2. Blending Fellowship with Life Another characteristic emphasized here is the integration of fellowship with daily life. True fellowship extends beyond the four walls of a church building. It encompasses the shared life of the Lord’s people outside of formal times of worship . “They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine . . . and in breaking of bread.” The breaking of bread was not limited to the observance of the Lord’s supper but also included their shared meals in one another’s homes, where they enjoyed the oneness and fellowship together in Christ. 3. Habitual Devotion to Christ and Each Other True worship and fellowship are a way of life, affecting everything believers think, say, or do as God’s elect. They continued steadfastly together in not only the apostles’ doctrine and the breaking of bread but also in their devotion Christ and to one another. This devotion was expressed through mutual care, the love of Christ, and prayers for one another. True oneness and fellowship with the Lord’s people is the fruit of Christ’s work even as He prayed in John 17:11: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”

Luke 18:13 "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." Here was one instance where it says, "standing afar off."  Some interpret this as an indication that he wasn't even in the inner court but in the outer one. He dared not even approach; he dared not even look heavenward. This was not just a religious ritual—this was a true cry unto the LORD. Not just for a specific sin, but for Mercy, You won't even have a clue what this means unless the LORD has been pleased to be your Teacher. It's not an emotion, it's an understanding of this sinful flesh and who I am before a Holy God. We are sinners, but, it's for such that Christ came to save, and that's the glorious part of this. It's like Paul said, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). Any in whom the Spirit of God has done His work of Grace, that is all they can see of themselves, "I am that sinner." If everybody else in the world had been righteous and me the only sinner, it would still have taken Christ coming to pay my debt. That's just how grave and grievous that sin is before God. But that's what this sinner was saying, preeminently sinful. Here's another interpretation of it: devoted to sin. I often hear people say things like, "Well, I used to live that way. I used to think that way. That's what I used to be but now, thank God, I'm..." Well, you're lying then. You're just like that Pharisee: “ I thank God I'm not like other men." What you're really saying is, "I thank God I'm not like those others." Listen to people’s testimonies; often, they focus on what they were and what they are now. But if we belong to the LORD and He has taught us, we will never get over being the sinner. Ever! The closer we get to the Light, the more we see this corruption within us. Grace that is greater than all my sin! It must be that the LORD continues to show us just how sinful we are. If we ever have that little self-righteous thought of, "Hey, I'm improving," all the LORD has to do is open our eyes a little wider, and realize, "Whoa, wait a minute here!" Think about the stench of this old heart. No matter how much you treat it, it still sins. Devoted to sin, That means exceedingly wicked. That's what he was saying. "I am the exceedingly wicked one." Given the test, none of us would naturally answer that way. But have you ever—or do you now—see yourself as the exceedingly wicked one, bent on nothing but sin? There are some moralists, legalists and even so-called “grace” people who will take issue with you for saying, "That's my testimony." Yet, it was Paul's testimony too. As he said, "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" (Romans 7:17-19). The HOPE for the publican, or any lost sinner that God has purposed to save is in the finished work of the LORD Jesus Christ alone. He is the saved sinner’s Mercy. “I tell you, this man went down to his house JUSTIFIED, rather than the other” (Luke 18:14).

2 Peter 3:14 "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in Peace, without spot, and blameless." There are many who continue to place hope in this world—hope in politicians, hope in educators, hope in science. They trust in these to extend their lives and to give them some measure of peaceable existence. But the beloved of the LORD, His chosen ones, look to Christ alone so that they may be, "...found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless..." (2 Peter3:14). In other words, they desire to be found in HIS perfect Righteousness—the only way anyone can be without spot and blameless! This righteousness is not our own; it is His, earned through a life of perfect obedience and consummated by His willing, obedient death on the cross. This truth lays the foundation for our understanding of the “new man” described in Scripture: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This passage speaks to our position before God. The old things that are passed away are the curse of sin and its penalty. These are no more because of His perfect sacrifice on the cross—His priceless blood shed unto death for His children. It declares that Christ has made us new, in Him, by His perfect and finished work on the cross! The old covenant with its types, shadows and curses are done away and the New Covenant established by Christ is that under which ALL God’s elect live, since Christ fulfilled it all on their behalf (Hebrews 8:13). This new standing in Christ is not something we sought or achieved through our own efforts. It is entirely the work of the LORD Jesus Christ. He is ALL we could ever want or need, ALL we could ever hope for! Almighty Christ is the Author and Finisher of our salvation, the Alpha and Omega. "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the LORD, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

John 17:15 "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." Christ is not praying here that we should be taken out of this world. Can you imagine what that would be like? As soon as you're converted, you're immediately out of trouble. At times, we might think that such an escape would be profitable —just a way to avoid the difficulties of life. Yet, we are called to be satisfied as long as the LORD has us here. We can find satisfaction in knowing that it is the LORD who intercedes for us and has completed His work to preserve us. If you want an excellent example of preservation by Grace, consider how He has kept you in this world—with all of its sin, the corrupting influences of society, the attacks of the evil one, and so much more. As Christ Himself said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Not only was He kept from evil when He was in this world—remaining sinless—but now His intercession ensures that those given to Him by the Father, for whom He paid the ultimate debt, are also preserved. Notice the prayer: "Keep them from the evil." Reflect on all that is evil, which, like a flood, would overwhelm us were it not for Christ’s preserving power through His Word. Consider the apostasy of Judas Iscariot as an example. Christ has kept each one except for the son of perdition, as Scripture foretold. It’s not as though Christ wanted to keep Judas but was unable. No! Judas was not a failure of Christ’s preservation but rather a fulfillment of prophecy. “None of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Look around you and see how many have made professions of faith, but because of trouble, trial, temptation, or sin, have completely fallen away. If we continue in the Faith that is in Christ, it is the LORD Who is keeping us from going astray, as we otherwise surely would. Remember, every time you go to bed at night, you are still battling the enemy within. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other..." (Galatians 5:17). This is why you might even wake up sometimes, bewildered by dreams or thoughts that seem entirely contrary to your conscious mind. Yet, through all of this, the LORD continues to keep His own. "My Grace is sufficient for thee: for My Strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

1 Thessalonians 4:7 "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto Holiness." Many people ask, "What do I need to do? What commandments do I need to follow to be holy? Should I go back and pick up some of those Old Testament laws and ceremonies?" Some preachers will preach grace but then turn around and mix it with laws and ceremonies. However, there is nothing you can do to be holy. You must be chosen by God from eternity, and one for whom the LORD Jesus paid your sin debt, and God has justified you by His death at the cross. When one of God's chosen children is called to Holiness, it is a call to Christ. To understand God's Holiness, you must have Him—His Person and His finished work on the cross—revealed by His Holy Spirit. Everything flows from the cross, where Christ shed His blood unto death for His elect. That is where a sinner is declared holy, sanctified, redeemed, and righteous, IN Christ . It is by the just satisfaction for sin in His death and His earned Righteousness. It is not something you do,. It is what God has done. This call to Holiness is a revelation of the work of Christ. It is to consider the Person of Christ, Who IS the Holy One, "For thy Maker is thine Husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 54:5). To be called to Christ is to be called to Holiness. It is to be called to His Holiness, His Person, and His work. It is to be called because of His work— the righteousness He established by His obedient life and death on the cross—which God accepted and imputed to my account. That is why I am called, and therefore I am separated from this world IN Him . This calling affects all my motives and conduct by the Spirit of God. "But as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye Holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:15). Now, we speak of His Righteousness. We speak of His finished work on the cross, His suffering on our behalf—-the Just for the unjust. We speak of His precious blood shed unto death for vile sinners such as we are. We honor Him alone as our ALL.

Revelation 18:4 "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partaker of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues." Sometimes, when you read the prophets in the Old Testament, you find yourself searching for a little window of Light because the messages can feel so dark and desperate. You might think, "Where is the LORD? Where is His Mercy?" Yet, we find comfort in knowing that the LORD will not bring final judgment and condemnation until every one of His own has been brought out. Those of His sheep still caught in false religion will be effectually called out. Stop and think about your own testimony. We were all raised in darkness, that's how we are born, free-will idolators. We worshipped ourselves and attempted to approach God based upon our works, until He showed us our utterly desperate and lost estate. When He opens your eyes to see Christ, you will come out. He will draw you out. Many people condemn Lot for living in Sodom and Gomorrah, but the LORD's favor was upon him. The LORD did not destroy the city until He had brought Lot out. The angel literally had to take Lot by the hand and draw him out because he lingered. There are attachments in false religion—people, relationships, acquaintances—but when the LORD teaches you, there is a separation. You cannot continue to identify with them because the LORD delivers His own: "The LORD knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9). Every one whom the LORD has redeemed, He will deliver. He causes their eyes to be opened to behold the Glory of Christ. Once you behold the Glory of Christ, nothing can hold you back. It's like the story in Pilgrim's Progress when the Spirit began to draw Christian. He literally plugs his ears and runs toward the Wicket Gate, despite his family crying out after him, because he was following the LORD's Spirit, which ultimately draws him to the cross of Christ. "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out" (John 10:3). There is a drawing out, a movement, an urgency that the LORD places in the hearts of His people, in His time. We can never go back, nor will we! "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD" (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Jonah 2:7 "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine Holy Temple." Although Jonah belonged to the LORD, his rebellion served as a reminder of the sin nature that resides in us all. No child of God is exempt from sin. In fact, Scripture says in 1 John 1: 8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." However, for the LORD's children, the Holy Spirit continually reveals their sin, causing them to turn again and again to the LORD Jesus Christ, the Truth, as was the case with Jonah. If Jonah was to preach to these Gentile sinners, it would only be after God had revealed to him his own desperate state before Him. Evidence of the Spirit's work in Jonah is fourfold: 1. He was made to despair of any good in himself: "When my soul fainted within me." 2. He was caused to turn to the LORD: "I remembered the LORD.” 3. He was given a cry of need unto the LORD: "and my prayer came in unto Thee." 4. He was brought to rest in Christ and His sacrificial life and death: "into Thine Holy Temple." What was in the temple? The High Priest, the sacrifices, the altar, and mercy seat—-ALL fulfilled in Christ as the sinner's Substitute. There are NO cases too difficult for the LORD. Knowing ourselves to be sinners, and trusting that it was for sinners such as we are that Christ died, shall we not rest in WHO Christ is and WHAT He has accomplished? We rest IN Christ and His finished work alone!