Tag: bible-study

A Call to Repentance

The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. And saying, Repent you for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:1,2).

John the Baptist came on the scene just prior to the coming of our Lord and His earthly ministry. He was calling Israel to repentance in anticipation of the Messiah’s arrival. Multitudes came to the Jordan River to see and hear what John was preaching, including the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was calling them to examine themselves to determine if they were truly following the Lord.

The Kingdom of Heaven was being offered to Israel and this call to repentance was the way of separating those that believed in a national salvation, or a works based salvation, from those who realized the need for individual repentance and true faith in the coming Redeemer. Those that came were baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins.

There were two groups of people that came to John as he preached his message of repentance. There were those that realized their need for repentance and truly sought the Lord and His way, and those that were self-righteousness. The Pharisees and the Sadducees fell into the latter group. John called both groups to bring forth evidence that they understand what the Lord required, which was repentance and faith. As evidenced by our Lord’s ministry, and the opposition by the religious leadership that He experienced, the latter group never brought forth the proper repentance.

Israel, due to unbelief, was destroyed. They had the ministry of John the Baptist followed by the arrival of the Lord Jesus and His incredible ministry of some three and a half years. They had no excuse. Judgment came in AD 70 when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were dispersed throughout the known world of the time.

This is a lesson for our world of today, and a warning for the church of our day. The King is coming. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The Lord is calling all those alive today to repentance. The question is, which group will each of us fall into. Will we realize our need for repentance and come to the Lord repenting and placing our faith in the Lord’s gracious provision of Salvation, Christ and Him crucified, or will we walk out our life in self-righteousness having our faith in something other than Christ and His sacrificial death on the Cross.

Faith in our own ability to be pleasing and accepted by the Lord, or faith in our religious practices, or in a belief that because we were born into a particular denomination we are in the Kingdom, will not lead to the Salvation that must be our chief desire. These practices and beliefs can only lead to self-righteousness, just like the religious leaders of John the Baptist’s time; there are both true followers of the Lord and apostates in our churches today.

At the Lord’s coming, He will separate the wheat from the tares as the Lord told us in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares. In the church as a whole today, there are those that belong to the Lord (wheat), as well as those that follow a false way (tares). He asks us all to decide today whether we realize our great need and will come in repentance, or will we stand in our own righteousness awaiting the judgment that will come on all those who refuse the Lord and have gone the way of perdition. We must remember what happened to Israel in rejecting their Messiah. Our faith must be placed in Christ and His sacrificial death on the Cross, daily.  The reward for walking with the Lord is great; the punishment for rejecting the Lord is eternal.

“He (Jesus) came to His own (Israel), and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God” (John 1:11,12).

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2026

 

Beware of Dogs

Those Opposed to the Gospel of Grace

“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision (Circumcision). For we are the Circumcision (of the heart), which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Jesus Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:2,3).

In the above verses, the Apostle Paul was warning the Galatians against the teachings of the Judaizers who came from Jerusalem and who professed Christ but insisted that the Law must be kept as well. They wanted Believers to be circumcised as a requirement to follow Christ. This was diametrically opposed to Paul’s Gospel of Grace. Circumcision itself was not the issue, but holding it up as necessary for Salvation was. Adding anything to faith in Christ and Him Crucified alone is a false Gospel and an insult to all Christ accomplished at Calvary.

Our Righteousness is an imputed Righteousness totally given to us by the Lord as we exhibit faith in Christ. Our Lord paid the sin debt owed to God by mankind. He defeated sin and we have victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil. It comes to us strictly by faith in His sacrificial death.

“And being found in Him (in Christ), not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

We are to walk out our lives as Christians by faith. As has been said, the way we came in is the way we stay in. The way we came in was by faith and our daily walk is to be in the same way. Our sanctification is brought about by placing our faith in Christ Crucified and the Holy Spirit works in our lives to give us victory.

The Bible does not teach sinless perfection but a life walked out by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, pursuing that for which the Lord has called us, which is Christlikeness. The Apostle Paul says the following regarding his walk of faith in this life:

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after if that I may apprehend (he is seeking Christlikeness) that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God (Christlikeness) in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12,14).

We see, in our introductory verse, the Apostle Paul labeling these Judaizers in a most insulting way. He referred to them as “dogs.” The reason for this was because these individuals, whoever they might have been, were preaching a false gospel that would result in those who believed it apostatizing. In other words, they would be in great danger of having left the true Gospel. This was very serious as should be obvious. Paul referred to these individuals as dogs because their teachings would shipwreck all those who went their way.

Faith in circumcision in our introductory verse is representative of faith in anything outside of Christ.  Anything, and I mean anything, we place our faith in outside of the finished work of Christ will result in failure. We are in danger of shipwrecking our faith if we go this way. There are those today who have placed their faith in Christ for Salvation, but attempt to have victory in their lives by their own efforts. This is attempting to be sanctified by our works and will result in failure. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised (have faith in anything other than Christ), Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify unto every man who is circumcised, that He is a debtor to do the whole Law (impossible.). Christ has become of no effect unto you (a stern warning, whosoever of you are justified by Law (any law); you are fallen from Grace (to apostatize).  (Galatians 5:2-4 commentary mine).

Prayer Changes Things

The Lord wants us to come to Him with all our needs. Prayer requests can be left on the comments page of this website.

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the Righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers…” (1 Peter 3:12).

The Lord hears our prayers and is faithful to answer.

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

Find podcasts of this article, and all the articles on this website on the “Here I Am Lord” podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic. Also, Here I Am, Lord is on Telegram.

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024