Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39

When I was a young Christian, I recall hearing many messages on Satan’s power and his desire to destroy believers.  It was not surprising therefore, for me to begin to think and fear that somehow he could affect my relationship with God.

It was my reading of the above passage however, and the comprehension that Satan is a creature, a created being, that freed me from this fear…….Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

I have not been well for a few days. As a result I have missed some work and lost a few lbs. I have been too ill to write, but I think I am finally returning to normal. I have returned to work and am working on resuming writing.  Thank you for your patience!

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 & 7

The older I get, the more amazed I am at God’s goodness to me. The

bottom line is that I did not seek Him.  He sought me out and saved

me by His grace.  I cannot accept praise for His goodness to me, I

can only be thankful for His mercy.  

John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace” said in his eighties;

“My memory is almost gone, but I can remember two things: I am a

great sinner and I have a great Saviour.”

Have you heard the one about the hippie soldier who was wounded in battle in Vietnam?  I didn’t think so.  Well, here is how the story went.

A hippie was drafted into the army.  He was trained in the basics and sent to Vietnam.  One day, while on patrol, a fire fight erupted with the enemy.  Immediately the hippie soldier was shot down  because he needlessly exposed himself to enemy gunfire.  An investigation followed.  It was discovered that just as the firefight erupted, the hippie soldier’s commanding officer issued an order to “Get Down!“

Of course we all know what the commanding officer meant by Get Down!  However, if you are not old enough to remember the hippie movement you may not recall what Get Down! meant to the hippie.  Get down was slang for let’s get down to business.  Business for the hippie, as I recall, was to boogie.  Bad time to boogie.

Yeh, I know, bad joke……., but a good illustration, right?!  The same command was given to the hippie soldier as was given to the other soldiers but with different results. The meaning of the command was different to the hippie soldier.  The same thing happens among Christians when one is thinking culturally as opposed to thinking Biblically.  The two are not on the same page. 

When love is mentioned, what do you think of?  The culture equates love with physical desire, toleration, and feelings.  The Lord Jesus equates love with right choices and right relationships.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.  John 14:21

So,………are you and the Lord on the same page?

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.  Psalm 119:165

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Isaiah 26:3

……..let the word of Christ dwell in you richly……

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

Refrain:
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I came to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s name,
Salvation through His blood.

My great physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.

Author – Eliza E. Hewitt, Published 1891.

Christ speaking to Peter:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Matthew 16:19 KJV

Another accurate translation of Matthew 16:19 is as follows:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt not allow on earth shall have been disallowed in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt allow on earth shall have been allowed in heaven.  Matthew 16:19 NLV

Interpretation:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:

The keys were the sign of the scribe so Christ was making the disciples, or Peter in particular, His scribe(s) for the kingdom.  It could also be that Peter not only presented the kingdom to the Jews as leader of the disciples, but also was the first to make the kingdom available to the Gentiles in Acts. (10:45)

………and whatsoever thou shalt disallow on earth shall have been disallowed in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt allow on earth shall have been allowed in heaven.

The “future perfect periphrastic” structure in the Greek shows us that instead of giving Peter unlimited authority in the church, the Lord Jesus has limited his authority to what has already been decided in heaven.

This is the same restriction that the Lord puts on the church in Matthew 18 regarding church discipline.

The most understandable translation of this passage would be as follows:

And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven: and whatever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven. (Williams)**

How do we know what has already been settled in heaven?    

       For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.  Psalm 119:89

….let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….

**Heritage Baptist Church, NSC, S.D. – This article was used with permission.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.  Ephesians 2:19-22

According to W.E. Vine’s Expository dictionary of New Testament Words, the word habitation is a form of the Greek word oiketerion which is a combination of oiketer meaning an inhabitant (in this case God) and oikos meaning a dwelling (in this case the believer).

The apostle Paul is telling the Ephesian Christians that they, along with all other believers, are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (NASV).  

When does the indwelling of the Holy Spirit occur?

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  Romans 8:8 & 9

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs at the time of belief or regeneration according to verse 9b of Romans 8.  It is a very simple explanation.  If anyone does not have the Spirit, he/she does not belong to Christ.  In other words, one cannot be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.

There is a distinction between the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one time action that occurs at the time of belief or regeneration.  The believer is placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit at that time.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.  I Corinthians 12:13

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is continuous action that lasts throughout the life of the believer.  This function does not change regardless of the genuine believer’s behaviour.  

John Walvoord, in his book The Holy Spirit, makes the following observation:  Sinning Christians possess the Holy Spirit.  Never in the dispensation of grace are Christians warned that the loss of the Holy Spirit will occur as a result of sin.  On the contrary, in the notable case of the Corinthian church, they are exhorted to live a godly life because they are indwelt by the Spirit: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God?  and ye are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:19)

Walvoord continues: The inference is plain that the presence of the Spirit abides even in the hearts of Christians who are unyielded and living in sin.  While yieldedness remains a condition for the filling of the Spirit, the indwelling of the Spirit is unconditional for genuine Christians.  (Emphasis added)

Note:  Assurance of salvation comes from the promises of Scripture authored by the Holy Spirit.  A Christian continuing in sin has broken fellowship with God.  As a result, he/she will lose his joy in the Lord, his/her assurance from the Spirit  of God, and will invite the chastening of the Lord into his/her life.

Walvoord also writes:  Indwelling is the abiding presence of the Spirit, while the filling of the Spirit indicates the ministry and extent of control of the Spirit over the individual.

…….let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…….