To Whom Did You Give Thanks
We just celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a time of family get together’s, lots of good food and for giving thanks for all that we have. Giving thanks? Why do we give thanks and to whom is it directed?
Ultimately there is only one Being to whom we give thanks, and that Being is God. Only God has given us all that we need for living; life, breath and who we are. No matter what your status in life is, you are there because it is God’s will for you. You may think that it is because of all that you have done and because you have worked hard to get where you are but, from where did your abilities come?
God has given each of us certain levels of abilities, desires and drives to accomplish all that He has planned for us. Unfortunately, sin in our lives corrupts these desires and in many cases we find ourselves using these abilities for our own selfish reasons.
And when we do become successful we pride ourselves in our own abilities to have reached the level that we have. We don’t like to think that others did this for us or that we didn’t do this on our own. Even God is left out because He isn’t important in our lives. I hope you are not one of those who believe this.
Ecclesiastes 5:19
As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
Where you are in the status of life you are there because it is Gods will for you. What you do with it is your responsibility. You can squander it or use it for the betterment of others. The direction you go will determine the end results. There are always consequences to choices and the choices we make are done so based on our standing before God.
If we come to a point in our life that we have repented of our sinfulness towards God and have submitted to the Lordship of Jesus our choices, for the most part, will be for the betterment of others. We will be content with what have and we will be happy with where God has put us.
However, if we are still living in our sinfulness and have continually rejected Gods offer of salvation, consisting of forgiveness for our sins and the gift of eternal life given only through Jesus, we won’t be content with what we have and we will continually strive to get more, bigger and better of what we have and of the things we don’t have and desire.
So, if you gave thanks this past Thanksgiving to whom did you give thanks? The answer to that question is a simple way of determining where you stand before God. And if you didn’t give thanks at all to anyone you stand, already, condemned before God. Condemned to face the wrath of God. And that is a place you do not want to be.
But that can all change and it can change right now. All you have to do is to cry out to God and admit your sinfulness, ask for forgiveness and throw your eternal future on the finished work of Jesus who died to pay the penalty for sins and who rose bodily from the grave to give eternal life to those who are forgiven, to those who will submit to Jesus as Lord of their life.
Then, when next Thanksgiving comes around, giving thanks will be easy because you will be giving thanks to God, to Jesus the giver of life and all that we have and all that we are.
To whom did you give thanks?
Ephesians 5:19-20 (New King James Version)
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Giving thanks always for all things to God our Father can be a daily occurence and one we can do all year-long, not just on Thanksgiving. However, unless you become “born again” to repent of your sinfulness and submit to Jesus as Lord, you cannot give thanks to the One to Whom it is due.
Won’t you do that now? Then you, too, will be giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is true Thanks Giving.
Salvation – From What and Why?
Salvation is mentioned a lot these days and many will say that it is something that everyone needs. However, it is rare that you will hear from “what” do we need salvation and “why”. So, lets take a brief look at this.
You should know that we all are sinful people. We do bad things because of our sinful nature, not that we are sinful people because we do bad things. In sin are we conceived and with this sin nature are we born. Think about it, how many people need to be taught how to do bad things? None! We do bad things because we are bad. No matter how good we think we are, in Gods sight our goodness is nothing more than filthy rags.
God tells us that there is none good, no not one. Jesus said that there is no one good but God. So, if there is no one good that means that we are all bad, evil, wicked; each to his own level. The question is, how does God feel about the wicked?
In Psalms we read the following:
Psalm 5:4-8 (New King James Version)
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
In addition, in Romans we read these verses:
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
Romans 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath?
In short, God not only is angry with the wicked, but He also hates the wicked, and because of His righteousness and the fact that He wants us to be holy He must punish us and He will do so when He releases His wrath upon us.
However, God also has made a way for us receive salvation from the wrath to come. In Romans, again, we read the following:
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Now we see that salvation is from bearing the consequences of our sinfulness, which is facing the wrath of God as our punishment (the “from what”) because of our living in disobedience to Him (the “why”).
What most people don’t want to do, however, to receive this salvation is to submit to Jesus as Lord of their life and so be saved by Him as their Saviour. Jesus said:
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
And, in speaking of Jesus, Peter said the following:
Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
It is only by Jesus can we be given this salvation. If you think I twist the truth read this from the gospel of John:
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
In this passage God is telling us that only by His Son Jesus does this salvation come to those who will believe on Him. To believe on Jesus is to submit to Him as Lord, and, when you do, you are saved.
Read this from Romans:
Romans 10:8-13 (New King James Version)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
In short, “salvation” is being saved from (what?) facing the wrath of God because (why?) you are a sinful person living in disobedience of God. And this salvation can only be found in Jesus.
You can know this salvation and you can know it now. Admitting that you are a sinful person, living in disobedience to God, cry out to Him for forgiveness and submit to Jesus as Lord. Having done so, you can then say with other Christians the following:
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
You really have no other choice. God does not give you any other choice:
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Does Gods wrath abide on you? It all depends… on what God does next…
Salvation Through Faith
But Who’s Faith Is It?
For one to become a Christian they need to be “Born Again” by the Grace of God through Faith. The question is, by who’s faith is it that we are saved?
In Ephesians 2:8, 9 we read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
So, if the faith through which we are saved is a gift then that faith must come from somewhere else. We know that God gives us this faith because of Eph. 2:8&9 and, in addition, in Romans 12:3 we read, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
Does God give us this faith just out of thin air or does this faith come from the action of someone else? The best translation of the Bible that answers this question comes from the 1622 Geneva Bible; the Bible that the Pilgrims first brought to America. Newer translations changes the wording to something else and in doing so nullifies part of the work of Christ in our salvation.
In the Geneva Bible in Galations 2:16 we read, “Know that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we, I say, have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the Law, because that by the works of the Law, no flesh shall be justified.” Newer, so called better, translations use the word “in” instead of “OF“.
In other words, it is not by faith in Christ that we are saved by by the faith OF Christ that we are saved. If we are saved by faith in Christ then it is our faith that is being used for our salvation, but we have no righteousness of our own, we are dead in our sins and there is no good in us from which to generate this faith. That is why faith must be given to us as a gift for our use in being saved.
In that case, that faith through which we are saved must come from the righteousness of someone else and the only one who can provide that faith is Jesus Himself. In fulfilling the Law, through His obedience to the Father, the faith by which He does all this is then imputed to us, that is it is given to us as a gift, so that we are then saved by the faith OF Christ that he made perfect for us.
For by grace have you been saved through the faith OF Jesus, not of our works, so that we cannot boast that we were able to come up with our own faith in order to be saved. We cannot contribute in any way to our salvation, no works are involved not even our own faith, everything is done by Jesus for us.
The Father defines our salvation, the Son completes the work of our salvation and the Holy Spirit applies that finished work. Salvation, from start to finish, is all done by the Soverign God who works all things according to His will.
Yes, we are saved by grace through faith, but the faith that saves is the faith OF Jesus. We are not saved by faith in Christ, we are saved by the faith OF Christ. Only He can provide that faith for us because only Jesus has completed the work of being faithful, and obedient, for us.
Salvation does come through faith, but it is through the faith OF Jesus that we are saved and not our own. This is the faith that is given to us, and it is by this faith, the faith OF Jesus, through which we receive salvation.
So then, the answer to the question, “by who’s faith is it that we are saved?” the answer is simple. It is by the faith OF Jesus that we are saved.
Who Does God Love?
For most of you the answer to that question would be “everyone”. I mean, isn’t that what everyone says? Yeah, that is what just about everybody would say, but is that what the Bible says?
Now I know that everyone basis that thought on John 3:16, and we will take a look at that verse a little later; and we will do so in the context of what was being said and in connection on what the Bible has to say elsewhere.
So, before we can give this question a good answer we should first look to see if the Bible says anything about God hating anyone. Let’s look at a few verses:
Malachi 1
1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2 “ I have loved you,” says the LORD.
“ Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’
Wasnot Esau Jacob’s brother?”
Says the LORD.
“ Yet Jacob I have loved;
3 But Esau I have hated,
And laid waste his mountains and his heritage
For the jackals of the wilderness.”
Romans 9:12-14 (New King James Version)
12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
Proverbs 6:15-19 (New King James Version)
15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
16 These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Psalm 5:4-6 (New King James Version)
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Very clearly we see, here, that God does hate individuals for various reasons or because He has decided to do so of His own choice. So, if God does hate individuals, for whatever reasons, then it cannot be said that God loves everyone. Now the Bible is very clear about whom God does love, and Jesus said the most about it.
However, before we look at these verses let’s take a look at John 3:16.
John 3:16 (New King James Version)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Now Jesus has been talking Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, about the need for being “Born Again”; and Nicodemus could not understand what He was talking about.
You see, the Jews believed that God’s love was only for them, that His favor was upon Isreal alone and no one else. Jesus tells Nicodemus that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The keyword is “whoever”.
Jesus also said “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Now we know that not everyone in the world is going to be saved so we can determine from these verses that Jesus is speaking in general and not in specific or particular terms.
He follows up these verses with this, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” So, again we see that He is talking about those who will believe are the ones who will be saved.
However, in the whole context of what Jesus is saying is that this salvation is not just for those who are Jews but for anyone of any nation, creed or color who lives anywhere in the world. He is speaking in terms of generalities and not in specifics about whom will be saved.
In other words, the salvation that He is talking about to Nicodemus, that of being “Born Again” can be had by anyone whether a Jew or a Gentile. So, John 3:16 does not speak of individuals but of peoples in general; this does not, in anyway, speak of God loving everyone.
So, if God doesn’t love everyone then – who does God love?
Let us now look at some verses that are specific in nature and that which will tell us who God does, or will, love.
John 13:1 (New King James Version)
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
John 14:21-23 (New King James Version)
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 17:20-23 (New King James Version)
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
As you can see by these verses that Jesus is very specific about whom He, and the Father, will love – those who believe in Him, who love Him and who obey Him.
Now I know you are being very skeptical about all of this but these verses don’t lie. You’ve been told a lie for so long that naturally you want to believe that God loves everyone, but He doesn’t; the above verses say otherwise.
The only way anyone of us will know or experience the love of God is by being “Born Again” as Jesus was telling Nicodemus, and if Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying, how can you? That, my friend, is the topic for another post, but for now all you need to know is this.
You must be “Born Again”. If you are willing to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord – by bowing the knee to Him as Lord of your life – and if you will but just believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the grave – you will be saved. Whoever will call upon Jesus as Lord will be saved.
As for the answer to the question “Who Does God Love?”, the answer is quite simple, they are those who are “Born Again”. Those who are not born again – well, they will only know and experience the judgement, the hatred and the wrath of God.
John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Do you have that life or does the wrath of God abide upon you still? You can know and experience the love of God, but only if you will bow to Jesus as Lord of your life. If you won’t you will only face God’s wrath. There really is no choice.
So, does God love You? You now know what you need to do if you want to be loved by God. You must be “Born Again”.
Jesus will not be a Savior to anyone who will not first bow the knee to Him as Lord.
Praying In The Name Of Jesus
Why is it that it is OK to pray publicly to God but not in the name of Jesus?
Jesus is God, whether you want to believe it or not. Since that is true then you have to realize that by praying to God you are praying to Jesus. So, if one is praying to Jesus then why can we not pray in His name?
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. When we pray we must have a way of getting our prayers to God. We know that God does not hear the prayers of sinners. He listens to whom He wills to do so. In Isaiah 1:15 God says, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.”
So, if God is under no obligation to listen to anyone then how do we get His attention? By praying some words, no matter how eloquent, if there is not a path for those words to reach the Father they will get no further than your lips; you will be praying in vain.
Why should the Father listen to you when you trample the name of His son under your feet, and that is exactly what you are doing when you do not come to the Father through Jesus. It doesn’t matter what your religion is. It doesn’t matter what your faith is or what you believe, if you do not come to the Father through Jesus your prayers will not be heard nor answered.
By denying praying in the name of Jesus you deny God. It is that simple. If you want for our nation to be blessed then heed this, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
In denying Jesus His place in our worship we deny the Father and and worse, Jesus will deny us. In Matthew 10:33 Jesus said, “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
If we do not pray in the name of Jesus then there is no use in praying at all. There are consequences to actions and if we are denied the right of praying in the name of Jesus the consequences upon this nation will be severe and it will be deserved.
I fear for America and I fear for the one who denies Jesus. He makes himself a fool who will not pray in the name of Jesus. How big of a fool are you?
How Narrow Is The Way
When you think of Heaven and Hell, to which one do you believe you will go when you die?
As a Christian I believe that there is only one Way to Heaven and that is by Way of Jesus. Now, if that is true, does that mean that all other ways are false, and that anyone who follows them will go to Hell? The answer is yes. It has to be. Let me explain.
Jesus is God. He is God in the flesh. He was (is) fully God and fully man. Being that He is, then He can only speak the truth and He will not lie. During His stay here on earth, Jesus taught that He was the only way to the Father.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Now, think about that for a moment. If Jesus is God, and He will not lie, then what He has said is the truth; He said He was the truth. And if He speaks the truth then the only Way to heaven, to the Father, can only be through Him.
In John 10:1 Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
Are you trying to steal you way into Heaven? By that I mean, are you trying to get to Heaven your way? Proverbs 14:12 says this, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Death being eternal separation from God; we call it Hell.
Many believe that there are many ways to salvation, to being forgiven for our sins, to getting into Heaven. They will say that Christianity is but one of many ways on the path to Heaven, and that this Path is wide enough for all to travel upon, but is that true?
In Luke 7:13, 14 Jesus says the following, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
So, what do we have? Either Jesus is a good man and a good prophet but, He has been misleading mankind for generations with His lies, or He is Who He says that He is, that He speaks the truth and that the only Way to receiving forgivness for our sins, to obtaining entrance into Heaven is by submitting to Him as Lord as well as Savior.
Think about that! Who do you believe – God or man? Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father but by Me!” If you die apart from Jesus, if you die without having submitted to Jesus as Lord you will die in your sins and you will spend eternity in Hell.
Yes, the Way to the Father, to receiving forgiveness for our sins is very narrow. Jesus is the narrow way and you can believe in Him; everything else is false and leads to destruction.
Look at yourself. In whom are you trusting? How narrow is the Way that you are traveling? Bow to the Lord Jesus, submit to Him, know what it means to travel the narrow way and so be saved and loved by the Father for all eternity.
What I Believe About Sin & Salvation
If one is to believe the Bible then one also has to believe that we are all dead (spiritually) in our sins. Being in this state one is also unable, in anyway, to not only save themselves, but to also do anything worthy of salvation. To carry this one step further, we are also unable to even admit our sinfulness and in need of salvation. There is none good, there is none who seek after God, no not one. Read Romans 3:10 – 18.
From what is it that we are in need of being saved? From facing the wrath of God. And let there be no mistake about it, there is a God and He is angry with the wicked everyday, and the day is coming when He will bring His wrath upon all mankind.
Basically all mankind is Totally Depraved and unable to do anything towards salvation.
Being that mankind is Totally Deparaved it further shows that if man is to be saved at all then it is only by the will of God that anyone is saved. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. John 5:21
No one has the ability to come to Jesus of their own will, because of their Total Depravity, so if one is to come to Jesus they must first be drawn by Him – “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” John 6:44b
In addition to being drawn, all those who are drawn will come and be saved – “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37
All who are drawn by the Father will come to Jesus and be saved. There will be none who will say No, I will not be saved. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”
Once one is drawn and have leaned by the Father, they will be saved and will remain saved for all eternity. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” John 6:47.
In other words, all mankind is dead in their trespasses and sins and are unable, of their own will, able to see their sinfulness, see a need for salvation, see the need to come to Jesus to be forgiven and given a new life, and be assured of living for all eternity with God in Heaven, or of seeing the need for repentance towards God and of having faith in Jesus that He did for them what they cannot do for themselves.
If man is left to his own will, when it comes to Jesus and salvation, he will never choose, of his own will, to come to Christ and so be saved. Remember, Jesus said that he can’t. John 6:44
In addition, Jesus said “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” John 6:63, and He also said “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” John 6:65.
Now, you don’t have to believe what I’ve said, but if you do believe in the Bible you have to believe what Jesus has said. Read for yourselves John chapter six, the whole chapter. Then read Ephesians chapter one and then Romans chapter nine.
If God did not choose to save anyone as He wills there would be no one saved.
Now, having said all this, I must also warn you that you are responsible for your sins and you will pay for those sins; that penalty is being cast into the lake of fire and there you will spend eternity; from which there is no escape.
The only possible chance you have of salvation, from facing the coming wrath of God, is by submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and by faith receiving Him as you Savior.
You must admit your sinfullness, of your living in disobedience towards God, and that you are in need of forgiveness for those sins, and that you cannot do anything to save yourself. If you will but just fall before Christ and submit your will to Him, admit your guilt and ask for forgiveness, and by faith believe that He has paid the penalty for your sins you will be saved.
If you refuse the offer of salvation, you stand condemned already before God because you have called Him a liar and you have denied Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your eternal soul.
Sin is real and Salvation is real. Jesus said, “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33
Can you do that? Can you forsake all for Christ? Will you submit your will to Jesus? Jesus will not be a Savior to anyone who will not bow in submission to Him as Lord.
You cannot save yourself. Your only hope is for Jesus to save you.
Riff's Christian Journal 