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Author
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Topic: More OASAS! (OnceAlwaysSavedAlwaysSaved)
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
To please God, we need both the written word of God and the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 2:16 - 17 (NLT)
16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths .
17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
Romans 14:5 (NLT)
5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.
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Isaiah
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First... those without God's spirit can have natural affection. The love of God is more than this. Sometimes the love of God has meant that some have had to leave their families -which is not contrary to natural affection, but must sometimes override it -such as when families disagreed with them doing the will of God. Such might not want to cause hurt or hardship to loved ones by their absence, but know that it is best for all in the long run that they obey God even before their families -not to say they should not still honor and obey their parents in all other things. Sometimes the love of God seems ridiculous to men because of their lack of vision.
Second, we first have to LEARN the law, because the law is not naturally in us. The law is not man's love -but God's. Even when God gives one his spirit, studying that which God wants us to do -the law -is necessary. Man's love can tell us to do one thing -but God's love another. God's love and man's love can be at odds -but due to the faults of men.
1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
If the love of God IS THAT WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, we need to first LEARN them DEEPLY, and then TRY to keep them because we are in the habit of NOT keeping them and need to break the habit of sin(still considering all I said in the previous post).
Let's consider perhaps the most controversial and disregarded commandment. If God tells us to do one thing -and man tells us to do another -we should love God by doing what he says before doing what man says. God said not to work on the sabbath -but let's say one's mother or father tells one to go to a job on that day. There seems to be a conflict, as one is bound to honor and obey their parents, but also God -but we should obey God first -and still honor and obey parents in every other thing that is not contrary to God.
The love of "man" often compromises with the commandments(love) of God in order to maintain the peace or to gain that which is advantageous -but to seek to gain by breaking a commandment is also coveting -which breaks another commandment.
An extreme example of this -though it happens daily would be... if one threatened to do harm to another or their loved ones if they did not do an evil deed.
The love of man would most often compromise -not wanting their loved ones to come to harm -but by this reasoning we become slaves to evil, and the evil deed does harm to someone if not their own. The love of God would refuse to do the evil deed -having faith in God and knowing that God would provide and was in control of the situation -not man.
We should learn the law of God so we know what is truly good and evil -and in such trials -believe me -you will have to try -to keep the law -though less as your faith grows and you see God work. If this evil deed were "simply" working on the sabbath it does not matter. One compromise leads to another.
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Carol Swenson
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When we love God and when we love other people, we don't even want to do mean, ugly things to them. I can't imagine, for example, hurting my mother on purpose. The Holy Spirit gives us this kind of love for God and for other people in place of the self-centered life of the old nature. We don't have to try to keep the law because doing evil things is repulsive to us. At the same time, doing good deeds is a delight. Don't you enjoy making others happy? I do.
I don't mean that I'll do something sinful to please someone. And I don't mean that it's a matter of pride, (except the kind of pride that is the opposite of ashamed). But to do something nice for someone, something kind, is a pleasure.
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Isaiah
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edited above post -but the first commandments are the least required to love God -and the latter are the least required to love neighbor -God enables us to keep them first in letter then in spirit by his spirit.
wasn't sure what you meant -I was referring to what you said about seeking praise or doing the will of a religious leader out of admiration or whatever. We should seek to please God first -though it is not wrong to enjoy right praise from another. Loving man can sometimes mean doing that which does not bring praise from them -as men are imperfect and do not always praise the right. Still, when the apostles -church leaders chosen by God -pointed out where some were imperfect and those changed -and the apostles praised them -they would not be wrong to seek praise from man and God as long as man and God are agreed -but not for the sake of praise.
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Carol Swenson
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Isaiah,
You wrote
quote:
We should certainly not live to please men.
And
quote:
we should love God and neighbor with all OUR STRENGTH, etc
I don't disagree, but what is your take on how we do both of these?
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Isaiah
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You make some excellent points.
I do not believe the spirit is a person, but that God works from within one by his own spirit -which he can put within one.
Ancient Israel was given the law, and some were even obedient -but it was impossible for them to keep the law in spirit -which is why Christ further explained...
Mat 5:21-22 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
So the law was not removed, but we were made more responsible to keep it more deeply -yet not by our own power -as what Christ was saying led to the fact that we need God's spirit to do so -he was preparing them to receive that which could make this possible -the comforter.
2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
One without the spirit of God can refrain from murder, but cannot truly refrain from the spiritual roots of the physical act -until God enables them to do so by giving them his spirit. They are then to refrain from physically breaking the commandments, and also resposnsible to seek from God spiritual righteousness also -which is spiritual understanding of the true depth and meaning of all ten commandments -but it is his righteousness nonetheless.
We should certainly not live to please men.
God does, at times, takes absolute control even of individuals, but God does want us to be personally strong also in overcoming sin -he does want us to work at it by using all he has given us -which includes our own minds and bodies -remember they are from him also -and we should bring them under his rule BY EVERY MEANS HE HAS GIVEN -as it says we should love God and neighbor with all OUR STRENGTH, etc... Luk 10:27 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
And what was told to cain no less applies to us...
Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Also -not to be contrary, as I think I understand what you meant, but obeying GOD's -not man's -specific rules DOES make you more spiritual -provided God's spirit is with you or in you in the first place -because what he told us to do was intended to teach us HIM.
God told Israel to write his words and laws on their doorposts and other places so that they would remember HIM. When they stopped doing so, they began to forget HIM. The law is called the law of LOVE because it is what we need to do in order to make the world the wonderful place God intended. Even remembering the sabbath remembers HIM -what HE DID and WHY -if we change it we forget HIM! The same is true for his holy days. If we all kept the holy days of God we would not argue about pre- and post- trib raptures, what happens when we die, whether we go to heaven or inherit the earth and what any of that might even mean. They teach his plan. They were cast aside and confusion reigned. This is not obeying man -doing anything else is!
It is written that the things of God are apparent in what was made -so that even those who have not heard the word are without excuse in some matters -because basic right and wrong is apparent. Likewise -the DEEPER things of God are made apparent by doing those things which God specifically tells us to do.
No one who breaks the law is free from it. They are still under the death penalty. Grace does not mean we are not responsible to obey the rules -and to put forth every effort to that end, but that God -due to no merit of our own -sent his Son to die in our place -forgives us -strengthens us by his spirit to overcome sin -which is the transgression of the law -and makes us perfect.
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Carol Swenson
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Paul’s doctrine of Christian liberty through grace is not the dangerous doctrine. It is legalism that is the dangerous doctrine, because legalism attempts to do the impossible: change the old nature and make it obey the Laws of God. Legalism succeeds for a short time, and then the flesh begins to rebel. The surrendered Christian who depends on the power of the Spirit is not denying the Law of God, or rebelling against it. Rather, that Law is being fulfilled in him through the Spirit (Rom. 8:1-4).
1. I have been set free by Christ. I am no longer under bondage to the Law (Gal. 5:1-12).
2. But I need something—Someone—to control my life from within. That Someone is the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:13-26).
3. Through the Spirit’s love, I have a desire to live for others, not for self (Gal. 6:1-10).
4. This life of liberty is so wonderful, I want to live it to the glory of God; for He is the One making it possible (Gal. 6:11-18).
Now, contrast this with the experience of the person who chooses to live under Law, under the discipline of some religious leader.
1. If I obey these rules, I will become a more spiritual person. I am a great admirer of this religious leader, so I now submit myself to his system.
2. I believe I have the strength to obey and improve myself. I do what I am told, and measure up to the standards set for me.
3. I’m making progress. I don’t do some of the things I used to do. Other people compliment me on my obedience and discipline. I can see that I am better than others in my fellowship. How wonderful to be so spiritual.
4. If only others were like me! God is certainly fortunate that I am His. I have a desire to share this with others so they can be as I am. Our group is growing and we have a fine reputation. Too bad other groups are not as spiritual as we are.
No matter how you look at it, legalism is an insidious, dangerous enemy. When you abandon grace for Law, you always lose.
(Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” Series: Old & New Testaments)
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Isaiah
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Certainly no carnal man can do the righteousness of God -it is not in us naturally. This is, however, why it is necessary that we have God's spirit in us. He formed us for his own habitation -we should decrease as he increases -but we are responsible to stir up that gift -to not grieve it or push it aside -and we are responsible to keep the commandments -more so when we have the spirit of God -this is not relying on one's self, but one using that which God gave one -should this be the case -enabling them to understand and keep the spirit and letter of the law. Just because our works can not save us does not mean we are not responsible to do what he says. When we are immortal we will not be able to say it was by our doing, but God will not make one immortal who does not do what he says -we have a choice -we have a responsibility. If it were not so God could have nothing against us.
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Michael Harrison
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Do you want to follow Jesus? Are you willing to "Speak in tongues," if HE wants you to? It is not a question of whether this is real or not. It is more a question of whether you want HIS will done, rather than whether you get to decide what His will is by self determination. Will you accept His will fully and completely, whatever HE wants done? This is the question regarding the disciple of Christ Jesus. Submission to HIS will is very important. Does it take any thought whatsoever to see this? HE knows if you are willing. HE sees your heart. Anything else is self preservation, which is not acceptable. He delights in 'trust', which is the same as to go under the cross. He will not betray! He says that HE will not give anything evil to those who trust HIM. So one cannot be deceived unless they try to preserve themselves by their own intellect.
How do you know that you have trusted HIM? You are precious to HIM. He will not let you down. So, trust yourself, and your wisdom, or trust HIS. His is a very good bet.
Amem!
When one steps out in faith, it is in trust. Trust is essential, for without faith it is impossible to please God. Trust and faith go hand-in-hand. It is a question of what HIS will is, not what somebody else decides for you what HIS will is.
Now, you cannot keep HIS commandments. He will keep them for you and you can abide in HIS keeping of them. That is an offer that is without parallel.
And it is not about 'getting to heaven', for Jesus is this. He is the resurrection. HE is the 'way, the truth and the life'. He is! That it is so is represented in the statement that He made to Moses, "I AM!"
Those who have faith in OSAS have faith in a 'fact', which seems infallable. However, regardless of how sound it seems to be, it is not faith in a person, who Jesus is. Trust HIM, for He will not let you be deceived.
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Carol Swenson
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Let it first be said that in declaring the eternal security of God’s people it is clearer to speak of their preservation than, as is commonly done, of their perseverance. Perseverance means persistence under discouragement and contrary pressure. The assertion that believers persevere in faith and obedience despite everything is true, but the reason is that Jesus Christ through the Spirit persists in preserving them.
Scripture emphasizes this. John tells us that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is under promise to his Father (John 6:37-40) and to his sheep directly (John 10:28-29) to keep them so that they never perish. In his high-priestly prayer before his passion Jesus asked that those whom the Father had given him (John 17:2, 6, 9, 24) would be preserved to glory, and it is inconceivable that his prayer, which still continues (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), will go unanswered.
(Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs)
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Isaiah
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Perhaps a better question to ask is....
Are all those who think they are saved -ACTUALLY SAVED?
It seems to me the heart of the OSAS issue is whether or not we have any choice in the matter of our salvation. Are we predestinated in such a manner that God knows beforehand and will save us no matter what we do, think or feel about it? Or can we reject him? Has he, by predestinating some to be saved regardless -predestinated the rest to not be saved regardless? Are the rest weeds who never had a chance? Or can we make ourselves fruitbearing pants or weeds by at least some personal choice in the matter -as good as saved provided we endure?
Whatever the answer, there is one path -some will walk it -some will not. Even if God knows what we will eventualy do, we still have to do it. But...some mistakenly walk the WRONG PATH.
The fact remains that a whole lot of people think they are saved -or will be saved -but are mistaken. This is clearly stated in scripture -so who is (as good as) saved or will be saved?
First, I'd like to point out that there is a FIRST resurrection, and a later resurrection. The first resurrection consists of only a small percentage of all who have ever lived, though the numbers began to increase when Christ came and the new testament church began -and a great mulitude in the last days will be saved out of tribulation and resurrected. Those in the first resurrection are only the FIRSTFRUITS of all who will EVENTUALLY be saved!
Jam 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
This is made clear by the following...
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
This "END" includes the resurrection of all those who have ever lived who were not in the first resurrection -and some of them will have thought they would be in the first resurrection-or would be in heaven (another subject altogether)!
...and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is he first resurrection.
(obviously, those who reign with Christ will have been resurrected first -and the rest of the dead resurrected second -though the wording is a bit wierd)
The "rest of the dead" are raised to a great judgment before God -after the thousand years.... and some will then receive LIFE -though some will be cast into the lake of fire...
Rev 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
My point is that when the bible speaks of being saved or not -it sometimes refers to being in the first resurrection or not -not to say that those who are not in the first resurrection are doomed.
Some think they follow Christ, but are deceived and mistaken. Some think they keep the commandments, but keep the commandments of men.
So who will be in the FIRST resurrection?
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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WildB
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How does a person get to heaven?
If you ask most people this question, they will say something like, "If you do more good things than bad things, God will probably let you into heaven." The above thinking will reserve your place in hell. You need FAITH IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS. There are no good deeds that you can do on your own that will erase the sins that you have committed. Jesus SHED BLOOD for you sins. He came to save you from the GUILT of past sins and the POWER of sin over your life. You are about to read the most important information that you will ever read. It is called the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The word "gospel" means "message"*. The gospel is God's message to mankind. If you will yield to the gospel, you will be reconciled to God and you will escape eternal damnation in hell and the lake of fire. Besides all of this, you will have abudant life right now as you walk with the Creator of the universe--in spite of all the woes the world will throw at you. If you are full of doubts, ask Jesus to help you to understand and to be willing to be saved.
*many say the word gospel means, "good news" but in actuality it is only good news for those who receive it with singleness of heart. To others it is the stench of death...eternal death. Revelation 14:6-7 tells us the message of the everlasting gospel--"Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and WORSHIP HIM that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." There is only one way to do this--through the blood of Jesus Christ. REPENT ye and BELIEVE the gospel!
1.
The Bible says that nobody is good enough to get into heaven. Each one of us has broken God's commandments--not one person is excepted. You have personally lied and committed other sins.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
[L]et God be true, but every man a liar...( Romans 3:4)
2. I don't care how much "good" stuff you do, you still can't go to heaven. You are dead in tresspasses and sins. Your good deeds do not commend you to God in any way. You've ignored Him chosing to live life the way YOU see fit.
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
According to the above verse, we still come up short even when we try to do good deeds BECAUSE we are not doing them under God's authority. We do them cause WE think they are good. We ignore what God says.
"But I never killed anybody and I'm not a dope addict!" You're still a spiritual crook. You have broken the GREATEST COMMANDMENT IN THE BIBLE and you are as guilty as a harlot, a whoremonger, a killer, a thief and a liar. What is the greatest commandment?
Matthew 22:36-38 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind. THIS is the first and great commandment.
It doesn't take much thinking to know that the unregenerate man has broken this commandment every day of his miserable life. Ungrateful, unthankful to the God that hath provided life to his carcass.
For those stuck on their "good" deeds like hellbound papists (who go about to establish their OWN righteousness instead of hearkening to the Bible,) if we could earn our way into heaven, Jesus died for nothing!
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21)
God is Holy. We are sinful. By His very nature, God cannot have fellowship with us sinners. There is no amount of "good" that we can do to make up for our crimes against God. They must be punished. And the wages are DEATH. Somebody has to DIE. Oh, you'll die physically, sin requires that. But you've got a choice about dying spiritually...
3. We deserve the death penalty. This includes both physical death (the casket) and spiritual death (when the soul is separated from God and cast into hell).
[T]he wages of sin is death...(Romans 6:23)
4. God doesn't want to remain your enemy and He does not want you to go to hell.
As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die... (Ezekiel 33:11)
The Lord is...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
5. In spite of your wickedness and rebellion, God loved you enough to send His ONLY BEGOTTEN Son to die for your sins. The Bible says, "... thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people FROM their sins." (Matt 1:21). Jesus did not die so that you could keep sinning and go to heaven. He came to save you from the GUILT and the POWER of sin. Jesus DESTROYED the works of the devil on calvary (I John 3:8). When you are unsaved, sin hath dominion over you. Sin is your boss and you can't do anything BUT sin. You are under the wrath of a holy and just God. Murderers, thieves, fornicators, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, rebels, and all other spiritual lepers will not inherit the kingdom. The blood of Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. That means the blood took away the guilt of the sins we've committed AND it has ushered us into a Father child relationship with the Lord. Through the blood of Jesus, we are to serve sin no more.
Again, the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus who is God, to die in your place. Remember that the wages of sin is death--that is why He died, to pay YOUR wages. The Lord Jesus Christ was your substitutionary sacrifice. The world's greatest love story is summed up in the following verse--
For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY BEGOTTEN Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) How can you show more love than giving your very life for someone else's life? You can't. What is more amazing is that Jesus died for us WHEN WE WERE HIS ENEMIES! I mean vile, wicked, pitiful, wretched, unclean, unholy, ungodly, prideful, spiritually leperous.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
...Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
The love of God for you was demonstrated on that cross 2,000 years ago! God ain't hateful, He is loving. He gave His Son for you even though you are dead in tresspasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
2:3 Among whom also we ALL had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
6. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth to (1) save you from the GUILT and POWER of your sins and (2) RECONCILE you unto God. Through faith in the blood of Jesus you will escape the wrath to come and joyfully look forward to heaven--and you'll live an overcoming life. God will be your Father instead of your enemy--but only through the blood of Jesus.
..the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
7. After His death, the Lord's body laid in the grave three days, but praise be to God, it did not remain there. On the third day Jesus arose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people (I Corin 15:6) before He went back to heaven.
Please remember that Jesus was not some victim or just a baby in a manger--He was and is the eternal God and Savior who came to earth and gave His own blood for your sins. After He accomplished this tremendous feat, He rose from the dead like He said He would:
"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again..." (John 10:17-18)
...Christ died for our sins...and he was buried, and...he rose again the third day... (I Corinthians 15:3-4)
8. Are you ready to repent of your sins? To repent means to forsake your evil ways and listen to God. All your life you've been your own authority concerning what is right and what is wrong. You've made your own decisions while ignoring what the Lord says in His holy word, the Bible. You've served yourself and not God. To repent means that you turn to GOD AND THE BIBLE AS YOUR AUTHORITY. It means you can say, "Lord everything you say in the Bible is right. If my feelings contradict the Bible I AM WRONG. Lord I want to live under YOUR AUTHORITY, not my own."
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to REPENT. (Acts 17:30)
...TURN TO GOD, AND DO WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE. (Acts 26:20)
Repentance ain't lip service. Are you prepared to live for the Lord? Jesus said this--
"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27)
Determine that you are sick of living under your own authority. You've lived the way YOU wanted to. You lived without regard for God's precepts. Understand in your mind that you've lived in sin and in the ways of death. Think it through. Determine that you want God to be your Father and not your enemy. Decide that you WANT the Lord and His ways. Satan ain't doing nothing but kicking your hind parts up and down the street. He will leave you destroyed. God will lift you up if you submit yourself to Him.
Friend, you have a choice to make,
1. keep on pursuing Satan and the fleeting pleasures of sin; or,
2. humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Further the kingdom of God with power from above. In due time, He will lift you up to places you never experienced--much less knew they existed.
9. The Holy Bible is the word of God. It is the only way that we know about the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Bible, God testifies that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was buried; and that He rose from the dead on the third day. You must believe and confess this in order to be saved.
[I]f thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. (Romans 10:9)
Jesus waits with open arms for those that want life. The choice is yours. If you're sick of being alienated from God, if you're tired of what this wicked and perverse world has to offer, if you want Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, if you want to be reconciled unto your Creator, if you want to go to heaven, if you want to escape hell -- put your faith in the One who can do something about it! Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for you? Do you believe that He rose from the dead? Do you repent of your sins? Do you want to follow Jesus?
If so, REPENT and talk to the Lord in prayer in your own words right now. Don't put off making a decision for Jesus, tomorrow may be too late. Some people don't know how to pray. Praying is just talking to the Lord. If you want to be saved, repent and pray--you can say something like, "Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I want to be saved. I repent of my sins, every one. I don't want to do evil anymore, I want to do righteousness through the blood of Jesus. I'm asking you to please forgive me of my sins against you. I want a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be everything that You created me to be. I believe that Jesus shed His blood and died for me so that I could be saved from my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead on the third day. I want to be your child. Thank you for being merciful to me, a sinner. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving my soul from sin. Please fill me with your precious, Holy Spirit so that I can live a righteous, self-denying life for you. I'm giving you myself. Please show me what you want me to do. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen."
If you have placed your faith in Jesus, praise God, you are a Christian. Now begins your new life of freedom and obedience to the Lord. Now you need to (1) start reading the Bible (Authorized King James Version of 1611--begin with the gospels) and (2) you need to get yourself into a Bible-believing church that uses the King James Bible so you can get baptized and discipled in the way of Christ.
Please see the section on the new life for more information. If you've gotten saved through this witness, please e-mail me at tracy@jesus-is-lord.com so that we can rejoice together.
Warning!!!
Once you get saved, the devil will try to make sure that you encounter false doctrine. Your faith is tender and you will be prone to believe anything people tell you about the Bible (that's why you need to read it for yourself everyday). If you have any questions, please write me and I will direct you to the appropriate scriptures. Please heed these warnings:
1. Don't let anybody tell you that you have to "speak in tongues" to show that you are saved. These people take one or two passages out of context and make false doctrine out of them.
2. Don't let anyone tell you that water baptism saves you. If you are saved, you WILL get baptized out of obedience. Saved people are children of obedience (Heb 5:9). The gospel and baptism are separate--I Cor 1:17. You are baptized in order to outwardly identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and to symbolically show the washing away of sins. So if you are trusting in your baptism to save you, you are wrong. An unrepentant sinner will go down a dry sinner and come out a wet sinner.
1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. Don't let anybody tell you that you're going to hell if you don't go to church on Saturday--Colossians 2:16, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.
If you have not trusted Christ, I hope that you won't continue to reject His offer of life. You are in a dangerous position. John 3:36 says, "...he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." You will not make it into heaven on your own "good merits" or by your own conception of Who and What God should be like. He always has His way--the choice is yours to accept or reject.
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/2_heaven.htm
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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Michael Harrison
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Member # 6801
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posted
“Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.”
Rather than repeat the verses that come after, we know that it happened that seed fell in four places. Some fell on rock. Some fell in thorns, and some in good soil, some by the wayside. The good soil needs no elaboration; so we’ll look at the seed which fell on stony ground. But first, verse 8:11 states that the seed is the word of God so that we'll know what is going on. People tend for some reason to think of the ‘word’ of God, meaning the written word, which we have in the Bible, as separate somehow from Jesus. We just do. Jesus is however “The Word of God,” and the written word that we have on modern papyrus, points us ‘to’ HIM, the actual Living Word of God. It is the Word of God which saves, who Jesus is.
In consideration of this, some people tend to think that there are some who hear the word (I mean, as per the spoken representation of it), and it isn’t believed by them in such a way that the hearers are transformed. Therefore these are not saved. They insist that there is not a genuine conversion if later it is clear that the person backslid.
For some reason some people claim that some, who go back into the world, evidently never really knew HIM. It makes it easy to cope with these kinds of people and writh them off. It is a foreign concept for me to hear this about them, as the word is about to reveal. For the assertion here in the word is that, not everyone who goes back into the world is unsaved. Rather, they are overcome.
We read that some seed fell on stony soil, and this verse is used by those who believe that these unfortunate folks never really knew Him. Their reasoning is that the seed couldn’t take root for the lack of soil, so they didn’t get to know Christ. Those holding this idea overlook however, the fact that the seed actually took root, even if there was no soil to sustain it. If you know anything about seed at all, you know that it must ‘germinate’ before it can take root, which implies also, when compared with the heart, that germination takes place. For a seed to germinate is tantamount to its ‘believing’, if you compare it with what Jesus illustrates to us about the heart. This is what starts it to grow. If the heart believes, it is germinated so that it immediately seeks out water and soil to take root. Faith starts to grow. So, if you have believed, according to scripture, you have been germinated. You are a valid believer.
The mustard seed parable comes into play here to illustrate hugely and wonderfully, this pattern for recognizing the Kingdom of God. It starts with faith (doing some combining here) the size of a grain of mustard, which is small among seeds. The seed is in itself the faith given to us by our maker, which is comparable with ‘simple belief’, which is all that we need to start. It is (help me here) simile, or allegory, in that to have a seed of faith in the heart (simple belief) is the germination of our own heart, unto belief in the Kingdom of Heaven, by way of the King, who Jesus is. Why is this important? Where the seed which fell on the wayside is concerned, here is what happened. Let's look:
“Luk 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
Here we see that the seed of these ‘potential’ believers was stolen away by the serpent, preventing them from believing. And what does that mean? The seed did not germinate! So we can apply something in this verse to the other seed which was described, to see that they ‘believed’, and were saved, which verse 12 states is the qualification of being saved. Therefore the only ones who weren’t saved were the ones described in verse 12 who didn't believe, and the seed got trampled. Where then does that leave the other seed? There are two others needful of description here. We have touched on the stony seed already. But we didn’t state that they (in which we can now see how that they were believers based on the wording of verse 12) withered away! They believed, and shortly, they withered. They met the qualification of salvation according to Jesus. This is not good news for those who want to believe in OASAS. (Get it? Oasis!) For verse 12 says that those who believed, were ‘saved’. This is distinct!
Now for the other seed which fell among thorns, these seed I consider to be like what we see around us today on TV, and in local upbeat churches. These are Christians, howbeit, as evidenced by the prosperity preaching, have become overcome with the cares of the world, the lusts for stuff, and so on, until they do not bear the fruit of the Kingdom. Spiritually they are His, and there is life in them. They are plants, or trees as per having believed and received the Spirit of God. Albeit, they do not bear heavenly fruit! And this is what they would be laying up in the Kingdom of Heaven if they were not quinching HIM. (You know, lay not up on earth where moth and dust doth corrupt, and thieves break in to steal. Why won’t they listen?)
Have a good heart and bring forth fruit to perfection. Where does it start? It starts with believing. This is why I said that what you believe makes or breaks you, for it makes or breaks whether the Kingdom is prosperous in you, and much belief is short of the intended belief which He planned for us to abide in.
The only reason there is any concern with me, by His Spirit mind you, is the danger in what kind of attitude a believer might have in his walk. The person who adheres to this oasas concept might, thinking that all that he might lose is some of his reward, may find it acceptable to forfeit a bit; you know, become complacent. Unfortunately we have scriptures that indicate that such an one will find out when it is too late, that it wasn’t acceptable (hand on the plow) and what he had will be taken from him and given to another. This is why, and I say with a heavy heart, we find several references in Matthew to ‘weeping’, or ‘wailing, and gnashing of teeth’, which follow after passages that indicate that the ones who will be suffering the most in hell, are those who thought that they had salvation. For the other sinners knew what was to be their lot. They are not the ones who will be the most devastated. It will be some who thought that they had met the requirements.
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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