A.D. (Anno Domini) -- In CHRIST JESUS (Part 2)

B.C. -- Before CHRIST
Depraved sinner (lust, porn), immoral adulteress, gossip, murderer, self-righteous, fornicator, liar, thief, pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, child-abuse, self-pity, self-love, idolatry.

A.D. (Anno Domini)--In CHRIST JESUS
Although i was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; i obtained mercy because i did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our LORD was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in CHRIST JESUS. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners, of whom i am chief. (1 Timothy 1, NKJV)

Redeemed -- bought with a price: the infinitely precious blood of JESUS. "In HIM we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Ephesians 1:7, NIV)

For GOD saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through CHRIST JESUS. (2 Timothy 1:9, NLT)

JESUS: "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of GOD." (John 3:3, NLT) All praise to GOD, the Father of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because GOD raised JESUS CHRIST from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3, NLT)

All praise to GOD, the Father of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with CHRIST. (Eph 1:3, NLT)

In CHRIST we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. (Ephesians 1:11, NIV)

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His SON, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29, NKJV)

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:30, NKJV)

Blessed, forgiven, justified, sanctified, adopted, glorified...
i am -- IN CHRIST!

Friend of GOD, not of this world, SPIRIT-filled...
i am -- IN CHRIST!It is GOD who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13, NKJV) HE was shown to be the SON of GOD when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy SPIRIT. HE is JESUS CHRIST our LORD. (Romans 1:4, NLT) I pray that GOD, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy SPIRIT. (Romans 15:13, NLT) Through the power of the Holy SPIRIT who lives within us, carefully guard the precious TRUTH that has been entrusted to you. (2 Timothy 1:14, NLT) But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy SPIRIT. (Jude 1:20, NLT)

IN CHRIST JESUS --
blessed saved redeemed chosen called slave born-again predestined new-creation adopted forgiven justified sanctified glorified friend-of-GOD not-of-this-world
SPIRIT-filled!

Salvation is by GRACE alone through FAITH alone IN CHRIST alone.

A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in JESUS CHRIST, and we have believed in CHRIST JESUS, that we might be justified by faith in CHRIST and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in CHRIST JESUS, whom GOD set forth as propitiation (satisfaction) by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance GOD had passed over sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in JESUS.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have PEACE with GOD through our LORD JESUS CHRIST -- Who is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to GOD through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, JESUS CHRIST the righteous. For there is one GOD and one Mediator between GOD and men, the Man CHRIST JESUS, who gave Himself a ransom for all. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.  (from One Perfect Life, by John MacArthur, selected passages from pp 508, 509, 510)

There is therefore now NO condemnation to those
who are IN CHRIST JESUS. (Romans 8:1)

B.C. -- Before CHRIST (Part 1)

GOD shows His anger from heaven against sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about GOD because He has made it known to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.  Through everything GOD made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing GOD.

Yes, they knew GOD, but they wouldn't worship Him as GOD or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what GOD was like. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living GOD, they worshiped idols. So GOD abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. 

They traded the truth about GOD for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things GOD created instead of the Creator Himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! 

That is why GOD abandoned them to their shameful desires. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge GOD, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of GOD, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. (Romans 1, NLT)

Everyone has sinned; we ALL fall short of GOD's glorious standard. No one is righteous -- not even one.  No one is seeking GOD. ALL have turned away; ALL have become useless. No one does good, not a single one. (Romans 3, NLT)

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer! How you are cut down to the ground. For you have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD; I will sit on the mount of the congregation; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14, NKJV) Self-righteousness, self-aggrandizement, self-seeking...PRIDE.

All that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:16, NKJV) Gluttony, greed, (self-) glory.

JESUS: "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:28) 




Pornography is the lust of the eyes. Pornography is as adultery to the married person. Pornography is as sexual immorality (fornication) to the unmarried person.

A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. (Proverbs 11:13) They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere. (Psalm 41:6) Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 

(James 1:26) (all NLT)

...this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act...such should be stoned. (John 8:4-5, NKJV) 

For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.  (Acts 8:23, NKJV) Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like...those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of GOD. (Galatians 5:19-20, NKJV)

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44, NIV)

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of CHRIST and GOD. (Ephesians 5:5, NKJV)

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. (James 3:16, NIV) No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a person is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of CHRIST and of GOD. (Ephesians 5:5, NIV)

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:15, NIV)

Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

JESUS: "That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart." (Matthew 18:32-35, NLT)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10, NIV) A gossip is a thief who steals a person's reputation.

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10, NKJV)

JESUS: "But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell." (Matthew 5:22, NLT) Deep-seated malice is from the heart, which is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Abortion--killing babies inside the mother's womb--is murder. A backstabber is a murderer at heart.

...slaves of depravity—for "people are slaves to whatever has mastered them." Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud." (2 Peter 2:19, 22, NIV)

Such is the person Before CHRIST.

slave Of CHRIST--Possession Of JESUS (Essay 3)

Slave: a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a person entirely under the domination of a person or of some influence, such as -- slave to drugs/booze, slave to fashion: a person who is a helpless and hapless victim to an overpowering influence that in effect "owns" the person.

i was a slave to sin. TOday, i am a slave of CHRIST. JESUS is my Owner, i am HIS possession. He paid a price for me -- a price that is infinitely steep. He bought me with His own blood that was shed on that shame-FULL cross (see 1 Corinthians 6:20).  WHAT an amazing, awe-FULL, extremely astonishing, exceedingly incredible FACT!

How do i live this redeemed life that is now under the LORDship of JESUS? Oswald Chambers hit a bull's eye when he wrote in My Utmost For His Highest -- "those IN CHRIST no longer have rights to their rights." Just like a slave who has no rights at all, with utter gratefulness, i have willingly surrendered all my imagined rights to CHRIST, my Owner, my Master -- my LORD (see 2 Peter 1:1, CHSB).

JESUS owns my body. i will to no longer dishonor it with sexual immorality, gluttony or other destructive behaviors. This outer shell, this physical dwelling place of my soul is the outward expression of my IN CHRISTness (see Romans 12:1). i will clothe this body to please CHRIST; and He will adorn my inner person with the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:4).

JESUS owns my mind. i will to no longer trash it with pornography, lewd TV programs, soul-deadening novels and magazines. CHRIST has redeemed my mind, continually renewing and transforming my mindset so that i am more and more sober minded -- less and less conformed to the culture of this world. i now eagerly desire HIS thoughts -- which are in ALL ways pure and holy ALWAYS. i make it my goal to subjugate and submit my thoughts to His infinitely wise mind.

JESUS owns my eyes. i zealously guard these windows to my soul. i made a covenant with my eyes (Job 31:1) that i will not pay attention to crude, indecent, unwholesome images that pollute my vision. i will to not allow them entrance through my eyes, this type of satanic degradation of our GOD-given sexuality.

JESUS owns my ears. i will not to listen to obscenities that typify rap music, to poisonous gossip, to backbiting and backstabbing stories (see Ephesians 4:31), to malicious sharing disguised as prayer requests, to sermons which do not glorify or magnify JESUS and His Gospel, to sexually charged word-pictures which feed my natural proclivity to depravity.

JESUS owns my feet. i go where HE wants me to go. i will no longer go anywhere just for the sake of self-centered adventures. Where He prompts me to go, where He leads, i will follow (see Psalm 23:3). Wherever He directs my feet, i will go -- not balking with 1,000+ questions, not protesting with "but... but... BUT!" -- trusting that HE has already blazed the trail.

JESUS owns my hands. They are to be used for HIS good works, for open-handed giving, for sharing His comfort through a loving touch. My hands are His to be used towards all godliness.

JESUS owns "my" money. i am called to use it responsibly -- to spend it wisely -- not wastefully. When He prompts me to give, it is my joy-FULL response to cheer-FULLY give away HIS money (2 Corinthians 9:7)! i am also to share the talents He has gifted for the building up of His church, His body (1 Corinthians 14:12).

JESUS owns my mouth, my speech. What comes forth -- words, tone, truthfulness, volume, attitudes -- are filtered through HIS standard. i strive for my words to be CHRISTlike -- kind, intelligent, wise, building up, clean and wholesome. i study to be ready in all seasons to give good Biblical counsel, but more importantly -- to share the GOOD NEWS as prompted by the Holy SPIRIT (see Isaiah 52:7).

JESUS owns my heart. My affections are now to line up with what HE loves. He took away my hardened, stony heart and gave me a  new heart that's tender and sensitive for the things that are dear to Him (see 2 Corinthians 3:3). HE directs my emotions towards those things of eternal value -- true love, true joy, true peace. His love compels me.

JESUS owns me -- ALL of me...my body, my mind, my personality, my spirit, my love, my ambitions -- ALL!

Because i know who i am -- i know what to do. 

i know that i am a well-beloved slave of THE most fascinating, most captivating, most admirable, most delight-FULL, most generous, most compassionate, most gentle and tenderhearted, most power-FULL, most glorious, most holy, most brilliant, most enchanting, most marvelous, most magnificent, most wise, MOST LOVABLE MAN who is also the SOVEREIGN RULER and SOVEREIGN GOD of the entire Creation!

i know what to do because i know who i am. 

i fall on my face in exceeding adoration. i dance to HIS tune with JOY inexpressible. i worship JESUS 24/7 as practice for the eternal gathering in the Kingdom of GOD when all who have received JESUS as LORD will wholeheartedly and blissfully worship HIM -- the perfect sinless LAMB of GOD who died for wretched sinners like me. i sit at His feet, feeding on His EVERY Word, getting FAT in my soul! i get down on my knees and bow down, with both hands raised in praise, and call HIM, "my LORD and my GOD!"

CHRIST JESUS. WHAT a Name! WHAT a Master! WHAT a GRAND privilege to be HIS very own possession!

And you? Are you owned by god -- or by GOD?

slave of JESUS -- The GODMan (Essay 2)

JESUS is now my Master...and i, His slave. i am a slave of the GODMan. WHAT a very GREAT privilege it is that i can name The CHRIST my Master!

Master JESUS, though He was GOD...gave up His divine privileges, took the humble position of a Slave and was born as a human being. In His human form, He HUMBLED Himself in OBEDIENCE to GOD and died a criminal's death on a Cross -- in order to REDEEM wretched sinners like me from the slave market of SIN. (Philippians 2:7-8, NLT)

SIN was my OLD master -- i was its slave. i served UNrighteousness and had NO desire for the Righteousness that is Of GOD. My heart of stone was most deceitful and desperately wicked...even i was blind to its badness. As i thought in my heart...so i was.

BUT The MASTER searched for me -- this truly lost, sold-out-to-SIN leprous soul -- this walking dead, who was less than a maggot. JESUS found me, clothed in my filthy rags of SELF-righteousness, worshiping the ME-god, deeply entrenched in the OLD Adamic nature -- carnal to the core. "Totally Depraved" was etched on my forehead; and were it not for the Holy SPIRIT's restraint, i would have been branded, "Totally, Utterly Depraved."

The LORD JESUS delivered me from my SINs. HE rescued me from SIN's slave market -- HE PAID for me. HE REDEEMED me with a Ransom Price of UNfathomable value -- the Shed BLOOD of GOD The SON. THIS GODMan, who lived a perfectly sinless, totally righteous and holy life on earth, DIED IN MY PLACE. HE took upon Himself the filthiness of my SINs and put upon me HIS cleansing Righteousness. AMAZING Great Exchange!

i was a slave to SIN -- TOday, a slave to RIGHTEOUSNESS. i was living in Darkness -- TOday, i am walking in The Light. i was a Child of Wrath -- TOday, i am a Child of GOD. i was destined to Hell -- TOday, i am Heaven bound, a citizen of the Kingdom of GOD. i was a loser, controlled by the lusts of the FLESH -- TOday, i am victorious, an Overcomer by the emPOWERing GRACE of the Holy SPIRIT. i was a prisoner of Satan -- TOday, The TRUTH Himself has set me FREE to choose to be OWNED by JESUS, my Master, my LORD, my GOD.

TOday i boast of Who my Master is and i boast of all He has done for all who are His very OWN. CHRIST JESUS is the greatEST Master, the greatEST Teacher, the greatEST King and LORD. CHRIST JESUS is always faithFUL, never EVER breaks promises -- His Word is ALWAYS Amen! 

JESUS is always patient, He always kind. JESUS does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. JESUS is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He keeps no record of wrongs. JESUS does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. JESUS always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. JESUS NEVER FAILS. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

JESUS feeds all who HUNGER spiritually for HE is the TRUE Bread. JESUS satisfies those who THIRST for GOD for HE is the LIVING Water. JESUS leads the narrow Way to green pastures and still waters. JESUS gives UNstintingly the limitless JOYs of HIS heavenly Kingdom. JESUS shares HIS RICH Inheritance from The FATHER to ALL who would RECEIVE His LORDship.

My Master is GOOD -- the ONLY ONE Who IS TRULY GOOD. It's an awesomely amazing, altogether-incredible REALITY to be owned by JESUS, The GODMan! i am awestruck at the utter wonder of it all -- finally realizing, experientially and very personally, the TRUTH of THIS Amazing GRACE that has been gifted to me: GOD GAVE me GOD!

GOD gave me GOD. (John 3:16)

Because i am IN CHRIST -- the GODMan JESUS -- i am chosen, adopted, predestined as a daughter of GOD's Family; redeemed and forgiven of ALL my sins; graced with ABUNDANT Grace -- blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. PRAISE BE TO GOD, i am one of the called out ones and will be part of those gathered together IN CHRIST. (Ephesians 1)

What a GLORIOUS Calling to be a slave of CHRIST JESUS!  A slave who is a Friend of GOD. A slave who is a Child of GOD. A slave who is an Heir with CHRIST. A slave who calls GOD, "Abba" -- FATHER. WHAT a GRAND Privilege indeed! HALLELUJAH...AMEN!