Mahanaim International Bible College India

What Will You Believe?

Now, everyone, what will you believe? Will you believe in what you have done, and insist upon that, or will you believe in what Jesus has done? It is true that you have sinned. It is true that you have done filthy, dirty, lustful, and deceitful things. But regardless of what sin you may have committed, is there a sin that cannot be washed by the blood Jesus shed on the cross? None whatsoever. The Lord washed all of our sins clean at the cross and has forever purified us. I don’t know how it appears to you, but in the eyes of God, we all are righteous.
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus bore our sins in our stead, and saved us through being crucified, Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God sees us and says that we are righteous. This is the gospel of God! This is the promise of God!
I had more sins than anyone else. Just as Apostle Paul said, “. . . sinners; of whom I am chief,” I too was surely a human who committed evil, dirty sins. But I was justified. It was not through my effort and good deeds, but I have gained holiness because all of my sins have been washed away through the death, the crucifixion, of Jesus.

Could Not Be Left to Remain Dirty

Let’s talk about this again. The results of what we have done are sinfulness, curse, and destruction. But, the work of God cleanses, justifies, and sanctifies us, who are this way. No matter how much you sin, there is no sin Jesus cannot wash away. No matter what pit you have fallen into, there is no pit Jesus cannot deliver you from. And no matter what binds you, there is no rope Jesus cannot loosen. Jesus delivered us perfectly from sin. He was crucified and cleansed us of all sins. That is what Romans chapter 3, verse 24 is telling us.
Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We have not been justified through ourselves, but through Jesus. All I have ever done was commit sin and done evil deeds, but Jesus cleansed me.
When the prodigal son returned to his father’s house in his dirty and filthy condition, wearing dung covered rags, the father could not leave his son in the dirty condition he was in. That is why the father cleansed the son. The father made the son so holy, clean, and glorious that the son would lack nothing when he was presented at the feast.
This is it! Everyone, we, like the younger son, have committed sin and have done evil. We are dirty humans who sin every day. God could not seat us at the feast table in this dirty, filthy condition we are in. So what did God do? He sent His son, Jesus Christ, and cleansed and sanctified us. In order that we may stand before God absolutely flawless, Jesus washed our sins as white as snow, purified us, and justified us. This was not done through our effort or work.
Two things are before you. What you have done and what God has done. What we have done is commit dirty, filthy, evil sins. If we look to what we have done, there is no one who can say that he is clean and righteous. “I’m filthy! Evil! Dirty!” If you are looking at yourself, no matter who you are, that is all you can say. But if we look to what Jesus has done; Jesus has washed our dirty sins as white as snow, so that we may lack nothing in standing before God.

Through the Work of Jesus

Spiritual life is not us doing something so we can go to heaven. People know spiritual life in reverse. They think that it is they who must keep the law, obey God’s word, do good deeds, and be faithful to God. They think God will see these things, be pleased, and receive them. But there is not a single person who can come to God in this manner. The father worked when the younger son gave up on himself. You cannot see the work of God as long as you are trying to do the work. When you give up on yourself, realizing that you incapable of doing good, and that you cannot keep the law, God begins to live and work inside your heart.
God must do the work of cleansing us. I will read from Romans chapter 3, verse 10.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Everything man does is evil. That is why in verse 23, we arrive at,

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Up to verse 23, we see that everyone has sinned and cannot reach the glory of God with what they have done. It means that man could never stand before God with the results of what man has done. No matter how good, how beautiful, or how honest they are, the results of what man has done cannot attain to God.
Then in verse 24 it says, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It means that not by the work of man, but through the work of Jesus, Being justified freely by his grace.
Verse 23 is the result of man’s attempt: that man cannot stand before God because man has sinned. Verse 24 is saying that man has become righteous through the work of Jesus, and can stand boldly before God. We have these two ways before us. If you are going before God relying on what you have done, you are verse 23. If you go that way, you have sinned no matter how much good you may have done, and you can never reach the glory of God. On the other hand, if you rely solely on the work of Jesus, and not on what you have done, you can boldly go before God because Jesus has cleansed and sanctified you.
The work of God is displayed in Genesis chapter 1. Because God works, the earth which was without form and void, changed into a beautiful paradise where the flowers bloom, fruits are borne, and birds sing. Afterwards, in Genesis chapter 3, we see that man begins to fall into sin as he begins to work. The Bible says, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. . . . (Jeremiah 17:9) That is why deceitful and wicked things are bound to appear more and more as man tries harder and harder to be good. But now, Jesus begins to work. The blood Jesus shed on the cross washed all of our sins as white as snow. No matter what sin you may have committed; what evil you may have done; what wrong you may have done; all of those sins have passed onto Jesus. Jesus was punished on the cross for all of your sins, and all of your sins have been washed away.

Upon Discovering Your True Image

Before I realized this precious word of God, I labored to become clean and not sin in the same way the younger son labored while he was in the pig pen. While attending church, I strained to faithfully keep the law and stand before God with my head held high. But just as the younger son became filthier and hungrier the more he labored in the pig pen, I felt that my life was falling deeper and deeper into sin.
One day, I acknowledged a certain truth: “Ah, I’m impossible.” By the grace of God, I was able to recognize myself. Before this, I regarded myself as a person who believed in God, who was good, and intelligent. On the contrary, when seen through the eyes of God, I was able to discover a completely different me.
“I am too filthy! I am so evil! I live like an idiot! Now it is impossible for me to keep the law and become clean!”
After realizing this, my belief in myself vanished. Before, I always thought, “But I’ll be fine as long as I pray hard. From this New Year, I’m going to make up my mind not to commit sin and live properly. Then, I’ll be fine.” But as I discovered that I was not wise, but evil and filthy, I could no longer believe in myself. When I denied myself, Jesus, amazingly entered into my heart immediately. Before, I had believed in myself and I could not accept anything different from my own thoughts. But when I came to distrust myself and stepped down from the throne in the kingdom of my heart, I was able to receive the word of God into my heart even if it was different from my thoughts. After realizing that it is impossible to come to God through zealously praying, reading the Bible, keeping the law, and doing good deeds, Jesus began to work inside of me.
The younger son did not want to go before his father in filthy rags. No matter what it took, he wanted to stand before his father a little cleaner, a little neater. But that did not happen. He realized that it was impossible and had no choice but to go before his father in the evil and filthy condition he was in. The younger son returned to his father exactly the way he was. Now, as far as the younger son was concerned, there was nothing more to be done.
When the younger son reached the limits of his own labor and realized that there was nothing he could do, he returned to his father. And from then on, the father began to work. Amazing things happened as the father worked. The younger son could not become clean no matter how hard he tried. But at his father’s words, his dirty clothes were removed, he bathed, and the best clothes were put on him. There was a ring put on his hand, shoes put on his feet, and he ate as much as he wanted at the feast that was prepared with the fatted calf. To have the younger son lack nothing as his son, the father made the younger son exactly like himself.

The Work of the Prodigal Son and the Work of the Father

God also did not collaborate with man to accomplish the great, amazing work of salvation, but achieved salvation without the power of man.
I was once reading Luke, and there were many interesting facts. One of them was that the work of Jesus and the work of man are always differentiated in Luke. Everything man did ended in failure: the story of the younger son going to a far away country and failing in the story of the prodigal son; the story of a certain man going from Jerusalem to Jericho and failing; the story of the failed effort to build a tower, and so on. Such stories show that every work of man has failed. On the contrary, all works of Jesus are recorded to have succeeded beautifully.
The story of the prodigal son also differentiates between the work of the son and the work of the father. The son represents us, and the father represents God. The younger son takes his wealth into a far away country in this story and lives riotously; he sins with harlots, runs out of money, and becomes a pig herder. His entire body is covered in pig dung; he stinks, and is on the verge of starving to death. The younger son one day realizes that he would ultimately die if he continues living this way and returns to the father. While he was a great way off, the father saw him, had compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.” But the father said to the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And kill the fatted calf and prepare for a feast.”
In this manner, the work of the son and the work of the father are clearly differentiated in the story of the prodigal son. No matter how much the son tries to become clean while he is in the pig pen, the more he labors, the more filthy, pitiful, and hungry he becomes. The father, on the other hand, worked as soon as the son returned.
“What are you doing? Quickly heat the bath water. Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand. Put shoes on his feet. Kill the fatted calf.”
Because the father is at work, the son’s dirty clothes are taken off. He is made clean, full, and glorious. Spiritual life is like this.

Being Justified Freely

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
(Genesis 1:6~7)

Alone He Created the Heaven and the Earth

God began to work upon the earth while it was without form, void, and in deep darkness in Genesis chapter 1. “Let there be light.” “Let waters above the firmament divide from the waters below the firmament.” “Let the earth bring forth the herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit.” In this manner, God, by himself, created heaven and the earth.
A long time ago, a certain man, while working, went under a chestnut tree to take a nap. He lay down and thought, “Why did God have thick pumpkins borne on thin vines, and why did He have those little chestnuts born on such thick branches? If I were God, I would have chestnuts the size of pumpkins on chestnut trees so that it would take an entire family to eat one chestnut. On the other hand, I would make pumpkins the size of chestnuts on pumpkin vines,” and fell asleep. A long while afterwards, something hammered on his forehead, and he woke up shocked. A chestnut cluster had fallen on him and the thorns were piercing his forehead. Before he could take the thorns out of his forehead, he quickly knelt down and said, “God, thank you so much that chestnuts the size of pumpkins were not hanging on the tree. My head would have cracked open, and I would have died if a chestnut cluster as big as a pumpkin had fallen. . . .”
If you or I were next to God when He was creating the heaven and the earth, we probably would have had many suggestions, saying, “God, the mountains are too high. The ocean is too wide. Why would you want to make it so wide? The land should be wide.” “God, don’t make mice-like animals. Why did you make snakes? You don’t need to make things like mosquitoes.” We would probably have nagged Him so much that God would not have been able to complete His creating. I guess God knew this because He made man after He completed the heaven and the earth.
Man did not participate in any way when God was creating the heaven and the earth; He alone created them. The heaven and the earth were created in Genesis chapter 1. After man was created at the end of chapter 1, there are scenes of man at work in chapter 3. The first thing man did was go against God and eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. If God had created the heaven and earth together with man, who would rebel this way, what would have happened? This is why God did not collaborate with man in the important work of creating the heaven and the earth. He did it all Himself.

He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities The Lord Hath Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All

One Thing We Have to Do

Now there remains one thing we must do. “Will you believe in your own thoughts, or will you believe in the word of God?” Everyone, I hope that you will throw your thoughts away and believe in the word of God that says the blood of Jesus has completely cleansed your sins and has sanctified, justified, and purified you.
This is what 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 11 says.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
The word testifies, “Although you have done such evil and wickedness, you have been cleansed, sanctified, and justified within the grace of God.” Believing in God is not believing in your own thoughts, but believing what the word of God says; that your sins have been washed away, and, that you have been sanctified and justified. Judging for yourself upon hearing the word of God and the voice of Satan, as Adam did, is not true faith.
The 66 books of the Bible are the word of God. If these words come to you by faith, the word will cast away the doubt in you, cast away the sin, and cast away the despair to lead you to a joyful, blessed life.

He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities The Lord Hath Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All :

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
(Genesis 1:1~5)
According to the Word

Receiving forgiveness of sin and becoming born again is not through us doing something or putting forth effort. Sin cannot be forgiven through our own effort. It is impossible to wash away sins through our strength. If it were possible, God would not have sent Jesus. Jesus would not have been crucified. Because we could not take care of our sins, God sent Jesus and had Him crucified him on the cross.
The Bible says, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God laid all of our sinfulness upon Jesus Christ. If so, no matter what sin we commit or what life we live, all of our sins have been moved onto Jesus. There is no sin in us. Jesus is responsible for washing away all of our sins. It is something Jesus has to take care of. It has nothing to do with us.
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.
Jesus was crucified not for His sins, but for ours. If our sins had not moved onto Jesus, He could not die for us. God passed our sins onto Jesus even before we were born, and Jesus received the punishment for our sins. If so, then our sins are cleansed. How cleansed are they? 70 percent? 80 percent? 90 percent? No. 100 percent! Jesus completely washed our sins clean at the cross. This is what the Bible is telling us.
Satan deceives us into feeling as if there is still sin in us, as if your our sin had not been washed away. You may have the memory of committing sin. You may feel have a guilty in your conscience. You may be suffering from sin. Anyhow, according to the Bible, your sins have been moved onto Jesus, and He received the punishment for all your sins. That is why the Bible says that we are righteous; that we are clean.

He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities The Lord Hath Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
(Genesis 1:1~5)

But You Sinned

That is what the Bible says, but thoughts different from the Bible rise in us.
“But I’m still a sinner because I sinned.”
“Jesus was crucified, but my sins are probably not cleansed.”
“Other sins may be washed, but not this one.”
This is what Satan tells you. God told Adam and Eve, “If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die,” but Satan said the exact opposite, “You will not surely die. The day you eat it, you will become like God.” Satan is the same, even today. Sadly, Adam and Eve believed the words of Satan rather than the word of God and ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Although there are clear words of promise in the Bible, there are many people today who hear those words and then make their decisions based on their own judgment.
The Bible says, “The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all,” but Satan says, “But you are a sinner because you sin.” That is why, when a person hears these two things, he thinks of himself and comes to the conclusion, “Jesus was crucified for my sins, but I am a sinner because I sin.” They try to live a spiritual life with a conclusion completely different from the word of God.
Jesus was tempted by Satan in Matthew chapter 4. The difference between when Adam was tempted and when Jesus was tempted was that Adam made the decision himself, after he heard the voice of God and the voice of Satan. However, Jesus said, “This is what is recorded in the word of God,” no matter what Satan said. Jesus did not add His own opinions whatsoever. When Satan said, “Make these stones into bread,” Jesus did not consider whether that was a good thing to do or not. He simply said, “This is what the word of God says.” Only the word of God was living inside of Jesus.

He Was Bruised for Our Iniquities The Lord Hath Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
(Genesis 1:1~5)

Laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All

A few days ago, I met a precious person and preached the gospel to him over dinner.
“I’m sorry, but I would like to introduce a Bible verse to you.”
He was joyful and said that he would like to accept. I read Isaiah chapter 53 to him.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:5~6)
He and I were talking about something else, so I was worried that he would feel awkward and would not be accepting if I spoke about the Bible. But unexpectedly, his eyes widened.
The Bible says that Jesus was wounded with thorns for our transgressions and that He was bruised for our iniquities. It says that God has laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all. This is the word of God. In the word of God, it says that all of our sins have moved onto Jesus Christ. It means that it was we, who sinned, but it is not our responsibility. Jesus must take the responsibility, and He has to take care of it. According to this promise recorded in Isaiah, Jesus bore our sins, was crucified, shed His blood, and died.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
(Genesis 1:1~5)

It Hurts but I’m Healed!

I suffered much from a gastric ulcer a few years ago. I lost about 7kg in three months. I would have diarrhea whenever I ate. I chewed one spoonful of rice a hundred times, but I would still get diarrhea. After about three months, I thought, “I can’t live like this,” because the medication would help only for a few days, then fail. I prayed before God.
“God, my stomach hurts so bad. Please heal my stomach.”
One day, while I was praying, a Bible verse came to mind:
What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mk. 11:24)

The Bible said, “Whatever you seek in prayer, believe that you have received it.” I then had the heart, “If that is so, since I just prayed to God to heal my stomach; if I believe that my stomach is healed; then it will be done.” I thought in my heart, “What should I do if I believe that my stomach is healed? Since it’s completely healed, I should eat rice, spicy kimchi (popular Korean dish), bean paste. . . . ” However, I felt that if I did do this, my stomach would rupture and I would die.
I thought, “Should I believe these words, or just pass them by?” If I did not believe in these words, it meant that I do not believe in the words of God at all, and I could not do that. I once again thought, “Will I really die if I believe these words? The word of God says that if I believe, it shall be done according to my faith. Then if I die, it means that God lied. That cannot be! I will not die!”
I was able to have this assurance of faith in my heart. I prayed to God again.
“God, thank you. I believe you will hear my prayer. My stomach is completely healed. I believe that it is healed.”
My wife set the table for breakfast. She set up many different kinds of food because guests were over, and in one corner, she prepared a small bit of porridge, some soy sauce, and a few pieces of pickled beef. I did not eat that that day, but I finished an entire bowl of rice. My wife was surprised as she walked by. “Honey, what are you doing?” I smiled and said, “I’m completely healed,” to my wife.
I put down the spoon after breakfast, but my stomach hurt so bad all of a sudden, and I could not bear it. I ran to the bathroom. Diarrhea gushed out of me. My stomach hurt so much and it was extremely painful. Right then, I heard a voice inside of me.
“Hey, you don’t even have faith. Your stomach might rupture and you might die if you continue this. You get diarrhea even with porridge, and you think you are going to be okay doing this?”
However, surely this was not the voice of God. I could recognize that this voice that was opposite to the words of God, who said, “Believe that which you have sought in prayer. Then it shall be done,” was the voice of Satan. I said, “No, my stomach is completely healed,” in my heart. Then I heard another voice.
“Hey, if you are healed, then why does it hurt? If it’s healed, then it’s not supposed to hurt. It hurts and it’s healed? Is this what you call being healed?”
I had nothing to say. I thought about it again.
“No. My stomach hurts now, but the Bible says that if you believe that you have received what are you seeking for in prayer, then it shall be done. I believed that my stomach was healed, and He said that it would be healed, if I believed. My stomach is healed. It hurts now, but it is healed!”
Although I was having diarrhea, I had assurance in my heart that my stomach was healed because it was the promise of God that my stomach would be healed.
I had another bowl of rice for lunch. Again, I had diarrhea. Nevertheless, I believed in the promise without a single doubt in my heart regardless of such a circumstance. That evening, someone invited me to dinner which was at a hotel buffet restaurant. It had 350 kinds of food, and I thought, “Since my stomach hurts, I’m only going to have some porridge,” as I entered the restaurant. Then I thought, “Oh yeah, I’m completely healed!” I cleared five plates that evening. I was so full that I had a difficult time driving and coming back home. I did not have diarrhea that night. When I woke up the next morning, I felt extremely comfortable inside. My stomach was completely healed. This was because of the promise of God.
Such incidents deeply led my heart from believing in my experiences or in myself into believing in God. Before I was born again, I could not refrain from my thoughts, even if they were opposite from the word of God. I spent much time in confusion, thinking, “Well the word is right, but the circumstances are like this. . . . ” I could not stand in faith. The problem with spiritual life is that you listen to the words of God, but you listen to the voice of Satan at the same time. The two voices enter you and the latter keeps you from going one way or the other. The change that was upon me after I received the forgiveness of sin was that I was able to believe more and more in the word of God, no matter what the circumstances were.
Would there be light simply because God said, “Let there be light,” on this earth which was without form, void, and in deep darkness? But amazingly, although we do not understand how, light was there because it was God who spoke. When He said for the water above the firmament to divide from the waters below the firmament, it did so. It was done according to the word of God. Whether I understood it or not, I saw that the word of God lived and worked in my heart when I believed in the word of God.