Posts filed under ‘Religious – Christian – End Times’
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 13
Out of the two sons, who ended up being better off? Clearly, it was the young son who initially walked away, squandered his inheritance (that he had no right to take at that point since his father was still alive!), almost starved himself to death, and in the end, became truthfully humbled. It was this humility that brought him back to his father, not to “regain” salvation that some say he lost, but to enter into fellowship with his father, fellowship that should have existed from the getgo. Would it have been better off had he never gone through any of that? Of course, but please note that it seems like he had to go through it in order to cast off the things that kept him enslaved to SELF. He needed to be divested of a good amount of arrogance and pride before he would be ready to begin fellowship with his father. In the end, he truly became his father’s son! Do you think he ever broke off fellowship with his father again? While it’s possible, I can’t imagine it because he always had that lesson to draw on. He may have even exercised a great deal of compassion toward his older brother, we just don’t know.
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 12
In some ways, Luke’s narrative of the ten lepers highlights different reactions to being saved (and we’ll talk more about this in an upcoming article in this series). They gain salvation but never really stop to consider the fellowship aspect of it. Like the nine lepers, they are overjoyed to have salvation and they continue to go their way, paying little to no attention to the One who provided it. Is it any wonder their joy (and potential fellowship with God), dissipates and sometimes disappears altogether?
Continue Reading December 10, 2015 at 4:49 AM Leave a comment
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 10
My salvation is secure. I firmly believe that, based on what I believe the Scriptures teach. My legal standing before God is predicated only on my faith in Jesus and His work on my behalf. I cannot earn salvation and my exercised faith in Him is what opens the door to Him and His salvation (and potential fellowship; Revelation 3:20). Once I exercise faith in Him and that finished work, God grants me salvation. The first step in that salvation process is for God to change my legal standing before Him, permanently. I literally go from being “unrighteous” to “righteous.” This is a determination, a legal declaration by God that can never change, theoretically, in spite of what I do, what I say, or how I act for the rest of my life. I am saved (present-tense, ongoing). Nothing can change that (Romans 8:31).
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 7
Now, consider the couple that grows apart. This can happen to everyone. We marry under the delusion that those feelings of euphoria will always be there. Sleep? Who needs it. Food? Nah, I’ve got “love.” Those feelings fade and the hard work of life takes hold. For many couples, this hard work becomes intolerable and because it feels so much like actual work, one or both partners begins to chaff under it. Soon, they grow tired of the pressure created by the loss of feelings and start looking elsewhere to find them again. This means they might pour themselves into their work or have an affair. In either case, even though they haven’t argued, they have grown apart. The fellowship has stopped and one or both are looking elsewhere for “fellowship” that they should only be looking for and expecting with their lawfully wedded spouse.
Continue Reading December 7, 2015 at 11:52 AM Leave a comment
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 3
There are two sides to our salvation. There is the legal judgment or ramifications of our salvation. This is where God is able to officially declare us righteous and this is based not on any works we have done, but purely on our faith – our ability to believe that Jesus has paid the price in full and He is all we need to gain salvation and a place with God for all eternity. We are saved by faith alone, because of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). Faith is not a work. It is an attitude, an understanding (however small) that God and only God can change our status from “CONDEMNED!” to “RIGHTEOUS!” Only God can do that. Our faith is what opens that door (Revelation 3:20).
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 2
That is the first part of the equation of once saved, always saved (OSAS). We have to ask the question, what are we saved from and how does that happen? Notice Jesus says that anyone who does not believe in the Son is already condemned? That literally means, God’s condemnation remains or continues to rest on that person. Jesus is saying that is the automatic position of every person. There is no such thing as universalism, whereby all people will eventually be saved. Jesus is very clear here in stating that in order to eliminate or come out from under that condemnation that exists on each and every person, that person must have something: belief in the Son’s Name.
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 1
Consider this the introduction to this difficult subject regarding our salvation. I would implore you to love, love, love people – especially our brothers and sisters in the Lord – more than argue with them. I promise to try to do the same. State your case. Present your beliefs. Leave it there. Don’t harass or harangue people. Think about something. If you run across someone whom you believe is dead wrong about something, do you think God wants you to spend your days trying to prove it to those you meet who stand across the aisle from you or do you think He is simply more interested in you accepting them for who they are, loving them in spite of their obstinacy and error, and simply being there for them as people? I don’t believe to love someone means to set aside error or a rebellious attitude in a person. It doesn’t mean accepting it. It does mean understanding when to shut up, continue to pray, and support them. We need to start seeing people as people who need the Lord. Even Christians (especially) need more of the Lord. Though we have Him via salvation, there is much we have not appropriated. Beating people over the head doesn’t cause that to happen.
Sons of the Kingdom Will Be Thrown Out
Those Jews who reject Jesus are rejecting His redemptive work on their behalf (and ultimately, they are rejecting salvation), because they wrongly believe they are “safe” because they have Abraham as their “father.” It is not Abraham who saves them. In fact, it is clear that Abraham also needed saving and God only counted Abraham as “righteous” because of the faith he exhibited in God (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; Hebrews 11:8-12). That salvation that came to Abraham was not automatically passed down to Jews through Isaac and Jacob. Only the culture of being Jewish was passed, not the salvation.
Continue Reading December 3, 2015 at 9:53 AM Leave a comment
Ironic How World Blames God for Problems
The idea that the Daily News doesn’t like the fact that politicians and other leaders offer “prayers” when a tragedy like this occurs (hence their missive, “God Isn’t Fixing This”), proves the Daily News misses the point entirely. The Daily News wants greater gun control (and probably would thoroughly enjoy full gun confiscation, like the teetotalers so desperately wanted the absence of liquor in society because they thought that would solve all the problems), which would only teach us that the absence of guns doesn’t solve anything at all, since humanity will not have changed.
How Will I React When I Actually See Jesus the First Time?
Folks, if you think you will initially stand in His Presence waiting to hear “Good job!”, think again. You will initially most likely be so aware of your own sin and failures that you will likely become undone. It will only be in God’s reminder that we have been declared righteous that will help us to stand at all and only after He wipes away the tears brought on by tremendous sadness at how many times we failed Him in this life. Then, we will be prepared to hear the words, “Good job!” but knowing that anything “good” we did was only during those times we allowed Him to work in and through us for His glory.
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