House of Faith Ministries

him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

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Before that, they were called the people of the way—for lack of a better name—since Christianity was never presented as a new religion that they were to embrace, but as a new and more accurate way into salvation.

 

Acts 18:26 “So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

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Notice how Christian doctrine was based on reason rather than religious precepts; they explained salvation as an act of faith that was based on the fact that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, and that He is now seated at the right hand of God, forever making intercession for all of us who believe in Him.

 

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony (mystery) of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

 

As you can see from our opening text, that God is calling us to reason together with Him, and not to the blind adherence of religious dogma.

 

How does a person reason with God?

 

Remember first, that reason deals with facts, so that we need to establish a protocol that is founded on undisputable facts to which we can relate.

 

Though your sins are like scarlet:

 

The fact is that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.

 

We can never reason with God from a perspective of equality, that would be pride, which would immediately cause us to be kicked out of His holy presence.

 

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

 

Some people get frustrated because they do not seem to get any answers from God when they go before Him in prayer.

 

Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.”

 

These two Scriptures lay a solid foundation as to how we are to approach God in order to reason with Him. First, we must recognize that we are sinners, and that God is holy. Second, that if we come before Him with a spirit of humility and brokenness, He will not turn His back on us.

 

They shall be white as snow:

 

The second aspect has to do with the why are we coming before God.

 

First let me say that, coming before God is always the best move that we can ever make, no matter what our circumstances are. But we need to understand God’s protocol and follow it if we are going to be able to reason with God.

 

What I am saying is that some people only go before God when they have a pressing need that they themselves cannot fix. The problem with this approach is that they want to set the agenda as to what it is that they want to reason with God about.

 

But God has His own agenda for us; He wants to implement in our lives a new way of living so that we can rise to His high calling, which is:

 

Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

 

This is the context from which God issued the promise: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 

How many of us can keep God’s law? No one can! For it is written that All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

 

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean:

 

How do we do that? Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

 

Sound reasoning leads us to the fact that within ourselves we are incapable of doing that which is good; therefore, the only conclusion that we can reasonably arrive to, is that we are all in need of a Savior.

 

Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”

 

So far, we learned that God is holy, and that those who follow God must also be holy. We are commanded by God to wash ourselves, and to make ourselves clean in order to follow Him.

 

We are also told that we cannot even do that for ourselves; what a wretched condition we find ourselves in—we need a Savior who is able to deliver us from our filth and make us acceptable before God.

 

Who is this Savior, and how does He saves us?

 

Romans 7:24-25 “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!...”

 

Jesus is our Savior because He died for all our sins.

 

Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

 

Jesus is our Savior who not only died for all our sins, but He is also our Savior who cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

 

Ephesians 1:6-7 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

 

So far reason has led us into the undeniable facts that God is holy and that we are not. That we are required by God to be good, but the reality is that we are not. And not only that, but that we are unable to be good by our own strength.

 

We conclude then that without a Savior we are forever lost.

 

Isaiah gives us the promise that: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool, but only if we repent and accept His offer of forgiveness that can only be attained through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, whose name is forever to be blessed!

 

Isaiah 1:19-20 “‘If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat (be blessed with salvation) the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured (destroyed by your own sins) by the sword’; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

 

The spirit of pride is the biggest obstacle that keeps those who know that they need a Savior, from accepting Jesus as their Savior.

 

We need to realize that it is the pride—and the proud—of this world that our Lord is coming to judge. Without Jesus as our Savior, we will fall under the coming judgment of God.

 

For the preceding generations, their judgment came after they died without Christ. For it is written that: It is appointed unto men to die once and then comes the judgment.

 

What is unique to our present generation—if this is the last generation  before Jesus comes, as all signs point that it is—is that this generation will have to bear the judgment of all the preceding generations before it.

 

Matthew 23:36 “Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

 

So that this last generation will have to endure the physical punishment due to all the generations before it, while here on the earth, and then, be cast into hell and the eternal judgment that follows.

 

So that there is a double incentive for those who are now alive, to repent and to receive the double reward of salvation and escaping the judgment that is soon coming upon all those who dwell on the earth, to test them.

 

Isaiah 2:10-11 “Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”

 

According to Scripture, there are three major spirits that afflict all the inhabitants of this present-day world.

 

1 John 2:16 “For 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.”

 

We learn by simple reasoning from Scripture, that the only way to overcome the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, is by dying to self and living with Christ, through the power of His unending grace.

 

We also learn that pride is what keeps many from humbling themselves before God, confessing their sins before Him, and receiving God’s pardon that is available through our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We learn as well that it is that spirit of pride that God will judge mightily at His soon return.

 

If there was ever a time to renounce the spirit of pride and to enter into the Rock of God’s salvation, it is right now before God’s final judgment is unleashed!

 

Isaiah 2:12 “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up—and it shall be brought low.”