Vessel of Wrath or Vessel of Mercy?

This seems a strange question to ask.

Collins Concise Dictionary defines a vessel as:

1.       Any object used as a container, esp. for a liquid.

2.       A passenger or freight carrying ship, boat etc.

3.       (Rare) a person regarded as a vehicle for some purpose or quality.

Where in the Scriptures do we find reference to vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy?

Romans 9: 22, 23 state, (22)”What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for His glory.”

 If we look at the definitions of a vessel above, we can see that a person can be regarded as a vessel for some purpose or quality. If this is the case, in God’s eyes, a person is either a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy.

Now I don’t think any of us would want to be a vessel of wrath; for the vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction. Who are they for whom the wrath of God is prepared? Obviously, it would have to be people who have disobeyed God in their lives.

Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Now you may say to me, "Look at verses 22 and 23 above. God has already made up His mind, so why should I bother?" What a miserable excuse this is! You have the power to decide! You make decisions about matters every day. This shows the true state of your heart.

Jeremiah 17:9, 10 tell us, (9)”The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (10) I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

If this is your condition before God, you are in need of God’s mercy. In other words you need God’s compassion, pity and clemency. You can’t help yourself – but God offers you mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. That’s why He sent Him to pay the penalty for your sins on the cross at Calvary. His life for your life!

By receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord you become a vessel of mercy. Only you can make that decision!

God already knows your answer; but it is you who has made the decision!

Are you a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy?

Jon Peasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]

You are welcome to comment on this blog post by clicking on the comment section at the end of the post.

Salvation - Saved then lost?

There is a belief in some sections of the Christian faith that you can be saved from your sins and then be lost again. This comes about from not “...rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).

At best it is confusion and at its worst it robs a soul of their assurance of salvation; with a consequent loss of peace in their heart. To put it bluntly it makes salvation dependent on a soul’s good works.

In my last blog post Salvation – By faith or by works? We saw clearly that salvation is by faith and not by works “...lest anyone should boast.”  (Ephesians 3:8, 9). Now to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ can save me and then allow me to be lost again is a lie of the Devil.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 states, “I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it that men should fear before Him.”

God’s salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ is forever! John 3:16, “...whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

Is this true? Yes, it is not only true but a reality in my life and in millions around the world.

How do I know it’s true? Ephesians 1:13 tells me, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”  2 Corinthians 1:21 22 tell me, (21)”Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, (22) who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

What do these verses reveal to us?

1.       We hear the gospel of salvation, the word of truth.

2.       We trust in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ).

3.       We believe the word of God.

4.       We are sealed (instantly) with the Holy Spirit.

5.       The Holy Spirit in our hearts is God’s guarantee that we are saved for eternity.

6.       We are anointed by the Holy Spirit in our lives, set apart for God.

Now someone may say that is all well and good but what about verse 12 in Philippians chapter 2? “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Let us be careful not to pull this verse out of the context it is set in.

In verses 1-4 the apostle Paul gives the Philippian believers instructions on how to conduct themselves in their daily lives. In verses 5-11 the supreme example of the Lord Jesus is brought before us. His humility, His obedience – even unto death, His exaltation by God and His supreme authority are brought before us.

The apostle Paul is speaking to believers in Philippi – those who are already saved! So when we get to verse 12 he is talking about their obedience in the things of God; not only when Paul is present with them, but also when he is not with them.

The salvation Paul is referring to here is not their eternal salvation – that is already secure. They are to work out on a daily basis how to keep themselves going on in the ways of God.

Verses 12, 13, (12) “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; (13) for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

Can you be saved and then lost again? No, you cannot!

John 10:27-30 [Jesus answered them] (27)”My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (28) And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (30) I and My Father are one.”

Here is an anchor for your soul! 

In this parable of the Shepherd and His own sheep the Lord Jesus Christ gives us double assurance.

1.       No one can snatch a believer out of His hand.

2.       No one can snatch a believer out of the Father’s hand.

I like to think of this as two cupped hands; the Father’s hand underneath and the Son’s hand over the top. Resting securely inside are all the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing or no one can snatch any believer out of God’s almighty hands!

Jon Peasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]

Salvation - By faith or by works?

This is a question that has baffled many people. If you were to ask the man in the street this question, the general consensus would be – salvation by works.

Some of the answers might be:

1.       I live a good life and don’t do anybody any harm.

2.       I go to church regularly.

3.       I give money to charities and help out with volunteer work.

4.       I believe in God.

5.       God is a God of love and will forgive me.

6.       I hope I have done enough good in my life to get me into heaven.

Take a close look at these answers. None of them have a note of certainty about them. If you have to work at being saved you definitely don’t have any assurance that you are saved.

What do the Scriptures say about salvation?

Ephesians 3;8, 9 tell us, (8)”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Now this is very clear cut. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that they were saved “through faith” and “not of works”.

Let’s have a closer look at these verses.

1.       It is by grace we are saved.

2.       We are saved through faith.

3.       It is God given faith.

4.       We are not saved by our works.

5.       There will not be anyone boasting to God that they have achieved salvation by their own efforts.

6.       This salvation by faith is a gift from God.

You don’t earn a gift! You don’t pay for a gift! A gift has not cost you anything. All you have to do with a gift is receive it and then it becomes yours.

It is the same with God’s offer of salvation. The penalty for your sins was borne by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. God punished His Son upon a cross for your sins. There is no cost to you – the price has already been paid!

In Acts chapter 16 we read of a Philippian prison keeper awaking from sleep about midnight by an earthquake. The earthquake’s tremors opened all the prison doors. The keeper thinking that all the prisoners had escaped, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. The apostle Paul stopped him and reassured him that all the prisoners were still in the prison.

Acts 16:29-31, (29)”Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. (30) And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ (31) So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your household’.”

Acts 16:34, “Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”

The prison keeper could not point to his good works before God – he was a pagan! He asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved. The answer is simple and very clear cut. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...”

He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved there and then. In verse 34 we read, “...and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”

When a man or woman comes face to face with the realisation of their sins before God, it is a dreadful moment in their life. They have a choice to make:

1.       Accept God’s offer of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, or

2.       Carry on in their wicked ways and die in their sins; later to stand with all the wicked dead before the Great White Throne of judgement (Revelation 20:11, 12).

I sincerely hope that you are not trusting in your good works to enter into heaven. Salvation does not occur when you get to heaven, it happens here and now before you die. Once you are dead it is too late to be saved! Don’t let your pride stand in the way of your salvation.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...”

Jon Peasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]

Divorce - A Christian Perspective

In my last two blogs we considered The Sanctity of Marriage and Divorce – The Biblical Perspective. We established that God ordained marriage, beginning with Adam and Eve, at the commencement of the human race. Divorce is not God’s will and the only exception given is for sexual immorality; which in effect breaks the marriage union.

In this blog I want to look at the Christian aspect on divorce found in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7. The apostle Paul is writing to fellow believers at Corinth. His first letter to these Corinthian believers covers a wide range of topics. In chapters 6 and 7 the subject of marriage and divorce comes up.

1 Corinthians 6: 13, 16, 18 states, (13)”...Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body... (16)Or do you not know that he that is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two’, He says, ‘shall become one flesh’... (18) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

Verse 13 is quite explicit “...the body is not for sexual immorality...” which is illicit sex outside the marriage union. God has sanctified the marriage union. Sexual relations within a marriage union are sanctified and blessed. Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

Verse 16 gives us the result of an illicit relationship. The marriage bond has been broken in God’s eyes! 

Verse 18 clearly defines sexual immorality as a sin against your own body.

In 1 Corinthians 7:1-3 we are given godly instructions. (1) “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (2) Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (3) Let the husband render to his wife the affections due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.”

Let’s have a closer look at verse 1. This does not mean that a man cannot touch a woman. In our everyday lives there are often occasions where we meet and great people, or assist people. In the context of verse 2 we can deduce it means to touch a woman in such a manner as to lead into a situation where sexual immorality could be a consequence.

In 1 Corinthians 7: 10-13 we have some interesting instructions for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. (10) “Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. (11) But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. (12) But to the rest I, not the Lord say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. (13) And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.”

From the context of the above verses; it is quite evident that to have an unbelieving spouse is not an acceptable reason for divorce. If the unbelieving spouse leaves the believing spouse it is not grounds for a divorce! The way must be left open for reconciliation. The departing spouse is to remain in an unmarried state. This does not give them the right to seek a new partner.

1Corinthians 7:14-16 give us the reasons for remaining married. (14) “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. (15) But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart, a brother or a sister [in Christ] is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. (16) For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”

God considers the marriage between a believing spouse and an unbelieving spouse to be an ordained marriage in His eyes. The unbelieving spouse is sanctified within the marriage union by the believing spouse. The children of their marriage union are considered to be holy because of the marriage union.

I repeat, ‘The unbelieving spouse is sanctified within the marriage union by the believing spouse.’ The unbelieving spouse is not considered, in themself, to be holy in God’s eyes. They are indeed a sinner who needs God’s salvation in order to be holy. The marriage union with a believing spouse does not confer holiness upon them. However, the children of this union are considered holy because of the marriage union. But as they grow up they will become accountable for their actions before God. They too will be in need of God’s salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

To sum up what we have learned:

1.       Sexual immorality breaks the marriage union.

2.       Sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

3.       Sexual relations within the marriage union are sanctified and blessed.

4.       Having an unbelieving spouse is not grounds for divorce.

5.       If a spouse departs they are to remain in an unmarried state, or be reconciled to their spouse.

6.       The unbelieving spouse is sanctified within the marriage union by the believing spouse.

7.       The children of the marriage union are considered to be holy.

8.       The unbelieving spouse and any children of the marriage union will individually be held accountable for their own actions.

9.       Lastly, divorce is not God’s will.

As a parting remark, it would be good to read this blog in conjunction with my previous blog   Divorce – The Biblical Perspective for an overall perspective.

Jon Peasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]