A Love That Is True

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23). What is the glory of God, what is the standard of God's glory?

Jesus,
the glory of God,
never did wrong,
always did right,
and always from faith.

1) Sin is doing what you know is wrong. (1 John 3:4)
2) Sin is not doing what you know is right. (James 4:17)
3) Sin is whatever is not from faith. (Romans 14:13

The word of the LORD came to the prophet Ezekiel saying, "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die." (Ezekiel 18:4). Is He speaking of the death of the body? He is speaking of the death of the soul in hell, "the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

The Lord God goes on to say that the righteous man will surely live (Ezekiel 18:5-9). But here is the problem; "there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20)

Jesus,
the glory of God,
never did wrong,
always did right,
and always from faith.

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus, the glory of God forgave the sins of His people. His people are all those who have repentance towards God and faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Now this is true love, God is Holy, God is righteous, and God is just. In order for Him to forgive the sins of His people He had to first except their guilt upon Himself, and pay the penalty for their guilt which is death and hell, so that they could live. After taking death in their place forsaken of God, He was buried, and on the third day He defeated death and arose from the grave.

"For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)


Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

The Contrast of Two Cousins

The apostle John said in his first letter how we may know who is of God and who is not. “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:4-6) For this reason the Lord said when speaking to Nicodemus; "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (John 3:18-21)

During this past week the Lord brought people into my life that I haven’t seen, or heard from in a long time. Over the past week I got to talk with two different cousins, neither of whom I had talked to in over thirty plus years, and the conversations I had with these two cousins were separated by a mere one week. My family is most diffidently the byproduct of sinful people living in a fallen world. I can remember my early childhood and being visited by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. One aunt and uncle along with their children even lived in our town and we saw them often. Then suddenly without explanation, or even understanding, all of that just suddenly stopped. I was a thinking child, I didn’t talk a lot, and most people would have said that I was quiet and reserved, but a lot was going on in my head. I missed having family and didn’t understand why we didn’t see any. I knew other children in my neighborhood and school saw their families but not us, and I didn’t know why. We had one aunt and uncle that didn’t have children, who throughout my childhood would come by once a year and visit for a few days. Year after year went by and sometimes I would think about my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins then would be distracted by whatever was going on in life.

Over the past week I received the privilege of talking to not one, but two long lost cousins, one of which I had some understanding of where he was, and the other cousin I had no idea how to find her, but certain circumstances led to my finding her, it had been more than 30 years since I had heard from either. As I’ve already stated, one is a male and the other is a female, but that is not what makes them different. These cousins are as different as darkness and light. The conversation I had with one cousin left me with deep longing sorrow, and the conversation I had with the other cousin inexpressible joy. The conversation with the male cousin was one week ago, and the conversation with the female cousin was just this weekend.

“O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled us; But through You alone we confess Your name.” (Isaiah 26:13) Who is your master, who is your Lord? You see the difference between these two cousins is their Authority. The authority of the male cousin as was stated by him during a gospel conversation, from one week ago, is himself. My family had a reunion as requested by my father; as he is unable to travel, do to his failing health. His brother and sisters, my aunts and uncle whom I had not seen in many years all came, along with this one male cousin. As the weekend progressed and we all talked, it was not difficult to figure out that many untruths were being spouted off by this particular cousin, one outlandish tale of heroism as he saw it after another, not only unashamed of his sin, but boasting in it. I had enough and walked away for a time to recite some scripture and talk with the Lord. I got into my car and pulled out some million dollar bill gospel tracts, then proceed to hand them out to my aunts, and uncles; I then sat down by my cousin handing him a tract with the intent of sharing the gospel with him. To make a long story short, he rejected the gospel and stated that he was his own authority. This left me with a deep longing sorrow as I drove home that night, because I knew what this meant, yes I share the gospel with multitudes of people in many places, but this one was particularly hard being that he is family.

The following day I would eat lunch with the aunt and uncle who visited us once a year when I was a child. I began to inquire of them about the cousins who once lived near us, whom I had played with as a child. I had no idea where they were or how to contact them, I had learned that one of these cousins had passed away; so I was inquiring of my Aunt about the other two. Through the small amount of information that my Aunt knew and some deductive reasoning I was able to find one of these cousins on the internet. The Lord blessed me with the privilege of talking to her this weekend.

How wonderful it was to talk with her about things, and to put pieces of the puzzle together about our family, things I knew, and things she knew, to give both of us understanding of why our family is the way it is. It became very apparent early on in the conversation that I was not only talking with just a cousin, but with a beloved sister in Christ. She too had many stories, but was not boastful in her sin, and I knew that the things that she was telling me were truth, because her authority is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. One of these stories I told to my wife, then later to my brother whom I called; both of them had some trepidation about its validity, because of the extremeness of it, and its difficultness to take. Plus they had not themselves been in conversation with her, understanding the authority on which she stood, and I’m sure that the outlandish stories of the first cousin that we had talked with were still fresh on their minds. The story would then be validated by an article my wife found.

Truth! What is truth? A most excellent question, and of all people, the one who asked this question to the Lord was no other than Pilate, the one who handed the Lord over to be crucified. Jesus said to Pilate, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37) So, what is truth? Truth is that which corresponds to reality. Truth is not self contradictory and is absolute. The first cousin that I talked with, his stated authority was himself, so in his worldview; truth is whatever he wants it to be. No one can live that way within the world God has created, so therefore his truth is contradictory and always changing. So even though his stated authority is himself, he knows that he is bound to reality but suppresses his knowledge of God in unrighteousness, his desire for sin. The second cousin, her authority is the Word of God, Jesus Christ; she knows God and that God reveals to her through her senses and reasoning truth, being that her authority is God, she speaks that which conforms to reality, is not contradictory, and is absolute.  Glory to God!



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

The Authority of Jesus Christ

Matthew 28:16-20 NASB
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Revelation 1:8 NASB
7 Behold, HE is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, " who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 1:17-19 NASB
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, " Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.


Colossians 1:15-20 NASB
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Philippians 2:9-11 NASB
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

JOHN 1:1-18 NKJV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John's Witness: The True Light
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. '"
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

HEBREWS 1:1-14 NASB
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say,
" You are MY Son,
Today I have begotten You"?
And again,
" I will be A Father to Him
And HE shall be A Son to ME"?
6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
" And let all the angels of God worship Him."
7 And of the angels He says,
" Who makes His angels winds,
And His ministers A flame of fire."
8 But of the Son He says,
" Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
9 " You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness above Your companions."
10 And,
" You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they all will become old like A garment,
12 And like A mantle You will roll them up;
Like A garment they will also be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end."
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said,
" Sit at MY right hand,
Until I make Your enemies
A footstool for Your feet"?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Revelation 22:12-16 NASB
12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
16 " I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

Revelation 22:20 NASB
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

What is the Standard of God's Glory

The meaning of this verse is amazingly profound and a truth beyond that of mere men; "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," ~Rom.3.23.NASB. I have spent much time contemplating Romans chapter 3 and especially Romans 3:21-26, which is at the heart of the gospel. I had so focused in on Romans 3:25 and especially propitiation that I missed something, the heart of this passage is not propitiation, it is the Glory of God. What is the glory of God? What is the standard of God's glory? Think about these words, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Jesus Christ is the glory of God, Jesus Christ is the standard of God's glory. Therefore when the scripture says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", what it is saying is this. YOU HAVE MISSED THE MARK OF GOD'S GLORY, WHICH IS TO LIVE A LIFE JUST LIKE THAT OF GOD'S SON, JESUS CHRIST. Jesus Christ the only Man to live, who never sinned, gave up His life as a ransom for all who repent and receive Him as Lord and savior by faith, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Repent and receive Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior by faith.

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

What Is the Glory of God

The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689, CHAPTER 2; OF GOD AND OF THE HOLY TRINITY, Paragraph 2;
“God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself, is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and He hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever Himself pleases; in His sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to Him contingent or uncertain; He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands; to Him is due from angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever He is further pleased to require of them.”

Psalms 96:1-3 NASB
" Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples."

Glory
definition - Merriam Webster
a : praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent : renown
b : worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving

But let us define Glory through the scriptures alone.
John 8:54 NASB
"Jesus answered, “ If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;"

So Glory proceeds for from the Father.
John 5:22-23 NASB
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 5:26-27 NASB
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”
John 8:42 NASB
“Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.”

Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin, but the Glory of God is the standard.
Romans 3:23 NASB
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

What is the Glory of God? What is the standard of God's Glory?
Revelation 1:8 NASB
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Revelation 22:12-13 NASB
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
John 1:1-5 NKJV
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
John 1:14 NKJV
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Colossians 1:15-17 NASB
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Hebrews 1:1-4 NASB
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."
Philippians 2:9-11 NASB
"For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Christ Jesus is the Glory of God! He Himself is the manifestation of the Glory of God. For this reason we declare the Glory of God among the nations by proclaiming His salvation, confessing with our tongues before men that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is the Glory of God, He is the standard of God’s Glory.

Psalms 96:1-3 NASB
"Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples."

Declare Jesus Christ as Lord among the nations, to the glory of God the Father!

I originally wrote this as part of an assignment I was given for the Texas Missionary Society’s Bible study, which was held last night, 6/13/2013. Today I was thinking about these things; and about the great commission and preaching the gospel in open-air. Living in the Bible belt we will often have people who profess to be Christian revile at our preaching the gospel publicly. Why is that? First of all they are not Christians, they have believed a different Gospel than Paul preached (Galatians 1:8) and I know this because Jesus said, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Matthew 12:23) They revile at the gospel being preached publicly, because they don’t believe the gospel, they have believed a different gospel. Namely that God is love and has a wonderful plan for your life. This past weekend I was preaching the gospel and a woman stopped, walked over to me and said, “God is love, that’s all you need to know”; she then walked away shaking her head in disgust. They believe in a gospel that lifts man up, and puts man on a pedestal; glorifying man rather than God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached to the glory of God; the gospel lowers man to nothing but a worm and lifts up God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as the One worthy of all praise and honor.

Jesus proceeded forth from God and was sent by God to the Glory of God. Christ Jesus after His death and resurrection before His ascension gave us, His disciples a mission, some instructions as to what we are to do, commissioning them to complete a task. Jesus appeared to His apostles after His resurrection in a closed room, this is recorded in the gospels of Mark, Luke, and John. In the Gospel of John Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you; as the Father sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21) Jesus was sent by the Father for the glory of God, so Jesus sends His disciples for the Glory of God. Next in the Gospel of Matthew His disciples see Jesus atop a mountain in Galilee that Jesus had designated and proceeds to give them the commission. “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20) Then in Mark inside that closed room he tells them how they are to go about fulfilling that commission. “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16) Then from within that same closed room he tells them what that message is, that they are to preach. He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47)

So let us put this together; most recognize the great commission as being to make disciples, but do not acknowledge the purpose, the method, or message. Jesus sent out His disciples as the Father sent Him, the Father sent the Son for the Glory of God. (John 20:21) We are commissioned by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20) The great commission is fulfilled through the preaching of the Gospel. (Mark 16:15) That Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in His name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem. This prophesies are fulfilled in Jesus, He is the Christ, repent and believe in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, to the glory of God. (Luke 24:46-47)
1. The purpose: For the Glory of God
2. The Commission: To make disciples
3. The Method: By Preaching
4. The message: The Gospel

So how can we, sinful human beings, glorify God? By preaching the Glory of God, which is Jesus Christ.




Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

I believe in the Gospel, Therefore I must go Preach the Gospel

My last writing was on the words repent and repentance, dispelling the common misunderstanding of these words, and declaring what they actually mean. To repent means to change your mind, and repentance means to have had a change of mind.

I first began to follow Christ through the seeker sensitive movement over ten years ago; at least I thought it was Christ that I was following. The church I was going to began to read, “The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren”. We had broken up into small groups, we were to read 1 chapter from the book a day for 40 days during our own time; and then once a week the small group would meet and watch a video, after the video we would have discussion time. Now I remember this well, because it was a great pivotal point in my coming to the Lord. I read the book each day without fail, and meet with the small group. Then on whatever chapter that a prayer of salvation had been explained, I prayed the prayer asking Jesus into my heart.

Now I do not believe that I came to repentance and faith at that time, I couldn’t have, I didn’t even know what the gospel was, so how could I believe in what I had not heard? “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) This however, God the Father would use to draw me to His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. I had enjoyed the quite time every morning reading and reflecting on the things of God and praying, so I decided that I would start reading the bible every morning, first thing before anything else that day. I began reading at Genesis 1:1, and read all the way through the bible. And I kept reading, day after day, weeks became months, and months became years, and I kept reading. In fact, I read the bible every single day without fail for 6 ½ years before the Lord granted me repentance. I have now, to the glory of God alone, been in the word of God everyday for over 10 years.

I was in a church were the gospel was not preached in full. It was almost the gospel but there was always something missing or something added to it. Sin, righteousness, and judgment were almost never mentioned, occasionally it was, but in a manner so as not to offended anyone. During that time, I was hearing a message that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life; but was reading in scripture about how God is Holy, righteous, and just. This caused a dilemma for me; I was hearing that God is all love and mercy, but reading in scripture that God is righteous and just. How could He be both? It was not knowledge of my sin that led me to the cross, I knew I was a sinner and was in willful sin; it was the righteousness of God that led me to the cross. To cut a long story short, in December of 2009 God would grant me eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ my Lord; revealing to me His righteousness, my total sinfulness, and the gift and beauty of His only begotten Son, who paid the price for my sins in full. I believe in using the Law to bring the knowledge of sin as taught by Ray Comfort, and LivingWaters, as proclaimed by the apostle Paul; Romans 3:19-20, Romans 7:7, Galatians 3:24. But even more than that, I believe in declaring the attributes of God. That God is Holy, righteous, just, love, mercy, and grace; pointing them to the cross, as being the only Way God can be both just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).

The very moment that the Lord saved me I knew all had changed. God had taken out my heart of stone and given me a heart of flesh; He sprinkled clean water on me and put His Spirit within me. He lit a fire deep down within me that I could not satisfy with anything other than the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe in the Gospel, therefore I must go preach the Gospel. So I began to search how I might go about sharing my faith; researching on the internet and reading books, comparing all that I saw, heard, and read to the word of God. This eventually led me to LivingWaters and the Way of the Master. From that time on, the Lord has continued to grow me and mature me into the evangelist that I am today.

All that being said, I believe in the Gospel, therefore I must go preach the gospel. Tomorrow, I and some other brothers and sisters will spend the day in Jacksonville, TX, doing what we often do, preach the gospel publicly, pass out gospel tracts and bibles, talk with people about our Lord and Savior. Many will look at us as if we are foolish, or even crazy, some will be annoyed or even angry at us. We do not care, we are a reproach of men and despised by the people, even so we will be there because we love them and love our Lord. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17)

Now why did I not preach the gospel during those 6 ½ years after I prayed a prayer asking Jesus into my heart, nor even care to do so? The answer my friends, I was not born again. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27) “Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again. 'The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:5-7)

We truly are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And if you have been saved by God, you will be used for His purpose. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) We are in a true battle; many in America call themselves Christian and do not even know what the gospel is, they revile at the preaching of the gospel. If you truly believe in the gospel you are saved and will be used by the Lord. All that being said, I believe in the Gospel, therefore I must go preach the gospel.



Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ

Repentance Defined

My purpose for writing today brothers and sisters, is to define repentance. I think there is much misunderstanding about this word. Many use this word, but their understanding of the word is limited, and in a lot of instances, incorrect. Someone might say, "We are only saved by the grace of God through faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Someone else might say, “You must repent and believe to be saved. Paul said in Acts 17:30, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent”. So which is it, are we saved by the grace of God through faith, or are we saved by repenting and believing? The answer is,repentance comes from God, and you cannot have faith unless you have repentance; the problem is definition. Many take the word repent and its counterpart repentance to mean something different than what they actually mean, in fact they are applying the definition of a similar but different word all together to their understanding of Repentance. 

Today I would like to talk about three Greek words, (source: Strong's).

1) Metanoeo (μετανοέω) - change your mind, think differently, reconsider

2) Metanoia (μετάνοια) - having had a change of mind, different thinking, a reversal

3) Metamorphoo (μεταμορφόω) - a metamorphosis, a transformation, a transfiguration, to be changed.

 

Metanoeo (μετανοέω) is the Greek word from which we translate the English word Repent and Metanoia (μετάνοια) is the Greek word from which we translate the English word Repentance. Metanoeo (μετανοέω) is the Greek word in the earlier mentioned verse of Acts 17:30 that is translated into English, repent. Metanoeo (μετανοέω) quite literally means; change your mind, think differently, reconsider, and it's counter part repentance means that you have had a change of mind, you have reconsidered, and are thinking differently than you previously did. 

So when you say to someone "repent", you are saying to them in context to the subject matter that you are speaking about; "You are wrong in your current thinking on this subject, this is the right way to think, you need to change your mind." When you speak of yourself or someone else saying, "I have repentance or he has repentance", what you are saying is, "I have had a change of mind on a particular subject or He has had a change of mind on a particular subject. 

Let's take for example the words of Jesus in Mark 1:15 - “ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” I personally use these very words when I am calling on people to believe in the gospel during an open-air gospel presentation. 

The Jewish people had been waiting for the promised Messiah to deliver them; but the Messiah that they were expecting was a political leader like King David who would drive the Romans out of the land. The Jewish people also believed that because they were descendants of Abraham and were under the covenant law of Moses that they were God's people. Mark says that after John the Baptist "had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

When John was killed the gospel of Matthew in verse 14:13 said, "Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities". This is the sight were The Lord feed the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish. This same occurrence is recorded for us in the Gospel according to John in chapter 6. Then after He feed the five thousand, He walked on water across the lake, and came to Capernaum., a city in Galilee, He began teaching the people, and crushing their idea of the Messiah and salvation. Pointing to Himself, and Himself alone as being the total provision sent from God, and that all who believe in Him; His deity and His sacrifice would be saved, a total consumption of Him as one would eat a meal, that your faith in Him would be all consuming. One of the most important statements in scripture, in my opinion is, John 6:54 - "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

So when Mark recorded that "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15) He was saying, change your mind from your wrong way of thinking, that the Messiah would be a political leader and that you would be saved because you are descendants of Abraham. Change your mind to believe the truth, that I Am the Messiah sent from God and that everyone who has faith in Me alone has eternal life. Read John 6:26-71, awesome stuff.

One of my brothers in Christ, Seth Capps, whom I go out with on occasion to preach the gospel in open-air with says something that I just love, because it tells me that he has a grasp on repentance. He too will call on people to repent and believe in the gospel. Then he explains repentance, he tells them; "Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in action." 

This leads into the third Greek word that I wanted to talk about today. Metamorphoo (μεταμορφόω) - a metamorphosis, a transformation, a transfiguration, to be changed. It is the definition of this word that I believe some are applying to the words repent and repentance. While to repent means change your mind and repentance means having had a change of mind, Metamorphoo (μεταμορφόω) or metamorphosis means a total change in who you are, the way you think, the way you talk, and the way you act. It is a total transformation.

Throughout the entire Bible, and it is really driven home in the New Testament, we can do nothing to be made right with God. Salvation is solely an act of God, not of man and man neither adds to or takes away from this. Salvation from the wrath of God for our sin is when God takes a man dead in his sins and breaths life into his dead corpse; "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). He does this through a combination of the external preaching of the word of God either spoken or written, and the drawing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to the Pharisee Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. ’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).

One of the best descriptions for God taking a man dead in his sins; breathing life into him and making him a new creature comes through the prophet Ezekiel. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezekiel 36:26-27). "He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “ Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord. " (Ezekiel 37:3-6)

The gospel is that we have all sinned against God our creator, and deserve nothing less than the full eternal wrath of God for our sins; turning from sin cannot repair this, and to continue in sin willfully is to stomp on the blood of Christ as being unworthy. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved)" (Ephesians 2:4-5). Jesus the only begotten Son of God came from God in human flesh, God was in Him reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). He lived a righteous life, a life that none of us have lived nor can live, He was fully human as we are, and yet without sin. He died in our place for our sins, forsaken of by the Father, He was buried, and was raised from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). According to the scriptures, "which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:2-4). And Jesus after His resurrection, explaining these things to His disciples said, “ Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47). "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “ All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). And we do this by preaching the gospel; "And He said to them, “ Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned" (Mark 16:15-16). Telling all men everywhere that there is forgiveness of sins for everyone who repents (changes his mind) and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

In order for a blind man to see he must have new eyes. In order for a dead man to get up and walk he must receive life. In order for a sinner to repent and believe in the gospel, something miraculous must happen first; he must be born again, born of the Spirit of God. It is not important to understand repentance to be saved by God, you just need but repent and believe; "Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith" (Romans 3:24-25). But I do believe you need to have an understanding of these things if you are going to, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" Calling others to repent and believe in the gospel.

Mike Peek a slave of Jesus Christ