(upbeat music) - Welcome to Relevance for Today, a show where you will be encouraged, inspired, and fed through the Word of God. You will find relevant teachings, tips, discussions, interviews, and more for both believers and even non-believers who are considering salvation through Jesus Christ. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. (upbeat music) Hey folks, thanks for tuning in to another episode of Relevance for Today. I'm glad you're tuning in to this important episode. As we get closer to episode 200, we are getting up there. For those of you watching TV, thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to share with your friends and family and a stranger. And those of you who are listening, it's good to have you listening. Thank you for all those who've been faithfully listening over the last three years and real exciting times. So today I wanna share with you something amazing. And this is some amazing Bible verses that I wanna share with you. And to tell you who you are as a believer and to remind you of who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ. And so this one's gonna be entitled The Identity of the Believer. Yes. So first of all, a believer is defined as in the New Testament, the word believer is used for a person who is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and the author of salvation. Praise God, amen. And of course, the Greek word usually translated believer or believing carries the idea of faithfulness and loyalty. A believer is one who faithfully trusts in Jesus Christ. So today I'm gonna be using one of my books here called God's Answers for You. And it came from Project Care, Northern Ohio Evangelism and Home Missions. And it's a great little leather-bound book, lots of good nuggets in it. And I was browsing through it the other day and I came across some things that I really wanted to share and I thought, you know what? Need to start using these. And so we're gonna be going through a lot of scripture today and I'll be putting it up on the screen. For those of you who are watching this show, so you can follow along, take notes and, but this is important. It's really important that we know who we are. And of course, this episode is to encourage those of you who are believers and followers of Jesus Christ as well as those who are considering salvation through Jesus Christ. So let's get started. I wanna say one more thing before I start and that's this. And I just posted a meme on Facebook and Instagram and pretty much it said, don't let the behaviors of people don't let the behaviors of others stop you from coming to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Those are humans, Jesus is the Savior. So don't forget that folks. We're in a time where it's so easy to look at someone and judge who they are to decide if we wanna go forth in whatever group they're in, but this is an eternity group. This is eternity, a life of eternal life. That's what it is. An eternal life with Jesus Christ. It starts when you ask Jesus Christ into your life as your Savior and Lord, and it continues on. Once you ask Jesus Christ into your life, repent of your sins, turn away from your old ways. Go to your new ways, the new man's born. Boom, it's a new generation. It's a new step in time, it's eternity. You're stepping to eternity on that point. So here we go. And I'm gonna start them off with the believer is. So that's what the title was in the book. The believer is, then it gave you a bunch of verses. And I'll be sharing the verses, but also talking to you as well. But the first one is, the believer is forgiven. And I want you to remember these things that I'm sharing today, 'cause it's really important that you remind yourself and that you remember who you are in Christ daily, because the world will not. And when I say the world, I'm talking about non-believers and sadly even some believers. You will not be reminded of who you are by the way people treat you. So you have to know in your heart, in your spirit, man, who you are, it makes sense. So the believer is forgiven. Ephesians one, five through eight says, God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, amen. This is what he wanted to do. And it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with a blood of his son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us along with all wisdom and understanding. Man, that's powerful. And you know, when I was preparing my show notes for this episode, I was also listening to Jensen Franklin preaching and then they had a worship time and they were singing some songs that just I went into a worship mode. And as I'm reading through these verses and preparing everything, my heart just overflowed with love and thankfulness. And it just puts you in a place of remembering who you are and what Jesus Christ did, what God did for us through his son, Jesus Christ. It's just, you can't put into words. And so continuing on with Acts 10, 43, he is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name. Man, that's powerful. And of course, that is the believer is forgiven. So you know you're forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did for you and he did for me. And for those of you who don't have Jesus Christ in your life, consider these passages of scripture also considering talking to someone more about salvation. You can message me as well. And whatever it takes, whatever it takes. And that's what's important. And I'll read that verse again, Acts 10, 43. He is the one of all the prophets testified about saying that everyone who believes in him, Jesus Christ, will have their sins forgiven through his name. Man, even before we were born, he shed his life for us. Yes, yes, thank you Lord. Okay, and so the next one is the believer is justified. And of course, justified, I put the definition up here, is defined as declaring or made righteous in the sight of God. And I know there's a neat saying, some of you know it, and it's justified means just as if I had never sinned. And so the way I'll explain it too, it's like someone taking a chalkboard and writing down everything you've done, all the terrible things you've done in your life. And you know, God knows what they are, just like the same thing with me. You know, we all have regrets in which we didn't do certain things. We've heard people and we've still been forgiven for that. And so we have to make sure we also give out that same forgiveness as well. But in this case, think about everything you've done. Imagine writing it on chalkboards, going in a room that's surrounded by chalkboards and you take a piece of chalk and you write down every single thing you've done. Stealing, drugs, sex before marriage, all these different things, okay? And the list goes on, hurting people, lying, stealing, killing, whatever it may be. And all of a sudden, the Lord comes in and says, "Hey, I wanna show you what I did for you "over 2,000 years ago." And you're like, "What's that, Lord?" And he grabs a big eraser and he races all the mistakes you've made, all the sin, everything you've done to hurt others, everything. And then he says, now you see that board and the board's completely empty. And he says, "That's what my Heavenly Father sees." Because when you forgive others, he will forgive you. And the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. So that means if you ask Jesus Christ into your life, he comes to you as a speaker of the house saying, "Hey, that guy right there, Susie Lou, "she has given her life to me. "She's gonna live for me. "A race or sins, Heavenly Father. "A race or sins, Dad." You know what I mean? A race or sins, Father. The only way to God is through the Son. I almost messed that up. So keep that in mind. And so I went on a little bit of a rant there, but at the same time, the point was saying, just as if I'd never sinned. So being justified through Jesus Christ, God looks at you like you've never sinned before. And so here's the verses that go with that. So we've got Romans 3, 28. And I'm doing this out of two different translations that way you can get the meaning of both, get the nuggets. So the first one's out of the new King James. And that reads, "Therefore we conclude "that a man is justified by faith apart "from the deeds of the law." And then the new living translation says, "So we are made right with God through faith "and not by obeying the law." And that's really important. And then there's a couple more. Acts 13, 39, New King James Version reads, "And by him, everyone who believes is justified, "just as if they had never sinned, "from all things from which you could not be justified "by the law of Moses." And then the new living translation, in that same verse 39, "Everyone who believes in him is made right in God's sight, "something the law of Moses could never do." And for those of you who do not know, when I'm talking about, you know, when a passage reads about the law of Moses, it's talking about not only the Ten Commandments, but there's other laws. There are claimed to be 613 laws in the laws of Moses, and you can find out and read it. If you search online, just search for 613 laws of Moses, and there'll be a list of the different ones. And many of these laws are recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And there are so many laws and rules and regulations that man could not save himself. That's why he needed a savior. Because we all would fall to sin every single day based on the 613 laws. And so it's really important in the Old Testament. Those laws were important, but then Jesus Christ came. And of course, it's recorded in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That's where we read about Jesus and learn about Jesus and all the sacrifices that were made and how God loved the world so much that he gave. Sound good? Okay, continuing on, the believer is a new creature. So before you beat yourself up, remember in Jesus Christ, you are a new person, you're a new creature. You've been baptized, old ways out, new ways in, the ways of Jesus Christ. You know, it's like you've been put into a new body. Very important. And so the believer is a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation. Amen? Yes, the old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. So you're supposed to be a new creation. That means when people see you, they should be able to say, "I don't know what happened to you, man. I don't know what happened to you, woman." But I'm telling you right now, there's something different about you. Ever since you asked Jesus Christ into your life and all this stuff you're talking about, you've been a new person. You don't act the way you used to act. That's the way people want to see us. They should see a difference between the old Steve Lewis and they should see a difference between the old and the new. Makes sense? And so the believer is sanctified. And that's the next one. 1 Corinthians 1, 30, but it is due to him, okay? That you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Yes. And the new living translation has the same passage which says, God has united you with Christ Jesus for our benefit. God made to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God. He made us pure and holy. He freed us from sin. Amen. I'm gonna read that last part again. For our benefit, God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God. He made us pure and holy and He freed us from sin. Amen. So without Christ, we'd be nothing, powerful. So here we go. The next one, the believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Amen. Before I share these verses, I wanted you to remember the words of Apostle Peter. So in Acts 2, 38, Apostle Peter wrote, or now Luke was making the recording, but the Apostle Peter said these words. Peter said to them, "Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Godhead, right? You got Father, Son, Holy Spirit. When Jesus went to be with the Father, the Holy Spirit was given as a gift to man. After, like it says, like Peter said, after, you repent each of you to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So when you ask Jesus Christ into your life and repent of your sins, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit within you. That's how you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. So here are some verses about being sealed by the Holy Spirit. Here we go. Ephesians 1, 13. And I'm gonna do both the new living translation and I'm gonna do new King James. In him, you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And the new living translation, same passage reads, and now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the good news that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you with his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. Thank you, Lord. And Ephesians 4, 30 through 32 reads, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God and Christ also has forgiven you. Makes sense? So pretty much in that part right there, in that portion, the word of God gives you an example. And of course, this is the Apostle Paul writing to the churches in Ephesus. But what he's saying right there is, all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you along with all malice. We must be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God and Christ also has forgiven us. And as I mentioned before, if you don't forgive, God won't forgive you. That is a true statement that's really important. And so keep that in mind, stay focused on living a Christ-like life. Sound good? And I'm gonna get as far as I can on this. It might end up being a two-part series, but I'm gonna go as far as I can, but I'm taking my time and getting this word to you folks and these teachings to you folks, 'cause it's really important. And so the next one is, the believer is made the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so the definition of a temple can be defined as, a building devoted to the worship or regarding as the dwelling place of God or other objects of religious reverence, okay? So the temple is where God dwells with his people throughout the biblical story. So if the people of God are the temple, that means through these people that God reaches the world. And of course, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Our bodies are dwelling places for the Holy Spirit and we must live accordingly. So the verse I'm sharing today is 1 Corinthians 619, New American Standard, or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you? Whom you have from God and that you are not your own. And there's many passages and these are just some of the ones I'm sharing with you off of the outline out of the book that I have. And where it just gave the verses and things like that, but it was a good starter point because it's pretty much saying, hey, you, believer, remember who you are. Remember you're the Holy Spirit temple. Remember the Holy Spirit's within you. Remember you're forgiven. Remember you're sanctified. Remember you're held righteous. You're justified just as if you had never sinned. And so when you remember these things, even if you gave yourself a declaration where you just did these headliners, the believer is justified. The believer is saved. The believer is forgiven and so forth. You could change that to I am saved. I am forgiven. I am right standing with the Lord. I am justified. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. You could write these down and repeat these as a declaration every week, every day if you wanted to, just to remind yourself on those days when you feel beat up or you turn on the news by accident and you just have that feeling of hopelessness and despair. And I just don't know what I'm gonna do and you start feeling depressed. You need to remember these things. For me, it's pulling out that book. I mean, the books right here, I can just go through each one, made an air, given peace sealed by the Holy Spirit, sanctified, and the list goes on, delivered from condemnation. Given peace, hallelujah. You know, and just read through those and remember those. And so let's go ahead 'cause I'm getting on a rant, but it's a good rant. And so remember the temple of the Holy Spirit, that means you represent. That means is that something you would say? Is that something you would watch with the Holy Spirit? You know the old saying, would you watch this show if Jesus was sitting beside you? Would you listen to that music? Would Jesus sit beside you? Would you go to that place with Jesus? Well, you don't have to say that because the Holy Spirit is within you, part of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit dwelling within you when you ask Jesus Christ into your life. So that means he is with you, right? Same mindset, you have to stay focused. You have to remember who you are in Christ. You have to remember that when you're treating people, when you're talking to people, whatever it may be. Okay, the believer is delivered from condemnation. Romans eight, one through two. So Romans eight, one and two. I always do that. Romans eight, one through two. Romans eight, one and two says, therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. So Jesus walked into that courtroom. You just got charged with seven counts of murder. You got charged with stealing vehicles, burning down houses, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Jesus walks in and says, I'm taking his place. I'm taking his place, free him up, free him completely up and deliver him from condemnation. You're gonna clear his name. He's gonna be a new person in Christ and he's gonna represent me. And that's like the story I was sitting back. I was reading it, I forget what I was reading it in, but pretty much it was like Jesus walks in. You're you walking, you're sitting there in the courtroom. You are gonna be sentenced to life if not to death, okay? You're sentenced to death, you hurt people, you committed murder, there's no looking back. Jesus walks in, says your honor. Judge looks up and says, Jesus is that you? Yes it is, the judge says, you're gonna do it again, aren't you? You're gonna do it again. Jesus says, yes I am. I'm gonna take his condemnation away. I'm gonna take his sin away right now. I wanna take his place. Judge looks at you and says, hey, do you realize what he's about to do? He's about to take your place for the wrongs you've done. Do you understand that? You're sitting there and you look up and you just think to yourself, I don't know what to say. Do you ask Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord and savior? Yes, yes, I did. Well, part of that deal is he's gonna take your place for all the wrong you've done. So you stand up tears in your eyes, Jesus walks up to you, you embrace him and he looks at you and he doesn't just look at you but he looks at you, you ever looked at someone and then other times you really looked at them, we're talking eye contact where you can see deep into their soul. He looks at you deep into your soul man and he says to you, I didn't take your place for you to just sit around now and go do the same thing over and over again. I want you to live the rest of my life for me through your actions and now you really lose it. You break down crying, they escort you out of the room and Jesus takes your place. Right then and there he tells you once again, go and live the rest of my life for me through you. And that's what we all need to do. We need to sit back and say, hey, we have no condemnation now because of Jesus Christ. What am I doing? How am I living my life? Am I living my life the way Adam did, the way I had everything but yet I still sinned? Or am I living my life for Christ to the best of my ability and relying on the Holy Spirit to give me the strength I need? Am I living as a kingdom citizen, the kingdom of God on this earth as it is in heaven? Am I living the life of a kingdom child, a citizen? Or am I just going around not knowing who I am as a believer? So John 524, here's another one that goes with the condemnation. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Amen, you get that? Do you understand that? I'm gonna say that again, I'm gonna read that again. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears my word, and this is Jesus's words, in John 524, I say to you, the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. We had a death sentence under Adam because of his sin. We had a death sentence, but praise God. God had a plan, send Jesus down. And just as it says in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. That's powerful. He loved the world so much that he gave his only son, that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. It's a very important time right now. And what I'm gonna go ahead and do is I'm gonna make this a part one and part two because there's several other ones to go through after that one. And, but it's really important, folks. It's really important that we know who we are. You know, we sing the songs, I know who I am, I know who I am, and sometimes it's just repetitive because we say these things because, hey, it's a song, we're singing, you know, we're doing worship time, we're just yelling out loud, I know who I am, I know who I am. I'm yours, Lord, I'm who you called me to be. And then we get outside of the church building and we go and live our lives like the rest of the world. But there has to come a time, there has to come a time, there has to be a place where we say enough is enough. We need to know who we are as believers. We need to step up, we need to step out and be who. He called us to be. What giftings do you have in your life? What is the Holy Spirit given you? Because remember, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit living within you, dwelling within you, means that when you're reading that word of God, you can take those things and say, hey, that's me. I'm justified, I'm redeemed, I'm saved, I'm forgiven, I'm blessed, not cursed. I have the authority to stand as a kingdom citizen on this earth and declare who I am. I have the right to love others, just like 1 Corinthians 13, 4 through 7, being patient, being kind, not being jealous. All those things, it's just like the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I have those within me, gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, within me. As a believer, those characteristics should be coming out of me, people should see the difference. Remember, like I said before, they should see the difference between the new me, the old me. If they look at us, like I mentioned before, the last thing you want is people to look at us and judge us, which they do, they'll look at someone and say, "Well, I'm not gonna go into Burger King 'cause those two people didn't like their food. I'm not gonna be a Christian because the last two churches I went to, they treated me a certain way they didn't let me in, or I met a guy who was a hypocrite. Whatever it might be, don't go out like that. Represent Christ, represent our heavenly Father. We're kingdom walking here. We're walking on this earth in the kingdom of God as kingdom citizens. Represent, be who we're called to be. Remember who we are as believers. That's the important thing. Remembering who we are as believers. The believer is forgiven. The believer is justified. The believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit and so forth. So keep those in mind, folks. And we'll do a part two and finish those up. But I really appreciate you folks being here, watching this show. I hope you're enjoying it. And I hope you're enjoying listening as well. And let's go ahead and pray. So Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for this opportunity to share this message about who we are supposed to be as believers. It's really important, Lord. It's coaching time, training and equipping. We've heard messages and messages and messages and messages. But now it's time to hear those messages that step up to the plate, that get everybody moving and motivated, including myself. Knowing who we are is one of the most important things in this walk, because we know who we are. Ho-ho, look out world. We're gonna take it by storm and the name of Jesus. We're gonna stand for Jesus Christ. We're gonna stand for our Heavenly Father in Heaven. We're gonna stand and be the believers that you called us to be and make a difference on this earth and in this earth. So Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for all the blessings. Thank you for everything you do for us. I pray a blessing for every individual that's watching this video, watching this TV show, listening to this podcast. Heavenly Father, for those of them out there that are confused and not sure if they want to come closer to Jesus Christ, I pray right now for a door to open for people to reach them. And I thank you for all these things. And I pray these things with the authority in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Hey, there you have it folks. Thanks for tuning in as always. Once again, don't forget relevance for today is a TV show over at Kingdom Community TV. That's kingdomcommunity.tv. Not only relevance for today there, but many great vessels, many great ministers, teachings, equippings, trainings, it's powerful. It's a powerful place to get connected and it's free. So you can get over there, instead of messing around with all these different locations where you never know what shows you're gonna see or what they're gonna do on these shows. You can get right over to Kingdom Community TV and enjoy hearing about the word of God. It's endless folks. Some great teachings, great blessings to do that way. Also get connected with me on Facebook, under Stephen Lewis. And it's a public figure. Just look that up that way and you'll find my page. And also over on Instagram relevance for today as well. And YouTube. Just look up Stephen Lewis relevance for today and you'll find me on YouTube where you also have access to all the videos. Any podcast app, remember folks, if you're over on Apple, podcasts, over on iTunes, can you please do me a favor? Leave me a comment or two. Make sure you go ahead and give me a rating. That way when the ratings, the stars show up, it allows to be pushed up more. You get your podcasts pushed up further so more people see 'em. So more people have more access. Sound good? Hey, with that being said, hey, thanks for everything. Subscribe, all that good stuff. Keep in touch. Let me know if you're watching. If you're watching us on Facebook or Instagram or even on YouTube, leave a comment. It'd be great to hear who's watching. We can communicate back and forth. And truly a blessing. Hey, with that being said, hey, love you all. God bless. Take care of yourselves. Peace. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
