Salvation is a gift
December 6, 2023
The only way you can have salvation is through faith, because it’s a gift. I’ve just come through another birthday, and it was quite wonderful. The office here, they presented me with a gift. And do you know what I did? I believed that when they offered it to me they really intended to give it to me, and I just reached out and took it. I didn’t do a thing to merit it, to win it, or work for it, or anything. It was a gift. Now the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And it’s Christ Himself. You either will accept Him or you won’t accept Him. That’s salvation. And you can only, by faith—it means to believe God.
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Galatians Bible Companion
Get ready to fight the good fight against legalism in Galatians. When this letter was written, it defended the gospel of Christ from people who wanted to reduce it to rules. Not surprising, Galatians has provided the backbone for several great spiritual revivals around the world. Freedom, we learn, is a serious fight. Allow grace to revolutionize your own life through these seven lessons from Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
Past Episodes
We are simply to trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. If our minds are distracted and our hearts are distressed, if the darkness that overshadows us strikes terror to us, if we run hither and yon in a vain effort to find some way of escape out of a dark place of trial where divine providence has put us, the Lord can do nothing for us. The peace of God must quiet our minds and rest our hearts. We must put our hand into the hand of God like a little child.
December 5, 2023
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Now the past, he’s leaving it behind with all of its mistakes, not letting it be a handicap for the present. The future, he lives in the present in anticipation of the future when he’ll grow and develop. Paul’s future is so absorbed with Christ that it motivates everything he says and does in the present. And he likens himself to a track star, running for a prize. And his prize is not some earthly reward, but for Christ himself!
December 4, 2023
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Now may I say this to you today, Christian friend. And I can speak after some experience. Turn your enemies over to God. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” Turn them over to God. Say, “Lord, deal with them.” And you know, over a period now of many years—I’ve been a pastor 40 years—I found out the Lord does a better job of dealing with them than I would. Because He knows how to do it. I don’t. Turn your enemies over to God. Those that have betrayed you. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord….”
December 1, 2023
“Be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God”—and the important word is—"by faith.” It’s the only way in the world you’re going to get it. You can’t work for it. You can’t buy it. You can’t steal it. You just trust Him. That righteousness came about because when He died on the cross He subtracted your sins, and when He rose again from the dead it’s for your justification, your righteousness. And you stand before God in Christ, not in yourself. The very fact He loved us and gave Himself for us is the most amazing statement that can possibly be made.
November 30, 2023
There are two things that should characterize the Christian today. John the Baptist expressed it: “He must increase; I must decrease.” And if that’s not happening in your life, my friend, just very candidly, you are not living for Christ. You are not living the Christian life. And I don’t care who you are—you could be a preacher, you could be a Sunday school teacher, you could be a deacon in the church. And the less we see of some of us and the more we see of Christ, it will certainly be better for those that are around us today.
November 29, 2023
Only God can see the heart. He knows what your true condition is and He knows what my true condition is. He knows whether I have saving faith, whether you have saving faith. But, you know, your neighbor can’t see saving faith, but he can see the works of faith. Saving faith will work itself out so your neighbor will get the impression that you are different—that you are a Christian. You wouldn’t have to wear a placard around. As we read a little note the other day, the statement was made, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” It’s a good question. Would there be enough evidence to convict you?
November 28, 2023
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” A little girl was in church with her mother when the preacher read this verse in the passage of scripture, here he was reading. And when he read this verse the little girl said in a stage whisper to her mother, she says, “Mama, you can’t work out salvation unless it’s first been worked in, can you?” That’s a very good question. You can’t work out a salvation unless it’s first been worked in.
November 27, 2023
Imagine those that have taken His name in vain, hated Him, disowned Him, actually spit upon Him down here, and having to acknowledge His lordship. But they are not reconciled to God at all, because you find in the epistle to the Colossians that He “made peace through the blood of his cross, to reconcile all things unto himself.” “All things”—then that means under the earth? Oh, no. “By him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” But not under the earth. No, hell is not reconciled to Him. But hell will have to recognize who He is. Even the Christ rejecters will have to stand before Him someday and recognize who He is.
November 24, 2023
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him.” That is the supreme purpose of God the Father in this universe, that Jesus Christ be glorified in the universe that He created. And that He’d be glorified on the earth where man dwells, where man rebelled against God. And the thing that makes this little earth significant and important happens to be the death of Christ, nothing else. The thing that has leant dignity to man and has caused him to look up into the heavens and sing the doxology is the fact that Jesus Christ came to this earth and died on the cross for us.
November 23, 2023
“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Now that is a rather stilted translation. I think I can put that in some good ole Americana. What he actually is saying here is that when He was there—at the right hand of God the Father, and He was God—He didn’t come down reluctantly. He hadn’t gone to school to become God. He wasn’t advanced from another position. He was God. There is no danger of Him losing that position. When He left heaven’s glory, He did it with delight. There was nothing that caused Him to hold back at all. He came with great joy to this earth.
November 22, 2023
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Galatians Bible Companion
Get ready to fight the good fight against legalism in Galatians. When this letter was written, it defended the gospel of Christ from people who wanted to reduce it to rules. Not surprising, Galatians has provided the backbone for several great spiritual revivals around the world. Freedom, we learn, is a serious fight. Allow grace to revolutionize your own life through these seven lessons from Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
About Thru the Bible - Minute with McGee
From the same incredible heritage ministry and timeless voice of Dr. J. Vernon McGee, we are thrilled to present to you brand-new programming from Thru the Bible. The content of these programs has been carefully curated from both the daily program and the sermons that Dr. McGee delivered over the years.
Other Thru the Bible Programs:
Thru the Bible
Thru the Bible - Questions & Answers
Thru the Bible - Sunday Sermon
Thru the Bible International
A Través de la Biblia
Other Thru the Bible Programs:
Thru the Bible
Thru the Bible - Questions & Answers
Thru the Bible - Sunday Sermon
Thru the Bible International
A Través de la Biblia
About Dr. J. Vernon McGee
John Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. Dr. McGee remarked, "When I was born and the doctor gave me the customary whack, my mother said that I let out a yell that could be heard on all four borders of Texas!" His Creator well knew that he would need a powerful voice to deliver a powerful message.
After completing his education (including a Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary), he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, California. Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970.
He began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Listeners never seem to tire of Dr. McGee's unique brand of rubber-meets-the-road teaching, or his passion for teaching the whole Word of God.
On the morning of December 1, 1988, Dr. McGee fell asleep in his chair and quietly passed into the presence of his Savior.
After completing his education (including a Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary), he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, California. Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970.
He began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Listeners never seem to tire of Dr. McGee's unique brand of rubber-meets-the-road teaching, or his passion for teaching the whole Word of God.
On the morning of December 1, 1988, Dr. McGee fell asleep in his chair and quietly passed into the presence of his Savior.
Contact Thru the Bible - Minute with McGee with Dr. J. Vernon McGee
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