salvation | Craig T. Owens

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Thursdays With Spurgeon—Christ Is Glorified In Your Uniqueness

October 10, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.

Christ Is Glorified In Your Uniqueness

To my mind it is a very beautiful thing that the Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes into the soul, does not annihilate any part of the personality, but shines in each separate being, for He is not only all, but He is in all His people [Colossians 3:11]! Very well, the grace of God does not turn the Gentile into a Jew. He remains a Gentile, but Christ is in him, and therefore he is made into a new creature [Colossians 3:9-10]. … Then comes the Jew. When he is saved, Christ is in him. … The Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling in the Jew, leaves him still a member of the house of Abraham, but through the presence of the Lord Jesus within him, how wondrously his whole character is exalted! …

Yes, let a man be a brown man, or a yellow man, or a red man, or whatever color God made him! The more he keeps to his own nationality and reflects the glory of Christ from that angle, the more will Christ’s gospel triumph and the more will Christ Himself be honored! …

Christ is all, and Christ is in all His people, each one remaining the same in his individuality, but Christ shining in each one! … So note again that because Christ dwells in him, every believer becomes a copy of Christ. …

What is more, Christ in each one of these believers creates them all into one body [Colossians 3:14-15]. … Christ in you all makes you into one body in a mysterious and unique manner.

From All And All In All

God isn’t in the cloning business. He made all of us unique. Think of that: in all of human history there has never been another YOU. In all the 7.5 billion people on planet Earth right now YOU aren’t duplicated. And for however long history goes on there will never be another YOU!

When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, He doesn’t want to turn YOU into a copycat. He wants YOU to be YOU, with all your glorious, inimitable uniqueness. His Holy Spirit in YOU, helps YOU to be more YOU because the One who created YOU is now living in YOU.

How amazing is that?!

YOU be YOU. That is how God is most glorified through YOU!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: character development, Charles Spurgeon, Colossians, God's glory, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, personality, salvation, Savior, uniqueness, video. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Spurgeon—Jesus Is All We Need

October 3, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Jesus Is All We Need

So is it with every other ordinance, whether ordained of God or of man. It must never be placed in the front as if it were the means of salvation! I say to you who may have been sprinkled, or to you who may have been immersed; to you who may bow at your altars, or to you who may come to the communion table, I do not place these rites on a level, certainly, for some are of God and some are not. But I do place them all on a par in this respect: that they enter not into the essence of our salvation! And I say to all of you, “These things cannot save you, for ‘Christ is all’” [Colossians 3:11]. Be you who you may, and do you what you may, you will not be saved because of your natural birth or because of any supposed holy acts that you may perform! Neither will you be saved by any transactions that may be the work of a human priest! You must have Christ as your Savior and you must rest in Him alone, or you cannot be saved! He is the one foundation, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11), for “Christ is all.” The Lord Jesus Christ sums up everything that ordinances can possibly mean and all that pedigree and descent can possibly bring, and He is infinitely more than all of them! …

You must not add anything to Christ as your ground of confidence, but just lean the weight of your sin, your sorrow, your needs, and your desires wholly and entirely upon Him who lives to stand for you before God. Christ, then, is all our trust!

From All And All In All

It’s not our family lineage, it’s not our church attendance, it’s not our religious activities. It’s all Jesus.

Jesus alone paid for our salvation, and it’s by faith in Him alone that we have the forgiveness of our sins. Don’t let anyone try to convince you that it’s “Jesus plus something else.” Nothing else needs to be added—Jesus is completely sufficient in and of Himself!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Corinthians, Charles Spurgeon, Colossians, doctrine, faith, forgiveness, Jesus Christ, salvation, sola Christus, sola fide, theology. Leave a Comment »

Thursdays With Spurgeon—The Patience Of God

September 26, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

The Patience Of God

But why are His chariots so long in coming? Why does He delay? The world grows gray, not only with age, but also with iniquity, and yet the Deliverer comes not. We have waited for His footfall at the dead of night and looked out for Him through the gates of the morning. We have expected Him in the heat of the day and reckoned that He might come before yet another sun went down. But He is not here! He waits. He waits very, very long. Will He not come?

Long-suffering is that which keeps Him from coming. He is bearing with men. Not yet the thunderbolt! Not yet the riven heavens and the reeling earth! Not yet the great white throne and the Day of Judgment, for He is full of pity and bears long with men! Even to the cries of His own elect, who cry day and night to Him, He is not in haste to answer, for He is very patient, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. …

From the sermon God’s Long-Suffering

As a young child, I frequently heard my parents and grandparents say, “Jesus could return at any moment. His Second Coming is closer today than ever before.” My grandparents have all died and are with Jesus in Heaven, but I’m still here.

Yet, I still believe it’s true: Jesus could return at any moment. His Second Coming is closer today than ever before.

Why does God delay Christ’s return? I believe the apostle Peter says it best—The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (see 2 Peter 3:3-15).

That’s why Spurgeon concludes this sermon with this impassioned call to Christians:

“God calls upon us, until the world is utterly destroyed with fire, to go on saving men with all our might and main. Every year that passes is meant to be a year of salvation. We rightly call each year the year of our Lord. Let us make it so by more earnest efforts for the bringing of sinners to the Cross of Christ.”

Let’s continue to look for Christ’s soon return, but let’s be busy telling everyone about a God who loves them, who is patient with them, and who wants them to come to repentance and spend eternity with Him!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 2 Peter, Charles Spurgeon, eternal life, God's promise, Jesus Christ, missional, missionary, patience, salvation, Second Coming. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—The Precious Blood

September 21, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Before Your Cross I kneel and see

the heinousness of my sin,

my iniquity that caused You to be

‘made a curse,’

the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by

the crown of thorns,

the pierced hands and feet,

the bruised body,

the dying cries.

Your blood is the blood of incarnate God,

its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.

Infinite must be the evil and guilt

that demands such a price.

Sin is my condition, my monster, my foe, my viper,

born in my birth,

alive in my life,

strong in my character,

dominating my faculties

following me as a shadow,

intermingling with my every thought,

my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,

the air supply breath,

the earth bear my treat,

its fruit nourish me,

its creatures serve my ends?

Yet, Your compassion yearns over me,

Your heart hastens to my rescue,

Your love endured my curse,

Your mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humility,

bathed in Your blood

tender of conscience,

triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation. —Arthur Bennett

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Arthur Bennett, blood, Calvary, Cross, forgiveness, God's judgment, God's love, Jesus Christ, pardon, poem, poetry, salvation, sin. Leave a Comment »

A Bizarre Sermon Illustration

September 16, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Hosea is the only prophet from Israel (he calls the Israelite king “our king” in 7:5), and along with Amos he is the only prophet to address the northern kingdom exclusively. Hosea addresses the northern tribes of Israel with brutal honesty—he calls them an adulteress wife! Hosea isn’t alone in saying this, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all same the same thing too.

But Hosea alone is called on to live out his message in a most unusual way: God instructs him to marry “an adulterous woman”! The question is: was she already a promiscuous woman before they married? Or did she become unfaithful after they were married?

I believe that she became unfaithful after marriage. When Gomer gives birth to their first son, Hosea writes that “she bore him a son”—indicating he is the father. But with Gomer’s second and third pregnancies, Hosea simply writes, “she gave birth,” leading me to think that Hosea wasn’t the father of those children.

From the Faithlife Illustrated Study Bible

The names of the children are also interesting:

Jezreel—This boy’s name means “God sows.” It is a neutral word meaning either sowing good seed and reaping a healthy harvest, or sowing godlessness and reaping punishment.
Lo-Ruhamah—Her name means “not pitied.” God indicates that He will bring a judgment on Israel that is deserved justice. He has been patiently calling them to repentance but they kept running farther away from Him.
Lo-Ammi—This boy’s name is saddest of all. It means “not My people.”

How sad! Can you imagine Hosea’s heartache?! Can you imagine God’s heartache?! God tells Hosea the penalty for their adulterous life (Hosea 2:2-13), which the apostle Paul would later sum up in these straightforward words: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

“YET” and “THEREFORE”…

In the middle of God expressing His heartache over His wayward wife He says two amazing words “Yet” and “Therefore” (1:10; 2:14).

“Yet I will bless you and reverse your misfortune”
“Therefore I will allure you and speak tenderly to you”

This is UNBELIEVABLE!! Who would respond like this to such vile unfaithfulness?!

God would.

God did! But God shows and clearly proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ—the Messiah, the Anointed One—died for us (Romans 5:8).

Hosea—whose name means salvation—is called on to do exactly what Jesus did for us. Hosea buys back his wife from her master. Hosea pays the price for Gomer’s sin, just as Jesus paid the price for our sin.

What amazing love God has for us!

You have never lived an unloved day in your life. Not a single one! God loves you more than the best husband could ever love his wife. He paid for your forgiveness and your freedom. Will you receive that forgiveness and restoration today?

Join me next Sunday as we learn more major lessons from the minor prophets.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: adultery, Amos, Calvary Assembly of God, forgiveness, God's love, Gomer, Hosea, Jesus Christ, judgment, marriage, minor prophets, restoration, Romans, salvation, sermon, video, YouTube. 5 Comments »

Poetry Saturday—Before Jehovah’s Awesome Throne

September 14, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

Before Jehovah’s awesome throne,

O nations, bow with sacred joy;

Know that the Lord is God alone,

He can create, and He can destroy.

His sovereign power without our aid

Made us of clay and formed us men;

And when like wandering sheep we strayed,

He brought us to His fold again.

We are His people, we His care,

Our souls and all our mortal frame.

What lasting honors shall we rear,

Almighty Maker, to Your name?

We’ll crowd your gates with thankful songs,

High as the heavens our voices raise;

And earth with all its thousand tongues

Shall fill Your courts with sounding praise.

Wide as the world is Your command,

Vast as eternity Your love;

Firm as a rock Your truth shall stand

When rolling years shall cease to move. —Isaac Watts

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: adoration, Creator, eternity, God's presence, God's Sovereignty, gratitude, hymn, Isaac Watts, poem, poetry, praise, salvation, singing, thankfulness, truth, worship. Leave a Comment »

Rejoicing At The Coming Of The Judge

August 19, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

In Psalm 50, we read the first-of-twelve psalms written by King David’s handpicked worship leader, a man named Asaph. On the day that Asaph first took up his position as worship leader, David gave him a special song, which definitely influenced Asaph’s songwriting.

Psalm 50 has a pretty easy outline: an introduction in the first six verses, followed by 17 verses of God speaking to His people—speaking to you and me! In between the introduction and God’s speaking is the word selah.

Selah means a time for us to pause and carefully consider. So Asaph is essentially saying, “God is getting ready to speak with us, so we need to selah—pause from what we are doing so that we can pay careful attention to His words!”

Asaph sets the stage in the first verse, telling us that the Mighty One, God, the Lord speaks. The words that are about to be spoken come from THE I AM—the All-Sufficient One, the Omnipotent, the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Ruler of the Universe. Asaph also reminds us that He is coming as THE Judge.

When you hear that THE All-Powerful, All-Knowing One is THE Judge that has summoned you into His courtroom, it’s quite likely that your heart would skip a beat. Especially when God lists some of the sins you and I are guilty of breaking in verses 16-20.

It’s also possible that the news that you have to appear before THE Judge could cause you to rejoice. What? How can we rejoice at that?! David taught Asaph this concept in the song he gave him: God’s people should rejoice over God’s judgments.

You see, in Psalm 50 God says, “I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, or for all your attempts to follow the rules.” It’s not in the practices of the law that we find salvation.

God doesn’t need our sacrifices, but He wants our hearts.

In order to win our hearts for Himself, THE Judge did something absolutely mind-blowing—THE I AM became flesh like us. And then He became the once-for-all sacrifice for our sins, paying our penalty Himself when He died on the Cross (see Hebrews 2:14-17; 7:17-27).

This is why we can rejoice when we hear we have to stand before THE Judge. When you have placed your faith in what Jesus did for you on the Cross, when THE Judge opens His perfect record book to your page He will read this inscription written in the crimson red blood of Jesus: PAID IN FULL!

This is why we can rejoice at the thought of seeing THE Judge face to face!

Join me next Sunday as we wrap up this summer looking at the Selahs in the Psalms. We plan to restart this series next summer, unless the Judge calls us home before then!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: 1 Chronicles, Asaph, Bible study, Calvary, Calvary Assembly of God, forgiveness, Hebrews, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, judge, judgement, King David, Psalm, salvation, Selah, sermon, video, Yahweh, YouTube. 2 Comments »

Poetry Saturday—An Acrostic

August 3, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

I am a vile polluted lump of earth;

So I’ve continued ever since my birth;

Although Jehovah grace does daily give me,

As sure as this monster satan will deceive me.

Come therefore, Lord, from satan’s claws relieve me.

Wash me in Thy blood, O Christ,

And grace divine impart;

Then search and try the corners of my heart,

That I in all things may be fit to do

Service to Thee, and sing Thy praises too. —Isaac Watts (written at age 7)

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: grace, Isaac Watts, Jesus Christ, poem, poetry, praise, salvation, satan, sinner. Leave a Comment »

Poetry Saturday—A Good Confession

June 29, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

It seemed as if nothing less likely could be

Than that light should break in on a dungeon so deep;

To create a new world were less hard than to free

The slave from his bondage, the soul from its sleep.

But the Word had gone forth, and said, Let there be light,

And it flashed through my soul like a sharp passing smart;

One look to my Savior, and all that dark night,

Like a dream scarce remembered, was gone from my heart.

I cried out for mercy, and fell on my knees,

And confessed, while my heart with keen sorrow was wrung;

’Twas the labor of minutes, and years of disease

Fell as fast from my soul as the words from my tongue. —Frederick William Faber

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: bondage, confession, forgiveness, Frederick William Faber, freedom, Jesus Christ, mercy, poem, poetry, salvation, Savior. Leave a Comment »

3 Lessons From A Devoted Dad

June 17, 2019 — Craig T. Owens

If you were to pick a man that would have been desperately devoted to Jesus as his Savior, Cornelius wouldn’t make anyone’s “top 10” list!

Just take a look at all the strikes against this man. He was a…

…Gentile—to Jews, Gentiles were just the fuel to stoke the fires of hell.
…resident of the city of Caesarea—since this was the headquarters of the Roman government for Palestine, not many Jews would venture there.
…Roman—historians say only 10% of Romans in this era were monotheistic.
…centurion—not just any centurion, but an extremely powerful centurion from the Italian Regiment (not just a local mercenary who was in it for the money). And he took his name from Cornelius Sulla, a Roman general known both for his mercy and his ruthlessness.

All of this makes Cornelius a fully self-sufficient and a well-to-do man who was not likely to look for help from God. Nor was he the type of person that a Christian missionary might seek out.

But clearly, something was missing in Cornelius’ life because he was completely countercultural in his pursuit after God. Not just his pursuit of God, but his quick understanding of exactly who Jesus was.

Luke the historian describes Cornelius as:

…devout and God-fearing. The Greek word for devout literally means “a right worshipper.” It’s a word Luke only uses three times in Acts, and two of those times are describing Cornelius.
…prayerful. The word Luke uses for him means someone who makes prayer personal and ongoing.
…generous. Cornelius took care of people who couldn’t take care of themselves.

All of this got God’s attention (see Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8; Proverbs 19:17), and He sent an angel to direct Cornelius to Peter.

When Peter came to Cornelius’ house, twice he said “as you know” (vv. 36, 37), showing us that Cornelius was aware that there was not only one true God, but that a relationship with Jesus was the only way to be in right relationship with God. As Peter spoke with Cornelius, his family, his relatives, his close friends, and even his fellow soldiers, the Holy Spirit baptized them just as He had done with the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost.

So here are 3 vital lessons for all men to learn from the life of Cornelius the centurion—

Your devotion to God is influential. People around you do notice your devoted pursuit of God.
Your openness to all that God has puts your family, friends, and coworkers in a place to receive God’s blessings too.
God’s blessings flowing through you have lasting and far-reaching results. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius may have opened the door for Christian evangelism to Gentiles unlike anything that had happened before.

Dads, be devoted to God. Desire all He has for you, and all He has for those around you. Pursue Him no matter how many “strikes” there may be against you.