Posts filed under ‘Religious – Christian – Theology’
Christ, Our Righteousness, Part 4
Being born into this life marks us as condemned already (John 3:18). The goal is to find a way – if one exists – to legally and permanently change that status. What we are learning is that the legal status can only be changed by Christ and through our faith in Him so that our standing of “condemnation” is somehow changed to “righteous” before God in that same court of Law. This is exactly what salvation procures for us.
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.
True Worship for Your Soul
Breathe. God is closer to us than our breath. How can we not be moved by that truth? I woke up this morning thinking aloud that He is closer to me than my breath is, yet my breath keeps me alive and literally “infiltrates” all areas of my being either directly or indirectly.
Continue Reading December 2, 2015 at 11:49 AM Leave a comment
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.
Today I was Reminded that I Have a Sin Nature
In our relationship with God, the fault always lies with us, never God. We are the ones who need to move back toward God. He waits for us and His throne room is always open to us. But we need to move past our pride and be willing to confess our wrongdoing so that He can (and will) receive us back into fellowship.
There will be many Christians who leave this life who never knew that they were out of fellowship with God. They had/have salvation and that’s really all they cared about. They failed to understand that they were supposed to be in relationship with Jesus, a relationship that would expose their sin, bring it to the surface, and allow God to siphon off that “dross.”
One Day of Thanksgiving?
I firmly believe that God will look for every possible way to save someone if that person seeks God. I was thinking of a few well-known people whom I thoroughly believe are apostates. My problem is that I realize what they teach today is apostasy, I have no way of knowing whether or not at one point they actually did receive Jesus as Savior and were granted eternal life. I have no way of knowing what their particular case is now. All I can do is see their lives and though they may be wealthy or seemingly “blessed,” the truth of the matter is that the error they teach has placed them on the path of spiritual death. Should they continue in that error, God may choose to remove them prematurely from this life in order to keep them from heaping up more and greater sin against themselves.
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