Archive for the ‘Christian Theology’ Category
Did Jesus Talk About Election In John Six
The doctrine of election is quite divisive among all Christian religions.
They who believe in God’s choosing who will be saved, will say that if they had not been chosen for salvation they would never have been born-again for they had no desire to be saved.
On the other side, they who deny the doctrine of election, do so for they believe that God has given everyone the free-will to choose whether or not they want to accept or reject salvation offered by Jesus.
The question is who is right in their doctrine? The answer might be found in what Jesus taught in the gospel of John chapter six?
Read the following scripture verses to see for yourself, and may God give you understanding.
John 6:29
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent.
John 6:37
All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:38-39
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. [39] And this is the Father’s will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:65
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
So, we see that believing in Jesus is a work done by God, not by man, and all in whom God chooses to believe in Jesus will come to Jesus. For it is the will of God that all whom He brings to Jesus that Jesus will loose of all whom the Father brings to Him.
Jesus further said that the reason for God working in man to believe, and to bring to Jesus, is that no one “can” come to Jesus unless God brings them. To reinforce this claim, Jesus lastly says that no one “can” come to Me unless My Father gives them the ability to come.
This is why we are saved by God’s Grace. For salvation is all of God.
These verses are very clear in what they say and it will take God to give you understanding to these statements. I pray that God is doing so at this very moment.
Believe not in your religion but in what Jesus says in Scripture.
The Role That Faith Plays In Our Salvation
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved “through” faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
I am sure you have heard someone say, “by faith are we saved” or “we are saved by faith” or “I was saved by faith in Jesus”.
However, these statements are quite misleading. Surprised? So was I when I learned these truths and discovered that, while faith plays a part in salvation, ultimately we are not saved by faith.
Here is how we are saved according to Scripture and the role played by faith.
The first thing we need to learn is that in our unsaved state we are spiritually dead in our sins.
Eph 2: 1, 2 And you, who were dead in trespasses and sins; were living according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:
The problem here is that being spiritually dead in sins we are not able to hear nor understand the Word of God (1Co 2: 14). As Jesus said, we are not able to come to Him unless the Father gives them the ability to respond (John 6: 65).
So, think about this. Before anyone, who is spiritually dead, can respond to what is said to them, what needs to be done?
Spiritually dead people need to be given life before they can respond! For one being saved, how does this happen? The answer is quite simple. Read these verses and may God give you understanding.
Ephesians 2:4, 5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)
At this first point of salvation we see only salvation by Grace, nothing about faith.
Now the question is this. How does Grace save us?.
The answer can be found in Titus 3: 5.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
We see here that it is by being regenerated (Born-Again) that we are saved. This makes perfect sense that we should be given spiritual life before we can respond.
Once spiritual life enters into us we are now saved, but there is more to be done to show our salvation and this is where “Faith” plays its part, and its reason for happening now.
You see, there are three steps that happens during the act of being saved and they all happen almost simultaneously.
However, we must see what is the end point first to understand the part that “Faith” plays.
In Romans 10: 8 – 10 we read this.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if 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. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Finally, now we see the word “Faith” being used. Before anyone can believe in Jesus and confess Him to be Lord, they must have Faith with which to believe and to say that Jesus is Lord, and we see that “Faith” is found in their heart.
From where does this “Faith” come?
Read these verses from Ephesians.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved “through” faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
The secret word that many people never consider is the word “through”. Notice that the word “through” is being used (through faith) and not the word “by” (by faith). This is important. The word “through” means “a path, conduit, a way of getting from one point to another point.”
Faith, a gift of God, is just a means of getting from (point A) being born-again to (point B) believing on Jesus.
So how does this Grace, Faith and Believe work?
Being spiritually dead in sins, salvation happens like this.
First comes life. By God’s Grace one is Saved, regenerated, Born-Again, given spiritual life.
Second, once alive we are given the gift of Faith by God.
Third, led through faith, after being given spiritual life, we now have the ability to believe on Jesus and confess Him to be Lord.
Faith does play an important part in one’s salvation, but Faith alone does not save. For one is first saved by Grace, then Faith is given as a gift, to provide the path and the ability for one to Believe on Jesus.
That is the role that “Faith” plays in our salvation.
You Talk Too Much
From March 2021
Edited for 2025
The month of March is very special to my wife and me. It is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year we will celebrate fifty six(56) years of marriage and we are even more in love with each other than ever before.
I know my wife loves me for she will tell people that I have very few faults and none of them is bad, except for one. She tells me that I, “Talk too much” and never know when to shut up. I just keep going on and on and on. With this, I will agree. If she can say it and I can agree, that is love talking.
Every morning I usually get up a lot earlier than does my wife. I like spending this time washing up, getting breakfast, enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Then I will get paper, that I usually retrieve off of the front porch when I first come out of the bedroom, take it with me into the living room with my coffee and settle into my favorite seat and enjoy them; mostly the coffee these days, however.
During the washing and the making of breakfast and coffee, I like spending time with God. It is not a kneel down and pray kind of a meeting. It is just a time that I like talking with God and telling Him my thoughts, concerns and thanks intermingled with some praise and worship of Him. Sometimes, though, it seems I have a hard time saying anything and will just ramble on. Until, until just one particular morning.
Right in the middle of my rambling I suddenly became blank in my thoughts. I could not think of anything to say and it scared me. Then suddenly a verse came to me and I knew it was from God. Through His word, He was talking to me.
What I heard made me think that He must have been listening to my wife, for what I heard was this, “You talk too much… “”Be still and know that I am God… “” .”
One part from my wife and the important part from Psalm 46: 10
Of course, God was right. Every morning during our time together I was doing all of the talking. Many times, it was only words of repetition just to hear me thinking. I was never quiet. Never listening for Him and forgetting that God will only talk to me through His word.
It has taken me quite a while to be obedient in this respect for I do like talking. Just ask my wife. Yeah, once I get started I do talk too much. I never know when to quit and I just keep going on and on and on. However, with God’s nudging, I am learning to listen to my wife more and, more importantly, listen to God more.
It is amazing how many more wonderful qualities I am discovering about my wife since I have been listening more to her and have become less at going on so when I do talk. It is still on a learning curve, but getting better.
God’s presence in the morning has started to become more real to me as well. I find when I do talk less and just enjoy spending time with Him, while talking less, it has actually brought me closer to Jesus than ever before.
You know, as my wife has said, “You talk too much” and having God tell me, “Be still and know that I am God…” has been a wonderful learning experience for me. I have become closer and more in love with both of them than ever before.
I do believe that God really does listen to His children. If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I was going to say, “I pray God does the same for you”, but He already knows that, for He knows my every thought. I am glad that He does for those moments when I am still, knowing that He is God.
Update: I have not heard that phrase, “You talk too much”, since then. So, I guess I will be quiet now and just listen and learn.
Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!
No Greater Love Than The Love Of Jesus
Romans 5:8 KJV
“But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
February is the month of Valentines Day, celebrating romance and love for that special person in our life. On this day we try our best to show just how much we love because we never reveal a love like this on any other day of the year. So many of us work out something special on Valentine’s Day out of guilt for not demonstrating how much we love during rest of the year.
We may believe that we have great love for others but we do not, for there is no greater love than the love of Jesus. Here is why.
Our love is a tainted love, one given from a sin nature based on conditional love. It is not a sacrificial love expecting nothing in return. However, the love of Christ is a sacrificial love given to people who do not deserve to be loved by God.
Because we are as stated in Romans 3:10-12 KJV
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [11] There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. [12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.”
None of us are good enough to deserve to be loved by Jesus but, here is what Jesus has done for us to save us out of His love:
Romans 5:9-10 KJV
“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. [10] For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Ephesians 2:5 KJV
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; [14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
In short, what Jesus did was to save people from facing the wrath of God, for being sinful people living in disobedience to God, providing forgiveness for “ALL” of our sins – past, present and future sins – by being obedient for us. He gave us a new spiritual life and guaranteed our entrance into heaven, not based on what we have done nor by our will, but by the will and grace of God because of what Jesus has done.
As we read in that famous verse:
John 3:16 KJV
“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.”
In other words, they who believe in Jesus will never perish because of our sins and is given eternal life in heaven. So how do we show we believe in Jesus? Read the following scripture verse:
Romans 10:9 KJV
“That if 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.”
You, too, can know the love of Jesus by confessing Him to being Lord over you and believing that God raised Him from the dead. Only then will you be able to say that there is “No Greater Love Than The Love Of Jesus.”
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What Is The Rest Given By Jesus?
Matthew 11:28 KJV… Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Right away the first thing that would come to mind is physical rest. Everyday people come home physically or mentally tired needing to rest from the days work. However, this is not the kind of rest that Jesus is offering.
In the verse that follows the main verse, above, states exactly the kind of rest about which Jesus is talking. Here is that verse:
Matthew 11:29 KJV… Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Rest for our souls, spiritual rest, but from what? You must remember to whom Jesus is talking. These are the Israelites who have been living under the Law which is a works obedience based religion. These are people who are trusting in their own righteousness to make themselves deserving of entering Heaven upon their death.
Under the Law with the various rules, regulations, and blessing and curse promises, the Jews worked daily at their obedience hoping their righteousness was good enough to get them to heaven. However, they continued to fail to be obedient to the Law and to God, and they would become quit weary in their daily life of working to be obedient. They just could not do it and would feel the burdens of their failure.
Jesus knew this and came to offer a rest that would take this heavy yoke of a burden from off of them and offered a better path to Heaven; through Him.
The call Jesus gave was to come to Him and trust in Him for their salvation even though they knew not what He would do. How could this Jesus have a way designed to provide rest for their soul?
It was not until after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that the “rest” that Jesus offered would come to life. Just stop working at being obedient to the Law and rest in Jesus. That was it. Just like we read in Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:10 KJV… For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Even today, everyone who is not a disciple of Jesus still live under the yoke of the Law, still trying to achieve your own righteousness, and you, too, will fail. The offer of “rest” that Jesus made to the Jews, He offers to you as well. Here is how you can enter into the “rest” offered by Jesus.
Stop trusting in your own righteousness and rest in the knowledge that Jesus has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. By coming to Jesus and proclaiming Him to be Lord and by faith trust in Him for your salvation you will enter into the “rest” that is offered by Jesus. Taking off the burden of obedience to the Law and trusting in Jesus for having done for you what you cannot do for yourself will give you the “rest” you so greatly need for your soul.
You no longer need to be obedient to the Law for salvation or even to keep your salvation. For your salvation from being born-again to keeping your salvation, and never loosing it, was all done by the will of God based on all that Jesus has done for you who are saved.
How about you. Do you want to continue being under the Law with the yoke of trying to be obedient to the Law, trying to gain your own righteousness and failing, or would you rather enter into the “rest” that Jesus gives and be covered in the robe of His righteousness?
Resting in Jesus is easy. Let go of your own works of righteousness and confess that Jesus is Lord, trusting in His righteousness, and by faith believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and you will be given the rest that was promised by Jesus.
Coming to Jesus will give you wonderful comforting “rest”for your soul. Is not that what you really want anyway?
Why A Specific Date Should Not Be Given To The Birth Of Jesus
Galatians 4:9-11 KJV
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? [10] Ye observe days, and months, and times(seasons), and years. [11] I am afraid for you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
For the first 300 years of Christianity Christmas was never celebrated. The reason being is that there was no recorded date for the birth of Jesus. In my opinion, God never wanted a specific date mentioned. Why? One word should be enough – idolatry.
Let us jump past all the reasons why December 25 was given as the date of Christ’s birth, for non are valid, and look at how Christmas is celebrated today. Without a doubt it has become nothing more than a money spending money pit. It is more about getting the newest, bigger and best gift possible, while the retailers rack in all the money they can in the shortest time possible.
Every year the Christmas buying season is started earlier with big sales from the beginning to get customers to spend their money sooner and often; credit cards maxed out, going into debt. Not to mention the sadness, loneliness and depression that comes onto many people during the Christmas season. Are these the kind of worldly activities in which we Christians should participate? Do you think Jesus would approve?
Christmas is more about Santa than it is about Jesus.
As for Christians, try taking December 25th, Christmas Day, away from us. Tell us that we can honor the birth of Jesus any time we want, but keep the celebration in our church. What an uprising that would cause.
If the birth of Jesus was the true focal point, and not the date, then it should not matter what the date was upon which we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We could celebrate the birth of Christ anytime we wanted. You see, when the date becomes so important that we Christians cannot let go of the date – that is idolatry.
Unfortunately, most Christians do not realize how idolatrous we have become.
To remember where Jesus was born, by whom He was born, and why He was born is important. The date Jesus was born is not important for the very reason of what Christmas has become.
However, Christmas is so ingrained into Christian theology that we would never let it go.
That is the problem. We need to rid ourselves of the specific December 25th date, or any date, in order to get rid of the bondage of idolatry that December 25th has become. Let the non-Christians have their Christmas. Participate if you want but remember that it is a secular holiday.
If God had wanted His children to celebrate a specific date for the birth of Jesus He would have made it quite clear what was that date – He did not and we Christians should not “DO” what God has “NOT” done. We Christians are not to focus on the date Christ was born but on Jesus, the one who was born on an unknown date.
A Song Of Thanksgiving
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
Colossians 2:6-7 KJV
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
According to Wikipedia, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” is an English Christian harvest festival hymn written in 1844 by Henry Alford, who was rector of Aston Sandford in Buckinghamshire, England. The full song is listed below.
I was a member of an Anglican (Episcopal here in the U.S.)/Church in the 1950’s and 60’s. I really enjoyed that church and the services, before they turned liberal and embraced worldly ways, and one of the songs we sang every year at Thanksgiving was this song. It is a beautiful song full of good theology, if you to take time to read and study the lyrics.
You can hear the song sung by a choir, if you click on the link below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5FqdCskC0QE
Hope you enjoy listening to this wonderful song of Thanksgiving.
- Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home! - We ourselves are God’s own field,
Fruit unto his praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear;
Grant, O harvest Lord, that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be. - For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take the harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Giving angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In the garner evermore. - Then, thou Church triumphant come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All be safely gathered in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In God’s garner to abide;
Come, ten thousand angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Christians, Politics, and Voting
New Testament Scriptures To Ponder
In writing essays it is the writers prerogative to put forth his opinion based on given facts. In this case, however, the facts will only be Scriptures from the New Testament, and it will be up to you, the reader, to decide for yourself, guided by the Holy Spirit, if you are following biblical teaching when it comes to politics and voting.
Romans 12:1-2 KJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. [4] No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Romans 13:1-2 KJV
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. [2] Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Whom do you follow and whose kingdom do you belong?
John 18:36 KJV… Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world:
As A Christian – Are You Living By Faith?
From October 2016
In the Bible there are several verses that make the statement, “the just shall live by faith.” Basically these verses are talking about having faith in Jesus for our salvation and that by trusting in Him and His finished work, and not in our own good works, we have received forgiveness for our sins and have been granted eternal life in Heaven.
However, there is another way at looking at the statement, “the just shall live by faith.” For instance, read the following verses from Proverbs 3: 5, 6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Here we are told to “trust in the Lord”. What is trusting but the very act of having faith. Depending on how much faith we have will determine how much we will trust. Since we are told to trust with all our heart shows that we should have strong faith in the Lord for what is happening.
Living by faith is basically just trusting in the Lord for the outcome, no matter what we see or do not see – what our understanding is of the circumstances – and that we know that in our trust in the Lord He will lead us in the direction that He wants us to travel.
As our faith grows so does our trust in Him. In our trust of the Lord we will not look to ourselves for the answer. We will look to God instead. The results are that we will see how God is working in our lives, and we will have more peace by our Trust In The Lord.
How about you? Are you living a life of faith? Only by having strong faith can one truly…
“trust in the Lord with all of our heart”.
Should Christians?
Romans 12:1-2 KJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Acting and thinking as you did before your conversion to Christianity and desiring the the things of your previous life, basically is the taking on the ways of life to which you were once conformed. Assimilating your former your life style to coexist with your Christian life is the act of becoming once again conformed to this world.
Political parties are nothing more than wanting the same as others who were like you before you were born again and professed Jesus to be Lord. So the question is: Should Christians be involved in this Worldly activity, no matter what Party it is to which you once professed allegiance?
Riff's Christian Journal 