THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

1 CORINTHIANS 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church, said that he determined to know nothing among them except “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. In other words, Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, had his mind full of Jesus and His finished work.  Beloved, God wants your mind full of the cross of Jesus. He wants you cross-conscious. But what does it mean to be cross-conscious? To be cross-conscious is to see Jesus, who loves you so much that He willingly died for you on the cross. To be cross-conscious is to look to Jesus, who offered His own body to be punished, so that your body can be free from all punishment.  To be cross-conscious is to fix your eyes on Jesus, who has provided for your deliverance and victory at the cross. At the cross, all your enemies were vanquished. All your diseases were destroyed. Your poverty was removed at the cross. Y

GENESIS 22:14  and Abraham calleth the name of that place `Jehovah-Jireh,' because it is said this day in the mount, `Jehovah doth provide.'  One of God's names is Jehovah Jireh which is a compound name meaning the Lord sees ahead and provides. “Jehovah-Jireh” means, “The Lord will see to it,” that is, “The Lord will provide.” My car recently quit running when I was in another city. As I prayed and looked to God, He helped me to work things out.  While I didn't actually complain to God about having car trouble -- the thoughts were certainly there. (Thoughts like the repair money could have been put to a better use.) I believe God spoke to my heart that He could have kept my car running perfectly. Or, He could have supernaturally healed it. But if He would have, then I would not have experienced Him as the One who sees ahead and provides, which He did.  It was not the first time God had provided for me, of course. But it is still always thrilling to know t

ROMANS 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  Are you faced with challenges in your life right now? Are you having marital problems and financial woes? Maybe your child is going astray or an old illness has returned. What then will you say to all these things? Do you know what God wants you to say? He wants you to say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?”  If you knew that the President or the Prime Minister was for you, you might believe that everything will be okay. But you have an even better backing! The Bible tells us that God, the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is for you! What problem can fasten its grip on you when the Almighty God is for you? Can the devil come successfully against you with God on your side?  If God is for you today, if God is for you right now, you don’t have to moan, “If only I had this…If only I didn’t say that…” And you don’t have to worry about the future: “What if this h

LUKE 22:67 NASB 67 "If You are the Christ, tell us." But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe;  No one can force anyone to believe anything. Each one of us chooses whether we will believe something, based on our evaluation of the evidence presented to us. Faith and belief may have different English meanings, but in the New Testament they are different forms of the same Greek word. Believe is the verb and faith is the noun for the same word. (Like think and thought are in English.)  JOHN 20:25 NASB 25 The other disciples therefore were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." Note that Thomas said, "I WILL NOT believe." Many think seeing miracles would cause people to have faith. But the only ones who believe as a result of seeing miracles

HABAKKUK 3:18 NLT 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  To rejoice means to re-joy, or repeatedly en-joy. We are to repeatedly and continually enjoy God and what He has done for us.  PSALM 35:9 GWN 9 My soul will find joy in the LORD and be joyful about his salvation. Enjoying God means being delighted with Him. When we enjoy God, and what He has done, we also provide enjoyment for God. For God enjoys you being happy about what He has done for you.  DEUTERONOMY 26:11 ESV 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you. Our response to God should not always be limited to just a rational, subdued little response. When we clearly recognize what our wonderful Lord has accomplished for us, at times it should cause us to be overwhelmed with joy!  ISAIAH 61:10 NLT 10 I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dres

2 PETER 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, If you would like to walk in a greater measure of God’s favor,  2 Peter 1:2 says that grace, which is the undeserved favor of God, and peace, can be multiplied to you. Peace is the word “shalom” in Hebrew. Its definition includes wholeness, health, safety and provision. So when you walk in divine favor and peace, you will walk in blessings in every area of your life!  But how do the undeserved favor and shalom of God increase in your life? It is not by your laboring or toiling to earn it. The Bible says that it comes as your knowledge of Jesus and His finished work increases. It comes as you learn more about and believe that through Jesus’ one sacrifice at the cross, God removed all your sins, gave you His righteousness as a gift and put you in Christ to enjoy everything Jesus has.  God’s favor is multiplied in your life when you simply believe that the favor of God that is on Ch

JOHN 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  Consider the cold, hard facts that these three people faced: The aunt of a lady in our church saw her X-ray which showed that one of her two kidneys was cancerous. A couple in our church read their medical reports which said that they would never be able to produce a child. A lady in our church who acted as a guarantor ended up being asked by the finance company to pay it $34 million.  When such situations hit us and we allow the facts to settle in our hearts, we end up feeling greatly troubled. But when we let the truths of God’s Word settle them all, we will sense the Holy Spirit bearing witness to the truths that we are believing. He is the Spirit of truth. (John 16:13) He is not the Spirit of facts and does not bear witness to facts.  It may be a fact that you are sick. The doctors say that you are sick. The X-ray film shows that you are sick. But God’s Word says that by Jesus’ stripes you are hea

MATTHEW 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Do you know that it was at the cross that Jesus addressed His Father as “God” for the first time? He had always addressed His Father as “Father”. But at Calvary’s tree, He addressed His Father as “God”. Jesus lost that Father-Son relationship when He was representing you and carrying your sins at the cross so that today, you can call God “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15) and have a loving father-son relationship with God forever. Jesus was forsaken by God and His world became very dark on that lonely hill so that in your darkest hour, God will always say to you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” (Hebrews 13:5)  At the time when Jesus needed God most, God turned His back on Him. God had to turn His back on His Son because His eyes are too holy to behold all the sin that was in His Son’s body. And because God

1 CORINTHIANS 6:3 NKJ 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?  This is a curious verse. It just says, "we shall judge angels" without giving any explanation. It does not say why we will judge angels, or which angels we will judge. (Nor do I find those answers elsewhere in the Bible.) So this message includes some speculation on my part. I share it because it makes sense and helps to answer some difficult questions, such as why so much evil has been allowed on earth. But, of course, I could be wrong.  The word translated as angels in the New Testament means a messenger, or someone who is sent by another. This word is used 186 times in the KJV and is translated "angel" 179 times and "messenger" 7 times. There are good "angels" and bad "angels." Here are two verses that show clearly that the Bible speaks of bad angels. (I think these are the angels that rebelled against God wi

MATTHEW 4:10 ESV 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written," 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"  When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He talked back to the devil by quoting the written Word of God. You should do the same thing. Let's read the whole story.  MATTHEW 4:2-11 ESV 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written," 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written," 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest

Whose teaching should I listen to? It seems Christians differ on many things, although all claim to believe the same Bible. (On the main teaching that Jesus is mankind's savior and we need to follow Him, all Christian groups agree. But on many subjects, there is not agreement.)  How can I know who to believe? Who is right? Fortunately, God gave us His Word, the Bible, so we could know the truth, and it gives some guidelines to help with this question.  JOHN 8:31-32 NKJ 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." So an important question is whether freedom is being produced in the lives of the people who are following a teaching. If not, it cannot be the accurate message of Jesus, which will make people free. This does not mean everyone will instantly be free, but over time, the fruit of the teaching should be freedom.  In Mat

2 CHRONICLES 20:15 …Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  When faced with a problem or challenge, we tend to ask ourselves, “What am I going to do?” And well-meaning family members and friends will come along and ask, “What are you going to do?” Jehoshaphat faced a multitude of enemies. But instead of focusing on what he would do, he prayed, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)  When we turn our eyes to God, we will hear Him say, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s...You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 20:15, 17) But standing still is the last thing we want to do when the enemy is coming against us. It is a

HEBREWS 13:9 …it is good that the heart be established by grace…  God does not want your heart full of worries and fears, tossed and turned by every challenge that comes your way. He wants your heart at rest and established by His grace toward you. But when you think that the breakthroughs to your challenges depend on your ability to obey God, then your heart will not be at rest. It will be full of worries and anxieties. Why? Because you can never obey God perfectly. But when you depend on God’s grace, that is, His undeserved, unmerited favor, the opposite happens—your heart becomes established. When you know that the only thing that qualifies you to receive God’s blessings is faith in the finished work of Christ, your heart becomes established. Then, you will walk without the fear of your troubles swallowing you up.  You will walk with full assurance that His blessings will be manifested in your life. My friend, God wants your heart established, knowing that His righteousn

PHILIPPIANS 4:4 NKJ  Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  At least five times the Bible tells the people of God to rejoice in the Lord. We may not always be able to rejoice in other people, or in our circumstances. People can be frustrating. People can be immature. People can be undependable. Need I go on?  But the Lord is different! God is dependable. God is faithful. God is honest. God is good. God is patient. God is kind. God is understanding. God is merciful and gracious. MALACHI 3:6 NLT 6 "I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. When we focus on our circumstances, or on what people do, we can lose our joy quickly. But with a true understanding of what God is really like, we cannot help but rejoice because of His goodness and greatness. If you are not sure what God is really like, then look at Jesus Christ in the pages of the Four Gospels in the New Testament. Jesus Christ perfectly

JOHN 11:25 NKJ  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. The sting of death has been removed for the Christian believer by Jesus our Lord. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:55 NLT 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  I am not afraid to die. There is no reason for any follower of Jesus to fear death.  REVELATION 12:11b NLT 11 And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.  I'm in no rush to die, for it's best to live a full life on earth and finish our race here. But after we finish on earth, death for a Christian believer is a promotion. There are many people who claim to have visited Heaven and came back. I have never heard one indicate they wanted to leave and return to earth. They all say it is wonderful there beyond words. What else could we expect from our wonderful Lord Jesus!  1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-14 NLT 13 And now, dear brothers and sis

GENESIS 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram… In business, sleeping or silent partners don’t work but still take home huge profits. They are like the wife of the boxing champion. He gets badly beaten up to win the prize money. But when he gets home, his wife takes it from him and says, “Thank you very much, darling!” Do you know that in your covenant with God, you are like the boxer’s wife or the sleeping partner? When Abraham asked God how he would know for sure that he would inherit the land that God had promised him, God made a covenant with him. (Genesis 15:8–21) But instead of cutting the covenant with Abraham by walking in between the animal pieces with him, God put Abraham into a deep sleep and cut the covenant with Jesus instead. Jesus, the light of the world, appeared as the pillar of fire and cut the covenant with God the Father who appeared as the pillar of cloud. In other words, Jesus took Abraham’s place. He was perfect Man represe

JAMES 3:1  1 Dear brothers, don't be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others.  If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. Baseball has a system to keep track of how successful each player is at hitting the ball. If they always make a hit without ever missing it, we would say they are batting 1000. But no baseball player has ever done that. And no Christian has ever been perfect without making a mistake, either.  Both the apostles Paul and Peter missed it. Your favorite preacher has made mistakes also, whether they admit it, or not. None of us is perfect. If we were, we would not need a Savior. Why do we miss it? Because we have an adversary constantly trying to deceive us and trip us up. Because we do not start out as mature Christians, but must grow up, j

GENESIS 15:8–9 And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  Are you discouraged because a breakthrough that you have been praying for has yet to manifest? Maybe it has been days or even weeks and you are asking, “How will I know that I will get it?” Abraham faced the same situation and asked God the same question. And God answered, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” What a strange answer! But if you read on (Genesis 15:10–21), you will realize that God took Abraham’s question very seriously, and went on to show him just how serious He was about being his provider, protector and blesser. God was so serious that He was willing to bind Himself to a covenant.  What is a covenant? It is like a contract. Yet, it is more than a contract.

ACTS 10:38 NKJ 38 "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.  In this summary of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, the first thing mentioned is that He "went about doing good." What does the Bible mean when it speaks of "doing good?" Doing good must involve some type of giving: either of time or resources. How else can anyone do good? Look at some of the verses that instruct us to "do good."  MATTHEW 5:44 NKJ 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, LUKE 6:27,33,35 NKJ 27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 33 "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 35 "But love your en

Psalm 39:4-5, 7 Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You....But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You!  The psalmist serves up some powerful words about how short this life really is in the scheme of things. A handbreadth is about the distance of a human hand....the distance your breath appears when you breathe out on a cold day! That's pretty short. This short life is fleeting! That means that every day you live is one less day on a short countdown! The psalmist reflects on the importance of understanding that life is short.....each day is one more tick gone on a very short countdown. As he reflects on this short life we have been given, his prayer is that God would show him his life's end. I love this because I think the psalmist is seeking to envision where God wants him to end up when his days are

PROVERBS 3:9-10 NKJ 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. Giving money is not the only way to show honor, but it is one way. The word translated honor means to value. Honoring someone is a way of showing them, and others, that they are valuable to you. Scripture connects giving of money with honor. Specifically included are God, your parents, those who preach or teach the Word of God, and widows.  MATTHEW 15:4-6 NLT 4 For instance, God says, `Honor your father and mother,' and `Anyone who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.'" 5 But you say, `You don't need to honor your parents by caring for their needs if you give the money to God instead.' 6 And so, by your own tradition, you nullify the direct commandment of God.  1 TIMOTHY 5:17-18 NKJ 17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double hono

ROMANS 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…  Each time you hear the gospel of Christ, you are hearing God’s good news for you. And the Bible tells us that the gospel of Christ—the good news that God wants all men to hear—is the very power of God for your salvation, not just from hell, but also from illnesses, financial lack, harm, a failing marriage—every aspect of your life that needs saving! You may say, “Pastor Prince, I’ve heard the gospel of Christ, but it seems like I am one of those whom the power of God has missed.” My friend, when you hear the gospel of Christ, do you really believe it? You cannot just understand it in your mind. You must know and believe the good news in your heart, and then you will see that it is the power of God for your salvation. But what is the good news that God wants you to know in your heart, which will release the power and salvation of God into your situation

HEBREWS 2:10a NLT  God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory.  If you want to understand life, and the Bible, then you need to understand God's plan and purpose. We're here because God wants a family. This is what life is all about. The best description and summary of what is going on is that God is raising a family. It is happening in a realm where there is free choice and temptation to do wrong, but God has provided everything necessary for our complete victory and maturity. If you keep this perspective clearly in view, it will give you the right framework for your thinking about God. Every thing God does has this purpose in mind.  2 CORINTHIANS 6:18 NLT 18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." We are in preparation for eternity, and this life on earth is just first grade in our learning experience.  MATTHEW 5:45 NLT 45 In that way, you will be acting as tr

ROMANS 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,  What do you think righteousness is about? Something you do or something you are? Right doing or right being? The Bible tells us that after Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, God imputes righteousness not to those who strive to obey the law (Galatians 2:16), but to anyone who believes in His Son. Because Christ took our sins and gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), the moment we believe in Him, God treats us as righteous apart from our works or obedience. (Romans 4:5–8)  This is new covenant righteousness—a righteousness that comes by faith and not works. You are not righteous because of how morally upright you are. You are not righteous because you exercise self-control. You are not righteous because you read 10 chapters of the Bible daily. You are not righteous because you feel righteous. But you are the very righteousness of God in Christ

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  Some Christians believe that they have to work at becoming more righteous. And they kick themselves when they do wrong. They don’t realize that by doing these things, they are not seeking God’s righteousness, but are trying to establish their own righteousness by their law-keeping and right conduct. Righteousness is not about right conduct. It is a gift from God to us through Jesus. And since it is a gift, we cannot earn it by our law-keeping and right conduct.  We can only receive it! How do we receive this gift? We receive it through the cross. God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. So today, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are as righteous as Jesus is! But some of us think that in the body of Christ, there are different classes of righteousness, like the seating classes

ACTS 23:5 NLT 5 "I'm sorry, brothers. I didn't realize he was the high priest," Paul replied, "for the Scriptures say, 'You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.'"  A major, yet often unrecognized, problem is members of the Body of Christ using their words to curse leaders. (It is not necessary to use profanity to curse. Any time anyone speaks badly of someone the Bible calls it a curse. Jesus cursed the fig tree by simply saying no one would ever eat fruit from it.) Don't fall into the devil's trap. Christians have been delegated authority on Earth by Jesus Christ. When we speak bad things about people we are abusing that authority which was given to us to bless, and not to curse.  ROMANS 12:14 NLT 14 Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. The world tries to get us to focus on the shortcomings, weaknesses, and failures of our leaders. Admittedly, all leaders are human. Not one of th

HEBREWS 10:17 …“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  I don’t know about you, but I would say that Hebrews 10:17 is good news. God sees all our sins—past, present and future—and says, “Your sins I remember no more!” The words “no more” are a strong double negative in the original Greek text.  In other words, God is saying, “Your sins I will by no means ever remember!” Has God lowered His standards? No, He is still perfectly holy. He did remember all our sins—2,000 years ago at the cross. Every sin which we have committed or will commit has been punished to the full in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. That is why today, God remembers our sins no more. We should, therefore, not be sin-conscious. Each time we feel condemned for our past mistakes, God wants us to remember the cross and say, “Lord Jesus, you were sentenced for this sin I committed. You bore the judgment, so God will not judge me for this sin. You were condemned for this sin, so God w

1 PETER 2:2 NKJ 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, If you want to grow as you should as a Christian -- feed on God's Word just as a newborn baby desires to be fed. If you know anything about babies, you know they require regular feeding! It's not just a quick reading of the Word that you need. You must chew the Word to get the "milk" out of it. This just means you need to meditate on God's Word to get all that you should from it. You can't just gulp it down quickly and expect to receive all its nutrition. It takes some time and effort to think on the Word and digest it, so that it becomes a part of us. The food we take into our physical bodies does not nourish us unless we properly digest and assimilate it into our cells.  Spiritual food is the same. The Word you read has to "become flesh" in you. It has to become part of you. As it nourishes you, it will change you by changing the way you see

LUKE 12:6–7 Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that God is too busy taking care of the “big things” to be interested in the little problems they are facing. Are you one of them? It may be your child’s bed-wetting habit, a quarrel with a friend or the small pimple on your face. No matter how trivial it sounds, if it troubles you, then God wants to take care of it! God wants to take care of every area of your life, even the smallest detail.  He loves you so much that He knows the number of hairs you have on your head. And if your loving heavenly Father knows and is interested in the small details of your life, then you don’t have to overcome any problem on your own. When my daughter Jessica turned three, my wife Wendy and I decided to bring her to Disneyland. Kno

A curious thing about God is that He never seems to defend Himself! This is important for us to understand as we face the daily spiritual battle. Humans usually interpret silence on the part of someone being accused as guilt. But this is wrong when God is accused. Jesus never argued with anyone. God gave His Word. You either believe it or you don't. God doesn't beg you to believe in Him, or try to convince you against your will.  MARK 15:3-5 NKJ 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. Although the Gospel of John says Jesus talked some with Pilate, He did not in any way defend Himself. Who do you think tells us that God is bad? Who puts those thoughts in your mind? REVELATION 12:10 NKJ 10 . . . for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before

JOHN 10:3 …he calls his own sheep by name…  Do you sometimes feel like you are just a face in a crowd or a number in a system? You are identified by your social security number. Even when you see the doctor, you are called by your queue number. If you feel depersonalized and dehumanized, that is exactly how the devil wants you to feel—that you do not matter much to anyone, especially to God. But you do matter to God! He calls you by name. He knows exactly what you are going through and where you are hurting. He sees you and cares for you, just as He cared for the people when He first walked on earth. My friend, He will do for you what He did for the woman in Samaria. There was a shorter route from Judea to Galilee, but the Bible says that “He needed to go through Samaria”. (John 4:4) In other words, Jesus deliberately took a longer route, so that He could stop by Samaria to speak to the woman who had been searching for something in her life to satisfy her. This woman had ha

JOHN 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Imagine looking at Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa painting in the Louvre museum. Would you think of adding more brush strokes to it? Of course not! It was done by a master, so what could you possibly add to the painting to improve it? In the same way, that is how we are to look at Jesus’ work on the cross. He cried out, “It is finished!” You cannot complete a completed work. You cannot finish a finished work. Our salvation is won. Our sins are all forgiven. We are made forever righteous by His blood. Christ paid completely and perfectly for our total forgiveness, righteousness and every blessing! In fact, these three words, “It is finished”, come from one Greek word teleo. In the days of Jesus, a servant would use it when reporting to his master: “I have completed the work assigned to me.” (John 17:4) The word means, “It is finished, it stands