Posts Tagged ‘God’
The Faith of Our Salvation Was Written By Jesus
Our salvation is not of our works. We know this by scripture, especially one that is written in Ephesians 2: 8, 9. Here is what it says.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
It is by grace, and not by our works, that we are saved, and we are given this gift of faith with which we believe on the Lord Jesus, and this gift of faith comes from God. The question is this. Whose faith is given to us through which we believe?
The answer is given to us in Hebrews 12:2
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The faith through which we believe was created by Jesus. He wrote our faith by His obedience to the Father while He was here on earth. Only Jesus lived a life in perfect obedience to God and, in doing so, He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
The faith, through which we believe is given to us, after being saved by grace, and it is through the perfect faith of Jesus by which we are justified. The proof of this is our believing in Jesus as Lord through this faith given to us for one specific purpose – our Salvation.
Jesus created our faith; He authored it and finished it through His perfect obedience. Without His faith given to us we would not, and could not, be saved.
Gal_2:16 (KJV) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Truly, Jesus wrote the faith of our salvation. Praise God that He did.
I cannot imagine my imperfect faith, that I would work up, satisfying God’s justice and being forgiven for my sinful and imperfect life. It just would not be good enough.
A Greater Freedom
On July 4, 1776 the American colonies declared its independence from Great Britain claiming itself to be a free nation comprised of 13 states creating a country called The United States of America. The rest is history.
However, do you know that there is even a greater freedom, one that God offers to man from which they need to be set free or perish?
This is something everyone who has ever lived, is living now and will live in the future already has, and is something with which they are born. There is none better than Jesus to explain what it is from which man must be set free.
Read these verses from John 8 in which Jesus is speaking:
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayestthou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
In verse 34 the word “servant” actually means “Slave”. The problem is that everyone is born with a sin nature, making everyone a servant, or slave, to sin. Everyone who dies without being set free from this slavery will perish. Only in Jesus can this freedom be found. As Jesus said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Jesus also said, “No one can come to the Father except by me.” No one else can give you this freedom.
Receiving this freedom is easy. In Romans 10: 9, 10 we read this:
Rom 10:9 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. (set free from sin)
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
You can receive your own freedom. Repent of your sins. Believe on the Lord Jesus. Call upon Him as Lord, submit to His will, and receive the freedom, true freedom from being a servant to sin to being a servant to God, which only Jesus can give.
Make this time your time to receive your freedom. Believe on the Lord Jesus now and be saved from suffering eternal punishment because of your enslavement to sin. Jesus will set you free, truly free indeed.
Today you can proclaim this your Independence Day.
The Secret of the Church and Marriage
Do you know that the Scriptures tell us exactly how a marriage and family should be? Do you also know that the Church is the example of a marriage?
Read the verses below, even the ones that may shock you, and you may even hate to see what these verses say. See the role of how husbands and wives, in the family, are to play, and how the role of men and women in the Church give an example of why that should be. Read these verses several times and pray for God to give you understanding of them.
At the bottom, you will find a couple more supporting verses to the ones you will now read…
From Ephesians___
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Jesus is the husband and the church is the wife, and for this reason, we have a perfect example of how a marriage is to be according to God. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman, with the husband being the head of the family.
As for the order of Church hierarchy, the Scripturesgives us the example of how that is to be, not just in the Church but in the marriage as well.
Please read these supporting verses :
From 1 Corinthians___
1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church
From 1 Timothy___
1Ti 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
1Ti 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
1Ti 2:10 But (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works.
1Ti 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
1Ti 2:12 But I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to have authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Many people try to explain these verses away just so they can have their own will accomplished instead of God’s will. Most of these are born again believers who have never read the Scriptures for themselves or havenot been taught the truth that is found in them; as we have just read. There are also quite a few CINO’s – Christian In Name Only members in the Church who have become conformed to the world and not to Christianity and who try to push their worldly views on the true disciples of Jesus.
You have been given the secret of the Church and Marriage. You have seen and read the Scriptures. You now know the truth. May God open your understanding so that you may see the truth in God’s Word, and come to a knowledge of God’s ordained purpose for the Church and Marriage.
May God open the hearts of every one who reads these Scriptures.
You Talk Too Much!
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 two (52) 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 canagree, that is love talking.
Every morning I usually get up a lot earlier than doesmy 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.
You know, 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.
How Will They Believe?
For more than ten years this Journal has been has been publishing monthly essays based on the premise that Jesus is God and that by Him, and Him alone, will anyone be forgiven for their sins and by Him be given entrance into Heaven, and there to spend eternity with God.
However, unless a person hears about Jesus how will they believe and be saved? For we read in Romans 10 this:
Rom 10:9 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.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Believing that Jesus is Lord, and by calling upon Him to be Lord over you, and believing that He was raised from the dead is at the root of salvation for anyone. How, then, can anyone believe in something about which they have not heard?
To believe in anything is something about which you first must be told. If you do not know about it how will you be able to make an informed decision one way or another on whether or not it is something in which you will believe.
To believe in Jesus you first must hear about Him. Second, it is only by hearing about Jesus that you will receive the faith with which to believe in Him. In Romans 10 again we read these verses:
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Believing on anything comes only by gaining faith from what you have heard. In this case, faith about Jesus will only come by hearing from the word of God. That is why every essay posted in this journal is backed up by the Scriptures – God’s Word.
God’s Word must prove what is written or it is not presented in any of the essay’s you will find in this monthly journal.
This is the reason for this Journal. It is to present Jesus to the public through its writings in hopes that God, through the Scriptures that are presented here, will bring faith to someone. So that by this faith they will believe in Jesus, call upon Him and to proclaim Jesus to be Lord of their life, and by that to find out that they have are forgiven for their sins and are saved from the wrath to come upon all who reject Jesus.
Jesus is God, and to everyone who confesses Him to be Lord, to believe that He has been raised from the dead and will proclaim Him as such, has the proof in their heart already of their salvation. Only they who believe can openly make this confession about Jesus.
How about you, do you believe?
Being In The Presence Of Jesus
Did you ever wonder what it must have been like in the time of Jesus, being in His presence and listening to His every word? I have, and no matter how hard I try, nothing comes close to knowing what those encounters were like.
However, I do know a way that I can come into the presence of Jesus and listen to His every word whenever I want; even when I have the need to be with Him and to hear what He has to say to me.
Now you might think that I am talking about prayer, and it could be part of it but no it is not about prayer. Here is a hint.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
Need another hint? Try this.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So, what is the Word of God? Yes, it is the Scriptures. However, Who is the Word of God? See John 1:1 above. Jesus is the Word of God and the Scriptures are the Word of God written by God. Did you catch that?
Every time you pick up the Bible to read it, you are reading the Word of God; the very words of Jesus just as if He were sitting with you and talking to you. Every time you read the Scriptures, you are actually in the presence of Jesus listening to everything He has to say to you.
Now the Bible itself is not Jesus but the Words that are in the Scriptures are the very Words of Jesus and by reading them, you are in His presence, and He is talking to you personally. Think of that for a moment. By reading the Scriptures, you are with Jesus listening to His every word.
Just like two of His disciples after the resurrection. They were heading to another town when they met up with Jesus and, in the process, He told them all things that must happen.
Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
When you read the Scriptures Jesus will do the same for you, for you are in His presence. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. When you read the Scriptures, your faith will become stronger because you are hearing directly from the Word of God, His name is Jesus, and you are in His presence.
Can Salvation Be Lost?
Is it true that once saved you can still lose your salvation and go to hell? Some people will say that this true, and it depends on the one given salvation.
However, numerous Scripture verses teach otherwise, and we are going to look at just a few of them; especially ones that Jesus stated. Read them for yourself and then decide if Jesus is right or if man’s religion is right. Then we will finish with a quote by Charles H. Spurgeon from his book, “All of Grace.”
All of the following verses are taken from the Gospel of John.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 1:12, 13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
We see in these verses that they lay out God’s plan for salvation and why once someone is forgiven for their sins, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf, they can never die spiritually and be sent to hell.
Jesus tells us that one must be born again not only to be able to see Heaven but also to enter into Heaven. This act of being born again, as seen in John 1:13 is not done by being born into a Christian family (not of blood), nor of being born by our good works (of the will of the flesh) or of our own free will (of the will of man), but of God.
The act of being “born again”, which provides our salvation, is “All” of God and man adds nothing to his salvation.
As for whom will receive this gift of salvation it is explained quite clearly by Jesus in saying that “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:” Not only does God draws whom He wills but Jesus also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me”.
In addition, all whom the Father draws to Jesus not only will come and be saved but, be kept saved as Jesus says, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”
As we have seen, God saves whom He wills, draws whom He wills to Jesus, makes them alive in their spirit and guarantees their salvation will never be lost and will keep them unto the end. Not because of anything that man has done or deserves, but because of what Jesus has done for them on their behalf.
The great British Preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, says this about salvation in his book, “All of Grace”…
“If you will have Jesus, He has you already, If you believe on Him, I tell you that you cannot go to hell, for that would make the sacrifice of Christ of none effect. It cannot be that a sacrifice would be accepted and yet the soul should die for whom that sacrifice has been received. If the believing soul could be condemned, then why a sacrifice? If Jesus died in my stead, why should I die also? Every believer can claim that the sacrifice was actually made for him. The Lord would not receive this offering on our behalf and then condemn us to die.”
Many other scripture verses will back up this statement that once a person is given salvation by Jesus Himself he is saved for all eternity. The true “born again” disciple of Jesus will never lose their salvation.
Salvation is provided by God, given by God as He wills, and saves for all eternity everyone for whom Jesus was sacrificed. Salvation, true God given salvation, can never be lost.
I pray that God will open your heart and your spiritual eyes to see this marvelous promise of God and receive it as your own, and have true peace in the security of your salvation. For it truly is all of God.
So, Who “IS” Jesus?
When I was young, Christmas was a wonderful time, the decorations, the tree and the gifts of course.
At church, I knew there was talk about a baby in something called a “manger” and being told about some shepherds and Wiseman coming to visit him with gifts, ah yes – a gift, that was the best part. Little did I know or realize what the real gift was and from where it came.
As I grew older, I still enjoyed Christmas but sort of drifted away from church and Christmas slowly became more commercial than anything else. However, a time came when something happened to me that I later found out that it was what the Bible calls “being born again”. I had heard about it but evidently never experienced it. That is, until the Word of God came to me and revealed Himself to me in reading the Scriptures.
It was then that I learned about the truth about Christmas. It begins like this.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So, what does this mean? How does the Word become flesh? It began like this.
Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Luk 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Luk 2:2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
Luk 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Luk 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Luk 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Luk 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luk 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luk 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luk 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luk 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luk 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luk 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luk 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luk 2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
We do not know exactly when Jesus was born, and it is not important when that we do. All we need to know is that God did come down to us, to mankind, to reveal Himself in human form. He did so to let us know that in our human, and sinful, nature we cannot do anything in order to be worthy of going to Heaven when we die and to spend eternal life with Him.
We need for someone else to stand in our place, to suffer the consequences of our sins for us, so that we could be forgiven and be given a new life in Him to know Him, to love Him and to be obedient to Him; now and forever.
You see, the true gift of Christmas is God’s gift to us of forgiveness, love and eternal life, found only in Jesus, and for all who will believe in Jesus, the only true Savior of mankind. To all who call upon Jesus as Lord, and believe that He has been raised from the dead, will be saved from paying the penalty for our sins and having to face the wrath of God on judgement day.
Yes, the true gift given that we should be celebrating at Christmas is the gift of God given to us, and that gift is Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh, became human, like one of us, and we call Him – Jesus. In addition, it is only through Jesus that we can receive forgiveness, eternal life and knowing the true love of God.
There is no other name, given among man, by which we can be saved. Thank God for giving us the true Gift of Christmas…
Do Good People Go To Hell?
You Know, being confined to Hell for all eternity can be a scary thought. I wonder if good people go to Hell. If good people do go to Hell, then how good does one have to be “Not” to go to Hell?
Right now, you are probably thinking that, “I know I am good enough to go to Heaven and not be sent to Hell.” Yeah, I know the feeling.
When I was a teenager I was quite active in the Episcopal Church. I was an acolyte, a Sunday School Teacher, taught in Vacation Bible School, and was leader of the Youth Group – Spy’s it was called, which stood for “St. Peter’s Youth”. Catchy, do you not think?
What I really enjoyed doing was when I was asked to be a Lay Reader during Morning Prayer Service. It got to the point that, except for giving the sermon and the blessings at the end of the service, I got to do everything else. Man, I was King Teen of the Church. I was a pretty big guy on campus, so to speak, and the thoughts of going to Heaven when I died were never in doubt.
After graduating High School my life began to change and church activity began to drift off, especially after I was called to active service in the Navy. I had already joined the Navy Reserves when I was just a Junior in High School and the Navy, in its wisdom, saw fit to bring me up to the big leagues. Actually, I really enjoyed my three years on active service. It is a time of life that I would do over again.
Strangely enough, I never went to church at all while serving in the Navy. Church was the last thing on my mind. I was too busy, well, being a Sailor…
Eventually I was released from active service, got married, had kids and was living life OK. During all of this, I still felt that I would go to Heaven when I died. If someone were to ask me how I knew – this is what I would tell them. “Well, I know that when I get up there God would put all of my good qualities on one side of a scale and all of my bad points on the other side of the scales and the good would out way the bad and for that reason I would be allowed to get into Heaven.” With that kind of thinking about what was there to worry.
To make a long story short, along the way I started going to church, got involved in various activities and actually started reading the Bible; not a good idea for someone with the thinking about going to Heaven that I had. Maybe this would be you as well.
Over a period of time, there were three words that would pop up on occasion; four times in Psalms, once in Romans and twice in the Gospels. What were these three words? There were, “There is none.”
Now, by themselves, the phrase, “There is none,” is really not a bad thing about which to ponder, but when you add three more words to them it becomes a big thing. The other three words are, “That does good.” So, when you put them together you get, “There is none that does good.” Think about that for a moment and then let me add what Jesus said about being good.
In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark there is a story about a person that came up to Jesus and said, “Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus answered like this,
“Mark 10:18 – And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
Man, that was like running into a brick wall. Jesus actually said that, “No one is good except God.” I mean, if no one is good that would mean me! How could Jesus say that I was not a good person? Look at all of the work I did in the church early in my life and being told how I was a good little boy. Look how I was a good father and husband. Look how people liked me and said that I was a good person. Everyone thought that I was a good person except… except Jesus!
Now, how could I doubt Jesus? However, if He was right… then I had nothing good to offer God when I died. If I had nothing good I would not be allowed into Heaven. If we cannot get into Heaven by our good works how do we get into Heaven?
I started reading and studying the Scriptures, especially the New Testament. I learned that the reason we are not considered good is that we have a sin nature, and this sinfulness has separated us from God. In order to come back into a right relationship with God we need to repent of our sinfulness and to seek forgiveness for our sins.
However, our sins require a penalty for which they need to be paid. We need to pay for them – unless – unless someone stands in our place and takes on them the penalty for which we owe God. I learned that Jesus has done this for they who would confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the grave. In other words, whoever would call upon the name of the Lord would be saved.
If we would just repent of our sins and believe that Jesus is Lord of our life because of what He has done, and have a desire to be obedient to Him, to do His will, then we would be forgiven for our sins based on the fact that Jesus died for sins and paid the penalty for them.
In fact, if you would just call upon Jesus as Lord of your life you will find out that you have been forgiven, saved from paying the penalty for your sins by facing the wrath of God on Judgement Day, and are now in God’s family for all eternity.
Good works will never save you, anyone or me. Only by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus, will anyone be forgiven, saved and allowed into Heaven.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Surely you do not want to be one of those good people, depending on your good works, who wind up in Hell? Will you not now call upon the Lord Jesus to be saved? It really is that easy. If I, one who was a very religious and good working man can do so – you can as well.
Throw your good works aside and call upon Jesus to be saved. Do so before it is too late.
Could You Forgive As Jesus Asked?
Everything that Jesus taught is to show man that he could not be obedient to God, and was unable to earn his way into heaven. What Jesus said about forgiveness is a good example.
In Matthew 6: 14, 15 Jesus said the following:
Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Let me ask you a question? How easy is it to forgive someone? Is isn’t is it. In fact, depending on the offense, it is not easy and it may be that you do not want to forgive them at all. Am I right? I do speak from experience.
Here, however, Jesus tells us that unless we can forgive others for their sins against us then He will not forgive us for our sins against Him. If you think about it, that is very scary. You think, how can I forgive them for what they did to me? If you only knew what they did, you would understand why I cannot nor do I want to forgive them.
If that is the case then we are stuck. If God will not forgive us because we will not forgive others, how are we going to get into heaven? That is the question, and that is what Jesus is showing us. In simple terms, Jesus is telling us that we just can never do what is needed to earn our way into heaven. There has to be another way, and there is.
In John 14 Jesus tells us what the only way is for us to get into heaven:
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
In everything, Jesus taught that, because of our sinfulness, we cannot be obedient to God the Father and earn our way into heaven. Someone must do that for us and that someone is Jesus.
We do not want to forgive because we cannot forgive; that must be taken out of the way. Jesus did just that for His sheep.
Are you among His sheep? Only until you become a member of God’s family will you ever want or desire to forgive others as God forgave you. Once you have been born again, the change to being able to forgive others could happen quickly or over a period of time, and eventually you will find it easier to forgive as God wants. Especially when you realize what all God has forgiven you.
Forgiving without God will never happen nor completely go away even if you say you do. Only after being forgiven by God and given the gift of forgiveness will you forgive as God intends. Only after being able to forgive others for their sins against you will you be able to appreciate God’s forgiveness of you for your sins against Him. Then, you can truly say that God forgave you as you have forgiven others.
Riff's Christian Journal 