God the Father, Source of Works

Works are not the cause of salvation, but instead are the effect of God's creative efforts at bringing us into His image—a new creation.

Like Joseph, we need to realize that God—not ourselves—is the Creator, engineering events that form us into what He wants us to become.

John Ritenbaugh stresses that good works are something that take place after the process of salvation has begun. Good works are the effects of God sending forth His Spirit and deliverance, but the works are not the cause of our deliverance. God's creative . . .

John Ritenbaugh stresses that salvation is an entire creative process undertaken by God to justify, sanctify, and glorify a called out body of individuals. Ephesians 2:8 uses the perfect tense 'saved,' indicating an action started in the past and continuin. . .

Human beings, even those who have been called, have an innate fear that God will not always provide. This fear originates in doubt about God's power.

Where does real power reside? All power has its source in God—and not just the kind of power we typically think of.

We may be going through a period of hopelessness, but must believe that all things work together for those who believe and are called for His purpose.

The best human leaders are those who recognize that they are not the ones running things. Exceptional leaders submit to the reality of God's sovereignty.

God gives grace from start to finish in a person's relationship with Him. It cannot be limited merely to justification and His forgiveness of our sins.

The Bible makes it plain that salvation is by grace, but it is also clear that we are 'created in Christ Jesus for good works.' Grace and works fit together.

Grace implies empowerment for growth. It is the single most important aspect of our salvation, and His giving of it is completely unmerited on our part.

Richard Ritenbaugh, reiterating the day-for-a-year-principle, maintains that, as we count the 50 days toward Pentecost, we should reconsider the events of our lives (whether life-changing ones or those we might regard as incidental), coming to understand t. . .

Humility, poverty of spirit, and acknowledging our total dependence on God are of the utmost importance. God responds to those who are humble.

The Father and the Son are two distinct beings, not co-equal as the trinity doctrine proclaims, but with the Son deferring to the Father in all things.

John 1:1-3 reveals Jesus' pedigree as the Logos (Spokesman), whose function was to declare or reveal the Father. He had existed with His Father from eternity.

The Holy Spirit is never venerated as a separate being. Our hope is the indwelling of Christ, used interchangeably with 'Spirit of God' and 'Spirit of Truth.'

John Ritenbaugh asserts that after justification, for grace to be made dominant, its influence must extend beyond justification, into the sanctification stage where the believer must yield himself to righteousness, keeping God's commandments making himself. . .

John Ritenbaugh asserts that when God created Adam, He prepared only a foundation for mankind's eventual spiritual creation undertaken by the Second Adam. Spiritual creation requires much intense pressure and continual testing to determine character. Jesus. . .

Ted Bowling, drawing a spiritual analogy from the growth of a pineapple, observes that it takes a long time from planting to harvest—approximately three years for the plant to mature. At first, all that matures is the foliage. The majority of the gro. . .

We tend to avoid acknowledging our weaknesses, but at some point, each of us will admit our powerlessness and inability to carry out God's will on our own.

John Ritenbaugh emphasizes how intimately God is involved with the intimate details of our life, including our conception and birth, supplying spiritual gifts or abilities to carry out His work. David reflects that God knows us searchingly, even our secret. . .

Egypt is not directly a symbol of sin, but instead the world. The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize what God did for us, not what we did by our own power.

God is absolutely faithful to finish what He started, knowing the end from the beginning. Our strength is dependent upon the relationship we have with God.

John Ritenbaugh, reminding us that while we are not yet "all in all" with God"s purpose for us, we will, if we yield to our calling and sanctification, become at one with God, having His laws permanently etched into our mind and character. T. . .

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that godly leadership is lacking in Israelitish countries, maintains that grace is the single most important gift God gives us, and without this gift we would still be a part of this world—a world which has become equally. . .