No Double Jeopardy in Christ

It’s amazing how much one can learn from listening to audio sermons.

I have personally & purposely made it a habit to download sermons (from my church’s website, as well as other churches’ website) to listen regularly in my own room. And without fail; I have often been blessed by the many revelations of God’s word! Especially when we read or come across particular Bible verses too often, until we tend to overlook the depth of these verses.

Perhaps it is true that listening can sometimes be more effective than just mere reading. Firstly, because when we are in a hurry, we tend to read fast to get the main points & not really give time to ponder over what the text is really saying. But when it comes to listening, we can’t rush it coz if we do, then we run the risk of not listening carefully & missing the points of what is being said!

Furthermore, God’s word says that faith comes from hearing the Word! At this point of time, I do not know why that verse emphasizes listening, rather than just reading the Bible… but there should be some reason why God said that.

Of course, there are people who tend to be more visual or kinetic in their manner of learning, but that’s just our individual tendency… & doesn’t mean that we are lousy at hearing & understanding the word of God! Even for a visual person like me, I learn much from being auditory too… & especially when listening to God’s word being preached.

Tonight I listened to Pastor Joseph Prince’s sermon on being dead to sin. I tell you, I was just so amazed at the revelations of the truths from scripture! It was a 1 hour & 22 minutes sermon, but I had to force myself to stop the sermon after 37 minutes coz there’s just so much to type down, to remind myself in future!

What Righteousness Really Is

Many a times, we relate righteousness as doing what is right. Let’s not deny this hard (& most misunderstood) fact, because when we do wrong or commit a sin, we start to feel guilty & condemned. This is the ploy of Satan!

Yes, we know that… but we still live in it… for awhile… nonetheless. But you see, that’s where the REAL problem lies! Coz again & again, we keep on falling back to viewing it as our righteousness & not God’s righteousness! We view what we do as what determines our righteousness! That’s the problem!

God’s word tells to “seek ye first the kingdom of God & His righteousness”, not our righteousness. And notice, it says “seek ye first…” not other things first, then these aspects later.

Righteousness is actually right being, not right doing. We can’t do what’s right & become righteous in God’s sight. We can only receive righteousness as a GIFT from God, by faith & live as Christians redeemed through Jesus’ death on the cross! It is about being, not doing!

Pastor Joseph Prince also shared about one of his church members who came up to him recently, exclaiming that he has finally understood the meaning & importance of seeking first God’s righteousness in his heart. Now every morning when he & his wife wakes up, they will hold hands & pray & thank God that He has made them in His righteousness in Christ. And all things are added unto them.

His wife was a florist. And as a result of pursuing this righteousness of God, God blessed them richly a thousand-fold. He also shared with Pastor Prince about his revelation of a very familiar passage in Matthew 6 that tells us “Do not worry”…

Jesus says in Matthew 6:28-29, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Being in a florist, he & his wife know flowers very well. So he told Pastor Prince, “Do you know that lilies are white?” When I heard that, I was shocked… & I thought to myself – “Lilies are white?!” I never knew lilies are white! I mean, white is almost like no color at all! There are so many beautiful colors that we see in this world, how can white be considered most splendid? Even compared to Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived on Earth?

Yet Jesus used lilies are the example in that passage. Pastor Prince goes further to share with his church congregation that lilies are trumpet shape… (I didn’t know that either), so that it can proclaim God’s glory & righteousness!

Absolutely stunning! I was just dumb struck listening to this part of the sermon! Of all flowers, Jesus referred to the lily. Of all colors, Jesus chose the lily that’s white. And God made lilies in a trumpet shape… that we can’t deny either…

Sin has ALREADY been forgiven

Lawyers are familiar with the legal term ‘double jeopardy’. It means that a crime cannot be tried & convicted twice. In short, one crime for one sentence… & that’s the same with sin. Once Jesus had taken all sin, died & later rose to Heaven, not just because He is God’s Son… but because & symbolizing that God has already ACCEPTED this sacrifice! If not, how can Jesus carry all the sins of the world to Heaven? And when a sacrifice has been accepted, it means that sin has been forgiven!

Jesus died once & for all… means Jesus cannot die for sin ever again, coz there is no more sin to forgive! He took it all… ALL!

And in Romans 8:1, it says that “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” ‘Is’ is a present tense… & ‘now’ confirms it! Thus, although the Holy Spirit does convict us of sin to lead us to repentance, not condemn us of sin! God has already forgiven our sin, how can we condemn ourselves, or continue feeling condemned! What testimony would it be? To our fellow believers & especially those who have yet to believe? That we don’t believe in Jesus’ forgiveness of sin?

I recall listening to a song by Steven Curtis Chapman & one part of the lyrics state, “We are free… for we have been forgiven. God’s love has broken every chain & given us these wings…” It’s just so true, isn’t it?

And the lyrics of ‘bridge’ in the song continue, “If the Son has set you free… Oh, if the Son has set you free… then you are free… really really free!”

I also recall reading a Christian book, where the author described some of us Christians who still continue to stay caged-up within our prison cell, even though Jesus has already broken the chains, opened the door & is standing right before us!

You see, the problem that we face so much guilt & condemnation is because Satan knows that as long as he manages to keep us from recognizing ourselves as the righteousness in Christ, we would not know God & live victoriously in Him! Let's remember that!

Ahhh… There’s so much revelation that I discovered tonight that I just can’t contain it! Praise God again & again! Amen! =)