Program 127: Hid with Christ in Yahuwah

With the merits of Christ’s blood, believers stand before Yahuwah as though they had never sinned.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Greetings! Hello! Welcome to WLC Radio. I’m your host, Miles Robey.

Dave Wright: And I’m Dave Wright. Thanks for listening!

Miles: Lately, we’ve been talking about the gifts the Father has provided to transform souls from sinners deeply sunken in sin, to saints, perfectly reflecting the divine image, ready to live with Him in His eternal kingdom on the earth made new.

There’s the gift of forgiveness. We all know about that. There’s also the gift of obedience. Again, a gift. But today, I want to talk about an experience. It’s mentioned in Colossians, chapter 3, verse 3. It says: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in Yah.”

“Hid with Christ in Yah.” That really intrigues me. We’re talking about an experience here and one I think every Christian wants to enjoy. But what does it mean? And how can you enjoy that experience?

Dave?

Dave: I’m thrilled to talk about this, Miles. You’re right: it’s an incredible experience and it’s the secret to being transformed into the divine image. This is the preparation Yahuwah has provided that takes us from being sinners, to living with Him forevermore in the earth made new.

When you hear the word, gospel, what do you think of?

Miles: Well, forgiveness. “For Yah so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Dave: I think that’s what most of us think of: forgiveness. But salvation is so much more than that. It’s transformation! It is being “one” with Yah; being so closely aligned with Him, that His goals are your goals. His motivations are your motivations. His likes are your likes and you desire what He desires.

Obviously, we’re never going to be able to somehow generate within ourselves that level of holiness, or “agreement with Yah.”

Miles: It’s got to be a gift!

Dave: It is, and that gift is the experience of living hidden with Yahushua in Yah. Let’s go back to Colossians and read that verse in context but let’s start in the previous chapter. Colossians 2. Start at, uh … verse 6 and read from there.

Miles: All right. It says, quote: “As ye have therefore received Christ Yahushua the Lord, so walk ye in him—"

Dave: When you first gave your heart to Yahuwah, how did you “receive” Christ?

Miles: By faith.

Dave: Exactly. So what Paul is saying is that the very same faith that began your Christian walk is the very same thing that is to maintain you in your Christian walk.

Miles: Oh, that’s so hard to accept, isn’t it? I mean, we accept him by faith at the first, but then we get this idea that our self-denial, an austere life-style, our “blood, sweat and tears” is what maintains our Christian walk.

Dave: But it’s not. And what Paul is saying here is that anything other than faith alone will always result in failure. Just as faith began our walk, faith is to sustain our Christian walk.

Okay. Next verse.

Miles: “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” [Colossians 2:7]

Dave: When our spiritual experience is rooted and grounded on faith in the promises of Yah, we will have an abundant experience. We’ll be “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Next verse?

Miles:

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. [Colossians 2:8-11]

Dave: In Yahushua dwells all the fulness of Yahuwah: His pure character, His strength and patient endurance in the face of hatred and recrimination, His loving-kindness, His resistance to evil … it’s all there in Christ, and it’s available to every sinner by faith.

Now this next part is very important. It explains how it’s done and is the foundation for the verse you read in Colossians 3. Go ahead. Colossians 2, verses 12 to 15.

Miles:

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Dave: This is not, as many Christians assume, teaching that the law of Yah was nailed to the cross. On the contrary. In Romans 7, Paul himself says that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” [Romans 7:12]

What was nailed to the cross was our record of sins. Do you remember what the soldiers nailed above the head of Yahushua at his crucifixion?

Miles: Uh, yeah. In three different languages, it said “Yahushua, king of the Jews.”

Dave: That’s what they did back then. They would write out the list of crimes of the accused and nail it up there for all to see. Now, don’t lose your place there in Colossians, but go to 2 Corinthians 5 and read verse 21.

Miles: “For He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of Yahuwah in him.”

Dave: Yahushua was made “to be sin for us.” He was nailed to the cross as a criminal worthy of death. In that, he bore the record of our sins to the cross. That is what was nailed to the cross and it is that which allows his blood to cover the record of our sins.

Miles: It’s a very legal transaction.

Dave: It really is. So then, by faith, we die with Christ. We accept his death on our behalf by faith. Yahuwah has already accepted Christ’s death on our behalf. That’s why He offered His son to us in the first place! Now, it’s up to us whether or not we wish to accept his death on our behalf.

Baptism is a symbol of death. When we are “buried” beneath the waters of baptism, it is a symbolic death.

Miles: Actually, give me just a second …

I think there’s a Bible verse that says that same thing. Hold on …

Here we go. It’s Romans 6. Starting at verse 1, it says:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Yah forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahushua Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [Romans 6:1-4]

Dave: Yes! This, right here, is describing the transaction of grace. By faith, we die with Yahushua. We accept his death on our behalf. Then, just as he was raised to life again, we are raised to “walk in newness of life” in which we, like Christ, obey … by faith. We live in agreement with Yah … by faith.

Sorry. This is just such a great passage. Keep going.

Miles: No, that’s fine. Uh … verse 5:

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto Yah.

Dave: Thank you for reading that. This is what it means to die with Christ, and to live with him. Let’s go back now to Colossians 3, verses 1 to 4.

Miles:

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of Yahuwah.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in Yah.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Dave: When, by faith, we accept Yahushua’s death on our behalf, his resurrection becomes ours by faith, as well. This is what it means to be hid with Christ in Yah.

When our lives are hid with Christ in Yah, it’s more than just his death that is ours, but his life as well. His obedience is ours by faith, too.

Miles: Obedience is important. You can’t just say it was “nailed to the cross,” because as you pointed out, what was nailed to the cross, was NOT the law of Yah, but our offenses against the law of Yah—the record of the times we’ve broken it.

Dave: That’s right. Would you pull up Revelation 22 verse 14 now? This is the last chapter of the last book of the Bible. This was written decades after Yahushua’s death, resurrection, and triumphant ascension into Heaven. And what does it say?

Miles: “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

Dave: Obedience to the commandments of Yahuwah is the prerequisite for entrance into the New Jerusalem. Don’t believe otherwise. Christ himself was obedient to the divine law.

Let’s take a quick look at Hebrews, chapter 5. Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9. This is New Testament obedience we’re talking about here.

You have it? Go ahead.

Miles: “Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

Dave: Isn’t that interesting? Yahushua became the “author of eternal salvation to all who” … what? Cling by faith to the belief that they no longer have to obey?

Miles: No.

Dave: Cling by faith to the belief that the law was nailed to the cross?

Miles: No.

Dave: No. He became the author of eternal salvation to all who … obey Him.

Satan knows the conditions for both eternal life and eternal death have never changed: obey and live; disobey and die. He’s responsible for the confusion over the issue of the divine law.

On the one hand, you’ve got many devoted Christians who believe that, in this life, they must be sinless in order to be saved. Because they sincerely want to honor Yah and do what is right, it’s very easy for this class of Christian to become bogged down in a quagmire of works.

Miles: Sure! Yahuwah’s holy—and they know they’re not—so of course if they love Him, they’re going to focus on trying to bring their lives into conformity with what they think His will is.

Dave: Yes. But instead of doing it by faith—which is the only acceptable way to please Yah—they focus on ever more self-denying efforts to be holy. It almost becomes holiness by self-denial. I actually knew someone who felt that laughing too much was wrong.

Miles: What? Why?

Dave: Well, the reasoning was that because we’re living in solemn times, anything that is light and laughing is trifling and a denial of the solemn times in which we’re living.

Miles laughs: Good grief!

Dave: Well, it’s sad. Going around with long faces is not how we make ourselves holy, and it’s certainly not a good reflection of the joy and peace Yahuwah brings to every heart that accepts Him.

Miles: Very true. We’ll take a quick break and be right back.

* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: You were just talking about a group of Christians who, though devout and sincere, equate holy living with very austere, self-denying lifestyles. But there’s another group that falls into the … the ditch on the other side, so to speak. If truth is the straight and narrow road that leads to the eternal city, Satan doesn’t mind if we fall into the ditch on the right hand or the left, just so long as we’re off the straight and narrow.

Dave: That’s a good way to put it. Yes, the second group of Christians, certainly sincere as well, but they go to the other extreme.

They see clearly the impossibility of any fallen human being sinless. Therefore, since it’s obviously impossible, they insist that Yahuwah no longer requires obedience.

Miles: The good old “the-law-was-nailed-to-the-cross” deception.

Dave: Right. If it’s impossible, just say that it’s not necessary. But both groups are in error. Turn to Revelation 14. John was shown those who overcome and he gives a beautiful description of them. Let’s start with verses, uh … 3 to 5.

Miles:

And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto Yahuwah and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of Yah.

Dave: Isn’t this an interesting description? This special group of the redeemed is described as “virgins.” Now, we’re using symbols here, so it’s not saying you have to be a physical virgin. Instead, it’s saying they’re spiritual virgins. In Scripture, a pure church is described as a virgin and the “bride” of Christ. A harlot, or whore, is an impure church that teaches error.

The redeemed are virgins because they have a pure faith.

Read Revelation 14, verse 12. What does that say?

Miles: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Yah, and the faith of Yahushua.”

Dave: Here are they that keep the commandments of Yah and the faith of Yahushua. You can’t have one without the other. In fact, although it is true that obedience is required, it’s just as true that no one with a fallen nature can actually obey. This is where the faith of Yahushua comes in.

Turn back to Revelation 3 and while you do that, I’m going to read Romans 12, verse 3. Notice what it says about faith:

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as Yahuwah hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Quiz time: what did it say about faith?

Miles: That Yah has given everyone the gift of faith.

Dave: “The measure” of faith, yes. All right, you’ve got Revelation 3? Let’s read now what Yahushua says to the Laodiceans. Start at verse 14.

Miles:

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of Yah;

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [Revelation 3:14-18]

Dave: Yahushua urges us to go to him for the eye slave of spiritual discernment, the white robe of his righteousness … and—what was the third thing?

Miles: Gold, tried in the fire.

Dave: This is a symbol of Yahushua’s faith. Only his faith has been purified in the fires of affliction to that degree. Yes, we’ve all been given a measure of faith. And that faith is sufficient to believe that if we’ll go to Yah and ask for the gold of Yahushua’s faith, it will be given to us.

This is a vitally important point because it is only by faith that we can live with Christ in Yah. The only way anyone can hope to be accounted obedient to the divine law and a law-keeper is … by faith. That’s it. So forever put out of your mind that it has to do with not laughing, or being solemn, or living a more self-denying life than everyone else you know.

Miles chuckles: We do tend to do that, don’t we? Just as soon as we get our eyes off of Christ and onto ourselves, we start making comparisons.

Dave: Well, it’s ridiculous. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if your life is 97% righteous or only 3% righteous. Whether you need the righteousness of Yahushua applied to 3% of your life, or 97%, without it you’re just as lost either way. We all need a Saviour, and the only way we can be saved is to exercise the faith given us, ask for the gold of Christ’s faith tried in the fire, and accept it. Again, by faith.

Miles: This is so true. There’s no room for comparisons or boasting when you realize that, regardless of how “good” you are, you’re still lost without the Saviour.

Let’s go back to being hid with Christ in Yah. Could you explain more what that means?

Dave: To be hid with Christ in Yah means to be so fully submerged by faith in the atoning sacrifice, that our sins are covered by Yahushua’s righteousness. And understand that this isn’t just for sins past. It’s also for those sins and imperfections and failings that are the natural result of having a fallen nature.

Miles: And we all have a fallen nature!

Dave: All who have hidden themselves with Christ in Yah will, at Yahushua’s return, be gifted with a higher nature. As with every other thing we need, Yahuwah will provide the lack. At Yahushua’s return, Yahuwah will give us new bodies and a new, higher nature. Then, and only then, will we live completely sinless lives.

Paul describes this wonderful moment in 1 Corinthians 15. Would you turn there please and read verses 50 to 53. That’s 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 50 to 53.

Miles: All right. It says:

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Yah; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Dave: What a promise to look forward to! Let’s look at how this worked in the life of David. What comes to mind when you think of him?

Miles: Uhhh … Goliath.

Um. Shepherd boy and king. A man after Yah’s own heart.

Dave: Yes, he was. He was also a polygamist, a liar, an adulterer, and a murderer.

Miles: That’s true. We tend to overlook those things, don’t we?

Dave: And yet, despite David’s many failings, Scripture says he was a man after Yah’s own heart. And do you know why?

Miles: He repented?

Dave: Yes. And, because he loved the law of Yah. We forget that the law of Yahuwah isn’t some big list of dos-and-don’ts. It’s a transcript of His character! And what does John say Yah’s character is? 1 John 4, verse 8 says: “He that loveth not knoweth not Yah; for Yah is …?”

Miles: Love.

Dave: David knew this. He wrote Psalm 119 which is one long song about the beauties of the law of Yah. Here: read Psalm 119, verse 97.

Miles: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”

Dave: How many people today hold such an exalted view of Yah’s law?

Miles: Not many. We don’t tend to equate it with His love.

Dave: No, but David did. If you want to be a person after Yah’s own heart, delighting in His law (His character), you need to spend time in His word. It’s that simple and it’s a choice.

Miles: And if we want to be like Yahuwah, why wouldn’t we spend time in His word, meditating upon His law? Listen to this. It’s Psalm 19, verse 7. It says: “The law of Yahuwah is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of Yahuwah is sure, making wise the simple.”

Dave: When you choose to spend time in Yah’s word, His spirit transforms you. Your Creator becomes your re-Creator.

Miles: I know we quote it a lot, but Ezekiel 36, 25 to 27 says it so well. Let me read it again. Yahuwah is speaking here and He says, quote:

“I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Dave: The more time you spend in Yah’s word and in contemplation of His character, the more you’ll see to admire and love. It’s as simple as that. And, when you reach the point of desiring nothing more than to be at oneness with Him, He accepts this as your highest effort.

We all have sins and failings because we all have a fallen nature, but when our deepest yearning is to be one with Yah, these failings will simply be that: failings. Not open rebellion. They won’t be counted against you.

The perfect life of Yahushua is then credited to your account. Paul described this in his letter to the Romans. Would you read Romans 4, verses 5 to 8, please?

Miles:

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom Yah imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahuwah will not impute sin.

Dave: This is huge! Yahushua’s blood covers our sins. But what’s more, his perfection covers our imperfection. His perfect obedience to the law and will of Yahuwah covers our mistakes and failings so that Yahuwah views us as perfectly keeping His commandments.

Miles: Even though, this side of glorification, we’ll continue to have some point or another where we fail due to our fallen natures.

Dave: That’s correct. Yahushua’s obedience is credited to our account. We are considered obedient, compliant … by faith. It’s this incredible gift that allows our names to be retained in the Lamb’s book of life.

It’s Yahushua’s perfect obedience credited to our account, it’s being hid with Christ in Yah, totally submerged in Christ’s righteousness that gives us the right to enter into the New Jerusalem and have a right to the tree of life.

Miles: Truly, our salvation is entirely due to Yah’s grace and His love so freely given.

Stay tuned, folks. Up next is our Daily Mailbag!

* * *

You are listening to World's Last Chance Radio.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Time for a question from our Daily Mailbag! Chanchai from Lampang, Thailand has a question for us.

Dave: Thailand’s one place I’d really like to visit someday.

Miles: Yeah? Why’s that?

Dave: Well, it’s beautiful for one thing: the country, the culture. Did you know that both the world’s smallest mammal and the world’s largest fish are found in Thailand?

Miles laughs: No, I didn’t know that. What’s the world’s smallest mammal? Some kind of monkey or something?

Dave: No, it’s actually a bat. The bumblebee bat.

Miles: Wow! You can tell by just the name how tiny that’s got to be. That would be fun to see.

Okay. Anyway. Chanchai writes: “I am really struggling to know how to deal with a moral dilemma at work. I don’t know how to resolve it. Any advice?”

Wow. That’s not going to be easy to answer. I mean, he didn’t give you any particulars at all.

Dave: Actually, he’s asking how to solve a moral dilemma. Not just that particular moral dilemma.

Miles: And?

Dave: Well, it’s a good question because we all, at some point or another, are faced with a moral dilemma and it’s not always easy to know what to do when you focus solely on the morals.

Miles: What do you mean? As Christians, we should be the most moral people on earth!

Dave: Maybe. You’ve still got your old dictionary there. Look up “morals” and see what it says.

Miles: All right. I don’t know where you’re going with this, but you’ve got me curious.

Let’s see … Okay. Morals. It says, quote: “Conduct; behavior; course of life in regard to good and evil.” Unquote.

Dave: All right. And “morality” is defined as: “The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.” It’s “a system or collection of ideas of right and wrong conduct.”

Miles: I’m still not seeing any contradiction. Christians should have high morals.

Dave: The problem is that morals are influenced by our cultures. You and I are in a unique position to see this. WLC is a world-wide ministry. We broadcast in, what are we up to now? Eight different languages?

Miles: Nine.

Dave: All right. Nine. Morals … vary … by culture.

Miles: Can you give me an example? I mean, right’s right, and wrong’s wrong. Right?

Dave: It depends on whether you’re speaking of morals or principles. Let’s take, for example, something that applies broadly all over the world. Anyone can see this.

Political corruption. You’re going to find that anywhere. But here’s what’s interesting. The countries in the world that are the poorest, the ones where politicians take what they can get and share with their cronies, have a different set of … morals … than most of the world’s wealthier countries.

Miles: Mmm … I don’t know about that. How can you blame an entire country for a handful of corrupt officials at the top?

Dave: I’m not blaming the individuals. I’m blaming the morals that grow out of those countries’ cultures.

Miles: What do you mean?

Dave: I’m speaking in generalizations here, but if you go around the world and you look at poorer countries you’ll find cultures where there is a lot of corruption in the government at every level, you will find a culture that embraces political favoritism. Everyone is out for all they can get, and they’ll help their buddies and their buddies’ buddies wherever and whenever they can, regardless of whether or not it is technically illegal to do so.

There was actually an informal study done on this. In such countries, if a group of friends is out together and, let’s say they’re drunk: they’ve been drinking. So, they have a minor car accident. Nothing really big. No one’s hurt, but damage is done to another car.

What they found was that the group of friends would band together to protect the one at fault. They’d go off, and leave the car owner to discover the damage. They wouldn’t leave contact information; they wouldn’t seek to hold the bloke who caused the accident accountable. They’d just run off, glad they hadn’t been caught. They certainly would not report it to the police.

For the most part, this is not how such situations are handled in the world’s wealthier countries.

Miles: How so?

Dave: Well, in the world’s wealthier countries, if a person accidentally damages another person’s car and the owner isn’t around, it is expected that he or she will try to contact the owner of the damaged car. If nothing else, at least leave a note with contact information.

Miles: Well, you could say that’s because they can afford to do so. They’re a wealthier country.

Dave: My contention is that they’re a wealthier country because the morals of that country demand honesty in such situations. In some countries, those in power give “favors” to their friends and families. They take money and justice from those who need and deserve it and give it to their own friends and family because the morals of their culture say that’s the right thing to do.

The study found that in the world’s wealthier countries, broadly speaking, such actions are considered morally wrong. So, if a group of friends is out together and one accidentally causes damage to the private property of someone else, the cultural expectation is that the person at fault will make it right. In these countries, you’ve got siblings, even parents, turning their own family members who are guilty of breaking the law into law enforcement officials. Why? Because the morals of these countries say that the law and the rights of the innocent victim take precedence over social relationships.

Miles: Hmmm. That’s interesting.

Dave: My point is, morals are dependent on cultural conditioning. To solve a “moral dilemma,” then, you need to consider principles. A principle is a comprehensive or fundamental law. Biblical principles transcend cultural differences.

Miles: Would you say that again please?

Dave: Biblical principles transcend cultural differences.

So, let’s take a look at Biblical principles. There aren’t very many, but every moral dilemma or problem can find a solution when you look at the Biblical principles that are to govern our lives.

Turn to Matthew 22. Here, the Pharisees asked Yahushua, What is the greatest commandment in the law? Read his answer: verses 37 to 40.

Miles:

Yahushua said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Dave: Love Yahuwah with all our heart, mind, and soul and our neighbors as ourselves. That is the foundational principle for every interaction and that is applicable regardless of what culture you come from.

Now, turn to Micah, chapter 6 and read verse 8. What does that say?

Miles:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does Yahuwah require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Dave: We are to let justice shape all our acts. We are to love mercy, and we are to walk humbly with our Creator. These are the principles that transcend cultural conditioning and that will resolve any moral dilemma we face.

Miles: Huh. I never really thought about it that way, but that really makes sense.

All right. One more quick question. Or, at least, you don’t have very long to answer this one. Silvia from Veracruz, Mexico asks: “What is the difference between justification, sanctification, and glorification?”

Dave: Well, they’re all three a gift. Justification occurs the instant the repentant sinner reaches out the hand of faith and grasps the promise of forgiveness. In that instant, his sins are forgiven. The blood of Yahushua covers his sinful record and he stands before Yah as though he had never sinned.

Miles: And sanctification?

Dave: Sanctification is both instantaneous and a process. It is also a free gift of grace and it’s available to anyone who will simply accept it by faith.

Miles: How does it differ from justification?

Dave: Justification is the blood of Christ to forgive sins. Sanctification is the merits of his sinless life applied to the believer. So, not only does he stand before Yah as though he’d never sinned—

Miles: That’s justification.

Dave: He also stands before Yah as though his entire life had been spent in doing the will of Yahuwah, just as Christ’s was. When the Father looks at you, He sees a life that reflects the divine will and divine character, because you are credited with the righteousness of Christ.

Miles: How is that also a process?

Dave: It’s a process as well because when the believer is fully surrendered and has accepted these gifts by faith, then the promise of Ezekiel 36 is fulfilled. It’s what you quoted just a little bit ago: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” [Ezekiel 36:26-27]

Unquote. The thing to remember, though, is that this process is the fruit of having already been justified and sanctified by faith. It’s not the prerequisite.

Miles: So, then what’s glorification?

Dave: Glorification is also a gift. We talked about it earlier. It occurs at the return of Yahushua. There will be believers still living on the earth at that time. Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 and 52. Would you read that please?

Miles: It says … “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Dave: Glorification gives the living saints two things: glorified, immortal bodies; and, a higher nature so they’ll never sin again.

Miles: And they’re all gifts of grace.

Dave: Absolutely.

Miles: That’s all we’ve time for but keep sending us your questions, comments, and prayer requests. Go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact Us. We always enjoy hearing from you.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Elise O’Brien with today’s Daily Promise.

Romans 8 verse 28 has long been a favorite promise of mine. Whenever I find myself in a situation where it feels like my life is crumbling down around my ears, I think of Romans 8:28. It says, quote: “We know that all things work together for good to them that love Yahuwah, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

This is certainly what happened on a day Carlos Rodriguez wasn’t supposed to be home, but providentially, he was. Carlos had taken the week off work because he had family visiting. Otherwise, he would never have been home at that time of day. But Yah, who knows the future, knew just where Carlos needed to be that day … and it wasn’t at work.

The peace of the quiet day was suddenly shattered when a woman who lived several houses down from Carlos came running up the street, screaming. She dashed past several houses, straight to Carlos’ house. When he opened the door, he saw a sight that would haunt him for months: she was holding a lifeless baby in her arms.

He quickly took the baby into his house. The child was limp and blue. Carlos couldn’t find a pulse. While the mother sobbed, Carlos began CPR, praying the whole time. Now, Carlos had never taken a class in CPR. However, when his first child was born, he wanted to learn. So, he taught himself by watching YouTube videos demonstrating how CPR was done.

Apparently, the mother had left her 13-month old baby in the tub for just a moment, but when she returned, the child was floating in the water, not breathing. After seemingly endless moments, the baby started to breathe. Shortly after that, Emergency Medical Technicians showed up. They examined the baby and reassured the frantic mother that he was all right, adding that Carlos had undoubtedly saved the child’s life.

Looking up from where he’d knelt, breathing life into the child, Carlos realized that he had been performing CPR under a picture of Yahushua. In recalling the incident, Carlos says, quote: “God definitely had a big part in this. Later I asked [the mother], ‘Why did you come to my house?’ and she said that God guided her here.”

Psalm 136, verses 1 to 3 urges:

Oh, give thanks to Yahuwah, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:

No matter what situation you find yourself in, no matter what emergency has taken you by surprise, know that Yahuwah is working all things out for your good. Even in the midst of trouble, you can, by faith, praise Him “For His mercy endures forever.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: I’ve really enjoyed today’s discussion, Dave. I think I can speak for a lot of Christians when I say that I’ve been afraid of the end because I knew, down deep, that I wasn’t ready to walk right into Yah’s kingdom, and I knew that I would never be able to get myself ready.

Dave: And the older we get, the more that realization sinks in.

Miles: It really does! If I’m still sinning after 20 years, after 30 years, after 40 years … at what point am I ever going to reach the point where I can say, “There! Now I’m perfectly reflecting the divine character”?

Dave: Well, you’re never going to reach that. Neither am I. None of us can and that’s where even the sincerest Christians can make a mistake. Yes, it’s true that in order to be granted access to the tree of life and entrance into the holy city, we need to obey Yah’s commandments. But it’s also true that, in our fallen nature, we never can.

The beauty of being hid with Christ in Yah is that everything we need, from forgiveness and justification, to sanctification and obedience, all is available as a free gift to everyone who will simply accept it by faith.

Miles: And that’s what we need.

Dave: You’re right, Miles. The hardest battles in the days ahead, the most upsetting delusions we’ll have to face are spiritual, not physical.

If you’ve gone through life relying on the merits of Yahushua’s blood to forgive sins past, but your own self-denial, your own strict lifestyle to get you ready for life in Yah’s kingdom, you’re going to be very vulnerable when Satan comes at you and presses down on you the realization of just how sinful you are. The only hope for any of us, now and then, is the merits of Yahushua’s blood and his sinless life.

Miles: That’s true. I like the vision recorded in Zechariah 3. This gives us a lot of hope. Listen while I read this. It’s Zechariah 3, verses 1 and 2. It says, quote:

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahuwah, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

And Yah said unto Satan, Yahuwah rebuke thee, O Satan; even Yahuwah that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Dave: We’re all brands plucked from the fire, aren’t we?

Miles: We are! And what’s interesting is that Joshua the high priest doesn’t say anything. He can’t! He knows he’s sinful. The next verse says: “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” Unquote.

Again, Joshua doesn’t answer back to Satan because he knows he can’t. He knows he’s sinful. These are the rags of his self-righteousness. He stands silent in the face of Satan’s accusations because he knows they’re true.

Dave: Yes, but look at the next verse.

Miles: Yeah, that’s where I was headed. Go ahead and read it.

Dave: Okay, this is Yahuwah speaking now. He says, quote: “And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him [Joshua] He said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.”

Miles: It’s a gift! These are the robes of Christ’s righteousness that clothe Joshua. And that’s the thought I kept having listening to you during today’s program.

In the days ahead when Satan comes to us and presses down on us the sense of our own sinfulness, there’s nothing we can say to reject those accusations because they’re true! All we can do is accept the accusations, acknowledge them as true, and say, “Yes, but Yahuwah loved me so much that He gave His only begotten son that I, believing on him, should not perish but have everlasting life. By faith, I have died with Christ. Therefore, his righteousness is mine and I am accepted in the beloved.”

That’s what we’ve got to cling to in the days ahead. It’s not “our” righteousness. We haven’t any. It’s Christ’s, first and last and always. And it’s Yah’s love that has made it all available as a free gift to anyone who will accept it.

Dave: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yahuwah is eternal life through Yahushua. It’s a gift. You don’t pay for gifts. You simply accept them with gratitude. Yah’s gifts are all-encompassing. They cover forgiveness and everything needed for restoration to the divine image. All we have to do is accept them.

Miles: And when we do, Yahuwah will get us into His kingdom. That’s His work. He’s our Creator; He’s also our re-Creator.

I want to close with Isaiah 44, verses 2 to 4. This is a promise, folks. This is what your Creator will do to re-create you in His image. It says, quote:

Thus saith Yahuwah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

Unquote. Accept Yah’s gifts. He will get you ready for living with Him in His eternal kingdom.

Join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.